Snippet #2550257

Ryder disregarded Brooke's snippy response about Gracen not being there, and watched as the new girl, Jace arrived. She seemed friendly and in good spirits which was a plus, but Gracen was still unaccounted for. Ryder wanted to ask Jace where he had went, guessing that the two of them had to have been together earlier, but between everyone introducing themselves and then Kaylee and Brooke causing a commotion, he couldn't get a word in.

Relief set in when there was a knock at the door and Gracen appeared, but standing behind him was Matthaus and Ryder didn't think that could be a good sign. It wasn't like he had any beef with Matthaus, but it wasn't a secret that the blond was pretty out there and the last thing that Ryder wanted was for him to scare the younger boy off when he had only just gotten here.

"Hey Gracen," Ryder said, stepping forward and giving him a firm handshake. "I'm Ryder. I guess Jade told you that I'd be helping you learn the ropes around here," he said, offering him a friendly smile. Ryder had been a part of the carnival for over seventeen years but he could still remember his first day. He had spent the three previous days hitchhiking across the Midwest when he stumbled upon the carnival. Hours before, he had spent his last ten dollars on a bottle of rum and was pretty drunk by the time that he was wandering through the crowded carnival grounds. Honestly, he couldn't even remember how the series of events played out, but the next day he woke up in a trailer with the ultimatum to either accept a job at the carnival or be arrested for criminal trespassing. He needed a job anyway, so it all worked out, but even though he wanted to be a part of the carnival, the days following his change of life were a bit scary. He met new performers, including Matthaus and Catalina, and learned about the supernatural abilities that the performers possessed, as well as the superhuman strength that he had been gifted with.

When Alexa directed their attention back to Kaylee, who was now being held to the bed by Catalina, Ryder turned to watch Gracen's expression. A little bit of color manipulation was probably the best introduction to what they were about. It got to the point of them being "different", but wasn't as intimidating as Lucas trying to incinerate one of them.

"That's Kaylee. She can manipulate the colors of things," he explained as the youngest of the bunch changed the blanket from pink to black and then bolted out of the trailer, shouting something about bringing food to Jade. His eyes followed her until she disappeared out the bus door. Ryder figured that it might be easier and less overwhelming to talk to Gracen away from everyone else, so he took a few steps towards the bus door and nodded for Gracen to follow. "I'll show you around," he suggested, walking around the others and out of the bus. As he moved passed by Matthaus, he muttered, "The ice queen is in the bathroom," and continued on his way. Brooke normally wasn't much of a disturbance in Ryder's life but earlier that week he had slipped on a strip of ice conveniently placed right outside the guy's bus. Being that it was still fall, it was obviously part of one of Brooke's pranks, probably against Matthaus or something. Even if it wasn't intended for him, Ryder figured that a little payback by selling her hiding spot out to Matthaus couldn't hurt.

"So, where are you from?" Ryder asked Gracen, hoping to show the boy that he was friendly and also trying to avoid any awkward silence.