Cadenza Frost's Story

Reina

She blushed as Alcide called her dance amazing and the offer of music was a brilliant idea in her opinion.

"Could you really?" she asked, "That would be wonderful if you could help me like that."

She began to imagine how the act would look under the glare of the lights with her dancing and Alicide's music combined. She was sure that it would weave a spell upon the audience and the music would help her keep rhythm in any case.

"Shaelynn said that I can perform my act for her after tonights show and if she likes it then she'll add it into the line up," she explained, "I'm sure she'd agree to let you play the music for me."

There was just something about live music that you could never capture on a recording, no matter how hard you tried, the energy and vibrancy was never the same.

"I think this is the formula for a truly magical performance," she said, smiling, "The magician and the musician."

But as she thought of Kurtis she realised that magician wouldn't be correct, even if this classed as a type of magic it wouldn't be the same as his.

"Or perhaps Enchantress is better," she wondered aloud, "I'm sure we'll get the perfect stage name."


Cadenza

Cadenza smiled suggestively at the clown before him, refusing to break eye contact. Slowly he inched closer and closer untill his face was millimeters away. The way he moved was smooth and sly, like a cat.

"Come on big boy," he whispered, trying to ooze appeal and desire, he could practically taste the pheromones, "Why don't we just take a little break?"

Arching his back inwards he rubbed his chest against the clowns arm, gazing at the ground. He so had this in the bag, soon he'd be able to get out of practicing. He opened his mouth to whisper sweet nothings to the clown and...sneezed. The force of the sneeze made him jump and knocked him back a little, just enough so he was off balance. As he fell to the ground he watched the clown struggling to restrain the giggles trying to surface.

"Sorry Zenn, but you can't charm your way out of practice," said the clown, "I don't swing that way and besides..."

"Don't say it!" thought Cadenza as the clown paused for dramatic effect, "Don't even think about saying it!"

But it was no use, he knew that the clown was going to say exactly what exeryone else said about him which was...

"You're too cute," finished the clown, ruffling his hair.

Rage built up within him as he stomped away from the laughing clown. Cute. He hated the word. It was always the same, all his attempts at seduction failed because everyone thought he was cute, not sexy. Just once, all he needed was to seduce one person and then his father would be proud of him. Not for the first time he wondered if he might do better if he played up the cute angle more but no, that wasn't an option, he was an inccubus for crying out loud, they were meant to be sensual and irresistable, not adorable and huggable. He wished he had turned out like his sister, now she was definitely good at being a succubus.

"Argh, I've had enough of everything," he growled to nobody in particular, "All I wanted was a break."

It wasn't that he didn't like working in the cirque, all things considered it was actually a really fun place to be but the practices often got tedius and then there was the risk of being found out.

"If Shaelynn ever found out I was of daemonic descent," he thought, "Then she'd lock me up in no time like all the others."

He could never let that happen.

Toan


Toan picked himself off the ground, rubbing his back, thankful that he hadn't caused himself serious harm, amazingly he didn't feel bad about losing. Sure, he enjoyed winning but the loss had been worth it to see Casper blush, it hadn't escaped Toan's attention that Ian had been staring at the puppeteer and his stomach had erupted in warm and fuzzy feelings when Casper had kissed the wolf. For some reason though, Ian seemed distracted, perhaps it was one of those cases where everyone could see the two had feelings for each other except for the two in mention, he knew it wasn't his business though.

"Umm...thanks for playing the game with me?" he said hesitantly as Ian headed towards Kurt, "I'll um...I'll get you the cotton candy later I guess."

Had the werewolf even heard him? He couldn't be sure, Ian hadn't answered. He watched as the crowd that had been watching the display disbanded and went back to what they were doing. Once again he was invisible, or at least that was how he felt.

"I guess everyone has important stuff to do anyway," he thought as he found another seat and began listening to his MP3 player again.


Cadenza


"Did I miss something?" thought Cadenza as the crowd parted to reveal Toan standing in the center before he walked to a seat and pulled out his MP3.

It appeared there had been some sort of display but that was all in the past, he should focus on the present if he wanted to succeed in seducing someone.

"Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad if I just talked to someone normally though," he thought, "At least then I wouldn't have to worry about saying all the right things."

He resolved to think about the matter more but first he had to find somewhere to relax and be himself, he was begining to get a headache from maintaining the psychic field. Hastilly he exited the tent and found a spot in the shade away from everyone where he hoped nobody would see. With a drawn out sigh he let the field slip away, the air shimmering around him like a heat wave allowing his true self to emerge. Cadenza leaned back against a tree, fingers tracing the tattoos on his chest, rubbing his antlers against the tree trunk gently. Today was such a nice day, all he wanted to do was stay out here and relax, enjoying the sunshine, his tail twitched at the thought. He was so tired, he could barely keep his eyes open.

"Falling asleep out here would be a dangerous thing to do," he murmered but it was no use. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't keep his eyes from closing and within seconds he was asleep.

Quiller

Quill yawned as Dezi left the tent, his limbs were begining to feel heavy and his thoughts were slow.

"Oh, there goes my sugar high," said Quill, "How nice of it to say goodbye first."

That was the one problem with candy he thought, there was always the rule of what goes up must come down so it made sense that his energy would come crashing back down considering the amount of sugar he ate.

"It simply wouldn't do to fall asleep during the show now would it?" he remarked to the lion as he stepped into the cage and closed the door, "We should both have a rest before it starts, shouldn't we Lucian."

With a giggle he listened to the lion's rumbling purrs as it stalked around the cage. Finally he managed to corner him at one end of the cage.

"Stop playing hard to get Lucian," mumbled Quill sleepily, "I want to use you as a pillow and I know very well that you don't mind me doing so."

With a rumble the lion lay down and lowered its head as if admitting defeat. Quill seized the oppportunity and crawled up next to the lion, burying his head in its mane.

"You smell funny Lucian," giggled Quill, "You might need a bath if you're not careful."

He didn't hear the lion's growl of protest because by that time he had already fallen asleep.


Cadenza

He cursed at the sky, how could he have been so stupid to let his wearyness overcome him in a place where anyone might see his real form. With another curse his began to focus on reconstructing the psychic link. Slowly the air began to shimmer around him and soon enough he once again looked as he had before,his tail and antlers out of sight.

"I was lucky that time," he thought to himself, "There was nothing to stop Shae walking around the corner and seeing that."

Slowly he walked back to the tent, it'd be time for the show soon but he was in no hurry to go and get ready, he figured he might as well enjoy the time outside before he had to face the crowd again. That was the thing, he was almost certain to get at least one headache during each show, he was just thankfull that he'd had this chance to have a break from maintaining the illusiory field. As he rounded the corner he noticed that there seemed to be a few new faces around, perhaps they were going to be new additions to the cirque.

"Doesn't look like any potential for one of my victims though," he muttered, "Oh well, I'll seduce someone eventually, I'm sure of it."

With new found determination he strode through the entrance to the tent and headed towards the clowns.

"Watch out ladies and gents," he thought, "There's a heartbreaker on the loose."


Toan

He sighed with relief as Casper woke up. He had no idea what Dezi had done but it had worked like a charm. He thought he should check to see if Casper was really ok but he had the feeling that Ian would probably appreciate some time alone with the puppeteer.

"I'm glad to see that you're feeling better," he said, smiling, "I better go, I thought I heard someone calling me and it looked like Dezi wanted to say something."

With that he turned to find Arella in the doorway with a little girl he had never seen before beside her.

"Oh...um, were you the one calling me?" he asked, eyes flicking from the mimic to the new girl, "If it's alright with you could we talk outside? I think it's a little crowded in here."

Making his way past them he went and sat by a tree with his MP3 player out just incase Arella hadn't been looking for him.

"The show should be starting soon," he thought to himself, "I hope Shaelynn doesn't make me do the highwire tonight."

Reina

"I think a violin would be perfect now that you mention it," said Reina, smiling. A violin would help to draw out the subtle tones of sorrow in the song.

Alcide seemed a little frightened at the idea of joining her performance tonight in front of Shaelynn, it was the smile that had given him away.

"Well, I think Shaelynn would want to see the whole thing and it'd be more impressive with music. I'd really feel better if you were there with me," she explained, "But it's ok if you don't want to, I know it's asking a lot at last minute, it's not really anything important anyway."

But deep down she knew that it was, right now she felt as if she'd fall apart during the performance for Shaelynn if he wasn't there with her. The truth was, she was scared of being rejected and wanted someone to be there incase it all went wrong. Luckilly, her train of thought was interupted by the arrival of Kurtis asking if there was a show on tonight. Patiently she waited untill Alcide answered the question before she spoke.

"You look dead on your feet Kurtis, have you not been sleeping well?" she asked, "I'm definitely thinking about taking on magic as a 'side project' as you called it, I believe it would be something I could sink my teeth into, so to speak. However, I have something I'd like to show you later on if that's all right, it's for the act I'm going to show Shaelynn, I'm curious to know if it's of a magical nature or not and I thought you might be able to tell me."


Quiller

Quill stirred at the sound of a voice telling him to wake up.

"Five more minutes...I don't want to get up," he slurred, snuggling deeper into the warmth that surrounded him.

Suddenly something wet rasped across his face as the lion licked him. His eyes snapped open as he sat up, rubbing his face with his arm in disgust.

"Eww! Lucian, that's gross," he exclaimed, "Your breath smells of fish and meat, you need to brush your teeth."

He began to giggle as he imagined Lucian trying to hold a toothbrush. Carefully letting himself out of the cage he greeted Toan before hurrying off to wash his face.

"I guess it was Dezi that told me to wake up," he thought, splashing water on his face.

The cold water seemed to wake him up more as well as cean off all the lion saliva, for this he was glad, he didn't want to be half asleep during the show.

"It might be a good idea to eat something sugary though, "he said with a grin, "Just to be on the safe side."


Cadenza

Cadenza had been sitting in one of the stalls waching people pass by, it was one of his favorite things to do. For each person he tried to make up a secret life story in which they went through incredibly amazing quests and trials. He had just finished adding the final touches to the life story of one of the clowns where they had been raised as an assassin from birth when he noticed the magician walk in.

"Handsome, hair that doesn't seem to end and you positively reek of magic," said Cadenza to himself with a smile, "Just my type, then again, what isn't my type."

Of course he didn't mean this, Incubi weren't meant to have types but if they were then someone like Kurtis would have been his. Of course, the magician was probably straight which would make him unobtainable but still, it never hurt to try and he knew his father would finally be proud of him if he managed to sway someones sexuality. Taking a deep breath he walked over to where Kurtis stood, talking to Alcide and Reina.

"Well hello there good looking," he said to the Magician when he was sure they had all finished speaking, "I saw you from across the room and just thought I'd say, you look superfi..."

He froze, eyes locked on to Kurtis's. He had just felt the type of magic that surrounded the Magician. His pulse began to race, this was really bad.

"How could I be so stupid," he mentally cursed himself, "All this time I just thought he was a hedge witch or something like that."

He knew he couldn't really blame himself, he had never seen Kurtis perform or been this close to him, if he had then he would have been able to work it out. Kurtis was a warlock.

"Could this get any worse?" he asked himself, "A warlock like him will be able to tell what I am, I'll have to find a way to shut him up."

Kurtis didn't mean to startle the jester, but apparently he was a scary and random person. Oh wait... “Yeah, there's a show in a couple hours...

Kurtis nodded his appreciation, and mentally cursed to himself. He would have to prep himself up, use some illusions or magic to get him through the next show without messing up and getting attacked by either the Ticket or RingMaster. He should really warn somebody when he does a 'conference call' that he may look like crap for the next show, or maybe he should lay down the line with his Elders and tell them his schedule so they STOP calling him at random hours or near show times. He gave a little sigh as Reina asked a question.

You look dead on your feet Kurtis, have you not been sleeping well? I'm definitely thinking about taking on magic as a 'side project' as you called it, I believe it would be something I could sink my teeth into, so to speak. However, I have something I'd like to show you later on if that's all right, it's for the act I'm going to show Shaelynn, I'm curious to know if it's of a magical nature or not and I thought you might be able to tell me. He smiled bleakly as Alicide asked him as well if he was going to make it, to which he smiled to both of them

"Yeah, I should be able to whip something up to make me look a little more presentable for tonight, and possibly kill this exhaustion. And for you info, I have been sleeping, but have a telepathic meeting with a bunch of old croons for a few hours drains everything from you, making you turn out like this afterwards." He chuckled a little, which turned to a little wheeze. "Sorry bout that. And Reina, I'm happy that you decided to take on magic so eagerly. Not many do anymore." He paused, smirking slightly at her idea and confirming whether it is magic or not. "That sounds kinda interesting actually, though you may not be able to show me for an hour or so, I seriously need to make myself look a little more presentable..." He sighed unhappily. "Well, confirming if your 'magic' is magic or not is quite easy, I just have to ask you two questions and then see it. One, are you using any circles? And two, do you feel slightly drained afterwards?"

He would have waited until she answered his question, until some person he hadn't really paid attention to much. Cadnez? Carmen? Something like that... Well hello there good looking, I saw you from across the room and just thought I'd say, you look superfi... Kurtis raised an eyebrow, and began to speak in a bored tone, one that was laced with a little sarcasm and slight shock.

"Hold up there dude, no offense but I don't-" Kurt finally zeroed in on the guy, and a small smile began to form on his lips. While the guy looked human, he certainly wasn't. Kurtis could see an underlying figure, slightly blurry, but just enough of one to know that he was using illusion magic, and quite potent stuff at that. Kurtis could usually see easily through most illusions, but this one even made his sight blurred. That smile continued to get larger, one that was slightly sinister, coniving and completely mischievious. Oh, I'm gunna have fun with this guy...

Still with the smile on his face, but letting it fall to a simple one. "Sorry man, I can't and don't swing that way. Thanks for the compliment thought... Mr.. Caden? Cadenz? Can I just call you Caden?"

Reina

"I don't think I use a circle," said Reina, "At least, not one that I knowingly drew out but there is a little bit of a drain afterwards."

She walked off, lost in her thoughts, forgetting that she had just been talking with others. Was the drain from her dance anything that she wouldn't expect if she had been dancing normally? She couldn't be sure. There were more questions she needed to answer though, for example, the legend had involved all four elementd, did that mean she'd be able to do similar things with fire, air and earth and if so would that also mean she could control more than one at once. With a sigh she sat down and waved her arm dramatically as an experiment hoping something would happen to the ground beside her, but nothing happened. Clearly she'd have to do a lot more research into this, it made sense that the other elements would respond to a different style of dance.

"After all, each element has it's own personality," she muttered, "Movement like what's in my water dance wouldn't apeal to fire at all."


Cadenza

Cadenza's heart fell as he watched the smile spread across the Magician's face, clearly he had already worked it out and he could tell from the man's last comment that there was no way he'd be able to seduce him.

"It's a pity," he thought, "He would have made a nice boyfriend. At least coming out as an incubus wouldn't be difficult."

He was trying to convince himself that he didn't care but knew that deep down he was disappointed. Cadenza crossed his arms wondering why he had been born an incubus when he clearly wasn't cut out for the job, he didn't have the right body and now he was having genuine feelings for another person. It didn't help that the person in mention was capable of blowing his cover.

"It's Cadenza," he said, trying to keep himself calm, he didn't want the warlock to know how nervous he was, "As in the musical term but I'm fine with you calling me Caden. Zen works too."

He wanted to confront the warlock now, just to know where he stood but knew that the time wasn't right. Reina may have walked off somewhere but Alcide was hanging around. He needed to get Kurtis alone somewhere and fast, before he could start spreading secrets.

"I had the feeling you were straight but I figured I'd try anyway," said Cadenza, "It was worth a shot. Do you mind if I ask you something? In private?"

Cadenza hoped that this would work, he was a little worried that the grinning warlock might refuse just to spite him. He knew that if he needed to he would drag the man away by force, it was an unpleasant thought, with luck it wouldn't come to that.

"Good, I don't think I would remember a name that was such a mouthful." He smiled, and then paused when Caden asked him if he could speak to him in private. He was going to agree, but he knew that this guy would probably try something shady like attempt to cut out his tongue or something. He then heard the Ticketmaster shouting, and he swore. He knew what that meant, and so did everybody else: the doors were open, the people were entering, and Kurtis could only get about 5 minutes of sleep. His shoulders slumped sadly, wishing he could have had a bit more sleep before getting on stage, so that maybe he wouldn't look so groggy, but that was what magic was for.

He grabbed a funny looking object, of pen-like shape, only there was no ball point, and no ink coming from it. "Sorry dude, but you know what it means when Ticketman starts yelling. But I may come visit you for a while afterwards to discuss whatever seems to be on your mind." His smile was back to that mischievous and blackmailing smile, and then he made a simple gesture to Cadenza: He put a single index finger to his lips, and made the international 'sh' motion, still smiling. "I'll keep quiet about your... differences for now." He turned and began to walk away, and started drawing circles onto his already circled hand, adding onto the one already there.

"Please don't try any funny business, okay man? I would rather this not get ugly, or violent." he chuckled a little before placing his hand onto his face, and when he lifted it off his face looked like it was completely well rested, even sparkling a little. It was obviously an illusion, and would wear off by the end of the show, but he needed to look his best for his audience. After all, with freaks and acrobats that bring about possiblities, it was his job to deny reality all together, just to amaze the crowd. Kurtis headed towards his trailer to grab some last minute supplies. You know, such as knives, dynamite, a slug, the works.

Gotta love the cirque.

Cadenza

Relief swept over him as the magician formed him that he would keep the secret only to be replaced with annoyance when he added "For now."

"Me? Try anything? You've got to be kidding," said Cadenza.

How Kurtis found the nerve to say such a thing was beyond Cadenza, as if he would be the one to let things get messy, Warlocks were the ones you couldn't trust, their very name meant traitor.

"You missed a spot," he said coldly as the warlock placed an illusion over his face.

He didn't mean it of course but Kurtis had annoyed him, as much as he wanted to deny it, the warlock's remark had hurt him.

"In any case, good luck with the show," said Cadenza before walking off to prepare.

Toan

He stood back stage, stretching and getting himself ready, physically as well as mentally. As he had feared, he was meant to be doing the highwire routine tonight. He paused in his stretching to adjust the tight jumpsuit. He hated form fitting clothing like this, sure, on some acrobats it porbably looked amazing but they didn't have the bodies of scrawny teenaged boys.

"I just wish I could perform in baggy clothing for once," he muttered to nobody in particular, "All the loose cloth displays the momentem better anyway. Perhaps I'll get the chance to when I make a routine with Ian."

He had been surprised when Dezi had come up to him with the suggestion but he quite liked the idea, it was definitely a break away from the norm. Putting his headphones on he began to listen to his MP3 player again while the clowns and other acts got ready. Soon enough he was in the right mind set for the show.


Quiller

"Dezi!" he shouted excitedly, running towards her, "Look I'm ready for the show, are you ready for the show? Your dress is pretty."

He was babbling, he knew that, he just hoped that Dezi didn't pick up that he'd had even more sugar, if she asked him then he knew he wouldn't be able to lie to her. Quill was dressed in formal pants that were a little too big for him and dark brown waistcoat with a red bow tie, he usually made a fuss about it but to be honest, he kind of liked the look.

"I got a new waistcoat," he said happily, "Oh, and the animals all say they're ready."

He was excited for the show, it was a big crowd tonight and he wanted to impress every single person in the audience.


Reina

Reina walked round the back of the tent, running her fingers through her hair. Her costume wasn't as comical as most of the other clowns, is had a sort of an asymetrical elegance to it, she was usually shown as the pretty girl clown that all the other male clowns fought over. She didn't mind this at all, really, it didn't take much effort, just a few poses and a bit of "Oh the drama," and you had a performance. Suddenly she caught sight of Alcide, to tell the truth, he did make quite a dashing clown, perhaps it was because he didn't go overboard with his make up, similar to what she did.

"Well now, you clean up ver nicely for a jester," she said, tapping him on the opposite shoulder to where she was, "Are you ready for the show?"


Cadenza

"This is the last time I ever let someone else do my make up," muttered Cadenza as he walked round the back of the tent.

His face looked like a child had attacked it with a box of crayons, he was just lucky that the point of a clown was to look stupid. Moodily he plucked at the frills that adorned his shirt, why did he even have to wear a top? Surely the audience would get a lot more satisfaction if he wasn't wearing one.

"Although, perhaps it would be better if I didn't in this costume," he mumbled.

The sad fact was, the other half of the costume was a skirt. There weren't a lot of female clowns and he was one of the only ones that was youthful enough to pull off a female look. Of course, he was usually the ugly step sister or something like that. Sometimes he thought they just did it to make fun of him.

"Well the joke's on them," he said to nobody in particular, "If this wasn't such a fashion crime, I could totally rock this frock."

Quiller

Quill smiled bashfully at the crowd as Dezi introduced him and then went to sit down next to Taj as Dezi rode Lucian around the ring. Taj seemed to be bored with the proceedings as usual, as if he was far too majestic to be here and had better things to do.

"Oh yes, I'm so sorry to inconvinience you, your highness," he whispered to the tiger, scratching it behind the ears, "How could I interupt you hen you were in the middle of such an important nap."

He had to supress a giggle as Dezi invited members of the crowd to come pet Lucian, he'd caught sight of Isis, the elephant appeared to be getting antsy because she wasn't getting enough of the spotlight, sure enough, as he'd expected she let out a large trumpeting noise, demanding attention.

"Calm down Isis," he said walking over to the elephant and stroking her trunk, "You'll have your moment soon enough."

As he turned to go back to Taj he squeaked as he was lifted into the air, it appeared Isis hadn't finished with him, trumpeting triumphantly she shook him around gently before placing on her back again.

"How very mature of you," he muttered, settling down on her back.

When she was like this there was no point in trying to get away because she'd just pick him up again and again untill he stayed put.


Cadenza

Cadenza was annoyed with himself. He had spent the better part of Kurtis's performance wondering how on earth he had never noticed that the magician was really a warlock, you could see it all in the way he used his magic.

"At least now would be the perfect time to go talk to him," muttered Cadenza to himself, heading for the warlock's trailer, "All that magic would have tired him out so I know he won't do anything, even if he isn't already asleep."

Soon enough he was at Kurtis's trailer, knocking on the door to no avail, there was no answer.

"Fine then, I'll just go in and wait for him," thought Cadenza.

Moodily he opened the door and stepped into the trailer determinedly only to fall over the slumbering warlock, landing pretty much on top of the man. The shock of the fall made him loose control over the illusion he projected leaving him in his natural form.

"Well at least I look more human than some types of demons." he mumbled.

He didn't bother replacing the illusion yet, Kurtis already knew he wasn't human so there was no point in hiding it from him. Hastilly he picked himself up and sat on a chair facing Kurtis. If having Cadenza fall onto him hadn't woken him up then he'd just have to wait, there was alway the possibility that he was just pretending.

"Wake up," he said loudly, folding his arms.

Kurtis was in a comatose state of sleep, and it made him perfectly happy. If he could feel anything while braindead, anyway. The point was, Kurtis was asleep on the floor of his trailer, and nothing was going to change that: Until he felt something hit him.

Now, normally, he thought it was an animal that had escaped, so he was half asleep now that the thing had hit him. He wasn't good in the mornings, or waking up, so he was going to yell at the thing that dared to disturb his sleep. Yet, he remembered that he was in his trailer, so now he was in a sleepy confused state, for animals couldn't open doors, and most people knocked while trying to get into his trailer. It wasn't until he heard somebody speak in a loud voice that made him curious: Wake up. Kurtis lazily opened his eyes, now looking a little better than before. Instead of looking like a walking corpse, he now just look a little tired. All he needed was a few more hours of sleep and he would be fine. But that voice sounded like it wasn't going to let the Scarlet Caster go to bed anytime soon.

His eyes opening to the floor of his trailer. so he craned his neck in a yawn to see who it was. He rubbed his left eye when he saw the perpetrator - the demon Cadenza. Not even trying to hid it, the guy was in his demonized glory, with a set of horns and demonish black eyes. In a weird sort of way, Kurtis had to admit that as far as demons went, Cadenza looked pretty cute - and not in a sexual way, more like a hug-gable way. And Kurtis guessed that the guy hated being called that.

"Why hello there Caden. Nice of you to barge into my room and wake me." He yawned once more before pushing himself off of the floor into a sitting position. He seemed liked he wanted to talk about something, so Kurtis planned on coaxing it out of him. "Alrighty dude. What do you need from the Scarlet Castor? And, if you could be so kind, could you tell me if the show is over yet?"

Cadenza

Cadenza looked at Kurtis and began to feel a little bad about waking the warlock up, he still looked incredibly tired.

"Umm...sorry, perhaps I should have waited till later, I didn't realise your act would drain you so much," said Cadenza, "No, the show isn't over yet, Dezi and Quiller are doing their animal thing."

Now was the time to sort out the problem, he wasn't sure what would happen if Kurtis decided not to cooperate.

"I guess that if you didn't know before you can now see that I'm demonic in nature," he said, gently touching the tips of his horns, "Care to guess what kind of demon I am?"

If it had been his sister in his place then the Warlock would be able to pick it up instantly but Cadenza wondered if Kurtis would actually be able to tell that he was an incubus, the sad fact was that no matter how hard he tried to deny it, he didn't exactly posses the heightened sexualy aura that most of his kind had.

"I'm just going to cut to the chase." he said, his tail flicking from side to side nervously, "I need your word that you'll keep this secret and help me hide it and I don't mean in the short term. You know what will happen to me if the wrong people find out."

He was desperate for Kurtis to help him but he was trying his hardest to play it cool. Was the warlock even paying attention? He seemed to be so tired. Cadenza thought for a moment and then smiled, surely this would work, after all, the whole principal of being a succubus or inccubus revolved around energy.

"If you do this for me then I'll help you in whatever way I can," said Cadenza, "For example..."

With this he leaned forward and grabbed Kurtis's hand. Closing his eyes he began to focus on sending energy into Kurtis. He was sure that this would eliminate the warlock's exhaustion. He could feel the energy flowing in a swift stream. Letting go of the warlock's hand he leaned back in his chair, a little dizzy. That had taken more out of him than he'd expected, had Kurtis recieved the energy? Had it helped?

"So what do you say?" he said, rubbing his eyes.

Umm...sorry, perhaps I should have waited till later, I didn't realize your act would drain you so much. No, the show isn't over yet, Dezi and Quiller are doing their animal thing. Kurtis nodded, not really caring about Caden's excuse. The thing wanted to talk to him, and now was probably a better time than when he was fully awake: Kurtis was much more into the 'blackmail' and 'shady' business when he was fully aware of what was going on, but at the moment he was just nodding his head, hoping this meeting would end quickly so he could go back to sleep. "It isn't just my act, I've haven't slept for the past... oh, say 2 or more days? Something like that." Kurtis dragged himself up and walked over to his mini fridge, pulling out a bottle and a jar of super spicy salsa. In the bottle held a concoction that he had been taught to make ever since he could walk, an 'elixir' or sorts that really boosted up the immune systems (magic had a bad habit of lowering them) and revitalizing the mind and body. Even better, it didn't taste like crap either, though the after taste could be a killer if something spicy wasn't eaten right after, and it had to be SPICY or else the after taste would linger. He drank the stuff down while he continued talking.

I guess that if you didn't know before you can now see that I'm demonic in nature," he said, gently touching the tips of his horns, "Care to guess what kind of demon I am? Kurtis mulled over it for a while, mutter an 'Eff it..' before saying "I'm guessing the lower level sneakier kind. You could be Incubus, but your not as appealing... I donno..." He muttered in his tiredness, remembering his last encounter with an incubus. Let's just say that Kurt had a wild night, one that ended up in lustful murder. It's complicated.

I'm just going to cut to the chase. I need your word that you'll keep this secret and help me hide it and I don't mean in the short term. You know what will happen to me if the wrong people find out." He looked nervous, that Morte could pick up on easily. The guy was squirming, and even half asleep Kurt was smiling that little grin of his. He didn't want to say anything, since this was getting quite interesting - how many warlocks could say that a demon wanted them to keep a secret? - and would have talked until Caden spoke. If you do this for me then I'll help you in whatever way I can, For example... Caden reached forward, something Kurt was questioning as he leaned against the wall nearest the fridge until Caden's hand touched his. Instantly he felt the surge of energy flow into his body. At first he thought it was the drink starting to kick in and Caden was being weird, until he could tell that the energy was foreign: Caden was giving him energy.

After a bit, Caden released Morte's hand and his hair fell over his face as it slumped down, with him chewing on his lip. He really wanted to use it as blackmail, but if the guy was using his energy to bargain, he may comply just for the fact that it was convenient. A smirk came to Kurtis' face as he opened his eyes. The tiredness was still there, but the drink would get rid of that over time. He could tell that the circles were lifting a little, and his face only looked mildly tired now. He lifted his head, feeling a whole lot better and smiling as Cadenza asked 'So what do you say? "What do I say, hm?" He gave a mock puzzled look. "Mr. Cadenza, you drive a hard bargain. I guess I shall accept, however..." He gave a little smirk before continuing. "I would like to point out that regardless of what race you are, the Ticketmaster likes to keep his pets in the circus, and never likes those who break a contract. As his 'underling' " Kurtis put in quotation marks "If he asks, I comply. Besides, that means your safe as well: Anybody that tries breaking it for you usually gets killed." Kurtis gave a mischievous smirk before opening the jar of salsa, and, grabbing a spoon, began to shove mouthfuls into his mouth.

"The better question is, how long can YOU hide it before you screw up?"

Cadenza

The Warlock would keep his secret, that was a relief. Although he could have done without the jibe at the end, Kurtis was right. Now that Kurtis had agreed to keep the secret it all rested on Cadenza's shoulders to keep it going and chances were that he'd slip up sooner or later. He'd already come close this afternoon.

"Thank you Kurtis," said Cadenza, "I know it's probably not easy to make a deal with a demon but then again, deals with demons usually work the other way around."

As Kurtis began to eat his jar of salsa Cadenza prepared to leave, only to sway about when a wave of dizziness hit him when he was adjusting the skirt of his costume. Staggering to the door he leaned against the wall and fixed the Warlock in his gaze.

"How on earth and any of its related dimensions did you go without two days of sleep?" he asked, stifling a yawn, "By the way, you might like to know that you were right. I am an Incubus but as you noticed, I don't exactly have the build or aura for it. You'd probably have a better chance of seducing someone than me. If only I was more like my sister. You'd like her, she's probably your type."

He was about to walk out the door when he realised that he hadn't reset the illusion. Swearing under his breath he focused on it and then walked off to go and join the other clowns.

Kurtis nodded before eating the salsa at Cadenza's thanks. As he ate it happily - he had done so many times before, and nowadays it barely burned. He may have to upgrade to spicier stuff soon to keep salsa as a deterrent from that crappy after taste. Just as Caden was about to leave, the dude started swaying a little, much to Kurt's amusement. The guy obviously was used to being well rested, and apparently the transfer of energy drained him a lot. It was then that he asked such a silly question, Kurtis nearly laughed.

How on earth and any of its related dimensions did you go without two days of sleep? Kurtis started chuckling, and could only say "Instinct and practice kid," before Caden continued after yawning. By the way, you might like to know that you were right. I am an Incubus but as you noticed, I don't exactly have the build or aura for it. You'd probably have a better chance of seducing someone than me. If only I was more like my sister. You'd like her, she's probably your type. Kurtis nodded, his originally guess being right. Caden was too.. cute to be much of anything else. Yet Kurtis seemed to recall meeting a number of Incubus in his time, and the only one that stood out to him was that one he thought of earlier. She probably wasn't related to this kid, but you never knew.

As Caden left his trailer, Kurtis finally felt at peace. Sure, he loved being around people - okay, extorting and blackmailing were only 2 reasons he liked people - but at times like these he liked to be alone. He went to a secret compartment of his trailer, and pulled out a dusty old journal of his. For some reason, even if he wrote in it everyday, it always appeared dusty. He pulled out an older style pen and flipped open the journal, getting to the correct page. He was hoping to finish the short story he was writing, which was completely bat-shit insane with conspiracy, anarchy, lust, and best of all: Blackmail and outer-worldly settings and characters. It made Kurtis shiver with excitement as he wrote, for he loved doing so.

While the show progressed, he continued to weave his storyline, filling it with plot twists, unexpected outcomes and the best part of all? No happy endings.