Quiller Lenn's Story

Quiller

"No no! You've got it all wrong," said Quill, "It's not that she doesn't like you, she's just not that into you."

He sat for a moment, listening. To anyone watching he looked like he was deep in thought. Finally he spoke again.

"I can understand that and so does she, she said herself that she wishes there was another way," he said soothingly, "But the thing is, she just doesn't think she could get over the difference in species and..."

A roar drowned out the rest of his words. Quill sighed as the lion turned its back on him and stalked to the other end of its cage. There was just no pleasing some people, he concluded.

"I don't really know what he expected," said Quill to himself, unwrapping a lollipop "How could he expect a relationship with a zebra to work?"

Turning away from the lion and walking away he decided to go and find Dezi to tell her the situation with the lion. As he walked though, the thought almost disappeared from his head as the taste of watermelon filled his mouth.

"Watermelon!" he cried, "Yes! My favourie!"

Having candy always made him happy enough to bounce around with joy, especially lollipops. He continued on his way, skipping along and occasionally stopping to bounce around to some imaginary tune. Soon enough he found Dezi with her brother Ian and Shaelynn, the Ringmaster.

"Hello everyone," he said cheerfully, bouncing to a stop, "Dezi, I just thought I'd come and tell you why the lion has been actiong strange."

He paused for a while to enjoy his lollipop for a few seconds more.

"He has a crush on a zebra but she doesn't feel the same way, not that I can blame her," he continued, "He's kind of rude, I mean, he still hasn't told me his name. Anyway, I thought you should know."

With that he bounced off to go and see Euclid, he liked to go and talk to him to hear about the latest book he'd read and sometimes the noises he made were quite funny.

"Hey Euclid," he said, tapping his finger on the container, "What have you been reading?"

Dezi looked up at Shae as she told her that it was not necessary that Ian was behind bars for now. She could not help but to grin, suddenly having the urge to tackle her with a hug, but she slowly came close to her, wrapping her arms around her carefully then releasing a couple of seconds later.
"I appreciate it so much." She thanked her and Ian stepped back outside.
This is so great that she is letting me out! I am so surprised. I have to be super good.
"As do I." He added, his cool and soothing tone coming out obviously content. "It gets too lonely in there." He smiled at the Ringmaster, very grateful for her generosity.
What was he going to do with this ability? This capability of actually being out of his cage and being able to go as he pleased without having to practice. Usually that was the only time he was allowed to exit his confined space, but now he was washed of that. He laughed heartily for a moment before another character from the circus addressed Shaelynn. It was Casper, the puppeteer and after she answered him he followed his leaving figure, his eyes lingering on the male for a bit too long.
Dezi chuckled to herself and Ian glared at her, but she shrugged her shoulders innocently. It was not her fault that she was cursed to read his mind, and his alone. After she was sent back down from heaven, God had given her "The Gift" as he called it and had said to keep an eye on her brother. Apparently it was his way of saying make sure he stays out of trouble and doesn't do anything reckless like he used to.
She recalled back over his thought he had just had.
Why am I so attracted to him. I can't help it and I hate keeping it a secret...more than anything.
She could see now after his eyes softened that the lightest hint of pink was easing its way onto his cheeks, but he flipped his hair which covered most of his face, disguising his feelings.
"Thank you again Shaelynn." Ian told her again, then began walking away from the two women. He wanted to go and talk to Casper, but he seemed a bit preoccupied by whatever he was doing and he was not going to interrupt him or distract him. If there was a conversation to be held, Ian could be approached.
For now, he just enjoyed the feeling of being free. He stretched his limbs, grabbing his wrist in either hand and stretching his arms back, and above his head. He felt his shoulder pop and sighed happily, but looked down when he felt a tug on his shirt near his waist. Being six foot and three inches, most people didn't compare to his height, especially the clowns.
There, next to him, was one of the painted comedian's and Ian tilted his head curiously, wondering why he had been approached.
"Your not supposed to be out. You need to get back into your cage." His tone was authorty-like and demanding, he began pushing Ian at his thigh, trying to force him to move, but the werewolf boy didn't budge.
"I am allowed to be out right now, Shae said so and I don't really appreciate you push-"
"Yeah right, let's go, puppy."
Now, there were two things Ian could not stand. One was obviously Dezerra being hurt in any form or fashion. The other was anyone who disrespected him. The pushing he could handle and keep himself calm, not blow up about it, he had not seen this clown around so he was most likely new and probably didn't know that Ian had a spontaneous attitude. Always. And his anger was not something to bargain with. And now, this clown was for one calling him a liar, but it was the discrimination upon him that really had gotten to the core.
"I. Am. NOT. A. Dog!" Ian growled through his teeth, letting his animalistic side come forth and the growl turned into that of a wolf. It turned into a roar, almost, but he didn't let it get out of control.
Beforehand, Dezi again had thanked the Ringmaster and slightly bowed her head to show her respect and gratitude, she was not taking this for granted in the slightest.
She turned her head, looking down upon her small and adorable assistant.
"Why, hello Quill," She began, then he started speaking about the lion's apparent feelings for one of the zebras. Dezi lowered her eyebrows quizzically, trying to figure the situation out as she listened to him. It was hard to contain her composure and at that she busted out laughing. She had never heard of such a thing! A lion liking it's typical prey? That was a new one. As she settled down she nodded to him and thanked him for telling her after wiping a tear that had streamed down her cheek from laughing so hard.
She exhaled, gathering herself after her outburst. It had been a good laugh, she had not laughed that hard in some time, now.
Dezerra glanced over to see Victoria giving Ian a hellish look. It unnerved her and she tensed up. Even if it was out of her ability to stop, she wanted to do something about it, but no harm had been done so there was no point to linger on the subject. At least Ian had not noticed.
She began humming to herself, starting off for her trailer when suddenly a roar erupted through the tent. Her head snapped in the direction from where it had come from. She had completely forgotten to be listening to Ian while she was talking to Shaelynn and Quill that now she regretted it. There hardly came a time when she was not paying attention, but now she was paying for her mistakes. Just hearing certain tones in his thoughts and she could tell when his blood was starting to boil. Now she found herself sprinting over to the clown and her angered brother because she had to hurry before someone got hurt.
When she got to them she snatched Ian by the chest just as he was about to lunge for the rude clown, and he looked pissed. It was a bit unusual that somehow this small girl was able to pry this obviously much larger male away from his want to tear the clown to pieces.
"I'm so sorry!" She called to him over Ian's inhuman sounds.
"You should put that mangy mutt on a leash." The clown said, before turning his back on the two.
He did not just call me a mutt!
"I'll fucking show you a mutt!" -Ian tried to struggle out of Dezi's iron hold, but somehow she kept him back and sturdy- "Dezi, let me go! He deserves it, damn punk!" Dezi moved to the front of Ian, holding him by his shoulders as his breath became more controlled, and soon the anger was gradually flowing out of him.
"Shh, shhh, shhhhh." Her fingers ran through her hair and Ian finally met the eyes of the only one who loved him.
"He called me a puppy...and a liar, Dezi you know me, I don't do tha-"
"Shhhhhh, it's okay, baby. It's okay." She pulled him to her in a hug and was petting the back of his head. "Just don't worry about it, it's over." She pulled away from him, their blue-green eyes and violet ones locking. "You don't need to listen to what they say. They just don't understand us..." She glared at the almost nonexistent silhouette of the clown who had insulted her brother. As much as she would like to give him what for, she knew it would not do any good.
"Just go and sit in the stands, try to cool off. There are a couple of water bottles near my bag next to your cage. Grab yourself one. I'll be with Quiller if you need me. Everything is going to be alright." Ian nodded to Dezi and found himself one of the bottles then went to sit in the audience's seats and rested his head back, closing his eyes.
God! I need to get control of myself... Ian lifted up his head for a moment then let it fall again. Why do I have the feeling that I am about to get yelled at? Oh, yeah! Because if it weren't for Dezi that clown would be in pieces.
Dezi made her way over to Euclid's cubical and smiled down at the interesting creature.
"Hello to the two of you." She said smiling, as if the scene she had just kept from happening hadn't moved her in the slightest. She was quite used to having to deal with Ian's outburts, and this definitely wasn't the first one that had gotten close to going overboard. She didn't want to witness him go that crazy again, though, seeing as how the last time had almost gotten both of them killed.

Quiller


Quill flinched as a roar pierced through the drone of noise before going back to rocking back and forth, cheerfully sucking on his lollipop as Euclid explained the book. It sounded pretty interesting untill he started talking about women in the eighteen hundreds, that part had escaped meaning to him.

"No doubt Rain would understand," he thought to himself, "Or soon would after researching."

But that was the thing he liked about Euclid, his conversations often inspired Quill to go and look up the meanings of what he said, it was a great way to learn new things. His thoughts on what he might learn from Euclid next were interupted by Dezi coming over to greet the both of them.

"There's a man who's a square," he added as Euclid asked if she would like to hear about it too.

He couldn't help but think that being a simple shape like a square would be a very odd experience, no matter how hard he tried he simply couldn't think of what a square would do for fun. A feeling nudged at the back of his mind like an itch, there was something he was meant to be doing, he was sure of it. With a gasp he realised what it was.

"I'm really sorry Euclid but I have to go," he said guiltily, shuffling his feet and scratching the side of his arm, "I'm meant to be practicing, I just forgot when the lion asked me for help."

With his spirits down he said goodbye and turned away, dragging Dezi with him, he needed her to oversee everything and make sure he didn't screw up.

"By the way, Dezi," he said as they walked, "Is Fang ok? I heard him roar before."

Thoughts of the Animal Trainer's brother came into his mind then, Ian as the magnificent beast performing in the ring before a huge crowd, the bright lights shining down on his fur. Then there was his human form, the pale skin and the dark hair.

"It's not fair that he and any of the others have to stay in the cages," he declared, "Especially Ian, I like him, his hair is cool."

With dismay he discovered that he had finished his lollipop without having the chance to savour the last of it, it always made him upset when this happened but he was determined not to cry over something so silly infront of Dezi.


Reina


"Success!" she thought as Shaelynn finished outlining a deal, "I have a chance,"

Thanking Shaelynn she walked over to a chair pondering what she could do for her act. That was the problem, exactly what could she do that would impress the ring master? Her gaze shifted from one person to another as she took in every member of the troop. Everyone had some sort of special skill, there had to be something that she could do. Finally her gaze settled on Kurt who was talking to Arella, the magicians tricks had always fascinated her and she'd done enough research to know that his act was the real deal.

"It's not like I haven't read books on witchcraft before," she reasoned, "I'm sure I could pick it up easily."

But then another thought pushed its way into her mind, what if magic was a skill one had to be born with. She could do all the reasearch on magic in the world but if it required an ability produced by genetics then she would have no hope of performing the wonders that Kurt could.

"It couldn't hurt to ask," she said, walking towards the magician, "Perhaps he could teach me, although I wouldn't hold my breath."

As she continued on her way a story that her grandmother used to tell her swept into her mind. The tale told of how there had once been a race of people that could control the elements, they had been a very fair and gracefull people and had admired beauty above else and were well known for their unparallelled skill in art. Her grandmother had claimed that their family was descended from these people and even now the power ran through her veins. Reina had always laughed it off as something her grandmother had told her to make her feel special but now she wasn't so sure, she vaguely remembered the old woman dancing and beautiful things happening, though what she couldn't tell. Perhaps she wouldn't be lost if Kurt refused to teach her she thought as she finally reached him.

"Hello Kurtis," she said politely, butterflies swirling in her stomach, "I'm sorry to interupt but do you think it would be possible for me to learn magic? Is it a skill I could learn?"

She stood silently, eagarly awaiting a response.


Toan


Toan wiped the tears from his face and searched his pocket for the MP3 he usually carried around. Ramming the headphones in place he scrolled through the list of songs untill he found one that he knew was upbeat, Speed Over Beethoven. As the first notes began to play he willed his muscles to relax while trying to picture a scene painted by the music.

"I'd probably be a dancer if I wasn't in the Cirque," he mumbled to himself with his eyes closed, "Then again, I don't suppose I'd ever know."

To tell the truth, he didn't really miss his old life that much, the Cirque was a fun and vibrant place to be and the only thing he particularly disliked was the high wire.

"But I'd have that fear regardless of where I was," he considered, "It would be nice to have the option to leave though."

Shaking his head he scolded himself, he was letting his thoughts go dark again. Perhaps some exercise would fix that up. With a leap he jumped onto his chair.

"Hey guys!" he shouted, "Anyone feel like a break? How about a game of tag, I bet you can't catch me though."

He fell silent and froze, that had been very unlike him. He usually tried to avoid drawing attention to himself but there was no use worrying about that now, the challenge had been thrown down. He half hoped and half despaired at the thought of nobody accepting his challenge. Nervous jitters began to race through his body as he waited. Only time would tell.

Ian's eyes shot open when Shae began to speak and he immediately fixed his posture, sitting as if he were leaning against a board, his back perfectly straight. It was obvious from the expression on his face that he was very disappointed in himself because he could tell that she definitely was. I understand, Mrs. Ashford...It won't happen again." He hund his head, his eyes full of sorrow intermingled with slight worry. It was very hard for him to restrain his anger at all. Being a wolf, it was the hardest for them. The littlest things set them off and any snide remark could force them to phase and attack whoever was in his way if he was mad enough. Now, however, it looked like he would need to be taking some sort of instruction on how to keep his cool in times like that. God knew he struggled with his emotions more than anything else. He sighed and dropped his head into his hands. He really, really hated seeing her so upset at him. He wanted to immediately prove to her that he was trustworthy, that he could be depended on. It would just take time. He would have to show her that he was able to keep calm even in the toughest times, but he needed a teacher. There was no way in hell he could do it on his own, yet Dezi was always so busy with Quiller, taming the animals and training them and himself, well, she had a full plate and she hardly got enough rest as it was. So who could he come to? He definitely didn't want Shaelynn instructing him. If it were going to be a successful teaching he would need to come over hardships and that would mean people would be ragging him and bashing him and he didn't even want to think about getting angry at her, especially not hurting her. He didn't want to hurt anyone in the Cirque, but if it came to that, Shae was one of the last people on that list.
Then he had an idea....He thought it over for a moment, then began nodding to himself, approving this thought. Kurtis seemed like a proper teacher, and if anything happened, he would be able to take care of himself, even in the worst of situations. He would have to remember to ask him about it later. If not him, he would have to find someone else to help him, and quick. The show was later that night, and he didn't want to risk anyone's neck. Although he was always pretty calm during a show, and nothing really ever bothered him all to much, at least nothing he could not handle.
Meanwhile, Dezi was looking into the glass of Euclid's tank. She nodded to the creature inside smiling. "Actually, I have read that before." She said, her lips pulling up to show her perfect teeth when she grinned.
"It's a romance of many dimensions." She joked, grinning and giggling. "Didn't they make it into a movie? I heard it wasn't half as good as the book." She shook her head. "Pity that movies cannot be as in depth as the stories they are created from. I love when the sphere comes in." She was happily talking about the novel until Quiller began tugging her away. She was still facing Euclid and waved him a goodbye.
"We can talk later, I guess. Have a wonderful day, dear!" She called before turning around and removing Quil's grasp on her arm.
"You know that I do not like to be pulled against my own will. Now, for the hundreth time, will you please not pull me around like a puppy." She halted in her words and looked back up over towards Ian, hoping he had not heard her. She saw him sitting there looking pitiful while Shaelynn stood in front of him, probably telling him what he did was wrong. Well at least she wasn't the only one who had to play "mommy" with him. She was tired of always feeling like a downer because she was forced to scold him like a child and supposedly "suck the fun out of everything".
She shut out all of the other noise around her and focused in on him alone.
I need to figure out who can help me. I just get so mad when people disrespect me, but especially Dezerra...I swear, if anyone here ever did anything to her...There would be hell to pay, but more than that, even... She came out of it, shaking her head. She felt bad for him, but he caused it himself. She agreed, though, that if anyone would be able to help, it was Kurtis. In her opinion he was one of the strongest one in the Cirque, mentally and physically. At the same time, she wasn't in his head like she was with Ian and looks can be deceaving. Everyone had their own inner strengths and weaknesses.
"Ian will be fine. He just needs to get ahold of himself...You see, being a werewolf, well, it makes all of your emotions maximized. Like if he is ever sad, he is majorly depressed...Like on the verge of killing himself. When he is mad, he completely explodes..But when he is in a good mood, he is ecstatic and caring and loving as can be." She chuckled when the smaller boy mentioned that he thought Ian's hair was "cool". "I am sure he will appreciate that. And why especially him?" She asked, curiously tilting her head, looking down at him as they continued towards the cages.
She noticed that Quil looked a bit disheartened and she knew it was because he was out of candy, but she was in luck. She dug around in her pocket and found the Tootsie Pop she had been saving, it was even her favorite. Cherry. But he seemed like he could have better use of it.
"Here." She said, holding it down to him. "Hope you like cherry." She smirked at him.
Ian's thoughts were interrupted by Toan's request to play. Although he really needed to focus on what to do about himself, the idea of letting loose for a little bit would surely help his mood. He had his routine down, so he didn't see the harm in playing for just a little bit.
"I'll play tag." Ian said, giving a devilish smirk, just daring him to agree. There was no way he could be beat by an acrobat, since he planned on being a wolf.

Quiller


Quill's face lit up with glee as Dezi handed him the candy, Cherry flavour, yet another of his many favorites, he was pretty sure that Dezi liked it too.

"Thanks so much Dezi!" he cried, leaping forward and hugging her, "I'm really sorry I dragged you away, I just got so panicked by the time,"

He had always hated it when he forgot important things, it often led to him making mistakes which made him feel really bad. He snapped his attention back to her as she asked why he thought Ian especially shouldn't have to stay in a cage.

"Well, it's just that he looks like he needs to get out and exercise more," he explained, "Wolves are used to open spaces aren't they and it must be horrible for him to have to stay in that small cage."

He tried to imagine being kept in a cage like that but the thought just scared him and made him want to cry.

"I mean, all of the others shouldn't have to stay in cages but a few of them don't seem to mind it," he continued, "It's the ones that need the freedom and space most that I get upset about."

He frowned in contemplation as he stuck the lollipop in his mouth, letting the taste of cherry over ride his senses.

"It just doesn't seem fair," he said finally, scratching his head, "I can't even invite Fang or Euclid round for a sleep over and I'd really like to have a movie marathon with them."

Ian was prepping himself for the game ahead when Arella came and accompanyed them. He wondered if she wanted to play, but then she stated that she would rather just watch them. He didn't mind, the more eyes, the better. He smirked to Toan and nodded an agreement.
"Yeah, ten seconds is fair enough."
The fake audience that Arella managed to create the sound for was impressive to say the least, but she was good with sounds. He was intrigued by the small girl and he smiled to her.
"That's very interesting."
Ian thought over Toan's bet, and cottan candy certainly sounded like enough incentive to attempt to win, but it was not like he had planned on loosing before that anyway. He nodded again, grinning now at the challenge ahead of him. The two were about equally matched, he had speed and agility, but Toan was swift and light on his feet. He had to be, he was an acrobat. The only thing would really restrain him would be his oversized wolf body, but there was no way he would stand a chance without shifting.
Ian went to the stands, covering himself up from behind a chair and removing his clothes so that he didn't rip more of his clothes and managed to stay where no one would see anything they did not want to.
He began screaming, his body morphing into that of a wolf. His bones cracked and broke to support four legs rather than two, a new bone producing from his backside to become a tail and every pore burned when thick, course, hair began to grow from every surface of his body. It was quite a painful change, but it lasted only a few seconds and soon he was standing on four paws. A magnificent, white, huge wolf. His tail swishing from side to side and if you knew him well enough, you would think he still had the smirk on his face.
He glanced to his left and his eyes slightly widened. Why did Casper have to watch? Of all of the times. He sighed and focused, letting his claws dig into the dirt, feeling it under his feet and concentrating now more on winning then he had before.
He stuck straight up, head cocked and ears perked when Casper metioned the winner would get a kiss.
What?! Is he freaking serious??? He gave Toan a devilish look, as though promising him he would win. He had to win that kiss, but then his concern on the matter dropped instantly when Casper said it would be from his dolls, rather than him.
Ian couldn't help the small whimper and checked to see if anyone had heard quickly before positioning himself to start.
Kiss or not, he would win to impress his crush. He gave Toan the nod that he was ready and closed his violet eyes, allowing him the time to run wherever. Even with his eyes closed he knew exactly where he was heading, his impecible sense of smell and hearing told him so.
He chuckled when the ten seconds was up, his eyes flying open and he went into a full sprint after the acrobat, his paws thundering like a drum against the ground below him.
He barred his teeth, coming up on him, but just as he was about to touch him with the tip of his nose, the kid did some crazy trick and somehow ended up behind him.
Ian forced himself to stop, kicking up dirt and dust in the process, making him sneeze, before snapping around to speed off for him again.
All the while, Dezerra grinned at the obvious excitement of the child from just receiving a sucker. She would have to save him any candy she disliked from now on if he was going to get this excited over a small sugar product.
She shrugged when he apologized about pulling her away.
"No worries, it's fine. We probably need to practice with the wild animals soon anyway. We've been putting it off what with preparing for Ian's act and everything. Speaking of which, did you get any other good ideas for him?"
She always had trouble thinking of new things because she never liked to have the same routine twice. It would get boring and what if one of the same audience member's that had been there before saw them repeat something? She would not allow it.
She looked back to Quiller and could tell for a moment that he was lost in his thoughts and on the reminder of thoughts, Ian's floated into her brain.
Get back here you rabbit! She was curious about this because he had not hunted wild animals in many years so her attention was directed to the game of tag momentarily.
"Well, would you look at that." She said, mainly to herself. The thing she was mainly focused was that Casper was in the crowd of on lookers and she was knew Ian was nervous about it.
She turned her attention on the small boy in front of her again, smiling when he said that wolves should have space to roam around.
"All of them should, I agree. Harpy's should fly and people should not be confined to a certain area, it's not human-like. But they aren't our rules so we musn't ponder the reasoning. I am sure Shaelynn has a perfectly good reason why she..restrains them in boxes.
She let out a hearty laugh when he said he would enjoy Ian or Euclid having a sleepover with him. She could just imagine the creature sitting in the middle of a bed with Quil, watching a movie, completely intranced by it and throwing pieces of popcorn into his mouth. The image delighted her.
After she was done laughing she patted him on the head, ruffling his hair. "I am sure Ian would enjoy having a day with you. You know, he looks at you like a little brother." She smiled and took out her set of keys, looking for the ones for the lion inside the cage she stood in front of.

Toan


He hadn't expected Ian to turn into a wolf but that just made things all the more interesting. Toan had only just managed to hand spring out of the way of Ian's first charge, stopping next to a chair, he knew that he wouldn't have a hope of outrunning the wolf but if he could just stay out of his way for three minutes he'd win.

"Wow, you're faster than I anticipated," he said, preparing himself for for Ian's next attempt, "This is going to be a challenge."

As Ian ran towards him again he leapt onto the chair and threw himself as high into the air as he could, spinning his body around as he flipped to land facing Ian again, however, he came down too heavily and the impact brought him to one knee.

"Ouch," he thought, wincing, "I could have landed that better."

With dismay he noticed a crowd gathering to watch, joining Arella and Casper, forming a circle.

"Shoot," he muttered, "That cuts down the area I can move in."

Despite this set back, he mannaged to avoid Ian several more times for another two and a half minutes although they were very near misses, each time the crowd had cheered though whether for him or for Ian he couldn't tell. Suddenly, after another flip the knee he had landed on gave way and the next thing he knew he had been knocked and pinned to the ground. Looking up he saw Ian standing over him in wolf form, almost seeming to grin.

"Congratulations," said Toan, smiling although a little scared at being pinned to the ground by a wolf, "Looks like I owe you a cotton candy."


Quiller


Quill pondered Dezi's question whilst watching Toan play tag with Ian. The way the acrobat gracefully evaded the wolf certainly was entertaining to watch and the crowd that had gathered to watch certainly seemed to be enjoying it, the cheering almost reminded him of the bar brawls in some of the movies he had seen.

"That might make an interesting act for Ian," he said to Dezi, "If both he and Toan were ok with it then perhaps they could do a performance similar to the game they're playing."

He smiled as Ian finally managed to pin Toan to the ground.

"At the end he could catch Toan and be about to eat him or something and then you could 'subdue' him," he continued, sticking the candy back into his mouth, "What do you think?"

He was happy to have had something to occupy his mind with, Dezi's remark about Ian looking at him like a little brother had caused a few pangs of sorrow to appear in his stomach but also hope. The Cirque was all the family he had ever known, before finding it he had lived in an orphanage dreaming of the day his parents would come for him, but it had never happened, when he had recieved the offer from the Ring Master he had seen it as his only way out and had accepted without a second thought.

"You have no idea what those words mean to me," he whispered to himself as Dezi opened the door, ready to aproach the lion who was sitting at the other end of the cage,his back turned to them.

Suddenly, the voice of the lion flashed into his head, a warning. Knowing what the lion was going to do he raced towards Dezi.

"Watch out!" he shouted, pushing her out of the way as the lion turned and leapt towards them.

Ian was busily running basic circles around Toan, sometimes getting distracted by either looking at his sister and Quil observing the game or by Arella's adorable laughter. It was hard to concerntrate with on-lookers.
Time was running out and he would stop at nothing to at least put in good effort and try his hardest. He wanted that kiss most of all, he didn't even care about the sweet treat he would receive.
However, the person that would have distracted him the most he tried to imagine him not being there. He shook his head, flipping around to see Toan on the ground from a bad land and he knew this was his last chance before he was out of time. With all of his remaining energy he barreled forward as fast as he could, accidentally tackling Toan to the ground and basically pouncing on him. The large wolf was heavily breathing from the constant running and he was sure looking up into the mouth of such a massive creature could be somewhat terrifying so he stood back, knowing he had one.
He only laughed in triumph, the noise coming out as a sort of cough, but if you knew Ian, he was laughing from absolute delight.
His purple iris's were only on Casper now and he was glad he was not in his human form, like this he at least did not look as eager as he truly was, but he was actually partially nervous. Why? He was just another guy and it was just a crush, but they had barely even brushed shoulders much less something that remotely resembled a kiss in the slightes. With intense and waiting eyes he followed the dolls with his eyes, trying to make it not completely obvious he had beenb staring and smiled when Casper leaned down to his level and the group counted down to plant the "trophy".
He walked over to Arella and nuzzled her, basically thanking her for supporting the two of them in the competition.
She should join next time for fun. He thought, turning around to get his clothes and catching the slightly red-pink tone on Casper's cheeks. Had he done that? He didn't want to elaborate his thoughts on it because he usually got his hopes up about things and he didn't want to risk the disappointment if they only stayed friends. Which he obviously did not mind, but at the time, that was not all he wanted from this man. It had been a long time since he had even had a relationship and he had only had one other with a guy so it would be interesting, indeed.
He shook his head again, almost violently. He was thinking about it, not even meaning to. He tried to replace the idea of the possibilty with his act, his sister, anything.
He went behind the stands again and shifted back, changing into the same clothes as he had worn before since they were still clean. He had only put them on maybe a hour ago, anyway.
He stepped out from being hidden, entirely composed and trying hard not to look at Casper, but now that he had shared a small moment between the two of him, it was hard not to be even more attracted. He felt like his crush was expanding more-so. He really needed to talk to someone wise about this, but Dezi was probably busy and he had no idea who to ask about relationships.
He decided to go to one of the very few people that he actually looked up to and respected that worked in the Cirque.
Skeptically he made his way towards Kurtis, makin sure he was by himself when he motioned him away from the crowd to talk to him alone. He figured he would follow, mainly because he would probably be curious.
He stuffed his hand into his pocket and retrieved a cancer stick, slipping the slim product into his mouth and lighting it quickly, taking a long drag and exhaling a long flume of smoke.
He was trying to put the words together in his head before he found himself looking troubled and tripping over his own words in front of Kurt.
He was looking at the ground, absent-mindedly kicking clumps of dirt with his foot as he spoke.
"So...erm, I have a question. And it is totally going to be so random for you...It's seriously been too long and I am..way rusty." He let out a nervous chuckle to try and ease himself into the next thing he was going to say. He felt so foolish, especially asking another male because women tended to be better at this sort of decision, but he had faith in who he had chosen for advice.
As he asked Kurt, his eyes were scrunched shut, mainly because he was anxious about what he would hear and overall the assumption of possibly who he could be talking about. He had a feeling that it was up in the air about his sexual preferences, but he didn't mind that much.
"I like this guy and..urgh..what do I do besides straight up tell him, like not make it obvious?" He peeked out of one eye which was still scrunched, it seemed like he was nervous to even spit it out before he offered a half grin to lighten the tension he mainly felt. He wondered what he thought about all of this...
Dezi slowly nodded, watching Toan and Ian spring about. If he looked slightly more vicious, the audience would be eating out of their hands and it could be the cherry on top of their routine. It could lead into Toan's as well, so she would have to make sure it was fine with him, but he was a sweet kid, she figured he would not mind.
"That is an interesting idea. I don't know why I would not think of that when it is happening in front of me.." She trailed off, thinking deeply and not paying attention to the beast in front of her. Quiller saved her from loosing her hand.
"Whoa! Thanks Quil." She ruffled his hair then stood, turning stern on the creature that had just had an attitude with her.
"Bad! Bad Lucian!" With a quick flick of her wrist, her whip uncurling and snapping sharply against one of the bars of the now closed doors.
"You don't want me to hurt you, do you boy?" She asked in a soothing, sing-song voice. Her angelic tone was enough to have men fighting for her but she mainly saved it for the untamed animals that she could control.
The lion now stopped looking as though he were on the attack, his shoulders lowering into a more relaxed state, but still on edge because he kept eyeing the whip.
She coaxed him towards her with a finger, holding her whip behind her back with the other hand as the lion closed the distance between the two of them, resting his massive head into her palm.
"There you go, baby. That's the good boy I know. Did you not get a good enough whiff that it was your momma?" She grinned as she scratched the beard-like fur under the cat's head.

Toan


Toan watched as Ian went to assist Casper. He had to admit that the puppeteer didn't look well at all. He felt concern begin to gnaw at him as Casper collapsed and fell off his chair, unconcious. He had seen Ian give him medicine but who knew what was really wrong. He knew that Ian would probably appreciate the time alone with Casper but if he could help in any way then he was going to.

"I can't just stand by and do nothing," he reasoned, walking towards the pair and picking up Casper's doll case which had been left behind.

He came to a stop beside Ian, kneel down beside the puppeteer's head.

"Is he ok?" asked Toan, wondering why he bothered to ask when it was obvious.

Without waiting for an answer he placed his hand on top of Casper's forehead, feeling the heat sear into his hand.

"He has a fever," explained Toan to Ian, "It feels pretty hot so we should try to bring it down."

Seeing another person like this made him want to cry, he hated to see others suffer and would willingly change places with them without a second thought but sadly it wasn't something he could do, the best he could manage was to assist them in any way possible.


Quiller


Quill watched as Dezi began to speak to the lion, calming him down and scratching him in his favorite spot.

"So his name is Lucian," said Quill, thinking out loud, "I wonder why he didn't want to tell me."

He was still a little shocked that the lion had attacked Dezi like that even if he had been in a no girls mood.

"You know Lucian," said Quill, addressing the lion, "Next time you decide to make your cage a no girls zone you should warn us before hand and not attack Dezi like that, I'm sure you would have scared her a lot."

Quill shook his head in disbelief, he understood that the lion was feeling a little upset about the rejection but that was no excuse to leap at someone. He supposed he would never understand how the lion's mind worked, no doubt he felt he was completely justified. Instead of giving himself a headache he decided to try practicing the dance Toan had shown him, he'd called it Bad Apple or something like that. Step after step he progressed through the dance with a little difficulty untill he reached the one part that always gave him problems.

"Maybe I can do it today," he thought, preparing to attempt it.

As he moved to bring his left foot out from behind his right leg he got hooked up and tumbled to the ground, landing with a soft thump and sending up a small cloud of dust.

"I guess I'm just not as graceful or skilled as Toan," he coughed, rubbing dust out of his eyes, "But I'll get there some day."

Ian chuckled, basically forcing the puppeteer to swallow the pills. They would definitely help. He was worried about him, what if he was not in tune for the show later?
His eyes widened as Casper became limp within a minute or so after his arrival and he quickly stooped down to catch his head so he would not harm himself or get a concusion.
His breath was ragged and nervous.
"Damn...thought I lost you there..." He looked up greatfully to Toan who asked him if he needed help.
"If you could just manage to help me get him back into his seat, I can take it from here. Don't forget his dolls, either. He'd flip." Ian brushed Casper's hair out of his face and looked down, now seeing the closeness of the man he wanted so.
All he had on his mind was getting him to his trailer and getting him to better health and after he adjusted Casper into his arms he sped off outside followed by Toan.
He lay him gently in his bed, adjusting his covers to warm him up. He went over to the sink and dampened a rag then folded it to set on his forehead.
He looked up at Toan after sitting down at the foot of the bed.
"Thank you, I needed an extra hand." He gave him a smile, but his eyes swept back over to the one in bed. His eyebrows lowered and he cringed, wished, somehow, that he could do more, but for now, all he could do was wait.
Dezi shook her head, smiling.
"No, dear. It takes a lot to scare me. A flea infested beast could not scare me away." She smirked at the lion who was still enjoying the attention that she gave him.
Her blue-green irises averted from the lion to find Ian. She wanted to make sure he was not too far off, in case she would need to give him a side note and on the other hand, they needed to talk to Toan together.
"Keep working on that dance, Quil. You'll get it." She said to him, patting his head before going after her brother and Toan who were assisting Casper into his trailer.
She followed in right after, invited or not.
"What's going on?" She demanded, looking from Casper's pallor face, to the worry of her brother's.
"Nevermind, I got it." She tapped her head, in case Toan did not get the jist of the two of them then went to kneal next to Casper.
She placed a hand on his forehead, then closed her eyes, bowing her head and mumbling something that Ian was struggling to hear. He raised a brow, watching her curiously, but he knew that she was capable of whatever she was trying to do to help. Probably had something to do with the whole fallen angel from heaven, follower of God shishkabab.
To his surprise, however, Casper was slowly coming to, the color returning to his face and his body turning a couple of different ways as his eyelids slowly began to open up.
"He needs to rest for about thirty minutes. Stay here and make sure he stays in bed at least that long." She left Ian a lingering look before releiving herself from the overcrowded space.

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."

Ian stared off into space, somewhat expecting a reply from Casper but coming up short of what he wanted. He glanced towards the other male, brow raised when he began speaking to an unknown voice that had Ian whipping his head side to side as his eyes circled around the trailer for who it might have belonged to. He was sure that it would be one of his little dolls, but the pitch and tone coming from the female puppet had him wanting to shake, it was creepy nonetheless.
He watched Casper, slightly ammused as he checked under the bed and continued in the conversation which he was completely out of the loop of. Now his other brow joined his other as they knit in the middle of his forehead. He certainly was an interesting specimen, but maybe that was why he was so attracted. Ian definitely was not simple in the least bit, so it seemed obvious that he should be intrigued by someone at least as complicated.
Ian snickered at Arella's comment about him being a nurse. If that job discription defined anyone, it would be his sister. He needed to talk with her before the act started tonight, but he was so preoccupied with Casper that she was put on the backburner.
He was surprised, his eyes widened with concern as he was shoved out the door by the smaller male. Glancing back over his shoulder as he watched himself being shoved outside and the door quickly shut behind him. His brows, in turn, lowered completely. He did not understand what the rush was about, he had been trying to help and he hadn't even been spoken to and now he was rudely kicked out. She scoffed and kicked a rock with his foot as he started walking to wherever. He actually still wanted to talk to Kurtis, but after lifting his head for a moment away from his only entertainment, he could not find the magician anywhere in sight.
He sighed and continued walking.
Dezi's smile brightened when Arella called her darling. It was utterly adorable in her opinion and she watched the two young girls set off towards Toan, but the human's attention was still glued to her and she seemed absolutely mesmirized. Not like the usual people who would cower or question, but was that actual awe that she saw on her face?
Dezi's eyes crinkled at the corners when she grinned, now, and although the girl had said absolutely nothing to her, it had made her day entirely.
She felt like giving her a small performance, but that would seem like bragging so she restrained herself and stayed sitting on the ground, finding a twig which she began drawing shapes and doodles in the dirt around her indian style posture.
Once she had finished the portrait of a sunny and cloudy day above a raging ocean with a dolphin and a couple of other detailed mishapen drawings on the side, her eyes were greeted by Toan.
Immediately she popped up, fully erect and beaming again.
"Yes, actually. I did." She chuckled lightly and put her arm around the acrobat, leading him away from her embarrasing art skills and back towards Quiller and the cages.
"When I was watching you and Ian interacting it sparked an idea between my assistant and I." She let her arm slide off of his shoulder and she turned to face him, her head lowered to look him in the eye. She had a smirk on her face that was slightly smug but also interested.
"Well, how about for the last part of our act we could incorporate you somehow, maybe make it look like you were about to get pummled or something and at the last second I could fly you up to your stand or something to save you from the big bad wolf? We would have to ask Shae, of course, but if she approved how would you feel about that?"

Toan

Getting chased by Ian as part of the act? He could see how that would get the crowd worked up but would it work as well if the whole thing had been choreographed?

"I think it sounds like a great idea, it'd certainly be a lot of fun," said Toan, "The crowd would sure love it and it'd be an easy thing to improvise too, that way it'd look more believable, if Shaelynn is ok with it and if Ian is ok with it then I have no problem with that idea."

One thing troubled him though, if Dezi flew him up to his stand then Shaelynn would probably expect him to do the highwire too and he wasn't sure if he could handle that.

"Oh well, on with the show right?" he mumbled to himself.

Sometimes he wondered if he would be better off just being a clown but deep down he knew that their antics were something he couldn't get into. He thought for a moment as they reached the lion's cage, with a start he realised that Quiller was inside the cage asleep, resting against the lion. He wondered if the boy would be safe in there but reasoned that Quill was an animal training assistant so would be safer than most other people.

"Do you think we'll have time to talk to Shaelynn about this before the show starts tonight?" he asked, "She can be hard to get ahold of leading up to a performance."


Reina

"Like it? I love it!" said Reina as Alcide finished the song, "It fits the dance perfectly although I'm not sure if the guitar is the right instrument for it. WHat do you think?"

She was enjoying herself, she hadn't thought that being around another person could be this much fun, but then again, maybe it all depended on who the person was, perhaps it was just Alcide that made it fun. Alarm flared into her eyes as the jester began to cough and search for cigarettes.

"Are you ok?" she asked, taking a step closer incase the coughing got worse and she needed to support him, "You know that cigarettes are bad for you right?"

She mentally kicked herself for stating such an obvious fact, everybody in this age knew that smoking was bad for you, not that it stopped people from doing it anyway.

"Umm, this might sound weird but would you mind coming with me tonight when I show Shaelynn my act?" she asked nervously.

She didn't know why but she had suddenly been overwhelmed by a sense of fear but she somehow knew that if Alcide was there then everything would be ok. For some reason the man made her feel safe.

Dezi and Ian shared a horrified and worried stare towards Victoria. Dezi's related more to the terrified expression. She already knew who had caused her to be in such dissaray and annoyance. The Ringmaster. She shuddered to herself and eyed Toan now, putting the scene out of her head before they reached the tent and she watched Victoria leave.
"Poor bugger." Her eyebrows lowered in a shared compassion for the girl, although she did not like Ian, she could not help but to feel sorry for her. She couldn't imagine the horribleness of loosing her own wings. She touched them lightly and they fluttered as if they weren't attached to her body and had a mind of their own.
"Sorry, spacing out." She told Toan, focusing on him again. It seemed like everyday in the Cirque had something crazy happening at least a couple of times throughout the evening, not including the shows.
"He will be find with it, I'm sure. I will go and talk with Shaelynn." She smiled at him and patted him on the head, then glanced towards Quiller.
She liesurly walked towards the cage, putting her hands on two bars and pushing her face between the iron.
"It's time to wake up, baby." She called to the smaller boy. She smiled and watched as Lucian slowly opened his large eyes and looked rather sleepy himself. The giant cat yawned and rested his head on his paws again, not disturbed by the prescense of the boy in the slightest.
Dezi turned back around to Toan and nodded to him.
"Yes, she can be a bit difficult to track down, but it should be fairly easy for me." She half smiled, half smirked before lifting off of the ground as her wings began flapping vigerously. She was nearly to the top of the tent, her eyes scanning over the whole of the area and found it to be empty of the ringmaster so she soared out of the tent and outside towards the setting sun, going lower to view the grounds before finally spotting her not far off under a tree. Two smaller human girls were heading in after she left as she landed lightly in front of Shae.
She gave her a small head bow and smiled.
"Hello, love. I have another question, if you're not too terribly busy. If so, it can wait until later and we could try the idea I have in mind in the next show."
Ian stared after Victoria. He felt really bad for her, but did not let his thoughts linger on the poor girl. There wasn't anything that he could do to change what had happened.
He sighed, then as he turned saw Casper running up to him. He was slightly taken by surprise, thinking before he didn't want him around. He gave him a lopsided grin when he thanked him and lifted his arm up and over to rub the back of his head while still giving that goofy smile.
"Hey, it was no problem. You obviously needed some help, but the real thanks should go- Victoria? I think she went...." He was interrupted yet again by a series of manic laughing sprees. He raised his brows skeptically, and in turn, not understanding the joke. He let his eyes wander to the ground before it was just too awkward for him to stand there while the puppeteer laughed like crazy and he didn't make a peep.
He scooted back slightly before turning around, sighing again and dropping his arm to his side.
He found Kurtis and was glad that he had come back around.
"Hey! So..." He glanced back to see Casper still enjoying whatever he had missed out on and he turn sheepishly back to the magician. "that advice? And it's not like I can just...flat out say it either...This person's...different to say the least." He let out a large breath and Kurtis's eyes with his own violet orbs. They seemed to sparkle with the hope that he was asking the right person.

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."

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."

Dezi nodded, glad that the human girl would be observing everyone's overly prepared acts. They really did work hard to make the show in tip top shape and everything was always perfect. To a t. She couldn't stop the grin from forming on her face, her white teeth revealed when she pulled back her lips in the expression.
"Awh, thanks honey." She let a hand stroke through Arella's hair and then let her hand fall. She really had an issue with touching other people's hair. She hardly ever touched her own, but when it came to others, well, she honestly felt motherly to nearly everyone in the Cirque. Besides the obvious who were much older or those who did not much appreciate her seeming to be responsible for them as well. She sighed at the mention of Jane and the obvious stare towards her sibling.
"I'm pretty sure that it is much different with the two of us. I am forced to love him no matter what he puts me through and I am sure that he feels like it is his duty in life to protect me. He trys to act like an overprotective father, yet fails miserably when I have to step up and take on the actual role of the parent.
No, you and Jane are just more like...opposites, rather than..." She paused for a moment to raise her hand to her mouth as her finger skimmed over her lips as she thought. "well, whatever we are." She gave a light scoff before turning around to see Jane, who added in an expected snarky remark. There weren't a lot of people that she did not like in the Cirque. Actually, she did not dislike any of them usually. But there had always been something about the way Jane presented herself and the way that she always talked down to Arella that would occasionaly put Dezi off.
She cleared her throat, peering down at the younger girl and let out a long sigh, looking back up towards Ian who had decided to head towards them as well. It was not hard to read him now.
I can't wait to watch Casper perform. He always does really well. The angel could swear that if he had been in wolf form, his tail would be wagging.
Ian had caught the end of the conversation coming from Jane and smirked, eyeing the small girl. He felt far away, being this tall.
His eyes squinted when the girl demanded candy from the boy who was basically like the brother he had never earned and he could not help but to scowl down towards her.
"Maybe you shouldn't boss other people around." He basically growled, in effect, Dezi rammed her elbow into his ribcage which he did not even flinch from. Pain hardly affected him, even critical wounds hardly were a bother. More of an annoyance. Ian winked at Arella. She needed someone to stick up for her.
"Yeah, the show started." Dezerra replied in a sing-song voice that really sounded angelic. She smiled, trying to weave the problems away because they always seemed to follow Ian.

Reina

She blinked in surprise at Alcide's remark about her stealing the heart of the crowd, was that the way he saw her?

"I'm sure you're just making fun of me Alcide," she said, trying to keep her voice from sounding hopeful, "I don't think I could steal anybody's heart let alone the entire crowd."

What was it about him that made her want to giggle like a school girl? She had noticed his blush and could feel the colour rising to her own cheeks. Out of all the clowns, she connected with him the most, no, he connected with her. He was the only one who seemed to understand the way her mind worked, how else would he have made the perfect song for her dance? Perhaps the truth was that she was denying the simple facts that lay right infront of her.


Quiller

Quil looked at Jane with wide eyes, she was nice when she wanted to be but sometimes she seemed a little scary, especially when she asked him for candy. Nervously he handed her a pack of red liquorice, hoping that it was a type of candy she liked. The way Jane talked to people sometimes wasn't very nice in his opinion, he wondered if perhaps she liked causing problems.

"One of the clowns gave it to me," he explained timidly, "People are always giving me stuff, I'm not sure why."

This was true, most of the candy he had stashed away had come fom the clowns or various other people and Quil could never work out why. His eyes widened even more as Jane began to talk about setting Arella on fire and he couldn't supress a squeak of terror at the thought. He really hoped that Jane was joking but even as a joke, it wasn't a nice thing to say.

Toan

He looked down to see Nilera performing at breakneck speed, even for trained acrobats, that sort of thing was dangerous.

"Well if she can do that then I can definitely do this" he whispered to himself before leaping into space.

He was on the wire, a vast amount of nothing beneath him, the only thing holding him on the wire was his will. With a deep breath he began to perform, cartwheeling along the rope only to swing underneath it on the last rotation and use the momentum to throw him self into the air. He was not alone, fear was right there with him, performing alongside him but he wouldn't give in, he'd keep strong untill the end of the routine. The show must go on. Finally, after a tripple somersault which he landed in a handstand, it was over. With relief he climbed down from the platform, unless he was mistaken, that marked the end of the acrobats perfomance, he definitely felt ready to take a bow so he could go backstage and collapse.

Jane glanced up at Ian who had approached. He was scary, that was for sure, but what could someone like him do that couldn't be stopped by fire? Claw her eyes out while she slept, maybe, and that was enough to frighten her. Besides, it didn't seem like any physical pain even bothered him. "I'm not bossing anyone around, actually," she retorted, rolling her eyes but taking a careful step backwards. "Me and Quill are friends, right?" she said, her eyes flashing towards the boy with a glare that hinted at intimidation, although she tried to suppress it. He wasn't someone that Jane disliked but she often found it hard to keep her emotions towards one person from spilling over into her interactions with others.

She smiled, actually sincerely, as Quiller handed her a pack of licorice, and the red kind too. "Thanks Quill," she replied happily as she tore the packaging away and took a small bite out of the candy. "At least someone here is nice." She contently munched on the candy while Arella spoke to her, and again all that she could do was roll her eyes. "Sorry to break it to you, but I've been here for four years and you've been here for what... a month? I've learned more from these people than you have." She couldn't believe that this girl would call her out like that. Arella was around the age that Jane was when she was signed to the circus, so she somewhat understood the girl's position, but she needed to learn her place. "But whatever," she started again after a moment, "I won't argue with a kid." She knew that she was only a few years older than Arella and really only a few inches taller, but she figured that judging by maturity, she was like a thousand times older.

Jane smiled inwardly with herself. Fire was a nice thing to be able to control. She would hate to be stuck with some stupid ability like the one that Arella possessed. She quickly finished the rest of the candy, washing it down with a little bit more of her chlorine trifluoride as she glanced back up at the others.

"I heard from one of the clowns that Victoria got like, her wings chopped up or something by The Ticketmaster. Is it true? Do you think he would ever do that to you, Dezi?"

Toan

With relief he bowed and rushed off stage, hurrying to a a seat before he collapsed. He smiled at Nilera as he passed her.

"Hey, you did a great job," he said, his voice shaking.

He blushed furiously, clearly he was still a bit scared from the highwire which was why his voice was shaking so badly, now that he had a moment to himself he could feel that his voice wasn't the only thing that was shaking. The last thing he needed was for anyone to find out how scared he got when performing on the highwire. Quickly he sat down and pulled out his MP3 player, trying to soothe himself with music. He knew that if he didn't stretch soon to warm down after the performance then he'd pay for it the next day but that would have to wait. He needed to calm his nerves first.


Quiller

Friends? This was the first that Quill had heard of it, Jane certainly didn't feel like a friend but the look she gave him suggested it wouldn't be in his best interests to disagree so he said nothing. He didn't really have anything against her but some of the stuff she said made him uncomfortable, perhaps in time though they'd become friends.

"Um...I'm going to go talk to Lucian," he said nervously, "I don't want him to fall asleep during the show."

Waving goodbye to everyone he headed towards the cages. He'd certainly spent a lot of time with the lion today, he'd have to spend time with some of the other animals tomorrow so they didn't feel left out.

"Hey Lucian!" he sang out, "You ready for the show?"