((LOL. Yay!~ *Hugs mych*... and, AND! *Hugs Kioko* <3))

Maya glanced away from the sky, her gaze falling on the huge white butterfly that now resided on her shoulder. It was late afternoon, and the atmosphere in the Circus could not have been more different than it had been this time yesterday.

While there were a few members out in the ocean, and more spread out alog the field, there was still an angry mob of them residing on the beach, muttering under their breath and being rather graphic about what they'd like to do to those officers. None of them, naturally, we're happy about what had taken place. Dravius was, despite what had followed him the past week, respected and loved by most members here, and all of them we're likely to get irritable if the Ring-Master failed.

Sighing through her nose, the butterfly-winged Maya turned her eyes back to Kioko when the pyro spoke, her ex
pression, despite how she felt, was comforting. "You'd probably be surprised," She murmered with a wan smile, referring to Kioko's statement regarding her selfishness. She watched in silence when Nylat spoke to the white haired girl, turning her eyes momentarily back to the white butterfly.

The rather large creature almost seemed to be watching them with a sedate kind of interest, it's wings fluttering for a moment before it took off, coming to land in Kioko's lap. Maya smiled again slightly, looking at Kioko with some surprise when the younger girl wrapped her arms around her waist.

She sighed again, becoming thoughtful when the pyro mentioned staying here with the rest of them despite their problems. She didn't respond... Well, she couldn't. She'd almost accepted Nylat's invitation back at the last town to leave the Circus for a while. Almost. Not quite... Perhaps she felt the same way. She was unwilling, despite how much pain it could cause, to leave the Circus, or Dravius, for that matter.

"Maybe..." Maya replied, yawning slightly. "It really isn't this bad, though... We just... Seem to have sunk into a bit of a pit the past few days," She smiled again, shifting so that she could look at Kioko. "It's nice to know you feel somewhat comfortable here though, despite these certain issues,"

Glancing up, the butterfly-winged teen watched Spider leave as the white haired boy dropped Disera into Kioko's lap, right next to the snow white butterfly who seemed to pay little heed to the summoned creatures form. She would have gone after him herself, had Disera not asked Selvai to do it, and Maya watched him leave before speaking again. "I don't think it was you, Kioko. I'm as.suming everything piled up a little fast. We can't really blame him,"

Inhaling slowly, Maya winced slightly at the prominent headache she now had, before leaning back against the van and closing her eyes; Moving her arm from over Kioko's shoulders. Well... They couldn't really do much besides wait... What happened after that, who knew?... With any luck though, Raphael and Dravius wouldn't have to deal with anything else this week, and neither would the newer members... 

Sighing, Maya opened her eyes and stood, flaring her wings to their full extent, the colour catching fire with the rays of the afternoon sun. "I'll be around my van if anyone needs me," She said with a slight smile, running a hand over Nylat's head as she pas,sed, and leaving the snow white butterfly sat calmly on Kioko's lap.

It didn't take her long to reach her van, and when she did, she beat her wings only once, gaining enough lift to get her on top of the vehicle. Without waiting, Maya flopped onto her back, her wings splayed out either side of her and her eyes on the sky. Her head still hurt, and she was beginning to feel a little sick with concern for Dravius, and stress in general. She sincerely hoped this would all soon be over... It was bad enough she needed to get over things as it were, but with everything else piling up... Maya shook her head, then rolled onto her side and closed her eyes. She wasn't likely to be able to sleep, despite how bone-tired she was, but it served to dim the headache a little, which was something, atleast..

[["i wanna be alone go away."

And Selvai gives Disera the "I TOLD YOU SO" look.]]

Dravius grinned at his friend as he appeared behind him, pushing Raphael gently and listening to him laugh. "No, I can't turn invisible and make someone twist thier words. I'd just march in, threaten someone, and march out. I'm terrible at logic." Dravius paid little heed to the light hit on his shoulder, adding, "'Valiant'? More like sheepish and feeling really stupid."

"The weak?" Dravius still held a slightly amused smile at Yama stalked after Raphael. "Oh? And what happened then? Oh, not the first time in prison. And as for the mental scarring, be my guest. I'm used to it by now. And you really like hearing yourself talk, don'tcha, pinky?" Dravius was indeed confused as to why Zinc managed to just keep going, after he had run out of things to say on one topic, he just twisted into a new one. Quite impressive, actually.

"And I have to admit that sounds quite enjoyable," Dravius grinned in spite of himself, thoughts of a deeply frowning Yama stuffed into a pink dress with puffy sleeves. "I maght have to buy tickets to that. Go ahead, and let me know if you need a hand." Waving bugs away from his face, Dravius shut down his smile, tugging on the ring that rested in his left ear. Dravius lengthened his stride and caught up with Raphael.

There was a little girl from the circus lurking in the forest, in fact, in a tree that was directly in front of the small group heading back to the circus. With a slight shriek, the little girl, around eight, launched herself out of the tree, landing with her arms locked around Sh'Yama, squealing in a high pitch. "You're back, Miss Yama!" The girl had a chubby face, dusted with freckles, and blonde pigtails "I missed you, and Mr. Zinc!" Snuggling her face in Yama's shoulder, the little girl held her arms tightly around Yama's neck, her small face smiling. "Didja have fun with Mr. Dravius?"

[[oh gawd that little girl is going to get her head bit right off. D: okay no.

Sh'Yama does not compute affection from midgets.]]

Spider sat in his web hammock and pulled his shoes off. Yeowch, blisters on top of everything. Spider threw his shoes into the corner and pulled his legs up to his chest. Home in his attic where bad things never happened. But then if he was there he couldn't go outside. Spider liked being outside.

Why did it have to be such a bad choice? Spider's lower lip trembled, and he put his hands over his suddenly very watery eyes. It started as a little sniffle, but might have escalated into all out bawling if there hadn't been a knock on his door. The appropriate response was screeching in surprise.

Who was that? That Selvai guy? They better not have told him to come over, or he was never coming out! "N-no! I... I am fine. Go away!" Spider hoped he was loud enough to be heard. And he hoped for a bookcase he could shove in front of his door in the off-chance he'd be forced to talk to someone or something.

"Well, I didn't look like THIS." Zinc said, gesturing at himself. "As amusing as that would have been. You guys are lucky. So shallow. I bet if I was masquerading as an ugly old guy you wouldn't put up with me at all." Zinc paused. "Anyway, what was I saying? Oh, yes. Prison. Well I sat through it until my bro could bail me out. I had to eat cold Hot Pockets for three days. Do you know what that's like?" Of course he didn't.

"I hear that a lot. And you know, I don't think I talk enough. But you have to admit I have a truly wonderful voice." Zinc said, following Dravius.  Some might sell their soul to the devil to get Zinc and Yama's speaking habits swapped.

Zinc would speak a lot in short bursts and then be silent for the rest of the time... and everyone would just have to listen to Yama rave about ripping people open all day. A bellowed "RIP AND TEAR!" was probably more pleasant to hear in comparison to Zinc's exaggerated falsetto.

Gonna be cocky about being in the big house, was he? He really aught to pop into his dreams and tear his skin off or something. Zinc considered asking to see some prison tats, but doubted they'd be cool enough anyway on such a scrawny and ugly body.

Zinc winced as the flailing, squealing body threw itself at Yama. He held his breath. Touching, Zinc had realized, sent Yama into a fit. A vision of a dismembered, tiny body flew through his mind. Well, that would put the time between incidents at five minutes.

Yama did not flip out. In fact, she only looked a little shocked. The most she did was tense, and her usually narrow eyes widened considerably. She was confused. What was it doing? Anything that close to your neck was surely going to rip your throat out.

Sh'Yama turned her head slightly at the freakish little midget that was clinging to her. Missed her? And Zinc? It was obviously a demon. Sh'Yama awkwardly shifted the bag in her hands and turned abruptly to Zinc. Her ex
pression spoke quite clearly, though she remained silent: "Get it off of me."

Zinc stuck his lips out as if he didn't understand what Sh'Yama wanted, and instead stepped up to Sh'Yama's shoulder and got eye level with the little brute. If the child had been on her head this would have been much harder to do. "Well hello there, Goldie Locks! What were you doing in that tree? Might have hurt yourself."

((Pfft. I went back and read through some of the earlier posts... I can't believe how small they used to be. xD Compared to all these more recent posts, they're tiny. o_o))

At Zinc's crooning send off, Julian had to excerise a lot of self restraint to prevent himself turning on his heel and throwing a well sharpened dagger in the bogeymans direction; Despite knowing it would probably do little good. Well, it really wouldn't do much if what Zinc said had been true. Stupid closet monster. Pity, really; Though he was sorely tempted to throw the knife anyway, even if it caused no permenant damage. It'd probably make him feel a little better. Thinking it over, however, Julian came to the conclusion that Zinc really did not deserve to have even that small amount of energy and attention wasted on him. He got enough of that as it was.

Sighing, the Sword Master slid his hands into his pockets as he walked, some distance ahead of the rest of the group and ignoring the wary glances and stares from the local people. Not too far behind, Raphael followed with an abstracted sort of ex
pression, only pulling himself out of his thoughts when he felt, rather than saw, Dravius catch up to him.

He didn't time to say all that much before a little girl from the Circus propelled herself towards them, eventually managing to cling onto Yama. It came as quite a surprise to the Ring-Master, that this child of the Circus seemed to have formed quite a bond with the Blodwen sibling and the bogeyman in such a short space of time. She must have, in order to have followed them all the way out here. He smiled slightly, then turned his gaze back to the street ahead, addressing Dravius as he walked.

"Sheepish and stupid, huh?" He laughed. "I doubt the Circus will care all that much, you know. They most definately did not seem happy about what happened to you, and I'm pretty sure that my failure would have resulted in some sort of violent uprising," He shook his head slightly at the thought. Yep. No doubt the members would have had something to say, or do, about Dravius getting charged by that woman. As much as they respected Raphael, they felt just as strongly about the Co-Master, and there was very little chance in the way of them letting it lie.

Laughing quietly, Raphael crossed his arms and glanced skyward. "Ah, well. At least now, that's one thing I don't have to deal with," He murmered, looking over his shoulder at Yama, Zinc, and the little Circus girl, a slight smile on his face. He still felt inwardly wary about addressing how the rest of this vacation was going to turn out, because clearly, he didn't know. It was probably just best to keep his mouth shut and go with it.

The rest of the walk back to the beach was pretty uneventful on the Sword and Ring-Master's end, Julian making his solitary way towards his black van as soon as they got within range of the camp grounds. He figured spending the rest of the day alone would be eagerly welcomed, having had enough social contact today to last him a long, long while.

Almost as soon as they had hit the beach, and Julian had left, the Circus members swarmed over Dravius, welcoming him back and shouting a number of colourful, outraged and somewhat rude comments directed at the officer who had apprehended him. Raphael snorted with surpressed mirth, then spoke to Dravius over the voices of the other members. "I'll leave you to it," He laughed, turning and picking his way out of the crowd and making his way towards the vans. It was late afternoon by this point, the sun no longer burning a blazing yellow, but more of a rather pleasant, scalding orange. Well... Surely things could only improve from here, not that he was holding his breath; Despite what Yama had said, hope was sometimes all they had.

The blonde girl giggled and nuzzled her small face deeper into Yama's neck, her clear green eyes glittering gaily as she studied Zinc. "Hi, Mr. Zinc! I was waiting for you and Mr. Dravius!" The girl scrambled up Yama to wrap her small legs around the girl's waist, holding up eight fingers. "I'm this many! And I would'nna got hurt. I can talk to the trees, and the said they wouldn't drop me," The girl looked at Sh'Yama, then slid down the tall girl to land with a thud on the ground, and hugging Zinc's knees, which was arm level for her. "I always knew monsters in your closet were real. The matron said we were stupid to say that," Holding out her short arms to Zinc, she asked, "Can you lift me up?"

Dravius laughed into his hand quietly as the young girl, Miranda, launched herself at Yama, and nodded at Raphael, repeating, "Indeed. Sheepish and stupid. Alliteration and true," Sighing as he emerged onto the beach, Dravius staggered back as a swarm of yelling, and scolding circus performers twisted around him, and he grinned and answered, "No, I'm fine, no, you can't go after her, no, I'm not injured. Yes, I'm sure. No, I already said to leave her alone. No, I can't swim, how can I teach you? Ask almost anyone else." Laughing quietly, Dravius picked his way out of the center of the members, and grining quite wolfishly, pointing towards Raphael. "Weren't you going to do something to him?" Raising an eyebrow, most of the crowd turned as one and yet out a yell, incoherent, teasing remarks as the mob stalked towards Raphael, a grin resting on almost everyone's face.

Laughing more loudly, Dravius trotted away, stretching his arms over his head and looking towards the glaring sun. "Mmm. Might be hot," He murmered, slipping inside his van. he looked around the din interior, thinking that he might want to install the same nails in his closet as he had the rest of his van. Exhaling through his nose, Dravius sat in the red chair in the corver, the one splash of colour to the dim van. If you looked closely on the walls, every inch of it seemed to be covered in ink, notes and bits of letters, sogs, and poems.

[[... mine are kinda the same. D: Character wise. Throwing them all together makes a beefier post but ya.

and seriously, reading back... why is Raphael so popular with the lay-deez? "can he like my character?" "NO I WAS HERE FIRST." "HE GETS TO CHOOSE OMG. DDD:<" "but... but I nevarr get the cute blonde oooneee." and...  "Julian is dumb I hate Julian don't EVAR SUGGEST JULIAN!"

poor Julian. also poor Raphael because everyone is obsessed with him and he doesn't know it.]]

Nylat, at Maya's departure, stood, shaking her fur out before turning to Kioko and flicking her ears up.
"I am sorry to leave so abruptly, but I have other things to attend to. If you need somone to talk to, I'll almost always listen."
With that, she dipped her head in a sort of bow, being formal as she was, and turned around, trotting away. She didn't go directly for Maya's van, but rather angled off to her own, disappearing into it before returning outside, carrying a rather large piece of wood, about as long as she was tall and about as thick as a person's forearm. When looking at it straight on, it showed a carving of wolves, running in a pack, in a straight line. But if you rolled it, they seemed to be spiraling around the branch. On one flat end of the beam there was a carving of a fox, and on the other end, a cat.

She carried this rather carefully in her jaws, making sure that her teeth didn't cut into the wood. She proceeded to Maya's van. jumping up on the hood before making her way up to the roof, flopping down beside her friend, and placing the carving down in front of her, holding it under her paws. She glanced up at Maya, grinning.
"Remember this?"

((Mine are all just fail. And I need to post for Kanec...))

EDIT:

Kanec had left the shoulder he'd been perched on when the group had started going after Raphael, and he now drifted lazily on air currents. He did need to find something to occupy his time, he just wasn't sure what. Maybe try Raphael's suggestion of shifting into something new. But...what?
Minotaur would be cool, but would it be possible? After all, it isn't completely animal. That might mess things up.
He continued pondering, ruling out a great deal of creatures until he came down to one that'd work: Pheonix. Grinning as best a beak would allow, he decided that'd be his next goal, learning how to shift into a pheonix. After all, they were just birds. Even if they were fiery.

((Ahaha. Probably best if Raphael didn't know.... o_o And I don't think Julian cares. xD))

Haivng had his attention on his target location, the vans, Raphael took a moment or two to realise what Dravius had actually said. He glanced over his shoulder, ready to retort and stammering over any words he would have formed and blinking warily and the now approaching group of members.

He snorted, well... What was the point in running?... He did that and he was likely to be running for the rest of the vacation. So, setting that aside, the Ring-Master settled with simply addressing the guy who just sold him out. "Oh. I'll get you back for this," He yelled, grinning at Dravius and backing away from the gathering mob.

Great. Blind the whole law building in town and escape with a criminal, just to get drowned by members who couldn't take a joke. The Ring Master wasn't too fussed, still backing from the group with a slight smile. It didn't take long for him to get dragged into the ocean (Willingly, of course), and what followed shortly after was a continuation of the previous days water-fight. Only this time, with more clothes.

~~~

 Maya, having had her eyes closed, didn't notice Nylat's appearance until the hybrid spoke, and even then, the butterfly winged blonde was unwilling to open her eyes. She still laid on her side on the van roof, moving only to curl into a ball when she heard Nylat's voice, grumbling under her breath, her wings still splayed over her van roof. Her head still hurt, and now her arm had gone numb with laying on it.

Sighing, the girl eventually opened her eyes, her gaze falling immediately on the ob
ject in front of her face. A rather precise, and beautiful wood carving. Hit with slight surprise, the girl pulled herself into a sitting position, crossing her legs and laying both arms over her knees. Despite her initial recognition, her ex
pression was nowhere near warm nor open. She really had no energy to even smile in a genuine way. Fed up. That's what it was. She was tired, and her now feeling ill did not help.

Extending an arm, Maya ran a hand smoothly over the wooden carving that resided between Nylats paws. The carving, she remembered, had been started by the hybrid 7 years ago, the same day she had first met this little group who had started the Circus. "I remember," Was all she said, her voice quiet and a barely visible smile on her face.

Eventually losing the little energy she had, Maya flopped onto her side again and folding her arms over her head,frowning slightly. She was emotionally unstable as it was, bringing up the past was too much to think about at the moment. She slipped her arms from over her head, folding them around her stomach, sighing almost inaudibly and paying no heed to the now shouting members, her violet eyes on the carving. She sincerely wished she could just sleep. Though she probably wouldn't, not yet. her body wasn't being all too co-operative.

Giving up, she forced herself back into a sitting position, sighing, then looking back at nylat. "I'm actually rather surprised you've kept it all this time," She smiled slightly, turning to face the ocean and the sounds emanating from that general direction.

((Crap post... Long day at work. My brain isn't working. o_o))

((Neither is mine, Kuro...))

Selvai had been expecting to be sent away when he knocked at Spider's door, although not with such a high pitched scream.  He jumped slightly at the unexpected screech, eyes widening slightly, before calming down.  As he thought, Spider simply wanted some time to himself.  Understandable, with how hectic everything had been as of late.  At least he could tell Disera he'd tried, even though Selvai suspected she still wouldn't be happy about Spider secluding himself in his van.

"As you wish," Selvai called out to Spider behind the door.  "I'm sorry I disturbed you."  Shaking his head, the magician sighed before walking away from the van.  He eventually made his way back to Kioko and Disera, looking at the summoned creature with one eyebrow slightly raised.  "It appears Spider wishes to be left alone for a bit." He said, trying to keep his ex
pression as neutral as possible.

------------------------------

"Oh, alright," Kioko replied.  It was a bit of a relief to think it wasn't her fault, although she felt bad for Spider feeling so overwhelmed.  Well, none of them were having a great day, so far.

"Okay," Kioko said quietly, moving her arms from around Maya's waist as the other girl stood up and stretched her wings.  Despite her somber mood, the white haired girl couldn't help but admire the sight of the sun reflecting off of her wings and casting fiery rays of coloring all around them.  Her gaze dropped back to the white butterfly in her lap beside Disera when Maya left.  She carefully laid her hand next to it, watching with surprise when the insect began to crawl onto her index finger.  Kioko gently brought the butterfly up to eye level to get a better look at it's wings, careful to not touch them and rub off the protective dust.

"It's okay, Nylat," the white haired teen told her when the hybrid spoke.  "And, thank you both for listening to me." She smiled slightly at Nylat.  "I think I'll be okay now."

Kioko looked up at Selvai when he returned, nodding at his words.  Disera crawled off her lap and shifted into her wolf form before responding to the sorcerer.  "Are you sure he's okay?  And don't even think of smirking at me."

"Of course I would not smirk at you.  But I believe it would be best to wait until he feels like coming back out on his own and speaking to the rest of us again."

"Hmmp.  If you say  so." Disera stretched, yawning, before speaking to Kioko.  "Do you have any plans for today, Kioko?"

The pyro lifted her hand, allowing the white butterfly to flutter away before standing up and dusting sand off of her clothes.  "Honestly, I don't. I guess I'll just hang around the beach."  Hearing the loud sounds of splashing, she looked at the beach to see Raphael engaged in a water fight with a large crowd of Circus members, an amused Dravius heading toward his own van.  "They got Dravius back!" she told Selvai and Disera happily.

"Trees aren't the fastest things in the world, though..." Zinc said, giving said trees a scrutinizing glance. Sniffing Zinc shook his head and looked down at the little booger clinging to him. Matron. It'd been awhile since he heard that word. "Well, your matron was stupid. But, must adults are. That's their big secret. Can't really blame them for it." Up? She was going to kill him with cute. "Of course," He smiled and held the dress out to Yama. "Could you go put this in my van for me?" He asked, beaming.

Sh'Yama had been about to walk away, she was relieved the monkey had lost interest in her. With a barely suppressed sigh she turned back to Zinc. "..." A dress? Why did he have a dre— she didn't want to know. Making another noncommittal noise, Yama grabbed the dress encased in plastic and turned toward the vans. "I'm going back to bed." She mumbled, and walked off.

"Upsy-daisy!" Zinc said, bending down and hauling Miranda up. Why can't they stay this small forever? If only he could regress the twins back down to the age of five. "Don't mind Yama, she's a bit cranky. She isn't used to so many people, so she doesn't know how you're supposed to behave."

- - -

Sh'Yama trooped down to Zinc and Spider's van without a greeting or acknowledgment to anyone around her. It was only when she saw the group sitting near the food van that she decided to give a nod in greeting. Then she promptly shoved her way into Spider's van. 

There was a silence.

"Are you crying? What did they do now?!"

"I'm n-not c-cr-crying!!"

"..."

Sh'Yama shut the door behind her and gave Spider a look, but didn't say anything more. She set the soup cans down on their already cluttered table— where Zinc got all of this stuff and why it needed to be spread all over the van and dangle from webs was a mystery. Yama put the dress on a coat hangar in Zinc's closet, and abruptly turned back to Spider. "How do you even do this?" She asked, and would have perhaps gestured in emphasis at the webs all over, but they were very sticky.  Spider looked down at her from his place and very slowly shrugged a shoulder. "Magic?"

He got a grunt in response, and Yama turned to the door. She paused, her fingers on the handle. "Do you want me to stay?"

".... yes."

"... Okay, help me up."

Miranda giggled as she was lifted, wrapping her arms around Zinc's neck in a hug. "Oh, I don't mind Miss Yama. She's nice, under all that tough stuff." She laughed, grinning widely. Miranda put her chin on Zinc's shoulder, asking, while looking at the waving trees, "How come you and Yama don't get along with Mr. Dravius?" The question was innocent as Miranda pulled back,  to watch a long tree brnach bending to tug on a few strands of Zinc's bubble-gum pink hair. "I mean, he's not mean, jus' a little quiet."

-~-~-~-

Dravius looked at the walls, copying the musical score that he had scrawled on his wrist onto the thick doorframe, in white-silver light that glinted dimly everytime the light hit it. Other scores were scrawled over the walls, mostly slow, drawling songs. The writing on the walls were done in a rainbow of  dark colours, from just-visible grey, to bright, bloody maroon. Dravius hummed the bit of tune, muttering, "Common time," Tapping his foot, Dravius looked up at the ceiling. The words on the roof of his van spiraled in a dark, bloody colour, and seemed to be paint. They were lyrics to almost a hundred songs, looped together and written in impossibly tiny, angular writing.

Exhaling through his nose, Dravius stood on the back of the red chair, his bare feet bright against the worn seat. Coughing quietly, Dravius tugged on a slit in the roof, worming his fingers into a thin crack and pulling, the wood coming away in a bit of a skylight, sending light streaming into the usually dark wagon, making the songs and notes shine, and throwing bits of silver onto opposite walls, forming backwards letters, and Dravius pulled himself up onto the roof of his van, pulling the wood after him. Testing the edge of his van, Dravius jumped lightly onto the next van, making no sound as he continued to the next one, spotting Kioko, Disera, and Selvai standing on the rim of the ring of vans.

Stopping silently behind Kioko, Dravius sat with his long legs hanging over the edge on the van's roof, changing his mind, he hung from the roof by his knees. This van was likely the tallest in the Circus, and even hanging, Dravius only came about eye level to Kioko, and he grinned at her exclamation, saying, "Indeed they did. Do I detect a hint of relief?" The Co-Master's white and black hair hung away from his face, and his blue eye glittered merrily as he looked at Kioko, for once seeming his own age, and not as he usually did, which was much older than he should be.

Eventually, after much pushing and shoving, Raphael managed to get himself free of the mob who had almost half-drowned him. In a show of simply demonstrating the mistake those members had made, the Ring-Master formed an illusioned wave that resembled something out of a disaster movie.

The effect was hilarious, or would have been, to anyone watching who had not been in the water. The oncoming force of the ocean caused the gathered members to flee in a number of directions, Raphael stood using a forearm to wipe his face clear of salt water. He was laughing as he watched them, and as soon as he was sure they'd leave him alone, dropped the illusion, causing the huge mas.s of water to simply be blown away like some sort of powder in a breeze.

The moans and yells from the members simply served to make him laugh more, making his sluggish way back onto the beach and flopping into a sitting position. His clothes were soaked, having not had a chance to make himself equipped for a dip in the sea, and he wasn't the only one. The members who had ambushed him had the same problem, and many of them had headed back to their vans to change.

Inhaling deeply, the Ring Master snorted slightly, raising an arm to cover his eyes as he looked skyward, watching the formation of your typical sunset colours. It made him feel much better. Afterall.. Sunset signified the end of a day, and this one certainly needed ending.

~~~

Maya, who had watched the water-fight with detached interest, frowned slightly when she realised she'd been watching Raphael. She was positive he'd have gone with Dravius. Of course, his being here now and acting as he was, clearly meant the Co-Master had got off the hook, right?... The thought made her feel better, though her headache refused to shift.

Glancing at Nylat, she smiled slightly, edging herself closer to the end of her van roof. "I'm gonna go talk to Raph," She murmered. "I'll be back in a bit," She looked away from the hybrid in time to slide herself with some grace from her van, before making her way to the beach and standing by Raphael. "Didn't you think to get changed first?" She asked, an amused smile tugging at her lips as she noted his wet attire.

"Ah... Yeah... Didin't have all that much time... Stupid kid selling me out," Raphael mumbled with a laugh, squeezing a small amount of water from a single, rather long lock of blonde hair that resided just at the bottom of his neck.

Maya raised her eyebrows, looking over her shoulder and roaming among the vans with her eyes. "Dravius wasn't charged?" She asked hopefully.

"Of course not, I wouldn't have allowed it," the blonde male replied with a re-as.suring smile as Maya turned her gaze back to him. "Are you alright?" He asked her, noting her ill-seeming manner. All he got in response was a small shake of the head as Maya looked off towards the vans again.

"No, not really," Maya replied with a yawn, turning to look at the sea. "I'm tired, and I don't feel too good. Probably just... I don't know, overwhelmed, I guess..." She murmered, extending her wings slightly out of habit.

"Not surprising,"

Maya smiled slightly, her eyes still on the ocean, before she eventually flopped onto the sand next to Raphael. She yawned once, placing an elbow on a knee and laying her chin on a palm. "Do you think it's all over?" She asked quietly, closing her eyes. Raphael knew what she was referring to, and snorted slightly.

"Probably not. This is the Majikus, things are bound to go wrong. But... I think, perhaps, this little era of turbulence will calm a bit..." He glanced sideways at Maya, smiling slightly. "Just... Try, to enjoy the rest of this vacation, alright?" He asked, running a hand through his wet hair.  "I don't particularly want you worrying any more than you have to, and I think you've been through enough for all of us, lately,"

Maya's response consisted of an uncommitting sort of sound as she flopped onto her back, frowning slightly. Well... They'd see.

"Eeh!"  Startled by Dravius' sudden appearance, Kioko jumped backward and narrowly missed stepping on Disera.  "Whoa!"  The shifter ducked behind Selvai's legs to avoid being trampled. 

"Don't do that!" Kioko scolded him, although the girl's relieved tone caused the reprimand to lose alot of it's bite.  Exhaling, Kioko smiled in relief at Dravius.  "I'm glad Raphael got you back.  Everyone was upset about the police dragging you off, you know. "

"More like they were about to go on a rampage," Disera added from where she was peering around Selvai.  Her tail swung back and forth at seeing the white haired boy hanging upside down from the van.  "Yeah.  So don't go getting into anymore trouble, jailbird," she teased as she walked out from behind Selvai, grinning at Dravius.

((Short >_<)) 

Nylat flicked her tail, remaining on the roof with a silent sigh. She laid her head on the wood, between her paws, and watched Maya with careful eyes, even though she was with Raphael. It was a habit she'd fallen into. And it was one she wouldn't let go of easily. She lifted her head, looking at the carved pole as she ran a paw along it. It was, in a way, a suprise to her that she still had it. But it wasn't, really. She had reasons to think both ways. One reason she kept it was because it reminded her of when she'd first met Maya. Remembering those days make the hybrid laugh inwardly, but only grin outwardly, to herself.

Flicking ears back, she again laid her head on the wood, closing her eyes. Yep. The days when Nylat had been a bit more active and Maya had been scared of Dravius. To Nylat, as well as about 99.99% of the other Circus members, it was unbelieveable, the latter fact. But it wasn't. Nylat grinned to herself as she opened her eyes, looking at her friend, sprawled out on the ground. Her eyes shone with amusement at these thoughts, a light rarely seen in her eyes nowadays. Even before that week. With a yawn, she sighed, looking out over the water to the sun, casting red, orange, and yellow on low-lying clouds streaked occasionally with pink, making a pastel any artist would covet. And most did.

Dravius grinned and pulled himself up on the roof of the tall van, leaning forewards and putting his elbows on his thighs. "Sorry. I couldn't resist," Dravius laughed quietly, sliding off the roof to land silently on the soft gras.s. "Hey, trouble usually finds me, or more often catches up from the past," Rolling his sleeves up past his elbows, Dravius tilted his angular face and said, "That woman was after me 'cause I messed up her and her husband a while ago. Either ten or eleven. Hard to remember." Shrugging, the tall Co-Master shifted from foot to foot and said, "Ah, I should probably eat something. I'm getting really hyper," The boy tilted backwards and stood on his hands, moving from one hand to the other. It seemed Dravius couldn't stop his constant movement, as he got back to his feet, tapping his fingers on his elbows with his arms crossed.

"Ugh, but I hate eating. Makes me feel sick and drowsy," Sticking out his tongue in a slight ex
pression of disgust, Dravius turned at watched the sunset, exhaling through his nose. His fingers kept tapping absentmindedly, and Dravius bent his head and said, "I'm really sorry for making you guys worry. The Circus is even more stirred up than usual, and I haven't snapped like that in a while." Shaking his head, Dravius looked apologetic, shifting quickly from one foot to the other. "Have you guys eaten today, or would it be too much trouble to invite you to dine with me?" The Co-Master gestured to the food van, whose constant smoke and scent were drifting lazily through the air, curling into the sky and filling the beach with the smells of food.

[[gawd Dravius. if you're gonna be such a food hating anorexic why don't you go become a super model. D:<

also i should probably post or something. get right on that.]]