[[Kioko is the new little dog accessory. "Look at my Kioko, isn't she like, so super cute? ^o^!"]]

"Preposterous." Zinc said. He was obviously a little girl in a mans body. He listened to her for a time, and then didn't listen but managed to look like he was. He heard "Kioko" and "illegal" and he had to go back to paying attention. "What? That's... okay, firstly, Kioko is not the only person around here that fits that deion. There are loads of people at this circus. I'm sure we'll find one. Sh'Yama is more like a big sister figure. A big sister who will quickly rip off someones face if they're mean to you." He rubbed his nose with his knuckle and looked up at the sky, "Besides, Kioko isn't all that bubbly. Soft and cute, definietly. But not as bubbly." 

Precious? Of course he was precious, despite her sarcasm. Which wasn't all that good, but hey, let them get their kicks somehow. And then she was touching him again. Zinc made a face. It was a face of irritation. He was being publicly hara.ssed. He was just going to have to get Disera in serious trouble for this. Or make her uncomfortable. His disgusted and irritated ex
pression slowly turned to one of amusement.

No one ever willingly got this close to him. Most of them just somehow knew better. It was kind of funny that Disera had walked into the trap that is within arms reach of Zinc. "Well, I do have cooties. And you're within licking distance." Zinc said, and stuck his tongue out. He then moved dangerously close to Disera's face and made that "uuh" noise a.ssociated with your tongue hanging out of your face.

- - -

Spider stared at the serpentine creature that made it's way out of Anur's scarf. Oh no. No. And he couldn't run away!! He got about as still as a dear in headlights and whimpered pathetically when it slithered up his neck. Maybe utter terror would get him back to his old self. He started to shake and put his hands over his face in an attempt to block out the world.

Evan watched this with a bit of apprehension. The poor boy. Not that he blamed him... snakes scared him too. "Ah, there there, Boris. I'm sure it's harmless..." He murmured. Evan made an "o" face in surprise to Anur's comment. "Shadows?" He asked, and turned around. "I.. oh! Fancy that. Huh." He wasn't exactly sure where he should be looking, but he waved in that general direction anyway.

"Press control." Evan repeated. "Hm, that's probably a fun job. Do you make posters?" He had no idea what that implied. Evan had never worked a day in his life and on occasion it was made horribly apparent.

Spider slowly started to slump even more, as if the added weight of the snake were making him sink into the ground. He emitted another little whimper when the snake hissed, and wished he were back in his van. 

((Lol Zomby. Yes. *Steals Kioko*))

Raphael caught Spiders rather off-hand manner, but turned immediately back to Evan when the shorter man spoke. "Oh, no no," He replied, waving a hand, before pausing to shake Evans outstretched one.

"Ah, Blodwen, hm?" Well, that explained his comfortable nature, considering the chances were this man knew Spider. He grinned. "And yes, vacation. We were sorely in need of one," He replied, smoothly skipping the, well, stress-evoking events of the last few days. Vacation?... They hadn't really had one yet, as far as Raphael could tell. He simply nodded at the strangers comment regarding simply being here to visit Spider and Yama. Well, that was understandable.

"Oh, I see," He added with a quiet chuckle. "A tour, then?" Figured, sounded like something Anur would do. He glanced over towards the young woman and watched in silence, his arms crossed, as she addressed Evan. He showed little surprise at the arrival of the snake that resided in the red-heads scarf, and he watched the snake with a slightly amused smile as it approached Spider. He eventually turned his gaze back to Spiders distant relative when Anur spoke about the two observers hiding in the shadows, another, strange smile tugging at his lips. The Circus was rarely unguarded. There was always a member or two keeping an eye out.

He snorted quietly an Anurs surprised exlamation once she'd noticed him. "You should keep your eyes open," He laughed quietly, crossing his arms and listening to Anur introduce herself. "Your very welcome to take that tour if you wish, that is, of course, if Anur is still up to doing so," He smiled in her direction, before he turned his gray gaze back to the snake on Spiders head.

He noted, easily, the uncomfortable nature of the spider sibling when posing as a post for a serpent, and the Ring-Master held out a hand to the snake, careful not to get too close. While he was sure it wouldn't harm him, he was just as sure that giving the snake enough room to make the choice of whether or not to approach him was a smart one. Fettrow was a rather intelligent animal, and it was always best to leave it make its own moves.

~~~

Zyano watched Tara with a strange curiosity. "Oh. That makes sense, I suppose," He flicked an ear towards the moaning waves, glancing off to read a time into the sunset. Sunsets, they were awfully pretty here on the coast. Yawning slightly, the wolf shifted, then turned his head back to Tara.

"I'm an experiment born from Wolf, cheetah, hyena and human, if you really want to know," He flciked his tail. "Pleasure to meet you, Tara," The sand coloured wolf had glanced again off towards the ocean when the human girl spoke, and he glanced sideways. He turned his head only to watch the girl as concern touched her features. He followec the girls gaze to watch as Nylat made her way onto the roof of her van his ears forward in concentration. She wasn't a normal animal, that much was certain. In fact, he had another of those nagging suspicions.

Before he could say much else, another voice caused a slight growl to build in his throat, though there was absoloutely no sound. When he as.sessed that this new man was obviously another of the Circus, he bowed his head slightly, and carefully. "Nice to meet you, Selvai," The wolf replied, noting again that peculiar "whatever" attitude these people had towards him. It wasnt unpleasant, but it was unexpected.

"I go by Zyano, and you won't have met me. I am, afterall, just pas.sing through,"

~~~

"Mm," Maya mumbled, curling her arms tightly around the Co-masters waist and laying her head lightly against Dravius's chest. She felt, by far, a lot more stable here, simply because she had no way of falling on her face so long as the tall being had a hold of her. It was something, at least. One less thing to worry about.

The butterfly winged teen frowned slightly when Dravius mentioned being sorry for nothing. Well, maybe not, from his point of view, but to her it was quite something else, and she had barely thought through that thought when Dravius placed his chin on her head. Again, her current state allowed little room for her to contemplate his next statement, though she managed to tighten her arms slightly in acknowledgement of his words, and pressing her face lightly into the tall males neck. For as long as he remembered, huh?... That wasn't what she recalled, but she was still too tired to address it.

"Mm... You knew a week ago," She murmered, referring to the time Dravius had discovered her feelings here. He should'nt have been afraid of whether or not she returned his feelings after he'd found out for certain. It made little sense. But syaing that, Maya was having trouble keeping up with anything at the moment. Her mind was being too sluggish to co-operate fully.

Also, the change in the Co-Masters temperature was not helping. She was tired and weak, and the warmth was just serving to make her drowsy, though in all honesty, it wasn't unpleasant. Maya thought she could probably stand there quite comfortably for some time, so long as her legs didnt give way.

When the Co-Master did finally pull away, the blonde girl made a discontent little noise as she looked at the sand, carefully stepping back to avoid falling onto Dravius as she attempted to regain her balance. The sudden absence of his slight added warmth made her cover her torso with her arms, watching him silently as he dealt with Kioko.

All she could do was nod slightly in response to the Co-Masters words, then smile wanly in response to Kioko, before turning and heading back across the beach, which proved to be slow going. Her energy seemed to have almost completely deserted her now. Taking Dravius's suggestion, she entered his van without all that much exterior interest, flopping onto the chair he had in corner and smushing her face into the arm of it. It was pleasant in here. Unlike her van, the darkness in this one made her feel like she had been totally isolated, and it was an almost welcome feeling. It was no wonder Dravius has spent so much alone time in here.

She spent a while simply sitting there, before she had to pay heed to the ache she was getting in her neck while sitting like that, before folding her arms on the arm of the chair and staring at the wall. It took her quite a while to note what she was seeing. Words. Lyrics, even. She hadn't noticed them before, naturally, because the last time she had been in Dravius's van she had not really been in much state to contemplate the decoration. She noted, strangely however, that she had never seen them 8 month ago before the Co-Master had locked himself up. Had he done all this while he'd locked himself away?

Maya frowned slightly, resting her chin on her crossed arms and reading the glinting words and phrases, a curious ex
pression in her tired eyes. For something so dark and scratchy, it really was rather beautiful.

Tara nodded in response to Zyano's answer.
"Hm. Another hybrid. Makes me wonder what the world's coming to these days."
At Selvai's approach, she smiled a bit, raising a hand in a half-wave of greeting.
"Ah, hello Selvai. I haven't seen you nor Disera today. And usually, you two are everywhere at once, it seems."
She crossed her arms behind her back, glancing at the water when the wolf did, but saying nothing. For the time being, but taking note in her head. He seemed to glance at it alot. When he introduced himself, she smiled.
"Nice to meet you, too, Zyano."

~~

Nylat heaved a sigh, flopping over onto her side. It'd been a long day, just as the night had been long. And now that her paw was free to do so, it pained her greatly. Walking seemed to calm that pain down. Or at least put it off till later. She opened one eye, to see Tara, and Selvai, as well as an unfamilar, rather large, wolf, and her protective instinct kicked in. She scrambled to her feet, and leapt down, ignoring the sharp pain that shot up her leg/ Trotting over the slowly growing group, she cast the wolf a suspicious, yet curious glance, before flicking her tail and sitting between Tara and Selvai, ears back, and eyes hard. She was tensed, yet relaxed. Not to appear to be on edge, yet ready to attack on a moment's notice.

((Argh. My computer refreshed, and I lost my other post. Rah.))

Dravius looked at the still-red Kioko, and couldn't supress a laugh at her embaressment, but not one borne of spite, but an honest laugh as he collected the girl again. "Kioko, we're just hugging. You don't have to turn the colour of a sunburn and look away. And yeah, we'll be fine." Grinning hugely, the white-haired boy walked swiftly off the beach, his long legs covering distance quickly. "I'll drop you off at your van, then come back with some crutches. I know waiting for transportation must be a little irritating," He murmered, approaching the van that belonged to Kioko, and slipping in, gently letting the girl down on her bed and laughing again quietly, "I'll try to be quiet when I come back. Try to sleep, 'kay? And if you can't, I'll give you something to help," His figure ghosted from the dwelling, his feet making no noise on the wooden floorboards.

The Co-master hummed a slow tune as he trotted back to his own van, rubbing his eyes with his left hand. Grunting slightly as he stretched his arms over his head, Dravius opened the door to his own place of residence with a quiet creak of hinges, shutting it behind him with a click. Spotting Maya in the corner, the tall youth walked over, a slight flicker of concern flashing across his tired face. Pulling a clean, forest green blanket, rather heavy from the closet, Dravius draped it over Maya's shoulders, muttering slightly to himself. Grabbing a pot of shining ink, the boy dipped a slim brush into it and bent in the corner, one of the few free spaces in the van, not covered with ink, paint, and scratches. Murmering something under his breath, he carefully inked out whatever words that were coming from his mouth. The ink shone dimly in the darkness, and Dravius put the ink and brush back up on another table, shaking his head.

Noticing the slim, butterfly-winged girl staring at the wall close to her, Dravius said quietly, "I started over by the bed and worked my way around. This part," Here he placed a palm on the place where she was staring, feeling the deep slashes in the wood. "I did this when I was mad. I don't remember what about. This bit's german, and that's japanese," The boy pointed to some scratches to the left, his hand rising with the rises in the wood. "Why was I so mad. I dunno." Lingering on one word, Draivus pulled his hand away and said, "Ah. I was mad at myself again," The gashes in the wall were deeper than anywhere else, and it was only four letters, spelling out Maya's name in the half light. "I usually keep those to the ceiling. I musta been really infuriated." Shrugging, the boy pulled a set of crutches from his closet as well, saying, "I've got to give these to Kioko. You can use my bed if you want,"

Dravius headed back to Kioko's van, setting the crutches next to the bed, and placing a small gla.ss vial full of a light green liquid, marked on the stopper with a slash of silver.

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

Anur looked horrified at Spider's reaction to the snake, waving her hands in the air quite unreasonably, her breathing increasing in speed and depth. "I'm so sorry, Spider!" She veritably shreiked, waving her hands faster. The girl's ears were pinned to her head, and her snake looked just as bewildered as she did, flicking it's head from side to side. The animal tightened it's grip around Spider's shoulder's and neck almost unconscieously, looking quite anxious for a reptile. Seeing a way out in the form of Raphal's hand, Fettrow glided swiftly towards it, spiraling up the blonde man's arm to wrap around his shoulders. The snake was breathing almost as hard as Anur, hissing in bursts of breath.

Wringing her hands, Anur said to Evan. "Oh, no, Frou makes the posters, and Eease helps.I do things like make sure when we accidentally kill someone, it stays out of the papaers and police files. Uhm. Like when that demon killed that homeless man, I had to clean him up and wipe all the witnersses, which is harder than it sounds," Anur finished this statement with a nervous smile, her long, almost ghostly tail lashing back and forth with anxaietly. "Now, how 'bout that tour?" She said, turning and beginning to walk towards the back of the circus.

((I hate it when that happens... o_o And welcome back Dravvy. :D *Flopcling*))

Smiling slightly, Raphael watched Anur's snake calmly as it made it's way off Spiders form and onto his own, dropping his arm once Fettrow had settled around his shoulders. He lifted his other hand to stroke the snake lightly over it's scaled, triangular head, his eyes falling on the agitated Anur. Honestly. She was so uptight, sometimes... Alright. Maybe most of the time would be more accurate.

The blonde illusionist shook his head, his smile still barely visible as he listened to the tall womans words, raising his eyebrows at her "accidentally kill" comment and sighing mentally. Well, that was bound to make an impression, and not a good one, either. Nothing quite like telling people they caused accidental deaths, pinpointed by the "we" she had used in that sentence. Not that the Demon issue had been their fault. Alto, after all, had not been a part of the Circus, and he had only been brought in by Dravius and Maya because of the state he had been found in. Hell. Even the Circus's last week had not been their fault, not really. All the issues had been brought from outside the Majikus, no-one in the Circus had actually caused those problems.

He sighed quietly through his nose. "Don't take Anur's words to heart," He said, his ex
pression apologetic, no trace of his usual cheery demeanor present on his face. "Things do happen, though I can honestly say it has nothing to do with the people here personally," He frowned slightly, glancing off towards the vans as he continued to stroke the writhing Fettrow. "A Circus of Freaks will always attract some sort of trouble, I suppose," He murmered quietly, so much so that only Anur would have been able to hear him. There was an obvious note of serious doubt in the Ring-Masters voice.

Sighing, Raphael brought his gaze back to the three people in front of him, eventually watching Anur as she headed off towards the vans. "Shall we?" He asked, smiling slightly over his shoulder at Evan and Spider, before following the red-haired woman at a steady pace, his face strangely troubled.

~~~

Zyano flicked an ear at Tara's words, a curious ex
pression on his face. Another hybrid, hm?... How strange. He certainly had not expected that. He tilted his head slightly, before allowing his amber gaze to fall on Selvai, bowing his head in response. "Pleasure," He repeated. "And thank you for the offer, I suppose, though I'm not all that sure how long I plan on actually being here,"

He let loose a woflish smile, then turned his eyes skyward, revelling in the sudden transition that came with late sunset. The blazing reds and oranges had dulled, and were quickly becoming shrouded by the many hues of blues and purples that came with the onset of night. Sniffing, the huge, sand coloured wolf returned his gaze to earth, just in time to see a huge fox-like creature make her way over. He noted silently that this was probably Nylat, the other hybrid Tara had mentioned. Tilting his head in curiousity, he flicked both ears forward, and made absoloutely no move to counter her obvious on-edgedness. He had, after all, trespas.sed on her territory, it was only right she should seem this way; Though he was, admittedly, surprised by her initial calmness.

Having not been in any real mood for causing confrontation, Zyano lowered himself to that he lay on his stomach, his eyes and ears still alert. While it was true he wasn't all that up to fighting, he had also noted Nylat's painfully obvious leg injury, and chose to not purposefully aggrivate her further. She would probably do some serious damage to herself, otherwise.

"Good evening," He said by way of greeting, laying his head on his paws and watching Nylat with a silent curiousity.

~~~

Having had most of her attention focused on the words on the walls, Maya barely noticed Dravius as he entered, and only started paying attention to his presence when he draped a blanket over her shoulders. She watched him in silence as he added more words to the walls, blinking in confusion. It probably didn't help that she was still feeling somewhat slow.

She exhaled slowly, then turned back to the wall, resting her chin on the arm of the chair. The butterfly had been reading through what seemed to be a verse when the Co-Master spoke, and Maya sat up slightly as he explained how he had started this covering of lyrics, eyebrows furrowing as he spoke about being angry.

Angry?... Had he been angry when he was locked up in here?... Shaking her head, slightly, and slowly due to her tiredness, she realised just how little she knew about Dravius's 8 month confinement in here. Well, it wasn;t like anyone had much chance to talk to him. He seemed to keep everyone out during that period. She glanced back to the wall, frowning slightly at her name that had been gouged into the wall. She saw absoloutely no connection between her name and Dravius's anger, though again, that may have boiled down to her lack of sleep. She again rested her head on the side of chair, a strange sort of guilt making itself known, though she was unable to pinpoint why.

She had been about to ask Dravius about it when he left again, leaving her staring at the door with a worried ex
pression. Sighing, the butterfly pulled a hand from under the blanket, and ran it smoothly over the jagged lines that spelt her name. She made a mental note to ask Dravius when he returned. That was, of course, if she was still awake, which she as.sumed she probably would be. She didn't like feeling like she'd caused some sort of unknown problem, like something had been her fault, and the mere knownledge the co-master had gouged her name intothe wall while he had been angry really unsettled her thoughts.

Nylat watched the wolf with a hard ex
pression, not answering his greeting, but instead asking a single question.
"And who may you be?"
She flicked an ear, half wanting to chase him off then and there, half curious. It wasn't every day you came across a hybrid. Despite the aggresive half, she managed to keep herself polite and outwardly calm. It took every bit of strength though. She wished she could talk to Maya, or at least take comfort in her company. But she had no idea where Maya was, nor what mood she was in. Nylat sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. This 'vacation' was more tiring than normal weeks of performances.

((Ny would post more, but she's been home sick all day and her brain is fried. DX))

Stepping agian out of Kioko's van, Dravius rolled his neck from side to side, producing a series of wince-worthy cracks as he traveled back to his own dwelling. Yawning as the door creaked again, the white-haired boy tapped his heels on the wood of the old, black steps. He looked at Maya in the half-light, crossing to sit against the wall next to his bed. "Why do you look so worried?" He sighed through his nose, bringing his knees to his chin. He looked content, his eyelids drooping slowly, before he hopped up and said, "Can't fall asleep now," Shaking his hands out, Dravius coughed, sitting on his bed, and pulling one of his feet up onto his lap.

"Hmm, I really shouldn't leave those nails up," Dravius murmered, grabbing gauze from a shelf on the wall, and wrapping his feet in the white material. "Much better," He muttered. Bouncing to his feet, the Co-Master yawned hugely, stretching his arms over his head until his fingers brushed the gouged ceiling. The underside of the roof was covered in different names, stretching from one side of the van to the other. The far side contained recent names, like Kioko, and Spider, as well as old. Every circus member's name was repeated at least once, Julian's, Maya's, and Raphael's.

"Is your wrist alright?" Dravius asked the girl sitting across from him, tilting his head with slight concern. "I don't want it to get messed up any more than it is, you know?" He coughed again, harder this time. Wincing slightly, he muttered, "That doesn't sound good," Sighing, the boy rolled a bandaged shoulder, gripping it with one hand. "I think I pulled my shoulder earlier. Hard to tell, but it tingles quite a bit..." Shrugging, Dravius took a deep breath and leaned his head against the wall, his brows furrowed as he gazed at the deep scratches covering almost every inch of the ceiling.

"Who am I?" Zyano askedm raising his head off his paws and looking at Nylat. "No-one of any real importance," Standing up, the sandy hybrid glanced over his shoulder, then back at both Selvai and Tara. "It was nice to meet you both. Perhaps I'll see you again," He flicked an ear, then smiled wolfishly at Nylat before turning on his tail and heading away from the group.

Zyano had not exactly lost interest in this... Circus. But right now, he simply wanted to continue looking around the general area. He was, after all, kind of hungry, and fleeing from the town had left very little time for him to do some much needed hunting. From what he could tell here, hunting around the Circus would cause no problems. Clearly, they were accustomed to strange creatures, human or otherwise.

He padded silently back into the wood from which he had emerged, taking notes of pas.sing scents and contemplating the place he had left behind. Perhaps that Circus would prove to be useful to him in some way. He wouldn't be chased by angry or frightened townspeople for one, if he had thre excuse of belonging to a Circus of freaks.

Maye he'd think about it... Maybe.

~~~

Watching the wall proved to be a tedious process, and had Maya not struggled with sleep the past few days, would probably have fallen asleep there and then. She was still well immersed in her brambling thoughts. She had been frowning at the wall, her arms crossed under her chin when Dravius re-appeared and caused her to look over at him, still frowning somewhat.

The butterfly had to think a little bit, focusing her gaze back towards the angry letters on the wall in front of her. "Nn," She grumbled, reaching out a hand to feel the deep scratches that spelt her name again. "You said you were angry at yourself, when you did this," She mumbled, her brows furrowed. "At least, that's what it sounded like," She blinked once, then glanced at the Co-Master. "Why?" She asked, still frowning. "What did I do?" There was an obvios note of concern in the girls voice as she looked back at the gouges. Out of misplaced nervousness, the girl pulled the green blanket over her head, grumbling audibly from the lump of green on the chair, one wing splayed against Dravius's dark wall at a jaunty angle. She evntually pulled herself back out of it, wriggling out of the blanket entirely and glaring at the wall.

Yep. She felt she must have done something, to deserve having her named dug out of a wall in frustration, and she quite suddenly felt herself fearing the answer. She grumbled some more, then glanced back towards Dravius as he dealt with wrapping his feet in gauze, eventually going on to ask her a question.

"Mmm... Fine," She murmered, watching him in silence, a small worry on her face as he coughed. Getting ill. One of Dravius's specialties. She sighed through her nose, listening to him complain about his shoulder before sliding off the chair and using the wall to give her a chance to get her balance after nearly face-planting om the van floor. She walked unsteadily over to the tall white haired being, pushing him gently so that she stood just behind him and reaching up to place her hands on his injured shoulder. She thought she'd actually managed pretty well with mas.saging the tall males injured shoulder, despite the fact the use of her injured wrist made that limb slightly weaker, and not much use. She was doing this more out of habit, than anything. She always seemed to deal with things Dravius could probably deal with on his own, like pulling bits of window out of his face, for example.

Well... 8 years of habits were pretty hard to break.

[[Evan will never trust anyone at the circus now ever. D:]]

"You started it. Warned you not to touch me. Next time it'll be full on Frenching." Zinc said, rubbing wrinkles out of his shirt and making a face. "And with a reaction like that you'll be lucky to even do something to deserve it. Might just be something I'll do on a whim. Out of spite. To mentally scar everyone within a ten foot radius. Anyway, as for Yama. No idea. She's truly just TOO GRAND for anyone we know." He said, sniffing and waving a hand. "Besids she's probably fifty miles away from here by now."

"Welp, stupid plans aside. I'm bored. Seen Julian anywhere? Or hey, even Spider for that matter? I'm the worst guardian ever."