Dravius breathed out through his nose at Kioko's answer and shook his head, letting hunks of white and black hair hang into his eyes. His hair grew fast indeed, as his last cut had been just above his eyebrows, and now, only about two weeks later, there was an uneven line just above the tip of his nose. Blowing the strands away from his good eye, the youth stood, leaving the shaggy hair hanging over the right side of his face.

"No, I'd prefer if we moved a quickly as possible," Dravius replied to Raphael, tugging on a ring in his ear. He still seemed tightly wound, his good eye wide, and constant shifting from foot to foot. There was a renewed bright red trickle coming from the corner of his lips. The Co-Master watched Kioko hobble over to Maya, moving over to stand behind Maya, he sighed through his nose. He set his chin gently on top of Maya's head, just touching the point of it to her gold hair.

 "M' tired..." He mumbled, keeping his teeth clenched shut. "Are you sure you're okay?" Dravius asked again, lifting his head off and examining her cut hand. "Looks to me that you've cut yourself, or've been cut," He was talking quietly, still trying to prevent blood dripping down his chin, and only minimally suceeding. It would have probably helped him to stop talking, but he wasn't Julian. He shivered, a crop of gooseflesh appearing on any exposed skin, from his bare feet to his thin, exposed shoulder. He swallowed, feeling blood trickle down the back of the throat. It was terribly tempting to cough, but he shivered again intsead and exhaled heavily.

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

The dog had nearly fallen over when the brown thing had spoken to him, responding slowly, "The Old One kept me safe, but then was taken, so I came here. The big ones with wheels hit my leg. It hurt," It let out a whine, no meaning, just pain. It yelped as he was set down, and scrambled after The Pretty One, who to his dismay, was standing near The One Who Stank of Death. Whining, it skittered away as the tall male approached The Pretty One. There was also one who smelled like something burning, and one with yellow hair that smelled of nothing at all. How perplexing. Licking The Pretty One's ankle, the dog yelped as it was lifted into the air.

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

Dravius examined the dog, again avoiding several bites to the face, lifting the injured leg. "Car," He said shortly, settling the dog in his thing arms. It seemed too terrified to move, and simply stayed there with wide eyes and ears slicked back. "Raph. Can we keep it?" He asked, holding out the puppy with both hands, and it wagged it's tail weakly, seeming to smile at the blonde. "It's hurt," Dravius added after a moment.

 ((Okey, Zomby. D:))

Maya had turned her attention elsewhere, staring at the bark of a nearby tree to prevent herself from throwing herself at one of the group. Despite the way she seemed, which was pretty well, she was edgy and even scared, and only those who knew her well would have noticed her discomfort. The number of "what-if's" really were not helping either, and she unconsciously kept reliving that bolt of fear that had hit her when Cersis first grasped her arm. A shiver ran through her body, and her wings flared slightly in response.

The butterfly immediately pulled them back, the vivid scalding orange and reds pressed tightly to her form, her eyes falling on Kioko as the pyro spoke. Maya had little time to answer before the younger girl wrapped an arm around her neck, and she smiled slightly. "No, I'm alright," She murmered, returning the girls hug and keeping her injured hand closed so as not to smear blood anywhere besides her own skin. "And he didn't do anything to me," The hug was nice, that, and Kioko had just provided an excuse for her to cling to someone for a while. She felt just a little more comfortable.

~~~

Raphael had watched the girls without a trace of smile, simply because he was too busy being distracted by mulling over the preparations to leave. He came to the conclusion it might be best to set off later that evening. He was almost positive the Circus members enjoyng the beach wouldnt want to be disturbed, and besides. His older members needed rest after all this before preparing to move.

Sighing, he stretched his arms above his head, turning to watch Cersis leave and Selvai approach. He let loose a crooked smile at the Magician as Maya, who had pulled herself away from Kioko sightly, responded to him. "You shouldn't have to apologise," She said, gently dropping her arms from around Kioko and smiling slightly. "I'm not holding you responsible, you know. It would be unfair to do so," She added, attempting to glance up at Dravius when he gently laid his chin on her head.

"Maya has a point," Raphael continued, raising an eyebrow. "You look like we're getting very close to hitting you" The tall male smiled, looking at the shed. "It's not your fault... Your brother made a mistake when as.suming, and acted on it. I'd be more concerned if you and he had actually planned this. I dare say you had nothing to do with it, however,"

~~~

Watching Raphael silently, Maya felt a small trickle of relief. Raphael was willing to forgive, which she thought was fair. It was true, after all, what he had said. Unless Selvai had been directly involved, it wasn't really his fault in any way, though it was pretty clear he was blaming himself.

Maya opened her mouth again to speak when she heard Dravius, and went back to trying to look at him. "I'm alright. Just fine," She smiled, wincing when he examined her hand, and speaking sheepishly in response. "Uh... That was me," The cut was still bleeding slightly, and was somewhat deep. She managed to pout slightly, holding out both arms and looking at the bandage on one wrist and the deep cut on the other. "I seem to be doing a lot of damage to my arms, huh?" She asked, glancing up at Dravius with her arms still held out. She dropped them just as she felt something wet on her ankle, and jumped slightly, only just refraining from clinging to Dravius's waist as she looked at the floor.

She spotted the puppy in time to see the tall Co-Master lift it up, noting its nervous disposition and coming very close to giggling at it. Poor thing. No surprise, most people, and animals, found Dravius a little too scary to handle.

Raphael, who had been silently contemplating the quiet Selvai, looked over at Dravius when he held out the puppy. "I don't see why not... We allow enough people in, an animal shouldn't be too much bother," He replied. smiling warmly at the little animal.

Maya, in an attempt to make the dog feel a little better about being in Dravius's arms, reached over with her splinted arm and scratched him gently behind an ear, holding her cut hand at a distance so that she didn't get blood all over her and anyone else. "He's not the only one who's hurt," She said softly,  glancing at Dravius's numerous cuts and trail of blood. Everyone else seemed okay. "Can we go now?" She asked, using Dravius's arm for balance before she went back to stroking the puppy, looking at Raphael. "I don't feel too comfortable here," Another shiver made its way through her body, as the Ring Master nodded at her with a concerned face.

"Sure. Come on. We'd better go. Selvai, we can talk when we get back," With that, he looked at Kioko and held out a hand with a smile. "Want any help?... It's a good way back to the Circus, and I'd rather you didn't strain your ankle if you can avoid it,"

Nylat nodded at the puppy, turning a bit before sitting down. She wasn't going to press. But when Dravius picked it up, she noticed it's nervous, and even slightly violent, nature. She shook her head. The pup would need to get used to Dravius if it was to stay. Again, she spoke to it, having to clear her throat.
"Be still, little one. You don't want to hurt your leg--or Dravius--anymore than already is. I promise, Dravius won't hurt you."
She flicked her tail, glancing up at Maya with sad eyes. She was trying her best to be comforting, but the discomfort that she practically radiated wasn't helping. She stood, padding over to her, and laid her head against Maya's knee.

((Fail, but I have five minutes, so...))

[[oh man reading this from the beginning... xD

also I'm making up for my absence with a long(ish) post. and to keep Yama from leaving I have concocted a plan. This sadly requires the elimination of Zinc. D: oh well.]]

Maya was returned. All was now right with the world. Yama had lingered back at the cabin, skulking. She wasn't going to go over there. As far as they should be concerned; she was still gone. Evan was quickly backing away from everyone else, relief evident on his thin face. They weren't paying him any attention, and that was marvelous. He beamed quickly at Yama, staring up at her. She didn't say anything, but her eyebrow arched. He was such a funny little man. She wondered why they didn't like him. He seemed nice enough, and completely harmless.

It amused her greatly that they had been more cordial to her than to the short, timid man currently standing in front of her. "I propose," Yama started. "That you do take Spider away from this place. He's a very sensitive boy... too fragile for this environment." She sounded a bit bitter, and Evan's smile wavered slightly before disappearing completely. Spider? She must mean Boris. Yama sighed in a sad kind of way, staring blankly ahead. "It's a pity he likes them so much."

Evan decided not to tell her about his actions while she was gone. The bogey surely told her something similar, but it was possible she had dismissed it as the scary man being a fabricator. Yama shrugged her shoulders, ex
pression still bitter. She very much wanted to run over there and be friendly, but she liked to tell herself she hadn't been missed. It made her feel better. Even then, she couldn't help but silently admit to herself, made her feel a bit sad too.

"Well then, you should go back and make sure Spider is alright. If anyone causes you any trouble... make note of how you want their painful death to be executed." She turned abruptly, heading for the trees. It was possible that the kidnapper had already poofed away, but she was curious anyhow. Yama wished to speak with him. The damage he had done was not enough to cause her to maim him, it had been much worse with the flamboyant cross-dresser. But still.

Evan watched her slink off into the trees and turned around. Well, he wasn't going to get any trouble, because he was going to cheat. With a careful concentration he stopped time, hand on the chain of his pocketwatch. He walked all the way back to where he had left Boris and the Bogey and came to a stop outside the van. He was a bit short of breath. He really had been jumping around too much lately... it was probably starting to have an effect on his wimpy body.

Zinc and Spider were not outside, where he had left them, and he looked around in some alarm as he stepped back into time and everything started to flow naturally again. Spider's suitcase and his shoes were missing, and the Anur girl was lying prone where they had left her. He started to feel a little anxious, but then heard voices. The door didn't shut quite as well as it used to, and Evan admired the damage Yama had caused it with awe.

Evan opened the door. It creaked impressively and Spider and Zinc looked around at him. Spider was sitting on one of the cushions, his suitcase and shoes sitting next to him. Zinc was picking things up and putting them were they belonged. He definitely looked better. Evan felt quite ashamed to admit it, since it was shallow, but Zinc was much easier to look at when his face wasn't contorted into something monstrous and beastly. He was almost jealous, that this creature could choose to look like whatever he wanted.

"Hullo there, handsome." Zinc said in greeting, putting his glittery glue back on the table. "What brings you to these parts?" Despite himself, Evan colored. He must be a mindreader too, or maybe he'd been staring. How embarra.ssing. Penelope would be devastated. He cleared his throat and ignored the pink-haired man, instead looking at Spider. Spider stared up at him, blankly. He still looked quite irritated, but Evan hoped he'd feel better once Yama returned.

"We were going to leave," Spider said, "But I wasn't going to go anywhere if Yama wasn't there." He glumly picked dried mud off of his suitcase and sighed through his nose. "Was Maya okay?" He suddenly asked, looking up fearfully. What a sad face. The poor dear. Evan shook his head, and then his eyes widened at Spider's reaction. "Oh, no no, I don't mean that she— she's fine, right as rain except a few scratches. Nothing to worry about." Evan quickly explained and sat down on a cushion near Spider.

Spider looked relieved, and then angry. Why should he care? He crossed his arms. "That's good." He said. He didn't sound it, but Evan chalked it up to him just being upset still. "Yeah, anyway." Zinc said, brushing a cobweb out of his face. "I was thinking we'd all pack into that thing," He gestured at the closet, "And scoot on over to Yama's motel room when she get's back. And what did you say, Galahad?"

Had he been there for that conversation? Evan wasn't sure, but he was embarra.ssed all the same. Zinc reminded him painfully of Gervaise and Evan liked to skit around that aspect of his old friend. "About what?" Evan asked, and found himself messing with his pocketwatch again. He let his hand go to his lap and cleared his throat.

"About a house. You know, I bet you have a really nice house. Clocks or not. You Blodwens have the tendency to have way too many rooms and things than you know what to do with."

"Well," Evan started, and was about to explain that he never really liked the big houses and the unneeded knick-knacks, when an odd ex
pression came over Zinc's face. It was one of confusion, and something that was most horrible to see on someone of his sorts face. Fear.

Zinc's lips parted and he whistled out a startled "What?" And then, with a sound similar to a vacuum cleaner being turned on, he was sucked away into non-existence. Or at least, that's what it seemed like. He was just all of a sudden, completely and utterly, gone. Evan and Spider stared blankly at the place he had once been. There was an odd smell in the air, like bile and sulfur. And a feeling, an oppressive feeling of being watched. Evan was speechless, but the feeling was unimaginably awful. He needed to get out of this van.

They needed to. He quickly stood, and Spider followed his lead, looking scared, and as if he wanted to speak, but was unable too. Evan quickly pulled Spider out of the van and they both stood outside, staring at it with unease. As if it were some monster, something unnatural. The feeling was still there. It was gnawing. Something else was different. Evan couldn't put his finger on it...

And then the feeling was gone. He quickly inhaled, not noticing he had been holding his breath. He looked up at Spider and Spider looked down at him. "W-what... where did he..." Spider's hands slowly came up and he held his head in his hands, shaking. Evan didn't have an answer. He could only stare blankly at the van. His hand came up, groping for his watch. And his fingers wrapped around nothing. There was never a feeling so strong and horrified as this one, realizing that his pocketwatch— his only reason for still existing at this point— was gone.

His sudden start of utter fear and anguish was not all that surprising, but it made Spider jump anyway.

((My goodness. From the beginning?))

Dravius had been looking with still-hooded eyes at Raphael and Selvai, and looked over at Maya petting the dog, and then at the shivering form in his arms with a slight sigh. "Am I really that frightening?" He asked, gently placing the animal in Maya's arms. "And as to injuries, I'm not one to talk. I've bitten the end of my tongue out when you were stuck in the shed still." Rubbing his forehead, the Co-master turned his attention back to the two men, saying with slightly narrowed eyes, "I don't blame you either, but I heard something of intrest. What was all this about 'Lovers'?" He used air quotes around the last word, blinking almost lazily.

"And I'll patch you up when we get back, May," Dravius half turned to face Maya, stepping back to stand next to her. "And Kioko, I'm not kidding when I say you should rest. We're going to move soon," Sighing, he bent down to bring his red-smeared face level with hers. "Honestly, if you keep doing this to yourself, you're going to end up like me," He flashed a sharp-toothed smile, then straightened up, coughing hard. "Nnn. Getting sick again," He mumbled, licking two fingers to rub the dried blood from under his eyes, although his white hair was still hanging over the majority of it.

"I'll have to fix up that dog, as well. Are we going to name him?" Was the added question, as Dravius lifted an ear on the animal, checking teeth and gums afterwards. "Good shape, actually. Ny, do we know where the little guy came from?" He asked, patting it on the head and recieving a sharp nip that broke the skin. "I take it he doesn't like me?"

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

The dog had breathed a sigh of relief when he was set back in The Pretty One's arms, and gained in courage as time went on. The One That Stank was chattering away, and the puppy snuggled deeper into The Pretty One's arms.

What? The One Who Stank was touching his mouth. Well then, take a closer look. He bit down, hard, and reeled back at the bloody, almost rotting taste of The Stinking One's hands. He tasted even worse than he smelt! And he didn't even seem to be in pain, although the dog had clearly bitten as hard as his small jaws allowed, and three fingers were bleeding. Didn't make much of a difference, the puppy grumped, looking at the dark red stains and stink of gore coming from the male's shirt and the hems of his pants. 

"I suppose you are," Maya responded with a slightly twisted smile, looking at the puppy Dravius held and referring to his words about how frightening he was. "You used to be pretty scary when I met you. Though I suppose I can't say anything, 8 years later I'm probably biased," She blniked when Dravius dropped the little animal into her arms, and she snuggled the dog lightly as he snuggled further into her embrace. She only looked away when the Co-master spoke about the damage to his toungue.

"What?!... Are you alright?... You should deal with it as soon as we get back," She said quickly, her brows furrowed in deep concern before she glanced at Nylat who had placed her head against her knee. She shifted the puppy in her arms, then looked at Selvai and Raphael as they spoke, blanching at Dravius's question. Lovers. The kidnapper had said something similar to her. "Okay," She murmered in response to Dravius. "But not before you deal with your own injuries. A sliced toungue is worse than a cut," She added, pouting stubbornly at the Co-Master and ignoring the fact that the cut on her hand was rather deep. She had been about to say something else when she was distracted by Selvai.

She remained silent as she listened to Selvai's explanation to the Co-Masters question, her face utterly confused. In typical Maya fashion, after the tall painless male had examined the puppy, the young woman grasped the animal in one arm, keeping her cut hand away from it, and started flailing the other one in the general direction of the magician as she blushed furiously. "W-w-w-what?" She stammered, looking stricken, eyes wide and stunned, "... How... B-but... But, what?... How the... You don't come to that conclusion from something like that!" She replied, still flailing her arm at him, her ex
pression both pouty and panicked.

Raphael actually snorted, before rubbing his face with a hand. He had to look at the butterfly as she flailed around, smiling in spite of himself. It had been a while since he had seen Maya behave that way. Basically, very much herself. "What a predicament, hm?" He murmered, still smiling and gently lifting Kioko up, being sure to grasp her crutches as well. "Sorry," He said with a quiet laugh. "It'll be quicker this way,"He nodded to the others, then started walking at a speedy pace, back towards the Circus grounds.

Maya, meanwhile, had started walking in irritated circles, still flailing an arm before she eventually just stopped and sighed, after stumbling a few times. She felt suddenly dizzy.  Her lack of balance probably didn't help, but it was probably her own fault for walking like she just had been doing. She adopted an ex
pression that was tragic, inhaling deeply and wrapping her arms around the puppy again. She watched Raphael leave, then made to follow him, walking at a much slower pace to avoid tripping. She was still blushing somewhat.

~~~

Once the Ring-Master had finally made it back, he made sure to set Kioko down gently, handing her crutches to her and stretching. "We'll probably head off tonight..." He said, looking at the young pyro. "For now, I think we should just... Relax, if possible."

Smiling slightly, he glanced off towards the beach, his eyes distant. He could only hope that any other vacation would not turn out like this one.

It couldn't have just been a coincidence... talking about leaving and Zinc disappearing like that. That didn't explain his pocketwatch. Why would his pocketwatch be gone? Evan moaned incomprehensibly, hand over the spot where his pocketwatch had been. It was like someone had ripped his heart out of his chest and ran away with it. But that was silly, because that had happened a very long time ago.

Spider's hands clasped in front of his chest, and he looked down at Evan in worry. Zinc gone and now Evan all upset again, oh what was he to do! Was it one of the circus members? They already hated Evan, and they didn't like it when people tried to leave— it would be so easy to blame them, and it probably was one of them.

"M-maybe Yama will know what happened!" Spider muttered quickly, and grabbed Evan's wrist, and started to tug him away from the vans. He wasn't sure where he was going, but Maya had been kidnapped... and Yama went there. So he just needed to go in the direction everyone else was coming back from.

But he didn't want to be seen. He followed the trail Yama had taken, instead. It would be so much better once they left. This place, this horrible place. He didn't care what stupid Julian said, it wasn't going to get better! Spider was sure it was always like this, and had always been like this, but Julian was just too thickheaded to notice it. That was obviously and completely the reason.

Evan stumbled over himself, being pulled along by the much taller Spider (though it was debatable if he was any stronger than Evan was) and could only mope silently, his other hand still on his chest. Oh it was pointless now. He couldn't live without that watch! Let them kill him right now, he didn't mind! Where were those awful murderers when you needed them? No, no, don't think about that.

Think about what happened. Zinc was quite old, he was at least a hundred years older than even Evan would be if he hadn't skipped time to be here. He was also very powerful. To hold a physical form during the day, for a long period of time...

Evan could barely imagine how powerful you'd have to be to just... just swat him down without a fight. It was a chilling thought. He somehow doubted it was one of the Circus members... and then he thought of Carlene. He'd warned Yama, he
d told her he was sending people after her.

What if... what if he came himself? It was a ridiculous thought. He'd never even seen Carly before! He'd only heard stories. The man always made other people do his dirty work. She would know though, wouldn't she? After all, she was raised by him. Feeling motivated to get to the bottom of this (even if it was very bad news), Evan picked up the pace and stopped floundering around.

Yama would know.

[[also the only drama going to come of this besides Evan and Yama freaking out over being stuck here is Spider still hating everyone. so uh... don't worry. (like I'd throw a deranged god modding psychopath in here after Cersis's escapades).

and I just noticed Cersis's Beard now has a character profile and I tell ya, I haven't quite chuckled that much in awhile. xD]]