[[My family has been making me spend time with them. So many... games... of Clue...]]

"Bluh bluh." Yama muttered, almost boxing Evan upside the head as the goatee'd little man stumbled back over to them. But that was almost impossible to do, as Yama a.ssociated such an action to punting a puppy, or stomping on a flowerbed. There were just some things you don't do. Naturally she now a.ssociated a majority of the Circus with the puppy punting crowd, after Zinc's news report.

"I'd think you'd know better than to hold conversation with a criminal," She remarked blandly, turning her nose up at Evan as she twisted back around. She was a bit steamed about what Average, Neutral and Beard had said about upholding a bargain. She'd uphold his face with her boot. Or something. Sh'Yama was very tired, bitter, and she had no time for witty comebacks.

"Well," Evan huffed, sounding a bit irritated himself, "I've been having conversations with criminals all year— I mean, for two days! What's talking with another going to do?" He'd almost forgotten he hadn't been gone for six months to canoodle with the so-called rule-breakers of Halifax, before coming back here. And if he was going to be completely honest with himself, he was quite sure that Gervaise might have been a rule-breaker himself. But he'd never killed anyone, unlike these Circus Freaks, if he could excuse himself for the language.

Nobody... except... Evan quickly derailed that thought process. He didn't like to think about that. He didn't like to even speculate. Evan was fidgeting again, but this time, instead of groping for a pocket chain that wasn't there, he was rubbing his finger. His wedding ring was usually there, but...

People thought he wasn't healthy, wearing a wedding ring when his wife had been dead for nearly ten years. So he'd taken it off and locked it away at home... nobody really questioned the watch, and that was really more important to Evan than the ring. And now it was gone too. Oh, Penny would scold him for being such a flibbertigibbet who couldn't keep track of things. Such important things...

His thoughts trailed off at the sudden concerned look Spider gave him. Maybe it wasn't the first, but it was the first he noticed. Evan smiled a wan smile. It wasn't really a smile, but it usually pa.ssed for one. Sh'Yama might have been fooled, but it didn't seem to fool Spider, and his frown deepened.

Evan really hoped he hadn't put to much of a rift between the boy and this... this "home" he had been dumped in to. He truly hoped those peeping shadows didn't come around any time soon, because if Spider didn't do something to them, it was almost guaranteed Sh'Yama would. Evan had a feeling that the bogey hadn't fabricated or left out their story, he was quite upset over their privacy invasion.

If he had voiced this to either, both of them probably would have agreed that they earned it.

They were back at the van. Sh'Yama looked particularly bristled, and kept looking over her shoulder. Spider knew she didn't want to be seen, and would probably fly off the handle if anyone came skipping over. The only exception to the rule was Kioko, and he doubted she'd be around here right now anyway. There was a crowd by the beach, he had noticed when they were walking back. She was probably down there somewhere, and all for the better.

Sh'Yama would have been wearing a sneer, if she weren't so unsure. She prodded the door to Spider's van open and made a low noise. The smell was still there, and it wafted out of the van in a invisible plume. She stepped into the van, looking around at the mess she had missed earlier before looking down at the floor. There was a large black smear on the floor, and she indicated this with a point of her finger.

"Was he standing about here-ways?" She asked, crouching down before getting an answer, though Spider and Evan both emitted tiny squeaks of confirmation. Neither wanted to go inside, but neither wanted to be too far away either. They stood outside the door, Spider easily looking over Evan, who was almost a foot shorter than him.

The smear would have been nothing to a smear to untrained eyes, but Sh'Yama recognized patterns in the strange, almost oily sheen. There was a tiny pool of green liquid on the had-been sigil, and Sh'Yama distinctly remembered that same not-blood leaking out of Zinc whenever she had the chance to cut him open.

He wasn't really banished— his body had just been disintegrated. It was possible he was still somehow around, watching them, but lacking a physical form. That was a complication. Sh'Yama didn't know how he went about constructing it... and knew even less about what it'd take to make is not exist. Sh'Yama rubbed her chin, before standing up.

For a time she remained silent, staring at her brother and their... whatever he was. Had he said uncle? She couldn't remember. "He isn't dead. His body was disintegrated." She raised her hand and made a little popping noise as she spread her fingers, mimicking a tiny explosion. It was somehow made more grim when they thought about how that would feel. Pop. Evan suddenly very much wanted to throw himself headfirst into the nearest blunt ob
ject... his watch! Pop!  "And you said your watch... disappeared at about the same time?"

Evan's hand crawled back up onto his vest, his hand over the rock in his pocket. "I... y-yes." He muttered, turning slightly green. Sh'Yama wondered if he was going to be sick, and wondered why this watch was so important. Without speaking she took a few steps forward, and batted his hand away from his pocket, not ungently, and pulled the rock out of his pocket. She didn't ask why there was a rock in his pocket, but merely looked at the bottom of the rock. Looking for residue. There wasn't anything but dirt.

"I doubt your watch suffered the same fate as Zinc. It would take a lot of effort to sneak a sigil into your pocket— I'm sure you'd notice someone drawing on the inside of your vest— so this leaves us... with more questions." She dropped the rock back in Evan's pocket. "It's quite possible your watch had nothing to do with what happened to Zinc. Some members have... sticky fingers. This might have just been a coincidental distraction for a little thief." Absently, Sh'Yama cracked her fingers. "If that's true, I will find it soon. You smell nice, Evan. I'm sure thats rubbed off on your watch."

In any other circumstances, Evan would have been embarra.ssed, or creeped out, or both. But this was Sh'Yama, and he simply took her word for it. When Spider gave him a curious look, leaned over, and stuck his nose in Evan's hair, however, that was enough to make him feel a little embarra.ssed.

((And Ny is being lazy. And was drawing with a friend's tablet. And will be gone the next three days.))

EDIT:

Kanec flicked his tail, grinning slightly at Karene's response to his taunt. As she left, he raised a paw in farewell. At Disera reminding him of their contest, he flicked back his ears. "Oh, our contest is still on. I'll actually be waiting at the beach, if you need me." With that, he turned, padding away, leaving somewhat large pawprints behind.

((Too lazy to post more. Dx))

((o3o Time skip soon. As soon as we get everyone in their vans. xD

And Nyyy. Stop being lazy. D<))

((I'm seconding that, Selvai. Maya is dissapointed in you, Dravvy.))

Rpahael listened to Disera in silence, nodding at her words. "I can only imagine," He murmered, watching as the Shifter left after Kanec, intent on taking him up on his challenge. With a slightly amused snort, the tall blonde illusionist took a few steps away from the tree, his arms crossed and his eyes roaming the Circus camp grounds.

After a moment, he shrugged, then walked off, heading away from the beach and towards the vans. He spoke with a number of members as he pas.sed, including Rev and Alora about moving the vans that could not be driven by their owners. Specifically the young ones and those who couldn't drive.

Once done, Raphael  then made sure that everyone else was accounted for before heading back to the beach.

~~~

Maya had returned to stroking Sid when Dravius retorted to her suggestion of a walk, and she snorted back at him before elbowing him lightly in his side. "Fine. Sit there and make your stitches worse." She frowned at him, then shrugged and turned her gaze back to the swirling ocean.

"And I doubt it," She laughed, agreeing with Kioko, looking back in the Co-Masters direction. "Your too important to Raphael for the Circus to leave without you. Someones bound to notice," She smiled slightly, then shifted Sid in her lap just as Dravius continued braiding her hair. She was right then. He was easily amused. Maya glanced back towards Dravius at his next statement. Cold?... I t really wasn't. Even to Dravius, it shouldn't have been cold. Before she mentioned anything however, she looked at Kioko with a smile. "Of course, if you don't want Rev to drive, Alora will do it for you. She can move things without touching them, and she usually moves the vans that have no drivers. She'll do it without being asked too. Raphael's foerver making sure that no van is left behind,"

She turned again to watch Dravius carefully as he spoke to Kioko, a flicker of concern touching her features at the tall males mention of a fever. Should have been expected, really. Dravius was forever getting ill. Maya sighed, leaning over him slightly as he flopped back on the sand.

"Dravius?..." She mumbled, placing the back of her hand on his forehead. Even just being slightly warmer than the avarage human usually meant he was pretty ill. She shared a concerned glance with Kioko, then stood up, gently placing Sid on the sand, before she gently grasped Dravius's wrist and started tugging on it. "Come on," She said, frowning slightly. "You need to get to your van... And get some sleep,"

At that moment, Raphael walked up, hands in his pockets and his face curious. "What's all this?" He asked, glancing between the sitting Kioko and Sid, to the concerned butterfly and the dozing Dravius. "The Circus is getting ready to go," He added. Maya responded with a slight huff as she continued to tug Dravius' arm.

"He's not well." She murmered, frowning at Raphael, who raised an eyebrow. The blonde walked over to Dravius, and mimicked Maya's moves by placing a hand on the younger males head. "Uh... I see. If you can get him to his van, Maya, try. I'll bring something to you that should help this fever. We'll be travelling for a day or two anyway, so it should have plenty of time to work,"

Maya nodded slightly as Raphael left, heading in the general direction of his van. Then, with a quiet sigh and determined pout, she started doubling her efforts to get the Co-Master off his backside. "Oi, Dravius. Get up, come on... We're moving," She gave an extra hard tug, then, seeing as there was no way she could move the tall males weight, lost her grip on his arm. The result was that the butterfly flopped heavily backwards, landing with a soft flump and puff of sand. "Pff," She grumbled, crawling back over to the Co-Masterand placing her good hand on his chest. "Dravius," She grumped, shaking him weakly. Due to the numerous injuries on both hands, there was a slight lack of strdngth there. "Get up, you loser. You need to go to your van," She continued, still gently shaking the Co-Master, before trying again with tugging on his arm.

All the noise outside had faded to a dull roar, and the faint talking thudded over the roaro in Dravius's ears. He only faintly felt Maya put her unusually cold hand on his head, and he groaned slightly and turned away. It was far too cold out here. He shivered again, to tired to pull his arm away from whoever was pulling on it. It was annoying. He didn't want to get up, and the person's hand felt like a block of ice that had ahrdened around his hand and wrist. A new thudding joined the fray, and decided to press another hunk of ice to his face. Moaning louder, Dravius turned his face to the side and pulled his hand away from the other ice.

For a bit there was no ice on him, and it was nice, although the temperature outside was dropping quickly. Dravius was now shivering violently, and it didn't help that someone had again wrapped a soaking wet washcloth around his wrist and was tugging on his arm. The roar was slowly turning back into noises, the thuds into voices. Maya's voice swirled through the dull roar, and the boy curled his hand into a fist, shaking his head no. "It's too cold," He said quietly, pulling away from the girl. "And you're too cold," he said, jerking his hand away from the freezing one.

Dravius felt a slight pressure on his chest, and a slight chill. The shaking wasn't helping. Over his closed eyes, his brows furrowed, as if he was in deep thought. He cracked open his good eyes, but it seemed dull and glazed with fever. The eye focused on Maya, while she w*censored* shaking him, and then the tugging resumed. Why the tugging? He pulled away again, and rolled ont his side and onto his hands and knees. Suddenly, he pulled himself to his feet, swaying slightly from side to side. His bad eyes and good eye were almost indistinguishable from each other, they were so unfocused and glazed over.  

"Why?" Dravius murmered, putting his hands into his pockets. He moved towards his van, almost tripping over the stairs and he unlatched the door and went into the blackened room. It smelled of candle smoke more now, and the Co-master stumbled over to his bed and ripped back the covers, burrowing under them. It was still terribly cold, even colder than it was outside. All you could see was a shock of bright hair in the gloom, and the sound of teeth chattering interspersed with hard coughs.

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

The Stinking One smelled like sick, and it stank even mmore than his usual smell. The Pretty One seemed nervous, which made Sid nervous. He barked, running in a circle around The Stinking One, who was now on the ground shaking. He was the wrong temperature, as Sid pressed his wet nose to The Stinking One's forehead. Entirely too hot. Whining, Sid ran to The One Who Smelled of Firewood and pawed her legs, looking back towards the other two.

((Hokey. Time skip, I think. New scenery. 8D))

Maya had still been shaking Dravius lightly when the Co-Master finally decided to pull enough will together to move. She knelt back quickly, to avoid being trampled by the tall, white haired male as he made his unsteady way to the van. The blonde immeidately stood, following Dravius' movements with her eyes, before following him, her ex
pression determined.

As she walked, she immediately realised she'd missed something and paused mid-stride before turning and looking somewhat sadly at Kioko. This was all they needed, after the week so far. They certainly had sucky luck now that the Co-Master seemed unable to do much in this state. "Kioko?" Maya asked as she quickly retraced her steps,  leaning slightly to stroke Sid. "Would you mind taking care of this one?" She pointed to the puppy, before straightening herself and smiling slightly. "You should probably head to your van too, or Yama's if you don't want to be on your own. Seeing as we're heading off soon,"

The girl paused, then sighed, before she turned again and walked away, heading back towards Dravius's van. For some bizarre reason, his illnesses always seemed worse than anyone elses. Which just figured, really.

With a sigh, the girl cracked open Dravius' door and slipped through it, keeping the light let in to a minimum, just in case his eyes had become sensitive to it. It happened with some illnesses, after all.

Quietly closing the door behind her, the butterfly sat herself Dravius' bed, watching him, or what she could see of him, with a concerned face, one hand lightly on his blanketed shoulder. At that moment, the van door opened again, and Maya glanced quickly over her shoulder in time to see Raphael before he closed the door. The rough sound of sandpaper was heard, shortly followed by the dim glow of a lit candle as the Ring Master came up to stand beside Maya, holding a little clear bottle.

He took one look at Dravius then rolled his eyes. "No way we're gonna get him to drink this, huh?" He murmered quietly, before heading off to Dravius' closet and rummaging around. He came out a short time later carrying one of Dravius' needles.

"An... Injection?" Maya murmered. She was pretty sure you didnt need an injection for a fever. But saying that, it was unlikely Dravius would be willing to drink the stuff, even if forced. She slid of the bed as Raphael swiftly lowered the covers slightly, jabbing Dravius in the arm andjust as quickly covering him back up. "That should do," He muttered, smiling slightly at the nervous butterfly. "He might be out for a few hours, with any luck, it'll speed up his recovery. He might even feel a little better by the time we stop,"

The Ring Master threw one last glance at his Co-Master, then shrugged and walked to the door. "I'll have Alora move his van, and yours," With a nod, the illusionist slipped out the door, leaving Maya looking after him with a pout.

She eventually looked away from the door and watched Dravius for a while, up until the van started moving. The girl headed to the front, and noting that no-one was driving, as/sumed Alora had been as;signed the task of moving the van. With a sigh, she walked back into the back of the van, before rummaging around for the green blanket she'd slept under previously, and curling herself into a poofy green ball on the red chair in the corner.

Well. Whatever... She best get some sleep while she was able.

~~~

*Time skip o3o*

A good few hours later the Majikus came to a stop a short distance from a small town, albeit bustling. The vans stopped at the base of a large hill, a small wood behind and the town splayed out before them.

Raphael, who had been driving his own van for the past couple of hours, stood just beyond the Circus grounds, his eyes on the town. He wasn't all that sure about starting up anything immediately, and decided to place the dates on the flyers for 2 days later. That way, the Circus would have time to adjust to it's new surroundings.

Karene was another member already up and about, having activated the Circus's protective barriers earlier that day, as well as Julian, who stood beside the Ring-Master. "You sure about these dates?" He asked, holding a thick wad of flayers in his hand.

The blonde nodded. "Yeah. No point rushing," He smiled. Julian watched him for a moment, then shrugged and dissapeared, heading into the town in order to disperse the advertisments. Raphael glanced skyward, noting the time to be around early afternoon as he crossed his arms, blinking slowly. A slight movement caught his eye, andthe blode turned his head to watch as Maya approached yawning.

"Oh. Why hello there," He laughed, as Maya just looked at him, before smiling in response. "I take it you feel alright?... How is Dravius?"

"Uh. I'm alright. And Im not sure... I was asleep the entire time... I think he's sleeping though," She sighed slightly, then flared her wings in order to work out any kinks.  She shrugged, then walked past him, heading towards the food van which was just beginning to attract some Circus members. She ate a very quick lunch, before leaving with a, to be blunt, huge amount of strawberries.

She walked past Raphael again on her way back to the Co-Masters van, the Ring-Master watching her go with a slight smile, eventually snorting and pulling his gaze back to town. The girl, upon arriving at Dravius's van, slid herself in through the door, glancing at the green blankets that were splayed over the chair. She'd had a bit of a battle getting out of it earlier... Shaking her head, Maya flopped lightly onto Dravius' bed, prodding him lightly once in the side, then leaving the strawberries on a nearby table for him when he woke. That was, of course, if he even had an appetite.

Heading back to the chair (With a handful of fruit for herself), the butterfly folded the blanket, then sat on it, looking thorugh a number of the Co-Masters strange and rather dark drawings before turning her attention to the walls and shining inks for lack of anything else to do. She sincerely hoped he;d feel a little better when he awoke... Even if only a bit.

Back outside, Karene approached Raphael from behind, causing him to jump lightly when she spoke. "The protected parimeters are all set. How long you planning on being here?"

"Not sure. Maybe a week or so, not too long,"

"Ah," The young woman crossed her arms behind her back, following Raphaels gaze to look at the nearby town. "The Majikus. Back in business," She murmered, smiling.

[[Hi meet Willow. Now my character gender ratio is even. Even though Zinc was a girl.]]

Her van wasn't much of a van at all. It was an enormous recreational vehicle. She'd paid for it herself. A luxury bus, really. It had giant quarantine sticker on the side and the quiet hum of a generator was almost always present. She hadn't slept in two days, and had driven herself. Willow didn't really like letting other people touch her things, and the steering wheel was a big no-no.

The goings-on at the Circus had escaped most of her attention. But she made sure someone else kept track for her and came around to let her know what was going on. Though she found it odd that no one spoke to her for a week (about circus things, anyway. She was still well informed when it came to gossip), she didn't question it.  A few times during the stay at the beach she'd peeked out at the water, but never left her van for too long. Will wasn't a fan of the humidity, and the sticky sand. So she stayed indoors with her AC and a laptop, going over one thing or another.

There were going to cut her funding. Not like it mattered. They must have forgot that she didn't really need their funding to begin with. But she blackmailed them a little bit anyway. She might not have minded if they'd been up front with her, but no, they had to be sneaky. Will reflected on this as she sat in the drivers seat, still a little groggy.

Somehow, she had dozed off. It was a good thing she had done it when fully parked and shut down. Yawning hugely, she stood up and stretched her arms out, and her back cracked loudly. She itched her nose as she shuffled pa.ssed the drivers seat and headed for the kitchen. It was a straight line walk, at the end of the van by the restroom. The coffee would be cold— she hadn't turned the generator on yet— but it would be the start of her morning, like it always was.

Willow picked up the coffee pot, staring dazedly ahead and automatically grabbing a freshly cleaned coffee mug, and poured. Nothing came out of the coffee pot. Will stared at it incredulously. All gone? She didn't remember drinking it all... oh well. She set the coffee pot down and opened the cupboard. She'd just make a fresh—

Her coffee was all gone too. There was a bag with a few coffee grounds in it, and that was all. She stared at it with a slight frown. Well. Guess that meant she needed to go to the food van. The thought sent a wave of revulsion down her spine. It was always so messy and crowded. But the coffee was important. She smoothed her hair back, and fished around in her cavernous pockets for her headband. It was plain and black, and she wrapped it around her head.

With that done, she stepped outside, not bothering to change out of her PJs. As if there would be a reason to this early anyway. Her PJ bottoms were light blue, and covered with little cartoon images of ducks, and her top was a black t-shirt that was three sizes too big. She shoved her hands in the pockets of her coat and squinted against the light. Will sniffed the air, and headed for the food van. Looked like a nice town, over yonder. She'd have to send someone to get her some more coffee.

Sh'Yama didn't want to stay in this place. But the van did belong to them. She had considered letting Spider drive, but she was pretty sure he didn't know how to ride a bike, let alone drive this monstrosity. Zinc usually did it. But now he wasn't here. One of the more helpful Circus Members had volunteered to drive them when they started moving, but he was politely rejected. As politely as Sh'Yama could muster, in any case.

When they finally stopped she made sure nobody was going to be coming into the van. This could be credited to Cersis for giving her the idea, but she went and put a full protection on the thing. One that hurt if they tried to force through it. Initial contact gave you a smart little spark, further pushing got you a nice jolt. When this was done she shoved Evan out of one of the beds (the other being occupied by junk that they had neglected to pick up) and crashed into a nap.

Evan woke up with a little yelp, bewildered and in the floor. He sat up, shocked that Yama was already snoring, her arm thrown over her face, and her still booted feet hanging over the edge of the comforter. It was an odd position to sleep, all sideways, but Evan wasn't going to wake her up to tell her that.

Instead he rubbed his now sore back. Everything was sore. But mostly his heart, if he could be allowed to be so dramatic. The rock was still in his pocket, and he was quite thankful for it. Mostly because it was the first gift he'd received in a long time, even if it was just a dirty little rock. He stood, and looked at the door. It was still slightly crooked, but it was shut.

Would he risk going outside? He very much wanted to wash up and get a change of clothes. Why hadn't he thought to pack anything? Well, he hadn't imagined they'd still be here, that's why. He doubted the Blodwens would have anything that would fit him, either. Most of all he wanted to shave. You can't have a goatee and start to show shadow. That just made you look like a bum.

Maybe... just maybe he could run into a Circus member that didn't want to murder him who would be willing to help. Evan stood. Well, there was no point existing anyway, if it came to that. He'd already fashioned his will to give everything to Boris, so it wasn't like he needed to be alive to make sure the boy was housed.

Before he left he unstrapped Yama's boots and set them on the floor next to her. He was stepping away from the van, wiping off the lenses to his gla.sses when he almost bumped into a crazy haired woman in her slippers. "Beg your pardon, ma'am." He had said hastily, and Will looked him over once.

"You're new." She said, lips parting in a grin. It made Evan feel a bit uneasy. She pulled her hand out of her pocket and held it out to him. "Will Kirk." He stared at the slender hand and shook it once. "Evan Daudet." She pursed her lips at that. She had heard things. Willow looked him over once again, this time with a more critical eye. Perhaps he was a different Evan. He was a bit unkempt but she doubted this pleasant man with the rock in his vest really deserved the contempt he received.

Loony or not. "Ah." Was all she said in response. "I'm getting a coffee." She looked at the food van, "Don't come with me to the food van." She ordered. Evan stared at her for a second, realizing that despite what she said he very much wanted to walk her to the van. He was walking along with her, chattering animatedly about the week and how gosh darned awful it had been before he realized what he was doing.

Dravius had only dimly noticed Maya come into the wagon after him, for the reason that the temperature still seemed to be dropping, which rendered the blankets useless. How frustrating. He tried to conserve as much body heat as possible by curling up as tightly as he could. His toes were freezing. The Co-Master shivered constantly now, a miserable looking ball of bnlanket and flesh. A glow showed faintly through the top of the covers, now, and someone's hand was on him. The roaring in his head persisted, and Dravius' own breath rasped in his ears. Far too loudly.

A voice cut through the roaring, vaugely familiar, but Dravius couldn't make out any words. It was just white noise on white noise at this point. A larger space of light flooded in as someone lowered the covers, causing him to bl
ink quickly, then a slight pressing on his arm. The blanket was thrown back up just as quickly, and all of the muscles in his upper body were shaking hard. The van lurching forewards a while later made his stomach move the same way, and Dravius had to move a hand to clap over his mouth. His eyelids had been steadily drooping, regardless of his efforts to keep them open. He was snoozing for only minutes at a time, lying somewhere inbetween fevered black and the swimming, swirling walls of his van. The walls made him sick to look at, and he spotted a shape hunched in a chair, then turned his head and closed his eyes.

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

When the van had stopped bumping around, and Dravius' stomach had stopped rolling, it was still unbearably cold in the van, although his skin was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. There was a blotchy look to the flush that covered his face, which he had pulled out of the covers. It was getting stuffy inside them, the air stale and cold.  He moaned quietly, rubbing a hand over his face and feeling the familiar raised lines covering the wrist and heel of the hand. A coughing racked him, and he got to his hands and knees, rasping as he struggled to breathe. No one was in the van, so he put his forhead against the matress, breathing hard. The air had suddenly become hot and thick, unbearably stifling. Dravius leaned hard on his forearms, lowering his legs and hips to the bed. He was still panting slightly, his face tot he back of his hands. The Co-master stayed that way when Maya came back into the van. He could smell the fruit in her hands, the heat making his head spin crazily.

Dravius managed a grunt as he was prodded in the side, his breathing normal, if a bit rough. He then glared at the strawberries. Why were they so far away? A pale hand had escaped from the covers, long fingers lightly brushing the wooden floor. He decided to try for the food,  muscles shaking as he got to his feet and crossed to the table, grabbing the entire stock of fruit and moving back to the bed. It was depressing that even that had set his muscles twitching, and it had been much more work than it need to be. He had resumed his previous position, with his eyes poking out over the black comforter, and raised a hand, waving weakly. He honestly didn't feel like talking, so he began picking the leaves off of the strawberries, taking each in with one or two bites. He suddenly felt sick, and buried his face into the pillow, squeezing his eyes shut. Placing the rest of the fruit on the ground, he moaned into the cloth.

Another fit of coughing caught him, and he curled himself into the smallest possible, all of the muscxles in his body tense. Every so often, Dravius could catch a scent of seemed to be maple syrup, but that was ridiculous. He tried desprately to relax, but the coughing wouldn't stop, nor could he uncurl himself. As the coughing subsided, the Co-Master pulled the blanket over his head, feeling as if he shifted even in the slightest, he would lose all of the fruit in his stomach.

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

Sid yelped as his paws suddenly didn't reach the ground, and he waved them wildly about as the whole world smelled like he had jumped into a fireplace. The One Who Smelled of Firewood seemed to be rather determined to bring him back to her den, but then why didn't she just say so? He could walk on three paws, and she was trying on only one. He squeaked as The One Who Smelled of Firewood plopped herslef down and began scratching him, which was nice. Then she left. Well then.

Sid curled up in the pile of cloth, his small head propped on the edge of the blanket, watching the door. When The One Who Smelled of Firewood returned, he yipped and trotted over her, promptly falling asleep on her feet. A small sigh escaped the heap of fur, and he had fallen asleep on his back, sprawled out with his pale belly facing the ceiling.

The Den had stopped moving, finally. Sid had almost been sick, wrapping his small legs around The One Who Smelled of Firewood's lower legs and whining pitifully. Dens were not supposed to move, no no no no. The door opened, letting in a scent of fresh air. The One Who Smelled of Firewood seemed to want him to stay next to her, so he barked to show that he understood. The steps were large, but Sid managed them without much difficulty, his bad leg waving stiffly.

The white pelted female seemed confused as to where to go. Sid snorted and turned towards The Stinking One's den. He didn't seem to be doing so well the lasttime the small dog had seen him. Trotting off towards the den, he yelped at The One Who Smelled of Firewood to follow him, his curly tail wagging madly. 

Having been staring at the walls for a good while, (And eating strawberries) Maya only vaguely noticed Dravius's movements underneath his blankets, and started a little in surprise when she saw him emerge from the bed and collect the bowl of fruit. She returned his wave somewhat half-heartedly, unsure of whether or not Raphael's method seemed to work.

Well, Dravius could be worse, she supposed. Though she wouldn't know. The Co-Master was forever falling ill, and, probably because of this, his illnesses never really seemed to phaze him, they never seemed to be that bad. This fever, however, was something else. Maya hadn't seen Dravius this sick in a long time. She hoped his recovery would be somewhat quick... It was with the other illnesses. Sure, this one might take a little longer, but hopefully, not as long as the avarage person. For some bizarre reason, although Dravius got sick a lot, he also seemed to recover faster than most.

The blonde watched him eat, then seemingly give up and smush his face into the pillow. She kept her eye on him then slid off the chair when he pulled the covers over his head and walked over to stand by the bed. With a frown, Maya knelt and crossed her arms on the black covers, placing her chin on them and watching the area where she as.sumed Dravius's face was, her eyes wide and worried.The butterfly stayed this way for a few minutes, wishing more to herself that she could help him in some way. All she could do, though, was wait for Raphael's medication to work.

With a sigh, the girl finally lifted herself up, and, reluctantly, decided that staying in here with him wouldn't do much. He was probably best left to sleep it off. In the meanwhile, she would do well to find something to occupy herself with.

Throwing one last glance at the bed, and the lump that was Dravius, she eventually turned and walked out of the door, being sure to let in as little light as possible. Once outside, the girl let loose another sigh, folding her arms over her torso and looking back at the dark van door, forcing herself to walk away before she changed her mind and went back inside.

Walking through the grounds, Maya paused to watch a few members discuss setting up the tents for the opening show in a day or so, before she carried on walking an almost stepped on Sid. 

"Oh, I'm sorry," She said quickly, picking up the little animal and smiling slightly at it. Her gaze eventually fell on Kioko, and she waved, speaking as she approached. "Hey, Kioko?... Do you want to visit the town with me?" She asked, snuggling the puppy before she gently placed him back on the floor. "I usually go with Dravius... But, I don't really think he's up to it," The girl smiled slightly, then glanced over her shoulder in the general direction of the town. "You don't have to, though, if you'd much rather stay here,"

~~~

"Yep," Raphael murmered in response to Karene's words, before laughing slightly and folding his arms over his chest. "Indeed... Something to distract us, at any rate," He added in an undertone, just as the woman next to him chose to walk away.

He watched her leave with a slight smile, then yawned and strode off in the direction of the gropu of members decicding whether or not to put up the tent, before reminding them they didn't need to do so, not yet, anyways. He then strode off again, pausing to watch Evan, who seemed to be accompanied by Will, shortly approached by the magician and his summoned creature.

"Hello," He said in a somewhat cheerful manner, raising a hand as he approached. "Ah, I don't believe you've all met," He said, looking at Will, then glancing between the other 3 people. (As.suming Evan, going by his plentiful talking, probably already knew the woman).

"Selvai, Disera, this here is Willow Kirk. Known as simply Will. Will, Selvai and Disera. Two of the, ah... Newer members of the Circus. Just under two week old now, I believe," He added, still smiling slightly.

((Crap but... My head hurts. xD))

Dravius noticed only dimly when Maya sat next to him, poking the top half of his facde out to watch her. He seemed able to focus on her, which was good, he supposed. He tried to tell her not to go, but his throat seemed rather uncooperative, and he decided to just try and get up to follow her. Easier said than done though, as he couldn't muster the willpower to lift himself up before Maya had left. Sighing enternally, he sat up with some difficulty, kneading his bad eye with one hand. He stood unsteadily, weaving slightly and still feeling rather sick. He crossed his arms over his chest and coughed some more, not bothering to cover it.

Dravius dug around in the heap of clothes in the corner and pulled out a heavy sweatshirt. Although he still felt as if he had stepped into a commercial oven, he knew he should probably keep as warm as possible. The sweatshirt was a zip up, covered in a print of a the bones inside his upper body, with the top of the skull's yellow-cream jaw pressing up against the end of the hood. Dravius closed the jacket as far as it would go, but left the hood down. It was a bit unnerving to look at the hood, with gaping eyesockets and upside down, vacant smile. The Co-Master coughed into his elbow, closing one eye.

Dravius poked his head out of his door, squinting in the bright light. He actually had to pull his head back inside and bl
ink quickly, rubbing them vigorously. He still felt quite ill, and his breathing was ragged as he stepped down the stairs. His face was still flushed, but he already felt a small amount better as he looked around for Maya, his hands tucked in the sweatshirt's pockets. He spotted her with a slight smile, walking slowly over to her and Kioko.

"I...I didn't want you to leave," Dravius muttered awkwardly, a deeper flush creeping up his cheeks. He tugged gently on a bit of Maya's hair that was still braided. "Sorry," He muttered, stuffing his hands back into his pockets. "I'll go into town with you. We just might have to go a little slower..." He rasped, his voice still rough. "Thank you for the strawberries," He added softly, smiling at the blonde girl in front of him. "Sorry for messing up your hair," The Co-Master unraveled a few braids, looking at the resulting tight waves. "Hiiiii, Kioko." Dravius waved his fingers at the girl, smiling wanly.

((*wades through posts to the bottom* Geez, can't a girl be gone a few days in a big city for the first time in years? D: *sighs* Now to read. I may or may not post tonight.))

((*sits on Ny*))

Kioko followed the little brown dog, surprised when he led her to Maya.  She waved back to the butterfly girl, greeting her when she approached.  "Good morning, Maya.  Is Dravius feeling any better today?"  

The offer of accompanying the blonde girl caught her by surprise, but before she could respond, the aforementioned co-master appeared behind Maya, apologizing and offering to go into town with her.  "Are you sure you should be up yet, Dravius?  You were pretty sick yesterday..."

She looked between the two of them before answering Maya's questions.  "I think I'll stay here with Sid for now.  Maybe we can go some other time?"  Looking down, Kioko spoke to Sid briefly.  "Come on, puppy.  Let's go get something to eat, okay?  Bye, guys.  I'll see you when you get back."  Waving to the pair, she hobbled away, making sure Sid was following.

Heading in what she hoped was the direction of the food van, Kioko was momentarily distracted as she crossed paths with a brunette woman she didn't recognize.  She only avoided stepping on Sid by dropping one crutch and somehow hopping on her good foot to keep from falling over.  

"Oh!  Are you okay, Sid?  I'm so sorry!"  The pyro knelt down to check one the puppy, hastily petting him on the head.  "I'm sorry about that," she said, looking up at the woman.  "I didn't recognize you, and it surprised me."  Kioko smiled nervously at her.  "Um, I'm Kioko.  Are you new here?  I don't recognize you, so..."

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

"Hey-lo," Disera chirped, popping out from behind Selvai.  "Name's Disera, as Raffy just said."  The shifter smiled broadly at the dread wearing woman, extending one hand.  "Nice to meet you.  And morning, Evan, Raffy.  Going to eat?"

Selvai raised a hand in greeting at the Circus master.  "Hello, Raphael.  No, we haven't had a chance to become aquainted with Miss Kirk.  My name is Selvai Mayoso,"  he introduced himself to the labcoat wearing woman.  "And you are Evan?  I don't believe we've been properly introduced before now."  He gestured to the food van with his uninjured arm.  "As Disera said, I as.sume you're all here to eat.  Shall we go inside?"

Maya watched Kioko silently, smiling slightly at the albino pyro and waiting for the girls answer, before responding to the question directed at her. "He's... I'm not sure. I think he's okay, Raphael gave him something. He should be fine,"She smiled, crouching down to stroke Sid.

Before Kioko could seem to respond to her question however, Dravius's voice caused Maya to frown over her shoulder, watching him as he approached. "I'm sorry. I was going to leave you to sleep your fever off," She replied, brows furrowed in concern, though she couldn't help but smile a little at the tall Co-Masters flustered blush. "And why are you apologising?"

Eyebrows slightly raised, Maya's slight smile slipped from her features when Dravius spoke about heading into town. "Woah... Uh... Dravius, I'm not sure that's a good idea." She looked at Kioko as the pyro asked her question, then pouted and frowned back towards Dravius. "Kioko's right... I dont think you should be up. If you want to go to town, we can go later, but..."

She looked back over her shoulder when Kioko spoke again, blinked, then nodded. "Uh. Alright. See you soon" Once the younger girl had left, the butterfly turned her gaze back to Dravius, her face stubborn. "Your welcome, now stop being a doofus and go back inside. You might make your illness worse," She said, a smile tugging her lips, placing her hands on either side of his waist and attempting to turn him in the direction he'd just come from. She had to pause when Dravius decided to undo the braid. "You didn't ruin my hair, it's like this anyway," She added with a slight smile, before she started prodding him in the back, her stubborn ex
pression back in place. She eventually just resorted to burrowing herself under one of his arms, being sure to place an arm around his waist and trying to pull him back in the direction of his van "We'll go to town later, okay?... After you can walk without mimicking the tower of pisa,"

~~~

Karene had headed off in order to inspect the measures she'd put in place the moment they'd stopped, only to be addressed by a girl she didn't believe she'd met. Looking at the white haired girl, she could only as.sume that this was Kioko, the same one Rpahael had mentioned in his recount of the weeks events.

She watched as the albino  righted herself, apoloigising to the little animal she carried, before speaking directly to her. "Ah, that's okay," Karene replied, with a slight laugh. "No, no. I'm not new. Ive just been away for a while, so it would make sense you haven't seen me. Your name's Kioko, right?" She asked, giving Sid a scratch behind the ear before stepping away and rossing her arms loosely over her chest.

"My name's Karene, pleasure to meet you,"

[[fffffff]]

"Friends of yours?" Will asked Evan, eyebrow arching at the blue girls cheery greeting. She knew who that was. And she also found it quite odd that she was being so nice to Evan. Evan made a small noise, and mumbled "no" out of the corner of his mouth. They were trying to lure him into a false sense of security. He almost didn't want to be civil. The urge to turn around and go back to the van was hard to suppress. But they weren't at the van yet. He could at least be gentlemanly to this nice woman here.

Will gave Raphael a look. It was an arch, slightly irritated look. Full name? Really? Was that necessary? "Good morning, Raphael." She looked at Disera and Selvai. She knew who they were. Will gave them a grin, "Just Wilk, or Kirk is fine. Do not ever call me— No. No, always call me Willow." She huffed a little, waving her hand a bit in a "whoops" gesture. That would have been a disaster. Good thing she caught herself in time. "Nice to offically meet you, Selvai and Disera." Will was going to leave out that she'd heard some rumors. As long as everyone was well-behaved now, she didn't need to bring it up. 

She looked at the good van, inwardly dreading the germs and the crowd inside. "Yes, yes, I need a coffee. I'm all out." Will considered something silently. "I should probably eat while I'm there too. Thought I will agree, it will be nice to have a group meal." Will said, her slanted smile on her face. Better than Hot Pockets in her cave.  

Evan looked nervous, and at first considered not saying anything at all. Will somehow made him feel a little better, as she hadn't flipped out and hit him yet for something ridiculous. His reply was still very clipped. "Good morning." And it didn't sound like he felt it was a very good morning at all. Not properly introduced. Oh well. Evan did fancy being introduced at all, unless this black magic user knew who filtched his watch. He fidgeted restlessly and tried to keep himself from patting at that darn pocket. Better not to think about it at all.

And he didn't bother correct them. He wasn't here to eat. What was he doing here again? Walking Will. That's right. And as he was thinking it, Will finally scooted on into the van, and Evan quickly followed. Willow beelinged for the coffee pot. Evan moved out of the way of the current occupants, and sat heavily in an unoccupid chair. He propped his head in his hands and rubbed his temple. 

"So, how has your stay been so far?" Will asked over her shoulder, speaking to the semi-newbies. She'd asked Evan already, and his response was vastly different than what she expected to hear from Selvai and Disera. What a fascinating subject, too. Best not to start poking about her existence and asking for a blood sample. She leaned against the counter and sipped her coffee. And it was not nearly black enough. 

[I feel intrusive for joining again. xD

Other: To explain her long absence I'm just going to say that Violet decided to 'make her own life' after staying with the circus for about a year. After leaving she dithered about the 'human' world for two years and a bit and finally decided that it didn't work out with her, as her inability to talk to 'normals' and her natural shyness made it difficult for Violet to live alone. My intro is basically her walking up to the camp. ]