"No, I'm alright, Kioko," Dravius' answer was interupted by a cough that really didn't prove his previous statement very well. "I get sick quite often, really," He added, waving again as the white-haired girl hobbled away. "I wasn't sleeping. It gets dreadfully dull," Dravius made a face, sticking his tongue out slightly. "I'm apologising because I don't want you to worry too much about me...." He rubbed his arms with the limbs still crossed, wrinkling the bone-printed cloth on his upper arms.

"I'll be fine, Maya. I'm not going to keel over and die anytime soon, alright?" Dravius grinned, brushing his hair away from his face with the back of one hand. "I've been sicker than this before, for longer." He shifted from foot to foot and sighed through his nose, looking at Maya's pouting face. "You really are adorable when you're trying to maintain an angry ex
pression...." He laughed quietly, the corners of his mouth twitching up.

Maya's pushing caught Dravius off guard for a moment, and he stepped back a bit before recovering and holding his ground. "I'm not a doofus, May, and I'm too heavy for you too move..." He shifting slightly away from her prodding, but not in the direction Maya had intended. Laughing, he took a few steps away from her van while wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pressing his fevered face into her hair. "I'll be alright. I can't stand much more of lying in that van. Can we sit outside for a while?" He sat down gently. pulling Maya down beside him and hugging her tightly, pressing his rather warm cheek against her cool one. "You're nice and cold," He murmered, pulling away and pressing his forehead to the girl's.

Straightening up, Dravius rubbed one eye and coughed into his elbow, looking at his still-silver hand. "Sorry about the paint, May. It's just I thought it would look nice." He wrapped a hank of Maya's long golden hair around his forefinger, smiling absentmindedly. "I wonder if I'll be better enough to do shows." He mused, drawing Maya towards him even more, his thin shoulders level with Maya's eyes. "If you do decide to leave, I'm going to have to come with you, Maya," He murmered, breathing in Maya's mixed smell of old paper and maple, seeming content to just sit.

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

Well, that was quick. Sid shrugged as well as a dog can after the three large one's breif meeting, sitting and scratching behind one ear with his hind leg. Most of those annoying little bitey were gone, and more were disappearing by the minute. Rather pleased, the small dog wagged his curly tail and trotted after the white haired one, his little nose in the air. This new place smelled rather nice, of city and of people of the travelling group, but yipped sharply when The One Who Smelled Of Firewood stumbled, more worried about her than getting stepped on. When he recived a pat on the head, he whined slightly to ask if The One Who Smelled Of Firewood was okay, and licked her wrist.

The new one was scratching his ears, and Sid snuffled at her palm curiously. She didn't smell of magic, which was a good sign, so he rolled over and waved three paws in the air, the hurt one still bound and feeling much better. These people here were rather nice, although he was rather hungry and the entire place seemed to smell of food. Rolling onto his stomach, the small dog yipped and squiggled forewards towards The One Who Smelled Of Firewood, pawing her good foot.

"Dravius, I'm supposed to worry, and saying you don't want me to won't change it," Maya replied, sniffing quietly as she continued to tug on the Co-Master's waist. "And so?... Your still ill." She huffed, puffing out her cheeks and glancing stubbornly at Dravius's van in the distance. Shouldn't be too hard to get him back over there, if he co-operated, which she'd realised almost immediately he wasn't going to.

Blushing furiously due to Dravius' adorable comment, she elbowed him lightly in the side. "You are a doofus, you doofus, and don't think I haven't figured that out already. I'm only struggling 'cause your being stubborn. As usual." She snorted, trying not to smile as she attempted to push him one last time, giving up when he walked off in the opposite direction. Stupid guy was just being difficult, though she was unable to actually be angry or even irritated with him. With a pout, she dropped her arms and grumped silently for a moment, taken slightly by surprise when he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

The girl blinked as the male buried his face in her hair, her pout still on her face as he spoke again. "Uhm. 'Kay?" She murmered in response. Well, it's not like she was going to be able to move him anyway if he refused. He'd probably just stand there smiling if she tried to physically drag him off again. When the Co-Master moved away from her, Maya prepared herself to grump at him some more, simply for the sake of doing so, but was cut short when he flopped on the ground. He was serious about sitting out here then? Blinking, the butterfly sat beside him willingly when he tugged on her and returned his hug by wrapping her arms around his waist. Well, whatever. Couldn't say she didn't try. at least.

Smiling slightly when she felt Dravius press his cheek to hers, she sighed in quiet contentment, exhaling slowly through her nose. The warmth was unusual, coming from Dravius, but not unpleasant. "Your usually the cool one, huh?" She responded with an amused smile, placing a hand on the side of his neck when his forehead met hers. When he mentioned the paint, she glanced at the hand he'd dipped in the stuff earlier, before lifting her own and looking at it. "I forgot to wash it," She murmered, pulling slightly away from Dravius and rubbing the fingers of her other hand over the palm of her silver one with a pout.

"And you might. The shows don't start for a couple of days, or so I've heard." She smiled at him, though the ex
pression didn't last when he mentioned her leaving. "I... I really don't think I will... And you shouldn't say that, you don't know. You'd be leaving Raphael, Miranda, and everyone else behind," She sighed, biting her lip lightly. "You'd be leaving almost half your life here,"

Sliding her arms around Dravius's waist again, she shifted closer to him and rested a cheek on the front of his shoulder, gently picking at the material of his sweatshirt. "I wasn't really... Thinking straight, that time. I was fed up, and tired, and just... Nnn... Everything got to me... That's all," With another sigh, the blonde smushed her face into Dravius' shoulder and tightened her arms around him slightly, her voice a little muffled when she continued. "I don't think... I'd ever, consider doing that again,"

[Alright. I'll edit this once I read the before posts. ;D]

Just now, as she approached the circus's grounds, Violet was second-guessing herself. Hefting the tattered old satchel that rested by her hip the pale girl wondered if she was doing the right thing. After all, two years, or nearly two, -Violet hadn't been counting- she was pretty sure the circus had changed dramatically. No doubt new members with freaky powers, maybe even a change of command. Would Dravius, morose, surly Dravius, still be second-in-command? And there was Raphael, he might have retired or something. Touching a trembling hand to her cheek Violet really hoped she wouldn't be taken as a customer or circus-goer. I'd accept it if it was someone unfamiliar, but if Julian or Dravius ask me who I am, I'll either be weirded out or flattered. But probably not the latter. It was true though. Violet hadn't exactly changed her look in two years. "Other than migrating out of the completely morbid zone," she muttered under her breath.

Stepping forward cautiously Violet peered around the area. There didn't seem to be anyone familiar nearby. Unless...squinting her eyes Violet could just make out a somewhat familiar blonde head in the distance. It was either Mayanna or Raphael, Violet was terrible at remembering faces -or the back of someone's head- and she hated making incorrect guesses.

Walking closer she concluded that it was probably Raphael. The figure definitely wasn't Mayanna's slim body-shape, and Violet only knew of one other blonde in the circus. Tapping the person, who likely was Raphael, Violet hoped she didn't seem intrusive. "Raphael?" she asked uncertainly.

[I have no idea if this makes any sense. >_> New years makes me dizzy. o-o] 

((Ny is just gonna post. And hope she doesn't mess anything up.))

Kanec stretched his wings as he walked, flaring each out into the sky to their full eleven-foot span. As he furled them, he shook himself, loosening his feathers so when he did fly later, he'd fly smoother. He turned slightly, pas.sing a few yards in front of Disera and a small group as he did so, and decided to mess around with the creature. For a split second, he shifted into the form he'd taken hours earlier, a long, dark blue scaly serpent with an equally dark frill cresting his head. Along his spine was a similar frill, and tipping his tail was a bunched group of frills. He had four sturdy legs, and despite being a sea monster, had lungs in addition to his gills.

After the momentary shift, he shifted smoothly into a hawk, beating his wings as he soared into the sky, waiting until he was a good height before shifting back into his human self. He turned, circling a ways above Disera and the small group, waitng to see what the other shifter's reaction was. After all, she'd been rather embaressed earlier, and he loved exploiting embaressing issues. It was one of his perks.

~~

Nylat shook blankets off of her, pulling herself from the twisting embrace of her makeshift nest-like bed. The van had long since stopped, but the hybrid had been too lazy to pull herself from her sleep. Dreams were always better than life. Nightmares: always worse. It was how sleep went. She flicked her tail and she struggled to her feet and, for the first time since she'd gotten the van, leapt into the unused bed.

It had always been reserved for the possibility of her maybe having to share with someone, but it had never happened. She almost wished she had someone to share with. But she knew it was unlikely. As she stretched herself out on the bed, she thought about this. Maybe telling Raphael she was a bit lonely.. Nah. Kanec would somehow find out and then never leave her alone. Maybe...

Well, Kioko wasn't sharing with anyone, as far as she knew. Maybe, just maybe, she could convince the pyro to stay with her. After all, she'd heard bits and pieces of conversations, and it sounded like the albino was lonely, too. That would make convincing her easier. With a sigh, the hybrid moved from the bed, wincing a bit as a joint popped. She hated that sound. She shook herself, and stiffly made her way fro mthe van. She was getting too old for this. She was ancient it dog years, and she had no idea how prominient her human genes were in age.

((Happy?))

"Usually," Dravius sighed, feeling Maya's fingers touch the skin above his shirt collar, blinking his good eye lazily. "So did I. And don't pout. I'm already on cute overlaod right now," He teased, smiling slightly, one side of his mouth twitching up in a crooked grin. "A couple of days. Alright. I'll be fine, or close to, tomorrow." He seemed set on his descision to get better by the day of the shows, come hell or high water. The youth blew a long-ish lock of hair out of his face. Other circus members had said that if you looked hard enough, you could see Dravius's hair growing, and it wasn't quite that dramatic, but his hair did grow rather fast. That was why he always seemed to need a haircut, and was always hanging shaggily around his face.

"But I'd be going with you. " Dravius replied quietly, brushing his hand against Maya's jawline, studying her face with his one and only eye. "And still a few years to go before it's half. Three or four. " He added, looking at the hank of black and white hair that had fallen in front of his nose. "I think I'm just going to grow my hair out. I don't feel like cutting it," He placed his jaw on Maya's head as she leaned against him, her weight comforting. The tightening of Mayanna's arms allowed him to in turn draw his arms around her more, and he sighed, pulling his hood over his head as the girl pressed her face into him. "That's good, then," Dravius murmered, rubbing the back of Maya's head, and brushing one finger along the place where her wings met her back, looking out past the camp and into town. "Are you sure you don't want to go into town? I'll be alright."

Dravius brushed a lock of Maya's hair behind the girl's ear, gently scratching her back in rhythmic circles absentmindedly, listening to the dull buzz of talking, and grinned when he saw the first people warily approaching the bright campground, and it struck him as odd that they didn't come very close, as other than the members themselves, they had no way of keeping people away, at least since Karene left. He shrugged minimally and looked back towards his van, noticing that he had left his door ajar, and some of the paper on the floor was stirring, a page or two escaping and fluttering along the ground. Members picked them up and took a look, then pas.sed them on to others. The members of the Circus had gotten used to Dravius' odd ways, although most of them prefered to stay out of his wagon.

The townspeople seemed to be making an honest attempt to infiltrate the circus grounds, although none had them been sucsessful so far.Small children were among the ones trying to approach, as they always were, but most parents kept them away from the actual shows once they learned about the late times and saw Dravius or some of the rougher members. Shame, really. The children might not have disobeyed their parent as much if they got a good scare from time to time but, eh.

((Fiiine. D: Was gonna wait but. It's not really conflicting with anyone elses characters yet so... Psh. xD))

Maya had been listening to Dravius in silence, only breaking the pattern when he mentioned the words "cute overload".She snorted in quiet laughter, hiding her smile behind a hand and shifting her body so that she was a little more comfortable. Sitting on the ground had not really been her idea.

She watched him as he seemed to settle himself on recovering for the show times, and rolled her eyes slightly, elbowing him in the side. "Nn. Don't overdo it." She responded, frowning slightly. Knowning him, that's exactly what he was likely to do if someone didn't keep an eye on him. Painless kid always thought he could get away with that sorta stuff.

"And that's not really a valid reason. You honestly think you'd leaving everything behind for the sake of one per-" She paused, staring into the ground for a moment as she felt Dravius brush her jaw, glancing back up at him with furrowed brows. The butterfly realised that saying that was contradictory. Cause in truth, she was likely to make the same choice if Dravius had been in that position, only torn by the fact that if it was him wanting to leave with her, she'd, reluctantly, want him to stay. Why give up everything?

With a sigh, she grumbled. "Nevermind, and that's why I said almost. I know you haven't been here exactly half your life," She smiled at him, her eyes falling onto his hair when he spoke about leaving it. The first image that, pretty much hit her in the face was Dravius with a ponytail.

That wasn't a good look, and in itself proved to be too much. The girl tried desperately to stop herself from even smiling, and managed for a good while, before she lost the grip she had on it. She quickly smushed her face back into the males shoulder as she snorted with laughter, trying to stem the hysterics into his sweatshirt. The laughter calmed eventually into an overly amused ex
pression, and she pulled her face away long enough to look at Dravius. "I could... cut it, you know," She murmered, almost breathlessly due to her laughing fit. Naturally, Dravius' hand movements didn't go unnoticed, and Maya shivered slightly with the initial contact, her wings, almost unconciously, flaring slightly at his touch.

The blonde had actually gone back to resting her head on his shoulder when he spoke about town again, and she pulled away, sitting so that she could look at him. He certainly seemed a little better. "Uh... Alright..." She replied, following his gaze to the distance. "Didn't you say you needed some new clothes, anyway?"

She tilted her head at him, then smiled and stood. "I'll go get my cloak" She glanced towards the group of visitors who couldn't seem to get in. "And... Maybe we should go around those people," The blonde watched them for a second, then smiled back at Dravius before heading towards her van. She had barely taken a step away when she quite suddenly seemed to change her mind, retracing the step and crouching quickly next to Dravius.

She didn't say anything, just simply leant herself forward slightly, and pressed her lips softly to his. She really didn't give him anytime to react, as she just as quickly stood and pretty much fled the scene, blushing madly. Not that fleeing would do much good, she realised a little too late. She'd already said she'd go into town with him, and was likely to face him again within the next few minutes.

With a sheepish sort of smile, she entered her van and retrieved her cloak, pausing only to watch a couple of the butterflies greet her in a mad sort of rush... That, and she wanted to give her blush a chance to fade before she went back outside. With another slight smile, the young woman watched them flutter above her head, before turning and walking out of the van door.

Spider had expected to see Zinc. Dreams were his forte, and he really only existed there. But there had been no picnic, there was no sunshine or flowers. There were only nightmares. Horrible dreams. It wasn't that they were dreams that upset Spider, but the fact that they were memories. They were warped and exaggerated exponentially, but they were memories all the same.

He sat up and the only hints that gravity was still working were displayed in the changes of his hair and sweater, which immediately slid toward the floor. Spider absently pushed his sweater out of his face and then put himself back on the ground. It was nice and warm in the van, but for some reason he felt like ice. Spider rubbed his chilly arms and his running nose. A cold that came from inside. He blamed the bad dreams.

Amnesia. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing to have. He didn't like remembering bad things. And now they were on his mind again. Spider couldn't rightly remember exactly what the bad things were, but he knew he didn't want to ever try to remember.  The first thing he noticed upon stepping down on to the floor was the black stain on the floor that had been Zinc, and the absence of Evan.

He didn't want poor Evan to get into trouble again, and headed for the door. A muffled grunt brought his attention to the stretched out lump on the bed that was his sister. "Protection spell." She muttered. Spider walked over and leaned his head close to hers. "What?" He whispered, black and red eyes blinking in confusion. Yama made another mumbled noise and then pressed her hand to his face. It felt like she was drawing something on his forehead, though her fingers didn't move. It burned, and made his eyes water. He didn't ask what she was doing.

"That should... huh. You'll be able to get in now. If you invite Evan in, he should be fine too. I'll come out... later..." She finished, and rolled over, just as spread out as she'd been when she was laying on her back. An automatic key. And guests had to be invited. Spider could understand that. He pulled one of the blankets that had slid onto the floor over his sister, forgetting that the cold was just him and not the whole van.

Spider sighed, feeling empty and horrible, and not sure why. He was sad Zinc was gone, but he didn't know if that was the only reason. Spider pulled his shoes on, and grabbed his coat. The sungla.sses his sister had given him were put on next, and then he tentatively stepped out of the van, shutting the bent door behind him tightly.

Where would Evan go? Well, Spider was suddenly very aware that he hadn't eaten in a whole day. Or was it days? He couldn't remember. He rubbed his positively hollow tummy and headed for the food van. He was so hungry he could probably eat the next person who dared put a hand on Evan. He hoped they'd find his watch, Spider didn't like how sad he looked. At least then Evan could go home. Better he forgot all about this.

'I wish I could,' Spider thought glumly, looking at the food van and the collection of people he knew around it. He didn't really want to talk to any of them. But he'd have to when asking about the watch. He was almost positive someone here had stolen it. Probably one of those sneaky snarky shadows. He noticed Raphael and some other girl he didn't know, and popped up the collar of his trench coat, intending to slide past them. He'd have friendly conversation with his pancakes and Evan, if he was in the van. Everyone else could wait.

There was a scowl fixed on his face as he stepped into the food van, seeming to grow smaller in his coat as he looked at everyone in there. But Evan was sitting right there, so that was good. He breathed a sigh of relief and took his sungla.seses off. After folding them and stuffing them in his coat pocket, Spider hustled a few plates together.

Will gave him a smile as he stumbled around the small kitchenette and handed him the huckleberry syrup when he was staring at his pancakes blankly, probably thinking 'they're missing something'. He was a bit surprised, since he hadn't even asked for it yet. "You're welcome. Good morning, Spider." She said, and he only nodded silently, before turning around and squeezing into the seat beside Evan. Who was that lady?

"I won't, Maya. I promise," Dravius had murmered to Maya, ignoring the elbowing he recieved, other than a slight huff of breath. He watched her with a slightly amused ex
pression the girl cut herself off, listening silently to the rest of her responses, then looked rather bewildered as Mayanna burst into laughter, raising an eyebrow at her snorting laughter, and looking down at her madly pressing her face into his lower shoulder. "Well then, glad you had a laugh about...I don't know what. But it's nice to see you smiling," Dravius smiled slightly as well, his pointed teeth glinting in the afternoon light. "If you want to, I have no objactions. Just don't shave my head or anything," Even he had to laugh quietly at the image of himself completely hairless, the chuckle triling into a bout of coughing, not overly concerning, but merely a reminder that he was still sick.

"That's true. I'm considering purchasing a pair of pants that aren't completely black on covered in pockets." The Co-Master nodded thoughtfully, poking a few fingers through one of the many pockets full of holes, wiggling the tips of them at Maya. "Why? Seems a longer way to go around, and they only seem curious..." He really only had time to get out the question before the girl next to him stood and took a step away. Dravius shrugged and dusted his hands of sand, preparing to get up. He really wasn't prepared for the kiss he recived, his eyes widening quickly, and after Maya had fled, he sat blinking rapidly, leaning back on the heels of his hands.

Dravius quickly shook his head and got to his feet, one corner of his mouth curled into a huge grin, one long canine poking over his lower lip. He'd not failed to notice the bright red of Maya's swiftly rushing away face, and he laughed quietly, grinning outright now. The youth put one hand into a pocket, the other hanging loosely, the fingers curled gently upwards into the palm. He was still grinning when the young woman emerged from her van again, showing even more teeth at the sight of her.

Trotting over, Dravius shook his hair out of his eyes and produced a hat from someplace, similar to the one he had left behind in that last town, only the checkers were cream and white, the sweatshirt and hat matching almost perfectly. Dravius slipped it onto his head, covering the black roots of his hair, and pinning a bit of hair in between his eyes, that traced it's way past the right side of the bridge of his nose, and coming to a rest by the grinning corner of his mouth. "Ready?" He asked, holding out a hand to Mayanna.

 ((We'll carry on then. I'm not sure how long Selvai will be. I'll keep him updated though. o3o

EDIT: UGH. Crappy post for now.))

Well. That went smoothly.

The introduction of Will didn't seem to cause nearly as much h*censored*le with Evan as his own introduction and others seems to have caused. Raphael was somewhat relieved, the last thing he wanted was for Evan, or anyone else, for that matter, to get themselves in a knot over things. Though, the Blodwen still seemed edgy. Not nearly as bad as he had been when they'd first met him, but edgy all the same.

The Ring-Master idly wondered whether he was still strung up about being with the Circus, or whether it was something else that was getting to him. Either way, he supposed. Taking his gaze from Evan, Raphael watched as Will entered the food van, the Blodwen following after, before he shrugged and glanced in Disera's and Selvai's direction. "Coming?" He asked with a slight smile, slipping his hands into his pockets and readying to enter the food van after the others, only to be stopped by a vaugely familiar voice.

"Hm?" The illusionist looked over his shoulder, then blinked rapidly. "Violet, am I right?" He asked, before laughing slightly. "My, my. It has been a while." Raphael paused, then glanced at the food van. "Hm. Come with me, Violet. You can tell me about it over breakfast,"

The Ring-Mastr smiled slightly, then entered the van and collected a small selection of pastries before seating himself in one of the vacant seats. "Well, how's your life on the outside?" He asked, his gaze on the black haired girl.

"Exhausting," Violet said with a yawn, covering her mouth politely with one arm. "And yeah, almost two years, right? I missed this place the entire time. But I guess anyone would. After all, this was kind of my first home." Putting her arm down she shoved her hands into the pockets of her skinny jeans, looking around the campsite with sad eyes. "How're Maya?" she asked the golden-haired teen curiously. "And Julian and Dravius?" Violet could remember the 'old days', when she was definitely more morose and had a darker view on life. Julian had probably been the most memorable back then, but that might have just been her insistent infatuation with the black-haired sword master. Just the thought of it brought a red flush to her cheeks, but she dispelled it quickly, hopefully before anyone noticed.

Recalling Raphael's comment about breakfast Violet glanced around in confusion. "So who cooks nowadays anyways?" she wondered aloud, not really sure if they ever had someone cook when she was still part of the circus. Then again, most of her memories were hazy, so she couldn't really rely on them to give her accurate information about the circus.

[My parents threatened to send me to a psychiatrist today D:] 

Dravius took a glance at the insect dancing almost drunkenly around Maya's head, his cheshire grin growing even wider, if that was possible. "Nooothing." The boy drew out the word, showing as many of his teeth as was possible. He raised his eyebrows at Maya's blush, leaning down to return her kiss, still smiling as he did. "There. Now we can go." He felt Maya's hand slide into his, so he set off towards the crowd of people, pausing slightly as he tried not to go cross-eyed, watching the white and blue butterfly flap about in front of his nose. "Well, hello there." He remarked, setting off forewards again.

"Oh!" Dravius stopped short at his van, hopping up the stairs. "Hang on just a sec." He ducked inside and grabbed a pair of paint-spattered, rather ragged black high tops, along with a scarred, dark grey guitar, strung with bright red. He swung the strap over his shoulder, the black and white checkers cutting a swathe across his green shirt. He stepped out lacking socks, hopping along in order to pull the shoes on, but not bothering to tie the laces. "Can't go into town without the proper footwear..." He murmered, adjusting the instrument slung onto his back. "Let's go. Are you gonna get anything?" He asked, pulling the hat down lower, still looking greatly amused.

Dravius marched towards the people, to their evident surprise. He struck an odd figure, his lanky figure stretched all the way out, guitar thudding gently against his thin back. "Why, good afternoon," He nodded to the confused looking people, waving cheerily. They all seemed greatly taken aback, whispering to one another. "Come see the show, uh?" He called, heading down the road into the town.

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

The city was only a few minutes away, and quite a nice place, small and clean. Dravius immediately began looking around, blinking quickly and examining the store windows on either side of the street, paying zero attention to the cars rushing around him. Scouting around a group of boys about his age, he coughed hard at the cigarette smoke coming from the group. The youths seemed to take that as an insult, looking almost outraged at the harsh sound. Dravius was humming no specific tune, more to hear himself. He had so far unwittingly avoided several grabs at his clothing and guitar, and more than one punch.

This only proved to enrage the group further, and they produced growling noises, huffing loudly. That in turn made Dravius wheel around, looking quite confused. "May I help you?" He asked, cocking his head to the side. He had put his hands back in his pockets. The group of hoodlums looked positively livid, to the point of speechlessness. Dravius made the sort of ex
pression someone waiting for a child to say something, then rolled his eyes and turned back around, peering through a store front.

((Man, my throat hurts.))