Nylat flicked her tail as Kioko's questions flooded from her. "Ah but there you are wrong, I must say," she commented on the first. "As I recall, I said we met Maya and Kanec here. Actually, Dravius and Raphael met up in another town. I tagged along, having no knowledge of the world. That and Dravius fed me. Mind you, I hadn't eaten in days, so that was the biggest thing anyone could have done for me." She snickered to herself. "I used to run and play all the time. Now look at me. I'm fat and lazy." She shook her head, her ears flopping, before continuing in a darker tone. "Yes, Kanec was a thief. I must say, though, rather good at it. But it's a horrible thing to do, stealing." She growled, but picked back up in a lighter tone. "Julian joined only a town or two after Maya did--as she had joined as we were leaving town, and Kanec," she spat the name out, "we met our first day in town. Anyways, after Julian joined, then we had our 'five oldest members' as most call us. Raphael runs the Circus, but lemme tell you, half of the questions or complaints probably go to the other five of us before they reach him. As for performing, we did indeed perform, but only on the side. Not big perfomances like now. That wasn't until after Raphael managed to acquire a tent. No, before that it was just to keep us alive, pretty much. Would have saved us a bunch of money if they'd accepted my offers to hunt for them. But, of course, none of them liked raw meat much." She shrugged, and glared at a pas.serby that gave her an odd look.

~~

Kanec smiled at her recountence of the exchange a few days ago, wondering how anyone could be iffy that long before he remembered Nylat, and summed it up with one thought: Females are insane.He shook his head slowly, being pulled along by Disera. He picked up his pace a bit so he wasn't lagging, and wrapped a wing around her. "You aren't rambling. Trust me, rambling is much worse. And that sounds like a good idea."

((FAILPOST. WRONG MUSIC ON. BUT. I GOTTA SLEEP ANYWAYS.))

Anaconda had her arms crossed to her chest, and her bag was hanging awkwardly in her grip. DeeDee had ever remained on her head, an odd, feathery accessory to her hair. He had been looking behind them, a low croak in his throat. Ana wasn't sure what it was he found so fascinating but the shifting of talons and the small flaps suggested he very eagerly wanted to fly off somewhere. She didn't know why he did not. But she did find comfort in the familiar creature constantly roosting on her head, so she let him be.

She watched Florence silently, as the odd man waved at people as they walked by, and on a few occasions actually throwing a hug on his old Circus friends. She decided it was throwing, as he didn't give them much warning and they didn't seem that pleased about it. Still, it seemed he was having a good time.

The world had gone quite gray for a short period of time, as they were walking around vans and through crowds. It was odd because the sky had been bright as ever. Anaconda concluded that the grayness was all her own making. It was very crowded here, and there were so many people, so many accidents...

It was almost making her feel a bit sick. Florence paused at van, and seemed to do a double-take. "Ah!" He said, stepping back around and clapping his hands together. "Here we are, here we are. Doesn't look like anyone's been in it. Guess they didn't want to pick the lock, or break through one of those flimsy little windows." He said, as he peeked through said windows. Attempted to anyway, it was quite dusty, and there was an odd film coating the windows.

Ana only made a noise to let Florence know she was there and hadn't wandered off. That seemed to be enough, as he didn't even glance over. Instead he started going through his pockets. He had many things in his various pockets, as there was much jingling, clanking and crinkling. Finally he produced a ring of keys. And what a ring of keys it was. Ana wasn't sure how he was hiding all of those in his pocket. Perhaps that was one of his tricks. Did clowns do that?

There was something about a car... Florence flipped through the keys, tongue in his teeth as he read a few tags and then tried some keys on the door. "I had them labeled... few fell off though." He muttered. Anaconda waited patiently. She wasn't in a very big hurry. Her eyes were on the clouds, and she was trying to decipher all of the strange smells in the air. After trying three more keys, the little lock finally clicked. "Wonderful!' Florence said, and shoved his keys back in his coat pocket.

The door opened with a creak that seemed louder than a door of that size should be able to produce. Florence's lips were pursed together in a look of surprise. "Hm." He said, and stepped inside. "Ohhhh nooooo." The low moan was one of utter horror and despair. Florence quickly stepped back outside and shut the door, looking a little pale. Anaconda looked at him, with wide, startled eyes. Whatever it was that he had seen in there, the smell was horrid. The pale, horrified look on Florence's face was replaced with a small smile. "Small problem. But ah. I'll take care of that... Ana dear, why don't you... hmm, look around? I'll be right here, I a.ssure you... but... hmm."

"I don't want to go anywhere." Anaconda said, taking a stance that was one of adamance. Florence frowned at her. He seemed to attract solutions, however, as Zephyr had apparently gotten bored and decided to follow them around instead. The unicorn boy gave Florence a look of DEEP SUSPECT though he wasn't sure what it was he was suspecting. Probably that there were corpses stuffed in that van of his and that's a lot of rot.

"Long name McSparkle, what impeccable timing! Oh and I've missed you very much, have you missed me? Of course you have." Florence said, stepping off the small stair and coming to great his guest. He ruffled Zephyrs hair and turned him around to face Ana. "You love parading people around! Go do that. Just a small favor. I'll make it up to you." He gave Zephyr a small push and turned to the van, rubbing his neck.

"Really?" Zephyr exclaimed. He loved it when people owed him favors!! He turned his beaming face to Anaconda. "Hello, I'm Zephyr Melanthios Odo Beauregard, but you can call me Zephyr. Or Mel. I like Zephyr more though." He held his hand out to her, and Anaconda stared at it. A thought sprouted in her mind, and Zephyr smiled. "Oh, thank you!" He replied, for the thought was a compliment.

Though it was quite an embarra.ssment for him to have... heard it? There were mind-readers at this circus? Oh no! Anaconda's face colored. She hadn't noticed that Zephyr hadn't actually opened his mouth the whole time. Zephyr was so natural and casual with his telepathy that it was quite a surprise for her when she heard him "speak" again.

"That's quite alright, you're quite lovely too!" Zephyr continued, seeming to be the best ventriloquist ever. He grabbed her hand and smiled grandly at the Circus grounds. And then he had a few words with DeeDee. What a funny bird! Must be a killer at parties. Zephyr chuckled to himself and then took a deep breath, and this time actually spoke. "Have you met everyone yet, Anaconda? It's quite hard to do on the first day! But I think there's a few people you should meet. I think they'd like you." And how glad he was to meet her too. Very few people enjoyed tea parties as much as he did.

"Now where could those lovely people be? Well, I guess we can go get something to eat before we make our journey! Milady, here-ways we go!"
And they walked off together, the brightest and the sparkliest.


Florence watched them go, a smile on his face. Now wasn't that the cutest thing. Again, he turned to the van. This... was not going to be fun.

[[i am only mostly dead.]]

((No Selvai, go away. No one likes you. -Shoves-)) 

Dravius raised his eyebrows high at Raphael's staring at him, then brought his knees to his chest, heels settled on the chair. When Maya's approached, he saw her ex
pression and immediately knew he had just said something wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong, judging from the sheer lack of bounciness. He looked uneasy as she nearly strangled the butterfly, who, in a moment, was named Brandon by Dravius, as he set an elbow on the matching knee, sliding the other leg straight.

Dravius said nothing as Maya stammered out a response to Raphael, then jumped slightly as Raphael said something he wasn't paying attention to enough to hear. He had been spacing out a bit, staring at the arranged sticks in the fire pit. "Oh, I didn't expect you to believe me. I wonder why, at this point, you even bother asking me." He exhaled through his nose, flicking an eye towards the blonde haired male.

Dravius listened to the rest of Raphael's speech without actually looking at him, reacting minimally from the smack upside the head. He waved curtly as Raphael left, then got up himself and headed off in Maya's general direction, lngering a few feet away as she spoke to Selvai, looking slightly distressed, as she was very close to popping every single seam on Brandon, she was squeezing him so tightly. Dravius stepped up a few steps away from the pair, saying nothing, and blinking lazily. He waved curtly to Selvai, looking burningly indifferent to him, switching a softened gaze to Maya, and looked quite apologetic. After a bit of thought, it seemed that, just maybe, calling a relationship "nothing" was not the best this for said relationship.

Nylat nodded to confirm Kioko's order, then lifted an ear to listen to her. When she asked her question, she missed a step, stumbing a few more before she caught herself on her three good paws. Shaking her head, she debated on being silent, but the subject had been broached and it was best to not leave Kioko in the dark. Sitting on the side of the sidewalk, she sighed. She was not going to go into the camp talking about this. She refused. And it was a rather long explanation. "He didn't steal form me, no. Raphael made sure he never stole once he joined us. No, in my eyes, what he did was worse than that. You don't know because you are a newer member, but Kanec was not always as he is. He used to be alot more troublesome and less of the resident therapist. Nowadays it seems like he only wants to make sure there are no quarrels."

She flicked hr tail, staring at the ground. "A long while back, probably close on two and a half years now, Kanec and I were performing together. Mind you, we were close friends, and tht was when I still performed. Anyways, he was circling high above waiting for his part, but the next thing I knew, he was falling, no longer a hawk, but instead a panther. Of course, I couldn't just let him die. With his momentum, he surely would have. But I, instead, kicked him in the side. I may have put a bit too much pwer into it, as he claims he had broken ribs after. But in realiation and panic, he nicked my ear and gave me these gashes on my side that are now scars."

"As you can imagine, after that, I was not too pleased. I had saved him, but was crippled in thanks, my side paining me whatever I did. I eventually could not perform due to it. I felt like I was more and more of a buden. So, nearly two years ago, I went out for a run while the Circus was packing up--I would not go far, as they would leave soon. And I hunted, naturally. But on my return to the camp, I came across another hybrid, only he was no hybrid. He was just a freak. A genetic mutation. He stood about twice my height, and was gifted with the ability to become the shadows around him."

"He wanted to kill me for hunting on his land. So, I fought back. He was large and strong, but I was smaller, quicker, and stronger. So I had the upper hand. Until..."

Her voice broke, and she winced as her side hut thinking of how she'd torn open her wounds. "I twisted too far to dodge him. And broke open the skin. Believing hed won, Jevak disappeared into the shadows. So, bleeding, dying, I made to get as far away from that clearing as I could. I returned to where  had buried my prey--a rabbit--and ended up falling asleep, unaware of the danger it posed while losing as much blood as I was."

She paused, not wanting to go on, really, but having to. "...If Raphael and Kanec had not come along when they had, you would never have known me."

She coughed, blinking back tears at the thought of what her fate would have been. "Well, the day after I woke up--in Kanec's van, eyeck--Kanec had already left, out to kill Jevak. Well, I don't know the details still, but he prevailed. And right after, he told Raohael that he had to take a break form the Circus and just up and left."

"When he came back, brusied and beaten--though showing no sign of it affecting him--he was different. And that is what I hate him for. He left and came back changed. I had to adjust much too quickly for my liking. I am slow to adjust to things. And this was te worst thing he could have done."

Se flicked her tail, glancing over at Kioko with shining eyes. "I still have the pelt of that rabbit. The pelt soaked in my own blood. It sits under my makeshift bed, and every night it reminds me of that horrid day. I've debated on burning it, or leaving it, but I just can't..."

~~

Kanec hugged her with his wing as she took his hand, and released her as she headed into the food van. He followed just a step or two behind. He, to, saw Karene, and inclined his head in greeting. When Disera handed him he plate, he noticed her blush and tried for all the world not to laugh. So now she chose to be shy about it? He himself took a few pancakes and a couple pieces of cantaloupe (<3) before he responded. "Fine by me." He took a small bottle of syrup and made his way over to Karene's table, careful to keep his wings close.

Karene had returned to her book shortly before Kanec and Disera entered the van, her attention being so solely focused on the writing that she didn't notice their presence. It wasn't so much she was concentrating, as simply finding a way to amuse herself for the time being. The party Raphael had planned wasn't for another couple of hours or so, starting at around sunset, if she remembered correctly.

Although she wasn't really one for parties, she thought the idea was a pleasant one. A last bit of fun before business started again. Not to mention, it gave the lovers within the Circus a reason to just get out there and spend some time within an enjoyable social event. As for those who were single, well. That wasn't really a problem. Everyone knew everyone else here enough to have a bit of a dance with eachother anyway. It probably was quite a good idea.

Smiling to herself slightly, the caramel eventually glanced upwards at the sound of oncoming people, eyebrows dissapearing into her dark blonde hair at the sight of the two Shifters. Well well... Even if they hadn't been so obvious she still would have realised something was going on. Disera's blushing features and Kanec's over-happy ex
pression told her everything she needed to know. Still. No point jumping to conclusions. Yet.

Karene returned both shifters waves with a cleverly concealed smile, closing her book lightly and leaning back in her chair. Watching as they approached, the Reader crossed her arms loosely over her chest.

"Valentines. Such an unpredictable sort of holiday isn't it?" She said in pas.sing, a small smile visible as she uncrossed her legs, placing her arms folded on the table. "How're you both?"

At that moment Selvai chose to appear, and Karene clearly caught his knowing smile, the one directed in Disera's and Kanec's direction. Oh well, maybe she could jump to a conclusion after all. The Magician certainly seemed to know something, so she could as.sume. 

"Good afternoon," She responded, still smiling slightly and turning her attention to the book. "What?... This?... Not really." She lifted the book and turned it both ways, before putting it back down and just looking at it for a moment before looking at Selvai.

"It's pretty much impossible for me to do that, literally. I'm in a very peculiar sort of position." She laughed, leaning back in her chair again. "My body won't allow my magic to wander any further than protection. Unlike most other people who dabble in magic, I have what you might refer to as an "ability" as well. The same as Dravius, Julian, or Kanec here. I was only ever capable of learning one form of magic because my form can't handle all of both things. Defensive spells were the first I learnt, so I'm limited to that area."

She shrugged, then decided it was probably time to move onto more pressing matters, smiling slightly at Selvai. "On another note, why do I feel like I'm missing something here?" She asked, her ex
pression and slightly raised brows clearly indicating she already had a very good idea. She was just fishing for confirmation.

Zephyr looked around at Julian. Oh look, it's Julian.

Oh no it's Julian! You had to be cautious around a guy that made a living throwing knives at things and people. Zephyr's tail flipped around on the ground a bit before curling around his left ankle. And he rocked backwards on his feet, hands behind his back. "It's more than 'Afternoon', it's a 'Good Afternoon'." Zephyr corrected, but doing so in a way that was just Zephyr being Zephyr and not an annoying know-it-all.

His smile faltered a bit when he was addressed, for whatever reason, and he reached over and patted Ana's hand. In any other case this might have been a good way to get attacked by a raven. But everyone liked Zephyr. "This is Ana. She's a new, though she tells me she might not be staying. She's Florence's... uh." He paused, turning to Anaconda.

There was a silence. "His second cousin once removed?" Zephyr asked, and shrugged a shoulder. Anaconda's response was not much different. She was staring at Julian. Ana didn't very much like people asking about her when she was standing right here. "And who are you?" She asked, giving him the same stare she gave everyone else. Even Manly McKnife-Tosser was not intimidating to Miss Wholmes.

Zephyr made a little noise, a combination between a squeak and a laugh. "I like her, she's nice." He said, and put a finger to his lips. It looked a bit like he was shooshing them, but he was staring off into space. "I'm not entirely sure... Oh! Yes, Florence is back. He was just with her but there's something wrong with his van—" 'Probably bodies,' Zephyr telepathically projected, "And so I decided to show Ana around. She has already spoken to Raphael, from what I gather. What's going on today?" He suddenly asked, hand dropping as he looked around. Awfully busy. Lots of hearts and red and...

"Valentines Day?!" He threw his arms in the air. "I forgot!!" Oh no; what was he going to do? He hadn't planned anything. Usually he would hand out over one hundred and fifty cards and now he couldn't because in such a short amount of time... He'd just have to hug EVERYONE. That was a lot of hugging. He better readjust his schedule.

Anaconda glanced at him. Valentines Day was a stupid Holiday. Because it was a fake, ridiculous thing. So his despair was lost on her.

Nylat draped her uninjured paw over Kioko's shoulders, leaning on her back legs a bit to stay balanced. She was silent for a moment, letting her own tears free for a moment before they disappeared into her fur. Then she glanced down at Kioko. "Little one, you have no reason to be upset." She laid her chin on Kioko's head, sighing. "Well, we'd best get back to th Circus. Nothing else, we can get back to the van and plan out the rest of the day without being noticed too terribly much because, I don't know about you, but I don't wanna talk to anyone else after spilling my guts like this."

~~

"Very unpredictable indeed. And I am good. Best I've been in a while, actually." Kanec laid his ears back in embaressment when he spotted Karene's smile, turning a bit red himself. He knew that smile, and had never expected to have it turned on him. When Disera grasped his hand, he lightly squeezed it back, glancing between Selvai and Karene. "I agree. Cut out the smiling. You two are grinning like a pack of jackals and its quite unnerving." He glanced over at Disera and smiled a bitat the blush that mirrored his own.

~~

Daniel, after much pleading on Snap and Lily's end, finally was convinced to at least sit outside. "Fresh air," they reasoned, "is good for you." However, after getting a drowsy Daniel ouside, they planned to have him walk aound the Circus grounds. He was too restless to get any sleep, and it wasn't going to help him to be awake all the time.

The two critters succeeded and were soon 'herding' Daniel, who wasa bit more awake now, through the Circus, ignoring anyone around them, which was not a great deal of people. Finally, after much fuss, Daniel managed to convince the rat and kitten to let him st down fora bit. So he leaned up against a nearby van, snffling and rubbing at his eyes, but a considerable bit better than the previous days.

Dravius had arrived in time to hear the last snatches of Maya's disjointed words, and felt his shoulders tense up almost involuntarily, forcing himself to roll them back to present a fairly relaxed air. He watched her walk away, chewing on the inside of his bottom lip until he felt blood puddle around his bottom teeth. He simply moved to a new spot, a little to the left and continued, tasting iron in the back of his throat.

Dravius detected no tone of malice in Selvai's voice, but it was a grating annoyance to him, the actual words that came out of his mouth. "Well then, I wish you a good meal," He said in a tone that could be described as barely cordial, with teeth gritted slightly. Selvai's looks did nothing to improve Dravius' temper, and his jaw tightened visibly, muscles cording under the scarred skin.

He looked towards Maya's wagon, finally leaving off making the inside of his mouth bleed, and uncrossed his arms, sighing, before spitting to the side, a bright red from the blood. He ran a hand through his hair, brushing it away from his face, and stepping slowly toawrds the van, returning to chewing, this time on the outside of his lip, stripping bits of skin from recently-healed wounds. Dravius blinked quickly, coughing when his breath caught suddenly. He tapped a foot on the stairs to Maya's van, then coughed again before knocking quickly, and curtly on the doorframe, looking supremely worried, with his thin shoulders hunched.

Then the male began digging his long fingernails into his own palms, shifting from side to side on the step, pressing his tongue to the roof of his mouth.

Dravius watched as Maya ended up hitting herself with a juggling ball, actually recognizing the particular red and black of them. He crossed into the warm, almost humid space, taking a deep breath and sitting on the floor. He looked just as unhappy as he did before, but had managed to force most of the muscles in his body to relax, although he still had his fingertips pressed together hard, the joints where his fingers met his hands turning white with the force he was applying to them, and in fact was at the point where he was about to hyperextend them.

Dravius flicked his eyes to the large butterfly as it landed on him. The green in the insects wings glinted when they moved, and it was quite a nice sight. He noticed that Maya looked, probably, more worried than he did, and he got up, careful not to dislodge the butterfly, and sat on the bed a bit apart from Maya. His worried look had progressed,  rows curving upwards, and he said quietly, "Uhm. I'm...sorry." The pause in his words allowed him to concentrate for a moment on picking at his cuticles. He made a very brief face, a bit of a snarl, before he wrenched his hands apart, tucking them into his pockets. "I'm...just...not very smart, Maya. I'm sorry." He looked apologetic, staring at his hands, which he had moved into his lap.

Dravius rubbed a foot on Maya's floor. It was weird to him to be in av an without the walls coated in writing, and looked at the ball in Maya's hands, remarking quietly, "I remember those..."  He trailed off,  fingers intertwined.

Dravius turned his head to the side as Maya moved closer to him. He didn't reply to her statement, wondering just why she was squishing her arm against his chest, until he notcied the butterfly leaving. Oh. Made sense now. He watched the butterfly flap away, mingling with the other insects dancing around the small room, listening to Maya, putting his hand on either side of him, palms pressed into the blankets covering the bed. They were a deep green, matching much of the foliage in the van.

"It was mostly because I had known you for so long, it felt kind of like you were my sister, like I feel related to Raph." Dravius began chewing on the side of his finger as he talked, muffling his speech somewhat. He seemed to be trying his hardest to explain, and took his hand away from his lips to add, "Unobservant is almost as bad...", Almost miserably. He brought his barefeet up on the bed and pressed his forehead into his knees. "I didn't mean it....I just didn't really know how to describe it. It seems....weird to just say, 'oh, yeah, we're kind of seeing each other now,' after such a long time..." He trailed off, chin on top of his knees now. He embellished the statement with a small hand wave, and a slightly concerned look.

Dravius felt the corners of his mouth turn up Maya's offering the juggling balls back to him, and shook his head, saying, "Well, you'll have to make it up to me for stealing them. I demand a hug." He held out his arms almost sheepishly, smiling a little wider now. He tilted his head, his eyes looking rather similar to a puppy's or some other small, cuddly animal.

Nylat took up the plush and followed silently, keping a careful eye on Kioko, should her step falter. When they reached the van, she hopped lightly up the steps, setting the plush on her bed before hopping up on the spare bed and laying down, facing Kioko. At her question, Nylat sat bolt upright, shaking her head. "No. No reason to apologize. You are not an older member, you have no knowledge of my past. Even Raphael and Dravius have no clue bout anything that happened before I met them, unlike most of the members' pasts. And as such, you had no idea about my past before we met. Only natural you'd ask questions. You didn't ruin the day."

~~

Kanec ruffled his feathers a bit, glancing back at the two magicians before looking back at Disera and sighed. There was no doubt they'd never hear the end of it from those two. He laid his ears back, halfway tempted to turn his back on the two, but knowing that that would earn quite a bit of disfavor. So he didn't, but still huffed, his ears flicking. "Well, Disera, I just recently found out Raphael has a Valentine's Dance planned. And I was wondering if..." He flicked his eyes at Selvai and his ear twitched before he continued. "...well, if you would accompany me to aformentioned dance." He reddened a bit more.