Barlow had finished up his performances much earlier than the rest of the crew, having been one of the first acts of the day, and had now reverted to wandering the tents with his cockatiel, Beans. The little fella had been restless all evening, and to tell the truth, Barlow was beginning to feel the same. He assumed it had something to do with the harlequin, as nothing else seemed to bring a chill to the air quite like this. The Keeper should have felt it too, no doubt, and probably knew the reasoning for it too, he thought a bit bitterly. 

Despite agreeing to stay loyal to that man, Barlow still had problems with the amount of secrecy surrounding his current boss. He knew that it would continue to bother for probably the rest of the life he spent here, seeing as the Keeper was never inclined to share his secrets. It always left Barlow feeling bitter and cheated, like he deserved some sort of answer, but all he ever seemed to receive were backwards and roundabout comments and orders. 

“Right on time, I suppose.” Barlow spoke lightly, and grinned sarcastically after catching sight of a small paper bird fluttering over the tents. It dipped and rose with the light breeze before eventually diving in his direction. The little creature landed on his shoulder, opposite of Beans, who seemed to dislike the little buggers almost as much as Barlow. He didn’t need to give the origami bird too much attention to understand the orders being given—they’d be going out tonight, to fight. He wanted to feel annoyed, or used, but all he really felt in his gut now was excitement. 

“Almost time for the real show to start, eh, Beans?” Barlow smiled but didn’t turn to the bird, who had now crossed over to his other shoulder and promptly began tearing up the intruding paper bird with his tiny talons. 

~ ~ ~

Tonight had been quite the lively night, at least for Faris, who was currently caked in frills and makeup while he sat at the side of one of the smaller tents, attempting to catch a break and enjoy the cooler evening air. In his lap sat a pair of tiny kiwi birds, both looking as happy to be outside as he was. He loved performing yes, almost more than he enjoyed air in his lungs, but even nights like these, where the tents were packed fuller than the bags of popcorn served, usually left the younger clown a little tuckered out. 

“Mm, today was a good show, guys.” He talked joyfully to his little birds while feeding them little handfuls of birdseed that he often carried with him. He’d munch on it ever now and again too, but mainly kept it as a treat for his kiwi. “But we’ve gotta work on our steps. They were lookin’ a little sloppy.” He commented with a harder tone, and at that, both of the little birds in his lap stopped munching seeds and looked up at him. Their faces didn’t appear to give much emotion, but Faris seemed to be able to understand their body language perfectly clear. “Don’t look at me like that. It’s cause you ate too much popcorn earlier, isn’t it, Roger!” he shouted accursedly, though, all three knew he wasn’t honestly that mad. He loved his little kiwi birds like family, and knew they’d work harder if he asked them to.
The three of them just sat there and munched away at bird seen for a while then, enjoying their respite and watching the guests as they moved through the tents. Then, eventually, one of the tiny paper birds that Faris knew to answer to Yulio fluttered down beside his feet. It hopped around in the grass for a few moments before finally climbing into his lap beside Roger and Dodger. Neither of the little kiwi seemed to pay it any mind, and Faris only briefly smiled at it with the understanding of what it meant. 

“We’re goin’ out tonight, boys!” he said excitedly, already feeling himself fill back up with energy. They’d be hunting for the Harlequin, which meant they’d get to explore the city a bit. This was always an exciting chance for Faris, who loved seeing knew things. “We should find Yulio!” he spouted then, suddenly scooping the now three birds into his arms and popping up from the ground, and promptly headed towards the gates.