Finally one of the stagehands came to find Blink, tapping the little boy on the shoulder and whispering "Five minutes to showtime. You ready, kiddo?" Blink grinned mischievously and nodded, following the stagehand behind the tent to the performer's entrance. He wasn't walking on his feet, however. He decided to walk on his hands to warm up. 

For a kid who usually had a slew of behavioral issues and oddities and rarely paid much attention to anything, Blink took performing rather seriously. When he wasn't hunting souls or pestering his circus mates, he was usually practicing his act, twisting his little body into impossible knots as if he were made of rubber. He'd been self-teaching himself acrobatics and contortionist tricks since he was about five, and he was frankly speaking something of a prodigy. Since the souls he was consuming had slowed his aging to a standstill, he didn't have to worry about retiring from his profession at the young ages acrobats tend to retire at. If he didn't get killed or paralyzed, he could probably do this forever, and he certainly planned to. 

The stage was dark when Blink walked onto it. He could here the anticipatory whispers of the audience, and see the lights of quite a few phones ready to film the act. Technically this was against the rules of the circus, but Blink thoroughly enjoyed the attention. Attention was what he craved above all else. It was a pretty good substitute to the unattainable affection he desired. The lights went up and his performance began. He turned flips, bending and twisting his small form in ways that were both disturbing and oddly visually appealing. Cell phones flashed and people watched in stunned silence as he walked up to the stage apron on his hands, expertly turning back to his feet and taking a bow.

The act went brilliantly, as per usual. Crowds tended to love precocious children. When the act was done, the audience roared with applause. One audience member threw him a rose, tied to which was a twenty dollar tip. Blink blew a kiss in the direction of the giver, his face a charming but slightly gloating smile. He was a bit ostentatious when it came to performing, which irritated some of his colleagues. 

As Blink turned to leave the stage, he noticed a sharp pain in the right side of his waist. [i]Ce n'est rien.[/i] He mentally told himself, walking offstage trying to hide his discomfort from the audience. Blink had a top-notch pain tolerance. If he could feel it, it was probably more serious than just a little pulled muscle. But he decided to ignore it, walking over to where Desdemona the snake woman was entertaining the audience with her eerily graceful moves and terrifying yet strangely charming appearance. Not wanting to interrupt the show, Blink joined the audience, nudging his way up to the front of the crowd to where she could see him. The little boy walked stiffly, slumped forward slightly to try and ease his agonized right side. "Maman! Devines ce que j'ai?" He called out to her, running up to her, masking a pained wince with a giggle. He forced one of his signature gleeful smirks, waving his twenty dollar bill slightly so Des could see it. He wondered how many tips she got. Acrobats were impressive and all, but a snake woman was one of a kind. 
[@LadyRunic]