Arla glanced to Rayth at the mirth in his response to the volunteer, a smirk on her lips. The expression wavered and she inhaled as she caught the tail end of his laugh. In that split second, she was positive she had seen [i]fangs.[/i]
	She paid closer attention as he continued. Though not as easy to spot with normal talk, he did, indeed, have elongated canines. Her hearts sped up for a couple beats and she took a small step away before she remembered where she was. The afterparty really [i]was[/i] more like a Halloween party.
	She exhaled and shook her head. She had the supernatural too heavily on the brain. She opened her mouth to compliment him on the combination of creatures for his act, but he spoke first.
	She scowled at his question. One of the questions she’d expected the ringmistress to ask her… or a form of it, at least. She ran her tongue over her teeth, debating on whether or not she really needed to stick the lie she had originally intended on telling.
	Deciding there was probably little harm in being more truthful, she shrugged stiffly. “Ye ol’ tale of controlling parents. They wanted to keep me in a tiny box ruled by their dictatorship. It was either stay there and die slowly, or leave and make my own adventure.”
	Not exactly the truth, but ‘I ended up being hunted by bloodthirsty monsters while running away from home, and happened on a flier for your circus on the way,’ didn’t strike her as the best answer.
 	She swallowed at the thought. She took a deep breath and tried to shove her worry back to the far recesses of her mind.
	“So.” She waved her hand and glanced upward, gesturing to the canopy above her. “Here I am.”
	The quick motion of her head irked the lurking mental fog. The strange, faraway sensation of being in a dream made the world again swim in front of her. She tripped over her own feet on her next step. Instinctively, she reached out for Rayth’s arm to steady herself. 
	Scowling, Arla grit her teeth. “Sorry,” she muttered sourly, releasing him. “I…” She hesitated, not sure if admitting she thought she was allergic to the smoke was such a good idea. Not on a first day, at least. “I’m apparently not used to your guys’ incense. Never been around the stuff before.” 
	She set her gaze firmly on the fence gate, hoping that would help keep her grounded. She contemplated returning his question, but decided against it. She didn’t know much about circus etiquette, but didn’t want to risk prying where a newbie shouldn’t. Potentially getting on someone’s bad side could wait for day two.
	“You probably get this often, but that’s a unique combination for your act,” she went with instead, offering a smile. “A vampire called the Reaper. Well. I’m assuming vampire. With the contacts and fangs. Right?”