[IC] Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

[FreckersFrog]

Geralt nodded at Ivory's response. "Agreed, I'll wait here." he said, then watched her as she walked past him and out of the tent.

The Magician knew she wouldn't be long, but the moment she was gone he felt himself becoming bored. Her music was still playing on the gramophone, over and over, and it was beginning to become incessantly annoying. He waved a hand through the air to stop it and return to silence.

He had never been much of a fan of waiting on other people, and in fact, reveled in the opposite. It didn't take long before his foot and thus his knee began to bounce. After only a few seconds of this, he stood and began walking around the tent, taking stock of the place. Though he had measured it and the stage with his eyes when he had entered, he though it best to do a once-about, to make sure that it was indeed as large as he had guessed. He was not disappointed with his calculations.

We should be doing...something more productive. The voice in his brain commented snidely.

Geralt snorted in annoyance and shook his head, responding aloud with, "And what do you suggest? She will be gone for mere moments." He spoke quietly, although he knew no one was around to hear him.

Others are...alone...unsuspecting.

Geralt hopped onto the stage and approached the silks, looking up to see where they were attached and running his hand down one of the long blue strands. "Don't be a fool. I won't be there for long enough to see anything even remotely interesting." He gripped one of the silks and gave it a tug as he walked around them, testing the strength.

You are doing nothing to advance our will. This is a waste of time. The voice answered a little more forcefully this time. It did not like being insulted.

But Geralt did not care. He shook his head, letting a sarcastic smile spread across his lips as he stared up into the beams of the tent. "Patience, my friend, is a virtue. I've only been here one night, give me time. 'Our will' will be realized." The Magician said as he stepped between the silks, gripped both of them and began wrapping them around his wrists and forearms.

You mock me, this will not go unnoticed.

Geralt openly laughed this time as he hoisted himself up on the silks as a gymnast would, letting his feet hover a few inches from the ground. "Do your worst, I'm all you've got."

There was silence for a moment as Geralt hovered there, then let himself drop as he sensed movement outside. Ivory was returning.

Saved by the belle... The voice answered quietly, chuckling, as she entered the tent.

Geralt began untwisting his forearms from the silks as Ivory walked into the tent. He raised his eyebrows when he saw her and let his smile widen, remaining on the stage as she strode toward him. "Oh, miss Ivory...I daresay you look positively envious in emerald."

[xivyxx]

Ivory arrived back at the Big Top, raising an eyebrow slightly upon seeing Geralt untangling his hands from the silk. Had he tried to get on them? She could not deny that the thought was a little amusing. He did not seem like the type suited to the silks, but she didn't comment on it.

"Thanks." She said to his compliment, though she didn't really bat an eye at it. Who knew if he actually meant it. She approached and jumped back onto the stage, detaching the skirt from her outfit just as she usually did with the previous one. She'd have to work putting it back on into this routine as well, so she figured she should also practice it.

"Taking a liking to the silks?" She asked as she shoo'd him away from them so she could take her spot there again, setting the skirt down in it's appropriate place. "Doesn't seem like your.. style."

[FreckersFrog]

Though curt, Ivory's response was the best The Magician had received out of her yet. Progress, mayhaps? He thought not, but it had the potential to not be extremely sarcastic.

He watched her as she detached the skirt and this time could not help but appreciate her legs. He made no effort to hide his gaze either, there was no point, his and any other man's attraction to her had to be obvious. Ivory was observant and intelligent, attempting to fool her would make him seem undignified.

As she jumped onto the stage and approached him, he stepped away from the silks but let his hand run down it before letting go. Afterwards, he bowed to allow her access to them and answered, "Oh, it isn't my "style" by any means. But, like most men, I can't resist a woman in silks. It is quite...pleasurable to touch." He paused a moment, making sure to make eye contact with Ivory before he turned and jumped down from the stage to approach his chair once more.

[xivyxx]

Ivory could feel Geralt's gaze on her, but she easily ignored it, considering it was something she was used to. She wasn't about to let it bother her.

"M'hm. I'm sure your type knows all about that." She said a little sarcastically, breaking eye contact as she was not interested in maintaining it. Most men indeed.

Geralt raised an eyebrow and tilted his head, smiling amusedly as he took his seat once more and crossed his legs, "Oh? And what 'type' is that?"

At this, the dhampir paused, glancing over her shoulder as she looked down at the Magician who had taken his seat. "Philanderers." She said, clear disdain in her tone. With that, she turned around and returned to the task at hand.

"Play the music." She said, before wrapping her hands around the silks and hoisting herself up into the same shorter distance to perform the drop. As she flipped to her feet, her other hand smoothly grabbed hold of her skirt and swiftly reattached it as she began to perform a similar dance as before, but with a few alterations, making sure to incorporate the amount of silk she needed to extend to cover all of the radius of her skirt, while keeping in mind to attempt to cover more of the parts that had stuck out in her previous run.

"What was off that time?" She asked once finished, cutting to the point.

[FreckersFrog]

Geralt did not respond to Ivory's last comment. This was very revealing, but he was sure she realized that. It was clear that this was the "personal bias" that Lucien had mentioned before. Had it been an old flame that had spurned her? An absent father, perhaps, who had another secret family? Maybe she had been the victim of an unrequited affection? Whatever the case, the activities that he engaged in in his own apartment, on his own time, had certainly struck a chord with her. Perhaps she would not be as fun to play with as he had thought, if this was the case. Geralt was guilt of a great many sins, but jealousy and judgement were not ones that he particularly imbibed.

Without another word, he twisted his hand and fingers through the air to place Ivory's record back on and began its spinning. He watched her dance again, shaking his head slightly at the mistakes he witnessed along the way. He had no doubt she could correct them by the time of their performance, but it would take a few hours before it was perfect, he was sure. They still had his entrance and Ivory's exit to deal with.

"Left foot this time, and I could see almost up to your knee if I was at the end of the row. Your right elbow again, and your hair." Overall, this pass had much improved. Ivory had added and subtracted some elements to account for the skirt and the missteps that he had pointed out before, but she had overcompensated this time. She needed to even it out a bit. "More balance," he said, deciding to add these thoughts instead of being solely critical, "I think you're relying too heavily on your left."

[xivyxx]

"Hm." Ivory acknowledged his words, and turned away from him to hide her disdain. She was a bit of a perfectionist when it came to these things, and she wanted to get it right as fast as possible, but she knew she could not allow her impatience to get this over with to impact progress. She had to clear her mind, be calm, and simply hear the music, while keeping in mind the things she had to fix, but that ended up being harder than she thought.

With each practice, Ivory grew a little more irritated. She wasn't used to people pointing out her mistakes like this. Usually the dhampir only showed the others a finished performance. Sometimes Lucien came in to see, but he was not nearly as critical, and his presence didn't really distract her in the least, Geralt was a different story. Now that she knew what they were going to do, she wished nothing more than to be able to practice this by herself, and just call Geralt in for the end of it, just so she could stop hearing him correcting her mistakes.

Ivory got her wish, as right before she began their next set, she heard someone come inside.

"I hope I'm not interrupting." Akane said as she entered. "I came to let you guys know its lunch time." She said.

"No, you're fine." She said, before glancing at Geralt. "I'm good, but you should go." She told him, finding this to be a good chance for her to get some peace and quiet to herself.

[FreckersFrog]

Geralt watched Ivory's practice again and again, noting her small adjustments, her over and under-balancing, and the moves that were perfect. It seemed to him that the ones that remained without flaw, did so consistently. The mistakes she was making were not new, just repetitions of the same thing over and over in a different configuration. Each time it was over, he would point them out to her, even if she didn't ask. It came to a point where she would start again before he finished speaking. This was irritating to say the least, and he was beginning to tire of her attitude. The longer he watched and corrected, the more his leg bounced in impatience and irritation. Sloppy was too harsh a word for it, but at the moment, Geralt could think of no other.

Just as it was beginning to be too much for him to take, he was relieved to sense the movement of Akane outside the tent. He glanced over his shoulder and immediately his soured expression turned into one of delight.

"Not at all, Akane," he began, then glanced back over at Ivory for a moment before returning his gaze to the redhead. "Oh, already?" he asked, fully aware that it had been over three hours since they had entered the tent. "How time flies..." he said, then stood and turned to wait for Ivory. When she declined, he raised his eyebrows in mock surprise, then shook his head, "Suit yourself. I'll be back soon, we need to nail this tonight." He said, matter-of-factly, letting his smile fall but for a moment as he looked back at the Vampiress. Once he returned his gaze to Akane, however, he smoothly transitioned back into his trademark grin.

"Lead the way." he said, then motioned toward the entrance.

The two exited, and once out into the fresh afternoon air, Geralt stretched his arms wide over his head, grateful to be moving again. Sensing movement, he looked about and noticed that some of the carnies had returned from their errands in town and were going about business on the grounds. He would have to make a point to speak with one of them soon.

After a moment of walking, Geralt looked down at Akane and said absently, "Not much of an appetite on Miss Ivory, eh? She's been practicing for hours, I'm surprised that she hasn't worked her stomach to emptiness." He patted his own and added, "I did, and I was only watching." He knew full well why this was, but he was merely testing the waters to see how much Akane was willing to reveal. It would be easy to gauge whether her carefree attitude was merely an act, or the genuine article.

[xivyxx]

"I'm quite aware." Ivory snapped back, clearly irritated by the whole situation. She wouldn't be surprised if the man was looking down on her, but she'd show him. The only reason this hadn't been perfected was because his presence was too overbearing to ignore. She did nothing to stop their departure, and was quite glad for it.

With Geralt gone, Ivory was finally able to relax. She felt like her space was.. her own again. She took a deep breath, and then exhaled, before taking hold of the silks again.

"Alright.. let's try this again." She said to herself, finally able to fully focus on her task.

-

Akane glanced up at Ivory and then at Geralt. She wondered how the practice was going, but decided not to ask. Having practiced with Ivory herself for their transition, she knew how much the dhampir dedicated to her work, but it had been very easy for them to work together. It was likely that this was not the case here, as Ivory wasn't incredibly fond of Geralt.

They walked out of the large tent, and began heading to the mess area. As Geralt broke the silence, Akane looked up at him. She knew perfectly well how little Ivory tended to eat. She used to eat a lot more back when things were.. better off here, but since their financial struggle had started, she had refrained for the sake of everyone else, even if she had insisted it was simply because she didn't want it. Ivory was nice in her own way, even if she didn't like to be obvious about it.

Despite his question, she knew better than to say too much in regards to the situation. Akane did not mind when it came to revealing things about herself, but she respected the dhampir's privacy, and considering her disdain for Geralt, she knew the woman wouldn't appreciate her revealing anything about her to him.

"She's quite the hard worker isn't she?" She commented as they walked. "I'm sure she'll have whatever you two are working on perfected by the time you return, and then she'll take her break. It might not look it, but she does know her limits." She added, figuring this was the best way to indirectly respond to his question.

[FreckersFrog]

Geralt laughed aloud at Akane's statement, then shook his head, "Well, you certainly could have fooled me. I doubt that either of us would have noticed the time had you not come to get us." there was a slight pause, then he added, "I would be surprised if she comes back out of there before tomorrow morning. I get the impression she's also quite the night owl."

It was clear to Geralt that Akane was trying to hide the answer he sought, but he was fine with that. Everything she said was revealing on its own. He now knew that she was protective of her comrades' privacy, and perhaps a little bit cunning. There was definitely more to this fox than met the eye...just the way he liked it.

"Still," he crossed his arms over his chest and sighed, "I am a little worried about our...relationship." he let these words hang in the air, then shook his head. "Ah, what am I saying, it's too early to tell anyway. I shouldn't be worrying you with this." He glanced at her out of the side of his eye to gauge her reaction, but made sure to keep his expression guarded. The two were approaching the mess area, where he could see some others already gathered in various stages of eating. Lucien, Illyana, and Cora were there, but he did not see Aurel.

[xivyxx]

Akane looked on amusingly. "Hmm, I suppose I'll keep that in mind to make sure you don't miss your lunch time either." She responded.

"She will, we do have a show tonight." She said simply, not commenting on the last thing she said. While she knew Ivory would be reluctant to stop if she hadn't gotten it right, she knew that the dhampir would stop at least a couple hours before showtime, to give herself enough time to regain energy. She would not risk a mistake during a show because of lack of rest.

His next comment broke the fox out of her thoughts, making her ears twitch. She looked up at the man. He sounded a little worried.

"What do you mean?" She asked. "Has practice not been going well?" She had taken not of a bit of Ivory's irritation upon going inside but.. had it really been going that bad?

[FreckersFrog]

Geralt almost smiled, but kept it at bay. He was glad the girl was biting, but was not as interested as he had hoped. No matter, this would be a slowly built nest. "Oh, no, the practice is fine. Miss Ivory is incredibly talented, I love watching her perform. You can tell she truly lives for her work, her art." he paused a moment then shrugged before he looked over at Akane with large eyes full of trepidation. "I'm just worried that I may have offended her unknowingly. She's not very...I don't know..." he said, then sighed again. "It's fine, really. I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable."

[xivyxx]

Akane was relieved to hear practice was going well. It would be unfortunate if they hadn't gotten along to the point that nothing was getting done but.. it did seem like Geralt was as worried as he was expressing.

"Well.. I know that Ivory's a little hard to read, but I can at least tell you this. If you are worried that you may have offended her.. then it's very likely that you didn't do so. She would have made it known." She told him. There had been many times in the past where she had seen this happen, usually in their visits to town. Some men didn't take being turned down well, and Ivory never hesitated before putting them in their place. She didn't feel like it would be any different here, if Geralt had truly managed to offend her.

There was a small pause before she spoke again, as she considered whether she should, but decided to go for it anyway, placing a small reassuring hand on the man's shoulder. The moment she did, that same sensation, a shudder, almost shot up her spine, but she kept it much more contained this time around. How ever it was much harder to stop some of the fur on her tail from standing on end, luckily the majority of them was hidden beneath her dress. Part of her had wanted to know if the first time was a fluke.. it seemed that it wasn't, still she didn't remove her smile, and let her arm fall back to the side. What a curious man Geralt was.

"You aren't making me uncomfortable at all, if you need someone to talk to about these things I'll gladly lend an ear or two." She said with a smile.

[FreckersFrog]

"Well, that is good to know..." Geralt assented. It didn't seem this track was a good one to take with the Fire Dancer. She was giddy and friendly, and concerned, but was not jumping to any conclusions. She knew her friend well, it would take more than one prod to get her to crack. No matter, there were others, both tactics and troupe, to try.

He smiled over at Akane as he felt her hand touch his shoulder, "Or three, I noticed you have some to spare." He winked, unable to keep the joke at bay. There was a small pause, then he looked down at her with a mask of sincerity that not even Ivory could claim was an act. "Thank you very much, Akane. I truly appreciate that."

Their conversation came to an end as they drew closer to the mess area and heard Cora say: "Oh, so a little higher then? Like this?"

This was followed by singing, not loud and obnoxious, but light and pleasant. Though the tone was high and hopeful, the sound of Cora's voice was alluring and soothing. Geralt felt a wave of pure relaxation hit him as they got closer to the mess area. Though he was usually not greatly effected by talents that eased the mind, other than drink and narcotics, he had not been expecting this and so was caught off guard. The feeling wasn't sudden, and in fact it felt like it had always been there and was just growing stronger. For a moment, he felt his eyelids drooping and his muscles relaxing as he gave in to the sound of it. It was like a cool breeze on a warm day and a warm bed on a cool night, all at once.

Watch this witch...even you are falling under her spell.

The sound of these grating words snapped Geralt from his temporary lapse in attention. Despite his disagreements with...him...he could not deny the truth of this statement. The girl's title of "La Sirène" may have been more literal than he originally imagined.

As the two approached, he blinked slowly several times and turned his smile towards Cora, "My goodness...what lovely sounds you make. I was convinced there was nothing more beautiful about you than your face, and I daresay I was wrong."

Illyana, who had been reading contentedly with a sandwich on her plate that had one small, mouse-sized bite taken out of it, looked up as she heard Geralt's voice. She was glad to see that Akane was with him, but the pleasant half-smile on her face instantly vanished as she looked over at him, then back down at her book. Of course, he was complimenting Cora again. Though Illyana was glad to be immune to his attentions, she felt bad for her friend who knew no better than to trust this overbearing kindness.

Cora stopped singing immediately when she saw Geralt and Akane approach, and her face cheeks grew bright pink at the Magician's words. "Oh, please!" she said, unsure of what else she could say. She was aware of the effect her voice could have on people, but everyone around here had grown used to it's sounds. She decided then and there that it was nice to have someone else around to see everyone's talents, and she couldn't wait for Geralt to see her and Lucien perform together.

Geralt looked between the two of them, Ringmaster and his singer, and gestured towards them as he took a seat. "Well, don't stop on my account. Please, continue." he smiled at them both, taking note of the sheet music under Lucien's pen and the title of Illyana's book as he did so.

"Folklore of the Vikings"...nice try, but no dice.

[xivyxx]

Akane couldn't help but let out a small giggle at his comment. "Only a couple, but don't tell anyone~" She told him, her smile changing to that of amusement. Honestly it was a bit curious that he hadn't actually asked her about them. Perhaps he already knew what she was? If he didn't, she couldn't help but wonder how much the man had seen in his life to not question something like this.

She was glad that her words had seemingly helped Geralt. She wanted nothing more than for everyone to get along, but she knew with Ivory that would take time. If Geralt was genuinely a nice person, she figured it would only be a matter of time before Ivory realized it, and maybe went a little easier on him. It was then that they arrived at the mess area, and the kitsune took her seat next to Cora once more, glad to be able to hear a bit more of her and Lucien's practice.

The ringleader glanced up from his sheet of music as Geralt arrived at the table. He didn't say anything to Geralt's compliments of Cora, at this point he couldn't expect the magician not to say anything, and he couldn't really disagree with him either. Cora's voice was extremely calming, even to him, though he made sure to block a little of it out if he felt it would be too distracting to continue with his notes. During their journey he had finished composing the song that they would be performing this time around, and he had found this a good time to practice. Sometimes Lucien alternated between using existing songs, or deciding to put together his own music if he had the time and inspiration. Considering the circumstances.. he thought maybe their next theme should be a little more.. hopeful, to people.

"That pitch you just used was perfect, let's try that again but with a little less accent going into the next verse, it will make the transition a lot more smooth." He told her. The sheet of music he had against his clipboard was filled with notes, areas of the song where he could afford to play a higher pitch because Cora's voice range had no limits. He was trying to maintain a good balance in this song between it being upbeat but also calming. He didn't want one to overpower the other too much, so he was adding his edits as they went.

For a moment, he paused, taking a glance in Illyana's direction. "Illy, please don't be so distracted by your reading that you forget to finish your food." He added. By now the lot of them had finished, but Illyana was nowhere near being done even though they had all sat down around the same time. While he knew she tended to be a slow eater, he wanted to make sure that she got more food in her system if she was going to be doing more readings today.

[FreckersFrog]

Cora pulled her eyes away from Geralt to listen to Lucien's notes. She leaned in, intently focusing on what he was saying, and nodded her understanding when he finished as the blush faded from her cheeks. Though she had an otherworldly voice and the ability to sing any note given to her, she never had an ear for composition. Mostly when she had sung on her own back home, they were little trills and humming sounds that she had made up and hardly anything ever had actually words--or lyrics--in them. Since coming abovewater, Lucien had helped to cultivate her talent to an extreme level. Now, not only did she know how to sing, but she knew what was pleasing to the ear of others, and even all the different terms that went along with it. She was glad for Lucien's assistance, without him she felt her voice would have been wasted. She was always glad when their last nights came, it gave her the opportunity to showcase her talent, it was a nice change from swimming around a bit for viewers, and honestly, she still didn't understand what everyone found so enthralling about that.

"Okay," she said, and cleared her throat before continuing. She opened her mouth and glanced at Geralt before beginning again. Noticing that the Magician's eyes were on her, she sang with a smile.

Illyana, who had been reading at the other end of the table to put some distance between herself and Cora's powerful voice, looked up at Lucien as she was addressed. At first, she was confused, but then she looked down to see the tiny bite she had taken out of her sandwich and understood. Although the medium had never been a big eater, which is why the others in the troupe insisted that she was so small, she was often so distracted by her reading that she would forget she was even hungry. It was up to Lucien, and Faolan...when he was here, to make sure she did not skip meals accidentally.

She gave the Ringleader a mock glare before taking another small bite out of her sandwich. She made to set the food down, but noticed Lucien's eyes were on her and took a second bite before doing so and turning back to her book.

Geralt watched all of this exchange with luke-warm interest. What he was truly ready to experience was the full force of Cora's vocal talents. Her abilities could be extremely useful to him in the future if she was as powerful as he thought. He made sure to steel himself before she began again, confident that he could withstand the soothing power of it now that he knew what to expect. He gave her a small wink as she glanced at him, noting her grin as she realized he was watching her.

[xivyxx]

Lucien continued to instruct Cora on the pitch and transition between verses of the song. He scribbled away at his notes, changing the music notes at times to match Cora's singing as they made their way through the song. Normally he kept the siren's range in mind as he wrote his music, but sometimes hearing it in person made him change his mind on certain verses to match it better. The aim was to have perfect synnergy between her voice and the piano. He had to admit Cora had truly grown when it came to these things since he began to teach her the art of composing. He was always glad to take her opinion into consideration.

"What do you think about this verse? We could probably afford to go a bit lower here, before raising the pitch a bit more toward the end?" He asked, glancing over at the mermaid. On occasion he'd shift his glance in Illy's direction, making sure the girl was still eating.

Akane smiled as she listened to Lucien and Cora practice. This song was very soothing, and it made her feel all warm inside, she was sure that was the kind of feeling that the two were going for. This was one of the reasons why she loved the final day, getting to listen to the two of them perform like this. She simply couldn't wait to hear the final result of it.

--

Ivory had not wasted much time in getting back to practice, she wanted to make the most of the time she had before Geralt returned. She did the performance again, and again, keeping in mind the points that had stuck out to her. It was easier not to overcompensate with her previous faults without the man's irritating presence there. She changed the dance just enough to make up for those mistakes, opening the curtain wider towards the end but in a more elegant manner before she had wrapped the silks completely around her in a smooth motion, completely blocking her sight from the audience. This was the best spot for that 'teleportation' to happen, though she supposed she'd have to wait for Geralt's return to test that.

Once she was sure she had all the steps down and memorized, it was only then that she decided to take a break. The dhampir took a seat on the edge of the stage and let out a sigh. She couldn't deny that she was a bit tired, making that drop continuously was a bit straining on her ankle if she did it continuously for too long, but she didn't think she'd have to keep at it for much longer. She manifested a knife in her hand, before she threw it toward one of the nearest targets to pass the time, before pulling it back and doing it again. It was a nice way to pass the time.

[FreckersFrog]

Cora's attention was slowly peeled from Geralt and thrust back into the song and Lucien's notes. She wanted to make sure this was perfect. Knowing that this was a song Lucien had written just for the occasion, and wanted her to sing it, made her feel as though she wanted to impress him. Although, this was a normal feeling when they performed together, it was compounded by the fact that they had been to this town before. Cora was glad for the distraction, but also wanted to be sure that she contributed all she could to a successful night.

As they neared the end of the song, she watched Lucien make little scribbles on his paper before he turned back to her. She wasn't sure what they all meant, but Lucien was good at explaining and the two never had trouble communicating when it came to this.

"I think you're right!" she said, nodding. "I can go lower, but I think ending high is good, given what the song is about." Lucien had made sure that this song was hopeful and uplifting, he wanted the crowd to feel like anything was possible. Cora admired that in him, his ability to raise people's spirits through song. Maybe they would help to lift his as well.

"Although," she added, before trying the verse again. "I hope you don't mind me saying...but I think the note at the end is too long." she pointed to the last section of the song on his paper. "I think it might be a little more...thrilling, or upbeat, if the note ends more sharply. Is it okay if I try?"

"Go ahead," Lucien said, smiling.

Cora smiled back and obliged him. She tried just the end of the song, taking Lucien's notes into consideration and adding her own little flair at the end. She ended the song with a smile and looked over at Lucien, full of hope that she had made a good suggestion.

He watched her, smiling the whole way, then made a small annotation on his notes to cut the ending line short. "There, perfect."

Cora's smile widened as she glanced at Akane and Geralt, clasping her hands together close to her chest. She was proud that she was able to contribute, even if it was small.

"Well," Geralt said once the two were done. He had eaten and washed his dish quickly while the two had practiced, listening the entire way. Although he found that he was able to resist Cora's trance, he knew that he would have to keep on his toes if the Siren ever turned her chords on him. She was powerful, probably more so than even she realized, and he had to keep it that way until it was time.

"I cannot thank the two of you enough for allowing me to sit in." He placed his hands flat on the table before standing, "Cora, that was absolutely stunning. And Lucien...well, you are a fantastic Maestro. The two of you...you are doing amazing things together. I can't wait to see how its received tomorrow night." There was a pause as he stepped away from the table, "But, alas, I too must leave you. Ivory and I can't have you two stealing the show before its even on!" he winked at the two of them, then began heading back toward the big top where Ivory awaited him.

Illyana had not noticed that Geralt had left, she had been so absorbed in her book and calmed by Cora's song. Once the silence had permeated the area enough, and she realized that she had run out of pages to read, she looked up. Her sandwich was...mostly gone, but there was still almost a quarter of it left. She noticed then that Geralt had left, and glanced around before closing her book. "Well, that was a bust." she said, looking to Lucien. Seeing the look on his face, she looked down at her plate with a frown before popping the rest of the food into her mouth.

She chewed, swallowed, then showed him the clean surface of her plate. "All done," she said, before walking to the dish station to clean her plate.

He entered the tent to find that she had ceased her practice. Either Akane had been correct, or she had simply given up. He doubted that the latter was true.

"Ah," he said, rolling up his sleeves as he walked toward her. "I see you're finally taking your break. Have any luck without me?" he knew the answer to this before he'd finished the question.

[xivyxx]

Lucien had smiled at Cora as she gave her own input on the song. As she had tried her shortened note, he knew immediately that was exactly what they needed toward the end of the song. He erased the final note and made it shower, and gave a satisfying smile. Their work was done, now all that was left was to actually put it into practice.

"Thank you." He told Geralt, watching the magician leave. Honestly he had wanted to ask how he and Ivory's practice was going.. but he had been too busy with his own. He supposed he'd find out one way or another, probably when they had finished for the day. Based on the man's expression it didn't seem like it was going back, but he knew better than to base it on that. The man had a good pokerface.

He nodded approvingly at Illyana as she walked past him to wash her plate, glad she had actually managed to get through her food, before he turned his attention back to Cora.

"I'm sure we'll have plenty of time tomorrow to practice this song with the actual piano accompaniment, or maybe today, it depends on when Geralt and Ivory will be finished with their work, regardless, thank you for all your input, I think this song will be very successful." He told her with a warm smile. He truly hoped it would do as he intended.

--

Ivory's gaze shifted to the entrance of the Big Top as Geralt made his return, having just caught the knife in her hand. Just like that, it was gone.

"It's finished." She said, before rising to her feet and heading back to the silks. That was all she needed to say for the man to play the music again. Confident that it was perfect, it was easier for her to perform it without worrying about the fact Geralt was there. It was always at this stage that she allowed people to usually see her work, unfortunately that wasn't something she could do here. She dropped, and eased into her dance just as she had practiced. Not one step out of sync, and no longer overcompensating. As she covered herself with the blue of the silks, the dhampir now stood completely out of sight, before she released them completely, and turned to look at the magician.

"Well?" Was all she said.

[FreckersFrog]

Geralt happily obliged Ivory with the gramophone, then watched the performance with his usual intensity. Listening to Cora's song had helped to lift his spirits if nothing else, and he felt a renewed sense of promise as he'd entered the tent to continue their practice. It seemed, however, that this positive attitude was not needed at all. Ivory had seemingly completed her practice to stunning effect. Not one slip of skin or silk occurred during this final pass. Try though he might to find a flaw, it was impossible.

He let her question hang in the air for a moment, silence slowly filling the void of the space. After that, he simply shrugged and shook his head, "I'm going to have to leave you alone more often, if it always produces results like this," he said, then stood and added, "It is, indeed, finished."

He paused once again, and looked at the ground. "But, there is my part to practice now." He took a step forward, and vanished in a swirling vortex of pitch black smoke. It was as though God had suddenly decided to snuff out a candle, to which Geralt was the flame.

Suddenly, his voice came from behind Ivory on the stage, his wicked grin returned. "Have you ever been 'displaced' before?"

[xivyxx]

Ivory didn't mind the silence that followed, she was sure he was trying to find some sort of flaw, but she knew he wouldn't find any. She would not have stopped her practice if she felt like it hadn't been perfect.

"Well I can say I would never fight you on that. I'm simply used to practicing alone." She told him simply. She much preferred to do this sort of thing alone. It probably may not have taken as long if she had been able to do it sooner.

Not even moments after the magician responded, he was suddenly out of sight. It surprised her, because it had been so quick and sudden that she hadn't had time to fully observe it. While usually quite aware of her surroundings, she hadn't expected for the man to appear behind her so suddenly, and swiftly turned around as she heard him speak, taking a step back, but then trying to neutralize her expression to hide her surprise.

"..No." She said. He was quick, she had to admit. She wasn't sure how he did it, but it was definitely something of the supernatural. Putting that aside though.. with that sort of skill, she was sure the transition would go just fine, but she couldn't help but feel wary of the ability.