FreckersFrog

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Illyana nodded as she felt herself coming fully out of her daze. She had another sip of water, "It should be a busy night..." she said, half listening.

Every time she thought she may be coming around to the idea of Geralt joining them, something else made her reset her feelings to their default. It was clear he was bad news, and the energies she was receiving were definitely try to tell her something more. For her, visions could be vastly different depending on the situation. She'd often had ones of this kind, sudden bursts of strong emotions as she touched an object. Occasionally, when clients asked her to contact the spirits of the dead, which she couldn't really do, she would offer to read from one of their loved one's possessions and interpret a message based on the burst of emotional energy she experienced. This was similar to that, but far more intense.

At Lucien's next question, she looked at him as if she had forgotten his presence, "Hm? Oh, yes...I'm fine. Just...you said that card appeared in your pocket after you left? Did he ever get close enough to leave it on the two of you?" Lucien was kind and accommodating, like Illyana herself, and often sacrificed his comfort for the "greater good", which, in this case, would have been accepting uncomfortable proximity with Geralt so as not to offend him. Ivory, on the other hand, would never do this, especially given her reaction to the man. Illyana doubted that this had been simple sleight of hand, but she needed more details before she could rule it out.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Faolan was also eyeing the landscape with interest as they walked through town, but this was more for memorizing the terrain than anything else. He did notice that he had been right before in his assessment of American architecture, it took up more land than air, which was a little disappointing to him. He hoped that somewhere had been left green and undisturbed, but only time would tell him that.

His eyes were assaulted with colors, his ears with more accents, and sometimes a different and extremely interesting language that sounded nothing like he had ever heard before, and his nose by scents of baked goods, tobacco, mud, wet wood, and alcohol. These smells were mostly normal, but there were hints and undercurrents of spice mixed in with everything. If it weren't for his preference for big, open spaces, New Orleans would seem to him like an interesting place to call home.

When they approached the church, Faolan was reminded of the ones back in Ireland. Small, dumpy thing it was, could maybe hold a hundred at most. Nothing lie the obnoxious things they called "cathedrals" in the city. He preferred them this way, if he preferred them at all.

They entered the house, and Faolan nearly had to duck to get inside. The home was small, but modest, and smelled strongly of wet wood and incense, which was not an entirely unpleasant combination. He seated himself across from Lucien as the priest scurried off, and glanced about, subconsciously sniffing the air. He could smell dinner from here, something spicy and thick...and fishy.

"You're not wrong. It's definitely different...but, also the same." He didn't really know how to describe it. He felt both comfortable and anxious, which was not a combination he was used to. "Hope you like seafood." He said, as he set his bag on the floor at his feet.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Cora leaned back as she saw Illyana had recovered, but kept a hand on her back. She was glad she could help, even if it was only a little.

When Lucien called the attention of the others, it drew Cora's attention. He wasn't speaking directly to her, of course, she didn't really have a "routine" per se. But she was excited all the same. She often got to watch her friends rehearse an practice, and sometimes if Lucien wasn't busy and her stall was closed, he would take her out to see the other's shows.

At Akane's suggestion, her eyes brightened considerably and she couldn't help but smile widely. "Oh, yes please, I'd love to see you dance!" In fact, dancing was one of her favorite things to watch. The way that the body moved, especially when she watched Akane and Ivory, reminded her of her sisters back home. She only wished she could get up and dance with them.

She made sure to wish Illyana good health before they left, "Let me know if you need me, Illy, okay?"

Illyana nodded in response as the others filtered out of the room, smiling weakly at Cora before Ivory carried her out. Once they were alone, and she felt a little more stable, she turned her full attention to Lucien.

"I agree, although, I am sorry to have cut another meeting short..." She said, her eyes finding the floor once again.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Faolan walked with the unlikely pair through the crowd, which wasn't exactly hard. When most people saw someone of Faolan's sized moving toward them, they moved out of the way whether it was conscious or not. He listened objectively to Lucien and the father's conversation, but did not comment. Instead, he focused on keeping his eyes on the people and buildings around him, memorizing the terrain and getting a lay of the land and its people. It shouldn't be hard to find his way around town, and already he saw some opportunities for work with signs posted at the dock. He could stay here for another week or so before it was time to move on.

When they exited the crowd, Faolan felt the urge to pull away from the pair but continued walking beside him. Something told him that he was going to be in Lucien's company for a bit longer, the young man would not tolerate him leaving without saying goodbye, he knew that much.

This was confirmed when the priest offered to have him over for dinner. While his first instinct would have been to decline, after all, he was not planning on staying in New Orleans long. On the other hand, if he accepted, this was one more dinner he would not have to find for himself. With no money and no contacts stateside, Faolan was essentially on his own. He should accept the hospitality of the priest based purely on survival if nothing else. Aside from that, it was clear from Lucien's expression that he wanted the Irishman to accept.

"Can't say no to that, the food on the ship was pretty shite."

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Cora started at the sight of Illyana's jolt, and cry of pain, and leaned forward in her chair, reaching out for her as Ivory lead her to sit down. She scooted herself closer to Illy, laid a hand on her back and leaned in. She wasn't sure what to say, but she knew that look of pain. She desperately wanted to comfort her friend, and subconsciously began humming quietly, almost on instinct.

Illyana sat, hunched in the chair for a moment as her head throbbed and her hands shook. She felt the troupe gather around her and knew they were concerned. In the grand scheme of things, this had been a small occurrence. She had received bigger, longer visions before in the presence of her friends, but few with this sharp pain. It had to have been the physical connection of the card on her skin that had caused this violent of a reaction, when she was doing a reading with clients it almost never effected her in this way.

The sound of Cora's humming cut through her thoughts. The second she began to comprehend the music of it, she felt calmed and her headache immediately began to subside. After a moment of listening, she almost felt drawn in by its beauty and felt her muscles relax of their own accord. She kept her eyes closed, lulled by Cora's sweet voice.

But Lucien's voice interrupted the humming, and she slowly returned to consciousness. "Hm?" she asked as her mind clarified again, "Yes, yes, I'm alright." She glanced at the water Aurel handed her, and took a sip. "I just need a moment to...process." It seemed that studying the card would not be necessary after all, and with that much psychic energy, she wasn't sure she would be able to anyway. There was not much interpreting she would have to do from this vision, anyway. It was clear enough; Geralt was interested in Lucien, on several levels, which proved Ivory's theory from the previous night, but he also had ulterior motives.

Like Lucien, she was unsure how much of this she needed to share with the group. She would tell Lucien, of course, because it directly concerned him, but she didn't want to alarm anyone else. However, this new knowledge did make her very curious about Ivory's card. She would have to ask if she could take a look at it, once she was back at one-hundred percent.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Faolan was on his feet before the ship had made contact with the dock, and had his foot out of the cabin door before the horn blew to signal their arrival. He was eager to depart, and weaved his way through the crowd of people as they made their way off of the ship and onto the dock.

Immediately, smells began to assault his nose and his hearing was bombarded with many accented voices. He had never been to America, and seeing it for the first time was different and similar at the same time to all of the cities he had visited in the past. The first thing he noticed were the smells, strong spices and sugar were the first two he could identify, but he also smelled scented smoke, warm tepid water, and mint.

The second thing he noticed were the accents of the natives. He had heard and American accent before, but never had he heard anything like this. However, mixed in among this were also French accents, different than Lucien's or even people from Paris, but French all the same.

The buildings were shorter, from what he could see. It seemed they liked to build outward here, and not upward.

This line of thought was broken by Lucien gripping his sleeve. He glanced down at his hand, and said nothing. There were a lot of people crowding around and this was the Frenchman's first time travelling, he was sure the lad was stirred up. He allowed him to hold on, and slowed his frantic pace a little to accommodate him.

He smelled and incense heard the footsteps of the approaching priest before he heard his call out Lucien's name, and his head turned towards the sound. This must be the priest Lucien had mentioned on the way here. At their acknowledgement of him, Faolan simply nodded, "Not a problem." Overall, it had turned out to be one of the more pleasant voyages he had had. Companionship had never been easy for him, but somehow he had found himself making an exception for Lucien.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Illyana stepped forward at Lucien's answer, not aggressively, but she had her eyes on the card. "In your pocket...?" She asked. This was far from proof of Geralt's powers, but it would help to reinforce his validity if he had left each of them with a reminder of their visit with him. Suddenly, a wave of information hit her; not a reminder, a marker...

"Would you mind if I...had a look?" She asked, and held out her hand for the card before Lucien had a chance to respond.

Lucien looked down at the card in his hand, shrugged, and handed it over, "Not at all."

Illyana took the card, and as soon as her fingers made contact with it, she let out a sharp gasp and dropped it to the floor. Her other hand flew to her forehead, which had been obscured with her hat, as usual. "Ah..." She moaned, and hunched a little as a wave of nausea and a throbbing headache appeared in her system. She laid her fingers against her forehead and could feel the eye twitching and rolling in its socket under her closed eyelid.

A flash of something; Lucien and a man...Geralt, standing close together, their faces merely centimeters apart. A slick smile spread itself across the magician's lips as he leaned in, his hand hidden behind his back.

She took a step away from Lucien, clearly in pain, her eyes shut tight. As quickly as the fit had appeared, the vision left her, but the nausea and migraine remained.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Cora listened to Lucien's speech almost too enthusiastically. She was leaning forward in her chair, eyes wide, elbows resting on knees, and a faint but excitable smile on her lips. Despite Illyana's worry, she couldn't help herself but be curious, it was in her nature, after all. A smooth talking man who could also do magic? She couldn't wait to meet him.

Illyana listened, as usual, to Lucien's explanation without comment. Although she knew most of the information already, her expression made it clear she was listening carefully. She understood his unease about not mentioning everything he knew about the man, including the information he had shared with her last night. There was no need to alarm anyone, not just yet. Let them decide on their new member on their own, they were smart enough to make their own decisions.

Halfway through the conversation, Illyana saw the card between Lucien's fingers, and she tilted her head as she watched him fiddle with it. She blinked several times as she looked at it, and as soon as Lucien finished speaking, she spoke up, "Where did you get that? Did he give it to you?" She blurted out, having stowed her usual composure.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Faolan growled as a response to Lucien's chipper exclamation, as was his usual response. He was sitting on his cot, bag packed next to him, bouncing his leg in impatience. He could not wait to get out of the cabin and off of this ship. He was thankful that the voyage had been no longer than two weeks, the full moon would be upon them within another fortnight, and it was best that he was in a big open space for when that happened.

It was not his company that drove him to seek freedom, but the travel itself. Faolan had never liked being in enclosed spaces for too long, and was on deck as often as he could have been throughout the voyage. If he wasn't taking in the sea air, he was training in their cabin. He had done about three-thousand push-ups before he lost count.

Lucien turned out to be quite pleasant. The two had had many exchanges during their two weeks at sea, most of which consisted of Lucien's statements and questions and Faolan's grunts and three-word responses. It ended up working out, overall. Faolan at first worried that he may become annoyed by the Frenchman, but by the time they arrived in New Orleans, he found that he actually enjoyed the young man's presence.

Still, he was eager to see land.

At Lucien's next question, Faolan's leg ceased it's thumping for a moment as he looked out of the porthole at the port. He couldn't see much but roofs and smoke, but that was enough. "Nothin' solid. Look for work in town, make some money...move on." He shrugged. It wasn't a hard answer, it was essentially the same thing he had done the last handful of times he had uprooted himself. No use staying in one place for too long, it was dangerous for him. He preferred to leave within the month, but with the state of his purse, he supposed he would have to stay in New Orleans for a little longer than that.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Faolan, still feeling a little ill from the silver, took a moment to breathe deeply and relax. Now that he had a moment out of the action, he recognized that he was still feeling some pain from the wound. It seemed that whatever Lucien had done to him, it only helped to accelerate his natural healing process. What would have been days, possibly weeks of recovery had been sped up to mere hours. He thought at this rate, he may even feel better by the next morning.

The site of the wound was sore, and his head throbbed and muscles ached. He was feeling slightly nauseous, but that would pass. Once he had rested, he thought he may go up to the deck for some fresh air.

It was good news and bad news that he wouldn't be working any more. First, he had been counting on his leftover wages to get him started somewhere in the states. Now that he was without pay, he would have a harder time making his way. He would find a way to, it would just be more difficult than he'd thought initially. Second, they had about a week, hopefully less, left on the journey, and without and outlet for his energy he would start to get cabin fever. He would have to find a way to let off some steam, or it would make the coming change that must more difficult for him.

It was then that his mind drifted to Lucien again, and the healing. Now that he knew for sure that his senses had been right about the boy, he wondered what his influence could possibly be. He had dealt with witches and hags who could do magic to heal and to harm, he had even run across some other fae creatures in his time in Ireland, but never had he witnessed anything quite like what Lucien had done. Faolan's knowledge of otherworldly beings was limited to those native to Ireland, he had never met a French fairy. Perhaps their healing powers were stronger? Faolan doubted this highly. It was more likely that the lad was something he had never encountered before. The only way to know was to ask, but Faolan would not breach his trust in that way. He valued his privacy, and did his best to respect the privacy of others.

He had just started to let his mind calm when Lucien spoke again. "Hm?" he grunted, half comprehending what the lad had said. Once realization of the question hit him, his face immediately flushed an this eyes snapped open. He glanced over at Lucien, suddenly very aware of his movements and not trying to draw too much attention, he shook his head and turned away slightly, looking at the wall as he spoke. "Mm...maybe that's better explained another time. It's an insult, that's all that really matters." He said, flustered but trying hard to hide it.