FreckersFrog

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Faolan had eaten his fill and made his way into the living room, grunting a thanks to the priest as he laid the blanket on the couch. He looked to Lucien as he wished him goodnight and nodded as well, letting his eyes linger on the lad for a moment before he left the room. What were these priests so insistent on keeping a secret from the world...?

After the young Frenchman and his protector left the room, Faolan kicked his shoes off, and it was then that he noticed how warm and humid it was in the house. He was used to this, back home, and obviously in the ship, but he took him by surprise all the same. He took his shirt off, laid it on top of his bag, and spread out on the couch. His feet hung over the edge, but he was used to that too. After a few moments, he was asleep; nothing like a long day of travel and a hot meal to relax him.

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The next day, Faolan awoke at dawn with the rest of the house. The three men ate a simple breakfast, and eager to get to work, Faolan made his way to the church with the pair of Holy men as well. The priest showed them what needed doing, and left them to their work, although a little reluctantly. Faolan directed Lucien as best he could with helping clean out some of the excess and organize everything. Despite the fact that the Frenchman was not nearly as strong as he, and Faolan had never been one for taking charge, the two got the job done remarkably fast. The pair finished by lunchtime, and the Priest was completely flabbergasted. He had no idea what to have them do next, so they spent the rest of the day helping with the regular chores. Faolan's rest was even better that night, it had been a good day.

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But he couldn't spend all his time at the church. Once they had awoken and eaten, and finished with their daily hygiene practices, Faolan announced to the room, in rare fashion: "I'll be heading to the docks today, maybe have a walk about town, see what I can find in the way of work."

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Illyana was pulled out of her thoughts by Lucien's next question. Her cheeks reddened slightly as the vision flashed before her eyes again. "It was..uhm...short." She struggled with the words, never having been in a romantic situation herself, she sometimes became flustered when asked to describe them. Reading these scenes, seeing them, and speaking of them aloud were three very different activities.

"You were in it...with Geralt. He was...close," she kept her eyes on the table as she spoke, trying not to look at Lucien for fear of completely breaking down from nervousness. "He leaned into you, and then I saw his arm behind his back. And that was it." She finished quickly, hoping this would be enough for the Ringleader and she wouldn't have to go into detail.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Cora's eyes widened as Akane grabbed her hands, and she brought them up to meet the other girl's. She felt her heart pounding in her chest with each of Akane's words. She had always been so sweet and supportive, even before Cora had let her guard down, she had always felt most comfortable with the Kitsune. She had a way of making everything seem so lighthearted.

"Well, Akane...I don't know what to say..." She said, her cheeks hot. "But, you're right, it does come from inside. I'll sing for you any time." She smiled, closing her eyes and tilting her head. "Would you like me to sing for you now? While you practice?" She asked excitedly. She truly did love watching Akane's dances.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Illyana nodded, "You're not wrong. I'm not saying there's anything particular about the choice of cards...only making sure that we pay attention to it," she explained. It was not often that knowledge alluded Illyana, but given that she could find no specific shred of evidence to link Geralt to any supernatural existence or power troubled her. Usually, she could feel their energy the moment she saw them in a vision or they walked by her on the street. Geralt was different, entirely, in every way, and this is what specifically troubled her. She was not used to not knowing. Since she was young, it had been a foreign concept to her.

She eyed the card on the table and leaned away from it, almost instinctively. "Marker..." she whispered. It was something the card had given her when she'd touched it that was just swimming to the surface now. "I think, maybe the card is some kind of marker or...identification..." she said, a little louder so Lucien could hear. It was hard to explain what she was feeling, it wasn't exactly like the card was attached to Lucien, but it was related to him in some ways. Physically and...less so. She would need more time to decipher what had occurred.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Faolan nodded in agreement as he continued to eat dinner, he was almost halfway done and Lucien had barely started. He was always happy to earn his keep when offered charity. Not only did it feel better to him, it kept people from feeling taken advantage of, which kept them happy and complacent. Sometimes, even that wasn't enough, but he was willing to try at least, Besides, he could sense this priest was afraid of him, and fear was a great motivator for keeping one's trap firmly shut.

He listened to the two men speak and glanced between them as they did. He saw Lucien's expression when the priest shot down his idea, and his brow furrowed. Sheltered was not quite the word to describe Lucien's situation. It was almost as if he had been imprisoned without even knowing it. Not allowed to work? What had he done all day, back in Bordeaux, and what were these priests trying to protect him from, exactly? Faolan felt sorry for him, knowing that he had spent the first twenty years of his life locked in a church without the ability to even express himself physically. Faolan would have wasted away under those conditions. Although Lucien seemed happy enough, Faolan could tell there was a desire in him to get moving, see the world, lift some heavy boxes...maybe that would be a start.

"Mm. I might try that." He grunted at the priest, then glanced at Lucien, letting his eyes linger a moment before speaking, "Why not let 'im help? We've both been cramped in a ship's cabin for a fortnight, what's the harm in letting him pull his socks up?" Stirring the pot had not exactly been Faolan's way of life before, Lucien had certainly changed that, and in only a matter of weeks.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Cora considered Akane's explanation, then nodded. "Yes, I see what you mean now. I suppose a lot of things seem like magic to 'rubes'." That was a word she had heard around the camp, and Ivory had said it a couple of times. To her understanding 'rubes' was another word for 'normal humans', which were the type of landwalker that came to see their shows.

At Akane's next comment, Cora's pinkish cheeks deepened in color. "Oh!" She said, dropping her eyes to the floor, "Well...thank you, Akane, but I'm really nothing special. There were plenty of others with even more beautiful voices among my sisters. My matron was said to have the most beautiful song in the sea." She smiled brightly at this, she was very proud of this compliment. Although her matron, Selifina, had given birth to her, she had not passed down even a drop of her natural talent. Cora was very young when she returned to foam, the last of her matron's brood, but she had heard her voice and it had carried with her through the years. She had hoped to live up to this legacy, but now that she was on land, she wasn't sure that she ever would.

"Besides," she added after a beat, "I think your dancing is just magical! And no one even taught you how to do that, it came from inside." She clutched her hands to her chest to indicate her heart.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Illyana watched Lucien's reaction to the newspaper page and nodded at his revelation. Sick sense of humor indeed, although Illyana couldn't be sure if that had happened on purpose or out of sheer coincidence. The strangest things were often "happy accidents" in her experience. She felt vindicated to hear that this man was the very same that Lucien had seen the other night, this confirmed her theory that he wasn't multiple people at the very least.

"Yes. He's most likely well-versed. The aging probably has to do with his powers, I mean, you should know more than anyone that looks don't directly correlate with age, at least for people like you." She said, slightly hurried, then pointed to the photo on the page, "But there's one more thing, look at the cards." She let her finger fall on the array of cards that were floating between the magician's hands, specifically, the King of Hearts. And, floating just three cards over from it, the Ace of Spades. Also in the array were the Jack of Diamonds, King of Clubs, Queen of Hearts, Queen of Clubs and the Jack of Spades, and floating in the middle was the Joker.

Again, this could have been another coincidence. These two cards were some of the most famous and recognizable ones in a standard deck, and at this point, Illyana had no idea what the significance of the other cards were, or if it even mattered. If there was one more 'coincidences', however, Illy would have to begin ruling them out as "happy accidents".

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Cora had been happy to spend the afternoon with Akane. The two had become fast friend since she'd joined, and had spent a lot of time together. Cora had found herself a kindred spirit in the Kitsune; both women from faraway places who had lived vastly different lives before coming to Cirque D'étoiles. Cora had shared stories of undersea life, and Akane had told tales of her life as a fox. It was interesting, to say the very least. Mammals were certainly interesting creatures.

She wore a big smile as Akane rolled her up into her trailer, Cora helping by pushing the wheels with her hands. She breathed in deeply as she entered the Kitsune's room, it always smelled so pleasant in here.

"Thank you!" She said, giving the girl a toothy grin, then wheeling herself into position in the corner, so as to be out of the way.

"Hm..." She said, tilting her head as she considered the girl's question. "Well, I'm excited, of course! This Geralt person sounds like he's very interesting. Illyana and the others said he does 'magic'? I'm honestly not all that sure what that word means, maybe we missed it during study?" She chuckled nervously and blushed, her pale cheeks flushing a cherry-blossom pink. Illyana had spent a lot of time with her and the dictionary over the past year, teaching her what words meant and showing her pictures when she couldn't visualize. Animals had been her favorite lesson, learning about all of the creatures that didn't have fins. But Illyana told her that some things came with time, so she would learn as she went. She supposed that this was one of those times.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Illyana listened intently to all the Lucien described, her brow furrowed in concentration. Given what she had just seen, and having heard Ivory's assessment of the situation, she didn't doubt that Geralt could have slipped this card to Lucien without him noticing. Ivory, on the other hand, she wouldn't let the man get within arm's reach of her if she could help it, much less close enough for him to touch her. Even if he did, she would have noticed, Illyana was sure of that.

She had been anticipating that the man's magic was real, it had been said that he had been on stage for more than a hundred years. Some believed that he was a magician's ghost from the 1700's, plying his trade even in death. Some believed it was different men, taking of the mantel of Geralt the Great to keep the mystery alive. Illyana knew neither of these were true. She was sure that the Geralt she had seen in the vision, the one that Lucien and Ivory had met, was indeed the original.

That reminded her...

She was about to interrupt, reach into her pocket and show Lucien something she had found the night before, but he had not finished speaking. She listened intently once more, and nodded when he was finished.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he knew about me already, or guessed. If his magic is real, then he has to be familiar with...gifted...people, given that he is one. Besides, you don't live as long as he has with magic and not know something about the supernatural..." She trailed off, but then met Lucien's eyes again, "I trust you, I know neither of you would let anything happen to me. Just...given what I felt from that card," she nodded toward the object, "It's best if I don't make skin contact with him. There's no telling what could happen with that amount of energy."

Illyana had experienced very intense visions in the past, ones that had left her nearly catatonic for days. Once, she touched a man who had killed seven children, and was forced to witness all of his crimes firsthand, all within the blink of an eye. That had left her laid up for almost a week before she was able to interact, walk, and take food again. The offender had been turned in, of course, but that did not erase what she had seen just from a simple touch. A man like Geralt, she feared the repercussions of doing an active reading on him, if she hadn't she would have already known whatever they needed to know about him.

"That reminds me." She said, and fished something out of her pocket, a folded piece of paper. As she unfolded it, she spoke, "I didn't find much of anything last night. A lot of my research was based on things I already knew; where the magic could come from, how he has access to it, the different schools, that sort of thing. But, I did find one thing while I was looking through some old newspapers." She took the page and smoothed it out on the table before Lucien. "When I had the vision, the first time, I knew I had seen him somewhere before..."

It was an old printing of an advertisement. It showed a man, a magician, arms and fingers spread wide as cards floated between them. Large words at the top read Geralt the Great and at the bottom: Six Performances in the month of June, six cities at six in the evening. and a list of dates and city names. Piercing eyes stared at Lucien from under the brim of a top hat, and a confident smirk painted handsome lips. It was a face he had seen before, the very same face that had greeted him last evening at the door.

This was indeed the same man.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Faolan grunted in agreement. It had been named after a province in France, after all. Hopefully all of that made Lucien feel more at home. Faolan remembered how it was when he first set foot into the world, it hadn't been pleasant. At least he'd done what he could to make the journey more pleasant for the lad.

He almost chuckled at Lucien's last comment, and said under his breath, "Comes with the territory..." just as the priest stepped back into the room.

Faolan followed the two of them into the kitchen, ducking as he made his way through the door. He certainly felt a lot bigger now that he was inside again, like back in the cabin. It was a bit cramped in here too, not as much so, but this home had clearly been meant for one average-sized person, not two and a third almost-giant.

He lowered himself gently into a chair and looked down into his bowl. The spices had hit him when they first entered the house, but now that the food was mere inches from his face, it was packing a wallop. His eyes started to water just from the scent of it, and he could feel his Irish constitution turning his face red already. Faolan's incredible sense of smell made spicy and rich foods a little harder for him to eat, but his stomach growled almost audibly as he looked down at the food in front of him. He waited until the priest and Lucien picked up their spoons before he followed suit, and began to eat. Despite the smell of the spices, the flavor was quite mild. It reminded him of a seafood stew, just with more flavor. He liked it, and soon found himself digging in hungrily.

He had been eating so fervently he hadn't even tried listening to Lucien's conversation with the priest. Not that he would get more than a couple of words anyway, he only spoke two languages, and they were both his native tongue.

Faolan almost started when the priest began to speak directly to him, and he looked up at him sheepishly as he wiped his mouth on his sleeve without even noticing that he was doing so. "Mm..." he said, then glanced at Lucien. So that's what he'd been talking about...

Faolan looked around a moment. Judging by the size of the house from the outside, there was only one room for sleeping, and probably one lavatory as well. He had shared a smaller space with more men before, but with his size and the situation, this felt more like an imposition. However, he didn't exactly have a place to stay, and he would only be here for a week and a half at most...

"That's kind of you to offer...I'll take you up, if you've got the space. Only a few days though, I'll be out of yer hair within the week." Even if Faolan couldn't find enough work to get him moving in that time, he planned on finding another place to stay with what little money he could earn. "If you've got any work that needs doin', I'd be happy to lend a hand in return."