FreckersFrog

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Geralt let his eyes fix back onto the mermaid and stay there as Lucien began their introduction, a slow grin creeping across his face. The girl, Cora, smiled up at him brightly as he approached her and reached out a hand to take hers. She accepted without having to be asked, and he knelt to kiss her smooth porcelain skin.

Delicious innocence...ripe for the picking...

"And I can see why," Geralt said, glancing briefly at Akane, "Aren't you a dish, Cora..." He said, maintaining eye contact with her the entire time.

Cora was excited when Geralt offered his hand, maybe more so than she should have been. She let him take her fingers and covered her mouth with her other hand as he bent down and kissed it. No one had ever greeted her in this way before, and she couldn't help but let out an enthusiastic giggle as her cheeks warmed to a bright pink within seconds. Akane and Illy were right, Geralt was nice and polite, and almost as handsome as Lucien, and Cora didn't see what all the worry was about.

"Oh, Akane always says that, but I don't do very much..." She said, breaking eye contact with Geralt out of nervousness. He was so close that she could smell his cologne. It was light and pleasant, almost smokey.

"I'm sure that can't be true. Just looking at your face is inspiring, and those eyes...they are a gorgeous blue, like the ocean at sunset." He did not let go of her hand and she did not pull it away. Yes, he was right, it would be best to start here.

Cora gasped quietly and giggled again, then shook her head, almost overwhelmed by Geralt's kind words and proximity. She couldn't even summon a response to this, and knowing that everyone was watching as making her more embarrassed. She had never been exposed to this, as she was normally kept away from visitors, and Aurel and Lucien had never been flirtatious.

Illyana watched this interaction from afar, but after Geralt did not let go of Cora's hand or back away, her eyes flicked between Lucien and the pair as she bit her lip. Cora, among them all, had the least experience with men, and although her original...encounter with humans had been extremely unfortunate to say the least, she did not have a good gauge of how they acted. A man like Geralt could be extremely dangerous to her, if he had the wrong intentions. Although Illyana was sure that Lucien would step in, he could not watch everyone all the time, and she had to be as helpful with this as possible.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

The Frenchman was much more diligent than even Faolan had realized. He watched from the corner of his eye as Lucien corrected and added to his notes. He wondered what the boy would say if he could see the chicken scratch in his notebook.

He considered the request for a moment, tilting his head, "Hm...well, I'm not opposed to it, but I haven't really taught anyone anything before." He had taught his sister how to spit when they were ten and eight, but he didn't exactly count that. "I can try, but you'll have to do a lot of the asking. I don't really speak Irish often, doubt I'll find anyone who can speak it here." Thinking about it, it actually didn't sound so bad. Once Lucien mastered the accent, it might be nice to hear the mother tongue on someone else's lips.

At the Frenchman's next question, Faolan felt heat rise in his cheeks. This word in particular was unpleasant to him, for many reasons. It was not easy to upset him in the right circumstances, but certain words could easily draw his ire.

He made sure he was walking in front of Lucien when he spoke, knowing that his Irish complexion would easily give away his embarrassment. "That means...uh, well, it isn't a nice thing to say. It refers to a man who prefers other men over women." His explanation was awkward, but sound. Sexuality was not something Faolan liked to think about, and even when forced, he did his best to keep his mind from wandering.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Cora smiled up at Akane throughout the conversation, happy to hear that she had had a pleasant experience with the Magician. Although she trusted Illyana and Ivory, she knew that they could sometimes be a little bit weary. She understood this, and tried to practice it as well, but her curiosity often got in the way. She pulled a little at her collar, feeling restricted by the cloth. She hoped that he would arrive soon so she could get back into her tank.

"He was quite polite." Illyana said, her voice flat. She didn't think it necessary to add anything else when the man could be walking in at any second.

And, as if on cue, Geralt turned the corner of the big top and entered. He raised his eyebrows and approached the troupe at a slightly quickened pace, bowing his head to Lucien at he did so. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting long." He stopped next to the Frenchman and let his eyes roll over all present before continuing, "I stopped to have a conversation with one of your men outside, I hope this won't become another mark on my record, patron."

This was true. Geralt had seen the man as he had exited his tent and stopped him to ask a few poignant questions. He had little to say, and interest in him waned by the second as the answers had dribbled out of his mouth. Geralt was glad to be rid of him and now among more pleasurable company.

Speaking of...his eyes lingered on the woman at the end of the line, next to Akane. This had to be their Siren, she was the only one he hadn't seen before. She was stunningly beautiful, almost hypnotically so. In fact, she was the most beautiful among them all, Lucien included. He found himself immediately drawn to her and his body language showed it as he let his eyes stop on her for a moment before he tore them away to look once again at Lucien. He noted the wheelchair, and while he was curious, he did not think it detracted from her allure whatsoever, in fact, it only increased his yearning for the story behind her presence, not to mention her abilities. He would be sure to spend extra time getting to know her...

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Faolan continued walking, making his way through the trees with ease. Although his homeland hadn't been filled with much in the way of forests, Faolan had quickly found himself adept at traversing through all sorts of different terrain.

At Lucien's horrible pronunciation, Faolan nearly laughed aloud. He had heard Irish butchered many times in the past, but never had he heard it with a French accent. It was absurd, but he would never say that, no need to hurt the lad's feelings. He doubted that he had spelled anything correctly, although Faolan wouldn't know by sight; he couldn't write in Irish, he had never been taught to and could only speak it.

"Dia Duit," he enunciated, "Is good morning, more or less. 'Craic' is kind of like...fun? Asking 'How's the craic?" is like 'How's it going?'. Banjaxed...well, honestly I thought that was English. It means exhausted." Faolan had been told in the past that Irish was an extremely strange and hard language to learn, but to him it was the language he had used at home. His parents were native Irish farmers, so he could speak both languages for as long as he could remember. This was not common anymore, given that the English had outlawed the use of Irish in Ireland, which was absurd. He promised himself that when he left his home, he would not allow the language to die.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Faolan slung his bag over his shoulder and nodded to Lucien's comment, "Too right."

At the Frenchman's next statement, he nodded and chuckled again. There was quite a bit of that going on as of late. "Diligent, aren't you?" He said, then began walking in their original direction. "Go ahead and ask, let's walk and talk." It was about time to end their break, the two of them were burning daylight.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Cora had donned something especially modest for this evenings meeting with their newest member. She hadn't been sure why, but when Illyana had helped her lay out her clothes earlier today, she had insisted on the warmer garments: a dark blue long-sleeved blouse with a high-neck and a long black skit to cover her legs. For the purposes of this, she had also made sure to dry her body a bit more than usual so as not to wet the clothes. Ivory had helped her bundle her wet hair into a high bun, which would keep her moist enough for the rest of the evening. Akane had brought a small cup full of water just in case she needed a little extra dousing.

She smiled up at her friend, "I wish I could have seen it! Did you do the kick thing that you showed me? That was my favorite part." She had experienced the pleasure of watching Akane's dance in the past, but it had been a while since she was afforded enough downtime to do so. Her "act", if one could call it that, ran pretty consecutively throughout the night and she always had at least four or five people there to see her. She never really dealt with matters of money, it really wasn't her concern, but she thought she had an okay night.

She was very excited to meet their new addition, however, the nervous energy and look on Illyana's face made her extra curious.

Illyana had had a relatively easy night, which was to be expected from the turnout. There had been no large revelations to her patrons, nor had anyone left angry. All things considered, it had been quite tame. While each reading did drain her energy slightly, it was mostly the long nights of studying and researching that had cultivated the dark circles under her eyes. Ivory had told her that they made her look older and more mysterious, which was perfect for her act, so she had done nothing to change this.

Currently, she was standing rather close to Aurel at the far end of the stage, well away from the center. She had already met Geralt, and although she wasn't exactly worried about this, it was his presence in general that made her anxious. She was standing with her hands clasped together behind her, watching the entrance for Geralt's return.

She did chime in with Ivory when Lucien mentioned scheduling, "I know this doesn't really apply to me, but after hearing everyone's experience it did seem to flow rather well." It would take more than Geralt the Great to disrupt Cirque D'étoiles' performers.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Faolan finished fiddling with his pant leg and stood up from the rock, stretching, before he reached down to retrieve his bag. "Hm." He grunted his assent, as usual, then shook his head. "Nah, me little sis was allergic to onions, but as far as I know it's not genetic."

He was relieved that Lucien had not questioned him more about the silver, if he had pressed, Faolan wasn't sure what else he could say. He wasn't ready to reveal more about his condition, not yet anyway, and he didn't know if he ever would be. He reminded himself that he didn't know the lad very well. Despite his sharing from earlier, there was still much yet to be discovered. Although...Lucien did not seem the type for deception, and Faolan was usually pretty good at telling a liar from an honest man. Besides, Lucien had no reason to make any of this up, not to mention he had seen his abilities firsthand now. He only exposed himself by telling Faolan these things, the Irishman just hoped he would not be as forthcoming in the future with any others that he met.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Faolan had gone about checking the inventory of his pack, tightening straps, and organizing things before they moved on again. He carried so little with him, just a couple of changes of clothes and some food, that it really didn't need to be done. But, as long as they were sitting here doing nothing but hemming and hawing, he might as well make sure everything was accounted for.

He froze when Lucien started speaking again, but only for a moment before he zipped his pack back up and let it drop. This was exactly why he had not wanted the lad spilling the beans about his 'situation', that would lead to reciprocal questions, and Faolan didn't like that. Although, he was sure that Lucien meant no offense with this question and was only curious, but it was curiosity that could lead to...mishaps.

Faolan had learned that avoiding questions, keeping his mouth shut, or answering vaguely could lead to more questions though, and he wasn't about to invite that. He decided to go with his usual tactic of being direct as possible without giving too much away.

He did not make eye contact with Lucien as he spoke, and instead pretended to inspect a rip in his pant-leg. "It can be...in the right doses. That was especially bad because it was stuck in me, usually a scratch or prick isn't so bad. Nothin' to worry about, I've learned to avoid it." Lucien was absolutely right that his excuse of his reaction being an allergy was borderline unbelievable, but it was what he had told people in the past. It was just easier that way.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

"Disappointed?" Geralt said in response to Lucien's next comment, "I don't see how I could be. If your next performers are anything like these last two, I know I'm in for a thrill." Truth be told, everything he had seen so far at Cirque D'étoiles had been far above par for the other circuses and shows he had performed in his life. There was nothing like the touch of the supernatural to spice up anyone's evening. Even if the patrons had no idea this was what they were seeing, the quality was far above what those of "normal birth" could achieve.

Geralt could hear the music before entering the tent, and deigned to speak for fear of interrupting. He slipped in next to Lucien and peered around the drapes at their Charmeur de Serpent.

He was surprised to see a man, but of course would never admit that. Snake dancing was usually extremely sexualized, and therefore reserved for females. His eyebrows raised when he saw the size of the snake the young man was handling. Although he seemed sleight of frame, he moved the creature with grace and did not falter. The snakes themselves had to be extremely well-trained, Geralt could tell only by watching for a few moments. They weaved in between the dancers arms as if he were speaking to them. Given the makeup of the rest of the performers, Geralt wouldn't be surprised if this was true.

He focused his attention more directly on the dancer himself, trying to glean anything he could from watching him. After a few seconds of study, he noticed the light catching on his skin, shimmering almost like scales.

Serpent indeed...

Other than this, his bond with the serpents that curled and twined around his arms and torso as he danced, and his long platinum hair, Geralt could tell very little about him. He was excited to meet this young man later, maybe speaking with him could give him more to go on.

Lucien's words almost startled him, as if that were possible, when he spoke next, he was so enraptured by the dance. He glanced around, then nodded and flicked Lucien a quick grin. "You can count on me, patron."

The two slipped back out of the tent and once they were outside, he turned to Lucien with a slight bow of gratitude, "I must thank you for this lovely evening, Lucien. I cannot wait to meet the other denizens of this fine and eclectic establishment you call yours...and, of course, share a glass of that delicious Bordeaux." With that, Geralt wasted no time. He squared his feet, and with a wave of his hand folded into a cape of darkness and was gone from sight.

No need to walk when one could simply...be.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

"Hm." He grunted and nodded again before moving back to the rock and taking a seat once more. He supposed his earlier guess about Lucien's ability to heal was right. The priests clearly had good intentions, but their execution of Lucien's guardianship was done...poorly. Still, he could not fault them too much, they had raised the boy, hadn't they? At least they had kept him safe, if the alternative was a life of servitude to the military, imprisonment was preferable, at least in Faolan's eyes.

"Well, they were right to send you away if that's the case. The military would use you 'til you were bone dry, if they could." Faolan had no doubt of this. He had seen his fair share of battling between the Irish and the English over their occupation. He had even taken part in some small scale battles. He had no doubt that if they knew of supernatural beings like himself and Lucien, they would do whatever they could to get the most out of them. "I might've been dead," he added, "If it weren't for that healing of yours."

He couldn't help but chuckle at Lucien's next statement, "You're not wrong. And, I'll do you one better, you don't even have to ask for permission." He was unsure where all of this playful banter was coming from, but there was no need to hold back. Too much effort, anyway.