FreckersFrog

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Illyana listened to all of Ivory's explanation, snatching up her book once more when she explained the sensations and jotting them down. This was good information, even if it was scarce. Illyana was only sorry she didn't have more details about the way it felt, that would be really helpful for their research. But she would have plenty of chances to do it again and again if they were using the teleport in the act, so Illyana wasn't worried about getting the information. Everything would come together in time, Illy just hoped that time would be sooner rather than later.

At the last word, Illyana looked up from her scribbling and said, "'Displacing'?" This struck her as an odd word for Ivory to use. "Is that the word he used?" Without waiting for an answer, she scribbled more into her notebook. There was a slight pause as she looked down at the words, then her eyes went wide for a moment.

She tossed the book into the table, turned and made her way over to her bed. Every surface except the cutout in the middle where she slept was covered in books. She rifled through them for a second, turning them to see the spines, then tossing them aside. After a moment, it became clear that she was organizing them into piles. She was mapping out how she would attack this next phase of her research. The information Ivory had shared had given her quite a few theories to work with, which was definitely more than she had before. In fact, she felt like she had already reached a stopping point before the dhampir had come to pay her a visit, and was grateful that the wheels could begin turning again.

"What are you doing...?" Ivory's voice carried from behind her.

"Uuuh..." Illyana began in answer, looking at the spine of a book on the occult before she tossed it into the larger pile. "I'm just making a plan...you know, for researching. This was really good information, honestly, the best clue I've gotten so far, so I need to jump on it before--" there was a pause as she yawned loudly, covering her mouth with the back of her hand, "--the trail goes cold." This was true, though Illyana's body was resisting, her mind was alight with the thirst for more knowledge. If she could just push through one more night of research...maybe she would find something, anything, that could lead her to figuring out what was going on with Geralt. The longer she waited, the more dangerous he grew to her and the troupe. They needed contingency, and they didn't have that until they could determine the source of his abilities.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Faolan couldn't help but smile brightly down at Lucien when he spoke Irish to him. There was nothing like hearing your mother tongue on the lips of the person you loved. He answered, and held himself back from pulling Lucien into his arms right then and there. He knew that the two of them would have time tonight, so he held himself back. The Frenchman was in for one hell of a long night if he kept this up.

He smiled down at the little girl when Lucien gifted her their extra winnings, but kept his distance, knowing that parents found his presence a little intimidating. The girl hardly noticed him, and he didn't blame her, he wouldn't have seen himself either with Lucien right in front of him.

The pair continued through the carnival, seeing various attractions. Neither of them were interested in the "twins" so they moved on to other things. The contortionist was most memorable to Faolan; even through all of his training, he had not ever been able to bend his body to such extremes. It was certainly something to see, and more so than the so-called "Turtle Boy". The Irishman had actually laughed out loud when they saw what this place was passing as a "freakshow". Absurd was the only word for it.

As they made their way to the last attraction of the night, Faolan saw many people heading for the exit. It seemed that the show was about to close, but they figured they had time to see this "Son of the Serpent" before they left. As they headed toward the tent, Faolan shrugged, still smiling in amazement at what they had just witnessed. "It might be a literal title, eh? Maybe it's just a male snake." He truly hoped he was wrong, but Faolan couldn't deny that the place had showed a lack of creativity over everything else. It seemed that they were more interested in the shock value of the one-time visitor than anything else. It was disappointing, but Faolan could not be unhappy spending an evening with Lucien.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Illyana's eyes went wide, her teacup to her mouth, as Ivory began speaking again. She lowered her cup as quickly as possible and it tinkled against the saucer. She leaned forward a little as Ivory continued to explain, completely enraptured and trying to absorb everything. Halfway through, she realized what she had missed, and shuffled around in a shelf by her side before withdrawing a small notebook. She flipped to the center and began jotting down notes, still listening intently.

She didn't interrupt or ask anything until Ivory was finished, in fact, she was completely silent the entire way except for the scratching of her pencil. When Ivory was finished, she set the notebook down closed and nodded. "Hm..." she said, her eyes alight.

Abruptly she began to pace, pulling at her bottom lip as she did so. She was turning this information over and over in her head, cataloging and organizing it into the library of her brain. It was good information, to be sure, but she wondered if it could actually lead her to anything.

"Black smoke..." she said, then turned to Ivory. "That's interesting, probably a big hint as to what's going on with him." It was very good to hear that Ivory had actually experienced the sensation as well, this gave her much more insight into how the ability worked. If he was not only able to transport himself, but others, and against their will...that was quite a powerful ability.

"Wait," she said, suddenly, turning toward her guest once more, "Describe how it feels again. Did you see anything, hear anything, feel anything? Did the temperature change, or did you feel a texture, like something touching you? Anything that could make the teleport...corporeal? Did you let it happen willingly every time or try to resist it?" Her words were flying out of her too fast for her to check. She was so excited to learn that Ivory had this much information, and so soon...this was definitely a boon. The more they could find out about the Magician's abilities, the better, and of course it was best to know as fast as possible. Having Ivory work with Geralt was probably the worst thing that Lucien could have asked of her, but the best thing for the troupe as a whole.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Faolan, satisfied with this answer, nodded and walked off with Lucien, keeping his hands in his pockets to deter him from wrapping an arm around the Frenchman.

They made their way back to the trailer and drove it a few miles out of town to where the Circus had set up. It was easy to see from the road because they had strung electric lights around the grounds to illuminate the space. Faolan parked the trailer in the lot near the entrance and they walked in together.

Overall, it was what he had expected from the flier, although a little more elaborate. The denizens of the circus had set up tents and trailers to house various attractions, creating a semi-circle within which the held performances and hosted games. Just from walking around for a moment, Faolan and Lucien spotted various shows: a fire-eater, a set of "Siamese twins" that shared an arm, a contortionist, a fortune teller, and the famous Turle-Boy. Faolan was less interested in these than in the games, so the two started there. Lucien had caught sight of a stuffed dog, which he claimed was a wolf, and Faolan had been dragged to the booth despite his protests.

Unluckily for the host of the game, this was a test of strength and accuracy. Faolan stepped up to the window, was handed a ball, and tasked with knocking down some milk jugs on the opposite end of the space. Without even waiting for the man behind the counter to finish his explanation or step out of the way, Faolan hurled the ball and shattered all three of the thick glass jugs. Despite the surprise and worry on the young man's face, the two had won the prize. He reached for a large stuffed bear that was hanging from a hook near the back of the area.

"No," Faolan called out, then pointed to the wolf, "That one." His voice was harsh and words were short. Around strangers, he always defaulted to this tone.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Illyana set her cup down and took a seat across from Ivory, picking up a wet rag from a dish as she did so. She began to wipe her face as Ivory spoke, removing the makeup she had worn for her readings. It had never felt natural, but it had been her idea to dye her hair and paint her face to draw in more customers. When she was younger, before she had thought of impersonating a Romani, she pulled half the amount of clientele that she did now.

"Oh," she said in answer as she finished cleaning one eyelid, "You know, some nights are better than others." She paused a second as she began to work on the other eye, keeping her gaze on the table. "Just...one of the women, she wanted to channel her son. It was...hard on us both." She shrugged a bit, then smiled weakly up at Ivory as she finished wiping her face. She left the stained rag on the table as she held the teacup to her lips and sipped the warm, soothing liquid. She felt the stress of the day melt away with it as the Chamomile warmed her throat and chest.

"You wanted to tell me something?" she asked, clearly preferring to change the subject.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Just as Geralt the Great had predicted, the turnout for this show was substantially higher than the previous one due to his quick thinking. Even with the free entry for children, the Magician was confident that their overall profit would be greater than Cirque D'étoiles could have hoped for. He knew that they owed every penny to him, but he was happy to take his cut and keep his mouth shut...for now. As long as Lucien's opinion of him stayed positive, he was happy to put on a show, both off and on stage.

After their meeting, he walked back to their respective trailers at Lucien's side, trying to tempt the Ringleader into another glass of wine. Unfortunately, Lucien declined, but Geralt showed no disappointment. He left the man with a smile, and returned to his trailer for the evening to retire.

Cora had retired as well, leaving with Akane to practice some more writing before bed. The girls had spent a good majority of the day before the shows writing Geralt's name onto the show-bills. This was a temporary fix until they could reach a town to print new ones. Despite the slight cramp in the mermaid's hand, she wanted to practice a little more, knowing that her writing was nowhere near as pretty as Akane's or as dainty as Illyana's. Despite the cramp in her hand, she was determined to one day find her own nice style of handwriting, but she wouldn't be able to without more practice.

Illyana had retired to her trailer as well, though her intention was to sleep. The little rest she had gotten over these past few days was finally catching up with her. Though, as she entered her space, she felt a twinge and knew to expect company in moments. She busied herself separating the show-bills she, Akane, and Cora had worked on into piles, setting aside Cora's for the time being. She had spent a lot of time on them, but unfortunately they were mostly illegible. Of course, Illy would never let Cora know that they did not use them, she would simply hide them until she had a chance to discard them where the mermaid would not see.

She felt Ivory's presence before the dhampir was able to knock, and allowed her entry into the trailer. Though the walls, tables, and dresser were piled with books, the front of the trailer was spotless. This was where she did her readings, and needed to make sure that patrons were under the illusion that she was cleanly and dramatic. The curtain that normally divided her workspace from her living space was open, so Ivory had a full view into the back of the trailer, which was an absolute mess.

"Evening." Illy said as she set the show-bills aside and turned toward her guest, wiping her hands on her skirt as she did so. After Ivory's comment, she raised her eyebrows and nodded. "Of course." She gestured to one of the chairs at the reading table and turned away for a moment. "Tea?" she asked, grabbing the kettle from the camp stove as it began to whistle.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Faolan rolled his eyes, though he smiled, as he heard Lucien's question. It was clear that Lucien was all too ready to take in a distraction for the evening. Though the Irishman had been content to return back to the room they were renting and spend the rest of their evening off in each other's embrace, he could not say no to Lucien when he looked this way.

"Ya' know I can't say no when you make that face..." he said, then glanced at the advertisement. He could barely read it, this far away, so he took it from Lucien's hand and held it a little closer to his face, squinting a bit to make out the words. "A Circus, eh? Hm..." he thought for a moment, "Have you ever been to one before?"

Faolan himself had never actually attended a diversion of this nature, though he knew that Circus acts, "freakshows", and Magicians were very popular in Europe. He hadn't realized that they had made their way to the States, and found himself a little curious. Although, from what he had seen in adds and heard through rumor did make him a little nervous. It seemed the trade was to display beings of "difference", which Faolan did not particularly like the sound of. Still, it may be something interesting, and he doubted anything that they claimed on this paper, especially the "Turtle-boy: Half Human, Half Crustacean" was real in any sense of the word.

He turned the page around and pointed this out to Lucien, "Turtles are reptiles, I think?" he cocked an eyebrow playfully.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Geralt watched Ivory's back as she left the tent, and waited until she was completely out of sight before moving. He did quite enjoy watching her walk away.

After he was done, he hopped off of the stage and made his way back across the grounds toward his own trailer. He didn't have any particular plans for the evening, perhaps he would do some "research" by speaking with some of the rubes on his way in. In fact, that seemed like a rather pleasant idea, so he made his way into the center of the grounds, spotting a man who seemed to be taking a rest break. Luckily, neither Lucien or the performers were around to see this, so he sidled up to him and struck up a conversation.

All in all it was a rather droll tale, and Geralt didn't even have to waste his energy hypnotizing the man. He explained that he, and many of the other carnies, had met Lucien through a chance encounter. The man had been down on his luck, injured, and unable to work until he met Lucien and company. The Ringleader had nursed him back to health, although Geralt would have to fact-check this as there seemed to be something more to it than simple medicine, and because he was homeless had offered the man a job here. He owed Lucien his life, and thus was loyal to him and the others for taking him in when he had nowhere else to go. It appeared that this man was without specialty, otherwise human, and completely ordinary. Geralt guessed this was the case with all of them. It seemed that Lucien had built a veritable army of able bodied human rubes to cart around his freakshow. Either the Frenchman was more cunning than he appeared, or he was just that kind.

After Geralt had learned all he needed to, he took his leave and headed back to his trailer for a round of drinks before the show. He encountered none of the other troupe members on the way, though he did glance at Lucien's trailer before entering his own, just to see if he would catch movement inside. It was no matter, he had plenty of time.

Illyana continued her research, and Cora helped Akane prepare for her performance before the grounds opened to their patrons. All were excited to see what the turnout would be, considering Geralt's offer the previous evening.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Faolan had never felt so carefree in all his than during his time in Green Bay with Lucien. The two of them had never been closer, physically and mentally, and it was thrilling to think of their future together. Although, all Faolan wanted to do for the rest of the week was live in the moment and cherish his time with Lucien to make up for the time they had lost due to his foolishness.

He knew that the Frenchman would be a little sad to say goodbye to this town and to Marcel. Another fault in his being away for so long was that it had allowed his companion to grow attached to his temporary home. Still, he was able to leave with dignity and give Marcel enough time to find his replacement. Faolan even went to meet the man on one of the night's Lucien was working, and sat in the back of the room as he played. He paid for two glasses for a couple at a nearby table who had just finished theirs, but did not drink himself. He found Marcel to be a fine man, and even thanked him for taking Lucien under his wing for these past eight weeks.

The rest of the time, Faolan spent gathering supplies and planning their path over the next months. He had not spent enough time here to accept a short-term job, and quickly became restless, but stuck it out so that Lucien could leave on positive terms. Lucien had earned quite a bit on his own, the Rouge du Blanc paid very well, so Faolan was not worried about their financial situation in the slightest. He offered Lucien the next two months off to make up for the time he'd spent working, but he resisted the temptation. Faolan knew he would decline, but wanted to offer anyway.

Eventually, the two moved on. They spent several days on the road travelling South and slightly West. Lucien had vowed that he wanted to visit all 48 states and eventually spend time on the Pacific Coast since they had never seen it. Faolan was happy to oblige, and started charting their course.

Over the next two years, the pair covered most of the Eastern and Middle of the country, spending three weeks in almost every town before moving on to their next destination. Sometimes, if there were storms or other factors, they would stay even longer, but this was kept to a maximum of three months. They earned wages, saw sights and had new experiences, but through all of it they were together. Not one moment of their journey was seen to Faolan in a negative light. Although, not everything was perfectly safe and the two were not always at their happiest, the love between them never faltered. They put each other first, always, and made sure that they would be safe and still allowed to express their feelings behind closed doors. Being on the road helped with this a great deal, for the two were alone most of the time and so far from prying eyes that they did not have to worry about being seen or heard. This was best, for the two loved loudly and often; Faolan could never really get enough.

Most recently, they had been staying and working in the town of Douglas, Wyoming. It was small, but bustling, and the two found they had an abundance of free time and extra cash. They had done quite well for themselves over the last two years, and had even built up a small savings. Lucien had been very proud of this, and Faolan had supported it by relying on the land for almost all of their meals while they traveled.

Currently, they were walking through town at dusk, having finished a late lunch at a small bistro. Faolan had his hair tied back, and was dressed more formally than usual in a button down shirt and slacks. He still had his sleeves rolled up though, and no tie, of course. He had been lost in thought when he stopped as he felt Lucien tugging on his sleeve. "Hm?" he looked down at the Nephilim, who appeared to be holding a sheet of paper.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Geralt wasted no time in obliging Miss Ivory. He knew she was determined to get this down, just as she had been with her part. With any luck, they would only need an hour or two of practice tomorrow before taking the stage.

As soon as she steadied herself, he disappeared from view in a plume of black smoke, reappeared behind her, and sent her to where he had been standing. Because they would be switching places in the act, he wanted to make sure this was covered as well. In fact, he found the switch to be a bit easier than just sending her willy-nilly, although neither put him out at all.

The two continued at this for a while with Geralt and Ivory trading places and with him sending her out farther and farther, even beyond the confines of the tent. The repetition soon became boring for him, but he kept at it, knowing that a smooth transition would be the best possible start for his show. No need to undermine himself, after all.

Once Ivory was satisfied that she had grasped the physics of the displacement, she let Geralt know and he was quite relieved to be through with it. To his surprise, however, Ivory had actually done much better than he anticipated. Although, she was a dancer and an athlete, so she had the strengths to contend with the nausea already. Lucien had somehow played the right card when he made the decision to partner the two of them.

He brushed his hands together as the two completed their last successful switch, and called across the tent to Ivory, "I suppose we should call it here for the day, reconvene tomorrow for one more round before the finale?"