FreckersFrog

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Faolan had known the girl was lying before she'd opened her mouth. He could hear her heart rate increase at just the thought of it, and smelled the sweat on her brow. Her hands were shaking as she pointed to the spot on the map, and the way she spoke, slowly, as if she was making it up as it was coming out of her mouth. It was of no consequence to him whether or not she lied to them, it would have no bearing on whether or not they helped her. He was only curious and concerned about her home situation. If they brought her back there, how could he be sure that she would not end up on the side of the road again?

This was something to discuss with Lucien, but for now he would have to keep quiet. This girl was also observant, but he didn't know the extent of her skills. She was certainly intelligent, just the way she spoke seemed far more advanced than a child of her age. But she was small, slight, and weak, almost undernourished. In spite of this fact, and knowing that the two adult men in the room held the most power, she was attempting to exert her will, and the Irishman respected that. She had a goal to achieve, and he could tell by the fire in her eyes that she was determined to see it through to the end, come what may. It was this same fire that had kept her walking for days on end. With their help, he had no doubt that she would see the end of her path.

Illyana herself was relieved to hear that Lucien and his friend would help her. Whether or not they believed her, she knew that neither of them would refuse to help a child in need. Aurel's presence here was enough to tell her that much. If he and Lucien weren't related, then that means they had to have found him too...

"Thank you," she said, gratitude flaring in her eyes and she looked between the two men, "Lucien, Faolan..." she glanced over her shoulder and nodded to Aurel as well. Though he'd had no say in the matter, she knew her manners and would be sure that he knew he was being acknowledged as well.

Faolan nodded back to the girl in acceptance of her thanks, then turned to continue what he had been doing. She was a polite little one...he just hope she had learned manners the correct way and not from having it beaten into her.

At Aurel's question, his ear pricked up and he glanced over at the boy and chuckled quietly, "You're the one with the nose, you tell me." But first, he pulled a paper-wrapped bundle out from his bag and turned to hand it to Lucien. "For the gi--for Illyana." He said, catching himself. He knew that use of her name was one way to calm her, make her feel welcome. Lucien had taught him that in his time with Aurel, especially given the fact that they had named him in the first place. After this, he placed some small travelling shoes on the floor by Lucien as well. He never knew what to pick when choosing clothing and only hoped that everything would fit her.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Geralt spent the next chunk of days in solitude, as he was wont to do in situations like this. His tantrum had ended only minutes after it had begun, leaving his trailer in absolute disarray. He hadn't even taken the time to clean it and had simply...disappeared for the rest of the evening. He'd returned sometime the next day, after he had chased some physical sensations to distract himself from his wounded ego.

He felt a little better upon his return, but still was not ready to rejoin his new little "family". Instead, he kept to himself, cleaned the mess he had made in his trailer, and spent the next days of travel alone. He only left to retrieve morsels of food and drink, and even then avoided interaction with anyone. It seemed that his mood had been made clear to the troupe, for not even Cora or Akane dared to speak to him during this time. It was better this way, he knew that he would not be able to control himself if they bothered him with their petty questions, and undoubtedly any wrong step would be reported to Lucien.

He performed his next shows the "right" way as well, putting on a smile for every single member of the audience. When the troupe gathered at the end of the stop to gather their cuts, he asked that Akane take his to him in his trailer afterwards. He didn't feel like looking Lucien in the eye just yet.

But he knew that the night of the full moon was approaching. He had seen Lucien sitting on top of his trailer during the last two he had been witness to, staring up at the sky with a bottle of whiskey, doodling or scribbling in a book. He always had this look...a look of longing, of despair, that Geralt was all too familiar with. Once was strange, twice was a coincidence, but three times was a pattern. If Lucien was out on the trailer tonight, The Magician knew he would be vulnerable and may not be up for an argument. Besides, the Frenchman did not seem the type to hold a grudge, so Geralt assumed that most of his anger towards him had faded by now. Or so he hoped.

So, this was the night Geralt had decided to "strike". He waited about an hour after nightfall and watched from afar as Lucien opened the door to his trailer and made his way to the roof with all of his accouterments. He gave his a healthy amount of time to set up and get comfortable, then made his move.

Bottle in hand, he made his way across the ground to where Lucien had parked. It was never far from his own living space. He approached the door and made as if to knock, then pretended to notice the ladder and look up.

"Lucien?" he called, as if surprised by what he was seeing. All a part of the plan.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Illyana watched the giant man enter the bus, noticing that he had to slouch a bit to fit inside of it. He was the biggest man she had ever seen, and in comparison to her he was absolutely enormous. Broad shoulders, strong jaw, sharp eyes, but a relatively smaller waist; he reminded her of a wolf. In fact, when his eyes moved from her, to Lucien, and away again she saw a flash behind them, like the kind she had seen in a dogs eyes when they met the headlights of a car or the beam of a flashlight. He had a strong earthen smell, like moss and mud, and his hair was long and bright red. In comparison to Lucien, who was composed and gentle-looking, the man named Faolan was practically a beast.

A normal child would be alarmed by his presence, his stern, deep voice, his furrowed brow, but she was not. In fact, he gave off a strong protected feeling, as if he were a shield, and she felt safer with him here. It was strange and would have been hard for the girl to explain if she had been asked, but she had always had feelings like this about people.

Still, she watched him warily as he moved to the small kitchenette and began to unpack the bag.

"Nice to meet you, Illyana." he said, but did not let his eyes linger on her. There was something about his gaze that seemed...respectful. It was clear that he was taking great pains not to stare, not to make her uncomfortable, and she liked that about him immediately.

"You too..." she said quietly, taking another sip of water as Aurel handed Lucien the map. She glanced at the boy again, but did not try to stare at him. He seemed older than her, maybe in his teens? It was hard for her to say, but she could tell he was tall and slender, and his hair was longer than any other boy's hair she had ever seen. Even his accent was different than Faolan or Lucien's, and she could tell that they were all probably not American by birth. These three really made an odd trio...

As Lucien pointed to the map, she leaned in slightly to get a better look, but not close enough to touch him, even on accident. As she traced the line of the highway between the two towns with her eyes and she realized how close to the boarder they were...a touch of panic set in. Lucien knew that something was wrong, that she couldn't have been lost as she said, being this far from home. She was unaware that she had been transported across the boarder into Connecticut at any point...she supposed she had been taken much father than she originally thought.

"I'm not," she said, a little too quickly, "In danger, I mean." Her mind raced to come up with a passable excuse for her condition and her distance from home. Finally, she settled on one that was at least halfway believable, if only she was not such a horrible liar...but her throat was still scratchy and her voice was rough, maybe that would be enough to hide that the following was completely false.

"My parents and me...and my sister, Isabella, we all went camping, you see." She began, looking down at the map and them back up at Lucien intermittently. "Mmm, here!" she said, pointing to a patch of green with a lake in it on the map. "It's a big park in New Jersey, with lots of trees and flowers and animals." She paused and glanced around, mostly for dramatic effect, but noticed that both the boy and Faolan were listening to her tale. "I went out in the middle of the night to...you know..." she looked down, embarrassed, and then quickly continued, "And when I went to go back to camp, I couldn't find it! I tried calling out, but I must have been walking in the wrong direction for a while...anyway, morning came and I never found the camp, so I just started walking, hoping that I would find them, but I never did. I didn't know what to do, so I just...kept walking..." She looked around, noticing that Faolan had turned around and crossed his arms, leaning against the counter as he listened. His face hadn't changed, so she couldn't tell if he, or if Lucien for that matter, believed what she was telling them. It didn't really matter either way as long as they helped her get back home.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Geralt withstood the onslaught of Lucien's words like a man staring at a firing squad. His jaw was set, teeth pressed together, free fist clench in his trouser pocket. He was resolute, but the humility he had worn so well in front of the Frenchman was completely lost. He could not longer hide the anger in his eyes. The fury at himself more than anything, for allowing himself to be caught completely unawares like this. He promised himself then and there that it would not happen again.

He opened his mouth to speak as Lucien turned away, and for once he was at a loss for words. Part of him deep down knew that the man was right. Geralt had not thought his actions through, but that only irritated him all the more. How he could be made to look like such a fool, especially in front of Lucien, it was maddening that he had done this to himself.

Pathetic. You are nothing but a nuisance to him, just as you have always been. You are nothing, worse than the dirt beneath his shoe.

That voice echoed through the chambers of his mind as he stood on the stage, book in hand, at a loss for words. It had been years, no decades, since he had felt this foolish. He would not allow it to happen again.

With a wave of his hand, the book disappeared and just as quickly as it had gone, his dashing smile returned and he dropped the power he held over his patrons. "And with that, ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, I take my leave of you." With a bow, the lights flickered and he disappeared from sight.

If he had stuck around the performance tent, he would have heard the crowd erupt into a chorus of applause as they gave a standing ovation. Men hooted and hollered, women laughed, children screamed with delight. The applause had always been his favorite part, the love that was showered on him by those beneath him...it was intoxicating. But tonight it would give him no comfort, and he hadn't earned it, anyway.

He reappeared in his trailer, his face set into a frown and his eyebrows furrowed. Immediately, he lurched toward the liquor cabinet and throw it open, bottles and glasses tinkling together loudly as he did so. He snatched out a bottle of German brandy, uncorked it, and poured himself a glass.

Pathetic. Worthless. Disappointment. Trash.

He sipped his drink as the these words repeated themselves over and over and over again in his mind. That growling voice that he could not escape reminding him of his failures, his shortcomings. It had been with him for so long that he was having trouble telling it apart from his own thoughts...How could he have made himself look so pathetic in front of Lucien? In front of her?

You were never good enough for your parents, never enough for her and you never will be enough for anyone else either.

"Rrraaagh!" Before he could control himself, a scream escaped him and he threw the glass in his hand as hard as he could at the opposite wall. It shattered on impact, expensive German brandy running down the dark wood of the walls to the black carpet on the floor.

He didn't stop here though. Rage had entered him, and as that voice cackled inside of him he knew it would not let him rest. He turned to the liquor cabinet, grabbed it by a corner and threw it to the ground. Bottles smashed together, throwing glass shards all over the floor. He then picked up a chair and swung it at the wall so hard that it exploded in a spray of wood fibers and splinters.

This tantrum continued for several more minutes, and luckily for the Magician, there was only a single passing witness to his madness. Illyana had just finished with her line of customers and was headed from her trailer to Lucien's to report. The way they had set up this time, her path crossed by Geralt's trailer, which had been parked a little ways away from the others.

She paused as she heard shattering glass and slowed to a stop, glancing at the lantern light that flickered in the window. She could see the figure of the Magician, locked in some sort of one-man battle with himself as he tore up the inside of his own living space. Something had certainly riled him...but she was glad he had chosen to have his outburst in private. Whatever it was, it was only loud enough that someone walking by would hear it.

After a moment, a small smile touched the girl's lips and she continued on her way, leaving the man completely and utterly alone.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Illyana watched Lucien fill up the canteen with wide, hopeful eyes as moisture began to pool on her tongue and drip from the roof of her mouth. She had never known there would be a time when she would want water this badly...it had always been available to her at home. There was more than one kind of abuse.

She took the canteen from his hands and raised it to her mouth, but remembered to answer his question before taking a drink, "I'm from Utica, here in New York. Its not far." With this, she pressed the mouth of the bottle to her lips and gulped down more of the precious liquid.

She only stopped drinking when she heard another name mentioned. Faolan...this must be the friend that Lucien had mentioned. Illyana then turned her attention to the door, her body tensing as she braced for the entrance of another stranger.

Faolan had been outside for some time, and had heard a bulk of Lucien's conversation with the girl Illyana. Not wanting to startle or alarm her, he had opted to wait outside until the pair was finished speaking. He hadn't counted on Aurel's sharp sense of smell, for once, and so was a little surprised to hear that the boy had noticed him. This emotion was only outweighed by pride, the boy was learning well.

As soon as he was called, he sighed and made his way in as Aurel opened the door for him and closed it after he entered. He locked eyes with the child, her green gaze almost mirroring his own. Had to have Irish in her, maybe way back, but it was there. He then looked to Lucien and gestured to the pack he wore on his back. "Didn't want to interrupt, but you're right, I have dinner for us all."

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Geralt felt his own ire rising as he saw the expression on Lucien's face. Of course, he had entertained the possibility that he would eventually be caught if he did in fact follow through with this plan, and he knew that the Nephilim would find it less than ideal. But he had not be expecting this level of irritation, and seeing Lucien react this way without so much as hearing an explanation...well, it annoyed Geralt in turn.

He managed to keep this out of his voice when he spoke, but knew that some of his anger was leaking through in his expression. With how much he was concentrating, he was having trouble maintaining the mask.

"Of course not, I was only..." he paused for a moment and gestured with the book. "Foolish, I know, but I am a sucker for unconventional romance..." he said, flashing a smile. When the Ringleader's expression did not change, he dropped it once more. "I assure you that this is the first and only time, have I earned enough trust for you to believe that, at least? Besides, they'll be none the wiser when I release them. I promise, on my honor, they won't remember a thing aside from a lovely time at Cirque D'étoiles."

This was not going well. He had lost something, that smooth sway he had over the Nephilim had faded, and his varnish was being stripped away. If only the man hadn't caught him off guard, if he had been paying closer attention, if he had been more careful, he could have released them before Lucien walked up. His mouth and brain were racing with excuses, but he knew that he could give no more. Whatever he said, it would have to suffice, at least for now.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Illyana cringed slightly at the man's next question as if she had seen something unsavory lurking in the corner. This made her uncomfortable, as it brought up many recent and extremely unpleasant memories. She reminded herself that this was behind her, that she didn't have to relive what had happened to her this past week...she didn't have to tell Lucien everything. Not yet.

"I was on my way home. I got..." she paused, an unnatural liar, deception did not come easily to her, "lost." She looked down at her hands, which still gripped the canteen. It had grown warm between her palms, and suddenly she felt her throat aching for more liquid.

She held the canteen up to Lucien, "Can I have more?" she asked, her eyes large and her voice low and cracked like dry earth.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Geralt had been a bit more chipper during their first night in Mesquite due to the events leading there. Unfortunately, this attitude faded quickly after he had completed his first show. It was just so droll, doing the same thing night after night with no reward but applause and the sweat of the masses. It was tiresome and boring, and The Magician had decided that he'd earned a night off.

Instead of going and asking for it, as he knew he was above such behavior, he had decided to take some liberties in the following night's show. Once the audience was seated, he'd performed the usual entrance feat, tickled the rube's eyeballs with a little fire show, then slowly began to hypnotize them until their brains had gone...mushy. It was nothing that would harm them, and in fact offered him a little practice at this particular trick, seeing as this was the most amount of people he had attempted to control at once. He simply put them into a more impressionable state and made their neurons fire without him actually having to do much of anything and had been proud when he realized how successful he was. In fact, it allowed him some time to catch up on some reading he'd been doing, a lovely little erotic anthology called "Carmilla" about a one-sided relationship between a vampiress and her intended, a woman named Laura.

He had just been reading something particularly steamy when Lucien's voice snapped him out of it. It was strange, unlike him to be caught off guard in this way, but he had been concentrating nearly all of his power on maintaining the audience's trance, and the other small percentage of his attention was taken by the book. The Ringleader's voice was stern and loud enough to cause some alarm....The Magician had never heard him so riled up before.

"Lucien," he stated simply as he put the book down, keeping his other hand pointing in the direction of the humans he held in thrall. "I wasn't expecting you." In fact, Lucien had not looked in on any of his shows since their second circuit, and he had thought that he'd earned the man's trust. Apparently, he'd been mistaken.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

"Family", that word was heavy for the girl. Despite her love for her twin, she had no idea what that word actually meant. She had never really experienced a family in the way that most little girls of her age had. From a very young age, she had known that her parents didn't love her. She could hear it in her father's voice, see it in her mother's eyes, their contempt for her because of her difference. In front of strangers, neighbors, associates, they always acted like they cared for her by showing her false affection. A touch on the shoulder here, a squeeze of the hand there, a pat on the head...she'd found herself craving those moments even though she knew that it was all a lie, a show to put on for her parent's peers. Behind closed doors, her "family' acted as if she didn't exist. They never used her name, never looked directly at her, and spoke harshly to her. That was not to say that she had not seen love; this she had experienced in the eyes of her twin sister, Isabella. The two of them had been inseparable since the day they were conceived, and so far it had been her parent's love for her sister that had kept them from abandoning their deformed and unwanted child. That was because they did not know Isabella's secret...that she was special too, just not in a way that anyone could see.

The girl knew that when Lucien told her this about Aurel, he was speaking the truth. She could see it in his eyes, hear it in his voice. The love that had been missing from her parent's gaze, from their words, Lucien's were full of it. "Family" meant something more to him than blood.

"Illyana..." she said, "Illyana Brewer." She had decided. This man, Aurel, and his "friend" would help her. They'd help her find Isabella, and maybe they'd even help her escape. She just had to be smart about how she asked them to do it.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Geralt saw Aurel's attempt at distracting Lucien, but not before he noticed the Nephilim's eyes on him. Not so pure after all, I see...He thought to himself, flashing a grin to the pair of them and giving them a gentle wave before moving on.

Despite Lucien's attempt at keeping them at a distance, his prolonged gaze was enough to show The Magician that it was not because he wasn't attracted to him. There was something else holding him back, and it wasn't just because of their working relationship or gender conventions. No, Lucien was a free spirit, he had founded his own circus after all. Geralt was sure now that there was something deeper that was making him hesitate and second guess their relationship, he just had to find out what it was. He suspected, but would now have to prove, that it had something to do with the man in the drawing he had seen in Lucien's trailer and the tall redheaded figure standing next to him. It may also be linked to Lucien's all-nighters during the full moon...he would have to wait for another opportunity to ask him about that.

He made his way to his trailer, throwing one last glance at the Frenchman before closing the door. The look on his face was unmistakable and made Geralt's smile widen even more. Just a little more work, some time and effort, and he just have what he was craving.