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Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

The man had clearly grown more irritated by Ivory's actions, but she didn't care. They'd never be able to get anywhere if they weren't even allowed to speak with him. Considering how well-mannered Lucien was, she decided to save him the trouble. Soon after he had spoken to them again he had a complete shift in attitude, which she found incredibly suspicious, specially because his gaze seemed completely settled on the Ringmaster.

Lucien was a little taken aback by Geralt's sudden compliance. It made him raise a brow, but he didn't complain. This was what they needed after all, a chance to talk. As they received permission to enter, Lucien and Ivory stepped inside. It was a lot darker.. and a little messier than he would have thought the man to live.

"That is correct. This is my compatriot, Ivory. I'm sorry for the intrusion." He said, motioning to the dhampir, who simply nodded in response. She appreciated the darkness of the home, but it did make her a little suspicious. It wasn't particularly normal. "It's quite alright, we were a little insistent."

They made their way through the small home, into what appeared to be the livingroom. He.. honestly didn't expect Geralt to live in a place like this. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted what appeared to be the man's room. He could vaguely see the figure of a woman upon his bed.

"I apologize if we caught you at a bad time.." He said, shifting his gaze away from the room. That was none of his business.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Lucien was glad he was not denied. At least now he could make this trip in the company of another. He stopped next to the man as he looked out into the city streets. He hoped this would not be the last time he would see it. Honestly.. he hoped that everyone would be alright. If possible, he wished they would have been able to go with him but.. they wanted to stay. He let out a small sigh. Despite his excitement upon being able to leave and travel for the first time.. he was still a little saddened to leave.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the man speaking again. "Er.. thank you.." He said, though he felt that this might not be intended as a compliment.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Faolan." He said, glancing up at him. Now that he thought about it, the man's accent did not sound particularly familiar to him. It wasn't one he had heard around the church goers, so this made him curious.

"I.. don't recognize your accent. Would you mind if I ask where you're from?" He asked.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

It seemed the first few knocks had been completely ignored. This much he had expected, so after a few moments of silence, he decided to knock again. Illyana had preemptively warned him that no matter how many times he was ignored, to continue to be persistent. The man was home. Honestly he didn't like doing it. He found it rude, but he didn't really have much choice in the manner. He couldn't necessarily leave here empty handed. His next set of knocks was much more hesitant. It was a little nerve-wracking to be honest.

Ivory seemed to realize this. She was not particularly a fan of wasting time. They knew the man was there, so they simply had to continue to insist. Without much hesitation, she reached out and gave a series of much louder knocks, her impatience clear. It was only after that they finally heard acknowledgement from inside the home. Part of Lucien was thankful, he hadn't been looking forward to continuing to pester.

A little while after, the door opened, though the sight wasn't exactly what he was expecting. The man looked like he had just about woken up. Considering the time, that was a little surprising. He was clearly irritated, though if he really had just been roused from his sleep, he couldn’t really blame him.

“Good afternoon, my name is Lucien, I was wondering if I could have a moment of your time?” He asked.

"Mmhhmm. Look, I talked to your elder--or whatever--yesterday, come back in a month or so..." His voice trailed off as he attempted to swing the door closed. The response was curt, and the man was quick to want to close the door. Ivory wasn’t having that. Her arm shot out before Lucien could react and halted the door’s movement to prevent it from closing.

“No, you didn't.” She retorted.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Lucien wasn't sure whether he wanted to feel annoyed by his reaction. He wasn't sure if he had that look on his face because he was mocking him. "I helped out sometimes but no, not particularly.. I'm not all that religious.." He had his own reasons for that. After all it was by the laws of their so called God that his father and mother weren't able to be together. He didn't necessarily hate it, but he had developed enough at a young age to know not to believe everything he was told in regards to that. He held his own opinions about it, but it didn't mean he still wasn't grateful for the fact the priests had taken him in. He wasn't resentful toward them, after all it wasn't their fault that things had happened the way they did.

He glanced up at the man again as he spoke. Honestly he felt like he was being treated like a little kid. He supposed he might look like a teenager to most people. His features didn't really make him look his age. It was unfortunate really, that he still looked like he was a seventeen year old when he was actually in his twenties. Well, twenty to be exact. Why couldn't he just keep rapidly developing until he seemed to be twenty one? Maybe then people would stop confusing him for a woman. The same thing used to happen to him at the church. He honestly just hoped he would keep growing. The idea of being stuck like this didn't seem particularly appealing.

"Thank you.. for the warning I suppose.." For a moment, he watched the man go, but he was conflicted. He knew the voyage to America was a long one. While he wasn't necessarily scared of being alone, he felt like having the company would be nice on a trip like this. The man didn't particularly seem approachable. Didn't that mean that he would be alone on this voyage as well? He didn't really see the harm in sticking together. Determined, he quickly ran to catch up with him.

"This.. trip is supposed to be long isn't it? If we're headed for the same place.. I don't think there's much harm in having a little company. If I'm suppose to avoid anyone that's bigger than me while I'm here then, being with the biggest man around is the best option right?" He asked a little jokingly, glancing up at the man. "Ah.. my name is Lucien, by the way." He added, realizing he hadn't been polite enough to introduce himself sooner. He figured the least he could do was offer his name if he hoped to travel with him.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Lucien gave Illyana a gentle smile. "You know I try to always take everyone's opinion into consideration. I don't blame you for being against it, your gut feelings have never steered us wrong before, so I understand why you feel this way. The circumstances this time around are just.. very unfortunate." He said before reaching out and placing his hand on Illyana's head, ruffling her hair a little.

"Yes of course. I would never allow anything to happen to any of you. Anyone who tries would have to answer to me first. I might not seem strong, but I like to think that looks can be deceiving." He said half-jokingly. Despite his light-hearted tone, he was completely serious. He would protect these people and the place they had come to call home with all his might. It was the reason why he had started this circus in the first place. "You should head back to your trailer, we're about to head out. Try not to worry too much alright?" He asked her, watching her head back to her trailer before he did the same. It wasn't long before they were finally on the move. Lucien laid on his bed, eyes shifting slightly as he soon became able to see the passing trees. Honestly it was in moments like these that he wished Faolan was still here.. for more than one reason. Since he had disappeared four years ago, there were constant times where he worried about what may have happened to him.. what exactly.. had happened with them. He knew him. He was strong. He simply had to believe he was alright but.. the hurt that his departure had caused had not left him to this day. Even so.. he really wished he was here. The nephilim shook his head, trying not to think about it. There were more important things for him to ponder.

The three days of travel had gone fast for Lucien. That was most likely due to his anxiousness for what was to come, both for the shows and the recruitment of the new member. By the time they finally arrived, he managed to ease them. After all he didn't want everyone else to be affected by his lack of composure. Once they were parked, he left his trailer. It didn't take too long for Ivory to approach him. Seeing that her eyes were their unnatural crimson color. It seems she wanted to be at her 'best' today.

"You probably could have made due without it you know?" He said.

Ivory chuckled slightly. "Probably, but we don't know what to expect, so I figure I should be prepared." She said with a small shrug.

Lucien let out a sigh. "I suppose.." He said. They really didn't know what to expect, but he didn't feel like any sort of violence would be necessary.

"You're too nice sometimes, so if I have to punch him in the face for you, so be it." She said, having put her hood over her head. The sun wasn't shining brightly in the sky anymore, but it still hadn't set. Lucien simply let out a small chuckle, shaking his head slightly.

The journey into town was not as long as it could have been, considering they had taken the truck, but once they got near they had to continue on foot, considering the small neighborhood. He followed the directions Illyana had given him. Honestly if her visions had not been kind enough to give her the exact location, he might not have been able to find him, considering how hard the entrance to his home was to spot.

"You'd think a magician of his caliber would live in a much flashier place.." Ivory muttered. By now her eyes had eased back into their blue color, and she had pulled her hood down. The sun wasn't as bothersome anymore.

Lucien couldn't help but agree with her. Then again he knew not all people liked to stand out, but he still found it a little odd. Regardless, he was resolved. He lifted his hand and gave the door a few knocks.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Lucien was glad the man had decided to take it. For a moment he had thought he might be a little more stubborn about it. As he began to explain his reasoning, the man furrowed his brow a little.

"I'm tougher than I look." He protested, though he had no actual way of backing that up without showing him, and he knew that was something he probably shouldn't do. Still, he couldn't help himself but get a little defensive about his 'observations' of him. He had to admit he wasn't wrong about a lot of things. In all honestly he was surprised that he could even deduct that much about him even though he hadn't known him for very long.

"I.. must admit your powers of observation are quite good. This is my first time travelling, I've never been on a ship before but.. I wouldn't call myself rich or fancy in the least.. I was raised in a church, I was simply taught to be polite to people.." He said a little defensively. The church he was from was not rich by any means, they had gathered the money they had to allow him to this passage. He hoped to one day be able to repay them that favor.

"I'm surprised you were able to smell all that.. Your sense of smell must be quite good." After all, Lucien could hardly smell either of those things from his own clothes anymore. The smell of the sea was much stronger to him. He glanced down as the handkerchief was shoved back into his hands. He hadn't actually expected to get it back, but he felt like telling him to keep it after he had returned it might seem rude, so he simply folded it and put it back into his pocket. He could clean it later. At least for the most part, it seemed to have done its purpose.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

It seemed the man had not even realized there had been blood on his forehead. In a way that was relieving, because it meant that the blood wasn't his own. Someone else getting hurt on his behalf did not particularly sit well with him, so he was glad it didn't seem like he had been hurt. His handkerchief had been denied, but his forehead hadn't really gotten any cleaner.

"I insist you take it, I don't really mind if it gets dirty.. plus.. I think you still need it.. there's still a little.." He trailed off, hesitant as he motioned to his own forehead in an attempt to let him know it was still dirty. He was unsure of how the man would take his insistence but, he also was not sure if he would mind walking around like that.

Lucien was honestly a little surprised to have received a warning from the man, but then again.. he had helped him, so maybe he was nice after all. He was probably the first person he had engaged in actual conversation with since leaving the church. His following words however, confused him.

"What do you mean.. 'people like me?' I didn't really do anything. I apologized, and simply wanted to be on my way.." He asked. Did.. they know what he was? Was that why they didn't like him? No, that shouldn't be possible. He hadn't done anything that would give him away. All he had done was accidentally run into one of them. If people out here were really that hard to anger then he really did have to be careful. Getting into a fight out here would definitely bring attention to him. After all, had those men actually gotten physical with him, the fact they would not have been able to hurt him would have definitely given away that there was something different about him. He had underestimated the priests' warnings. Still, the man's words were a little contradictory.

"You are certainly bigger than me, but you still helped me. Doesn't that mean I shouldn't judge everyone by their size and appearance alone?" He asked. It made sense to him. He had been told to be wary and keep his distance from drunks, that he completely understood, but was it necessary to avoid literally everyone that was bigger than him? He supposed if he was to keep a low profile.. then avoiding contact with everyone he met would be ideal but.. that sounded lonely.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

With everyone's help, it hadn't took as long to clean as Ivory had thought it would. She wasn't exactly how much time had passed, but next thing they knew, Lucien was knocking at Cora's door, letting them know it was time to go. Her nose was thankful. Perhaps after Cora got her refill, she wouldn't mind spending a lot more time in here. She figured the mermaid would appreciate the company. Being cooped up in a room all day on your own was a little lonely, she of all people knew that.

She waved her goodbye before leaving the trailer and heading straight for her own, not really wanting to linger outside any longer. She went straight to her bed, but didn't attempt to nap or anything of the sort. There were simply a lot of things on her mind, about how this all would go, and this so called Geralt they were supposed to recruit. The dhampir absentmindedly formed a knife in her hand, and threw it across the room to the target she had there, for practice. It hit the middle of it with ease. She continued with this for a while, until she had eventually gotten bored and fallen asleep.

--

"See you, Cora! Don't miss us too much!" Akane exclaimed as she left the trailer and headed for her own.

Aurel had given her a small wave. He felt a little bad for leaving but he also wanted to get back to his trailer with his other snakes before they departed. He traveled in most comfort with all of them. Once he arrived in his trailer, he greeted all of his snakes. He couldn't say his own room was the absolute cleanest. He did try to keep things as tidy as he could, but the snakes did like to curl up in their own little nooks and crannies, sometimes he didn't want to disturb their sleeping space, so he left things as they were. It was as clean as it could be, with all the snakes he had living in the trailer with him. Aurel made his way to his bed, careful not to lay on the few snakes that had decided to claim his bed as their own. He grabbed the book he had been previously reading from his nightstand, figuring he could kill some time this way.

-

Unlike Aurel, Akane had detoured a bit before heading back to her trailer, it seemed like everything really was all ready to go. They were to embark on another journey, one that would hopefully resolve all of their problems. She didn't like anyone feeling upset, after all. Arriving at her trailer, she took a seat near her window, not wanting to miss the journey. This was one of her favorite things about being on the road, just being able to enjoy all of the sights.

-

Lucien giving all the trailers and trucks a one last glance over, making sure everything was in place before he began to head back to his own. It was then that he heard Illyana's voice, and stopped to allow the girl to catch up to him.

"Everything alright?" He asked, wondering if she had anything else she wanted to add to their earlier discussion. Her eyes held some sort of determination, as if she had gained some sort of resolution. It certainly made him curious.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Akane let out a small chuckle at the joke Cora had made. "I'm afraid that might not work so well with me, after all, in my other form, I've got an extra set of legs!" She exclaimed, referring to her animal form.

Ivory shook her head ever so slightly at the poorly made joke, but she didn't actually think Cora was aware of how others might view it. Still, the sense of humor was appreciated. In a literal sense though, the mermaid wasn't wrong. Her lack of use of her legs definitely had given her quite the upper body strength. She was quiet as she described the mess in her room, honestly she couldn't understand why someone could be so excited in it, but she didn't voice it. She was probably just glad everyone would be coming with her.

She had paused, as everyone else had, when it seems Illyana had begun to lag behind. Knowing her, she was perhaps still lost in thought in their most recent situation. She reached out and patted the girl's head.

"Try not to stress to much Illy. I'm sure it will all work out." She told her, though her tone was casual. Not wanting to bring too much attention to what she had said, she continued on her way, and they all made it to Cora's trailer. For one, she was glad to finally be out of the sun, but on the downside, the smell was a lot stronger than she had anticipated. It gave her insensitive to at least open a window.

"Alright, let's get to cleaning! With all of us here we should be done in a jiffy!" Akane exclaimed, beginning to pick up some articles of clothing.

Aurel also moved across the room, beginning to pick up the books that lay scattered throughout the floor while Ivory picked up the random knickknacks scattered about. They were at this for a while, and by the time they were finished, it was finally time for them to get going.

Lucien had walked up to Cora's trailer, and given it a light knock. "We are all ready to go, you can stay here or go back to your trailers, but we depart in a few minutes." He called out to them.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

It seemed like these British men had no intention of heeding his polite plead. He had a feeling they were insulting him, but he had no idea what the words actually meant. It wasn't like anyone in the church ever spoke so foully. The Frency comment he knew for a fact had to do with his ethnicity. He wasn't completely naive in the aspect that some Englishfolk had some problems with the French. He thought it unjust, considering he directly had done nothing to these men aside from run into one of them, and he had immediately apologized, on top of it.

"I would rather not resort to such methods.." He muttered. The man began to contemplate his options, attempting to ignore the insults being thrown his way. Should he give them money so they would leave him alone? No.. he felt like that might make things worse. Maybe he would offend them. He honestly wasn't sure anymore.

The final comment snapped Lucien out of his thoughts, eyes shifting back up to stare at the englishman with a furrowed brow. He clenched his fist, a bit of anger beginning to boil inside of him. A hard thing to accomplish. That stung, considering his circumstances. Sure they would have no way of knowing his mother had passed, but that certainly did not excuse them bringing her into this. He was about to sharply tug his arm away from the man grabbing him when someone else joined the fray. An incredibly tall man, who compared to the other three men, was definitely much more intimidating. His eyes were drawn to the huge scar on his neck, but he wasn't given too much time to process the sight. It was clear he meant to interfere, so he held himself back from doing what he would have, unsure how this exchange would turn out now that someone else was involved. The man was clearly angry. Worried about what this may lead to, he was about to speak up to attempt to calm the situation, but did not get the chance to. The larger man snapped at what the third man had done. Everything happened so fast. He winced upon hearing the clear and audible sound of the clashing of foreheads. It sounded incredibly painful, but that was enough for them to want to hurriedly take their leave. Their attitude took a completely different turn. Was resorting to violence necessary? He didn't like the idea that the only way to get them to leave him alone was for someone to have ended up getting hurt. He truly hoped not everyone was like this.

Lucien glanced up at the man who had helped him. Despite how intimidating the man appeared, he had could not deny the fact he had provided him with aid. He had noticed there were other people on the deck that had noticed what was happening, but it didn't seem like they had wanted to get involved. He didn't blame them. It wasn't like he had wanted to drag other people into his problems. Still, he was grateful for what the man had done.

"Thank you for helping me." He told him with a small bow of his head. The nephilim then began to fumble a bit with the pockets of his trench-coat. He pulled out a handkerchief, and extended it to the man, concern in his expression. He was unsure of whether the blood on his forehead was his, or the other man's. Perhaps it was a mixture of both.

"Here.. please take it... for the blood.." He urged, unsure of how the man would take it if he attempted to wipe the blood away himself.