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Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Lucien took note of the fact that Faolan wasn't looking him in the eye as he spoke. It was quite odd, considering the man never really had any problems doing so. It made him think that there was more to this than he thought but.. he decided not to question it further. He didn't think Faolan would like it.

"Well.. that's good to know. If you ever find yourself in trouble because of it again, I'll be able to heal you, so it should be okay." He told him.

"Are there.. any other allergies I should be concerned about?" He asked, figuring that there probably wasn't much harm in asking that. He wanted to know so he could know when to help Faolan if anything ever happened.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

The idea of that was not something Lucien was particularly fond of. He would have definitely lost all hope of freedom by that point.. he was just glad he had been able to get out of there before any of that happened. He glanced up at Faolan at his last comment, thinking back to when he had saved him. Had.. it really been that bad? It was good that he had acted when he did if that was the case, but he couldn't help but grow more curious about it.

He chuckled at Faolan's next comment, a little amused. "Good to know, but I'd probably at least let you know." He wouldn't want the man to get worried after all.

Lucien had maintained his hovering throughout the majority of this conversation, occasionally going a little higher and lower as he spoke, though he couldn't deny he was beginning to grow tired. Perhaps it was because he hadn't really got to use them before. With the small moment of silence that followed, Lucien's thoughts went back to considering Faolan's.. silver situation.

"Is silver really that dangerous for you? I've read about allergies before but.. the reaction I saw was.. pretty extreme.." He couldn't help but ask. It was good of him to know for the future, since he'd probably want to keep the man away from it.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Akane retained her smile at Geralt's words. Sure she had received many compliments from the others before, but this man certainly knew how to flatter people. Then again that was something Lucien had warned them about.

Hearing his comment in regards to Cora made her realize he hadn't seen the mermaid yet but, considering how the night was going he probably wouldn't be able to until the night was over, but that way they'd all get to be there for it. He didn't seem like such a bad person just from first impression. She supposed she'd just have to see how he interacted with the others. There was a part of her that couldn't fully shake off that shudder that had ran up her spine when she touched him. It was something that had never happened before.

"I'm sure you'll get along great!" She said. "Good luck on your next show!" She added as the two men took their leave. With that, she retreated to the back of the tent where she would await her next show.

Lucien lead Geralt out of Akane's tent and headed to Aurel's. His tent was a dark green, with a few snakes swirling around it. He was right in thinking it had already started, all of his members had decided to start their shows around the time he would have calculated for them. It was nice to be able to rely on them on occasions like this.

"I'm happy to see that you were not disappointed with what you had to see here." He commented. While he could not be completely sure how genuine he had been in his compliments, he did notice he had held interest in the performances. He also liked to see his performer's hard work go appreciated. Akane practiced quite often, so it was satisfying when her dances came together like this and shined so brightly on stage.

They quietly entered Aurel's tent, hearing the soft music already playing. The pace of Aurel's performance was much slower than Akane's, because it suited his style of movement. From the placement of the song, he knew he was past the halfway point already, so they would only be seeing near the end of it.

With the addition of Ginger, Aurel usually had to tweak his performances a little because she was so large. This limited some of what he could do, so he focused on her during the first half of his act. Now, the man was more focused on his two venomous snakes. Throughout the years he had learned how to move like they could, in slow movements, and he had the flexibility to mimic a lot of it, and that was what he had incorporated into his performance. Normal snake charmers didn't have the advantages that he did. Snakes could not typically be trained to do as they liked. At the very best they could keep them peaceful enough to not bite or constrict them as they moved them around as they pleased. It was different for Aurel though. He had a strong trust and bond with his snakes, and they did what he asked of them. As he moved to the rhythm of the music, Bengal and Amber would slither up and around his arms and interchange places with each other.

There was no concern in his expression, on the contrary, Aurel seemed incredibly relaxed. This was what made his act so impactful to people. These snakes could easily attempt to kill him if they decided to constrict themselves around his neck, and just the sole danger aspect of that was enough to have people at the edge of their seat. The fact he had took his two venomous snakes for this act only strengthened that sense of danger for the audience.

Aurel lifted his arms over his head as he slowly bent his body backwards, flattening against the stage floor as Bengal and Amber moved slithered back up his arms toward his hands, moving their heads in tune with the music as he slowly made his way back up. Then, he shifted forward, moving his left hand toward toward the basket that held Ginger so Bengal could slither inside before Aurel slowly rose to his feet.

It was around this time that Lucien pulled out his pocket watch again, and saw that it was about time they got going. "I'd hate to cut our viewing short, but I believe we've ran out of time." He said in a quiet voice. "I'll trust your next performance will go just as well as the first, so I do hope you'll forgive me for not accompanying you back." He added. After all he couldn't really play chaperone for him all night.

"After all the shows are over for tonight, we can have a little group meeting at the Big Top and you'll be able to meet the remaining members."

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Lucien was quiet as Faolan approached the barrier, letting him inspect it as he pleased. At his comment, he couldn't help but let out a laugh, before dismissing the barrier around him.

"I mean, while I did think they were more than a little paranoid, there's more to it than that. My father er.. tasked them to protect me, and they might have taken that a little too far. I assume you are familiar with the tensions in France around the time we left. The threat of war was near, and they feared that if I was discovered my healing ability would be abused. That kind of thing is.. pretty useful during war.. So I can't say I don't understand why they weren't worried. However now that I was here, I honestly feel like there wouldn't have been much harm in me at least going to the store on my own." He said with a small sigh.

"But anyway, that doesn't matter anymore. I can run to the market whenever I want now." He said a little amusingly.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Lucien couldn't deny that Faolan was right. Maybe there was something out there that could hurt him but he wouldn't really know about that until it happened. He honestly couldn't think of any possibilities though.

"It's possible.. but in terms of lore I don't know if there's anything angels are weak to aside from well.. being corrupted.. I guess? Sure.. I'm half human too but, I honestly don't know how much that changes in regards to that. I didn't get too much of a chance to explore this kind of stuff." Considering angels could fall, it's not like he could say they were completely invulnerable, but that was more of a psychological thing. Either way it wasn't like he had anyone he could ask about this. His father wasn't around, and the priests were a little.. biased. So he really was on his own when it came to this stuff.

"Oh, there's this too." He said, pulling out the relic from under his shirt. "This is a.. relic.. that was my father left to me. It's supposed to 'protect' me from evil, I found out after a few years of being given this that I could use it to create barriers." He explained, before extending his hands a little. The relic glowed slightly against his neck, and a medium sized barrier formed around him, shimmering slightly against the light.

"This I did get to practice often back at the church."

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Akane beamed at the compliments she received, her pleasure reflected in her light pink cheeks. While her shadow retained it's form, two tails could briefly be seen swishing from side to side. Hearing Lucien cough made her realize it however, and they quickly merged back into her shadow. Sometimes she just couldn't help herself when she got too excited. It was kind of something she was used to.

"I came up with the moves themselves, but I don't deny receiving inspiration and opinions from the rest of the troupe. Cora and Ivory were quite helpful in that! And I give Lucien the credit for the tools, as I hadn't heard of them before he introduced them to me." She explained. When it came to the usage of tools, Ivory was an expert. Cora helped her in a different way. Her songs always inspired her in different ways, so she could not deny her part in aiding the creation of her routine. The kitsune loved to take inspiration from their everyday lives. It helped her put more feeling and heart into her performance. Sometimes hearing Lucien play his violin helped her too. It was simply a great environment for her.

Lucien let out a small chuckle. "I can't take too much of the credit, I simply gave you options to choose from." He said before looking at Geralt. "She's always been good at feeling the rhythm of music. I have to say she's always been quite the natural dancer." She had certainly outshined herself this performance. It was heartwarming to see them all try so hard. He had to admit that Akane was someone who always made the best of every performance, no matter how small or large the audience was, she still had fun.

Having heard her mention Cora, he pulled out his pocket watch again. Geralt hadn't met her yet, and honestly he was hoping to save her for last, maybe avoid it entirely until the night was over. He wouldn't be able to speak with her directly until then anyway, and he figured she might feel better about it if everyone else was there. He was pretty sure Aurel's performance had already started, if they left now they'd be able to catch the last bit of it before Geralt would most likely had to back to his tent for his next act. Ivory and Akane's performances could run long depending on the audience, but Aurel's usually stayed relatively the same, and was usually shorter than theirs, both for his sake and the snakes. He didn't like to be in front of those prying eyes for extensive periods of time. The fact they couldn't see him up close is what made him feel better about it. Honestly he could have found something else for the man to do, but he was insistent on wanting to help back when they had first talked about creating this place. He had truly come a long way since then. Lucien was quite proud.

"We should probably get going if you wish to catch the last bit of our charmeur de serpent's act." He said to Geralt.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Lucien couldn't help but chuckle amusingly at Faolan's question. He hadn't really expected it, but he had realized since they had left on their journey that Faolan seemed a little less tense than before, and that made him happy.

"I probably would have been fine. I mean when one of those Englishmen hit me over the head with a pole I just became a little disoriented, but I recovered pretty quickly." He said thoughtfully. "Though, I feel like even if you had known that, you might have still not let me hit the ground. It just seems like the kind of person you are." He said lightly.

"As far as I know, fire doesn't burn me.. knives can't cut me, and apparently, bugs can't bite me. Oh and, I can hit someone else with my face and be perfectly alright." He joked, remembering that other Englishman. There had been a couple candle incidents when he was a child, and Father Thomas had been given quite a shock at seeing that Lucien had gotten out of it without any burns whatsoever. There were also a couple kitchen incidents with a slip of the knife when he was making food.. things like that.

"I can still feel things. I can feel the heat, and I feel the force of impact of the things that would have hurt me. It just.. doesn't seem like anything can tear through my skin." He said, before he began trying to hover above ground again, just to keep getting the feel for it.

"I figured if I told you maybe you'd worry a little less. While I know I could get out of fights unscathed.. I don't really feel like being a punching bag in spite of that, so I wanted to learn to fight so I could be a little more efficient." He said. It was hard knowing that he had all this physical ability his whole life but have never been able to put it to good use. He felt like if he kept training with Faolan, he could really become stronger.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

"Oh I don't know about that." Akane said a bit sheepishly. She knew there were plenty of other kitsune's around, at least in the area she had lived in, but she wasn't sure how familiar he would be about that stuff. She supposed she'd find out once the man found out what she was.

She glanced at Geralt as he spoke in regards to Lucien, retaining her smile as she secured her mask back onto her face.

"He is isn't he? Lucien's really great. We all love him, I'm sure you will too!" She responded in a low whisper. He had been a major reason as to why she had decided to stick around once she had found this place. It all had seemed like it would be really fun, and a new experience for her, and she had never regretted that decision. She shifted her attention to Lucien as he began his announcing.

This time around, the Ringleader could see more women and children in the crowd, since this was more fascinating for kids to want to see.

"Curious minds who fathom the dangers of fire, but are willing to admire its beauty, you have come to the right place, as our danseur de feu can fascinate you with the her mystical flames and her beautiful dance. I introduce to you, ladies and gentlemen, the Cerulean Flame!" He exclaimed.

Right on cue, Akane skipped onto the stage, the long frills of her dress flowing behind her as Lucien quickly took his leave as he always did. While the frills looked cool and almost like fire when she moved, it was also a fail safe just in case her tails ever made an appearance. They would be easier to hide that way.

On the stage there were a few tools for her to use during her routine, precisely placed where she wanted them. When she had first started doing these types of performances she hadn't even known these tools existed, but once Lucien had introduced them to her, she had found them to be quite fun. It had taken quite a bit of practice to use them properly. Even if she had natural dexterity from being a fox, learning how to utilize it properly for these tools was something different altogether, but had been a very nice learning experience. Ivory had helped her out in terms of learning how to maneuver her hands properly, in terms of grip and the way she handled her instruments. She was quite proud of how far she had come.

Music spread throughout the tent, and as she walked over the fire hoop, Akane dipped her foot under it and quickly thrust the hoop upwards to catch it with her hand, twirling it on her right arm. With her left, her hand moved in a circular motion, and simultaneously lit the wicks in blue flames. She began her dance, turning and twisting her body along with the hoop at fast pace that created what appeared to be a circle of blue fire. She went shifted it around from her arms, to her hips, and over to her other arm, occasionally tossing it into the air and catching it as she danced. Her movements on stage were precise, and by the time she neared the staff, she was ready to switch tools.

The kitsune tossed the hoop high into the air one last time as she picked up the two fans and elegantly lifted them over her head as the hoop came down, falling right through her and landing on the ground. Her left foot moved back to stop it from bouncing. It was a quick movement and hard to catch, but as soon as she had done it, she hovered a leg over one of the wicks, seemingly touching the flames, and spun in a circle, putting out the fire before she jumped out of it and she began her dance with the fans, the music having changed tune to accommodate her slower more elegant dance.

They were her favorite set of instruments. Cora would always compliment how nice it was to watch her dance with normal fans while she was indoors, so having this option for her act made it all the more fun. These fans in particular were shaped like lotus flowers, with a wick at the end of each petal, totalling five on each fan. She had found them to be the ones with the prettiest designs, and Akane was quite fond of flowers. Despite the fact that this dance was slower than the last, her hand movements were quick, allowing her motions with the fan to look like swirls and lines of bright blue light. On some of the movements she raised a leg or twirled, a small trail of blue fire followed suit and then faded away as she continued.

The music slowly began to change in tune once more, Akane twisted the grip on her fans and then readied herself for a cartwheel. As she whirled through the air she placed the fans flat against the ground, lifting one hand which she used to snuff out the flames as her hand drifted over the wicks. As she did so, flames followed the movement in her legs in a half-mooned shape as she became almost rightside up again. Before straightening out completely, her other hand grabbed hold of the last pair of remaining instruments. The two swinging torches.

Her free hand reached for the wicks and with a flick of her wrist, the ends lit up in flames she began to spin them as she moved her body to the rhythm of the music. Traces of blue flames traced the path her feet would take in her steps which would soon fade as she took another.

Nearing the end of the song, she moved the torches and connected them with their magnetic latches at the end and it formed into a small staff which she twirled and threw into the air, catching it with ease.

With a quick motion of her free hand, she tilted her mask slightly to reveal only her lips as she had went down on one knee, disconnecting the torches again. One hand continued to spin one of the torches behind her back and neared the other to her lips. She took in a breath the closer it got, to the audience it appeared as though she had consumed the flames, and as she set that one down and shifted her attention to the other. Her hand hovered over the remaining flaming end, causing the fire to dim ever so slightly. As she placed it near her lips, she let out a breath, and the flames burst out in the opposite direction, as if she was breathing fire, and much larger than you would expect someone her size to be able to pull off. Despite the large amount of it, the patterning of the flames and the way they moved was well controlled, and still managed to retain a look of elegance. It then slowly faded away, and Akane then shifted her body toward the audience and bowed.

The audience erupted into applause. She could see the small children shouting and pointing in her direction, clearly amazed by the display. Akane smiled, and rose to her feet, setting down the other baton as she did so and bowing once more, waving eagerly at the children, before she did a small side twirl and then headed off to the side exit of the stage.

”What did you think?” She asked Geralt eagerly as she removed her mask, though a little out of breath. While the movements themselves were easy, moving all those instruments around did take more effort but still, it was all worth it in the end.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Akane simply retained her smile at his words, letting out a small giggle at his compliment, covering her mouth a little as she did so. "Oh you're too kind!" She exclaimed, though did not give a response behind the reasoning for the mask. This had been Lucien's idea to protect her identity and origin. It seems people in this country took a certain kind of liking to Asian women. She appreciated the ringleader's concern, and decided to go along with it. When he had taken her shopping for a mask, she had seen this fox mask and had immediately fallen in love with it. It was.. suiting, and Ivory had taught her how to secure it properly in her hair so it would not risk falling while she was performing.

"Then I'll be sure to leave a good first impression!" She said, a determined expression on her face. Considering she had heard how great of a magician she was, she didn't want to get too left behind. She had to do her best too. "I agree though! Watching everyone else's performances is very fun too." It made her feel like she always had much more she could learn from them all. At his question in regards to her name, her smile widened.

"Ah, yes! That is correct. It's Japanese. Translates into 'Brilliant Red,'" She let out a small chuckle at this. Akane hadn't been the one to give herself this name, but she had liked it all the same, considering the appearance she had decided to go with when she first shifted.. and well, her fox form.

It was a little after this exchange that Lucien spoke up. He felt like his original worries in regards to Akane had been correct. Geralt certainly knew how to flatter people, but it made him even more determined to be sure to keep an eye on him around his other members. He hadn't commented in regards to the mask. He had suggested it for her safety above all else, but it seemed to have worked out just fine, considering it added a mystery aspect to her act, and also allowed her to walk freely and unnoticed out of costume. Lucien glanced over further into the tent, seeing people had finished filing in. It was time for Akane to go on, and therefore it was time for him to do what he did best.

"Well, I'm off." He said, glancing at Akane, and then Geralt, before turning and walking out onto the stage.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

The type of impact he had expected didn't come. Lucien had instinctively closed his eyes during his fall, but when he opened them, he saw he hadn't landed on the ground, but instead that Faolan had caught him. Honestly he had been so concentrated on flying that he hadn't actually been paying attention to the fact the man had positioned himself under him. He was a little surprised, to be honest, but as Faolan smiled and made a joke, Lucien broke out into a lighthearted laugh, tucking in the wings a little so they wouldn't be in Faolan's way. Despite his fall, he had enjoyed his flight.

"I did didn't I?' He said in between his laughs. "This is going to take a bit of practice, but thank you for catching me. You can set me down, I promise I won't fly off that high again until I'm better accustomed. I guess I have to start from scratch." He said. It'd be like learning to fly all over again, but either way, he thought it'd be fun, and his expression reflected it.

Once Faolan had set him down, he stretched a little, shifting his wings around as he tried to grow more familiar with their movements. It was strange how something that had been a part of his body all these years could feel so foreign to him.

"Oh!" He exclaimed, realizing there was still a bit that he had to tell him. Considering he knew what he was now, he figured it'd be good to tell him what he could do too, then maybe he wouldn't be so worried about him. He was pretty sure the fall to the ground would not have hurt him.

"Now that you know about all this, I can finally tell you. I can't really um.. get hurt I guess? At all. My body is.. very sturdy, even if it doesn't look it. I've never sustained any form of injury, or caught any illnesses either." He explained. Now that he thought about it, in the time he was here he hadn't received any type of bug bite either, as opposed to Faolan who had collected quite a few. He supposed this was handy in more than one way.