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Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

"Ef..fec..tiv?" Aurel repeated, trying to comprehend the word. "Like... work better?" He asked, to be sure he was understanding that correctly.

He couldn't argue with the coldness. It was certainly less cold than having to swim in the water at night hoping to catch fish. This way he didn't have to get wet, but there was a part of him that enjoyed the old way too, it was sometimes a bit more fun, though had been a little frustrating at first. He couldn't quite hide himself as well as the snakes could, so he always had to be more careful not to scare the fish away.

The boy let out a chuckle at what Faolan said next, though his eyes sparkled with renewed excitement at potentially having something else he could teach the man.

"Next time we swim!" He said in an excited whisper. A small tug on the line snapped the boy's attention back to the water.

"Ah! Um, what next?" He asked, unsure of what to do.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Akane stood closely by Cora as they were surrounded by other carnies. This was the first full on party that Cora was getting to attend, so she wanted to make sure she felt safe and comfortable, so she'd be sure to stay close if that's what the mermaid wanted. She didn't mind it either, her cool hand felt nice against her's.

"If you're going to try something I will too!" Akane said with a smile. She wasn't going to let Cora drink by herself. They could enjoy it together.

Lucien's eyes watched Geralt's hands move toward the corresponding ingredients, curious of what he'd end up going with, but his attention shifted to Cora and Akane as they approached them. He could tell that both Akane and Cora were curious as to what Geralt was doing. He wasn't going to stop them if they really wanted to try, both of them were adults, and they were surrounded by people who would look out for them.

"You can if you really want to, perhaps something light and sweet to start them off, Geralt? Neither of them have had it before." Lucien said. He'd be sure to keep an eye on them both just in case they had enough. He wasn't sure how tolerant either of them would be.

Aurel glanced down at Illy as he felt her get closer, and gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry." He told her. "I'll stick to water and juice." He said, not wanting her to be too concerned about him. Just because.. there happened to be a lot of alcoholic beverages present didn't mean he would be tempted to drink them. He.. knew better at this point.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Aurel nodded slightly, trying to maintain the rod at the place Faolan had tilted it to. His expression was focused, as if he was giving all of his attention to his instruction.

"Oh I see." The boy responded, his forked tongue making itself known through his slightly parted lips. This tended to happen when the boy was really trying to concentrate.

"This way is weird." He commented, referring to the method of fishing. Back in the day, when he'd catch fish, he'd simply snatch them out of the water with his hands. "I just grab them." He told Faolan. Wasn't that technically more impressive? Not everyone could move fast enough to grab a fish out of water. Maybe he could show him how he did it sometime?

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Aurel smiled back, glad to see Illy was going to eat. It was only then that he took a bite of his own, eyes trailing toward Geralt as he made his loud announcement. Snake-like eyes trailed on toward the bottles at the table, but he made no move toward it, and remained at Illy's side.

Akane wasted no time and grabbed hold of Cora's hand before pulling her toward the small crowd that had gathered now around the table. Some of the carnies moved aside to let them through. Her eyes sparkled with curiosity as they arrived.

Lucien let out a small chuckle. "By all means. I'm not on the clock." He said jokingly. "I have faith in your taste, surprise me." The ringleader said, before looking at the two women who approached.

"Are you going to make drinks for everyone, Geralt?" Akane asked curiously, having caught the last bit of what he was saying. The kitsune didn't have too much experience with American alcohol, but she had seen the carnies drinking it before on occasion, but she had never been curious enough to give it a try. She had been warned in the past to be careful with consuming it, as it would be harder for her to keep her kitsune features hidden, but that wasn't really an issue here, considering everyone was already well aware of it.

Ivory had walked over to Illy and Aurel and took a seat near them. The dhampir quite detested alcohol, for personal reasons, and so had no intention of partaking in it.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

The massage was a bit strange, but after a little while Aurel realized that it was actually helping. After he was done, Lucien picked him up and took him outside so they could eat.

The next few days went by similarly. The boy's withdrawals had made themselves known again, but Lucien had been kind enough to continue to cleanse it for him. While Lucien and Faolan whether this method was correct, making the child have to deal with this had simply been too cruel. They had decided it would be best to see if Lucien's cleansing would actually make things better in the long term, before deciding what they should do next.

Through the 'training' he continued to do, by the fourth day he was actually able to get up on his own, even though it did hurt to do so. It excited him to have been able to make this much process. By then, Lucien had decided he would be able to go to town and begin working, as the boy had grown just as comfortable with Faolan as he had him.

With Lucien gone, Faolan and Aurel found themselves on top of a few rocks. He was currently holding a fishing rod awkwardly upright.

"Like this?" He asked, attempting to mimic the Irishman's posture.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Akane's smile widened at Cora's compliment. "Oh you flatter me!" She said with a small giggle, a tinge of red on her cheeks. She was very used to giving Cora compliments, but hearing them from her brought on a different sort of happiness for the kitsune. She really appreciated them.

Ivory smiled a little at the exchange between the two women. She didn't mind doing things like this for them, they clearly enjoyed it. "Just let me know when you want me to." She told them, eyes trailing toward Geralt as he had returned from his trailer.

Aurel nodded slightly. "I noticed them near that tree over there, though I hadn't seen Jade, thank you for looking out for them. I'll give them a while longer before I go looking for them, just to make sure they're alright." He said, knowing there was probably predators out there. He knew the snakes could watch out for themselves,

"Thank you." He told her as he took the sandwich she offered. "You should have one too." He added.

Lucien turned to Geralt as he returned, raising his eyebrows a bit as returned with a shaker. "Oh? Is drink mixing one of your skills?" He asked, even though he was sure of the answer.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Aurel's smile widened as Faolan asked him to show him. Honestly he didn't think there would be something that he could teach Faolan. He seemed to know so many things, so the fact he told him that made him look forward to getting better even more.

"Yes, I'd love to!" The boy responded. "I can teach!"

Lucien let out a small chuckle. "I look forward to seeing that." He commented, before nodding at the Irishman's words.

"Of course, would you let me, Aurel?" He asked the boy, who then nodded.

The more he heard the name 'Aurel' the more he liked it. Part of him was glad to not be going by 'Snake' anymore. It.. made him feel like a new person.. he.. was really glad he wasn't stuck in that place anymore.

"I'll tell him. I got plenty of rest vorhin." He added, considering he had taken quite a long nap after their swimming.

"That means 'earlier'." Lucien spoke up as he went ahead and did as Faolan had asked, hoping to ease some of the boy's tension in his legs.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Akane's smile mimicked the mermaid's. "It is! I just hadn't had the chance to wear it yet." She spun on her feet as she spoke, the dress fanning out as she did so. It was a short sleeved dark green dress that went up to her neck, with a keyhole opening that stopped right before her chest. It had no design, but something about it had just called to her, so she had bought it during their last town visit.

"I should ask Ivory to do my hair more often!" She said.

Ivory let out a small chuckle. "If you want, I don't mind." She told her.

Lucien watched Geralt go for a moment before he turned and headed toward Illyana. "I'm hoping you try to enjoy yourself tonight Illy, no more working." He told her, just as Aurel approached them.

"We all need a break, including you." He said. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw that some of his snakes had returned, and had began curling around into one of the nearby trees. He'd be sure to keep an eye out for the rest of them.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Aurel thought about Faolan's question before answering it. The entirety of his leg hurt but.. he supposed if he were to look for the source.. it'd be around his thighs, which he motioned to for Faolan's reference.

The boy listened intently to man's word's. It was a lot of information to process, and there were some words he didn't quite catch, but Lucien was quick to speak up and translate on his behalf. When Lucien was done, Aurel's eyes brightened slightly.

"Yes!" He exclaimed. "I want to get stronger so I can run and climb again."

"I'm really good at it!" The thought of becoming stronger made the boy more eager to continue with this exercises. "Can you two climb?"

Lucien smiled at the boy's excitement. "I'm quite good at climbing." He responded.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Lucien let out a small laugh as Geralt pulled a flask out of his pocket. "No, not at all. There's more where that came from as well." He said, motioning to the table where the carnies had also set up.

Ivory nodded, that was understandable. It wasn't often she would get chances like this. "Then, shall I help you get ready for the party?" She asked. Upon receiving her agreement, Ivory lead Cora back to her trailer and helped her pick out an outfit for the night, and did half of her hair up into a ponytail. Once she was satisfied with her work, she lead the mermaid back out. Having spent some time in the shade she already felt a little of her strength returning to her.

Akane had used this opportunity to retreat to her trailer and change out of her swimsuit as well and joining the others. "Oh I love that hairstyle Cora! It compliments you well!"