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Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

The next four years had gone extremely well for the three of them. Lucien was quite happy with the life he was living, and after they had achieved their goal of visiting all forty-eight states, he quite liked their new way of spontaneously choosing their next destination, it was fun in a way, and Aurel quite enjoyed doing so.

Over the years some of Aurel's snake companions had come and gone, but the one that had first found him had always stuck by his side. The most notable addition to his friends had been a large yellow python that the younger man had stumbled upon when he was a little younger. The encounter had almost given Lucien a heart attack, seeing the constrictor snake having wrapped itself around the boy, but had meant him no harm. She had grown fond of him rather quickly, and had joined them on their journey. Honestly.. his connection with the creatures had always been a sight to behold over the years.

Now Aurel was fifteen. He had grown plenty over the years, and there wasn't any sign of the young fragile child they had once found. He was growing taller, and while he still kept some of his smooth features, he was certainly more fit and well nourished, thanks to Faolan's training. The two had certainly grown a lot closer after all this time.

Aurel's artistic skill had also increased over the years, though his style had grown to become more abstract. He was certainly skilled in drawing nature but.. he had never gotten the hang of drawing people. Perhaps it was how long he had spent in such settings.

Lucien's eyes were watching the landscape pass them by until they had arrived at their crossroads.

Aurel glanced at both directions as he let out a hum, trying to contemplate which way to go. Both directions looked relatively the same, so he wasn't sure where to choose this time. It was here that Lucien rose to his feet and stepped forward to lean over the seat.

"Hmm, how about we change things up a bit, toss a coin?" He suggested, taking a quarter from his pocket. "Heads, right, Tails, left?"

Aurel turned to look at Lucien before then shifting his gaze to Faolan. "Sure! I honestly didn't know which way to pick. Both paths look the same." He said.

Lucien wasted no time in tossing the coin into the air, and then swiftly catching it, before flipping it onto his hand. "Heads, right it is." He told Faolan with a grin.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Ivory's smile widened into a grin as Illyana began to laugh, and she couldn't help but follow suit. It wasn't common for her to let loose like this, so she didn't see the harm in doing the same. It wasn't often Illyana made a joke.

"Hah! Nice one." She said, before beginning to laugh with her.

Akane shared Cora's surprise in Illyana's outburst of laughter, but she had joined in with the others, enjoying the lightened mood they had come upon.

Lucien raised a slight eyebrow at Geralt's comment. "Yes.. I suppose it would." He said, before following Geralt's gaze to the table. A more gentle smile tugged at the Ringleader's lips at this. It wasn't often he saw Illyana laughing like this. He was truly glad that this night had done what it was supposed to.

"Yes, I say we should." He said, before he picked up the two glasses from the water and motioned toward the table. "After you." He said.

It was around that time that Aurel had returned from his venturing in the forest. He had set the two snakes down to allow them to go to the tree he had pulled Bengal from, before he headed over to the table, to which the mood was quite light.

"Seems that I missed something funny while I was gone." He said with a small smile, causing everyone to burst out into laughter again.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Ivory's smile widened at Illyana's comment. "Oh yes, you'd know all about that. Just because you can stay up reading doesn't mean you should." She retorted, knowing quite well Illy would have no intention of wanting to learn to dance, but decided she had wanted to tease her about it anyway. It provided her with a sufficient distraction.

"Thank you!" Akane responded, before reaching out and grabbing a sandwich to eat for herself.

Lucien's smile widened at Geralt's words. "Then, I'll look forward to it, either of those options is fine with me." He said, simply watching the man make the drinks. He wasn't surprised that he fount his answer intriguing, but it was the truth. Part of him worried about what Geralt's prying might do but.. Cora was hardly ever alone, and she didn't really.. talk about everything else, so he didn't really think that Geralt would get too much information out of her, aside from maybe where she was actually from.

"Neither had I. It's quite intriguing to figure out what the world has up it's sleeve isn't it?" He asked.

--

Aurel approached the shore of the lake, which was further away and more surrounded by trees than where the others had set up. It was peaceful like this... For a while he just looked out into the water.

"Do you misss this?" Bengal asked, causing him to glance down at the snake on his arm.

"I do but.. I like what we're doing now too.." He said, before beginning to walk along the rocky shore again. His eyes trailed across the floor, on the look out for any interesting shaped rocks that he could get for Ivory, knowing she liked to utilize things like that for some of the things she put together. On occasion he'd pick some up that had caught his eye and would hold them in his arms as he continued along his path. Eventually Ebony had joined them, having finished with his meal.

"Did you find something good?" Aurel asked as he knelt down to pick the snake up.

"Yess.. it was satisfactory." Ebony responded, causing the man to chuckle.

"I'm glad you were all able to enjoy a successful hunt." He said as he began to venture back toward where the others were set up.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Lucien felt Faolan tense... which he had expected. Gently he rubbed his thumb over his hand in an attempt to help him calm, but it was hard to not be angry after hearing something like this. He closed his eyes for a moment, relaxing in Faolan's arms as he felt him run a hand through his hair.

"Yeah.. I know.." He responded quietly.

Faolan's response made Lucien smile a little, and look up at his beloved once more as he turned toward him.

"You're right... We will do right by him. He deserves at least that much, and more." He said, his determination returning to his voice and he squeezed Faolan's hand. He would make sure Aurel got to experience all of the things he had missed out on as a child. He wanted to do his best to make that child happy.

After all the time that had passed with the boy, Lucien could not imagine them going separate ways, even though that was something Faolan had originally mentioned when they saved him. It was natural to have him around now.. and Lucien had began to see it like.. they had their own little family. The thought of that brought a smile to his face.

"Thank you." He said, leaning up and placing a light kiss on his lover's lips. His words had brought him further reassurance, as they always did.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Ivory let out a small chuckle. "Don't sell yourself short, I don't expect you to be able to do a back-flip in a day. I can be a merciful teacher, promise." She teased a little, before looking over at Cora and Akane as they joined them at the table.

"If you're going to keep drinking, you should try eating a little more. I'm alright though, water's fine for me." She said.

As Ivory had said that, Akane reached out for another plate and put on a few more sandwiches for Cora to eat and placed the plate in front of her with a smile.

"Can I have another as well Geralt?" She called out to the man.

Lucien glanced at Geralt as he spoke and shook his head as he placed the drinks into the water that had been replaced by colder water throughout their dance.

"Oh, I did not mean to make you think I did not like it, I was just surprised. I like both sweet and strong drinks, so please do not worry about that. Sometimes it's nicer to make your way up to the strong ones. We have plenty of the evening ahead of us after all." He attempted to reassure him, since it hadn't been his intention. In his eyes it was better to hold back a little when one was unsure of how much alcohol one could handle.

Golden eyes trailed over to Illyana and the others as Cora called out for another drink. He let out a small hum at Geralt's question. Cora's story was complicated, but the mermaid was different than Ivory.. if Geralt happened to ask her.. he was sure the mermaid would give him a very blatant answer.

"Hmm.. well, if you were to ask Cora that question, I'm certain she would tell you I found her in the middle of a field... which is accurate." He said. That was all he was really willing to share on that matter.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Aurel tilted his head slightly, not really comprehending what Faolan was trying to tell them.

Lucien had simply raised his eyebrows a little at Faolan's words, knowing very well what he was doing, and simply waited for him to continue with his words.

"Ah, I see. Well, it's progress." He said, looking down at Aurel, who seemed happy with the news. From how quickly the boy's mood had changed, it was clear he didn't feel the same way about his situation, considering how easily he was able to shrug it off. He held back a sigh, and simply decided to try to put the thought aside from now.. but even as he did so it still bothered him... He would never understand how cruel the world could be to children...

The rest of the evening was fairly tame. They had enjoyed supper, with Faolan still having to make Aurel eat his vegetables. Honestly seeing the boy get so sulky was a little amusing at times, as it wasn't really a side of him they saw often. He, like Faolan, really liked his meat, but one was far more willing to have a balanced meal than the other.

When night completely befell them, Aurel had gotten comfortable in his cot and had been quick to trail off to sleep, completely bundled in blankets. It seemed like something he liked doing even when it wasn't extremely cold.

Lucien on the other hand, felt a little restless. Since the night before, they had finally been able to sleep in each other's arms again, something he had missed. Normally it wouldn't take him too long at all to lose himself to sleep but.. not this time, and it seemed Faolan had noticed.

"I'm still awake if you want to talk about it." He had spoken up, causing Lucien to look up at his beloved, and gave him a small smile.

"I can't hide things from you." He lightheartedly joked, not that it was his intention, it was just hard to talk about it with Aurel around. Lucien let out a small sigh before he readjusted himself to face the ceiling, hand moving to seek out Faolan's hand to place it over his.

"Aurel.. he used to be in an orphanage.." He started quietly, briefly glancing toward to the boy to make sure he was asleep. "They.. left him in a forest, Faolan... They abandoned him. He was just a child... This was before the circus, meaning he had to be less than eight years old when that happened... How could they be so cruel?"

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Akane followed Cora's gaze to Lucien and Geralt. "I'm sure he'd gladly make you another." She commented.

Aurel watched as Ivory had made her way back to the table. It was certainly odd for her to rush back like this, even if she had tried her best to be subtle. Briefly his eyes had gone to Geralt, but they found themselves back at Ivory as Illyana spoke up, clearly trying to divert the conversation in a different direction. He couldn't help but chuckle.

"It certainly did.. I don't think my feet could have survived such abuse." He said amusingly.

Ivory's eyes shifted to Illyana, her expression easing into amusement by her incredible terrible attempt to distract from what had just happened.

"Illy, you should let me teach you some steps sometime. Spare Aurel a little." She responded, eager to allow the conversation to move on. She hadn't even bothered to look toward Geralt and Lucien again. She had looked at Geralt enough tonight.

"I'll adapt." He joked in response, before glancing over toward the tree. "I'm going to step away for a little with my snakes.. I don't see that Ebony's returned yet.. So I'm going to go find him.." He said as he rose from his seat. Both women nodded, and he walked off toward the tree where a lot of his snakes lied in wait, and reached out his hand toward Bengal so he could slither onto him.

"Let's go find Ebony." He said.

The rat snake's scent wasn't too hard for him to catch, as it was something he was quite familiar with, and so with that they ventured into the forest. Part of Aurel had missed doing this too.. travelling through the woods with Lucien and Faolan.. camping.. Things had changed a lot since then.. even though now he did not need his two guardians to watch over him as he did things like this anymore.. sometimes.. he wished he still had them. He still wished Faolan was here.

He let out a sigh as he walked through the trees, and eventually found the black snake he was looking for. He was seemingly in progress of finishing his meal. At least relieved that he was okay, Aurel glanced around to make sure the surroundings were safe.

"We'll be heading toward shore, if you want to join us when you're done." He told the snake, before turning and heading toward there instead.

--

Lucien nodded. "Ah, I see." He said, before taking a sip of the drink, raising his eyebrows slightly. "It's sweet, but delightful." He commented, before giving Geralt a bit of an amused smile at he set his glass down and began preparing Geralt another drink.

"I'm glad you thought so." He said, pausing briefly. "I'll make myself one as well, I wouldn't want you to think that I'm unable to handle my alcohol." He half-joked as he began preparing two old fashioneds, spotting Aurel walking into the forest out of the corner of his eyes.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

It was clear that Aurel did not really understand the gravity of what he was telling him. From his words Lucien had been able to discern that he had been in some sort of orphanage.. that made sense.. considering how civilized the boy had appeared to be despite the upbringing he had appeared to have. The adults in charge.. they.. had really abandoned him? The thought of that appalled the Frenchman completely. If it had been a normal human child, there was no way they would have survived out there in the forest by themselves.

It infuriated him, to know that they had abandoned him without knowing if he'd even be able to make it on his own. He was trying so hard to hide his anger when he heard the door open, and his expression managed to soften, but only ever so slightly. He knew that Faolan would be able to tell, so he tried his best to calm himself.

"Welcome back." He said to him. "How did it go?" He asked, deciding to change the subject completely.

Aurel brightened up at Faolan's return. "Welcome back!" He said.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Lucien had let go of Akane when the song ended, and glanced off to the side to see Ivory wasting no time in heading back toward the table. There had certainly been a good amount of dancing today.

Akane had began to head back to Cora, who had began rolling her chair in her direction. She stopped to fall into step with her, before they headed to where the others were, curious as to what they had been up to this whole time. On occasion she couldn't help but look down at Cora, a small smile tugging at her lips, before she looked away again. Even after having danced with Lucien she couldn't get the sensation of what it had felt like to dance with Cora out of her head. Maybe.. she'd be able to do that again.

"How are you feeling?" She asked her, considering she had done plenty of physical activity, more so than usual.. plus the alcohol. The kitsune still felt awfully light.. but in a good way.

Lucien headed back toward the table where Geralt now awaited, spotting another drink in the water. He picked it up, the smell of brandy hitting his nose. Ivory and Geralt's dance had gone decently well, it seemed, but he made no comment on it, instead, he decided to thank him for the secondary drink he had made him.

"Thank you." He told him. "I don't think I've made this one before." He commented, taking a glance at Geralt's own glass which was more than half way gone.

"Was the drink to your satisfaction?" He asked mostly for his own curiosity. He was confident in his own skill of course, but some people liked their drinks made in specific ways, some with more alcohol, some with less. He had a feeling Geralt was the type to like more when he had made his drink.

Cirque D'étoiles (1x1, FxM, MxM, FxF)

Ivory couldn't help but let out a small scoff at his words. "No, not really." She responded. In a broad sense, the man was anything but obvious, considering he hid his intentions well. At least, what he wanted to hide. There were still some things she was trying to figure out.

The 'silence' that followed was welcomed, as Ivory just continued to dance. Focusing on the music alone made this experience not so bad. It was easier to enjoy when he wasn't trying to engage her in conversation. Things were easier this way, because she found that some things were harder for her to answer when she was trying not to be incredibly sarcastic toward him. She kept up with the steps and the manuvers he guided her into until they returned to their normal position.

She raised her eyebrows slightly at his words. They didn't sound arrogant.. or like he was pointing out the satisfaction he felt by her acceptance. His words.. actually sounded honest. It was this kind of thing that ended up catching her off guard with him. He couldn't possibly be this good at pretending...

Ivory found herself answering before she had really put thought into the meaning of her words.

"It wasn't that bad I guess.." She muttered, fully averting her gaze this time. It was easier for her to deal with his usual arrogant attitude than this weird side of him. "Well, it's your welcome party isn't it? just.. don't get used to it." She said, just as the song came to an end. Ivory had wasted no time in releasing his hand and stepping away from him, before quickly heading back toward the table to take a seat. Why did this feel like it was more exhausting than her performances? What a pain.