Le Cirque des Tenebres

[Pangolin]

Henry sat on the bed in his tent, staring vacantly at the ground. The tent was small, with only bare necessities, it was up to him to make it his own. His cat sauntered into the tent and up to him. It opened it's mouth, dropping a half a mouse carcass at his feet. He scowled, disgusted as always at the gift that cat had brought him, "They are a lot more things I'd appreciate over your half eaten mouse." The cat simply looked at him and began to lick it's paw. He stood, wanting to be out of his tent. He paused when he saw Anya vanish into her own tent and he bit at his lip, feeling like a jackass for what he had said. He may have over reacted just a bit, but she was really starting to frustrate the hell out of him. Henry inhaled aggressively and charged forward after her, into her tent then froze, his breath half out of his lungs.

Luke couldn't help but laugh softly as she apologized for babbling for the 12th time since they had met up that night. He leaned toward her and pressed his lips close to her ear, "Stop apologizing to me." He muttered and puckered his lips, planting a soft kiss on her skin. He had the sudden urge to taste her to see if she tasted as she smelled, of the sea. He pulled back and little and winked at her before facing forward again, "And you're right." He glanced over his shoulder again to see Anya gone. He frowned a bit, he didn't wish for their relationship back, but he wished for what she use to be. He turned his attention back to the rag-tag group of people that they had gathered and wondered where any of them would be without this cirque he and Anya had thrown together. It had been some wild idea from a mutual friend that was just suppose to way to pass the time. He had lost track of how many years they had been doing this now. Luke leaned into Callie, resting his head on her shoulder and closing his eyes. What a life he ended up with.

[ashlinnrose]

Anya heard the flap of the tent open suddenly and her head shot up, peering back over her shoulder with wide eyes before they narrowed some at Henry. The proper response was instant in her mind: place a false memory of what happened over the actual one. The problem with that was that sometimes the real memories came back up and caused problems later on. She hesitated, finally deciding that it was time to just let the pieces fall as they may. So what if this guy knew what she was? Or had some variety of an idea. There were a lot more complexities going on than what he would be able to guess than from just seeing her back, so whatever it would be fine. She tugged on one of those silky robes that is really just there to cover up before turning to face him, arching an eyebrow. "Was there something that you needed?" she asked smoothly, though her voice was void of emotion, actively not responding to how venomous he had been towards her earlier.

Callie couldn't keep back the giggle, his breath against her ear tickled. She leaned against him further when he leaned into her, leaning her head against his. "How exactly is this the first real conversation we have had and this is how it ended?" she mused softly. There were plenty of things she wanted to ask right then, but she figured it might be best to keep the conversation light right then. After all, it was like they barely knew each other. Sure, they had "known" each other for years since she had joined the cirque, but they had never much talked or spent time together. When she had become a member of the little group Luke was almost never seen anywhere without Anya, though they never seemed affectionate or anything that would give any hints away. No, it was always more like they were plotting something. Perhaps one day she would understand what had happened there, as well as more about Luke himself. "I'm glad we started though..." she added once she had pulled herself free from her own wondering thoughts.

[Pangolin]

Henry backed peddled out of her tent, "I'msosorryI'msorrysorry." He kept repeating until he was outside of the tent and unable to see her. He turned his back to the tent, his hands fisted at his sides, obviously angry at himself. He was such an idiot, who the hell goes barging into someone's private area without knocking or asking first? He pressed his hands to his face and sighed heavily, thinking that maybe he shouldn't be there at all. So far, his impression wasn't a good one. His eyes closed, the image of her back flashed into his mind. He traced the outline of her in his mind, trying to figure out what about her seemed off. She had scars on her back, he realized, shaped like an upside down V. He wondered what had caused them. Henry dropped his hands to his sides again, he should be groveling at her feet for forgiveness and he was thinking about scars on her back.

Luke just like, idk, I got nothing, "I am too." He said with a gentle smile. He stood and offered her his hand, waiting for her to take it. He helped her to her feet, "I don't know about you but I'm pretty tired, let me at least be a gentleman and walk you to your tent for the night." He paused, glanced toward where the sun was beginning to rise in the distance, "Morning, rather."

[ashlinnrose]

Anya sighed some as she watched him backpedal out of the tent, reaching over to grab her velvet coat, long enough to cover down to her knees as she slid into it and pulled the front closed. She stepped out of the tent behind him, moving slightly to the side when she realized he was standing just outside of it. "Was there something that you needed, Henry?" she asked once more, her voice carefully neutral. She glanced towards the East, blinking a bit when she realized that the sun was beginning to come up along the horizon. When had it gotten so late - er... early? It definitely was time to get some sleep before the cirque opened for the night, but apparently now this issue needed to be handled first. The one thing that she had no intention of mentioning was what he had just seen. She had done a courtesy in not planting a false memory in his head, though that didn't mean she was open to discussing.

[Pangolin]

Henry turned a bit when he heard her and his face drained of all color. He inhaled sharply and turned to face her, "I am so sorry, Anya, I came to apologize for my outburst before, I guess it kind of rubbed me the wrong way at the time but I realized I was just being stupid and I should have knocked and I'm so sorry, I really, I'm just-" He waved his hands about a bit as he talked, trying to get all his words and thoughts out coherently. He sighed and dropped his arms and his head, "I'm just really sorry, tell me if there's anyway I can make all of this up to you." He glanced up at her then realized he was standing just outside her tent entrance, probably in her way. He stepped back and to the side so she could enter her tent without making any contact with him. Part of him worried she would send him away, and not just from her tent. He had just felt overwhelmed a bit with everything and was tired when the night was through and- and-... And he shouldn't be making excuses for being an idiot.

[ashlinnrose]

Anya sighed when he started babbling out apologies, rubbing her hands over her face. "Henry stop apologizing. Everyone makes mistakes. It happened, but there was nothing to see. It is fine. Now it is late, perhaps you should head to bed? I will see you in the morning, or rather the afternoon given that it is morning," she murmured with a bit of a wry smirk at the end before she turned and disappeared back into the tent. She certainly wasn't going to kick him out of the cirque just for that, particularly not when she was just as sure as he was that he had finally found a place he could call home. A place where he felt he belonged. Besides, it's not like any real harm was done. Other than her back, he hadn't seen anything. And her back was certainly something she could brush under the rug if he started to get speculative.

[Pangolin]

It was Christmas time and that meant Samantha was in charge of the trees and plants. She stood outside the gates, growing up good sized pine trees on either side of the main gates. She paused to examine her work, making sure the tree was perfect before other actors and little people came in with the decorations. Her favorite part was the main tree. In the center of the cirque she grew an absolutely huge, beautiful pine tree that they would decorate and light before the gates opened. They had a tradition of decorating the huge tree differently every night. She watched as a few people came out of the gates with boxes of decorations, Luke being one of them. She bound over to him with a grin, "How do they look?"

Luke set the box of ornaments down before the tree and put his arm around Samantha, "Amazing as always." He had found the girl as a child early into the cirque's life. He had taken her under his wing and she became like a daughter to him. They still shared that bond and he hoped they always would, it was something he enjoyed. He kissed the top of her head, "Can't wait to see everything you've made this year, Darling." He grinned at her when she squealed a bit like a child and almost skipped into the cirque. He had noticed that he manged to always bring out the happy child in her and he liked it. He lite up himself when he saw Callie inside the gates and the headed in to greet her.

Henry had fallen into the flow of the cirque the past few weeks. He stood near his tent, watching people decorate for the holidays. He was dressed in his costume already, being one of the first performers of the night. His tent was already light up with colorful Christmas lights and decked with pine and poinsettias on the outside. He caught a glance of Anya as she moved through, dictating and direction people. The gates were to open soon and they weren't completely ready yet. His relationship with her had been almost nonexistent since his first week there. He kept his distance from her and only interacted when he needed to and he made sure he was a complete gentleman. He stayed away from her for both of their sake.

[ashlinnrose]

Anya had grown increasingly distant from the cirque after the incident a few weeks back, particularly since Henry had kept away from her. However, it was their first night opening for the Holiday that year, so she needed to be around helping things along. One of her favorite tasks was shifting the stunning trees Samantha created from green to a shade of black or white, helping them to match the rest of the cirque and make the brilliantly colored ornaments they decorated them with stand out even more. She had started with the large tree in the center of the cirque, resting her hand on it ass the tree shifted from evergreen to a stunning jet-black. Once that was accomplished she nodded some to those who were waiting to begin decorating. Her gaze slid over Henry briefly before she turned and made her way to the front gate, smiling at Samantha when she saw the two trees outside the gate. "You have done a truly marvelous job this year, Samantha," she stated approvingly as she rested a hand against one of the trees, this one turning a brilliant white as she did.

Callie was just inside the gates, creating pretty little ice snowflakes to suspend from the overhangs of the food vendors - perks of a water affinity. She glanced up some at the sound of someone approaching, grinning when she saw that it was Luke. "I'm surprised they haven't managed to steal you away to lift people to decorate the trees," she stated with a laugh before turning her attention back to the snowflake she was focusing on in that moment. Once finished, she held it up in front of her face for him to inspect, arching an eyebrow from behind the wavy surface. "What do you think?"

[Pangolin]

Samantha shifted and moved her hands as vines grew and wrapped expertly around the front gates. She took a step back and with the flick of her hand holly berries popped up in perfect places on the vine. She jumped about a foot in the air and whirled to face Anya, her hand flying to her pounding heart, "Th-thank you." She stuttered. She didn't come in contact with Anya much, but she found her intimating. A compliment form her did mean a lot though, and she smiled at her as she watched the color drain from the tree, "Sometimes I wish I could do what you do, seems more... Practical and... Stuff then what I do." She explained and looked down at her hands, flexing her fingers a bit.

Luke watched her with his head cocked a bit as the snowflake formed in her hands, "It's lovely, darling." He purred and carefully leaned around her creation to plant a kiss on her forehead, "Part of me wants to... lick it?" He stood back a bit and looked it over again before she set it aside with her others, "And I'm not lifting people, I just have to light about 8,000 candles before we open up tonight." He explained. They decked the trees with colorful candles instead of lights and thank god for him and Anya or there would be a lot of tree and foliage on fire at the cirque every year, "Do you know how many damn candles are on the big tree? Like a million, I swear."

[ashlinnrose]

Anya smiled as Samantha jumped at the sound of her voice, not having intended to startle to girl, but it was amusing nonetheless. A bit if a laugh escaped her at the statement, shaking her head a bit. "I assure you, your talents are far more, how did you put it? Practical. Your abilities are grounded in the earth. Mine are not so concrete," she murmured as she moved to the other tree, draining that one of color as well. She stood back for a moment to admire the trees and the holly adorning the gates and she smiled. "We are certainly feeling festive now," she stated before moving to head back into the cirque. Her sharp gaze took in all of the little details that had sprung up that day, though she was particularly impressed by the grand tree that year. She glanced towards Luke, about to call him to start lighting candles, but when she saw that he was with Callie she just closed her mouth again and turned back to direct some of the ornament placement.

Callie gasped and covered her ice creations protectively. "Don't you dare! They would melt in an instant!" She squeaked, though of course she knew he was joking. A giggle escaped her as she looked towards the main tree, excited to see it all lit up once again. "I don't know how you guys manage it... all of the magic here is incredible. Though nothing as incredible as lighting a tree with thousands of candles and managing to not set it on fire every time," she murmured, sounding mildly awed. She has always wondered what it would be like to have an ability like what they had, but she was content with what she was. Her gaze had locked into Anya directing people in ornament placement, tilting her head some as she watched. "Has she always been like that? Distant and scary?" She asked absently, clapping a hand over her mouth when she realized she had spoken out loud.