Secret Lives ~ 1x1 with Cloudsong and M.F.L

[Cloudsong]

Hearing her voice trail off, Evan knew to not press further. She was obviously still pained about losing her sister, and it was natural. "Oh," he said after a moment of debate. She seemed quite confused by his question, and he realized that maybe he shouldn't have asked something so personal. After all, they weren't friends. "I was just wondering... because, you two seem pretty close." There was no jealousy, no anger or anything in his voice. Just curiosity. It really didn't matter to him if the two of them were together, but before she seemed to have spoken more when she had mentioned Jonathan; it appeared to have been an easy topic for her to address. Now he was cursing himself for having brought it up.

There was a moment of silence, until he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry; I must seem like an insensitive jerk to you..." His voice trailed off, and by the conflicted look that was etched upon his face, it was obvious that the pain he felt was from long-coming, and not her fault. "Those are personal questions, I shouldn't have asked." Once again he recomposed himself, and bore he same gently apathetic expression he usually had.

All too suddenly, he stopped walking, and shook his head. "We should head back. The show will be starting soon." He was sure that she wouldn't want to miss the show for him, and after all, his father wouldn't be very happy.

[My Fair Lady]

Sauda's eyes went to his face again and then up to the sky. "Hm. I wouldn't say that. He doesn't know the slightest thing about me." Nor will he or anyone else ever, for that matter.
She viewed Jonathan as more of an older brother who clueless about her secrets, but knew her feelings when it came to life. She cared about him, yes, but in any way deeper than a sibling, no. At Evan's words, Sauda couldn't help but let out a sound that sounded like a mixture of a snort and a snicker.

It struck her as funny, Evan calling himself an insensitive jerk when he was walking with her, the true insensitive jerk here. His other comments, she did not pay attention too, the first was just too prominent in her mind to focus on anything else he said. A strange, almost sarcastic look came onto her face. "You're calling yourself the insensitive jerk?" Sauda turned around and walked past him, again, heading back towards camp.

The fact that he was able to call himself a jerk and not her, was interesting. The people that spoke to her, either did or didn't call her a jerk. To have someone do the exact opposite, well, it sounded strange to her ears, almost foreign.

[Cloudsong]

Her response once again took him by surprise, and Evan blinked. He had expected Jonathan - the one who spent most of his time with her - to know everything there was to know about her. Then who did? He wasn't aware of her having any family members other than her sister, who had died when they first had come to the circus. Did she mean that no one knew about her? The comment genuinely bothered him, in a way that he hadn't expected it to. Why should someone like Sauda feel like there was no one out there to confide in? You could confide in me, he wanted to say. But then he stopped himself; perhaps it would be the best if he didn't get close to her. After all, if all went according to plan, he would be going off to college. Getting too friendly with Sauda was tempting, and what he had wanted to do for a long time, but it might cause her more pain in the future. Instead, he just blinked, slowly turning around as she walked past him, following at a slower pace.

He smiled as Sauda bore a sarcastic expression on her face, asking him if she had heard correctly. "I believe I am," he mused, feeling the urge to chuckle. Then he hesitated, realizing with a jolt that he had never heard her laugh. It was surprising, and yet quite intriguing. Wanting to make her laugh, he said casually; "Maybe I can take over my father's job in presenting today if he sleeps in." It was humorous because Evan really had next to no skills in showmanship. He would get nervous in front of a crowd; the opposite of any of the other crew.

[My Fair Lady]

Sauda appreciated his silence, not wanting to answer questions about why Jonathan didn't know her well. She was a very secretive person, Gypsy had been the only person she had ever been able to confide in. She was alone in this world, that Sauda understood. That is why she always pushed others away and built up walls around what really mattered about her.

His reaction to her sarcastic words brought a soft snicker from her throat. It was not a laugh, not really, but it was all any one had heard since Gypsy had died. "Yes, because that would end so well. Marla would do better than you." There was a light teasing note to her tone, a hint of what lay beneath the darkness. Evan was no where near breaking Sauda down where she would crack in front of him, but he brought up feelings that she couldn't ward against, feelings of safety.

[Cloudsong]

Evan grinned. It was true; the elephant she trained might as well do a better job than he would had presenting the show. His eyes brightened even more as he heard the small laugh that escaped from her throat. It was more of a chuckle than anything, but it was the closest he had ever heard to her laugh. After a moment, he glanced over at her, the smile still light on his face. "You should laugh more often," he said suddenly, before he could stop himself. As if to cover up, he added; "A smile makes anyone prettier." Especially so in Sauda's case, though he didn't say so. He had always noticed how graceful and beautiful she was; a very pure, untainted beauty. Unlike the other girls he knew their age, she didn't smear layers of makeup on her face. And her natural beauty trumped any girls'.

(Short post, sorry! x3)

[My Fair Lady]

Sauda was rather surprised by Evan's comments. Smile and laugh more? Prettier? One eyebrow raised a little and her cheeks unwittingly turned a light pink. She didn't notice that her cheeks were warm until it was too late, surely Evan had seen her slight blush. Blushing in front of anyone, besides Gypsy, was a new thing for her. She had never expected that words that Evan spoke would have such an effect on her. Though she was very aware of how interesting Evan looked when he had a grin on his face.

Of course, she tried to pretend like she hadn't just blushed because of Evan's words. "Hm. Maybe. It's hard." She did not know anything else to say, after all, Sauda was not going to just spill her guts to someone she barely knew. Things were difficult for her, but she had managed to live with it so far. Secrets had been the source of her survival for many years and all Sauda could hope was that she wouldn't slip up and her most precious secret be found out by the wrong person.

(Ah, it's fine.)

[Cloudsong]

The unmistakable blush that tinged Sauda's cheeks came very suddenly, and Evan couldn't help but smile brighter as he watched her try to cover it up. Obviously it was a new sensation for her, and he couldn't stop the warmth that filled him as he realized that it was he that had caused it. Though he was unsure why, Evan felt some need to lighten her mood, even more now since she had implied that no one knew her. I should have made an effort to spend time with her before, he realized. He had always assumed that she was all right on her own; after all, she had Jonathan if she needed someone to talk to. But now, he had discovered that she was completely and utterly alone in life. Her desolate life reminded him of his own, in the sense that no one knew much about him either. His father certainly hadn't made an effort, and Evan had stopped trying after a few years.

"Sometimes it is," Evan agreed. He was silent for a moment as they walked. They were approaching camp, and he suddenly felt a sinking sensation as he realized that they would soon be parting ways. "We should do this more often," he said suddenly. "I mean - we should talk more often." Obviously he was thinking of the fact that out of all of the years they had been around each other, this was one of the first time they held a long conversation.

[My Fair Lady]

Sauda stretched, her arms towards the sky. Her shoulder cracked and she made a soft yawning noise. As they neared camp, her eyes raised from the ground to Evan's face. "Yeah, we should." She murmured, half to herself. He made her feel comfortable and she liked it, no matter how much she wanted to avoid the feeling.

She turned to Evan and held out her hand to him. "When?" Sauda put her head at an angle, a very, very slight smile on her lips. Sauda didn't know why but she wanted to spend time with this boy. Sauda knew that she had to get going soon, there were things she had to do. Jonathan would greatly appreciate not being the lead trainer today.

[Cloudsong]

Evan looked thoughtful as she asked, and a smile was light on his lips as he noticed that she was anticipating it. For a moment he was silent, then he replied; "Tonight? After the show." His eyes were bright as if he were in the midsts of planning something, and he seemed excited about it. He was content to just look into her eyes, admiring her every feature as she smiled; it did make her seem more beautiful. Just when he was about to say something, he was cut off as his father came marching up to them, a scowl on his face as he saw the two together, wasting time before the show.

"What are you doing?" he snarled, turning on Sauda as he reached them. His breath was tinged with alcohol, and Evan wondered if he had turned back to the bottle from nerves of the show that afternoon. "Why are you at here wasting time? Need I remind you that the show is in a few hours? Do you want to lose your job?" The state he was in was quite livid, and was quite intimidated.

Evan, however, didn't seem the least bit worried. Without thinking it through, he tapped his father on the shoulder, and when he had whipped around to meet eye-contact with him, his whole figure seemed to go limp and relax. "Relax, father," Evan said slowly. "She's with me. You don't have to worry about anything." His tone was quite commanding, and he barely blinked as he addressed him. "Why don't you go to your room and lie down?"

His father's attitude seemed to have changed completely, and he nodded, muttering something unrecognizable under his breath before walking off.

[My Fair Lady]

Sauda nodded. "Sounds like a plan." She was slightly unnerved by the look in his eye, but chose to ignore it. She looked to the ground, uncomfortable again. Squelching footsteps made her raise her head. Who was standing there made her lower her head once more. [b"No sir. I will get right on it, sir."[/b]

Her eyebrows raised at the owner's reaction to his son's touch. That was not normal, she knew that much. She watched him walk away, his attitude completely different than before. Sauda stared at Evan, her eyes narrowing. Sauda didn't understand what was going on, but she had a few suspicions.

(Gr, short...)