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 Posted: Thu Apr 25, 2013 8:25 pm
Of course Zia back. She was a creature of hard routine and once she'd found a place that drew her in like Chester M. Riley's big top circus, she was probably going to keep coming back until chased off.
That certainly hadn't happened.
There were no feline, shadow creeping antics today. Instead, just clad in a springtime appropriate top and calf length denim, she hopped the fence and strolled about like she belonged there, that usually worked.
Except when it didn't, which is why she also did her best to avoid people until she located the ringmaster and sidled up next to him like it was nothing, and that she certainly wasn't stalking him.
"Enjoying your work this evening?" Work was left vague. For most newbies she saw fit to cater to, she did try to keep up on their progress through powered growth and discovery. But Chester was special because Chester had his circus and even though she couldn't quite remember why, it did ignite strange nostalgia somewhere in the back of her mind where most things were nonlinear and too shattered to make out.
It was thrilling.
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Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 11:48 am
Chester dedicated his life to his job. He had been that way since he was young, finding one thing to pour his attention, his care, and his emotions into. It was private and personal, despite it being meant for the public. It was not about who saw it, how many people he had working for him, who came to the park to enjoy it for what it was. It was about his sense of connection to the whole endeavor, and every second of work he put into it.
He felt proud.
Things were coming together. He would be able to open by the end of the week if he really pushed. He had never settled anywhere before, always on the road, so it was a big transition to change some things about his park to make them permanent. It gave him time to change things completely, in some cases, to improve on some things and do others that he had not been able to adapt to the roaming format.
He looked at Zia when she spoke, as if she had been there for some time and he was used to that. He didn't seem surprised, but then, it was hard to tell if he was ever surprised.
"We're almost ready to open. We'll settle the animals and there's still some work to do with some of the new rides, but most everything is settled," that was not what she asked, but it might mean that because he was so close to being ready that yes, he was enjoying his work. "How are you?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 5:14 pm
"Are you expecting some trouble adapting to permanency?" Zia asked as her eyes darted around to everything but him. She had several reasons for assuming, but there was something primal in her mind that associated being confined to a finite area after having the freedom to wander with total devastation.
The fact he hadn't directly answered her question was glossed right over.
"I guess the animals will be happy," She mused, crossing her fingers behind her back as she rolled on her heels.
the 'how are you' managed to get her to focus on him in the first eye contact she'd managed to make during the entire encounter. After an awkward pause where she scanned her mental lists for socially appropriate answers, she gave him a sterile and deliberate, "Fine," before turning her attention back on their surroundings again.
"It looks like it's coming along fabulously," She cooed. "And what about your other project?"
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Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 1:33 pm
Chester shrugged his shoulders.
He was not sure why he had always been a roamer. He was a man that liked to move, liked to challenge himself. Deadlines and strange locations, the wrong people in the area... they made his life hard but that was part of the fun. He felt like he thrived on challenge and was actually happiest when he was absolutely miserable.
That was probably why he did not make any friends in all this, but he never thought too much about that. Why would he need friends? Business partners and contacts, maybe, but he didn't have time to waste on anything else.
Though he had to change that idea, too. He now had something he absolutely had to make time for. Or so he was being told.
"Other project?" he asked, not believing that she was as fine as she said but not pushing her. He was not the type to pry or prod, and he certainly did not know how to get involved with other people's lives and he had no will to try and fix them. For risk of making it worse, maybe, but also because he had never been in that kind of position before, never close enough to really know someone that well.
"Oh... do you mean Luxor?" he sighed.
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Posted: Thu May 02, 2013 6:43 pm
She knitted her brow and pursed her lips in an awkwardly confused stare when he shrugged. "I mean it!" She said, almost like a demand. Her brand of showing concern was not always good at visibly including the concerned part, which was pretty important. "It's not easy.. you know. Adjusting. To being so stuck after having the world."
Zia had her own qualms with wanderlust. Given the way Noah floated around freely and avoided commitments one could probably say it ran in the family, but she was sure her additional memories had something to do with it. To remember being a high political figure in just one monarchy in a universe, alive and buzzing with all the freedom and sights she could die before fully experiencing.
To this. To being confined to one living planet, and one city on one planet.
She perked up and nodded enthusiastically at his sigh. She didn't have a glowing capability to sympathize with not wanting to be a knight or senshi, the closest she came was knowing what it was like to want to simply be human.
"I could mean the cotton candy machine if you want, though," She said, trying her best to be considerate.
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Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 10:03 am
"The cotton candy machines are fine," he said so blandly it was difficult to tell if he meant it or not. Though there probably weren't any issues with the cotton candy machines, he did not mind thinking about other things. It was a good enough distraction, but he did know that it was not so easy to escape being a knight as that.
Of course he did not really want to escape anything.
He wasn't sure what to think about being Luxor yet, just that it was this new job on top of his already demanding one and, as it stood at the moment, he only cared about one of them. He would have to learn what it really meant to be a knight.
"I have not done much," he admitted at length, "as Luxor. With the Carnival opening soon..." he needed to stay focused: that was what he did. He was a work horse, to say the least.
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Posted: Sun May 26, 2013 8:57 pm
"Will you eventually, though?" The request might've seemed oddly placed. Whether or not Chester embraced being Luxor had nothing to do with Zia besides what she projected onto it. She selfishly wanted him to, though. On her mental game board of heroes and villains, she childishly wanted Luxor to occupy a space.
She didn't wait for him to answer, though, because in her own way she knew that was a terrible thing to want of someone.
She tugged on his jacket and started walking again at an excited and childish pace, "Come on! Tell me about the shows you're going to put on at the big top!"
Obvious subject change was obvious.
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Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 11:10 am
Chester considered her question thoughtfully. Even as she moved on to change the topic, he continued to think about it.
After all, it was an important thing to think about. Was he supposed to keep up this hero thing? He watched her thoughtfully as they walked through the Carnival, wondering if she would help him, or if she would just vanish and come back when it suited her. He didn't mind either way, so long as she did come back.
She was the closest thing he had to a friend and ally in this whole thing.
Or in his normal life.
He wasn't great with people.
"Well," he said, as they moved to the Big Top. "There are going to be acrobatic shows, as well as some animal performances. Nothing cruel like the old days, but people like to see humans and animals performing together. All of my animals are rescues, mostly injured or damaged in some way that they would not survive if they were released."
"And I will do my best as Luxor... just so you know."
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Posted: Sat Jun 01, 2013 11:02 pm
A very flat and final, "Good," Was all Zia had to say on the animal topic, and then wondered why. She was not an animal lover beyond the average 'dog person' level of affinity, and usually gave animal cruelty little thought beyond how it was unpleasant and bad. Maybe it was because she had to resist saying something dumb about liking tigers because of that niggling little detail about being a cat.
She was suddenly self conscious of that fact and regretting showing off to play on tent poles and beams for the sake of playing.
She was lost in these thoughts when he trailed back to the Luxor topic and her attention snapped back to him in a way that brought attention to how much she was drifting. But she absolutely lit up when she processed what he said.
She nodded with quick enthusiasm. "You don't have to try all alone, you know, I'm sure I could find you someone to help in the index, or, I mean," She wove her fingers together behind her back and rolled on her heels with a laugh. "I would hate to destroy my air of mystery and wonder but I'm also-- I mean... ha. Acrobats, huh?"
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Posted: Sun Jun 02, 2013 11:18 pm
Luxor arched an eyebrow, then nodded his head. He could do with any help she offered him, and certainly would not begrudge the offer. He was not so proud that he thought he was above needing someone to train him.
He was new at this, and even if he was not fully invested in it, learning more would help him decide, at least.
"I appreciate the offer. I will gladly take any help you can give me. I trust your judgement." He nodded his head. He wasn't sure what she had meant to say, or what she hadn't said, but he trusted her anyway. He had no reason not to, and imagined she would tell him what he needed to know, when he needed to know it, and if she did not want to share things about herself he was not going to push her into it.
"Yes, acrobats," he motioned to the large poles that sat on either end of the center ring inside the big top, though it was slightly oval in shape. He moved toward one, taking hold of the ladder and climbing up. "I will do a few tricks as well, as the show dictates, or if I need to cover for time." And a trick he did, swinging on the trapeze and managing a flip to the other end, swinging back onto the platform on that side. He wasn't showing off, per se. Just showing.
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Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 12:30 pm
Zia bounced on her heels like a tightened spring coil was about to internally combust inside of her when he said he also did tricks whenever the show demanded it, but she wasn't expecting him to actually demonstrate, and whatever she was going to say was cut off as she watched, wide eyed, as he moved to the platform, seemingly effortlessly.
"Wha... whoa, how did... what?"
She ran to the platform, looking between him and the trapeze, "You can just do that?" The girl who could turn into a cat was suddenly fascinated by a human who could just throw himself through the air.
"Did you have to train to do that?" Obvious question was obvious but, "You don't seem like the acrobat type."
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Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 11:46 am
"Well, no, it was not something I was particularly good at, at first, but I tried. I learned, and practiced, and I keep practicing. I'm not as good as the acrobats I've hired, but..." He was surprisingly modest in this, usually just accepting his skills for what they were, neither boasting nor being bashful.
He was generally not that guy.
"But it's certainly not like turning into a cat, or an Egyptian... whatever I am."
He was much too large to really be an acrobat. He lacked the slight frame, the tight muscles. He was muscular, yes, but one could tell that his brawn came from working out and physical labor, rather than training for such an exact and demanding occupation. Maybe if he had settled on this road he would have been different, he would have dedicated himself to becoming one of the best acrobats, but his interest had been in the whole carnival, and not just as a performer.
He found himself smiling, though, enjoying her reaction and just being able to perform for a bit.
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Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 9:19 pm
"Page," She interjected seamlessly after his 'whatever I am' while her eyes darted up and down key points of his frame as if trying to decipher a puzzle in his physique.
"Well. I mean," Zia rolled her shoulders back and snorted. "Turning into a page is one thing because you were born with that talent, obviously. Turning into a cat is different, I'm just human. Or... I was before a moon queen crammed her pet's starseed into me."
She pursed her lips and glanced up as she thought about how to parse these things out. "So, a page is what you're born as, and the acrobatics are just talent and hard work. But if you work hard as a page, you could grow into a knight," She said with a slightly slower speech pattern before she shrugged and laughed. "So it's not all that different! It's best to leave pattern breaking cat things out of the equation, I'm not talented or special, just pretty wrapping paper."
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Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 11:37 am
Luxor stared at her, clearly not understanding at least half of the words that were coming out of her mouth but watching her quietly anyway. He nodded his head at her explanation, though, trying to make sense of it all.
It was not particularly easy to do.
But he was a patient sort in some respects. Most of the time, he was all business and movement, split second decisions and tireless effort. But for something like this, something that needed his focus, he could force himself, for a short time at least, to pay attention and make mental notes.
As long as he was not annoyed, or in need of doing something else, he could stay there.
"Is it worth it to do that? Become a Knight, I mean? Would I... get pants?" He looked deadpanned and his voice was flat, but that had been an attempt at a joke. Whatever she said about pattern breaking or not being special, he would continue to think she was. Not just because she was a cat sometimes, but because she was helping him.
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Posted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 12:40 am
"Well you'd have more power. More capability. Your weapon would be-- well it might be-- more useful," Zia said with a shrug and paused at the pants question.
"I..." She rested her fingertips on her lips to try to cover the fact she was immaturely smiling, just a little. "I don't know."
She cleared her throat and tried to continue and not childishly think of pantsless knights or anything. "You'll be fine."
She looked up and around the area and released a giggle bordering on giddy at all the preparation going on for opening night. "Everything will be fine, I'm sure everything slated to happen will go absolutely smoothly!"
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