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 Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 9:33 am
Shen-Ru couldn't help but to smile as the sparks and light and diamonds appeared, eyes lighting up a little as well. He was oddly pleased to see the badgermole, shifting slightly so he could see better, giving Qiao a smile as he did so.
"Tingzhe... rescued me," he spoke up finally, his voice soft and the poetry flowing back into his words. He couldn't help it. It was his natural defensive reflex. "I came with him for freedom. Do you not want me?"
He bowed slightly in respect, still standing close to Tingzhe and smiling shyly at the younger boy, not sure if he was doing this right, if he should have spoken at all... Things were so different here than they were at home!
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 10:39 am
"We'll have anyone who'll hit the open road, so long as they're willing to work, and they don't pester other folk on their reasons for being here."
Zhen gave Shen-Ru a long, evaluating glance, from the tips of his expensive slippers to the intricate braid in his hair. He didn't know where Tingzhe had picked up such a formal friend, but maybe it would be a good influence.
As far as runaways went, he'd taken in teens in far worse states.
"You don't need to be so polite, boy." His smiled cushioned his words. Ringmaster Zhen had coddled plenty of skittish animals in his time, and kids weren't much different. You just had to give them space, and food, and patience, while they worked through their own skittishness. "This is a circus, not a society party. Just be more polite than him."
"Hey!" Tingzhe yelped.
Tingzhe almost didn't bother being jealous of how impressive the Ringmaster's entrance was.
Pfft. This ALWAYS happened to him.
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 10:48 am
Shen-Ru stood still as he was looked over, having been through such an evaluation time and time again, with his mother's guests and his father's friends, and kept his gaze low and respectful. This man was his new higher-up, taking the place of a parent or a teacher, and he was going to respect him as was due proper.
He looked up in surprise when he was told he didn't have to be polite, eyebrows rising and lips parting slightly as he tried to think up something to say... A tiny laugh burst forth from his throat and he looked sheepish, before nodding slightly. "Yessir. I think I can handle that task..." he murmured, offering a grin to Tingzhe.
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 11:27 am
While they seemed very much alike in their extravagent displays, Zhen seemed a heck of a lot less stuck up than Tingzhe. She guessed it was probably because he wasn't a child star and didn't have shiny hair. She waited for the sparks to die down before speaking up.
"I came because Princess Pretty Hair asked if I'd like to." She gestured towards Tingzhe who was already pouting. "But now I'm here to kick a**, make posters, and take names!" She finished off by punching a fist into the air with a hearty 'hoo-ha!' before taking what she assumed was a powerful stance.
"Of course, I'll take any job you want me to, sir."
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 1:57 pm
The burning badgermole vanished in a puff of sparks, and the tent was once more lit by the steady glow of Ringmaster Zhen's torch.
It wasn't his custom to ask people why they wanted to join the circus. Usually, he didn't want to know. Even children this young could have secrets to keep, and his little band of deviants, malcontents, nonconformists and free-spirits would fall apart like a tower of pai sho tiles in a stiff breeze, if anyone started pressing.
The girl, at least, had energy to spare. She looked more used to labor than the boy, who had an aristocrat's delicate hands.
"You understand that if you change your mind and want to come back, you make your own way," he said, more gently than seemed possible for a man with more battle-scars than bare skin. "No one here will care if you get homesick. And we won't come back to Gaoling for another year."
"They're my friends, ol' man." Tingzhe flashed Shen-Ru a quick grin, before turning his attention to Zhen. "They're not DUMB."
"Didn't ask you," Zhen drawled lazily.
The fact that he could brush TIngzhe off so casually, because he had everything under control- that was one of the most frustrating things about the ol' man.
Tingzhe remembered to grin at Qiao, too. She was right. His hair WAS pretty.
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 2:26 pm
A whole year? She'd never been away from her grandfather for that long. Knowing him, he'd be arrested by tomorrow and she wouldn't be there to bail him out...no. No, he wasn't her responsibility anymore and he never should have been. It was her life and if she wanted to join the circus then she was going to join the circus.
"Pfft." She shrugged. "As long as we're not here, I'm good. This city is dull anyway."
Qiao grinned back at her friend, laughing under her breath. Who would miss the opportunity to watch these two in action? This'd be well worth any 'home sickness' she may or may not feel.
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 3:36 pm
Shen-Ru felt a bit of a weight in his belly, being told they wouldn't return to Gaoling for a year. Could he handle that distance...? Would homesickness overtake him and leave him yearning to go home...?
Yes and no. He would handle it and he would not come back. The boy's jaw tightened with determination and he looked up at the ringmaster, looking him directly in the eyes now, and nodded firmly. "I can assure you, sir, I have no real intents of coming back to Gaoling, except if the circus brings me there," he said, solemn and serious.
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Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 7:16 am
"Alright," Zhen nodded. "We have a lot of packing up to do to get on the road tomorrow, so we'll get you kids sorted out in a couple days. You can sleep in Tingzhe's tent tonight. Brat, you've got three practice sessions tomorrow. I you've got enough time on your hands to go picking up strays, you're not working hard enough."
Pfft. He practiced almost that much ANYWAY.
"WHATEVER, old man."
In spite of Tingzhe's tone, he was grinning like a loon - not the grin he practiced in front of the mirror, but one that was real and genuine.
He had FRIENDS.
"Come on you guys, I'll show you how TOTALLY GREAT my stuff is."
And that was the beginning of that.
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