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 Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 6:15 pm
"Yaayayayaaaaaaaaay! Circussssss! Where'suh Whi'm'n?"
Kari gave a good-natured, if somewhat tired, chuckle at Evie's exuberance. The toddler had been ecstatically energetic all day at the prospect of going to the circus, to the point where Kari had had to fairly dunk her into a bath after the girl faceplanted in a mud puddle. Of course, Evie had struggled the entire time, which left Kari feeling wetter and rather cleaner than her daughter in the end. Now, though, the little girl looked clean in her shorts and shirt, her long red hair held back in two braids.
She also looked frighteningly mature, which pulled at Kari's heartstrings. Why did she have to grow up this quickly?
After showing their tickets to gain entrance, Kari started doing a general scan of the area, trying to locate Whitman among the crowd. Evie seemed to be doing similarly, albeit at her own height. The difference was that Kari wasn't calling out Whitman's name at the top of her lungs and attracting the laughing attention of everyone in the vicinity. Kari simply sighed as she listened to Evie call for the man. Shushing her would do no good; she had tried long ago.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 6:51 pm
At present Whitman was sitting on the steps of his shared trailer, pulling on his boots and hoping that Kari and Evie were able to make it to the show. He found himself smiling, as he often did when he thought of the two of them. In truth the carnie adored them: Kari for her unique beauty and little Evie for her energy.
He scrubbed a hand through his hair before pulling his mask on. A simple one tonight, to match his odd black and white blacklight garments. Whitman got up from the steps and retrieved the balls he'd be juggling as he made his rounds of the grounds before the show, prefering something that required less concentration while he looked for Kari and Evie.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:03 pm
After a few moments of fruitless calling, Evie realized that Whitman was just not around at the moment. With a sigh, she clung close to her mother's side, toddling steadily beside Kari and clinging to the female Ancient's hand. "No Whi'm'n?" she asked sadly, her red eyes looking up at her mother with tears threatening in the corners.
Kari was quick to reassure her, just grateful the loud calling had stopped. "I'm sure he's here, Evie. Just wait, all right? We'll find him." The Ancient flicked her tail, feeling vaguely restricted in her current outfit. Her usual attire was not accepted as appropriate by the general public. Besides that, she didn't feel like gaining unnecessary male attention, so she had decided on a light, sleeveless dress of sorts, dark burgundy in color, that flowed down to her knees. She had had to tie her hair back to keep it from tangling; a loose bun was all she would concede to. She was too stubborn to be more elaborate, even for seeing Whitman.
Wait a minute, when had seeing him become a special occasion?
She had no time to be disturbed by the thought for Evie had spied something furry and moved toward it to investigate, and she was dragged along for the ride. Oh, dear. Now she was going to hear the usual "I want a fluffy!" plea all night.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:07 pm
The circus also had a small carnival that went with it that could certainly keep Evie amused until the show. At the moment that's where Whitman wove his way through, singing aloud as he made his way along juggling the balls. Ocassionally he would stop and do a few other tricks before continuing on his way.
Where were Kari and Evie?
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:13 pm
After a few minutes of 'ooohing' and 'ahhhing' over the tiger cub that the handler was showing off to the public, Kari managed to steer Evie back into the crowd. She was relieved to see that the little girl was over her initial disappointment and was easily entertained by the lights and sounds. "You like the tiger, Evie? Maybe there will be one during the show," she suggested, liking the way the young girl's face lit up at that thought. "That would be cool, wouldn't it?"
Evie nodded vigorously, giggling suddenly. "Maaaaybe Whi'm'n will play with th' tiger!" she said, her eyes sparkling. Her gaze drifted over the crowd, and her jaw dropped as she spied someone deftly juggling several balls. "Oooooooh, looky!" was Kari's only warning before Evie took off at a toddle to investigate, dragging her mother along with her.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:19 pm
Whitman had stopped again and was up to juggling six balls by the time Evie and Kari would make there way over. Then he caught them all one by one and proceeded to do other tricks. Maybe he should've brought the torches after all. It wasn't until he was doing a handstand that he spotted Evie running over.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:25 pm
Evie had just reached the juggler when Kari recognized the signs that the little girl was about to imitate the adult. She immediately put restraining hands on the girl's shoulders before Evie could launch herself into a handstand. "Nooo, why don't you just watch, Evie? You can do handstands when we get home," she said, though she had a feeling her words fell on deaf ears. The girl understood the tactile message, though, and though Evie fidgeted, she didn't resist.
She was too focused on watching the juggler anyway, watching as he went up into a handstand. She was silent, her eyes wide with admiration. One part of her knew that imitating now, over dirt, after she had just had a bath, was not wise. Another part of her wanted to mimic with her own clumsy handstand, just for kicks. Her mother had safely negated the mimicking instinct, though Evie still felt the need to do something. She settled for drawing her mother into yet another awkward conversation by greeting the masked being. "Hiiiiiiiiiiii!"
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:31 pm
"Hi Evie!" Whitman carefully lifted a hand to wave, which he did so quickly before depositing it on the ground again for a moment before righting himself before too much blood rushed to his head. "Hello Kari." He bowed politely to them both. "Guess who?"
Not many onlookers remained once the little show seemed to have ended. So it mostly left the three of them as alone as they could be in a carnival.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:43 pm
Evie was momentarily taken aback by the familiar voice coming from the masked juggler. Her surprise turned to delight, and Kari was barely able to keep her from launching herself at Whitman. "Whi'm'n!" she squealed happily. "Whi'm'n!!!!"
Though Kari was no less surprised, she managed to restrain herself, even after her sharp hearing told her whom Evie had dragged her to. "Hello! Evie's been looking for you for awhile." She wisely didn't mention the little girl's disappointment at not finding him immediately. She was willing to bet a great deal of money that Evie had forgotten that already anyway.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:53 pm
Whitman pushed up the mask. "How are my two favorite girls?" He winked and smiled. "I can walk with you for a while...then I have to go change." He kneeled and held his arms out, waiting for Evie to run over so he could scoop her up.
To them he might look ridiculous, in a black and white blacklight top and black white patched pants and odd little white boots and an almost harlequin mask with his bright colored hair.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:56 pm
"Oh, we don't want to interrupt if you're work- well... never mind." Kari chuckled faintly as Evie fairly launched herself out of her mother's grip and into Whitman's arms, the little girl letting out a delighted noise. The Ancient shifted her weight from foot to sandalled foot, watching as Evie threw her arms around the man's neck. She took a moment to evaluate his rather strange attire, though it wasn't of great import. He did work at a circus, after all.
Evie made a sound that was very close to a purr before pulling back enough to correct him. "Mama 's'not a girl! She's a laaaaaaadeee, 'member?" The toddler giggled.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 9:13 pm
Whitman put his arms around Evie and stood, cuddling the small girl against his chest. "Your right, and your a little lady." He nodded and nuzzled her cheek. "I missed you and your Mom you know." He shifted Evie to one hip and moved to put his other arm around Kari.
Another juggler stopped and shook his head before pushing up his mask. "So that's the one?"
"Indeed...will you cover for me?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"Yes, but I'd appreciate it if you would cover for me..."
"Will do, just this once." With that he pulled down his mask again and continued on his way.
"Jackson is so nosey sometimes." He made a face and looked down at Evie, then to Kari. "So where to?"
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 9:20 pm
Evie definitely purred this time, snuggling in quite close and twining her tails around his waist, not bothered in the least by Whitman's strange attire. He was here, and that was all that mattered. She looked momentarily interested as another juggler stopped by, giving the other male a cheeky grin before resuming her happy snuggling. This evening was shaping up to be a positively capital one, from her perspective.
Allowing the corner of her mouth to quirk upward in a smile, Kari tolerated the one-armed hug. "She missed you too. She was excited to come and see you tonight." The overly inquisitive other juggler put her mildly on edge, and she flicked her tail back and forth in a display of irritation, glaring a hole through him until he left. His tone put her back up. Her expression softened at the question from Whitman. "Well, if it has fur or feathers, it'll make Evie happy," she commented, her speech punctuated by a gleeful cry of "Fluffies!" from her daughter.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 9:39 pm
Whitman chuckled. "Hm..well most of the animals will be getting ready for the show...but I'll see what I can do...alright?" He smiles down at Evie. Most of the animal handlers were friends of his, he'd likely be able to pull some strings.
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Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 9:44 pm
Evie gave a delighted nod, all of her pointy teeth glinting as she grinned from ear to ear. "Okays!" she chirruped happily before leaning against him again, quite happy with the combination of attention and his presence.
"You don't have to inconvenience them if they're busy. We'll get to see the animals during the show," Kari said hastily, not wanting to put anyone completely out of their way to suit Evie's curious love of living things. She belatedly realized that Whitman still had an arm around her, and she paused, debating whether or not to squirm away. In the end, curiosity and good manners won out, and she allowed it, sighing quietly. Gods, she had a lot to get used to.
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