Welcome to Gaia! ::

The concept of traveling for days on end wasn't new to Selim, but doing so without a troupe to back him up was. He had his brother, of course, though now that the twins were seemingly taking on the world by themselves it felt somehow harder than it ever had. They were in a new land, with new rules and roads he'd never been on, with only the vaguest ideas to guide them.

The only constant that remained was the need for coin and that was precisely why Selim had been working so much lately. Odd jobs, street performances; whatever he could do for a bit of travel funds. Today he was happy enough on the dock, his eyes taking in the scenery around him while he 'stretched'.

Of course normal flexing for him was performing a handstand scorpion pose as easily as some may sit.

Selim turned his head toward the speaker, and offered a smile the child's way. He wasn't surprised that he'd been joined by someone else, if anything he was freely advertising his skills while he stretched, but sometimes it was just fun to show off for the younger crowds. "Lots and lots of practice. I started when I was around your age."

The contortionist slowly started to shift his positioning so that his feet dropped to the ground in front of him. With his forearms parallel to the ground and his torso twisted, feet flat on the ground in front of him, he was able to fully see the boy.

"Wanna try?"

Thankfully Selim had chosen not to wear his hairpins otherwise they would have been jabbing into his backside. While other performers in his troupe could get away with more elaborate costumes and hairstyles his were on the simpler side. As much as he would have loved a feathered mantle it just wasn't practical with his work.

He rolled his shoulders a bit to really get comfortable, and honestly, with as often as he'd done the pose it wasn't hard. "Nope. I stretch every day so it doesn't bother me." When he was older his body was going to hate him, but that was for future Selim to worry about. "What kind of furry friend do you have there? I'm new here so I don't really know what it is."

"This is stretching," Selim grinned. After he'd done a fair amount of showing off Selim moved back into a handstand position before swinging his legs back, careful not to get too close to the kid and his pet, before dropping down to sit on the ground. Nice and simple. "You should drop by the square later this evening. Bring your family and a few friends; I'm putting on a show." Most of the adults would be wrapped up with work by then so any big spenders would be out and about.

"A Loatoa?" That thing has the patience of a saint. It didn't seem to mind being tossed around by the kid at all. "Ah, a fellow traveler then. I knew we had something in common, Jensen."

"You do?" Was he exaggerating the excitement? Yeah, but he was also taking a tone that most did around kids. Besides, he really was excited about the prospect of a big family coming to see him. If he could get his brother in one the act then they might get enough coin to really get things moving. "In that case I'm going to make sure it's a really good show so you'll all have something to talk about."

Selim couldn't help the little laugh that slipped out as he watched the pair. It was clear the animal was loved, even if it might be borderline smothered. "He is really fuzzy. What kind of things do Loatoa's eat? Does he...like fish? Or does he-" Selim dropped his voice to a whisper, "-eat bugs."

That was a lot of family members. The financially savvy part of his brain was figuring up how much he could charge each one to see the show, but there was also a side of Selim that balked at the idea of a big family. The troupe had always been close; close as blood most days. Still, at the end of the day, it was just himself, his brother and their mother. If he had that many siblings then one or more of them would have tried to drown him for sure.

"Smoked fish? Wow, he eats better than I do." After days and days of hard tact on the road Selim could have used a little smoked fish. Maybe some fresh veggies, seasoned in some of those really hot Oban spices? "Is that as big as he's going to get or is he still little?"

"I don't think that's a good idea." Selim crossed his legs on the dock and while one was laying lazily atop his thigh he held the other out toward Jensen. If the beast wanted to sniff it he could or he could keep his distance. "I travel a lot, and sometimes I don't eat the tastiest things. I'm fine just seeing people like you who can take really good care of their furry friends."

Several troupe members had familiars as part of their acts, some even as personal pets, but it wasn't ever really a good idea with them. He and his brother had gotten into far too much trouble growing up for their mother to permit a pet.

Now that Jensen was moving closer Selim carefully tilted his hand just enough to attempt a petting. It wasn't much, just a little so he wouldn't spook the beast. When he looked up from the familiar to it's master he couldn't help smiling in return. Sometimes kids could be the most annoying things on the planet, and others he found himself envious of their innocence. Just like that the problem was solved! If only life were that easy.

"Oh I'm sure my brother would love that. Maybe I could find something really big like a Janarim? I think that would be able to find it's own food and maybe some for us too." Oh Cyril would flip out.