|
Post by Erin Harper on Feb 15, 2009 21:38:51 GMT -5
Erin's hands went instantly to Gwynplaine's face again, exploring. He had far less compunctions in this form, and what he found mildly interesting before was now fascinating. Erin was incredibly physical, and now...he wanted to understand.
In very short order he'd exhausted that particular aspect of Gwynplaine's. His hands dropped, his stare lessening as though someone had flipped the 'intense' switch to 'off' and moving from the other's mouth to hold his eyes instead. He'd never notice or care about Gwynplaine's eternal smile again.
|
|
Gwynplaine
- Ingenious Pilot -
A king made me a clown! A queen made me a Peer! But first, God made me a man!
Posts: 238
|
Post by Gwynplaine on Feb 17, 2009 12:18:50 GMT -5
It was less painful than it might have been. It was certainly the oddest reaction he'd ever seen, and he was still trying to determine how he felt about that. Erin's attention was so clearly off his mouth, now, however, that he was quickly becoming uncomfortable again due to the unusual experience of some other part of him being examined. No one really noticed anything else.
But he held Erin's gaze, because despite himself he was still intrigued. The sadness seemed stamped on his grey eyes, though it could be tempered with compassion or pleasure.
"What do you say now?"
|
|
|
Post by Erin Harper on Feb 17, 2009 14:40:36 GMT -5
Erin pursed his lips, a surprisingly domestic or ordinary gesture in contrast to his rather feral appearence. "Teach me to juggle."
|
|
Gwynplaine
- Ingenious Pilot -
A king made me a clown! A queen made me a Peer! But first, God made me a man!
Posts: 238
|
Post by Gwynplaine on Feb 17, 2009 14:51:15 GMT -5
Gwynplaine blinked. Why should the man ask him that? Why should he agree?
Why not? When you came right down to it.
"Very well," he said. "I have balls back at my caravan. You can come by whenever you like."
|
|
|
Post by Erin Harper on Feb 17, 2009 15:17:33 GMT -5
Erin grinned. Abruptly, his head snapped to the side, sharp eyes tracking the noise that appeared to be...one of the posters coming free with the wind again. By the time he looked back he looked a little startled to still see Gwynplaine there.
|
|
Gwynplaine
- Ingenious Pilot -
A king made me a clown! A queen made me a Peer! But first, God made me a man!
Posts: 238
|
Post by Gwynplaine on Feb 17, 2009 15:36:06 GMT -5
Gwynplaine started back a little, his nerves somewhat frayed by the entire experience. Which he still did not entirely understand. But he still did not feel in danger from the man; merely that he was not the same type of creature.
He wondered if that's how others thought of him, and felt ashamed.
"Then I will see you," he said softly.
|
|
|
Post by Erin Harper on Feb 17, 2009 15:47:08 GMT -5
Erin stared at him some more, lips parted as if to speak; then he nodded absently and strode off, one of his wings twitching as if he'd felt a sudden itch or a small, sharp pain.
|
|
Gwynplaine
- Ingenious Pilot -
A king made me a clown! A queen made me a Peer! But first, God made me a man!
Posts: 238
|
Post by Gwynplaine on Feb 17, 2009 16:38:14 GMT -5
Gwynplaine watched after him, his feeling decidedly mixed. He still felt awe at the bird man's form, the pattern of his feathers. But the odd way he'd looked at Gwynplaine made him uncomfortable. In a way he couldn't exactly describe.
But he had a show to do, and after a moment he had to head back to his caravan, and his stage.
|
|
Malika
- Ingenious Pilot -
%\1\%
Posts: 126
|
Post by Malika on Oct 1, 2009 7:47:05 GMT -5
**NEW DAY**
Malika had tracked him down; it hadn't been hard. How many birdmen could be in Paris at any given moment? All the same, Malika had wanted to be sure she had the right one. The posters, therefore, at the World of Wonders more than gave it away. The same eyes, same hair, same torso. The artist had even captured the sense of the man - creature - man's motion, although in a more flamboyant way. Had to sell tickets somehow.
Malika, in jeans and a purple and white-striped halter with sequined straps that pleasantly framed the bad bruise on her shoulder, appeared at the show one evening at a very late time. It was about to close. Parisians crowded up near the cage and stared in at something such that Malika could hardly get a good look, but as they shuffled out, glancing at their watches, she became aware of who it was. Yes. That was him, her bird-man.
Malika hung back, hugging her arms loosely, even as other people left. She supposed he'd be turning back soon, and she confessed curiosity about that, though of the kind that could be satisfied and then look away without a care more. A rather well-built and well-dressed man, Victorian to the bone, pushed past her roughly and she stumbled, having been staring so intently on the birdman that she'd not noticed him, and gasped a bit at the shove to her wounded arm. She'd come, after all, at a time when the pain and bruising would be greatest. She hadn't counted on being shoved again into the deal. She turned her head to glare at the man, not hatefully, but with a stare that might as well have been nothing.
|
|
|
Post by Erin Harper on Oct 1, 2009 7:59:22 GMT -5
After most of the crowd had trickled out, a man came into the tent, dressed coarsely, a worker. He went up to the cage and spoke to Erin, who tilted his head to the side very slowly at him, staring, then started to change back without a word- the indication of a nightly habit. The wings folded up in some eye-hurting and physics-defying way, the golden eyes drained of color, his upper body shrank in a way where the movement of muscles was like snakes under his skin, and Erin sat down heavily on the ground of his cage. He pushed over-long hair out of his face, too tired to grimace at the scrape of long nails, and watched dully as the man unlocked the door of the cage.
Both of them ignored the remaining audience. Once, they would have been shooed out before this, but as far as the circus saw it Erin's turning back could be made part of the show, and so whoever felt like sticking around could see it.
It was fairly boring, though. The man guarded the open door of the cage until Erin swayed to his feet before leaving.
|
|
Malika
- Ingenious Pilot -
%\1\%
Posts: 126
|
Post by Malika on Oct 1, 2009 8:02:12 GMT -5
When the other man caught sight of Malika, he waved a hand at her to leave, and she stared at him until he looked away and ignored that anyone was even still in the tent.
He looked out of it. He wasn't likely to notice her. She took a step or two closer as though going to rush in and help him, but said, instead, "Does it hurt?"
|
|
|
Post by Erin Harper on Oct 1, 2009 9:16:26 GMT -5
Erin opened his mouth obediently to answer, then stopped. He turned his head to frown at her, blinking languidly in the manner of one who's just woken up. "Go away."
|
|
Malika
- Ingenious Pilot -
%\1\%
Posts: 126
|
Post by Malika on Oct 1, 2009 9:19:48 GMT -5
Well, that was rude. Strike two.
"If it hurts - if you're tired - you could lean on me."
|
|
|
Post by Erin Harper on Oct 1, 2009 9:35:05 GMT -5
Erin shook his head, weaving his way around her. "I'm fine, thanks." He pushed open the tent flap, pausing a moment to look out. Night, of course, and nearly closing time; why wasn't this girl already gone? Erin, who at this point was quite jaded to circus life and the kind of people he performed for, wondered vaguely if she had some sort of fetish.
|
|
Malika
- Ingenious Pilot -
%\1\%
Posts: 126
|
Post by Malika on Oct 1, 2009 9:41:07 GMT -5
Malika brushed past him then, which wasn't hard to do as the tent flap was not open that much, shrugging the moment her shoulder wasn't in contact with him anymore, lifting her hand behind herself to pull her hair idly off her throat and then let it drop again, brushing it back.
"Suit yourself. It seemed unkind to just leave you."
|
|