Thread: Carnival: Shadows And Whispers Under The Big Top (Dane Stalling & darkangel76)

You ran from me, pretty, Albert said, and he pulled the tight aerialist shirt over his head and ran his fingers over his black hair to smooth it down. And you've caught your lion by running, you cunning girl. He kissed her neck and just touched his chest to her breasts. You're still running, but you've already caught me, sweet. See? Albert slipped his tights down, freeing his cock. It bounced twice, an effect he had practiced in a looking-glass, and which never failed to delight and impress. Take hold of this and own me, pretty. Albert guided the girl's hand, helped her to wrap it warmly around his hardness. It's true what they say, 'she fled until she caught me.' And what will you do with your prize, huntress? I will help you think of things, he said, wonderful and intimate acts. He stepped in close to her, backed her up until she sat on the divan. He moved over her and her hands pressed into his chest, hard. He took each of her wrists firmly in his hands and lifted them over her head. She was no match for him, though she struggled. The pretense was getting tiresome though. The game had had its effect- wasn't he standing a raging pole for her? Maybe she was one who fancied the rougher fare. A man couldn't always tell by looking. Sometimes the sweetest face hides the fiercest longing, pretty. Your tears betray the depth and darkness of your lust. You wish to be ravished, to make your victim so helplessly and passionately desire you with your screams and protestations that he has no control over his body, over his will. He held both her hands over her head with one of his own and wrapped his other hand around her throat. You have found a kindred spirit, pretty, he said, low, his lips touching hers even as he spoke, you have found your victim. Will you let him in? He touched the blunt tip of his cock against her, tapped her, teasing. Knock knock, pretty. Open up. ---- Mairon couldn't stop chuckling. Maya's fuming was funny to him, and the angrier she got, the funnier he found it. Stop laughing, you bastard, she said, and he laughed harder, tears coming out of his eyes from both pain and hilarity. You're messing up the stitches. The sword had slid along the outside of his ribs, just under the flesh. The trick depended on a phenomenal commitment. That's what sold it more than the purely visual effect. The illusionist had to have a measure of genuine fear for the audience to believe it. Both times Mairon had performed it publicly had been to impress women, one way or the other. It worked wonders, if one didn't nick an organ in the process. He took another swig of the harsh local whiskey and grimaced. Cool down, Maya, he said, sucking in a breath as the curved needle went in again, She's either mine forever or she'll never show her face in my tent again. She's not yours forever. She's everyone's. Mairon giggled, drunk, then hissed as Maya pulled the gut tight. That should make you happy. What do you think about Kenna, then? he said, and he would have laughed, but Maya's needle made him pass out instead. ---- The Clown Roald sat outside his trailer with Mojo and Chins smoking pipes around a fire in a bucket. They drank a nutty ale that was pretty much the same in every town they visited, which wasn't to say that it was good, but it's effect was consistent. You haven't had your mind expanded, Mojo said, until you've tangled sensitives with a contortionist. Chins laughed. He always laughed at that joke. Roald scratched his chin and his fingers came away white. It was a habit of the clowns to let their makeup sweat and flake away at the end of a run. A pointed relaxing of their usual fanatical fixation on perfectly applied faces. It wasn't pretty, they looked like three deteriorating white skulls floating around the fire, eating bits of meat they roasted on long metal stakes. What's this, then? Roald said, taking a greasy bite off his stake. It better not be rats again. Chins giggled. The market lady said it was squirrel clear as day and she wouldn't lie. She had a mole next to her nose and that makes a woman honest. Excrement, Mojo said, rat again. At least you didn't buy it dear. He tore a piece of tough meat off with his teeth and spat it into the fire. Why won't the Doctor hire us a contortionist? I'll tell you why. He's a prude and a lech all at once and he can't abide a woman who can cure her own hysteria with her tongue. Chins laughed until his tears made dark streaks under his eyes. Roald saw skirts out of the corner of his eye at the edge of the firelight. Shy Elspeth, certainly, faint and pretty. He reached for his decorated guitar and picked a little nostalgic melody they all knew, one he had heard her humming, but he changed the words. Come out of the shadows, sweet mender of clothes we've meat here and ale drink and smoke strong to share we'll sing you sweet tales of far lands and wild roses so true your dream notions will sail you safe there. Roald kept playing and Chins started a new verse. But stay in the shadows, girl, let me be blunt I'll throw wide your knees and I'll worry your... Roald backhanded him good-naturedly, but hard enough to make his nose smart. Save your bawdy songs for the bordello, Chins. You'll sour our ale and offend our guest. Chins covered his face and began to cry exaggerated tears to belie the painted leer on his face. Roald turned to Elspeth and bowed his head slightly, made space on the makeshift bench for her. What have you got that brings you among such villains so late at night? You might hear things to harm your virtue. ---- The locomotive men used horses to line the colorful trailers up with their occupants still sleeping inside, the slight bump of the hitches mating had some of the sleepers merely sigh and turn over. As the sun rose the locomotive pulled, making no headway at first, but then it rolled an inch, then a foot, then a yard, each turn of the great spoked wheels moving them away from Faraviata and toward Kaland. The road was for sleeping, and it rocked the performers as innocently as children.