Exiled to the streets

Watching her quietly Seth continued to wander along, she seemed quite eager and that enthusiasm was actually quite pleasant. Returning the grin easily Sethian nodded "I hope so, you're quite engaging it'd be fun having you as part of the team" not missing the curious glances at the carriage he kept quiet himself, all the better to keep her curious about what was going on here. "Martin? He'd be fine to teach you just grumpy and with high standards so if you don't mind that there'll be no real problems" checking his watch he started guiding them both back to the tent as it was getting late. If he was correct and he had been wrong before, then she'd figure out a way to get Sofia to agree to let her join the circus in order to keep an eye on him, and if she did it'd be most entertaining and all around quite a lot of fun. His life could always use more fun and how Martin worked with her would prove to be most interesting, while looking forward to seeing how she'd tackle all the things in her future he had the feeling she'd be well equipped to do more than just survive out here.


Throwing a thankful look the human's way Hrolf murmured "And the same for you" the idea of bringing them both to his home was something that was pulling at him, it felt like the right thing to do, Jon had saved his life essentially after all. Mulling over those thoughts and quite settled down, Hrolf eventually drifted off into a light sleep that had him twitching awake at every little sound. Awake early he ate some honey and brushed his free hand through his beloved dog's fur, continuing to chew over the idea that was starting to blossom in his mind, noticing Jon when he stirred the faerie didn't say much for a while "Morning" he was quite curious to know how on earth they'd managed to score some free tickets to something that was well out of their price range but perhaps first thing in the morning wouldn't be the best time to talk about it. Deciding he'd ease into it, he stuck to a lighter topic "How'd you sleep?" He wasn't sure if Lilli knew yet that they were going either if she didn't he was quite eager to see the young child's reaction to the exciting news.

Giving the girl the dates that the Circus would be leaving, farewelling the young lady and heading back to his own quarters without incident. Sofia was sitting going over some reports while her free fingers drifted up and down her favoured pets neck gently and teasingly the amused look in her eyes fading at the interruption. Recognizing Lori she beckoned the girl in, keeping the hand teasing Sarah in place, "Lori, Come in what do you have to share?" there was a chair in the room opposite her desk that she gestured for the woman to sit down in. Waiting to hear what information there was to be shared, Sofia removed her fingers from Sarah's skin to pull out the correct files "you've found him I trust?" she wouldn't be that impressed if Lori had come all the way back here just to say she hadn't been able to find him.


A warm smile found its way onto his features at the sleepy smile and ruffled bed head, "I'm good thank you, I found the honey alright" licking his fingers clean as he'd had time to devour his breakfast, once they were clean and the jar was clean he slipped them into his dogs thick fur. "I had some questions about the circus tickets, I didn't realize they were just giving them away?" perhaps he was being overly cautious but he was quite aware by now that the world wasn't exactly filled with good people. Doing his best to ignore the warm feeling he got in his chest at the sight of Jon looking so adorable, it was something he'd never felt with his wife or anyone really it wasn't like he'd been out socializing at home. Breaking eye contact to look down at his dog that turned his gold eyes up to look at his master affectionately, he'd have to keep those thoughts and feelings to the minimum he had the chance to return home soon enough and he wasn't entirely sure he'd be able to bring them home with him. The idea had been planted and he was quite seriously considering it, Jon would be useful on the farm and Lilli would make a good heir, it didn't occur to him to separate the pair he just knew that he'd have to make Jon a pet to keep him safe from other marauding faeries.

Sofia quirked an eyebrow at Loris response before shaking her head "Silly girl, Faeries can fold their wings it is common for the fae in the human world to keep their wings consistently folded to make it harder for hunters and poachers to get a hold of them." opening the file she picked out the photograph and handed it to Lori "I received this recently from another agent. A visible description of Sethian. I trust you didn't come back just to claim you weren't sure of your target?" she had purposely kept an element of fear for their relationship, it meant Lori was more careful and worked harder as she didn't want to disappoint her and Sofia had little interest in her as a pet worthy of touch and attention. Sharp eyes studied Lori, very little make up visible on her face and faint wrinkles under eyes from her time over laden with silver, lowering a hand to rake her fingers through Sarah's hair gently spoiling her favourite with touch.


Happily watching Jon, Hrolf did his best to memorize how the human looked in this singular moment. Wanting nothing more than to snuggle in with him, Hrolf quickly made sure he didn't do that, looking down from and breaking eye contact. Listening to the rest of what Jon had to say regarding how he'd gotten his hands on the tickets, Hrolf was relieved to hear that it had been just at random and it wasn't some kind of a poachers trap. Screwing and unscrewing the lid of the honey jar as a way to keep his hands busy, Hrolf glanced up to watch Jon from underneath his lashes not entirely certain why he felt this way so suddenly, ruminating over it all quietly and coming to the conclusion that these feelings as dangerous as they may be had built up over time without him realizing until now when Jon looked positively adorable "Oh well good, Scams are pretty dangerous" oh yes he knew all about the dangers of scams, setting the jar down and doing his best to seem as close to his usual self as possible he petted tor to keep his hands busy.

Well, at least the girl had managed to find him, already aware he was part of the Circus her next words caused great interest. "He invited you to join as one of the acts? What an opportunity, you'll need to pack a bag or two Lori since you're running away to join the circus" changing files and pulling out Lori's Sofia wrote a few things down and clicked her pen thoughtfully "Hand me your passport" she'd have to change Loris passport for her to be able to stay in the human world for a long period of time and still be able to come back to the faerie world. Once she had it Sofia added some new stamps and notes to the small book before passing it back with a nod "Of you trot now girl, you've got a lot of work to get done. Good job in getting the invitation to join the circus it'll make your job much easier" appearing pleased with Lori which she was as this was the best option when it came to tracking Sethian.


Watching as Lilli got up and interacted with Tor, Hrolf moved to sit next to Jon so there was more room for the pair to play, that's what he told himself at least. Managing to resist the urge to lean against Jon since he'd accidentally sat very close to the human, the faerie watched Tor not really daring to glance at the simply adorable homeless man. The dog seemed to sense his emotions as it flicked the pair a brief look betraying the intelligence of the faerie animal, the next time the girl tossed the ball now somewhat slobbery he bounced about with it 'accidentally' shoving the two into each other and once satisfied that he'd done a good job returned to his best friend and set the ball down at her feet obediently his large tail wagging and nearly getting singed by the fire. One minute Tor had been playing with the girl, the next he was barreling towards them and before he could do anything Jon had been unceremoniously shoved into him, managing to catch him in time to prevent them both from being pushed over onto the ground, Hrolf threw a dirty look at the suddenly innocent completely average dog begging Lilli to throw the ball again.

Sofia considered Lori "Go back the day before the Circus is set to leave" The next few days passed rapidly, Seth was busy standing in the main tent looking up at Martin who was helping start to tear things down. The grumpy master of heights was one of his best friends and it was always entertaining to tweak his tail so to speak, eventually, he was told to stop distracting Martin and to make himself useful so Seth ducked out of the tent and spotted a face he'd only seen once before. "Hey there Miss Lori your mother obviously gave you the go-ahead to join us then?" he'd taken the liberty in figuring out where she could stay, everywhere else was full and it'd make Sofia happy if Lori was close to him to keep an eye on him, he reminded himself to make a note to talk to the prince during one of his sporadic visits and ask if this was really necessary. However first things first he needed to take her to the official boss of the circus, with his usual easy smile and twinkling eyes  "Come we'd better talk to the boss before we decide where you'll be resting your head" gesturing for her to follow him, he took her to where the boss of the circus was going through paperwork and walked on in without knocking.


Not showing much emotion as it was easier that way, Hrolf watched Jon bid Lilli farewell, part of him admired the man for being good with his daughter it was a relationship that he'd quite recently accepted he'd never had and so felt like quite the intrusive stranger during moments like this. "I'll meet you there at five Jon" meaning at the circus. Watching the little girl play with the dog that because hers more and more leaving him feeling more disconnected with the world, letting them play for a while more before he got up and took them to the food canteen where he got Lilli some breakfast and something for Tor before they headed out to the park. Finding a seat and some flowers that were starting to bloom he started to work on a crown and a collar, the collar being for Tor and the crown for the girl. Making them a matching pair he called them over and set the crown down on her head and fixed the collar around Tors neck  "There you are, you match" he had a kind look to his face as he spoke to the little girl, very fond of her after all. Eating some flowers to tide him over until their next meal, the dog never seemed to tire of playing with the girl, the shaggy thing consistently bringing his ball back hopefully to drop at her feet.  

Sethian nodded "Yeah" well it'd been more he'd suggested it and the boss had agreed to consider it, right now if he needed to he'd throw his weight around as honestly, he preferred the enemy he knew to the one he didn't. Not that Sofia, Lori or Prince Atrel were enemies it was more of knowing who was spying on him if he really thought about it. Picking up on the faint hesitation although deciding not to say anything, the faerie introduced her "Boss this is Lori the girl Martin said showed promise" leaving out the grumpy remarks his friend had made along with that admission, he continued "You recall that we're down a member of his trope" the ginger man sitting behind his desk with aviators hiding his gaze looked up and over towards them. The glasses hiding the fact that he was running his eyes greedily over the girl's body "Alright" he grunted "She'll need a contract then" pulling some paper over his desk and pawing through it with large grubby fingers until he came upon one that'd work, the man signed it and passed it over to Lori a slight smirk twitching onto his features. Not particularly trusting the boss, Sethian read the contract over Lori's shoulder taking great care to find anything that might spell trouble later on, not finding anything he placed a friendly hand on the girl's shoulder and offered her a quiet smile meant to convey that he hadn't found anything troublesome in the contract.

Smiling when she showed interest in making the crowns Hrolf nodded "Alright, but we need some leaves, twigs, and flowers." once she'd brought them to him he went through the process of teaching her very patiently, quite enjoying teaching her all about the Faeries way of creating things out of flowers. Midway through she'd asked for stories and as usual he was quite happy to indulge, only interrupting when it was time to find her some lunch. Finally, it was time for her surprise, with the girl riding on his shoulder and their matching flower crowns resting jauntily upon their heads, Hrolf had ordered Tor to go keep himself busy well aware it was far too risky for the dog to have anything to do with this circus. Humming a song to himself that he'd picked up during his time here, he spoke to the girl "you're taller than me Lilli, keep an eye out for your dad" not particularly minding her hands holding tightly onto his blond hair.

Thankful when they were outside Sethian stretched and tucked his hands behind his head with a smile, at the question he shrugged "At this stage, you can either bunk with Martini the grump or bunk with me. Doesn't bother me at all to be fair" if he were her he wouldn't be sharing with Martin, the grumpy man was a badger for getting up early to practice. Of course, Seth knew why he was like that but it didn't make it any more enjoyable, that being said Lori didn't know him and for all she knew he could be exactly like the boss man even if she had been able to read a file on him it paid to be cautious for women sadly. Heading back towards his carriage that'd been changed into as close to home as he could, he took a winding path stopping next to the elephants revealing some peanuts in his hands. Feeding them a gentle smile that gentled out the rest of his face the charisma that he was usually full of disappeared. He'd thoughtfully brought enough for all of them and once they were done he dusted his hands and turned to look at Lori waiting for her answer patiently.


"Sorry little flower but not this time, he's going to go hunting for some dinner for himself" not complaining when his hair was tugged and he was egged forwards to Jon which he did. Letting his friend take his daughter, concern clouding his features at the wince that appeared when Lilli bounced on her dads hip. Making a few notes to himself to do tomorrow, he wasn't about to say anything instead he began walking letting the other two follow him his hands in his pockets in clothes that were a few sizes too big for him now. Once they were waiting in line to get inside the large tent something akin to ice froze his spine making him stiffen and look around, there was something here and he wasn't sure what it was. Waving it off and heading inside it was in the middle of the show when a man walked into the ring that caused the folded wings under his clothes to pop out in surprise and Hrolf to grow stiff and almost affixed to his seat. His mood wasn't helped when on the way out a familiar voice sounded from behind him, his knee jerk reaction was the same as ever spin around and lash out with a fist before a prank got him. To his satisfaction, he saw his brother's nose break and blood spurt from it before the pain in his hand told him he'd probably broken a finger doing so.

The faerie nodded "of course it is or I wouldn't have offered" watching the quiet smile appear on her face Sethian reached out and took her hand putting a handful of peanuts into it "Offer her some, She was an orphan we found when we went through Asia and thankfully were well equipped to take her on. we held a name the baby elephant competition and had a class of kids pick their favourite name. She's called Marigold" explaining quietly he released Loris hand so she could give the young Asian elephant the peanuts. She'd likely get to know all of the animals that worked in the Circus, despite what Animal Rights activists believed they were proud of their animals and allowed people to come and meet them on special tours. Grinning when an older elephant asked for more, the man reached up and patted her trunk affectionately "Sorry Elphie, no more" waiting for Lori to finish with Marigold who he was quite fond of but Elphie was the one he was the closest with he'd been there when she'd been born such a long time ago now.


"Of course we do, I'm his older brother. Seth Nice to meet you" Offering the rather cute looking human a hand to shake he tilted his head studying the trio closely. It seemed from the worn patched shabby clothing they wore that they were homeless, knowing better than to ask the situation of home Sethian merely decided that he'd leave the Circus for a while and go visit the youngest prince. Fixing his nose not that bothered by the pain and grinning more at the look of pain on Hrolfs face. His brother in question was livid, holding his hand to himself tightly knowing he should probably introduce them but didn't want to give his brother their names in case he decided to pet them, however if he gave Seth their names instead of them then their names wouldn't mean as much and wouldn't have as much control. "This is Jon and Lilli" he was fairly certain Jon was short for Jonathan and Lilli for something else so that was good at least, wanting to just go back to the place that for now was home, flicking Jon a look.

Seth nodded "The elephants do all kinds of acts, the horses are over a couple of paddocks we're lucky to have an expert horse trainer who also looks after them. We travel everywhere that's interested in hosting us. We're on a Europe tour after we've finished the states" when she was done with the baby elephant he lead the way back to his carriage and opened the door with a bow "Ladies first" hopping in after her he lead the way down to where the pair of beds were and gestured to hers "There's storage space beneath it and in the cupboards above, back down there is a jug and some cups and tea. I usually keep snack foods there too but we'll go out and find proper food most of the time" gesturing where he meant Sethian smiled slightly "Make yourself at home, after lunch we'll go find Martin and break the news, don't worry if he seems unhappy the grumpy bastard always is" hopefully she wouldn't be too off put by him, wandering down and putting the jug on he leaned against a wall and looked back at her "Any questions?" this was going to be quite enjoyable, watching her work with Martin and learning how she worked, at the very least it seemed he had a new friend.


Seth was quite clearly about to say something else when Tor came barreling up ignoring the people and barking, both faeries looked at the dog studying him in a way that suggested they were very in tune with the animal. Seth was the first one to take a breath and look away "Well I'd better let you guys get back to where you're staying, good to see you little brother" lightly touching his hand to his brothers shoulder who shrugged it off Seth just shrugged and smiled again before leaving, vanishing into the tent. Once his brother was gone, Hrolf still cradling his hand glanced at Jon "We need to get back, somethings wrong" he didn't explain why completely expecting that his friend who was good with Tor would pick up the fact that his barking sounded different. Not rushing as Jon was carrying Lilli, Hrolf just lengthened his strides walking nearly twice as fast, the door that usually opened nicely took a bit of jiggling to open, it seemed someone had done something on the other side, inside the fire had been clumsily stoked and a thin pale boy with dark black bruises appearing all over his face was curled up close to the fire wrapped up in their blankets and a tattered beanie.

Returning the grin Seth spoke once more "Very well I have a question to ask of you then" he paused for dramatic effect "Would you like a cup of tea?" he was quite fond of it and found it soothed Martin down during one of his rages. He had a bond with the grumpy old man that for a time had been more than just friends, however now they were once again just friends that Seth had been unhappy about for a long time but by now had long since made his peace with it. Opening the small cupboard he picked out his favourite mug and set it down and within it placed the usual type of tea he had, waiting for the girls reply Seth's thoughts started to wander, it'd been a long time since he'd looked after his brothers farm for him while he'd been in exile and in doing so had become closer with the prince who was in training now to become king. He wondered if this was why Lori was here, it didn't surprise him that Atrel would ask to have someone keep an eye on him after all the prince had spent a good amount of time in the human world and knew how dangerous it was.

The noise of the door seemed to disrupt the boy as all of a sudden he jerked awake, and the first thing Hrolf noticed was the bright vibrant blue of the kids eyes before all hell broke loose. Sitting bolt upright he pushed away from where he'd been lying and wedged himself up into a corner with the blankets clutched in his hands. Clear panic obvious on his features, the blankets slipped down revealing all he had on his torso was a shirt that didn't do much to hide the welts and bruises all over him. Whoever had done this to him had obviously intended for him to die. At the reaction, Hrolf backed out of the room quite quickly not wanting to overwhelm the kid any more asking Tor to come with him, sitting down with the dog next to him the Faerie rubbed his face exhausted and sore.

Getting out another cup and setting a teabag in it, stirring the tea and dumping the bags after adding the hot water. Passing the cup over to her he nodded at her question "We're in each location for a week, sometimes it takes a few days to drive to get to our next work site" rummaging around for something sugary to eat he ended up with a box of sweet biscuits that he sat down with helping himself to them. Once he'd finished his drink and the biscuits and it seemed Lori was ready the Faerie lead the way to the tent that was about ready to start coming down in a couple of hours. Slipping into the tent and gesturing for her to follow and say close, Seth sat down and watched Martin practice in silence knowing better than to try and distract him. In the air, the man beamed looking almost like he was actually flying as he soared through the air a stark contrast with the man that Lori had met the other day, unable to help but admire the way his friend was so free up there the man leaned back with a sigh.


Hrolf accepted the sleeping girl and cradled her close while letting her father sort out the strange boy in their house, the boy stared at the only one left in the room. Dragging the blankets up over him more to hide the bruises and welts like they were shameful sins, the boy glanced at the fire when it was poked welcoming the heat since he felt so cold. Unsure of what to say he kept quiet taking his time to run over what to do, he didn't really want to give his name as it meant they could give his name to his parent's, while they'd beaten him they hadn't thought he'd have the guts to flee. Scared they'd want him back Connor merely whimpered not unlike a wounded dog and tugged the blankets closer, it hurt to breathe it hurt to do anything he just wanted the pain to stop "Connor" his voice was hoarse almost a whisper clearly gone from crying out in pain during his beating.

"His one failing he's a grumpy old coot who has little to no patience" Sethian murmured to his new friend however it seemed the man up in the eaves of the tent had picked up his voice. Finishing his routine he clambered down and studied the pair of him through his sharp brown eyes, Martin sighed and headed outside beckoning them to follow him. Outside in the bright light, the male squinted against the bright sun hitting his eyes "So you ended up joining up with us after all? Running away to the circus, and from the look of amusement on Seth's features, you're my new protegee." Sethian followed his friend with a clear look of amusement on his features letting Lori speak to Martin as she was going to have to build some sort of relationship with him and so he was reluctant to speak too much, preferring to let things develop on their own.


Staring at the man who introduced himself as Jon, his comforting smile reassured the boy more than his words, anybody could say words it was harder for people to fake their expressions. Even in his beaten state, he knew people, accepting the extra blanket with a shaking hand and used it to soften the impact of the wall against his back, thankful when staying the night was offered Connor nodded his head still reluctant to say much. Snuggling down with the blankets two black eyes and a busted lip was only some of the wounds on his face, a belt buckle imprint squarely on his left cheek along with a small wound where the pointed part of the buckle had dug into his face. He was so sore the pain was overwhelming, against his better judgment tears glittered in his eyes threatening to overfill, he didn't want to cry the effort it took would hurt since it hurt to breathe and the salt in his tears would surely make his wounds on his face hurt.