Late Start? (Open)

Even Naomi couldn’t spend the whole of her life working. She also didn’t want to go in the sun, however. This was going to be a long and confusing process. She ended up putting on enough clothing to cover up nearly every inch of her skin and still took an umbrella with her to keep the sun from her eyes. It wasn’t as if she was going to walk the entire way to her destination. She was taking the subway for most of the way. She couldn’t take the risk. With her preparations ready, she embarked out on her dangerous quest. The sun was beating down, blocking her path to the subway. She had to make a break for it. Her feet beat against the ground as she half ran and half skipped her way to the underground. As soon as the sun was no longer a problem, she closed her umbrella. Just a little bit longer and she would be at her final destination.

Okay… It was longer than she had expected. In fact, she was going to be a little late for the show. She could only hope that there were still some seats left. She was actually pleased to see that the show hadn’t started just yet. She took an open seat near the middle and sat down. She wanted to see what kind of show the circus was putting on these days. That, and she wanted to see all the cute animals they used. She couldn’t wait. She was ready to start cheering, and it hadn’t even started yet.

Nea was in a very cheerful mood this day. Sure, a lot of things could make him that way, but today was extra special. And while he had grumbled a bit about having to survive the subway ride, squished between people, not to mention his pet fox Tsume hanging on to him for his dear life, it did nothing to cool his head down. He had wanted to take a look at this circus from the moment he randomly came upon a poster of it a few days ago. It really sounded like fun, and he hoped he would see some animals there, that was his favourite thing.

As excited as he was, he was almost late for the show and ended up having to run for it from the subway, probably looking quite comical with a polar fox bounding after him in a tow. But that didn't matter to him much, as he made it just about in time thanks to that. ''Whew, that was a close one right?'', he would say with a grin, his sharp front teeth showing a bit. Tsume would yip happily, as if agreeing. Nodding to himself, he would take a look around, before walking over and sitting close to a female dressed in green. He gave her a fleeting look, sort of liking her style, but would turn towards the stage after, absentmindedly petting Tsume, who was now curled up in his lap. Nea really wanted to see what would this show be about.

The hyperactive eleven year old girl would run through the front entrance of the big top tent in front of her. Her eyes would wide in fascination with all the sights that she was seeing, the young girl would bounce up and down before looking back toward the outside and shout at someone. "Come on Senty! The show hasn't started yet!" Moments later Sentinel would enter the tent sighing a bit. She was so hyperactive since she had that cotton candy, he had made a grave error. He could see it in her eyes, hyperactivity that would not cease until she had spent all of her energy.

"Maria, please don't run off from me like that. Remember you promised me." He would say solemnly shaking his head a bit. Maria stopped bouncing for a moment and nodded in apology. He smiled and knelt down and placed a hand on her shoulder, "I just want to make sure you stay safe. I made a promise to your parents, I just want to make sure I keep that promise. You remember how important promises are, right?" He would say. Maria nodded at him again. "Alright let's go find a seat." Maria's happiness seemed to appear right away as she skipped towards an open pair of seats next to a boy with a type of fox. Sentinel had never seen this type of fox and it piqued his curiosity. He would take a seat next to Nea while Maria sat on the opposite seat, she was barely able to contain her excitement. Sentinel would examine the fox for a moment before he decided to ask a simple question.

"Excuse me sir, what breed of fox is that? I have never seen such a type before?" It was a simple question that Nea most likely had gotten before, after all a fox was a rather strange pet to have. From Sentinel's perspectives and experience at least, though he noted that some humans have rather odd behavioral traits.

A boy ended up sitting down right next to Naomi. Dark hair, blue eyes, and, most importantly, a fox on his head. She wasn’t usually one to stare, but it was just, “So cute…” She let the words slip out without thinking. She wanted to touch it so badly. That would be rude though. Instead she kept looking, until it yipped, “OMGit’sjustsocuteIcan’tstandthecutenessyou’reagoodlittlefoxaren’tyou.” All of her words would string together into one unintelligible blob. She was hoping no one heard that. If they did, she was hoping they understood why she said it, “Sorry.” She should apologize anyway. She couldn’t wait for the show to start so that she could move on from this little episode.

Finally, she act was about to begin. There was only one problem. The show didn’t have enough people. Naomi was among the children who sounded disappointed that the show didn’t have enough people. She was also one of the first people to raise her hand when they said they needed a volunteer. She was more than willing to get on stage and help out. Cuore’s finger would land to the person right next to her though. Naomi pouted a little, but realized that she had one opportunity just as good. She would look at him with a smile on her face, “Can I hold the fox for you while you’re up there?” Helping out would have been nice, but animals were just as good.

While he was sitting down, waiting for the show to start, Nea was pretty sure he heard the female next to him say something, but he was a bit too lost in thinking about the upcoming show to listen well enough. And she had spoken a bit too fast even if he had been paying attention. Soon after a few more people came in, probably some of the last, as the show would be starting soon. Nea didn't turn to them at first, but he had noticed the man with a young girl sit down next to him out of the corner of his eye. Quite a number of people came to watch, it seemed. But hey, this kind of stuff was awesome, so that ought to be a fact.

A moment later, Nea got a reason to turn his gaze away from the stage for a bit, the man next to him asking a question. ''It's a polar fox. You know, the kind that usually lives colder places 'n all.'', he would say cheerfully, sporting a slight grin. He didn't really mind answering any questions, and he did get asked similar stuff once in a while after all. Mostly people wanting to know why he had a fox in the first place. This also gave him the opportunity to look at the man a bit more closely. ''By the way, I like your hairstyle, sir.'', he would say after a moment, his habit of saying the first thing on his mind shining through. ''Uh, yeah, nice too meet you. My name is Nea Shirai. Just call me Nea, okay ?'', he would add after a moment, feeling a little awkward, but he wouldn't fail to mention not wanting to be called by his last name either way. He would have most likely said something more, but the show was beginning at that moment, and it would be rude to be loud during that, right?

He would watch intently, almost frowning a bit when the lady Cuore mentioned they didn't have enough people. Well, damn. But, hopefully the show would still be good. 'Ah, nice', he would think to himself, when she said that they were picking volunteers. That was actually a cool idea, and from the response it seemed many young children thought so too. How often does one get to play in a circus, eh? Still, he was quite startled when Cuore pointed at him. That's what they call luck. 'Wow, that's some cool stuff...', he would think, before standing up to give an answer. ''Sure, gimme a moment.'', he'd say, with a light grin. Before he could move, however, the girl sitting on his other side piped up, asking if she could take care of his fox while he was up there. Oh, he didn't even think about that. He probably shouldn't take Tsume with him. ''Yeah, alright, why not?'', he'd say, putting the fox he was currently holding in his hands on the seat. ''Be a good boy, okay Tsume?'', he would order playfully, patting his pet on the head softly. Tsume would yip lightly, before perking his ears towards Naomi, and after a while, bounding over and settling to curl in her lap.

'Well, I should go...' Nea would make his way over to the stage quickly. ''Alright, what do you need me for ?'', he would ask, still keeping his cheerful attitude. He was eager to do anything that was asked of him.

Sentinel nodded, a polar fox that was comfortable in the middle of the summer climates. How interesting had it...ah yes, adapted to the climate? Perhaps it grew shorter fur of some sort? While he was considering the various reasons as to how it had adapted, the young man spoke to him commenting on his hair of all things. That was rather curious, or perhaps awkward? Ah...maybe it was because he spoke about a the furry creature the man had in his lap. "Ah, why thank you. It is a bit difficult to manage at times." Moments later the man introduced himself as Nea Shirai. Sentinel would nod to him, "It is a pleasure to meet you Nea, my name is Alphonse Sentinel, and this is Maria Farren."

The young girl would peak past Sentinel, after she managed to stop observing the interesting world around her and wave to Nea, Hi! Nice to meet you!" However, her eyes were drawn to the fox that he had...it reminded her of a dream she had once. She couldn't help but say, "Fluffy!" It was rather childish of her, but that was just who she was. However, soon after the show Maria would audibly gasp at the stunt, and cheer when Cuore used her whip to swing to safety. It was evident she was quite skilled at acrobatics at such a young age....he just hoped Maria would not get any bright ideas from watching this as she was now cheering with a lot of effort. However, Cuore seemed to have some bad news of how the show was short a person, Maria was without a doubt one of the many children that let out an "awww."

However, the moment the word volunteer was mentioned, Maria was on her seat jumping up and down with excitement. Her hands were above her head waving back and forth. This concerned Sentinel he did not know what the act was, and if Maria could be in danger. When Cuore looked in this direction, he began to panic. Fortunately, Maria was not chosen, and she sat back down a little disappointed in the outcome. Sentinel let out a sigh of relief, though as the volunteer passed he would give Nea a few words of encouragement, "Good luck, Nea."

Naomi would coo almost instantly as the fox jumped into her lap. This was possibly the best day of her life already. He was just too adorable. It was hard to think that he could be anything but a well-trained puppy, not some normally wild animal. She had been distracted for a while by the fox, so when she looked up to see Cuore giving the boy some meat, she was confused.  As soon as the lights came on and the two tigers were revealed, Naomi had to cover the fox’s eyes so he wouldn’t see what was about to happen to his owner. Was Cuore really going to feed him to the tigers? Her mouth would gap open as she watched the two tigers swirl around him. If there was going to be blood everywhere, she wanted to at least get a good look at it. She had to check that thought. That was an aweful thing to be thinking at this moment. What kind of person was she? She nearly started drooling as the cats starting jumping over the boy. They were so cute. She wanted to pet one so badly. Then she remembered the fox in her lap. He was cute too. She was torn between the two of them.

One of them was getting really close to the boy now. So close that it could taste him if it wanted, and it seemed that it did. The tiger stuck out its tongue and gave the boy a lick. The other stole the meat and ran away. She was in shock to say the least. For a split second, she wasn’t sure what had just happened, but as soon as she could she started cheering. She would take her hand away from the fox’s eyes and let him see that his owner was okay. She would then scratch his ear, “You were a good boy. See, he’s okay?” She didn’t know if he understood, but she meant what she said. Even if she had basically tried to hide the event from him, she didn’t doubt he knew what was happening. She would be a little sad to give him back when his owner returned. He was just so cute.

Nea would nod at Sentinel, and give a wide grin towards Maria, when she exclaimed his pet was fluffy. She was quite the cute girl. Maybe he could talk to her after the show ended. ''Thanks.'', he would throw back at Sentinel before setting off for the ring.

As soon as Nea got to his destination, Cuore greeted him by sticking a microphone in front of him, asking for a name. ''I'm Nea. Hello everyone.'', he would say cheerfully, giving the audience a wave for good measure. He would give Cuore a slight look when she seemed to change her sentence midway, but he wasn't truly worried. He was sure this was going to be fun. 'Wow, how unique...' Of course, he had no idea just why the hell was a meatbone just shoved into his hands, but he would go along with the play. Whatever she meant by the kiss part didn't bother him much now. He was too excited about the rest. Besides, she already cartwheeled away, not giving him a chance to inquire. Soon thereafter, roars could be heard. ''Huh?'', he would mumble slightly, before it hit him. 'OOH, animals. This is cool.'

...He was probably one of the few people that would be happy with the prospect of a wild animal near them. In a moment the roars were revealed to be two tigers, that started circling around him, even jumping over him. Despite how dangerous this looked, he didn't even consider running away. He was having too much fun for that, and he had never been scared of animals. Therefrore, he would keep standing there with a grin on his face, showing of his pointed teeth, and watching the tigers move, holding the bone in his hands still. ''Heeey, that wasn't nice.'', he would grumble slightly after the tigers performed their stunt, altough it could easily be heard that he was not annoyed, just amused. His face felt a bit sticky after that lick, but he didn't care. Cuore soon came back in a mischievous mood. When she came near him with her microphone, he would laugh a bit. ''This was fun. I like those tigers.'' The kiss still did not bother him, but he would give Cuore a thumbs up as she blew him one before leaving the stage.

Giving the audience one more wave, he would make his way back to his seat with a happy look on his face. Plopping down on it, he would give Naomi a smile, seeing Tsume still snuggled in her lap. During the show, the fox would have kept sitting there, waving his tail slightly. He would yip a bit when Naomi covered his eyes, but wouldn't protest. The action wasn't really neccessary though, as Tsume had seen Nea with other animals before, even dangerous ones, so he wouldn't be scared by the sight, even if. When Naomi spoke to him afterwards and scratched his ear, he would give a soft sound, nuzzling against her hand. It seemed Tsume liked the girl quite a bit.

Strength:

Sentinel watched as Nea introduced himself to the crowd, and watched Curoe hand him some raw meat? Why on earth would he need that? He watched the star exit the stage and heard two roars from the darkness. As two tigers appeared Sentinel was very glad that Maria wasn't up there...outside of his protection, the mere thought worried him. Maria on the other hand did not fear the cats one bit, in fact she was on the edge of her seat in a trance as she watched the spectacle unfold before her. Her guardian would place a hand on her head, ready to shield her eyes should that spectacle turn....gory.

One would have thought Nea was dealing with domesticated house cats with the almost natural calm he had. Does he enjoy daredevil activities or simply animals? If the former then he should avoid exposing Maria to such dangerous behavior, though she was currently entranced by the show, and let out a slight "eep" when the meat was stolen from Nea's hand. If Nea was the latter then maybe he could teach Maria about responsibility? Perhaps.... Nea would return to his seat, and Maria would look at him with wide eyes. "You were amazing! Were you scared? Sentinel had a feeling he wasn't, which worried him slightly given Maria's awe of Nea's performance.

"Yes, your performance was quite admirable. The entire audience seemed to enjoy it. Do you work with animals often? You seemed pretty natural and calm given your situation. " Sentinel would add his own question.

As the boy came back to his seat and sat down, Naomi’s eyes would light up in amazement, “You were so cool up there. When the tiger jumped over you and then when that one ate the meat, then you just stood there like it was normal. How were you not scared?” Her words were running out of her mouth without any rhyme or reason, “Oh, and your cute little fox here was such a good boy.” She scratched his head a little more as he nuzzled against her hand, “Isn’t that right?” She couldn’t help but think that this fox was probably the cutest thing in the room right now. Yes, tigers were nice, but they weren’t letting her pet them. She would actually be a bit disappointed when she had to give him back, “Oh yeah, your name is…” She would realize she hadn’t asked until now. She had overheard him say it a bit earlier, but it was rude to let him know that. She would then point to the fox, “You called him Tsume earlier, right?” Leave it to her to learn the foxes name first.
 
As soon as he gave her an answer or ignored the question, she would turn to see what she could only assume were clowns. She let out a decently loud laugh as Cuore exchanged some banter with them and they looked disappointed in return. The left the stage, only so it could be announced that more people were going to be called from the audience. Naomi raised her hand as high as it would go without having to stand so Tsume wasn’t disturbed. She wanted a chance to be up on that stage and helping with the act. But, she was skipped over once again. Instead, a little girl and her (maybe) father were picked. She could only assume that was their relationship, since he seemed to be the only adult there with her and she was too young to be out on her own. Naomi would pout a little bit and then go back to petting Tsume. Luck was not on her side today, “Do you like me at least?” She would ask the fox, hoping he did understand what she was saying.

Nea would smile, when Maria exclaimed he was amazing immediately after he came back. Sentinel made his assumptions as well. ''Yeah, I did work with animals. I had worked as a part time in a Zoo before I moved. And there was a forest nearby my old place, so I hung out with wild animals a lot to pass time. So yeah, I'm not really scared of animals. I see them as my friends.'' , he would respond in an excited tone. Any topic regarding animals always made him perk up. His attention was soon diverted by the girl that was taking care of Tsume. ''Haha, thanks. I'm really used to animals by now, so they don't scare me anymore.'', he would answer with a playful grin. Tsume would tilt his head a bit when she complimented him, and Nea would give a short laugh. ''Yeah, looks that way. But he can be a little daredevil too, so don't get fooled.''

When she asked for his name, he would give it without hesitation. ''I'm Nea. And you are...?'', he would ask in return. It would be nice to know, after all she did take care of his pet. ''That's his name, yes.'', he would add when she asked about Tsume. But aside from all that, the performance was moving on, and after the pair of cyclists were shooed by Cuore, she decided to pick more volunteers. Surprisingly she landed on Sentinel and Maria this time. ''Oh, isn't this cool? Have fun and good luck you two.'', he would wish them optimistically. Tsume meanwhile, would still happily snuggle in the girl's lap, licking her hand when she asked whether he liked her. ''I think you're pretty cool too.'', Nea would say positively, not wanting to see her sad about not being picked. He would pay attention to the show too, of course.