A.N. - I don't own nothin'. Wait, I do own nothing. I don't own anything. Get it? Everyone belongs to Darren Shan, not me. Only the plot is mine. Damn.

Ephemeral Flowers

For Inyx, – for your birthday which is in three month's time, but I was too easily bribed to write one early. I'll write another one for your real birthday when the time comes.

'Truskaaaa. . . '

The snake boy threw his head up to look into the slender woman's eyes, a slight pout forming at his scaled cheeks. Truska laughed, and pushed Evra's head back to make him face in front again.

'Stupid boy. Don't move. Do you want end up looking like Vancha?'

'Who's Vancha?'

'Never you mind. A very ugly man I know. Keep still, or I cut you ears off.'

She scolded, clipping the scissors skilfully as Evra's yellowish green hair fell to the floor of her van. Evra sighed in his wooden chair, swinging his legs, still pouting but keeping quiet from fear of looking like 'Vancha', whoever that was. A few minutes later, Truska finished clipping with the scissors – she then popped the pouting Evra into her bubble bath, and slopped on his head some perfume-smelling liquid.

'Wash.'

'But it smells girly!'

'Rose shampoo. It smell nice. All the girls run after you.'

'Ewwwww!'

'Wash.'

Evra poked his snake-like tongue out, but did as Truska told him. While he washed in the bath, Truska mended his shorts, humming a foreign tune, sewing a little E on the pocket just for fun. Evra closed his eyes, sinking himself into the bath until the bubbles frothed around his chin. He decided to try again with the question he was trying to ask before.

'Truskaaa,'

'Yes, Evra?'

'Um. . . . if you wanted to. . . . . make someone happy, what do you do?'

Evra blushed slightly, sinking into the bubbles a little further to hide his face as Truska stopped her hand and eyed him shrewdly with her charming stormy eyes.

'Mr Tall?'

'What? How did you know. . . !'

Evra poked his head out completely, sitting up abruptly in the warm bath and spilling water all over the floor. Truska giggled.

'Because Hibernius in his grumpy sad moods this week, and you like him. A lot.'

She added, winking. Evra's pale green cheeks blushed a complicated mix of pink and green, as he bit his lip and sank into the bubbles again. Truska laughed, and went back to her sewing as she smiled and suggested:

'How about flowers? Everyone like flowers. It's autumn now, there's some flowers in field outside. You go pick them, I wrap up, you give to Hibernius.'

'. . . . . but flowers are for girls!'

'No, flowers are for everyone. Hibernius loves cosmos. Lots of cosmos outside. Now, get those bubbles off, wash your hair off and pick flowers!'

And so Truska hushed the complaining Evra, dunked him in the bath, pulled him out, dried him off, pulled his shorts on and handed him a basket, pushing him out of the door. So Evra spent the next few hours running around the twilight autumn fields just outside the cirque, picking wild cosmos, singing and skipping through the long-grass, thinking about his older friend, wondering if he'd like the flowers.

'Mr Tall! Mr Taaall!'

Evra knocked at his large van's door. No answer. There was no show tonight so he should be inside. Evra frowned and tried again.

'Mr Ta. . .'

'Please, Evra. . . . not now.'

He heard a faint, deep voice from inside – he was always like this when he was in one of his broody moods. Evra pouted.

'But I have something for you, sir!'

'. . . Later.'

'But sir – the flowers – they won't last!'

Evra said, then bit his lip quickly – the flowers were supposed to be a secret! Evra cursed himself, as the van door opened slowly and an exhausted looking tall man stared down at him with dark charcoal eyes. They were dead again. Sometimes Mr Tall's eyes looked dead. Truska said that was because Mr Tall could see things he didn't want to see – and that made him sad and miserable and dead. Evra didn't like Mr Tall being sad and miserable and dead. He liked Mr Tall when he was funny - when he'd pick him up, put him on his lap and sing songs of faraway lands – when he'd help him wash his snake, when he'd run his long fingers through his hair, or when he touched his scaly skin so affectionately.

Evra stared up at the man, his innocent emerald eyes open wide. Mr Tall sighed, not able to turn down such a look.

'Come in, Evra. . .'

He smiled weakly, opening the door for the little boy as he stumbled inside and jumped at his favourite, fluffy sofa. He jumped on it a few times while Mr Tall closed the door and locked it – but stopped when he realised that he was ruining the bouquet wrapping. He decided to give them to Mr Tall before he did any more jumping.

'Mr Tall. . .'

Evra jumped down and ran towards the man –

'I picked these for you. Truska said that you liked cosmos. Um. . . .'

He pushed the wrapped flowers into Mr Tall's hands, and smiled nervously with a blush.

'I like them too. I think the purple ones are pretty. And. . . and. . .'

'Thankyou, Evra.'

Mr Tall said absent-mindedly, not looking at Evra as he took the flowers and walked over to the table where he put them down. He then sank into the fluffy chair, covering his face with his hands, sighing deeply in exhaustion. Evra ran over to him and sat on his lap, facing Mr Tall, wiggling to make himself comfortable and closer.

'Do you like them?'

'. . . . Yes, I do.'

'Really?'

'. . . . Really.'

Mr Tall mumbled, still not looking at Evra. Evra pouted. Not even that worked, as Mr Tall wouldn't look at him. There was a long silence. All Evra could hear was his own breathing and Mr Tall's deep sighs – Evra reached out a little and grabbed the bouquet from the table, pulling a purple cosmos out and showing it to Mr Tall.

'See, Truska taught me this. You can use flowers to tell if someone loves you or not. You wouldn't need to use flowers, though, because you can see things, Truska said.'

'. . . . . . . .'

'Is that true?'

'. . . . Yes, Evra.'

'Can you tell straight away if someone's. . . . . in love with you?'

Evra mumbled the question, blushing slightly and fiddling with the stem of the flower.

'. . . . .Yes.'

Was Mr Tall's reply – Evra sighed. So he must know already. There's no use hiding his feelings, then. Maybe that's why Mr Tall's been avoiding him for these few days.

'There's no way for me to tell, though.'

Evra said shakily, gripping the fragile flower in his tiny scaly hands.

'So Truska taught me how to do it with flowers.'

He plucked a petal off the pale purple cosmos, let it go and watched it fall onto Mr Tall's lap.

'You love me,' Evra plucked another petal out, 'you love me not.'

Evra continued taking the petals off the fragile flower, soft purple slowly piling on Mr Tall's lap.

'You love me, you love me not. You love me, you love me not. You love me,'

Evra plucked out the fourth last one, and looked at the other three. He could tell now, what the result would be. He bit his lip in despair, but kept on going for the heck of it –

'You love me not. You. . . .'

He was cut short, as Mr Tall's hand cupped over the remaining two petals, and crushed the flower to pieces. The miserably squashed flower and its crumpled remaining petals fell to his lap, onto the bed of purple petals.

'Don't be stupid.'

He growled, glaring down at Evra. Mr Tall was intimidating beyond all words when he was angry – Evra curled up tight, pulling away from the slim man's chest. With timid, frightened eyes he looked up into the older man's eyes – and saw the death disappear. Mr Tall's expression changed from anger, to resignation, to that of affection. He lowered his head to meet Evra's, and kissed the snakeboy's scaly forehead.

'Of course I love you.'

'. . . . Really?'

Evra's dark-jade eyes filled with tears, and he quickly wiped them off with his hands before Mr Tall could see them. Mr Tall smiled, wrapped his long arms around the boy and pulled him into his chest.

'Really.'

'Why didn't you talk to me all week, then?'

'Because. . .' Mr Tall sighed, biting his lip, 'because I have been looking into your future, Evra.'

'Is it that bad?'

Evra said worriedly, gazing up into Mr Tall's sorrowful eyes. Mr Tall shook his head.

'No, it is full of light, happiness, and joyous days. You will make many friends, you will have a family, you will live happily.'

'Here? In the cirque?'

'Yes, here in the cirque.'

'. . . With you?'

'. . . . . . . . .'

'You'll be here, right?'

'I will be here for as long as I am meant to be. But on the day of your greatest loss. . .'

He paused, and shook his head forlornly. Evra looked close to tears.

'Will that be soon, Mr Tall?'

'No. Not for years. Decades, perhaps.'

'I don't care, then.'

Evra tucked his head into the man's chest, clutching his cloak, tears in his voice.

'I don't care, as long as you're here now, and you love me.'

'I do love you, Evra.'

Mr Tall tilted Evra's chin up with a finger, and kissed him softly on his lips, making him moan and blush bright pink. But before Evra had time to say anything back, Mr Tall pulled Evra into his chest again, embracing him tightly, the soft scent of roses from the snakeboy's lime green hair making him smile. He held the embrace for long, keeping the boy warm in his cloak and his chest – until he felt the boy's steady breathing telling of his sleep. Mr Tall lay the boy in a spare hammock, took his cloak off and covered the boy with it, watching his peaceful, innocent sleeping face.

'One day you'll understand. . . . . why I grieve for you, Evra Von.'

Mr Tall tore his eyes away from the beautiful snake-boy, and looked at the cosmos flowers on the table instead. He loved autumn flowers. Especially cosmos. His eyes drifted towards the fluffy sofa – on it lay the pale purple flower which he had crushed. He picked it up, looked at it closely, and laughed out loud. Behind the two remaining petals was one more petal – small and hidden, pale but sweet.

'He loves you, he loves you not, . . . . he loves you. It turned out to be the truth, after all, Evra.'

Mr Tall smiled broadly like he never usually did, knowing that Evra was in deep, peaceful sleep for now, and that he was happy. That's all that mattered to Mr Tall, after all.