Alfred hissed as the doctor disinfected a gash in his side.
The doctor shook his head, and Alfred prepared for another lecture. Nearly every doctor gave him the same spiel, so Alfred was more than ready to tune him out.
"Now why in the world would you jump from such a height? A young kid like you is gonna end up dead before your twenty-first birthday." Alfred chuckled at this, not a care in the world.
"What's life without a little risk and fun?" He retorted. The doctor shook his head but accepted Alfred's money, after cleaning him up and prescribing some spray that would speed up the healing process.
"Be more careful; not all doctors accept money and treat people without all their medical info, you know." He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but wasn't one to reject someone obviously in need, especially if they had the money to be treated upfront.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Thanks for patching me up, doc!" Alfred chuckled as he walked away slowly, holding his side. He wasn't in as much pain anymore, though it was obvious he wouldn't be performing for the next month.
He sighed and Matthew met up with him outside the doctor's office, and helped him to their crowded hotel room that they shared with two other performers.
Working with a traveling circus certainly hadn't been Alfred's dream career. When his brother and him were kids, Alfred wanted to be an astronaut, or a firefighter, or a cop (it changed every week, it seemed), and Matthew wanted to be a teacher or author.
How they ended up there, of all places, is a bit of a nightmare to all involved.
Their father was a performer for another circus, and their mother had long ago died. They lived with their kind grandmother, in a small house in the country.
It was a peaceful existence, if nothing more.
Still, both of them itched for more excitement and a break from routine. Alfred more than Matthew-Alfred had been restless from the start, always trying to get his brother to join in his escapades and adventures. While Matthew was indeed the quieter of the two, there was no doubt that the same routine every day got boring, even with the most placid and mildest of people.
Both could barely contain their joy when their grandmother had handed them two small tickets, saying that the show was the next day.
The circus had come to town, much to everyone's joy and pleasure. Alfred and Matthew went down to the circus, as planned, with a friend of their grandma's. They were immediately amazed by the tricks, the exotic animals, the people, the dancing, the music…everything. They giggled and screamed in excitement throughout the show, and during half-time they got to ride an elephant and camel.
They loved it so much they decided they didn't want to leave.
As it was closing the next day, the boys went back without letting anyone else know. Their grandmother looked everywhere for the young boys; she called the police not even an hour later, and still no one could find them. The two hid in the darkness of the bleachers at first, and when those were taken down, they quickly switched to the truck where the tent was kept.
As they both looked back, they realized it was an idiotic idea. They ended up traveling about three hours south, clear to another state.
By the time the truck was opened again, both were nearly starving and thirsty, not to mention extremely uncomfortable and cramped. The members merely shook their heads and thought that one of the performer's children had been causing mischief. They sent them to do some basic work, not expecting much from children.
It wasn't until two siblings, Ivan and Yekaterina, realized that the two didn't belong nearly a week later when payday rolled around. Ivan realized first; he went to his sister, the financial coordinator, who then noticed that two extra heads had been added into the mix that weren't on the payroll or marked down as someone's children.
Ivan shook his head, hoping at least one of the two had a useful skill he could sell.
"Now, what do we have here? Did your parents drop you two off, thinking that the circus would take care of you with no troubles?" He stated more than asked, kneeling on one knee to meet (who he assumed to be) the elder brother's gaze. He had shorter hair than the other, and seemed to be much more outgoing and daring. Hesitating, the elder nodded, his brother hiding behind him.
Ivan chuckled and outstretched his hand. "I have pity for you, then. You may stay, as long as you earn your room and board. Sound good, little devils?"
Having been so young and not knowing what else to do, they looked to each other, and the elder outstretched his hand and accepted the offer with a brave smile.
"We'll take it!" He said eagerly, as his younger brother's face brightened up.
Ivan gave a firm squeeze to his hand and stood up. "Then you'll start with simple tasks, and perhaps one of the performers will apprentice you in their art. Do not waste time or money, got it?" Both boys nodded. "Good. I and the others will show you the ropes; do not make me feel as though I've made a bad investment." He warned, not too keen on having his performers work on something that wouldn't bear fruit.
The boys once again nodded. Ivan smiled and waved goodbye, heading towards the direction of his own tent. On the way he instructed his sister to find a place for them to stay permanently.
She led them to her own tent, with a few other girls.
After that, she and the boys became very close, Yekaterina acting as an adoptive older sister for the two.
As it turned out, Matthew, the shy and quiet one, was the older of the two. Not by much though, since they were twins. Alfred seemed to take the role of the protective older brother, throwing a fit when Matthew wanted to apprentice to someone.
Alfred himself had found a teacher quickly. The boy started his training as a daredevil, more than willing to throw himself into danger and perform dangerous stunts to entertain. He greatly enjoyed it, even when he was warned that the job came with an incredible amount of injuries.
Finally, the two settled on something for Matthew. Matthew would be one of the animal trainers and tamers, learning under the watchful eyes of Ivan and two others.
A month had passed, both of the boys barely three to four weeks into their training. With a little nudging and pushing, Matthew convinced Alfred to call their grandmother.
During their down time, they went to a payphone outside the hotel they were staying at and called her.
She was in near hysterics. "Alfie, Mattie! Oh, please tell me you're both fine! Where have you two been? My lord, I took you both for dead! Oh, my poor grandbabies, you're probably alone and starving and-"
"We're fine, grandma! Matt and I are with circus!" Alfred informed her excitedly, all previous nervousness forgotten. "I'm gonna be a daredevil, and he's gonna be a lion tamer!" Matthew squeaked and attempted to tell him that he would be around more than just lions, but Alfred ignored him and kept blabbering on about the circus, barely letting their grandmother get any words in.
"Devils!" A thickly accented voice rang out. "Practice time, right now! Stop playing with the phone!" Ivan came up behind them and Alfred rushed out a quick 'Goodbye, grandma!' before Ivan hung up the phone. He shooed them off in the direction of the practice area, assuring them there would be play time later.
Matthew sighed and Alfred giggled. As young children, they weren't too concerned with how safe or legal everything was that they were doing.
Their grandmother received calls often, though the twins neglected to tell her where they were at. Unfortunately, she either passed away or she decided to stop picking up the phone not even three weeks after the first call.
The twins had been sad at first, but like all children who barely knew a relative, didn't think too much of it. As six year olds, they couldn't quite grasp the idea of death, and believed that their grandmother's phone had been disconnected, and they'd still find her there if they ever decided to return.
They started to write letters, which of course went unanswered as they never posted a return address.
Their minds were kept busy with life at the circus, which had already proved to be much more exciting than the peaceful and quiet existence they had been living beforehand.
A/N: Well, this is my first real fanfic! Please review, constructive criticism is greatly welcomed. I came up with this last night as I was talking to my best friend, since she herself is writing a fanfic. This chapter took about two hours to write, so I apologize if it's sloppy and seems unplanned. I'll try to update as much as possible, and chapter two is already half-way done!