Now, bear with me, but I thought this would be an interesting plot to work with. But excuse for my lack of knowledge of the life of the performers and such, I'm really trying my best. I'm hoping there aren't too many mistakes and the wording doesn't confuse you guys. I hope to be abel to keep my inspiration for this story, and I would love some reviews with suggestions for future chapters. (: I don't own anything, ect.
Never once have I fallen off my trapeze. Never. It was unthinkable, for anyone. My timing is always precise. It was my talent. An art I had mastered. Swinging trapeze. It wasn't difficult for me. Not one bit. I've been doing it for years. But today, I fell, falling hard on back onto the mats on the ground. I've never touched these mats. Only for a few seconds as I get on my trapeze and then I'm air borne, nothing able to bring me down. But not today.
Stares, I could feel them. They knew this had never happened before. I was trained and trained well. Yet here I was, staring up at my still swinging trapeze and the pain shaking my body. The shock caused my eyes to go wide and stare upwards, not registering that I should sit up.
What… What the hell happened?
"Sora… did you fall?" My brother's voice rang in my ears.
"I-I…" I stuttered. How was I supposed to answer? I never fell not once. Perfect performer, that's who I was.
"You're not hurt are you?" Vanitas suddenly exclaimed. Messing up was one thing, but being injured was another. No way would Xemnas let me perform if I was hurt.
My eyes went wide at the realization. I quickly stood back up, making sure I had broken something. I was fine, thankfully, but the shock was still with me.
"I'm fine. Just…" I looked at my trapeze. My trapeze. What could've cause my plunge to the ground? Was my timing off? Or was my trapeze starting to fail me, old and unusable? No that couldn't be it.
My brother, who looked at me with surprise, continued to ask e if I was hurt, but I was too out of it to answer.
"Sora!" He finally yelled, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"I made a mistake… that's all," was my answer. A mistake. I can't make mistakes. If I do, I could plunge to my death during a performance. No mistakes.
His forehead was still creased with worry.
"Won't happen today. Now go back to practicing," I ordered, wondering why my brother was practicing his imperfect hand balancing act.
Vanitas's expression became irritated. "Fine. Just be careful. You're good, but don't get cocky Sora."
I rolled my eyes as my brother walked away. Within seconds, I was back on my trapeze.
Swinging, swinging, getting as high as I possible could and then clearing my mind of everything, thinking ahead to every movement, every turn, twist, flip, and free fall which I would catch myself before plummeting to the floor. Yes, I was going to this right. Clear mind. No other thought besides me and my perfect trapeze act. Except…
Quite a distance away from me was the newbie, our flying man, a young silver haired boy, maybe just a year older than myself. And for the seconds I watched him, he was flawless, even if he was just practicing. He never looked afraid up on the bungee, he just owned it. Reminded me of myself and my trapeze. I was in complete awe, watching him practice with such grace, grace that seemed like it took years to master. Grace unlike my own. For that moment in which I was distracted, my foot slipped from my the bar, and I barely caught myself, pulling myself back onto my trapeze, my heart beating fast.
God damn it, what was wrong with me?
With a heavy sigh, I lowered myself from my trapeze. I needed a break. I was working myself too hard. I was being distracted. I needed time to focus and rest. Yeah, that's what I needed.
I walked towards my trailer, the one I shared with my brother, the one that I've lived in for 2 years, right out of high school. It was my home, at least more of home than I had before.
As I reached for the handle of the slightly rusted door, there was a hand on my shoulder.
"Hey are you okay?" The voice was smooth, calming, sweet sounding. The voice of a certain silverette.
"Yeah," was my answer, my oh so creative response as I turned around.
I looked at Riku, already irritated that he had distracted (albeit that was my fault for staring) but also the fact that I had to look up at him when he was the rookie.
"Are you sure? That was quite a fall there." His voice was full of genuine concern. Why would this kid be worried about me? He was probably older than me, but still, I have the authority over him. Right?
"I'm fine." The sharp tone in my voice was probably uncalled for but I was just a little more than pissed. Mostly at myself. Why and how in the hell did I make not one, but two mistakes? How did I get so distracted?
Looking at Riku reminded me. His grace, beauty, his perfection… That had left me in awe and had caught my attention. And it wasn't just his act. Up close, I realized it was his being as well. His teal eyes looking at me with such a genuinely caring expression had left me almost breathless. Why was I being so rude to him?
"S-Sorry, I'm just kind of upset. I've never messed up before," I admitted, feeling ashamed of snapping at him.
A chuckle escaped his lips.
"Everyone makes mistakes, it's not a big deal." His smile was as breathtakingly beautiful as his eyes.
"But I can't afford to make mistakes." I really couldn't. This was the only thing I had. This circus was the only family I had besides my brother and it was one of the most amazing experience to be a part of.
"I need to rest, sorry for being so rude, I just really need to clear my head," I said, rushed, because all I wanted to do was get in my trailer and get this Riku out of my mind. He was gorgeous, but so distracting. I couldn't take an interest in him. No, he was my colleague, no way could I take any sort of interest in him besides friendship.
"Let's take a break together then. How about we get something to eat? I'm sure you must be starving from practicing so hard."
Eat? Food was the last thing on my mind. But why couldn't I resist his offer? Yeah, I've been practicing since 6 a.m. and it's almost noon, but honestly, I wasn't hungry at all.
"Sure, sounds good to me." I couldn't help but smile a bit. Just a tiny bit.
"Great." he said this with such enthusiasm that it surprised me. I would expect him to be at least a bit ticked off at how I had initially acted, even if I did apologize.
It was a rare occasion that I left the circus grounds, I always felt safer near the tents. Usually Vanitas would bring me food to eat at the end of the day because he knew I would go days without eating if he didn't. It wasn't restricted for us to leave. Xemnas didn't mind. He knew we worked hard and didn't care if we took 1 break or 100, just as long as our performance was as best as it could be.
But even so, I didn't feel the need to leave the grounds. That, and I just didn't feel comfortable away from the comfort of my one and only home. It just didn't feel right. It was hard for y own brother to get me to come along with him when he wanted to explore the town we were in for a bit. It was difficult, you could say. But without hesitation or any argument, I followed the silverette beauty I only first talked to moments ago.
If you got to the end of this, I shall send you a big hug and kiss.