(Chiel is a friend's half-maren. He appears almost completely human, except for the claws, horns, and round head of a maren. His eyes and shoulder-length hair are purple, and his skin is pale.

Mica: celestriakle. deviantart .com/art/Deca-Mica-183587587

Read and review, please.)

The sun beat down on the black and green circus tent and the half-maren teen who stood just outside of it, gazing up. Chiel's hands sweated as he pushed open the heavy flap of a door, and not from the heat alone. To his relief, the temperature dropped miles upon entrance to the dark space, and he carefully navigated his way amongst the stands to the sweet spot of the stadium, the place where the view was best. He was just in time.

A light layer of fog swam within the stadium walls and a few dim purple spotlights illuminated the only figure onstage. High up among the billows of the ceiling, Mica slowly stepped out onto the tightrope, her expression a grin of focus. She moved slowly and precisely, the gentle pace further emphasizing this show of focus and grace. Always walking, she bent over, slowly raising her legs up into a handstand. Never stopping, she lowered herself into a back bend, then flipped up, bouncing off the taunt rope to land on her hands in the center. With careful control, she lowered her legs, touching each shin to a mask, and bent her elbows, then sprang up, lifting her whole body and snapping her toes together. Her hands passed the rope; her toes caught instead, and, swinging, she bowed to the wild clapping of her sole audience member. "Thank you, thank you~"

She swung off the rope—it required going around a couple of times—and somersaulted to the floor, but when she looked up, Chiel was gone. "Huh..—Ack!" she cried as she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist.

"That was great!" Chiel cried, squeezing her.

Jade laughed and hugged Chiel. "I'm glad you liked it. It was fun to do."

"You really do experience everything Mica does, don't you...?" He pushed her shoulders off to the side, peering back at the dormant Mica. Patiently but firmly, Jade moved her hands to his shoulders and righted them.

"Yes, I do."

"Then... She'll hear me when I say... You looked really pretty up there," he said shyly, looking away.

She slipped a hand under his chin and forced him to look at her. "Hey..." Blushing lightly, he averted her eyes. "Look at me." Reluctantly, he obeyed, and she smiled. "Thank you."