Hello: The Characters' First Meeting
"'Ello there," She chirped, loud and bright and impossible to ignore. "Finian, isit?"
A wide indigo eye blinked before registering the child who'd spoken. "Yes...Hello."
He spoke quietly; she figured he was shy. Doll herself was never shy, but then, she'd never been caught in a circle of unfamiliar people, forced to prove herself. She wished she could tell this boy that these people were her family, and that they were nice, but there was no time. Already Dagger was handing this Finian the throwing knives. All Doll could say was, "Hold it like a hammer, and keep your wrist stiff."
"Thanks." That deep blue orb cut to her again, and a small smile quirked the boy's lips—not like he was grateful, but like he was enjoying a private joke.
That look cut to her heart like Finian's blade sunk into the target:
Wunk.
Bullseye.
.
.
.
Truth: What One Character Really Thinks of the Other
"Please, Brother Joker, Pleeeeease," Doll hopped along to keep up with the ringleader's pace, hands clasped in prayer—the most contrite little circus girl who'd never gone to church.
"Playing at being a boy is one thing," The red-headed performer said in an uncharacteristically serious tone, "but sharing a room with one is another."
"Ugh!" Doll stuck her out her tongue and scrunched her face in a perfect mask of frustration.
At this, Joker laughed and patted the girl's head, mussing her shaggy, cinnamon brown hair. Doll scowled back playfully and nudged the strands back into place, careful to cover the shiny pink scar that warped her right eye. Finian—Smile now—had an eye patch, she'd seen it. She wondered who or what had done that to him, made him half-blind like she was. Doll thought it funny that between the two of them, they had one perfectly good pair of eyes: she with the left and Smile with the right.
Doll knew that she would wear Joker down by the end of the night; she didn't ask for much, but now all she wanted was a chance to get close to the beautiful young boy with the crisp voice and the secretive smile.
In a word, Doll was fascinated.