It was about seven in the morning when Splendorman woke up, yawning widely and stretching his long limbs with a gradual groan in his throat. Then, just as he began to get up, he froze, looking around wildly. "Tash?" The red-headed female was nowhere to be found and it made him worried quite quickly. "Ta—" And just then, her head poked into the tent, her hair damp and hanging about her shoulders. In her arms was a towel and her grey schooling clothes from last night.

Seeing his open mouth, which was pulled into a frown, she gave a soft smile and waved before signing, 'Sorry. I didn't know you'd be up so early!' Splendy held a hand to where his heart would be before he sat on the bed, heaving a sigh.

"I thought you got kidnapped or something," he murmured, looking at her again to see her giving him this look. It was a rather motherly look, or would it be determined as sassy? She had turned her face slightly to the side more and raised an elegant eyebrow in his direction. It was a look that said, "Are you kidding me?"

Splendor gave a nervous laugh, now moving to mess with his fingers sheepishly. Tash smiled and moved over to him, setting her clothing down and the towel to gently hug his shoulders, signing, 'At least you care, though.' With an arm, the male returned the hug, chuckling with a nod. "Yeah, I do."

With a sigh, however, the male moved to get up again, rolling his shoulders. "Figured out how to take a bath then?" She nodded and began signing away again.

'Yes. I washed my clothes while I was there. Heating it wasn't so hard, and the river was close by, so I assumed you got your water from there. I saw a couple of fish there too, but I decided to just peel an orange for this morning.' Splendy blinked, rather surprised she knew exactly what to do.

"…Ah. Well, either way, I've got another show tonight for those coming again. It'll last for another three days, so you got lucky!" Tash clapped her hands excitedly, knowing she was going to be able to experience it all as well. "But…there's a problem." Boy did she pause, looking up at him with wide eyes. Soon enough, she got another look on her face in a split second. This time it was completely unamused.

'If you're saying I'm not going to be able to come with you, I'll stalk you.' Splendy could've sworn he felt a shiver go down his 'own' spine. And if that didn't say enough, she was folding her arms.

Women were scary.

Splendy scratched his head, looking at the female before he pointed to her hair. "Well, if you're running from the orphanage and sidekicks, then we're going to have to hide your hair. Maybe add facepaint, give you a new hat or something. Tell you what," he started, grasping her hands in his own white fingers, "I'll ask a brother of mine to help you out. And 'I'll' buy it. How does that sound—oomph!"

Once again, the tall one was tackled over, the female completely comfortable with this new snuggle buddy. 'Thank you, thank you, thank you!' Tash smiled before she jumped up, holding her hands out to him. For a moment, the male hesitated, thinking about the situation in a momentary new light.

To get his attention, Tash bumped his hip with her foot, causing him to blink, even jump a little, before he was taking her hands. Once he stood up, she was signing. 'How much do you weigh?'

"Why?" Splendor tipped his head to the side, watching her.

'You're as light as a feather! And you're a guy!'

"And you're a woman, and as far as I know, you're light too."

'Am I—wait, EVEN IF I'M A WOMAN, THAT DOES NOT MEAN I CAN BE FAT!'

Splendor gripped his hat before he dodged a kick. "I'm sorrryyy! I didn't mean it like that! I mean like pregnancy!"

'And I'm not pregnant!' she signed, despite seeing his back. But it definitely exploded in her mind.

Hiking up those imaginary skirts of his, Splendor took off at a very comical run. He wasn't even trying as he practically did the can-can all the way to the opposite side of the place. Tash was only at the tent before she collapsed, squeaking with laughter into the dew-showered ground. She couldn't help it!

Splendy looked to the female and grinned, watching her even start rolling around on the ground. He chuckled and moved over to calm her down, but, it was a definite trap as she smacked his hand. "Ow!"

She sighed for a long moment, out of breath before she straightened. 'You deserved that.' And once again, he was helping her up to her feet and they continued on this time, Tash a little wet but fine. Taking a left to the road up ahead, he went into a small store. "Brother?"

"I'm in the back!" Splendy held up a finger before he disappeared into the back room, allowing Tash to look around. This store was 'full' of high-quality fabrics. The colors were amazing, rating from numerous rainbows to primary colors and so many more. There was a dress off to the side, labled 'Carrie Rove' to show that whoever was here made it.

Tash walked up with an open mouth, doing her best to not touch the fabrics at all. It was like velvet, silk just from sight! The color was glorious, being this teal mixed with sky blue. The bottom of the dress was lace which went longer towards the calves than the knees. The sleeves were, too, a pretty blue lace, going from shoulders to elbow. She stared, knowing a street rat like her would never be able to wear it.

Without warning, there was a sharp snap of a tape measure, causing her to jump and spin around, but Splendy was already walking away. "Don't worry. All I did was take your measurements." He looked over his shoulder to see her signing away.

'S-Since when!?'

"A minute ago," he said, nonchalantly and leaving her open-mouthed. He had been gone ever since they came through the door and about five seconds later, he was measuring her!? Tash seemed to think for a long while about this, remembering last night when he had managed to grab her 'and' her guitar. She was suddenly unsure but she trusted Splendorman, with all her heart.

Heaving a soft sigh, she began to walk around again, examining all that she could before she nestled herself into a comfortable seat. With a pleased face, she got comfortable, soon curling up there and even deciding to take a nap. After what felt like two minutes, a gentle hand was shaking her away. "Hey, Tash. Wake up."

The tired female did after a moment, looking up to her companion who smiled that same, sweet smile. But his eyes were still hidden. She sat upright and stretched, noticing the sudden color chart of scarlet and mint sitting there. "What color do you like best?" Without hesitation, she pointed and there was a cry of joy from the back.

"Ha! I got it right!" Splendorman blinked before he began to head off towards the back, poking his head in. A mint colored fabric covered his head and he moved to check it out, holding up the fabric in his hands just out of Tash's sight, who immediately attempted to move to look at it. "Have these too, brother." And after a little bit, the thin man was bringing back clothing, juts for the female. "Alrighty. Now that he's finally done, try these on."

Tash soon shrugged and walked off into a nearby dressing room. In the meantime, Splendy went off for some food, knowing there wasn't much time before the circus began its daily check-up on ropes and other games. The female didn't take too much time but she gazed over several different outfits.

What she liked about them all was that they were modest looking, keeping a good majority of her legs hidden and no unnecessary cleavage hanging from neither side nor front. Deciding to wear one today and return Splendy's, she gathered it all up and folded them neatly, feeling surprisingly alright despite her recent accident. She dared not to look at it that time as she soon left, even trying on a small, paperboy cap with a tiny diamond buckle and comfy flip-flops.

As she walked out, Splendor wasn't surprised at all to see her have this more unique sway to her step and an even brighter smile. The grey tones really didn't match her personality. Sure, her eyes were grey but…somehow, they took up a beautiful blue outline now. "Wow. Trendy did a good job."

Another pale hand stuck out of the room, holding up a thumb before a head poked out for a fraction of a second. Just as she turned to look, they were gone. "Perfect! I'd speak French to express my gratitude for you taking all of those clothes. Also, fabulous." Tash gave a raspy giggle into her hand before moving to Splendor's side, signing lightly as he put everything in a bag. For a moment, he simply wondered if the orphanage taught young girls to actually act like women, more than their age. Not fun at all!

Catching her signing, he looked to her. "Oh! Yeah, we all have the same names, technically. That's…that's a long story. A-Anyway-!" The red-head decided not to push it, realizing that she knew something should be clicking into place for her. Hm…

"Here!" A small cup of icecream was soon under her nose, and just like that, her stomach growled. Oh, right. She hadn't eaten breakfast. Tenderly, she accepted the treat and began to scoop up a spoonful and put the delicacy in her mouth. "Aha, whoa there! Pass out 'after' we get done with this shopping spree."

She nodded, soon helping him pick up the bags with the ice cream in one hand. "This is why you need a car, Splendy! Because your girlfriend can get anything she wants!" Both of their faces flushed before Tash put his icecream in her mouth. Grabbing it between her teeth, she signed to the door as Splendor spoke, " 'We are not a couple!' " Then they looked to one another, blinking at their exact thought.

Soon enough, Splendy was moving out, pale face now a soft shade of red. "Alright. Anywhere you wanna go?" She seemed to think for a moment before she shook her head, motioning to the bags and then signing again, cup of ice cream between her teeth, 'You have work.'

Splendy smiled and nodded, beginning to head off with her. "How thoughtful of you." She smiled in return before they were both walking back, chatting lightly before slipping into his tent. Soon enough, the two were chatting before he had to depart to work with his other crewmates, the sun high up in the sky by now. The circus itself opened at 5:00pm and with this thought in mind, the female took the time to stitch up her guitar bag and school clothes. Why not?

Doing this kept her busy for an hour or so as she waited, trying to remember, remember hard, why their names were so similar. Finally, it rolled around. For fun, she had dressed up again, getting into a mint-colored sundress and wearing white sandals, a headband following suit before she was bouncing about, looking for Splendor. But, then again, wouldn't he be busy? He 'was' managing this place after all.

She pursed her lips a bit before she began to wander around the area, soon stuttering at the large amount of people already and the colored lights again! Tash hopped around energetically before she was wandering everywhere. Or, at least that was she almost did if she hadn't smacked into her favorite friend.

"Whoa, easy there. You can't go anywhere without money. Here." Splendor handed over the money towards her and she slowly took it between delicate fingers, looking back up to him after a moment, hugging him firmly after a long moment of silence. 'Thank you. This means a lot to me.'

He smiled but soon blinked, watching her motion for him to come down to her height. Bending over a bit, he soon blinked in surprise at the soft kiss laid upon his cheek, small and delicate, like a butterfly. Oh, definitely what they called a butterfly kiss. In return, he kissed the top of her head with a soft chuckle, causing Tash's cheek to flush considerably before she was taking off. "We need more people like you, Tash. But it seems they're in the worst conditions…"

Tash ran about for a full two hours, getting candy to snack on, riding a few rides, such as the Ferris wheel and playing a bunch of the arcade games, in hopes of winning a stuffed animal. Whatever was there, she attempted it, the mint-colored dress bouncing about her slender body without a problem. And after all those passing minutes, she stopped, looking up at a large mirror maze people were coming from. A lot of them were complaining it was too easy and it, therefore, automatically perked her curiosity.

Tash paused for a moment only to pay before she took a breath and went in. Why was it so dark!? As soon as she left the opening entrance, she felt darkness surround her vision. Gone were the colored lights and now she was surrounded by her own reflection. Her pale cheeks became dusted pink and she moved to look at herself. She was the image she would call beautiful, or cute. On and on she decided to go, still unbelieving of the person that followed her through those wide and tall mirrors, but, after a moment, she stopped focusing and froze.

Where was she?

Tash gave a raspy and rather gargled scream as an arm wrapped around her waist and another around her mouth, just in case. She was lifted off the ground by a pair of slender arms, causing her to panic at the height. Yet, there was only one other person who she knew that was this tall…

"Shh~. Don't struggle, I'm only here to say hello~." The female felt uncomfortable at the deep voice that echoed right by her left ear, and her cheeks burned against the cold hand over her mouth. "After all, why wouldn't I want to see the person my brother has gotten so comfortable with?"

Now she attempted to glance behind her, but her eyes only caught a ghost-white shoulder and the beginning of a thick trench coat. "If I were you, I wouldn't look at my faaace~. It's like Splendor's, fucked up and weird~." He chuckled lowly in his chest but the orphan only attempted to turn around more in his grasp. Looking up, her blue-grey eyes widened in complete shock at the lack of the male's face. She felt his chest rumble with a dark chuckle at her face before his hand moved from her lips, fingers caressing the corners tenderly. Tash flinched but didn't move as he spoke again.

"Frightened?" Tash swallowed but shook her head 'no', causing him to give some sort of amused snort. "Oh please, don't give me that. I remind you of a certain myth, don't I?" And he did, making her spine and feet go so cold they went numb. If he let her go, she would become a simple pile on the floor. He did but it was slow, knowing that if she got a broken ankle, he would be interrogated. The smell of roses was all over her by now.

"Look at me." And once he knew that she wouldn't, he used a slender finger to move her chin up and a grin spread over his thin lips, watching her fidget and dart her eyes left and right. "Yes~, be uneasy, because Splendorman can always kill you~. As much as I and 'Slenderman' can." Without warning, he gave a long lick on her neck, causing her to give a non-existent squeal before she was darting off, away from the man. The pale man smirked again and chuckle soon after, causing her to race away without looking behind.

A handful of people watched her run out of the maze and into the light, allowing her soul to kiss the starry sky and the wonderful lights again. But she didn't stop running. Slipping through the crowd, she darted here and there and without warning, she was looking at the face of Splendorman. Her brain panicked and she ran right past him.

She couldn't just face him now! No, what if he killed her because the rest of the puzzle pieces had been fit in place? Instantly seeing the tent, his tent, she naturally dove into it and buried herself deep under the covers, not waiting for him to come back as she cried in fear of what could happen.