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That Butler, Performs 4
≤speech in Indian language≥
'thoughts'
"speech"
{setting/stage directions?}
SOUND EFFECTS
An entire sentence like this, without quotes, is narration for dreams or stuff like written letters.
=†=†=†=†= scene shift/time shift
—^—^—^— change of perspective/area of action within one specific time frame/location
Previously:
"I see, so you're homesick already…" Chêne said, smiling wryly, as she sweat dropped. Sebastian had just finished recounting his earlier conversation with Ciel after the two of them finally found her again.
"I am not!" Ciel snapped back indignantly, vein throbbing on his forehead. Well, maybe he was, but he didn't appreciate being treated like a child. "… And just what are you planning on doing with that box?" He added, sweat dropping, as he watched her continue her work on decorating the small box that she had just finished making when they walked in.
"Oh, this? It's a prop for my act!" Chêne replied, grinning impishly.
{Later that evening…}
The circus was quickly filling up as the curious citizens of London came strolling in one after another to purchase the tickets that would allow them to partake in the gay festivities of the evening and see what had promised to be the show of a lifetime. So, naturally, everyone not involved with managing the midway was rushing to help the First Stringers finish up the preparations for all their costumes and setting up the props for their acts. Ciel, Sebastian, and Chêne were no exceptions.
"Have you seen my hair ornament?" Wendy asked Chêne while they were both trying to finish doing their hair.
"Um, no. Have you seen my cap and veil?" She asked, sweat dropping. During the chaos of everyone rushing to get ready all at once, it seems a few items had been moved around or misplaced.
"Here they are." Sebastian told them as he handed over their accessories, flashing them his trademark shit-eating grin, while poor Ciel was running around like a chicken with his head cut off. It seemed like the second he thought he might be free, someone else wanted something from him.
"I don't 'ave enough knives! My spares! Where'd they go!?" Dagger yelled.
"Yes!" Ciel shouted, sweating, as he rushed over. Damn Sebastian for snatching up the easy job of assisting Chêne for himself!
=†=†=†=†=
{Under the Big Top, skipping ahead a bit…}
"Now we have a special treat for you tonight, ladies and gents…" Joker announced as Sebastian carried out the small box that Chêne had decorated with an Arabian motif and set it down gently in the center stage. An exotic song that was a cross between the music they had played during Snake's act and the Arabian coffee suite from the Nutcracker ballet started up in the background. "Always landing on her feet and more flexible than any feline… feast your eyes on our lovely new contortionist!" Joker declared, sweeping his hand in grand gesture towards the small box, as he and Black stepped aside so Chêne could begin her act.
Admittedly, the audience was a bit puzzled when Chêne didn't immediately walk out onto the stage, and they weren't sure what she intended to do with such a small box… After all, it looked far too small for a human to fit inside of (in on piece, at least) no matter how you looked at it. So, you can imagine their surprise when a slender arm gracefully rose up from within, followed shortly by its twin, as a lovely young girl in a harem costume slowly ascended from the shallow depths of the small box, like a snake being coaxed out by its charmer.
They oohed and awed when she gave them a sly little smile and wink before setting her hands on the side of the box, bracing herself, so she could lift her legs out of the box and pulled herself up into a handstand. She then slowly spread her legs apart, lowering them to the left and right of her torso in a side split while still suspended in a handstand, pausing briefly, before transitioning into a front split so that she could roll herself forward off of the box and onto her right foot, setting herself up for three continuous flips that ended in another front split.
The audience loved it.
Chêne smiled, grinning impishly, as she jumped to her feet and took of running back towards the box. She made a small leap at it, placing one foot on the edge of the opening and the other on the bottom side as it stared to tip over from the force of her impact. She let herself continue the fall forward, tucking her head in, as she rolled into a somersault. The moment she was on her feet again, she did a back handspring onto the box, placing her hands flat against the solid bottom of the box, as she transitioned into a backbend that resulted in both of her feet being touched to her cap. She smiled while the audience applauded her show of dexterity and flexibility.
She had gone through the trouble of repositioning the box just for this purpose. Chêne had turned the open box into a small platform.
From there, she lowered herself into a chest stand, and then a triple fold, so that her knees came all the way down to rest on the box, and her shins were parallel to the floor.
Sebastian smirked as he watched his wife continue to surprise and astound the excited audience with more incredible contortions and feats of agility. He certainly was glad to have had a chance to see her act for himself. It really was quite… interesting…
=†=†=†=†=
"—Haah…" Ciel sighed tiredly and plopped himself down on a stool, positively exhausted. When that traitor Sebastian had gone off to assist with Chêne's act (only needed to carry the box with her in it), he had been left at the mercy of the other performers, who had used and worked him like some slave or an underpaid intern—relentlessly and without mercy. 'Will I get to investigate the tents first, or will I collapse from fatigue first?' He wondered wearily, sweat dropping.
At least he finally had a moment to catch his breath now that Chêne and all of the other performers had all gone to the main tent so they could be on standby for their acts.
"Um… What should I do during the performance?" Ciel started to ask a little hesitantly as he looked up again, only to be greeted by silence. "Nn?" Ciel said, puzzled. He glanced around the tent. "Nn?" he said, again, surprised when he realized only a few other stagehands had remained behind. Even Freckle-face was gone…
—CLATTER!!
Ciel gasped in realization as he suddenly shot to his feet again. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen his noisy roommate ever since Sebastian found him by the wagons earlier—What luck! He had been so busy, that he hadn't even realized he had already been freed of his one of his biggest obstacles! Even though Joker had decided to let Chêne perform, she still wasn't considered a member of the First String yet. He was done with waiting patiently—He wanted to finish the investigation and leave as soon as possible!
"Sebastian!" Ciel shouted, calling his butler to attention, when he returned to the tent, carrying Chêne's box once again.
The demon was slightly taken aback when he saw that Ciel was practically sprinting towards him. What a rare sight. Perhaps he would soon be able to see a pig take flight as well…?
"I lost Freckle Face!" Ciel exclaimed as Sebastian gently set the box down on the ground.
Good thing, too, because the next thing Ciel did was grab the demon butler by the lapel of his waistcoat, and in his surprise, Sebastian was actually jarred a little by it. It wouldn't have been very good if this had caused him to shake the box…
"Who knows when we'll get another chance. Let's look into the tents now and be done with it!" Ciel told him, so focused on this single thought, that he barely even registered the fact that Chêne was now carefully removing herself from the box once again. To conclude her act, she had let the audience watch as she folded herself up and reentered it before Sebastian carted her off the stage.
"!" Ciel said, slightly taken aback. He hadn't realized Chêne was actually inside that thing… How on earth had she managed to fit in such an impossibly small box in the first place…?
"Okay, but I can't be gone long, or they'll notice." Chêne chimed in while she did a quick stretch and grabbed her coat.
"Right, we'll settle this all in ten minutes!" Ciel declared.
"Yes, my lord." Sebastian replied faithfully as the three of them dashed off together.
Unfortunately, they didn't manage to get very far.
"Black!" Joker shouted, causing the three of them to freeze in their tracks. They all glanced warily back at the ringleader-for-hire, waiting for the other proverbial shoe to drop. Could it be their cover had been blown already?
Joker wasn't alone. Peter and Wendy were with him, and he was carrying the latter on his back. They all seemed to be rather worried and anxious about something.
"Big sis Wendy here sprained her ankle and can't perform." Joker told them. A nervous bead of sweat rolled down the side of the juggler's face. "So, Black… you go instead." Joker said determinedly. The show must go on. "Black oughta be fine out there, so please."
'Big sis…?' Chêne thought, sweat dropping. Just how old was this small girl really if Joker was calling her that!? And she had thought her baby face was bad... No wonder their stage names were 'Peter' and 'Wendy'...
"…!" Ciel gasped, gritting his teeth. What rotten luck! Why did this have to happen now?
"You're going to be up any minute now, so get ready!" Joker said, taking Sebastian's silence for a yes, as he and the deceptively young looking trapeze artists left to find Doc.
"Young Master." Sebastian said, sighing, though he didn't look nearly as disappointed as Ciel. "It is a shame, but let us investigate at another time."
"Why? It won't be as easy without your help, but the two of us could still give it a shot while you're performing." Chêne said practically. "The only problem is those snakes… I'm pretty sure a lot of them are poisonous." Not to mention, she was also pretty sure Snake really could talk to them, so it would be like trying to sneak into a place being watched by cameras that could attack if you got too close. Chêne suddenly felt as though she had been sucked into an episode of Mission Impossible.
"…" Ciel said as he raised a hand to his chin, deep in thought. It was so cold, they could see his breath. Chêne shivered slightly as she held her arms. Even if she was slightly less sensitive to the cold now, it still got to her after a while.
"?" Sebastian said as he glanced at the young earl, raising an eyebrow. He couldn't actually be considering Chêne's suggestion, could he? Sebastian did not like the idea of them wandering about on their own in such a dangerous area without him. "Young Master?" He asked, prompting the boy for an answer.
"I can't dawdle here forever. And this may be the only time Freckle Face isn't around." Ciel stated as he turned to look at the chart that had been hung from one of the lanterns outside the tent. "We have time. Like Chêne said, the poisonous snakes are the only problem. According to the timetable, you finish performing at 7:50. The encore is at 8:00." Ciel turned back to Sebastian and grabbed the butler's pocket watch so he could check the time for himself. "You have five minutes to capture all the snakes and the proceed to the performance. At 7:50, you'll return backstage momentarily, free all the snakes, and then you and Chêne will appear in the encore." He stated, snapping the watch shut as he handed it back. "I'll take care of the rest. Let's go!"
"As you wish." Sebastian replied dutifully, though Chêne noticed he didn't seem very enthusiastic about their new plan.
=†=†=†=†=
TIE.
"That is all of them." Sebastian stated as he tied the last of the guard snakes in a knot.
Chêne sweat dropped. She still didn't really get why Sebastian felt that was necessary since they were putting them all in cage anyway. She felt kind of sorry for them… It looked really uncomfortable.
"Don't worry, it's just for a little while." She told them as Sebastian dropped the last one in and closed the cage. "And I've got a heater here for you, so you won't freeze."
"Good. You go to the big top. They'll be suspicious if you're late." Ciel told Sebastian, deciding not to comment on Chêne's conversation with the snakes.
"Yes, sir." Sebastian replied. He paused as he lifted the tent flap. "I will return soon." He added, giving them both fair warning.
=†=†=†=†=
{Back at the Big Top...}
Sebastian was so disturbed by the sight that greeted him upon his return to the main tent, that you could actually see just how thrown the demon butler was by the priceless affronted expression currently gracing his normally composed visage.
It's a shame Ciel wasn't there to see it.
"Why must I pair up with you?" Suit demanded as he glared at the demon with disdain, adjusting his glasses. Was it perhaps a nervous tick?
"Was Miss Wendy not the only one who was hurt?" Sebastian asked Dagger, wondering what genius could have possibly come up with this recipe for disaster. He would have thought Hell would freeze over before he ever worked together with a reaper.
"I can't agree to this." Suit stated bluntly, hoping that if he was obstinate enough, he might be able to get out of it.
Sebastian sighed in annoyance as he sweat-dropped.
"I do not want to either." Sebastian said honestly, wishing he could at least ask if Chêne could be his partner for the act instead. "But we cannot help it." Chêne was currently in the middle of committing an act of espionage with Ciel, so suggesting such a thing would not be wise, since Dagger may insist on looking for her himself.
"I can't believe I have to work together with a noxious beast… Really." Suit muttered moodily as he readjusted his glasses again. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew Sebastian was right. If he explained why he had a legitimate reason for not wanting to work with the demon, then both their covers would be blown… how tedious.
Sebastian sighed again. He was glad the Reaper had decided not to kick up a fuss, but he had a feeling this was going to be a long night… The chain on his pocket watch jingled as he took it out to check the time.
"7:30." The demon read, snapping it shut again.
