|To The Party|

"Stop fidgeting, you're going to mess up your tie if you keep pulling on it like that." Star said, prying Joker's fingers away from aforementioned item. He frowned, his green eyes on her hands as they were keeping a hold of his. With a sigh he looked outside the coach window, at the meadows rolling by as they were on their way to Augustine's mansion. Joker found himself wishing that there had been no need for this little 'show' he had to give. What did behaving like a bloody gentlemen have anything to do with his capability of taking care of Star and her brother anyway? Would his pronunciation or table manners keep the two safe from cold and sickness? He didn't think it would have any effect in the least, but if Augustine needed to see that the boyfriend of her granddaughter was able to pretend to be a lord, so be it.

At least George hadn't come along. He hadn't liked the way his grandmother had kept eying him all the time when they had been at her house a few days before, and had been only too happy when Dagger and Doll had offered to take care of him.

Star noticed how uneasy Joker was, and gave his skeletal prosthetic a quick squeeze. When he looked at her, she added a wink as well.
"I think I'm goin' to be sick." He said, looking a bit green in the face. He looked to be downright eaten with nerves, something which struck Star as odd.

"You can perform in a tent for hundreds of people, and you don't even break a sweat!" she said, grabbing his face between her two hands. She pressed a kiss on his nose, before pressing her forehead against his. Her auburn locks entwined in his reddish ones, she continued.
"This will be just fine, you know? There will be some people, but you don't need to worry about all of them. And you just have to remember the most important rule you taught me when I was learning the ropes at the circus, don't you?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, pretending to have forgotten the rule. "Always keep yer eyes on the balls when ye're jugglin'?"

She pinched his nose, smiling sweetly. "Silly! You have to smile. So let me see a real winner smile, okay?"

He smiled at her, as convincing as he could get at the moment. She didn't seem to buy it at all, but decided to let it pass at the moment. Because of the small distraction, the pair of them hadn't heard the coach driver yelling that they'd be arriving, and they almost slid out of their seats as a consequence. Star could feel the small, ornamental hat she was wearing slipping from her head, and gave it a quick push up again. When she had gotten back up, Joker was once again fiddling with his tie, looking to the well-lit mansion with an even more nervous grin on his face.

"You will be fine, you know? It's not like they're into eating people... well, it would be a first, at the very least."

She was met with a grimace that seemed to imply he wasn't quite that much impressed with her when she said that, but he gave the tie a small pat, and got out of the coach, offering her his hand when she followed after him. She was only too happy to accept, seeing as how the dress Augustine had sent over greatly limited her ability to move. At least the heels weren't that much of a hindrance, seeing as how she usually had to wear those when she had to help Joker in the ring. She could be doing cartwheels in the flipping things without breaking a sweat.

So far people weren't paying attention to them, though that might very well change once they were inside with her grandmother. The woman would probably be very intent on making the entire evening as unpleasant as possible for Star and Joker, mostly for the latter. Star would not abandon Joker, even if tonight didn't go exactly as it should. They were announced as 'Miss Valentine and companion' when they entered, probably because her grandmother hadn't wanted the name 'Joker' to be pronounced in front of her many friends.
Speaking of the elderly woman, she was dressed in yet another grey dress, with dark bands spreading to the floor. A pigeon – gray hat was on top of her head, as she looked at Star giving a curtsy as deep as she could manage in the dress. She pulled Joker in a bow while holding his arm along with her. She had felt him freeze up as soon as he laid eyes on the gray-haired woman, and he started to stutter as soon as he saw her.

"A-a-a p-pleasure to be 'ere, ma'am." He managed to bring out. Star forced herself to keep smiling, thanking her lucky stars that at least he was standing upright nicely. Augustine smiled at the young man, with a look in her eyes that seemed to be judging every singly misstep he had done in his past.

"It's… interesting to see you, Joker." She said, biting off the last part of her sentence, as if that would somehow make his name disappear. "I hope you'll find this evening to be to your every liking."

Star groaned internally. Tonight would be a fancy, schmancy hell.

|Meanwhile, Noah's Arc Circus|

Beast looked down at the sealed envelope that had just arrived. She had been walking past Joker's tent when the letter arrived, and after retrieving the letter she had stood gazing at it the past fifteen minutes, trying to decide whether she should open it or not. Running her tongue past her red lips, she cast a furtive glance on Joker's tent. Should she wait until he was back? And then what? He'd probably be with Star, and they wouldn't be back soon either. Father would probably want his latest 'playmate' as soon as he could. Usually Joker was the one giving orders but…

She started to chew her lip now, trying to decide just what would be expected of her. Actually, tonight would be the best time to go out. With Star not around, there was no chance she would know of anyone missing from the first string. The girl wouldn't go around asking annoying questions then. Beast didn't care about her rival, but she did know that Joker would give her an earful if she did anything to upset his precious Star.
With a deep sigh she straightened her shoulders, taking the letter to Doctor. He would know what to do. He was after all appointed by Father to make sure all his children would be safe and healthy. And he knew what they were doing while touring the country as well, so there wouldn't be any harm in involving the man in this.

Arriving at his tent, she coughed slightly before entering. The man in the wheelchair looked at her in surprise, not expecting her at all. His most frequent patient was George, the little boy that only functioned thanks to the medicine the Doctor managed to procure for him time and time again.
"Beast? Is something the matter? Did Betsy harm you?" he asked, rolling his wheelchair towards her. Beast shook her head, holding out the letter towards the man.

"Father… sent us a new message. I don't know what to do with it." She said, looking at the Doctor, with a face that hinted at her displeasure of being forced to admit that she wasn't absolutely sure about something.

The man accepted the envelope from her, and tapped it against his face. He looked at her, scanning her thoughts almost. "And you don't want to open it because usually Joker is the one to carry the burden of giving orders, is that it? You don't want to be the one to give the order of going out there and lifting a child from their beds."He used a scalpel to rip open the envelope, dropping the letter in his lap.
"Well, Joker is the one most suited for that, isn't he? He is the one with the most 'family' sense after all. And the rest of you…"

The light shone on his glasses as he stopped talking, his eyes scanning the paper in a most incredulous look. Beast looked at him almost panicked when she saw the Doctor look like that. Nothing fazed him, not even broken bones and open wounds. When he was done reading, he almost seemed to be feeling some kind of remorse.

"What… what does it say?" she asked him, moistening her lips.
He took off his glasses and started to polish them with a piece of cloth lying around. He didn't even seem to notice the stain of blood that was drawing a smudgy smear across his glasses. When he was done with that, he finally lifted the long wait from Beast.

"Well then… it would seem that your lord Father has heard a most interesting tale. A rumor, about a young boy, around the age that he prefers, that has been raised by his sister after being missing for several years. Now it would seem that the boy has found his way home to the house of his grandmother, and the whispers on the street have let him know that there is talk of the woman once again adopting him, so he can take his rightful place as the head of their family."
He let his eyes rest on Beast's leather-clad form. "Doesn't that sound familiar? Your Father is most interested in the boy, and he wants to make his acquaintance with the young lad as soon as possible."

Beast startled, eyes widely opened. "He's talking about George?"

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders, waving the letter around. "Would you like that I let you read for yourself?"

Beast shook her head, wrapping one arm around herself. They had already taken so many children. It was silly of her to be so shaken by something so silly as knowing the victim this time. It was weak, and wouldn't do anyone any good. The Doctor asked her what she was planning on doing now.

"We can't just take the kid right from under everyone's noses, can we? We take 'im wiv' us right now, his sister will be going berserk, and not to mention…"

"What?"

"… Joker is too involved wiv' Star, in't he? He'll never let us off if 'e finds out we took the kid. 'E'll start a riot to get 'im back."

The Doctor shook his head. "You don't know that for sure, now do you? He is still as dedicated to Father as he has always been. At least, that is what I have observed up until now."

"Up until now there 'asn't been anything to make 'im doubt, was there? Now we all know the kid. What if Joker can't do it? What if he gives it all up, for 'er?"

The Docter leant back in his chair, looking at Beast with something that was almost apprehensive. "Then what are you planning on doing, Beast?" he asked her, his hands folded in front of his mouth as he looked at her intently.

Beast frowned, pouting her mouth as she looked into the shadows. She was only doing the smart thing. The thing that was best for everyone. Joker was the one who wanted to protect the remaining children in the workhouse. It was for them that they had all given it up. For those children that others had been sacrificed to the whims of the owner of that workhouse. Beast let a hand slide over her prosthetic leg, rubbing it nervously.

What would Joker normally do? What would he do if one of them didn't want to kidnap a certain kid?

Go behind their back, probably. First he would try to reason things, of course, but in the end he would put the needs of his family first. That was Joker, that was what he would do. Beast knew that. Now she would have to make this decision, for Joker. For Joker, she would be able to sacrifice that sweet, little, innocent George. That little lordling that had had it so tough already.
"Here is what we are goin' to do…" she started, wrapping her whip around her hand multiple times in anticipation.

|Augustine's Mansion|

"Well, all in all, I think things could have gone worse." Star said, as Joker was trying to perform a decent waltz with her across the room. She had the gnawing suspicion that more than half of the people watching them, and not because they were dancing so admirably. Still, Joker was doing better than expected, considering the very limited time he had had to become something that resembled a lord.

"Ye mean things have started looking up since I dropped the soup in that Lady Fitzin'ers lap?" Joker asked, sounding disgruntled. Star smiled up at him, trying to ignore how displeased he was with his own performance.

"Well, actually things only started going up after you accidentally managed to light her husband's tobacco pouch on fire. They must certainly think they did you some great personal wrong, since you're going after them like that."

Joker inhaled with a hiss remembering that incident. He had ended up dousing the fire with a vase filled with red roses. The Lord hadn't been pleased, seeing as how a servant had neglected to remove the thorns from the wretched flowers, leaving his face scratched and his mood as sour as curdled milk.
"It wasn't like I was aimin' for them. Not me fault that they're always runnin' in the way of things, like." He said, guiding her towards the sides, wary of eyes being directed at him. To be honest, he felt naked without his make-up. He rarely had a day when he didn't wear it, and in this environment he felt like he could use every bit of protection he had. After the dinner he had been forced to go with the other gentlemen to one of the salons, separate from the women, so they could discuss 'gentlemanly' manners. He had soon found out that this basically meant drinking alcohol and discussing various bets and business affairs, though the latter did seem to mix a bit. Some of the men had been as kind as to involve him in their talks, and had listened to him as he explained what his job was.
One of the elder men had shut up some younger ones when they had tried to snigger at him, telling them that the day they knew how to run a large enterprise such as Joker was doing, for several years on running without ever being able to take a pause. He had rested his eyes on Joker, and finally taken the younger man apart, offering him a position in his company in case he should ever wish to leave his current enterprise. Joker spotted the older man across the room, and gave a small nod with his head to acknowledge him. After Joker had declined as politely as he could, the man had smiled, and given him his card, 'just in case'.

Star had mentioned nothing about her time with the women. Truth be told, they had been far colder towards her than their husbands, fathers and sons had been towards Joker. Somehow they managed to view her forced disappearance as an insult towards them all. Star bit the inside of her cheek as she thought about the cold treatment, and raised her head some higher when one of the younger girls tiptoed past. The girl nearly froze in her tracks at that look before quickly retreating some other way. They were only scary in groups, and nothing compared to Beast when she was having a bad day.

Augustine slowly made her way towards them, using her cane to shoo away some of the younger men who weren't going out of her way quickly enough. The woman had reddened with each mishap Joker had made, a deeper and deep shade until she finally had reached scarlet. The silence between her and Star had been almost ear-shattering the entire evening. The older woman reached them, and sat down on a chair. The young couple soon viewed they had no other choice than to follow her example.

"I suppose I don't need to tell the two of you that young sir… Joker, has failed in almost every aspect of being a lord I can think off. I know I should not expect miracles, but at least some form of decorum would have been expected. Not to mention the damage you wrecked in the main hallway when you went about scrambling for water to put out poor Lord Fitzinger's tobacco pouch. How one man is capable of such destruction, I will never know."

Star immediately started fuming at this. Joker had done his very best, and she wouldn't hear a bad word about him.
"He did everything that was humanly possible. I'd like to see any of your fine Lords survive a day at the circus. I really would."

Augustine pressed her lips together in a thin smile when she heard that. "He may have done his best, but that certainly wasn't good enough. I fear I have no other choice than to force you to leave George with me. You however are free to pursue any dream with your… you are free to go. You may visit the young lord when you are in the vicinity as well."

She said the last part as if she was bestowing Star with a huge favor. Star pursed her lips in response, giving the woman an exceedingly sour look. Before she could open her mouth to speak, one of the circus hands burst into the room, bolting towards them as fast as he could. He ignored the room full of finely dressed people, and went straight for his boss.

"Joker, boss sir! There's a fire at the Doctor's!"

|Moon's Note : I really do love your reviews, they always make me smile. Thank you for your continued support, and please have a wonderful day!|