|London, Two Weeks Later|
'This way please!' Star shouted, directing people into the circus tent. For now, she had to help with the ticket sale, and after that she had to help Joker present the show. Faintly she touched the love bite hidden beneath her costume, just above her breast, as she blushed. When a young boy with an eye patch approached her, she gave him a dazzling smile.
'Hello. Can I have your ticket please?' she asked him, holding out her hand. She looked up surprised when a tall man in a suit handed her two tickets instead.
'Here you go.' He told her pleasantly, a faint smile on his face. Deep brown eyes looked down on her. She marveled a bit at his height before smiling back.
'Thank you sir! Be sure to enjoy the show!' she yelled after the two of them, before turning to the next costumers.
|The day after|
'So, where is this new recruit you were talking about, Joker?' Star asked, her hand tracing his sleeve as he inspected one of the carts. Devil, the horse, stood in a meadow nearby and snorted once before trotting proudly away.
'He should be 'ere pretty soon.' Joker replied, wiping some cold sweat from his brow. Winter had really started to kick in again, covering the entire circus in a thin layer of snow. Star was grateful that she had Joker to lie next to at night, so she could snuggle up closer as the cold crept in on the land.
As soon as Joker had said that, a tall man came walking up to the grounds. Star immediately recognized him as the one who had smiled so nicely at her the day before. When she asked Joker why he was coming for them, he told her that he had been tired of working for a very cruel master for so very long.
His eyes crossed hers for a second, and she somehow found she had to swallow. The man just looked so very intimidating...
They had only just finished exchanging pleasantries when a young boy came running up to them. As Joker handled the talking, she could swear it was the same boy as yesterday, only this time in more run-down clothes. When the boy asked for a place in the circus as well, Joker agreed if the boy could do some tests. She stood next to the boy that had called himself Finnian and gave him a small pat on the back.
'It will be quite alright.' she encouraged him. 'I had to do it too. When you feel like you won't be able to do it, just tell us.'
He looked just a few years older than George, and he had the same kind of big eyes with a mature look in them. She worried about her little brother. It had been two weeks, and she had already written him a letter but was still awaiting his reply. Of course it would be hard to send a letter to people who were always on the move, but surely George would try to send her a message, wouldn't he?
A few practice rounds later, Joker clapped the boy on the back, laughing. 'Ye're good, aren't ye? I'll hire ye, but only on one condition.'
The boy looked up at him in surprise, thinking he had already passed all of the hurdles necessary to get in. 'What?' he suspiciously.
'Smile! If ye're gonna perform, ye have the smile.' Joker said, showing a toothy grin as an example. He pointed at Star when he continued talking. 'Trust me, she had a problem with that too, and now she's me trusted partner. Show us a smile then!'
The child seemed to hesitate for a moment, before unleashing one of the most charming smiles Star had ever seen. He looked so huggable at that moment she had to clutch her hands to her chest. 'Adorable!' she thought to herself.
Joker wasted them no time in baptizing them 'Black' and 'Smiles', the latter to the amusement of the other people that had gathered around to watch. She watched as the young boy's face flushed at the name, and grew even redder when Joker decided to separate him and Black.
Star watched how Smiles seemed to be disturbed at how Black was being taken away from him, and put a hand lightly on his shoulder. The boy tensed up at the touch, looking at her in a way that suggested he wasn't that fond of being touched.
'It's alright, Smiles. You'll be sharing a tent with Freckles. He's one of the most reliable people you could ever have around you.' she told him, carefully hiding Doll's identity and gender from him. Doll would like to be able to sleep with someone in a tent again, and Star was well aware of how lonely the girl had been at night now that George was gone and she was sleeping in the same tent as Joker.
She cast another look at Smiles, deciding that she might as well talk about it now. 'Smiles... You were at the circus yesterday, weren't you? Though you weren't wearing the same clothes as you are now.'
The boy stiffened up, sapphire eye looking up at her like a rabbit trapped by a fox. He waited for her next words, looking as if he would sprint away if they were the wrong ones. She looked around her and lowered her voice a bit.
'It's okay. You're not really a servant boy, are you?' The way his eye grew bigger and his mouth slightly opened as if he were about to cry for help were all the information she needed.
'I won't tell anyone.' she promised, trying to look as sincere as possible.
He closed his mouth again, not saying anything at all. She gave him a sad smile. 'You talk just like me, a little bit on the fancy side. That and your clothes yesterday gave it away a bit.' Her hand went towards his face, giving a sad tap on the side of his eye patch. 'I understand why you would want to run away, even if you have almost everything.'
She guessed he got hurt the same way she and George would have gotten hurt. The way George's mother had been hurt by her father. 'You were right to escape that. But here, nobody will hurt you. We will protect you, if you want us too.'
His look grew harder when she said that. 'What could you know?' he asked her defiantly. He had the air of someone who had needed to look out for himself, and who would be willing to go through any kind of length to preserve his life. Looking down at him, she guessed the name 'Smiles' was a really bad fit for someone like him. Every trace of the sweet, innocent boy begging for a place was gone.
She continued walking, slowing her pace so he could walk next to her. 'I won't tell anyone. Not if you don't want me to. But, if you need help... Well, you can always come to me.' she said, before they encountered Doll, who was only to thrilled with her new tent mate.
|A Few Days Later|
Star walked towards big the tent, trying to see if perhaps she could find Smiles. Joker wanted to learn the boy how to juggle, and maybe put him in a nice clown costume. People would go crazy over someone as cute as Smiles in that sort of colourful outfit.
She had the impression the boy tried to avoid her as much as possible, even if she had only tried her very best to be nice to him. He reminded her a bit of George, so she had been trying to take care of him like a brother. Maybe that was what had scared him away.
She stopped walking when she saw Black and Smiles near one of the carts, the latter wrapped in a towel. The boy was shivering, talking to Black.
'Smiles?' she asked, running up to the two of them. They looked at her as if she had interrupted something important, but those looks were very easily ignored. She started to rub the young boy's dark hair with the towel, scolding.
'Really now! What are you thinking, running around in freezing weather like this? Don't struggle so much, young man!' she warned him as she kept up the rubbing. Black looked on amused as she pulled the boy close to her, rubbing his face as she did so.
'I need to get you all warm! It would be horrible if something bad happened to you. We are your family now, Smiles. It's okay to be mommied a little bit, once in a while.'
The boy's blue eye looked at her as if he was annoyed and unused at this kind of treatment. As he opened his mouth to say something, he coughed. Star didn't realize what had happened until something warm hit her cheek. At once Black had scooped up the boy, taking a rapid pace to the medical tent.
Star touched her cheek, looking at the fingertip with faint horror. Blood was smeared on the fingertip, just like there were splatters of it over her outfit.
'Smiles?' she thought, astonished.
When Smiles finally woke up, she, Doll and Joker were impatiently waiting for him to wake up again. Black was standing to the side, not once looking away from the frail boy.
'Perhaps I should have said something.' Star thought to herself, as the boy slowly came back to the waking world. He was more like George than she could have imagined. Luckily the doctor had been able to treat his asthma attack. 'I really should have told Joker that he might not be able to work as hard as the others.' Joker would have listened to her... and after she had stopped talking, he would have admonished her.
She felt ashamed when she realized how Joker would have told her that people, all people, can be strong when they have to. She had no right to take away the chance Smile had at being strong, at forging his own place in the world. As the people around them gathered around Smiles in happiness, she gave Joker a kiss on his cheek.
He grinned proudly when she did it. 'What was that for?' he asked, giving her a tiny one back on the nose.
'For being here for me. And for being smarter than me, every once in a while.' she replied, eyes closed with enjoyment at Joker's reciprocation.
He blinked, looking at her with a twinkle of amusement. 'Every once in a while?' he asked her. He put an arm around her, pulling her close. His body was warm against her, and she leaned her head against him, content at being in his presence.
'I'm usually the smarter one of the two, you know.' She sounded quite coquettish with that remark, and Joker ran a quickl tickle along her side as a punishment. She pressed her body closer against him, feeling at peace with her place in the world. Her place at Joker's side.
|After The Next Show|
'Hey, 'as anyone seen Smiles?' Doll asked as she entered the tent were most of the First String had gathered. Peter and Wendy shrugged, continuing their game of cards with Jumbo. Star was lying at Joker's feet, reading a book to Snake who seemed to be engrossed with listening. The only ones missing were Beast and Dagger, the first probably being followed by the second.
'Can't say I 'ave.' Jumbo said, scratching his nose. He laid down his cards, showing the two troublemakers that he was playing with that he had won.
'Tsh, ye always win.' Peter commented, shuffling the cards again. Wendy said nothing, but kept a stern look on Doll.
'Ye should keep a better check on that boy. He's trouble.' she announced.
Star felt a chill running up her spine. Did they know what she knew about the boy? Surely they didn't. They would have had him in her care without caring what either one of them thought. Her voice faltered as she continued to read to Snake. One of his snakes whispered something in his ear, and he cocked his head to the side.
'He was seen with Black... Says Goethe.' the man announced, before returning his attention back to Star and the book.
Doll shrugged, saying she had figured as much. Valentine cast the girl a worried look. 'What's wrong, Doll? Did you two have a fight or something?'
Doll shook her head, looking as if she herself had some confessions to make. 'No, not really. It's just that... 'e's been really withdrawn, and it was worryin' me. A kid like that should be merrymakin', not looking as if he 'as the whole world to carry in front o' 'im.' She had taken a shine to the young boy, that much was obvious.
The others kept quiet for a bit, before Joker tapped the seat next to him. 'Sit 'ere Doll. Ye shouldn't be worryin' this much. He's gone out for a breather, and before ye know it, he'll be back.'
Doll looked at the space Joker was offering her, and then looked back outside. With a small voice she finally replied that she'd come back, after just one more look outside. Just one more quick round of the grounds, to make sure that her friend had not done something stupid, or had gotten sick again and was now lying somewhere in the dirt.
Star started to read out loud again, but her head wasn't really with it. Instead she worried a bit about Doll, and her own affectionate feelings for the young boy. He had looked so fragile, but at the same time very certain of himself. She wondered where he had gotten of to.