Cirque du Tromperie -- Bunny & Tokkii

[Annyeong Bunny]

Elias took the smaller hand into his own and pulled Ambrose against him. With a small smile, he began to plan out the small performance. Even though the man against him was smaller, he hadn't tested his weight. But, there was no time to waste. Giving the smaller man a smile, he wrapped one of his arms in both of the silks. He grabbed one of Ambrose's hands and held on tight before moving into a jog. He wondered if the man beside him would catch on to his intentions quickly, as he trusted him as a performer. So much so that he just jumped right in, feeling his feet begin to lift from the momentum. As he was lifted into the air by his arm, Elias held onto Ambrose's hand, stretching his chest out toward his partner, watching to see how the other would move.

In that moment, the investigator felt a strange resonance in the air between him and the silver haired man swinging in the air underneath him. As he watched the other, he felt like he was a watching a master at work, someone who had put their life into their passion. In that moment, he felt like they were gracefully caught in time, just swinging through the air endlessly. Something that Elias had wanted to try doing ever since he could remember.

Once their feet met the ground once more, Elias gave Ambrose a knowing look before pulling his body up quite a bit onto the silks. "Help me wrap my legs and then show my what you've got." the blonde whispered as he held his legs out effortlessly, holding his weight with his arms. Once his legs were wrapped, he pulled so that he was doing an upside down split, held by the silks. Then, he held his arms down for Ambrose to grab onto, allowing his partner to lead and shine with the last part of the performance. Elias' grin grew as he locked gazes with the other, waiting.

 

[Tokkii]

Ambrose felt his breath get caught in his chest once again being this close to the other. It's odd. He typically isn't nervous when it comes to doing a performance. Was it because of Elias? Or was it because he was taking on a new role in this duet? He held onto the other's man hand just as tightly as he jogged and lifted himself up with the silk. Once they were in the air, all of Ambrose unknown nerves just seemed to fade.

As he was in the air, he pulled himself up to grab hold of one silk to put around his wrist as he still made sure to hold onto the other's hand firmly. One of Ambrose known talents was his flexibility, and being in the air made it so seemingly easy to bend his body. Occasionally he would let go of Elias hand to circulate around him and to be able to help himself bend his body as he pleased. Always remembering to go back to his partner to perform as a duet. He would hold onto the other to give each other momentum as they would spin in the air, and it was a way to help guide them go slower if need be. Ambrose had almost forgotten that he was just helping the other man out. It felt more like an actual performance than a try out.

He snapped out his high and heard the other's request. The smaller man lowered himself to the ground slowly as he assisted the other, and helped him a bit to spin very slowly in the air. Due to their height differences, he did have to help himself up a bit as he grabbed hold of both of Elias hands tightly.

Ambrose thought of what he could do for the other's finale, and he thought back to a few tricks he use to help Emily with. He pulled himself to do one flip over his arms to give himself a bit of momentum. From there, he paused momentarily, "Be sure to hold onto my ankle firmly, okay?" he whispered quickly and gave Elias a few seconds before he put his trust into the other to hold him up securely. He fell almost gracefully, his free hand holding out his extended leg by his head. Ambrose had fully believed that the two of them were very much in sync and had great chemistry as partners. He did love performing with Emily, but something about this impromptu performance made him feel so alive.

 

[Annyeong Bunny]

Elias smiled as he felt his heart beat quicken in adrenaline and excitement. He was soaring through the sky, watching the man underneath him bend and twist in so many different ways. He was correct to assume that Ambrose would perform as he was; a professional, and a professional he was. Once his partner had hold of his hands, he was sure to hold on to him tightly, but not too tight.

Then, when instructed by the man to hold on to his ankle firmly, Elias was intrigued to say the least. He grinned and held onto the ankle tight, feeling them fall with gravity, swinging with elegance. That's when he watched Ambrose pull his other leg out toward his head, looking like a graceful swan, if anything. That was the first thing to pop into the investigator's head. Working with his partner below him, the blonde continued to hold the other's ankle and lifted his torso, pressed his chest out, and pulled his other arm back as if he were doing a swan dive, despite his legs being held in the splits with the silks. The move pulled at Elias' muscles and created a deep arch with his back, a feeling he had trained to do many times in his younger teen years. The muscles began to protest after so long away from such flexibility, but nonetheless, he knew his body was also happy.

As they began to slow in momentum, the investigator was sure to keep a hold on Ambrose until he was safe to climb down. Then, he unraveled himself by doing backward somersaults down the silks, unwrapping his legs. Once free, Elias gave a relieved breath, sweat collecting at his brow and his temples. He could feel it rolling down his back as well, but none of that mattered as he turned to look at Ambrose, smiling. In all of his years of performing and doing investigations, he had never felt more excited or free. For those moments that they were in the air, he had forgotten about his task at hand as well as everything else. All he was focused on was the feeling of anti-gravity and the way him and his partner had meshed so well together.

"Thanks for that performance, Ambrose. It was really something else... it's no wonder that you're a professional." Elias praised the silver haired man beside him breathlessly, his gaze upon the other a one of awe. He had expected Ambrose to be good, but he was shocked yet again. Even though the investigator had gone through intense training years ago, it was safe to say that his body only worked from muscle memory because it was prompted by Ambrose's performance and gaze. They realization was strange to him, and he didn't know why, but it had happened nonetheless. "Maybe we were just meant to be partners or something" Elias made the joke in a more sincere manner than anything, but still had the tone of amusement in his voice. As his chest rose and fell in light pants, he turned his sky blue gaze to the ringleader, ready to hear what the man had to say.

 

[Tokkii]

Ambrose was catching his breath heavily, as it felt almost like years since he did a performance with so much adrenaline and passion. Elias really was an impressive individual. He watched the other come down with his final stunt from the silk. He watched the other descend down safely. He snapped out of gaze of astonishment when the other gazed back at him. He fixed his hair and posture, looking away from the other - only to shrug. "It's no problem," he answered meekly.

He had felt so flustered, and hopefully his cheeks didn't turn any shade of pink. He felt so embarrassed hearing the other tell him how professional he was on set. Ambrose was never one to feel so anxious or out of place when it came to compliments. Somehow hearing the taller praise him made his chest feel tight. A part of him didn't want to admit to how perfectly matched they were on stage, but it was hard not to admit to what they both knew. A part of him did want to be proven wrong - Elias was actually telling him the truth this entire time. Its not like he could teach himself how to do most of those stunts in a day or few hours. The silver-haired man turned back to gaze at the taller, and only gave a slight frown. "Don't be so strange about it," Ambrose was definitely not going to admit to the other that he performed wonderfully. Not out in the open like this.

The ringleader, Sir, only watched the two from atop his seat and gave a questioning grin of approval. Elias really did exceed his expectations. He only clapped his hands as he stood. "Wonderful! I can't recall the last time I've seen Ambrose perform with such...zest!" he exclaimed, walking down to stand in front of the two. "He has to be your best partner yet - an exceptional replacement." he announced, and hearing how Elias was Emily's replacement made him a bit uneasy.

"I can't believe how easy it was to find a new performer; I have my trust in you." The ringleader announced to Elias, patting him on the shoulder. "Don't disappoint and...what happens in this circus, stays in the circus - got it?" he gave one last smile as made his way back to his seat for his next audition to view.

Ambrose felt prompted to ask the other if he had heard anything from the traveling members, but was halted when a few members walked in to remove the props to get ready for the next one coming up. One of the guys had half of his face covered, it had looked as if he was burned badly. He even noticed a few burn marks on their arms. When their gazes met, Ambrose felt so uncomfortable, but this person looked so familiar. Wasn't he suppose to go off with the traveling crew? His face looked familiar, but half of it was covered so it was hard to make put together. The other man turned away from him and he quickly went back to his duties in a hurry. Perhaps it wasn't a wise idea to bring Elias into all of this. The ringleader approved of him, and if he stayed on his good side then he would be out of harm's way. Just involving him into this mess would only make things worse for the both of them. It would be his fault if something were to happen to him. Right now, in Ambrose gut, there really was something more serious going on. There just wasn't enough evidence nor hints.

 

[Annyeong Bunny]

At Ambrose's meek and nonchalant responses, Elias blinked a few times but didn't let it bother him. He was still feeling the adrenaline as he walked toward the ringleader, wiping the sweat from his temples. However, as he turned to look at his new partner once more, he saw a light dusting of pink on the other's face, to which the honey blonde grinned to himself. At least the enjoyment of the performance wasn't one-sided.

But, upon hearing the praise, Elias felt a biting chill hit his stomach at the word "replacement" that the ringleader used. In order to not give away his suspicions, the investigator continued to smile and nod, thanking the man humbly. As he turned to look at Ambrose though, he thought he saw a look of uneasiness on his face.

"I'll do my best. What happens in the circus, stays in the circus." Elias repeated as he felt the heavy hand fall onto his shoulder, almost as is symbolizing his sealed fate. At the words he repeated, the male felt sick to his stomach. This case was beginning to wear him down mentally as he knew those words were much deeper than they seemed.

Before they left, Elias turned to ask Ambrose if he was okay when he saw the silver haired man looking at a worker across the room. Narrowing his eyes a bit, he thought he caught a glimpse or scarred skin before the worker hurried away, leaving the investigator to think that maybe it was just a figment of his imagination. Or, maybe not. Despite the strange feeling in his stomach, the blonde male motioned for Ambrose to follow him outside of the tent, his investigator side kicking in full mode.

"What was it? Did you see something?" once they were out of sight and hearing of the others, Elias asked Ambrose with a firm look on his face. There was no longer a kind and approaching smile, but instead, a furrowed brow and a frown. "I thought I saw something too, but I wasn't sure."

 

[Tokkii]

Ambrose was brought out of his thoughts when Elias motioned for him out the tent. He didn't expect the rush of questions as he rose one questioning brow. "You almost sound like a cop right now.." he joked and shook his head. At least the taller was determined, but after such a performance, would he really want to help out someone that only based events on allegations and guessing? He didn't want to risk anything.

"I'm not sure, but you should lay low. You're new, don't forget that." he warned the other. He understood that Elias wanted to help him, but he didn't want the ringleader to find him suspicious. "I can come to you if I find anything suspicious." he added. Ambrose still questioned why Elias was so invested, but he wasn't going to question interrogate at the moment.

"We'll start practicing soon though and we can talk more." Ambrose suggested. Hopefully Elias understood that meant to just relax and act normal. Hopefully he wouldn't be out questioning people like this every chance that he could find.