potassiumboron

~I'm drinking coffee on a trampoline~
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3pm - 1am (GMT / BST)
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  1. Male
  2. Female
  3. Nonbinary
  4. Transgender
  5. No Preferences
Genres
Monsters, supernatural, fantasy, romance, criminality, slice-of-life (modern or set in past, usually with some twists)
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It was days like these that Cyan loved the most.

Notoriously, the mutant hated hot days. He detested the sun almost as much as he hated the humans, and on days where the temperature was exceedingly hot, he was almost always seen sulking under the shade of the trees, and heard whining and moaning bitterly about how unfair it all was.

Although, he did tend to get extra helpings of the special ice-cream the cooks snuck in, so perhaps the hot weather wasn't too bad.

That said, it was days like today that he loved the most, where it rained heavily and he could lay on his bed, listening to the sound of the droplets hitting his tent. Sure, some soaked on in through the small holes in the fabric, but that was nothing he couldn't deal with. In fact, the various animals he shared the tent with found the water dripping in to be a source of entertainment, so it was always an added bonus to have them be happy to-- especially Rusty who, given her old age and her inability to walk, needed little things to keep her attention up. Cyan was always incredibly worried that if she got bored and went to sleep, she wouldn't wake up again.

It was just that worry that was preventing him from his usual rainy day activity of getting a nap to the sound of the rain. Instead, he was quietly walking about outside, holding Rusty in his arms and hoping that that would be enough to have her stay awake for a little while-- until he realised that perhaps getting her soaking wet was going to make her sick, and that would definitely hinder her chances of making it through the year. She was exceptionally old for a fox and the fact she'd made it this long was astounding.

That said, Cyan really wasn't prepared to let her die. He couldn't let things go all that well, and he still held grudges from years back, so like hell was he ready to say goodbye to his best friend.

It was why he scurried into the nearest tent to him, which happened to be Eliot's. He was relatively new to the site, but Cyan had, inevitably, been one of the first to hold a conversation with him when he first came. It was almost Cyan's duty to be the welcoming committee - there wasn't really anyone that could hate him. While they hadn't had many one-on-one conversations, the short mutant felt comfortable enough around him to barge into his tent, offer a wide grin and whip a blanket from the makeshift bed to wrap around the fox in his arms.

"She's real cold, I was a dummy for taking her out in the rain. She's shivering, but... but she'll be okay! She's a real tough cookie," he proudly beamed, setting her down as gently as he could on the bed before sitting up close beside her, just so he would know if she suddenly stopped breathing. Maybe he was too paranoid, but it was at least a testament to how much he loved her.

"Boy, it smells great in here, like cinnamon. Have you got those incense sticks again? Those are lovely-- don't eat them, though. Just 'cos they smell real good doesn't mean they're edible. I learnt that the hard way," snorted Cyan, combing his fingers through his long hair while quietly locking his eyes onto Eliot's. With his long hair, 4'11" stature, feminine voice and, hell, pretty feminine features, it wasn't any surprise that he got mistaken for a girl by every newcomer he came across. While he knew it was an honest mistake, it still pissed him off-- so much so that his first words to Eliot had been 'I'm a guy, by the way'.

It was probably best to get that out the way to avoid the mistake occurring-- and considering Eliot hadn't once pissed him off, it had been the right decision.
 
"I'm aware," Elliot replied simply, his many eyes glancing over to the other. He was focused on working a garland of flowers he had picked the day before, taking the humidity as an opportunity to bend the pinetree branches and interlock the heads of dandelions properly before drying them. While he didn't live in the forest like Cyan, he knew how to entertain himself with such little resources, and this was something he found comfort in.

Scooting away a tad on the bed made of his mothers' blankets, he kept a straight face when the fox was wrapped up properly. It was the last few things he owned from his family, other than the mustard sweater and a few others neatly stacked in the corner, so to see them being covered in hair did irk him enough for him to furrow his brow in concern, though he said nothing. Instead, he continued to use his hands to fix the little art project. It wasn't until he knew the boy and the fox were both settled that he spoke up once again.

"I don't like the smell of rain, cinnamon is better." He stated simply as he worked, while his free pair of hands moved to make the bed properly. "The smell makes it feel homey in here, you know? I dunno about you, but living in a tent isn't the most familial and welcoming setting." He grumbled softly, moreso to himself than anything, granted. Once setting the garland on one of the arms of the tent that poked out, he tugged his legs to his chest and curiously watched the sniffing fox. "... please don't eat my incense. It's not good, for starters, but it's also pretty expensive. That and lighters, you know? I mean, you can eat all of the incense cones you want if you can get more of them for me," he offered, his already soft voice softening even more once seeing just how old the fox was. With Beth, he knew when to use a 'nap time' voice, and he treated the fox just the same.

"... How far is your tent? I mean, not to be rude, but I kind of wanted to be alone for a bit," he admitted.
 
"You want to be alone, huh? Well, too bad, 'cos I can't really go anywhere now Rusty's gone to sleep. If I move her, she's just going to panic. She's blind, Eliot. I can't just go uprooting her when she's put down for a sleep," he snorted, tutting loudly as though that was pretty obvious-- even though he'd never really talked about the fox. He'd shown Eliot his animals during the first five minutes of meeting him, introduced him to each and every one, besides Rusty. He only showed her to people he was really comfortable around, so the fact he'd turned up unannounced like this did mean something. He didn't spell it out, granted, but he figured that no words needed to be said.

If Eliot didn't understand that he was starting to feel really comfortable around him, that was his problem.

"So... seen the cute new guy yet? He's sooo cute. I'd go as far as to say 'hot', actually. Y'know Marlene? She saw him, dropped all the food for lunch and got a right telling off from chef, it was hilarious! Her cheeks went red, which is pretty hard for her to do given she's already bright pink, so she must have been blushing pretty hard," giggled Cyan, his own cheeks dusted pink just a little. This was probably his favourite thing to do, gossiping casually about cute guys he'd seen around. Hell, when he first saw Eliot, he'd gushed about him too, but he wasn't going to mention that. Eliot struck him as someone who would get uncomfortable with it.

"Anyway... he's really handsome, I think. Then again, as Marlene points out, I find everyone and anyone cute. Not got a lot of preferences. If they have a nice smile, I'm hooked~"
 
"New guy?" He whispered, his brow raising slowly in curiosity. While he wasn't as big of a gossip hound as Cyan, it didn't mean he wasn't curious about this new man. If he was as drop-dead gorgeous as the smaller man said, why wouldn't he want to meet him? Granted, he would probably just get a glance and return to his tent to sleep once he got a proper view.

"Where is he, then? You're insisting he's cute, but I'm hard to please," he offered teasingly, going as far as to flash a smile. The more he thought of Marlene's reaction, the more he grew genuinely curious. Marlene seemed pretty tough, unrelenting. For a woman like that to get so easily flustered. Granted, for all he knew, the woman just hated him in particular.

"Haven't you talked to him yet? You are the welcoming committee, aren't you?"
 
"Course I spoke with him! Gosh, I was the first one at the entrance when the car rolled up with him in. He's super tall and he's got muscles and... and he's... he likes kinda human, if you exclude the red eyes and the horns and stuff. But... But I think he's definitely gonna fit in well around here. I'm definitely going to spend some time with him, 'cos, you know, he's so gorgeous," he smirked, quietly biting on his bottom lip to stop himself going into overload chattering on and on about the new mutant on the scene.

"His name's Jaden or something cool like that-- and hey, if you really, really like him, I'll totally let you date him. He's too tall for me. Like, I look like a kid next to him, it'd never work. You know who I really like? I like chef, he's super cute, isn't he? And he's a bit dorky and he's kinda tall, but not too tall, and I like that! And-- And hey, I know I'm babbling, but you're cool and I like talking to you and-- and let's face it, I'll talk to my own reflection if I get too bored. I talk, it's what I do. Maybe that can be my performance! Just... standing on stage with my animal buddies and chatting. I'm not cool like you, I can't juggle. You could teach me though, yeah?"
 
"I can only juggle because I have extra arms. If I didn't, I'd be SOL." He replied simply as he rummaged through the small bag by his bed and showed the shiny balls. "Couldn't you do tricks with them? Like, train them to catch things? You gotta do something, right? I mean, do you, but..." he murmured slowly, only to try and peak through the tent curiously.

"So... horns? Red eyes? That's... cool. I've never seen horns," he admitted in a whisper. "Do you think they're sharp? Like, a ram? Must hurt... Is he nice? How tall? Probably intimidating... I wanna meet him," he declared quietly before moving to offer a curious brow.
 
Talking about his stage performances was a tender topic. He was happy to self-deprecate and admit just how god-awful he was, how untalented he was in comparison to other mutants, but when that was recognised by others, he did grow uncomfortable and feel a little... well, embarrassed.

He was aware that most mutants only wanted to help him and encourage him, but it didn't mean it stopped him getting upset when he was forced to admit his own inabilities... mostly because he was always reminded of the fact he'd thrown up everytime he set foot on stage, and the subsequent beatings and chastisements he received from the boss.

"...My animals aren't... they aren't circus performers," he slowly grimaced, breathing a very unsubtle sigh of relief when the subject appeared to shift and move on, especially when it returned back to Jaden-- or rather, Bailey, but he wasn't aware of the false name he'd been given.

"Oh, he's, like, mega tall. I'm 4'11", so he must be, like... 6'0" or something. It's really embarrassing when I had to crane my neck-- and hey, don't be so mean! I have horns, you see my horns all the time! They're not super cool or fancy, but... but I have 'em!"
 
"They're different," he replied dismissively as he waved the other. "Yours are dainty and stuff - sharp looking. These are thick." He insisted quietly before moving to wrap himself up properly in a blanket, sniffling at the cool air. He had a proper building to live in when he was younger, so to go from that to a tent was still a big difference.

"Your horns make you look cute and, like... ethereal, I guess? His makes him look tough. You know, my moms taught me how to make really good braids. I can do yours, if you want. You always look like you're struggling to see," he commented before carefully taking Cyan's hair in his hands without another word. After all, having multiple hands definitely helped make the perfect hair styles. Meanwhile, the closest he ever got to a 'hairstyle' was his usual mop or the occasional small ponytail.

"I'll talk to him later," he declared quietly before offering a small smile. "Do... Did he seem nice?"
 
"You really like my horns? Marlene says they're kinda cute, which I guess they are. Look at me, I'm basically adorable. I'm pint-sized and blue and I got hooves and a tail and... and I'm just dreamy. I'll be even more dreamy with braided hair, so get braiding, mister. Put some flowers in too, that'd be cute," he eagerly agreed and, with a final check on Rusty, plopped himself closer to Eliot, sitting with his back to him just as a hint that he wanted his hair braided now. Sooner rather than later, right?

"Is he nice? Oh, yeah, he seemed nice. He seemed nervous, but that's understandable, I guess-- I'll introduce you when you've braided my hair, yeah? Lunch is almost ready so we can all meet him then, but I'll get you a seat right next to him. I'm a matchmaker. Marlene's dating Edwin, right? I set them up! I'm real good at that. I love romance and sex and all that, even if I've never had a kiss-- but hey, like I said, I'm cute and Chef will see that one day."
 
"He seems a lot older than you, Cyan. Don't you find that strange? I mean, that Chef guy is... alright," he whispered as he easily tied the hair up nicely. "I don't want to date anyone, Cyan. I'm perfectly fine being alone. Relationships and I don't do very well together. I... um... I dated someone once, I guess. Didn't end well. Terrible, actually. I'd be cautious, Cyan."

His flat expression soon grew to a frown as he let a pair of eyes drift towards the entrance of the tent. Eventually, though, they returned to the small man as he separated the hair fully. Did he want to find someone who loved and cared about him? Of course, who didn't? After the last few years of what he had gone through, though, he knew better than to just go googly eyes over the first boy he saw. In fact, he had been pretty content on avoiding the more masculine men of the freak show out of fear.

"You'll find someone who'll love you and kiss you and have sex in no time," he eventually reassured after a moment of silence. "Just... I know you don't know me too well, but take my advice and don't just jump into having sex with the first person who claims to love you, okay?"
 
"You don't need to have sex with someone you love, even I know that. It's called being 'casual'. To be honest, I'd love someone to snuggle with and stuff, but I'm far more interested in just having sex right now. I'm really bored of having to hear Marlene boast about her sex life then act all innocent when she asks me. She knows what she's up to, she knows I'm still a virgin-- I dunno, I just want to shut her up. I'd totally flirt with you but I'm considerate and kind and already worked out that's not the best thing to do," he smiled, following his gaze through the slit of the tent and, once catching sight of a few people wandering past, forced back his urge to dash after them. He was much more interested in having his hair braided properly - it was just the thing to attract Chef, wasn't it?

"...So you don't want to date, that's fine. But you can be best buddies with the dreamy new guy, 'cos he is really, really dreamy. How long are you gonna be? Marlene's probably got her claws in him already, even if she's already taken. That woman is just so rude sometimes. And selfish. She has, like, two boyfriends, and I have none! She's so greedy."
 
"Be patient," he replied quietly, though his tone still managed to be stern as he continued, only stopping to hold the end of the braided hair while his free hands grabbed a flower to hold the hair in place. Taking a few extra dried sunflowers, he stuck them in the boy's hair for added effect. Taking in his work, he smirked proudly at the sight before lightly shooing the other.

"You look beautiful," Eliot admitted, pointing to the small leaning mirror in the corner. "I'm sure this Marlene woman won't have anything against you. You'll be going 'casual' with someone in no time. I'm sure your friend will help, too," he continued as he motioned to Rusty, daring to carefully pet the fox.
 
Absently placing a loose strand of hair behind his ear, the creature really wasn't ashamed to grin at his reflection in delight. He never went overboard with his self-complimenting to the point of narcissism, but he was often proud of his looks. He saw no reason to be disparaging of them just because some humans called him names - he liked himself, so that was all that mattered.

He was also pretty happy to dish out the compliments for his friends, too, which was one of the many reasons why he was so well-liked around the place. If you needed a boost, it was common knowledge to go to Cyan and have a half an hour of gushing sent your way.

"You're right, it's adorable-- and hey, Rusty's helpful all the time! I'm kinda hoping to use her to get Chef to take notice of me. She's a real cutie, nobody's gonna resist stopping to pet her," he beamed, his head tilted to the side as he observed the scene. "She's blind-- but I'm sure she knows your scent, which is probably why she's not freaking out right now. If you were human, though, she'd tear your hand off, she's-- she's old, but she's still got it, I think. You should see how quick she moves when I have food on me, it's funny-- can I keep her in here while we go for lunch? The wolves in my tent always bother her to try and play and she needs her rest, y'know?"
 
"Of course. My parents and I used to raise the local strays when I was younger and, while Rusty isn't a cat, she sure is cute..." He admitted as he ran his fingers through the fox's hair slowly, his eyes locked on the creature. Of course, he eventually did stand up after offering the fox another blanket. Getting to his feet, he took a look at himself before trying to adjust his hair properly. If this guy was as cute as he said, he wanted to at least make a good impression.

"... Okay, yeah. Let's get lunch. Do I look cute? I mean, you don't have to work very hard, but someone like me has to work hard to get attention - not that I want any a-attention, aha... Just, I dunno. Maybe we'll connect over both of us being new?" He offered weakly as he took in himself fully, his many eyes blinking.
 
"Or maybe he'll be like, 'woah, who's this real cool guy with the four arms and all the eyes? I really gotta get to know him'. I was totally like that when we first met, and look at us now, practically best friends. For the record, I don't let just anyone touch my hair. Only special people. Rusty likes you, so I like you," he grinned, reaching to take one of his hands to tug him from the tent. If he was honest, any occasion they got to gather in the food tent to eat lunch was an occasion to be enthusiastic about.

Life really was shit as a freak show performer, but the food was surprisingly good. If they didn't eat, they couldn't perform, so no expense was spared buying in good ingredients. Dinners were, thus, Cyan's favourite time of the day - he got to have good food and he got to sit at a long table with all his friends. There really wasn't anything better than that-- other than sleeping with all his animals cuddled around him, anyway.

"Look, there he is. See the guy sitting by TJ? The one with the horns? That's the guy. Do you think he's cute? Course you do, you have, like, a tonne of eyes, of course you can see he's cute," he babbled once making the short, rainy trip across the grounds to the food tent, easily seeking out the newcomer who was silently sat at the table with a fair few mutants sat around questioning and introducing themselves to him. "...Oh gosh, Marlene's already talking to him, I knew she would. Get your butt over there, Eliot. I'm going to go help Chef with the stuff, you just... you go sit next to him, quick."
 
Almost immediately did the mutant grow uncomfortable. Stiffly shifting his weight, he tried to shoot Cyan a wary glance until realizing the boy had scurried off. With a heavy breath, he wandered over to the new act and stared down at his hands. Eventually, though, he inhaled and offered the man a smile.

"So... You're new?" He offered weakly, his voice cracking a tad. "Me, too. Ah... I mean, yeah. I'm Eliot," he offered, holding one of his hands out warily whilst the others nervously wrung his shirt. "We can be new together - sorry, I... didn't mean to interrupt your conversation."
 
On one hand, this was absolutely insightful for Bailey.

He'd arrived about an hour or two ago under the guise of being a lost mutant that had been chased to the circus by a bunch of rowdy drunkard humans. In reality, he was only really there for inside information, gather a little dirt or techniques as to how this circus was so popular compared to the one he'd religiously gone to every weekend. To do that, no expense had been spared - he'd forked out thousands on fancy prosthetic horns and proper makeup they used in the sci-fi movies. He had looked at himself in the mirror, with his newly blue skin, his horns, red eyes and fangs, and thought he'd gone overboard with it all.

Until he arrived at the freak show. Compared to some of the mutants he'd met, he felt positively underdressed.

However, on the flip side, he didn't realise how uncomfortable he would be sitting in such close proximity to these monsters. He was disgusted and freaked out and horrified-- but, hey, he was a good actor. He'd taken theatre lessons as a child and he felt he'd learnt how to act well enough. Given nobody had yet left him alone, and he'd had a fair few mutants gush over him, those acting lessons were coming into handy.

And here was another mutant, trailing up to introduce himself. Great.

"Hm? Oh, you're new too? That's-- relieving, to be honest. I hate being the new kid. It'd good to share that role," grinned Bailey, or rather 'Jaden'. He didn't really want one mutant recognising his name - his parents were pretty famous around the city, after all, and it took just one mutant recognising the name to ruin everything.

"Eliot? I-- yeah, I think someone mentioned you. I'm Jaden-- do you want to sit down? You seem a lot quieter compared to the others-- I need that. I think my ears are bleeding from the non-stop shouting, it'll do some good to talk to someone who can communicate at a normal pitch."
 
"They're all just excited, I guess," Eliot offered as he took a careful seat across the other. "So, I've heard your name is Jaden? That's a cute name, um... I like your horns, by the way. They look tough. Wish I had horns, I could bash into anyone I wanted who pissed me off- that sounds violent, doesn't it? Sorry, just... Let me start over, okay?" He insisted before shaking his head. With his cheeks red in embarrassment, he offered another smile.

"I'm Eliot, I've only been here, like, three days longer than you, and I can juggle. That's my thing, y'know? What, uh... what can you do?" He questioned, his voice having grown even quieter after his flustered babbles, that of which was a sign that he was almost frightened. He tried to pretend he was cool, though, by offering a chuckle while a hand pushed his bangs out of his eyes. "Sorry. Really."
 
Oh, god. Another annoying, rambling one. For mutants, they really weren't amusing conversationally.

Doing his best to smile and nod and appear as though he found the self-conscious babbles cute, Bailey rested his head on his fist and eventually gave a small chuckle, surprising himself with the faux sincerity that it was drowned in. After all of this mutant bullshit, he was seriously considering going full-time with this acting lark. It wasn't that difficult - he was pretty sure he was acing acting as one of these freaks.

"And you're apologising why? I think you're fun, don't worry about it. The fact you speak so quietly automatically makes you my favourite person here," he answered with genuine honesty. The mutant might be irritatingly nervous and just as freakish as the others, but he was at least relatively... okay. The other mutants who had swamped him with loud questions were insufferable.
 
"Oh, no, I... I agree, ah, a lot of people here are loud. That's why I tend to keep to myself, you know? Everyone is super loud. It's good, in a sense, 'cuz it means I don't have to talk to anyone myself. I get to just sit back and listen, since everyone else is trying their hardest to be heard. I don't blame the others, though, since the humans are so mean and sparing on their affection."

Watching as a plate of food was set in front of him, Eliot offered a smile before poking at the mashed potatoes. He had been raised on a confusing mix of fresh vegetables and stolen foods with a mother who could give an Iron Chef a run for their money, so tasting the mashed potatoes caused him to drown in disappointment. He ate, though, insisting to himself that it was better than garbage.

"So... tell me about yourself? Do you like it here? I don't blame you if you don't."
 
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