Cirque du Haven (UrbanDecay x Niseht)

[UrbanDecay]

Michael felt bad for letting the guy down but grateful at the same time for his kindness in not bodily removing him from the circus camp. There were probably few members of any circus that would show that kind of restraint. At least from what he'd read anyway, which to be honest wasn't much, but still. Michael chuckled at the man's last statement. He may have been let down but at least he was gracious and good-natured about it. Michael moved to fall into step with the man and was about to speak when Natasha came around the corner and he stopped immediately. He had thought her beautiful before. How very common that compliment seems in comparison to the reality. She wasn't just beautiful, she was stunning. The loose curls of her long, obsidian hair bobbed gently as she came to a stop, dark mahogany eyes registering surprise at finding the two men there before her light skin colored. Michael couldn't help his eyes taking in all of her, the gentle curves of her body, the light shining off of her hair, the endless depths of eyes that a man could happily fall into. To Michael, she was perfect.

And she now thought he was gay. At first he words rolled over him as his mouth moved at an attempt to make sense of her popping out like that. Then they registered in his slowly reawakening brain. Michael looked at the strongman, then back at Natasha, back and forth in a comically confused manner. "I...you....you...I...I'm not...you..." Michael stammered. 'Ohshitohshitohshitohshit...whatdoIdo?' Michael's face had turned an alarming shade of red by this point, enough that he could feel the heat of the blood. "I..." he coughed. At this point, he decided silence was probably the better option.

[Niseht]

Gabriel immediately put his hands up in a stopping motion at Nat. "Heeeey now, not like that and- and hey wait, when was that ever my thing? It was the others that got into that and they're still young they can't control that as well as I can." He shot a look at Michael and then seemed to think it best to not continue along this topic anymore.
"Anyway, like I said miss I-have-boobs-I-take-all-the-guys, it's not like that. I was actually on my way to a comforting bottle of alcohol and this guy-" Gabriel makes to put a hand around Michaels waist, but stops it right around his rear. He gives it the slightest squeeze before suddenly stopping and then pushing Michael forward towards Natasha with a surprising amount of force. "- was on his way to meet you. Good? good. Now leave me to my alcohol woman." Gabriel sauntered past them both, thinking that the man better enjoy this, and that his but was nice, and that he really did need alcohol to help both his sudden thirst and oncoming headache.
----------
Natasha didn't have long to be slightly confused and insulted by the weird 'miss-boobs-taking-man or whatever the title was that Gabriel had given her, because suddenly the apparently straight (?) man was being pushed towards her, and then she had a still single gay vampire walking off to get drunk and complain about her bust.
again.
She had managed to place her violin against her side so that Michael wouldn't bump into it and damage either it or himself even more.
"Sorry about Gabriel, he can be a bit...well, Gabriel. "She suddenly squinted up at Michael. "And what are you doing back here, aren't you one of the norms supposed to be in the crowds back there?"

[UrbanDecay]

A part of Michael expressed some curiosity at the way Gabriel, which was apparently the man's name, referred to the some other group of people as young. There was a special kind of connotation there. This, however, was lost in the other flustering majority of his person. Gabriel apparently attempted to defuse the situation, albeit somewhat unsuccessfully, and then suddenly the man's hand was giving his rear a squeeze before shoving him towards Natasha. Michael stumbled several steps, deftly avoiding Natasha and her violin, before coming to a stop. By the time he had recovered, Gabriel was traipsing off in another direction apparently satisfied that the situation was now in Michael's capable hands.

They really weren't very capable.

Natasha proffered an apology for Gabriel's behavior that just kind of washed over him like everything from the past few minutes. Then she called him a norm and for some reason that struck a chord. "Norm?" he asked and then immediately held up a hand stopping her from responding. "Wait...just....wait...hold on." Michael turned his back to her and drew in a deep breath, released it, and drew in another deep breath. This was usually his calming routine before a performance but it seemed to be doing the trick now. Just a gentle, deep inhalation and exhalation followed by another and another until his nerves calmed and the adrenaline stopped pumping. He let out a small sigh and muttered, "Fuck it."

Michael turned back to Natasha. Showing an amount of courage that even surprised him he introduced himself. "I'm Michael. I apologize for eavesdropping on your cool down playing. I'm a musician myself and know how important that can be. I'm back here because your playing is astonishingly incredible. You plucked emotion from the depth of your soul to a degree I've rarely, if ever, seen and it called to me. Even in the playing you were just doing you could put the world's best to absolute shame. I wanted to meet the person who could do so much with what you were playing." Michael's face heated again, "I'm...uh...not used to this kind of thing. I hope this isn't...um...uncalled for."

[Niseht]

Natasha wasn't sure how to react with this guy, for a norm he was acting rather odd. He turned around just as she was thinking of grabbing his shoulder and forcing him to turn, and he introduced himself as Michael. She was surprised to say the least at him talking to her like that, considering that she was a) a stranger and b) a circus performer. There was also the fact that she wasn't human, but he didn't know, or need to know, that part yet.
She chuckled slightly at his nervous ending. "I suppose it's fine, a girl can always do with a compliment or two." She hesitated slightly, looking him up and down once more. Even being a newer member of the circus, she had still been with it for a few years now. With that came the natural feeling to ignore him as a 'norm'. But her un-human nature, much like the younger vampires that Gabriel had mentioned, was automatically inclined to use humans as often as she could.
She shook off the mixed feelings and attempted a smile at him again.
"Thank you again, the other musicians and I weren't planning on having an open tent today, but if it's just you then I think they wouldn't mind a visitor. You could hang with us for a bit if you'd like."

[UrbanDecay]

Michael returned her smile and nodded, relaxing a bit now that he knew he wasn't about to be tossed out. "I would very much like that," he responded. "I've never heard anyone play a violin like you can. If you don't mind my asking, where did you learn how to play?"

In truth, Michael had always wanted to play the violin. After trying though he found that he didn't have the required dexterity for it. Something about the way the bow needed to move never quite clicked with him and he gave it up, much to the relief of his tutor. The guitar had always been his baby. Ever since he was a child he'd had a knack for making a guitar cry. Idly, he wondered if he'd ever get the chance to play for her. He realized that was something he wanted quite a bit. On it's coattails raced another thought. Looking around a bit the idea started to cement. 'I'd have to get used to playing in front of this many people. Getting to play with her and the two others she was with....that would be worth it.' He hadn't been one of the children with dreams of growing up and joining the circus. Now, though, now the allure suddenly made sense to him...in so many ways he thought as he returned his looked at Natasha.

[Niseht]

Natasha thought back to when she was little, learning from her kind. It was better that they had a talent, painting, singing, acting, something that suited them, something that they could create and make beautiful and put their targets at ease with. It was nature, survival, need, the most basic animalistic principles morphed to fit into society.

"My parents were both very artsy-type people, so it didn't take long for me to get into music. After I found the Violin, it all just took off from there." She said cheerfully at Michael, flashing him a dazzling smile before continuing to lead to the way. They entered the crowds once more, but Natasha managed to walk through them easily enough. She slowed down a bit to make sure Michael could keep up though. Other musicians were out now, but the two who had performed with her were no where in sight. Likewise, Gabriel was gone but a young girl with glasses who had been his assistant was performing minor feats of strength for the crowd not too far away. The crowds were tightest around the booths and open tents, but Natasha made sure to avoid them directly as they headed towards a specific one.
"So what about you, you said a while ago that you were also a musician, what do you play?" It really did feel weird talking to someone outside the circus like this, so she was trying to focus on something that they apparently both had in common, to an extent.

[UrbanDecay]

Michael was pretty sure he could've died happy after seeing that smile. It was radiant. As they made their way through the crowd, Michael had to admit a certain amount of awe at the grace she showed in navigating the crowds. Earlier, Michael had been like a bull in a china shop. She was like a breath of wind, effortlessly moving through the clumps of people they encountered with them hardly even knowing they were there with Michael stomping along behind like a giant. Natasha obviously had a destination in set in her mind with they way she avoided taking them through the densest groups of circus goers.

"I'm a guitarist," Michael offered in response to her question. "I took to it at an early age. It just feels...natural to me I suppose. Everything's right with the world when I've got my guitar in my hands." Michael eased around a couple as he kept pace with Natasha. "Unfortunately, I'm not as lucky as you. My parents didn't understand my desire and tried their damnedest to cut me off from it." He offered her a sidelong grin. "It didn't work."

The wind blew some hair into Michael's face as they were walking and he reached up to pull it away and back behind his ears before continuing. "So you've been playing since childhood then?"

[Niseht]

Natasha offered an amused smile in return when he grinned at her. "Good for you then."

She nodded at his question, leading the way still but coming close to their destination now. "Yes, along with some friends who were like family to me then. I joined here a few years ago for convenience, but it did take me away from them. I still see them quite often though, seeing as how they all travel as well."
She internally winced at the idea of her clan members sometimes following her to 'check up' on her and to follow along with the circus from time to time. It was easy enough to hide from humans in here, but from other creatures like them, not so much.
Again, there was no need to bring that sort of thing up though.

She stopped in front of a medium blue tent that was closed and had no crowd in front of it.
She tapped briefly on the fabric of it before entering, nodding her head for Michael to walk in as well.
The other two performers were there as well, the elder lounging on a bed without her costume on but instead a regular dress, and the younger sitting next to her on the floor and drawing next to her instrument.
There were two males on the other side, one who was tall and bulkier then the rest and who stood up at seeing a newcomer come in. the other was quite shorter, just above Natasha's height, and was holding a hand of cards. When the taller stood, their game of cards was suddenly revealed.
"Hey there Nat, who's the newcomer?" the shorter asked, tilting his head to look around his larger friend.
"He giving you any trouble Natasha?" asked his friend, but Natasha waved him off. "He's fine."
The little girl performer immediately stood up and pranced on over, hugging Natasha's side. "Hey there~~!" she near sang to Micheal, beaming up at him.

[UrbanDecay]

Michael offered the small girl a bemused smile. "Hello yourself, little one. You're quite the flute player. I was greatly impressed by your show." The small girl's smile was infectious and Michael found himself returning the smile to her as he spoke. Looking up from her, he nodded in respect at what he assumed were the two bodyguards for the three women. "I mean no disrespect, nor harm, to any here." He nodded in the direction of Natasha. "Her performance enchanted me and as a musician myself I desired to meet her and she graciously accepted."

There was something about her. Something that...made him comfortable. That wasn't a feeling he'd had since...well, ever really. Was it that she was such a skilled and passionate musician? No, he'd been around people like that before. Granted, not of her skill level but quite talented none-the-less. Michael glanced at her. It certainly wasn't her looks that made him confident. He wasn't exactly what one would call a womanizer and Natasha was more beautiful than any woman he'd ever come across. In his eyes anyway, though he doubt he'd find many people who disagreed with him. Either way, he couldn't pin it down but there was definitely something about her that put him more at ease than he normally ever was. Was he still nervous and jittery? Sure, it was part of who he was but he definitely felt that he was more...himself.

Michael looked back down at the little girl and motioned towards her drawing. "So, little dove, what is it that you're drawing there?"

[Niseht]

Natasha held back from squirming away from little Alice as she greeted her guest. Natasha actually liked kids very much, especially the type that Alice mimicked, but she was still adjusting to the other part of Alice that was hidden away from most. It gave a new warped perspective to look at a little girl like her and know that there was no little girl inside it.
Though she could pretend to not notice that, especially when Alice giggled cutely at Micheal the way she did after he called her little dove like that.
" I'm drawing all~~ the animals that Mike-y and his friends takes care of!!! Wanna see?" Alice didn't even wait for an answer, grabbing onto Michaels hands and guiding him towards her drawings on the floor by the couch where Milly was still laying passively. Milly gave him an emotionless once-over, and then went back to her idle staring of the room at large.
Natasha followed after them, sitting beside Milly as she already knew that Milly wouldn't be bothered by her presence.
She caught the eye of Mike and Sam still staring at them, and realized that she still hadn't answered Sam's question.
"This is Michael, I invited him over because he liked our music in the performance, so I figured he would like to meet the rest of us and get away from the crowds for a bit."
Alice was already organizing her pictures to show to Michael, making sure to put the best drawn ones up at the top so she could start with a good first impression. Natasha caught a glimpse of the top one, but couldn't tell if it was a bear or a large otter, but knew that they didn't have either here at the show.
Sam came over, dropping his hand of cards back down and knelt down by Alice and Micheal. "Well hey there, nice to meet you. Not often we get visitors here. Least of all at the perfect moment to see lil' Alice's art show." Sam reached out and rubbed the top of alice's head affectionately, to which she giggled at again in her sweet high soprano voice.