Leon was still getting settled into the circus's camp. He had wanted to start his training with Winslow but had not seen him a lot since he joined the circus. Leon was cleaning up Lester's poo when he saw Calli and Dorian Leaving for a lunch date. Leon could not helped but be mesmerized by the only slightly younger couple. They had everything he has wanted. Leon looked over to Taegan who was playing with his spinewolf pup, Charlie.

"Aren't they the cutest couple you have ever seen? Man I wish I had that feeling, it must be amazing." Leon said in the most jovial tone not realizing the look of disdain on Taegan's face.

Taegan tugged on the rope toy he'd made for the rust colored spinewolf, his face pulled into a dark scowl. Throwing the toy, he watched as Charlie lept on it, settling down to chew on the knots he'd so carefully tied jerky into. The pup was in a harness and leashed to Clarabelle's kint, so he knew if he left, the little creature would still be there later. As for Caz, he didn't need to worry about the white kitten, she'd somehow made a sort of living Binkie for Clarabelle, who guarded her more than the raggidy teddy. They were together in the kint now, Caz curled up under Clarabelles chin. Brushing off his hands, the blonde tamer gave Leon a disapproving frown.

"They aint cute, they're lame. It's so clocking sickening." Crossing his muscular arms, he lent againt the kint.

"What is your problem, kov. They are cut couple with a cute future ahead of them. It is not clocking sickening, It is clocking amazing. You know maybe you should get a reality check, you are such a vreska." Leon said with as much disdain that Taegan had on his face. Leon felt he may have over stepped his boundaries so he firmly planted his feet on the ground, just in case.

Taegan's jaw clenched and his blue eyes glared at Leon. Shoving away from the kint, he walked towards the wick, hands uncrossed, clenching and unclenching his fists.

"What the clock would you know about anything you good for nothing bastard?! You aint even part of this damn troupe and you wanna insult me? I suggest you shove off, before I mess up your face." His voice was hard and practically radiating with fury. How dare he!

"Listen mate, Winslow says I am part of this troupe just not a performer." Leon said, clenching his fist. "Mess up my face, really. You're playing with a clocking puppy, you're a nothing but a strong wussy. "Leon said, giving Taegans chest a little shove. "I can take you with one hand." He said, putting his left hand behind his back.

There was no warning, no snide remark, nothing. There was just a rushing sound as Taegan swung his fist at Leon's face. The blonde boy was infuriated, his fist clenched tight and whole body put into the swing.

Leon had no time at all to move before he took a fist to the nose. With his arm behind his back, his balance was off and he fell. He hit the dirt, legs falling out and tripping Taegan. Taegan's weight had been thrown forward by the punch, so he too was soon falling like a tonne of bricks. They landed, legs twisted together. It would have looked vaguely comical were it not for the fact that Leon's shirt was now red with blood. The shock of the hit left him momentarily shocked still but it wasn't long before his senses returned.

His nose was going to need to be reset, it was now at a funny angle. Leon's foot was actually in the fork of Taegan's legs, were he feeling like making a retort in this physical debate.

Leon could feel is nose throbbing, he had never had this feeling before. His heart was racing his adrenaline pumping. Leon did not think before he acted and since his foot was near his penis. He decided to kick it and kick it hard.

Taegan was filled with a pain the likes of which he'd never endured before. He'd been bitten by Clarabelle as a baby, he'd got into fights and won a great many. He just wasn't really used to getting a boot to the nads at such short range. If his genitals had a voice, they would have been screaming "That is rather painful. Rather."

Taegan's breath was lost as the pain tore through him from the groin up. Coughing and gasping, his face twisted into a half grimace, half sneer as his hands balled around Leon's shirt. Furious and in pain, he stopped thinking. Pushing down on Leon's chest so he could sit up a bit, the blonde began to smack the wick in the face again and again, lips pulled back and teeth clenched. Charlie yapped on his leash and Clarabelle growled in her kint, pacing.

"You..stop..clocker..I'll...kill...you!"

Taegan's rather considerable pain was slowing his punches. It wasn't enough, though. He was hitting him with a violence that stole all sense from Leon, made his skull burn and his brain seem to rattle about. If someone didn't intervene there actually was a chance Taegan might beat Leon into unconsciousness and cause irreparable harm.

Everything was getting bury for Leon all he could see was red. Before he passed out he decided to do something unthinkable. He was going to punch Taegan in the throat. I need to get him off me. Leon's nose was burning so bad, all he wanted to do was find a healer and get his nose fixed. With all the strength Leon could muster, he clenched his fist and swung at Taegans throat.

He'd discovered the Circus, in all it's glory. Viator smiled at the memory of a certain lass who had made his last visit so intriguing. With a friendly wave to some of the relaxing performers, he entered the grounds, willing himself to enjoy the day.

Of course, he'd wandered past the sensational Balder's Circus group a few times, but now as the festival was winding to a close, he wanted to properly investigate. Wendy and him had made up, and life was looming on the horizon. Decisions had to be made... and he didn't want to make them. So he wandered into the one place he was certain something would catch his eye and interest him.


The sound of teenage bravado assaulted Viator's ears, and like any man who had worked with youths for too long, he could tell this was posturing going a step too far. Narrowing his large indigo eyes, he tilted his head in order to catch any of rest of the argument. There was a dull thump of something connecting with something that it shouldn't. His right eyebrow lifted. Taking a moment to look around, he didn't see anyone in the immediate vicinity that would help... or disengage the combatants.

It was with a heavy sigh and a crooked grin that Viator shrugged on the mantle of ref, discarded since the sea. He just hoped it still had the same fit when dealing with circus folk as dealing with rowdy sailor lads.

He didn't see the initial punch, but the aftermath was quite certain. As the one on bottom kicked his opponent in the one place you just don't kick a man, Viator cringed. That was bad form, and it often led to escalation... he wasn't surprised, then, when the bigger, burlier boy began punching the other silly. Normally, he'd let bucks be bucks, yet...


...Those were lethal words, from a lad who could back up the threat with real muscle. It didn't look good for the darkhaired scamp. Brushing the hair from his eyes, Viator decided his course of action really before it caught up to his mind.

"Hey!" His voice sounded a little high to his own ears, but it carried better than the lower range. However, instead of waiting on a response, he lowered himself and with some quick calculation, leapt towards the bigger boy, intending his shoulder to connect with the lad's side, pushing him off the other boy, then using his superior speed and lack of injury to roll quickly away. From there he'd deal on the bigger one's terms.

Viator sent Taegan flying, then sprawling into the dirt. A small cloud of dust erupted, making Taegan cough and sputter. Leon's fist hit air, though his punch was so weak it wouldn't have helped him much at all. Without Taegan proping him up, he slumped. He finally had the opportunity to breath and wait for the bells between his ears to stop ringing. He was hurting, confused now and he probably needed some medical attention.

Viator was more experienced with scuffles than either of the other two boys. He rolled away, landing with enough time to stand again if he wanted to.

Taegan was shocked by the out of nowhere force tearing him off the wick, disorientated by the dust and the rolling. He landed with a breathless thud, laying on his back for a moment as the unknown force rolled away from him. Coughing and groaning, the blonde slowly got to his knees, hand held tightly to his privates. Now he wasn't in immediate fighting mode, the pain was foremost in his mind. Eyes squeezed shit and face a mask of pain, he leant forward on one arm and emptied his stomach. Clarabelle hissed and growled in her kint, pacing furiously, butting at the bars. Charlie continued to whine and yap, jumping against the restraint of the leash. Groaning in the back of his throat, the boy grit his teeth. He knew the force that had thrown him had to be a person. An animal would be noisier and bitier.

"Get that stop-clocking jackass out of here before I get up, or I'm going to let that fucking chrove out of her cage." His voice was strained with anger and pain, and not a hint of empty threats. Taegan was very very serious.

Leon was surprised that his weak knuckles didn't break after hitting Taegan's neck, in fact he didn't hit anything at all. After drifting in and out of consciousness Leon sat up. His nose still had blood dripping out of his nose. He knew a healer would have to set his nose back to its original place or he would lose his pretty boy face.

What am I doing here. Why did I join the circus. Leon had finally come to a realization. I should have never joined the circus.

"Taegan I am sorry. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. Can you find Balder and Winslow so I can talk to them. You will not see me at all after this." Leon was ashamed of his actions. He was acting like a barbarian then a gentlemen.

Taegan growled deep in his chest and took a few deep breaths in and out of his nose.

"No I can NOT clocking well find Balder and Winslow, you kenser! Get off your own erse and find them yourself!" Turning slightly, he glanced at the stranger who had probably saved Leon's life.

"I'm serious. Get him the fuck out of here." The tamer had already begun to gingerly get to his feet, still doubled over, holding his jewels. He already knew it would be tender for ages down there, and his anger was bursting out of the seams. Clarabelle hissed, clawing at the bars of the cage with a horrendous splintering noise. Caz had backed up against the end of the kint, all arched and fluffed up.

Giana had been getting something for Taegan and was returning when she heard the yells, the thumps, the growling. Oh, no.
She assumed one of the animals was acting up, and ran forward.
"Hey, Taegan, I got you the..."
She trailed off as she saw him lying on the ground.
"Taegan? Taegan!"
Although he wasn't bleeding, he looked to be in some serious amount of pain. She ran towards him, knelt beside him.
He was trying to get onto his feet again, she noted, and she went to help him up.
"What just happened? Are you okay? What did that guy do to you," she asked, trying to support him, "and who the clock was he to be messing with you?"
She noted the distressed animals all around.
"Lemme get you over to a chair, and then I'll see if I can calm everybody down."
She was resisting calling him any sort of pet name at this point, as she often accidentally did when anyone was in any sort of pain, but knew her efforts would soon be futile.

Viator nodded, knowing the beginnings of control when he saw it. Pulling The other boy up, arm over his shoulders, he glanced at Taegan. The lad was fuming... but he hadn't actually killed. There was some hope. He memorized his face, in hopes of... well, doing what 'women' had always done; bringing boys into manhood. Though, in Viator's case it had absolutely nothing to do with bedroom rendezvous, and everything with teaching respect. He'd been a father to more fresh-faced lads and scowling bucks than a normal man would claim.


The girl seemed totally on the side of the burly buck, so Viator felt in necessary to explain the situation.

"Dunno what th'other boy did, but I tackled yer friend to the ground while he was trying t'kill this un. Was gettin' awful close to succeedin', too." He shrugged, shifting the lad on his shoulder a little. He would have felt bad, except he knew that youths of this age took a kickin' and went on tickin'... from experience. He still had some of the scars...

"Good on ye, gel, for gettin' that one squared away. Calm him down a tic while I run this 'un to... Balder and Winslow? An' a healer. His nose ent ever gonna be s'pretty as it was." He smiled wanly at his charge before turning back to the lad and lass.

"I'll be back t'see him, too. I dislike havin' t'break things apart thusly..." That Taegan boy, he felt, might actually be in the right. Fights that harmful were usually the fault of something ill-spoken. But his way of handling things was all wrong. With, perhaps some guidance--? Sighing to himself, Viator readjusted his load once more and moved in the direction of the main circus encampment, looking for the proprietors.

The tamer looked up as Giana approached. He'd forgotten she'd be back. Clocking hell, and here he was, grappling his nuts, vomiting, whinging like a little girl. He winced and tried to force out the pain in his face, focusing on the angry instead.



Taegan shook his head, glancing at Viator and the rather bloody Leon.

"Some clocking idiot who doesn't know when to hold his tongue. Just showin' him we don't sit back like kensers and take abuse. Stop-clocker. Ugh." Growling through his teeth, he groaned when she led him to the chair near Clarabelle's kint. It hurt. The chrove pushed against the bars closest to him, sniffing and growling a little.



Scowling through his lashes, the blonde boy shook his head.

"He should have left us alone. Clocking bastard was...oww.." He groaned, hunched over himself, eyes squeezed shut. It was kinda nice that Giana came to his rescue. If his privates didn't hurt so much, he'd flirt right about now.

Leon could see that his savior wanted to know what happened. Thank gods for this guy. If it wasn't for him Taegan Probably would have killed me. Leon could see in the man's indigo eyes that he had understanding in his heart.

"You probably want to know what happened." Leon's voice was becoming more nasally with every passing moment. He was starting to sound more like a pretentious galdori woman than a full grown wick.

"Taegaaaaannn. What did he say? I don't like this; you keep trying to kill people, and I'll soon not have a boss and'll have to do everything myself, hmm?"
She looked over at him, concerned. He was obviously in pain, lots of it, and bent over groaning in his chair. She put a hand on his back and bent down next to him.
"Tae? Are you seriously hurt? Can I do anything?"
Oh, poor guy. At this point, she was seriously working at not calling her boss 'honey,' but was coming close to giving up. He looked so hurt, and she wondered what the other guy'd done to him.
She'd love to try and heal him, but without knowing the injury, she had no chance of knowing whether it'd work, and even then, she'd only ever healed hingles and ostas. No Taegans in her repetoire, unfortunately.

Sitting up slightly, the boy pushed the scowl off his face and tried to give her a cheeky smile. It didn't quite work, but the idea was there.

"Pretty girls are supposed to kiss things better right?" He chuckled, only to wince. Chuckling made him hurt down there. Sighing, he gave her a serious look.

"Can you check Clarabelle? She's pretty worked up. Just talk to her for a minute. And maybe give Charlie a pat. I reckon I can walk after that...with some help."

Oh, thank the gods, he was okay enough to be joking with her.
She laughed a bit and gave him a tiny kiss on the top of his head.
"There. You big baby."
She walked over to Clarabelle's kint.
"Ssh. He's okay now. Okay? I admit he was acting like he was a goner for a minute there, but Tae's just a drama queen. No need to be eating men with hats."
She then walked over to where Charlie was tied. "Hey, Charl. Hey." She scratched him, and tugged on his rope toy with him until he got bored a minute later.
"You wanna try and get to somewhere where you can lay down for a bit?"

Viator looked at the boy, eyes dark and brows caustically lifted. It spoke. He was a friendly man, and his irritation quickly passed; it was uncalled for and really not needed. He had saved the kid, it wasn't like he'd asked for saving. It just had to be done. From the drying blood all over his face and clothes, the lad seemed fairly penitent. Good. I was a gift o' providence for this buck. He sighed, unable to stay angry for long at the sight of so pathetic and apologetic a kid.

"Oi, I believe that's more a story fer yer bosses, but I ent opposed t'listenin'. Now first off, bucko, what's yer name?" It was as though the first question released the dam on so many more. "An' why the clocking name o' the circle didja get ina rumble wit th'mountainous lad?" For Viator, who enjoyed discourse but disliked bandying words, it was a definite mouthful. He was making a good motion forward, and he was certain some of the other circus folk had seen him. Good. They would get Balder and then HE could deal with the rest of this mess.