...

Erik followed along without question when the strange woman took his hand and headed into the circus grounds, smiling widely. "Thank you! We do take pride in the circus. The members often choose to decorate their vans themselves, so each one is unique." He scooted closer to her once she dropped his hand. "Of course, let's get on with your tour. No need to keep such a beautiful woman such as yourself waiting," he babbled, trotting after her when she took off again. The shifter turned the corner of the van just as she began to speak to Selvai and Needles, and scowled at the two briefly before stepping closer to her.

"It's Erik, dear. Erik Docherty. Although I won't object to anything else you wish to call me," he said smoothly, grinning at her and pretty much ignoring the two males. "I just realized though, that I forgot to ask your name. Terribly rude of me. What may I call you?"

When Dravius appeared, placing his hand on her shoulder, Erik shot him an irritated look over the top of her head. "That won't be necessary, Mr. Wolfe," he said stiffly. The red head slid next to Neva, slipping his arm through hers and resting his other hand on her bicep. "She and I were just taking a tour of the Majikus ourselves. By ourselves," he stressed.

-------

Adriel smiled at Angel's determined efforts to reach her face, laughing when the child finally lost her balance and landed back on the floor. "I'll have to get some toys for you when I babysit again," she mused, watching as she began to crawl around the blanket covered floor. "My face isn't that interesting, I promise," Adriel told her.

She stood up rather quickly, stepping over to the door and cutting Angel off as she tried to make an escape to the outside. "Oh, no no no, dear. Your parents won't like it if I let you tumble down the steps. Or escape to the woods and turn feral." Stepping over the baby, she sat down sideways on the top step, draping her legs over the edge and turning to face Angel. "There. I should ask Selvai if he has any spare toys you could play with next time we do this. I'm sure he could spare a few of Lionel's to keep you distracted for an hour or two."

-------

Selvai had been preparing to deflect Needle's questions about him and Disera when a dark haired, absolutely beautiful woman appeared, speaking to them both, and he forgot whatever it was he had been thinking about.

"Hello. I am Selvai Mayoso, one of the members in charge of security for the circus," he told her, moving forward and bowing slightly without taking his eyes off of her. "It's always such a pleasurable experience to meet new members. I do hope you and I can socialize further in the future," the magician said, glancing at Erik standing next to her, and frowning once at him.

"Erik... What a wonderful name. And easy to remember," Neva had grinned in response to the red-headed shifter. She had caught his earlier words, but had chosen deliberately not to respond to them. Talking to men like this tended to have them babbling continuiously... At least until she asked them to shut it.

"I think... Erik will do fine," She murmered, turning her gaze back towards the two male's by the van, looking curious as she eyed the spine-covered boy appreciateively. Huh. Looks like this Circus had more to offer than she'd as.sumed... This kid certainly looked interesting.

Remembering suddenly that everyone here was.... Unusual, in some way. She looked back at Erik, then Selvai, before smiling, one corner of her mouth upturned in an almost ecstatic sort of way. Goodness... These two looked normal, besides the older one who seemed to have some sort of... Tattoo? On his face. But of course they had some sort of power, right?... It almost felt like christmas, as Neva grinned at the thought of the surprises these male's were hiding.

Going out on a limb, she looked back at Erik, seeing as he had been the first to meet her, and adopted an expression of total curiousity and innocence. "I've heard... Just, rumours, mind... That all of you are... Special in some way?" She asked, flicking her red gaze back to Needles with a knowing smile, before looking between the remaining men. "I see some of you are more obvious than others... So what about you two?... I'd absoloutely love to know what you can do... To know... how unique you are," She tempted, voice as smooth as silk. It was here Selvai spoke, and the woman looked at him with wide, overly innocent eyes. "Ohh... Security, huh?... How important you must be..." She murmered, taking a step towards him and looking closer at the markings on his face.

Before she so much as got a response, however, from any of the other members, the contact on her shoulder caused her to look back, and she actually looked genuinely shocked by what she saw. It wasn't really Dravius' general appearance, more his height. He pretty much blocked out the sun stood this close to her.

"Oh my..." Neva breathed quietly, keeping firm to her act of new comer. So this was one of the bosses?... Not both... But one was good enough. A small, peculiar flicker of triumph crossed the womans face, just as Erik decided to get all possesive. This was natural. Sighing quietly, she gently eased herself out of Erik's grasp, before actually patting him lightly on the cheek. "There, there... You did exactly what I asked, remember?" She murmered, her tone almost evil under her silky smooth coating. "You brought me one of the bosses. And, my name is Neva, if you must know," She quite blatantly winked at him here, before turning back to Dravius and eyeing the male.

Talk about bodyguard material... Not exactly buff, but he was certainly imposing enough. "It's very nice to meet you... Ah, Mister Wolfe. You have quite the... Place here. I was... Hoping to get involved somehow. I've always wanted to join the Circus. Perhaps you could... as.sist me?" She asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling and a devilishly handsome way.

Dravius had been waiting patiently for the lovely lady's response, when Erik decided to become possesive of the young woman. This caused Dravius' face to become rather malicious, his eyebrows furrowed and his expression dark. His face was still like that when Neva turned around, so he quickly relaxed it into a friendly smile. However, the woman still seemed a bit shocked by his sudden appearance.

Dravius' smile lost most of the friendliness when Neva turned away, glaring with open hatred at Erik and his clinginess, although the Co-Master would have very much liked to be touching Neva right now. Her skin looked positively exquisite, and he suddenly got the urge to stroke the woman's bare shoulder, but he stuffed his hands into his pockets, as the woman would probably not react positively to a stranger petting her.

"Get...involved?" Dravius had been so busy watching Neva's lips move that he had barely caught the actual words that were spoken. "I could assist you, yes." After a moment's pause, the lust-struck Co-Master added, "In what way?" As he was speaking, there was a running narrative going through his head that made even made him feel a little uncomfortable, so he shook his head to clear it.

Neva's smile was what pushed Dravius off the absolute deep end, and his expression became rather dreamy. He smiled slightly, but dropped the expression off of his face when he remembered that Erik was clutching Neva's arm. It made him want to relieve Erik of his hands so that would no longer happen.

Oh my gooooooooood.
I'm going to start hyperventilating.

Calm down there Dravvy.

((D'AWW you're using my picture. ;o;))

It didn't at all escape Neva's notice when the Co-Masters expression shifted slightly, no longer portraying what it had when he had been talking to her. He looked downright irritated, and the dark-haired woman clearly guessed it was probably because of Erik and his current close proximity. She had afterall, been expecting this at some point.

It always happened. Well. Almost always. Sometimes Neva thought it best to just... Ask the boys to play nicely before they actually started laying into eachother... Other times... She did rather enjoy watching them fight over her. Despite the fact it could get pretty messy. It all depended, really, on where and when she'd eventually be bothered to stop it.

Having still been watching the tall, dark-haired Co-Master with complete and utter interest, giggling quietly when he spoke. "Yes. Involved." Was all she replied, glancing over her shoulder to eye both Needles and Selvai; Throwing another quick smile at Erik, before turning back to Dravius. She was still somewhat getting herself adjusted to his sheer height.

Neva had been about to respond to the male's follow-on statement before he added another few words; Causing her to laugh; A rich, slightly mocking sound. Not that any of the surrounding men would notice. They were well and truly under her will now. "Oh, dear," She murmered with an amused chuckle. "Many ,many ways..." Grinning wickedly, she shook her head, then gestured vaugely around. "For now. How about... Oh I don't know... You could always show me around. Maybe the main tent?... It looks stunning from here." She breathed, eyeing the tent in the distance. It would also be the perfect place to extend her influence.

"Or maybe... You could just... Show me around~" She almost sang, once again fidgeting with the necklace around her neck, the heavy gem falling lightly against her skin. The movement was almost teasing, fingers brushing against the vivid curve of the womans collarbone. "Maybe even take a look at your member records... I bet you have quite the collection."

((NICE TO KNOW THIS WAS HERE. >:[ *copies post and continues*))

Nylat caught up just as Erik left, having been taking her time. She shrugged at her mate's question. "Who knows. Knowing Erik, though, he probably got too close to Adriel again." She flicked her tail and padded over to the cooks, getting a hunk of meat from one of them, thanking them before returning to Zyano, biting off the part she held in her teeth, letting the rest fall to the floor. "Inside or outside. Doesn't matter to me. As long as I eat." Which, of course, she was already in the process of doing, swallowing the chunk in her mouth nearly whole. She glanced down at the rest as it sat on the ground, deciding against taking another bite until Zyano had decided where he wanted to eat.

((Too lazy for much else. Be happy you got this. >.< MOTIVATION. WHY HAVE YOU LEFT ME?))

]:<

Dravius' first thought when Neva laughed was that the noise was identical to what he thought tickling a fairy would be like. Blinking once or twice to get some form of concentration possible, he simply repeated, "Yeah, the main tent..." then trailed off, eyes still locked on the woman. Honestly, she was seriously slowing the Co-Master's train of thought to a crawl. The lack of cloth used in her outfit may have been directly contributing to this.

When the woman started playing with the gem around her neck, Dravius' eyes were focused a bit lower than her collarbone, before he seemed to shake himself and drag his gaze away. "...The member records?" It struck him as rather odd that someone would be interested in seeing those, even in his....comprimised state. "I suppose, although that's not really....allowed." He had a slight drag in the way he paused between every few words, which made him sound halfway between drowsy and confused.

"They're stored in my...old van..." Dravius turned slightly and gestured towards the dark, jagged-looking van a ways away. The door was slightly ajar, but since most members knew to stay out of the van, it didn't matter very much. Honestly, there didn't really even need to be a door other than the fact that the things strewn everywhere inside the van tended to escape and blow around. Dravius turned every few steps to make sure Neva was following, until they reached the steps of his van. Although he didn't take up residence in this particular van very often, it still stank of blood, gore, and other thouroughly frightening things. "After...you, Miss." He beckoned to the slightly open door, smiling vaguely.

"Dear me... You'd think after a few years he'd get the message to leave certain people alone," Zyano murmered, his voice tinged with amusement, his head directed towards the food vans open door. The inside of the van had emptied a little, most members now in there only for snacks or social reasons. Shrugging to himself, the hybrid allowed his gaze to wander before looking back at Nylat, just as she retrieved her own lunch.

He chuckled lightly as she practically devoured her food. Well, there was little point making the choice now. They may as well eat here seeing as hiis mate had quite obviously decided she'd rather not wait. At least, that's how it seemed. Lowering himself slowly to his stomach, Zyano gently pulled forward his own chunk of meat, before replying to Nylat in an amused tone. "It's all right. We'll just eat here."

And he proceeded to do just that, pausing halfway through to tilt his head at Nylat, grinning. "I think... Once we've eaten. It's time to go tell some of our closer friends about our news." He stated, returning to his meat with renewed vigour, finishing it off in a short space of time before lifting himself to all four paws. He walked to the door, tail swishing, before leaping the stairs. With a quick glance over his shoulder, the sand furred wolf grinned again, then bounded around playfully before coming to a stop with his front paws on the bottom stair leading to the food van interior. "Come on, let's get going."

~~~

Neva had been watching Dravius carefully, her gaze firmly fixated on his face. She was, in truth, just as interested in the other lads as she was this one, but currently, this one was most useful. If she could find as much out about the Circus as was possible, it would all be in her favour. The Co-Master's own gaze didn't go unnoticed, and Neva smiled slightly. Her influence was gaining in power, slowly but surely.

That was the only issue with her ability. She needed to work her way up, and even then she could only get complete control of a few males, the others would always have doubts. Every single man in this place would be mesmerised, but only a few would do anything she asked... It was these men she had to focus on, and so far she believed she'd made pretty decent choices. The second in command of the Circus, no doubt, would be a useful one.

The dark-haired woman had still been idly smiling up until the point Dravius mentioned the records and the fact that it was generally frowned upon to show them to anyone. She also noted the confusion in his voice, and an angry, irritated sort of frown appeared on her face. The expression was not directed at Dravius. It was her own fault, really... Perhaps her influence wasn't quite strong enough yet. She had been about to speak as the Co-Mastr walked off, taking her a little by surprise as she followed after him; Glancing over her shoulder to be sure Erik and the magician were following. She wanted those two, seeing as they'd been the first to meet her. Her ability was most powrful on them.

Looking back towards the front, she finally stopped besides the tall, dark-haired male to look at his van with raised eyebrows. She giggled wickedly at his final statement. "Interesting..." She murmered, flicking her gaze to the door. First thing was first. She had to get a decent grip on this guy... So much so he wouldn't second guess himself like he had done when she'd asked for the records.

Stepping forward lightly, the woman pressed her palm firmly against Dravius' torso, leaning her body against his and lifting herself up as far as she was able. "I really, really appreciate this, Mr. Wolfe. You've done me a very big favour..." She purred, before dropping her voice volume. "Who knows... You may yet become my favourite." Grinning at him, she pulled away long enough to smile seductively at the others in an attempt to prevent any physical outbreak. "I will not be but a moment... Be sure not to go anywhere, 'kay?" She smiled, before stepping lightly into the dark interior of the van.

It took less than five minutes for her to find the records, and she rather quickly began a search through them. If she knew what she was dealing with, this could go very well. Very well indeed.

~~~

Maya had padded off quickly to Adriel's van, stretching her arms as she walked, enjoying the rays of sunlight. Her wings were being held out slightly behind her, catching the light and glowing in an array of vivid orange and red shades. It really was rather warm, but in truth the young woman much preferred it to cold weather, very much like the insects she portrayed.By this time it was well into the afternoon, the sun blazing vividly over one side of the horiizon. Another couple of hours would take them into late afternoon, then sunset.

Stepping quickly around the vans, Maya aimed herself directly towards Adriel's, giggling at the sight of the darker haired woman sat just outside the door; Angel crawling madly towards her. "Has she been giving you the run around ever since I left her here?" Maya asked, an amused smile playing on her lips as her daughter finally reached Adriels legs, pausing to look at them before trying to clamber over.

Dravius shifted from foot to foot as Neva came up beside him, stopping dead still as the woman stopped, and tensing up slightly as she placed a hand on his torso. It was a shame that the beautiful woman was too short....no. There was nothing wrong with her. It was his fault for being so tall, really. "Fav....ourite?" Dravius got an even dreamier look on his face at the words, then shook his head and carefully composed himself.

Composure was something Dravius only had in short supply normally, and right now he only had enough to stop from grinning hugely. He could still feel where she had rested her hand on his torso. Glancing back at Erik and Selvai, a small smirk formed on his face. He would very much like to be this lovely lady's favourite. Very much so. Also, having her so close to him just kickstarted the internal monologue, which was much more polite now. Well, a little more.

"Hmmkay." Dravius nodded as she entered his van. He couldn't remember for the life of him why he had been worried about her going in there before. Really, he would go to the ends of the earth to show her beautiful smile. The thought made him grin a little again, but he coughed roughly and tried to arrange his face into something resembling seriousness, with only a small degree of success.

Adriel caught Angel quickly once she began trying to climb past her legs, pulling the child into her lap. "She's energetic," the dark haired woman said with a smile. "Reminds me of Dravius when he gets all hyped up." She stood up from the stairs, shifting Angel onto her hip. "Speaking of our dear co-master, how was the date?" Adriel asked. She stepped down the few steps in between her and Maya, smirking. "Did you guys have fun?"

------

"Well, I am responsible for the safety of the circus and it's members, so yes, I am rather important," Selvai preened as he followed the lovely woman towards Dravius' van. "I use magic to set wards around the circus grounds. You see, I am skilled in the use of magic, especially dark magic." A small (very, very small) part of his brain pointed out that he should probably be more wary of this strange woman who was asking questions about the Majikus, but he ignored it in favor of smiling at her once again.

"Thank you, Neva. Such a beautiful name. Of course, I'd expect no less from an exquisite woman such as yourself," Erik said smoothly, not even bothered when she pulled away and began heading to Dravius' van, although he did shoot an impolite hand gesture at the back of the co-master's head as he followed Neva. He snarled when he saw her press herself up against the taller male, and waited till she had disappeared into the van to walk up to it. He bumped the co-master with his shoulder -hard- as he passed by him. "Sorry about that," he said, in a voice that suggested he was anything but as he smiled at him.

He bounded up the stairs to the old van, stopping on the top one and leaning in the doorway to speak with the dark haired woman. "Neva, dearest. You were asking about what makes me special? I could show you, in private," he offered, wiggling his eyebrows as he leered at her. "My van is very comfortable. Especially the bed."

------

Kioko turned back to Garath with a small smile, thinking. She considered just pulling the psychic along with her into town, and spending the rest of the day walking along the streets with him. But, he did have a point. "No, you're right. It would be better to wait till tomorrow. Come on, let's head back to the circus."

The pyro took off in the direction of the circus grounds, looking back to make sure Garath was following. Walking back to her van, she spotted Dravius, Erik and Selvai gathered around Dravius' old van. Curious, Kioko walked over to the group, wondering what the three males were doing together. They were an odd group to be hanging out together. "Hey, guys!" She called, waving to them. Noticing the open door of Dravius' van, she looked over at the co-master, a bit concerned at the dreamy look on his face. "So, what's going on, guys?" she asked.

It didn't require a lot of time, really. Shifting through those records, had Neva chose to do it thoroughly, probably would have taken her a few days, but that wasn't particularly what she wanted to do. All she needed was a basic idea of the abilities and the sort of people in this Circus. That, the number, and a few other things, such as names and the like. The earlier worry regarding Dravius and his... Second guessing, had pas.sed by this point. She was certain she'd done enough to keep him precisely where he was... And going by Selvai's little conversation on the way down here he was already accounted for too.

Now he was one man Neva was ecstatic to have. The Circus security man. That's all she needed, at least now she had some form of viable protection until her unfluence grew, and so long as he did everything she asked... Things were looking rather bright.

The dark haired woman had been in the process of pulling paper out of the many drawers in Dravius' van, looking at a couple just as she sensed rather than saw someone step into the doorway. One word notified her that it was Erik, which she could now actually place an ability to. His record had been one of the first she'd looked for; As she had for had the other males in her little group.

She listened to him speak, then snorted quietly and glanced over her shoulder. There was just an edge of impatience in her gaze, but she immediately rearranged that. There was no real need to be concerned, as the red-head had been the first to fall under her spell, but it was best to keep up appearances. For now.

She turned back to the cabinet as she replied. "I'll have to take your word for it, sweetheart," She murmered, shoving the records back haphazardly and getting to her feet, taking a glance around the interior of the van. She hadn't seemed to pay much heed to it walking in. "I'm a very, very busy woman," She pouted at him over her shoulder. "But... If you help me out, who knows?... Maybe I'll let you show me."

With a wink and a wicked smile, Neva had gone back to looking around when another voice caused her to freeze slightly. It was a womans voice. Asdfghjkl. Stupid female, what the hell. This was the last thing she needed. Almost instantly, her gaze fell on Erik, an undeniable hunger in her eyes. Her voice was silky smooth as she addressed the red-head. "Oh goodness... You know... I had such plans, plans that were likely to take time... Unfortunately, you see... I can't have... Intruders, in my way. I need special people helping me... Like you. Otherwise it may take longer than necassary." She murmered, walking up to Erik and gently tracing a finger along his shoulder. "That woman outside is one of them, I'm afraid... I think, it might be a good idea if we... Restrain her?"

She asked lightly, smiling, looking at Erik through seductive eyes. "I'm sure you could manage it... Or maybe... Just maybe, you should work together, you and the other boys... I like a man who's good with others," She added as an afterthought. Well. Better to be safe than sorry. Having all her boys restrain this... Woman, would be far more effective. Not to mention... A hostage usually got very good results.

Slipping past Erik with a final smile, she padded down the steps to come face to face with the woman in question. Good thing she'd just checked the records... She knew exactly what she was dealing with. "Restrain her. Then take her to the main tent. Quickly! But be quiet about it... We don't need anyone seeing this." She said, her voice flat and commanding as she glared at Kioko, directing the order to both Dravius and Selvai, her expression only softening slightly as she spotted the silver-haired male companion. Luckily the Circus was in a state of calm, meaning very few members seemed to be doing much and were probably holed up in their vans. "You'll all be rewarded if you are successful." It was a risk, heading for the tent immediately... Unfortunately she had little choice. She needed a decent space in which to work.

Too bad her companion be of no help to the albino now that he was in her presence... Such a pity.