eat your young (earinor & marquis)

The caravan was moving neatly and as long as no trailer got stuck, there was nothing much to do but walk. The children were looked after even without Josiah. Louis was soon approached however, the silence cut and he looked into Leilas smiling face. "I'm fine.", he was quick to answer, why was everybody asking him that all the time? He wasn't the one anyone should worry about, Josiah was. "He's hurt quite badly... I told him to rest and checked him through, because that idiot wouldn't admit to anything himself." The words just fell out of his mouth, Louis was quite obviously frustrated with Josiah and he was worried too, which made him a little more irrational than usual. Leila seemed to be on his side for now, then again, she was nice to everybody so maybe she jumped into the trailer to talk to Josiah next, telling him how mean Louis was. No, that was unfair of him. Leila was a cheery person that just wanted to make everyone smile. She was a bit like Josiah actually, but less interested in fighting with Louis.

"I don't think he can perform for a while and I also think that he won't take that...", he told her. Maybe Louis could come up with an act that would accommodate for Josiahs injuries. Cut some parts out of his performance, add new ones that wouldn't hurt him,...Louis would figure out something, because there was no chance he'd sit still for a few weeks. "Maybe you can talk to him... or someone else. To cheer him up. I'm not good at that." And maybe he could send Arthur to him, Josiah wanted him as his responsibility and he wanted to train him, right? He should do it then and he could do that with his injuries as well. "Anything I missed?", he then asked. As Leila said, he'd been in there for a while.

These two always seemed to have something to say about one anothers behavior - it certainly didn't help that they seemed to be fighting over the simplest things at times, but Leila was willing to hear them both out and smile about it, knowing that at the end of the day, they'd get along again just fine and all of this would be an afterthought. Hopefully. "I'm glad ... well, for you. Not for him. That doesn't sound too good." She put her pointer to her lips and tapped on them, her eyes cast upward to the sky, seemingly lost in thought and hoping to find a solution that suited them all. There was, in fact, something so intricate about this that even the spring in her step was slowing for a bit. "He's always been like that, but you're resilient too ... hmhm, I see. Well, you definitely take after one another, that much I can't deny." But waxing on about such things wasn't going to help anyone. Leila smiled at him, ever the same, like she had no worries in the world - she knew better than delude herself like that, however.

"I see where you're coming from. That is, naturally, a problem ..." Again, she wasn't the figurehead here, Louis mostly was and he was somewhat in charge of making sure all things worked out for the circus, but Leila was happy to help, even on the occasion that it was only something like this. "What if we just cut his segment short? I think that could work, even if we'll never hear the end of it ... and if that's off the table, we're just going to have to find someone to learn his part now and then perform it. If it's missing for one or two shows it might not be as much of a problem?", she eventually decided to suggest to Louis, as if she knew that none of this was feasible already, but at least she could try. Naturally, however, this was exactly why it was stupid to rely on one person for one thing and she knew that - yet, the ringmaster had his own ways of gauging what was important and what wasn't. Leila let out a colossal sigh. "What did you tell him this time? That you don't like him and he needs to get a grip?" These two would be the death of her - which was why she elbowed Louis slightly. "Listen, I don't know what you two have going on, and I don't mind talking to him, but there'll be a point where I won't be able to cheer him up, you know?" This wasn't a desperate plea and more so a wake-up call of sorts. This, in its own way, was going to end badly if it went on. Now that she was done with chastising Lou, she took a moment to think on it. "Weeeeellllllll ... not really. The kids are kind of mad at you, just a teensy bit, and someone said something about the ringmaster sounding pretty annoyed. I overheard that one, so nothing else, really. Everyone's so over travelling around, though. And honestly, me too. Feels like we're leaving places faster than ever."

"We're not alike.", Louis answered. They grew up together but that was it at this point. Only because they wouldn't leave each others side when they were younger, didn't mean they had to act like this until the end of time. Leila didn't even know them that long. She joined after the fire, so she could have only overheard other people stuck in the past. Leila was better off using her energy for Josiah and not for Louis. He didn't need cheering up and he also didn't need someone else to be mad at him for wanting to be left alone. Everyone always worried about Josiahs feelings, but what about Louis? Maybe he was better off sticking to the other faction of this little group, there was nothing Louis needed to hide from them, they knew exactly who he was. "I'll think of something, I know he wouldn't want to do nothing at all." He'll plan it out, write everything down and then send someone to present the plan to Josiah, because frankly, Louis had the feeling it was better he stayed away from him.

Leila was chastising him for being rude. Of course she did, but Louis was used to taking the blame for everything. Josiah could do no wrong in anybody elses eyes anyway. "I just told him that he behaved like an idiot." Which he clearly did and then he put the blame on Louis by telling him he did it because of him. "It doesn't matter what I say to him, he lives in his own world anyway." Calling himself a burden although nobody else ever said that, calling Louis his friend when they didn't talk for ages and those were only some examples. Louis didn't even want to think about it anymore. "If there is no more customers, we got to leave, it's always been like that and the children don't like me anyway." And they didn't need to. Louis was the bad guy either way, whether he told Josiah to rest or not, all fell back on him. He was used to it. "I guess I am going to talk to the ringmaster then." Today started slow and the ringmaster didn't like anything unplanned.

"Says you.", Leila couldn't help but grin at him. They were both silly, but actually, perhaps not all too similar. Maybe this was getting into his head, too - it was all one way or the other with them, wasn't it? There was no winning here, there was no use interfering with something she didn't even know, but staying away from it felt like she was just going to make it worse. "No, I think he'd start acting like you just caged him up, maybe even go insane ... if he isn't already. I don't think I'll ever get it." Whatever, she wasn't here to understand the ins and outs of these two, she simply wanted to give Louis a pep talk, a helping hand, some sort of support, and a reason to not think in black and white when there were so many more colors out there. Naturally, Leila didn't want to overstep any boundaries, but those already only mattered so much. "I get you, too. Being with him all the time has to be annoying in its own right, but whenever I hear from either of you it's just like. Oh, we fought again. And then either of you tells me, or I hear it from Conny, and I ask myself if you both just fight because you enjoy it, or if you're a quarreling couple of old men." That was to say that Leila wanted to understand, but she failed to do so.

She raised her hand and patted Louis on the shoulder, for a job well done, or a battle lost in grace. "And he didn't take it well? Typical.", she was quick to assume. Josiah, sometimes, was quite childish in his own regard - he didn't take rejection well and not being of use to anyone, not being able to do what he could do when he wanted to, was even worse. Sometimes, she saw him like an upturned beetle in her minds eye, on his back, pathetically swinging his limbs in the air to get back onto the right side. "Oh, he'll come back to you in maybe two weeks, and then this whole thing starts over. Louis, I know him, not as well as you, but I know how he is. I'm just saying that at some point, I'm afraid he won't crawl back to you, because we expect him to put up with everything like he always does, just like we expect it of you." This was taxing, the entire conversation could be. There were things that just happened at times, that neither of them could prevent, but at this point, parts of this circus had to be picking one another apart, like vultures would when they found a carcass ripe for the taking. Still, Leila smiled at him. "I know, I'm just saying we're getting less customers ... and I guess. Makes me wonder what they see in you." The devil? What a joke. "If you want to, feel free to. Just know I don't fault or judge you, okay? And if you still want to talk later, I'm going to be around. You need to open up to someone, bottling all of that up inside is only going to hurt you in the long run."

Leila was getting on Louis nerves and he grid his teeth. "I don't want him to crawl back to me.", he let out. Why did everybody expect him to be Josiahs best friend? He didn't want to be close to him, Josiah was better off without him and they lived in two completely different worlds, yet everybody tried pushing Louis towards Josiah for no other reason than the fact that they were friends at some point years ago and if he didn't accommodate to Josiah, when he didn't talk him up or give him arbitrary tasks as if he was a child, he got mad or did something stupid and Louis had to take the blame. Leila kept going and Louis honestly had enough. "How about you all mind your own goddamn business for once?" Louis wasn't one to snap, well not at anyone else but Josiah. Usually he just stayed away from any conversation and relayed tasks in a strict manner and that was all. Aside from the opening hours of the circus of course. Today however he had enough of Josiah blaming him and others doing the same and he had enough of everyone thinking they knew Louis and what went on inside of his own head.

Louis quickened his step, leaving Leila behind and seeking out the trailer at the very front. He needed to talk to the ringmaster, report to him why there was not one, but two delays now and come up with a plan for Josiah before the ringmaster chose him next, now that he backed off on Lucas. They never talked about the strange things that went on with Louis, the way he changed or the fact that he couldn't say certain things and so Louis rather also didn't tell him he'd get the book back, before all cards were laid open in the first place. The ringmaster was never yelling, he was never angry, mostly Louis left only half understanding what his silence meant. Either way, he reported and then sought shelter. He didn't want anyone else to make his life their business and thus he stuck close to the other group that usually stayed amongst themselves. The people who mocked him, played him, but at least they didn't try to fix him or his relationship with Josiah.

"Look who's joining us.", one of them mumbled to the other. They always kept to themselves - there was no need for them to hang out with him, sure, he was one of them deep down, but he kept his safe distance. How very brave of him to actually come crawling out here now, though. Something had to be amiss for him to join them, but they snickered among themselves all the same - there was nothng to hide their, their faces bore that ugly sheen all the same, were warped into nothingness and grotesque apparitions soon enough. All they did was to revel in the existence they led, even when they had to give some things ... a little push, so to speak. "If you're here, you oughta want something.", another one of them commented. Weren't they all the same? Desperate to pick a man down to his bone for payment, but ever so slightly entertained by the faltering human nature of those caught within the eversame web that ripped their own wings off and confined them to paths that were shown to them. Surely, if one that had somehow fallen out of the spiders den were to crawl back into it, something was amiss.

"Looking for Alice?", Ruth cooed, as if she was trying to figure out what brought him here in the first place. Somewhere, at the back of the group, another one of them was talking over someone else, merely engrossed in the conversation they seemed to have had prior to Louis arrival. Perhaps he better stayed away from this narrow path of doom that he tethered on, or he embraced the unapologetic nature of how the world could be. "No, I know, he finally knows where he's supposed to be.", Ray proudly announced for the rest of the crowd. They broke out in their own set of deep-seated, unsettling laughter, either finding it funny or taking pity on Louis, for he was truly at the mercy of anyone these days. Nowhere to go, nowhere to be, simply because he felt like he needed to be a do-gooder in too many ways; more than one for sure. "Hey Louis, how's your little act going? Did you finally decide you don't fit in? Come crawling back to use after all, ey?" What a riot this guy was.

Of course they wouldn't just silently acknowledge Louis being around them, but at least they didn't try to be his friend or fake anything and he didn't have to hide either. Even if they picked on him for being not quite like them, even if they knew more than anyone else what Louis tried to do for the others day in and out and judged him for it, at least they knew who he was. There were some mysteries still. Why was he only half like them? Why was he here in the first place? Why did the ringmaster let him live? He was sure they didn't know the answers to these questions either. In the end he was still the one the ringmaster talked to the most these days, despite him being the youngest of the bunch that knew who he was. Maybe that warranted some jealousy as well, then again, none of them was as dutybound as Louis was and they seemed to just want to enjoy themselves. Wrangling everyone here wasn't exactly fun. "Just some quiet...", he mumbled. He wasn't here to talk and the air around the group was thick and unpleasant, yet he felt almost at home here.

"No.", he answered. Did she talk to them about their little encounter yesterday? About the fact that he pushed her? Well aside from this one small attack, he definitely lost the battle. A funny story for them for sure. Ray was probably right however. Louis belonged here and it would probably be easier to settle down with them. They could ward off Josiah as well. "I don't try to fit in...", he grumbled and he didn't fit in with them either. He wasn't as callous as them, as heartless and jovial in the worst of situations. "I didn't mean to interrupt, just continue with whatever you were doing." Was Lou acting amongst the others or with these people? He definitely was on his toes around them, showing weakness seemed futile and he knew how they exploited him when his personality switched. Who was the real Louis? Who of them belonged where? He didn't know and he feared he would never find out.

They were easily amused for sure, like a crowd of cackling hyenas that had to fear nothing but their own hunger and the ringmaster, that didn't exactly keep them on a tight leash either. Seemingly, they were free to do as they wanted, but even now, it seemed as if they felt dutybound enough to travel with the entirety of the rest of them - they just split into their own little groups as the caravan moved from one destination to the other. "Fear you ain't findin' peace 'n solace here.", Roy answered him, as if he'd been prompted to. Surely, this was because he was staring the beast right down the maw and he was - willingly - hanging around them now. This was, in any instance, just something that one would rather keep away from, but Louis seemed as if he'd found himself enthralled by what beckoned all of them to one another: The sameness in their strangeness, in their alien nature of no longer or never being human in the first place. But that was only for so long; right now, he might as well be their brother in arms, but once he stood in that tend, he couldn't be further removed from being their kin. Too bad he wasn't like them, shambling and hungering.

"Well, she isn't around anyway.", Ruth declared, almost uppity about it. Alice had decided she was busy, in her own regard, and that nobody was to disturb her for as long as she decided she was busy. Well, who really gave a fuck? With or without her, the ringmaster would dispose of those that he didn't need anymore and if they weren't fed, he'd have to thin them out, too. As such was life. "You ain't? Could'a sworn ya tried at some point." With that, it also meant that at some point, maybe, he'd have ought to still pretend everything was normal - they were giggling among themselves in the back row at the very least, but that was that, and here was now. What were they to do with their little freak of nature, among their midst? "Not gonna ask some questions this time? You were quite nosy yesterday, I heard." "That's cause he can't make up his mind." They squabbled, gawked at each other like seagulls, like foxes telling one another a joke so good, it was irresistible. The air around them, albeit gloomy and weird, maybe even palpable, was intoxicating in the worst ways. "Ya aren't exactly interrupting." Someone put their arm around Roys shoulder and pulled him slightly away from Louis. "And you are getting too touchy with that freak." "Well, we're all freaks, ya fuck!" Oh, what a riot, as always. "You aren't wrong there ...", Ruth admitted eventually. "Doesn't matter if we get 'im and his stupid ideas. He's one of us, I'm 'fraid, ain't that right, Lou?"

While Louis usually just stayed quiet amongst the others, almost as if he was just shy sometimes unless spoken to, here he behaved differently. His expression was darker than usual, as if he had to match the air around him. Like a cat making its fur all fuzzy to appear bigger he tried to stay firm, especially with all of them around him. He didn't come here to chat, he just wanted to trod after them, maybe slip into their midst if he heard some footsteps approaching him. He didn't need anyone else blaming him for Josiahs misdeeds or telling him that he was mean. They were maybe as much speculative as the others, but what put them apart was the fact that they were uncannily right more often than not. They had the whole picture after all, or at least more so than the rest. "At least you keep the others away..." Something he had yet to learn to master, because whatever he did, people saw the good in him and wanted to help him.

Louis was glad Alice wasn't around. She was too cozy touching Louis and prancing around him as if he was her pray. Compared to the others she seemed to actually had her eyes on him for a while, taking ample opportunity to play with him as if he was a ball of yarn. "I know I don't belong there anymore. I just don't like you lot either." A futile attempt to look tougher than Louis was, albeit there being some truth in his words. Being alone was all he wanted lately, but this was better than people seeing the boy he once was in him. "Alice was the one sticking her nose into my business." She started this little game and Louis couldn't decide if she truly didn't know what he meant yesterday or if she was just a good liar. Maybe he should just swear an oath of silence and just don't talk to anyone ever again, that seemed easier. Roy was almost welcoming and painfully right. "Yes...", he reluctantly agreed.

Was it a disservice to pretend that Louis just never fit in with anyone? No, but he could be with the misfits if only he could endure their senseless chatter and the incessant prodding at his very core. There ought to be something that he could handle, yet, if it were among the freakshow of the circus, it might as well be their attitudes and their forgiving nature for he, truly, was just one of them. A misguided wolf, hiding among a herd of sheep that stood in the fields, doe-eyed and unaware of the bell that tolled once their slaughter was to be announced. "Ah, that's the issue!", one of them sounded triumphant about finding out the truth. Frankly, they did ward off the rest of the circus - they were their own group, and this was simply them being who they were. Creatures not meant to roam a world so hostile to them, yet always on the search for something new. "Don't blame us if you start liking it here instead of over there, with all the tryhards." This was but them having their fun and picking at the others they couldn't see themselves interacting with in a million years - they had distanced themselves from the rest, even if they sometimes had to interact. All of that was brief, smooth and as jovial as ever, but everyone knew that they didn't really get along.

Laughter broke out like an ill-meaning disease - Louis was like a clown to them, a jester, an entertainer that had said something funny and it seemed as if the den he'd braved was in a good mood today, if only for the fact because he came to them in the first place. "Ya sure got a mouth on ya!", Roy pointed out. There was another pull on him, but this time, just shoved the offender off. "Truth be told, we don't like ya a whole lot either, but ya know, you take whatcha can get. Nay thing to disagree with 'ere.", he cackled all the same. One day, they'd all lose their heads for something or the other, but right now, none of that mattered and the end of the world wouldn't come about simply because they were having fun. "She was? That sounds so unlike her.", Ruth snickered. What a two-faced snake she was, too. All of them were, but as monstrous as this entire party of them was, they belonged together for their own reasons, with all their quirks and problems - Louis was part of them, if he wanted to be or not. "Aye, 'ere we go! Lemme tell you nosy bastard something, actually-" "Roy, we are not telling h-" "Ruth, he can know, 'tis fine." Whatever that was, still, Roy wouldn't say - they just started squabbling among themselves, painfully adamant about excluding and including Louis all the same.

Yes, wasn't it funny that Louis needed to get away from the others and the only place he could go to was here? They were easily entertained, weren't they? And Louis was a clown, here to entertain, he might as well not fight his role. How fitting a job he had, but there was a difference there. On stage he was charming, witty and funny, but here he was the embodiment of a tragedy and that was sometimes more entertaining anyway. "I honestly hoped you'd be less loud...", Louis huffed, but his presence seemed to be enough to waffle about. Maybe if he spent more time here they'd get bored of him eventually and would leave him alone. At least they wouldn't try to be his friend, that was all he wanted. No matter how nice Josiah or Leila were, they were also nosy and didn't know what they were talking about. Then again, what if Louis started to like it here? Would he lose himself? Or was it that he'd find himself instead, since the way back had been blocked off five years ago.

What if Louis had a big mouth? He somehow got something like the ringmasters favourite and his right hand man. They couldn't hurt him, not without consequences. No matter how much they liked their freedom or claimed they had any, they were all just pawns in the ringmasters game as well. They needed him and his goodwill and Louis was at the very least someone he liked having around. He took upon himself some of their work as well. He didn't feel physically threatened by any of them, that was for sure. Louis wasn't in need of their friendship either. Ruth was surely being sarcastic here, but Louis didn't want to respond to any of them if he didn't have to. At least he felt more alive in the middle of them while they circled him like he was their next meal. He listened up however when Roy wanted to tell him something. He didn't try to show it, he still had his hands in his pockets, his eyes focused on the muddy road and his head slightly lowered, but he was taking any information he could get. He also very well knew that this might just be another game. He didn't ask further, he didn't want to be laughed at by them more than necessary.

"Less loud? You're the riot here, unfortunately. Might subside if you come around more often.", one of them commented. This wasn't gonna rain on their parade, in fact, having Louis simply be part of their lives was fine for them, they knew he'd crawl back here eventually, knew he'd needed someone like him to survive the frontiers of the world, but he'd always wanted to be oh so special, beloved by those he shouldn't stick with anymore, loved in a world of light that didn't fit him at all. In the end, though, what did it matter? There was nothing to be gained here, not for Louis anyway - he was to be himself, for the time being, but as long as he hung out around the freakshow, he wasn#t going to get judged by anyone for being someone else, something else; to them, he was just the same. As always, as would be, as should be. "Also, if we are just silent, we aren't gonna have fun. It's all about getting your head in the right mindset for that." What mindset that was, one could only guess. For now, it sufficed that they went on and on - they just marched and talked about useless stuff, but of course, Louis stuck out among them, at first like a sore tumb - but he'd fit in overtime.

"Ah, that got ya good!", Roy pointed out, amused, not at Louis, but at Ruth, who was seemingly displeased by his nature of wanting to instigate trouble. He wouldn't be Roy if he didn't try to, frankly - it had always been like this, and it was always the same with him, too. While they bantered, there was other joy to be had elsewhere, for other reasons and frankly, one more straggler didn't change much. In fact, all that it did really change was the realization that, maybe, this was just right. "See, what they don't want me to tell ya - it's about ya little friend. Our beloved ringmaster.", Roy was quick on the uptake, he was honestly, going to pull the rug from out under Lous feet. Would he want to know? Maybe. Maybe not. "Normally you'd hear him murmur about who he'd pick next time time 'round, but he's been dead silent and pissed the entire day, 'n I fer one can't figure out why." "That's because you're stupid as fuck, Roy." They both just grinned at each other over the unwelcome comment. Maybe, in some way, this was good, great even. "Soooo, we kinda wanted ta find it out by ourselves, but there ain't no way ya get past 'im. Tried askin' 'im, asked 'im for orders I did, and all he told me was to be on standby. That's sooooo boring. But ya know, I doubt he'd planned for that trailer to fall where it fell, that one was fucked up." Was he telling Louis and Alice more than them? Maybe, but that seemed unfair, too.

That was Louis hope, that they'd just got used to him and wouldn't even notice or acknwoledge his presence. He didn't want to be noticed by anybody. Neither group seemed very appealing to him, but being left alone seemed difficult lately. Whatever the right mindset was, Louis didn't want to know or be in. He couldn't be like them, hapiness wasn't part of him anymore, or at the very least closed off to another part of him he couldn't project at will. That him was probably not in the right mindset as well. He kept walking with them, wishing to just be free of his thoughts and worries for once, but whatever it was Roy thought to know, it only made Louis mind rampage even more trying to figure out what it was. Even though he tried not to show it, he listened closely to what Roy had to say about the ringmaster. Louis wasn't even aware they talked to him, but other than them Louis usually knew who was next, at least once it was time to bring them to him.

That he was displeased wasn't good and Louis hadn't seen him like that before. He was usually very good at keeping order and having them leave puntually and without issue. The trailer indirectly delayed them twice. Roy spouted nothing true at first, but then he mentioned that trailer. First of all, did that mean the ringmaster was behind the trailer falling? Secondly was Josiah to get hurt not the goal? Louis thought about it for a good minute, he was so focused on that damn book and on opening up to Josiah that he didn't even consider another possibility, but on the other hand, what did Roy know? Lucas was there too when the trailer fell, wasn't he? Now that he thought back at it. He was unusually clumsy lately as well. Josiah was save in his trailer, maybe Louis ought to have an eye on Lucas? Or maybe he should just talk to Alice, she seemed to know more about all this. "I need to leave...", he mumbled and already left the little group, still undecided where to go. Eventually he sought out the children to keep an eye on Lucas for the rest of the day while also trying to avoid Leila. It wasn't really surprising that that little guy almost had another accident, but they made it to their destination - all of them. Louis wasn't quite sure what to do now. Was that trailer meant for Lucas or Josiah, or nobody at all? He promised Josiah to keep Lucas here, but at what cost? Maybe he was just paranoid? They'd construct the tent tomorrow and Louis got a piece of paper and something to write to come up with a plan for Josiah, while he also kept an eye on the children. Eventually he called Arthur over. With some papers in hand as well as a plate full of food, Arthur soon knocked at Josiahs door and waited in front of it patiently.

Braving the bed all day was boring enough when he needed to do it because of a cold, but today was somehow so much worse - he couldn't find a position he was comfortable in for long, and overall, time became a slog, even with his eyes glued to the pages beneath his fingers that wanted to unfurl a story for him that he didn't understand, not in the slightest. Louis was trying to tell him something, but there was a suspension of disbelief involved that Josiah couldn't seem to break. What was supposed to mean to him, for him, for the part of him that wanted to live through others, vicariously as always, with no regard for himself? In the end, it was Louis that found himself saddled with his own guilt and Josiah trampled it, unjust as always, self-centered as could be. There was no need for him to actually care, or a need for him to see this through to the end if Louis didn't want to, even as the pages absorbed his attention, told him ... something, at the very least. Forlorn as always, he didn't know anything still, and he wondered why it just couldn't be spelled out for him in the first place. Happiness was no catalyst.

There was a knock, expected, probably even somewhat anticipated, but Josiah sat there, despite being told to lie down, on a rickety chair, looking at himself in the mirror and wondering away. Something about his own face bothered him today, be it the lack of paint on it, or maybe even the missing smile - there was nothing to be done here, even when he pulled the corners up with his fingers, even when he lamented the loss of color in his hair - it didn't matter, honestly. Eventually, he got up from where he sat - in hopes that whoever had come here took the notion that he wasn't in the mood - and unlocked the door, to stare down at Arthur. Josiah pinched the bridge of his nose and his furrowed brows softened; he'd initially not planned on letting anyone in, but what he could do was to take the things Arthur carried from him. "You good, buddy?", he asked him. That was all his fault, too. "Did Louis send you? What's he want? You can come in if you want, I don't mind." Or care, actually. In the end, he opened the door wide enough for Arthur to slip in if he wanted, put the plate of food back at the small table and looked at the papers, puzzled. "What are these for? Did he say anything?"

Arthur stood there for a while but he waited patiently. he had nothing else to do and this was important and a task he was given by Louis, who didn't seem to think too highly of him anyway. He was determined to do this right so he would wait as long as he needed to. The door opened eventually after a while and at first Josiah looked displeased, but his face softened up fairly quickly. He was welcomed in so he nodded shyly and came inside, closing the door behind him and standing there, not sure if he was allowed to sit anywhere. "L-Louis said... uhm... these are the plans f-for... your next show. He worked on this w-while we ate. H-he also said if you don't like it you... uh... you can talk to him tomorrow." Arthur was good at remembering things, but bad at delivering. He was sure he said all that was important about these papers though. "He also told me to bring you s-some food. He said I... uhm... I should tell you uh... 'Only because you need to rest, doesn't mean you can't come out to eat.'", he repeated for Josiah.

It was quite cool to have a trailer all for himself, but Josiah was also old enough to have one. In their trailer all was crowded and kind of loud. As Arthur looked around he also found all sorts of interesting things here, but he would never dare to touch any of them. It almost looked like a small laboaratory. Arthur also liked books and here were plenty. "Uhm... there is one more thing...", Arthur mumbled shyly. So many things to deliver, it was hard on him, but he tried his best and Josiah was nice. "H-he said that... uhm... I should remind you that you wanted to train me... and he said you have time for it now anyway... But if you are tired and don't feel up to it you can just tell me what I need to do. I can train and prepare on my own, I will be no trouble at all, I promise!" The words just fell out of his mouth. Josiah was hurt and needed rest, Arthur didn't want to keep him awake or bother him for longer than necessary.

The glee in Arthurs eyes told him almost everything that he needed to know and Josiah would, under any circumstance, have snickered at it - joy and whimsy wasn't lost on kids, they just were like that and nothing would ever change about it anyway. There was, however, the subtle difference of knowing well enough that right now wasn't the best of times to actually feel anything more than dutybound for this task that he had put upon himself. "Mh, so he came up with them. That's fine, I'll look at them later, I'm sure he's given it some thought." Too much, because he was accommodating for everyone, all the time, and he needed to do things right by himself. That was fine. Josiah could respect it - after all, all of them were his responsibility in a way, and there was definitely a reason he didn't show up now. He'd pissed him off, hadn't he? Good. That would help with keeping his hands off of the book he wanted back so desperately; it was still early into the night, but given Arthurs notion, it didn't seem like he'd show up today. "Okay, thank you Arthur, I'll keep that in mind." Relaying his passive-aggressive messages through a kid was stupid, so he didn't tell Arthur anything more on it, or to give Louis his ... "If you do see him, tell him I said thanks, if you don't, don't worry about it, okay?"

Josiah closed the door behind them and ruffled through Arthurs hair, knowing he was deserving of some sort of praise - he still seemed unsure of his bearings and all the kids thought Louis to be scary, so it was no wonder Arthur might, too. "Huh? Yeah, go on. Um. If you want, take a seat wherever." Those eyes were treacherous. They gave away too much, and while Josiah could only read most of that expression as awe or adoration for what its owners saw, he knew well enough that - in the end - there was little to gain from stalling too much. "Ah." That was what was up. Alright, fine, Louis wasn't wrong. "No, it's fine, we can do something, we should anyway. Let's see ... it's so crammed in here." What a genius Louis was. Josiah took it upon himself to shove the table to the side, toward the door so they had some space in the middle. The chair went on the table, and that was that. Basic stretches were in order, and Josiah would need to figure out where to start anyway. "Hm, let's see. You can take your shoes off if you want, just put them to the wall, that should be easier, and then we should do some stretches. I haven't done shit today, so I'll join you ... reminds me, do you want to borrow a book? I can see it in your face. Don't be shy."

Arthur did all Louis tasked him with and now he stood there a bit aimlessly. Josiah told him he could sit, so he sat down on a chair, hands folded in his lap and back straightened out. He liked it here, more than out there, it wasn't as loud and chaotic. Sure Josiahs trailer in itself was chaotic, but his things didn't move around. Arthur also didn't enjoy being alone, being around one nice person was just right. "O-okay.", he nodded at Josiah. Louis always seemed busy, so Arthur didn't want to bother him. He never joined them eating either as far as he could tell, but he wasn't here for long. Louis looked scary, but he wasn't that bad, only strict and Arthur did know other strict people in his life. The silence fot a bit awkward for a moment, but Josiah was quick to answer him anyway. Arthur quickly got back up when Josiah made some room and he felt bad for not helping. He was supposed to rest after all, right? Arthur didn't have the full picture, but everyone saw or heard that a trailer fell onto Josiah. That sounded badly.

Arthur took his shoes off and put them neatly away, then looked at Josiah somewhat worried. "Are you sure? You can just tell me what to do, I learn quickly.", he suggested. "And I rather not borrow a book... it's hard to keep things in the trailer... they get lost all the time, or stepped on. I wouldn't want to break your books." He was among the few children, or maybe the only one who learned how to read and he liked reading too. Not even most of the grown ups were able to read. Arthur didn't know all of them yet and he didn't want to pry either. He'd learn with time, he was sure and Louis was very adamant about him having an act soon, so he better paid attention to Josiah. Apparently it took a bit long to learn what he did... what was that even? "Uhm... Josiah? What is your act?"

Now he wasn't alone, and it might as well be for the better. Josiah enjoyed company in itself, but tonight wasn't his night, nor was it within his wants and needs to always be surrounded by everyone - the childlike flicker of imagination that things were easy to patch out, if one were to only take note, was something he could barely afford to uphold. There was some sort of silence, a cast of reality among the very few moments that he liked himself. "Mh, I could tell you, but it's not that easy, you know? And I'd rather not have you pull a muscle, or worse.", he elaborated to Arthur. Diligent, too. Somehow, some way, he reminded him of a younger Louis in his own regard, of someone that barely existed in the back of his head anymore, like a faultering, crumbling apparition of long gone days. Had last winter swallowed them whole? Even if, it wasn't important. What mattered was, in essence, was that the two of them were still there, for a little while, for each other or not. There had to be two ways about it.

"Hm, yeah, I get it. Things are probably super crammed over there. Well, do you want to read one? I don't mind if you just come here and do it, I'll probably die from isolation otherwise. Resting sucks.", he told Arthur in confidence. Sure, Josiah wasn't always amicable and needed time to himself anyway, but that only meant that Arthur would get to be in different places too; enjoy some silence, or something else. A book, for that matter. Could he even read? Well, he hadn't said anything about not being able to, so that should work out fine. Jo sat down on the carpetted floor and did his stretches as best he could, without moving his midsection too much, or wedging any ribs anywhere - which meant he had to mostly ignore his left side. What bullshit this was. "Hm? Ah ... uh. Oh." That. Was unexpected. "Well, I'm a contortionist. Most of my act is just bending my body into different shapes, and a whole lot of balancing. I should've told you that sooner." Arthur could still learn, that was hardly the issue. "This might hurt a bit at first, but we'll start easy, I promise." Almost as if to show what he meant with easy, Josiah demonstrated simply doing a split. "Like this."

"Okay... but I don't want you to hurt.", Arthur made sure. Josiah knew best though and even hurt he could probably do much more than Arthur was able to do. He knew nothing in here and he was scared of so many things, hopefully Josiahs act wasn't scary, though he was scared of crowds too. It was probably not high up though, so that was good and hopefully also away from the bigger animals. He was fine with a cat or a puppy, but anything else? They could eat him! "Come... here...?", he asked confused. "Wouldn't I disturb you?" This was a nice offer but hardl one he could accept. "Also I think uhm... the other children might be mad if only I can come here..." And if they all came over here then there was no point in the first place. Then it would just be crammed in here as well. Still it seemed selfish to be the only one allowed around Josiah, everyone already missed him after all.

Arthur watched Josiah closely and tried to imitate his movements. He stretched his body in various directions but he could definitely not do what Josiah could do. When he asked what Josiah did in the first place, he seemed confused. Arthur was only here for a few days and he had not seen a full show. "No it's okay.", he mumbled and watched Josiah spread his legs. "I don't think I can do this..." He tried though as far as he could but he was not at all as flexible as Josiah. "Louis said this will take a long time for me to learn... so I am supposed to learn some other things in the meanwhile. How long will it take?", he wanted to know. The sooner he could be useful the better, but this act didn't seem to be something he could just force by working extra hard.

"I'm fine, I'm not hurting. I know what will hurt, so don't worry." He still had to test some waters in that regard, but he could, and he would - it was no use waiting for himself to actually heal up when Arthur could be taught now, and should most likely be taught right this very instance. Why wait for something like this, why on earth actually stall so long until everyone lost interest? "Hm, I don't think so, no. My trailer is mostly open anyway, I'm bored now and when I'm fine to not rest up, I won't be in here all the time either. I don't mind if you come in here to just look for some peace and quiet." He could have used that as a kid sometimes, even with Louis around, he wanted a slice of silence every once in a while; there was nothing wrong about that of course, but in the end, he felt as if he understood Arthur. "They can come and go, too. It's just that I don't want them in here all the time, or I'd be hosting sleepovers in my trailer all year around, you know?", he chuckled as he thought about it. Those kids, they were a handful, yet Arthur seemed behaved enough.

Now that he looked over to Arthur, he seemed confused enough and Josiah grinned, maybe for the first time today, or ever since he had that argument with Louis. Sure, he still felt like dogshit, but it was fine, this was going to be a bunch of work in any capacity. "Not yet, anyway.", he reminded Arthur. Patience was virtue, so Josiah got up, back on his two legs. "Probably a ... good while. I can't give you an estimate, you are a bit older than me when I started learning, so you aren't flexible enough, in parts at least. Hm, lets see." There was no use in the carpet being here for this, but it was the best thing they had. What could they try first? A split was the easiest thing Josiah could think off right about now. There was something else, though. "If you sit down and stretch your legs out, like so." Josiah demonstrated it, knowing that standing up would be even harder to pull off. "Then try folding yourself in half, like this. Doesn't matter how far you get, just try." Jo leaned forward, until his chest touched somewhere around his knees and his face was on his shins, then back up. "Got it?"