Notes and Words

Ren fixed the collar on his light zip up hoodie, the pink popping brightly against the well ironed black shirt beneath as he fixed his bangs anxiously, feeling like the nonexistent wind would blow him all out of sorts, when in reality nothing seemed scarier. His personality could botch this whole thing up, but if every hair wasn’t in place, it wouldn’t even seem worth it. He…wanted to look good for his hyung. Especially on this day.

Marching purposefully through the cirque, he arrived at the correct tent (thank god –he went to the wrong one at first, remembering Henry’s old tent over his new one, since he had never been to this one) and swept inside, not worried about breaching anyone’s privacy.

“Henry hyung!” He called out in a stage whisper, head turning from side to side as his well-painted fingernails drummed on his thigh, “Hyung are you here?!” Ren had a big plan to enact before the day would begin for them all, so hopefully the musician hadn’t stayed up too late the previous night, since the blond was waking him up earlier that day. Of course he never even considered that Henry might still be up.

Arriving in China had marked the moment he was allowedu to get his cast taken off, too, so he wasn't upset or gloomy in this beautiful evening. He was simply taking in his surroundings, mind slowly wrapping around the day ahead. He hoped it would be a good day, seeing as he was growing a year older and didn't particularly want to spend such a day grumpy or generally unwell. All in all, he felt like this particular day marked the beginning of a florishing future, which was a quite thrilling idea in itself.

Fun just wasn’t a priority after he had searched everywhere, Ren desperately trying to come up with reasons that he wasn’t around –maybe they had needed more supplies for the party? Perhaps he had gone with some others that he just didn’t know well enough to notice their absence? Even though he could recognize how much of an idiot he was being, he just couldn’t seem to fight off his possibilities. He wanted them so badly, he practically ached with it, and he’d likely succumb to that soon if he didn’t find some sort of distraction.

Pupils glazed with drunken happiness settled on Ren then, a wide smile changing Henry's expression into an almost adoring looking one. He failed to catch onto the slightly complex mood the animator was in, alcohol tinted judgement only making him see the smile stretching his pretty lips and the happiness he linked to it. "Ah... Ren..." he mumbled, moving to prop himself on his elbows, his head hanging a tad loosely on his shoulders, coordination currently an abstract concept to Henry. "Hyung... Ain't much of a good hyung..." Eyebrows furrowed as he said that, for he couldn't remember the apologies he had planned to pronounce a bit earlier, the violinist took a swig of beer before he placed a clumsy hand on the blond's delicate shoulder, as if the alcoholized beverage had given him more courage. "But I care, y'know?"

Gikwang nodded at Henry’s question. “Correct. I’m a sound manipulator, although the only sound I really manipulate is music. I don’t really know if I can manipulate anything else, I haven’t tried.” His thoughts wondered if he should practice that, but he quickly dismissed them. “Anyways, before the circus I would perform on the street to get by, so I learned how to play as much instruments as can so the audience can have some variety in my shows. You know how an audience can get easily bored,” Gikwang said, assuming the other got his fair show of a rough crowd during one of his performances at the circus.

Nodding lightly in acknowledgement at all of the prior talking, the violinist forced the frown off his features when he reverted his attention to Gikwang once more. "Oh, uhh, probably fix up my sleeping schedule," Henry mumbled, seizing the opportunity for a new conversation topic quite rapidly. He usually was an early bird and got to catch a few rays of light even when the circus wasn't stationed on the home island, but waking up early enough to get to see the sun high up in the sky was his favorite thing about what he supposed he could call home now. "Can't swim with that thing anyway," he added, lifting his right arm to prove his point, cast obvious against pale complexion.

That was why he sat off by himself, his eyes watching each person who drank and sang and all around, was merry. It was nice to see this. People looked happy. Of course, he noticed a select few who were particularly in the greatest of moods, so he kept a close watch on them. Maybe they would come talk to him later.

Then of course when he mentioned being shown off with his shirt, Ren couldn’t help but stop and stare with a sense of awe. “Are you sure?” He asked absently, eyes tracing over the shirt where he knew he had seen slight abs, them looking so horribly delicious. Already imagining tracing those contours with his tongue, the blond continued with his mindless compliment, “You look like a prime choice actually.”

Cheeks coloring lightly as he heard the slight admiration in his voice, he huffed under his breath and turned to face the exit of the tent. “Yeah, let’s go!” He exclaimed in a voice that didn’t allow for any more dawdling. Striding forward, he turned to look at his hyung, the rather attractive male catching his attention even as his motive urged him forward, he nodded, “I’ve been around town a few times, it shouldn’t be too much of an issue.” Stopping then, he walked back to Henry and wrapped his arms around one of the elder’s, him smiling sweetly up at the brunet in such a way that he almost challenged him to remove himself.

Surprisingly, though, he agreed to just going out to distract himself, and Ren beamed happily as he started mentally planning where they could go and what they could do. He had almost expected Henry to send him away with how he had been acting, and this certain came with a rush of relief. Something about the elder seemed different, but apparently –thankfully- it just seemed to be due to the injury that he was acting differently.

Still, the few seconds he had been shirtless for had sufficed to expose lightly sculpted abs and a milky skin he rarely showed, though he hadn't meant anything by this small stripping act. He passed a hand through his mussed hair, which had strands sticking out in every direction, and frowned a bit. Surely he couldn't let it untamed that way, but a shower would take too much of his time, so he opted for a hat. Placing a random snapback on his head, Henry touched the sides of his head and smoothed a few rebel locks there, but otherwise found himself to be rather satisfied with his hidden hairstyle.

He picked up his violin case and forced himself to turn away from the truck as he sped up his walk to catch up to Henry. “Sorry," he mumbled, apologizing for taking forever. He stared at the boat in front of him. “Wow!" It wasn’t much of a looker, but Gikwang could tell that this transporter via ocean would get the job done. “Have you ever visited the Home Island? It’s my first time," He said, waiting for the the captain of the boat to give the signal to the crew to start boarding. When they finally allowed the passengers to board, Gikwang slipped his way through until he found a good spot in the front for them to chill.

Henry watched with curious eyes as his boating buddy fetched two chairs for them, and muttered a few words of gratitude before he sat on his designed seat. He leaned against the backrest as comfortably as he could, placing his violin case at his feet, between his legs to hold it in place, and crossing his arms behind his head in order to relax a bit. "Well... Yeah, that's pretty much it," he made, adding a scoff after his words. "And happy airs make people laugh and ecstatic. Aggressive rhythms make them annoyed and angry..." he said, explaining his ability furthermore before he realized he didn't have a single idea of what Gikwang did with his own violin. Assuming his act was related to music, that is.

The sound of the door opening like music to her ears, she turned with a smile only to feel her heart shatter. Her smile faded slowly as she studied his face; his eyes achingly familiar. She dropped her hands to her sides, the cold against her skin becoming unimportant. “Henry…" she said quietly, her voice cracking as memories washed over her like a tidal wave. They’d been good together, the perfect couple; then somewhere along the way they’d cracked, driven apart by unfounded jealousy. She regretted that - even now - but seeing him now didn’t bring her happiness as she always thought it would. The only things she felt when she looked at him were pain and regret. This was not the reunion she’d imagined.

A million questions raced through her thoughts, her curiosity begging her to ask why he was at the cirque while the winds against her back screamed to ask where her cottage was. She wanted to know how he was, was he happy? Had he moved on….? She wasn’t sure she wanted to know. It was too much, there were too many things to ask.

"Uhm... What with?" he asked, words sounding a tad drier, sharper than he had planned them to be. He immediately felt guilt bite into his heart, its pointed teeth causing pain and reopening a few wounds Henry had thought had healed as time had passed by. Hell, he was quite surprised the girls's only sight hadn't made an ache boom through his system. "I mean..." He shifted on his feet a tad uneasily, looking back above his shoulder for his roommate, whom he believed to be away. "Yeah, sure." The chubby cheeked male, usually speaking and holding conversations with so much ease, was reduced to a mess of semi-coherent syllables he couldn't pour well thought emotions in.

As per usual, he turned on his cottage’s coffee maker, an addition he had purchased many years ago and dragged to the island purely on a whim. Well, a whim and an old cottage mate that was an utter nightmare without his caffeine. Seeing as the circus didn’t pay nearly enough for an espresso machine, he settled on a cheap thing that took forever to work, so he had taken to going for walks while it heated up, knowing it would finish by the awakenings of the others in his cottage if they wanted any.

The sight of the early morning seemed to catch all of his senses, the sea spray bringing an alertness that had him weaving metaphors at the sight of the sky reflecting in the water, and the mist that formed as time slowly ticked by. It all grabbed him so much that it seemed to make a person out of everything, a man sitting in the sand that seemed borne from the sky itself. The man caused the breath to catch in his throat, and he had started toward him before he even placed a name for the familiar face. They had never spoken before, but of course Leeteuk knew of the circus’s violinist. And, due to his nature of watching rather than interacting, he knew of the man’s current predicament.

Thus, he knew the newly arrived man to be named Leeteuk -- special --, and also knew he was speaking in a way that perhaps could have been perceived as too casual for a regular person. Henry truly was social, however, and the tone Leeteuk had used surely was similar to how the violinist spoke to people in daily situations. "Oh, nah. Go on," he shortly made, communication cut short due to his mood.

He then turned back to the rising sun, sighing softly as he allowed his upper body to fall back in its initial position, curled up around his knees. The forced curve in his spine made his shoulders feel stiff from sitting that way during long minutes, but he would prefer to endure the physical soreness in his limbs rather than the one in his heart. It probably wasn't such a good idea to suffer from both at the same time, though. "The sky's pretty, huh?" he asked the elder. The way he asked the question made even himself cringe, however, for he felt as if he was seeking confirmation for what he thought about the sight instead of doing small talk. Oh, and Henry truly disliked to rely on others, no matter what the task at hand was.

Dressed in her pink bathing suit and jean shorts, the girl laughed as she flipped with cartwheels and back-flipped across the grass towards the docks until she felt the hard wooden planks beneath her bare feet. She saw a boy laying now with his eyes closed at the end of the docks. The girl became curious and walked over to see who it was, recognizing him as Henry easily. The Henry everyone talked about.

"Just enjoying the sun," he grumbled as he pushed himself back to a sitting position. "Can't swim with that," he then added while lifting his right arm, which was in a cast. It was already troublesome enough to shower or bathe, he didn't want to go through such trouble simply to swim. He was fine with simply dipping his feet in the ocean.

Hyuna grit her teeth against the cold, wrapping her arms around herself as she tried to rub the chill from her arms. She’d been nice, she’d given her jacket to younger girl when they’d parted ways, but now she was wandering around the island in a tank-top and a skirt that were much better suited to the warm daylight atmosphere. Swearing repeatedly as she stumbled over the rough ground, she looked around in hopes of seeing someone that could point her in the right direction. Although she’d gotten used to the island over the last couple of days, she was, begrudgingly, still far from capable of finding a single cottage in the dark by herself.

Her determination to find her cottage dwindled as a cold rush of wind blew around her. “Screw this," she muttered, turning and walking towards the nearest cottage. If they wouldn’t let her crash on the floor that night she could at least get some directions back to #374. 

She hesitated at the door, looking up at the star-filled sky and wondering how late it was. If it was past ten she’d be being rude; hell if it was past nine. She stood outside, debating on whether or not to enter the cottage. Her resistance to the idea crumbled when another wind blew past. 

He galdly put the stappled sheets aside when the sound of knuckles rasping against the door could be heard, though, and he let out a "Coming!" as he stood from his seat to go and let the other circus member in -- after all, on an island, it couldn't be anyone that wasn't part of their clique. Seizing the door knob and pulling the door wide open, feeling the chilly wind of the summer night filter through some strands of his hair, he at first grinned broadly. Light filtered from behind him, seeing as the electricity hadn't been cut off yet, which allowed him to see the newcomer.

He shifted more to the window so Henry could get comfortable. He studied the violin case on the other’s lap, wondering what kind of violin the other had. He smiled and nodded at Henry’s assumption. “You guessed correct." He patted the violin case in front of him. “It was the second instrument I learned growing up, but I’ve been a little rusty lately so I brought it with me to practice on the boat." He looked down at his instrument, remembering how rare he’s played it since his time in the circus compared to all his other instruments.

"Mhh, yeah, I do," he made upon being asked if he used the violin for his acts. "Actually, uhm... My playing gives people emotions." At that, he furrowed his brows lightly, feeling as if his wording was wrong or would get his ability misunderstood. Pink tongue flicking over his lips, he parted them to speak again. "The emotions I put in the song... People feel them as if they were theirs." Manners of speech always a tad gruff, Henry figured his latter explanation would be as good as it could get.