Dara raised her eyebrow in response to the other girl’s words. Had she smiled? Dara couldn’t really remember the last time she had smiled since Jiyong’s departure from the circus. “Was I smiling?” She wondered out loud, lips forming a marked frown. Had she been thinking of anything that made her happy or would make her smile? She couldn’t think of a damned thing that could at the moment. She looked up at the girl who was watching her work, brown eyes searching the girl’s face.

Changmin frowned and bit back a sigh. It was him again. The one who’d come far too close to harming Atty for Changmin’s liking with his fire ability. He couldn’t for the life of him understand why the other absolutely insisted on pestering him. They hadn’t had that many interactions together, certainly, but it was definitely more than Changmin had had with most of the other members of the cirque. He could only think of his interactions with Junsu and Fei equaling it—which in and of itself greatly bothered Changmin, for he had good reason to at least interact with the latter two; Junsu was the healer and pseudo-leader of the troupe and Fei, well, she and Changmin had quite a bit more in common than he did with this boy.

He stooped to the ground and scooped Atty up into his arms, causing the cub to release a stream of protests. He gently hushed him, and the cub gradually settled. Atty knew Changmin would not have done what he did if he did not have a good reason for it. “Thank you,” he said to the cub before he turned his attention to the person who had spoke.

"Do you," Changmin said, phrasing it not as a question but an acknowledgement that he’d heard what Chanyeol had said. He did not exactly feel the same way but, as he also did not wish to stir up and get involved with more drama than was necessary, he chose not to voice the thought that he did not exactly feel the same way—nor did bother to voice the question about why Chanyeol would even bother. Had he not made it clear enough the last time the two of them had interacted at any length that he wasn’t looking for friends? At least, he amended to himself (for he had posed the same question to Fei as Chanyeol had to him recently), not with Chanyeol. He was annoying and loud and dangerous and for the life of him could not take a single hint.

Junsu heard the voice speak to him from behind. He had heard the words, yet somehow he felt that they didn’t match the voice. He blinked and stood up from where he had been gathering wood and turned to look at Changmin, wood held in his arms. Junsu’s eyes searched Changmin’s face, looking for any chance that the other might be joking. And yet there he was, wearing the same serious face that he usually did. And for the first time since he had started to get to know Changmin, his heart fluttered.

Yoochun blinked in disbelief, wondering if he’d heard this girl right. “Kiss me?” He asked, to be sure. Yoochun was far from a prude, but even he had more tact than to ask somebody he wasn’t involved with—or planning to get involved with and only after some conversation—to kiss him. However, when the woman didn’t correct him or offer any further clarification, he could only assume that she had, indeed, asked if she could kiss him.

He ran his hands through his hair, unsure where to even begin answering the question. He wasn’t exactly bothered by her question. It was odd and rather sudden, of course, but it hadn’t offended him or done him any real harm. Apart from the fact that he was already taken by Fei, he didn’t find himself all that attracted to the woman—on a physical basis, anyway, as he didn’t know the first thing about her personality. He certainly didn’t want to be rude to her, but he refused to give her a vague answer or respond in such a way that would lead her on. Not after such a forward remark, and especially if she was serious in asking her question. That wouldn’t be fair to her or Fei.

Yoochun stumbled over his own feet when he heard the comment, turning around to address who had spoken, and spluttered, “W-what?”. Now, he certainly wasn’t opposed to receiving compliments from others—whether they were a man or a woman—but he couldn’t help but be taken off-guard. The comment seemed to have come from nowhere. He quickly analyzed the most recent actions he’d taken, and for the life of him he couldn’t think of anything that would make somebody he hadn’t yet met say something like that to him.

But, he amended, this person hadn’t exactly called him adorable; he’d said he’d adored him. Perhaps he had heard some things around camp about him? If that was the case, at least it seemed like whatever had been said about him was only positive—enough that it would prompt somebody to say that they adored him. Somehow, though, he didn’t think that was the case. He frowned lightly. Whatever it was, he was glad he hadn’t done something to make the guy say he hated him.

Dara rolled her eyes at the bear shifter’s comments. It wasn’t like she had heard that one before. When someone broke something and Dara ended up having to fix it, her words usually got harsh and quite a few people ended up disliking her. However, as far as she could remember, she hadn’t really ever done anything to cross this guy. “Whatever kid, I’m still the one who has to fix your shit when you break it,” She shrugged, moving to the other side of the generator as she spoke.

Changmin didn’t even try to hold back the grimace on his face. It was true that he hadn’t spent much time amongst large groups of people—especially around his age—and hadn’t had much experience with common social situations, such as this one, but he knew enough to know what flirting was. He didn’t think he’d ever been so uncomfortable in his life. It wasn’t that he hated flirting, though it wasn’t anywhere near what he’d consider to be enjoyable activities in which he’d participate often. Rather, the person who was trying to flirt with him made him incredibly uncomfortable. He hated it. He supposed he couldn’t exactly blame her. It wasn’t as if he’d gone around announcing much about himself—let alone his sexuality—to the others at the cirque, and it was possible that she was far more accustomed to and comfortable with flirting, but he agitated and rather irritated with the woman nonetheless.

"I am aware of that.” He wondered, briefly, how he would most quickly and effectively get out of the situation. He had no desire to prolong the interaction besides what was absolutely necessary; however, he also wanted to make it clear that he had absolutely no desire for any future interactions with the woman of this kind. Or much at all, really, but that was an entirely unrelated matter and had nothing to do with this woman in and of herself. He decided, finally, that it would be best to be straightforward and to-the-point while giving her enough information to discourage her from approaching him again in the future.