The show was over, and the sleek panther as dark and deadly as any imagination's night shook it;s thick head. What a show that had been. At least he had heard the surprise when his overly large self had made it twenty feet off the ground through a flaming hoop. Loki Was a lot larger than what a panther was supposed to be, and they were already very large animals. Suddenly though, Loki was a simple scary looking man with only pants and a collar on. He stretched slowly in his human form, hearing the bones pop and crack into place. Now he wanted to go celebrate for the rest of the day. It was always what he did between shows. Party, celebrate, play.

Abel, Loki, call him what you will, stood slowly, his height 6'5''. He was even huge as a human. He was used to his height though, and often used it to his advantage. he purred somewhere deep in his throat, an noise no human could make, and walked out of the tent, in his own world for the moment. He gave a rather large grin to the day, his human teeth just seeming a little sharper than normal. Loki glanced around, his yellow-green eyes taking in his surroundings, the last of the straggling humans leaving the grounds, excitement and disappointment, about leaving of course, written upon their faces. It was nice to see such joy and excitement and know he had caused some of that. Man, he wanted something to eat. Something rare and bloody. He licked his lips with dark need at the thought, wondering where his feeder was.
...
Halfway through the book, Pandora's pleasantly chilling smile inched its way across his pale face. Finger on the corner of the page, he was about to turn it when he caught sight of someone familiar. Stormy gray eyes looked up, observed the black panther, and turned back down. Loki, Loki, Loki. Always prowling for his next meal.

A slender finger turned the page, exposing the next bout of adrenalin for Pandora's mind. Oh, the book was indeed getting better and better by the moment. Smile turned to frown as the plot thickened. "Oh, deary me, they're in Africa now? My, my. Peculiar," he mumbled aloud, his eyes tracing the words on the page. Considering the blindness in his right eye, it was quite a feat for him to read without getting lost every moment. As it were, he flipped pages quicker than a college student cramming for a test. His good eye was quick.

Sliding the page over, he saw he had reached the end of that chapter. With a sigh, he set the book down beside him, open down to the grass. His stormy gray eye watched Loki's transformation. Always a sight to behold. Setting his gray-haired head against the tree, he closed his eyes. The show was hardly over and he already felt drained. Resting a pale hand over the locket, his pale lips parted in a smile. Ah, the circus. What a magical place indeed.

...
Moving with grace and precision, Loki found himself looking for someone that could get him food. Or maybe someone to play tag with. The clowns would not play with him anymore after he but one of them. His predator instincts had come out on accident, he had meant no harm. And the clown was not even bleeding that badly. He had gotten reprimanded for it, but he had learned his lesson. He wanted to play again. He was feeling playful and hungry, but he knew to indulge in his hunger first. He liked to play with his food, and that was how his wires had gotten crossed those weeks ago. he tried to focus on the task at hand, not fantasizing about playing and eating live meat. He had been trained off of that, it had been years.

Those eyes spotted Pandora and lit up. He could get Loki food! Yes, Pandora could really get Loki get something to eat, because Loki had been very good this week. He grinned, purring as he strolled over to Pandora, walking with that gait only a big cat would have. Really, he forgot he was not a giant panther at the moment, I mean he was still even wearing his leather collar. He came up to Pandora and nuzzled his head against the ringmaster's shoulder, now on his hands and knees as he greeted the siting Pandora. This action would only be perceived as submissive by the most ignorant of people. That was a predator marking what he knew to be familiar.

He was getting used to this new ringmaster, and sometimes the lines between social cat and social human blurred. He was working on it, sometimes. The last ringmaster had taught him to be a cat, not how to be a human. "Pandora, I'm hungry, and I was good this week." His low voice rumbled out, now laying on the ground stretched out and looking up at Pandora
The nudge at his shoulder brought him into the real world with a start. Pandora's eyes searched for the culprit, finding the purring human Loki rubbing against his shoulder. Pandora patted him on the head, a strange smile on his face as if this were an every day occurrence. It tended to be.

The big-cat turned man, or perhaps man turned big-cat, flopped down on the grass, stretching out and looking every part like the panther he could be. Pandora gave him a smile and lifted the book from the grass. His left hand held the book open while he put his right hand on his chin.

"You certainly haven't bitten anyone," he agreed, his eyes dancing in humor. Being around Loki in his human form was quite a pleasure, until he was hungry. In that case, it sometimes became painful or dangerous. "Ah, and you've been more cooperative during shows... Oh, perhaps we can find you something special to eat."

Pandora closed the book, his memory reminding him he would need to pick up on page three-hundred-fifteen. That wasn't important now. What was important happened to be the six-foot-five potential panther in front of him. Terribly bad things could happen if Loki were to go on a disorganized eating spree.

Standing, Pandora stretched out, holding the book in his left hand. "Well, Loki. I do believe we can find something. What are you... craving?" he asked smoothly.

Pandora said such nice things and Loki could not help but purr, his eyes closing as he grinned in pleasurable delight at the thought of food. "I even jumped through the hoop today, with the flames." He reminded Pandora happily, stoking his own ego about the fact he had gone through with it after all that practicing. They had not tried it with flames before, but Loki had been in a showing off mood, so he had gone all out. Now happy instead of wanting to get Pandora's attention, he rubbed his head against his shoulder more lightly, still purring that deep rumbling purring. He could be so innocent sometimes, almost made you forget he was a giant deadly panther.

Really, when Loki had first met Pandora as the new ringmaster, he had no knowledge of how to act like a human at all, only as a big cat. Their first meeting actually, Loki had licked Pandora's face, even though he was in human form. Luckily some of the others explained Loki's state of mind. Since Pandora became ringmaster and appointed those other two as ringmasters too, Loki had been encouraged to learn how to be human. There was nothing in the world that would take away his love for meat though, it was impossible not even worth trying. His licked his lips at the thought of food, laying his head on Pandora's lap as he stared up at the man and thought. And then Pandora had to go and get up, so Loki followed.

At least people quickly got used to the fact he towered over others. And was sold muscle. Not wise to mess with him. "Steak. I always love steak. Can I please have some steak?" And there were those big pleading yellow-green eyes, that almost pouting lip. He really was a trip, his low voice and looks just were not supposed to match his cuter cat tendencies, but somehow they did.
Reminding him of what he had done right. Pandora smiled. Loki certainly played the part of an innocent child and, if one were to listen to him, thats what they would tend to think. Once they saw him it would have been a different story. That rumbling purr had always thrown Pandora off and he had found himself doing things just to hear it. Such a strange noise.

"Yes, the hoop of fire. Very good, got lots of cheers too," he nodded. Oh, had it ever taken them a long time to get him ready for that task. Many, many steaks. Forced to look up, Pandora was reminded that Loki towered over him by almost a full foot. Pandora's short stature, barely five-five, looked even shorter next to the lethal predator-turned-man. It had never bothered Pandora in the least. Except for their first meeting. Having a man a foot taller than you lick your face was something you would never be fully prepared for.

Slender, pale fingers waved in the direction of the kitchen trailer. "I believe there are steaks in the food-trailer," he said with a smile. With brisk steps, Pandora began the walk to the kitchen trailer. It wasn't that far but when he had gotten there, he was quite hungry himself. "Steak. Of course," he said, repeating himself so he knew what Loki wanted. He pulled open the door to the trailer and stepped in, so short he didn't have to duck down. Going straight to the fridge, he found a rather nice steak sitting on the top shelf.

Glancing around, he decided that there would be no harm in taking it, he was Ring Leader after all. The steak hadn't been for anyone in particular. There was no name on it. Or was there? Pandora found himself looking all around the steak, searching for a name. When he was satisfied there was none, he returned to the fridge, holding the steak in one hand while searching for his own meal.

Ah, there, a slice of cheesecake. Just the right thing to hit the spot. "Loki, there is a steak in here. Would you believe it? And, oh, no one has their name on it!"

Pandora spoke as if he remembered, and that was joyous. He followed after Pandora happily, walking behind him as he surveyed the area, not having the short ringmaster block his view at all. He often was looking around at the world around him, observing and making sure his territory was all order. Because the carnival was his territory, and one would have to feel very bad about the poor sap who tried to defile his territory in any way. "And Pandora will go into the food trailer because I am not allowed to." That one did not even need an explanation.

he stayed at the doorway to the trailer, large hands gripping the doorway as he expectantly looked at Pandora. He did not even have to stand on the steps to reach the door. Loki could smell the steak before Pandora even pointed out that it existed. He had to lick his lips again, his mouth watering just at the smell. When Pandora told him there was no name on it and Loki saw the steak in his hand, Loki could not help grab the steak. He also licked whatever steak juices had gotten on Pandora's hands. Wow, he had to bend really low to fit in the trailer, another downside. "Thank you so much Pandora!" He went to dig into the steak right there and then, but he was trying to be more human, and today he felt like trying. So Loki grabbed a fork and knife, and went to sit on the grass to try and cut his meat. He was having trouble as usual.


There was nothing better than having a small little tea party after a show. Now, there was nothing in the teapots and no sweets on the plates, but that was not important. The person sitting on the grass in the sun was just as confusing, not very clear as to whether they were a man of a woman. If she were to talk, you would find out immediately, with her soft dream like voice that whispered and tickled your skin. There was a whisp of soft humor and nostalgia whenever she talked, and her words often had almost a spell like quality to them. There was a smile on those lips that had no meaning, and only raised more questions. It may have been the tatooed stitches on one side of her mouth.

"The air is so welcoming, congratulating us on such a job well done. There is nothing more sweet than the song of summer. Can you hear it Monsieur teapot?" Those lips moved slowly and with purpose, calm for now. In front of a crowd, her movements were eccentric and puppet-like, even as her soft voice somehow carried through the entire tent. A mystery you strained forward to try and see better, like it would help you understand some more. Spectators were always so silly like that.

Enigma lifted the teapot and and kissed the side of it happily, suddenly jerking it into the air like a pirate toasting a crew roughly. There was a light bout of laughter that excaped those lips, green eyes rolling like this was all just a silly little play that one could not help but indulge in. What was going on in her head though, that was something no one had figured out yet. Really, there were some people that were convinced that even Enigma had no idea what went on in her own head. She just went along with whatever popped up when it decided to. She did not deny nor encourage such a claim. Now though, she was feeling sort of lonely, her poor tea set only have one guest to admire its beauty.

Rumor looked down and watched as Pandora lead Loki to the kitchen trailer. "Feeding time at the circus." She thought to herself. How strange it was this place. People who could turn into animals, people who could juggle fire alone, she herself could defy gravity to a certain extent but she always seemed to forget that. To her it was just all just one dream that she lived in.

Rumor watched as Loki sat down on the grass with his steak near the tree she was in. "Sooooo," She said hanging upside now on one of it's lower branches eying the fork and knife which he was using to cut the steak while she tossed yet another piece of cotten candy into her mouth. Amazing really the things you could learn being a trapeze artist. "Trying to go for the civilised carnivore approach towards your meat today, huh Loki?"


A sort of low growl came from those frowning lips, as the schematics of the utensils was alluding his hands, considering the fact he was not used to having a thumb. He wanted to just dig and tear it apart like he knew how to, but he was trying hard to be human today. Once he made up his mind, he was deadly stubborn to go through with it until the end. At least he did not have a fear of cutting himself, he was not that inept at using the knife and fork. He just could not get the process of holding the fork right to keep the steak down while cutting into the steak with precise movements using the knife. Those green-yellow eyes were storming with annoyance, wanting to eat his steak. He had worked hard for this, why did he have to continue to work hard just to get it into his mouth?

Words had the irate Loki looking up, to find Rumor hanging upside down from the tree. She had a thing for high places, where Loki with his size could rarely ever get up on things that could hold his weight. Eighteen feet from head to tail, five feet longer than the second largest cat on record. And what a weight! In Panther form he weighed about a thousand pounds, all muscle. In human form he weighed around 260, but that was still a lot and still all muscle. The fact he could jump on platforms and climb trees was a feat, considering the weight behind it. "Rumor, I am trying, but I still cannot get it. The fork and knife do not like me, I am starting to believe this to be so." He answered Rumor, actually pouting through those rumbling words. .

Rumor laughed as she jumped down from the tree. "Don't worry Loki," She laughed "once I heard there was this man who never learned to use a fork and knife and he was totally human. It's like flying on a trapeze once you get it you'll never forget...Er maybe that was riding a bike..But whatever, same thing! Hmm let's see..." She said examining the fork and knife trying to see what it'd be like from his point of view, "Just imagine that, that," She said pointing at the fork is your paw. And that," She said pointing at the knife "Is your teeth. To get at the meat you got to hold it down while you tear it apart with your teeth...Well I think as far as I know..."

After examining the fork and for a few more moments Rumor thought up a solution, "Okay all's you got to do is take you hand and put your first four fingers to the right and your thumb on the left. Then with the fork just grab it any way and stab the fork into the meat." Rumor laughed "It's amazing how much you have to think just to remember the steps of a simple task. Like I said when you fly on a trapeze after a bit your not really thinking about what your doing."

"I've made up my mind anyways..."
Loki glanced at his utensils, trying to see the point of view Rumor was explaining how to use them. When she explained them in terms of claws and teeth, he slammed the fork into the steal and tried to get the knife to tear apart the meat. He was used to teeth that just punctured and tore. The sawing motion of the knife was just something he did not think of and never tried to use. He growled at the stupid knife, face contorting into that of a serious dangerous predator. How dare the knife not listen to his command and refuse to help him! It was completely disrespectful, and Loki did not like to be disrespected.

Loki paused in his angered stabbing, to hear Rumor try and describe it in a different way. He nodded his head, trying to follow everything she said, having to remember which finger was which. Having the fork secured, Loki glanced at the knife to see the teeth of it were only on one side. That was the problem! He started sawing the meat instead this time, and Loki was ecstatic to get a piece of meat cut. He made a low exclamation of surprise, before popping the piece into his mouth and beaming with delight. Suddenly, Loki was up and standing by Rumor, moving with that suddenness of his animal counterpart. He wrapped his arms around Rumor, nuzzling his face against hers as he purred. "Rumor, thank you for your help! I owe you for this!" He was sort of engulfing her, his size dwarfing her

"Hmm I wonder..." Rumor thought so herself "If anyplace but this you'd have to teach a half panther half human how to cut their own meat?" To her it was just a normal thing in a day at the circus but sometimes she wondered what kind of life she would've had if she hadn't ended up here. "Probably not a great life..." She thought to herself trying to just be happy with the life she had. But she couldn't help but wonder. It was her nature.

"No problem." She said patting his head "And um loki...Your squishing me...." She said trying to escape his enormous panther hug so she could breath.

Loki blinked and let go of Rumor, his mouth still wide and smiling. An innocent feral smile if there ever was one. "I owe you now, one debt you cam redeem at any time." Loki nodded at his words, a proud cat that lived by at least some moral rules. He always repaid his debts, no matter how small they were. Each one was listed in his head, waiting for the chance to be put to use and equality to reign once again. He also had a list of people who owed him, but considering his trouble making nature, it was a shorter list.

Loki could not help but purr, he loved being patted. It always made him feel better and more like a kitten. The only downside to such a weakness was that to get to patting his head, you had to get past his mouth, and most did not when he was in a bad mood. He sauntered back to his steak, rippling through the are like living water. He sat down on the ground, legs crossed and bare toes wiggling in the soft summer air. He smiled as he began practicing his cutting again, repeating Rumor's instructions in a low whisper, the air vibrating around him from the very low tone. He was happy for Rumor's help, but now he was focused on his food. He'd want to play when he was done.
Yep i'll remember that." She said eating yet another piece of cotten candy. Not that she really had any use for a debt. She wasn't exactly the type to use debts right away. She liked to let the debt sit a bit and then when she thought of something used them. She hadn't used a debt though ever since she asked a clown to help her gather some information and he'd ran around saying, 'rumor told me to gather information you got any?' Since then she'd learned to just gather the info on her own.

Rumor yawned, "Well back to my tree." She said wandering back and hovering a few feet up seating herself in a fairly low branch. At every stop the circus made she always chose the tree she liked the most and made it her thinking place. The last tree had been a cedar which was a bit to shady, but this one she decided was perfect. The higher up branches provided a total coverage so she could she the person but they couldn't see her and the lower branches were perfect for sitting on and just observing everyone in the circus.
Pandora had his head in the fridge, picking up the cheesecake, when he felt the steak leaving his grasp and saw Loki leaning into the trailer. For once in his life, the RingLeader could honestly say he was amazed by the sheer size of the man-panther. Even more surprising was the tongue licking his hands after Loki had swiped the steak. Pandora pulled his hands back and lightly flicked the man-panther on the nose playfully. "Thank you for getting that," he said, laughing softly. He smiled to himself as he plucked a fork from the drawer and stepped out of the trailer. Loki was struggling with the fork and knife with Rumor hanging over his shoulder, offering him advise. Only in Entfuhren, Pandora thought with a soft smile.

Attention drawn to his fellow RingLeader, Pandora was not surprised in the least to see Enigma toasting herself with a teapot. Cutting the cheesecake and slipping a bite in his mouth, he savored the taste. Slightly sweet slightly... lemony? Oh, dear, how could he mistake lemon meringue for cheesecake?

Loki's rumbling voice caused him to look up. It seemed he had figured out the fork and knife. Pleased with the outcome, Pandora walked to the man-panther. Even sitting, Loki was nearly the same height as Pandora, though the man paid little attention to that now. "Rumor has helped you?" he asked curiously. "See, a fork and a knife aren't so bad, are they?"

Sitting across from Loki, he took another bite of the lemon meringue pie, a disappointed smile on his face. Truly, he had wished for cheesecake. He adored cheesecake.
Loki was still twitching his nose where Pandora had flicked it, finding the tingling sensation odd. Only the ringmasters would ever dare flick Loki so close to his mouth like that, and even then, it seemed Pandora was the only one that would do it on a regular basis. Loki often was a little put off by the fact that everyone was afraid of him, sure he was dangerous, but he was loving and playful too. He did not like being around people that were afraid of him, they triggered his instincts and only made him look worse in the end. Pandora came back, carrying cake that smelled of lemons. Not a sweet cake, but a tasty cake nonetheless. Loki loved cake, even in his panther form.

Smiling, he nodded to Pandora, cutting off pieces to eat. Even though he was cutting it into smaller pieces, they were still very large chunks of steak that were quickly disappearing into that large mouth. Really, it only took him three minutes at the most to finish off the steak, his long tongue licking his fingers, the fork, the knife, and finally his lips. He wanted every lasting taste of the steak he could get, so he could savor it. "I do not think they hate me as much as they used to. I owe Pandora and Rumor now." Loki answered, before he rose in one fluid movement, stalking around the area in a circle as he stretched.

"I'm bored, I wanna plaaaaay~" Loki rumbled out like a little singing child, flopping onto the ground and rolling around on the grass. He was purring again, bare stomach bathing in the sun as his legs and arms hung limply in the air. A leaf floated in his sight and he grinned as he batted at it playfully, looking far too like a giant kitten for his own good. He wanted to play tag, or maybe follow the leader. That was a fun game too. Or red light green light!
Constantly reminded of the raw power and hunger Loki had, Pandora was surprised when the steak was gone and the man was licking every last trace of it from the utensils. Still eating his slice of pie, Pandora felt dwarfed when Loki stood up, moving around him to flop down in the sun. "You dont owe me," he said with a shake of his head. He watched the man stretching out and smiled. "You keep making the crowd 'ooh' and 'ahhh' like that, thats all I want."

It was true enough. Pandora's first love lay in the circus. After waking up surrounded by gypsies, freaks, and carnies, he had initially been frightened out of his wits. Circus folk were nice, though and he found himself integrated into their life before the week had been out. Four years after the turning point in his life, the circus had been going through his home town. Wearing a black checkered mask, he had pranced out on stage with the gypsy horse, leading her around before offering her to a clown. As he turned, he had seen his mother. After the show, he tried to return to her but the old RingLeader forbade it.

Brought back to the real world by a sing-song need to play, he shifted so he was facing the man, now stretched out in the sun, batting at falling leaves. Play. A game? Oh, what kind of game to play with a giant of a man? Certainly nothing physical, that may become too much and Loki had the advantage in all aspects of that one. "If you're bored, I'm sure Enigma would be glad to have another member at her lonely tea-party," Pandora replied, a sly grin dancing across his face. Oh, to see Loki crash into the tea party, a big bundle of happy man-panther.... Priceless.

Loki rolled onto his side and pouted at Pandora, finding that he was shooing the giant man away. How rude, he wanted to play and Pandora did not. Loki really needed to find someone that would play with him all the time, instead of having to go from person to person and begging. He was often passed person to person, and he complied, even though he knew the train would just continue until he was worn out or it was time for practice. And Enigma purposely said things to confuse him, he just knew it. Really, she did it to everyone, but Loki was bad at word games. Puzzles, even mind puzzles, he had a scary knack for, along with math. Words games were just hard to him. He suddenly stood, shaking off the grass and leaves from his body. "Tea time is boring, but I might get her to do something else." He rumbled out, picking his nails clean.

His body sort of rippled as he turned, that cat like grace sticking with him even in his human form. He did not notice it, because it was just how a cat was. If someone called him graceful, he would point out that he was 6'5'' and graceful people were small and petite. He was not even close to petite. He sort of jumped/pounced in front of Enigma, accidentally hitting one of her teacups and breaking it. Loki did not do well near fragile things, he often found a way to break them no matter what he did. He stared at the shards of teacup, some of them in his hand, before looking at Enigma like he had had his entire parade rained on. At least he cleaned off his hand and licked the wound. But what was he going to do about the tea cup?
Enigma was just having herself a good old time, not paying attention to the world around her. She was admiring the beauty of her tea set when it glinted in the sun, the worn rose vine patterns seeming to come to life once again thanks to the light. Enigma would be sad to see them die, vines needed plenty of sun and water, or they would wither into brittle dried sticks. A patchwork of barbwire that would replace the beautiful green. No, there was no wya she would ever allow that to happen to her babies. She was smiling as she hummed some old and farway tune, letting it drift on the wind like a feather as her fingers inmprinted notes in the air in front of her. She could practically see the blue sponge of air left with indents from her light fingers.

A sight caught her attention in her peripheral, and she turned her head to see Abel making his way towards her with that practiced and deadly grace that every predator had. Sometimes she wondered why Abel could ot find a significant other in this circus, considering how amazing he had to be. Really, a graceful powerful portective male with a deep loyalty line to any who earned it. She guessed it had to be because Abel did not take the first step, he was one to take control after someone else showed initiative. Guess one acquired that trait from growing up as a feared predator.

Here she was thinking all these nice things, but when he jumped the rest of the distance to meet her, she heard the sickening crunch of porcelain. She winced, feeling her heart flutter as she dared to look down and see one of her precious teacups now nothing but pieces. Some of those pieces had gotten back at Abel for killing the cup, but it was not enough. Abel knew he was not supposed to be rowdy around fragile things. He always broke them. "Abel! How many times? Oh my poor darling! And just go, I have to clean this all up now, shoo!" She said, almost getting upset. She never did, but there were a few things she kept close to her heart. Her tea set was one of them.


Rumor found herself once again staring up at the sky this time though trying to count how many clouds looked like people she had seen in the audience during the show. So far only two, a cloud that looked like a woman wearing a large feather had and a one that looked like a small pomeranian dog she had seen in one of the audience members arms. Did dogs even count as people? Rumor shrugged, one thing she did no was though was that they freaked her out more than lightning. Rumor stood up on her branch and jumped off of it.

Any normal person would have closed their eyes and waited for the deafening sound of crashing, but the sound didn't come. Instead rumor was hovering in the air. "The joy of working at Entfuhren." She thought to herself as she begun to hover up to some of the more higher up branches. Beginning to swing from branch to branch she easily glided, it was a science of hovering but not appearing to to much, otherwise that ruined all the fun. A little practice never hurt did it?
The dreaded pout of a six-foot-five man. The RingLeader avoided the look as best he could. Instead, he fidgeted with his fork as Loki shook the leaves from his muscular body. A single, stormy gray eye followed the path of a yellow leaf as it drifted slowly to the ground. Its attention was brought back to the dark-haired man towering over him. How he felt bad for not wanting to play. "You might get her to play tag, even," Pandora suggested silkily.

Loki's figure sauntered over to the tea party, all calm and collected, until the last moment. Like the predator he was, he pounced. Pandora closed his eyes as the crunch of delicate china was heard through the otherwise silent park. "Oh, dear. She may just chase him now," he thought gleefully, setting the fork and empty plate down beside him, ready for a show of cat and mouse.

Unfortunately, to his great disappointment, Enigma shooed the over sized kitten away from her tea set. Pandora sighed, reaching to his side for his book. Oh, dear, where had it gone? Remembering it had been left next to the tree, Pandora got to his feet, taking the plate and fork with him as he went. He wouldn't litter on his own grounds. No, he left littering for other grounds.

Dropping the plastic fork and paper plate into the garbage, he picked his way back to the tree, sitting down again and placing the book on his knees. He was very curious as to how it all ended. Africa, that had been a very strange twist indeed. Biting his lip, Pandora placed a slender finger on the corner of the page, ready to turn it when the time came.


Wow, Enigma had even called him by his real name. He knew he was in trouble if she had done that. He quickly backed away, scrambling like a scolded animal as he tried to escape. He had not meant to break her teacup, he was very sorry for doing such a thing. He lopped away at a fast gait, not really running. There was no need to run, he was fast enough just jogging. Now what was he going to do? He had lost two people already to play with, and the list would only continue to get shorter. If Enigma had been the type to get angry, she would have chased him for sure and that would have been fun, but she merely got annoyed as always and only shooed him away. Thatwa snot fun at all.

Hey! A butterfly! All previous worries were out the window as Abel suddenly crouched low in the grass on his haunches, watching the pretty butterfly dancing from flower to flower. He did not intend to actually catch the butterfly, his large hands would surely crush it and kill it. But he did enjoy suddenly pouncing out of the grass at it, jumping higher and faster than a normal human should be able to. He could not stop the joyous human laughter that escaped from his lips, giggling with glee every time the butterfly eluded his hands. It was a monarch butterfly, his favorite too.