"Wait, wait!" Peppermint ran over to join the others. "I want a turn with the knives! I want a turn!" The girl twirled happily, giggling as she approached them. "Don't hit my dress," she instructed. "Or my hair. I spent half an hour doing this!" Peppermint proudly gestured to her lopsided, messy buns.
Tess looked up at the mention of knives, approaching the others with a look of interest. "What's this about knives? You know I hate to miss out on the fun." She said, giving them a playful smirk. "But seriously, who are we throwing the knives at? I'd like to work on my aim." She tilted her head for a moment, and an excited grin spread across her face. "Now there's a thought; Juggling knives on a tightrope. The audience would love that."
Enrique simply listened to what Silas was talking about.
’There he goes again…’ he thought, smiling softly as he, unlike the others, actually enjoyed listening to Silas’ rambling. For one, they weren’t as boring as others claimed it was. He closed his eyes and nodded along to what the other man had to say. Every now and then, he would hear those in the tent cry out in excitement, as they always did. It was always a fun time here after all. Even when government officials came to the show, the excitement everyone gave turned the official’s attentions away from all records on… basically everyone. He opened one of his eyes to look up at Silas while he was still laying his head on his lap, simply smiling.
“It’s because of the cell composition! Nonliving cells are really different from living cells, and they haven’t figured out how to turn nonliving cells living!”
He was gesturing wildly with his hands, attempting to show his thoughts visually. He kept talking for another five minutes or so. He liked having Enrique this close, but wouldn’t admit it to himself.
“Sorry….I kinda went off on a tangent there….”
“It’s okay,” Enrique spoke before he brought both of his hands up to take one of Silas’ hand, holding it gently. “I like hearing you talk about things like that, even if I don’t understand some of it,” he added, looking like he wasn’t going to let go of the other’s hand any time soon. “Is miss Saoirse calling for me yet?” He asked, not hearing anything other than the loud cheers from inside the tent.
He shook his head. “I don’t think so, but I’m not sure….”
he’s so warm….
Silas leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes. This was cozy.
Eschar walked over to where Saoirse and the others were.
“Hey, Saoirse, would you like a part in my play? I need someone to be the Queen, and I decided why not our glorious Ringleader. Unless, of course, you wish to be the Princess or Captain of the Guard,”Eschar offered with a mischievous smile.
~~~~~~
Oni peeked outside the tent and noticed Silas and Enrique. He snickered.
“Hey, Bull-Humper, I mean Enrique, you want a part in Eschar’s play? You could be Captain of the Guard,”Oni called.
He couldn’t help snickering a bit.
(And this is how you crash a party)
Silas fell silent, glaring at Oni. Grev cawed at him.
(Whoops sorry for the late reply, I was busy for a bit)
Saoirse considered Eschar's offer for no more than a second before excitedly nodding her head. "A play? That I can be in?! Of course!" They grinned happily. Saoirse had always been a fan of plays and all things theatre, and being the dramatic ringleader she is, already had a bit of a knack for theatrics. They couldn't refuse such an offer.
"I'll be the Queen if it's a fun role! What's the play about? What's gonna happen?!" They asked at a rapid pace as she jumped up and down a bit, already getting ahead of herself.
(You’re good. It happens)
Eschar grinned.
“Well, it will be a short mystery. I will be the King, Oni, the Royal Fool, you, the Queen, and there will be the Princess and the Captain of the Royal Guard. Now, I have yet to tell Oni, but I will grace you with a hint. The Princess is poisoned and we must find the guilty one before she dies.”
His grins widens.
“Are you in? Yes, it is a little dark, but that’s just my style, but you can be as dramatic as you wish.”
Peppermint’s head perked up at the mention of a princess. “I wanna be the princess! I wanna wear a crown and a fancy dress n’ have servants! Can I be the princess, pleeeeease?” The girl bounced up and down with excitement, looking up at the others.
Tess' eyes lit up as soon as the word 'mystery' reached her ears. "Oooh~ I do love a good murder mystery." She said, giving the playwright her signature half smile. "Any chance I could snag a role?"
Eschar looked at Peppermint and Tess with a smile.
“I’m sure both of you can have a place. Though, I will have to check on that crazy Royal Fool to see what he’s doing,”he replied, rolling his eyes.
“There are many reasons he earned the name ‘Crazy Traveler’, and one of them is his tendency to never stay put. I shall return in a moment,”he added with a snort.
Eschar meandered away, looking for Oni.
(ACK I DID IT AGAIN SORRY, I'll be more on time with my responses. Uh just pretend this reply was after what Eschar said and before what Peppermint and Tess said, since that would technically be the reasonable moment to respond 💀)
Saoirse's eyes widened with excitement.
"Oh I'm definitely in! I promise I'll be the best Queen ever!" They shouted in celebration as she pumped her fist in the air. While it was a bit dark, they weren't bothered by it much as it seemed like it would still be fun.
(Hello? Bumping this, since it’s been a day)
"Why are we playing a murder mystery game when we could go out and murder someone ourselves," Doku asked, "Star hasn't gotten out in a while." She looked around and looked at Saoirse. "Could you be a dear and tell Eschar not to turn the lights off for this game when he gets back?"
Oni peeked outside the tent and noticed Silas and Enrique. He snickered.
“Hey, Bull-Humper, I mean Enrique, you want a part in Eschar’s play? You could be Captain of the Guard,” Oni called.
He couldn’t help snickering a bit.
(screams in too busy)
Enrique turned when his name was called, not when his ‘nickname’ was called. He raised his brow before sitting up straight, standing up as he held his hand out to stop Luca from acting without his command. He could already feel the bull’s agitation at the presence of Oni. “May I have more context before I agree or not to this play, Onnie?”
“Well, it’s one of Eschar’s dark plays. There’s a King, Queen, Royal Fool, Princess, and Captain of the Guard. That’s all I know. He wouldn’t tell me more,”Oni answered.
As Oni spoke, Eschaton approached. He put a hand on Oni’s shoulder and the jester turned.
“Take a break, will you? You don’t have to rude to everyone here,”Eschar mentioned.
“Of course not, but where’s the fun in that?”Oni replied.
Eschar rolled his eyes and walked toward Enrique and Silas. Oni snorted, watching Eschar.
As Eschar neared the others, he nodded at Luca and showed his empty hands to assure the bull that he meant no threat. He then turned to Enrique and Silas.
“My apologies, I shouldn’t have set the Fool free. The play is a murder mystery, figuring out who poisoned the Princess. I am playing the King, Oni the Royal Fool, Saoirse the Queen, Peppermint is most likely the Princess, and Tess has not yet a defined part. There’s only five main characters, but I could care how many characters there are, in total. Do either of you wish to join?”Eschar said.
Silas shook his head. “I’m not a very good actor. Thank you for the offer, though.” Grev stayed close to Silas. He wasn’t a fan of Oni.
“I don’t see why not,” Enrique shrugged. “In truth, I have nothing better to do so if this is as entertaining as your explanation puts it to be, I shall be part of it.” He spoke firmly, smiling politely while trying to keep the agitated bull at rest. “It’s a shame Silas isn’t joining us though.” He murmured with a small pout.
(I have just realized that we are all now without a ringmaster—)
Silas gave Grev a pat on the head. He opened up his book again.
(Well s**t! I didn’t even notice that until you mentioned it @KhunAltrince. Oh well, as they say, the show must go on)
Eschar nodded at both Silas and Enrique.
“No worries, Silas. Sometimes it is equally as fun watching as acting. And, Enrique, you can be Captain of the Guard if you wish, unless you want to be an extra. It doesn’t matter. Meanwhile, I shall continue going around and recruiting folk,”he said with a grin.
Eschar glanced back to see Oni still eavesdropping. He narrowed his eyes at the youth and Oni burst into laughter before going back inside the tent.
(Oh no. Why did Kinokokingdom delete their account?)
(No clue-)
(Anyone still invested? I wouldn’t mind continuing if others want to)