Gian saw the amused smile on the Ringleader's lips and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. But, the pat on his shoulder and those words were enough to spark a bright smile to come up to the boy's lips. That, at least, was good news. All he had to do then was make sure he keep Léandre content for a week, right?

He'd seen the tank from afar and he really isn't sure if he would get along with the merman but he did hope he would. The merman, in his honest opinion, really is beautiful. "I will do my best!" were his first words before he'd continued on, "Thank you very much, Shadow."

"Tonight is a free night for you," Shadow went on, nodding slightly. "You must be tired, hungry, and in need of a nice, long bath. You may share a room with one of our family. Léan is the only one who you can't really share a room with, since his room is the tank."

He patted Gian on the back, ushering him backstage. "Find someone to bunk with for the night. Your week begins tomorrow," he informed him, firmly. He was well aware that Léan could be a spiteful diva when it came to having new people around--he had been in the show the longest, besides the Ringleader himself, and he had been all kinds of nasty to each new family member as they had come.

Apparently, he isn't aware of that fact. That Léan could be that spiteful diva to new people like him but he'll come to know soon if he was told about it or if he experiences it first hand. Nodding at the Ringleader's words, he turned to look forward only to find himself meeting that snake boy he remembered meeting outside. The one who collected those money before they went in.

"Hmm, so you're Gian," Hebs started as he'd grinned and held out his hand, "I'm Hebs and that who you see behind me is Kratos." Gian would've had taken Hebs' handshake but he only raised his hand a bit to show Hebs his dirty hand. Hebs understood so he dropped his hand and turned to look at Kratos who wasn't even the least bit interested that there was a newcomer. The male seemed busy writing something in his notebook.

"Shadow said something about bunking so you have the three of us to choose from, me, Kratos-" Kratos finally looked up and uttered a short, "Don't count me in," before he resumed what he was doing. Hebs made a face and he'd let out a sigh.

"Then, that'd be me and Alfie. Though... Alfie really doesn't sleep in a bed."

"I sleep in a nest under heat lamps, thank you very much." Alfie had come slithering around the corner and he was eating once more. He ate at least five times a day, and it was usually all meat. "But there is a bedroll in my tent that I don't use. He could certainly use that even if he doesn't sleep in my room."

Alfie didn't usually mean to come off as threatening. The way he looked was usually what immediately turned people off from him. And the way he ate, but most people didn't see him eat. He ate like a pig...

Hebs turned to look at Alfie as he'd come slithering their way. When he'd seen what he was doing, he made a face again. Eating. Again. Seriously. This guy ate like a pig. Not that he could blame him. Snaked, if he remembered right, need more nutrition than they need. Hell, he often ate a lot, too but not all the time. "Then, we'll get that bedroll and you can come sleep with me." He gave the new guy a grin. "Since you can't exactly sleep in a nest with Alfie, in a tank with Léan and the dead-alive guy."

"And, Shadow said something about bath, right? Let's get you one while I prepare your bed, come on."

It was strange to see the mutated naga slither up their way and come to them. From afar, he had thought he wasn't so big but now that he was seeing him up-close, he definitely wasn't short nor tall. Just about the right size. Without the legs. As he listened to the conversation between the two, he found himself smiling at Alfie and his seemingly odd eating habit.

"Thank you, Alfie, Hebs," he said as he glanced over at Kratos. They certainly were a strange bunch but it made him all the more excited inside. Talk about an odd fascination to freakish creatures.

"I'll run the bath for him. You go on ahead and set up the bed for him. My bath is the warmest, biggest one...besides the Ringleader's, of course..." Alfie finished up his meal, licking his lips and then idly sucking on his fingers. He beckoned to Gian with his free hand and turned around, heading in the direction of his room.

Alfie had his big, warm bath at the request of the Ringleader. He was nearly half-snake...he needed a place where he could shed in peace, and it had to be warm. The bath worked perfectly, seeing as the dead skin was washed down the drain and the tub was always clean.

He led Gian into his room, which was really just a dresser and his bed-like nest, and then back a bit, to his bathroom. He had a large, circular tub...it could probably fit more than one person. "Enjoy. Call me if you need anything." Alfie left Gian in peace, slithering back out to curl up in his nest.

Following him to his room, he looked around in awe and noted the bed-like nest. That didn't look comfortable but it must be comfortable for the mutated snake. Gian blinked and watched him leave; he gave a little nod, though, unsure if the other had seen that. Ridding himself off of his clothes, he went to the edge of the tub and dipped in a finger. Alfie sure wasn't lying about him having the warmest and the biggest bath. Now that he was looking at it from this point of view...

Wow, was all he could think of as he slowly dipped himself into the bath and smiled. It felt really good that he couldn't help but let out a low, satisfied groan. It took a while for him to realize what he was supposed to be doing here and he made sure to wash himself properly. Three days of no bath, the grime sure was hard to get off of him. Problem was, he couldn't reach his back. Putting his arms crossed over the edge of the tub, he silently wached Alfie on his nest and smiled. He didn't know why they had to be called freaks. They weren't so different to humans at all.

"Oh. I forgot his clothes." Deciding to let the guy borrow his clothes since they seem to be about the same body shape, he grabbed the clothes before he'd walked to Alfie's tent. He peeked in and silently crept into the bathroom. "Hey," he greeted the other with a grin as he put the clothes a little further from the tub. He wouldn't want the clothes to get wet, after all. "You done?"

"Just... my back-"

Hebs thought about what Alfie had said. "Sec." Coming back out to get the bedroll from Alfie's place, he nudged the edge of the bedroll against the other's side. "Hey, Alfie, he needs his back washed and I need to set up the bed. Could you?"

Alfie groaned in protest. He was rather lazy for his age and rarely wanted to do anything to help out--much heavy lifting was off-limits because of his tail, anyway. That meant he had a lot of trouble pushing Léan's tank around by himself, as well, so he often found a way to shirk those duties.

Washing someone's back was fine with him. Alfie didn't mind touching people--surprising for someone who looked like he did...he must not have had a lot of human contact in his life.

"Sure thing. He better not take it the wrong way, though...I don't know him well enough for things to take a turn like that," he joked, amusedly, as he slid out of his nest. He made his way towards the bathroom and slipped in, immediately moving behind the boy.

"Need your back washed? Lean forward a little bit and hand me the washcloth..."

Hebs made a face. "I seriously think you were a pervert back in your past life," he said bluntly, "Though, I wouldn't be the least surprised if it was true." The snake man snickered and raised the bedroll a bit as a sign of him leaving.

"And, Gian, watch your back! Can't hurt to be careful!" He was obviously teasing Alfie. He often did that when he was with him and though he won't admit it, he did enjoy Alfie's company. For a mutated naga, he had humor.

The conversation between the two made Gian smile in amusement and he took the washcloth he'd been using to scrub off the grime off of himself. Getting up just as Alfie had slithered in, he sat at the edge of the tub and handed the cloth to him. He wasn't the least bit bothered by the fact that he was naked. After all, he believes that clothes are nothing but accessories to keep them warm. It was their only purpose.

"Thanks..." he started as he put his hands on the edge of the tub to balance himself as he leaned forward a bit, "And... sorry for bothering you for this." He could really never scrub his back on his own, which was why he'd rather be taking a bath with someone than have it alone.

"I'm a pervert now," Alfie corrected Hebs before he left, in a louder voice so he could hear it. He was a bit of a pervert...mind you, so was the Ringleader. Léan was probably the purest-minded one out of their family--he found immature jokes brought on by Alfie and the Ringleader rather offensive and often scolded them for it...

"No problem, no problem. Just wait until I get to know you better to put the moves on me in my own bathtub, all righty?" Alfie scrubbed away at Gian's back, making sure he got every last little particle of dirt off of it. He was a clean freak when it came to others...but his own room was a flippin' mess and he rarely tidied it up.

It seemed that Alfie was one of the more friendly of the freaks. Hebs was friendly too, of course. Léan was not welcoming towards newcomers, and neither was Kratos. It was probably why the two of them had a silent sort of agreement to never argue and always get along.

Gian raised his eyebrows a little in surprise at Alfie's reply. He wouldn't admit it but he was stunned. No one had been straightforward with their orientation until now. He supposed these are one of the many things he'd have to get used to.

Nonetheless, when he'd gotten his bearings back, he had chuckled, mostly in amusement. "I'll look forward to it." The male smiled as he turned to look at Alfie and then moved his gaze back down at the water in the tub while he waited for his back to be finished scrubbing by the mutated human-snake.

"Hey, Alfie..." he started, deciding to break the ice a little and put up a conversation, "What's Léan like? He's the merman back at the show, wasn't he?"

"Eh? Yeah, that's Léan," Alfie confirmed, rinsing off part of Gian's back and preparing to wash the next part. "Well, he's a decent guy deep down, but he's got a bit of a shell up. He's not that kind to newbies, I'm sorry to say. Our Ringleader won't say where he and Léan first met, but from what little he's told us Léan was in captivity a long time before he came to our show, and he wasn't owned by the kindest of people."

Alfie had been lucky enough to be taken care of by a caring but sickly mother until she passed away...before she'd passed away, the woman had entrusted him to Shadow, who had promised to take care of him.

"I came here when I was just a boy," Alfie went on, allowing a story to form in his head. "When I came here, Léan was already here. He hasn't aged at all since I first met him--kind of makes me think that he's immortal. He's a little sketchy when it comes to meeting new people...but he'll warm up to you after a while. Just...don't get offended if he's downright nasty for a bit."

Gian turned his head a little to look at the other over his shoulder as he spoke and he made a face when he'd heard that. Not kind to newbies, is it? That didn't sound pleasing. Gian, though, was prepared to do whatever it takes to do his job. He had, after all, made a promise to Shadow. He did say he'd try his best but that was the same with his 'I promise!' statement.

Honestly, he understood what Léandro was going through and it pushed him all the more to do his best. Blinking, though, when the spotlight had been drawn onto Alfie, he smiled a little and silently listened to him. "He didn't seem nasty at all," he said, recalling back to what had happened a while ago with the Ringleader, "He's rather... kind. Like you and Hebs." The male actually smiled gently when he'd said those words. He did mean it, after all.

((I'm heading to bed--don't feel well. D: Night!))

Alfie chuckled softly and then set the washrag down on the side of the tub after rinsing Gian's back off a final time. "That should be good. Hebs should be ready with your bed set up. If you want, you can ask him to take you to Léan. His room is the aquarium...we take him out in the tank for display purposes, for our shows...but he lives in our aquarium. It's a big room back near the Ringleader's room."

That room tended to really creep Alfie out for some reason, so he rarely went in there. It was also incredibly cold in there all the time. Not good for someone who was nearly half-reptile.

"Do you need someone to take you to Hebs' room, then? I can take you there."

[[ Uwa. Sleep tight and get well soon! =< ]]

Gian made a note of that. Once the other was finished with his back, he straightened himself out a bit and rinsed himself for the last time. Getting up to his feet, the male moved to where the clothes were put and took the small towel to wipe himself dry. "I think I'll do that tomorrow," he said with a nod as he slipped on the clothes. It was a simple white t-shirt and some old jeans. Not that he minded, it actually felt good to wear clean clothes again.

"And, are you sure you want to do that?" The male pointed to Alfie's nest, "You could just give me the directions. I could walk myself there." He smiled at Alfie. The mutated naga really was kind, much like Hebs. He liked them already.

"Oh, no. If you get lost and accidentally walk into Kratos' room or the aquarium by yourself, it won't be pretty. I already know Léan isn't going to be too happy to hear that you're tagging along with us...he can get really mean..."

Alfie pouted a bit, some bad memories floating forward, before the expression was wiped from his face and he grinned again, heading towards the door. His upper body swayed just slightly when he moved and slithered along. "Here, come with me. I'll take you to Hebs' room. Remind him to set the alarm early for tomorrow, so he can take you to the kitchen and then to the aquarium. You'll have to fetch breakfast for Léan. He can't exactly fetch it himself."

Léan was helpless on land. He could come up on land for nine hours, at the most, but he had to be submerged quite often underwater.

Gian was new around here so he was going to trust Alfie's words. He really was glad he had him on his side. Well, he wasn't sure if he do have him on his side but he was really kind enough to be warning him like that and offering to lead him to Hebs' place.

Noticing, too, the other's pout when he'd said something about Léan being very mean, he couldn't help but reach up to pull a bit at Alfie's index finger. "Was he mean to you, too, when you first started here?" he asked as he retrieved his hand quickly and followed after the mutant naga.

Alfie seemed to get around just fine despite the fact that he didn't have any legs. He moved rather quickly, in fact. He yawned a bit and glanced back at Gian.

"Oh, he was awful to me," he confirmed, somewhat hollowly. "He looked down on me, growled at me...he even attacked me the one time the Ringleader let me don the wet-suit to try and clean his tank off. And man does he have sharp teeth. He isn't the nicest guy in the world until you really get to know him. He doesn't care for strangers."

Alfie paused slightly in front of a door they'd just reached and knocked, waiting for Hebs to answer.

Gian could only imagine what Léan could do to him. Looks like I won't be leaving his tank unscathed, he thought, mostly to himself before he'd quietly sighed and brought up a hand to rub the back of his neck. Not that he isn't used to it, that is. Physically, he could even say he was tough. Reaching out, though, to put a hand on Alfie's back, he did hope his touch would be enough to tell him he empathized with him and that to silently tell him that this was his way to comfort him.

"Thanks, really," he told Alfie with a smile as he retrieved his hand just as the door had opened.

"I see you're still in one piece," Hebs said as he looked at Gian from head to toe. Now that he was cleaner, he definitely could see him have a place in their family with his good looks. He seemed sly, too, but not as sly as compared to the Ringleader. Good-looking, nonetheless, he thought to himself with a nod and turned to look at Alfie.

"You must be sick of hearing it but thanks, Alfie," he added with a grin, "Enjoyed what you saw back in your bathroom now, didn't you?"

"I enjoy most of what I see, my scaled brother." The tip of Alfie's tail flicked back and forth with amusement. He was a pretty laid-back guy. The way he acted often got on Léan's nerves...Léan was a reserved and proper sort of person. He rarely even talked about his emotions, or had casual conversation at all. The mere mention of body parts and their many uses sent him reeling with girlish disgust.

He waved, looking pleased. "Ciao. I'm going to head to bed--man, am I tired." He turned and slithered away, back in the direction of his room.

The next morning came as quickly as night had gone. The alarm clock Hebs had was definitely loud and he had to groan as he buried his face in the pillow. It oddly smelled of shampoo - one he could only guess Hebs uses.

Following Hebs to the kitchen, though, to get Léan's breakfast, he took what looked like a crate of fish and hoisted it up on his shoulder. The side of his head made sure he'd balanced it while his hand held the other side of the crate. What was in this? A ton of fish? Nodding his thanks to Hebs when he had held the curtain open for him, he watched Hebs come over to what looked like a big aquarium indeed. Managing to put the crate down with a heavy thud, he massaged his shoulder a little as he listened to Hebs call out for Léan.

"Léandre, you'll be having your own personal caretaker as directed by you know who," he started once the merman was close enough to hear him. He motioned to where Gian was standing. "I have to go prepare breakfast for the others. Try to not kill him, please."

With that, the snake guy was gone.


[[ Hope you don't mind me skipping on to the start of the week. o = Unless you had anything planned out, I'll change this for you. :3 ]]

((No, I was planning a time-skip soon anyway. :D Thanks for doing so!))

There was nothing for a while...and there was complete silence. Then there was a flash of bluish color. Léan slipped out from underneath one of the rocks, where he'd dug himself a little den. He was so used to being in captivity that false tank ornaments and eating fish that had been killed by some other means than by his own hand didn't bother him anymore.

He was enchantingly beautiful, of course. All merpeople were...sirens were known for their beauty. Their looks and their voices were what lured sailors in at sea.

His expression was anything from the playful and sometimes lustful sirens depicted in stories, and in artwork. He looked downright annoyed and he pressed himself against the back of the aquarium, looking wary of the new boy.

He was not fond of humans in general. He had to warm up to them to even hold one ounce of care for them...

Gian took into account what Alfie and Hebs had told him about Léandre and he knew better than to try and force himself onto the merman to get friendly with him. He'd seen that enchanting beauty, of course, and for a moment there, he was stunned. Sure, he may be a guy but even guys could be weak if such a beauty appeared before them.

"I, uh," he started as he swallowed tightly, "I brought you food." Tugging the box along with him near the edge of the aquarium, he managed to tilt it over and looked back at the merman. What was he supposed to say again? Rubbing the side of his neck out of habit, he dropped his gaze to the water. How was he supposed to clean the tank? And, was he supposed to clean it everyday?

"If you need anything, tell me and I'll have it done for you as quick as I can."


[[ Haha. You're welcome! And, poor Gian. xD ]]

Léan leaped into action once he saw food being dumped into his tank. There were four fish in the box. Four large bluefin tuna. Bluefin tuna...well, they were the merman's favorite fish. The Ringleader made sure to order them fresh every few days for his oldest companion.

He shot upwards, nabbing all four of the fish handily, and then sank down to the bottom. He laid three out on the stones and held one to him, biting into it completely raw. He didn't cook his food. He couldn't seeing as he lived underwater and all.

"The tank needs to be cleaned once every two days. Tomorrow." His eyes narrowed a bit. He had a musical sort of voice...it sounded like he was singing almost when he wasn't. He didn't seem too happy about the prospect of having Gian clean his tank.

Gian blinked in surprise when he'd seen the merman leap into action. It was strange but at the same time, it was alluring. Almost to the point of it being a show that Gian had to remember to pull his mouth back closed. "Wow," was all he could say when he had nabbed all four of the fish with his hands and he watched him - though blurrily - do things at the bottom of the sea.

Surprise again shot at him like a bullet to his heart when he'd heard that musical sort of voice. Unconsciously putting a hand on his chest, he nodded quickly at that. "Yes, sir," he started before he'd put the crate back on its bottom, "How many times do you eat a day?" He crouched down to put his elbows on his knees. "Just so I know when to bring you food to eat." Gian was going to hang around, after all, and he needed to know if Léan was hungry or not.

He was no mind-reader like the Ringleader so he really needs to be told what to do if the merman wanted anything. That, and he was determined to do his task right to please the enchantingly beautiful merman.