Shadow made sure to assess everything closely while they were setting up. Particularly the merman in the ocean. He didn't want Léan to get spooked and bolt. He didn't know the area around here, and if he fled and got lost...they might not be able to find him again.

"...Everything seems to be set. Go ahead out and start collecting entrance fees, and letting people in. Everyone get in position..."

Shadow had placed Hebs up at the front, in the first area. Hebs tended to be much friendlier with visitors, particularly children. Kratos and Léan's area was next. He was hoping that if some of the guests asked to see Léan in all his glory that the merman wouldn't protest being picked up. He didn't want them to think this was all a petting zoo, either, and try to head out into the ocean to pet the merman. That wouldn't end up well. Alfie was after them, and Shadow was the very last stop. He could keep a watch on everything from the area near the end.

Léan was not enthusiastic, but he seemed happy that Kratos was nearby. At least he wouldn't get bored...

Léan won't be lost. At least, Kratos had mentioned that to the merman. "Don't swim away too far," he started before he'd pursed his lips, "I don't want to lose you." That was what he'd said hours ago, before he had to put Léan into the water.

The people started to come in a line and Gian welcomed them. He also noted some notable notes to say like: "Please don't ask for the impossible", "There's no such thing as magic in this day and age", and "Be aware of fangs, please. No touching unless you ask and they agree. Just request and they will tell you if they can do it or not."

Alfie appeared to be possibly the most eager of the bunch. He, unlike Léan, allowed people to touch his tail and his wings as long as they didn't pull or harm him. He would slither forward oftentimes, too, and greet people...and just once, near the beginning of their show, he specifically made his way forward to get a closer look at a rather good-looking human.

Shadow was, as always, quiet and polite. He had to explain what his power was much like Kratos would have to, considering they weren't the most mutated of freaks. He demonstrated a few different ways, by picking out thoughts and events from the past from people's minds and conducting other little tests.

Léan was not enjoying himself, though the guests seemed to be enjoying him. More than once, people asked if they could touch him, to which he made an irritable noise in response and ducked underwater, out of sight, until they stopped asking. He didn't like dealing with human beings. He never had, not in all his life. He was not sociable during shows, and he would usually keep to himself, laying in shallow water or in his tank and allowing them to gaze upon him and nothing more.

The show appeared to be progressing smoothly as the night went on.

Hebs was as friendly as Alfie was, especially with the children. He laughed along with them when they were amused with something he did and would often give them a little parting gift, a small cupcake with chocolate filling inside of it. He'd even gotten sweet, sometimes sloppy kisses on his cheeks from the children, which he generally enjoyed.

Kratos, like Shadow, did explain what his power was like and gave a little show by giving life again to the dead corpses laying about him. Some were cats, some were dogs and most of the people who'd seen him do it, were freaked out. Not that he minded. He also showed them how he took lives of people. The parents pulled their children away while the said little children were in awe. Of course, he'd seen what Léan was doing and he'd apologize in his behalf to his audiences.

Gian, on the other hand, was enjoying the praises he was getting from their guests that had exited and passed by him. He smiled their way while he continued gathering the money to welcome their new guests.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, for the time being. Even Léan's mood picked up, and by the middle of the show, he would no longer flee from people who asked if they could touch him. He would just politely reject them. It was a rule of the show that no pictures were allowed of Léan, and the only reason now he dove back underwater was to avoid having his picture taken.

Alfie was, of course, his usual bubbly self. He graced a few passerby with kisses on the cheek at their request and even played patty-cake with one of the smaller kids for everyone else's amusement. Shadow, all the way at the end of the show, was keeping a wary mind's eye on everything at the beginning of the show, but he'd loosened up halfway through and he was now wholly focused on entertaining the guests.

Léan's mood, thankfully, continued to pick up as the show went on. He was in a better mood than he usually was when it came to walk-through shows, and he even graced a few people with shows of strength. He would dive underwater and shoot back up, doing a back or front-flip in the air for people who didn't ask too rudely.

He appeared to be doing well until fifteen minutes before the show was to end. He was glancing out at the crowd like he had been all night when suddenly he went completely still and rigid. Someone standing in the crowd mirrored his sudden shock, frozen. This person was a tall man wearing a casual business suit, in his fifties. He didn't seem all that threatening...Léan suddenly ducked down farther into the water, making strange, frightened sounds and shivering.

...Did he recognize this person?

The man certainly seemed to recognize him, and he took a few steps forward, getting as close as he possibly could to where Kratos and the merman were. He was trying to get a closer look at the terrified siren.

Hebs was surprised and so was Kratos. Hell, everyone's eyes seemed to have trained on Kratos jumping down into the water to swim down to where Léan was. The man came close to where the frightened merman was and reached out to put a gentle hand on his cheek. Kratos' features had suddenly turned worried, as strange as it was to see that on his normally empty or bland look.

The snake teen turned to look at Shadow and he pursed his lips a little as he moved his gaze again to the man wearing that casual business suit. Was he someone the merman knew?

((You want me to play this guy or shall we take turns being him? He's a real ass.))

Léan moved quickly to hide behind Kratos and then cling to him, tightly. He was shivering. He wanted to be as far away from that human as possible. He didn't want to be anywhere near that evil, evil man whose very face haunted his dreams at night, no matter how hard he tried to forget it. He wouldn't look up from where he had his face buried against Kratos' neck.

Shadow, being the foreboding presence that he was, managed to quiet everyone down without even doing anything--he just stood up and stepped over the small barrier that was between the freaks and the guests, so he could get a better look at the man near the other end of the hall. Alfie had backed up as far as he possibly could, caught in the middle of all of this and unsure of what to do.

[[ How much of an ass? And... if you wouldn't mind, I can play him when need to be. =D Kratos is going to kill him though once he finds out that he's one of those men who had violated his beloved merman. >> ]]

Kratos was surprised but he continued to stay where he was as he looked up to meet the man's gaze. The way Léan was acting was enough to tell him that his man was dangerous and was someone the merman feared a lot. But, what exactly did the man do to Léan to have inflicted fear on him when touched upon? "Who are you?" was all Kratos had asked as he pursed his lips and protectively stood his ground. There was no way he was going to let the man get a good look on the merman.

Gian had exited his post to come and stand by Alfie's side. Hebs, on the other hand, had kneeled down on one knee to try and peer at the said man's face. They'll have to remember that face won't they? In case something were to happen. Hebs, unbeknowst to all, was pretty good at memorizing faces of people and associating them with names.

((Well, he pretty much imprisoned and abused Léan the longest out of any of his captors--he was his very last owner--if you want to first play him. And he's going to be pretty pissed once he gets a good look at Shadow across the hall. Shadow was the one who rescued Léan from him...and he did it in a pretty much kick-in-the-teeth way. He got him super drunk and cheated to make the man bet and lose Léan in a game of poker.))

John was just about to reply to the said man's question when he'd seen one familiar face. It had him squinting just a tad because of his bad eye sight but he was able to make out his face. "You!" he started, his voice taking on a hint of anger. No more than sooner, he looked pretty pissed off. "Where is he?!" He'd never forgiven this man who had taken his most precious gem away from him. He wasn't aware he had abused him. After all, that merman - that beautiful siren - was rightfully his.

He'd woken up that one day with Léan taken away from him. Of course, he'd vainly searched for him - only to no avail.


[[ Hope I did that right. ]]

Léan clung to Kratos even more tightly, trying in vain to hide behind him and out of sight. His tail was far too long for that--no matter how much he curled it up, his tail was still visible. He was pawing and whimpering at Kratos, silently begging to be protected seeing as Shadow was too far away to do so right now. He had a lost, childlike fear in his eyes, and his fear was only amplified by the sound of the strange man's voice.

Shadow flashed the man a pointed glare, folding his arms across his chest and staring profusely at the man at the other end of the hall. "Well, that's certainly a pleasant way to greet someone, now, isn't it?" His voice, which was usually smooth and pleasant to the ears, was low and flat, and...menacing. "I won him off of you, don't you remember? You so foolishly bet your most prized possession...and he belongs to me, now."

It was rare to see Shadow angry, and most of the freaks feared him when he was angry. Alfie in particular was frightened of seeing his anger, even if it wasn't directed towards him. He backed away a bit.

"You won him off of me?" The man scoffed and returned the said glare. There was that slight fear he felt with the man had suddenly become angry but he didn't back down. He never backed down. "You must've made me too drunk to have me thinking straight!" His eyes were squinting now as a frown marred his features. "I would never put my prized possession, my only beloved jewel, at stake." At least, that was how he thought he'd act even if he was drunk. He was, after all, a very possessive man.

Kratos quickly took off his coat and he put this over Léan's head. "This is the man?" he asked Shadow as he turned to look at the angry fallen angel, "If he causes trouble, may I kill him?" Hebs was surprised to hear Kratos offering such a thing but he nodded at that. "I say let him, Shadow, and revive him back in the police quarters."

Gian blinked at Alfie backing away and he reached out to take his hand into his own. He held him in place and even put his hand on the kid's head - the one clutching on his pant leg.

"No, no...violence is not needed. After all, it was a fair bet...we signed a written contract..." Shadow hummed, looking smug. It was true that the man had been terribly drunk during the game. But, it was also true that a contract was signed, turning over ownership of the merman to Shadow. Shadow had insisted upon this contract, and the man, being far too drunk to really understand, had agreed to signing it....

Shadow had this contract. It was back in his room at home.

Léan made a startled sound when darkness suddenly engulfed him and tightened his grip on Kratos, not liking being in the dark. It made him feel alone...

Alfie squeezed Gian's hand, chewing on his bottom lip slightly. He didn't like where this was going. It was almost closing time, so they had had a good show, but...this...this was not going to end well, he thought.

Kratos nodded at that and he blinked when the merman's grip had tightened around him. He moved to wrap his arms around Léan and made sure the coat covered the merman's ears. He, too, shot a gaze at the man that was as chilling as Shadow's own and noted that there was a killing intent in that said gaze.

John scowled after the smug 'man' and grunted. "This isn't over. I will have my lawyer file a law suit on you." Of course, that meant his lawyer was going to visit Shadow for him to see if there was such a contract. If there was none, then he could get what was his back. And, with that, he left but not after pushing away a couple of their guests who fell into the water.

Hebs was quick on his feet to dive into the water and save the children and the mothers first. Gian, too, followed suit to help. "The bastard." It was all Kratos murmured under his breath as his hold became a little more tight around the merman.

((May have to disappear for school very soon. I don't wanna go. D: ))

Léan cuddled up against Kratos at once, clinging to him like a baby would to its mother. He wanted to go home...go home and rest, and not have to think about that man's face ever again. Seeing it in person again had brought on an onslaught of fresh and reopened mental scars. Bad memories were plaguing the merman, who didn't even seem to understand where he was, and that he wasn't in danger.

"Hmph...I don't like lawyers," was all Shadow had to say before he straighted up, looking apolgetic and more professional towards the few remaining guests. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am so sorry you had to see that. I hope this doesn't ruin all that you have seen tonight. We will be closing in a few minutes--I ask that you make sure you don't leave anything here and have a good night."

Alfie dipped into the water to assist Gian and Hebs. He made sure to stay away from Léan, who most likely would bite anyone that came near him other than Kratos or perhaps Shadow, if he recognized him.

[[ And you didn't sleep, you. xD ]]

Kratos didn't like it at all. It was like Léan wasn't with him at all. He wasn't the showy type of person but he couldn't help it now. Under the coat, he took Léan's cheek and gently stroked his cheek before he'd pressed a light kiss onto those luscious lips. It was the gentlest kiss - one that one wouldn't expect would come from Kratos at all. "Don't," he started, "Léan, don't think about anything else and just look at me." Kratos was doing his best not to take Léan's life. He had full control of his power but when emotions got in the way, it sometimes goes awry.

Gian panted as he smiled and waved towards the kid who had given him a big hug. The children who Hebs had just gathered were crying as they reunited with their parents. Of course, just before they left, they gave Hebs all a sloppy kiss despite his scaly skin. They were amused with how they felt and Hebs was just happy to see them smiling and laughing. Turning to look at Shadow, Hebs gave him a small smile - a silent sign of 'good job handling that man' before worriedly looking over at Kratos' and the merman's way.

((Nope, didn't feel up to sleeping. X3 This will be my last post before I poof off to school. Bye!))

Léan was very startled by the kiss and attempted to pull away before he heard the human's words. He looked at him, eyes blank and much less vibrant than they usually were. He managed to keep their eyes locked as much as possible, what little consciousness he had left telling him not to look away, lest he slip away into nightmares.

It took a long few minutes, but the merman slowly began to come out of his trance. His tail slowly curled around the human as they sat there. It was an outward sign of affection, something Léan would never do if he were in his right state of mind. His breathing slowed to a somewhat normal pace, and he appeared to be calm. But he still looked distant, and exhausted...

Shadow flashed a smile in Hebs' direction and patted Alfie, who was crawling out of the water, on the head as he walked by him. He didn't want the naga to be frightened of him, now that he'd calmed down. "...Perhaps we should pack it up and head back to our condominium."

As if his words weren't enough, he'd uttered a short, "I won't hurt you. I'll protect you," before he'd returned to stroking both cheeks of the merman's with his thumbs. The look he saw in his eyes were distant but at least, he was calming down. The exhausted look he had on made him smile just a tad. Before anyone could see it, though, he had masked it up with his usual look and led Léan to the shore. He had the merman resting against him while he lightly and, hopefully to sooth the other, gently ran his hand up and down his back.

"Sounds good to me," was all he'd said before he'd stretched his arms up over his head and yawned. He could do some well needed rest too. Looked like everything that had happened not very long ago had caught up to him. Gian turned to look at Alfie and grinned at him. "Let's do it." The human was ethe first to start packing and cleaning up while Kratos returned to the condominium first with Léan in his arms. Upon arriving at his room, he didn't let go of the merman just yet and sat down on the bed. When a few minutes had passed though, the man shivered and turned his head away to sneeze. It looked like he was catching some common cold. Hopefully, no fever would come out of it.

Léan clung tightly to Kratos, purring at the feel of a warm hand running up and down his back. He had a feline sort of purr that rumbled all the way from his chest up into his throat and caused his skin to vibrate slightly. It was not a sound that was heard often from the merman...

He didn't seem to mind being picked up and held as such by Kratos, considering he just wanted to get back home and be safe, far away from that terrible man. He rested his head gently on Kratos' chest, nothing with a bit of concern that the other seemed...not well. Maybe sick. He had an awful feeling that it was his fault, that he was the cause of the human's sickness. He sniffed slightly, coming back into the real world a bit more, and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Perhaps we should rest...?" His voice was soft, distant.

Alfie helped with what he could, though he couldn't do much heavy lifting because his tail would just slide out from under him. He eventually was able to help pack up smaller things. Shadow, on the other hand, was much more helpful and soon, everything was packed up and ready to to go.

Kratos was a little surprised at the hand on his shoulder but he'd nodded and looked down, a little embarrassed. "Yeah," he replied, quietly, before he'd shifted to put Léan down on the bed and then lay on the bed himself. He tilted his head away and sneezed again. Grunting, he sniffed and lightly massaged the bridge of his nose before he'd let his eyes slide shut. He was still wet and he should get changed but the headache coming on was preventing him from doing so.

In a matter of minutes, he had fallen asleep.

Gian and Hebs helped with the packing, too, but Gian, mostly, handled the talk with the men who had helped them. He'd even thanked them when they had gotten everything. "That was rather eventful," Hebs said as he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He was feeling a little sore. "At least we got them closer." Gian blinked and grinned. "Kratos and Léan, you mean?" When he saw Hebs nod, he ran his fingers through his hair and stretched out his arms over his head.

"Who was that man, though?" he asked as he turned to look at Shadow, "He looked like he was ready to kill you."

Léan curled up nice and close to Kratos, of course not minding that the other was wet at all. The thought appeared to cross his mind that Kratos might get sick in wet clothes, though, so he did what he could. He leaned forward and then wrapped his tail up and around the human, providing him with additional, heavy warmth. Once he did that, he settled down for a much-needed nap.

Alfie was watching Shadow with uncertain eyes, glad that the man's anger and disdain seemed to have faded. Alfie was especially frightened of the fallen angel's anger--he was one of the only freaks that had seen Shadow and Léan fight, and it had been violent. Shadow had won that fight, and Alfie never wanted to see that angry, violent side of him again.

Shadow smiled, rubbing the back of his neck slightly. "...He was Léan's final owner. The one that kept him the longest, and put him through the most abuse," he murmured, sounding guilty. "I...I could not stand to see him like that. I had to get him away from that man."

Hebs saw the uncertainty in Alfie's eyes and he nudged Gian's side a little. When Gian noticed it, he had reached out to hopefully soothe the other by rubbing his hand up and down the naga's back. "Well, at least he won't be bothering us. He can't get him away now that the contract's with us." The snake teen smiled and tilted his head towards their place.

"Come on. Gian, you need to get changed. We can't have you catching a cold." Urging the two to go on with his hands on their backs, he also turned to look at Shadow. "You too Shadow. I'll make us all something hot to drink."

Alfie sniffed slightly, snuggling up against Gian at once. The thought of something hot to drink stirred the naga forward, and he slithered his way up the beach and back towards their current home. He was wet, as well, but since he didn't wear clothes it was less likely he would fall ill.

Shadow stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Hebs' waist, smiling at him. "Lead the way," he crooned, looking amused.

Gian grinned at Alfie snuggling up to him and he followed after the other while he turned to look over his shoulder at Hebs. Hebs only nodded towards Gian's way and was about to continue on to their current home when he'd suddenly felt that arm around his waist. "You're going to get your clothes wet, Shadow," he silently reprimanded him before he'd moved his gaze up at him.

"Don't blame me if they do get wet." The snake man took Shadow's wrist to get himself out of that hold and moved to clasp their fingers together while he led the way back. He better give out those hot drinks before he changed himself. And, a hot shower sounded awfully good, too.

Alfie, once they reached home, shook himself off in front of the door before pushing his way inside the condo, immediately heading for the kitchen. His mood seemed to brighten a bit. "Ah...I could go for some hot soup or something, too. Do we have any canned tomato soup?"

"Do I look like I care?" Shadow purred, accepting their joined hands instead and willingly following Hebs back. Once they reached the condo, Shadow poked his head through the door and called, "Alfie...check the upper left cabinet on the right hand side of the kitchen..."