New Start (OPEN)

[Matt Breaker]

Matt smiled slightly as she asked if he could juggle. "Yeah...If I am in my other form, then I can juggle four to eight at a time...but I would defiantly have to practice..." He paused for a moment as he looked around. "Maybe I'll show you sometime." He added as he shrugged a bit.

Matt could not help but laugh as Bjiou joked about killing her with an ax. "You have nothing to worry about there...I am defiantly not the ax-murder type..." He shook his head as he looked at her. "I understand that people accept eachother...but that is hard when you still don't accept yourself." He paused for a moment before continuing. "When I was first changed...I seriously considered ending my life...thinking that that world would be better off. My mentors...they realized later on that they probably should not have changed me; at least not at the age I was. They had made a last minute decision to save my life." Matt sighed as he allowed his inner feelings to be shared. He usually never opened up to anyone, especially not so quickly, but with Bjiou he felt that he could speak openly to her. It was nice to voice his secret fears.

"Don't get me wrong...now I am glad that they saved me, but back then I was too young to truly understand and though I accept the life I live now...I still have a hard time accepting WHAT I am." He finished as he slumped his shoulders a bit. He hoped she would not think he was being stupid by what he was saying; that she understood what he was trying to say.

[Bijou Wilks]

Bijou grinned at the sound of Matt's laugh, it was infectious. She couldn't help but laugh herself when he said he wasn't the ax-murderer type, it was one less thing for her to worry about. But her smile faded quickly when he said he didn't accept himself. She knew what it was like, to doubt if what you could do was really something that should even be an option for someone. It was hard at first for her to accept that she could hear other's thoughts, they all seemed to rush at her at once at first. It took her a long while to figure out how push them back, to separate her own thoughts from a collective.

Bijou winced when Matt revealed that he had thought of ending his life, the very thought that he might have broke her heart. Yet the fact that he would tell her this made her feel special, special that he would reveal something so guarded. She wasn't quite sure what to say to him, until he spoke again.

She bit her lip when he seemed to cave in on himself. Empathy coursed through her as she took a deep breathe and hugged him gently. It was still strange to her, that such contact didn't even spark a whisper of his thoughts, yet it strangely comforted her that she didn't have to know exactly what he thought of such a sudden and instinctual gesture. "It doesn't matter what you are, all that matters is what you do." She couldn't help but whisper the words that Mr.Tall once told her when she felt so frightened about hearing others thoughts.

[Matt Breaker]

Matt was shocked when Bjiou hugged him. It was a feeling that he had not experienced in a long time. Pyro-shifters like himself usually did not conduct any type of physical contact; knowing that the littlest thing could set off their other form. It was then surprising to Matt that he had not, in fact, felt the familuar pain of shifting.

'It's nice to know that phyiscal contact does not affect my other form in anyway...unlike either of my mentors.' He thought as he lightly returned the gesture to the Telepath.

"Thank you very much, Bjiou...you are one of the first and only people to accept me." He said, almost as quiet as she had been. He smiled a lopsided grin as he looked at her. He knew that he wanted to show his other form to her sometime...before anyone else saw it. That way she knew exactly what he was.

"Now...let's get some chow..." He chuckled lightly as he looked at the direction that they were heading.

[Bijou Wilks]

Bijou was nervous for a moment, thinking that perhaps embracing him was a bad idea. Yet when she felt his arms wrap lightly around her petite form, she was relieved that he had accepted her gesture of comfort. She ended the hug with a soft smile, a light blush crossing her face at the fact that she was one of the only people to accept him. That was what she loved most about the Cirque, everyone was so accepting. It made the outside world seem like a large and terrible place that she should never dare to visit.
The blonde nodded her head at his comment about food, "Of course, lets go." She turned away from him, seeing the campfire and the eating area just ahead. The sight of the rising smoke sent a chill down her spine, but she ignored the dread of being around flames and chose instead to wonder what food was being served that night.

[Matt Breaker]

Matt watched the flames dance in the fire as they walked. He always had a fasination with fire and it did not help that that was his element, as he liked to call it. In his true form, flames were something that he loved to be around; they soothed his spirit. He knew that even with the drowner thoughts running through his head right now, that the fire would help to ease him.

"So, If I wanted to...let's say...stay in the Cirque for a while. How would one go about asking permission to do so?" He questioned quietly as they arrived at the eating area. The smell of the upcoming meal made Matt's stomache and body growl at him; demanding to be fed.

At the moment, he really did not care on what was being served; as long as he was able to eat. It had been hard living on the streets for so long and not being able to have a meal whenever you needed one.

'Maybe I'll ask if she wants to see me true form after dinner...mind as well do it sooner rather than later.' He thought as he grabbed himself some food. He could feel eyes of the few people around watch him as he got his dinner. Though he was not a telepath, like Bijou, he knew that they were probably curious about him and his arrive in the Cirque.

[Bijou Wilks]

Bijou grinned, the buzz in the air was tangible. She waved lightly to anyone who greeted her as she glanced around, it appeared that they'd be having spaghetti that night; it was made obvious by the sight of the bearded lady tutting over getting sauce on her facial hair. Thoughts swirled around her: curiosity, hunger, excitement, indifference. The telepath brushed them aside, trying to keep her mind clear even when the silence of Matt's thoughts screamed at her. It was something that she had to get used to, and she slowly was.
Running her tongue over her lips in anticipation, she turned back to face Matt when she heard him speak, his voice startling her ever so slightly because she was used to expecting people to voice their thoughts. "Join the Cirque? You'd have to go to Mister Tall, and see if anyone objects. No one will, but it's procedure, you know?" The blonde smiled, she wouldn't mind having Matt around at all.

[Matt Breaker]

"Alright...I'll have to do that then." Matt said as he looked at what they were having. Spaghetti, he realized as he recognized the smell. He couldn't help but smile a bit at the sight of the food. It brought back a lot of good memories of his parents and mentors when they were alive. He was so caught up in a particular memory; that he didn't realize that the barriers around his mind had slipped enough for Bijou to see it too.

~Flashback~

"Are you sure you know what you're doing? Wouldn't it be best just to wait for Henry to get back?" A young Matt asked as he looked at his second mentor with a questioning gaze. He had ever seen his mentor, Leila, cook before; at least cook anything well. He could honestly say that the female Pyro-Shifter could probably burn water and rumor had it that she did once.

"Oh Matty...you worry too much. Spaghetti is simple...you put the noodles into the water and then let them cook. How hard is that?" Leila said brightly as she placed the pot of water on the old stove. Matt rolled his eyes at her and shook his head. He loved his mentor like a second mother, but sometimes she was a bit naive at times. He walked out of the small kitchen and into the living room. He didn't get more than a step inside when a large blast sounded in the kitchen.

Quickly the young Matt rushed back in to see water and spaghetti all over the walls, ceiling, and floor. Charred marks stained the area all around the stove; showing that it had blown up.

Leila slowly turned from the stove, black and frazzled but unharmed and smiled timidly. It was clear that she had tried to light the stove and had managed to blow it up in the process
"Ah...maybe it would be a good idea to wait for Henry to return before getting dinner started." She said innocently as she scratched the back of her head.

~End of Flashback~

Matt couldn't help but chuckle at the memory or the bizarre look on his mentor's face as she had successfully destroyed the kitchen that day. He remembered how freaked out Henry was when he got home and seen the results of Leila's cooking. 'She had been banned from cooking anything after that...' Matt thought as he got in line to eat; still totally unaware that he had just shared that memory with Bijou.

[Bijou Wilks]

Bijou couldn't help but freeze, a sharp breathe filling her lungs as a new set of thoughts blinded her psyche with it's sudden and powerful appearance. She was pulled in, like Alice down the rabbit hole, catching glimpses of memories before one seemed to finally solidify before her. It was a lovely memory, reminding her of her own failed escapades in the kitchen and thus brought a smile to her face. Catching on to his chuckle, she quickly untangled herself from Matt's mind. Noticing that he had moved to get in line for the food, her stomach grumbled and she quickly got in line behind him. The telepath wasn't sure if he knew that he had let his guard down, and thus didn't wish to spook him with the knowledge. Yet she couldn't help but mumble, barely higher than a whisper, "So, do you have much experience cooking?" Her goal was to keep it casual, to see if he even knew what she was talking about, or assumed that it was a random, acceptable question to ask.

[Matt Breaker]

Matt looked up as Bijou spoke. 'Wow...it's a coincidence that she said that right after I thought about Leila's cooking.' He thought to himself for a second. He then glanced quickly back at Bijou. 'She couldn't have seen my memory...right? I mean I had my mental barriers u-' He stopped mid-thought and replayed the moment over again in his head. With a start he realized that, during the memory, he had felt his barriers slip but had been to caught up in remembering. He had not blocked his mind. 'She must have seen the memory. I really need to watch that around her...or else she will see something that won't be so pleasant.' He mentally scolded himself.

"I did not realize that my mental barriers had slipped. I apologize. I will try to keep them up in the future." He whispered quietly as he grabbed some food. He felt as if he had done something wrong for allowing himself to be so careless. He knew that he should have been better than that. He knew that if something as simple as food had triggered a memory; that he would have to be cautious about his surroundings. 'No matter what I need to stay away from thing that would trigger the darker memories of his past.' He paused for a moment as he remembered Drake. 'I have to keep away from that Vampanese while I am here...otherwise I might not be about to control the memories.' He thought grimly as he shook his head.