First Glance [conner/open]

[Bijou Wilks]

"Bijou, get back here!" Bijou could hear the Vampaneze yell, as well as the entire Cirque. She continued to walk away, knowing they were both on the verge of using violence. Drake had an even shorter temper than she, and they had been screaming at each other for a good ten minutes. She passed Mr.Tall, but she only shook her head and pointed at Drake, letting him calm the man down.
Bijou did something she had only done once or twice in the several months she had been with the Cirque, she walked out of the area without telling someone where she was going. Bijou simply walked into the near by town that they had stopped at. She ran a hand through her hair, trying to calm herself down.

[connor]

Connor was not paying attention to where he was going. He very rarely did, of course, simply letting the shadows guide him, avoiding light, never looking back. This was the first time he'd managed to run away without being caught within a few hours. Then again it was unlikely his father wanted anything to do with him... especially since he was probably in the hospital.

The police should be looking for him though, just because there was no explanation as to how he might have strangled a full grown man, didn't mean it never happened. And the police normally liked to bring people in when they attempted to murder their fathers.

The combination of not even remotely paying attention to where he was going, and stressing out about being arrested and possibly accidentally killing police officers, lead Connor to collide rather violently with someone else on the street.

His first instinct was to get mad and lash out, but Connor reigned in his anger. He would control it, he would not let the shadows win.

"Sorry," he said instead through gritted teeth, avoiding the gaze of the girl he had bumped into.

[Bijou Wilks]

Bijou could feel her temper start to subside, and the snake 'tattoos' start to slow there fast race up and down her wrists when some random guy bumped into her. With nothing to grab onto he had successfully knocked her down.
Picking her self off the ground, Bijou pulled her skirt back down. It was rather short and had managed to bundle itself up a little. "Watch where your going-" She stopped her self, getting a good look at the man. When ever she was angry thoughts came in a little bit to well. Not only was he attractive, he was having an even worse night than she was. "I-I'm Bijou."

[connor]

Connor flexed his fingers in an attempt to keep them from curling into fists. There was no need to be angry at this girl, he had been the one to walk into her because he hadn't been paying attention. But of course the shadow inside him had different ideas.

"I-I'm Bijou."

He glanced at her, eyebrow raised, unsure what about this situation had prompted her to introduce herself. Bijou looked to be around his age, which prompted the question of what was she doing out so late. Not that he would ask though, that was none of his business.

"Connor," he replied, finding her eyes and trying (and failing) to keep the shadows out of his gaze. "Are you hurt?"

[frenchmale]

Zane walked along the dimly lit road, his fingers twitching as dark-red blood dripped off them. He just had been-or had tried to be-mugged. "Merde, merde, merde, merde!!" He just wanted to run away, but noooo, they just had to have a gun. So Zane, being Zane, had scared them off with his blood power, but he was pretty sure they'd be back with more people. Up ahead he saw a guy bumping into Bijou Wilkes, which Zane had seen around camp, but never had the guts to speak to her. He walked up next to them. "H-hey Bijou...whats up?" He stuttered and looked around nervously.

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(Merde=shit!)

[Bijou Wilks]

"Don't worry, I'm fine." A pink tint spread across her cheeks, and she mentally kicked herself for it. Her shadow stretched across the street from the light hovering above them. "Sorry about bumping into you, I wasn't looking."

She bit her lip, she never was good at apologies. Bijou looked up when she heard her name. It was a guy from the Cirque. Just what she needed, someone who heard her and Drake's screaming match. "Your Reaver's friend aren't you?" Bijou liked to keep track of who's-who, and she didn't know the guys name. She had only seen him hanging around the Vampire after the shows.

[connor]

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

Connor nodded to show he was glad that he hadn't hurt her with his clumsyness. Relaxing slightly, he became aware of the bright street lamp above them and automatically stepped out of the light and back into the darkness. "It was my fault," he said, waving away her apology.

"H-hey Bijou...whats up?"

He jumped slightly at the sound of a new voice, the shadows around him shifting in annoyance. Connor didn't like it being snuck up on. He turned to glare at the new comer, feeling increasingly awkward and thinking that perhaps he should move on.

[frenchmale]

Zane's eyes fluttered as Bijou spoke to him. "Oui, Reaver is my friend, what are you...?" Zane spun around and noticed a guy with laser eyes that was giving a death glare to Zane. "Pardon, am I interrupting something?" Out of the corner of his eye he saw the people that tried to mug him, coming back with a couple more people. "C’est des conneries!" He grabbed Bijou and the guys wrists and ran with them away from that gang. "Bijou, ummmm, I was being mugged but they ran off, and now, well mon cheri, there after me." He smiled and continued to run with her in tow.

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C’est des conneries=This is bullshit!
Oui=yes
Mon cheri=my beloved

[Bijou Wilks]

Bijou's head swerved right before Zane had even said anything. She locked eyes with a rather large man, "Zane, what did you-" She froze right when his hand wrapped around her wrist, she could feel the snakes move around his touch.
Before she had time to react she was being half dragged through the streets. "Your an idiot!" She twisted her hand so that she was the one holding his wrist and dragged them all into a half open door way. She flung her hand away from his, his thoughts far to clear in her head. Bijou leaned against the wall of the abandoned building they had entered, trying to catch her breathe. She looked at the two boys, "There's no one else around within thirty feet, we should be fine. But you," She looked warily at Zane, "Could you give a girl a bit of a warning next time?" Bijou sighed, she had done quite a bit of running in her few months with Drake, the Vampaneze seemed to attract it like a moth to fire.

[connor]

Connor bit his lip and tried to reign in his anger again. He averted his gaze from the new comer, it wasn't like the guy had set out that night to sneak up on Connor. He took several deep breaths and felt the shadows inside receding slightly.

"C’est des conneries!"

The boy glanced down a he felt a hand at his wrist but barely had time to register it before he was being pulled down the street.

"Hey, what the hell are you-" he cut himself off as the man explained that they were being chased by muggers. Fan-freaking-tastic, Connor thought. The last thing he needed was to get into a fight and let the shadows loose again. He could already see them moving frantically every time he stepped on the ground. They were itching for some violence.

"There's no one else around within thirty feet, we should be fine..."

Grateful to be able to stop, Connor leaned against the nearest wall and slid to a crouch, headin in his hands. His breathing was heavy and his fingers gripped at his hair as he desperately tried to pull the shadows back. They were moving, shaking lifting themselves off the ground, responding to his adrenalin.

Stop, he pleaded silently. Just stop.

[frenchmale]

Zane breathed a sigh of relief as he heard what Bijou had to say. "I really don't wanna fight." He looked at Bijou's wrist which was covered in his blood. "Oh, hey, gimme your wrist." He took the girls wrist and his blood lifted up off her, tiny droplets which Zane send spinning around by twirling his finger. He smiled at Bijou and then noticed the one guy. He looked like he was holding something back...did he need to piss? "Hey, I don't know your name, and I'll need to know, but are you ok?"

[Bijou Wilks]

Bijou's head snapped up as he gently lifted her hand, she watched nervously as the snakes slithered around the blood. She returned his smile, amazed at his gift. Blood manipulation. The Oracle turned her head to get a look at the guy, following Zane's thought process. She knew his name, it was hard not to. That very first instant when they ran into each other she knew, though it wasn't willingly that she had learned.
Bijou took a step towards Conner, getting down on her knees so that they were at eye level. She could feel the stress rolling off of him. She gently placed her hand on his shoulder. Lightly enough to get his attention, and to zero in on his thoughts. "Look at me, Conner." The pleading, the silent worry that the shadow's were going to break free, everything that was going on his head Bijou could hear. Sad part was, she knew of his pain. That feeling of not knowing how or when, but your powers were going to take on a mind of their own.
Bijou bit her lip-purely out of habit-and concentrated on calmer things. She purposely thought of positive memories, like when she saw the full moon for the first time. Bijou centered in on that feeling of wonder, guiding Connor's mind to the same thought. She kept at it for another minute before standing once more, a major head ache beginning to form. Bijou smiled sheepishly, glancing between the two boys. "Better?"

[connor]

If Connor had been able to focus on anything other than the turmoil going on both inside nd outside of him, he might have been concerned about pulling his hair so hard he bled. But as it was, he couldn't care less. He was far too focused on not losing control and accidentally killing someone.

He didn't hear the stranger's question, asking if he was okay. Though the answer to that was 'not in the slightest.' They hadn't even come to a fight and he was losing control almost as bad as when he'd hurt his father. Maybe that was why, maybe it was because they hadn't even been given the chance to hurt someone that they were acting up.

"Look at me, Conner."

If it hadn't been for the light touch on his shoulders, Connor doubted he would have been able to focus on the girl's voice. He wanted to move away, to tell her to keep away from him, that she was going to get hurt, but something compelled him to meet her gaze. And as he did so, he felt calmer, felt the shadows relax. For a moment he forgot they were even there.

"Better?"

Connor swallowed hard as she stood and nodded. "Thank you," he whispered.

He needed to get out of there. While he felt calm now, there was no telling when the shadows would start up again. And what if Bijou couldn't stop it next time? Connor would be forever grateful that she had helped him this once, but he wasn't exactly going to intentionally but her and the other guy in danger.

"Are the gone?" he asked, pushing himself up along the wall until he was standing. "Is it safe to go yet?"

[frenchmale]

"I am soooo not in the mood for a real fight." Zane said as he bent down, level with Connor's face. The blood droplets slipped though a tiny cut in Zane's wrist and rejoined his bloodstream. Zane peered his head out of the alleyway and looked around. "Yea, it looks safe to go." Zane got up and slowly stepped out of the alley. "It's safe to come out, I-?!" Zanes mouth was covered by a gloved hand, and Zane could feel the cold barrel of a gun press up agaist his head.

"Now, do as I say, or your friend here dies." A masked man said, his mask making lines as he grinned.

[Bijou Wilks]

Bijou was about to follow him out when she caught onto someone else's thoughts. She grabbed Zane's hand to pull him back just as the man grabbed his shoulders. The result ended up with her stumbling back, glaring at the man with a gun. She have him a rude look that said 'f-you' and replied to his statement, "I don't do well with orders, buddy." The snakes on Bijou's wrist hissed at the threat, loving the feeling of adrenalin in her veins. "Now let Zane go and I won't kick your ignorant ass."