Who: Annie and Fitz What: Spicing it Up for a New Show When: Early November Where: Ten In One Show Tent Rating: Low Status: Complete
Annie sat on the edge of the stage, a bottle of soda in her hand. The crowds had gone from the last show for the night and now that they were back in 1920 in Prohibition she couldn’t have her usual beer afterwards, so soda it was. The taste was different from what she had gotten used to, she actually preferred this to the sugar laden stuff from the 80’s up until when she left.
Her feet were swinging idly as she sat thinking, the crowds here weren’t as interested in her show, but it was something that she knew may happen even before they went back, 1920 was more prudish than 1950 and compared to some of the other historical ‘Tattooed Ladies’ she wasn’t exactly in that calibre. Maybe there was something she could do to add some flavor or color to her show, not really wanting to give it up, she was enjoying it more than she thought that she would. Taking another swig she looked at the bottle in her hands, wondering if she should ask one of the other performers what might add some interest to her performance.
--
“Okay, go, go, do your guys stuff. I’ll just wait patiently for you to return.” Fitz teased Ben with a wave and a blown kiss as he went off with Jericho to take care of some things. He honestly didn’t mind, just enjoyed that look Ban gave him and then that smile he had when he realized his husband wasn’t serious. His eye caught Annie sitting alone backstage. “It’ll just be us girls waiting like…” His voice trailed off as he shook his head. “And he’s gone.” Fitz chuckled.
His eyes cast over Annie, still in her costume and gave her a little whistle. “And the boys just up and leave us.” He said, grabbing a blanket from nearby he pulled it around her. “You must be freezing.”
--
Watching the exchange between the two men almost always brought a smile to Annie’s face, they weren’t the most conventional couple she had ever met, but she could tell they had a long history together and were very much in love, she wished more people could be like that and forget all the stigmas and just love who they wanted. That was one of the reasons she had joined Zion, she had to be a guardian and adviser for them.
“Jericho’s probably going to talk his ear off about Liz or Ms Delia.” Annie looked up and smiled as Fitz put the blanket around her. “Not really… it’s usually pretty warm after the Monsieur performs. Plus I spent several decades in the coldest of Canadian winters, they’ll have to throw in some ice storms before it gets too cold for me.” She then winked at Fitz, but still didn’t shrug the blanket off, the gesture was welcomed. “How did you go tonight?”
--
“I hear we’re going to th’north east next, New York or somewhere close by. Have plenty of snow there. Should caution you, Ben’ll be a bit more of a grump than normal.” He forewarned her. “Easily irritable. Lots of chances for small fires.” Fitz was pleased his husband had found himself the confidant for the iron man. While he would be fine with spending every second with the man, as they once practically had done. He knew it was important for them both to have friends outside of each other. It was one of the many reasons they’d joined Zion. To have a family, something more than just their bubble of survival.
At her question he just shrugged. “Worked Candy floss today.” He held up his arm where you could still see bits of floss stuck to his shirt like concrete. “Kids love to watch it an’ eat it, but it gets everywhere.”
--
New York in 1920 sounded interesting indeed, it was nice to have the chance to see somewhere else this second time around, seeing as she spent most of the first around Canada until after WWII. She nodded at Fitz’s warning about Ben, it made sense to her that a fire elemental would hate the cold and they were going to somewhere that did get pretty chilly in winter. “Thanks for the head’s up, though I bet he’s nice to cuddle against in the middle of the coldest nights.” She said with a smile that bordered on a smirk, just about anyone who stood near Ben knew that he was much warmer than anyone else.
“And sets like glue, hopefully it does just melt away when washed.” Yet something else she wasn’t sure about, it wasn’t like she had ever focused on desserts or other things that involved hot sugar during all her times working as a cook and chef in countless restaurants and cafes. Taking another sip from her soda she looked over at Fitz again. “Can I ask you something, and I want a truthful answer, be as blunt as you want.”
--
“Oh he is.” Fitz laughed, nose wrinkling happily.
“With minor scrubbin’ sometimes.” He nodded and gave her a smile, leaning against her slightly. “Oh, darlin’, I don’t think I can be anythin’ but.” Fitz never classified himself as a liar. Sure, sometimes in his past he’d have to fib on the occasion for safety reasons. But he didn’t go out of his way to keep secrets. Especially when asked straight on. And as far as blunt? Fitz could lace up and accessorize any criticism, even when he was being blunt.
--
Annie thought it must be the same for Lily who liked to cuddle up to her after their… enjoyment, the vampire did say listening to her heart beating was soothing. She smiled at Fitz, seeing the happy look on his face.
Taking another sip of her soda, Annie took a breath before speaking. "You've seen my routine. It seemed to be popular in 1950 but now… I'm getting the impression that crowds now just aren't as interested. What can I do… other than taking my top off." She didn't want to take that away from the dancing girls, that was their show, not hers.
--
Fitz rubbed his chin, pondering. “There was this one Carnival that passed by one time when we were in Kansas. They had this tattooed man who used snakes in his act.” He offered, “People ogled him while gasping at the snake around his shoulders.” Though, he wasn’t sure where Annie could get a snake.
--
While she didn't mind snakes, Annie wasn't sure she wanted to do a show with one, or several. They were heading into winter and the cooler weather would mean most reptiles would be lethargic and definitely not up for performing. But the idea of incorporating an animal did seem like a good one. "Maybe something warm blooded, it's not that I don't like snakes." She smiled across at Fitz.
--
“Dog maybe? I’d say cat, but I think you’d be shown up by th’Big Cats.” Fitz chuckled.
--
Annie shrugged a bit. “You see dogs everywhere though.” She said. “And I don’t want to draw any attention away from Jean and her hard work.” Jean was a lovely lady and deserved all the accolades she got for working with the big cats. Then an idea popped into her head, “Now… if I could catch that little weasel that Ms Delia likes to feed, maybe I could train him up.” Of course she knew that the creature was Fitz, she had been told that not long after taking the job in the kitchen.
--
“Yea something like that could-” Fitz paused and gave her a skeptical look. “You mean me. You’re asking if I’ll be apart of your show?” He laughed and nudged her slightly. “Darlin’ y’should have just asked right out.” He had never thought of performing, but as the idea manifested in his head, he was liking the idea. “Of course I’ll be in your show! What were you thinking?” He asked, turning to face her. “And I’m sure we can come up with something better than a weasel, plenty of people know what those are.”
It had started out as a bit of a joke, asking Fitz if he’d join her Ten in One show to see if it drew more attention considering the crowds weren’t as interested in her not-quite-truth stories. But when the shifter seemed just as interested, well... It went from there. The two of them spent many hours talking about what it should include and although this was the first rather rough set up, it seemed to be working. There were only a few tricks - some hoops set at varying heights, a rough ladder to climb up to a tightrope and one last larger hoop. Annie knew that while Fitz was much smarter than a regular animal counterpart, things couldn’t be too tricky, they didn’t want to ruin the illusion that it was a trained animal and not a shape shifting human.
--
They had taken some time to settle on what critter they’d use, finally picking the sable. A rare mustelid that he saw in a zoo once brought in from Russia. So the russet coated animal it was. Fitz had spent a few days in and out of the form, getting used to it again, making sure he was comfortable. They were working out a script to the act, trying to figure out the best way to perform the routine that it looked like Fitz was actually taking orders. Ben had agreed to attend to help ‘translate’ for them as they had a basic communication system in place after so many years.
Fitz, the sable, wiggled out from the shirt his human form had been wearing a moment before and his head shook. He reared up on his hind legs and a stocky paw raised in a waving motion to signal he was ready.
--
Annie was grateful that Ben had agreed to sit in and ‘translate’, to her they were just all squeaks and chittering sounds, but she was slowly learning that each combination had a different meaning, and that a playful nip was more a ‘hey, listen to me’ than anything else. She was also sure that she had seen Ben smile more than once while he was watching his little sable shaped husband performing.
When Fitz had signalled that he was ready she stepped closer, raising a hand up so it would look as if he was touching her hand before giving him a little piece of cooked chicken. “So… we’ll start with the hoops, don’t forget you can stop and scratch yourself or hesitate, make it all more realistic.” She smiled and gave the top of his head a little scratch with a fingertip.
--
He leaned into the scratch and grabbed at her hand as she pulled it away as if to say ‘you stopped’ much like an animal would. Fitz knew how to be an animal. He was sure Ben was laughing at the statement as there were times in human form, ever so often, he would catch his husband nuzzling his head in that not quite human way or gnawing at the space between his fingers when cleaning himself in the shower or sniffing something new. Just a variety of little things that seemed to leak over from his other self.
Fitz moved into position and they started the first part of the routine. A ring was held about an inch off the ground and he easily jumped through it, more like walked through it. They anticipated boos or some sort of unimpressed comments at the start, which would make the build up so much better. Annie raised the ring higher and gave him the signal to jump again. Fitz was sure to wait for the signal before he acted as to make it clear that he wouldn’t do the trick until she said to. At least once between jumps he paused to clean his face.
The end of the first part of their routine, Fitz climbed onto the ring and carefully balanced himself. They’d actually been practicing this part a bit because it did actually take skills he wasn’t technically used to doing on the regular. As she raised the ring and held it aloft, he carefully reared up on his back legs and reached a paw up to hold the top of the ring. He held the position until she told him to drop and he jumped down from the ring to the ground. The shifter chirped a questioning sound, one that sought approval or not.
--
She knew she had struck it lucky that Fitz had agreed to do this, just the thought of spending months trying to train any normal little critter to do these tricks would’ve gotten disheartening, but Fitz knew exactly what he had to do and just did it. Each little jump brought a piece of chicken from Annie and a few claps from their ‘audience’ of Ben sitting nearby but they both knew there would be applause and cheers as the tricks got more challenging and she hoped her little Sable wasn’t phased by it all.
That chirp Annie had learned the meaning of quickly and she gave Fitz a bigger piece of chicken before picking him up and giving him a small kiss on the head, just like a proud owner would do. “Great job so far.” She whispered before putting him back down. “Ready for the next part?”
------------------------- First Performance -------------------------
He nuzzled her hand. Fitz loved the chicken treats. He licked his paws clean and scampered up onto the small platform as it was wheeled forward and locked into place. Upon it there was a net of rope that led up to a small platform just large enough for him about four feet off the ground. On the other side there was another platform and connecting the two there was a tightrope. The sable stood on the small X that was marked on the platform and sniffed at it until the clicker Annie held was clicked. He then looked up at her and waited until she gave the signal, accompanied by her script, to climb up the rope. Once at the top he got a small piece of chicken and waited. His heart actually raced- the next part actually did take some skill, being a human didn’t make it easy it just allowed him to know what he was being asked to do.
--
Although they had practised the routine dozens upon dozens of times this was the first actual performance in front of paying customers and Annie didn’t want to admit that she was actually nervous, how would the crowds take the new act and of course, how would Fitz act? The last thing she wanted to do was injure him, she was sure Ben would have her head if anything happened to his husband!
But so far things were going great, people actually seemed to be enjoying it and the little tricks that Misha the Talented Sable performed. Glancing down at Fitz she spoke, “While this might not seem that high, for little Misha it’s like you or me doing it fifteen or twenty feet up in the air.” Pressing the clicker it signaled for him to go, to walk the tightrope.
--
He sniffed at the rope and put one paw and then the other. A little chirping noise came out as he made his way out onto the rope. His tail helped balance him as he walked across the rope with care. The crowd seemed to enjoy it with some gasps and then an applause. Fitz couldn’t help but think that if they liked that, wait till they see more. When he got to the other platform the clicker sounded and he looked up at Annie who continued with directions. He made his way back along the rope, this time there was a hoop Annie was holding in the middle. It was too high up- on purpose- and Misha just nosed under it as he passed. The crowd laughed.
--
Annie tutted at him with disapproval when Fitz just nosed his way under, of course it was all just for show as everything was choreographed unbeknownst to the general public. She looked at the crowd as Fitz made a small sound at her. “Let’s try that again…” She lowered the hoop to the height that had been ideal when they were rehearsing, again the clicker sounded and she waited for him to do it again, correctly this time. And it wasn’t a surprise that she had seen both Ben and Jericho standing at the sides of the stage out of view to everyone except her, in the back of her mind she wondered what they thought about her ‘new’ show.
--
Fitz made the jump and had to stabilize himself after, every jump on the rope he’d have to. His tail flipped to one side to keep his balance. As the applause came in FItz paused, hearing the click before the crowd could settle, he followed Annie’s direction and backed up across the rope carefully. It was probably the hardest of all the tricks because slipping didn’t really give him a chance to catch himself because he couldn’t see what was happening. When he hit half way across the rope, there was a click and he stopped. Another click and he looked up to see the ring above his head. He reached a paw up and gripped it as Annie lifted it to give him some stability and once he was standing on the rope and balanced she instructed him to let go and he stood there, albeit a bit wobbly.
--
She didn’t leave him standing there on the wire for long, knowing that it was hard enough to keep balance when horizontal, let alone vertical like he was at that moment. Again more applause and when it began to settle again she put an arm out so the Sable could climb up her arm instead of going down onto the wire. Holding a piece of chicken in her other hand she put her arms out so he could run along one arm, over her shoulders and down the other arm to the treat. “Now… if you wait around until the end there might be a chance you can be part of the show.” Annie winked at the crowd.
--
Of course Annie’s part was in the middle, so they went into the backstage tent dressing area and Fitz scampered behind a modesty partition. A moment later the human came out in a robe. With a small laugh, he pulled Annie into a hug. “You were so good out there!” He said, nuzzling her slightly.
--
Annie had wheeled off the set up that was used in their show and was checking it over when Fitz scampered off and she chuckled when he came up, hugged her and gave her a little nuzzle. “What are you talking about? They adored you more! Misha you little show stealer.” She gave his head a playful tussle. “Better than working the candy floss machine?”
--
“Can’t lie that there’s something about the applause. I see why Ben loves performin’.” Fitz chuckled. “But you’re th’one really sellin’ it t’them.” He insisted.
Ben and Jericho and the rest of the ten in one came over and gave them a small congratulations as the rest of the performances ended. Reverend Conrad hopped up onto the stage and thanked everyone for coming, and acknowledged that there were probably a few other shows out there, but for those who wanted a memory of the show each performer were selling pitch cards and there were two special surprises in store for the daring few. Jericho came out and the Reverend announced that anyone wanting to challenge the big man to an arm wrestle could pay a nickel to the carnie (who was also selling Jericho’s pitch cards) at the edge of the stage and come on up. On the other end of the stage Annie with Misha came out with a hoop accompanied by Ben who lit the hoop on fire as it was announced that a nickel to the carnie (who was also selling Annie’s pitch cards) at the other end of the stage could allow you to be part of the most daring trick of the night.
They had another carnie on stage helping them out while Ben went about to sell his cards who lined up the volunteers as instructed to allow Fitz the best jump possible. He didn’t want to have to jump from a child to an adult so the heights were always of descending order. He could tell Annie was nervous and gave a small squeak and nuzzle on her cheek to let her know it was okay.
--
Of course the hoop was big enough that it was easy to jump through without worrying about any hair catching on fire, but it still didn’t stop her from feeling nervous as those lined up were pretty clueless and she just hoped they could follow directions well. When he nuzzled her cheek and gave a squeak Annie smiled. “I know… first show nerves.” She whispered as there was a small line up of people wanting to be part of this ‘daring trick’. The carnie helping out had done a pretty good job of pairing people up who were of similar height to make it much easier and the flaming ring was on a metal pole that she could move higher or lower depending on the heights of the people.
She knew that Fitz would be fine, Ben - even though he was currently busy - had made it a cooler fire and the worst thing that could happen was a bit of singed hair. Each pair of people stood roughly 4 foot apart, facing the front of the stage as Annie put Fitz onto one person’s shoulder before lowering the burning hoop between them. It was a relatively easy jump for the Sable to make and he did it without a problem, although he did get a bit of a break in between while the next pair of people got lined up.
--
As Fitz jumped between person to person, he gave them a little cheek nuzzle. The men tended to just clear their throats or not react, but the woman and children seemed giddy about it.
Once they were done Annie carried Fitz into the back and the little Sable flopped on the ground, arms and legs splayed out above and below him as he lay on his back. It had actually been quite a workout that he hadn’t been planning on. A squeak was accompanied by a sigh.
--
Sitting down on one of the chairs Annie let out a sigh as she saw Fitz stretched out on the ground nearby, leaning down she gave the furry belly a rub. “If you’re going to change back at least let me get your robe.” She joked as she sat back up, not that nudity bothered her but it really wasn’t a side of her friend that she wanted to see. It had been a great show and it seemed to be more popular than her previous show was. “But great show, tomorrow I’ll make sure you get a generous portion at dinner.”