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Closed Masque Carnivalia

The boy didn't even allow the opportunity for introductions. Annie was confused by this, and had even planned on asking him to show her where. His directions weren't exactly specific, and from the change in the way he was holding himself, she must have stung him somehow. That one can't be pinned on me, though. She assured herself. The boy ran away before she could question him about so much as the weather.

She bit her lower lip. Maybe she just gave off bad mojo. What a downer that would be. She shook her head, and went in the direction he specified. She hoped that Connor wouldn't see her and immediately snap her neck. She knew the other girl certainly wouldn't do that. She stopped when she saw the entrance. Where could they be? There weren't a whole lot of choices. Doubling back would only have given the girl to Connor anyways. The girl might have tried hiding in a tent, and then Connor would run around tearing apart tent flaps until he found his darling lover.

She opened the first tent. It was empty. She sighed. This was pointless. In a massive carnival like this, could she really hope to search every tent? Still, she went to the next one. But before she opened it, she froze. A voice. There was a voice inside! Softly saying something she couldn't interpret. She began making her movements slow and deliberate. A single finger began peeling away the tent flap. She ignored drops that got in her eyes. A single eye peered through the tent. She almost shouted, 'I told you so.' There was Connor and the other girl, snuggling together like newlyweds.
 
Celest looked back at Connor from over her shoulder. She turned her body around where their chests were pressed closely together, and she sighed. "... I don't really think I have any of the right words," she admitted, looking away from his eyes. But as she turned back to face him, her eyes softened. ... Actions always speak louder than words, she reminded herself, and neared closer to him. She slowly darted her eyes in between the raindrops on Connor's face, then finally focused into his eyes. "... Please don't ever leave me alone. I've been left behind all my life..."

Celest slowly kissed him again, keeping its hold longer than the previous ones. When she did pull away, though, she was out of breath. Trying to keep her breathing content, she took deep, long breaths in and released them slowly. She reached behind her back and slowly pulled on Connor's arm. She interlocked her pale fingers with his overly tanned ones. She didn't really know what was making her do all this; she had zero experience in relationships such as this one, but maybe it was all those sob-story romance movies she watched taking their toll.
 
Connor smiled. "Good. I'm not exactly word-wise either." He wiped a rain drop from her brow with his thumb, and she told him to never leave her alone. He smiled once more. "I've been telling you I won't leave you alone since yesterday. Not changing my mind any time soon."

She kissed him again, and he felt a few butterflies flitting around in his stomach. This one was long enough for both of them to be a little out of breath. He let her weave her fingers into his, and pressed his forehead against hers. He found himself feeling giddier with every second that passed. He caught a glimmer in his peripheral vision. He looked at it briefly, and saw a single lens to a pair of glasses peeking into the tent. He immediately forgot about it, caring only about the girl he was twisted up with.

He kissed her again, wondering when he'd tire of the sensation.
 
Celest felt herself relax rather than tense as usual when he again pressed his fiery lips against hers. Unintentionally deepening the kiss, Celest wrapped her arms around Connor's neck, wondering vaguely if she would ever take one of his sweet embraces for granted. In her mind, each kiss got better and better, and when she broke away from this one, her lips felt almost a bit puffy from all of it.

Throughout all of it a soft smile was pulling at her lips, but Celest kept her relatively passive front on. Deciding to go for one last sensation before retiring from it for the while, Celest kissed him once more, her lips moist from his. As she eventually pulled away, she snuggled her her head under his neck, not able to force down her smile anymore. Her arms had slid down to his waist, and she was hugging him close.
 
Connor was completely lost right now, metaphorically speaking. He quickly found himself in yet another kiss, and let her wrap around his neck. He let her rest her head on him, and rested his own head on hers. Just like her arms wrapped around his waist, his were wrapped around hers.

"Would it be strange for me to say I knew right away you were different?" He asked. He sighed contently as he held her tighter. So this Carnival actually did something good for him. He couldn't think of it as a godforsaken pit in the middle of nowhere anymore. It was where he met Celest. That alone made this place wonderful, made it all worth it. He could feel her smile against his chest. He grinned to himself.
 
Annie felt a smile touch her lips as the two kissed, again and again. She had them pegged from the start. She wondered if they tried to hide it by doing things like this often, or if this was the first time. She pulled her head away from the tent flap, feeling a bit jealous of the girl. Not for having Connor-no, he wasn't her type-but for having somebody. She had scared away most of the boys at her school.

She mustered her strength, and took a deep, but silent breath. Annie tenderly lifted a fist, and batted at the entrance. Here she was, soaked, holding her breath, and wondering if she'd get an ass-kicking for her actions before. She squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation of the flap opening and somebody throwing a fist at her, or worse, a spike.
 
Tess plodded along through the woods, cursing her injury and all thornbushes. It had been an hour and she had barely gone a mile. She muttered as she dragged her feet, annoyed at Celest and Connor for leaving her behind. Suddenly she heard tumping footsteps. She stopped and stared as a huge Pokemon-- a Rampardos, perhaps-- thundered across the path, aparently distraught. Curious, Tess followed him. Or was it a her? Tess shurgged and followed the Rampardos's huge footprints through the now-muddy forest floor. She thought of Connor and Celest and growled. They probably ddon't even miss me, she thought, And even if they're worried, let them. They left me behind, after all.
Tess shook her head and quickened her pace.
 
Celest thought for a moment before lifting her gaze up to him. She shook her head at him, "... No. I don't believe so-"

She froze, her face draining of any color left. Her ears twitched, and her eyes were wide as they kept their stare at Connor. She had heard something. It was a soft noise, but enough to make her panic. Had... Had someone found them? And came to ruin it all? Just when she had began to feel this way, too! A rare, almost violent anger bubbled up inside her as she broke away from Connor, her eyes closed. She focused on finding out who it was, and as the aura vision let her see the answer, Celest did a doubletake. That... That was Annie!

The Lucario girl took a step back from the tent flaps. What was she doing here? What business did she have with her or the Blaziken morph? ... Though Celest had to admit, she was still afraid of that girl. Something about Annie sent chills down her spine, and she felt weak and beaten in her terrifying presence. Celest remained silent, though, and kept her eyes stuck on the flaps from afar, fearing what lie on the other side.
 
Connor looked at the source of the sound. He looked at the suddenly frightened Celest, then at the tent flap. Of course Celest must have used her aura vision. Connor had seen the glare of a lens, and Celest's reaction proved that it had to be Annie. He sighed, and went to where Celest stood. He took her hands gently, and closed his eyes a moment.

He opened his eyes and looked at the entrance. "What do you want, Annie?" He asked. This certainly was going to be interesting, to say the least. Connor wondered if he should kick Annie for hurting Celest, or let Celest beat her down. It all depended on what she had to say.

To Celest, he whispered, "I'm right here. You're not alone."
 
Annie heard Connor's voice from inside. That was a start, or at least one that didn't involve pain. She stared at her feet. She didn't open the tent flap yet, though. "I'm not good with apologies. They're not really something I'm used to. So, here it is.

"I don't know your name. But I'm sorry. I didn't know you'd react that way. I'm not asking you to like me. I'm asking you to forgive me." The whole thing came out colder sounding than Annie had hoped. Maybe it was a bad idea, then, to leave the tent flap closed, because her face was more than desperate enough. She cupped her hands together in front of her. Annie knew if their positions were switched, she'd have a hard time forgiving herself.
 
Celest remained silent as Annie expressed her remorse for hurting her, but in the back of her mind she couldn't help but notice Annie's tone was still a bit cold. Staring at her from the distance, she slowly slid her hands from Connor's and took a step forward, wrapping her arms around her waist to keep them from shaking. Despite being surprised the Gardevoir morph would actually apologize, Celest still feared her. Her pitch, her facial expressions, just Annie herself brought back too many harsh memories. Though she was undeniably used to being mocked or teased, it was just too personal here for some reason. Maybe it was because she had the intimidating smirk her biological mother flashed at her before she left her alone with her abusing father...

"... Celest," she finally answered, successfully keeping her voice from squeaking, "My name... is Celest. ... And I... I forgive you..." She turned away, her eyes sorrowful and hurt. "I'm sorry... You just reminded me of... of her when you said those things about me... Not that it's anything new, though..." She lifted her gaze. "I'm used to this kind of stuff..." Knowing she had said enough, Celest turned back to Connor as she took a step toward him.
 
Annie felt a rush of relief. She didn't know who Celest was speaking of when she said 'her,' but it didn't matter. She wiped away a hair that was sticking to her forehead. "Celest... I wish my name was pretty like that. Annabelle is kind of old-school. I'm not too fond of it... Could I maybe come in? It's still raining out here, and I'd rather dry in company. Not to intrude or anything." She shivered. Why could there never be warm rain, like whenever you vacationed?

She lifted a part of the tent flap, sticking her head halfway in. Through the droplets on her glasses, she could hardly see any more than the rough figures of Connor and Celest. An odd couple, to say the least, but one of the cases that supported the "opposites attract" aspect of love.
 
Kiara didn't go with connor or celest. She just collapsed on the ground from sheer exaustion. She saw that Tess had already left in a different dirrection. Was she looking for Ally? They needed to find her, so it was reasonable. After waiting a bit, she decided to follow Tess.

"Teeeeess!" She yelled, hoping she'd hear. It was hard to keep up with a Bayleef morph, considering her stubby Squirtle legs were no match for long Baleef legs. She still tried her best to keep up nonetheless. "Teeeeeess!" she yelled again.
 
Celest, not wanting to look as though she was bitter or cold-hearted, nodded softly as she kneeled on the dirt floor. She looked back up at Connor. "But, just in case you disagree..." She gave him a look of questioning, wondering if he would mind too terribly much if Annie was in there with them, ruining all the alone time they had away from the others. She hoped Connor wouldn't hate Annie for scaring her earlier, though she doubted he was the type to hold a grudge for too long.

Running her slender fingers across the dirt, she began to draw a small star with her fingernail. She glanced to the left of her star and shaped out a plump little heart. To the right of the star, she drew a passive face with a stern look. Not really knowing nor caring whet they symbolized, she yawned inaudibly and stretched her arms behind her back. She hadn't had any sleep since she arrived at the carnival, and she was desperately in need, in her mind.
 
Connor nodded at Celest when she let Annie in. He was a bit upset with her from earlier, but at least he had gotten a kick in beforehand. "No objections here." He added. "Might as well get dry." He watched the drawing Celest made, and thought about the star. He didn't know what it meant, but he had an idea to make it better. He drew another face below the one Celest did. Rather than the stern look hers had, his had a big grin on it. He was satisfied with that.

He watched Celest stretch and yawn. Sleep was something he had always thought was a waste of time. But right about now, it sounded pretty nice. He slouched a bit, his eyes half-closing, and blinked slowly. He yawned, pinching his nose. He felt considerably colder without Celest pressed up against him. "Hey, Cel, you still got my sweater?" He asked. It hadn't exactly been what he was focusing on most of the time, but around now if sounded warm. He wanted to start another fire, but didn't want to catch the tent. Maybe I can just burn this extra hair off. He thought.
 
Through the pounding rain and her bitterness at Connor and Celest's departure, Tess heard someone calling her name.
"Tesssss, Tesssss!"
She turned around and caught sight of a familiar waddling blue figure. Kiara! She had never been so happy to see the tiny turtle morph. Tess hurried up to Kiara and stretched her neck over the Squirtle's head to sheild her from the rain.
"Kiara!" she exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"
 
"Came looking for you of course!" She said simply. "I'm getting a bit confused about what Connor and Celest are doing though. Have any idea? Anyway, are you alright?" she said, this time in a worried voice.

Looking around, she noticed it was raining. "Hey, I got an idea to keep us dry!"


She pointed her head up and let a water gun spout out. The watergun pushed the rain that it hit upward, so that little spot the two were in was dry.

"Gggguuuuummmooooonnn!" she gurgled as she ran towards a nearby cave, motioning for Tess to come.
 
Celest felt her mind go blank at Connor's question. ... What did she do with that sweater, anyway? She had it when they were snuggled close by the fire, but its whereabouts after that were unknown to her. "... Um..." She looked at her hands as they flexed a bit. "... I think it's where the old camp was... On the other side of here... I'm sorry." She looked back up into his eyes, hers reflecting her remorse.

She actually felt like going to go and get that jacket; it was about noon now, and because of the sun suddenly being shadowed by the dark clouds, the cool fog surrounding the carnival was just a bit chillier. She rubbed her eyes with a slight shiver, wrapping her arms around her. She felt a bit cooler without the radiating heat from Connor's body, and she longed for the warmth.
 
Annie gratefully entered the tent, sitting down opposite to Celest and Connor. She pulled out the pin holding her hair together, and wrung it out, along with her cardigan. A good five minutes was spent on fixing her hair again, something extraordinarily difficult without a mirror. Once it felt alright, she rested her chin on her knees, wishing for a soft bed and a set of clothes just out of the dryer.

She had every intention of letting the two lovebirds do as they pleased, but she had a few burning questions about this place, and maybe just one about them specifically. Seeing as that was a rather touchy subject, she'd save it for last. "I have a few questions, if you two don't mind. Do you know how many of us there are? Half-pokemon, I mean." She had counted four, including herself.
 
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