_{The lions roar and young men soar. The flames all scorch the circus floor…}


Ryan looked around himself in wonderment, the noise and smell and excitement of the circus engulfing his amazed figure. The man who he had taken the 'work wanted' sign to, Ryan was sure his name was Gabriel, pushed him towards the ring, where a slight young man dressed in a bright red suit jacket, coattails included, and a black top hat, was talking and laughing with a pretty woman, absently stroking the head of a magnificent tiger.

"Go talk to him, he'll tell you what you need to do." Gabe murmured in Ryan's ear, before straightening up, he was very tall, and walking off in the other direction, towards another boy of a similar height doing stretches against a cage with a doleful lion inside. Ryan looked away as they kissed, walking nervously towards the man in the ring. He inhaled deeply, the sweet scent of hay, the woody sawdust, the musky, warm smell of the animals mixing with the smell of smoke coming from the campfire outside.

"Excuse me?" Ryan stepped up close to the man, who had his back turned to Ryan. The tiger growled warningly and the woman laughed. She was gorgeous. Dark, curling hair cropped close to her jawline, flamboyant, dramatic make-up lining her dark green eyes. Lots of cleavage in a tight, low cut, off the shoulders corset, lots of leg in a short, frilly tutu-like shirt. Little black ballet flats completed the dark, mysterious look. Ryan found himself gaping, wondering whether the rest of the women in the troupe were this beautiful.

"Yes?" Said a slightly amused voice. Ryan tore his gaze away from the woman, blushing slightly, glad it wouldn't be seen in the dim lighting of the tent. His eyes locked with the steady, brown-eyed gaze of the man. He was also very handsome, smooth, clear skin and pouty, full lips. Ryan wondered what it was with every person here being good-looking.

"I'm here about the job opening?" Ryan asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets and shrugging, stepping away from the tiger a little as it nuzzled his hand with it's head. He opened his palm over it's stripy head and petted it hesitantly. The young man smiled approvingly.

"I think you'll be perfect. I'm Brendon Urie, ringmaster of the humble Cirque de Folie." Brendon grinned widely, and gestured towards the beautiful woman. "This is Soleil, and this beautiful creature is Lacey."

Lacey made a loud rumbling noise deep in her chest, and pushed her head against Ryan's hand. He scratched her behind the ear while he listened to the lively young ringmaster.

"If you're interested in the job you're pretty much gonna be a lackey. Anyone and everyone will order you around. Be prepared to clean up lots of shit. Uh, that's it I think. You still want the job?"

Ryan considered it for a split second, but his eyes caught a graceful young man and woman high up on the trapeze, swinging lazily back and forth. He wanted to be part of it. He nodded quickly, smiling as Brendon did too.

"Great. I'll get Spence to show you around. He's also our slave boy."

The way Brendon's eyes flashed darkly then, made the hair on the back of Ryan's neck stand up, and not in a bad way.

---------

"This is our caravan. Brendon comes in whenever he wants, just saying, so wear clothes to bed."

Ryan nodded, shifting his backpack on his shoulders where it was digging in. Spencer shot him a kind smile, his lazy blue eyes regarding Ryan shrewdly. Ryan found it hard to believe Spencer was younger than him.

"Ran away from home?"

Ryan ducked his head and nodded again, eyes focused on his beaten up shoes. "Yeah. I know it's a bit cliché running away to the circus but-"

"You love the circus." Spencer finished for him. "I know the feeling. I ran away from home too. Most of the kids here have. Brendon's pretty kind like that and hires them even if they can't hold a brush the right way up. As long as they're pretty."

Ryan looked up as Spencer's voice hitched on the last word. Spencer shook his head at Ryan's questioning expression.

"You'll find out."

Ryan shrugged, whatever, it couldn't be too bad, the guy seemed really nice. It wouldn't be anything nefarious. Spencer led him into a small caravan with two beds, a dresser and a large vanity table, piled with various make-up and paint. A tiny kitchen could be seen through a door at the far end of the room. Spencer gestured towards it.

"I don't really use that, everyone kinda eats outside with everyone else."

Ryan nodded, walking over to the make-up table and running his fingers over the jars and tubes.

"Uh, when I perform I hafta do my make-up. Brendon likes a lot of fancy shit." He pointed a bed. "This is yours. Just dump your stuff wherever."

Ryan put his bag on the bed and sat down, facing Spencer, who sat down too.

"You perform?"

"In the band. In the drum line." Spencer shrugged and looked over at the vanity table broodingly. "Did Brendon give you a job?"

Ryan sat back on his thin little bed and looked around him. They were in a little trailer, a proper carnival one with posters advertising on the outside. The walls were an unkind grey, but Spencer had tried to brighten them up with various pictures and posters. The floor was carpeted in a worn blue. Ryan scuffed his feet on the carpet and smiled.

"Uh, I'm not too sure. He just told to be prepared to shovel shit."

"I started out like that. Though Brendon still sees me as his personal lackey. You move up though, the better you do, the better the job you get. Brendon gives out promotions quite willingly."

"How can I get him to give me a different job?" Ryan joked, already feeling quite relaxed in Spencer's presence. He was quite a calm person to be near.

"You'll have to ask him about that." Spencer said stiffly. Ryan got the feeling that Spencer wasn't telling him something about Brendon. He let it drop, he didn't want to lose the only friend he had so far.

"Did you take those photos?" Ryan asked, pointing towards a pretty seascape. Spencer shook his head and his closed expression melted into a more tender look.

"Jon did. He took all these pictures to brighten the place up." Spencer said fondly, reaching out to place the tip of his index finger on a picture of two tall, far-away figures in front of a huge fire. "That's Bill and Gabe, I think that was the night Gabe proposed to Bill. Jon wanted to document it."

Ryan smirked and thought back to the tall boy he saw Gabe kissing. He was…tall. Ryan couldn't remember any more than that, he was being too overwhelmed by everything.

"Married?"

"A year now. Bill hasn't stopped flouncing since."

"Ha."

They lapsed into silence. Ryan tried to fill it, he hated awkward silences. He cast around for something, eyes alighting on a small potted plant. He was speaking before he could stop himself.

"So, is that a fern?"

Spencer stared at him while Ryan quietly killed himself over and over again in his head.

"Um, yes?" Spencer said hesitantly, turning to look at said plant. Ryan nodded, trying to save the conversation.

"Yeah, I used to have one, but it died."

"Ryan, how about you help me with my make-up for tonight?" Spencer said quickly, simultaneously saving Ryan and exciting him. He liked make-up.

"Okay."

Spencer stood up then sat himself down at the mirror, picking up an eye pencil. It was dismally unsharpened.

Ryan ended up sharpening all of Spencer's various pencils and talking about everything but his life.

He found out that Brendon liked shopping. Ryan found it hilarious.

"Yeah, he's a pretty surprising person." Spencer said darkly, adding a dramatic upswept line from his eyelid to his eyebrow.

-------

Ryan knocked on the door of Brendon's caravan, painted a horrible, gaudy gold that Ryan couldn't help but smile at. There was a shout of "come in!"

"Spencer sent me." Ryan said, opening the door and sticking his head around it, flinching back when he saw that Brendon was pressed against the counter of his tiny kitchen by a dark haired man with the hugest mouth Ryan had ever seen. The huge-mouthed man was biting Brendon's neck. "I'm sorry, I'll go." Ryan blurted out, turning to leave, cheeks flushed red. Brendon's voice made him stop.

"Hey no, it's okay. Stay. What did you want to say?"

Ryan turned towards Brendon's softly seductive voice, meeting smoky brown eyes, the pupils blown and dark. Ryan couldn't even see the kind man from earlier in those sin-filled eyes.

"Um. Spencer sent me. He said you'd want to see me."

"And I do. I definitely do." Brendon purred, detaching himself from the man and sauntering over to Ryan. Ryan couldn't help but notice how open his shirt was and how smooth and unmarked his chest was. Brendon draped a friendly arm around Ryan's skinny shoulders, reaching up a little as Ryan was a few inches taller than the ringmaster. He placed his palm on Ryan's chest, the heat seeped through the thin material and onto the skin beneath. Ryan was sure his cheeks were on fire.

"I'd just like to know what I'll be doing tonight." Ryan said quickly, training his eyes on anything but Brendon's blown pupils and slightly parted, moist lips or the dark haired man's visible erection. His eyes settled on a inoffensive poster of a graceful contortionist on Brendon's wall.

"Anything you want." Brendon murmured, lips close to Ryan's ear. Ryan flinched away from the sudden contact. He couldn't quite believe that this Brendon was the same Brendon who he met this morning. The Brendon that likes shopping.

"Tonight what am I to do to help with the show?" Ryan asked very firmly and carefully. Brendon spun him around by the shoulders, smiling oh-so widely, eyes glinting.

"Get the dancers ready Ryan!" He said excitedly, wide, moon eyes trained on Ryan. "Help them with their make-up and their clothes!"

"Okay." Ryan muttered, wondering if his boss was on drugs or something. He hoped Brendon would calm down before the show, but maybe he's always like this? Ryan would have to ask Spencer, after all, he'd only met Brendon a couple of hours beforehand. "So. I'll be going. Um."

Laughing, Brendon released his grip on Ryan's shoulders, caressing his jaw with a calculating expression before sauntering back to the man.

"You're a pretty one Ryan." He murmured into the man's neck, flicking out his tongue as Ryan reached for the door. "Very pretty."