Risking a day out on the town

Clopin had been cooped up in the Court of Miracles for days now. He needed some fresh air, and to be honest he needed to get away from some of his followers. They had been living down there longer than he had and quite frankly, they stank. Just because they were gypsies that didn't mean they had to stop bathing....right? With a shake of his head he took a deep breath, finally, clean...breathable air.

Cloaked in a dark hood, Clopin made his way out of the graveyard where their new headquarters was placed and headed into town. He needed laughter, smiles, happiness...something! For the past two months Clopin was in hiding, their last raid of the nearest castle was a hard one to even accomplish. Everyone involved knew that, people would get hurt, might even die but they all followed him willingly and thats why he took it seriously. Sure he might be a fun loving guy from day to day but he could be serious when need be. So thats what happened. They raided the castle and kidnapped some minons of Maleficent to grill for information. But it didn't go quite as planned. One of his men got caught and so they went into deep hiding.

Deep hiding with hundreds of gypsies took a toal on the nose hairs if nothing else. So he was out, finally.

With a stretch of his arms he enetered the market place and the change in him was instant. It took all of his will power to stay under the hood as he heard the sounds of people, people who didnt need to keep their voices down afraid to be caught! It was amazing.

After several minutes he couldn't take it anymore, he founda group of small children and pulled out his puppet he always had on hand. They looked like they could use some cheering up and who better than the jester himself?! Smiling, he crouched down to their level and struck up a conversation, oblivious to the world around him.

Phoebus wandered into the marketplace, cloaked, and looking for food. He never left the rebel village, but he did not want to wait any longer and went to the nearby marketplace himself to get food. He held his face low, and was determined to leave as quickly as he came. As he paid the merchant, he adjusted his hood and looked out to the streets of people. He glanced a group of laughing children and the puppeteer that entertained them. He turned away, trying not to think about what kind of future those children would have. Phoebus grabbed his bag and started off back towards Kelti until he heard a laugh that was all too much familiar.

He did not realize how loud his footsteps sounded and how hasty his steps were, and he marched towards the group of children and stood behind the puppeteer and grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. Clopin. He quickly pulled him closer with his free hand and furrowed his eyebrows. He clenched his teeth and hissed, "What do you think you're doing?!"

Clopin nearly gripped the mans wrists and flipped them around to have the upper hand with ease but noticing it was his right hand man he merely smiled. "Ah Phoebus! How excellent it is to see you!" he kept his voice down so no one around could hear them but then raised his voice louder, unable to resist. "I see that not even I can evade your watchful eye."

Clopin smiled wide and booped Phoebus' head with his puppet, making the children laugh. "Come now, the kids here arn't any harm to us!"

Phoebus flinched, and looked around quickly to see if that had caught anybody's attention. He tried to calm himself, reminding himself that it is Clopin after all. "No, I suppose the kids aren't any harm to us." Phoebus scoffed back, trying to imply that Clopin was the one harming who was harming everyone.

He leaned closer. "Haven't you seen the posters?" He looked at the children quickly and thought how it might be kind of silly to think of the kids as enemies, but he still held his ground. "It's dangerous to be out. We don't know anything about these people, these kids."

Clopin sighed and nodded, knowing full and well the price on his head. He kept his voice down low so even the kids around them couldn't hear this time, "They are orphans Phoebus, I was only trying to help them out, trying to see if they had a place to stay." Clopin thought for a moment and sighed again, he knew the new Court of Miracles was beginning to get a bit crowded but he couldnt help it, he wanted as many people safe from harm as he could get.

He looked back up at his right hand man and tilted his head, smiling again, never staying sad for long. "Now if you really insist, we can get back into hiding, but what do you say about taking these kids with us? How does that sound kids?!" to which he was met with loud cheers from the small children that he quickly quieted.

Phoebus took a deep breath. He opened his mouth to start protesting, but looked at the eager faces of the children and then back at Clopin, who seemed to be just as eager as the kids. Phoebus hesitated, but he gave in. Clopin must know what he is doing if he has made it this far, anyways. "Okay," It came out almost as a whisper.

"Fine. But, they are your responsibility entirely." He looked at the children and they all looked like what he thought orphans would look like. He reached into his pocket for the bag of food he had bought for himself and gave it to Clopin. The kids looked like they needed it more. He leaned in again and whispered, "I know you mean well, but things are different these days. Don't do this again." For a moment Phoebus felt empathy for Clopin, but he brushed it aside and forced a smile to the children before turning around. He did not look back and didn't wait for Clopin or the children. He started walking.

After quickly handing out a piece of food to each of the kids, Clopin set them in a line and marched with them playfully, following the figure infront of him. He knew that Phoebus shouldn't talk to him like that but he was bent on helping as many as he could and knew it was hard for him to take a risk so Clopin let it slide, for now. He didn't want to scare the poor kids off.

He led the kids quickly and quietly back to their hide out and got them all set up with some adults to take care of them and then he set off to find Phoebus in his usual place. "You know I know who I can trust right?"

Phoebus was seated, and he looked up at Clopin. He did not want to anger him. He wasn't sure exactly how Clopin was when he was angry at someone. "Yes," he did not want to argue, and he silently reminded himself that he is not the leader of these people, but the man who stood before him is.

"Maybe I'm just a little paranoid is all. I do not want to endanger anyone here. We already have a lot of people here, and although I do trust you," Phoebus stood up and avoided eye contact. "We must be careful. We can't help everyone." He looked down at his feet, his mind clouded with memories of the past. He looked back at Clopin and cleared his throat. "My apologies if my behavior earlier was inappropriate. I let my emotions get the best of me." He looked around and dropped his formalities. "I see the children, however, are pretty satisfied here, nobody seems to mind. It's a good thing, too, you do need help keeping this place lively. Even I think it can be a little depressing at times." He let out a weak chuckle at his comment.

Clopin leaned against the wall, legs crossed at the ankles and nods throughout his statment. "Look...I get your concerns, and I understand why you have them. You are the one that I trust to keep me in line whenever I forget what needs to be done." His face saddened slightly, he was never able to forget what had happened to the man infront of him...the look on his face when he found out about his child was something that would be burned in his mind for a long long tim,

"Phoebus...," Clopin sighed deeply before continuing, trying to pick his words carefully, "I know it's been hard on you these past few months, so what do you think about taking some time off? Take Esme off into your own little corner of the Court and have some alone time. I'm sure that would be good for you," he gave the man infront of him a sad smile, "we can hold down the fort while you relax abit."

Clopin didn't want Phoebus to turn out like him, alone and bitter on the inside. Sure on the outside he was still his chipper happy self but he was hurting. Everyone was, but he could tell Phoebus was more than others, and he wanted to help.

Phoebus turned to face Clopin. "Time off? But," He looked down, considering it, but then looked back up. "But, what if something were to happen? If something were to happen and I was not around, I would never live myself down, no. I mean, I shouldn't take a break, no matter how small. And-" He stopped mid-sentence and took a breath. Maybe a break was something that he needed. He looked up at Clopin, who seemed tired. Would accepting this make him happy? He sighed, trying to convince both himself and Clopin. "Well. If I were to, I would be ready to return to the front at a moment's notice."

He looked behind him, trying to think of an excuse. "I, uhh, should probably discuss this with Esmeralda first. You know, before deciding." He started backing away, knowing that she would've said taken Clopin's side, but he didn't want to make a decision right now. He stopped and took another look at Clopin. "What will you do?"

Clopin's smile was back in nearly and instant and shrugs carelessly, toying with the man playfully. "Oh you know, a raid or two, perhaps a pilage if we can fit one in. But we can handle it Phoebus, you know that." His face turned serious for a moment as he continued.

"I won't let what happened last time ever happen again, we lost a good man back there and I'm being careful with them, now more that ever. I know you've been working hard and I know more than anyone you deserve this. Trust me."

He rubbed his face and looked over his shoulder as someone drops something, causing it to shatter and he sighs. Guess I have to make another run soon. We keep running out of supplies. He knew that risking another trip to town was border line suicide at this point but his people needed him. And Phoebus was in need of a rest so he would have to do without.

He wouldn't take back his offer.

Phoebus was still skeptical, and eyed Clopin for a little more. "Trust me." The words rang in his ears. Phoebus let out a weak, but genuine smile. "I guess it wouldn't hurt." He crossed his arms and tilted his head to the side. For a moment he felt worried, but he let it pass as quickly as it came. "Okay. I trust you."

He picked up his things and started heading towards where he knew Esmeralda would be. He looked back and let out a bigger smile, but this time it was forced. "Thank you." He nodded his head in respect and left Clopin.