Out of Our Minds[Cody and Mazie]

A circus?

The idea that this town had a cirus bewildered Cody, afterall they couldn't get too much buisness here. After he asked Ruby back at the inn about it, she encouraged him to check it out for himself. So here he stood looking at the gigantic tent with a 'Closed' sign hanging on it. Probably it was open only on weekends or once a season. Maybe it was one of those temporary buildings things. The circus probably traveled around and this was one of its usual stops.

Cody approached the flap door and peeked inside the tent. There was a ton of empty seats and it was dark to the point he could barely see. Part of him wanted to go inside, but the idea of being caught trespassing worried him. With no doubt the army would hear of this and he'd be the butt for many jokes for a long time. Trespassing was a petty crime and more worse things had happen before, but the fact that it was a cirus would be too funny for most of his soldier comrades.

Mazie had intended to go stop by and visit the old man, Glen, who lived alone up on his small hill now, he always seemed so lonely and even someone as annoying as Mazie would surely be enough to keep him somewhat sane. Besides, he was one of few people who didn't seem to mind Mazie being around. Maybe he was just that desperately lonely? Either way, on her way by she spotted a familiar face. "Ooh ?~ Breaking into a circus tent sounds like fun ~"

Moving quickly, she circled around and moved up behind Cody, who had his head beyond the flap of the tent by this point and was nosily checking things out. "Soldiers aren't supposed to trespass, you know," she said sweetly from somewhere right behind him. Cracking a smile, she added, "You should leave the dirty work to slackers like me." Of course, if she broke into a circus tent, the people of the Valley would just roll their eyes - it was Mazie, after all.

"Fancy meeting you here, Cody," her smile bloomed into a friendly one, rather than the teasing one which had been present previously. It was interesting to see a soldier who was curious about something like a circus. She hadn't really expected it. "So, are you going in or are you just going to stand here?" She, for one, was interested in breaking into a closed circus ground.

The sound of Mazie's voice was enough to make Cody flinch. He was supposed to be used to surprizes like this, but they were so suprizing afterall. It was just something the soldier couldn't help sometimes. "I'm not trespassing," he said looking for some exuse to explain what he was doing. Mazie would probably know better than that, so he gave up. "Well, I haven't yet--I just looked inside."

The girl proceeded inside of the dark tent and he followed saying, "Hey, wait for me." Great, now he was trespassing. Maybe they wouldn't get caught or if they did no one would care.

It was dark in the tent, so he fummbled around looking for a power source or something. He hit some sort of switch lighting up the center stage. There were so many chairs in the tent and the stage was absolutly huge. "Whoa," he exlaimed. "This is the first time I've ever been to a cirus when no one is there. It's so different."

Once inside, Mazie laughed. "If we get caught, don't panic," she spoke cheerfully, roaming around in the darkness for a few moments until the switch was flipped. The lights coming on so suddenly startled her to a gasp. "If we get caught, I'll just tell them I dragged you into it, okay ?~ They won't find it weird, they'll just feel bad for you because I've got you in my grasp."

Of course, this was a joke, but she did fully intend to take the blame if they were caught. That way, Cody wouldn't get into trouble and she'd just get a light slap on the wrist. "I've never been in here, either, to be honest," she said somewhat absently as she looked about the large tent. It looked much larger inside than it did outside, it was truly impressive. Quickly, she skipped towards the large stage where the lights had come on. "It's amazing!"

It took her mere moments to leap up onto the stage, quickly looking about for something she could use for some sort of performance. "Hm... I need something to juggle with, like fire!"

Part of Cody didn't trust that Mazie would take all of the blame, but since he was already inside the tent he might as well enjoy himself. The tent was large and the lights did cover the whole tent since they were the ones like stadium lights but shorter. Darkness filled the seats and the top of the tent, but the whole stage was luminous with Mazie standing on it.

"No, I won't search for something that is flammable so you can juggle it," Cody pointed out. The idea of preforming did give him an unusal idea though. They could do a circus act of some sort. Yes--it'd be weird, a two person circus was a crazy idea. The thought seemed so much fun though and he couldn't resist. "Wanna throw a circus without the use of fire though?" he asked the girl. If they ended up burning down the tent they'd surely get in trouble no matter what.

With a pout, Mazie couldn't be upset for long. Even without fire, they could still have a good time. As long as they were doing something weird and crazy, she was more than happy to do it. "Of course I want to!" she said cheerfully, beckoning for him to come up onto the stage. "Well, is there anything we could use to juggle? Or, something else that could be fun and somewhat risky ?~"

She hurried to search around. It couldn't be that those performers took with them everything before leaving, could it? Either way, she liked the stage, the spotlight and the large open space. "Let's have some fun while we're here, so even if we do get caught, it'll be worth it!" Moving to the edge of the stage, she peered into the darkness. "No lions, no elephants, nothing? What kind of circus is this?"

Slightly disappointed, she wondered what kind of a show they could throw like this. "What, should I go up and swing from the trapeze?"

Only for a moment Mazie seemed upset about the 'fire juggling' thing, but she soon got over it and appeared excited about the idea of putting on their own private circus. Her violet hair seemed to sway as she motioned for him to come up on the stage with her. He jumped up on the elavated stage instead of taking the steps.

The room seemed bare up on the stage; the lights were really blinding. No wonder why people had no problem preforming on the stage--it was impossible to see anything but the stage. They could only hear the giggles of the audience. Unfortunatly or luckily for them, he wasn't quite sure if it was a good thing or not, there was no one to watch them. It was just the two of them.

Mazie searched for something to do and came up with the idea of swinging from the trapeze. Was she really that crazy? "No," he said bluntly rejecting the idea. There was no net, so what was he supposed to do if she fell. He walked around and something colorful caught his eye--a chest of somesort. He walked over and bent down feeling the wooden frame of the box. It was looked, but didn't seem too hard to pick. "Mazie, got a hair pin or paper clip?" he asked looking at the girl.

She continued on her search, somewhat bummed about being rejected yet another dangerous idea, but she guessed it wasn't so bad. So they were going to throw a safe circus, whatever, at least they were going to have fun doing it. She had been roaming the edges of the stage, peering out into the darkness in search of anything useful, when she heard Cody speak up to her.

Turning fast, she heard out his request and quickly rummaged through her pocket. Within moments, she retrieved a shiny paper clip, a beaming grin coming over her facial features. "I happen to have just the thing ~" she skipped to where Cody was kneeling by the chest, kneeling down as well. She handed off the silver clip to Cody, grinning like a fool. "It's so pretty, I wonder what's inside? Hopefully something we can use!"

She suddenly realised how suspicious she was, carrying a paper clip with her wherever she went. "T-that clip, I only had it on my person for..." she faltered for a moment, having no real reason except to pick locks - not that she ever made a habit of such things. "For clipping... papers, yes. You never know when you might be faced with a stack of unclipped papers, right?" With a nervous laugh, she allowed Cody to work with the lock.

Mazie skipped over happily and had a foolish grin on her face as she dropped the paper clip into his hands. "You realize that I didn't care about the original purpose of the paper clip until I heard your unusual explanation, right?" He questioned her poking up an eyebrow. Honestly, he was more so expecting a hair pin than the small silver clip. To him the origins of the clip didn't really matter though, only the fact that he could use it now.

He bent the paper clip so one part was straight and long, then he inserted it into the tiny keyhole. He probed ever bit of the keyhole and he almost gived up and then he heard the small clicking noise. "Got it," he said relieved that he hadn't lost his touch. Then again if he did Mazie probably could get it. The girl did seem to like to flirt with trouble, so something like this could be ordinary to her.

Slowly he lifted up the lid to the chest. "Bingo," he exlaimed looking at the assortment of tools. There were the seltzer bottles that clowns used to spray eachother, balls of all kinds, a unicycle, and countless other treasures inside the box. "Want to juggle?" he asked Mazie tossing her the balls.

"Of course!" she said, catching each of the balls tossed to her. One red one, one blue one, and one yellow one. "Hey, these are primary colours!" Her outburst was completely random and pretty pointless, but she grinned as she tossed each ball into the air, quite quickly becoming used to the fluid motion of juggling. She casually turned her gaze in Cody's direction and towards the chest. "Hey, now are you going to get on that unicycle or what?"

With a laugh, she didn't realise she'd taken her focus off of her juggling until one ball, followed by a second, and then a third, each took turns clunking her on the head as she lost her rhythm. "Oh, shoot!" she hissed, quickly moving to collect the scattering objects. "My bad, my bad ~" It took her only moments to collect the balls up again. "I wish I could balance a big ball on my nose, like a seal! That would be so cool ~"

Okay, maybe she was taking this circus thing a little too far. But, she'd feel like too much of a loser if she came right out and admitted that she'd never been to a real circus performance before! "I'll get it right this time!" Once again, she tossed each ball up before passing the next from one hand to the other and then up again, trying to find that steady rhythm for juggling.

A smile formed at the corners of Cody's mouth as he watched Mazie proceed to toss the balls up in the air. She actually knew how to juggle, that was until she tried to talk to Cody. As soon as that happened the balls fell down and hit her head repeatedly. Chuckling he began to talk, "Unlike you--I don't have any experience in the circus ring."

The thought was quite repulsive to him, but exciting as well. How long ago had it been since he had ridden a bike though? Years without a doubt, for he saw no use in it. Running was always a better way to get to places or by horse. There was also ferry and train travel open to him, so he never thought about getting a new bike when he grew out of his old one.

"I haven't ridden a bike in years, but I'll try it." He shrugged picking up the one-wheel contraption. Its design was simple, but he wasn't quite sure of the method of using it. Mazie had started to already to juggle and he quietly sighed. Was he really going to do this?

His method of attack was to step up on one pedal and then step on it while getting his foot on the other. The task sounded rather difficult to him. Surprisingly, it worked though and his arms were flailing in the air for balance as he petaled quickly. Then there was a dreaded popping sound. "Watch out!" he tried to warn Mazie, but then he ended up crashing right into her sending them both falling to the ground. A ball she was juggling hit the top of his head.

To his agreeing to the unicycle, Mazie beamed, "That's the spirit!" However, she had her doubts. He openly admitted to not having ridden a bike in years, so to try riding a unicycle without the experience of at least riding something with a little bit more balance was dangerous. Though she'd been prepared for the worst, when she went back to her juggling, she hadn't expected it to involve herself.

Cody's warning came all too sudden and, without a chance to get out of the way, she was tangled into his mess of limbs and metal. "Ah! Ow! Geez!" And, just like that, she went down. However, despite the mild pain here and there throughout her body, she began to laugh at their suddenly awkward position, especially as the ball landed on Cody's head. The other two touched ground somewhere nearby, rolling off and dropping from the stage. "At least you had the better landing," she muttered, having provided a decent cushion to catch Cody. "You could have at least aimed yourself away from me!"

There was no hiding her happiness, however, even if she'd been crushed by someone crashing a unicycle. "... I must admit, that was quite painful. But, are you alright, Cody?" She figured she'd likely have some bruises, but that was about it. A lucky landing, in her opinion. However, it wouldn't be so lucky if Cody was injured very seriously. In fact, that would be quite terrible. And she knew that she would have to take the blame.

Cody blinked his eyes to get his head clear. The impact already set his kludge of a mind into a deeper mess. Then he realized how awkward of a possition they were in. Mazie was handling it rather well, but Cody couldn't help but feel his cheeks turn a rosey red. First he crashed into the girl and second she was the cusion for his fall. To him it should have been the other way around. Ironic. This whole situation was an ironic way of the world messing with him.

"I'm sorry," he said immediatly getting off of the girl. His arm stretched out to help the girl out, much like when they first met. Cody couldn't help but feel flustered in this entire situation. Maybe he should have just said no to Mazie's unusal demand. If only he took a second to think before he acted. "That didn't end out well," he commented looking at the situation as a whole. Luck seemed to be on his side for it didn't seem like anything was broken.

Mazie's first comments seemed sarcastic almost comical for what they just went through. "I'm fine," he sighed. Definatly a large bruise would be on his ankle, but in the past worse has happened to him. "What about you?"

Accepting Cody's hand with a smile, Mazie allowed herself to be pulled to her feet by the soldier and just giggled about the whole thing. If he was okay, and she was okay, then didn't that mean that there was no harm in what had happened? Besides, the weirdness of it all - a unicycle crash and all - made it all worth while. They may have been a little bumped up, but they were having fun, so that's all that really mattered to the girl.

Dusting herself off a little bit, she grinned, "I'm fine, I'm fine ~" But, it looked like the mingled unicycle wasn't in the same boat. She began to wonder if they would be charged for destruction of property, on top of the trespassing they had done to get inside the circus in the first place. "Even if it didn't turn out the way we thought it would, it was still fun, right? I mean, neither of us need to be rushed to a hospital, so it's not such a bad ending!"

Hurrying off quickly, Mazie went in search of the balls she had dropped upon being smashed with a unicycle. She grabbed up the red one and the yellow one quickly enough, but it seemed the blue one had dropped off the stage and into the darkness. "... Why do balls have to be so rolly?" With a sigh, she leaped off the stage to search for it. "Oh! Do you think we'll have to pay for that unicycle damage?"

Before Cody didn't realize how small Mazie's hands were to his own. They obviously were very different heights--it was probably comical to someone to see how short she was and how tall he was together. Gently he pulled her up smiling, happy that neither of them ended up with a broken limb. That was a close one. Part of him was worried that he squished her underneath him.

Cody walked over to the unicycle and picked up it's frame. "Yeah," he groaned dissapointed with the outlook in his wallet. There was now a definate forecast of some rain there. It only made him realize that he needed a job more than before. The thing is that he didn't really have anything he wanted to do. Someway he had to figure a way to pay for it since he broke the unicycle.

"I hope it's cheap," Cody stated laughing nervously. The wheel frame was completely beaten up and there also was the whole in the tire. "I think it might be better to get a new one," he said looking closer at the thing. It was bent up pretty badly. "Looks like my stay here just got extended."

Mazie was surprised by how mingled they'd manage to make the unicycle. Well, it was still fun, so she didn't really mind if they had to pay up for it. How much could a unicycle really cost? "I'll split the cost, since this whole breaking into the tent and you're riding it in the first place was really my fault," she said cheerfully. She didn't have a whole lot of money, herself, but if they both paid half of the cost of the unicycle, how bad could it really be? "If we split the cost, I'm sure it'll be managable ~"

Feeling around blindly in the darker shadows, she managed to find the blue ball which was causing her so much trouble. Gathering it up with the rest of them, she hurried back to the stage to join Cody. "So, maybe the unicycle wasn't a great idea. What kind of circus can we throw if neither of us can throw a circus properly?" She laughed at this, however - that was what made it so fun!

"I could have just said no," Cody pointed out plainly. It was his choice no matter what, and that is what really mattered to him. There was no way he could have a lady pay for his mistake, that wouldn't be the way a gental man would act. Besides, in this incident Mazie could get away with being innocent for once. He doubted it'd happen a second time though.

Mazie emerged from the shadows with all of the balls collected. "I don't think I'm suited to be in a circus," he stated. "Well, at least a clown--I might be able to be a lion tammer or an acrobat." He swore he could see the wheels turning in the violet's head. Immediatly he noticed he made a grave mistake. Regretting his sudden statement he said, "No. I know what you're thinking. No."

Mazie grinned a little as Cody suddenly tried to take back his words. Somehow, he seemed to catch on quickly to the way she thought. "You don't want to try the trapeze? I think you'd make a wonderful acrobat," she commented teasingly before adding, "Seeing as you were ever so graceful on that unicycle and all."

Of course, she wasn't completely heartless and she didn't intend to kill the man. With a laugh, she called it off, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding, the trapeze is too dangerous for a couple of amatures like us. But, if there was lions, I would certainly be holding you to the lion tammer!" Tossing the balls up once more, she proceeded to attempt juggling once more.

"Juggling attempt number three," she said cheerfully, keeping a close focus on the balls as she worked her magic. "Attempting not to fail this time!"

Cody should have kept his mouth shut about the trapeze. It was like giving Mazie something to bother him about and indeed she used it. If only he learned to think more before he spoke, then he'd not have to deal with this whole situation at the moment. "I wasn't thinking about grace," he muttered quietly. Infact he was thinking more of strength and agility.

"Then I'd probably be lion food," he chuckled thinking about how exactly someone tamed on of those things. It was probably like the acrobats. It took time to master the techinque. Otherwise he could see himself battling a lion to save his life. The picture was definatly weird to him though.

Mazie smiled and playfull stated that she was going to try juggling again. Cody on the otherhand decided to sit this one out and not risk damaging anything else. "I'll watch you," he said sitting on the ground smiling. "That way I'm not going to get myself in debt."

"You're already in debt," Mazie teased playfully, but she proceeded to juggle the three balls carefully. She wanted to do it right this time! However, a small glint of light appeared in her eyes as she continued her awkward and unsteady juggling. "Hey, Cody, can you juggle?"

She had seen people juggle together, which seemed much more difficult than trying to juggle on your own - you had to depend on the other person to follow your rhythm and to know what they're doing. It sounded like fun! She figured that she'd likely be the one to mess up, but either way, she didn't like the idea of Cody sitting out.

What was the fun in that? They had agreed to throw a circus together, for no real audience, but just for the fun of it! And, she intended to have a little bit of fun - that didn't involve one sitting out! "C'mon, we can try juggling together! It'll be a lot more challenging, but it'll be fun! And the balls are just bouncy playing balls, they'll surely not do any real damage, right?"