"You called for me?" I said as I put my hair back. With all the ruckus that the others made while waking me up, I didn't have the time to fix my hair even a little bit.
Johnny, who was talking to Alysson, turned around and passed me an impaled piece of meat. "I'll be right with you" he said while finishing his conversation.
I took the food he gave me and walked back a few steps, turning around as I bit the meat in my hand.
I ate the whole piece in a matter of seconds, so I tried to ask Johnny if he had something more. However, when I looked at the place where he was talking with Alysson a few seconds ago, he was completely gone.
"Looking for me?" he asked while emerging from behind me.
I jumped back at his sudden appearance, letting go of the stick in my hand and making all of the remnants of my dinner fall down on the ground.
A big sigh escaped my mouth when I watched that, hunger escaping my system as his surprise made my stomach feel sick.
"So, what was it that you wanted to talk about?" Johnny said as he redirected my gaze from the ground to his face while holding my chin.
My hand quickly slapped his, coughing and recomposing afterwards so I could talk to him properly.
I told him about what his nephews said before, and once I was done speaking, he sat on the ground and invited me to sit next to him.
I lowered my body to the place that his hand was palming and groaned like an old man as I stretched my legs.
"You know why I called you here, Glasgow" the ringmaster asked while switching to a Doncaster accent. I looked at him awkwardly, but then shook off the feeling after remembering how odd he was.
"You called me here to talk about our deal, right?" I said while fighting with a strand of my hair that didn't want to keep itself in place.
He put his hand inside of his jacket and reached out for a water spray. "How?" I thought to myself as I wondered how he kept that in there without the jacket having any noticeable bulges.
Johnny sprayed his hand once and then passed his hand all over my hair. "Mind if I do your hair while we talk?" he said while spraying water on my hair.
I wanted to refuse, but I felt like if I did, then he'd just come up with something weirder to do while talking to me. "Sure" I told him while faking a smile.
He stood up and positioned himself behind me while touching my hair. "Listen closely, boy" he started to speak as he moved my hair to his will.
"You know how our deal was me giving you everything that you'd ask for in return for you becoming part of my circus?" he asked while moving my head back to face him.
Johnny scooped my cheeks with both of his hands and waited for my response, and after he saw me nodding, he went back to talking.
"If you want me to keep my part of the deal, then you must become a real member of this circus. And in order to do that, you'll need… this!" he said enthusiastically while pulling a kitten out of his clothes.
"A cat?" I questioned him while petting the little animal in his hands. "No! A feline…" he responded with a mysterious tone.
My eyes focused on the animal, trying to find out what was so special about it.
Johnny frowned at me, claiming that it was useless to try and find the answer in the cat. "I'm not talking about this specific feline right here. I'm talking about the big ones. The big felines! The base of this circus!" he shouted out before finishing with my hair.
He let go of my head and put himself in front of me, asking if I understood what he said while leaning down at my height.
I shook my head in denial, asking him to elaborate. He sighed and before explaining himself, he called over the tiger that was playing with him a few hours ago.
The big cat ran to his side, and started to play with his hand as he spoke again. "Quick question, young lad: Did I tell you what the name of my circus was?" he asked while scratching the back of the tiger.
"No…" I said doubtful, "You didn't even introduce yourself properly when we met, I wouldn't be surprised if you forgot about that too."
He laughed loudly at my response. "You'rrrrre right! Exactly, mate. I forgot that when we met, but let's not dwell in the past now!" he shouted out while playing with the ears of the animal.
Johnny resumed his explanation after laughing for a few seconds, saying that the base of his circus were the big cats.
While hugging the big feline at his feet, he screamed the name of the circus: The Big Cat Circus (or BCC for shortening as he said). I made a grimace upon hearing its name, feeling awfully cringed because of how corny the name was.
"Do you understand what I'm trying to get to?" Johnny said, now playing with the tiger's teeth. I gave him a weird stare, telling him "I don't" with my eyes.
Johnny sighed and crumbled on top of the tiger, trying to find a unique way to explain himself in his own style.
He pondered on the back of the animal, and after thinking about it for a few minutes, he leapt up.
At that moment, I realized something: The cat he was holding earlier disappeared from my sight. I looked for it everywhere with my eyes, but I couldn't find him anywhere. Just as I was about to ask him about the kitten, something started to scratch my back.
I turned around and held the "thing" that was messing with my clothes. Johnny smiled when he saw me holding it, so he got really close to me and went back to his explanation.
"Glasgow, lad, this is exactly what I'm talking about!" he laughed out loud as he pointed his finger at the animal in my hands. I held the kitten high in the air and inspected him, looking for the answer in it once again.
Johnny smiled maniacally. I somehow made him lose his patience, so after a few seconds of inspecting the kitten, he stepped in and gave me the explanation.
"It's the cats, Glasgow! The big cats!" he screamed, tired of me not understanding what he was trying to tell me. "You see, Glasgow, everyone here has a big feline, and they perform the stunts with them" he then added.
I looked at Johnny as he hugged the tiger and snuggled with it. "This big boy right here is named Tali, and Aly's lynx is called Beanie, and Fiona's tigress is called Mina, and…" he told me as he enlisted all of the members and their respective partners.
I put down the cat in my hands and stared intensely at it. Was it not a cat then? Was I holding a potential Puma or Jaguar in my hands?
Johnny sensed me staring at the kitten for too long and he took it away from me. "This one is special, he's just a cat" he said while petting it and putting it back in his pocket.
I stood up and faced the ringmaster. Then I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and asked him why he was telling me all of this.
He smirked playfully at my question, asking if I really wasn't getting him after all of his "clear" explanation. "Look, young man, I'll go straight to the point with you right now since this is your first day here, ok?" he told me while putting his right hand on my shoulder.
"What is it that you want?" he asked with a serious face. At first I thought of asking him for information on Master Young's works, but after remembering something that he said when we met, a new request appeared in my head.
"Do you remember when you said that you've been planning this circus for a long time? Since it's only been one month since the world went to shit, I want you to elaborate and be clear about that" I said firmly, hoping to get an answer right away.
Johnny bowed down and said "very well" in a playful tone. "Unfortunately, if you want that question to be answered, then I'll have to respond to another major question, so that'll cost you double".
I looked at him deeply in the eyes and nodded, saying that I'd do anything to keep my part of the deal.
The ringmaster looked at me and smiled mischievously, saying "Ok! If you want to know why I said that and also how I'm involved with the Fall, then you'll have to complete two tasks!" he shouted before throwing a smoke bomb and disappearing.
I coughed and then screamed into the air, hoping to get an answer on what he wanted me to do. At that moment, Lyra walked up to me and while looking at me with her beautiful eyes, she said "Uncle wants you to give his kitten a name and then he wants you to get along with who will be your feline partner".
She smiled at me and then ran back to her brother's side, saying "good luck" before getting completely further away.
I looked at Tali, who was still by my side and he responded with a curious stare. I never asked anything about The Fall but, since I only knew that it caused the world to be like how it is now, then it wouldn't hurt to know about it too much.
I smiled at the big cat beside me and petted it. After all, if I wanted to keep my part of the deal, I'd have to get along with it and the rest of them...