Behind Those Eyes

[Lula McGee]

Lula loved being part of the carnival and she perhaps liked their stop in Hogsmeade the best. Not coming the year prior had been a definite disappointment and she was eager to make this time twice as enjoyable to make up for it.

The routine she had just performed involved a fair bit of acrobatics and contortion, one that had taken her several weeks to perfect but it had gone without hitch and she was now leaning against a wall a good distance from the stage she had performed on, a cup of water in one hand. It was cooler here than in the thick of things backstage and amongst her fellow carnies and she needed a breather. She might make it look easy but it wasn't, any number of things could go wrong in a routine and end in a painful accident. She thankfully seemed to land on her feet most times, much like a cat.

As she finished off her water, she turned to retreat to back stage when she caught someone staring at her from nearby. Curious, she sauntered over to investigate. "Good evening," she greeted slowly, eyeing up the individual in the process.

  

[Pamela Francis]

Pam smirked back at the young woman with her extraordinary skills that greeted her with more politeness than she would have anticipated from a carnival worker. Then again, who was she to cast aspersions on someone's character based on their profession - it wasn't as though she was a fucking nun after all!

"Good evening," she repeated back as she took a step closer, suddenly very aware of her height over the other woman. She was usually taller than most other women of course but not to this extent... although she didn't strictly speaking know many women.

"Your show - do you use any magic for the contortions?" She asked immediately, not one to dawdle over speech when she didn't need to reel anyone in.

  

[Lula McGee]

The woman whose gaze had been directed her way seemed a curious sort, though why that was, Lula couldn't quite say. Said woman apparently didn't beat about the bush either, a trait which Lula could appreciate in a person. "No magic, just lots of practice," she replied truthfully. The lack of magic in her contortion was something Lula was very proud of - some of her fellow carnival workers relied on magic or magical beasts to make an audience ooh and ahh but her talents needed no support besides regular stretching and practice. The fire-eating was another matter, however.

"I've been told I've got the bone structure of a cat though. Maybe that's magic." She grinned, not sure what else to say to this woman who was of a fairly intimidating stature for a woman, at least from her angle anyway.

  

[Pamela Francis]

Hmmm, curious. It was a waste of talent really, to have a woman who could manoeuvre her body like that working in a mere sideshow where she could earn next to nothing but applause, when she could earn a small fortune peddling herself in another way and probably wear out her body considerably less.

“Maybe…”

Pam looked the girl up and down without shame, tilting her head the side as she made her observations. Skinny, though that wasn’t always a bad thing, and really quite short, even though Pam was quite aware that it was her who was the oddity in that respect! The hair was interesting too – one rarely saw it short on any respectable woman but Pam had heard of men who liked that it reminded them of other men – and the make-up was garish but rather striking.

“You’re wasting your talents with this sideshow y’know?”

  

[Lula McGee]

"I am?" Lula was confused. How could she be wasting her talents? This was where she learned them and improved them... What was there to do outside of the carnival? There surely weren't jobs besides the one she had that required her skill set, she'd have heard of such a thing. It wasn't even like she was literate.

Maybe what was actually happening was this woman had her own magic carnival that she was setting up to compete against hers! The idea of a carnival with elite performers and being asked to join was exciting and very flattering but Lula did have a sense of loyalty, she'd been a part of this one since she was eleven years old, after all.

  

[Pamela Francis]

Pam raised her eyebrow at the absolute lack of guile, taking a moment to wonder whether the younger woman was genuinely confused or somehow mocking her. Travelling from town to town the carnivals workers must surely know how to spot somebody who earned their living from their bodies, just as they did, albeit in a slightly less punishing way upon the joints!

"Of course you are, you can't earn much brass from this business and your bones'll be knackered before you're thirty-"

Assuming she wasn't already. Pam had never been good at telling the ages of other women before a cursory glance telling her whether someone was older or younger than her!

"Have you never considered an easier route?"

  

[Lula McGee]

It was true, her line of work didn't earn her much money at all and she supposed there was always a risk of injury and she had never thought about what she would do when she got old. Surely she wouldn't be completely useless at thirty, though?

It was when the woman mentioned the 'easier route' that it clicked. Lula's eyes widened in joint realization and shock. She was no prude by any stretch of the imagination but she was so sheltered, so used to her life at the carnival, it was all she knew. The world outside only existed for audiences. "I've not really no..." she replied slowly, wondering what exactly this presumably woman of the night was scheming.

  

[Pamela Francis]

“It’s more or less the same thing isn’t it dear?”

Pam smirked at the discomfort, using her height to advance on the smaller woman until she had her nearly pinned against the wall. She wasn’t in the habit of press-ganging girls into their profession but sometimes she felt the need, however awful it made her feel afterwards, to drag somebody else down with her. She could never run a brothel, that she had decided a long time ago when she’d felt vaguely sick seeing how young some of them were, but it couldn’t hurt to have some allies of her own. Merlin knew she was tired of being alone all the fucking time!

“Selling your body for the pleasure of somebody else?”

  

[Lula McGee]

It wasn't often Lula regretted her short stature, she was usually amongst her fellow carnies and they were used to it, not to mention her personality compensated some. However, this was one of those moments that she wished she was a good foot taller than she was. "I- I- Uh..." She hadn't a clue what to say, she supposed she did technically sell her body in a way for entertainment already but prostitution. It wasn't exactly a desirable career but then most didn't consider carnival work much better, it was assumed they were all loose and morally corrupt anyway just not so overtly. "I'm uh- I'm quite happy where I am but uh thanks for the uh suggestion," she finally replied, feeling adequately intimidated but not enough to give the woman the answer she was probably looking for. Was this woman going to beat her up?

  

[Pamela Francis]

Pam shrugged non-committally, not quite moving away just yet but getting the sense that she had perhaps been misinformed about the general nature of carnival folk. It was something she had always assumed was questionable – after all, she had seen enough fellow streetwalkers who spoke as though they’d been born into drawing rooms and plenty of people in the Slums who toed the line of the law rigorously, so she knew all too well that assumptions weren’t always accurate.

“It was more than a suggestion dear,” she smiled slightly, not cruelly but not especially affectionately either. “More of a recommendation, but if you’re not to be swayed I suppose I’m wasting my time.”

She narrowed her eyes as she looked the girl up and down again.

“It really is a shame… are you waiting for a husband perhaps?”

  

[Lula McGee]

This woman was acting as though the life of a prostitute was superior to that of a carnie - sure she had a point about age but wasn't selling one's bottom the lowest of the low? The most undesirable form of occupation anyone could possibly have? Not that she cared about reputations, she didn't really have one to keep safe but wasn't it just downright unpleasant? She was all for trying new experiences but that seemed like a guaranteed one-way trip to a miserable existence.

"A husband?" she repeated incredulously, laughing briefly at the idea. "Merlin, no! A husband indeed, I'm as likely to marry as I am to sprout an extra arm!" The idea seemed so preposterous to her that she had forgotten her reservedness. Truthfully, she wouldn't mind marrying someone if the right person presented themselves but she doubted such a person would ever come along.

  

[Pamela Francis]

Pam at least approved of that as a notion. She had never once sought a husband, even in her youth, and one of the many advantages to her profession was the ability to ignore the presence of any man in the world the moment he had left her to return to the life he would admit it. Even being a mistress would be tedious and Merlin knew Pam had never desired a life that was dull, just easy.

“I would have thought an extra arm would have been quite the advantage in your line of work,” she quipped with amusement, still observing the other woman but less convinced that she was of the right temperament. She seemed to have little ability to conceal her emotions, judging by the laugh she had let out, and that would simply never do!

“It certainly would be in mine.”

  

[Lula McGee]

An extra arm probably would help so far as amusing a crowd but Lula wasn't convinced that an extra arm wouldn't get in her way when trying to perform some intricate contortion. It would certainly make her a unique oddity though.

She was about to sheepishly reply to the taller woman when she heard her name being called. Turning to look, she saw a fellow carnie and realized she had probably been talking so long that she'd have to rush to get ready for her next act in time. "It's been swell talking to you, but I must be off!" she announced hastily before turning on her heel and swiftly ducking between a few people to get to where she was supposed to be.