To The Stars • •

[scout houghton dallas villiers]

Scout was much too excited to really sleep the night before. She hadn't seen her family in a long time now, and she was used to spending every day with them before New York. They may not be a conventional bunch, but she loved them all and was up most of the night, giddy with excitement. When it was an acceptable time to climb from her bed, she used the miniature ropes to make her way down to the main level and raced through a routine and breakfast, spilling most of the milk from her cereal on the floor for Punch and Judy to lap at. Scout couldn't wait to torment her brother, share stories with her parents and have trick competitions with the rest just to prove that she hadn't lost her touch while she had been away from the troop.

Plus, as much as Scout enjoyed being in the city and spending time at the bakery and bugging Dax in the evenings, she had missed performing. She never really mentioned it, but it had been her life for almost as long as she could remember and hanging in the air, twisting and spinning about for an audience had been her job since she was fourteen. Whenever they came through New York she had the chance to get back in the tent, don one of her sparkly and slightly tiny outfits and give into that craving that the city hadn't really curbed. One thing made today even better and that was that she was dragging Dax along with her. He'd get a free pass for the everything, spend time around the trailers and tents and then he could see the show Scout knew she went on and on about on the nights she was really feeling homesick. She wanted to go and see if he was ready now, but it was still a little early and she had things to prepare. When she had moved into her apartment and taken a break from the circus life, Scout had moved all of her costumes and accessories out of the trailer so that there would be more room for her brother. Digging through the leotards, bodysuits and abundance of sequins, Scout had to narrow down what she wanted to perform in and even what routine she planned on doing. She still remembered them all off by heart and would probably slip away to do a quick run before the crowds arrived and while her brother was befriending Dax with stupid questions and tricks.

Throwing everything she wanted or needed into a bag, Scout checked on her rabbits one last time before cramming her feet into her Converse and grabbing her regular bag that carried her necessary day to day things, like her phone, medication and money. In her excitement to get going, Scout practically slammed her front door shut and then used the spare key to let herself into Dax's. There was only a thin veil of privacy between the neighbours given how often they just wandered in; especially her! “Daxxy! Come on, come on! We've gotta go nooooow.” Hyper was probably an understatement for Scout in this moment, but she didn't get to see her family often and while she often joked about never having a traditional home, home was exactly where she was going today. She didn't care how weird or freaky people thought that made her, because those people probably couldn't even fathom how much work went into making an act look so easy or the risk they took to perform most of the stunts. “If you take any longer then you'll be part of the crowds and not one of the V.I.Ps.” She warned with a dramatic sigh and a pout in the hopes that it would get him out of the building faster.

• • •

TAGGED! Dax! <3
WORDS! 685!
OUTFIT! Circus Cutie!
LYRICS! You Can Fly! - - - Peter Pan
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Dakota Marshall Langdon]

Dax had been to the circus only a couple times when he was a kid. It wasn’t usually a thing the family did simply because their parents rarely got the same days off work. But when they did, the entire family did something fun and enjoyable. If the circus or a fair was in town, they went to that for an afternoon. If it was the middle of winter and there was nothing really going on in the city, they hauled out their skates and hit a rink in Central Park or the big one at Rockefeller. Their grandparents did a lot more with them, all the while telling the kids how sorry they were their parents couldn’t join in the fun. But then, all the kids knew they wouldn’t be able to have this kind of fun without people like their parents making sure the city streets were safe for them to do so. So when his neighbour and friend told him her family was the ones coming to town, he was happy for her.

He knew how long it had been since she’d really been home and how her life was beforehand. So he knew that seeing them would be something she definitely needed. When she’d mentioned it, honestly, at first he was thinking she was just asking for a ride out because the trains and buses were a nightmare to figure out going that far and cabbies were difficult people to get out of the comfort zones. And he wouldn’t have minded. Scout needed to see her family since they were so close and it must have been so odd not being able to see them everyday. But he got excited too, when she invited him along. Since it had been so long since he’d been to the circus he was giddy to see the acts and what Scout herself used to do. Dax wasn’t sure what was exactly planned for their visit though, he just knew that they would have to get there early, before the crowds started showing up so Scout could have some time with her family before the performance. He figured while that was going on, he could walk around their set up, see everything, possibly even get some cotton candy

Dax had done a ride along the night before with the paramedic team and fell into bed when he’d gotten home before checking in with Scout; though he had also assumed she’d be long since sleeping for her trip home to get there faster. So he’d roused himself earlier than he would have liked and leaned against the counter to drink two cups of coffee to really wake himself up before taking King out behind the restaurant for a quick stretch and jumping in the shower. He needed to be awake and ready for Scout who was hyperactive on a normal day; he didn’t know what to expect for this particular day. He was tossing his shirt on when the tiny girl burst into his apartment to the happy barks of King. “Two seconds, hyper.” He called, shoving his feet into his shoes and tying the laces. “You’ll always be a V.I.P, Pixie.” he said, grinning as he grabbed his wallet, phone and keys off the counter, sliding the first two into his pockets. He locked the door on their way out, after reminding King to behave. He did not want to come home to a wrecked house. He unlocked the car and held the door open for Scout, bowing slightly at the waist when she slipped into the seat. Getting into the car himself, he clipped his seatbelt into place, started the engine and started off towards the lot the circus had rented for the duration of their stay.

Tag || Scout! <3
Words || 628
Clothes || To come!
Music || For the First Time in Forever-- Frozen
Notes || <3

[scout houghton dallas villiers]

Scout missed her family more than she could say. It wasn't just her family, but also the life she was used to. It was weird waking up in New York and having no one shouting for her to lend a hand, or mentally making a list of everything that needed to be done before lunchtime. Her life was much emptier now in regards to chores and work. Scout kind of missed the chaos and the excitement of moving from place to place, seeing how things changed and meeting new people all the time. It was why she had so much energy and came across so hyperactive; she didn't have the same jobs to do that would tire her out. Sometimes she needed to climb up things or contort herself into strange positions, just because otherwise she felt she might explode. It was difficult to suddenly stop doing something she had done all of her life and while she loved what she was doing in New York, it was currently going to remain in second place to her circus life.

Dragging Dax along was about so much more than a ride out to the lot. In New York City he was probably the person she was closest to, and the one she trusted the most. Her family was an open bunch who shared stories and secrets like they were just common knowledge, which is why she wanted them to meet him. It wasn't often that Scout got to talk to her brother and parents, but when she did there was usually a story about Dax in there somewhere. It could go from a trick she had played on him, to some hilarious tale about work. Her parents worried about her, like any would, but they had mentioned before that they were glad she had such a good neighbour and friend. It wasn't just about letting her family see the poor soul she tormented with silly games, but also about letting Dax really see what her world was like. Out of everyone in the city he probably knew best about what her life had been like, but even with the small tricks she had done in front of him and the stories she had told Scout still felt like it wasn't enough. She wanted to show Dax even more, have him see the magic that she saw and really show off for once. It wasn't as though she had friends outside of the circus when she had been growing up, so this was kind of new to her and she wanted to show how much of an entertainer she was.

By the time Dax emerged, ready to go, Scout was dancing with King, making the happy dog a little more excited. She was so full of energy and she could barely contain herself. “And you'll always be a dear, Daxxy.” She teased, tilting her head to the side as she smiled innocently up at him. Outside, she laughed at his gentlemanly antics and slipped into the seat, tossing the small duffle bag into the well by her feet before strapping herself in. However, Scout did not do well in cars. She was fidgety by nature; a trait almost everyone picked up on after meeting Scout for the first time. This time, by the time Dax was set to pull out of the space and join the typical New York traffic, Scout already had one leg up against and across her chest, stretching out oddly. “People in this city don't move fast enough.” She complained, huffing as she repeated the stretch with the other leg. There was no real reason why she was doing that, but she had to do something or else she'd go crazy before they got anywhere near the circus.

• • •

TAGGED! Dax! <3
WORDS! 634!
OUTFIT! Circus Cutie!
LYRICS! You Can Fly! - - - Peter Pan
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Dakota Marshall Langdon]

Dax was lucky his family only lived a couple boroughs over and it was only a few minutes’ drive to visit them. He had taken it for granted when he finally moved out on his own; until Scout had moved in anyway. After he’d befriended her and gotten to know her, he realised just how lucky he was that his parents were so close. If he was having a hard day and nothing would make it better like his mom’s cooking or his gran’s apple pie, he could just drive over and get what he wanted and feel better about everything that happened. Scout wasn’t as fortunate as he was. It had made him feel a little bad about how poorly he acted. But he turned his views around after he’d met Scout. And he was so impressed by her! He didn’t think he’d have the guts to wave goodbye to his family and move so far away from them. They were a big, close, tight knit family who might just fall apart if one of the children decided they wanted to go to school out of state.

“I know. It’s even going to be on my tombstone in another seventy years.” Dax joked, ushering the petite girl out the door and down the stairs to his car. He was used to New York traffic and knew little ins and outs to get him where he needed to be just a little bit faster than the rest of the city. “Settle down Pixie. I’ll get you there. Trust me.” He said, sparing the road a second to look across at Scout and give her a little wink. The second he was able to turn, he did and wove his way through traffic like a seasoned pro. There was a near miss with a taxi once but if that didn’t happen at least once a trip, you were the luckiest person in the entire city.

All things considered, it didn’t take Dax long at all before he was pulling in and looking for a spot. “Outside the gates okay, or does a V.I.P get special parking privileges as well?” He teased lightly, stopping in the middle of the empty parking lot, wondering where he needed to go next. If Scout said to just park anywhere, he would pull into the first spot and cut the engine, but if she was supposed to go somewhere else, he would need her directions from here on out. He’d never been in this situation before; yet another first with the circus girl.

Tag || Scout! <3
Words || 427
Clothes || To come!
Music || For the First Time in Forever-- Frozen
Notes || <3

[scout houghton dallas villiers]

Leaving her home hadn't exactly been an easy choice. If she hadn't been sick when she was younger then it was something she probably never would have thought about. Scout loved being part of the circus troop and she didn't have any desire to leave it behind for good. She just wanted to see as much as she could about the world outside of the Big Top. So far it had been exhilarating, but at the same time she didn't feel like she had been robbed of anything by living her life constantly on the move. There was still a lot she had to see and do, but she planned on fitting it all in while she was still at college. After that her plan was return to the top of that colourful tent and spend the rest of her life flying around like she actually had wings and not years of rigorous training as an aerial artist. Plus, then she'd be back with her family. At least that was her plan and so far nothing had come along to start planting seeds of doubt in her mind.

“Did I ever mention that I hate traffic?” Scout asked, flopping back in her seat and huffing loudly. She knew Dax would get her there and with plenty of time to spare, but it was the whole sitting still and being patient part of travelling that Scout didn't do so well with. She liked to be there and have things done almost immediately and waiting around in a sea of yellow taxis and frustrated drivers did nothing to calm her down. Then again, very little calmed her down. People just had to hope that she would crash sooner or later since that was the only way she ever slowed down, unless she was sick.

When everything came into view, Scout practically lit up. She sat up straighter in the seat, a Cheshire Cat grin took over her face and her eyes went wide. This was her homecoming in many ways and she was ridiculously excited for every moment of it. She just hoped it didn't fly by too fast since the troop wouldn't be passing back this way until after Christmas. “A V.I.P is usually in a caravan.” She teased, glancing at Dax with that same excited expression on her face. “But park anywhere. I need to flip off some energy first.” And her phrasing was quite literal. The moment the car was parked up, Scout was out like a shot, tossing her bag of circus necessities at Dax so she could run ahead and do a few backflips and handsprings. Laughing at nothing in particular, she took her things back from her buddy and then grabbed his hand. “C'mon!” As if she had never left, Scout navigated her way through the set up to find the back of the lot where no visitors came and where the troop set up camp.

The caravans and set ups might have looked identical to a stranger, but Scout knew the subtle differences in every one of them. It didn't take too long running to find where her family would be. She hammered on the door, pushed Dax to the side and then hauled herself up onto the roof with surprising speed, using the closed door as leverage to clamber her way up there. Once it opened she paused for a moment and then hung her head down, grinning ridiculously at her older brother who was halfway through getting into his costume and eating a snack. “Hi, Brooklyn!” She said happily, using her brother to help her climb down from her hiding spot. It was like now she was back with her family she refused to do anything simply, but would instead climb, twist and flip for everything. After hugging her brother and then her parents when they came out, she grabbed Dax and tugged him forward. “This is the infamous Dax. Alas, I have not got him to fly yet.” She said with a sigh, as though it was the thing she was most disappointed by in life.

• • •

TAGGED! Dax! <3
WORDS! 740!
OUTFIT! Circus Cutie!
LYRICS! You Can Fly! - - - Peter Pan
NOTES! <3 <3 <3

[Dakota Marshall Langdon]

Leaving the family home for Dax wasn’t such a hardship. There weren’t many people in the household but they were all loud and rambunctious so it always felt like there was a hell of a lot more people than in actuality. He hadn’t known when he decided to get out on his own two feet that he would feel so lonely. The first few days were great, he had been so excited about the peace and the quiet but it hadn’t lasted. He’d gotten lonely fast, realising he didn’t have the usual noise when he returned home. Dax had quickly remedied that with music and getting King. And then Scout came around and it was like he’d never left home. She definitely kept him busy and kept his mind off the fact that he couldn’t just walk through the door and call out to any of his siblings or parents and get a response; which was something he did for the first couple of months, despite knowing he lived alone now.

Scout made things easily, happier. She was always doing something that seemed silly to him but was completely normal for the pixie sized girl. And he’d gotten used to it. He actually started to miss it when he didn’t find Scout curled up somewhere in his apartment. “Not in the last two minutes, no.” Dax said, grinning. He knew she was excited to see her family again; she’d been talking about it nonstop since she knew they were coming. Dax was excited for her, too. She had a way about her that you just couldn’t help being happy and hyper around her, which helped around the bakery when the days were long and the customers short tempered.

It was fun seeing Scout light up at the sight of her family’s big top coming into view. He didn’t have anything like that; his family were all first responders, even his grandparents. He didn’t have anything to light up like that about. If he lit up at the sight of every fire station or police station, he’d be walking around New York with a perpetual grin plastered on his face! And in a city like New York, well, that just wouldn’t do! “Being a smart ass is unbecoming, Pixie.” He said with a sigh as if it really was bothersome. He barely had the SUV in park before Scout was tossing her bag his way and flipping around the still empty parking lot. He happily gave the bag back when she felt like she’d flipped and spiraled enough, it wasn’t heavy but he also had absolutely no clue what was in the recess of that bag Scout carried around.

His hand in Scout’s, Dax blindly followed her through the grounds, he assumed, searching for her family’s caravan. Everything looked the same to the native New Yorker but this had been all Scout had known until she moved in across the hall from him. She knew the differences between each of the caravan’s and quickly enough found her family’s caravan. He’d heard so much about her family, he honestly felt like he’d already met them a dozen times over, even if this would be the very first time. He’d dragged Scout to his parent’s home every Sunday for dinner since they met just about. It was odd now if Scout missed a family meal. So he thought that this was her version of a Sunday meal and he was hopping from one foot to the other excited; though he could have honestly done without losing his balance when Scout pushed him to the side to climb all over the caravan. He chuckled, happy she was excited to be there and glad he had caught himself before he’d landed on his ass. “She’s tried plenty but I just can’t get it. It’s good to finally meet you.” He said with a chuckle as he extended his hand towards Scout’s brother. “I’ve heard countless stories about your family, I feel like I know you.” He added.

Tag || Scout! <3
Words || 672
Clothes || Happy, Hyper Man!
Music || For the First Time in Forever-- Frozen
Notes || <3

[scout houghton dallas villiers]

Missing her family was probably the hardest part about giving it all up. She dangled about the apartments enough to get her fix of acrobatics, but not even semi-regular phone calls could match the feeling of being with her family every day, joking about with them and working with them. They were never the kind to fight and fall out, but rather they talked things through and worked it all out before anything had a chance to escalate on them. It was something she missed more than she would ever let on about. Spending so much time with Dax's family helped her a little bit, but she still wished that there were more opportunities like today for her to show him the world that she came from; the topsy-turvy, brightly coloured and dare-devil world that was so vastly different from his own. “Be careful. Brooklyn will have you up on a trapeze if you're not careful.” Scout warned in a sing-song voice, only half joking. Subtly was not something anyone here did well and they were all very much extremists to say the least, herself included. “I've heard a lot about you, too. Though I can only apologise for my sister.” Brooklyn teased as Scout's parents moved in to greet Dax, too. They offered quick apologies since they were needed elsewhere and also had to prepare for the afternoon show. There wasn't very much time for a break until the evening once the performances were wrapped up.

“You boys have fun. Swap Pokemon cards or something whilst I get ready.” Scout swept passed Brooklyn and moved to the changing room with her bag, leaving Dax in the company of her brother. Brooklyn invited Dax in and moved some of his belongings so there was more room to sit down. “Sorry, it gets messy and hectic in here. Too many costumes to keep track of.” He explained, tossing the clothes into a corner and then sitting on a low stool in front of a crowded vanity. “So, Scout. How's she doing? And be honest with me, man. I know my sister isn't a city girl by any means.” In all honesty, Brooklyn was still baffled by Scout's desire to live in New York for college. He would support her the whole way, but he couldn't understand it no matter how hard he tried. His sister was a mystery, even to him.

Scout only ever donned her training leotards when she was really in the mood to climb and practice, and then it was just in the sanctuary of her high roofed apartment. The place was perfect for her in that aspect, but today was really getting back to what she knew best. Her costumes were fancy and definitely nothing like the usual t-shirt and hoodie situation she lived in in the city. It was all about the flash and putting on a performance. Scout pulled her hair to the side and tied it up in a bobble, letting it tickle her shoulder and then snapped the headband in place before spraying everything with the hairspray. The guys could entertain themselves whilst she got ready, so she dealt with everything in the back room, from her hair to her make-up. Only when she was ready did she toss her bag into a corner and then jump back outside, stretching her arms and back just so she wasn't about to injure herself in front of an excited crowd that included Dax. “Sure you don't want a go on the tightrope, Daxxy?” She grinned, flopping down into the seat next to him, whilst Brooklyn shook his head and took his turn to get ready. Scout was more excited than ever now that she was back in one of her show costumes. “Do you want to see inside the big top? It looks so much bigger before all the people pack into it.” She grinned, knowing that right now all the apparatus and equipment would be being rigged into position. Plus, Scout was secretly hoping to have a quick practice whilst she still could, just so she could fly a little longer than planned.

• • •

TAGGED! Dax! <3
WORDS! 700!
OUTFIT! Ready To Fly!
LYRICS! You Can Fly! - - - Peter Pan
NOTES! <3 <3 <3