There's a First Time For Everything


Setting down the large reptile onto the worn cobblestones, Leukos took the bag off his shoulder and began rummaging inside to draw out the items he’d need. Kyro blinked one, then two of his large orange eyes at him, nosing his way into the bag to find the treats he could smell. After pushing the scaly snout away, he pulled out the smaller pouch the lizard could smell, tying that to his waist as he set a small cup on the stones in front of him. He then took a loose pebble off the ground and stood, taking a few steps away from the lizard, which gazed up expectantly at him.

“Alright Kyro, let’s give this a try. We’ve done this so many times, you should get it by now,” Leukos talked down to the alol, looking up as he rubbed the small stone between his fingers. He’d chosen this spot because it wasn’t as busy as the usual one he’d been setting up his performances in, but still had quite a few people going about their business around the pair. They’d worked on his routine back in Leukos’ room, but the lizard needed to prove that he could handle the many distractions that life outside held before he committed to having him perform alongside him officially.

So he turned his attention back to Kyro, holding the rock up for the alol to see, “Just ignore everyone, and pay attention to me. I know you know this.” And with that he tossed it to the ground. Immediately Kyro was on the move, picking up the rock between its minuscule teeth and scurrying over to drop the stone into the cup. Once inside, he pushed it across the stones to Leukos’ feet, looking up with an unblinking intensity. “Perfect! Let’s do it again, that was flawless,” Leukos beamed as he fished a little chunk of meat out of his pouch, dropping it to be snapped up by the greedy lizard while he retrieved the rock.

Again and again the reptile performed the trick, receiving a small scrap after every success. And then Leukos was pulling other props out of his bag to test the lizard: small bells on strings for him to ring, rods to walk across, balls to balance on his unmoving body, and other such things. On occasion he was distracted by something happening nearby, or the people who stopped to wonder what the two were doing. But overall he was performing splendidly, and Leukos could not be prouder of his little companion.

“Alright, you’re doing great! Last one, then we can take a break for a while,” he said as he pulled out a child’s colorful ball and a simple wooden flute, setting Kyro atop the sphere carefully, “Let’s finish with a bang!” And as he began playing a lilting little tune, Kyro balanced atop the ball, bobbing his head and tail along to the music. This last trick drew in a small crowd of curious onlookers, who with delighted smiles marveled at the talented little alol, as enchanted as Leukos was by all of his hard work. Kyro was doing better than he could have hoped; it almost felt like being back home at the circus. If only they could see him now…

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Alethryia