Strong Body, Fragile Hearts

Her Gardener, nervous

Finni's POV

I was nervous as I walked through the entrance to the circus. I don't know why. I had been alone with Bells before but tonight just seemed kind of like, like a date. I noticed the show wasn't over yet, I was early. I decided to go on back to Bells tent since she wasn't performing. I saw the entrance tent and stepped through it, not having been stopped by anyone. I turned and saw s mass of snakes, all appeared poisonous and were all headed for me.

I yelped, turned and raced out of the tent, with the snakes in pursuit. I ran and ran, then finally crashed into someone. "Hey, slow down, what's the rush?" It was a tallish blonde boy, with dots of red painted onto his cheeks. "Got to go, snakes!" I yelled then took off again. The blonde boy did not move however. "SNAKE!" He yelled. A man with silvery hair and pale skin that was draped in snakes stepped out from the shadows. "You said they wouldn't hurt innocent people!" The boy yelled pointing at the snakes. The man stepped in front of them and simply stared at them.

They all began to slither away, back to his tent, I guess. "But the boy was not innocent... says Emily." The man, Snake I guess his name was said. "He was sneaking in... says Oscar." The blonde boy turned to me with accusatory eyes. I began stammering out a reason for why I was trying to get back there, as the boy pulled out some knives. I gulped and looked around. I really, really, didn't want to hurt anyone. As I continued backing up, I backed up right into someone, I turned around to see Joker, who seemed surprised to see me. "What are you doing here Finni? And why is Dagger trying to skewer you?" He asked. "I was trying to see Bells! She asked me to come visit her again! But there were all these snakes, poisonous ones!" I explained to Joker and held out my pass for him to see. It had Bells signature on it. He looked at me and frowned for a moment then nodded and turned to Dagger.

"Dagger, this is Finni, the boy Bells met." Dagger nodded. He eyed me suspiciously. I blushed, I hated too much attention. Joker led me back to the tent with all the snakes and strode through without stopping. I followed him, keeping behind him as I eyed the poisonous critters. After we left the tent I side in relief, I didn't like snakes, they ate birds.

Joker walked me over to Bell's and Doll's tent then stopped me from entering. "I want to know what your intentions are regarding my sister." He said harshly glaring at me. "I-I just want to be her friend. That's all." I stuttered out. Joker loomed over me. "I don't believe that. Did your lord send you? Trying to cozy up to us." He said venomously as I shrank back. "No one s-sent me, I came of my own free will."  Joker stepped back and fixed a frown on me. "Fine, for now I believe you, but if you hurt her or any of this circus's members, then I will feed you to those snakes." I gulped and watched as his entire demeanor changed, from menacing and cold, to warm and cheerful. But which demeanor was his true one?

Bells called out for me to enter. I walked in and was stunned into silence. She was beautiful. Her hair was done up in a messy bun and falling into her face, and her eyes sparkled like a night sky. She cocked her head at me and said, "Finni? Is something wrong?" I realized i had been staring and then shook my head. "No, it's just, you-you are pretty." Then I realized I had said that out loud. She blushed as I clapped a hand over my mouth. "Th-Thank you." She stammered out and blushed again. I offered her my handful of flowers, I brought her some narcissus flowers mixed with pear blossoms. Her eyes widened in delight. "I love pear blossoms!" she exclaimed as she took the bouquet from me to place them in a vase with the bouquet I gave her yesterday.

After she finished arranging them to her satisfaction, she turned back to me and asked, "Where did you find them? They're very rare. I've traveled all over and never found any." I rubbed the back of my neck and stared at the floor. The disadvantage of Bells being shorter than I was, was she could walk up and catch my gaze. She did just that, and asked me once more, "Finni, where did you get them?" I couldn't refuse her request, she just looked so cute, with her big blue eyes like a midnight sky. "I grew them, I- I'm a gardener at PhantomHive manor." Her eyes widened in surprise, then she beamed at me. It was dazzling.

"Can you show me?" she asked quietly. I blinked and then realized she had asked me a question. "Uhm, sorry Bells, what did you just ask me?" I asked her again. She laughed and said, "Pay attention silly! I asked if I could see your garden. I would love to see all the flowers."  I grinned and nodded. When I did Bells lit up like a Christmas tree. She cheered and spun around. As I watched her, I realized I had a wee issue. I was beginning to fall, yet all I could focus on were Bells ringing.