I Don't Dance, Not Anymore // Anthony Wellington

Her mind wandered, which was a dangerous thing in her trade. A flicker of movement caught her attention, and she just barely caught the end of the pin and threw it back into the air. The crowd around her applauded, thinking that her near miss had been a trick.

It hadn't.

The Firebreather was in over her head, but she couldn't stop now! Eight pins flew into the air, and her hands were quick to catch them on the ends and toss them back into the hungry air. Flames licked and threatened to spread down the pins. All eight pins were brightly on fire, and the crowd loved it. Laughing and cheering, they applauded and Firebreather heard the clink of coins dropping into the black hat she had laid onto the ground. Her leather pack lay beside it, and her supplies were dropped around it from previous acts.

Her breath came out in a wisp of smoke, and it clouded her vision. She lost concentration.

Pin!

Losing her timing, she caught the juggling pin on the head. The part that was on fire. Searing hot pain thundered up her arm, rattling her bones and wrenching a loud cry from her dry throat. Dropping the pin and clasping her burnt hand with her unburned one, she leaned forwards slightly the pain not lessening. The seven other pins dropped around her, and one of them landed by her bare feet, rolling into the skin on her foot and staying there. Jerking her foot out of the way, her only thought was to put it into the snow and put out the flames that spread up her ankle. The rest of the pins landed in piles of snow, disappearing in wisps of smoke.

A couple of humans dropped a few more coins, and simply turned to leave. Imagining that she could take care of it, that she was fine. Her cries finally stopped on a low, pained note. Never the less, the humans had no interest in helping her and the crowd simply strode off. The Firebreather gasped, and looked at her right hand, the smell of singed flesh greeted her and red skin spread from her palm up her fingertips unevenly where she had grasped the flames. Turning her body, she looked at her left leg. Red and deep burns ran around her ankle and the top of her foot. How was she going to be able to perform now? The Firebreather thought in a slight panic, grasping a handful of snow and dribbling it atop her left foot. The cold froze the wound, and The Firebreather clentched her jaw, a whimper letting loose. Hands shaking, she did the same for her right hand and felt immediate relief. The fingers and toes that hadn't been singed felt the sluggish spread of freezing.

Tony had been aimlessly wandering the streets of porked-leaves-on-a-foopoo-platter-knows-where his scrambled brains made him wake up.
It's been a long time since something like this has happened.
Yet he was expecting it to happen.

Sooner or later.

He accidentally froze couple coffees of few passer bys as he tripped over a crumbling piece of pavement. And although humans barely noticed he still felt guilty. After all frozen coffee is bit hard to drink. And he didn't want them blame poor barista at cafe or coffeemashine. They were just doing their paid job.

Still...


He suddenly looked up at some crowd gathering and cheering.

There was some kind of a street show on. The kind one did tricks to amaze bored and busy human crowd that eventually might drop a coin.
He knew that.
His brother still slaved for that kind of humiliation when he wasn't clearing richest pockets at some holiday inn.

Ugh.

Thinking of his twin like that made him cringe. Ally he could understand. She performed. Sang mostly. Sometimes did performances that involved "magic". She was good and loved what she was doing.

He.
Well, he painted. Mostly.
Did cheap card tricks at mall with Patrick. And wandered.
Occasionally pickpocketed.

Never sold his body for money.

He watched as the flaming pins burst through frozen air.

Then it all went south.

Tony cringed at the pained scream. And watched humans walking away. Ignoring. Busy.


But he wasn't a human. Not entirely at least.

"Hey, are you okay? Can I help?" Anthony asked to the woman in obvious pain and desperation. Those looked bad burns. Maybe he could master up some little magic to ease the pain. Or he could try anyway.

"Oh! Ah, Ow!" Firebreather hopped on a foot, gasping nervously at the man who seemingly just appeared out of no where. No one else had wanted to help her, no one else had spent the time to ask her if she was ok or not. And some how, she wanted to be calmer, wanted to not worry the kind man.

Why should he have to worry over her? What gave her the right to concern strangers who passed her by?

"Actually, wou-would you mind if you had an-any burn med-medication?" Her voice shook as she felt the edge of pain filling her thought process. It was all she could do to not be screaming and crying like a small child. Firebreather felt like a complainer, bickering and whining about some burned skin, she'd suffered worse in the circus! There was that time when she had fallen from a 20 foot high wire, without a net, breaking her wrist! Just as her thoughts turned from the pain, they were forced right back insistantly. White pain blossomed from her hand and her ankle, but the snow she'd sprinkled over top of the wounds seemed to dull it. Her fingers became far less eager to obey and her foot started to burn as the snow melted from it and collected in ice around her bare toes.

"It's just, that.. Ooh! You know- Kinda stings." Firebreather hugged her wrist to her chest, wishing for all the world she could throw aside all of her pride and simply curl up into a little happy, pain free ball on the ground. So what if she froze. She felt that she was still on fire. Red blisters and red burns spread from where she'd clutched the fire and where it'd mistakingly rolled into her foot.

Tony usually wasn't one to be ready to openly show any hints of who he was, but this was a special case, he could not just stand there and pretend to be blind and deaf.
No, the hell with the alien thing, he's going to help.

"Well, I think I can help with the pain, you just relax. Close your eyes and try to imagine something beautiful. Concentrate on your breathing." Tony give some moment of focus himself, he knew how it hurt. Been there, done that.
But at least he could put that fire out.
"I know, miss. Burns are nasty things. But right now just relax and I'll try to make it better." Anthony said. He had done this before, the very same magic.
Although back then he had about two feet long arrow stuck through his ribs and slightly blurry vision.

He shook his head and started to focus on the energy inside him. He wouldn't be able to heal the burns but he could freeze them. There was a tiny spell for numbing and another for applying cold, or to be more exact- drawing away (or out in this case) the heat and replace it with cold. He knew the numbing would help the pain to ease for a while.
At least long enough for him to send a text to Nate to get some burns solution into his pocket.
Tony just hoped the meager breakfast was enough to give him energy despite the magic being not so exhaustive.

But it was best he could offer right on the spot. He would never let another person get hurt and then ignored by humans. That was not why his race had to suffer for. At least he'd make them proud with his good heart.