[MythicDusk]

Betty gasped with delight at the story, her grin broad on her cheeks, and the plain sight of it caused Belias' heart to float with fondness in his chest.

He caught sight of Zari, saw her expression, saw what she mouthed and he felt himself grow stiff around Betty.

Able to feel Belias' tension, Betty's attention was snapped from Mort to Belias, sitting straight-backed behind her, where before he had been slouched, his chin resting on the top of her head.

"Listen, little one. I'll be right back. Zari just wants to talk okay? Stay with grandpa Mort." Belias mumbled against Betty's hair, standing and walking towards Zari.

Betty, left wrapped in a blanket, in the grass, looked to Mort with open fear. "W-was I naughty? Is it my fault?" She felt a hiccup of a sob echo in her, but she set her jaw to hold them back.

[Mousen]

Mort went to her, sitting beside her on the grass. "Don't suggest such a thing, sweetpea! I don't think you could be naughty if you tried. No, if I know my daughter, something happened on the phone. Probably one of her old friends. Grown ups can get themselves into all sorts of silly situations they need their friends to get them out of."

He opened the palm of his hand, one of Belias' toffees sitting in the centre of it. "Zari brought me some last year, and I haven't had the chance to finish them yet."

He wondered if it was Atlas. God, he hoped he was okay. Zari tried her best to be loyal to the both of them, but the fact she hadn't even told him that Atlas was alive and well recently was worrisome.

Away from the two of them Zari was starting to let her emotions show. "I can't believe him!" she huffed at Belias, shaking her head. "That idiot! It's been months, Belias. You know it as well as I do, because I've told you enough times. Who does he think he is calling me like this? He'd barely told me anything until tonight, h's been hiding almost a year of his life and I was too relieved to even be angry at him."

She took a breath. "I just. I knew something real bad had happened to him, Beli. I knew. He's never dropped off the map like that before. The last thing I heard from him were some stupid drunk texts. Who on earth says "I did a terrible thing, Zar, I don't think I can live like this" and then... doesn't say anything?" My god, Belias he nearly died and didn't think to come to us." Her breath was hitching in her throat. "He's... okay. Thank the gods. He's still alive."

[MythicDusk]

Betty couldn't help her soft sniffle. It was scary, watching her father figure walk off with thunder on his shoulders. She never liked seeing it.

With the presentation of the toffee, she smiled slightly and took it. She carefully stowed it into her pocket, watching the direction Belias had gone, her small hand sneaking to grip Mort's in a soft grip, as if to give herself comfort.

Belias watched as Zari began to split apart infront of him. He moved slowly and carefully, touching her shoulder and then opening his arms. He knew better than to simply drag her into a hug when she didn't want one. He always liked to leave the option to her. After all, sometimes she just needed to pace and vent.

"My love, I have no idea who you are talking about." His voice was soft and even, even as his head tilted slightly in confusion.

[Mousen]

"It'll be all right, sweetpea." Mort said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. He dealt with children in the circus fairly frequently, but family was different and he was almost reminded of Atlas when he was a child. When he'd first brought him back from the faery roads he was just a toddler and such a timid little thing. He had a temper by the time he was Betty's age, though.

Zari didn't immediately hug him, just leaned into his touch. "Atlas!" she said. "Atlas is who I'm talking about. He just called. He just told me that he nearly got torn apart. He was running from some, I don't know, evil faery hounds or something and--" she broke off, burying her face in her hands for a moment. "Why didn't he call us? We could have helped him."

She fell into Belias' arms for a moment, hugging him. She explained a bit more of the situation as she'd heard it from Atlas.

"At least he's safe for now," she said, twisting a lock of hair with her fingers. "He said he's going to try and come home when this is all over. I'm just wondering if I should believe him."

[MythicDusk]

Belias listened in silence, just letting his breathing echo from him as he furrowed his brows as he always did when he was running through plans, when he was thinking hard. [colo=#400080]"It's good that he's okay. And if he doesn't come home, we'll just have to go fetch him, hmm?"[/color] He gave a slight smile, pulling back to look down to the woman in his arms. "Have faith in your brother, my love. If he's half as stubborn as you, he'll be home within a week." He gave a broad grin, hoping he was being somesort of comforting. In truth, he was terrible at family situations. He never had any idea on how to deal with them.

Betty, with her fingers carefully tangled with Mort's, wrapped the blanket tighter around herself, leaning into Mort slightly. "Can you tell me more stories, please? I like it when you tell stories."

[Mousen]

"I'm worried about him, Belias. Atlas... we grew up together but he's never been good at dealing with what was in front of him. He's always just come and gone as he felt like it, consequences be damned. He broke Mort's heart when he left. I... he sounded different. I think he might have turned a corner but I don't know that I trust him." She sighed, looking out over the circus tents with their day to day comings and goings. "What I do know is that if anything tries to hurt him, we need to be there. I can't let anything happen to my brother."

She'd have to call him again, maybe. Give it a couple of days and see if he'd gotten a hold of himself. There were other things to deal with before then, though. "Anyway. We ought to see what trouble Betty and Mort have got themselves into."

Mort had moved onto stores from Zari's childhood. Specifically the time she and Atlas spent two weeks collecting frogs on their travels, only to hide them in the magician's vanishing box so Silas' glamorous assistant didn't so much vanish as break screaming through the plywood.

[MythicDusk]

Belias listened to her, tinclined his head. He didn't know what to say. His way of approaching issues was 'go to wherever the issue is, make the issue stop being an issue.' The first time he had learned the need to be delicate and careful, that not everything could be fixed with intimidation or swinging a fist was meeting Betty. He still wasn't any good at this relationship stuff, he supposed. But he would try to get better. At the mention of Betty and Mort, he nodded slightly, but not before taking her hand for a moment and giving it a gentle squeeze. "If theres anything I can do, tell me, okay?"

With that, he began walking towards his daughter, grinning and scooping his daughter into his arms.

Betty, who had been hooting with laughter at Mort's story squealed with delight at the arms that scooped her up, that bounced her into the air, making her laughter shrill and loud. It was a sound that made Belias' heart swell in his chest like nothing else.

[Mousen]

Zari smiled as Belias took her hand, she nodded. "I will," she said. She knew she had other things to deal with, plans to make with Belias and Betty, she probably ought to talk to discuss some of the currently non-existent wedding ideas with the circus, she needed to think about how she was going to talk to her family back in the Wilt'no. Atlas' timing was just typical. Of course he'd have a disaster while she had more to think about than she had done in months. There was her job, too! While Belias had been doing his mercenary work she just went back to the circus, and generally his months back home coincided with the circus' off season so she'd barely been missed. But with the engagement and Betty she'd barely had time to think of what to do and...

She watched Belias swing Betty into the air while she laughed, and Zari couldn't help but smile. It was the most adorable thing. She took a deep breath and let the tension out of her shoulders. There'd be time for all that later.

[MythicDusk]

Belias, unaware of Zari's dillemas, was instead focusing on getting his daughter to squeal. He had since placed her back down on the floor, where she had caged her own lips with her fingers, as if trying to hold her own mouth shut, to prevent any other noises from escaping.

That was, at least, until Belias pulled a sizable earthworm from the hole in the ground he had dug with his fingers.

Betty squealed.

Belias grinned broad and playful as he brought it closer to her, the wriggling creature draped over his finger. Betty squealed louder with a mixture of disgust and delight as she quickly sprinted away, giggling all the way. Belias was left crouching, grinning and letting the earthworm slide back into where he had pulled it from, where he carefully padded the earth back down with the back of his fingers before standing up, brushing off his hands on his pants and grinning at Zari, an invite to play as he cupped his hands over his mouth.

"Oh Betty! I'm coming for you!"

He couldn't help the grin that crossed his face at the sound of a delighted squeal further in the camp.

[Mousen]

Zari watched Betty run off and laughed. Belias was so good with her, seemed to know instinctively what to do, she looked to Mort who reached over to pat her shoulder. "She's a good kid. You've got this," he said quietly.

She smiled at Belias, and nodded, hanging back for just a moment. "You think so?" She half-whispered back.

Mort nodded. "Zari, I don't think I've been worried about you for years. I'm not going to start now."

She couldn't help but laugh at that. She turned go to, mouthed "thank you" after Mort and disappeared into the camp after Belias and Betty.

"Betty!" she called.

[MythicDusk]

Betty scampered out from between one of the wagons, panting and skidding to a halt behind Zari, grabbing her leg and hiding behind it with a grin. It was a few moments before Belias tumbled out after her, the sound of crashing following him. He cried out an apology over his shoulder as he looked around, spotting Zari and noticing Betty behind her.

Rather than dive straight for his daughter, he sauntered up to Zari, grinning wide and joyful. "Say, Zari, the love of my life, the woman I wish to marry, do you know where my daughter seems to have run off to? It's so hard to find her with all this activity around, you know?" He grinned wider as he heard Betty giggle from behind Zari's leg.