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There was something about the circus that always managed to capture your attention. There was always a lot going on and no one was ever truly sure what to be mesmerized with. The animals and their tricks were all astounding, the way that the acrobats moved through the air, how the ringmaster always managed to steal the spotlight. It was something you had to admire no matter how many times you went to the circus and watched these performances.
As a child, Keith Kogane never grew tired by these acts, in fact even as he got older he found himself growing more and more fascinated with the idea that he might one day… want to run his own circus. Keith remembered when he had told his older brother, Shiro, this information his brother had looked at him mildly confused. Keith felt the regret of telling Shiro his ambitions slowly rise up in his chest and he knew this was a mistake, undoubtedly, but then he watched as Shiro picked his hand up and ruffle Keith’s hair.
“Alright,” the nineteen year old said with a big grin. Keith looked up at him as he tried to pat down his hair from it getting messed up by Shiro. Keith had a feeling that was all Shiro was going to say and he felt his hands ball up into fists, because Keith was going to become a ringmaster. No matter what.
Shiro wasn’t done though. “We’ll make it happen,” he said with a bigger smile and Keith felt his heart stop in his chest momentarily. Most parents would just say that to get their kid to shut up, but that wasn’t the case with Shiro; when Takashi Shirogane said something he meant it with all his heart. He was the closest thing Keith had to a father and Shiro knew it. After Keith’s father passed away, Shiro had to learn to take care of him on his own, while it was a daunting task the older boy learned to take care of him and get used to his small habits.
From that day forth, Shiro had always managed to find a way for Keith to attend at least two circus shows a month and be able to go “backstage” and talk with the ringmaster and try to get to know the show a little better than he thought he knew. Keith had learned to make a lot of friends over the years of attending shows. Even when Shiro started dating his, now, fiance, they would still attend shows and try to grasp what else Keith needed to do.
It wasn’t until Keith reached his twenty-second birthday that he was able to finally open his circus tent for the very first time.
Everything went by smoothly, all of the acts got along with each other and Keith was able to admit that he loved all of the acts he had put together and the animals that were apart of it as well. Shiro had attended his first show and had complimented Keith on how well he was abe to put everything together and knew that that was going to be their goodbye for a few months.
The show was called: Cirque Incroyable. According to all reviews, the name fit the show exactly and according to one review, the name itself didn’t give the show enough credit.
That was until the accident.
It wasn’t something Keith could have possibly have controlled, maybe it was just the universe’s way of being cruel, Keith would never be sure. During their last night in Vegas, one of the acrobat’s swings snapped and fell down, dropping down twenty feet and receiving a serious head injury and causing for that acrobat to fall into a coma. The rest of the acrobatic act was their family and they quit the instant this had happened. Thankfully, they didn’t sue him. This hadn’t been his fault after all but… it still hurt him.
Keith wasn’t sure how they were supposed to go on without the acrobats, they were basically the ones who stole the show and kept people intrigued. It wasn’t until one of his friends, Hunk, told him that he might know an acrobat who would be interested in working with him. Desperate, Keith agreed to meet this person. Their next show was in a week, he needed someone by that time.
Hunk had gave him the location this person would be at, stating that they had already been informed of Keith’s shows. Apparently, he had been an acrobat for years but unable to nail a job because of personal reasons. Hunk said that he had been able to handle his problems and that they were no longer an issue.
A few days later, three days after the incident, Keith found himself walking into a gymnasium where they held gymnastics classes as well as children's tumbling and cheerleading classes. Thankfully, nobody was around though except the person at the front desk. They were small and had a book sitting on the desk that they were clearly engrossed into. Keith felt himself being rude when he cleared his throat and the person looked up at him with a scowl.
“Yes?” they asked slowly, looking partially annoyed for being interrupted.
Keith swallowed, anxious. “Um,” he said, “is Lance McClain in?”
Their eyes followed over Keith for a moment, their eyes widening in surprise. “You’re that Cirque Incroyable guy, right?” they asked, a bit of awe hinted in their voice.
Keith felt his ears turn red. It had been months since he opened up his tent for the first time and even after all this time, he still wasn’t used to receiving the attention he received. “Yeah,” he said after a moment, offering them a gentle smile.
They smiled and Keith noticed their name tag pinned to their shirt that read the name Pidge Holt. He almost couldn’t help but to admire the name, because it fit them; they were small, like a pigeon.
Pidge smiled at him. “Ah, so you’re looking for acrobat recruits, right?” Pidge closed their book and stood up quietly and jumped over the desk standing by Keith’s side. They were a few inches shorter than he was and it made him want to pout. Keith was already short, this wasn’t exactly helping his self esteem.
“Well,” Pidge said, gesturing for Keith to follow them through a set of doors, “if you want my opinion, when you meet Lance you won’t need to find anymore supporting roles. Trust me, he is a one man show that entrances hundreds of people.”
Keith would believe it when he sees it.
As soon as Keith walked into the gymnasium he noticed that there was only one person, swinging from swing the swing that was connected to thee ceiling. Keith’s eyes widened and he paused at the doorway as he stared at them in awe. Lance McClain was well known between all acrobats around the city. He put on shows before, small ones, for students in high school and elementary to recruit them to join the gymnastics team and such. Keith had never seen him personally but he had heard how in awe people were by him and his presence and now, seeing him live, Keith could see why people adored his work and what he did.
Lance’s movements that travelled through the air were the most graceful he had ever seen in his life. He wasn’t sure how he managed it. Not even the last family who were acrobats could accomplish this much grace in their movements.
It took him a few seconds to register there was other people in the room with him and he swung one more time and managed to land down on the ground silently a couple feet away from Keith and Pidge. He wore a tight spandex type of practice attire and he had sweat dripping down the side of his face, his dark hair was patted down against his forehead and it was long enough that it almost covered his dark brown eyes.
“You’re Keith,” he said a pant in his words, “right?”
Keith nodded softly and pulled against his shirt collar, hoping he looked presentable to the boy. “Yes. I’m assuming you’re Lance McClain?” Keith asked reluctantly as he stretched his hand out to greet him but Lance just smiled and pushed his hand away.
“That’s the name,” he said as he strutted over to a beam that was on the gym floor for beginner gymnastics classes and jumped on it with ease. “And I’m assuming you’re Keith Kogane?” he asked smiling, attempting a handstand on the beam and started to make his way across it. “The famous Cirque Incroyable ringmaster?”
The way he said it made Keith sound like he was just a child’s play compared to other ringmaster’s. Keith’s hands clenched into fists and he tried to keep his composure, he wasn’t going to let some acrobat ruin his ego. “Yes.” Keith paused a moment, wondering now whether he should say his next his words. Was this person really going to be worth it? Keith didn’t have a choice though, Cirque Incroyable was based on the idea that it was filled with the most amazing and fantastic acts he could gather up. The acrobats was what most kids saw and had their eyes wide open for, they were the people no one wants to miss. “And I have a job offer for you.”
Lance picked himself back up on his feet instead and he smiled a Keith, the boyish charming smile with the hint of mischief in it. In that moment, Keith knew he was going to regret this decision.
The first night that Lance went on the show the audience was mind blown.
Lance never once allowed Keith to watch his performances so Keith had seen his performance for the first time in Los Angeles, California, the next stop for their tour. Though, when Keith had tried tell Lance how amazing his performance was he never seemed to be around. It happened like this for the next few shows and he wasn’t sure how to get a hold of him at this point.
There was a week of break while they were in France. Keith had been standing in the Notre Dame Cathedral, getting ready for the tour with his other acts when he noticed Lance was standing right beside him. He was wearing something more simple than what Keith was used to seeing him in, but, Keith did admire that Lance was wearing the gray hoodie that Keith had given everyone with the name Cirque Incroyable logo on it and the word ACROBAT in bold letters on the right arm sleeve.
“Have you ever been here before?” Keith decided to ask, glancing over at Lance quietly, hoping to make some conversation with him in one way or another.
Lance shook his head gently and he looked up at the cathedrals ceilings. “No. I’ve always wanted to though. I thought Paris was always pretty nice. I was always waiting to come with the right person.” Lance side eyed Keith. “You?”
Keith shrugged, looking down at a brochure that was in his hand. “Same.”
Lance chuckled and nudged him. “Hey, maybe fate brought us together.”
Keith rolled his eyes but smiled. “Don’t stretch it McClain.”
The tour wasn’t too long, Keith felt like he couldn’t focus though thanks to Lance continuously nudging him or muttering something that was only mildly amusing under his breath. He hadn’t realized it at the time though but Keith had been smiling for nearly the whole tour. Not because he was excited to learn exactly, but because… despite the fact Lance acted cocky and like an idiot, he could be quite amusing.
When the Cirque Incroyable group exited the cathedral together, Lance grabbed Keith’s hand and dragged him away quietly and they walked over to the front of the cathedral where there was a lady sitting on the floor and smiling at a man pointing a camera at her. She left a few moments later and Keith and Lance slowly approached the place and noticed there was a tile with a star on it that said the words: Point Zero .
Keith blinked and looked at Lance. “What’s this?” he asked. They were still holding hands.
Lance reached into the pocket of his sweatpants and pulled out his wallet and let Keith's hand go in the process (which, even though Keith would never admit, he felt a little upset about). He opened it up and pulled out a quarter and pointed to the tile again where Keith noticed there was a couple of coins in the star. “This is Point Zero, it’s considered the center of France.”
“It’s like a wishing well?” Keith asked, pulling the quarter from Lance’s hand. “You can make a wish and it’s supposed to come true?”
Lance nodded and smiled. “Yes.”
“Hm…” Keith offered Lance back his quarter but he shook his head.
“You do it.” Lance said, putting his hands back into the pockets of his jacket. “I made my wish earlier.” Lance seemed happy and Keith wondered what he had wished for, but knew he wasn’t going to say it. Keith only knew Lance for a few months and rarely spoke to him, while he was beautiful and… God.
Keith looked away from Lance and closed his eyes and wished. He wished he could return to Paris again, that Cirque Incroyable would never cease to fail. He wishes that he won’t lose anymore of his acts…
Especially Lance.
He tossed the coin into the star and it clattered. Keith sighed opening his eyes and he looked over at Lance who had been looking down at the star quietly then he smiled, pleased. “Cool,” Lance said and grabbed Keith’s hand again and stepped away, walking a few feet away and another couple took over the star. Lance pointed to them and smiled. “There’s another myth about the star,” Lance said quietly.
Keith watched, it was like a movie being played before him and he saw as a couple made a wish, well the woman did and as she made the wish her boyfriend got down on one knee and proposed to her, which she said yes.
“What’s the myth?” Keith asked.
Lance smiled and looked away as the couple embraced each other and kissed.
“The myth,” he said, “is if you kiss on Point Zero, that love will be eternal.”
Two years had passed since they had gone to Paris, despite Keith’s wish some of the acts had left but there was always people that were able to fill that spot, though never forgotten. By the time the two years were over, only one person had really stuck around. Lance McClain was the one person who was remembered by all people in the show. He was a powerful act and no one forgot it. Keith surely never did.
They had travelled to Paris that summer again, being invited to perform for all the political figures of France and Lance seemed excited, though he had no idea why. Keith had walked in on his rehearsal, something he had slowly started to do often. At first, Lance had gotten mad at him, but after some time he started to be okay with this, because there couldn’t have been anything bad to come out of this after a while. Keith wasn’t as close to the other acts as he was to Lance.
Lance swung gracefully from beam to beam. He looked at peace, doing the job easily and Keith walked up into the seats and watched him silently, a smile settled on his lips. He waited until Lance was sitting in his hoop that was perched up in the center of the tent at sat there, his eyes instantly falling onto Keith’s.
Lance smiled and waved.
Keith smiled and waved back.
Lance’s make up was still on,the blue colorful waves against his cheek, sparkling in the lights of the tent and Keith thought he looked beautiful.
“See something you like?” Lance teased.
Keith considered it. “No.”
Lance pouted.
I see something I love , Keith wanted to say.
Keith smiled and rolled his eyes at Lance. “C’mon!” he called out to him. “I want to show you something.” He sounded particularly eager as he said those words.
Lance tilted his head but sighed as he slowly lowered himself to the ground gracefully. He couldn’t say no to Keith as much as he wanted to, it was just like how Keith could never say no to Lance. That was just a personal thing though. “Do I have to dress nicely?” Lance asked.
“Anything you wear looks nice on you,” Keith said as he exited the seats, going down to the center as he met Lance silently. “Just wear whatever you want.” Keith felt himself grow a bit nervous, it’d been two years and he still stayed. He was the only one that stayed. That had to have meant something, right? “I’ll wait for you outside in the car.”
Fifteen minutes later Lance and Keith found themselves driving along through streets of Paris. Lance was looking out the window, his right leg bouncing in anticipation and he glanced over at Keith silently and smiled at him. “Are you going to tell me where we’re going?’ he asked, fluttering his eyelashes at him.
“Flirting isn’t going to give you answers, McClain,” Keith said with a grin. “I thought we’ve gone over this.”
Lance and Keith had been flirting for over two years at this point, but nothing had ever been made official between them. Between Keith running the show and having the most work and having dozens of acts to put into place, he never really had time to ask Lance what they should do regarding their relationship status.
Even after that night at the hotel a few days ago.
The car stopped at the Notre Dame Cathedral and Keith stepped out of the car and offered his hand out to Lance who took it but looked around confused. “What’s this?” Lance asked in confusion. “You want to tour the Notre Dame together again?”
Keith chuckled and shook his head. “No,” he said slowly. “We’re here for Point Zero.” The tile was empty, nobody was around and the two of them stopped and looked down at it. It wasn’t inhabited by coins this time.
Lance hummed under his breath, still holding Keith’s hand. “Can I ask why?”
Keith shrugged. “Wel,” he started, “two years ago I made a wish.”
“Did you wish to come back?” Lance asked.
“Sort of,” Keith said. “I wished that I would return with Cirque Incroyable. ” Keith looked at Lance. “You specifically.”
Lance was quiet a moment, no smile was on his lips but slowly it formed and it grip on Keith’s hand tightened. “Me?” When Keith nodded he beamed, his smile stretching from ear to ear. “It’s like we’re in a romance movie,” Lance said.
Keith tilted his head in confusion. “Why?”
Lance was still smiling. “Because I wished the same thing.”
The two men looked at each other and Lance ended up being the one to make the move, reaching out and cupping Keith’s cheek with his own free hand and kissed him. His lips were warm and Keith felt his heart skip nearly three beats in a row. It took him long enough.
He heard someone clapping, then a couple of others before the two of them pulled away from each other, a blushing mess. Neither of them could stop smiling, though.
“The myth,” he said, “is if you kiss on Point Zero, that love will be eternal.”
If what Lance had said was true, maybe they too could be eternal.