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Freminet liked watching his siblings shows.
His big brother and sister were good at what they did, and even if he didn't want to participate, he enjoyed watching.
Today, he was here to see their show. Or at least, he was supposed to be seeing it.
It was supposed to start ten minutes ago.
He checked his watch and frowned. The crowd were muttering amongst themselves.
He got up and shuffled past various people, making his way to the green room his brother and sister were probably in.
He heard urgent talking behind the door and knocked.
"Come i-"
"No! Don't! I'll be out in a minute!" Lyney shouted, sounding like his nose was stuffed, and Lynette muttered something.
Freminet frowned.
"It's me. Can I come in?"
"Oh, Freminet. Uh..." His sister trailed off.
"No. You can't. Go away." He sounded like he'd been crying.
"Lyney, be nice. Come in, ignore him."
Freminet pushed the door open and slipped inside, closing it behind him.
He raised his eyebrows at the sight he found.
Lyney was sat on the floor, clutching his ankle, and Lynette was stood over him.
They were both dressed and looked ready for the show, except Lyney was red in the face and had puffy eyes, and his hat was on the floor a few feet away from him.
"Have you been crying? What's wrong?"
Lynette crossed her arms, her ears twitching.
"He's probably sprained or broken his ankle, but won't accept help."
"Shut up! I haven't! It's fine, I can still go on stage. I just fell a bit."
Freminet and Lynette frowned at him.
"What? It's fine. Help me up."
Lynette shook her head, and her tail swished.
"You're hurt. If I help you up, you'll force yourself onto stage and get hurt worse."
"The show was meant to start ten minutes ago." The youngest brother pointed out.
Lyney groaned, his eyes watery again.
"I know! I know it was! I'd be out there if you helped, Lynette!"
"No! We have to cancel! You need medical attention!"
Lyney's purple eyes went wide.
"No! No, don't! Please! We can't cancel! Don't say that!"
He tried to stand up, but when he put weight on his foot, he hissed and fell back again.
"It's fine. It's fine. We can not cancel, don't even-"
His breathing was speeding up. Lynette sighed and crouched.
"Lyney. Look at me."
He did, tears threatening to spill. Freminet didn't know how to help.
"You physically can't get up without help. That means you can't go on stage."
"I have to. We have to. I can't just abandon the show, it- the show must go on, that's the point!"
She nodded, her ears flopping.
"I know that you think that. I disagree. They won't mind."
"People are here to see us do magic. We have to go and do it."
He looked terrified. Cancelling a show was his worst fear. His trust in the act itself was immaculate, but cancelling? No. No, Lyney could never accept that.
Freminet knew his brother operated entirely different to him.
Lyney loved the spotlight. It was his favourite thing to hear the applause that Freminet desperately tried to avoid.
Finishing a trick successfully was only enjoyable to him because of the promise of applause, the promise of attention. It was what fuelled him. The only thing that fuelled him.
Not going on stage, not reaching the applause, the standing ovation, the encore and then the screams and cheers of excitement, struck true fear into the boy's heart.
He grabbed Lynette's white cuffed sleeve, pleading with her not to cancel, and she stared at him, sympathy in her matching eyes.
"If they get refunds or new tickets, they won't mind. Trust me. You're more important than the act."
He didn't say anything, but the way he stared at her told both of his siblings exactly what he wanted to.
No, I'm not.
Freminet bowed his head, his blonde hair brushing over his freckled face.
He didn't like the spotlight, partly for this reason.
Of course, he disliked the attention anyway, but seeing his older brother practically destroy himself over it, over his desperation for the rush of adrenaline that came with it, made him almost scared of it.
If he got that attention, if he was trained from a young age to join the act and work this hard for something that short and fleeting... would he have turned out the same?
He looked back up at his older brother, at the tears that finally escaped when Lynette shook her head. His tear-shaped makeup seemed very fitting now.
"We can't cancel. They want us out there. Please, Lynette." He sniffled.
"You can't stand, nevermind finish the act."
"No, I can. I promise. I can. Just... just get me on stage, the adrenaline will help. I'll be fine."
"No."
She turned to face Freminet.
"Help him onto a chair. I'll announce that the show is cancelled."
Lyney shook his head desperately, and held his hand out to his twin when she got up and walked towards backstage, whispering "No, please, don't, we can't."
Freminet walked over, putting an arm around his brother and lifting him up.
"Don't put weight on it, lean on me."
"I don't want to cancel the show."
He helped him to a chair, sitting him down.
"Too bad. You're too hurt, Lynette said it."
A voice came over the speakers. Lynette's microphone linked up to them to let other performers know when their cue was coming. The brothers looked up at them, Lyney wiping his eyes. His makeup was smudged.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I bring bad news about tonight's show. Due to unforseen circumstances, we have to cancel. There is no way the show can continue with the current issue at hand. I and Lyney apologise. Refunds or replacement tickets will be organised with the staff of the theatre, please follow their directions to exit calmly. I apologise again. Have a nice night."
Lyney groaned, putting his head in his hands.
"This is my fault. This is all my fault."
"How did you get hurt?"
"Someone left some equipment out over there. I tripped."
He pointed, and it was right. There were some strongman's weights on the floor, in the middle of the path from the door.
Freminet frowned.
"That's not your fault. Someone was irresponsible."
"But I should have looked out."
"No. They should have cleaned up."
"Whatever."
He huffed, and Freminet sighed, sitting on a chair next to him.
"...Sorry that you couldn't see the show."
"I've seen it a thousand times, I don't mind."
"But there was a new trick. I really wanted you to see it. You'd have thought it was so cool."
The younger of them smiled.
"Then I'll come and see it again when you recover. I'll be more excited because of the wait."
Lyney smiled, wiping his eyes again and sitting up.
"You'll love it."
"I'm sure I will."
Lynette came back through the door and hopped over the weights.
"Done. Now, we need to get you to a doctor."
"Do we have to?"
"Yes. Freminet, help me with him."