Chapter Text
The sky was light outside, people walking the streets, and chatter could be heard.
That day, you were heading to work for your shift at the cafe.
You had noticed that the streets for the last few days were covered head to toe in flyers for the circus that had arrived in town a few days ago.
Sometimes on your walks to work you would see people handing out flyers as well. The circus had grabbed a lot of attention from the public, good and bad.
“Ever since you guys showed up, women have been going missing! Go back to whatever hellhole you crawled out of!”
An angry voice rings out on the street, and the sound of something hitting the ground.
It made you pause and look at what was happening on the street nearby.
There was an angry man yelling at what seemed to be a clown from that circus.
The clown was on the ground, flyers scattered around on the street in a mess, while the man continued to shout.
Could the circus really be blamed for someone who is suspected to have run away with a lover? You thought to yourself, before noticing no one else was doing anything besides watching the clown being attacked by this man.
“I’m talking to you, you freak! Get out of our town!”
It seemed like your body moved on its own toward them, but you couldn’t just stand there any longer while this man beat on someone for just doing their job.
You get between the man and the clown, grabbing the man’s wrist before he could try to hit the clown again.
“You can’t just attack someone like that,” you say, pushing the man back a bit and letting go of his wrist.
The man only seems to get angrier at that.
“Wake up, you idiot! They’re the ones kidnapping women!” he shouts, pointing a finger at the clown still on the ground.
Before you could reply, he was shouting again.
“To hell with you all!” the man shouts before he storms away. The crowd around starts to leave now that the drama was over.
You turn around to check on the clown, only to be face to face with his chest. You look up the clown was really tall, making you wonder if that was his actual height or if he was wearing something to make him taller for the circus.
The clown was staring at you, unblinking and intensely, like he was trying to stare inside of you. His head tilted, which made him a bit creepy in a way.
“…you okay?” you ask awkwardly before you notice the mark on his cheek from where the man probably hit him.
You reach into your pocket, pulling out a bandage. You offer the bandage to him.
“For your cheek,” you say.
The clown’s eyes look down at the bandage for a moment before smiling and taking it, making the bells on his hat jingle a little.
The clown nods, and you take that as his way of saying thank you.
He was so quiet it made you wonder if he was naturally quiet or if it was part of an act.
“…well… I best be going. Don’t get attacked by anyone, people,” you say as he nods with a big smile.
You give him a wave as you turn around and head in the direction of the cafe.
Without noticing, the clown was staring holes into the back of your head, his hand clutching that bandage like a lifeline.
When you make it to the cafe, opening the door, the sound of bells rings from above the door.
Before you could even set your bag down, your boss came out.
“Carol never showed. I need you on the floor,” he says, looking over his shoulder at the busy cafe.
The cold winter always seemed to attract more people here.
You nod, a bit confused. “Never showed?” you say. Carol, a no-call no-show? She had never done that before.
She was always so responsible.
“Yeah, she never showed or answered my calls,” your boss sighs, arms crossed.
“Put your bag away, and I’ll come out to help you in a bit,” he says before turning away to go to the counter to take orders.
You walk around the counter to the back, placing your bag down before putting on your apron and heading back out.
You take the orders that were already on the counter and ready and take them to their tables. Some customers thank you when they get their order, others nod or try to start a conversation with you, and you do as it is part of your job.
Once most of the rush was dealt with and cleared out, your boss calls over to you from the counter.
“Can you clean up all these flyers? They’re all over the cafe, and those guys have been posting them on my windows,” your boss says, a bit annoyed. It was understandable that they were plastered everywhere, on windows and walkways, and were a bit of a pain to clean.
“Got it.”
You walk around to all the tables, picking up the flyers. Customers had left them all over their tables instead of throwing them out.
Once you grab the last one, you end up with a small stack of them in your arms.
That’s when the bell rings, and someone walks in. You look over your shoulder to greet the customer.
“Welcome,” you say, already feeling tired just from the work you had done.
“Thanks, I’d like a strong, hot coffee,” the customer says, taking a seat at a table. He wasn’t meeting your gaze at first.
“I’ll bring it to your table,” you say, setting the stack down on the counter as you go to start the coffee
An easy order for you.
Once it was done and you put the lid on, you carry it out to the table, setting it down.
“Here’s your coffee.”
The customer nods.
“Thanks, it’s quite cold outside,” he says, starting up a conversation with you.
You nod to his words.
“What’s up with those flyers?” he asks, seeming to notice the stack you left on the counter.
“Oh, someone was handing them out. I had to pick them up,” you answer.
The customer takes a sip of their coffee.
“How rude to do that in a place of business,” he says before setting his coffee back down.
“If you want, I can take them off your hands,” he offers.
“…if you want to,” you say. What would someone want a stack of flyers for?
“I collect recycling,” he says.
“Really? In that case, they’re all yours,” you say. It saved you the work of having to throw it all out.
Before you could take a step to leave, the customer spoke up again.
“Do you like the circus?”
You pause, looking back over at him.
“Think I’m a bit old for the circus,” you say.
“Hmm, not this circus. This circus isn’t for kids. They’ve got some pretty creepy stuff,” he says, picking his drink up to take another sip.
“Here, I have a ticket you can have—” he pauses when he finally looks up to meet your eyes. He stares, making you shift a bit uncomfortably between your feet.
“…”
You raise an eyebrow at the cut-off silence.
“You okay… sir?” you ask.
The customer sets his coffee down without taking a sip, eyes still locked onto you.
“…yes… I’ll be going now,” he says, leaving some change on the table before walking out of the cafe, leaving the coffee behind in his hurry to leave.
“…he left his coffee,” you mutter, confused.
You doubted he would come back for it. With a tired sigh, you grab the coffee to dump out later.
At least he paid for it.
As the day went on, you wiped down the counters and tables. As closing time neared, you eyed the clock for the time you could go home.
You didn’t mind your job. Your boss was nice, the pay was fine, but it was tiring with such a small staff.
That’s when your boss comes around the counter.
“I’m heading out for an appointment. We’re closing up a bit early. All you gotta do is clean up and close, and I’d rather you don’t stay here long by yourself at this time,” he says with a wary look.
It’s true, sometimes there are weird people around this time when it starts to get dark out.
“Okay, I’ll do that,” you say as you finish wiping down the last table. You give your boss a wave as he leaves the cafe, leaving just you.
You go over to the trash bin, taking out the bag to empty it.
You walk through the cafe with it to the back and out the back door that was used to take the trash out.
You step outside into the chilly night air as you set the bag down with the others to be taken away on garbage day.
Before you turn to go inside, you notice something in the corner of your eye.
Movement and a shadow.
Tilting your head, you try to see if it was a big raccoon or something, but when you see two yellow dots staring at you through the dark where the bins are, you quickly go back inside.
And you didn't feel like getting bitten and having to go to the hospital.
When you got back inside, you noticed how it seemed to get colder all of a sudden in the cafe when it had been warm not that long ago.
Before you could mess with the heater, the power went out, plunging the cafe into darkness.
You freeze, trying to see in the darkness. You rub your arms, trying to warm yourself up.
The hair at the back of your neck stands on end.
It felt like you were being watched.
Walking around in the dark, you make it around the counter, grabbing a small knife that had been used to cut stuff earlier, just in case you weren’t being paranoid.
Then you make your way to the breaker slowly, listening for any sounds or anyone. When you don’t hear anything and make it to the breaker, you don’t waste any time turning it on as the room lights back up.
You breathe a sigh of relief, seeing nothing.
“…fucking hell,” you mutter to yourself, running a hand through your hair, feeling your heart pounding against your chest.
You jolt, startled a little, when the bells above the door ring.
You turn around to tell whoever it was that you were closed. “I’m sorry, we’re closed… oh, it’s you.”
The customer who had come in was that clown from earlier, the red and black one.
The clown smiles and nods his head.
“Oh, jeez,” you mutter, seeing the blood on the clown’s head. Were people throwing stuff at these guys or something?
“You okay?” you ask, pointing at the blood dripping down his head.
He nods.
With another tired sigh, you grab a napkin. “Come here a sec,” you say.
The clown leans down enough for you to reach his head. You wipe at the blood on his face. The cut didn’t seem deep.
Once you finish wiping his face, you throw the bloody napkins away.
“Didn’t I say to be careful?” you say with a slight smile, trying to lighten the fact that this guy was just beaten for doing his job.
When he doesn’t reply, you ask the question you wanted to ask earlier.
“You don’t talk much. That part of the act?” you ask, curious.
He glances around before stepping closer to you.
“I can’t be seen talking,” he whispers, making you blink in surprise.
“So it is part of the act,” you mutter. That made sense why he didn’t answer you earlier.
“Yes, my lord. I sincerely appreciate all your help,” he says before tilting his head, his smile getting a bit wider.
“I’m the Pierrot,” he says, waiting like he was expecting you to say your name as well.
“I’m—” you say your name, which he probably already knew since it was on your name tag on your apron.
But his words make you pause for a moment. A Pierrot?
“You don’t look like a Pierrot,” you say, taking in his full appearance.
“Hmm, we had to… modernize my appearance, but my role remains unchanged.”
You could understand that with how fast things were changing in fashion and time periods.
“I see… so you hand out flyers and perform like the other Pierrots I’ve seen on the streets?” you ask.
“Yes. We are all but a small cast. We all hand out flyers and perform, but I am the only Pierrot. The others are jesters… and Harlequins…” His face darkens, looking to the side when he says the last part.
It wasn’t hard to tell he doesn’t get along with some of the people there.
“Oh, I see,” you say, thinking to change the subject, but he seems to be a step ahead of you.
“Do you like the circus?” he asks.
“Hm? I suppose,” you say. You haven’t been to the circus here yet, but a lot of people seem to enjoy it.
“Here.”
Pierrot holds out a closed fist, but when he opens it, a red ticket sits in his hand that wasn’t there a moment ago.
He then hands it to you.
You take the ticket from his hand.
“That’s a neat trick,” you say, making a soft blush go across Pierrot’s cheeks.
“That’s my ticket. Make sure to use it,” Pierrot says.
You nod before noticing the time.
“Shit, sorry to ask, but—” Pierrot holds a hand up, knowing what you were going to say.
“I understand. I had hoped to come a bit sooner, but I won’t hold you up. I’ll be off. Goodnight, my lord,” he says before heading out the door, the cafe quiet and empty besides you once again.
You were pretty much done with closing up, so you turned the sign around and left the cafe, locking up behind you as you head home.