Birthday of the green goblin
Today, you went out with Harlequin on a stroll around the city for his birthday. Exploring markets and different little shops, playing adrenaline-pumping games at a half-abandoned amusement park, and afterward stopping by local restaurants to try all kinds of street food.
What truly made this day special wasn’t that it was his birthday, nor that it was the first birthday he spent away from his family but with you… it was the fact that Pierrot was not part of this day. Not only that, it had been your condition. You wanted all your focus and attention to be his and his alone today.
Seeing the heartbreak on Pierrot’s face when he heard that, the tears and whining when you removed his star pin to replace it with Harlequin’s little heart-shaped one… Harlequin’s happiness in that moment was indescribable. It was so overwhelming that he genuinely feared happiness this intense had to be dangerous, some kind of bad omen.
You were never really someone who liked going out. You always preferred staying home and enjoying your hobbies, so the fact that you stepped out of your comfort zone and exhausted yourself with an outing you weren’t even used to, just for him… that was something he would never forget.
After a long day full of fun, food, beautiful sights, and happiness, it was finally time to return to the circus. He felt like a prisoner who had been granted his final wish before execution. He didn’t want this day to end. He would’ve kept making excuses to visit more places, wander into other districts, keep walking beside you longer… if your tired appearance hadn’t made it painfully obvious how badly you needed rest.
The end of this day meant giving you back to Pierrot. It meant being alone again. The dull, repetitive days would return once more.
He truly wanted to refuse. To scream and tell you how badly he wanted you beside him, how badly he wanted to feel this way every single day.
But in the end of the day , he was Harlequin. He didn’t know how to ask for what he wanted, so he hid behind silence and sarcasm instead.
At the entrance of the circus, he let go of your hand and started walking toward his tent, but you grabbed him before he could leave.
“Actually… there’s one last thing I want to give you before this day ends.”
The two of you climbed on top of the tent together. Just as he was about to ask what was going on, beautiful fireworks suddenly burst across the sky. The sight was breathtaking.
“Harlequin, I don’t want you to think I love Pierrot more than I love you. I don’t need to put in any effort with Pierrot because he’ll love me no matter what. But with you… it’s different. You’re different.
With you, I always think carefully before I speak. I pay attention to everything I do. I want to leave the best impression possible. I want to know more about you. I want to feel like I’ve gotten closer to you… like I’ve earned that closeness.
To me, you are the bitter truth I need, while Pierrot is the sweet lie I want.
What I’m trying to say is… I love you as much as I love him. Yes… I love you.”
“…That was painfully cliché, you know~ Just what kind of movies do you even watch?”
“Ughhh, I should’ve expected this reaction from you. Why am I even surprised… Listen here, you arrogant idiot, this is my confession. Accept it or reject it.”
Outwardly, he laughed and mocked you as always, but inside, it felt as though an earthquake had shattered the deepest parts of his heart.
This was everything he had ever wanted to hear.
You pulled out a small cake with a single lit candle.
“Come on, hurry up and make a wish before your special day ends.”
“Oh, darling, don’t tell me you actually believe in childish little superstitions like this. My God, you really are a child trapped inside the body of a gorgeous woman~”
“Shut up and wish for something.”
“But there’s nothing I wa—”
“Just wish for something, for the love of God!”
He stared at the flickering flame for a moment before finally closing his eyes and blowing the candle out.
“So? What did you wish for? Tell me, tell me!”
“No, no, dear. Don’t you know wishes won’t come true if you tell someone?”
“You’re seriously… sigh Whatever. Here, happy birthday.”
In your hands was a small decorated bag, no bigger than a fist, tied with a bright green ribbon.
When he opened it, he found a perfume scented like night-blooming jasmine.
“I was honestly struggling with what I should get you as a gift. I wanted to give you something that reminded me of you… and somehow I ended up remembering our first meeting. One thing I remember very clearly, besides your shameless attitude, was how nice you smelled. And don’t you dare call me weird, I can already see the accusation in your eyes.
Anyway, I figured you might like perfumes, so I chose this one. I hope you like it…
Harlequin, I wish you happiness this year and every year after that. And I hope your mysterious wish comes true too.”
He stayed silent. He genuinely didn’t know what to say, so instead he distracted himself by taking a bite of the cake despite hating sweets—only for his eyes to suddenly water and his throat to burn.
" this cake...it's spicy?!!"
You kept laughing while explaining that it had been specially made to suit his tastes, and that you refused to eat any of it because, in your opinion, it looked like a food poisoning disaster. But as long as he liked it, that was all that mattered.
The two of you continued staring at the horizon while Harlequin thought about his ridiculous wish—the one he would never say out loud.
He wished every day could be his birthday…
If it meant spending every day with you like this, having all of you to himself alone, feeling this happiness, feeling seen, feeling like he wasn’t second to Pierrot for once…
Then even if it cost him his lifespan, reducing it to ten—or even five—years, he would gladly accept five happy years over centuries of pain.
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To prevent Pierrot from following the two of you, Jester had to ask Doctor to knock him unconscious using the emergency supply of pink sedatives. Getting him to take it had not been an easy task, and Jester would make sure you regretted this dearly.
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