#lowkey tho

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! 

The obnoxious alarm on your bedside table goes off. 

Your hand flails on the table a few times, trying to shut it off while still waking from sleep. 

With a satisfying slide of your finger, the alarm is dismissed from your phone, and peace fills the air once more. 

Until it was disturbed again.

“Dearest!! It’s morning!” 

With a groan you throw the blanket over your head. Pierott laughs at your stubbornness. 

“I assure you my love, you’re already perfect. No need for beauty sleep!” He sits on the bed next to your feet. “Jester wants everyone in his hotel room to give the daily jobs!” 

You lay there, unmoving. Seemingly fallen back to sleep with your head under the covers. Pierott carefully pulls the blanket down to see your face, to confirm that - yes - you have gone back to sleep. 

You were up for quite a while, insisting that you could handle the paperwork Ticket Taker threw at you last minute. 

Pierrot sits there a moment admiring your beauty and the relaxing aura your sleeping figure produces. But, unfortunately, Jester is not a patient man. 

So instead, Pierrot decides to start kissing you all over your face, slowly bringing you back to the land of consciousness. You throw your head back and forth trying to shake him off and leave you to sleep. He is persistent though, not missing a beat as you had started throwing your entire body over and he decides to just pick you up and press your back against his chest, you still wrapped in your blanket, continuing to kiss you. You finally give in with a laugh. 

“Alright, alright! I'm up.” Your voice is still drowsy, and movement sluggish. But Pierrot can confirm that sleep has been chased from your eyes for now. 

“There's my dearest.” He beams at you softly. 

You return the smile and place a soft kiss on his cheek. He giggles and gently places you back on the bed. 

“I will leave you to get dressed darling, I'll wait in the hall.” and with the click of the door shutting, he is gone. 

With a final groan, you throw the blankets off yourself and quickly throw on some plain clothes. Like hell you’ll work in your costume like everyone else. Not only will it be warm today, but the chances of it getting damaged or dirty are not something you wanna bet on. 

You follow Pierott down the hall towards Jester’s room, where Harlequin waits outside. 

“Bout time you show. I bet I could've gotten you aware quicker, wouldn't I darling? The way your body responds to me? Though, we might've just made you drowsy all over again.” 

Pierott tenses at Harlequin's teasing, looking ready to murder the green bean. He never would of course, but you're sure he has fantasies. 

You look between the two of them a few times as they just stare at each other in the hallway. 

…. It's too damn early for this. You walk past them, leaving Pierrot and Harle behind, and into Jester's room to get the work day started. 

“Ah, look who’s finally awake.” Jester teases as he sits at the family sized table with coffee and a book. Ticket Taker and Doctor were also already sitting with their own respective drinks. Taker also with a cup of coffee and Doctor having tea. As you go to sit down, Doctor gets up and walks to somewhere behind you. You’re too drowsy to care where he goes, a yawn escapes you proving that point further. 

“My my, quite a big yawn pet. Just how late did you stay up? You know you have other responsibilities.” 

“And I’ll take care of them just like I always do, Jess.” You mumble out as you lean your head against your hand with your eyes closed. If you were still new, you'd surely pay for that comment. But you've been around long enough and shown your worth that Jester almost treats you like an equal. ALMOST. “Just like I took care of all the permit documents last night.” Your eyes open looking towards Taker, “Shouldn’t be having any unwanted guests coming by demanding our tents be taken down this time.” 

Taker nods in thanks then takes another sip of his coffee. Right as you're thinking about getting yourself a cup, a porcelain mug is placed in front of you from behind. 

“Just the way you like it sweetie.” 

You smile, “You read my mind. Thanks Doc.” 

Placing both hands around the rim of the mug, you take a sip of the steaming liquid. You hum as the comfortable burn flows down your throat and warms your chest.  “Perfect.” 

Doctor takes his seat once more, and the two you left behind finally enter. Only looking a little disheveled this time. At least they have the decency of not getting too rough in a public area. LIKE THE HOTEL YOU'RE RESIDING IN. 

Taker sighs at the pair, and nods to Jester signaling everyone is finally ready. 

“With the permit situation finally handled we can start putting up the tents today.” Jester began, “Seeing as how we are far off schedule, we'd like these tents up by tonight so we may open.” 

You furrow your brows, “You so sure people are gonna show that soon?” 

“‘Are you sure we will have guests immediately after opening’, is how you should ask.” Taker corrected your wording with an annoyed glance. 

“Literally the same thing.” 

He rolled his eyes. “While you were stuck dealing with legalities all day yesterday, the rest of us took care of the flyers and handing out tickets. We should have enough guests show up tonight for it to be considered successful.” 

Oh, that makes sense… 

After nodding at his explanation, you decided to keep quiet and to just sip on your coffee. You can feel the leftover drowsiness slowly lift little by little. 

Jester chuckles at Takers annoyance with you and stands. “Let's get started then. Pet, go get dressed.” 

“I am dressed.” 

He looks at you, and you immediately get ready for a fight. “Jess, it's going to reach the nineties today. I can't work covered head to toe in that kinda heat.” 

“And should someone approach you about the circus?” 

“We're gonna be busy setting up said circus, there better not be anyone getting in the way.” 

He pinches your cheek, “Wrong again my cute little rascal!” saying the last part almost with disdain in his voice, he lets go with a condescending pat on your cheek. “We'll have curious onlookers that may have missed the flyers. We will approach them and tell them about the entertainment we provide. You must be ready to provide that information at all times.” 

Seeing that you're not going to win this argument, you take another swig of your coffee. 

“.... Give me ten. I won't be long.” 

“Good pet! We'll see you at the sight.” 

As Jester walks past you, you realize everyone else is gone. Probably thought this would get ugly and didn't want to be dragged in. You didn't blame them, considering the fights you and the Jester have had in the past. 

Just as Jester reaches the door leading to the outer hall he stops and turns back to you. 

“Forego the gloves and hat until tonight. That should be enough to keep you from fainting.” 

Before you can respond, he's gone. 

—--- 

Sure enough, there were plenty of onlookers with questions about what was being set up. For the most part, they didn’t interrupt your work by much. If anything they would politely yell ‘Excuse me!’ and wait for you to finish what you’re doing before responding. No one rude so far, which you’re thankful for, though you still keep a baseball bat nearby just in case. But you’re also thankful for having the mask. Working as a barista for so long, you hated having to constantly be conscious of your facial expression. At least with the mask, you never have to worry about that. 

“Hey! Freak!!” 

…. So much for having polite potential guests. 

“Did you think you’d be safe here? Get out of our town!!” 

“Yeah! You’re not taking our people!!” 

Rumors spread fast. Granted their not rumors, but no one truly knew that but you.

You turn from the knots you’re currently tying to properly face who is yelling at you. 

Teenagers. 

Fucking teenagers. 

You’re glad that none of the others are near you. They hear this kinda stuff enough as is, they didn’t need to hear it from fucking children. 

You try ignoring them, continuing to tie knots, only for something hard to suddenly hit the back of your head. Hearing something hit the ground to your right, you look over while cradling your newly throbbing head. An apple. A green. Granny Smith. Fucking apple. They threw an apple at you. 

You turn back around to look at your attackers. They’re laughing as they get ready to throw another your way. Gritting your teeth, you march toward a stack of boxes where you laid your bat on top. You didn’t think you’d have to use this today. Oh well. 

Grabbing the bat, they throw the apple straight at you. You swing, and…. You can personally call it a homerun. As the apple was launched back towards the pitcher and hit him square in the face. 

He falls back gripping his nose. His friends crowd him trying to help, while the few witnesses that were watching either smirk at the kid getting what he deserved or just didn’t care. The teenagers leave, finally letting you work in peace. You drop the bat to the ground, feeling the heat beat into you after the whole endeavor. You turn around, planning to continue tying down booths, only to see them finished….? Perfectly done as well.

You look around, and don’t see a clown in sight. 

You shrug, figuring maybe you did finish. You’re just so damn tired that you forgot. You start dragging yourself to the trailer for some much needed water. You’ve earned a five minute break anyways. 

—-- 

Just as you sit down with a cold bottle of water, Jester enters the trailer. He stands a few feet away, staring at you. You take a huge gulp, then look up at him calmly. 

“What’s up, Jess?” 

His grin widens, “I just had a very interesting conversation.” 

You lean back, “That so? What about?” 

He ignores the second question, “Indeed I did. With the local police.” 

You freeze for a moment. No way those little bastards were trying to get you arrested for defending yourself! 

“He tells me that a group of teenagers were attacked with fruit.” 

“Correction. Only one of them was attacked.” 

He crosses his arms. His grin has turned into a closed smile. 

You played with the bottle nervously. You made no move to defend yourself, or look away from his gaze. Just passing the bottle of water back and forth between your hands. 

“Nothing to say for yourself?” He prods. 

“What do you want me to say Jester? I already admitted to it cause I promised I’d never lie to you.” 

“You also promised you wouldn’t be a nuisance to the circus. This draws attention to us.” 

“‘Common clown from traveling circus gets harassed by local bullies, then defends job sight via apple’!..... I’d visit that circus in a HEARTBEAT.” 

Jester actually chuckles at your fake broadcaster voice while moving closer. He leans down slightly to pat your head. “Next time, just say they started it. A lie of omission is still a lie. And you promised me.” 

You relax at his words and close your eyes, appreciating the affectionate contact after the events of the day. He decides to keep petting you a moment longer, enjoying having you so submissive when you’re normally so feisty all the time. Not that it’s not fun reminding you of your place every time, you make it interesting. Seeing you like this however, that interaction must have taken a lot out of you, the heat is not helping you either.  

He takes his hand away. “You have 2 minutes. We open in three hours. Everything better be done and ready by then.” And he leaves you to enjoy your water. 

—----- 

The circus is bustling, the guys did a damn good job selling people on an event that wasn’t even properly set up yet. 

Dressed in full costume now, you're rolling around on your skates all over the grounds entertaining guests and helping the others. You don’t have your own tent, so no act of your own. You quite like it like this. No lines to memorize, no movements to rehearse. 

The other clowns will sometimes roam as well, but that hardly happens considering their own showings. But when they do, you’ll roll towards them and enter a slow ‘Dance of the Damned’ to the creepy music that plays throughout the park. The public loves witnessing it, some will even come looking for you to inform that one of the clowns are out and about. 

You thought it was so cute. Jester finds it annoying when it’s him. One time, you were told where to find him by guests, and when you found him you went for a dance and he just walked around you. That was another form of entertainment for everyone as you acted rejected and heartbroken. 

Other than dancing, you just roll around and tell dark jokes to guests that appreciate them.  Ticket Taker even got you a clip on mic and speaker. Sayin something like, 'If you insist to entertain guests in this way make sure they can hear you'. You won't look a gift horse in the mouth.

There was a guy in line to see the doctor who looked tired of waiting. Not rude or obnoxious about it, just written on his face. So you roll up right next to him and speak in a whispery voice straight into your mic, “How do diabetics get to heaven?” 

He looks around, confused by your sudden proximity, “I don’t know.” 

“..... One leg at a time baby!!” 

You roll away as the man and others that overheard start laughing. Sure the joke itself might not be that original, it’s why the delivery is everything. You do well to make it interesting each and every time. 

There was even one moment when a woman was so offended at the jokes being said near the Doctor’s tent. “These aren’t even funny! They are insensitive and cruel!! My mother has cancer!!” 

You whip your head around, looking towards everyone else, “ …. Did you all hear me mention cancer? I sure don’t remember bringing up cancer. But sure! Let’s talk cancer! Cause, pfft! C’mon. We all know that it ain’t that hard to beat!” 

The woman raises her voice even more in anger, “Oh really!? What makes you say that!? Are you a professional now!?” 

“Lady! I might as well be classified as professional! I’m on a fucking role!! I’m already on stage fucking four!!” Some people in the crowd start laughing at the unexpected remark, “Not my fault your mom doesn’t know how to play!” 

The lady starts storming off the circus grounds. 

You start following after her, “No! Come back! I’m sure your mom will recover after tu-mor treatments!!” The audience laughs even harder. You even saw Ticket Taker’s shoulders shake for a moment as you passed him near the front. He’ll forever deny it and call you immature, but you got him to laugh for a split second and that will forever be a win for you. 

—--------

As the night starts calming down, you start helping the fools clean up the trash people left. 

That is until Ticket Taker interrupts you. 

“You need something Taker? You ask. 

“A moment of your time, if you don’t mind dear.” He starts leading you away from the main area and towards the pink tent. 

“You all aren’t finally sick of me are you?” You joke. 

“Goodness, I would hope after all this time you’d know us a bit better than that darling.” 

“Eh, not as well as I’d like.” 

“I believe it was your own words that once said, ‘what is life without a bit of mystery’?” 

He smirks at you, using your own words against you. You simply smile back, knowing you’ll never truly understand them completely. No matter how much you want to. 

You both walk into the pink tent where everyone is already waiting. You expect Pierrot to wrap his arms around you. Or Harlequin to make some seductive comment. Or even Doctor to ask if you’d fallen again and need treatment. No… instead there’s stillness, tension in the air. It’s fragile, yet thick and grimy. It hit you the moment you entered. You look at everyone confused. 

Ticket Taker takes his position next to the others across from you. You finally ask the question that’s screaming in your mind, “Is everything alright? I didn’t do something wrong did I?” 

You feel some of the tension release slightly at your words. 

“My dearest, you did nothing wrong.” Pierrot soothed, “We just, have an…. Offer for you.” 

“Offer?” You parroted. 

Jester approaches you, shielding whatever Taker was currently retrieving. 

“Remove your mask for me, dear.” He asked softly. 

.... He never calls you anything but pet. Feeling the seriousness of the situation, you slowly remove your mask and set it to the side. As you do you can hear something heavy being dragged across the floor in loud screeches.   

… “Is everything ok, Jester? No one has answered that one yet.” 

He smiles at you, “That, is entirely up to you.” 

He moves over to your side to reveal what Taker was pulling into view. A man having been gagged and tied up on display by his limbs. Just becoming conscious after being knocked out for the entire night. 

“The rest of us have already passed, not really seeing anything remarkable about him. Normally we’d either ship him to another location or just…. Enjoy him in a different way.”  

“.... Sounds wrong by the way, but I know what you mean.” And there it is. Your smart mouth trying to get you in trouble. A serious discussion and you’re cracking jokes. Harlequin has trouble biting back a laugh. If anyone else did, they didn’t make it as obvious. You doubt it though. 

Jester gives you a disapproving look, you just keep chugging ahead though. "I mean, we all know that I know. Hell it's been over a year by now. But if this is, something else, don't let me harp-” 

“PET.” 

You smile at him after shutting your mouth. You got what you wanted, and everyone knew what you were doing.

The atmosphere here was no longer tense. Not as much as it was. 

You wring your hands together acting like an innocent child. “Sowwy.” 

“Why do we put up with you?” Jester asks no one but himself as he rubs his temples. 

Ticket Taker clears his throat deciding to take over for Jester. 

“Darling. Yes, it has been over a year now. Though, you have yet to be handed a proper title and routine. We are speaking of changing that.” 

You look at him worried, “You want me to perform?” 

“Are you not already?” 

“Not like that. Not like… PLANNED. I just - go with the flow.”

He chuckles. “You can still interact with visitors as you have, but they also seem to like the impromptu dances that you do with us.”  

“They’re not the only ones my dear~” Pierrot threw in. 

You smile amused “I know love, you are literally the one I end up dancing with the most.”

You turn back to Taker, “So you want me to dance on stage.” 

“In a sense.” Jester joins the conversation again, “We believed you’d like to have it as a group rather than yourself however. Hence…” He gestures to the tied up man again, who is wide awake and looking around in pure fear now. Yet, miraculously staying quiet. 

Your eyes widen slightly after looking at the man again. 

“.... I don’t have my own tent.” 

“Already taken care of.” Doctor answers. “I sew more than just limbs.” 

“I don’t know how to really dance on skates, I’m just going in circles with you guys.” 

Harlequin jumps in this time, “That is not all you do and you know it. A new routine always takes practice darling, it will be fine!” 

“You can even find a fun way to incorporate those jokes you love.” Pierrot added.

Taker jumps in again. “A special ticket has already been made for you as well. Should you find someone that shouldn’t be harmed.” 

You turn to Jester again, knowing he has the answer. “.... What would be my new name?”