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“Ok, ok! I have a better one-” If he turned around, he would see the clown’s face pressed against the glass paneling, its face curled into a grin.
“No.” He mustn’t.
“Aw come on, it’ll be really funny!” Don’t do it.
“That’s what you said about the last one.”
“But this time’s for real!” Its whining became high pitched, like a mosquito.
“No.”
It stopped. For a blissful moment, it was silent. Well, as quiet as it could be. Sheriff Toadster could still hear the clown’s jiggling footsteps pace around. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. Eventually, that stops as well.
“What if.. I pinky promise that after this one itty bitty joke… I will never ever say another joke ever again?” They were really reaching this time. He could hear their bells, constantly ringing as they struck the wall, over and over. Good lord, did he ever stop moving?
“You wouldn’t do that.” White spots had begun to cloud in his vision. Great, another headache. Thanks, Bittergiggle.
It straightened up, holding one gloved fist to their chest. “I, Bitter C. Giggles, pinky promise that after this one joke I will never utter another pun, wisecrack, or witticism, on my honor as a fool.”
“Ah.. god damnit..” Sheriff Toadster rubbed his eyes and signed. God, he was barking at a knot, wasn’t he?
“Go ahead.”
“Did you hear about what happened to the old toad?” It didn’t need a response, but it waited anyway.
In a sudden burst, Bittergiggle flopped to the floor, grasping their chest and gasping for air. If it was anyone else, Sheriff Toadster’ve been concerned.
“..He croaked!” It cackled and sprung back up, doing a quick circle around their cage before pacing back and forth in front of the glass again.
“Come on, that one was a killer!”
“You’ve told that one before.” Several times, infact. The amount of toad-themed puns Sheriff Toadster was forced to endure on a daily basis was almost funny.
“What?!” It shrieked, “No, that’s not right! I’m taking my pinky promise back, then.”
He raised a non-existent eyebrow. “I thought pinky promises were a part of your ten jester rules. What happened to that?”
“Oh, my dear Sheriff.” It purred, “I don’t have pinkies!”