Work Text:
“Violetta, your knitting could do better, but I guess I’ll take it.”
“I see…”
After she finished going through the bin near Mr. Morton's tent, Violetta tilted her head to the side curiously. To her surprise, she didn’t find the doll she made for him. It was a doll version of him holding on a tiny star plush; she had given it to him on the day when he was quite nervous about a new stunt he was going to do for his performance.
And while she knew how brilliant and amazing Mr. Morton was on stage, she thought it might help. Every performer needed a source of comfort, after all. Hugging her dolls and talking to them gave her that strength to do well on stage whenever it was her turn to perform.
But Violetta did recall that he didn’t really like the doll she made. There had been others, mostly the spectators, whom she had given dolls to. And she knew for a fact that they’d put it in a bin with a strange look on their faces. From the many times she had witnessed it, she came to the conclusion that others simply didn’t like her dolls. She’d like to think of herself as being good at it, but maybe she was getting ahead of herself…
Because why else would they have put the dolls she made in the bin if not for that reason? And for that, she had been working hard to improve her knitting when she wasn’t busy with her performance. Although, it seemed she hadn’t gotten any better, judging from Mr. Morton’s face on that day.
‘But it’s strange,’ Violetta thought with a frown after closing the lid of the bin, ‘if he doesn’t like the doll, why is it not here like others would have done so–’
“You really have a weird hobby, Violetta,” came a remark from a familiar voice. It was soon accompanied by the sound of rubber balls bouncing. “You’re going through my junk again.”
And then, a chuckle in a tone she couldn’t quite discern. Her eyes widened as she turned to face him. “Oh, Mr. Morton! I…”
Wiping away the dirt and grime from her metallic hands on her backside, Violetta cleared her throat and told him the reason. “You didn’t like the doll I made, so I thought I’d find it here…”
A strange emotion flashed through his eyes and the playful smile on his face fell off. Violetta was curious as to what he could be thinking, but she could never tell. And at once, he stopped bouncing his rubber balls on the ground. Now holding tightly on them, Mr. Morton replied, “I got used to having it around, so I can’t give it back to you. You don’t mind, do you?”
Suddenly, a sudden burst of emotions went through her. Violetta was frozen for a moment before she couldn’t help the wiggling of her hands and her body spinning around. Turning back to him, she beamed, “so you like it then, Mr. Morton?”
“Hey, I don’t…”
She was too immersed in her own delight that she failed anything to notice anything else. “I’m so happy, so happy!”
“Violetta.”
Snapping back to reality, her little happy dance came to a stop and she returned her focus on him. “Oh, yes?”
“Here,” Mr. Morton handed her a handkerchief and she simply took it. As if he understood the confusion written on her face, he told her with a wave of his hand, “use it to clean your hands and you don’t have to return it. I don’t need it.”
“Oh, oh, oh, thank you, Mr. Morton!”
And after awhile, she gathered her courage and slowly walked closer to him. With a hopeful smile, she asked, “you wouldn’t mind if I make you another one…?”
Before she could see anything on his face, Mr. Morton had his head turned away. And for some reason, as she looked at his back, she noticed that his ears looked a little red. ‘Could it be that he’s under the weather?’ Violetta thought worriedly, biting at her lip and her head leaning forward. She hoped that wouldn’t be the case…
Just then, Mr. Morton moved around to face her. As his ears lost that bright color, he straightened his back and squared his shoulders. With a wide and charming smile expected of the golden star of Hullabaloo, he answered, “my tent could use for some more decorations, so go on ahead, Violetta.”
His voice sounded rather strange; it wasn’t cold nor warm. Nevertheless, that was all she needed to be excited. A new doll to work on meant to improve her skills further. And not to mention, Mr. Morton must have really liked it! Nodding her head, Violetta reassured him. “I promise the next doll will be a lot better!”
Stars and a lot more stars as well as the brightest and softest of yarns she could find; something like that suited Mr. Morton the most.