Chapter Text
“You saw what I saw, it’s simply not allowed!”
“I understand, but maybe they are different…. They showed curiosity and looked further.”
“Is that not what we are scared of?!”
“What is there to be scared of this human, Harlequin?”
“Were you not flirting with them?...”
Harlequin snarled a little, his frown deepening, watching as his fellow circus mates took Pierrot’s side so easily. Couldn’t they see that the human was a problem, that if Pierrot was mated to such a creature, all hell would break loose for them, that their own kind might not allow them back home without shame?
“I was only trying to show you how easy they are to intimidate, to provoke, and manipulate them,” Harlequin argued, gesturing with his hands around. “And was it not you that said humans outnumber us a hundred to one, Jester?” Harlequin sneered.
The purple demon paused, his pitch-black gaze narrowing while his purple eye shone through his left socket. He wore his outfit, which featured a deep purple jester hat with four ends, each adorned with golden bells. The first two were checked, while the last two were soft, with a stripe down the middle. Jester’s outfit was themed purple, black, and golden pale yellow. With a purple suit, black long gloves up to his forearms, with black boots that matched, a yellow diamond at his knees, with yellow bells at the tips of his narrow shoes. He had longer, dark purple hair. Two small but noticeable white horns stuck out from his hair for the outfit. It blended well with the circus theme, and humans didn’t look into why they were there.
Jester had a smooth voice, one that could deceive, seduce, and or scare others. He had naturally taken the responsibility of keeping things in check for the circus. After all, they had to find a way to blend in with the humans.
“I did… but this one does not seem to want to bring us harm,” Jester added calmly, trying to make the green-themed circus member understand.
The silent and red-themed performer slammed his hands on the table; his voice had a snarl to it as he shot deep glares at Harlequin, who happily returned the glare. It was safe to say they did not like each other.
“You were flirting simply to provoke me, threaten what was mine.” Pierrot snapped, his golden eyelights shining in from his pitch-black gaze. “That’s all you do!”
Pierrot’s red, black, and yellow theme matched his performances, which showcased his dagger-throwing precision, fluid shadow-like movements, and astonishing speed. He wore a long jester hat similar to Jesters, though it had three ends instead. The end. closest to his right shoulder was mostly black with large red checkers making a single line down to the end. The middle was red with black checkers. And the one closest to his left shoulder was mostly red, but for the under bit being black with three thick black lines looping through the red. All three had a golden star on the top with golden bells at the ends.
He had white, greyish, wavy hair, most of it tied into his hat, while the rest framed his face in soft waves. Pierrot wears a high-collared red and black suit with a black neck ruff. A yellow underlay peeked from his neck ruff, its two black points extending down to golden bells. His long sleeves were carefully detailed, black gloves hugged his hands, and a yellow ribbon was tied lightly at his waist. He wore loose black pants that ended in red, paired with shin-high black boots adorned with golden ties and jingling bells at the tips. His outfit is charming and adorable yet slightly sinister, resembling his dual personality.
Harlequin blistered with barley contained anger. Who did he think he was to accuse me?
“Shut your mouth, be silent like you should be, you Fu-”
“Watch your tone.” Jester cut in with a snap.
Crossing his arms as he glared at both of them. “Sometimes I don’t know what to do with you over grown babys…”
Jester sighed, rubbing his temples with his index finger and thumb as though a headache was coming on.
“I will admit, Pierrot… What you did was reckless and stupid.” Jester added, looking up at him calmly. Harlequin smirked slyly before startling as Jester turned his scolding tone on him.
“But what you did was even more stupid. You just had to get involved, didn’t you?” He asked with a slight tilt of his head.
Harlequin scoffed, his cheeks heating with embarrassment before he tore his scowl away from Pierrot to address Jester.
“I was being careful… Pierrot never hands out his ticket, and it had to mean something; he was up to something… I was being careful.” Harlequin said slowly, placing his hands on his chest in a I’m innocent, believe me kinda way.
“You were being cruel.” Pierrot hissed under his breath from where he sat beside Harlequin in Jester's large circus tent.
Harlequin let his hands slide down to his lap while he kept his eyes on Jester, not daring to look at the performer next to him. Not out of fear, but out of the soul-hurting look Harlequin knew Pierrot was glaring into him with.
“We leave in two days for the next city anyway…” A performer sighed from where he’d been leaning against a wall with a teacup of coffee in his hand. “And you haven’t answered my second question…”
Harlequin looked at Ticket Taker carefully, seeing the disapproving look in his gaze made Harlequin’s heart pang, though he didn’t let it show.
Ticket Taker’s colours ranged from blue, yellow, black, and white. He was dressed in a formal suit whose twin tails fell to his knees, the wide cuffs pale yellow against the darker fabric. A black dress shirt under that. He had shin-high black boots with blue loose pants, the same colour as his suit, best described as a clay water painted blue. A yellow thin belt around his waist. He wore white gloves and a blue top hat, the yellow ribbon at its base echoing the colours of his outfit. Black hair framed his face, partially concealed by a mask split down the middle; black on the right, white on the left. He had a white eyelight shining in from the left side, sometimes a blue one on the right side if he was pissed off or carefully trying to intimidate someone into listening.
“What is there to be scared of?” Ticket added, taking a sip from his glass. He kept his eyes locked with Harlequin’s, daring him to look away or slip up his tongue.
Harlequin’s frown deepened slightly, the tips of his teeth showing like he was about to snap before he thought better of it as he lowered his tone.
“Like Jester said… They outnumber us a hundred to one.”
“No, Harlequin… Pierrot’s human.” Ticket said, looking over the brim of his glass at Harlequin. “What about them scares you?”
Harlequin paused, feeling his heart skip a beat at the human being called ‘Pierrot’s’ as he kept his gaze locked with Tickets. What about the human scared him?... He knew, but he didn’t want to acknowledge it in front of everyone, especially not Pierrot.
“I…” He started before cutting himself off and smirking. “Heh, nothing! They are small, weak, and easy prey-”
Pierrot growled slightly, but Harlequin ignored it as he continued.
“Easy to kill off, no problem whatsoever.”
“Then why does it matter if Pierrot is close to the human?” Ticket pressed.
Harlequin paused, his hands fisting in his lap tightly as he spoke, trying to get a mental footing in this argument. “Because our species shouldn’t be with such a creature. I’m not doing it for him, I’m doing it for us. Pierrot is with us. His image affects us. We will be shamed if any of our species finds out Pierrot is mated to a human.” Harlequin snapped.
“Who says we care what they think?” Jester added calmly, crossing his arms lightly as he observed Harlequin.
Harlequin felt like his heart was about to explode as it beat in his chest. “Would we not?”
“Pierrot is as close to us as family, no other demon would get this close…We’ve been a group for decades. Would you choose a stranger over Pierrot?” Jester added softly.
Harlequin hesitated, would he?... He never thought about it. Harlequin glanced at Pierrot carefully; the performer was still giving him a shadowed look. He knew what Pierrot would choose, but Harlequin struggled, feeling a sudden shame fill his soul. He should be hating Pierrot; it would have been easy to erase his rival, if not for the others who made him hesitate. What would they think?
“Harlequin?” Came Jester’s firmer reply. “Would you?”
Harlequin tensed, feeling cold fingers touch the back of his neck, sliding easily to the side.
“His heart is racing…”
Harlequin heard the deeper, slick voice of Doctor. He could picture the demon looming behind him, monitoring his vitals. Jester watched his face for cracks, his body for tells. Ticket listened for the wrong words. Harlequin felt bare beneath their gazes.
“Yeah… Yeah, I would.” Harlequin said honestly, even though he knew he would disappoint the others, he was never the closest with any of them, and with that, he felt a coldness seep into his body that had been hot a moment ago.
He looked up as Doctor moved to his front. The doctor's colours ranged from cyan, black, crimson red, with buttons of yellow. He wore a black plague mask that resembled a crow, hiding his face. A tight black shirt under his clothing. He wore professional attire that still blended with the circus yet highlighted his lean build. He had longer, thicker gloves that were stained red from his tests on the dolls. His suit was mostly black with a red dash down the middle. He wore a black cloak that covered only his chest and stayed behind him past that. The underside being a vibrant cyan. It was hooded, and he mostly had it up, lowering the chance of anyone seeing what he might look like. Just allowing a bit of red hair to show in the front.
He was the medic for the circus, and the doctor, performers relied on when something went wrong. They all had names; they simply went by what they did best. In a way, it made everything easier.
“Are you lightheaded?” Doctor asked.
Harlequin paused, looking up at Doctor with an unreadable expression. Now that the doctor had brought it up, Harlequin felt that disorienting and uncomfortable feeling creeping down his spine.
Harlequin saw Ticket and Jester share a disappointed glance; to others, it may have just been a look, but to Harlequin, he could see a whole silent conversation pass between the two. He didn’t feel like a fellow performer; he never had. He felt like a child who was never supposed to be there.
Suddenly, the conversation wasn’t about the human’s life Pierrot was pushing himself into, but where Harlequin’s loyalties lie. Harlequin’s hands fisted tightly together in his lap, feeling the convo was doing 180’s around him, and he was stuck in the present.
“No,” Harlequin said firmly, not liking the feeling of shivers travelling up his body from the doctor's touch. Pushing Doctor’s hand lightly away as he shifted his attention back to Ticket.
“You want to know why I’m scared of the human?” Harlequin snarled, getting up and ignoring Jester’s warning to calm down.
“Do tell me…” Ticket said in a bored tone, making Harlequin blister with rage.
“They could learn what we are, get evidence, maybe we lead them back to our homes, our kin… Could you imagine what would happen if higher humans found out about us? What they’d do to us. I mean, come on, you all know the story of Billy. They got his fat ass and started studying him. Now they call his land area fucking 51,” Harlequin snapped. “He fell in love with a human, and that human took everything about him and showed him to the world.”
Harlequin felt his chest heaving with adrenaline, giving himself a mental note to go rush it off or kill something. One of the two would follow after this stupid meeting. “We’re just lucky he didn’t say anything about our people…”
Silence fell over the room, broken only by the gentle rustle of the wind brushing against the towering tent walls by the stage and bleachers where they stood.
Harlequin sighed softly. He’d made a good point, he’d taken their questions off him, and the spotlight could finally switch back onto Pierrot. At the thought of him, Harlequin smirked slightly, turning his dark gaze to the red performer.
Pierrot was sitting quietly, his gaze fixed on Harlequin carefully. There was no glare, or scowl, or the look of murder, just critical and careful. Harlequin crossed his arms so his hands wouldn’t fidget under the intense gaze.
“You're a liar,” Pierrot muttered so softly that Harlequin barely caught his words.
“Que?... Me? About what?” Harlequin narrowed his eyes slightly.
“You are trying to steal my love from me…” Pierrot snarled, getting up as a scowl returned to his face.
“‘Steal?’ I can’t steal something that was never yours to begin with; I was just merely playing a game,” Harlequin said with a slight grin, he knew would only add to Pierrot’s hatred.
“And would you tell them that if MC stood in front of you?” Pierrot snarled, walking over. “Yet you don’t deny you were trying to.”
Harlequin glared at Pierrot, his smirk slipping from his face. “You’re an obsessed stalker after her; does it matter what I do?” he hissed. “You’re treating this human like she’s Columbina.”
Harlequin knew the instant the words left his mouth that Pierrot’s wrath would follow. The others fell silent as Pierror lunged, sending them both crashing to the ground, rolling and striking at whatever they could grab.
Ticket Taker exited the tent, hands behind his back, irritation radiating from him. Jester exhaled, told Doctor to wait because there would be injuries, then followed after Ticket.
“This could have been all different!” Pierrot snarled, shoving Harlequin’s head into the ground. “I could have been with her! I wouldn’t have fallen for a human!”
Harlequin snarled, kicking his feet into Pierrot’s midsection, causing the other to recoil. He quickly got up, scrambling to a barrel and tossing it at Pierrot. Pierrot skidded out of the way before it hit him. The time it took Pierrot to get out of his distraction, Harlequin had already jumped onto the other's back, wrapping his fist in some of Pierrot’s hair and yanking.
Harlequin felt a surge of satisfaction at the pained yelp that left Pierrot before it fled as Pierrot purposely fell back into the stage corner. A gasp of agony travelled through Harlequin as his back hit the corner, feeling it slam into his spine. He clutched Pierrot’s hair and threw a punch at his head, only to feel the tip of a blade dig into his thigh.
“If you hadn’t killed her!” Pierrot hissed.
“I saved you!” Harlequin hissed out. “I saved all of you! She was the weakest.”
“If it were for my life or hers, it would’ve been mine I’d taken, you cannibal!” Pierrot twisted the dagger in Harlequin’s thigh. “You were jealous, and instead of killing me, you took it out on her, you wanted to see me cry!”
Harlequin yelped out in pain as Pierrot started stabbing his leg repeatedly, his grip in the demon’s hair loosening as he tried to pull away.
“You drank her blood, she made you what you are now, able to walk around the humans~” Harlequin choked out, closing his eyes as he felt stab after stab.
“We had no choice!”
It was moments like these he wished he were human; maybe he could’ve died. Finally, Pierrot relented and tossed Harlequin onto the ground. Harlequin snarled up at him, pulling back before letting out a low growl of pain as Pierrot stepped on his injured leg.
“If the others hadn’t forbidden it, I would have killed your sorry ass all those moon cycles ago.” Pierrot snapped before walking away.
“Fine, have it your way! I will steal your human, then I’ll break their heart, maybe rip it out to hang it up!” Harlequin yelled out after Pierrot. “Eu te odeio…”
He whispered, feeling his eyes sting. He could never put into words how much he regretted that starless night years ago. He’d come back to his senses when there was blood dripping down his arms. Not blood of his own.
He shook the memory away when he felt hot tears rolling down his cheeks.
“Pathetic…” He whispered to himself, whipping them away.
“So he does have emotion under that sly persona…”
Harlequin’s breath hitched in startlement, turning around to see nothing, his gaze whipped back and forth before it zoned in on the figure. He glared, forcing his tears to wait till he was in his own attraction in the circus.
“You’ve just been standing there this whole time?” Harlequin sneered. “Freak.”
He turned onto his side, pushing himself up and winching when he put a little bit of weight on his other leg,
“Yes, Harlequin… This is the freak circus…” Doctor said simply, walking over calmly and stepping on his injured side, grabbing Harlequin’s arm and putting it over his shoulder while he moved his hand to Harlequin’s waist.
He rolled his eyes but smirked a tiny bit.
“Who knew the doc could joke…” Harlequin muttered as he let Doctor help him towards the medical tent.
“Who knew Harle could cry…” The Doctor’s calm reply barely carried as he tugged the flap aside to reveal the shadowed interior of the large tent.
“Yeah, well… That’s between you and me.”
Harlequin had to blink a few times to let his eyes adjust to the almost lightless tent as Doctor sat him on a silver table. The air smelled of chemicals, iron, and other sweet smells that Harlequin couldn’t name.
“I have a question, however…” Doctor moved to the table, methodically assembling what he needed, his words continuing before Harlequin could find a reply. “You said our species will be shamed to be mated to humans, yet you pick them off like candies off a shelf to share a bed with some nights.”
Harlequin felt his cheeks heat up from shock and embarrassment. This guy was more observant than Harlequin gave him credit for. He knew that if he were a dog, his tail would be between his legs and his hackles would be raised defensively.
He was glad Doctor’s back was turned; any other angle, and Harlequin would’ve been a laughingstock.
“I’m not mated to them…” Harlequin pointed out quietly.
“Yet you share a bed with them…” Doctor insisted, dabbing a small towel with strong-smelling medicine, Harlequin knew would sting. “I’m not one to judge, just curious is all…”
Harlequin hesitated as Doctor walked back over. He knew he was speaking the truth. That’s all Doctor ever seemed to do, or he was an excellent liar. Harlequin sighed and settled for somewhere in the middle.
“I’m not sure… more like stress relief than anything intimate.” He said quietly before catching himself and adding cockily to get back into his mood. “Though I show them a good time, one could tell by morning when they leave~”
Doctor gently ran his clawed finger along Harlequin’s left pant leg, pulling the fabric open enough to get to the stab wounds that were already slowly healing. Doctor examined the wounds, dabbing away the blood with the small towel. Harlequin’s fingers tightened against the steel table at the feeling, but that was his only reaction as the doctor continued.
“Humhum… As I always say, there are no secrets between doctor and patient… If you must act, remain quiet.” Doctor said simply.
Harlequin’s smile died on his lips, turning into a thin line as he fell silent. At least he had a choice in the matter. Instead, he let his mind wander while the doctor did his thing. MC… Perhaps the new light in Harlequin’s life. Yes, he knew what he had told the others, and it would be messy after words, but he promised himself he’d win them over. He had to; it would be a win-win! He’d have Pierrot’s hate on him like a living thing and have MC’s affections. It would be different this time, he’d have his angel.
Harlequin smirked a little bit to himself. History was indeed repeating itself; the Columbina had made itself apparent again. Though this time, Harlequin was going to win, one way or another.