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The Jester, breathing heavily, pressed his hands against his wounded side. Everything was swimming before his eyes, and not a single sensible thought about what to do in this situation was in his head. With strong disgust, he hid behind one of the people's trash bins, promising himself that as soon as he returned to the circus, he would take several showers.
Actually, nothing interesting had happened to him. The dissatisfied ones, as usual, decided to take out their anger over the disappearance of their loved ones on one of the circus performers; someone used a knife, after which everyone ran away in fear from the scene of the crime. The man, of course, did not resist, waiting all this time for the people to blow off steam and finally leave him alone.
Besides, he wasn't human. What could an ordinary knife wound do to him?
The circus leader would have said this to himself if not for many unpleasant factors. Starting with a complete lack of sleep due to a mountain of paperwork and Pierrot's and Harlequin's fights. Ending with a simple hunger strike. Unfortunately, the police had been working more actively lately, making it impossible to catch more idiots. There were already not enough hands, so they had to economize on the available fools. For these reasons, the Jester decided to somewhat limit his consumption of people so that the others wouldn't have to.
As a result. His regeneration was terrible and simply couldn't cope with even such a small wound compared to him. His head was spinning from fatigue and blood loss, which meant the man absolutely couldn't return to the circus now. He would have to wait for the others to notice his absence and start looking for him. Most likely, they would quickly sense him by the smell of blood; the main thing was to stay put.
The circus leader slowly closed his eyes when he suddenly heard someone's footsteps, which for some reason were approaching him. He involuntarily clicked his tongue. Anyone but this. The last thing he needed was passing gawkers staring at him. What if someone wanted to capture the acrobat in such a state? What if someone wanted to take advantage of him? What if…
Then the Jester felt the stranger quickly lift him into their arms. The man, of course, hissed in displeasure and, placing his hand on the chest of whoever it was, tried to push them away or harm them, but he simply had no strength. All the actor could do was slightly tear the stranger's fabric with his claws, after which he limply lowered his hands down.
Apparently, the acrobat had lost consciousness, because as if a moment later, he found himself on something soft. Realizing this, the circus leader immediately began to squirm, trying to get to his feet to run away. To hell with the wounds. To hell with the haze before his eyes. He simply could not allow the stranger to do what they intended to do.
A second into his protests, the Jester felt hands on his chest trying to stop him.
"I… need… to… get up…"
He heard someone's words through the ringing in his ears, but he didn't hear most of them. The main thing was that the acrobat understood that this voice didn't sound like any of his colleagues, meaning it was a stranger. After this, the circus leader snarled louder and began scratching the stranger's hands. After a couple of minutes of such resistance, the Jester coughed and, wheezing, lowered his head onto the pillow.
Noticing that the actor had gotten worse, the stranger quickly removed their hands and ran somewhere.
"C-call… an ambulance… wait…."
"No… ambulance…"
The man whispered quietly through the pain. He could not allow an ambulance to come. Under no circumstances! Although people were stupid, they would definitely understand that the Jester's body was far from human, and then. If they understood, they would definitely cut him open for experiments and definitely realize that something was wrong with the other circus performers. And then…
The circus leader made another attempt to get up, but the hands stopped him again.
"First aid kit… Pierrot…."
Pierrot? Who was that… Ah… The actor, hissing in displeasure, grimaced. It seemed this was Pierrot's pet. It seemed the Jester, while re-exploring the city, had accidentally wandered into that girl's district. He didn't even know what emotion he was feeling now. Disappointment that he had fallen into the hands of that deceitful person, or happiness that Pierrot would be able to find him much faster, because perhaps he would first head towards his pet.
The blood-soaked mattress beneath the man dipped, and he felt something cold and wet being placed against his side. The acrobat immediately hissed as his side began to sting, and he involuntarily tried to move away from the unpleasant sensation. Why was this person touching him at all? Just because Pierrot allowed himself to be touched didn't mean the Jester did too.
When the girl tried to touch the sick man again, he snarled, but almost immediately groaned in pain. Because of his stupid actions, the wound had opened again and made itself known. The man began breathing faster, trying to drown out the burning in his side. Pierrot's pet did nothing for a while, then stood up and walked away somewhere.
The Jester would have been glad to finally be left alone, but no such luck. Next to his head, there was some clattering and the sound of breaking glass.
"Decalgin… Allergies?"
A question was heard. The man frowned, trying to process what was said. Decalgin? It sounded like one of the Doctor's medications. Oh, he had recently asked for them to be restocked. After returning to the circus, the acrobat would have to do that. Ah, yes, the question. That person was apparently asking him about possible allergies. The Jester snorted in offense at this but shook his head.
Pierrot's pet breathed a sigh of relief and placed her hand on part of the patient's glove. She carefully took the edge of the glove, intending to remove it, but the acrobat's hand stopped her. If the girl lowered the clothing even a little, she would definitely notice skin that was too different from human skin. Even if the person didn't possess high intelligence, she would finally understand why the circus performers acted so strangely, what those masks that perfectly mimicked emotions were for, and many other small details. And then…
Ha… Then she would definitely be scared. She would start screaming in fear, maybe even run away. She would understand exactly WHO she had been communicating with all this time. And if she understood where the people were disappearing to. That would solve so many problems! Of course, one shouldn't rule out the possibility that this girl would try to call the police, but what a blessing that no one would believe her, and Pierrot would finally understand who he was involved with and stop acting like this. Perfect.
Exhaling, the Jester slowly released the pet's hand, then tried to get more comfortable on the bed, ready for the upcoming show. The girl, apparently deciding the man had finally calmed down, quickly removed the glove from one of his hands, revealing black skin. The circus leader barely restrained a triumphant smile, expecting fright.
There was no response, so he continued to wait. He waited a little more, and…
Pierrot's pet quickly wiped a vein on the acrobat's arm with an alcohol-soaked cotton ball, then rather quickly and surprisingly easily administered the injection. She carefully removed the needle and pressed a new cotton ball to the injection site, leaving it there. Again, there was noise near the actor's ear for a few seconds, then blessed silence.
At some point, the drug the girl had injected him with began to take effect, as the Jester again fell into darkness. He was only able to wake up when he smelled a painfully familiar scent.
"Pierrot… good… he…"
Pierrot? The man, letting out a quiet groan, tried to gather his remaining strength to open his eyes. In front of him were only spots. In front of a bright spot stood two small spots. The largest, red one, jumped up and quickly ran to the circus leader, allowing him to see Pierrot's worried and frightened face.
The Jester slowly gave an encouraging smile.
"It's alright, Pierrot."
He muttered quietly and, with a calm soul, closed his eyes.
"That was very foolish of you to act that way."
The Ticket Taker said, as soon as the Doctor, after providing first aid, left the Jester's trailer. Pierrot, who was worriedly standing next to his comrade's bed, was also gone. The controller had asked him to bring some water for the circus leader, and he had quickly run off to do it.
The Jester, clean to a shine, sighed heavily, lying on the bed and carefully adjusting the robe on himself so as not to touch his wounds.
"It was necessary."
"It was reckless."
The Ticket Taker stood his ground, crossing his arms.
"Jester, you've driven yourself to a terrible state. You were neutralized by just a metal knife. The wound wasn't even that deep, and even a human could have handled it."
The circus leader frowned, turning away.
"Bill, we've already discussed this."
"If you thought the situation was getting that bad, you should have told me first, and the other circus performers second. We would have undoubtedly come up with something or left this city a little earlier than planned."
The Jester slowly shook his head, beginning to massage his temples. The controller only slowly shook his head at this.
"You shouldn't have crippled yourself like that over such stupid things. What if that person hadn't stopped at one blow? What if they had taken advantage of your weakness?"
"I know, Bill, I… Ha, I'm sorry…"
The acrobat replied quietly, closing his eyes. The Ticket Taker was silent for a while, then slowly lowered his hands.
"Well. As a result of this situation, you are temporarily suspended from work until the Doctor is satisfied with your condition. I'll take on all the work. Harlequin agreed to take on some of the paperwork, albeit with great displeasure."
"We'll consider that his punishment for inappropriate behavior during the flyer distribution."
The circus leader nodded, getting more comfortable on the pillow. The controller only chuckled at this. They were silent for a while, waiting for Pierrot to bring the water, when the Jester suddenly began to speak slowly.
"The person… Pierrot's pet. If I remember correctly, it was into her hands I fell then."
"Ah, the owner of the red ticket."
The Ticket Taker said, placing his hand on his chin.
"Yes, fortunately, she was the one who found you and provided first aid. We were very lucky that she managed to do everything at a decent level and even decided not to file a police report after you severely damaged her hands with your claws. The Doctor has already helped her and…"
"She saw my real skin."
The Jester said, interrupting his interlocutor. He froze, blinking in surprise.
"Saw… real skin?"
"Yes. The person removed my gloves to give the injection. Perhaps afterwards she put everything back, though I don't remember that."
The Ticket Taker thought over what was said, then tilted his head.
"Well… I don't recall her mentioning that moment."
Hearing this, the circus leader frowned, looking at the man.
"In that case, she is most likely a hunter or is plotting something."
"A hunter?"
The controller repeated, waving his hand.
"Jester, that profession has long become niche and almost faded into oblivion, and we checked for such obstacles before coming here."
"So she's plotting something. Perhaps she'll contact scientists to report the discovery of monsters. Her reaction was too calm for this situation, and it's either that, or Pierrot chose too stupid a pet."
The Ticket Taker sighed heavily and shook his head. Undoubtedly, he understood that his friend wasn't saying this for nothing, and there was even a grain of truth in his words, but unfortunately, as his and others' surveillance had shown, this person seemed quite boring. Work, home, work, home. No hint of hobbies, walks, meetings with friends, and the like. During all the time Pierrot had followed her, he hadn't noticed a single sign of a meeting with possible enemies, and in her house, there was certainly no hint of it. One could say she was just a gray representative of humanity, nothing more; he had long written about it in his reports for the leader.
Perhaps the Jester was making such assumptions because of the effects of the drugs. The Doctor, in addition to the Decalgin, had given him another injection with some medications to help him recover faster but had warned about possible side effects. Apparently, mild paranoia was part of those side effects, so.
"I'll inform the others to be extremely cautious. I'll also tell them to be ready to leave this place at any moment. If you want, I can add the owner of the red ticket to the blacklist."
The Ticket Taker said, spreading his hands. The circus leader shook his head thoughtfully.
"No need. We need to observe what she does next."
He replied, after which the controller, nodding to him, walked towards the exit of the trailer.
"In that case, I wish you a good night's sleep. Harlequin has already fallen asleep, so there won't be any noise from his and Pierrot's squabbles for the foreseeable future."
"Thank you…"
The Jester muttered, shifting his gaze to the ceiling. His interlocutor only smiled at this and left the trailer. The circus leader tapped nervously on the blanket, thinking for a long time about what had happened. With each passing minute, he liked the situation less and less, and the fact that he simply didn't know what would happen next. What could happen because of all this, and how would it affect the circus? Of course, one could hope for the best, but considering that a person was involved in what had happened… Undoubtedly, that was unlikely.
Quickly running his hand over his eyes, the acrobat pulled his blanket higher and closed his eyes. He would definitely think all this over, but with a cool and clear head, because otherwise, the man would make far too many terrible mistakes.