Chapter Text
"Anything else I can get for you today?"
You nodded when the customer shook their head and went to tap their card to pay. You could hear the sounds of Monarca, your best friend, and your boss working behind you making drinks and completing orders with practiced ease. It was currently rush hour and your line of customers was steadily growing. Once you had taken each person's order, you quickly fell into rhythm with your two coworkers as you moved to help with making and delivering the drinks.
"Here you go. One cappuccino and one iced mocha," you said as you set the two drinks down on the table in front of their corresponding customers. "Need anything else?" At the shake of their heads and polite thanks, you walked back to the counter. On your way back, however, you noticed some small markings on the cafe's windows. You squinted, leaning closer. Are those... little hearts? You quickly dismissed the thought, also dismissing the idea that you might have just seen a large shadow looming in the other corner of the window.
Back at the counter, you sighed, taking a minute to lean back against the counter now that the rush was over. Monarca did the same, hearing her sigh as well. Working with your best friend was a huge perk in this job and made everything infinitely more manageable. Another perk of working with your best friend: you get to talk about anything.
"Hey, did you hear about that circus that's in town?" you asked, glancing over at her.
"Yeah, I did. Actually, now that you mention it, I forgot to tell you that some customer gave me a free ticket to it," she said, fishing into her pocket and pulling out the ticket.
You raised a brow as you looked over the pink paper. "Seriously? For free just like that?"
She nodded, placing the ticket back into her pocket. "He even offered to take the flyers that people have been leaving around. Said something about recycling them for us," she added with a thoughtful expression.
You have a small laugh, slightly dubious towards the idea of a customer having that level of consideration. "Well, that's one less problem for us, I guess."
She laughed as well before turning to you again. "Oh! And I also forgot to tell you about what happened this morning, also speaking of the circus," she said.
"Does it have to do with why you were late this morning?" you teased.
She rolled her eyes and gave you a dead pan look. At the slight tilt of your head, she continued. "This morning on my way here, I ran into one of the clowns from the circus. He was getting yelled at by some drunk guy who was blaming them for the disappearances that have been happening lately and the whole scene had an audience. I don't know what came over me but... I stepped in and threatened to call the police on the guy," she finished, a shy smile on her face.
Both of your brows were now raised as she spoke. You hummed in acknowledgement of the disappearances, not wanting to talk about a dark topic like that. "Well, you're better than I am, that's for sure," you said with a small laugh. Which was true, you had no idea what you'd do in that kind of situation. "And the clown? He was okay?"
"Yeah, once everyone started leaving, I helped him up. He had a small scratch on his cheek. Nothing a band-aid couldn't fix," she said, waving her hand slightly before getting animated again. "Oh, and he was tall. Like, so tall."
"If you had to guess, how tall?" you asked with a small smile.
"Oh, six feet at least. Maybe six foot five?"
"Holy shit," you muttered. "What about his name?"
Monarca opened her mouth before pausing. "I... I totally forgot to ask him his name. Come to think of it, he didn't say a word to me."
"Not even a 'thank you'? He seems pleasant," you said with a roll of your eyes.
"Well, I don't know how to explain it but I could tell he was grateful," she said, a sympathetic look in her eyes.
You gave a small shrug, trusting her judgement. "If you say so."
----
Unfortunately, your shift was ending earlier than Monarca's. You knew that your boss was leaving early today as well for some appointment he had, which meant that she'd be closing to shop on her own. A flicker of concern went through you at the thought of her being alone late at night, especially with the rise in missing person cases lately.
"Hey, text me later when you get home, alright?" you said as you clocked out. "Or just text if you need anything in general."
"You got it. And I'll be alright, don't worry," she said with a reassuring smile.
You gave her a smile back, calling out a goodbye as you left the cafe.
On your walk home, you noticed a lot more of those circus flyers all over the city and even spotted a few of the circus employees - or you guessed based on their costumes - doing some tricks to attract more people. You dodged as many small crowds as you could, just wanting to get home when you noticed the strange feeling you got as you passed by one of the performers.
----
Later that night, as you sat on the edge of your bed all cleaned up, you checked your phone. Monarca should have finished closing by now. You feared something had happened to her. Your best friend on the news being labeled as a missing person was the last thing you wanted to see. Shaking your head to brush off what was surely paranoia, you climbed into bed to do a little scrolling on your phone.
It was an hour later that you finally got a message from her and you felt a weight lift from your chest. See? It was all fine. You tapped on her message.
[M]: Just got back home. You're not gonna believe what happened while I closed.
You frowned slightly, feeling some of the worry seep in again.
[Y]: Oh?? Do tell.
[M]: The circus performer I helped this morning? HE CAME INTO THE SHOP AT THE LAST SECOND. And it looked like he got beat up again or something because his forehead was bleeding.
[Y]: HUH??
[M]: And he also gave me a pretty paper rose! Smells a bit funky, though.
[Y]: You sure it's not poisoned?
You said that half as a joke, half out of genuine concern that came from your paranoia.
[M]: Well, I feel fine and I'm home, so. I think we're good :D
[M]: I also found out that he's called 'The Pierrot' whatever that means. It's part of his act that he can't talk in public. He also mentioned something about Harlequins and Jesters being involved.
[Y]: He spoke to you though?
[M]: Said something about making an exception. OH! And remember that ticket I got from the customer? Pierrot said it was a fake!
You rolled your eyes, a small smile on your face. That's what you get for accepting random gifts from strangers.
[M]: Then he did some magic trick and turned the ticket red. This one should be legit. And....
[Y]: ???
[M]: I got one for you, too! It was surprisingly easy to convince him to give me a second ticket.
[Y]: Really?? Hell yeah. So tomorrow after work, we head to the circus?
[M]: The perfect plan.
You two chatted a little more before you decided you had to go to bed. You got comfortable under the sheets and shut your light off, falling asleep to thoughts of what exactly you'd find at the Circus of Horrors.