Chapter Text
Branzy had been together with Clown, romantically, for just over a month. Of course, they had been business partners and close, almost friends, since long before that. Eventually, they confessed to one another and since then he had also become Clown’s, the deadliest player’s, lover.
He wasn’t really sure exactly how Clown viewed him and just how much favour he was granted. He was sometimes still scared of Clown, despite being hopelessly inlove with him, and subconsciously, or rather instinctively, treaded on eggshells around him, afraid of angering the assassin. His worries kept being proven foolish and unnecessary since Clown had been repeatedly treating him with immense care and surprising gentleness, never once attempting to harm him, even when, in Branzy’s opinion, he had messed up.
Overall, his relationship with Clown was great, except…
Clown had been acting weird during the past few days.
Not necessarily in a bad way, but definitely not in a good way either.
He was being quieter than usual, more…reserved? That probably wasn’t a good description for it, but he seemed hesitant with his actions around Branzy. He was also being even more protective than usual, if that was possible, excessively worried, maybe even slightly paranoid, about Branzy’s safety. Additionally, he was more irritable and his patience seemed to run thin, not with his partner, of course, just everyone else.
Branzy was beginning to grow concerned for him, so, naturally, he planned on fixing whatever was bothering Clown. He would do anything he could to help, after all, he loved him.
How would he do that though? He had no idea what was causing Clown to act this way. Was it maybe something he himself did? Branzy decided not to linger on that possibility. Some external factor he wasn’t aware of, but could easily be dealt with? He hoped so.
Eventually, he realised that the only way he could figure out what was wrong with Clown and then solve it, was to start out by actually talking to his partner instead of uselessly dancing around the subject.
He needed to find Clown.
-
He did find Clown!
He was in the armoury, located in the most hidden, inner parts of the Circus. He was cleaning and sharpening his scythe, which in itself wasn’t unusual, he took great care of his weapon, but he wasn’t being as careful as he usually was. He was being too rough and impatient with it, Branzy thought he might actually damage the blade if he kept that up.
Clown noticed him as soon as he entered the room, or, probably, even before that since he had sharp senses. The only sign of recognition he gave was a quick glance back at Branzy, though, the latter couldn’t make out what the other was looking at him with through the mask. Did his expression remain impassive and cold, or did the corners of his mouth tug up into a grin at seeing his lover? Branzy wished he could know, it was really hard getting a read on Clown as he kept the jester mask on a significant amount of the time.
He approached him where he was sitting, on a random chair they had lying around, and settled next to him after pulling out his own chair. After smartly deciding that he shouldn’t bring up the pressing topic immediately, or more like avoiding it, he tried his best to make small talk.
“What have you been up to all day? I’ve barely seen you.” He skipped the greetings and jumped straight to asking Clown about his day.
”Hello to you too, Branzy, and not much. I trained a bit earlier, killed some random player who wanted a duel, and now i’m here.” Clown was, thankfully, entertaining his attempt at small talk even though he was clearly not interested in it, he never did like small talk.
”Oh, um…that’s good.” Branzy had already ran out of things to say, he was, apparently, not good at small talk either. What would he even say? Clown didn’t ask him a follow up question or anything.
What followed was a prolonged, awkward silence.
Maybe it was only awkward on Branzy’s part? He couldn’t tell, not with how inexpressive Clown was being. He just continued tending to his scythe in that same, rash manner, which was honestly painful for Branzy, who knew how delicately weapons had to be handled, to look at.
Finally, Clown abruptly stopped and set his scythe to the side, propping it up against the nearest wall, still in his reach, as always. He turned to fully face Branzy, diverting his full attention to him and making him feel a bit uncomfortable.
”Out with it, Branzy. There’s something you want to say.”
Well, unlike him, Clown was actually good at reading his partner. It was like he could see right through him.
No use beating around the bush anymore, he supposed.
”What’s up with you? You’ve been acting…off. Can you tell me what’s bothering you, or, at least, what I can do to help?” Branzy let his sincere concern slip into his tone. He was sure that Clown would be most likely to confide in him if he realised that he was causing the person he loved to worry.
There was another pause of tense silence while Branzy waited for Clown’s response.
The assassin sighed heavily, as if he was expecting this to happen. Then, he got up from his chair, grabbing his scythe with one hand and extending the other to Branzy, who readily took it, of course.
“Come on, this isn’t really a conversation I want to have in the armoury.” Clown didn’t sound mad at all, on the contrary, he seemed very willing to talk with his partner. That was a relief.
Clown, still holding Branzy’s hand, led them down the various hallways and passages of the Circus, which was intricately designed by the both of them, but especially Branzy.
He actually didn’t know where they were headed, Clown didn’t share that piece of information with him. But that didn’t bother him anyways, he would follow Clown even to the ends of the earth if asked to.
They stopped in front of a door that Branzy recognised as the one belonging to Clown’s room.
Huh?
Branzy did not expect to be lead here, mostly because he had never been inside Clown’s room. It was an unspoken, but clear, rule ever since the start of their partnership that Branzy was absolutely not allowed to invade Clown’s privacy. The same did not apply for Branzy’s, who was always elated whenever Clown payed him a visit. Now that they were together, Clown spent even more time in the other’s room to hang out with him. Branzy assumed that the rule didn’t change just because they started dating, he never really asked, though.
”We’re going into your room? I thought-“
“Yes, we are. Also, I don’t know why you think you aren’t allowed in my room, you are.” How was Clown reading his mind?
The assassin unlocked the door, somehow with his gloved palm and not a key? Branzy was definitely not the one who designed that. They stepped inside the room and Branzy quickly scanned the area with his eyes.
The room was large and matched Clown’s colour palette, lots of reds and blacks with some purple scattered around here and there. There were some weapons on the walls, potions, some shiny crystals that Branzy really wanted to take a look at, and a closet that probably contained various scary, jester-themed outfits. Also, for whatever reason, Clown had a huge canopy bed with an excessive amount of pillows and fluffy blankets, it looked more like a nest and seemed so immensely comfortable to the point of making Branzy jealous.
He’d have to give it to him, Clown definitely had a better room than him, his own was a mess. And now that he was officially allowed in here, you’d best believe he won’t be leaving any time soon.
A tug on his arm made him aware of the fact that Clown had put his scythe down and he was being lead deeper inside the room.
Oh right, back to the current issue.
He was guided to sit on the bed and Clown took his own spot next to him, leaving a realistically small, but far too large for comfort, gap that Branzy desperately wanted to close. He didn’t like the physical distance between them, he had gotten used to it not existing in the past month and now it felt like Clown was shutting him out. However, he was aware that that was most likely not what Clown was trying to do and him closing the gap would just make his partner uncomfortable. So he stayed put.
Moreover, he also noticed that Clown made no move to take off his mask, something he now did often when he was with Branzy alone. Branzy really liked seeing Clown’s face, he was undoubtedly beautiful and handsome, and it was the only time he could read him, which was impossible to do with the mask on, but it also felt like Clown was trusting him, unlike now. He made sure not to complain about it, though. He knew he had no right to demand Clown’s trust in that way, it was just a privilege he was sometimes granted. And currently, he was being shown more than enough trust by being allowed inside Clown’s room and him being open to sharing his troubles.
”So…?” Branzy started, hoping to prompt the other to speak.
“So, you’ve noticed the change in my behaviour…” To which Branzy nodded. “That’s not all that good, I was kind of hoping not to disquiet you.” Clown admitted.
”Why, though? You can always tell me anything, I don’t judge.” Branzy was trying to sound as supportive as possible.
”I don’t know, I suppose i’m simply not used to trusting someone.” Clown then reached up to tug off his mask, along with the jester hat, and looked Branzy in the eye. “But you’ll get your explanation.”
The engineer was glad to be able to see Clown’s face again, stunning as always. He was looking at him with the usual fondness in his eyes, reserved just for his partner, but he also seemed somewhat uneasy.
”I do apologise for having hidden this from you for so long, but…”
Clown snapped his fingers and within the blink of an eye his appearance changed. The first thing Branzy noticed, because his eyes were locked onto his face, was that his mismatched eyes, one blue and one red, were now both glowing and with slit pupils. Around his eyes were cross shaped markings, same as the ones on his mask. Looking up, Clown also had horns, similar in shape to the jester hat, they were black with the tips fading into crimson red, making it look as if they were soaked in blood. A long tail with a heart shaped, but sharp and probably lethal, edge was visible, peeking out from behind his form.
Clown wasn’t human.
”-I’m a demon.”
There’s no way-
Actually, of course there was a way.
Of course Clown wasn’t human. No way a mere human would earn the title of deadliest assassin.
Branzy was shocked, to say the least. He himself was a human, the most common species of them all, and he had foolishly assumed Clown was one too because, well, he looked like one and had never told him otherwise. In the past, Branzy had met some hybrids, which were more uncommon, but a demon? Demons were rare. He had never met one in his life, only ever heard of them - or so he thought.
Taking a closer look, Branzy wondered how Clown could look even more ethereal than usual. So this was his true form? It suited him.
”…As in you’ve been one this whole time and I’m just now finding out?” Branzy, awestruck and dazed, was still struggling to believe it.
”Mhm.” The sound came out as something between a croon and a purr. Branzy had never heard that before but he assumed it was a demon thing.
“Why’d you never tell me..?” Did Clown not trust him? After so long of being partners wasn’t this the type of thing he should have known about?
He mentally shook his head. He was being illogical and emotional, he decided. Clown had every right to keep his secrets. Branzy was grateful to be trusted with them.
Clown reached over to take one of Branzy’s hands in his and squeeze it tightly, reassuringly. “…I’m sorry. It’s not that I don’t trust you, you probably should have known earlier.” Almost as though Clown could read his mind.
Clown retracted his hand and looked away from Branzy, avoiding his gaze, before continuing. “You’re the first, and probably last, to know. While I’m not stupid enough to risk any personal information about myself being exposed to an enemy, that’s not why I didn’t want you knowing… I’m aware of all the stigma around demons, all the misconceptions, all the stories, many of which being true, I didn’t want those to be your perception of me. I didn’t want to give you any reason to be more afraid of me than you already were before, though, I think you must have gotten over that lately.” His tail twitched nervously.
Oh.
Clown’s explanation did make sense.
The stories about demons painted them in a… negative… to say the least, light. Everyone knew how powerful and dangerous they were, more so than any other species. Heard about how cruel they were rumoured to be to humans, the things their magic could do. It was impossible to not be at least a bit wary of them.
If Branzy had learned Clown was a demon early on in their partnership, he would be terrified of him, well, more than he already was.
But now, he knew that Clown loved him. He had been proven to and expressed it many times in the past. And he loved Clown back. A lot. So, he didn’t feel any bit afraid, just startled.
”Thank you for telling me.” Branzy smiled softly and let out an airy laugh. “But seriously! What can you do? What powers do you have?” He looked up at him, wide eyed and curious.
Clown chucked, amused at Branzy’s reaction. “What do you know about demons? I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”
”Nothing, you’re the first one I’ve ever met. I mean, I’ve heard stuff, but i’m sure it probably isn’t any accurate.”
”Alright. So, This is my true form, but I can disguise myself to look like a human too, that’s what i’ve been doing up until now. I’m a demon from the Nether but End demons exist too, we are pretty similar. We are stronger, faster and just overall more physically capable than other species, I have retractable claws, they can be venomous by choice when I feel like it” he gave a quick demonstration by tossing off his gloves and showing them off.
Branzy, amazed and eager to hear more, leaned in closer to take a look at his claws. Sharp, he noted. Clown retracted them before continuing his info-dumping.
“Of course, I have magic. It’s kind of too complicated to describe or explain, especially because you’re a human. I can do a lot of stuff with it, not telling you most of it, sorry.”He lashed his tail mischievously, with a clearly playful look in his eyes. “But, some examples are the way I opened the door with my palm, and the crystals all around us are embedded with my magic, actually, this whole room is controlled by my magic. I should tell you that I can teleport, but I don’t really like doing it. Also…”
Clown grinned evilly.
”-I can read your thoughts.”
…
Fuuuuuck.
He really should have figured this out earlier, it was kind of obvious.
Branzy first stared at him in disbelief. Then, he slumped over and hid his face with his hands in embarrassment and horror.
Clown was now laughing at him hysterically while trying to pry his partner’s hands away from his face. “Oh c’mon, Branzy, it’s not that bad- well, maybe it is that bad for you, but this great for me! It just means I can understand you better without you even having to put it into words.”
Clown was definitely enjoying his suffering.
Wait- just how many of Branzy’s thoughts had Clown read?
”All of them.”
Well that freaked Branzy out for sure. “Could you…um- could you stop doing that?”
”No.” Clown, who was now holding both of Branzy’s hands between them, replied.
Oh gosh, there was no hiding anything from Clown anymore.
“There never was.” Clown sounded all too pleased with himself, unfortunately, Branzy found that endearing.
Please get out of my mind. To which his partner shook his head in stubborn refusal.
Branzy was also now laughing at the situation. He still felt embarrassed, obviously, but he was more awed by the demon’s powers now.
After they had both calmed down and their laughter had died out. Clown let Branzy’s hands go and straightened his back, restoring the initial distance between them. He was waiting for the engineer to speak first.
Oh, this conversation wasn’t done, was it? Though, atleast it was less tense now. Right, there’s one last thing- the most important thing actually.
”But… that still doesn’t explain your recent mood. Can you tell me what’s up with that?” The human inquired. Sure, it was nice to know about Clown’s true identity, but that was still not his initial objective.
Clown sighed. “Me being a demon does have something to do with that. You see… demons have like periods of time, or more like cycles, where their behaviour changes. It’s a hormonal thing, there’s no way to stop it. Basically, for like five days every two months a demon is completely controlled by their instincts, it starts gradually from the few days leading up to that, which would be now, by tomorrow i’ll be very out of it.”
Oh, that made sense. Branzy had heard about something like that, he knew that certain types of hybrids got that, but he was just finding out that demons did too. Actually, he was relieved. Clown wasn’t actually upset and this would pass with time.
Though, that explanation was kind of vague. What even were demons’ instincts? He knew that for hybrids it depended on the type of hybrid that they were, he had no clue about demons.
Reading his thoughts, Clown elaborated. “Demons are violent by nature, even more so during their cycles, and we can’t control ourselves. So, aggressive and murderous towards most people. Logically, I’m not going to leave the circus during then. I prefer to be lucid when killing people.”
Violent, aggressive, murderous… sounded like Clown. Those were very fun things, he loved those about Clown, but certainly not when he could be a victim of them!
Clown usually had great self control, so Branzy had not been harmed once. But, a Clown, the deadliest player, overcome by irrepressible murderous instincts…?
Maybe Branzy was done for… this would be how he died.
”Branzycraft, you are obviously not included in that ‘most people’.”
Oh, phew. Good thing Clown could read his every thought and was quick to reassure him.
”Let me finish at least before jumping to the worst case scenario…” Clown, while attempting to sound exasperated, most certainly found his short-lived terror entertaining.
”Yeah, sorry.” Branzy was not sorry. “Go on.”
Clown continued “Despite our violent tendencies, demons are fiercely protective, and, quite frankly, possessive over their mates. We are strictly monogamous creatures that also mate for life. So, no, you are indeed not in any danger from me.” He grinned, revealing his unnaturally sharp teeth, which were probably also a demon thing.
…
Branzy could feel his face getting hotter.
‘Mate.’
Clown considered him his mate?
”Yes, I do. That is what you are, no objections allowed.” Clown laughed again, the palpable adoration in the sound only serving to make Branzy even more flustered.
The human was sure his face was flushed completely red. He was tan compared to Clown’s ghostly pale, but unfortunately not enough to hide the growing blush on his face.
”I- uh… thank you?” He was grateful, like really grateful, and honoured that Clown cared about and loved him that much for him to earn that title. Not the best at expressing it, but he was sure that Clown got the memo.
”You’re welcome. Love you!” Clown was now just taking the opportunity to tease him after seeing his reaction. The words were genuine, though.
”L-Love you too.” Branzy responded eagerly.
After taking a minute to recompose himself, the engineer went back to asking very helpful, intelligent questions. “So… what am I meant to do? Like what can I do to help you?”
Clown, who had now moved closer to intertwine their hands, and who’s tail was now rhythmically and smoothly swaying from side to side in a way that Branzy could only assume meant Clown was pleased, answered. “Just stay with me. For one week you are not allowed to leave my side, whatsoever.”
”Okay! Yeah, I can do that.” Branzy nodded, he loved spending time with Clown. It would be great to have Clown all to himself for a while without the other running off to kill some poor player occasionally.
He also understood that with demons having lifelong mates…he would be staying with Clown forever, gladly, of course.
The very next moment, Branzy had gotten knocked over by Clown who was now on top of him. His back had hit the plush bedding and he was immediately suffocated by the weight of Clown. The demon had his arms and legs around him in a way that rendered moving impossible, his head was buried in the crook of his neck and his tail had coiled around the other’s thigh tightly.
“Yes, you will be. Together forever Branzy…” He purred out affectionately while engulfing the engineer even deeper into his embrace.
Branzy reached out to lightly touch Clown’s horns and then moved on to his long, ink-like hair to play with it, twirling it around his fingers. He was as content as one could ever dream of being while with the deadliest player, who was also a demon, clinging onto him as if he were an oversized teddy bear.
Clown stilled for a second before grabbing his lover’s hand, bringing it closer to his mouth to place a gentle kiss on it. No one but Branzy would ever get to know that a mouth with teeth so sharp could be this gentle, a demon so deadly be this loving.
”…Thank you.” The assassin murmured quietly, vulnerably.
In turn, the human laid a quick kiss on the top of the other’s head, on his hair.
”Anytime, Clown…” His eyelids began to droop.
For now, they could sleep… and they would deal with whatever tomorrow would bring them when the time arrived.