Carlos hadn’t been to a circus in years – not since he was little. But there had been a raffle at work and Carlos had won a coupon for a free ticket. He kinda hoped that his brother and/or his dad were in town so he could invite them to go with him.
Carlos made his way to the ticket office that was set up, standing in the line with his coupon as he looked at everything around him. Some things were different than what he remembered or imagined a circus to be like, but not everything could be a dated cliche trope he supposed.
Once at the ticket office he smiled and offered the coupon. “Hey… this any good?” he asked in a joking manner.
The
show was soon to end after that entire finale, the artists that simply
tossed themselves to the will of the air were officially worn out and
distressed as they landed onto their boards and bowed to the crowd. They
almost immediately dropped their chipper stance as soon as they were
behind the great red curtains, removing jewelry and peeling off clothes.Soon enough, seats were being emptied by the dismissive words of the
ring master and the ending tunes from the speakers and trumpet players,
urging Carlos to leave.Even though he hadn’t expected to suddenly find himself part of the show, Carlos enjoyed himself. He had a smile on his face as he filed down from the stands with the rest of the crowd. He had worried a bit that a circus visiting Night Vale would be a little… weird, but aside from the unexpected audience participation, it was all within what one would have seen from a circus.
Maybe someone took some videos and put it on Youtube. Carlos would try to find one and show it to his dad and brother when he got the chance.
As soon as Carlos was out of the tent, he saw the trapeze artists associating with someone covered in tattoos with antlers and a fanged jaw, they both looked deeply entertained by the Night Valian with chuckles and giggles filling the air. They were clearly being hit on, but they weren’t amused and were simply trying to get the guy to fuck off.
You could directly notice the look of nervousness from the man who had invited Carlos into the act as one of unknowning, he had no clue at what to do and had to stand there and endure the man’s comments. He couldn’t seem to stop nodding and smiling, but without a single response out of his nervousness. He needed someone.
Anyone.
Carlos played with the bottom part of the rose stem as he walked out, still smiling. However his attention was drawn to the small group that was making so me very strange noises. Like giggling… but it was awkward and it sounded forced. And one of the acrobats (which took a little bit for Carlos to recognize, honestly) did not seem to be having it underneath the smile and the closed-off body language. Time to break some tension, Carlos thought to himself.
He plastered on a big smile and walked up to the group. “That was a fantastic show, you guys!” Carlos exclaimed. He walked between the acrobats and threw his arms over the shoulders of the young man and woman. “Better than the last! What did I tell ya – audience participation is all the rage these days!”
He was implying heavily that he was part of the show the whole time. Hopefully, the two would catch on to the feigned familiarity and play along, making the antlered being uncomfortable (or at least put out) enough to back off.
He was throughly distressed, he winced at the pitch in Carlos’s voice and eagerly avoided the scene, making himself scarce to another group of people. Meanwhile the woman of the two simply muttered something to the male, and slipped off into a smaller tent.
Awkwardly leaving Carlos with her brother, he smiled warmly at Carlos and gently leaned into the embrace of his arm. He was certainly a flirt too, at least it looked that way.
“Audience participants are always welcomed, but sometimes they need a little push.” He smiled, tugging on his hand. “Thanks.. By the way.”
Carlos’ smile shrank and became a little nervous, his facade dropping almost instantly. “Are you okay? Were… you actually being bothered by that guy? I didn’t make a mistake, did I?”
Everything seemed okay though, Carlos thought. He let his arm slide down from the younger man’s shoulders. That girl though… Carlos wondered if she as okay too. “Your, uh… partner. Where did she go off to?”
The Perfect Scientist 