I own nothing not even this computer. Review.
Adrien huffs as he follows Stretch into the main tent. He groans as he drags the large pile of props behind him. Stretch has a tiny bowling ball that looks dwarved in his massive meaty hands. The fat man pauses for a second before smiling and tottering around to grab the other side of the chest.
"No! No it's fine. The Gorilla said that I have to do any physical labor myself. In order to get stronger. He told me that I have to do stuff by myself to grow the muscles!" Adrien said breathing heavily. Stretch chortles in a high pitched nearly feminine level before raising an eyebrow.
"The Gorilla said this? He said this." He raises an eyebrow and Adrien grins himself before rubbing the back of his head realizing what he had said.
"Well...okay...Maybe it was mostly charades and a lot of guess work but he got the point across." Adrien grips the heavy prop chest and heaves again. Stretch throws up his hands, what is he to do if the boy does not want any help? He walked to the middle of the rings and sat down on a small stool. Adrien looks at it in concern before Stretch knocks his knuckles against the side.
"Not to worry. It's made out of steel, not even my behind could crack it." Adrien blushes and holds up his hands.
"I didn't mean to be-"
"Blondie I am fat. It is straightforward. There is no shame in a persons weight or body. I realized that a long time ago." Stretch says wiggling his finger at Adrien. "Besides if people will pay to see me then what should I complain about?"
Adrien nods as he starts unpacking the chest. He guesses that makes sense. He glances upwards at the tightrope walk. Hazel was practicing up there, still without any harness or safety nets. He rubs at his jaw nervously. He pulls his hand back in surprise and rubs again. He has some stubble growing, he wondered when that happened.
"She is a pretty one no?" Stretch says winking. Teasing the now blushing blonde. "But alas she says that she wants nothing but the tightrope."
"That's probably for the best. I sort of have a couple of girlfriends." Adrien says in response. Stretch leans forwards eagerly.
"GirlfriendS? With an s at the end?"
"It's...well It's complicated. I like a few girls a lot and I don't want to hurt anyones feelings if I choose one or the other. It's a lot like those old American comics with the two girls and the red headed boy." Adrien says as he tosses up his hands. "Oh man I bet that they are so worried about me. I should go and check up on them soon."
Stretch's face falls and he shakes his head.
"You should just leave it. Better to break without the heartbreak. We are going to be packing up the circus in a couple of weeks and only have one more show during that time. It would be far less painful to just leave. Trust me." Stretch rubs his chest as he starts to unpack the chest.
Adrien gazes at him in confusion before shaking his head.
"Leaving? For where?" He had never left this city for more then a few weeks, why would they just leave now of all times? He felt like he was being left out of a very important discussion.
"The East. Maybe cross the channel or go all the way to Canada. Who is to say. The Ringmaster makes the difficult financial choices." Adrien sat down heavily. His head spinning his eyes felt heavy. He felt like he couldn't breathe. Everything was going crazy! He wanted to go home! He wanted to see his father! He wanted to be Chat Noir and dance over the rooftops! He wanted...He wanted...He wanted...
Ladybug. Nino. Kagami. His friends, his family. He felt his chest tighten. He was having a heart attack! Or a panic attack! Or both!
He grips his chest and grimaces. Then a small brightly colored ball rolls and nudges his toe. He glances down as another rolls over. Stretch has a few in a pile by his feet. The fat man has around seven in the air and is juggling them without a care in the world. Then he nudges one over to Adrien again using his big toe. Adrien grabs this one and holds it for a second. He glances back up at the juggling man.
Stretch looks over and nods. Adrien feels his heart beat slowing down, his eyes readjusting. His pulse slowing. He gulps and grabs another ball and starts to imitate Stretch. Soon the two have a few balls in the air each. Stretch nods impressed by how fast the boy learned. He then tossed one of his balls to Adrien. Adrien caught it and tossed one back.
Stretch smirks and catches it deftly before returning another one to Adrien. Soon the two are tossing the balls back and forth without a single care in the world. Adrien actually chuckles and shakes his head in delight.
"I didn't know you were a juggler." Adrien said as Stretch continued to toss the balls. Stretch reaches into his back pocket, juggling around six balls with one hand. He then pulled out a ring and tosses it to Adrien who grabs it with ease.
"This is a circus Blondie. Most people have two or three jobs. I am a fat man in the freak show, and I am a clown. You have skilled hands. Have you ever thought about joining the clown racket?" Adrien snorts and shakes his head.
"My father would have a stroke and disown me if he ever caught me dressing up like a clown. No offense." Stretch waves it off.
"But it seems like a lot of fun. The last clown show I saw here was fantastic!" Adrien remembered the night well. There had been sickeningly sweet deep fried food. A crown of people. Front row seats. Seltzer water being sprayed. And then he had gotten to ride the ferris wheel between Kagami and Marinette and at the top was where they had kissed his cheeks, trying out the new lipstick that they had bought from a vendor at the fair.
He sighs. He misses them. He misses his friends. Stretch notes the look on the young man face and rubs his chin in concentration.
"You know Blondie sometimes it is good to get some fresh blood in the clowning circuit. How would you feel about performing with me next time that we are open? Just to see how you do. Then we might take you on as a more permanent apprentice." Adrien's eyes brighten as he grins.
"That would be amazing! Thank you!" The two freeze when they hear a whistle from up above. They look up to see Hazel pointing out towards the front tent flaps. Adrien glances over as did Stretch. The Ringmaster was sprinting towards the two waving his hands and growling like a wild animal.
"Back to work. It never ends." Stretch chuckles as he stands up with a huff. Adrien gets up and the two walk to where the Ringmaster was. Hazel was coming down the ladder with fearless ease. Adrien could almost swear that she was like a spider, clambering up and down.
The Gorilla stooped low. Gripped the thick metal bar and breathes out and in slowly. He then stands up with the heavy weights in his hands. The weights bend the metal bar downwards as he slowly stands back up. He grinds his teeth as he lifts over his stomach past his pectorals then over his head. He holds the weights for a few seconds before placing them back down just as slowly.
He checks them, around four hundred KG. Not bad. If he had really stuck with it he probably could have been a pretty impressive weight lifter. He grins and admires his biceps. He then went back to the smaller training weights, it would not make sense to hurt himself before his first show. Now if only they could give him a halfway decent uniform. This costume made him look absolutely absurd.
He glances at the small black creature floating around the ceiling of the trailer. He can see Plagg through the window. Which probably means that the others can see him too. Just as long as the bratty black cat did not steal the ring then it would all be fine. The Gorilla checks the small chain around his neck. Totally safe. He even wore it when he slept. No one was taking this away from him.
He would rather die.
He paused for a second, his job descriptions normally said that he would have to die for a client. He had never given it much thought before. Why should he? But now. Now reflecting on it, he would. He would willingly put his life on the line for the boy.
"Hey!" Adrien shouts over to the Gorilla as he walks quickly over. The Gorilla visibly relaxes and nods as the shorter man power walks over. The Gorilla pushes any more thoughts about his death from his head and nods to Adrien again.
"I was just talking with a few of the performers. I might just be able to be in a few of the shows. Isn't that great?" The Gorilla's eyes widen as his stomach drops. This was not part of the plan. This was not good. At all. If Adrien was out in the public eye...Then that could put the entire plan in danger.
"Yeah! Isn't it exciting! I could get to be one of the clowns!" Adrien said. The Gorilla let out a little sigh. That might actually be acceptable. He could handle something like that. He could control that variable. He would have Adrien wear a large amount of make up, he would have him wear a wig. He would have Adrien disappear. It was the only way to be sure.
"Well I'm going to take a shower and then we can go to dinner, do you want to sit at the same table tonight?" Adrien blabs on excitedly. The Gorilla nods as he follows after Adrien. The two went to the shower stalls and entered different ones. Unaware the entire time of a small black pixie like animal following behind them. And keeping an eye on the ring that was on a chain around The Gorilla's nearly nonexistent neck.
The Gorilla scrubs at his chest and then at his face. The soap was coarse and was getting into his eyes. He grumbles and closes them. Plagg floats upwards and waits a second. He then blows a little bit and the chain snapped. The Gorilla snorts and reaches downwards. Eyes blind with soap. Plagg flits downwards and pulls the ring free. He chuckles as he rolls the small clay fake that he had made. It had taken him a few hours but he was more or less trapped inside of that trailer all day. And some moron had left clay under the floorboards. That or insulation. Either way Plagg had a lot of free time.
The Gorilla snorts and holds the chain up. His throat seizes as he realizes that the ring isn't on it. He glowers at the floor. Cursing his terrible eyesight. He spots the ring and picks it up. It feels weird under the water. Like not real metal. The stall next to the Gorilla's turns off and Adrien steps out scrubbing his hair. The Gorilla doesn't have time to worry. He turns off the shower, puts the chain back on, tying a knot where it had broke. And steps outside to dry off and change.
Plagg floats behind a nearby pile of towels and lets out a sigh. He holds the ring calmly in his tiny nubs. Now came the hard part.
I own nothing not even this computer. Review.