I own nothing not even this computer. Review.
Adrien grins as the white grease paint is smeared across his face. He wrinkles his nose at the smell and tries not to wriggle. He had had plenty of make up on his face before. But this stuff was cheap circus make up. It was little better then paint. Incredibly cheap lead based paint.
Larry frowns at him before shaking his head.
"Blondie you've got to stop making faces if we want to get this done. I know you're excited but you can't let that show until you're in the ring." The lobster handed man said firmly as Adrien took a deep breath.
"Right. Sorry. I'm just nervous about going out there." He said as Larry dabbed one of his long fused fingers into a bit of green and started tracing around Adrien's eyes. Adrien closed them and waited patiently.
"Alright. That should do it for a dress rehearsal at least. Want to take a look?" Larry held up a mirror that was stained white and blue and green. Adrien raised an interested eyebrow in amazement. He hardley recognized himself. He had white around his chin which made him look like he had a beard. A thick slab of green circling his eyes and disguising his eyebrows, and a splotch of blue on his nose.
"Wow. I look like an actual clown!" Adrien chuckles and goes to touch his face. Larry's hand shot up and gripped his wrist before the lobster man tutted.
"Nope! Don't touch it! You'll smear that stuff and it will look like a mess!" Adrien nods in understanding before frowning for a second.
"Aren't I supposed to get lips? And shouldn't it be white across my entire face?" Adrien said gesturing to his bare forehead and neck. Larry shook his head.
"Not anymore. Clowning has changed since I started this racket. Only mimes are allowed to go full white grease paint. And no self respecting clown is permitted to have anything sharp on their faces. It's all circles and blunt corners. I don't know if you've been told but apparently clowns are 'creepy' and 'unnerving' to most kids these days." Larry said using air quotes with his claws.
"So this is supposed to calm them down?" Adrien asked gesturing.
"We just gave you more white on because you're new and younger. It's easier to hide your face with. It makes your age harder to pin down. We really can't get in trouble with the cops for having young unskilled laborer's around. Now you ready for the show?"
Adrien nods eagerly before zipping his lips closed. Larry had told him earlier that clowns never spoke, it was just part of the fun. Adrien was wearing a pair of green baggy pants with black stripes and a bright red shirt with black polka dots and a garish green tie. His father would have a fit or a heart attack if he saw his son wearing such a horrifically designed outfit. Adrien loved it honestly. It was ridiculous and strange and made him feel more and more like a part of the circus.
He was determined to do right, he was determined to impress everyone during the rehearsal. He knew that the ringmaster was taking a bit of a gamble by putting him in without more training, and Adrien knew that it wasn't exactly typical for two newbies to be performing so soon.
But he was eager to prove himself and to show them all that he could give one hundred percent of himself to this team!
Adrien walked out with Larry into the main performance area. They stood in the wings, Larry's white hair had been disguised with a thick orange wig, his face was partially covered by a blue nose the size of a grapefruit and his hands were in thick orange gloves. He had thick shoes on with horns attacked to the bottom so he squeaked whenever he took a step.
Standing alongside them in the wings was Stretch who was in a small pink leotard and had a bit of a fat suit underneath his already impressive bulk so that he looked like a living whale, and Goldilocks who grinned and winked at him.
"Looking good kid!" She said shooting him a thumbs up as she got into a small clown car. Adrien had to resist the urge to laugh. She looked very very ridiculous, she was already a small woman so one of those cars were probably perfect for her.
The Ringmaster walked out into the middle of the three rings and raised his hands for silence to the imaginary audience. He still looked disheveled and greasy and suspicious looking. But Adrien had seen the strange sort of charm that he also held in his hands. He glanced around before grinning widely.
"Ladies and gentlemen, blach blah blach bleh blah! Etc! ETC! ETC!" He shouted the last few etc's with extra flourish before scratching at his gut and shrugging. "Well that's all I have. Remember people! Big smiles! And don't miss your cue! Music!" The ringmaster clapped his hands and the lights went out as an organ began to give a bouncy beat that filled up the entire big top. Adrien glanced at the three clowns who were stretching and holding balls in their hands. Larry got onto the hood of the small car that Goldilocks was driving and Stretch settled his impressive bulk onto the back, the small car dipped dangerously and Adrien half expected it to snap in half.
"Hope your legs are good kid." Stretch says before the car peeled out of the staging area and burst through the curtains. Adrien waited two seconds before he heard the car honking which was his cue to go sprinting out and waving his hands above his head like an idiot.
He sprinted behind the car as it drove in quick circles around the ring, Stretch smiles and waves demurely at Adrien as Adrien reached out trying to get his hands on the small car. He felt like he was actually getting better at this. He manages to jump and Stretch grips him underneath the arm pits and hoists him up far above his head.
Adrien kicks his legs and feels like he is a child, Stretch is so ridiculously large and bulky that he can lift the smaller blonde man up with no trouble. Adrien winces in anticipation as the car screeches to a halt and he goes flying out of the big mans hands. He rolls in midair and lands on his back going into a summersault that made it much easier to jump up from. The others got out of the car and he grabbed the next part of the act.
It was only when Adrien was beside Goldilocks and they were quickly running around with the cannon that was going to shoot Larry right in the face with confetti and cotton candy that he noticed that The Gorilla was in the audience. And the man was smiling.
Adrien pauses getting self conscious. He gazes up at the tall man who was watching along with other members of the circus, patiently waiting their turn. Adrien shakes his head and returns to the act, glancing at the audience a lot more now, trying to get a read on the man.
The Gorilla simply seemed to be enjoying himself, clapping when others laughed, nodding when Adrien moved to the right beats that the organ was still gayly playing. And wincing when Adrien took a blast from a pie that was shaped vaguely like an anvil. Adrien shook the whipped cream off of his face, it stuck to his hair and made him look vaguely like a snow man. And the Gorilla was still right there.
The Gorilla nodded and Adrien felt his grin stretch out so far that it threatened to tear his cheeks in half. By the end of the show when they were cleaning up their juggling balls, batons and chairs Larry nudged the younger man with a smirk.
"Not bad Blondie. Not bad at all. And it looks like the audience enjoyed themselves. Including your pops."
"My Dad?" Adrien asked in confusion before realizing who the lobster handed man meant. Before he could explain himself and his relationship with the Gorilla Larry was already retreating to the washroom. Adrien grabbed a towel that had been prepped for the performers. He rubbed the grease paint, whipped cream and sweat off of his face. He smiles before rushing into the audience.
Hazel noticed him and raised a hand before gesturing to the empty seat beside her. Adrien joins her and glances around for the Gorilla. Seemingly reading his mind she pointed down towards the main ring.
"He's right there." She said. The Ringmaster had just finished another rather unimspiring speech to introduce the next performer. A few well trained gorilla's or just regular men in gorilla costumes brought on a large number of weights and a table with props on it. The Gorilla walked out and gazed around the audience, clearly unimpressed, his scowl was back and he had a fake scar across one eye. Probably to make him look more intimidating, something that he obviously did not need.
Adrien watched in shock as The Gorlla picked up a phone book and without any ceremony tore it in half. He held up the two even pieces and tossed them to either side of the ring. He then grabbed an iron poker.
His eyes bulged and his jaw began to grind as he bent the large piece of metal. It bent and then bent again until he was holding a pretzel made out of metal. The Gorilla held that aloft to show off his impressive muscles.
Adrien whistled and began to clap along with the rest of the audience. The Gorilla seemed to be getting a little smug, he actually smiled when Adrien began to applaud. He then walked to a basket and took out an apple. He tossed it into the audience. Hazel was the one who caught it and squeezed with one hand.
"Definitely real!" She shouted down before tossing it back. The Gorilla took it in one paw and smashed it. Applesauce oozed between his thick fingers.
"That's impossible." Adrien said in amazement as he clapped again.
"He sure is something else alright." Hazel agreed as The Gorilla finally got to the weights. The Ringmaster trotted back on, kicked one of the weights and winced.
"They're real!" He shouted before leaving The Gorilla's performing area. The Gorilla spat into his hands. Squatted and did a dead lift with no back support. And it looked like he wasn't even breaking a sweat.
The Gorilla paused when he heard some shouting and clapping. Adrien was standing and whistling encouragement the entire time. The Gorilla can't help but smile. He was glad that he had impressed the young man. He plopped the weight back down, the bar had bent a little. The Gorilla raised his fists and beat his chest with a snarl. Just for a bit of dramatic flair.
"Hey. Promise me that you will cheer that loudly when I go up. Got it?" Hazel said elbowing him playfully in the ribs before standing. It was her turn to shine. Adrien nodded as The Gorilla walked into the audince and plopped down beside Adrien wiping his brow with a cloth that was big enough to be a bath towel.
"That was incredible! You are going to knock them all dead!" Adrien said as The Gorilla smiled in response. He had once punched a man so hard in the face that that man had died. In fact he had murdered many men many times. He was glad that for once he would not have to do that.
"Hey...Are you okay?" Marinette asks Alya. The girl had been staring off into space all day, ignoring the teacher and not responding to anything. Marinette was almost afraid that her best friend was having an out of body experience. Alya blinks and glances over at Marinette. She bites her lips, her mind was racing, it was like a beehive of activity as she tried to make sense of what she had seen, make sense and fit it in with what happened to Adrien.
She had to tell someone right? The police? Her family? Her friends? Ladybug? But she also knew that she couldn't if her mom was still working for Gabriel Agreste, aka working for Hawkmoth then that meant she was more or less a hostage, if Alya went public then Marlena's life might be in jeporady.
Alya tried to think of something quick to ease Marinette's fears. But luckily for her she didn't have to.
"I think I know what's wrong." Marinette said smiling gently and pulling Alya in for a hug.
"You-you do?" She asks nervously. People weren't entirely sure how Hawkmoth's powers worked, he might be able to hear and see everything, he might just be able to focus in on bad emotions. It was all very strange. She hoped that the next words out of Marinette's mouth would be something like
'I saw him detransform too'
Instead they were.
"I know how hard it is to be everyone's rock right now. You are helping Nino and me out so much. It means the world to us both. But it's okay. You can be sad and concerned too. You don't always have to put on a brave act for the two of us." Marinette said pulling away. Alya was speechless and then just nodded and smiled.
"Yep! That is exactly what I am concerned about! You and Nino! Nothing else! Nothing at all wrong in the world but worrying about you two! HAHA!" Alya said clearly forcing a laugh. She hated lying. Not telling Adrien that Marinette had a crush on him wasn't lying it was just omission of the truth. But this, this was clearly a big fat white lie.
Marinette smiles softly and hugs Alya again.
"You are the best Alya. We all just need a break. I'm sure that we will get one soon."
I own nothing not even this computer. Review.