Stepping back into the ring, it seemed so different, now that the crowd was gone. The cheers and shrieks of terror were absent, and in its place was a ghostly emptiness that was amplified by the eerie indigo hues that decorated the place. Kurloz could have sworn he'd walked into a totally different tent if it wasn't for the fact he was so familiar with it. No one knew the tents of the Dark Carnival quite like the star of the show.
All the other performers were out making sure the spectators cleared the area or counting the takings from tonight's show, so he was able to have this place to himself. Normally Kurloz would oversee things, but tonight, like many other nights, he'd decided to spend some time alone in the main tent to calm down from the buzz of performing. Gamzee might have hit the sopur for his kicks, but the mute was far more addicted to dazzling the crowds as his drug of choice.
Walking out into the centre of the ring, he took a bow before the invisible crowd and smiled a little to himself before standing back up. He flung his arms open wide to all of them, inhaling the feeling he got as he imagined he was opening the show all over again and half expecting his father's voice to sound over the speakers. What he didn't expect to hear however, was an excitable voice coming from his left.
"DO THE FLIPPY THINGTH!"
There weren't many things that made Kurloz Makara jump, but that had given him the fright of his life, and he turned suddenly to glare at the source of this interruption. No one interrupted him, and this fool would pay dearly for doing so.
Stood near the ringside seating was a man in a yellow hoodie, and with hair that covered any line of sight he may have had. Kurloz half wondered how the other could even see as he folded his arms, looking over this idiot who seemed to think intruding on his carnival was a good idea. Obviously, this stupidly grinning moron was some drunkard who probably thought it would be funny to stow away after the show. Kurloz did not take kindly to such behaviour and had a right mind to punch this guy's lights out. as well as wipe the stupid grin from his face. Out of habit, he signed as he walked.
:I'LL SHOW YOU A MOTHERFUCKING TRICK YOU WON'T WANT TO FORGET.:
His aggressive expression was wasted on the other man though, as his face lit up at the sight of Kurloz's signs. "FUCK YETH I LOVEDTH TRICKSTH." He said as he walked right up to the mime and gawped up at him. "ICNATH- IMEATH . . . UH, I WANTHT TWO SEE THE TRICK PLEASETH?"
Kurloz stared right back, pale eyes wide now he was seeing the guy's face up close, and unable to avoid inhaling that sickly sweet smell coming from him. It was soon apparent that this wasn't a case of a drunken stowaway. An absence of any alcoholic stench was a giveaway for one, but there was more to it than that. He looked a little closer at the smiling face; things started to click into place. Observing the genuine excitement in this man's eyes, he wondered if the understanding of his signs and the way he spoke was due to something else. Then there was the lack of fear at being face to face with a juggalo with stitched lips. The smile hadn't faltered at all and Kurloz thought this fellow was either stupid or . . . Ah. Now it was clear that perhaps this stowaway had special needs. The clown sighed a little and softened, wagging his finger at the other.
:YOU SHOULDN'T BE HERE. WHAT IS YOUR NAME?:
"MITUNA." came the reply, almost immediately as he made a unique sign with his hands, as if to show Kurloz that was the sign for his name. "MY NAMETH ITH MITUNANANAN EHEHEHEHIWUHRIWUEHREIAWURIWU UHHH . . . JUSTGH MITUNA."
The twitching outburst that Mituna had just displayed made Kurloz's eyes widen. This guy was just full of surprises, and in a bid to try calm him down a little, he gestured for Mituna to hold his hand out flat. Mituna complied right away and looked curious to see what was going to happen next as Kurloz took the hand in his own and very carefully using his finger like a pencil, he spelt his name out.
"K . . . U . . . R . . . L . . . O . . . Z . . . M . . . A . . . K . . . A . . . R . . . A . . . KURLOTHZ MAKARA?"
:YES.:
Letting go of the hand, he looked as Mituna observed his own hand like he expected there to be writing on it, before giving a slight twitch. The way his body had jerked made Kurloz wonder if the twitches that Mituna experienced were painful or not, but he didn't have time to think on it much as the other beamed at him again.
"I LIEKTH THATH YOU CAN SIGNTH, ITH MAKSETH ITH EASEY TWO UNDERSTHADN." Mituna stated, nodding his head and folding his arms like he was attempting to be serious. "WORDSTH I CANOT . . . BUTH ICANTH SIGNTHS ATH GOOD ATH YOU BECAUSEH MY HANDS DONT ALWAYS LISTEN." If it hadn't been the fact that his lisp and puff of hair made him look ridiculous (and perhaps endearingly cute in a really strange fucking way to Kurloz), the clown would have been able to stop the smile that was spreading across his own face.
:YOUR HANDS DON'T LISTEN?:
Mituna's puff of hair bounced as he shook his head. "NOPE, LOOK."
Taking a small step forward and removing his brown beanie hat, Mituna lifted his thick fringe up and used a slightly trembling hand to point at his forehead. The first thing that struck Kurloz as odd was the circular scar that dented it, like something had impaled his skull at some point, but his interest in that was only fleeting when he saw that Mituna had two different coloured eyes. One was blue, but the other one lacked any pigment whatsoever and making it pink in colour. He'd never seen someone with partial albinism before even with his many years in the circus.
:NICE SET OF PEEPERS YOU GOT THERE, BRO.: He signed, pointing at Mituna's eyes afterwards. He wasn't going to question what he figured was some sort of brain damage. Afterall, this was the first time he'd spoken to someone who looked at his own eyes rather than the stitching of his mouth.
"THANK YOUTH. I LIEK HAVING EYESTH." Mituna chuckled, letting his fringe drop and then acted incredibly sheepish, as if he was hiding some awful secret. "PLEATH DONTH TELLED MY BROTHER I SNUCKTHED AWAY" he whispered, looking this way and that as if he expected someone to come after him. Kurloz frowned a little and wondered why on earth Mituna had wandered away from his brother (who he assumed doubled as his carer.)
:WHY YOU UP AND GETTING YOUR SNEAK ON?:
Mituna rolled his eyes as if Kurloz had asked him the most idiotic question on the planet before he took a breath and pointed at the mime. "I CAMETH TWO SAY HELLOETH TWO YOU."
Standing very still and staring for the moment, Kurloz was stunned. He'd had fans and various other people who had wanted to meet him and such because he was a performer and because he was famous on the circuit, but something told him that Mituna's reasons for meeting him were different, judging by the lack of fawning from him and the absence of starry eyed compliments.
:WHY?: he signed, simply wondering if Mituna even had any reasons.
"BECAUSETH ITH NICETH TWO TALK TWO SOMEONTH. I CAN'T . . . UNDERTHSTNAD THE WORDS SOEMTIMETH . . . BUT I CAN READTH" he said and then pointed at Kurloz's hands. "ANDTH I WANT TWO TALKTH TWO YOU. YOU'RE REALLY TALL SO I RECKONTH YOU HAVE SEEN LOTHS OF COOL SHIT."
A strange melting feeling formed as he listened to Mituna explain himself, and Kurloz smiled one of the warmest smiles he'd done in a long time, patting Mituna's shoulder gently. It was hard not to smile around someone who was so sincere and without hidden agenda. In fact, he thought it was strangely sweet. That, and it was nice that someone other than Gamzee or his ex-girlfriend could read his signs so fluently.
:I HAVE SEEN LOTS OF COOL SHIT, I GUESS. THOUGH, I OWE YOU A MOTHERFUCKING TRICK.: he signed, smiling as much as his stitches would allow him to do so as he watched Mituna's face split into an over excited grin.
"FUCK YETH LETS DO THIS SHIT!" he buzzed, sniggering incessantly afterwards as he took the hand Kurloz had offered him, allowing himself to be lead over to where the juggling clubs were. Strangely, the cheery disposition of Mituna seemed to be rubbing off on him.
Face to face with what was probably the tallest person he'd encountered in a while, Sollux was feeling none of his 5'7" as he craned his neck up at the clown who was smiling dopey eyed at him.
"You patted my shoulder, Brother?" he asked, his voice raspy from smoking one too many cigarettes. It was fairly obvious this clown was a heavy smoker from the stench of weed that seemed embedded into his clothes.
"Yeah, I've lost my brother. He's 5'9" and was last seen in the tent. I need to go find him" Sollux stated in irritation, rubbing his temples as he looked at the performer through his dual-coloured lenses of his glasses. A mess of dark hair and the same juggalo face paint made it fairly obvious that this was the guy he'd seen earlier in the show with the Capricorn sign on his t-shirt.
"You sure you saw that, motherfucker? Those lenses look trippy as fuck." He noted, swaying a little on the spot as he gestured for Sollux to follow him. "I'm not up and supposed to let fuckers back into the tent, but can't have someone stowing away after a show. Dad'll be pissssssssssssssed" he hummed, hissing the Ss as he checked to make sure Sollux was following him.
For some reason, Sollux half felt like adding another black eye to this idiot's face but refrained from saying as such, instead glaring a bit from having his glasses mentioned. He didn't wear them because he wanted to, but removed them anyway, as for some reason, the mere fact this juggalo had felt the need to mention it got under his skin. "Hey, Mitz has brain damage. He didn't do this shit on purpose" he snapped, catching up to the lanky clown as best as he could.
"Oh, well. I guess that sorta changes thing- woah!" The circus freak suddenly stopped in his tracks and paused to examine Sollux, staring right up close at his face as if he'd seen something he'd never come across. The smaller teen glared right back, narrowing his eyes before it dawned on him what the clown was staring at. "Ungh . . . For fuck's sake. Yes, I know; my eyes are two different colours. It's partial albinism, called Psiioniic syndrome. Headaches and the sort, yadda fucking yadda. Stop staring and bare in mind that I'm not the one in fucking face paint."
The clown merely tilted his head and Sollux couldn't work out if there was a slight sneer or if the dopey smile that had been on the taller teenager's face was now looking strangely creepier than before. "Motherfuck . . . Fucker's all up and aggressive in my face. Don't wanna be pissing me off unless you want to leave your bro in the tent." His teeth were bared a little as he grinned in a rather sinister manner.
"Just take me to my brother and I'll fuck off, okay?" Sollux muttered, realizing this guy had a point and seemed quite smug that Sollux was having to remain in his company. Why, he didn't know, but just as quickly as he looked to study the freakish smile this guy was wearing, it was back to being dopey and passive. He could feel his head starting to twinge with pain as he rubbed his temples again.
"Awwh, man. Way to kill the party. Oh, what's your name? Can't be up and dragging any old motherfucker in" he hummed, walking backwards to keep his eyes on him as they resumed heading towards the tent.
"Sollux Captor."
"Solbro, huh? Sooollllbroooo" he said, rolling the syllables over his tongue thoughtfully.
Sollux rolled his eyes in annoyance. "It's Sollux, not fucking Solbro" he snapped, watching the clown's hazy yellow eyes slide in and out of focus as Gamzee spun to check he was still heading towards the tent, spinning back again so fast it was surprising he hadn't lost balance.
"I'm Gamzee motherfucking Makara. Up and pleased to acquaint with you and shit . . . honk honk."
"Gamzee motherfucking Makara?" he sneered, thinking that was the most idiotic way anyone could ever introduce themselves, but his distaste was lost on Gamzee, who chuckled a little as Sollux had repeated it back to him. "Fine, GZ. Just lead me over to the tent." He always shortened people's names, something that irked most people, but Gamzee didn't seem to mind. Quite the contrary; it seemed to sollux that it made the clown smile wider if anything.
Gamzee nodded at him. "Sure thing, Solbro" he said, giving a smile before he turned and focused on getting to the large purple tent. Sollux didn't know what it was about this clown: if it was the weird way he swayed a little when he stood or if it was the raspy voice he had that made his spine tingle. Something was strange about him, and he couldn't get his mind off the clown. It was infuriating, as was the way he walked: literally plodding along like a moron without purpose. He was so preoccupied watching the way Gamzee was walking that it was a good few minutes before he realised he was staring at the clown's ass. The mere fact he was staring at a clown's ass made him want to slap himself as he drew his sight up to his back. Even with the loose t-shirt, it was fairly obvious this guy was strong. He'd have to be in order to do the flips Sollux had watched him execute with such perfection.
So busy was he in his mental state of self-hate and thoughts of if the clown was toned or not (and then more thoughts as to why the fuck he was even thinking about that), that he didn't really see Gamzee, and he ended up walking right into him, bumping into the back of the lanky clown. He didn't seem to notice the collision as he gestured for Sollux to step inside. "You'll want to be up and motherfucking quiet. If Kurloz is in here, he'll get his grump on. Bro doesn't really like being startled or interrupted when he's doing his thing." The way he said that made Sollux think that perhaps the person who interrupted Gamzee's brother the most was Gamzee himself.
"Sure . . . "
Stepping into the tent, Sollux peered into the ring and what he saw surprised him more than anything he could have imagined as Gamzee stood next to him, asking if that was who he was looking for.
In the middle of the ring stood the tall mime who had been leading the show, but he was currently turning circles, dancing with someone so badly it was probably wrong to say they were dancing: it was more just spinning around in circles to the music of Mituna's laughter. His brother's face was lit up with delight that it was only mirrored by the mime's, who was looking back happily at the other. They spun and spun until the two of them fell onto the ground, Mituna in hysterics as he landed in the other's lap.
" . . . The fuck?" Sollux murmured, jaw dropping a little. He seemed to not be the only one who was utterly flummoxed, as Gamzee's face was one of utter confusion for a moment,gradually tilting his head this way and that as if to make sense of the scene he was seeing. He started to speak but nothing came out as he glanced back at Sollux. Seeing as they seemed to share the state of perplexity, he gestured to one of the seats.
"Take a seat for now, Solbro. No point in interrupting a miracle at work."
"That's an understatement" Sollux mumbled, taking a seat and rubbing his temples still. His head was starting to ache more and more, and the shock of seeing Mituna actually looking that happy both surprised and saddened him. Had he really been that subdued at home? He supposed that it was hard to tell when he so rarely got the chance or expressed a want to interact with other people like that. He couldn't help the waves of guilt that Mituna had missed out on such things whilst mingled with joy at seeing his sibling so happy.
"What do you up and mean?" Gamzee asked, watching the two others as Kurloz starting juggling clubs in front of the excited Captor. "My bro looks motherfucking happy" he added, nodding down to the ring as he sat beside Sollux. "Fucker's been up and plastering on falsities for years. Nice to see him back in his groove."
"I suppose it's the same for Mitz. He hates people touching him, so this is something else, I suppose . . . " he mumbled, trailing off a little.
"He's not a brother who likes to cuddle a motherfucker then?" Gamzee asked, his tone sounding unsure of what he was even asking as he scratched his head through his mess of dark hair.
"Nah. If anything, he flips his shit if anyone else touches him. Literally, his ex-girlfriend ended up with a black eye once because she startled him one morning. He panicked and punched out on instinct . . . Fuck, Almeis lost his shit with Mitz for that. I've never seen the guy so angry. It'd been an accident, but I guess people will interpret it how they will. Latula was really good about it though, which surprised me more than anything. I half expected rumors to start up about him being some retarded woman beater . . . I dunno . . . " Sollux said, remembering how the entire situation had been a nightmare for all involved. Just thinking about it was making his head feel like it was pulsating with more force than it had before.
"A motherfucking bump never did no one harm." Gamzee grinned, pointing at his black eye and split lip. "Shit up and motherfucking happens, Bro."
"Yeah, well . . . " He sighed, rubbing his temples a little harder now. His head was throbbing in agony now, and Sollux was all too aware of what might happen next if he didn't do something about it. "As much as it's nice to see Mitz playing about, my head feels like it's about to blow, and I'll be fucked if I'm going to endure this shit any longer-" He was interrupted by the sound of Mituna running up the stairs towards them with Kurloz in tow. He looked at the two Captors each in turn with his ghostly eyes. Straight away, Sollux noticed that Kurloz was most definitely a Makara. There was no way he couldn't be, with the freakishly tall but strong frame that showed through the skeleton suit. He stopped paying attention soon after though as he put his head in his hands, groaning from the pain.
:THIS YOUR BRO?:
"YETH" Mituna stated, his grin having faded as he looked uncertainly at his younger sibling. Kurloz gave a polite wave, but his face paint and stitched lips creeped Sollux out as he merely nodded back. His head was now throbbing with a pain that was seemingly relentless and the awful feeling of nausea was starting to wave over him, making his already pale complexion ghostlike.
"SOLLUXTH? ITH . . . ARE YOU HAVING THE BADTHS AGAIN?" came the slightly worried voice of his older brother. Sollux didn't see the two clowns looking at one another as Mituna twitched, aware of the forthcoming situation. It had happened many times before and Sollux would forever curse their genetics for it. Psiioniic syndrome was harmless enough but the Captors were plagued by intense migraines. Their suffering from the agonising headaches to the point that they usually passed out from the pain. There was no painkiller that had ever worked for any of them, so he was left to just endure them when it happened.
"Yes, we need to go . . . argh . . . Home, come on . . . ungh . . . "
"Yo, Solbro. You're not looking too motherfucking clever" Gamzee mused, quite intrigued that Sollux was now almost as white as the face paint that he and his brother were caked in and he nudged Kurloz in a bid to get his attention. The mime was far more concerned that Mituna appeared to be in distress about this and he had to seriously think about what the best course of action was going to be. Sometimes, they had to deal with people who succumbed to epileptic fits because of the light show. Regardless of the warnings that were printed on the tickets, it had been proven that people would sometimes ignore them at their own risk. The amount of times he'd had to arrange for an ambulance seemed infinite. Nevertheless, Kurloz turned towards Mituna and managed to catch his attention.
:MITUNA, I NEED YOU TO DO SOMETHING REALLY AWESOME AND EXPLAIN THIS SHIT TO ME, OK? CAN'T UP AND HELP A BROTHER IF I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON.:
Mituna frowned in thought before trying to explain that his brother was enduring a very bad headache. Sollux's head was in such splitting pain now that his vision had blurred and contorted, as if the entire scene was swirling and swaying before his very eyes. "F . . . fuck, Mitz . . . we . . . need to get the fuck home . . . asshole . . . " he mumbled. He didn't get to hear much more of the conversation before the pain took over, causing him to black out.
Looking at the teen passed out on the seat, Gamzee nudged his limp body with his foot. This reminded him a little of the few lays he'd had in the past where the person had fainted midway from drink. He sniggered a bit as he remembered such times and he was about to mention his wonderful train of thought to Kurloz when he felt his head being smacked. "Honk!- what the fuck?" he snarled, glaring at his taller brother and then glancing down to his hands to see whatever signs would be formed.
:PICK HIM UP.:
"I dunno, man. He looks pretty content, all passed out like. Sorta cute-" he began but received another smack to the back of his head that seriously made him feel like spinning around and smashing a fist into Kurloz's face. One look at his older brother, however, was enough to make him blanch with fear. It was probably lucky that Mituna had been busy looking at Sollux's limp body rather than at the murderous gaze Kurloz was shooting at Gamzee. He looked so pissed, even the knife thrower couldn't throw daggers like the ones his brother threw with his eyes.
"WE HAVETH THE SYNDROMETH . . . HEACHESTH . . . THE HEADACHES HURT . . . " he muttered, picking up the backpack and standing next to his younger brother. It was then that Gamzee could really tell the two were related. The red and blue eyes on the both of them displayed the same partial albinism that Mituna's eyes had through a parting in his thick fringe. Heck, if Gamzee had met them both at once he would've thought they were twins.
:SO, MOTHERFUCKER'S PASSED OUT FROM A HEADACHE? FUCK, I'VE SEEN FUCKERS PASS OUT FROM SOME SHIT BEFORE BUT NEVER A HEADACHE. SOUNDS LIKE HE'S EITHER IN SOME WICKED PAIN OR HE'S A FUCKING PUSSY.:
"DONTH CALL HIM THATSIUETHAWEIUHRFFUCKTH THATH SHITH REALLY FCUKGIN HURTHST!" Mituna snapped. Kurloz made a gesture of apology and was pleased to find he was easily forgiven (Gamzee was surprised to see this; Kurloz apologised to no one.) "ITHS . . . IT REALLY HURTS. OUR HEADS GO GAME FUCKING OVERTH AND THEN THE PASSING OUT, AND THEN MORE PAIN . . . THATH THE SYNDROMES."
Kurloz frowned while Gamzee had a brilliant idea, nudging his older brother sharply in the ribs. Why he didn't think of it sooner; he didn't know, but the chance to combine the passed out Captor and his favourite pastime seemed too good a chance to miss out on."Dude, I motherfucking got this shit. What is it . . . Remember how Dad dealt with his migraines?"
Standing very still for the moment, Kurloz's expression was unreadable as he stared right at Gamzee, his blue eyes so pale that they seemed almost white. He seemed totally blank whilst he tried to figure out what his sibling had meant. It seemed to click into place and as it did, Gamzee looked right back at him with a cryptic smirk. Stitched lips smiled right back at him.
:FOR ONCE, YOU'VE GOT THE MOTHERFUCKING RIGHT IDEA. PICK THAT SUCKER UP AND WE'LL SORT THIS SHIT OUT.:
Bending down, he picked up Sollux, who was vaguely starting to come round, carrying him over his shoulder. His skin was cold and a layer of sweat clung to it. The thing that struck Gamzee as strange though was the way his form seemed so light, although it wasn't bony at all. He supposed that as he was the one carrying Sollux, that no one would really mind if he copped a feel or two as he started to follow after Mituna and Kurloz.
:WE'RE GOING TO PLAY FOR LONGER, MITUNA.: Kurloz signed, smiling down at the dandelion-haired man who seemed overjoyed that he was going to spend more time with his new friend. Gamzee was more than happy that his brother was distracted by Mituna's smiles as he groped Sollux's ass. It was firm, small and cute and he was going to turn his head and indulge himself with a bite, but decided against it as he saw his own brother glance over his shoulder. Gamzee gave a dopey and vague smile as if he'd done nothing at all . . . or at least it would seem that way if his hand wasn't still blatantly on Sollux's butt or if he hadn't been squeezing it again.
:GET THE FUCK OFF LITTLE CAPTOR. I SAW THAT.: came Kurloz's signs over his shoulder. Mituna merely looked back and saw the sight of someone touching Sol's backside and burst into a fit of sniggers.
"EHEHEHEHE HE TOUCHEDTH THE BUTT."