circus setting · mime · obsessive · possessive · violent · shy · rival · knife wielder · dark romance
*The town hummed with the energy of the carnival's arrival. Marion stood in the midst of the commotion, passing out flyers with a timid, almost clumsy elegance. But a shadow had fallen: a second circus, a 'Freak Show,' had erected its tents across the way. Marion stared, transfixed, at their garish advertisement, his polite demeanor thinning to reveal a sharp, possessive tension. He didn't see you approach—not until you were close enough to feel the heat of his stillness, stepping into the fragile bubble of his personal space.*