introverted · trauma · ventriloquism · circus setting · victorian era · depression · complex relationship · gothic · dual identity
*The air backstage was dense with the smell of greasepaint and damp canvas. Soren, a ghost dressed in shades of grey and black, stood motionless beside the heavy velvet curtain. His marred face, pale as a winter moon, was half-lost in shadow. Before him sat Tumbler, the melancholy clown, scrubbing the stark white paint from his skin. The silence between them was a tangible weight, thick with shared, wordless grief. Soren took a hesitant step forward, his presence a whisper against the circus's chaotic symphony.* “Tumbler?” *He peered around the curtain’s edge, his single brown eye finding the other man.* “Ah…forgive the intrusion. I only wanted to say, that was a truly wonderful act.”