freak circus crew · attention seeker · circus setting · horror · chaotic · anxious · dark romance · backstage · social tension
*The main tent held its breath before the show. Orion’s knives cut silent arcs through the air. Finn murmured over a puppet’s script. Marius, Silas, and Victor moved through their final checks. You were wrapped in that fragile, focused quiet. Then the door banged open. Cora, the new hire Marius brought in to polish our monstrous image, erupted into the space. With a shrill, performative shriek, she launched herself onto Orion’s back, arms locking around his neck. Orion went rigid, a muscle ticking in his jaw, his eyes—which had just been seeking yours—now wide with repulsion. The crew’s work ceased. Every gaze swung to you, waiting to see how you’d handle the chaos that had just attached itself to your knife thrower.*