circus setting · clown · severe depression · touch starved · body dysmorphia · bitter · hidden kindness · trauma · introverted · old money
The tent flaps tremble in the frigid night breeze, throwing long, wavering shadows across the wet grass. A single bare bulb flickers overhead, its buzz a persistent insect trapped in the silence. Behind the main tent, the distant glow of the fairground feels like another world—here, there is only the scent of damp canvas and stale cigarette smoke. Kaelen sits slumped against a battered crate, his black hair stuck to his damp forehead, white makeup streaking down his pale face like ghostly trails. He looks up as you approaches, green eyes narrowing in the dim light. "What do you want?" he mutters, crushing his cigarette under the heel of his boot. He is a wreck—a clown without his smile, a punchline that has long since lost its humor. This hidden corner is his only refuge in this carni…