A Most Grotesque Display (jobros x fem!reader circus au)

10 | Mimicking the past

Kakyoin was the oddball of the town, there was no denying it.

He was kind, but he was strange. One of the best friends one could ever make, and one of the most abnormal people you could meet.

(Y/n) would sit in the far reaches of the alley she dubbed as her home, watching him play on the sidewalk with a make-shift puppet, all scrappy looking and messy. It wouldn't take long for him to notice her, or rather, the fact that she was sitting in the eye of a storm of webs.

"Are you ok in there?" He whispered loudly, peering through the complex ties of string. "Who are you?"

"Go away." That's right. Back then, only Hermes was allowed by her, else someone's looking to die by spider bite.

"My name's Kakyoin," His toothy smile was too happy for a kid in his condition, dirty and grimy, but it didn't seem to affect him. "What's your name?"

"...(Y/n). Now go away."

"No thanks!" And there he fell to sit on his ass, scooting as close as he could to the barrier of webs to continue his one-sided chat. "Anyways, (Y/n) is a super cool name! Are these spiders your friends?"

"Yeah.. I guess..."

"That's. So. Awesome! Do they have names? What are they?"

(Y/n) lifted her finger to let a tiny jumping spider onto the tip of her nail, extending it slightly through the wall of strings. "....Well, this is Henry. He likes to hunt worms."

"I thought spiders didn't eat worms?"

"He just thinks it's fun."

"Oh.. Ok! Hi Henry! It's nice to meet you!" Kakyoin waved, his adorable round eyes looking as closely as possible to the critter. 

It was always strange to meet someone who wasn't really scared of spiders. So far, Hermes had been the only one-- And whoever that fisherman's kid was. He didn't seem too bothered either.

"--And this," He hummed, pulling out his twig-limbed puppet, "Is hierophant! I can move him with little strings on his arms and legs, wanna see?"

With nothing better to do than wait for Hermes to get back with food, the girl in the alley complied with the nod of her head, getting a little more comfortable around this Kakyoin fella and scooching closer to the edge of her confines curiously.

Like a skilled puppeteer, he let his hand tightly grasp the cross strung above the marionettes head and jangled it around a bit, the twisted limbs uncrossing to start performing a little dance.

It was entertaining, to be honest, watching this random stray kid put on a show for another like himself, the pair smiling amusedly staring down at the twirling doll before (Y/n) unexpectedly snatched it through the holes in the webs. "Give me that for a second."

Surprised and upset, Kakyoin let out a whine, already about to ask why she had taken his toy so forcefully until he was silenced by the chatter of spiders. 

Each string that was attached to its arms and legs were hoisted onto the abdomen of one spider or another, the body almost perfectly hoisted up for display before the creepy-crawlies began to scutter around, the puppets arms and legs moving accordingly.

It was as if it came to life, spinning and jumping without the control of his hands in the most magical of ways. Who would've ever thought he'd get to experience such a thing?

Very quickly did the two of them become friends, and over time, Kakyoin noticed that there were less and less of the cobwebs he had to look through to see (Y/n). Each time, her face became clearer, and each time, he'd look forward to the next moment he'd visit her, counting down the days until he would be able to see her without anything stuck in-between.

Hermes wasn't fond of his visits, but she didn't see him as unwelcome. The more, the merrier, right?

Cut to when (Y/n) was chased out of the town, along with all of her companions that she connected with over due time, Kakyoin would find himself to be one of the few entertainers in the circus, both the puppeteer, and ventriloquist.

He practically held the circus together just as bucciarati did, always checking up on everyone and making sure that they had everything they'd ever need-- as they always did with him.

In the time he didn't spend practicing or performing, he found himself working on a rather big project. Making a puppet the size of a human, and then, controlling it. 

Naturally, Kakyoin wouldn't have been friends with everyone else in the circus if he himself didn't have some sort of ability that others were scared of. Possession, Gyro called it. Forced influence, Kakyoin would correct him with.

Curiosity, the bane of humanity's existence, was what did him in. If he could control a puppet so easily, and perhaps an animal or two... Could he control another person?

One day, he decided to try it out... And one could imagine what happened by the end of it.

"Was that Kakyoins puppet I found under your bed?"

Right. (Y/n) was asked a question.

"Well... Maybe...."

"Listen, I thought we all agreed to stay out of his room? What if-"

"I know, I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but get an idea about a new act we could do, and I just..." Ah, there was no point in arguing over it. No point at all.

(Y/n), defeated and dejected, let her head rest on Avdols chest with her arms lazily looped around his back, choking back her unspoken apologies as a hand came to rub her head in a soothing manner.

The two stayed in each others embrace for a moment, a painfully long, but awfully quick moment, before separating slightly to look at the other.

"You should.." He hesitated, biting his tongue. "You should put it back before Bucciarati finds out."

"Before I find out about what?"

...Oh shit.

next chapter: these broken amends, fixed by used bandaids