Schooled [Laughing JackxReader]

13

Three hours later and you were pretty sure you'd played every board and card game you could think of. However, Laughing Jack's attention span was remarkably short, so you'd only finished two or three of them.

While you cleaned up the wooden blocks leftover from a collapsed jenga tower, Laughing Jack leaned on the bed, contemplating what to play next. The clown wasn't used to being confined the space of a hotel room, but you refused to go out anywhere. If other people could see him, then you'd be hanging around a weird clown man. If they couldn't, you'd be talking to yourself in public. Neither option was favorable. You could tell he was getting restless, though. Laughing Jack fidgeted and fiddled, tapped his feet and paced around the room.

As you stuck the jenga blocks back in their box, Jack began to jump on the bed. The creaky hotel mattress and frame squeaked and groaned loudly as the clown bounced upon it.

"Jack!" You exclaimed, casting a worried glance at the door, "Stop that! You're making too much noise!"

"You worry too much~" Laughing Jack chuckled, continuing to bounce. "It's fun! Join me!"

You shook your head. Nope, nope, you were definitely not going to jump on the bed with a clown in a hotel. Unfortunately, Laughing Jack wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. His elastic arms shot forward and clasped your hands in his. Jack pulled you up onto the bed and into his arms in a fluid motion, without missing a beat. You found yourself curled up bridal style in his arms, bouncing up and down along with him. Everytime his feet his the mattress you could feel the shock in your body, rattling your teeth. Your heart beat rapidly out of fear and excitement. At any moment he could drop you, and you'd bounce off the bed and hit the floor. But at the same time you felt a kind of childish glee rush through you. You were bouncing on the bed like little kids, and the clown's laughter was infectious. You laughed a little too.

Abruptly the clown stopped jumping and looked down at you. Your eyes widened, startled by his sudden stop. Had you done something wrong? Laughing Jack stared at you for a moment before his black lips curled into a smile.

"You laughed!" He gasped, grinning from ear to ear, "I got you to laugh!!"
The clown looked so genuinely excited, thrilled to see a happy look on your face, even for a second. The adoring sparkle in his eyes made it easy to forget he was...well, a monster.

Laughing Jack set you down and the two of you sat on the bed. You had to take a minute to catch your breath after all that bouncing. Jack stared at you with the same silly grin.

"What are you looking at?" You asked, getting uncomfortable under his unblinking gaze.

"I like your laugh." The clown replied. He propped his elbows against his knees and rested his chin on his hands "Why don't you laugh more?"

The question was so innocent, you were taken aback by it. Wasn't Jack aware of what he'd done? What he'd been doing? "W-well...things happened. You should know that."

Laughing Jack's expression turned sour. "So it's Brian's fault."

"I guess...?"

"Oh, well." The clown's smile returned, this time accompanied by a strange darkness instead of playfulness. He stared down at the bed with unfocused eyes, as if he were staring into a different world. "He's already atoning for that sin."

Before you could ask what he meant by that, Laughing Jack already snapped back into his usual self. "Not that you need him anyways~ You have me now, and we're having so much fun!"

The memories came rushing back to you. The last time you had been to the carnival, the dead children swarming, the horrible noises, and the long, red frown...

"Laughing Jack." You spoke quietly. Your somber tone caught the clown's attention, and he was hushed. "What did you do to Brian?"

Jack's face hardened. He crossed his arms in front of his thin chest. "Why?" He replied coarsely, "Do you care about him or something?"

"Jack." You insisted, taking on a steeley voice you never knew you had. "What did you do?"

There was a moment of tension between the two of you, very much like when Laughing Jack had appeared in the window at school. This time, however, Jack seemed more reluctant to break the silence. He let out a sigh through his pointed nose.

"It's simple, really." Laughing Jack shrugged, his feathery shoulders rustling with the rise and fall. "He's playing with the children."