It's always the silent ones (GJxM)

Chapter 1

Warning this story has: Gradient Joe x Mime, Bugbo x Gerbo (may or may not be one-sided), multifandom, light swearing, AU

(this takes place in an AU where Gradient Joe never made circuses illegal again and before A familiar foe)

It was a simple modest Tuesday. I was spending some time with my friends Gerbo and Bugbo watching all the circus performers including our friend The Hollow Clown doing some circus acts that would put anyone at awe. Even I, a guy more interested in activities requiring more thinking like chess could appreciate the show. That and also the fact that I really needed a break from the crazy Monday I experienced. I'm not going to go over it all, but in short the mayor made circuses illegal after tripping on a ball so years later my friends and me meet The Hollow Clown and agree to help him make circuses legal again by me running for mayor. In the end I won by default (because Bugbo took Quentin's life force but that's not here or there). At first I was a little nervous to become a mayor, I'm just a average gradient headed guy who didn't really need nor want all the power and responsibilities that came with such an important job. But then it became apparent that this job honestly wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

All that I was required to do was look over paperwork giving a overview on everything happening in the town which I was able to do in about 1 hour and 30 minutes since the town I'm mayor of is not that big and make sure everyone was generally fine. It truly wasn't that bad, plus the fact that I could make new laws was a bonus. I actually haven't made any new laws other then all circuses are legal and correcting the many useless laws Quentin had made. I don't plan to unless I know that the law I make is actually important and would benefit the townspeople. Quentin was a bad mayor because he was too impulsive. He made laws at the drop of a hat just because of how he felt in the moment, laws that would do nothing or even worse negatively affect the townsfolk. No, I, Gradient Joe, will not let history repeat itself. These people need an actually decent mayor for once.

Anyways, I decide to take my focus off the show for a bit to look to my side and see how my friends were doing. Gerbo was between me and Bugbo and was eating some popcorn from a red and white striped bag. He was very amazed with the show and was one of the people of the crowd ooohing and ahhhing at every cool thing the performers did. Though he did it quietly as to not upset Bugbo. Speaking of Bugbo, he still had his unusual grin that seems to never falter no matter what situation he's in. His eyes aren't any less unnerving, staring with an unreadable gaze. If I were just a stranger looking at Bugbo right now I'd probably think he wasn't paying attention but I know better than to think that. Bugbo is always paying attention to all of his surroundings and seems to have god-like powers that he casually uses. Sure, he's pretty competent with his powers and not that malicious but it's not that comforting to know that there's a bug that could just kill you by saying "no". Adding to the fact that specific bug is bugbo, and you have the perfect concept for a horror movie.

He's generally okay with me and Hoppo, even sometimes asking me how I felt after the situations we got into. Except for that one time he was a dick and pushed me into that hole, someone could even say that Bugbo likes me the most out of the friend group, even though Gerbo is supposed to be his best friend. In fact, Bugbo is the most passive aggressive to Gerbo. Bugbo is basically obsessed with productivity and feels an intense need to do something that will accomplish teaching his favorite moral. Gerbo however likes to slow down and doing activities that Bugbo views as not very productive, so its no surprise how Bugbo is the most passive aggressive to Gerbo. How he's being treated, I was genuinely surprised when Gerbo confessed to me that he loved Bugbo. He said he just had to tell someone or it would just eat away at his soul and thought I would be the best person to tell. I agreed not to tell Bugbo but questioned Gerbo as to why he would ever have feelings for Bugbo. Gerbo insisted that Bugbo was just looking out for him and Bugbo just had to make sure it didn't go over his head.