josh was at his lowest when the big top rolled into town. tyler was the star of the show until josh stumbled into his life and dragged him down with him.
{lowercase intended}
**sexual content
tyler felt a familiar sickness in his stomach as the train that carried his troupe shook as it passed over the next town's tracks. he tried to focus his attention to the flyer he clutched in his hands.
"'come one, come all, to see the wentz circus! the greatest show on earth!' " tyler read aloud softly before the sound of two fists slamming down on a crate interrupted his thoughts.
"you fucking cheated for the sixth time, wentz!" an accented man with caked on clown makeup shouted across the makeshift crate table, "i had that game in the bag."
"suck it, boyd. should i get the money from you now or should i just take it from your paycheck?" wentz sneered through his teeth.
tyler wouldn't dare get involved in any of his circus troupe's gambling as it always escalated into a fight. most people, especially tyler, didn't want to get into a fight with pete wentz, the circus' ringleader and everyone on the train's boss. tyler had only recently gotten back on good terms with pete and couldn't risk anything. some people however, tested the water every once and a while to take wentz down a peg, but he quickly showed them their place.
"my teeth!" boyd shrieked, twisting his face in agony and cracking his rainbow makeup, "you bastard! you knocked out three of my teeth!"
wentz gave him a smile as sweet and sickening as rotting fruit, "c'mon! you're a clown, right? give us a big smile!"
the clown stood and exited the train car, flipping pete off behind his back. the car was left empty except for tyler and pete, much to tyler's dismay. tyler nervously crossed his legs as he felt wentz' eyes burning into him.
"so, joseph, sweetie, how is my star feeling today? hope that stomach bug from yesterday has cleared up," wentz lit up a cigar and took a prolonged drag, "can't have my main event missing another show."
"yeah, um, i'm feeling a bit better." tyler lied quickly. the 'stomach bug' he had was only an excuse to get out of the last town's show and to deter wentz from getting too close to him. tyler glanced up from the wooden floor of the shaking train car to meet the ringleader's intense stare.
"c'mere." he gestured with his cigar to his lap, accidentally shaking ashes onto his golden, sequin suit. tyler stood immediately albeit reluctantly, and sat down the sleazy man's lap, "everyone missed your tight little ass up there on the trapeze last night," wentz leaned in and breathed his repulsive cigar smoke against tyler's neck, "especially me."
tyler was forced to go along with whatever his boss did with him. wentz saved tyler and many others in the troupe from living on the streets, and insists that they must continue to 'repay' him.
"i don't know about that, sir. Ashley's lion taming was exceptional last night." tyler acted coy and made his best attempt to ignore the heat stirring in his boss lap. the boy barely stifled a gag as wentz held the revolting cigar against tyler's lips, forcing him to breathe in the foul smoke for too long. he sputtered slightly as he breathed it all back out.
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"believe me, joseph, everyone wanted you up there. hopefully you've good as new for tomorrow's act," wentz roughly grabbed tyler's hips, "maybe a private performance for your good ol' boss tonight?"
tyler twisted out of his grasp by pretending to be choking on the cigar smoke. an obvious move to anyone who wasn't drunk out of their mind, but wentz sure was. just thinking about the horrible things he had to endure almost every night made tyler want to tear his skin off.
"maybe," tyler smiled weakly, once out of his reach, "it's late. i'm gonna get some rest for tomorrow."
"yeah, you're right, joseph." the ringleader sighed while putting out his cigar.
tyler nodded and turned to leave the train car, "goodnight, sir."
