circus - joshler

_freaks_

A/N: hope you guys are enjoying it so far and thank you to those who voted :)

____________________________________________________________

tyler gazed into the cracked mirror of the dressing room. the show was about to start he had finally decided to give in and get ready. every time he put on his show makeup or pulled on his tight leotard, he was reminded that he wasn't doing it out of choice. his boss owned him and threatened to take everything he had away from him if he disobeyed, so he let the ringmaster treat him like his own personal plaything. thinking about the lack of control frightened tyler as he stared at his reflection. he was once a confident and outspoken kid from the midwest, but the person he saw now was an introverted shell of who he once was.

he sat down at the dingy-looking vanity and applied red lipstick and black eyeliner as best he could in the dim light of the dressing room barely illuminating his minute features. his eyeliner tube ran dry and tyler simply sighed and screwed the cap back on in defeat. makeup was one of the few things he could do any way he wanted and tyler usually went for a simpler look than some other members of his troupe.

"what else can i put on?" tyler muttered to himself, rummaging through the disorderly makeup drawers of the vanity.

under a package of colored fake eyelashes melanie normally wore for her acrobatic act, tyler picked up a small, unopened jar black paint. it seemed to be the only unclaimed thing in the entire dressing room. the one tiny container of inky black paint was all tyler was left to use. it appeared that being wentz' favorite didn't come with any perks at all. he always kept quiet and let himself be abused for nothing in return. for a paycheck he and his troupe had never seen a dime of. for a train to take them to the next audience to call them 'freaks'. tyler felt his emotions build up in his chest and knew he wasn't allowed to voice them. his only expression he could turn to was his outer appearance and the the small jar resting in his palm.

tyler listened for the upbeat tune of the music that played during boyd's clown performance, two acts before his, while unscrewing the lid to his new pot of inky black makeup. he dipped his finger into the jar and examined how strong the pigment was. he tilted his chin up and wiped his hand across his neck, leaving a thick, jet-black streak over his throat. tyler quickly became obsessed with his minuscule amount of freedom to do whatever he wanted.

moments later, brendon walked in to retrieve tyler, "what have you done to yourself, joseph? you're getting paint everywhere."

"this room was already pretty messy to begin with," tyler giggled nervously, taking a second to check his completely painted neck and hands in the mirror, "i just got kind of carried away."

"whatever, you look fine. just get out here fast before you miss your cue."

tyler wiped off a few droplets of paint he dripped on his shimmery, blue body suit before following brendon out of the dressing room.

******

josh marveled at the immense size of the big top that he and the rest of the audience sat under. the thick red and yellow fabric of the tent barely let in any light from the sunset that shone outside. only darkness surrounded the center ring as a spotlight showcased a blue haired woman tamed a lion for the crowd. many ooh's and aah's emanated from the audience, but josh couldn't focus on the display before him.

moments earlier, he had seen jesse walking around with his ex, which led josh to assume that jesse knew he would be at the circus and was going to try to rekindle his relationship for him. josh decided to stay as far away as he could from them and try his best to focus on the show he came to see.

as the the lights dimmed and the lion tamer strut out of the ring, the booming music that once accompanied her suddenly melted into a classical piece. the shadows of people setting up ropes just out of the spotlight moved quickly before the main performer was lowered into view. the blue leotard the boy adorned shone wildly under the bright lights as he swung back and forth through the air.

josh was fascinated by the trapeze artist and momentarily forgot about his situation with debby. maybe it was the way he seemed so carefree perched dangerously high above the crowd, or how gracefully the brunette slid off the swing and instinctively grabbed the bar to support his small frame. josh couldn't place what piqued his interest in the boy, but he couldn't take his eyes off him.

the crowd, including josh, gasped as the boy swung his legs to gain momentum before flipping onto the next trapeze swing. the trick dazzled the crowd, triggering massive applause as the brunette prepared for his next stunt. he hung upside down by his foot and flashed a quick smile around to his audience. the boy's glowing smile made josh blush softly and look down at his feet, as if the tight leotard-clad brunette would catch him staring.

"amazing show so far, huh?" a stranger sitting next to josh whispered to him, "i could never do flips like that guy."

josh smiled politely and tried to keep his attention away from the captivating trapeze artist.

"yeah, he's the big top's main attraction; 'tyler the trapeze tamer' is what the poster said if i remember correctly."

"tyler." josh muttered softly, the stranger's words seemed to hit his ears in slow motion as he glanced back up to boy in the air.

as the show came to an end, josh said a silent goodbye to tyler before reality poured back into his head.