Possessive Behavior

As soon as I entered through the clown's mouth I was jumped.

"Finally! You're here! Now we get to be best friends for real!"

I awkwardly petted Alice as she nuzzled into my neck with glee. When she finally let go she pulled her teddy bear from her belt and held it up to me.

"Mister Button is happy too! He also says 'Thank you' for returning my big cutty thing on time like I told you!"

The bear tilted its head and held a brown, soft-looking paw out.

I hesitated for a second or two before taking and softly shaking it.

It......it was soft, alright.

"Uhm, yeah. I wouldn't wanna...disappoint Mister Button, after all." I muttered.

She giggled and put him back on her belt.

"Of course not, dummy. No one would."

"It's just a shame I didn't really have an opportunity to use it."

Alice just waved it off and grabbed my wrist.

"It's fiiiiine! It would've just made a total mess anyway. Gross!"

She dragged me further into the tent, and soon enough we reached the break room. The familiar scent of carnival fare hit my nose as she led me to a man who looked to be in his early thirties, devouring popcorn by the handful.

I knew who this was, though his looks weren't all that distinct. Black hair, green eyes, face maybe a bit more angular than usual. The only proper identifying feature was his knuckle tattoos.

E V O L U on his left hand.

T I O N ! on his right.

A tattoo shared by his sister.

I never met him personally, but I read and heard a lot in my prime.

"You must be MC, huh? Glad to meet you. I'm Darwin, the one and only." he mumbled while chewing.

I held out my hand.

"The Master Controller. You have a bit of a reputation, Mr. Darwin."

He shook his head.

"Shaking hands ain't advised right now. Was murked by Fimbul last time I died, so my body is...uncomfortably hot to compensate. For others, not for me."

He tilted his paper bag to show it was not filled with popcorn, but corn kernels instead. With a sly grin, he grabbed about five or six, closed his hand, and when he threw its contents into his mouth they had fully popped.

"And please. Mr. Darwin was some old fuck 500 years ago. I'm just Darwin."

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I nodded.

"Nice to meet you then, Darwin."

"Likewise. And your reputation ain't too shabby itself. I followed your career ever since the boss man told us you might become a fellow performer. Impressive stuff for such a newbie. I respect the ambition."

Yeah. Ambition.

"Darwieeeeee! Don't yap so much! She needs to meet the others!" Alice whined and pushed me forward.

Darwin chuckled and followed behind.

"Sorry, tyke. You know us old men. Yappin' is our favorite sport."

After a few feet, she stopped and let me walk by myself.

"Darwie can be lots of fun when he's not yapping. But when he starts he never ever stops by himself. And the worst part..." her face scrunches up in horror. "Sometimes when he yaps to someone, they suddenly start yapping too, and it goes round and round forever."

"The curse of adulthood, kid." he teased.

Alice shook her head violently.

"Nuh, uh. Mister Button is an adult too and he never yaps."

When we reached an intersection we ran into the last person I wanted to see.

Floating in his usual cross-legged position was Zen, eyes still closed and that stupid smile resting on his face.

"Hey, Z. MC is here, but I'm sure you knew that the second she waltzed in. Can you guide her to the dining room with Alice? I'mma fetch the twins real quick." Darwin said, but Zen lifted his hand.

"Let me and the Master Controller do it. The more she has to navigate the tent the quicker she will get used to it." he said in his soothing, calm, infuriating voice.

"But....I wanna walk with MC!" Alice whined.

Darwin knelt down as if Alice was 6 instead of 16.

"Hey, tyke. You can sit next to MC at Dinner. And we still have to prepare Twin's special meal anyway. Wanna help me?"

The teen bounced on her heels and clapped. "Yay! Let's go, let's go!" She grabbed Darwin's hand enthusiastically only to recoil immediately. Undeterred, she took one of the ribbons out of her hair, wrapped it around his wrist, and pulled him aside that way.

"See you later, MC!"

Zen just smiled his smile and floated in the opposite direction.

"Follow me."

We walked for a minute before I couldn't shut my trap anymore.

"So, are you Empowered or a Mage?"

Zen didn't look at me as he answered.

"Who knows? Isn't life more interesting with a few mysteries left unsolved? Not that I would know."

I furrowed my brows. God dammit. Guess he won't answer the important stuff.

"What's up with your eyes then? You clearly don't need them, but...are they gone? Or are you keeping them closed just to show off?"

At that, he stopped and turned toward me.

"If you want, I can show you. But....I saw through so much of you already with my eyes closed. Do you really want me to get an even better look at you?"

I said nothing for a minute then just shook my head.

Somehow, his grin grew even more smug.

"Thought so. Let's continue on, then."

We walked....well, I walked the rest of the way in silence.

When we reached a tent flap with a marking of two people holding hands he touched it and it glowed slightly.

"Coming" came a feminine voice from within.

After a minute or two the flap was pulled to the site and a dead man in a pristine suit shambled out.

His face was grayish and parts were missing but I did recognize the man I went on a mission with.

Shortly after, his sister hurried out and fussed over the dead man like he was a child, popping his collar, smoothing out the fabric, etc.

"Uhm...hey. I'm the Master Controller. I...don't know if you remember me much, but...I went on a mission with your brother. You were...different, at the time.

Still fixing her brother's outfit, the woman replied.

"I'm the Lone Twin. I sort of remember you. Everything is very..dreamlike and vague when I'm dead, so most of what I know I was told after our mission."

She finally finished, turned around, and we shook hands.

She was still wearing the Arabian princess costume, though it seemed shinier than last time.

"Sorry if my bro was rude or dismissive before. He always had trouble with strangers. But he's a peach, I assure you. Aren't you?"

She turned around and cupped his decaying cheek.

I hesitated a bit before asking what was on my mind.

"So, may I ask what's exactly going on with you two?"

She looked back at me for a second, then returned her gaze to him.

"It doesn't matter. All that matters is it's irreversible."

Her voice wavered for a bit.

I rubbed the back of my neck. Should've just kept my mouth shut.

"Sorry."

With a kiss to her brother's forehead, she faced me with a smile.

"It's alright. It's not all bad. We'll be together forever, just like we wanted. In any case, It's nice to formally meet you. We Freaks stick together. I'm glad to have you."

.

"Let us move to the Dining room then." Zen said.

This walk took us no time at all. Apparently, the Dining Room was close to the bedrooms. Convenient.

As we moved, Twin gently guided her brother forward, whispering tender encouragements into his ear every few steps. He, on the other hand, only let out a raspy grunt occasionally.

The Dining Room itself was nothing special. A large table in the middle and....another table near the left corner, at which sat....

"Oh, hello, Sweetling! I'm so happy to see you again." the Spider-Woman cooed.

"Ari's spider body is too big to fit at the table, so she gets her own." Twin said nonchalantly.

"Y-yeah....I'm glad to see you again too..." I lied.

"That and the smell." Zen whispered.

Twin chuckled.

"That too."

The scent of food wafted out from another flap. I could barely hear Darwin and Alice goofing around in there.

"Where's the big boss?" I asked.

"The big boss is behind the Shadowwall." Twin replied. "But if you mean our dear Mr. Haunt, he was...very busy the last week. Behind-the-scenes stuff, you know? Managing things, coordinating with other tents. We may look chaotic to outsiders, but Freakshow is mired in rules of conduct. Everything has to go through the proper channels. Very nostalgic, in a way. He should be here any minute though."

As if summoned, the Haunting Nightmare stepped into the room, stretching his arms and letting out a groan. Boneyard shuffled in behind him.

When he saw me, his face lit up.

"Okay everyone, please sit down. I know this is our second Welcome Dinner in a very short time, but to me at least it never gets less exciting."

Everyone began moving to a seat as Darwin and Alice started carrying3 pots and pans from what I assumed to be the kitchen onto the table.

Haunting Nightmare plopped down on the largest chair and grinned, his sharp teeth glinting in the light.

"We have a lot to discuss."