“And I call me wife and I says to her; Would you kindly tell to me…” Y/n and Oliver were still on the road to the festival, but they were getting closer and closer. They had gone through a playlist of songs, and were finishing off the last one as the festival entered their view.”Who owns a head upon the bed where my old head should be? Ah, you’re drunk, you’re drunk, you silly old fool, still you cannot see!” Singing a song you both enjoyed was a great way to pass the time while on the road. Y/n scanned the dirt parking lot and quickly found at least 5 spots open.”That’s a baby boy that me mother sent to me! Well, it’s many a day I’ve traveled a hundred miles or more! But a baby born with his whiskers on sure I’ve never saw before!” Y/n turned off the playlist once the music stopped playing and pulled into a parking spot near the circus tents.
Once they were done, they turned off the car and pulled their keys out.”Alright, are you excited?” They asked. Oliver nodded quickly and unbuckled his seat belt as Y/n did the same and stepped out. They walked over to where he was getting out and helped him get down.”Let’s go, let’s go!” Oliver said as he grabbed Y/N’s hand. He was barley on the ground for ten seconds and already he was pulling her, and Y/n pressed a button on their car keys to lock it before going along with him. They had to walk down a path before they could get to the festival, and they didn’t want to be late.”Wait, get on my back.” Y/n said as they crouched. Oliver turned around and immediately listened, climbing onto their back and wrapping both arms and legs around them. Y/n stood up easily, exercising with their friends was starting to pay off with how often Oliver can ride like the wind on their back. They started running towards the festival, bidding a few strangers they passed a good morning, and was at the entrance without breaking a sweat. Oliver stayed on their back and moved his head to the side so he could see. Y/n walked up to a booth to ask the man there some questions.”Excuse me, do you know where we can get tickets for the circus? Or are we too late?” They asked. Oliver gasped at the second question and frowned, clearly hoping they weren’t.
The man smiled.”Right here, my friend. And you’re actually really early, the time is 8:30PM. I’ve had a few people come by thinking it was 8:30AM, so you’re not the first to make that mistake.” He replied. He actually seemed happy with his job, which is not something Y/n sees a lot. Or he’s just great at customer service, unlike the jack-wagons in the city. Oliver smiled and calmed down.”Oh, really? I’m glad. Probably a bit too early, but hey, if it was at 8:30AM, we probably would’ve missed it since it’s 11:35.” Y/n said, feeling relieved as well. They didn’t want to let their little cousin down. The man nodded and handed them the tickets.”New policy, early arrivers get free tickets. But don’t tell anyone.” He whispered. Oliver put his hand up to his forehead like a drill sergeant.”Yes, sir.” He said. The man found this funny and laughed, and so did Y/n.”Thank you so much. Have a good day, sir.” They said before walking off. The man bid them a good day back before they got out of earshot and Y/n put the tickets in their pocket before turning to Oliver.”So, what would you like to do in the meantime?” They asked. Oliver looked around, there were rides, games, and food stands all over the place. Of course, there was plenty distance between them, and the ground was like a sand-ish dirt mixed with gravel. Oliver pointed to a seating area.”Can we go there and just talk until it’s time?” He asked. Y/n turned and started walking in that direction, it was a shaded area with a few food and drink stands nearby, along with some benches and tables placed evenly under the tarp.”Sure, buddy. How about we plan our next Minecraft build?” Y/n asked.
Oliver bounced a little bit and smiled.”Yeah!” He said. It was a pretty common topic for the two of them. After all, Minecraft was a game they both loved. Y/n was considered a Minecraft veteran, and sometimes felt like an old, kind wizard helping a young knight on their journey. And gave him enough room to personally learn from his mistakes, of course.
“Those nachoes were the best!” Oliver said. He put his paper plate in the recycling bin and Y/n smiled as he grabbed their hand.”They were. But now it’s 8:00, the circus is starting soon.” They said. Oliver gasped and quickly pulled on their arm like a human-loving dog wanting desperately to go say hi to the people across the street, and started running. Y/n did a little semi run along with them until they reached the entrance to the tent, the same guy from earlier was standing at the entrance with two security guards. The tent’s pattern was split in two at the entrance. The right side was bright yellow with a sun that was a much lighter, but definitely visible shade of yellow than the rest, along with big white stars that look like they were drawn by a child across the bottom. The left side was a dark blue with a white moon, and also had the white stars along the bottom. The line was small now, but it’d get really big soon. From what Y/n heard, these people weren’t like other performers. They only had one show, and a really big one, instead of multiple smaller shows. Y/n looked at the sign, those with tickets already were allowed to get ahead of those who haven’t bought the tickets yet, especially if they got them much earlier. Meaning they’d be allowed to skill ahead. Still, Y/n had that nagging feeling that they should wait like everyone else.
They imagined themselves being accused of thinking they were better than everyone, or everyone looking at them like they were an idiot. At least their little cousin was able to snap them out of their mental scenarios by tugging on their arm.”Look! It says we can get ahead!” Oliver said, pointing at the sign. Y/n smiled and nodded, letting him pull them right to the front with the other people who had gotten their tickets earlier as well. They only had to wait a few minutes before it was their turn.”We meet again, young soldier.” The man said dramatically. Oliver smiled and Y/n handed him the tickets, which he took and proceeded to open the entrance for them.”Right this way. I suggest not being so close to the bottom of the seats, it gets really loud.” He said. Oliver saluted him and marched right in with Y/n nodding and giggling at their cousin’s silly behavior as they followed him into the large circus tent.
The inside was massive. Yeah, the outside was huge too, but it was still amazing how big it was. The shape of the inside and seats were a traditional oval or cylinder shape that a lot of circuses have. Like a theater, the seats rose up a bit with every row until they reached about half the size of the tent. There were entrances in between the seats, most likely where any performers would enter from, about 6 of them, splitting up the rows of seats. Y/n knew they’d be sitting in one of the general seating areas and walked to the right, choosing one of the general seating areas closer to the entrance of the audience. Oliver and Y/n walked up the stairs and took a seat in one of the middle rows, but was a bit higher up. There weren’t many people yet, so Y/n and Oliver didn’t have much to do but talk while they wait.
