Well, if it's not too forward to say, I think you could use some positive clown experiences! I would love to bake you something, I saw you'd been wanting one! :oD
i’m not really buying the whole sugary sweet act, you’re like the antithesis of patches in literally every way which makes you your own whole new level of sus
i know you did like some exchange with the sorcerers or whatever but i don’t think they’d even blink if they were fed poison sweets since death and injury are basically nothing to them.
All this was going to be was a simple chat, she reminded herself. No obligations, no expectations. She will ask a few questions, hopefully get a few answers, and be on her way.
So why was she so nervous?
Patches couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this unsure about a choice. She wasn’t even sure why she found herself so anxious about the idea. There was the easy answer: this was the only other clown like her she’d ever met, supposedly, but why should that make her nervous? Was she worried about what she might find out? What if Sprinkles was actually the same as her in every awful way? What if she wasn’t? She was sure nothing revealed to her could be worse than how she’d chosen to live her life. Then why?
Everything was arranged, she knew where to go, and even if she didn’t, she intended to use her preferred method of surprise translocation to an unfamiliar place. As she placed her phone down on the floor, her form liquified, moving through the device to her intended location.
Sprinkles had spent the morning tidying her cozy living quarters. It was a small apartment, colorfully adorned with soft rainbow pastels and the occasional bright garish pattern that belonged more on the seat of a bus or the floor of a bowling alley than in a pastel rainbow home. Even the frilly apron she wore was colored with rainbow confetti patterns. There were cupcakes placed out on the coffee table, a pie cooling on the countertop, cheesecake in the fridge, and hot chocolate on the stovetop.
Her phone sat on the edge of the table, forgotten in her hurry to finish getting ready for Patches’ arrival. It was just as she started to reach to pick it back up that the inky black goop started to pour from it, earning a startled shout from the poor possum.
The goo continued to grow, dribbling to the soft carpet and pooling until Patches pulled herself from the puddle, which seemed to disappear without a trace the moment she was through. She wasn’t at her full height, the domineering eight feet she normally would sport, but instead a modest six and a half. More than enough to tower over the smaller clown.
“Oh sugar... You gave me quite the fright!”
Patches seemed surprised to have to look down to spot the other, she hadn’t expected such a diminutive height from someone claiming to be like her. She had a lot to learn, “Right.. Sorry..? That’s how I usually travel.”
“Do you now? That black goo is peculiar, you know. You’re far more colorful than that. I’ve seen those dreadful photos you take.”
“What does that have to do with anything? It’s always looked like that?” Patches didn’t intend to sound indignant, but it came out that way regardless.
Sprinkles tapped her chin thoughtfully, “Well.. I suppose it’s possible that it’s normal for you.. I admittedly don’t go around opening up other clowns to see what their magic looks like.”
“My.. Magic. That’s my magic? It’s not just.. Goo?” They hadn’t even managed to do introductions proper before Patches found herself entirely lost.
“Oh dear me, I’m getting ahead of myself, where are my manners.” The possum held out her hand, “It’s nice to finally meet you in person, Patches!”
Despite her lack of experience with basic etiquette, Patches at least recognized the gesture and shook the offered hand, “And you’re... Sprinkles.”
“That’s right~!” Her reply came in a delighted sing-song tone, still exuberantly shaking Patches’ hand, “I am just so gosh darn thrilled to get to talk to you! I found your blog not too long after I joined that blogging platform and I thought to myself: well I’ll be darned! There’s another clown just right there! Ah... Of course, I believe you blocked me after I said hello, but that’s alright, because we’re talking now! Oh why don’t you help yourself to some treats? I wasn’t sure what you liked so I made a little of everything!”
Patches couldn’t believe how chipper the other clown was about all this. It didn’t seem like something to be this excited about, and yet there she was, chattering away, absolutely thrilled to be here. So far, Sprinkles seemed entirely genuine and sweet. Patches still wasn’t sure if that was a relief or not.
She slipped her hand back out of Sprinkles’, a bit awkwardly, and reached for one of the nearby cupcakes to snack on, “I.. Yeah. Um. So what.. Are we?”
“Well we’re clowns, silly! You know that.” Sprinkles replied cheerily as ever, “I suppose we are technically clown monsters on account of us all being a little.. Unique and magical. Some of us blend in a little better than others.”
“Blend in...?” Patches tilted her head quizzically. She knew she was conspicuous from the start, with her sharp teeth and glowing red eyes, and had only intentionally made herself more conspicuous since the loss of her right eye.
“Mhm! We’re all different, you see, even if we can change our shapes a little, there’s some things we can’t hide. The sharp teeth.. If we’re hurt we don’t bleed the same as most creatures. I know one with a unicorn horn and hair that sparkles beautifully, most people don’t mind that too much but ah...” For the first time since Patches had made her acquaintance, Sprinkles looked less chipper. Almost nervous? “Some of us... You and I, for example, have a much harder time of it.”
Patches looked Sprinkles up and down. Sure, she was colorful, she had a large red nose, but nothing about her looked particularly out of the ordinary. Patches had seen plenty of perfectly normal extraordinary looking people in their world, “You?”
“Me.” Sprinkles rubbed a thumb on the fabric of her apron nervously. Soon she seemed to reach a decision and untied the apron, pulling it off to reveal a large jagged mouth in the middle of her torso, “Most people shy away from this a bit. I’m a rather self conscious of my sharp teeth as well.”
“Possums are supposed to have sharp teeth anyway.” Patches tilted her head the other direction. That wasn’t what she was expecting, it almost felt underwhelming, but she had been expecting far worse.
“Not like this.” Sprinkles forced a smile to reveal the cartoonishly large, sharp teeth, nothing like what a normal possum would be sporting.
Patches, having the same sort of teeth, wasn’t terribly off-put, “I think you look fine.”
Sprinkles blinked, caught off guard, then smiled genuinely, “Aw... Well, thank you sugar, that’s sweet of you to say. Not everyone feels the same though, I feel so awful when I accidentally startle people.”
“Is that why you live alone? Do you live alone? You said you knew others like us? Do you not live with them?” The questions came pouring out the moment Patches opened her mouth.
Sprinkles handled them well, she had been expecting Patches to have many questions after all, “Technically I do live alone, although I don’t spend much time here. It’s a nice place to return to when I want to invite over a friend or have a private place to rest. I’m usually out and about! I travel all over, and I’ve met many clowns in my travels- I think many of us have a bit of wanderlust. Understandably, lots of us join travelling circuses! A little clown magic can really leave an impression! The public performance life has never been the life for me though, so while I like to keep in touch, I don’t live with any of the clowns I’ve met.”
“Isn’t that lonely?” Patches knew from her own recent revelations that she had been awfully lonely herself. She was becoming increasingly sure that clowns were supposed to be social creatures.
“A little, yes, but that’s why I travel to meet new people!” Sprinkles’ cheery attitude never faltered, “Would you like me to introduce you to them? I’d be happy to, and I’m sure they’d love to meet you!”
Patches felt her metaphorical stomach drop and quickly shook her head, “No- No. I shouldn’t do that. This is already.. Probably a bad idea. I only came here because I wanted to know what I am. I figured this was my only chance.”
Sprinkles gave a sympathetic nod, “It’s alright, sugar, I won’t ask something of you that you’re not comfortable with. I’d still be happy to talk with you, even when you’re yourself again.”
“But I don’t think I would.” Patches frowned, “Normally.. Normally you’re the sort of person I can’t stand being around. You’re sweet, kind to a fault, almost a little too chipper... Are all clowns supposed to be like that..?”
“I think those are compliments, so thank you.” Sprinkles laughed, it was a gentle sound, “But no, we’re just the same as any other person. There’s nice clowns, less nice clowns, clowns that keep to themselves, clowns that need the spotlight. We’re as varied as anyone else.”
“So am I.. Normal..?” The thought that she was supposed to be as awful as she was made her heart drop.
The expression on the possum’s face softened, “Oh dear... Patches.. The hand you were dealt in life is not your fault, your reactions to your circumstances are not your fault. I think some of the choices you’ve made are perfectly normal and understandable given what you’ve shared about your life, but no.. What you chose to be is.. Not what I’d call normal. And ah... The choice to hunt as you have been is... Um. How to put this politely... Concerning? Especially when we don’t need to eat meat?”
Not normal. Patches felt the faintest hint of relief at knowing there probably weren’t more like her. Having her eating habits called out but only lightly judged was a surprise, “I.. Didn’t know. I grew up eating whatever I could get my hands on, which was usually stolen breads or meats.”
Sprinkles gave an understanding nod, “That makes sense.. But... Do you think you’ll stop hunting, now that you know? You’ve been eating more sweets and less meats lately, right? Have you been feeling better?”
That was a difficult question to answer and Patches found herself having to think on it. It was easy to say she’d stop at this exact moment, but how would she feel later? Truthfully, she had been feeling better, far more energetic, she’d managed to forget on several occasions that this wouldn’t last forever and felt genuinely happy. Normally hunting was one of the few things she did enjoy but... Oh. The penny dropped. That’s why she had been enjoying games of chase so much.
“I... Can’t promise anything.” She admitted quietly.
The look on Sprinkles’ face was almost a disappointed one, but not quite, “I can’t say I understand how you came to be afflicted with this magic, but I do hope it helps you to better yourself.. If only through giving you the chance to have positive life experiences... To show you that there’s better things out there and you can have them.”
It was Patches’ turn to nod, quiet and contemplative.
“Now, did you have any more questions, dear?” The chipper attitude settled quickly back into place.
“Oh- Uh.” Did she have any more questions? Maybe, “What.. Kinds of magic can we do? What can you do?”
“Oh that’s a fun one!” Sprinkles clapped her hands together, “All clowns have some degree of shape changing ability on account of our unique magical makeup. We’re not limited by a rigid structure. You already know that we are rather durable and can put ourselves back together if hurt- which, if I’m not overstepping to say, I do hope you stop taking to such extremes. We can all magic ourselves to wherever we please.”
“Right... Those are all things I know I can do.” Patches had clearly hoped to learn something new here.
“Those are things we can all do.” Sprinkles replied with a bit of a twinkle in her eye as she stepped into the kitchen in the next room over to retrieve a cup, “But I looked through your photos recently, you take your shape changing to extremes I’ve never seen anyone else manage. It’s quite impressive!”
Patches didn’t think much of her shape changing, it was just an innate part of her, something she figured out over time out of practice and necessity, “And you?”
“And I....” Sprinkles gave a dramatic little bow as she returned with a glass, it seemed that even though she didn’t care for the spotlight, she still enjoyed a little bit of performance. Her hand swirled over top of it and it suddenly filled with a bright pink substance. With another wave of her hand the color changed to a metallic shimmering blue, “Can create a magical paint of sorts. It’s food safe, sugary sweet, and makes decorating my baked goods a breeze.”
Patches perked right up at the display of magic. Part of her felt anxious to see a demonstration of magic, but it also appeared entirely harmless, “What..? How did you learn to do that?”
“It came to me naturally, same as your shape changing did to you, I’m sure.” She smiled pleasantly and set the glass down on the table, “I first discovered that magic as a child, my family was thrilled until it ended up all over their walls.”
“Family...” There went Patches’ enthusiasm in an instant, “What is family like? Where is yours?”
That question crushed Sprinkles, she looked genuinely sad that Patches even had to ask, “Well... Mine is pretty large, my parents, many siblings, extended family spread all over the globe. They’re kind and loving, although with a large family, sometimes it gets spread a bit thin. It’s normal to go off on your own once you can support yourself, so I’ve been independent for a while now. I still visit mine from time to time, many of them stayed with the circus they joined, so it’s easy enough to find them.”
As she spoke, Sprinkles realized she hadn’t actually answered Patches’ first question, so she continued, “Family is... Home. It’s where you feel loved and safe, where you feel like you belong. I know you did not grow up with a family, but.. It does sound like you may have found one anyway.”
Patches fell silent at that. Had she? It felt like it now, and she did still stay there even without the influence of magic. So maybe..?
“Thank you...” It seemed she was out of questions for the moment, “I should go.. I think.”
“Oh heavens no, please stay!” Sprinkles felt reluctant to end the meeting on what felt like such a low note, “Or.. If you need to go, would you like to take some sweets home with you? You can share them with your friends!”
Patches nodded and waited while Sprinkles hurried off to bag up most of what she’d prepared. When she returned it looked like she’d packed up nearly her entire pantry with how many bags and containers she piled into Patches’ arms. Patches might’ve had to sprout a couple extra limbs to carry it all. She quietly bid Sprinkles goodbye.
“Don’t be a stranger, you hear? You are always welcome to come by for a visit or send me a message any time. You don’t have to be alone in this world if you don’t want to be.”
