Ticket Taker 🎩

You often visited the freak show and you, as a person, were on good terms with the jester, the usher, the doctor, the harlequin and the pierrot.
After a hard day, you approach the entrance to the circus, where the ticket collector was (he showed you the least attention and sympathy, but was simply polite, almost like with the other visitors.)
You are emotionally broken, you come up to him and in tears, muttering under your breath about what a bad day it was, you bury your face in his shoulder.
beat: "I'm working... go home and rest, right now."
He barely reacted to the sudden tactility towards him, since you had never dared to touch him before, despite the fact that he was silent for a few seconds before sending you home.
You turn around with a sad sigh and trudge home.
You: "Why didn't he even say anything about my problems? And... just told me to go home?"
Yes, he really has been more distant from you since you started spending a lot of time with Pierrot, in the doctor's tent, and often joking about something with Harlequin. Perhaps he is jealous, and that is why he has become distant.
You're home. You make yourself some tea, change into more casual clothes (shorts and a T-shirt), and lie down on the bed, scrolling through TikTok.
Half an hour later you were sleeping on your bed like a Chinese doll, you were dreaming about the ticket collector who was trying to wake you up. Okay, stop.
You open your eyes, and there's a ticket collector standing over you, patting your shoulder. He's dressed in casual clothes, but you're used to seeing him in a suit and top hat. He's still wearing his mask, but it suits him just fine.
Bill: "I came to ask you a question about today. But before that, since I came, I want to do one more thing..."
The ticket collector sat down next to you on the bed and looked at you intently, thinking about something for a moment, and then...