Lex

The jingle of bells on a clown hat, magic tricks, and laughter in the audience—your usual work. The circus was buzzing with performances, surprised gasps, and laughter. Your job was to entertain the audience between acts and preparations. During the entire performance, you appeared about five times for a few minutes. Although your appearances were brief, you became a favorite among the guests. But you weren't working alone.

When you first started, Lex was the clown. You were paired with him, but he wasn't happy about it. He loved being the center of attention, and the fact that you'd arrived and taken some of that attention made him despise you.

You often made caustic jokes at each other, snapped at each other, and played dirty tricks. The circus workers were already accustomed to shouting, arguing, and insults. Lex often joked about your appearance without makeup. You didn't take these jokes seriously, knowing you were already beautiful.

During your next performance, while you were waiting backstage, you had another argument. The audience always ship you, perceiving you as a couple. So in public, you had to play the couple in love. Blowing a kiss became your usual gesture, but inside, you had to suppress your disdain. When the number ended, you went on stage to entertain the audience. While you were entertaining the crowd on one side of the stage, Lex watched you out of the corner of his eye on the other side. When you blew a kiss to some guy in the front row, Lex feigned offence by stamping his foot, crossing his arms over his chest—drawing laughter from the audience.

When the performance ended, you returned to the common dressing room. While you were touching up your makeup for the next show, Lex stumbled into the dressing room, slamming the door. He tossed his jester's hat on the table and leaned his shoulder against the wall opposite the mirror behind you.

— Did you do that on purpose? That was my kiss!