Painted Hearts | Buggy the Clown Fic

- this psycho clown

After a few days in captivity, Niko was beginning to grow used to Buggy's erratic attitude. Once removed from his cage, and so nicely cuffed by the psychotic clown, Niko was passed off to one of the other crew members; A man in a lion costume. Niko gathered that his name was Mohji. He led Niko to the array of people in the audience, sitting him down in the front row and telling him not to move. Niko leaned back against the seat, a scowl curved onto his lips. Finally he was allowed to leave the cage, and it was only to see some insane performance.

The stage started off at a quick pace, surprisingly catching Niko's attention. Dancers and performers did various acts with surprising grace, their hands flitting across hair-thin wires as they held themselves above flaming rings, diving down and then being flung up all the same. Despite his hesitance, Niko found himself enraptured by the clowns, their daring performances. And then, Buggy walked on -- or rather, he appeared.

He burst out of a wooden box in the center of the stage, launching up and out until he slipped into a massive wheel. His body was like liquid under the colorful lights, moving as if he had been born to do it. Niko's lips twitched upwards as Buggy's movements paused for the briefest second, eyes locking with Niko's and flashing him a charismatic grin before he continued the performance.

For the finale, he found himself leaning forwards with anticipation, watching Buggy's body hover as chaos ensued around him, holding onto a whip-thin rope upside down by one hand. Flames flickered just feet below him, casting his features in a dangerously golden light. The performance died as the lights shut off in one swift movement, and Niko was escorted through the dark, back to his bird cage.

Fortunately for him, he'd gotten used to sitting in the golden cage, and leant back against the bars as Mohji locked him inside. Blowing a raspberry, Niko let his still-cuffed hands rest on his bent knees ,tilting his head back against the cool bars and humming softly. Despite being a prisoner, he was in fairly good shape. Buggy seemed to enjoy keeping him in good shape and fed him fairly regularly, popping in at random times to say hello and chat.

Niko had refused the food at first, and still didn't trust it much, but the more he refused, the more explosive Buggy became. 

As if on cue, only a few minutes after the show, Buggy sauntered into the Green Room (which didn't make sense at all, Niko might add), a grin stretched across his lips, "Heeello serpent boy! So, whaddya think of my circus freaks? What about my performance— It was good, right??"

The clown sat down on a wooden crate, swinging his feet as he looked at Niko expectantly. His head cocked to the side slightly as the dark haired male shrugged noncommitally, looking up at the ceiling, "Hmm.. I don't know.."

Truth be told, the act had been mesmerizing. Niko'd been leaning forward in his seat, eyes glued to Buggy. The clown had seemed to throw more than a few smiles directly at him, those gorgeous blue eyes seeking him out throughout the show.

"Oh c'mon, don't be like that," Buggy whined, skipping from his place and wrapping his hands around the bars, pressing his face between them curiously. When Niko didn't budge, the handsome pirate blew out an exaggerated sigh, fishing the key from a chain around his neck and popping the door open. As the door swung open, Niko climbed out, side stepping away from Buggy's intense stare, and leaning back against one of the crates.

Niko shrugged, "And what if I don't want to tell—" He couldn't finish his sentence, as Buggy's demeanor completely flipped, and he slammed Niko's jaw shut, hand so tight it hurt.

"Spit. it. out." He forced out through clenched teeth, jaw so tense Niko could see the muscles taught beneath the skin. The younger pirate was taken aback by his sudden seriousness, cold fear crawling up his spine as he struggled to speak, hand reaching up and gently trying to tug Buggy's hand off. The clowns head tilted and he released the grip on Niko's face begrudgingly.