VariCassTober 2019

BONUS (written October 1, 2019)

BONUS: Clown Encounter

"I thought that Ulf was a mime," Varian said, "or, at the very least, that he never spoke."

Cassandra raised an eyebrow but didn't turn to look at Varian. "Yeah. Both of those statements are true."

"Then why...?"

Cass turned to see whatever it was that was bothering Varian. There, standing at another market stall, was someone that looked almost exactly like Ulf. The mime make-up was replaced with that belonging to clowns, and the man wore a brightly multi-colored wig. He was talking to the merchant who ran the stall.

She didn't know Ulf that well, but she knew enough to be able to tell two things: one being that all of that was completely out of character for Rapunzel's thug friend, and two being that it definitely wasn't him. Though the resemblance was quite uncanny.

She quickly finished making her purchase before taking Varian's hand and practically dragging him to the other stall. She reached out to tap the Ulf look-alike on the shoulder.

"Yes?"

The man turned to face them, and Varian immediately began shaking. He had never been one for... Well, for anyone whose occupation required a lot of white makeup. Clowns. Mimes. Cass rolled her eyes but began to speak anyways.

"We couldn't help but notice that you look like a friend of ours," she said.

Varian's voice rose high in pitch as he chimed in: "He's a mime."

The clown raised an eyebrow. "Ulf?"

Cass nodded. "Yes, Ulf. Do you know him?"

"Ulf is my brother," the clown said, "I'm Bubs."

"Well, what are you doing here, Bubs?"

"Looking for Ulf," he said simply, "do you know where I can find him?"

Cass nodded again. "Yeah. He should be inside the palace right now."

"Thank you."

With that, Bubs turned to leave. Cass turned to face Varian, who was still deathly pale and shaking.

"See?" she asked, "that wasn't so bad now, was it?"

"Speak for yourself!"

She laughed softly, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "Let's go home."

"That sounds like a plan I can get down with."