FinlandxReader - Circus

FinlandxReader – Circus

Sitting cross-legged on your sofa, you stared at the TV whilst it blared out a lame sitcom. You had surfed through all of the hundreds of channels on your TV and it seemed that this, of all things, was the most watchable. Rolling your eyes at all of the bad jokes and grimacing at the bad acting, you glanced wistfully over at your phone, which was placed on a table to your left, checking the screen to see if you had received any texts or missed calls. You hadn't. You were expecting a text from Tino Väinämöinen, your friend (and, dare I say, crush), but he had yet to send you one.

As you were about to turn your attention back to the TV, your phone chimed a little tune to announce an incoming call. Clumsily, you scrambled across the sofa and swiped your phone from the table it rested on. You accepted the call and pressed the phone to your ear.

"Hello?" You answered, your breathing heavy from the unnecessary struggle across the sofa.

"Hi, (Name)!" The bad quality of the phone service didn't disguise Tino's voice, and your face lit up with excitement, a small, rosy blush tinting your cheeks.

"Tino! I've been waiting all day for your call!"

"Yes, I'm sorry (Name)!  Anyway, I called to say that I got us two tickets to go to a circus tonight! It's got clowns and everything! It's going to be so fun!" You stiffened. That didn't sound fun at all. You hated clowns. Every little thing about them - the snow-white faces, the shiny red nose that defines them, the forced smile on their painted red lips that doesn't quite meet their forlorn, beady eyes and the awful, high-pitched shriek of a laugh. "(Name)? Are you still there?" Tino's worried voice crackled through the phone.

Shaking your head vigorously to rid the image of the clown you had created in your mind, you replied in a weak and trembling voice,

"Yeah, I'm still here, I was just distracted by… something." You frowned, that sounded a bit lame.

"Well, are you coming, (Name)? It starts in one hour!"

You scowled. You and Tino barely ever saw each other, and when you did, you rarely got any alone time with him. This would be perfect if it had only been 'clown-free'. Heaving a heavy sigh, you replied,

"I'll come, it sounds like…" Gulp. "Fun." You choked out, the image of a sinister clown entering your mind again.

"Great!" Tino was oblivious to the obvious discomfort your voice trembled with. "I'll pick you up in an hour then!"

After he hung up, you groaned and slumped back onto the sofa, holding your head in your hands.

This was just perfect. You were about to go to a circus full to the brim of freaky, grinning clowns that could be psychopaths for all anyone in that godforsaken circus tent knows. And you were only going so that you could spend some time with your crush. Well, that makes it all better, doesn't it?
__

You spent the next hour curling up on the sofa, groaning and mumbling into a cushion as you hugged it to your chest. Your lip was bleeding from you incessantly chewing it, and your eyes were wide with fear. With each minute that crawled past, you became more hesitant to go, and you clutched the cushion a little tighter, until your knuckles turned white.

Just as you started to resort to chewing on the cushion, the doorbell suddenly rang, and you instinctively flinched. Shakily pushing yourself off of the sofa and stumbling over to the door, you unlatched it to find Tino, smiling without a care in the world.

His soft, light blond hair was windswept to the side, and a white beret consumed most of it. His violet eyes sparkled with anticipation and elation and never left your (e/c) ones, despite the fact that you were trying to hide them from him.

"Hi, (Name)!" Tino greeted, pulling you into a hug. Your heart almost stopped beating from happiness and shock, and all of the fear you had built up crumbled away in a second. Tino had never hugged you before; he must be really excited about this circus trip.

Pulling away from the hug, you invited him in, and watched wearily from the back of the room as Tino took a seat on the sofa.

"W-would you l-like a drink, T-Tino?" You stuttered, your voice gruff and hoarse.

"Yes please! Just a glass of water, though." Tino smiled warmly at you, and you returned a shaky smile back to him. Tino frowned, his big violet eyes filled with concern. "(Name), are you alright? Your lip is bleeding and you look really uncertain on your feet! I didn't want to say anything, because that would be rude!" Tino walked over to where you stood and placed a gentle hand on your shoulder. "If you're not feeling well, you don't have to go!"

Shaking your head aggressively, you replied,

"No, no! I'm fine! I'll get you your drink and then I'll go and get this blood off my lip, then we can go to the…" You threw him a forced smile, "Circus…"

You hurriedly exited the room, grabbed a glass of water from your kitchen and brought it back to a rather confused Tino, before dashing upstairs to the bathroom.

As you entered the bathroom, you caught sight of yourself in the mirror. You let out an incredulous gasp. You looked much worse than what Tino had described you to look like. Your lips were cracked and dry, and even after you dabbed at your lips with your hand, they still bled. Your (e/c) eyes were wide with fear and unblinking, and your (h/l) (h/c) hair was loose and untamed. Your posture was hunched and small, and your shoulders were slumped.

You couldn't go out with Tino like this!

After a few minutes of hastily gathering some cosmetic products, you fixed yourself up, letting make-up slide over your skin, and with each stroke of the make-up brush a little more of your nightmarish appearance was erased.

"(Name), hurry up, the circus starts soon!" Tino whined from downstairs. You winced a bit as the word 'circus' was mentioned, but you denied yourself the 'pleasure' of doing it when you were in the presence of Tino – he was already worried, and you didn't want it to ruin his night out with you.

Nodding your head in approval of your now acceptable appearance, you headed downstairs to where Tino was squirming impatiently in his seat.

"I'm ready! Let's go!" You ushered him out of the door, biting your lip one last time before shutting the door behind you.
__

The circus started out to be wonderful! Men and women alike prancing across the ring, performing acrobatics that look so complex, and animal tamers training dangerous wild cats whilst the crowd stared on in awe – it was brilliant. You sat close to Tino, grabbing his arm and giggling with childish joy. You were lost in the friendly and cheerful atmosphere of the red and yellow striped tent that you sat in, and not once, since the show started, had you even thought about clowns.

As you and Tino talked excitedly about the previous act, several men performing on the trapeze, the ringmaster walked calmly to the centre of the ring, and he announced the next act in a booming voice,

"Ladies and Gentleman, please give a warm welcome to our best clowns – Cuddles and Chucky!"

The crowd roared in delight as two clowns entered the ring. You felt your blood run cold. All of the childish euphoria you had experienced before had vanished. You started to chew you lip again, however more urgently than before. Each second dragged on for what felt like hours.

One clown was tall and skinny, whereas the other was short and plump. Each one had a chalky white face, and a macabre grin that showed their uneven, rotting teeth stretched from ear to ear. Their rueful, desolate and beady eyes survey the crowds, and they let out a loud, eerie and childish giggle that tore through the air and invaded your ears. It was too much for you.

Horrified, you buried your face into Tino's shoulder, whimpering and wailing softly. Tino, looked down at your shivering figure with kind violet eyes, understanding laced in the amiable glance, and he fondly stroked your hair with gentle fingers.

When the clowns had finally exited the ring, you gingerly withdrew your head from Tino's shoulder and looked him in the eye apologetically, your body still trembling with remnants of your fear.

"(Name), I didn't know you were afraid of clowns!" Tino stated softly. You nodded your head, not quite trusting yourself to speak yet. Silent tears were streaming down your cheeks, and your face was red with embarrassment. "Don't cry, (Name), everyone's afraid of something – I'm afraid of loads of things!" Tino admitted, a small blush of embarrassment dusting his face.

"That's why I was in wrecks when you came to pick me up earlier." You admitted through your tears, conducting a wry smile on your lips.

"(Name), why did you come if you knew there were going to be clowns here? Not that I'm complaining or anything!" Tino asked, adding a nervous laugh at the end.

Letting out a long breath, you confessed,

"Well… I hardly ever get any alone time with you… and I didn't want to disappoint you – You were clearly excited about tonight. Your feelings mean too much to me for me to hurt them." Tino looked at you in awe, his eyes glistening.

"Aw… that's very sweet of you, (Name)! I think it's very brave of you to face your fear like this, and just so you could spend some time with me, too! Truth be told, I actually asked you here to confess to you, but it seems as though you have beaten me to it!" Tino laughed, grinning and showing his pearly white teeth.

"You like me too? That's a relief!" You sighed happily.

"Yeah..." Tino stared fondly into your eyes. "Anyway, would you like to leave, (Name)?" Tino asked, holding out his hand. Slipping yours daintily into his, you smiled at the natural feel of his hand in yours.

"Yes please!" You said eagerly, beaming at Tino.

"You're so adorable, (Name)!"