#PurpleEyedGuy - Thrills (IWantToRemainASecret) - Lifesteal SMP [Archive of Our Own] (2024)

Chapter Text

Clown lay on his bed, hair elegantly fanning out around him in a way that he knew would drive his publicity agent crazy with demands for him to fight maskless. He appreciated the backhanded compliment, but his hair would get way too in the way when fighting and his mask kept at least a shred of anonymity to his name. Even if his face was online, it wasn’t the first image on google, and that kept him happy.

What was not keeping him happy was the private account of his biggest fan, Branzy, the purple eyed guy.

He scowled at the continued privated state of the account, he scoffed and rolled onto his side.

“Come on…” He mumbled, hitting refresh and groaning as it remained the same. He didn’t know what he expected, but he really wished the man would just unprivate already, he was getting impatient.

The more he thought about the purple eyed guy the more infatuated with him he became, he was so loyal to him, so dedicated to attending all his shows, even when he had publicly threatened him. He still admired him enough to be flustered when he tackled him, less afraid and more enamoured.

He was frankly absurd, but he liked that in a man.

What he didn’t like was secrets, but he wasn’t a boomer, he knew how to get into a privated account.

Clown sat upright on his bed, propping up pillows behind him so he could sit comfortably. He cracked his knuckles and signed out of his twitter account.

“Pretty sure my publicity agent said that fans like alt accounts anyway…” He muttered, smirking to himself as he started the process of making a new account. “No wait.” He frowned, “He likely won’t accept an account so new, that’s suspicious.”

He furrowed his brows and checked his previous twitter accounts, for one suitable enough for this incognito task.

@CircusFreak

Oh this one was perfect.

He had made it just before he started his career, barely posting anything except pictures of swords and the interior of stadiums, he had never even mentioned he was a duellist.

He grinned, and eagerly signed in, changing the stale old picture of his first sword to something more befitting of a fan of himself.

He scrolled through other stans of his, gathering info before he found a frequent profile picture amongst his fans, a blurry picture of him glaring down the camera lens with a snarl. He didn’t exactly see how the unflattering photo was popular, perhaps it was how his hair flowed all around him after his mask had been knocked off? He could not tell.

He decided against it, for his own comfort, settling with him with his mask on.

He changed the profile picture, and the bio, starting with:

Fan of duellists, wanting to engage with the community.

He narrowed his eyes, frowning. That didn’t look very authentic.

He checked other fan accounts again, staring with bafflement at how flowery most were, with funky fonts and emojis. He shrugged, if it got him into the private account, who cares.

♣#1 Duellist fan ♠ | 🃏ClownPierce Supremacy🗡 | 🌸Lurker looking for friends 🥺

He covered his mouth as he laughed loudly, oh it was perfect.

He found himself giddy as he added the finishing touches, adding the pronouns, making the location anywhere that wasn’t here and finally preparing to post the first tweet he had tweeted on this account in months.

The last one was:

Already great! And could be interpreted as an outsider’s view, not an insider.

Now for a new one…

He pressed his fingertips together with concentration etched into his face as he considered how he should go about this. Just something brief and believable, it didn’t matter if anyone else doubted him, the only opinion that mattered was Branzy’s.

He smirked boldly, knowing exactly what Branzy liked, him.

He felt both ashamed and also proud of his tweet, because surely, surely this would get Branzy’s attention, surely, he wouldn’t think he’d say such a thing about himself.

He posted the tweet, waited a few minutes, then started following any other stans he could find, including Branzy.

-

Branzy was getting way too many followers these days.

He lay face down on his bed, groaning as loud as he could, much to the frustration of his friend Rek, who had decided to visit in hopes of a quieter study space since his neighbour’s house was being renovated and the construction noises had been driving him insane. He felt his eye twitch as Branzy whined when another ‘ping!’ came from his phone.

“You can turn it to silent, you know.” He sighed, scribbling out another failed equation.

“How will I know when it’s over if I can’t hear it end?” Branzy reasoned with flawed logic.

Rek rolled his eyes, “Just accept the follows or make it so they can’t request to follow or something.”

Branzy sighed and rolled over with the phone, mindlessly accepting any followers that had an older account and a good profile picture, not accepting anyone only interested in Branzy to get in touch with Clown. He liked the fans, he too was a fan, but if he could barely talk to Clown, how did they expect him to wingman them into a conversation with him?

“There.” Branzy sighed, another ‘ping!’ sounded out and he groaned again. “Whatever, I’m just gonna go on a walk, enjoy the peace and quiet.” Branzy said, tossing his phone and walking out.

“Wait Branzy- Branzy you didn’t mute it-“ Rek started, watching the door swing shut behind his friend, he slumped in his seat, listening to the continued ‘ping!’ and wondering why he even bothered.

“Okay then.” He sighed, grabbing earphones, and readying to blast music.

-

Clown was making himself dinner when his phone pinged, causing him to leap away from his stove and dive to his benchtop. He gripped the phone with a manic grin, smile only widening when he saw his follow request was accepted.

“Oh, you poor, sweet, fool.” He muttered with a smirk, immediately opening Branzy’s account and scrolling down.

He chuckled to himself, “It’d be easier to talk to me if you just let me follow you…” He scrolled a little further, “What could you possibly not want me to see-“

Oh, well, that wasn’t a surprise. He doubted he thought that was all it took to scare him off-

Wow, okay. He really was a big simp. He hid his grin beneath his palm, weirdly, whilst he didn’t really like people judging him based on his appearance rather than his skill, he didn’t mind when it came to Branzy.

He scrolled just a bit further, seeing multiple tweets expressing Branzy’s admiration for him, heart emojis plentiful.

This poor idiot.

Clown chuckled, scrolling just a bit further through more tweets of admiration and many, many, fancam retweets. He grew a bit curious about if he always acted this way, so he searched up his user and went back a couple years, to when Clown was just starting his career.

He flushed, biting his lip and glancing away from his screen for a moment. He really had been there from the start, hadn’t he?

Clown felt his gaze soften, old Branzy was far more… Contained? Respectful? No, he wouldn’t call Branzy’s behaviour today disrespectful, it honestly showed Clown that he was just more comfortable admitting his attraction. But he was so, polite, here. So kind, so appreciative.

Many of the following tweets were much of the same, but what truly made Clown’s finger freeze was an image.

The image attached was Branzy at one of Clown’s duels before it had begun, there wasn’t much of a crowd, there never was when Clown first started out but still Branzy was there- Hair slightly out of place, blown messily about from the wind, his cheeks were ever so slightly red. There, and holding sheepishly in one of his hands, a replica of Clown’s mask.

He was smiling, half his face hidden behind the mask as he showed it off.

It had no straps to hold it on, meaning Branzy had to manually hold it up to even use the dang thing. It was clearly drawn on in sharpie, looked to made of painted Styrofoam that had the eye sockets slightly carved out to add depth. It was pretty cheaply made, paint strokes all over the place, the black sharpie didn’t stay in the lines of the eyes and one of the mouths lines to represent teeth was crooked.

Clown had to have it. Or see it, or something, that mask was likely the first ever piece of fanart in any way created for him and of course it was made by his beloved number one fan Branzy.

He marvelled at its beauty, imperfections and all.

He had to have it.

He admired Branzy’s smiling face.

He had to have it.

-

A few days later and Clown was subjected to the horrors that were involved when being in the public eye, and that was public appearances. In this case, an interview, on a late-night show.

Interviews were not something Clown enjoyed too much; he didn’t have the most charismatic personality. In fact he tried to keep speaking publicly to a minimum, only really interacting through his twitter. He knew interviewers often tried to ring out what they thought audiences wanted, and not really focus on asking questions that Clown hadn’t heard before.

But there was one interview show he didn’t mind, they left him room to dodge a question he didn’t like and were explicit on the topics they wanted to cover during the interview.

So when he got a request for an interview in his inbox from this show, he accepted, especially when they said they wanted to ask him about the purple eyed guy.

Any chance to talk about Branzy with him able to hear him was a chance he’d take.

He was seated across from the desk where the host sat, a jazz band referred to as ‘the funny boys’ already practicing their playing for when live music would be required.

“Hey again, Clown.” The interviewer greeted as the crew around them started mic’ing them up. She smiled pleasantly, her blue attire matching her hair and making her bright eyes stand out. She wore bunny ears, the most iconic part of her outfit and a staple of the show. “We’re gonna be projecting a lot of stuff on that board today,” She nodded to the projector board, which currently had the shows logo.

“No worries.” Clown said with a nod, watching with hidden delight as the audio crew struggled to mic him in a way that didn’t involve moving his mask. He took the mic from their hands and attached it to his collar with a chuckle. “Been a while Kaboodle, you still losing every game you challenge your guests to?”

Kab scoffed and dramatically gasped, “No! I’ve won… Some!”

Clown stared her down till she broke with a sheepish, “Like, one…”

At the very least, her show made her guests feel like winners, even if their challenger was never much of a challenge.

“We’re going live in 30!” The director called. Both he and the interviewers posture straightened at the call.

“Show time.” She mumbled with a smile; Clown nodded to show he had heard her. “You’re lucky this is just an interview Clown, I would have totally destroyed you.”

Clown laughed loudly, quietly stifling it before the director could tell him off.

“Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Five, Four, Three-“ The voice grew quieter, until the words were just mouthed, a final point towards them originally the camera having gone live.

“Hello everyone and welcome to A heart to heart! I’m your host, Kaboodle, and today we are having a heart to heart with our very special guest, someone whom we have had the… pleasure to have on our show before, the one and only… ClownPierce!”

The audience cheered, Clown leaned back in his chair, trying to give the impressive of cool confidence.

"Now Clownpierce, you're a famous duellist whose duels have been a spectacle to behold, especially these past few years as your skills have increased and duels grow more and more entertaining." The interviewer began.

Clown let out a pleasant laugh, "You flatter me! Thank you, though I'm really not all that impressive." He shrugged.

Kaboodle rolled her eyes playfully, "I, and many others, would disagree but I think we can agree that as of late a new development in your life has grown to be quite the spectacle," She turned to the board, which started projecting tweets and news articles relating to Clowns attack on the fan, "Recently, a fan of yours has gained quite a following due to your aggressive stance towards them. Now, I don't think this was done from malice, and would love to clear up that misconception, is there anything you can tell us about this fan and your relationship with them?"

Clown crossed his leg over the other with a hum, "Ah yes, him." He muttered, "The fan goes by Branzy. He's actually been a fan of mine since the very beginning."

The interviewers’ eyes lit up, "Oh? Is he a friend?"

Clown shook his head with a laugh, "No, not quite. See, I used to see him watch me duel frequently, less so when the crowds grew far greater than I anticipated. I was excited to see him at a meet and greet, but despite lining up and paying for them multiple times, he never made it to me. He always left before I got the chance to talk with him, which is why I acted that way. I was just so frustrated that I couldn't even meet my number one fan." He sighed.

The interviewer nodded her head, "Understandable, though I hope you don't assume he hates you, my research team has revealed quite the opposite." She smirked evilly.

Clown thought to the multiple thirst cam retweets and nodded slowly, "Mmm, yeah, he doesn't hate me."

"Would you be interested in seeing some of his locked tweets? We understand he private so you wouldn't be able to find him."

Clown giggled, "I'm sure this segment would have been very fun, but I'm afraid my reactions will not be genuine." He leant back in the chair, "I got into his account with a secret alt as soon as I could."

The interviewers jaw dropped, "S-So you've seen this?" Clown turned to look at the screen, then did a double take.

Clown broke into laughter so abrupt he had to cover his mouth (or really his mask) to stifle it, "What?! No! I've seen the fan cams and constant mention of finding me hot but not this one!" He giggled, "Oh that's hilarious, as if I'd kill with a heel and not a sword."

"Oh, fan cams like this?" She chuckled, and the screen played a video of clown duelling set to upbeat music, the audio slowing as Clowns mask was knocked off, his gaze levelling the camera with a dark stare and a twisted curl to his lips.

The caption was: If looks could kill (and they do)

Clown grinned brightly, "Did he make that himself? That one’s real good!"

The interviewer laughed, "He did indeed, though I've heard you don't really like fans sharing pictures of your face?"

Clown waved away her worries, "Oh, I don't mind if it's him." He clenched his jaw hard; glad no one could see his instant regret.

"Is that so? Would you like to perhaps address Branzy personally, maskless, to our cameras?" She quickly gave him an out, "Oh, but no need I suppose, we don't know if he'll watch this." Her gaze was understanding, but he took it as a challenge.

"Oh, he'll definitely watch this." Clown smirked, he pulled the mask off with ease, flipping his hair as it settled against his shoulders. "Which camera?" He asked, she pointed to one with shock, not expecting him to actually have done it.

"Hmm," Clown tapped his lip as he thought, "What to say to him, what to say, lord knows this clip will become a fan cam regardless of what I do..." He snorted.

He could already see people using that as the intro audio before an edit transitioned to clips.

"Ah, this is something he needs to hear." He nods to himself and faces the camera dead in, "Hey Branzy," he purrs, the audience is all giggles and grins from his tone alone, "Do me a favour and stop running, alright?" He slipped his mask back on, "The end result the same either way." He shrugged.

The interviewer clapped with a laugh, "Oh man, you sure know how to kill a fan."

“Not my fault he’s a fan of a literal killer.”

“Clown, you don’t kill your opponents.”

“But I do win!” He grinned, she chuckled.

“That you do.”

-

Branzy choked on his drink as he watched the livestream from his phone, quickly glancing around to check if anyone saw his moment of embarrassment before quickly leaving the small cafe he had stepped into.

He stared at his phone gripped tightly in his hand as Clown spoke through it, laughing along with the host as if he hadn't just made Branzy have several heart attacks.

He sat in a random bench at a bus stop, huddled to his side glaring at the screen as passerbys levelled him with curious and concerned stared as they made their way past.

"Do you have any way of contacting Branzy?" The host, Kab, was asking, Branzy grit his teeth.

"No, and if he hadn't made an alt it woulda stayed that way." Branzy muttered spitefully.

"Hmm, not really, unless I message him using my alt. But I think it's a bit funnier if he is stressing over which account is me." Clown chuckled.

Branzy scowled, "Oh you're so evil."

"Well, would you like to message him on our account?"

"Oh but if he doesn't reply that'd be so sad." Clown said with an exaggerated whine, Branzy could picture him pouting. Dammit, he'd look cute pouting.

Branzy's jolted as his phone buzzed, a Twitter dm appearing at the top of the screen from the ‘Heart to Heart’ company twitter.

"You watching me?"

Branzy gritted his teeth, flustered and embarrassed and a little bit mad about it.

He smirked to himself, leaving him on read.

The stream finally caught up, showing Clown sending the message, Branzy watched as his posture grew a bit more tense. If he didn't know any better, he'd say he looked... mad?

"He's leaving me on read." Clown spoke coldly, "He literally wants me to grind him to dust under my heel and he's leaving me on read."

Branzy shot into the twitter app again, opening the DM to hastily to defend himself.

"I was exaggerating!" He responded quickly.

Clowns laugh came after his reply shot through.

"So you are watching? This is why you're my number one. <3"

Branzy clamped his hand over his mouth to stifle the giddy noises that response brought out.

-

Clown laughed at the response, and the production team pulled up the phones screen so everyone could see their conversation.

“So he is watching!” Kab chuckled, “Well, that’s a pleasant surprise, is Branzy a fan of our show?" She beamed, the audience cheered with encouragement and Clown scoffed, waving a hand at them dismissively.

"Branzy's a fan of me so I'm half convinced he's only here for me." He bragged, allowing his co*ckier persona to take centre stage.

He was swiftly humiliated as the big screen showed Branzy had sent another DM to the company's Twitter.

"I'm a big fan of heart to heart! It has way more down to earth interviews then most :) Not just here for Clown lmao"

The audience laughed as Clown shrunk in on himself, Kab cackled and smacked her desk with delight.

"Shot down!" She jeered.

Clown crossed his arms, "He's still a bigger fan of me, right Branzy? Right?" He stared at the screen, waiting with bated breath as the dots showing he was typing appeared.

"Hm.... Idk... Kaboodle issss pretty cool >:)"

Clown was briefly distracted by the realisation that Branzy used cute emoticons that he didn't even realise what he was implying.

"Ooooh! Looks like I may be stealing your biggest fan, Clown!" She laughed, "Hmm, I won't show pictures for privacy reasons, but Branzy is kinda cute... I don't mind having him as my number one-"

"Don't you dare!" Clown laughed, voice coated in dramatised anger, "Branzy, take that statement back if you know what's good for you!" He threatened with a pointed finger towards the screen.

Branzy’s response came in quick.

"Yes mr Clownpierce sir I'm your biggest fan and no one else's! Lol."

"I don't like what that lol Implies..." Clown mumbled.

"My oh my Clown, I didn't take you as a jealous type,” The host snarked, before turning to the audience with a raised brow, “Oh what am I saying, yes I did."

"Oh Kab I'm not jealous of you! Branzy can like whoever he likes...."

Kaboodle levelled him with a disbelieving stare.

"Just so long as he likes me the most." Clown finished with a hidden smirk.

-

-

Branzy had been having a fairly busy week, his twitter had been exploding from the publicity Clown had unintentionally bestowed upon him, and he had been busy with his work to top it off. It had been fairly stressful to be sure.

Which was why he was so relieved to finally get the chance to hang out and have fun with Rek. The two had decided to meet up at a milkshake bar they frequented, only issue was it was pretty far out, and Branzy did not want to pay for petrol.

So, crowded onto a tram he stood, being bumped from side to side by whoever was unlucky enough to be next to him. He groaned as the train announcer called out that there had been a blockage further down the tracks, meaning Branzy would have to get off earlier.

So he stumbled out, squeezing past bodies that were too hot and weirdly sweaty, tripping over his own feet before he landed on the platform closest to where he needed to be.

Which just so happened to be near the colosseum that Clown frequently fought at.

Branzy felt weirdly nervous as he walked on the opposite side of the road from the stadium, glancing across the street at it as if it would explode or something. It held new memories now and made him wonder if each time he visited to watch Clown would be any different now that he seemed to have it out for him.

He froze his walk as he noticed a weapons shop before him, it made sense, people would finish watching a duel and maybe want to pick it up. They’d come running to the shop and buy some dumb sword then drop it after a week of realising it took skill.

Still…

Branzy bit his lip and realised he never had a nice weapon for Clown to sign, and really, it’d be kinda cool to have an axe or sword up on his wall with the man’s signature.

He checked his phone for the time, he still had a around forty minutes before he needed to meet Rek, and it’d only take twenty to walk to the café. He glanced at the shop one more time.

“Okay but it WOULD be kind of cool…” He mumbled as he opened the door and stepped inside the store.

The walls were lined with swords and axes and all kinds of weapons Branzy had no way of identifying himself. He looked around with a muted gasp slipping past his lips, neck craned upwards as he marvelled at the sheer number of weapons.

“Hello, anything you want in particular or browsing?” The man at the counter asked, Branzy jolted at his presence. “I also do custom weapons.”

Branzy stared at the incredibly chiselled man, who was wearing a maid dress.

“Oh! Um, no thanks, I’m just gonna have a look.” Branzy admitted, the man gestured to the store with a confident grin.

“By all means! Let me know if anything catches your eye.”

Branzy nodded, turning to survey the walls, when something caught his eye.

Amongst the many, MANY weapons, was a framed photo of the man at the counter posing with ClownPierce, who was holding up his scythe happily.

“You made ClownPierce’s scythe?!” Branzy gasped, turning to the man with elation.

He crossed his arms and puffed out his chest, “Indeed I did, he was a very happy customer.”

“That’s amazing!” Branzy complimented, “It’s so iconic to him now! Wow, that’s awesome.”

“Why thank you, a big fan are you?”

Branzy nodded, “You could say so, was it a really hard thing to make?”

The man nodded slightly, looking contemplative. “It was a challenge in some ways, it’s shape is a bit unusual, and scythes though often depicted as the grim reapers weapon they aren’t really usually used as a weapon, so I had to make a lot of adjustments to make it functional and visually appealing.”

Branzy hung onto every word, approaching the counter and leaning against it as the man talked, he glanced to his nametag, and rose a brow, “That’s incredibly impressive, and sorry to interrupt, but is your name Rat?”

“It’s a long story, but yes.” He chuckled, “Anyway, are you interested in duelling because of Clown?”

“Oh sort of, I’ve been following him as a fan since he began, but I don’t practice the sport myself.” Branzy explained, “To be honest, I was going to see if there was a weapon here I could get Clown to sign…”

He laughed, “Don’t worry, you’re not the first person to just want a decorative weapon! Though, unfortunately, I’m a bit low on them right now. I’m getting new materials in a few days so if you check back maybe next week I’ll have more on offer?”

“Yeah, that’s fine! Actually… If you take custom requests, could I ask if there are any purple weapons? It’s sort of my favourite colour.”

The weaponsmith nodded and the pair hashed out the details, leaving Branzy exceptionally excited to come back and purchase an awesome semi-custom made weapon. He checked his watch and yelped, “I’ve got to go! I’m meant to be meeting a friend, lovely talking with you, I’ll be back!”

“I look forward to it!” Rat called back.

The purple eyed guy waved to him as he opened the door to leave, sighing as he exited and taking a confident step forward as the door swung shut behind him.

Branzy was abruptly blinded, he squinted through the blaring lights that greeted him as he left the store and scrambled against the door with a yelp.

He was swarmed by people with cameras and phones and recorders shoved into his face, everywhere he looked was another person brandishing their device like a weapon.

"Branzy! Branzy! How did it feel to be face to face with the killer clown?"

"Branzy! What's your comment on the ethics of the actions taken by clown in his attempt to contact you?"

"Branzy! What were your feelings when you were harshly and violently tackled by the duellist clown?"

Branzy stammered and held his arms up in hopes of getting the people to back off, "I- What? Violently? Harshly?"

"His actions were malicious and aggressive, did the assault cause you any physical harm?"

"What?! No he didn't hurt me when he tackled me! I liked it!" Branzy defended, mind reeling from all the stimulation.

The reporters abruptly went quiet, before swiftly writing in their notebooks or phones.

Branzy quickly paled and backtracked, "No! Wait! Not like that! I-I mean I didn't mind! It barely hurt, I mean, he winded me but I recovered and got a photo and signature out of it! I love clown and have been a fan for years he'd never do anything to seriously hurt a fan!"

"Has your contact with clown been frequent since your first meeting?" Someone chimed.

"Uh, no I-"

"Would you consider yourself infatuated with the man?"

Branzy flushed, "Um."

"Is the rumour true that you kissed-"

"Are you going to join the duelling career alongside your boyfriend-"

"Have you known clown prior to the public display, and if so, was it a simple lovers quarrel?"

"Branzy! Over here, what's your opinion on other duellist or do you only have eyes for clown?"

"Has your recent rise in fame impacted your mental health, Branzy?"

"Is Clown as harsh and cruel in battle as he is with his partners, Branzy?"

"Branzy! Is it true-"

"Branzy would you agree that-"

"Over here Branzy!"

Branzy clamped his hands over his ears and squeezed his eyes shut, "Would you all-" He muttered through gritted teeth, barely being heard over their constant questions and nagging, "SHUT UP!" He yelled, arms going stiffly against his sides, "No comment! No comment! Leave me alone!" He shouted, glaring at the reporters, "I don't know anything! I don't talk to him! I don't involve myself in his life! I'm a FAN, that's it! Not a wingman, not a pending lawsuit, not a gossip article and not his boyfriend!"

He tried to steady his breathing, listening to the silence, before horror settled in his stomach as they wrote notes and began their questions again.

"So you have considered legal action after his harassment-"

"So he ghosted you after expressing interest-"

"Branzy if I could have a moment of your time-"

Branzy's eyes flickered over the faces with increasing panic, he felt trapped, and the way they slowly got closer and kept shoving things in his face didn't help.

He looked across the road to the stadium, registering some security guards talking to each other as they watched Branzy's predicament.

He waved his arms, hoping to get their attention, hoping they could maybe help him out. Sure he wasn't on the arenas property, but they were probably solid dudes who would help someone in need, right?

Branzy deflated as one turned and walked inside the colosseum.

"Just- Go away! Leave me alone! I have nothing to say to you people." Branzy tried, earning more statements that twisted his words.

"You refuse to speak to fans and others of your social standing now you have an in with a rich man?"

"Branzy, do you refuse to come clean about your relation to clown due to being blackmailed?"

"How much did you pay for clown to shout you out-"

Branzy felt his breathing go shallow, "Please- I can't handle this, I didn't say any of that, none of that is true-"

"Branzy if you could-"

As abruptly as they arrived the crowd of people split in half, and Branzy paled as he saw a furious ClownPierce storming his way. He was in his workout clothes, tank top and black leggings, hair up in a messy bun and mask only half on, revealing a portion of his scowl and one furious eye.

"Clown..." Branzy mumbled, hands held close to his chest as he watched Clown storm ever closer. Branzy tilted his head in confusion as he saw the security guards from earlier shadowing Clown, as well as a well-dressed woman in a suit.

Clown stood in front of Branzy and snarled at the press, "Everything about my association with Branzy was discussed in length during my public interview. There is no new information you can garner from harassing this poor man!" He barked, the reporters flinched, "You all know I take no sh*t when it comes to you stupid paparazzi and reporters, I'll sue every one of you for even thinking about putting stress on him!" He moved to stand by Branzy and gently placed a hand on his back and arm, guiding him out of the crowd.

The reporters quickly jumped back into action, only to be blocked by the security and the woman.

"ClownPierce and Branzy have no comments to give you." She said firmly as they yelled and failed to get past. "As his manager, I can attempt to answer your questions, but have the right to refuse."

"Miss! Are those two dating-"

"Ma'am are you using Branzy as a publicity stunt-"

"No and no. Next."

Branzy listened to the crowd of noise fade out as Clown guided him safely to the stadium, walking him through the employees only door into a large gym. He sat Branzy down on a bench and looked him over with worry.

"Are you with me, Branzy? You okay?"

Branzy nodded shakily, "Uh yeah, yeah, sorry you came to get me." Clown looked pretty as always, and Branzy struggled to understand why exactly and how exactly he had come to find him. He would have asked, but he was a bit preoccupied with being starstruck.

"You're sorry? I'm the one who's sorry! I should have known those vultures would come for you, I should have protected you." He seethed.

"That's not your responsibility!" Branzy rebutted.

"I involved you in my life and in my publicity, so it is."

Branzy frowned, “I involved myself in your life by being a fan-“

“I should have reached out privately.” Clown grumbled, glaring at the floor. And Branzy balked at the very suggestion.

Reached out privately? How? How would he have found him? Would he actually have gone to extreme lengths to deliver the meetups Branzy skimped out on?

He found himself staring at Clown like he was a puzzle to solve, just what was deal here? What did he get out of this?

Branzy played with his fingers before giggling a bit, “It was funny, though.” He admitted with a crooked smile, hoping to cheer up the celebrity.

Clown stared at him, single exposed eye blinking slowly before he smiled softly, “Why on earth are you comforting me? I’m meant to be comforting you.” He chuckled, standing up and stretching. “Well, the positive of this experience is you didn’t run from me this time!”

Branzy chuckled and crossed his arms, “I didn’t exactly have somewhere to run.”

“Would you have if you did?” Clown grinned, leaning down to be at eyelevel.

Branzy looked away and cleared his throat, “Maybe.”

“Good thing I can run faster then the paparazzi.” Clown spoke with a threatening edge to his words that turned Branzy pink.

“Anyway,” Clown shrugged, “Do you uh, have somewhere to be?”

Branzy shot to his feet with a gasp, “Rek! I was meant to meet up with my friend Rek! Oh goodness, he’s probably worried sick-“

“Hey don’t worry, I can drive you wherever you’re meeting him, I don’t feel safe releasing you to the potential wolves outside.”

“Oh no, no!” Branzy chuckled, waving his hands in refusal, “P-Please don’t go out of your way! I mean you already practically saved me, there’s no need to-“

“Think of it as one of the many meetups I owe you, we can count this impromptu meeting.” Clown grinned, looking smug.

Branzy frowned, knowing he had lost this conversation, “I…Okay, okay, so long as I’m not inconveniencing you.” Branzy scrambled to pull out his phone, checking where he was meant to be meeting Rek. “I’m meant to go here…” He mumbled, sheepishly passing the phone to Clown.

Clown took it and sent Branzy a look as he noticed the phone case with his logo on it, “Is this a fan made one?”

Branzy coughed and looked away, “No comment.”

Clown shook his head, “Tssk, tssk, looks like I’ll need to make more merch or else my fans will just do it all for me.” He joked, turning away from Branzy as he looked at the phone’s screen.

“Thanks for… saving me.” Branzy mumbled, and stepping a bit closer to the man. He noticed how his shoulders tensed for a moment, Branzy frowned.

“It’s no trouble, my guards noticed you and got pretty freaked, rightfully so.” Clown explained, handing the phone back with a smug smile. He turned to face him fully, “I can drop you there, no stress.”

“Are you being serious because this is a lot of effort to go to just for a fan-“

“My number one fan.” Clown corrected, he walked over to a bench and threw on a grey workout hoodie, before grabbing his sword and sheathing it, slipping it onto a strap that went over his shoulder.

“Wow, is that your sword?” Branzy asked with awe, “Not even a training one?”

Clown rose a brow, slipping off his mask and tying up his hair before putting on a cap, “Yep, here, want to hold it?” He unsheathed it with rapid speed, jutting it out towards Branzy who squeaked and stumbled backwards.

“No thanks!”

Clown laughed, gently tossing the sword before catching it so the hilt faced Branzy, “It’s pretty dull, don’t worry, it’s my first ever sword, so I only use it for training since it’s so worn down. Mostly keep it around for the memories.”

Branzy was openly staring at Clown’s exposed face, watching how his expressions shifted subtly to show his kind and open smile. Clown noticed Branzy’s gaze and smirked, he leaned down to him with a grin, “Oh come ON Branzy, you’ve seen it before.”

“I-I’ve never seen this sword up close!” Branzy retorted.

“That is not what I’m talking about, and you know it.” Clown snickered, he pulled the sword back with a sigh, sheathing it, “One day I’ll get you to hold a sword.”

“You say that like we’ll meet again.” Branzy chuckled, but instantly felt his nerves grow as Clown’s smile grew devious and he hid his cunning eyes behind sunglasses. “Clown- Clown why are you making that face-“

“I’m just saying, I still owe you at least 3 meet and greet sessions.” He hummed, he waltzed past Branzy, tapping his shoulder lightly as he passed, “Now come on, I’m all hidden from the world, let’s get you out of here.”

“Wait- THAT’S how you hide from the public?!” Branzy said as he rushed to catch up with him, “T-That’s nothing! That’s just, you just- you look like a soccer mum!”

Clown cackled loudly, and wrapped an arm around Branzy as they left the stadium.

-

Rek tapped the table impatiently, eyes on his phone whilst occasionally glancing up in hopes that he’d see his friend come through the door. He chewed the inside of his cheek, watching his phone blow up with tabloids and articles about Branzy, images of him being bombarded by paparazzi making him more worried.

“God,” He tugged at his sleeves, “Where is he?”

The door chimed as it opened, and Rek whipped his head over his booth seat to check for Branzy.

Instead he saw the person that had his friend both excited and terrified in a given moment, ClownPierce.

He was dressed fairly casually, he wore a tank top with a comfortable looking grey hoodie over the top, it hung lowly over his leggings, falling slightly over the shoulder to reveal the tank tops strap. He had no mask; his hair was tyed back into a ponytail and stuck out the back of a cap that shielded his face. He also had a strap across his chest, holding what Rek assumed was a sheathed sword.

But Rek recognised that signature red hair anywhere, thank goodness no one else seemed to.

Clown looked around the café, eyes covered by sunglasses, until he stepped forward and gestured for someone to come in.

Rek felt himself grin as he spotted his dear friend Branzy coming through, nodding his thanks to Clown before he spotted him and waved excitedly.

“Rek!” He greeted, dashing over with Clown following slowly behind him, “You have no idea what a day I’ve had.” He heaved; exhaustion present on his face.

“I mean, I can guess!” Rek said, gesturing to Clown, the man waved.

“Hi,” He smiled, “Rek, right?”

“Yep! Did you save my boy Branzy here?”

“Did what I could.” Clown shrugged; he stood as Branzy slid into the opposite booth seat. “I’ll leave you to your hang out.”

“O-Okay! Thank you so much Clown!” Branzy beamed, “You’re welcomed to stay if you need, I’m sure Rek wouldn’t mind.”

“Not at all, I’d like to see who has Branzy so flustered all the time.” He teased, Branzy swatted at him with a look of betrayal.

“No can do I’m afraid, lots of training to do, people to kill.” Clown shrugged, chuckling at the friends’ antics. “I’m sure I’ll see you again, well, I’ll see Branzy at a show, that I know.”

Branzy ducked his head as he grinned, “You bet.”

Clown leant down to tie his shoelace, before getting up and waving the pair goodbye, “Stay safe! Feel free to at me on twitter if you need rescuing! Also accept my follow request Branzy.”

“I won’t!” Branzy smirked, Clown poked his tongue out at him as he left.

Rek watched his friends’ nerves vanish as he deflated into a slumped mess.

“It was crazy Rek…” Branzy sighed, sipping at his milkshake with more force then necessary.

“I know Branzy, I was so worried about you, you should of seen twitter.” Rek said, holding his phone out to show a video of Branzy being bombarded. “Thankfully, most people came to your defense.”

“That may just be because you tune your twitter to get rid of the bad.” Branzy scoffed with an eyeroll, pulling out his own phone to check twitter.

-

Branzy glared at the screen, “Clown is NOT like that, he was super chivalrous and dropped me here! ‘Using’ me, pah!” Branzy said with dramatic flair, “I understand people accusing me, but Clown? Ridiculous.”

Rek’s eyes didn’t focus on branzy’s face, instead staring at his phone with confusion, “Did you get a new phone case?” He asked.

Branzy frowned and flipped over his phone, “No, same as it always- Oh my goodness.”

Clown had signed his phone case, what’s more, he had left a f*cking message that Branzy had completely missed.

‘Call me! ♡ ClownPierce’

Branzy blushed and ducked his head, “That’s so cheesy…” He giggled into the palm of his hand.

Rek titled his head to read it properly, then grinned, “Wow, I mean, I don’t know about you Branzy, but I’m starting to believe the rumours too.”

“Shut up!” Branzy laughed, swatting at Rek playfully again, “Would you mind if we hangout at mine or your place? I’ve had enough of outside for today.”

“Agreed!” Rek grinned, slipping out of his booth seat with ease, Branzy followed suit, before his foot caught something and he tripped with a yelp. “Woah!” Rek reached out and hoisted him up, “You good?” He chuckled.

“Yeah I’m fine,” Branzy winced, “The hell did I trip on though-“ The two turned and instantaneously froze, Branzy’s blood ran cold.

On the floor, just in front of Branzy’s seat, was Clown’s sword.