The New Clown
#1 of Clean
Felt like I was in a bit of a writing doldrum, so I decided to ask a friend for a prompt and just run with it. Contextless short stories are always pretty easy for me to write. The prompt given was thus:
"Best friend outing themselves to their close friend, admitting that they've taken up clown school, and /really/ want their friends support because they want people to laugh with them, not at them."
So there you go. I came out with a simple little scene (and my first SFW fic! Yay!) and I'm pretty pleased with it. I'm also experimenting with frontloading brief descriptions of the characters, since I haven't found a consistently non-tedious and non-hamfisted way to briefly get across that information when it's not really important to the story, but it would feel weird without it, especially with furry characters where you kinda have to supply a species in order for people to form any useful mental image. I dunno, maybe this works, maybe it doesn't! Tell me what you think.
Michael: A short, skinny little trans ferret boy.
Tom: Easygoing fat cis kitty boy.
It's just another lazy day for Michael and Tom, chilling out and playing video games. After they finish off the latest round of their game, Michael sets down the controller and takes a deep breath, fidgeting a bit.
Tom's ears perk, turning to Michael. "Hey, what's up?"
"Well, uh, there was something I wanted to talk to you about..."
"Yeah? Are you gay, or something?"
Michael gigglesnorts. "You already know I'm gay, you dork."
Tom grins broadly. "I know. I thought maybe you wanted to remind me. Anyway, what's up?"
"Well, I decided to sign up for clown school..."
Tom chuckles. "Is that all? Wait, clown schools are a real thing?"
Michael nods. "I mean, it's 'performing arts' if you wanna get fancy, but basically, yeah." He fishes a handful of juggling balls out of his bag, starting to casually juggle them. "I mean, I love to entertain people...it takes my mind off things." The juggling balls weave past each other in an increasingly complex pattern. "And besides -- " Two balls collide in midair, one of them bouncing off Michael's forehead as the whole arrangement bounces to the floor.
Tom bursts into giggles. "Ahaha, sorry..."
Michael smirks, collecting the juggling balls. "Hey, if it's funny...I'm not half bad at this though, huh?"
"Yeah, you must've been practicing a lot."
"Just a bit in my spare time...anyway, I was gonna say, after getting picked on all the time for being weird and trans, I kinda wanted to make jokes I could be in on...you know?"
"Yeah...so, is juggling gonna be your big act, or what?"
Michael shrugs. "I picked it up because it's easy to focus on, and it's something people like to watch...I'm sure I'll expand my repertoire once I start school."
Tom nods. "Sounds like fun! I'm totally behind you if that's what you wanna do."
Michael smiles brightly. "Thanks, man. I knew I could count on you." He leans over, wrapping Tom in a big hug. "You're the best friend a guy could ask for." He leans in and kisses Tom on the cheek.
Tom blushes, suddenly feeling a bit shy as he hugs Michael back. "Ehehe...thanks..."