“Look,” Jupiter Said
the gentleman bowed- started to snake upwards
- “Oh, my dear! Must we then all die of hunger?”
- sitting there, all puckered up
- key phrases to use on their children
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“Look,” Jupiter said, “it’s our brother.”
“Jason?” Jove asked, adjusting his monocle. The top hat and red tailcoat would be overkill on most people, but he really did look quite the fetishistic gentleman.
“Don’t be silly! Jason won’t set foot on this island.” The gentleman bowed knowingly, which sent his monocle to the floor. Jupiter munched on his marshmallow for a few seconds, his gaze intent on something just behind my ear. “And if he does…”
Jove laughed, still hunched over searching for his fallen eyewear in the dense carpet. Then his torso started to snake upwards. Soon he was standing to his full height of just over seven and a half feet. His laughter stopped.
“Our brother came without sandwiches,” he said. “Sans crudités. Bereft of biscuits.”
Jupiter affected a swoon, draping himself over his clown and onto the green shag. “Oh, my dear! Must we then all die of hunger?”
The pair of ringmasters erupted into shrill cackles. Tesla hid behind me.
“Hey!” I barked. Jupiter and Jove fell silent. They synchronously seated themselves on their prostrate clowns with prim precision, looking attentively at me. “You play innocent all you want, sitting there all puckered up, but I know you’re behind some of the troubles that have plagued me. You’re not even trying to hide it!”
“Oh no,” Jupiter said. “We needn’t. This goes right to the top.”
“The big top!” Jove said, giggling. He made a squinty face and his monocle popped out.
Tesla tapped my shoulder. “The circus is a dying form, isn’t it?”
I shook my head. “That’s the myth. It’s what they want the world to think. But it’s actually a prime location for operatives to learn key phrases to use on their children. Theirs, and everybody else’s.”
bonus points for using them in order