(Y/n) sat outside her little store, watching as the people of Gotham went about their day; all life was here, the good and bad, the high and mighty and the poor and destitute, all of them passed (Y/n)'s little shop, and all seemed to know her in one way or another.

Her store wasn't much, just a little book shop, but she could boast that she not only had the old fashioned penny dreadfuls and slushy romantic novels of the worst kind, but also some of the best quality first editions and manuscripts, which made her out of the way little world popular with anyone that had an eye for quality, knowledge, and uniqueness.

The weather in Gotham was unusually pleasant, an Indian summer of a day which had made even (Y/n), who usually rarely came out from under a huge pile of musty old tomes, venture into the sun, sighing happily as she closed her eyes and let the rays of the great celestial orb kiss her skin.

"Morning (Y/n) honey." A sweet southern accented voice called out, causing (Y/n)'s eyes to fly open, her smoky dark green orbs falling on the grey haired African American woman that owned the soul food restaurant just down the street.

"Morning Miss Mary, sorry you startled me." (Y/n) said apologetically, as she rose from her seat and offered it to the older lady, an offer that Miss Mary took happily.

"Beautiful day isn't it?" Miss Mary asked, as she watched (Y/n) look at the man that was dressed as a clown, dancing across the street.

"You know, that poor boy has been doin that for days, and I don't think I seen him take a break yet; rain of shine, that child just keeps on spinnin that sign. I even took him over some shrimp and grits the other day, but he told me that he wasn't allowed." Miss Mary told (Y/n), shaking her head as she and (Y/n) watched the man continue to skip around.

(Y/n) had to admit that she had noticed the man as soon as he had appeared the first day, I mean, who wouldn't notice a bright happy clown on the miserable, gloomy streets of Gotham; and she also had to admit that she too had seen him do nothing other than dance his heart out in hopes of dragging people into the store.

She knew where he had come from, there was only really one place in Gotham that offered things like clowns, and that was Ha-Ha's; (Y/n) had once hired a man from the company to dress up as Sherlock Holmes and perform a reading of The Hound of the Baskervilles in order to try and get some new clientele, a chance that had paid off in the fact that she had been able to sell a signed first edition copy of the novel to a very well connected gentleman who had sent a number of his friends her way. She could remember that the man she had organised the actor through didn't sound like the most feeling of human beings, and (Y/n) could only presume that it was he that had told the clown that he could not take Miss Mary's offer.

(Y/n) had found herself intrigued by the clown, although most of the time he seemed to smile and dance exuberantly, there was the odd occasion when the man under the face paint and green wig could be seen, and what (Y/n) had seen was a look of sadness and loneliness that she couldn't help but wonder about; how could one be so happy and playful on the surface, yet when the mask slipped for a moment, be so sad underneath.

"You know something (Y/n), I think you should go talk to that boy, from what I saw the other day, that man could use a friend." Miss Mary said, noticing that (Y/n)'s eyes were still focused on the poor man.

Miss Mary smiled to herself, she knew that (Y/n) was lonely but would never admit it, choosing to bury herself in foxing paper, and yellowing parchment rather than have her heart broken as she had had before. Miss Mary had tried for the last couple of years to convince the younger woman that there was someone out there for her, but as long as she concealed herself behind piles of books, then she was never going to find him, and now that (Y/n) was smiling at the antics of the dancing man, Miss Mary was going to make another attempt at helping her friend find love.

"I couldn't, I would want to get him in trouble, plus what would anyone want to do with a bookworm like me?" (Y/n) sighed, taking a seat on the floor next to the older lady.

"Well, you could at least take the boy some water, he must be sweating up a storm under all those clothes." Miss Mary said, trying to push the reluctant (Y/n) as gently as possible.

(Y/n) looked at the clown, Miss Mary must be right, the day was only getting warmer, and the man had already been dancing for a couple of hours without any respite, his outfit and wig making it look as though the man was cooking in his own skin.

Quickly (Y/n) jumped to her feet and rushed inside her store, grabbing a cold bottle of water from a small fridge that was discreetly secreted in the back of her store.

"I'll be back in a moment." (Y/n) yelled out to a softy smiling Miss Mary, who watched her young friend approach the dancing man.

"Excuse me." (Y/n) said, coughing slightly as she came up to the clown, chuckling slightly as the man jumped.

"Its hot out here, and I know you haven't had anything to drink, so I thought that I would bring you this." (Y/n) said, offering the now obviously sweating man the icy cold bottle of water.

"I er...... that's nice of you, but I can't." The man replied, looking nervously into the store.

"Don't be ridiculous, you need to drink, or you will get dehydrated and you won't be able to work at all; so, drink this or I'll end up calling you an ambulance." (Y/n) told him, opening the bottle and handing it to the anxious looking clown.

Hesitantly the man took the bottle from (Y/n)'s hand, smiling softly as he drank down the cooling liquid.

"Hey! I don't pay for you to drink; I pay for you to spin that sign." A gruff voice called out as a man came up behind (Y/n), his demeanour changing when he saw the woman's angry face.

"Oh, (Y/n), I didn't know it was you, how are you?" The store owner asked, looking slightly uncomfortable as (Y/n) crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Don't try and be nice now, Mike. If you are going to stop this man from having a drink of water on a day like this, not only will I complain to the store owners committee about you, but I will also do my best to ensure that no one goes into your terrible store again, and I assure you that Miss Mary over there has two very nice, very large grandsons that will help me, and believe me when I say you do not want to get on their wrong side." (Y/n) huffed, before grabbing the clown by the hand and pulling him across the street over to her store.

"I am taking him to get something to eat and drink, and to cool down; when I see fit you can have him back." (Y/n) called out over her shoulder as she dragged the reluctant man behind her.

"Miss Mary, would you be so kind as to bring this gentleman a plate of your finest sides, and add it to my tab; I'm taking him inside." (Y/n) told the now widely smiling old lady, who chuckled as she watched (Y/n) shut her store door behind her.

                                                        >>-----------------------------<<

Arthur dabbed the sweat from his forehead, the coolness of the small shop instantly easing the throbbing heat in his body; his clown costume wasn't designed for hot days, and the latex of the wig was making his brain boil inside his skull, but for the first time today he was actually beginning to feel comfortable.

"Well, don't just stand there, come and sit down." The woman said, holding open a long thick curtain that separated the store from a room at the back.

Arthur pulled the wig from his head, brushing back his sweat soaked hair and taking a seat at a small table which was placed up against the wall, watching the woman reach into a tiny bar fridge, pulling out another bottle of water and handing it to him.

                                                              >>------------------------------<<

"So, are you going to tell me your name, or should I just call you Mister Clown?" (Y/n) said with a chuckle, as she sat down across the table from the still nervous looking man.

"I'm (Y/n) by the way, and this is my store." (Y/n) said, holding out her hand for the man to shake.

"Carnival, I mean Arthur." Arthur replied, shaking the woman's hand.

"Well Arthur, its very nice to meet you; and don't worry about Mike, he's met Miss Mary's grandsons and he wouldn't dare want to upset them." (Y/n) chuckled, watching Arthur as he placed the cool bottle to his head.

"What..... what's wrong?" Arthur asked, wondering why the woman across from him was looking at him so intently.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare, I was just trying to imagine what you looked like without all that make up on." (Y/n) told Arthur, as she looked down at the table, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"I'm better looking with the makeup, believe me." Arthur sighed, as he cracked open the lid of the bottle and took a drink of the water.

"I don't believe that for one minute, I think under all that white paint lies a very handsome man; and self-deprecation does not suit you, even though you do sound like you are an expert at it." (Y/n) replied, looking up as the bell over her door rang out, and Miss Mary pushed her way through the heavy curtain, a large plate piled with food in her hand.

"My, my, my, under that wig we done found ourselves a handsome one." Miss Mary chuckled, placing the groaning plate in front of a slightly shocked Arthur.

"I......... I don't eat very much, I couldn't......." Arthur began, looking up as he felt the old woman lay a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Nonsense child, you eat that up, we gotta put some meat on those bones of yours." Miss Mary told Arthur, nodding happily as he picked up his fork and pushed it into a large pile of mac and cheese.

As he continued to eat, not realising how much of the warm homemade food he was consuming, Arthur couldn't help but look at the woman that had dragged him across the street and into her store; there was something decidedly pleasant about her, and it wasn't just the fact that she was beautiful, it was also that she had stood up for him without even knowing him, it was the fact that she had cared enough to bring a simple bottle of water over for him so that he didn't get ill, and that she had even paid for his food so that she could make sure that he had eaten.

"Well someone was hungry." Miss Mary said, as she and (Y/n) returned back to the table, looking at the empty plate that sat in front of a now very full Arthur.

"Thank you both so much, but I should really get back, I'm sure that I will get in trouble for all this." Arthur said, reluctantly rising from his seat and placing his wig on his head.

"Oh no you don't. It is far too warm out there for you to be dancing around, and if Mike doesn't like it then he can take it up with me." (Y/n) told him, pulling the wig back off his head, and gently pushing him back into the seat.

"I've used your company before and I have your bosses number, and if anything happens I will offer to pay whatever it would have cost Mike for you to be out there today; but there is no way I am letting you back out there just to try and get people into his store." (Y/n) told Arthur, offering him a box of tissues.

"Now take the rest of that makeup off while go up stairs and find you a cool T-shirt and pants to change into." (Y/n) smiled, as she left Arthur and Miss Mary alone.

"Beautiful woman, isn't she?" Miss Mary hummed, as she noticed Arthur's eyes follow (Y/n) until she disappeared.

"Er.......well I, yes..... I mean." A blushing Arthur stuttered, trying to find the best words but failing abysmally.

"She may sound a little bossy, but its just her good heart that wants the best for everyone; I'd say enjoy her company, but from that goofy look on your face, I'd say you already are." Miss Mary chuckled as Arthur grew an even deeper shade of red.

"Don't worry child, I know not to get in the way of a perfect couple." Miss Mary said, picking up the empty plate, and making her way through the curtain.

"Have fun." The older woman called out, as she left the store, leaving Arthur to look around the small room and muss that she might just be right, and he was already enjoying the feeling of being in (Y/n)'s presence.