Plenty of Treasures

Two Ways to Fall

Pairing(s): Prinxiety

Warnings: Mention of injuries, mention of heights, mention of hospitals, and panic

Note: I'm sorry if a few facts in this seems unrealistic (and probably is). Also, this is the third instalment of  my circus AU series. The first two being 'Loving the Danger' and 'Amber Tears', you can read them on Archive of Our Own too! My username on there is 'tal_5'. Hope you enjoy!
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"Remember: if you drop me— "

"Yes, yes, I'll suffer a violent death and whatnot; you tell me this before every performance."

Virgil smirks. "Only so you'll remember."

Combing tanned fingers through his dark locks, the circus strongman rolls his eyes and closely admires his reflection in a pocket mirror held tightly in his hand. "You truly don't have a speck of faith in me."

Without confirming or denying his claim, Virgil shakes the pre-performance jitters from his hands, though they're still tensed up when he stills them. He does the same thing almost every night, going through breathing techniques and even trying meditation a few times, but rarely does it ever work. The only antidote to his anxiety is actually climbing up to the platform and just letting go.

Air slips past his lips heavily and he pulls at his hair. From a few feet away, Virgil hears someone tutting before footsteps make their way over to him. Warm fingers push his hair from side to side, curling it, straightening it out, pulling out knots, and acting as if the distance between them isn't getting smaller with every movement. He tries to ignore the heat radiating from the crimson-clad chest in front of him but doing this only forces his focus onto the arms caged around his head, reaching round to brush the strands of hair on the back of his head down neatly. For a second, Virgil wonders how he manages to keep his skin such a lovely golden olive when there's been near to no sun for the past month or so, but immediately tears himself away from those thoughts when he hears Roman clear his throat. A sound that is too deliberate to be casual.

"All fixed." Roman doesn't acknowledge his awkward staring and merely tucks a few more strands of hair behind his ear. "Not that it matters too much, it'll be messy again by the time the show is over."

Unable to do much else, the trapeze artist nods and self-consciously touches his hair. A hand gently swats his own away and he's sent a reassuring smile. "You'll pull it off, I'm sure."

A wink, then he's gone.
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Before every performance, or every rehearsal, Virgil wonders what it would be like to fall.

It's not the most comforting thought, obviously, but he can't help it. What if he does fall? Nobody will be able to catch him. And the whole point of their circus is showing off their ability to do such amazing tricks without the use of safety nets and such, it's what draws the people in. Out of horror or fascination, Virgil isn't quite sure.

To be honest, he doesn't agree with the circus' premise. It's far too dangerous and not only does it put the safety of the performers at risk, but the audience isn't entirely safe either. What if Virgil somehow swings too far forward and his hands slip? He would go flying right into the audience! The one time they did take various measures to keep the performers safe, not as many civilians bought tickets to their show, so the others immediately assumed that the use of safety precautions was the reason why. It was dumb. They were dumb (sometimes). Everyone just assumes that Virgil and Remy and Logan are so talented at what they do, that they won't waver, won't fall. Surely, they can't fall. They'll never do something like that!

Until they do.

During last night's show, Thomas came up with a new move for Virgil and Remy and wished for them to put it into practice the very next day. It isn't anything too complicated for the pair, really. But it does look rather impressive, and besides, the two of them having so many years of experience makes a lot of rather complicated moves easier for them. They both take as many safety measures as they possibly can before rehearsal, though Remy is a little laxer with his own well-being than Virgil is comfortable with.