TPP HADESTOWN AU PART 6
whaaaaat part 6??? we're shifting into nureyev mode guys
tagging the regular crew: @smidgen-of-hotboy @ceaseless-watchers-special-girl @urjover @one-joe-spoopy @waters-and-the-wilde (@demonic-panini you're getting tagged too bc i've seen your reblogs :D)
it was so cold. and he was so damn hungry.
food and firewood had been scarce in recent years because the weather had been so brutal, but even then peter nureyev was no stranger to cold and hunger.
he had spent most of his childhood hopping between towns, traveling whenever the winds changed, always hungry for more food and better work. it didn't do him much good. things were always just as bad at the next town as they were at the last.
that was, until he met juno steel.
juno was.... a lot of things. a singer. a sweetheart. stubborn. gentle. clever. funny, and often unintentionally so. they met and got married in a rush, which would make most people nervous, but peter didn't mind. rita had been right about him, that day they first met at the bar.
juno steel was pretty damn good at making people feel alive again.
for the first couple months, things were good. no, not just good. they were wonderful. even if he wasn't singing that song he was so hellbent on finishing, something about juno's presence was so soothing. it made peter feel like he could finally begin to take off the layers of exhaustion and stolen identities he'd worn like armor for the past decade or two. those days, he would fall asleep in juno's arms, and when he dreamed, he dreamed of spring rains and new leaves and a world that had finally been spun back into tune. he dreamed of a future for himself and juno, with a little house and a garden, and maybe one of those big dogs he'd always been so fond of. even if things still weren't right with the world, he was starting to have hope- no, faith- that they would be. that juno's song would work.
he was finally beginning to feel human again. love will do that to you, I suppose.
and then the weather took a turn for the worse.
juno began spending more time on the song and less time working, the money began to dry up, and the food and firewood went with it. peter started waking up late at night to an empty bed, and the distant notes of the song floating up through their window, open to the frigid night air. once, he even caught juno muttering about the gods and their song in his sleep, and he was beginning to get worried.
peter tried, more than once, to ask him about the song, ask about the money, ask how long it would be until things were okay again, but it was like juno couldn't hear him. all he could hear was fractals of the song and its siren promise of spring again. he asked rita once if this was normal, and she said it was, and buddy, the woman who owned the bar, said it was nothing to worry about, but that didn't set his mind at ease at all.
because it seemed like there was nothing else to be done, peter nureyev decided to take matters into his own hands.
he began searching around for easy sources of food and warmth, but with most vegetation dead from the constant cold and wind, there was little to be found. peter was no stranger to pickpocketing and theft if it was absolutely necessary, but that became a bit difficult when there was almost no one around to pickpocket. jobs in the area were scarce as well, and peter wasn't sure how much longer they could rely on buddy's gracious nature for a place to stay. simply put, they were running out of options and time.
and that was how he ended up here, trudging through the snow and biting wind with an empty belly and little more than a shitty coat to keep him warm. he wasn't sure how long he had been out walking, but he knew it had been hours. each step was starting to feel like a herculean effort, and he was pretty sure if he risked removing his hands from the pockets of his coat, they just might fall off his body.
he didn't know where to go next. but he was getting dizzy, and large splotches of the world were beginning to disappear as his vision faded in and out. he was just. so. hungry.
hidden in the snow, he tripped over a ledge and landed hard on his knees. the pain rattled his already cold-brittle bones and he hissed out a pained breath through his teeth.
when peter had struggled to his feet, he saw he had tripped over the platform edge of a train station. it was completely deserted. funny, he could still remember the days when a station like this would have been packed with people going on vacation or traveling to visit family, maybe even looking to start a better life.
now, everyone knew. it was the same everywhere you went. so there was no point in trying to leave to find better weather or work or food.
he looked up from readjusting his coat and scarf to see that the station wasn't completely deserted after all. a tall man in a long, brown jacket stood at the other end of the platform.
peter and the man regarded each other for a moment before the man crossed the platform with large, heavy strides.
"good evening, sir. would you like a job?"
peter took a step back. ".......what?"
"I repeat: good evening, sir. would you like a job?"
the man spoke like a robot, clear and even, but unsettlingly emotionless. something about him wasn't right.
but the promise of a job.... it meant food. warmth. another month in the apartment buddy rented out to peter and juno. more time for juno to finish his song. and that was all he needed right? just a little more time.
peter narrowed his eyes. "how do you know I need a job?"
"your coat is torn in multiple places and covered with dirt, your glasses are broken, and you look like you have not paid attention to your personal hygiene in some time. poverty is a difficult thing to cover up. we employ only the very poor and truly desperate."
nureyev bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from snapping. "fair enough."
the man smiled a bit at that, and handed him a slip of paper. peter opened his mouth to ask, but the man cut him off.
"if you wish to accept our offer, meet me back on this train platform at 5 o'clock. that is your train ticket. do not lose it. good day, my associate."
with that, the man turned around and walked off the platform, and out into the snow.
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