Hi and welcome to the greatest show... well not really but it's a new fic so yay! I haven't written or posted anything for ages, mainly thanks to my uni work and mental health deciding to hate on me but for the first time in a while, I feel good and I want to write. And after going to see The Greatest Showman I was really inspired to do what I love again, plus I've been listening to the songs on repeat for days now...
Please enjoy!
"Well Mr Nikiforov," the large man with a ponytail like a lion's mane and a smile wider than the Seine said with glee as he extended a huge meaty palm across the table. "It looks like we have an agreement. Welcome aboard!"
His companion smiled as he took the large hand in his own, his slender pale fingers a strange eerie contrast to the other's hardened bronze skin. "It appears that we do Mr Cialdini, thank you for agreeing to my proposition." He replied smoothly. "Another drink to celebrate?"
Mr Cialdini chuckled. "The day I turn down a drink someone else is paying for is the day you should carry me out of here feet first. And please, call me Ciao Ciao. Everyone in the circus calls me that thanks to one of my young proteges and despite my many attempts, I can't quite shake it off. Still, it sounds better in the papers and now you're one of us, it seems only fitting you should use it too. Besides, being called Mr Cialdini seems strange to me now."
"Of course, Ciao Ciao." His new business partner answered with a hint of a smirk in his voice. With one hand, he motioned to the overworked bartender for another round, ignoring the sour look the man gave him before he slipped a crisp note into his hand. "In that case, you must call me Victor. I can't stand being Mr Nikiforov, it sounds far too much like my father's name."
"I thought that was Lord Nikiforov." Ciao Ciao replied with a bellowing laugh that quickly ceased when the bartender hurried over to their small table that had been squashed into the corner of the bar into a booth that only just allowed two people to squeeze in. He poured a large measure of clear amber liquid into their glasses and slyly took another note from Victor before scurrying back to the relative safety of the counter. The two men picked up their glasses and held them high for a toast as they clicked them together.
"To a new and exciting partnership!" Ciao Ciao cried out, his booming voice that he usually reserved for the ring causing some nearby patrons to jump and spill their drinks. He then took a great gulp of the burning liquid before setting his glass back down on the smoky wood of the table and eyeing Victor curiously as he only took a sip.
"You know, I was very surprised when you called me here tonight Victor. People of your sort don't usually want to associate with me and they never want to even hear about my circus, let alone ask for a share in it." He raised a thick dark brow and his light green eyes seemed to spark. "Is the theatre not generating enough income for you?"
"Not at all." The silver-haired man answered, his cool blue eyes matching those of the other man easily. "My fifth play recently opened to rave reviews and tickets have been sold out across New York for the next three weeks. It's not a matter of money, I assure you."
"Then what? Fame?" Ciao Ciao quizzed him further. "I would have thought you of all people would have enough of that- your name is on the lips of everyone in high society, in both Europe and America. People practically fight to get to you at your parties, I've seen people close to tearing out each other's eyes just to try and talk to you. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes."
Victor chuckled. "You flatter me Ciao Ciao."
"I only speak the truth Victor."
"That's new for you, I'm sure. I've heard about how fake you can be."
Ciao Ciao gave a large grin. "I never lie Victor. Lying gets you into trouble and I've never been in trouble, have I?" Victor gave a nod- he had to concede that to the man notorious for his bold business and brash manner. "All I've ever engaged in is a little bit of hyperbole and if that makes people happy and leaves them entertained, where is the crime?"
"I can't argue with you there." Victor smiled and Ciao Ciao gave another nod as if to settle the matter. "I think the fact that your circus is booming and the talk of the country, if not the world, speaks for itself."
"Exactly but you still haven't answered my question young man," Ciao Ciao continued, his face looming forwards and his eyes gleaming like a shark in the dim light. He shook a finger at Victor like he was a schoolmaster telling him off but in his bright red ringmaster coat and with his wild ponytail and sideburns, Victor couldn't think of a man who looked less like a stuffy governor. "Why are you here and not at some society ball wooing all the young damsels out of their stockings? I know and you know that you could have the pick of them all and probably have the pick of the young men too. I can't think of many who would refuse a Nikiforov, especially if it was you."
"You listen to a lot of rumours Ciao Ciao." Victor replied, taking another sip of his still full drink and Ciao Ciao couldn't help but notice how out of place he looked among the dirty light of the bar he owned. It was all too easy to see that he didn't quite fit into this world of dark boozy air, lingering stinks of cheap perfume to cover up the smell of sweat and floors littered with sawdust, peanut shells and tattered wrappers like abandoned pieces of confetti. Victor Nikiforov stood out like a sore thumb, so much so that if the scene had been a painting, he would have been a sketch added later by a better artist trying to redeem it. His pale skin seemed to absorb all the light around him, making him glow like a ghost against the dark wood of the booth that enclosed them and the effect was not helped by his short silver hair and his round blue eyes, bright as circus silk. His sharply cut black suit, his black top hat and the crimson silk scarf that fluttered limply over his shoulders suggested what world he truly belonged in, one where he was elegantly sipping champagne in a grand ballroom and discussing the opera with others who shared his noble heritage. Instead, he was gulping back whisky in a bar at the back of the circus hall, shaking hands with a man who had been born to a tailor, had lived on the streets and was now one of the most infamous figures in high society. Ciao Ciao watched him as he twirled his glass in his elegant hands that had written so many great plays. He was almost like one of the oddities in his circus, he thought, except this man could do anything he wanted. The world is his oyster… so what is he doing here among the outcasts?
"I listen to rumours because rumours determine reputation and in my job, everything depends on reputation. It's almost my currency and it's certainly my greatest asset," Ciao Ciao said. "I thrive on reputation and infamy, I need it to survive- without it, I wouldn't have crowds flocking to my show, crowds that would rival those of your plays. And I know from keeping my ear to the ground that you have a very different reputation from me. You're respected, admired, adored even… you don't need this to live like I do. I just I'm just an old man wondering why someone like you would risk it all to run away with the circus."
Victor paused, seemingly pondering his answer as he swallowed back the rest of his drink in one go and laid the empty glass back on the table with no hint of his previous delicacy.
"I'm tired." He declared finally, like the words were a great weight off his chest. "I'm tired and I'm bored and I need to get out of that place. Do you know what the subject of my last play was? It was about a king who is at the centre of his court and is adored by all but because of his status, he cannot trust anyone and he just gets more and more lonely up in his ivory tower before he eventually throws himself off it. Well, Ciao Ciao I feel like I'm on top of that tower and if I don't do something now, I will throw myself off. High society is such a horrible place, I don't know why you aspire to it honestly- it is filled with small-minded people who can't admit that they are because then it would destroy everything they pretend about themselves. It felt like I was in a cage- even though I could travel the world, I was not free. I can't do what I want because their eyes are always on me, watching my every move… and I'm so tired of it."
He fell silent, his stiff body suddenly going limp like a puppet who had just been cut from its strings. His crystal blue eyes suddenly looked grey and glassy as they stared intensely down at the table, his fingers flicking at his glass and Ciao Ciao felt a stab of panic. Victor looked like the life had been sucked out of him and he looked on the verge of a breakdown. Then, like he had just been shot through with a jolt of electricity, Victor looked back up at him with some colour back in his eyes and an almost wry grin on his face.
"Sorry," he said quickly before Ciao Ciao could say a word. "Even talking about it exhausts me… spending time with all those people is just so draining, I can sometimes feel it drawing the life from me… That's the reason I'm here Ciao Ciao. I want to live a little, laugh a little, I need to do something that gets me away from this hellish situation and gives me a new role. I need a new part to play and that's what I want you to give me. You give everyone who comes to your circus a chance to be something else, to be anything that they want. All I want is the same."
Ciao Ciao gave him a wide smile before he gathered up both their glasses in one hand. He then stood up and guided Victor out of his seat and past the bar, where he dropped both glasses into the lap of the relieved bartender.
"I was so hoping you would say something like that," the large man grinned as he pulled Victor along with the strength of a bear. "All that's left to do is show you around the place."
"Really?" Victor said, like he couldn't quite believe his outburst had had such an effect. Ciao Ciao once again chuckled.
"Young man, all the lost can be found in the crown of the circus king. You'll fit in perfectly."
OOO
"And this is what happens just before the show, we all do a run-through, just to make sure… mind your step here, there's a lot of rope and if you get tangled up in that, you'll be sent shooting up to the ceiling…"
"I'll keep that in mind." Victor said as he carefully stepped in the gaps between the large coils of rope that had practically taken over the floor. They looked almost like sleeping pythons and Victor winced whenever his feet nudged them, fearful almost that they would wake up. "Are things usually this… chaotic?"
"Oh certainly," Ciao Ciao answered proudly. "I always think that if there is chaos before a show, that shows everyone is working as hard as possible to get their acts right and if they do that, then the show runs more smoothly. There is method in our madness as you will see."
"I'm sure I will," Victor answered diplomatically as he nearly tripped over another large rope and stumbled to keep up with Ciao Ciao's long strides. "So how many individual acts do we have here? There are an awful lot of people…"
"Not all these people are performers, my dear boy. I employ a large number of stagehands to make sure that everything is shipshape around here- we can't have an accident on our hands, that could be disastrous if the papers took it the wrong way and said we were a death trap…" Ciao Ciao explained with a shake of his head. "We also have security- some of the townsfolk don't like us being here and they can get rowdy, I've had to break up fights before between the acts and the crowd… not very nice at all. But don't let that put you off. Nobody here is violent at all, we're just like one big family and so of course we protect our own."
"That's understandable." Victor replied; he had already heard of some of the violence that had broken out around the circus and knew it was part of the reason many of his class shunned it. However, he suspected many of the stories had either been exaggerated or had left out crucial facts on how they started; nobody ever mentioned the role the openly prejudiced crowds had to play. "Is there anyone in particular I should get to know?"
"Why, everybody!" Ciao Ciao cried out heartily. "Everyone has their part to play here, it's what makes the show what it is. Let me give you a quick run through, we have JJ our strongman- he can lift three men clean above his head but I wouldn't talk about it too much in front of him, when he starts boasting, his ego could outgrow our entire ring… then we have Mila, she's our hypnotist so she may look sweet but don't look in her eyes for too long or she'll have you swinging from the rafters before you know it. Georgi is our make-up artist, he's a wonder but he's a bigger drama queen than any of the performers and that is saying something… Seung-gil is our costume-man, he's a great visionary and a wizard with material but don't ask for anything rainbow-coloured or feathered… he tends to save that for himself." Ciao Ciao gave a pained expression, like he was recalling a recent disturbing memory before he shook it off and carried on, his cane rapping on the floor with every heavy step he took.
"Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, we also have our troop of dancers led by Chris- very remarkable man, I imagine you will get along with him quite well… there are several dancers in his group that are extraordinary, they can bend their bodies into shapes I didn't even know existed. Then there are our twins, Sara and Michele, two of our best acrobats and our resident fire dancers. They move in such sync, you'd think it was one person dancing with a mirror. Sara sometimes helps out with our resident magician Emil as his assistant when Isabella can't do it but her brother tends to have an issue with that, he's very protective you see…"
"Hey!" A loud angry voice with a heavy Russian accent suddenly cut Ciao Ciao's flow of words short. Victor turned his head and his eyes widened as a small figure that barely came up to his shoulder crossly stomped over to where the two of them had been forced to halt. The young man looked almost as out of place as he did; he shared the same ethereal pale skin as Victor, his chin-length hair was so blond it appeared almost white and his thin face was as pointed and sharp as cut ice. His body was delicate like that of a fey, with a light airy frame and long slender limbs that could have belonged to a ballerina. In any other context, he would have looked graceful but the enraged expression on the boy's face was the furthest thing from graceful Victor had ever come across. His limbs were tense with boiling anger and his hands were balled into fists like he was about to punch the ringmaster. Despite the fact that Ciao Ciao was significantly taller and wider than him, the young man was clearly not intimidated as he jabbed an accusing finger in his face and continued to yell at him.
"Ciao Ciao, you twit!"
"Ah, hello Yuri," Ciao Ciao smiled, seemingly not deterred by the display of anger in front of him. "Is there a problem?"
"Yeah there's a fucking problem!" Yuri yelled in a voice so loud, Victor was surprised the crowd gathering outside for the show couldn't hear him. "There's a massive fucking problem! That vet you sent to look at Potya was a complete charlatan who had no idea what he was doing and she's still not feeling well! She's been restless all day and she still can't keep her food down and I swear the medicine that quack gave her is making her worse! How am I supposed to do the show with a sick tiger? I am not taking her out there just so she can throw up in front of everyone!"
"That's a shame," Ciao Ciao replied. "I wasn't sure about that vet myself but there aren't many medical professionals in New York willing to come out and look at a fully-grown tiger… Can't you use one of your other big cats for the show tonight? Potya has a daughter, doesn't she?"
"Yes, but she's still just a cub!" Yuri roared, his blue-green eyes flaring like raging spotlights. "I haven't got her fully-trained yet, she's still too young to go out in front of an audience! As for the others, Ruslan is having mane trouble, it's going grey and I don't want people to laugh at him and think he's old, Tatiana is still going through some teething difficulties and Alyona has only just arrived here, she's still got some travel sickness and these idiots stagehands have no clue how to handle a puma…"
"I'm sure everything will be fine." Ciao Ciao said calmly, waving his hand and making Yuri stop. "Ruslan is the most experienced, I would use him tonight and I'm sure Georgi can do something with his mane to make it look less grey. I would also point out that he is a fully grown male lion Yuri- I don't think the audience are going to laugh at him."
"They better not," Yuri growled in a way that was very reminiscent of a big cat. "Or else I'll kick hem in the face!"
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Ciao Ciao said brightly, clearly relieved. "Now go get Ruslan ready, I'm sure he'll need a run through like the rest of us."
Yuri scoffed. "Like shit he does. Ruslan's a true professional and he could wipe the floor with everyone here." It was only then when he seemed to notice Victor's presence as he suddenly turned to look him up and down and gave a sneer.
"Who's this posh-looking knob?"
"Language Yuri." Ciao Ciao said sternly before waving a hand in Victor's direction. "This is Victor Nikiforov, he's going to be our new director so I expect you to treat him with the greatest respect. The man is a genuis."
"Yeah whatever." Yuri sniffed, clearly not impressed. "Just stay away from me and my cats, alright?" He gave a huff and with one last glare thrown at the two of them, he stalked off towards the back of the building. "Georgi! Where are you, you emo half-wit, I need your sorry arse to look at Ruslan…"
"I'm sorry about that," Ciao Ciao said, quickly steering Victor away from the death trap of ropes on the floor and leading him up a set of steep wooden steps. "Yuri is very young and likes to push boundaries, especially with new people. He can be very defensive, especially when it comes to his big cats, but he really is quite a nice young man when you get to know him and he is the best tiger trainer I've ever seen."
"That boy tames tigers?!" Victor gulped out astonished.
"And every other kind of big cat you can think of." Ciao Ciao chuckled. "The boy absolutely loves them. He has two tigers, Potya and her little one Olga, she was his first cat and he's very fond of her as you can tell, two lions Ruslan and Tatiana and he only recently got a puma in and he's already badgering me for a panther!" He shook his head affectionately. "That boy would have me buy him a whole zoo of cats but he is one of our star attractions. I'm sure he'll come round to you."
"I hope so." Victor thought, imagining briefly what would happen if he made Yuri mad. He'd probably set one of his cats on me, he thought with another gulp as he placed his hand on his throat. It was only then when he looked down and realised how high up the two of them were. They were nearly at the very top of the stairs and as he looked down, the ground looked a very long way away.
"Ciao Ciao, where exactly are you taking me?"
The ringmaster gave a laugh. "Don't worry about the height Victor, this place is very stable- it needs to be otherwise none of the acrobats would perform here." He gave another loud barking laugh before quickly signaling Victor to be quiet. "I'm taking you up here so you can see two of the best stars in my show. They are both my young proteges, I've known them since they were both children and they are truly spectacular. They are both rehearsing right now on the trapeze but one of them is very shy and he doesn't like strangers seeing him practice so you're going to have to be very quiet."
Victor gave a nod as Ciao Ciao quietly led him to a platform high above the ring. From up there, he could see the whole circus at work, the performers and stagehands below in a flurry of activity to get ready for the show but his attention was instantly snatched from the ground by the two swooping figures that were diving through the air in front of him. Victor could hear himself gasp as he watched them; one of the few things he had heard about the circus from his peers that hadn't been entirely damning was that the two flying acrobats on the trapeze were incredibly talented. One review had even stated that they looked like they barely needed the ropes; they looked like they could fly. He had thought that had been an exaggeration, perhaps one paid for by the ringmaster but he could see now that it was true; in fact, it might have been an understatement.
He watched breathless as the two figures dressed in bright purple silk darted and dived in front of him, cartwheeling and spinning through the air like their bodies were weightless. There were several ropes and trapezes hanging at random points from the ceiling above their heads and the two passed seamlessly from one to the other like they weren't there at all. The whole effect was spellbinding and they were both so fast, it was difficult to catch both their faces. He could tell that one of them was a lot darker than the other and he seemed to move a lot faster than the other, always moving to catch them from certain peril before throwing them back in the air.
"Heads up Yuuri!" He called over to the other man who was cutting through the air gracefully. "We need to work on that last spin! Don't get lazy on me now!"
Victor thought he heard a laugh from the other end of the ring before a blur of spinning purple leapt onto the trapeze. Victor watched as the lean figure twisted his body upside down in the air, catching the swinging bar with his bent legs before it swung towards the platform. We're going to be seen, Victor thought suddenly as he realised the trapeze was swinging straight towards the platform. He was about to make a move to spring out of the way when the trapeze shot up in front of him, leaving his eyes level with that of the man on the swing.
And it was then when time stopped.
Victor felt his mouth drop open and his hand reached up to sweep his top hat off his head as he stared into the eyes of the most beautiful man he had ever seen. Two large pools of dark brown, slightly widened by shock and framed with sparkling black eyeliner, were staring back at him and for a second, Victor felt like he was about to drown in them. The man had a soft-looking rounded face with cheeks bright pink from exertion and locks of the softest black hair Victor could ever recall seeing were tumbling into his face, either stuck there with sweat or left floating in the air. His lightly tanned skin was flawless and his lips were held slightly apart in a way that made Victor's knees feel a little weak. His arms were held outstretched, one to his side and one that pointed directly at Victor, like he was asking him to take it and god, did Victor want to…
And then suddenly the moment was broken and he was gone. Victor blinked as the man went tumbling back down, falling in an arch before swooping back up and letting go of the trapeze. He curled his body up into a ball and span rapidly three times in the air before unfurling himself and holding his arms out straight. It was at that moment when the other figure flew forwards on the other trapeze and caught him before swinging them both onto the other platform where they promptly disappeared from sight behind a curtain without a glance backwards.
Victor was stunned. His body felt frozen in place, his hand halfway from his head still gripping at his top hat, but his body had never felt warmer in his life. Something he had never felt before and never imagined he would was trickling into his veins and he suddenly wanted to run and dance around the ring, singing his heart out like he had never wanted before, but instead, he stayed firmly rooted in position.
"Ciao Ciao," he finally managed to choke out. "Who… was that?"
"That was Yuuri Katsuki," Ciao Ciao answered, looking like he was barely suppressing a grin. "He's a particularly brilliant talent, a true star in the making. He and his friend Phichit are most certainly our main attraction, the two of them are wondrous, wouldn't you agree?"
"Indeed they are." Victor close to whispered, sounding like all the air had been taken from his lungs. Ciao Ciao gave another laugh.
"Welcome to the other side my friend."
