[fic] the man on the flying trapeze
title: The Man on the Flying Trapeze (A The Greatest Show on Earth Story)
author:
liz_hollis
rating: PG-13
pairing: pre-Joe/Nick, Kevin/Zac
word count: 2188
warnings: pre-incest, Sprouse twins, lions
summary: It always takes Joe at least an hour to come down from the shows. It's just... making that long, endless climb on the rope ladder, following Demi's quick figure up into the heights of the big top, it sets his blood pounding so hard and quick that Joe can barely hear anything but the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears.
disclaimer: I am about 168% sure this did not happen
author's note: another story in the Disney Circus AU: The Greatest Show on Earth
It always takes Joe at least an hour to come down from the shows.
It's just... making that long, endless climb on the rope ladder, following Demi's quick figure up into the heights of the big top, it sets his blood pounding so hard and quick that Joe can barely hear anything but the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears. The spotlights send strange shadows against the angle of the tent, and it's a whole different world up there on the platform.
The crowd gets silent, and Demi and Joe pass the powder bag back in forth in a familiar synchronized dance, covering their feet, their hands, even the crooks of their elbows and the backs of their knees. Demi always gives Joe an extra shake, because the adrenaline makes his palms sweat and he has slipped and fallen hundreds of feet because of this.
Demi always grabs each ankle, does a quick quad stretch and shakes out her arms before grabbing the trapeze, turning to the crowd and raising her arms. The crowd will cheer, and before the sound has even died down Demi will have launched herself out into the air, her figure cutting a bright swathe through the chalky air, falling in a graceful arc towards the ground until the ropes of the trapeze catch and she swings.
Joe has watched Demi drop and flip and twist through the air more times than he can count. His stomach drops and his fists clench every single time. Joe always watches her solo routine and every time her hands connect and slap against the wood of the bar, the lightning buzz in Joe's skin gets higher.
When Joe unhooks the second trapeze and swings out as Demi grins at him from the opposite platform, the buzz and thrum of excitement that's been in his ears and under his skin since the crowd started trickling into the tent just cuts out, and his world is perfect, untouchable silence for an endless moment. Joe flies.
When the show is over; after they've all circled the ring together, Joe beaming at the applause, at the shouting kids in the audience, and Nick's hand warm in his, Joe's high always lasts for ages.
--
Tonight, he nails the act. Not a slip, not a fumble, not a single misstep. It's incredible. Joe is beyond elated. David comes out to patter as they crank the net up towards the rafters. As soon as he and Demi get backstage she jumps on him, peppering his face with little kisses and covering his skin with glitter and lipstick. And Jesus, Demi may be tiny, but Joe's no giant himself, and you'd think Miley could be more understanding of his lack of balance when he almost- just almost- steps on one of her dogs as she's waiting for David to give her cue.
"Jesus, Joe!" Miley hisses, scooping up the little white terrier. "Watch your fucking step, alright?" The dog growls menacingly at Joe.
Joe growls back at the dog. "I know, sorry Miles. I crush Eva, you crush me. I swear that dog has it out for me." Joe ducks in to kiss Miley's rouge-caked cheek and Eva snaps at his hand. "Call off your dog, Miley!"
"Eva! Bad girl! No, no, no!" Miley croons, putting her back on the ground. Demi squeezes Miley's hand, giving the dogs a wide berth.
"Break a leg, Miles!" She looks down at the dogs milling around Miley's ankles and nods at them. "Good luck, Bad Dogs." (Kevin started calling the dogs the Bad Dogs when they were just puppies, after two of them tore apart every soft surface in his caravan in one afternoon. Joe even had a 'Big-Dog'-style t-shirt made for Miley with a shockingly true-to-life line drawing of a tiny pink pointy-toothed growling dog).
They hear David boom out, "And now, Destiny and her Terrific Terrier Tricksters! Keep an eye on these doggies, folks, they live up to their names!"
Miley throws back her shoulders and sweeps through the curtain, Eva giving Joe's ankle one last nip before leading the rest of the dogs out.
"I hate that dog." Joe mutters, slinging an arm around Demi's shoulders.
"I'm gonna go check on Nicole," Demi says. "She can't find her lucky charm bracelet, and she' s convinced she's going to fall off the tightrope without it."
Joe's whole body is still itching with energy, and he needs to get it out somehow. He can't go wait with Nick and the lions with all this nervous tension running through him, it gets the lions riled up. So he flips into a handstand and walks on his hands over towards his dressing table. Two pairs of long red clown shoes suddenly come into his field of vision, and the distinct sharp smell of salt and vinegar chips float up his nose. The Sprouse twins. He quickly backs it up.
He does a couple backflips and helps Jake strap on his stilts again for the next clown interlude. It still takes about four tries to get Jake up on his stilts, the integrity of the dressing room threatened each time he tips backwards, and once he's finally up, Joe feels calm enough to go find Nick.
Nick's lion taming act is their crowning glory, the big draw that really brings in the crowds, so he's always the last full-fledged act to go on.
Nick only brings Stevie and Elvis in from the cat caravan about ten minutes before he goes on. He refuses to load them into the cage until the last minute, arguing to Walt that it makes them testy and annoyed. His lions are perfectly happy to perform their act in the cage, for audience safety, but it's unnecessary to make them wait in the cage. Just keep the Sprouses and Moises away from them and there's no problem. Like every other battle Nick has fought with Walt, Nick won this one.
Joe finds Nick in the dark corner behind the dressing room that's been cordoned off for the lion act to wait in. Nick is dressed and waiting, stiff white pants tucked into his shiny black riding boots, his shoulders relaxed in the black tailcoat. Stevie and Elvis wait beside him, sitting calmly but their eyes bright and alert. Joe approaches slowly. He never comes in without Nick's permission, and he never touches Stevie and Elvis without Nick's say so.
"Hey guys," Joe whispers.
"It's the man on the flying trapeze," Nick murmurs in a sing-song. "I heard you were Superman tonight." Nick's smile is small but proud.
Joe smiles down at his feet. "It was a good night. I'm gonna crash sometime, but I think I'm still flying. Even the Bad Dogs couldn't bring me down." Nick snickers softly, and Stevie butts her nose against his knee. "You ready to go?"
Nick nods and straightens his collar. "Come on, Stevie-girl. Come on, Elvis. Let's go." Nick makes gentle 'come on' gestures with his hands as he backs up towards the big steel cage, and the lions heave themselves up and pad up the wooden ramp into the cage. Two stagehands come over to help him wheel the cage over to the curtain.
Joe grabs Nick around the back of the neck and pulls him in, pressing their foreheads together and looking into Nick's calm brown eyes as they hear David call out, "And now the act you've all been waiting for..."
Nick is... he's not a different person out there in front of the crowd, but it's something more like... He's Nick, but multiplied by ten, and it's why their act is so successful. The calm power and self-possession that Nick has carried in him since childhood fill him out, and he becomes a toweringly powerful figure, straight-backed and dominant. It's the only place Nick seems truly at home, a hundred percent comfortable with who he is. His voice rings out clear and crisp, and he performs each movement, each trick with the lions without great flash or showmanship, just a display of astounding control and communication with the animals. The crowd never fails to gasp and scream when Nick puts his head inside Elvis' massive jaws, but Joe never feel real fear for him, because the control emanates from Nick like heat waves, reaching Joe all the way behind the thick curtain.
Joe feels awe every night, watching who his little brother is out there.
--
Kevin sidles up beside him, Zac loitering back by the elephant step. "Hey," he whispers, tapping his fingers on the top of Joe's head. "I think we're gonna have an Acrobats Assembly after the show tonight. If you bring some beer, the Trapeze Twins can come. Nick too."
Joe smiles, shaking his head, still watching Nick. "No thanks. I'm good."
Kevin looks out at their brother- now holding Stevie's paws as she stands on her hind legs- and looks back at Joe, an expression on his face that Joe's seen before and always, always ignores. "Okay. See you later?"
"Yeah." Joe squeezes Kevin's shoulder to make up for it, for something.
The act ends with two great roars from Stevie and Elvis that seem to shake the whole of the big top and shock the audience into a long moment of silence, before a wild rising cheer breaks out, the audience rises to their feet and Nick and the lions bow together.
They have another show tomorrow night so they don't have to break down the tent, which makes it an awesome night all around, in Joe's opinion. The ushers and maintenance crew take the audience seating and the performers rake the sawdust in the ring and help feed and bed down the various animals. Nick and Joe sweep out all the straw in the caravan and replace it with fresh, and Nick brings four big steaks from the canteen tent. Joe fills huge tin buckets with water, and drops one at the elephant's van for Chelsea and Mina, dragging the other two back to Nick and the lions.
It's almost midnight by the time the circus has been closed out for the night, and Joe leaves Nick at the lion van. Nick always spends at least a half hour like, communing with the cats after a show. Joe passes Kevin and Zac's caravan on the way to his. All the lamps are lit and Joe can see Demi and Zac and Sterling among others all crowded around Kevin's kitchen card table. Their laughing voices carry through the walls, but Joe is finally crashing, and he wants nothing more than his bed.
The caravans are little two person trailers, enough room for two bunks, a cramped kitchen, a couch and a little dining nook. When they first joined up Nick was only thirteen, and he and Joe and Kevin all shared this van. Kevin moved out into an acrobat trailer when Nick was sixteen, and Joe and Nick have shared ever since. The walls of the van are covered in postcards; a card for every city they've performed in. Joe began collecting them the night he first leapt from the platform in front of an audience, and the course of the last five years of their lives can be traced in those cards.
Joe switches on the hot plate and sticks the kettle on it. Nick likes to have tea before bed. He shuffles to the back of the van where the two bunks are nestled into dark corners, and face plants onto his unmade bed.
He wakes with a start some time later to the sound of the screaming kettle being lifted from the hot plate.
"Nngh, sorry. I fell asleep," he calls out groggily. Nick's soft footsteps approach and then he's sitting on the edge of his bunk, cradling a mug of tea.
"S'okay. Your attempt at arson failed."
"What time is it?" Joe asks, rubbing a hand over his face. Everything is soft and fuzzy around the edges, deep quiet. He can't seem to wake up fully, his brain struggling to surface.
"One a.m."
"I'm asleep," Joe mumbles. "I'm asleep right now, and you should be to." He flings an arm over his eyes and it's dark again, and all he can hear is the quiet sound of Nick blowing on his tea.
"I know. Go to sleep." Nick's hand brushes against Joe's forehead, and the bed shifts as Nick moves to stand up.
Joe reaches out, grabs Nick's arm. "Wait." He uncovers his eyes. Nick is looking at him, eyes dark and tired, his teeth biting into his lower lip.
"I- nothing." Joe pulls Nick in until he's lying half on top of Joe and hugs him, wrapping his arms around Nick's neck and pushing his nose into the corner of Nick's jaw.
"Your nose is cold." Nick whispers into the silence.
"I know, sorry. Goodnight, Nick." Joe kisses the skin of Nick's neck softly and releases him. Nick pulls himself upright slowly, untangling their arms carefully.
Joe is almost asleep again by the time Nick is settled in his bunk. But he forces his eyes open once more to see Nick, lying on his side facing him, looking searchingly at Joe like he's a puzzle or a riddle or a language to be learned.
author:
liz_hollis
rating: PG-13
pairing: pre-Joe/Nick, Kevin/Zac
word count: 2188
warnings: pre-incest, Sprouse twins, lions
summary: It always takes Joe at least an hour to come down from the shows. It's just... making that long, endless climb on the rope ladder, following Demi's quick figure up into the heights of the big top, it sets his blood pounding so hard and quick that Joe can barely hear anything but the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears.
disclaimer: I am about 168% sure this did not happen
author's note: another story in the Disney Circus AU: The Greatest Show on Earth
It always takes Joe at least an hour to come down from the shows.
It's just... making that long, endless climb on the rope ladder, following Demi's quick figure up into the heights of the big top, it sets his blood pounding so hard and quick that Joe can barely hear anything but the sound of his own heartbeat in his ears. The spotlights send strange shadows against the angle of the tent, and it's a whole different world up there on the platform.
The crowd gets silent, and Demi and Joe pass the powder bag back in forth in a familiar synchronized dance, covering their feet, their hands, even the crooks of their elbows and the backs of their knees. Demi always gives Joe an extra shake, because the adrenaline makes his palms sweat and he has slipped and fallen hundreds of feet because of this.
Demi always grabs each ankle, does a quick quad stretch and shakes out her arms before grabbing the trapeze, turning to the crowd and raising her arms. The crowd will cheer, and before the sound has even died down Demi will have launched herself out into the air, her figure cutting a bright swathe through the chalky air, falling in a graceful arc towards the ground until the ropes of the trapeze catch and she swings.
Joe has watched Demi drop and flip and twist through the air more times than he can count. His stomach drops and his fists clench every single time. Joe always watches her solo routine and every time her hands connect and slap against the wood of the bar, the lightning buzz in Joe's skin gets higher.
When Joe unhooks the second trapeze and swings out as Demi grins at him from the opposite platform, the buzz and thrum of excitement that's been in his ears and under his skin since the crowd started trickling into the tent just cuts out, and his world is perfect, untouchable silence for an endless moment. Joe flies.
When the show is over; after they've all circled the ring together, Joe beaming at the applause, at the shouting kids in the audience, and Nick's hand warm in his, Joe's high always lasts for ages.
--
Tonight, he nails the act. Not a slip, not a fumble, not a single misstep. It's incredible. Joe is beyond elated. David comes out to patter as they crank the net up towards the rafters. As soon as he and Demi get backstage she jumps on him, peppering his face with little kisses and covering his skin with glitter and lipstick. And Jesus, Demi may be tiny, but Joe's no giant himself, and you'd think Miley could be more understanding of his lack of balance when he almost- just almost- steps on one of her dogs as she's waiting for David to give her cue.
"Jesus, Joe!" Miley hisses, scooping up the little white terrier. "Watch your fucking step, alright?" The dog growls menacingly at Joe.
Joe growls back at the dog. "I know, sorry Miles. I crush Eva, you crush me. I swear that dog has it out for me." Joe ducks in to kiss Miley's rouge-caked cheek and Eva snaps at his hand. "Call off your dog, Miley!"
"Eva! Bad girl! No, no, no!" Miley croons, putting her back on the ground. Demi squeezes Miley's hand, giving the dogs a wide berth.
"Break a leg, Miles!" She looks down at the dogs milling around Miley's ankles and nods at them. "Good luck, Bad Dogs." (Kevin started calling the dogs the Bad Dogs when they were just puppies, after two of them tore apart every soft surface in his caravan in one afternoon. Joe even had a 'Big-Dog'-style t-shirt made for Miley with a shockingly true-to-life line drawing of a tiny pink pointy-toothed growling dog).
They hear David boom out, "And now, Destiny and her Terrific Terrier Tricksters! Keep an eye on these doggies, folks, they live up to their names!"
Miley throws back her shoulders and sweeps through the curtain, Eva giving Joe's ankle one last nip before leading the rest of the dogs out.
"I hate that dog." Joe mutters, slinging an arm around Demi's shoulders.
"I'm gonna go check on Nicole," Demi says. "She can't find her lucky charm bracelet, and she' s convinced she's going to fall off the tightrope without it."
Joe's whole body is still itching with energy, and he needs to get it out somehow. He can't go wait with Nick and the lions with all this nervous tension running through him, it gets the lions riled up. So he flips into a handstand and walks on his hands over towards his dressing table. Two pairs of long red clown shoes suddenly come into his field of vision, and the distinct sharp smell of salt and vinegar chips float up his nose. The Sprouse twins. He quickly backs it up.
He does a couple backflips and helps Jake strap on his stilts again for the next clown interlude. It still takes about four tries to get Jake up on his stilts, the integrity of the dressing room threatened each time he tips backwards, and once he's finally up, Joe feels calm enough to go find Nick.
Nick's lion taming act is their crowning glory, the big draw that really brings in the crowds, so he's always the last full-fledged act to go on.
Nick only brings Stevie and Elvis in from the cat caravan about ten minutes before he goes on. He refuses to load them into the cage until the last minute, arguing to Walt that it makes them testy and annoyed. His lions are perfectly happy to perform their act in the cage, for audience safety, but it's unnecessary to make them wait in the cage. Just keep the Sprouses and Moises away from them and there's no problem. Like every other battle Nick has fought with Walt, Nick won this one.
Joe finds Nick in the dark corner behind the dressing room that's been cordoned off for the lion act to wait in. Nick is dressed and waiting, stiff white pants tucked into his shiny black riding boots, his shoulders relaxed in the black tailcoat. Stevie and Elvis wait beside him, sitting calmly but their eyes bright and alert. Joe approaches slowly. He never comes in without Nick's permission, and he never touches Stevie and Elvis without Nick's say so.
"Hey guys," Joe whispers.
"It's the man on the flying trapeze," Nick murmurs in a sing-song. "I heard you were Superman tonight." Nick's smile is small but proud.
Joe smiles down at his feet. "It was a good night. I'm gonna crash sometime, but I think I'm still flying. Even the Bad Dogs couldn't bring me down." Nick snickers softly, and Stevie butts her nose against his knee. "You ready to go?"
Nick nods and straightens his collar. "Come on, Stevie-girl. Come on, Elvis. Let's go." Nick makes gentle 'come on' gestures with his hands as he backs up towards the big steel cage, and the lions heave themselves up and pad up the wooden ramp into the cage. Two stagehands come over to help him wheel the cage over to the curtain.
Joe grabs Nick around the back of the neck and pulls him in, pressing their foreheads together and looking into Nick's calm brown eyes as they hear David call out, "And now the act you've all been waiting for..."
Nick is... he's not a different person out there in front of the crowd, but it's something more like... He's Nick, but multiplied by ten, and it's why their act is so successful. The calm power and self-possession that Nick has carried in him since childhood fill him out, and he becomes a toweringly powerful figure, straight-backed and dominant. It's the only place Nick seems truly at home, a hundred percent comfortable with who he is. His voice rings out clear and crisp, and he performs each movement, each trick with the lions without great flash or showmanship, just a display of astounding control and communication with the animals. The crowd never fails to gasp and scream when Nick puts his head inside Elvis' massive jaws, but Joe never feel real fear for him, because the control emanates from Nick like heat waves, reaching Joe all the way behind the thick curtain.
Joe feels awe every night, watching who his little brother is out there.
--
Kevin sidles up beside him, Zac loitering back by the elephant step. "Hey," he whispers, tapping his fingers on the top of Joe's head. "I think we're gonna have an Acrobats Assembly after the show tonight. If you bring some beer, the Trapeze Twins can come. Nick too."
Joe smiles, shaking his head, still watching Nick. "No thanks. I'm good."
Kevin looks out at their brother- now holding Stevie's paws as she stands on her hind legs- and looks back at Joe, an expression on his face that Joe's seen before and always, always ignores. "Okay. See you later?"
"Yeah." Joe squeezes Kevin's shoulder to make up for it, for something.
The act ends with two great roars from Stevie and Elvis that seem to shake the whole of the big top and shock the audience into a long moment of silence, before a wild rising cheer breaks out, the audience rises to their feet and Nick and the lions bow together.
They have another show tomorrow night so they don't have to break down the tent, which makes it an awesome night all around, in Joe's opinion. The ushers and maintenance crew take the audience seating and the performers rake the sawdust in the ring and help feed and bed down the various animals. Nick and Joe sweep out all the straw in the caravan and replace it with fresh, and Nick brings four big steaks from the canteen tent. Joe fills huge tin buckets with water, and drops one at the elephant's van for Chelsea and Mina, dragging the other two back to Nick and the lions.
It's almost midnight by the time the circus has been closed out for the night, and Joe leaves Nick at the lion van. Nick always spends at least a half hour like, communing with the cats after a show. Joe passes Kevin and Zac's caravan on the way to his. All the lamps are lit and Joe can see Demi and Zac and Sterling among others all crowded around Kevin's kitchen card table. Their laughing voices carry through the walls, but Joe is finally crashing, and he wants nothing more than his bed.
The caravans are little two person trailers, enough room for two bunks, a cramped kitchen, a couch and a little dining nook. When they first joined up Nick was only thirteen, and he and Joe and Kevin all shared this van. Kevin moved out into an acrobat trailer when Nick was sixteen, and Joe and Nick have shared ever since. The walls of the van are covered in postcards; a card for every city they've performed in. Joe began collecting them the night he first leapt from the platform in front of an audience, and the course of the last five years of their lives can be traced in those cards.
Joe switches on the hot plate and sticks the kettle on it. Nick likes to have tea before bed. He shuffles to the back of the van where the two bunks are nestled into dark corners, and face plants onto his unmade bed.
He wakes with a start some time later to the sound of the screaming kettle being lifted from the hot plate.
"Nngh, sorry. I fell asleep," he calls out groggily. Nick's soft footsteps approach and then he's sitting on the edge of his bunk, cradling a mug of tea.
"S'okay. Your attempt at arson failed."
"What time is it?" Joe asks, rubbing a hand over his face. Everything is soft and fuzzy around the edges, deep quiet. He can't seem to wake up fully, his brain struggling to surface.
"One a.m."
"I'm asleep," Joe mumbles. "I'm asleep right now, and you should be to." He flings an arm over his eyes and it's dark again, and all he can hear is the quiet sound of Nick blowing on his tea.
"I know. Go to sleep." Nick's hand brushes against Joe's forehead, and the bed shifts as Nick moves to stand up.
Joe reaches out, grabs Nick's arm. "Wait." He uncovers his eyes. Nick is looking at him, eyes dark and tired, his teeth biting into his lower lip.
"I- nothing." Joe pulls Nick in until he's lying half on top of Joe and hugs him, wrapping his arms around Nick's neck and pushing his nose into the corner of Nick's jaw.
"Your nose is cold." Nick whispers into the silence.
"I know, sorry. Goodnight, Nick." Joe kisses the skin of Nick's neck softly and releases him. Nick pulls himself upright slowly, untangling their arms carefully.
Joe is almost asleep again by the time Nick is settled in his bunk. But he forces his eyes open once more to see Nick, lying on his side facing him, looking searchingly at Joe like he's a puzzle or a riddle or a language to be learned.