sleep? In this economy?

I'm thinking about making a routine inspired by someone's circus AU, but there are so many to choose from I thought I'd just ask around.

I mainly do silks/rope and contortion, but I can also do lyra and static trapeze.

This was my Secret Sanders gift for @lizwaddles with the prompt analogical star gazing! I haven't done a night sky quite like this before so it was a cool challenge.

Deceit, contortionist

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Everyone and their mother is making a circus AU, and as a circus artist myself I feel obliged and inspired to do the same :)

Go easy on me, this is my first developed AU

Declan, a full time circus artist with a traveling show. He has been in circus arts for almost 15 years, and has been traveling with this show for the past 3 months. He began his circus career on silks when he was 14, but he found that he much preferred floor skills because of his natural flexibility. He started working contortion more and more, and when it came time for him to graduate he decided to apply to a circus school. He was accepted, and from there he improved greatly. He learned a variety of apparatus, but contortion stayed his passion.

After graduating from circus school, he went on to audition for Sanders Circus, a world renowned circus company that puts on a variety of traveling shows. He was accepted, but put on a waiting list for a show that would require his skills. Until then, he taught classes and workshops at a local circus gym, as well as taking small gigs here and there.

When “Creation” was made, a show that took circus elements and told a variety of creation stories from all over the world, Sanders Circus needed a talented contortionist to play a snake character nicknamed Deceit in the “Forbidden Fruit” act based on the Bible’s Adam and Eve story. They called Declan, and he accepted right away.

His life changed drastically, and although the training for the show was rigorous and the traveling was exhausting, he was happy to be a part of it. Plus, the makeup and costuming budget for this show was higher than any performance he had ever been in, and he was taking a liking to the snake aesthetic.

Unfortunately, like many contortionists, he has a variety of joint and tendon problems from years of small errors that wore down his body. He does physical therapy and tries to stay as intact as possible, but he knows that he can’t keep doing circus forever and that scares him. He lies often about his pain to keep others, and even himself, from worrying. However, at the time this AU takes place he hasn’t suffered any permanent career-altering damage yet, and is trying his best to keep his body as healthy as possible. Who knows though, one reckless misstep could take him out of the circus industry for good…