THE GREATEST SHOWMAN LYRIC STARTERS [ accepting! ]

Scrubbing a hand down his face, the ringmaster offers a lazy smile in response. A short clipped chuckle escapes him, tired eyes staring at the bar top as he listens. He’d heard those words before-- from his own mouth, no less. Though his dreams had all pretty well come true - got the girl, started the circus, money, fame . . . - there was an empty sort of hollowness to it all. Where did he go from here? What more was there to achieve? To accomplish?

And perhaps this was what he needed, tonight and from now on. Other people’s dreams to inspire him. He had what he wanted, everything he had ever wanted. Perhaps now, he could move forward in helping others achieve their dreams. However big, or however small.

Though tired himself, he could only assume that Anne was particularly more-so, what with his never really seeing her out so late, nor at the bar of all places having tracked him down. The man pours a shot, waving the bartender over to bring him another shot glass so he can pour some amber liquid into that one as well-- shove it over toward Anne quietly as he tilted his head back and gulped back his own.

“I used to lie awake in bed every night,” he finally admits, swiveling himself on the bar stool to face her directly, elbow bracing his weight on the bar top heavily. He’s not drunk, but he’s quickly approaching that level. “Visions just filling my head. A million things running through my mind, about... who I wanted to be, where I wanted to be. Who I wanted to share them with.” He smiles gently, posture almost visibly relaxing at the thought of Charity and his girls. “And now, look.” Phineas waves his hand nonchalantly at nothing, motioning to the idea of the circus and his troupe, smile widening.

“Dreams do come true, Anne.” The ringmaster pours himself another shot, motioning toward the woman with the near empty bottle as though to punch his point home. “Share yours with me. I found sharing my own helped motivate me to achieve them. Share your dreams with me, and I’ll help you in any way I can. Then, perhaps,” One more shot, just for good measure. “You can get some sleep.”

He had hesitated to visit this place, mainly because he felt like he didn’t deserve to do so. He had abandoned his friends, his family for a chase for fame after all. But in the end Charity had managed to convince him to stop being an idiot and so he was here.

                    affection wasn’t his strong suit, despite how hard he’s worked on it. growing up with everyone immediately loving him all because he was wealthy certainly shaped him to believe he was supposed to be loved by EVERYONE. it was at times like these his ego came to bite him. he hated fighting with anne, but he had. he had to apologize. QUICKLY. he grabbed the other by her arm, preventing her from leaving. how could he word this ? how could he say what he’d be without her ?  ❛  --------- without you, i’d be MISERABLE at best. ❜

     ❝ IS THE WEATHER NOT SO EXTREME IN EUROPE? ❞  anne questioned with a slightly sharp tone. perhaps it was a stupid question to ask. her experiences of europe were limited to the time she’d spent on the ocean liner and within london - all of which was spent largely indoors and with very little exploration or weather changes. for anne, the wintery weather in the state was very much normal. it wasn’t ideal, but it was comforting to know it was at least a little predictable.

       ❝ i’m sure mr barnum would be more than happy to provide you with a warmer coat for your tour, ❞ anne continued, the bitterness in her tone seeping through despite trying desperately to remain polite. ever since jenny had showed up, things seemed to be a little less that ideal. she was phenomenally talented, that anne couldn’t deny - she had left her feeling captivated and wrapped up in the moment with her voice and caused anne to let her guard down around phillip for a moment too long. yet beyond her vocal talent, she seemed to be more than capable of catching the eye of their boss and it left anne more than a little worried for the future of the circus. jenny was, by a large margin, more advertisable than a group of misfits. and the fact that barnum was noticing that too left a sour taste in anne’s mouth.

       jenny laughed, soft and tinkling.  ❝  oh, it is, it just usually stays one color —  gray. And cloudy!  Rain or snow or shine, there seems to always be at least a couple grown clouds in the sky.  ❞  her smile was fond as she remembered the skies of western europe.  no matter where she seemed to go, it seemed to live in varying shades of cloud.  when she’d arrived here, it had been blue skies.  freezing, but blue. within what felt like only a few days, it had evolved into a proper winter storm.  while winter wasn’t something she was unused to, the speed of it was.