Work Text:
The heat of the factory was not one to be laughed at; Eurydice had learned that lesson from the moment she started working for Mr. Hades.
As such, she was more than used to by the end of the day to be completely drenched in sweat and her hair being a total mess.
And the darkness of the factory didn't help to feel any less stress about it.
Things had been becoming harder and harder at home too, all with money getting tighter and Orpheus getting more and more suck on working on his song, in the solution of what in his words, will finally take them to a better place…
Between all the relentless working and the tiredness of trying to make anything out of what little they have, Eurydice still tries to keep going, not only because of how devastating it would be if she stopped for Orpheus but also for herself as a whole, because even after all she has lived, what she wanted more than anything was to live.
Things were harder and harder every day.
Everyone is struggling but the one at the very top.
As things changed, so did the reward of their struggles; as they worked harder and harder, money got tighter and tighter. Eurydice wanted to scream at the wind and fate itself. Demand explanations as to why their lives got harder and harder as time went on, but even that seemed fruitless.
So, as much as she hated to, she needed to keep providing for Orpheus and herself.
Which meant she kept her head low and became just another cog in the factory.
It's what one had to do to keep out of the boss's wrath and not have to fear losing their head just for a little problem.
la-la-la-la-la
Whenever the sun started to set, the station stopped sending new tasks to be done; once the sun was down was when, for at least a couple of hours, Eurydice was finally allowed to go back home.
Most days she barely made it past their living room before she was falling asleep on her feet.
Most days she came back to a lonely home.
Some days she at least found Hermes coming out of her and Orpheus' room.
She will always ask, “Is the song done?”
Hermes would answer with a somber shake of his head or he would just say “Not yet.” before he would excuse himself out while holding ones of Orpheus shirts. Another week of Orpheus not being home at the same time as her trying to make his song work out.
As much hope as she always wanted to have in Orpheus, every day away from him, it became harder and harder.
Food was becoming not only harder to buy but also to ration at all; every day it felt she could get less and less money with what they had. Keeping warm at night was harder too, as the blackouts were becoming more usual every week. Not even keeping a fire was becoming plausible; even then she wondered if Orpheus was getting cold in whatever place where he was singing that night.
Some nights all warm she had were the memories of how their early relationship had been like.
Summer had been so much easier for them. Orpheus had been given a total summer job by the Lady Persephone, the rich woman having enjoyed music so much that she wanted him to play for everyone at one of her parties that she held almost every night back then.
Even when the food had not been enough. And even when things seemed even more hopeless than before she had even met Orpheus, things seemed more plausible to get better than they ever did now.
Of course, even then what kept Eurydice from getting out of bed at the crack of dawn was the fact that even as far apart as she and Orpheus seemed, they would always wake up in each other's arms.
Eurydice could always, before she had to get up to heat some water for her shower, hide her head in Orpheus's neck and feel warm if for only a couple of minutes more.
For a moment the world was bathed in light and not the darkness and coldness of machinery.
For just a moment Eurydice felt the warmth of summer come back to them and were able to believe that one day they would make it out of this life of monotony. They had to work every day to barely afford to get even a slice of bread for themselves.
One day Orpheus's song would get them out of this dark and cold into the bright and warmth they once had.
Eurydice would be able to lie down on a real bed and smell the flowers and all the natural stuff that they would have in their garden.
They both finally will be the happiest.
One day. Even if not today.
