ok seph patching up orpheus is all I care about and I want to know more about the fates one!! how do the fates respond to her asking like do they actually care?? or are they just doing it bc their girl seph is calling in a favor?? I’m so curious abt all your headcanons whoops 😬
the first hadestown fic i ever wrote was actually papers au #1!!! here’s an excerpt:
“orpheus.” the boy whispered. the words had no sooner left his mouth when he sat up abruptly. “i’m orpheus.” he said this like it was a revelation and locked eyes with persephone. “i need to find eurydice.” orpheus’s eyes widened. “i...i have to go and find eurydice, excuse me, please—“ he tried to stand, but only fell back into the chair with a sharp cry and wrapped an arm around his ribcage again.
persephone placed a pacifying hand on his chest. “whoa.” she said. “slow down, sweetheart. you’re not in any condition to go find anyone.” the poet’s eyes were desperate. persephone hadn’t seen desperation down here in a while, save for in the mirror.
she kept her hand against orpheus’s chest, spreading her fingers wide. to her shock, a fast beating met her fingertips. “you’re alive.”
orpheus blinked. “i am.” it was too tentative to be a statement, but not curious enough to be a question. “i, i am.”
persephone peered at the poet in disbelief. she took in his thin, trembling frame and the cuts and bruises on his face. had she not felt his heart, she wouldn’t have known he was alive at all.
as for the fates thing, it’s lachesis that softens enough to help persephone. she is the fate that’s closest to persephone, and she knows that she wants to save the boy. clotho reluctantly follows her lead, but atropos remains icy. lachesis cares about persephone way more than she cares about orpheus—she doesn’t really care about orpheus at all, in fact. clotho does it out of curiosity, and ends up really feeling for orpheus. atropos only gets more cynical and bitter all the way up until lachesis calls her out on it.
regardless of what they did to help him, though, in the end, they still drive him to turn. and it’s even worse because orpheus recognizes them.