Midsummer Night
Summary: A re-writing of some of the scenes in Shakespeare's play from the perspective of my two favorite Gargoyles characters.
Author's Note: Yeah, I just can't let them go. Also, note that this story is set before Oberon's banishment decree, and before he divorced Titania. It's also set before he forbade himself and his people to directly intervene in human affairs, which explains the level of interference in mortal lives that you see in the play.
Act II, Scene I
A wood near Athens.
The Banshee sighed as she made her way through the forest. She was tired, and wanted nothing more than to rest. But she couldn't. She still had not finished her tasks for Queen Titania, and she was beginning to think she never would. It seemed like every time she was through with one errand, she was sent off on another. Technically speaking, it was an honor to serve the faerie queen, and the Banshee was actually rather fond of her. But lately, she'd been overly demanding to all those in her service.
Still, it wasn't as though she didn't know the reason why. She and Oberon were having another one of their fights – this time over a mortal child, of all things. She supposed she could understand Titania's fondness for the boy, but she had no idea why Lord Oberon was so keen to have him –
"How now, good spirit? Whither wander you?"
The voice seemed to come out of nowhere, and it was not one she could immediately recognize. It sounded distorted somehow. Still, she had a fair idea who it was, and she was not amused.
"Where don't I wander, is the easier question," she snapped. "Titania sends me everywhere. Task after task after task …"
"Sounds tedious," the voice said. "And boring. I'll bet you were having much more fun before she summoned you."
"Oh, I don't know if I'd say that."
She was sure he'd reveal himself when she said that, if only to contradict her, but the voice remained silent, and she started to doubt that it was Puck after all. She also began to feel vaguely apprehensive. She didn't much like being alone in the woods like this, not knowing if she was speaking to a friend or a foe.
"Well then, lob of spirits," she said, trying to affect a careless attitude, "If you've nothing left to say, I'll be gone. But our Queen and we who serve her will return to this place soon enough."
She started to leave when the voice stopped her. "I don't think that's such a good idea. Lord Oberon plans to keep his revels here tonight, and if sees Titania … well, you know what will happen. He wants that little mortal boy. They won't stop fighting over him. And until the matter is resolved, I have to play the court jester and keep him amused." He sounded annoyed now.
"Oh, and here I didn't think you minded being Oberon's lapdog, Puck. It is you, isn't it?"
In a flash, he was before her, grinning widely. "Of course it's me! And I'm no one's lapdog, not even his. But honestly, I can't believe it took you so long to figure it out."
She rolled her eyes. "Oh please, I knew it was you the whole time."
"Did you now, my little siren?"
"Don't call me that, and yes, of course I did. You can't conceal yourself from me."
He flitted around her. "You think you know me so well?"
"Well enough."
He came to a stop, facing her. "Indeed." Then the smile fell from his face. "Oh, I wish they weren't fighting. Oberon hasn't been any fun at all lately."
"Neither has Titania. Puck, why is he so keen to have the child? I mean, he's just a little mortal, so …" She caught sight of the look on his face. "What?"
"Nothing," Puck said quickly, looking away.
"Oh no, it's definitely something. What aren't you telling me?"
"Sorry, it's confidential," he smirked, and then dashed away.
"Puck!" She screamed, chasing after him. "Puck, get back here! Tell me the truth!"
Only his laughter answered her.
She fumed. "Don't you dare provoke me, I'm in no mood for your games! This is serious!"
He suddenly reappeared behind her, grabbing her around the middle, making her yelp in surprise and annoyance.
"It's not serious, it's fun," he countered merrily, and she tried unsuccessfully to wriggle out of his grasp.
"Puck, if you don't let me go right now, I swear, I will –"
"Oh come on, don't be like that," he murmured in her ear, his voice suddenly much softer. "I've missed you."
She stilled at his words. Why did he have to go and say something like that? Now she couldn't even snap at him, because … well, because. Stupid Puck.
Stupid, sweet Puck.
"Haven't you missed me?" He asked her.
"I … I don't know."
"Don't you?" His warm breath tickled her neck, and she resisted the insane urge to giggle.
"Alright, so … so maybe I missed you. A little." She could practically feel him smiling. "There, I said it. Now release me."
His voice was low. "Do I have to?"
She drew in a breath. "Puck," she said warningly.
"Okay, okay, fine." He let her go, and she drew back slightly as they faced each other.
"Now tell me why he wants the child. The real reason."
"You're asking me to defy the will of our Lord Oberon?"
"Oh please, don't give me that. You defy him all the time, and you're still his favorite. Out with it, trickster."
"I'll only tell you if you promise not to tell Titania."
She shook her head in frustration. "You know I can't do that! I'm as bound to her as you are to him. In any case, she's not going to give the boy up. She dotes on him as if he were her own child."
"Well, he most certainly is not her child, I can assure you."
It took her a moment, but Puck's tone made her realize the truth. "No … he's his. He's Oberon's son. That child is no mere mortal, he's a halfing!" *
"I did not say that! Keep your voice down!"
"I should have known … he has betrayed Titania with a human! And one of her own order too! How repulsive!"
"Oh please, spare me your high and mighty indignation on her behalf! She's had her own dalliances with mortals as well. They're neither of them paragons of marital fidelity, you know. See, this is why I always say the whole love thing is a ridiculous endeavor for our people. Look how much trouble it's causing! And not even the fun kind of trouble, either. It's downright tiresome, I tell you."
"You make a good point, Puck," she conceded. "I really am sick of them fighting."
"Me too. Just think, if we hadn't been summoned to serve them, we could still be traveling together."
"Oh yes," she said sarcastically. "I'd get to be annoyed on a daily basis again. Who wouldn't long for that kind of bliss?"
"Oh come now," Puck leaned in close to her, his blue eyes sparkling. "Have you ever had more fun than when you've been with me?"
A denial was on the tip of her tongue, but something stopped her. There was such wickedness about him sometimes, she thought. He had an endless capacity for making mischief. True, he could be irritating, but still … he was never, ever dull.
"No, I don't suppose I have," she said.
Puck's eyes widened, and she could see she could see she'd actually managed to catch him off guard with her admission, a rare thing indeed. But it didn't last long, and soon she was the one surprised, as he reached out to stroke her hair. His other arm slipped around her waist, drawing her to him.
"You know," he whispered. "I can think of something we could do that would be really fun …"
Suddenly, a strong wind began to blow. Lighting flashed in the sky, and the thunder boomed above them.
Puck scowled, letting go of her. "Here comes Oberon."
"And here comes Titania. Oh, I wish they'd go away!"
And with that, they both reluctantly retreated to opposite sides of the forest clearing, moving to stand dutifully behind their masters.
"Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania."
"What, jealous Oberon?"
They both watched helplessly as the rulers of Avalon traded insults and accusations. Puck found the entire exchange boring and pointless. How many times could they possibly have the same argument? At least Titania had the sense to retreat before things got really ugly – but of course, that meant the Banshee had to go with her. The rest of Titania's faeries followed the queen quickly, but she hesitated, turning back to look at Puck.
"Come," Titania said sharply. The Banshee frowned, but hastened to obey, glancing over her shoulder at him one last time before reluctantly following the queen.
"My gentle Puck," Oberon began, but for once, his faithful servant was not paying attention to him. Had he not been so wrapped up in his own affairs, he might have noticed the looks that had been exchanged between two of his Children; as it was, he was far too concerned with Titania and the boy to pay it any mind.
"Puck!" Oberon said, more pointedly, and the little trickster immediately flew to his side, recognizing his "I mean business now" voice.
"Yes, my lord?"
And that was when Oberon explained his plan, the whole bit about the love-in-idleness flower. Puck was rather pleased; he liked the faerie queen well enough, but that didn't mean he was averse to playing a little trick on her, especially if it could put an end to this tedious feud about the boy – who, by all rights, should be in the care of his father, after all. He left to retrieve the blossom, hastening to do his lord's will.
When he returned, he found he had further assignments; first, he was to apply some of the flower's juice to the eyes of an unsuspecting Athenian lad, so that he might fall in the love with the besotted woman he was currently spurning. Why Oberon was bothering to interfere in mortal love lives, he didn't really know, or care, but the task seemed easy enough, so he hardly minded.
The second task, however, was another matter altogether.
Act II, Scene II
Another part of the wood.
The Banshee stood guard, watching over Titania as the queen slept. She only wished she could be slumbering as well, for she was weary after hours of forced merry-making. Titania had desired a distraction from her troubles, and then she had eventually commanded her faeries to sing her to sleep, with the Banshee herself leading the chorus. She hadn't minded all that much, she supposed, but she couldn't help thinking that the music would have sounded much sweeter if Puck had been there to play his flute. The rest of them had now retreated, leaving her with the dubious honor of standing sentinel.
Although she didn't relish the role, she was determined to keep the queen from harm. It was bad enough she hadn't told her the truth about the Indian boy yet. She'd meant to, she really had, but she knew it would hurt her, and she'd been waiting for the right moment to say something. Naturally, that moment never came. But she was absolutely resolved to tell Titania when she woke up. In the meantime, she'd make sure Lord Oberon didn't visit any mischief upon his estranged wife …
"So you got stuck with guard duty, little siren?"
"Puck!" She started at the sound of his voice, turning to face him. Why did he have to make such an annoying habit of appearing out of nowhere?
"Don't call me that, and keep your voice down! She's sleeping."
"Yes, I can see that," he said, glancing down at Titania. For once, he wasn't smiling, and his eyes weren't sparkling with mischief. As a matter of fact, he looked a little troubled. And she found she didn't like it. She didn't like it all.
"What's wrong?" She'd asked the question before she could stop herself. He turned to look at her then, his eyes wide, almost pleading. Then he smiled at her.
"Nothing," he said, resuming his usual playful demeanor so quickly and seamlessly that she wondered if she hadn't been imagining things. "I just … I wanted to see you." He moved closer to her. "We hardly got any time to catch up earlier." Despite herself, she smiled at him.
"I'm … I'm surprised Oberon would let you come here," she said softly, and Puck's expression grew pained again. She definitely wasn't imagining it this time. "What?"
Puck swallowed, doing his best to keep his eyes on her – and not on Oberon, who had crept up behind her, and was now applying the juice of the flower to Titania's eyelids. He had tasked Puck with distracting whoever was keeping watch over the queen while he did this. He just wished that the Banshee hadn't got the job. Normally, it would be great fun to deceive and outwit one of Titania's faeries.
This was different, though. Not that he was above teasing or mocking the Banshee, but this …
Well, this was no fun at all.
"Oberon doesn't know I'm here," Puck lied, feeling worse by the minute. Her eyes narrowed; she knew him too well. She turned around, ready to sound the alarm, but it was too late; Oberon was already gone.
The Banshee approached the queen. The scent of unwholesome magic was about her, and her eyelids sparkled with whatever enchantment had been placed there. She was too late; she'd let Puck distract her, foolishly believing that he'd come here because he was actually fond of her. How could she have been so stupid?
She turned back to Puck, her eyes blazing. She did not scream or rail at him. Her voice was low, controlled, and cold.
"What did you do?" She demanded.
"Banshee, I –"
"What did Oberon do? What spell did he put on her, Puck?"
"Love-in-idleness," he whispered. "And he won't take it off until she renders up the boy to him."
The Banshee's heart sank. She'd failed. She'd failed Titania, her queen, who had always been so kind to her, who had trusted her to keep her safe. Now, not only would Titania be humiliated when she awoke and threw herself at the first live creature she saw, but she would ultimately lose her beloved surrogate child as well.
"Well done, Puck," she said bitterly. "Oberon will be pleased with you."
"Little siren, don't be like this. It wasn't personal. Oberon commanded, and I had to –"
"Stop calling me that! You had to do nothing, you disobey him all the time and get away with it!"
"Yes, but not on the important stuff!"
"You really think his petty little manipulations of his own wife are important?"
"That boy is his son! He has every right to the child!"
"Seducing a mortal woman does not qualify Oberon to be a parent. Titania will take better care of the boy than he ever could!" She snapped. Puck scowled.
"You know, maybe he wouldn't have been so eager to get a child upon that mortal if Titania would deign to give him an heir –"
"I cannot believe you're trying to blame her for this! And to think, I was actually starting to –" She stopped suddenly, look almost frightened.
"What is it?"
Her expression hardened. "Nothing," she said coldly.
"Please listen, I didn't mean to –"
She shoved him. "Go away," she hissed. "Go back to licking Oberon's boots like the loyal dog you are!"
For a moment, Puck looked stricken. But then his expression grew as hard as her own.
"Fine," he huffed. "Be that way. I don't know why I bother with you in the first place. You're really no fun at all, harridan!"
With that, he promptly disappeared.
Reappearing a small ways apart, Puck kicked a stone angrily. The evening had started out so full of promise, with possibilities for all kinds of mischief and merriment, and now, he felt the morning could not come soon enough. Why did the Banshee have to go taking everything so seriously, anyway? So Titania would suffer a little embarrassment, so she'd have to find another little child dote on – so what?
But the way she had looked him … she'd seemed so … hurt.
Damn her, this wasn't fair! She was spoiling all his fun. She was making him feel … he didn't know what. But he didn't like it.
Puck's unusually gloomy thoughts were interrupted when he spotted a group of unfamiliar mortals in the forest. The all seemed rather stupid, especially their leader, Bottom, who was quite the self-important jackass. And he was very near the cradle of the faerie queen …
Puck's eyes lit up with wicked glee as inspiration struck. "Oh my little siren," he murmured to himself. "If you thought the queen was going to be humiliated before … you haven't seen anything yet!"
Act III, Scene II
Another part of the wood.
Puck was still chuckling to himself as he made his way to Oberon. He felt much better now. Giving Bottom a donkey's head had been a stroke of pure genius. The reactions of his fellows alone had been worth it. They'd run from the transformed man in terror. And then, Titania had awakened just in time to set her eyes on him and fall madly in love. The very sight of her doting on him made Puck roll on the ground with laughter. She'd even commanded her faeries to serve him…
The Banshee had turned then, glaring out into the night as if she could actually see him, even as expertly as he'd concealed himself. Puck had quickly ceased his glee, picking himself up off the ground. Well, trust her to ruin his merry mood. Hopefully, retelling the tale to Oberon would restore his good humor.
And indeed it did … at least until his little "mistake" was discovered. Apparently, he applied the love-in-idleness to the wrong mortal's eyes, and Oberon was not happy with him.
"What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Um … oopsie?"
"This is your negligence Puck!" Oberon snapped.
"No my lord, I swear –"
"Or else you have done it deliberately!"
"No, no! Believe me, I mistook! Didn't you tell me I'd know the man by the Athenian clothes he wore? And both men are Athenians, aren't they? I mean, don't get me wrong, this mix-up is most amusing, but I didn't do it on purpose!"
"Very well, Puck. I shall accept your explanation … for now."
Together they watched the four humans carry on. As far as Puck was concerned, love was the most amusing of ailments a poor soul could ever suffer from. He chuckled to see the ridiculousness of it all.
"Lord, what fools these mortals be."
Oberon gave him a warning look, and he fell silent. "Intentional or not, this is still your mistake. And now you are going to fix it." Then he told Puck exactly what to do.
Act IV, Scene I
Now that matters with the mortals were in hand, he and Oberon both approached Titania and Bottom, who were sleeping and entwined in each other's arms. Neither of them found her situation nearly as amusing as they had in the beginning; as Oberon had already explained to him, he'd previously granted his queen a moment of lucidity, during which she had begged him to lift the spell, and to that end had given up the child to his care. Apparently, she was still unaware that he was Oberon's son; he guessed the Banshee had been reluctant to reveal the truth, knowing it would cause the queen pain…
No, he wasn't going to think about that part. The important thing was, this whole quarrel was finally getting resolved. He watched as Oberon applied the remedy to her eyes. She awoke with a start, immediately recoiling from Bottom, whom Puck spirited away and restored to his original self, while Oberon and Titania proceeded to … well, kiss and make up, so to speak.
He then went to apply the love-remedy to Lysander's eyes. Demetrius, of course, was left still afflicted, as had been Oberon's original intent. After a time, dawn approached, and both of the rulers of Avalon summoned their faeries back to them. Now smiling, Oberon took Titania's hand. "Come my queen, let us go to Avalon, and return tomorrow night to bless the marriages of these mortals."
Just before they all vanished, Puck tried to catch the Banshee's eye. But she wouldn't even look at him.
Act IV, Scene I
"Are you still ignoring me?"
They were both standing outside Duke Theseus' home, bathed in the last light of the waning moon. They had done their work, casting benevolent spells on the couples of the house, and Oberon had instructed that all the fair folk to meet with him again by daybreak for a final report, before being allowed to go their separate ways.
"I don't suppose I can, Puck. Not when you keep pestering me like this." And indeed, he had done so quite persistently, both on Avalon and now that they'd returned to the mortal world, even though she'd refused to even acknowledge his presence, must less speak to him.
"Come on, it all ended well, didn't it? No real harm done. Oberon's got his son, and the two of them have reconciled."
"I suppose," she said softly.
"I'm sorry," Puck said. She turned then, finally looking at him. He wasn't much for apologies, she knew. Still, she regarded him warily.
"For what, exactly?"
"For lying to you. For tricking you. For making you feel like you failed. What happened to Titania wasn't your fault; it was mine. It wasn't … I only meant …"
"Let's just forget about it, alright? And it was my fault, no matter what you say. I was stupid enough to think you actually came there because you wanted to see me. I should've realized it was a trick." She sat down heavily on the ground, feeling weary.
"But I did want to see you! I wasn't lying about missing you, little siren. I'm sorry I was so mean." He sat down beside her, looking at her imploringly. "Can you forgive me?"
"Don't call me that, Puck." She paused, and he regarded her with wide, doleful eyes. "And since when do you seek my forgiveness? After all, this certainly isn't the first time you've annoyed or angered me, and I'm sure it won't be the last."
"Okay, fine, but … it's just different this time. I don't know why, but it is. So will you forgive me or what?"
"Why should I?"
"Do you want me to beg?"
She couldn't keep herself from smiling at the thought, just a little. "That might be entertaining," she said.
"Alright then, you asked for it. Please please please please please pleeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaseee?" He paused, took a breath, and then began again. "Please please please please please –"
"Oh shut up already! You're forgiven."
Puck grinned. "Good. Friends?"
"Yes," she conceded.
"Well, give me your hands then."
And so she did, and before she could protest, the Banshee found herself pulled into an embrace as Puck hugged her to him. She hugged him back, resting her head on his shoulder.
"Let's not fight again, okay?" He murmured into her hair. "I don't like it when you're angry with me."
"Funny, I thought you derived great amusement from my rage."
"This was different," he mumbled sleepily. He was tired. They both were.
"How so?"
"I said that you're no fun at all. It's not true. You are fun. You're the best fun I've ever had."
"Oh hush Puck. You've restored amends. Let's just … let's just stay like this for a little while, alright?"
"Alright."
The curled up closer together, and soon they fell asleep.
*The idea of the Indian boy being Oberon's biological son is yet another idea I stole from series creator Greg Weisman.