Act I, Scene i

The setting is Venice, at Cassio's lodgings. Cassio and Iago enter the scene, having just been informed of Othello's decision to appoint Cassio his lieutenant. Cassio, already having been slighted (in his eyes) by Othello, is enraged at this new slight against his lover. He tells of his hatred for Othello, and convinces Iago to help him with a plot to destroy Othello. Iago goes out to put into motion the first part of Cassio's plan, to break up Desdemona and Othello. They begin with the most obvious route: getting someone else to cry foul at their relationship, and thus have them separated. Iago uses Roderigo to alert Brabantio to his daughter's deception and treachery. This news enrages Brabantio, who organizes an armed band to search for Othello.

The night was dark and cold, stars hanging in the sky like frozen teardrops on an infinite canvas. The streets of Venice were nigh on empty, save for the few drunken men and their prostitutes that wandered about in search of a bed. Michael Cassio stormed into the room in a fury, throwing off with a vicious snarl the sash that proudly displayed his newly-bestowed lieutenancy.

"How DARE he! He knows damned well that I am in no way qualified for this position," he seethed.

Iago silently stepped through the door behind him, closing the door with a gentle click. "Cassio," he began soothingly.

Cassio spun around to face the man. "No," he said, "No, Iago, you will not simply excuse this offense, as if he has merely nicked you in the heat of battle. No, Iago, this is a most grievous wound, the final wound, and I refuse to take this like some passive sheep!"

Iago placed his hands on Cassio's shoulders, trying to calm the Florentine down while helping him out of his jacket. "Cassio," he repeated.

Cassio wouldn't hear any of it. Grabbing Iago's face none too lightly and turning it to face his, he whispered urgently, "No, Iago. The slights he has issued against me, I can handle. Stealing Desdemona away from me was not the worst he could have done. But this? A blatant disrespect to you, as well as a disregard for what makes a man a soldier, this I cannot forgive."

With a kind caress and a small kiss, he released Iago, making his way over to the bed. As Cassio held his head in his hands, Iago sighed, and said, "But, Cassio—"

"Iago!" Cassio leapt off the bed, determined to make his lover see the truth, just as Iago had done for him not long ago. "Don't you see? Othello is making a fool out of me, a mockery out of both of us," he hissed in anger. Pacing across his room, he continued, "First, he manages to steal Desdemona when it was I—I!—who was courting her in the first place! The whole time I courted her he was there, and I was so blind as to not see his tricks, and Desdemona's treachery. With his Moorish complexion and frightful tales, he stole the vengeful Desdemona away from me." He paused, staring into the fire as he remembered his love for the woman.

"A fellow almost damned in a fair wife," Iago said softly, placing a hand on Cassio's arm.

Cassio turned, taking Iago's hand from his arm and bestowing a delicate kiss upon it. "Almost," he murmured. "I should have listened to you, Iago. You tried to tell me all along, and I…"

He pulled Iago into his arms, his breath ruffling the older man's hair. "And it was you who calmed me down when I wanted to kill the lying wretch the next instance I sighted her." Cassio laughed ruefully. "No doubt it would have saved us both the trouble, as she is no doubt the one behind this arrangement. No doubt that she held some kind of guilt over not choosing me as her husband, and thought she could make it up to me by convincing Othello of this act."

He unwound his arms from Iago's waist and held him at arms length. "Very well," he said resignedly, "if you do not wish me to think of revenge, I shall do my best to conceal my desires."

Iago stared hard at his lover, and then turned away, shrugging off Cassio's hold. "Michael Cassio," he said warningly, "you are an unparalleled lover, but a terrible listener."

Cassio shook his head, not understanding. "What?"

"You never let me finish what I wanted to say," he said icily, turning to face him. "I was going to say, Cassio, I wholly support your ideas for revenge, but everyone and their mother knows that you can't plot anything for the devil's own arse." He smiled wickedly, letting his lines sink into Cassio's mind.

As it dawned on Cassio what Iago was saying, he rushed the man, giving him a grateful kiss and holding him tightly. "I love you," he said simply.

Iago basked in the affection, affection he never received from his wife at home. "I know," he said saucily. "But we must get to business with all haste. Has Desdemona told you when she plans on this marriage?"

"Tonight," replied Cassio, "they will elope."

Iago grinned. "Then I suppose I have some news to deliver, don't I? And I know just the person to help me do it."

"How now, Roderigo? How could you doubt that I hate the Moor?" Iago grabbed the man who was angrily walking away from him by both arms, wrenching Roderigo around to face him. "Roderigo, I have told thee with most vehement accuracy that I do despise Othello, with my whole being! 'Sblood, but he chose that fool Michael Cassio, who never set a squadron in the field, as lieutenant over me! Me, with proof of battle skills which Othello has seen many times over, who has taken many a wound for him, and wounded twice more! Me, who now bears the position of his Moorship's ancient."

He shook the dumbfounded man violently, saying, "And you doubt my hatred towards the Moor. 'Sblood!"

Throwing his hands in the air in apparent frustration and stalking away, Iago smirked to himself as he heard Roderigo following behind him. "But, sir," he called meekly, "for all appearances, you show most loyalty to the General. You are as his brother, one would think, not for the color of your skin."

Iago halted in his tracks, startling Roderigo. "And that is the beauty of deception, my dear Roderigo. 'For all appearances,' you say. For all appearances, I must appear to be that what I am not, but what I appear. In appearing to be what I am not, I appear to be what I am. Understand?"

Confused by the words but trusting in Iago's intellect, the Venetian gentleman simply nodded with a shaky, "Yes, sir."

Iago nodded curtly, confident in his talent with words. "Good. Come now, let us arouse Brabantio from his slumber."

"And you are sure he will object to Desdemona's marriage, and have them separated?" Roderigo hurried to keep up with Iago's strides. "And then she will be mine?"

"Of course," said Iago to appease the man, "how could he not object to such a union between his own daughter and the Moor? Ah, see here: we have arrived. Now, call upon her father."

Roderigo nodded, flashing Iago a positive smile before cupping his hands to his mouth. "What ho, Brabantio! Signor Brabantio, ho!"

"Awake! What ho, Brabantio! Thieves, thieves," joined in Iago, safely hidden behind a post. "Look to your house, your daughter, and your bags! Thieves, thieves!"

A commotion sounded inside Brabantio's house, and Roderigo glanced back excitedly for assurance from Iago. "Turn around, you dolt," Iago hissed as Signor Brabantio appeared on his balcony.

"Who calls? Who's there?" The elder man shouted from his balcony, searching with his eyes for the one who summoned him. "What do you what from me, who shouts of thieves?"

Roderigo frantically looked back at Iago, who sighed exasperatedly. "Zounds, sir, you're robbed. Even now, now, very now, an old black ram is tupping your white ewe! Arise, and alert the citizens, lest the devil make a grandfather of you," he shouted from behind Roderigo.

Brabantio was apoplectic, his face reddening by the second. "Who stands and charges thus?"

Roderigo stood tall, replying, "'Tis I, Roderigo. Signor Brabantio, I—"

"Roderigo? I thought I told you, on several occasions prior, never to haunt my doorstep with your unwelcome presence again," snarled Brabantio, "and here you are, in a drunken haze, to spew lies of my daughter?"

"Not drunk, no, sir," Roderigo hastened to explain.

Brabantio waved him off. "Not another word, Roderigo. Get thee hence!"

Roderigo looked back to Iago, calling out, "But—but Signor! Your daughter is—"

"I'll not have you speak of my daughter once more, Roderigo," bellowed Brabantio. "Now leave, before I call the guard upon you."

"Signor, I come to tell you that your beloved daughter," called out Iago as Brabantio turned back to his room, "and the Moor are even now making the beast with two backs."

The old senator flew to the railing in a rage. "Roderigo! I charge thee, explain this at once!"

Roderigo shrank at the man's fury. "You see, honored Signor, your daughter, dearest Desdemona, has committed herself to the Moor in marriage, and most likely now is in the very act of consummating. I mean you no disrespect, Signor, and if you were already knowledgeable of this, I am truly sorry for the disturbance. But Signor, before you pass judgment upon my head, please, check for Desdemona in her bedroom. Be she not there, you may deal with me as you see fit. But if she is not…" He let his voice trail off, allowing the senator to draw his own conclusions.

Brabantio narrowed his eyes at Roderigo, not wanting to believe the man's words, but needing to see for himself. Turning back towards his room, he called, "You! You there! Light the candles! Find Desdemona in her room and bring her to me hence!" He disappeared into the building, shouting commands and rousing the house.

Roderigo met Iago with a winning smile. "Did I do well, Iago?"

"Very well, my friend, very," replied Iago with a smile. "I must leave you now, for I must now appear to be loyal to the Moor, no?" He winked at Iago.

Roderigo nodded with wide eyes. "Yes, yes, you must appear to be that which you…are appearing…not to be…appearing, yes," he muttered.

Iago gave the man a pat on the back. "Yes, good! I shall present myself to the Moor at the inn, and there you and the search party will find us, yes? Very good, my man!"

He left Roderigo to speak with Brabantio, and proceeded to the inn where he knew Othello was staying.

A/N: Hello, everybody! Rhapsody, here! So this is a story I started from an idea a friend of mine gave me (she said she wouldn't write anything on it, but that I should) to write a fanfiction on Othello featuring Cassiago (CassioxIago), since we love them so much. I'm going to try to do the entire play (I've currently got Act I completed). Reviews, constructive criticism appreciated!