A/N: Okay! Working on daily updates, think I'm doing an al right job. Thanks for the reviews, I loved them :)
Arthur let out a breath backstage in the darkness. The scene seemed to be going well, but they would have to pull off the entire transformation before it ended. The curtains were still closed and the jesters were standing on the other side of them performing, meaning that the change could take place unnoticed. The sound of a lever being thrown came right after the curtains closed, turning on the barely visible blue lights. In the poor illumination, Arthur carried fake trees and rocks to the pre-planned places, his quiet footsteps blending in with the rest of the crew's as they tiptoed across the scratched wood floor. A lush green forest materialized out of a mill setting and Arthur ran back behind the side curtains before the scene ended. Alfred came walking off stage just a few seconds later, giving Arthur a thumbs-up which the Brit mirrored.
After a few more plot developments, the curtains closed and the house lights came on. Matthew quickly plugged in his mp3 player and the intermission music started playing as the audience chatted amongst themselves. Turning up the volume gradually, he leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes and relaxing after reading the sound cues in the dark. When he opened them, a handsome face with a slightly stubbly chin was looking down at him. Matthew blushed and jumped up. "Francis!"
"Bonjour, Mathieu, mon ami. You seemed awfully tired." His dark blue eyes sparkled playfully. Matthew couldn't help but think that the way Francis said his name was incredibly sexy….
"M-Me? I-I'm fine," Matthew stuttered nervously, "just a nap during intermission. Y'know."
"Oui, au revoir, now I'm off to makeup. Touchups, nes pas?" Francis exited stage left and the Canadian let out a breath of relief and collapsed in his chair. His crush had startled him, which, frankly, wasn't hard to do, but he was left unusually breathless afterwards and his heart was pounding. Putting his hands over his eyes, Matthew had a pained expression on his face that he wanted no one else to see. If love hurt this much, he'd rather not love at all.
Alfred jumped up the steps only minutes after Francis had left, his jester's hat jingling. "Hey Mattie."
"Hey Al. Why are you up here? You're not crew." Matthew asked curiously.
"Well, you know Artie, he was all "bloody hell, go get your prop, tea and crumpets and all that" The latter was performed in a rather bad imitation of Arthur's voice.
The Canadian laughed. "Alfred, you know Arthur sounds nothing like that."
Alfred smiled a little sadly. "Yeah, I know. Hey, I saw Francis come walking out of here a while ago, did he say anything to you?"
Matthew sighed in his regretful manner, making the American wince slightly. "He said hi. Scared me half to death doing so, eh?"
"Yep. Well, I'm off to get my prop." A slow love song was playing over the PA system as Alfred waltzed across the stage, taking care not to bump into the pillars of the castle. Holding his hands out for the partner in his imagination, the American danced to the sweet tones of the vocalist, smiling a little at a combination of his appearance and docile loneliness. Recognizing the lyrics to the song, he whispered them under his breath:
There I was again tonight
Forcing laughter, faking smiles
Same old tired, lonely place
Walls of insincerity
Shifting eyes and vacancy
Vanished when I saw your face
All I can say is it was enchanting to meet you
Grabbing his goose puppet, he exited into the hallway. Like always, the directors were congratulating their thespians and backstage workers as both the former and the latter devoured snacks set out for them.
Snatching a few packs of fruit snacks and a mini-sized Coke, Alfred walked over to the spot in the hallway where several of his friends had congregated: Kiku, Matthew, Arthur and Francis.
"Herro, Alfred-san. Did everything go werr?" His Japanese friend questioned, his accent changing the words a bit.
"Oh yeah, everything was good. Don't worry Artie, everyone got their props." Alfred assured them.
His friend scowled indignantly. "I know, you git, I was standing behind the curtains the entire time!"
"Whatevs. Hey Francis, your sick scene was cool this time."
"Oh, oui, but those directors said I should make my moans and groans a little less sexual."
"I-I thought it was fine." Matthew, twiddling his thumbs, blushed very slightly and Alfred could only guess what he was imagining.
"Merci, Mathieu." Francis reclined into as casual a position one could manage in a cluttered hallway. "All that is left is to chain my daughter's betrothed in the dungeon. Ohonhohonhohn, I wonder what the directors would say about that."
"Sod off, frog. Your habit for mature jokes is sickening." Arthur said, trying to ignore the Frenchman and eat a snack before their ten minute break ran out.
"Arfred, do you think the spots were arr right in the first scene?" Kiku said, holding up his light cues script, ready to jot down notes.
"They were okay, but could you make it focus on me? I am the hero after all." Alfred flashed his brightest smile over, looking quite the bishonen rescuer.
"Duarry noted." Kiku sighed and closed his book.
"Oh, bugger," Arthur suddenly got up, "I have to get more props on the stage. Alfred, don't eat my food." He ran back through the door to stage left.
Alfred, who had been half-reaching for the almost-finished bag of corn chips, sighed and let his hand drop. "He's a workaholic, that's for sure."
"Yeah. Unlike you, Al, eh?" Matthew said, poking his brother's shoulder.
"You bet." Alfred got a bit of a faraway look in his eyes, "I'm nothing like Arthur."
Placing the dungeon keys on a small chair, Arthur neatly organized the rest of the props in order of use in the next scene. Walking over to the rows of levers which controlled the lights, he ran his hand across the smooth metal. Matthew's iPod was still playing music, creating a peaceful ambiance. Arthur sighed, relaxing a bit. He'd wondered how Alfred managed to perform in front of everyone, joking around and doing the most ridiculous things. Then again, Arthur smirked thinking this, it wasn't that much different from how he normally acted.
He wondered if the American ever noticed him beyond normal, daily activities. Did he think about him, just during the day, offhandedly? He shook his head, mentally scolding himself for being so egotistical. It was amazing how ignorant a person could get sometimes. Alfred truly was horrible at reading the atmosphere.
The quiet serenity of the theater put his tired mind to rest. On impulse, he started a waltz, sweeping across the floor with precise footsteps, but only because he was certain no one would see him. Arthur hummed the melody to the song under his breath,
Your eyes whispered,
"Have we met?"
Crossed the room, your silhouette
Starts to make its way to me
The playful conversation starts
Counter all your quick remarks
Like passing notes in secrecy
And it was enchanting to meet you
All I can say is it was enchanting to meet you….
Chuckling a little at how completely hopeless he must seem at the moment, Arthur stopped and reorganized the evil ogre transformations, page's towels and a magic necklace on the other side of the stage. The others might call him a workaholic and a neat freak, especially the frog, but he was just doing his duty as a member of the production. That was how he saw it, at least.
Not a moment later, the other thespians poured onstage, after all, even though the Brit had temporarily forgotten, it was three minutes until show time. Matthew hurriedly sat in his soundboard chair, checking his playlist and holding up two fingers for the rest of the crew to see.
Two minutes. Not much time then. Arthur saw Kiku flip off the lights backstage and use his slim flashlight to check the cues. Yao was managing spots this round, so he would work the huge board of color-coded levers and switches. The sound manager flashed his own flashlight, just once, meaning that it was one minute until curtains open.
Kiku nodded and dimmed the houselights, making cries of "Oh! It's starting" come from the audience. Giving another quick signal to Matthew, who nodded and turned up mics 1 and 4, the Japanese boy tapped his friend Heracles on the shoulder.
The heavy red velvet curtains slid to the sides and bright lights came on, illuminating the ogre's castle where the protagonist was about to be devoured. Meanwhile, Arthur stood, clad in all black, virtually hidden behind the side curtains. The actors onstage seemed to be doing a good job; that much he could tell from the emphasized and projected lines. A finger tapped lightly on his shoulder as Alfred the jolly jester made his presence known. Arthur just looked over and huffed, then turned back to adjust Alfred's sideways hat. The American was glad that the darkness hid the reddening of his face as his heart flipped.
Back across the stage, Kiku attentively watched as yet another protagonist defeated the ogre and signaled. The curtains closed and mics went off. Alfred flashed his trademark smile, which still managed to be interpreted despite the darkness, and strode to his place. Arthur began moving giant spiders back and placing thrones, moving in sync with the crew.
And so it went, the scenes progressed as the erstwhile protagonist slowly won the heart of a princess, even after being banished from the kingdom.
The narrators started on their last line, "And they all lived…"
Everyone on any part of the stage knew what came next and said in unison, "Happily ever after!"
Rather bittersweet when you think about it.
Kiku's flashlight flicked as the curtains closed and Matthew turned up the curtain call music.
Now, every single person helped disassembling the scenery, pushing columns back and hiding them behind the back curtains. As quickly as possible, the entire stage was cleared and the curtains went back up. Arthur had moved to stage left and was standing next to Matthew and Francis.
Curtains slid to the side as the jesters rushed on stage, lit up in the bright stage lights. Bowing quickly, they slid back as the ogres strode up arrogantly, still very much in character. Arthur sighed, making way for Francis the king to go ahead and give his most attractive bow. It was the end of a successful play, shouldn't he be happy? But for him, it just showed him how time was running out on him and Alfred. Even though he didn't know it, on stage, Alfred was thinking the exact same thing.
Finally, the cast had finished, making the entire backstage crew, rush onto stage, squinting under the glare of lights and making one huge wave of a bow. Then, the entire production bowed together, listening to the whoops and applause of an appreciative audience. One crew member crept up to the curtains, closing them to finish off their debut show. Kiku flicked the audience lights on before being caught up in the flood of thespians going to the hallway.
Matthew barely turned on the end music before getting dragged off by his overenthusiastic brother. The back hallways were a cheerful chaos of congratulations and farewells. Arthur thought he saw Feliciano give their German director a kiss on the cheek, which was normal practice for the scatter-brained boy, but Ludwig immediately turned red and started blustering. The overly affectionate Italian just laughed.
Alfred looked on as Arthur allowed himself exactly thirty seconds of break before running back on stage to get all the props back. The American sighed, wondering if the object of his affections would ever be able to relax.
That same song was playing when he walked onto the stage. Briefly, the Brit wondered if Matthew had been listening to it lately. He found his mind slipping back to thinking about Alfred, which he allowed it to do. His cheerful smile, his bright blue eyes, even the way that persistent curl of hair on his head never seemed to lay flat, the completely oblivious yet kind personality behind that tall frame….
Shaking his head, as if trying ineffectively to dispel his thoughts, Arthur breathed deeply and started gathering up his props.
A/N: Hope you liked it :)
