Angelo led Marcello to the back stage area. "Marcello, what are you doing here?" His eyes were still slightly wide.
"I'm an actor now." He grinned widely.
"And what of your other job? I thought you wanted to be Captino!" Marcello nodded.
"And I will be. I talked to your director and found out that I'd be able to balance between both." Angelo seemed dumbfounded. He'd never expected Marcello to do something like this. What was really getting to him was that they were going to be preforming Romeo and Juliet for 5 more days. Marcello was taking Claudio's place. He had always been the male lead.
"Angelo? Ah, good, you're getting to know Marcello. Here is your script Messer." The director handed Marcello his script. "Angelo, if you need to touch up on anything, share with Marcello, capito?" Angelo nodded. Once the man left, Marcello spoke up.
"What's so bad about this? You would have no paycheck if I didn't come in." Angelo seemed frustrated. It was oddly appealing to Marcello. "I will say though, you are adorable when you're frustrated."
"Si strattone..." Marcello wrapped an arm around Angelo's shoulders.
"It can't be that bad." Angelo relaxed in his grip.
"I guess not. It will take some getting used to though..." Marcello tipped his head slightly when an idea came to his mind.
"What will take some getting used to? This?" He leaned down and planted a short, yet sweet kiss on Angelo's lips. The younger man blushed furiously and set off in a flurry of cursing. All in Italian. "You're adorable when you're angry too." He grinned widely before walking off, leaving Angelo to his frustrations. Once he realized that Marcello was gone, he froze. What had just happened had sunk in. He'd actually enjoyed it.
"M-Marcello! Wait!" Several feet ahead, Marcello grinned to himself at how easy it was to make Angelo want more.
Soon enough, the day had gone by. The play was about to begin yet again. Angelo hadn't realized how good Marcello would look in costume. Patricia, the lady that helped him with his costume, walked up behind him.
"Dear, I can't help but feel that something important is on your mind. You've been staring at Marcello since the beginning of the play." Angelo turned his head around and meet Patricia.
"Oh, yes. I'm fine." She walked up and put her hand on Angelo's shoulder.
"Sweetheart, what's bothering you." Angelo shot a look in her direction. "Stop acting like a teenager."
"Fine fine...Might as well be my mother, Patricia, you know that?" The lady smiled in approval. "It's just...Marcello said he took this position to make sure I'd keep getting my paycheck. You know, you can't showcase the play of Romeo and Juliet without a Romeo."
"Why is that bothering you?" Angelo shook his head.
"It's not that..."
"It's the fact that you two will be kissing, isn't it?" Angelo sighed and nodded. Patricia was the only other person that knew exactly how close the two men were, but she was never going to tell anyone about them. She'd basically raised Angelo. He was as close to a son as could be possible. She would never rat the pair out for a measly amount of coin. "Don't worry about it, Angelo. It will be good for the two of you, and you know it."
"I know...I was just hoping our first kiss would be...I don't know...more private? Yes...privacy..." Patricia smiled.
"You and your paranoia. You're adorable, you know that?" Angelo smiled. His eyes were locked on to Marcello.
"So Marcello has told me."
His queue was coming up now. Scene V, A Hall in Capulet's House. This was the first time Romeo and Juliet meet and kiss.
His heart felt like it was going to beat out of it's chest. Marcello was acting beautifully. Angelo, however, was slightly distracted. "O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do; They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair." It was his turn to speak. It took him a moment to remember his line.
"Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake."
"Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take. Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged." Marcello leaned forward slightly and kissed Angelo softly. Once again, it took him a moment to remember.
"T-then have my lips the sin that they have took." He stuttered. He'd never stuttered on stage! Marcello shot a brief look of concern before switching back to his performance.
"Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again." Once again, he leaned in and kissed Angelo softly.
"You kiss by the book..." His thoughts drifted elsewhere. Marcello and the man playing the nurse spoke their lines. His own lines came along like he was a machine and was playing automatically.
Marcello caught Angelo back stage. The play had ended, just as planned. Yet, Angelo seemed distracted. He'd never acted like that before. Never once had his voice faltered or quietened on stage. "Angelo. Angelo! Hey, are you alright?" Angelo turned around. He seemed slightly dazed.
"Y-yes. I'm fine. I just...I want to go home." Marcello's heart sank. He had a nagging feeling that doing something like this would hurt his relationship with Angelo. He had just begun getting closer to Angelo and then he suddenly decided that he had to be an actor, not once thinking of the consequences. Well, he had thought about it. He didn't think it would ever turn out that way though. Not only had he made Angelo behave differently, he may have cost him his job as well. Marcello couldn't forgive himself.
Patricia walked up behind Marcello. "Dear? What was wrong with Angelo? I knew he was nervous...but I've never once seen him falter like that on stage...At least not during a performance..." Marcello frowned.
"I think I officially screwed up any chance I had with Angelo..." Patricia sighed and laughed lightly.
"Oh, no no...Sweetheart, he was nervous because you were kissing. He...ah, well, I'll tell you what he told me tomorrow, okay? But you didn't make anything worse between you two." Marcello still looked worried, but at the same time seemed slightly more relaxed.
"I certainly hope you're right..."
"I want some wine, Marcello." The pair had always stored the wine on a high shelve. Angelo could never reach. Marcello walked in and gingerly grabbed the bottle as well as some glasses. He needed some as well. "I thought you didn't drink?" Marcello sighed.
"I have my reasons." Angelo tipped his head slightly.
"Marcello...What is the matter?" His friend made a choked noise. It sounded like a huff of some sort.
"I may have screwed up very badly. Listen, Angelo. I'm sorry I pushed you so much. I shouldn't have taken the jo- Mh...!" A pair of lips connected with his. They remained there until Marcello stopped being stiff and relaxed. For some reason, he was surprised at how well Angelo could kiss, not taking in to account the fact that kissing was one of the staples of his job.
"No, I'm sorry. I'm the one that got distracted and made you worried. I just...I've never been that happy before." Marcello quirked his eye brows.
"Oh?" Angelo smiled and brought his head down to rest on Marcello's shoulder. He was actually being held up off of the floor by him. Angelo was smaller than Marcello by over a foot. One would think that he was a teenager. In truth, he was four years younger than Marcello, who was 30.
"It's been difficult for me to be happy...I just...I couldn't see that I'd finally found happiness until you did what you did." Marcello grinned. Angelo's hair was soft and he smelled very nice. He nearly lost himself in his senses.
"I'm glad you feel that way. By the way, I taste blood..." Angelo shot his head up. Sure enough, the gash on the inside of his lip had reopened and was bleeding slightly.
"Ah...merda..." Marcello took Angelo's chin in between his thumb and index finger again.
"If I'm not mistaken, rubbing alcohol cannot be used. Une momento." He lowered Angelo back to the ground and turned to retrieve something from the top shelf. It was a glass bottle filled with a clear, brownish liquid. "This will hurt, but it works just as well as alcohol...because it is alcohol...It's rum. Just rum. It tastes bad the first time you taste it and it burns slightly." Angelo was surprised. Marcello almost never drank. He had no idea where this had come from. "By the way, if you're curious, a friend of mine had left this here years ago when he'd come to visit. It's been sealed since, save for the occasion." Angelo remembered now. This was Marcello's home. He'd simply moved in with the older man.
"Eh, fair enough...How much does it burn...?" Marcello had been busying himself with finding another glass to pour a small amount of the beverage in to. He didn't even hesitate with his next words.
"A lot." Angelo made a sound equivalent to a whine. He'd make sure Marcello would sit still so he could clean his wounds when he'd come home hurt and injured. Now he himself was just being a hypocrite. "Open." Angelo's mouth remained shut. "I'll force you if I need to. I'm much stronger than you, Omino." Angelo smiled weakly. "Very well." Marcello pressed his fingers in to the soft spots in Angelo's jaw where the joints were connected. His mouth opened quickly. "Mi dispiace, but you're not getting sick." Angelo was squirming around fruitlessly. Marcello had him sandwiched between his stronger body and the counter. "By the way, Angelo, the more you squirm around, the worse it will hurt."
"Hwease don'..." Marcello grinned at the noises he made. He knew Angelo was talking and knew what he was saying, but, if you didn't know him, it was nearly impossible to tell what he was saying.
"Oh, but Angelo I must. You see, you did this to me a couple of nights ago. I'm simply worried for you." He brought the hand with the rag with rum on it closer to Angelo's lip. He cinched his eyes closed in response. "Or..." Angelo looked up at the prospect of something different being done. "Nah, you wouldn't like that, would you?"
"Wou'unt like wha?" Now Marcello was holding Angelo's mouth open like this just in spite of him.
"I suppose I could get the rum on your lip in another manner, though, you may protest. I'm torn." Angelo looked curious. His curiosity was satisfied when Marcello drank the small amount of rum that was left and pulled him into a kiss.
"Mh- Ow! Ahm..." He was twitching slightly at how badly it hurt and doing whatever he could to get out of Marcello's iron grip. However, the sting of it did feel satisfying to him. What was getting at him was that Marcello seemed quite amused with forcing him like this. He didn't mind though. Now he was just putting up a fight to make it more difficult. Once Marcello was satisfied with his job, he broke the kiss.
"You make very satisfying noises, you know?" Angelo's expression changed very quickly to one that seemed like a cross between disbelief and surprise. "What? I'm not going to lie to you." Angelo laughed softly.
"I suppose, but generally that's just...I don't know." Marcello grinned.
"Hm...You're also very cute when you're asleep. Especially when you're curled up in my chair." Angelo hid his blushing face in the crook of Marcello's neck.
"You're an amazing actor and someone to be aspired to. You know what to say, when, and how to say it. You're also childish."
"Childish?" Marcello laughed.
"In a good way. It's cute." Angelo was grumbling now. "What's wrong? You don't like being complimented?" Angelo shook his head.
"No, its just...No one has ever been as sweet to me as you are right now." Marcello placed his hand on the back of Angelo's neck and lightly tugged to make him look up.
"You deserve nothing less." Angelo smiled softly.
"Sei pieno di esso..." Marcello laughed lightly and pulled Angelo into another light kiss. The sting of the rum was still there, but Angelo was used to it now. At least the small amount that was left over. As soon as they separated, Angelo buried his head in Marcello's neck again.
"Am I?" He felt Angelo nod his head. "You seem tired."
"I am..." Angelo felt himself being picked up off of the ground again. This time, however, his legs were picked up as well. Marcello was carrying him like some sort of damsel.
"Very well." Angelo pressed his head into Marcello's chest slightly.
"But..." He stopped in his steps. "It's really cold tonight...I don't think my blanket will keep me warm enough..." Marcello felt his heart flutter.
"Hm...how about we stay down here then? It's warmer on the lower floors of a home, especially when there is a fire burning."
"Marcello...?" He tipped his head down to acknowledge Angelo. "Stop being smart and just get a blanket please..." He smiled tiredly.
"Si, si. Mi dispiace."
Angelo woke softly. He was asleep on the couch he often rested and napped on and, on the rare occasion, slept on. What was more is that he wasn't asleep on his couch. He was asleep on top of Marcello on top of his couch. He smiled softly and resettled himself.
"You're awake?" Angelo shot his eyes open with a start. He was sure Marcello was asleep.
"How long have you been awake?" His eyes were slightly wide. He looked like he'd just woken up from one of those dreams where you jump off of a cliff.
"Eh, an hour or so? I didn't want to bother you." Angelo sighed.
"Marcello..." The lieutenant smiled.
"You're fine, Angelo. I just didn't want to bother you. Besides, it's not often that I get to wake up and just lay in bed." He ran his fingers through Angelo's long, soft hair. Normally, the men in the plays that played the roles of women needed wigs. Angelo didn't. He never did. A knock on the front door interrupted him from his thoughts.
"Ah, Patricia!" Angelo nearly leaped off of the couch. Marcello knew that Angelo loved it when Patricia came over. She would normally cook some delicious meal for him, and Marcello when he wasn't at work. Angelo quickly opened the door. "Bonjiourno! You know you're allowed to walk right in." Patricia laughed lightly.
"I know dear, but I don't want to interrupt you two if you're up to something." Angelo blushed slightly and closed the door behind his lady friend. Marcello was now standing and walked up to greet his friend.
"Bonjiourno, Patricia." He nodded his welcome before giving the lady a hug. "To the kitchen then?"
"Why is it every time I come to visit, you expect food?" Marcello smiled.
"Because every time you come over, you cook for us whether we like it or not." Patricia laughed at how true the statement was. Angelo stuck behind. Generally when Marcello asked someone to go to a certain room with him, it meant the conversation was private.
"So what was it that you were waiting until today to tell me?" Patricia was busying herself with chopping up some vegetables.
"Angelo was as nervous as he was yesterday because he was hoping his first kiss with you would be much more private." Marcello tipped his head slightly.
"So, you're saying that Angelo was planning on kissing me?" Patricia nodded.
"In a way. He wouldn't have stopped you if you tried first though. He was simply hoping the first one would be more private. You know how he is with his paranoia." Marcello nodded.
"I suppose, but-" A very loud and persistent knock came at the door. Angelo opened it to a frantic looking Lucian.
"Where is Marcello?" Angelo seemed shocked, but pointed to the kitchen. Lucian all but ran. "Tenente! Claudio escaped." Marcello immediately turned to an expression of concern.
"How?" Lucian was attempting to catch his breath.
"He attacked a guard and killed him when he was being brought food. It was luck that that was one of the few guards that carried a key."
"Get guards ready. Search the entire city and the outskirts for him. He couldn't have gotten far."
"Si." Lucian took off almost immediately. The man was very fast. Marcello walked out to Angelo.
"Claudio escaped from the prison, in case you didn't hear. He attacked and killed a guard." Angelo's face contorted into disbelief and concern. "If you go out today, you be extremely careful. And you go no where without my knife, capito?" Angelo nodded. "I won't be home for a while tonight, maybe not even until tomorrow morning. You keep the door locked tight. Same for the windows. He'll most likely be looking for you and me specifically." Angelo nodded again. He looked just past Angelo at Patricia. She had a smug look on her face and her arms were crossed. Marcello knew exactly what she wanted from him. "You be safe..." He moved forward and planted a soft kiss on Angelo's lips. "Ti amo." He smiled widely before walking out the door leaving a gaping Angelo.
"...T-ti amo..." Angelo smiled softly.
"Angelo, are you sure you should be going out?"
"I was planning on it earlier today. I need to get some things." Patricia sighed.
"I'll come with you then, alright?" Angelo nodded happily.
"Fine." Angelo and Patricia departed from the home he and Marcello shared.
"So what is it we're getting that is so important?"
"Make up. I'm actually allergic to the make up that our director provides for us. So I have to get my own. The owner of the booth gives me a discount." Patricia nodded.
"Makes sense. Well, I need to get some things of my own, alright? Meet me back here in 10 minutes, capito?" Angelo displayed an expression of bemusement.
"Yes, mother..." Patricia smiled happily before walking off.
"Grazie." Angelo thanked the shopkeeper. Her husband was normally the one who sold him his make up, but he was out of town. His wife had actually given him an even bigger discount just because she loved how well he was able to act. Angelo turned to see that the crowd had become surprisingly sparse. "Well, this is a nice change of pace." Angelo smiled and began walking to meet back up with Patricia. However, a dark, dangerous feeling crept over him. Something was very wrong.
Angelo looked around, but saw nothing more than the light crowd. He stopped in his step and completely turned to face the direction he'd just come from. He saw nothing, but still felt like he was in danger. As soon as he turned around, he saw exactly what, or rather, who was the cause of his discomfort.
"Claudio! What are you doing?" The man who had originally been known by the nickname 'Romeo' had a sick look in his eyes.
"I just want to act the last scene with you..." Angelo had no idea what that meant, but he instinctively backed up and drew the knife Marcello had instructed him to carry. "Since when are you actually willing to hurt someone..."
"Since I feel threatened. Claudio, you should turn yourself in...if you attack me, you'll only be making it worse for yourself." Some people in the crowd had begun to notice the commotion, but didn't announce it.
"I'm already a dead man...I might as well take the one that fucked up my life with me." Claudio moved forward very quickly. Much faster than what Marcello had been teaching him to react to. He dropped anything he was carrying and immediately attempted to defend himself. A woman in the crowd let out a piercing scream.
Barely a hundred yards away, Marcello stood in his full uniform. He was directing a group of elite guards. They needed to find Claudio and have him arrested. No doubt he would be executed. Frankly, Marcello could care less. He'd never hated anyone more than he hated this man. One of the guards had walked up and was about to report to him when a shrill scream reached them from the market district. "Come on!" Marcello drew his sword and led the group he was with towards the general direction of the scream.
Angelo fell to the ground, but quickly recovered. If there was anything he learned from acting in plays, it was how to take a hit and get right back up. "Why won't you just stay down?"
"I had good teachers!" People were screaming and rooting on the fight. It was distracting Angelo. He wanted to run, but the crowd was too thick. Claudio moved up fast, actually taking a rather nasty attack from Angelo, and grabbed him so he was unable to attack.
"Look at this...I thought you were supposed to kill yourself...Juliet..." Angelo struggled fruitlessly in Claudio's grip. "Nothing will save you...You are going to die, and it will be by my hands..." He procured the very dagger that they used in the play. Angelo's eyes were wide with fear. He couldn't get out of this man's grip. He had never been very strong.
Marcello and his men reached a courtyard. There was indeed a scuffle going on, but the crowd around it was so thick that he couldn't even begin to attempt to identify who the fighters were. He and his men pushed through as quickly as they could.
Claudio had hit Angelo firmly on his neck to cease his struggling, but not knock him unconscious. He certainly didn't want him to die without pain. Just as guards had broken through the crowd, he thrust the dagger deeply into Angelo's abdomen. "There rust, and let you die..." A cross bow bolt immediately situated itself in Claudio's neck, killing him instantly. One of the guards in particular looked as though he himself had just been killed.
"Anglo...NO!" Marcello ran forward and caught Angelo in his arms before he hit the ground. "Angelo...Angelo! Stay with me!" A soft hand grabbed his gauntleted one. He couldn't feel it, but he knew that Angelo's hand was there. Of all the things to happen, what happened next broke Marcello. A very soft smile found itself on Angelo's face.
"Ti amo, Marcello..." He fell still. His eyes closed and his hand fell to the ground.