44. Play

When Cloud Strife told him that there would be a play near the Smash Mansion, Marth couldn't help but tell Roy about it. Being the Hero King and all, Marth quite enjoyed watching plays back at his homeworld, though he usually went alone besides his guards (who insisted that they should come along to make sure that he was safe.) Having Roy tag along would be much more fun for him.

Roy, on the other hand, had no idea what a "play" was, to Marth's shock. The Hero King wanted to explain to him what it was, but knowing that his lover was in a different status back in his world of the Fire Emblem universe, he decided to surprise him by bringing him along, telling him that the play was a "surprise". Roy didn't complain, and he happily went with Marth.

The stage was quite massive, with crowds of people gathered around at the bottom of the balcony. The balcony was empty, to which the people giving away the tickets claimed they were for "rich people". Upon seeing the way the two dressed and their wealth, however, they quickly brought them to the balcony. To Marth, seeing the play above was quite thrilling, seeing each and every action that happened during the scenes.

To the two's surprise, they were the only two people who were in the balcony, to which Marth didn't mind at all—he wanted time between him and Roy.

As the crowds chattered below them, Marth turned to Roy, who was staring at the empty stage. "I'm still surprised that you never been to a play before, Roy," he commented.

Roy turned his head and nodded. "We usually spend our wealth on more important things than entertainment. And I have to be honest—it gets boring." He let out a small laugh, as Marth laughed alongside him as the blue-haired Hero King sat closer to his red-headed lover.

"I've been to many plays, but I've never been to a modern one in the Smash world."

"Really?"

"Yes. I guess I was too busy to check them out. Cloud told me that this play was based on his two friends' adventures back in the Final Fantasy universe."

"Cloud has friends?" Roy tried to joke, but upon realizing that it was bad taste, he shook his head and mentally slapped himself. "Sorry. That was bad."

"At least Cloud wasn't here to hear that," Marth chuckled, kissing his lover on the cheek.

"Promise me you won't tell him."

"Oh, I promise you many things, Roy. And I stick to them."

The two then turned to see a man walk into the stage, and as soon as he appeared, the crowd cheered loudly, with claps and hollers filling the stadium. As the man thanked the audience for taking their time to see the play, it finally began.

Apparently, it was about a monk and a thief falling in love (both of them male none the less), to which Marth and Roy were delighted to see—from what they saw and heard in this world, gay love was frowned upon. To them, it was relieving that this kind of love was given much screentime. And surprisingly, the audience stayed the way they were despite that. As the play began, Roy scooted closer to Marth till their hips touched, and he gripped his lover's hand. Marth smiled, though he didn't look at Roy; he was too mesmerized by the actors' spot-on emotions to even turn his head. Instead, however, he squeezed Roy's hand with his own, acknowledging his lover's affection. He didn't want to be rude with him after all.

The first act was finally done, and Marth could've sworn that he would burst into tears at any moment; the fact that the monk's best friend was killed in front of him was quite heart-wrenching. However, instead of going full-blown crying, he sniffled, to which Roy seemed to have noticed. He turned his head to see if his blue-haired lover was okay, and upon seeing his eyes glistening, he immediately grabbed a box of tissues and handed them to Marth.

"That was quite sad, wasn't it?" Roy commented with a small smile.

Marth jumped, facing Roy, and upon seeing the tissues in his hands, he smiled. "It was. I've been to many plays, but this was the most emotional one I've ever seen." He grabbed a couple of tissues and wiped away the tears that threatened to fall. Roy simply smiled, leaning his head on Marth's shoulder.

"You're always so sensitive," Roy joked as he chuckled.

Marth smiled, not wanting to comment on that—then again, he was quite feminine, so of course he could be emotional over things that most men considered as completely stupid.

The second act began, and Marth was once again mesmerized—seeing how the thief stole for food and how he and the monk first met were quite action-packed, with chase scenes and even a fight scene, to which Marth's heart raced. His eyes were huge, and he squeezed Roy's hand again, this time a bit tighter, to which Roy squeaked in surprise. However, Roy returned the favor by squeezing Marth's hand back tightly, though Marth didn't react to it, besides his hand turning red.

The second act was quite short, and soon it ended with an intermission. As some of the people in the audience left to get snacks and other things, Marth faced Roy, who had a large smile on his face.

"You like it so far?" Marth asked, chuckling.

"Yeah," Roy nodded. "I am honestly glad that you brought me here. It's so much fun!"

"Same," Marth chuckled, kissing his lover on the cheek. "I always wanted to spend time with you like this..."

"Yeah..."

Marth looked at Roy, and noticed how droopy his eyes were. Marth frowned slightly, but decided not to say anything—he wasn't sure why Roy was about to fall asleep, but he hoped that he wasn't boring him. But on the other hand, Roy was so cute, looking all tired.

Once the intermission was over, the third and final act began, and Marth stared at the stage intently—the monk and the thief finally declared their love after many conflicts between them, and the two were married and adopted two children. As the act was coming to a conclusion, Marth couldn't help but daydream—which was quite unusual for the Hero King during a play. He could see it now: he and Roy combined their countries after they were married, and the two shared blessed lives together. Perhaps after a few years they were married, they would adopt two children, a girl and a boy, with the boy named Anri II, after his ancestor. He then imagined how the family of four would enjoy their time together, watching plays and just hanging out. He let out a content sigh. Hopefully, if their relationship remained the way it was, his daydreams would become reality one day.

Once the play was over, Marth felt Roy's head on his shoulder, and soon enough, he heard a small snore from his red-headed lover. Marth laughed softly, patting Roy on the head as he glanced at him. Apparently, the play had tuckered him out, and he was fast asleep despite the noise around the stadium.

Once everyone in the stadium left, Marth picked Roy up bridal style and walked back to the Smash Mansion (surprisingly, Roy was quite light despite his muscles). Even though Roy was asleep, he and Marth were quite content with their day, and they both hoped that they would see another play anytime soon.

Constructive criticism is welcomed! Requests for a theme are still opened!

Also, if you get the play's reference, congratulations, you have been paying WAY too much attention to my writing (either that or played way too much Final Fantasy…) XD