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averykedavra · 3 years

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75. With whoever honestly (I definitely could see Patton saying it to Roman to make him laugh tho)

(~ im-an-anxious-wreck)

(Hi! Sorry for the delay, @im-an-anxious-wreck, I needed to do some school!)

Words: 1840

It was rare for Patton and Roman to get a moment to themselves. With the school play coming up, they were thrust into the busy bustling of a play almost finished. Every costume had to be perfect. Every movement had to be aligned. Every line needed to be accented, every light on at the correct time--it was a whirlwind of rehearsals and preparations.

Roman loved it, of course. He loved every moment of every play their high school put on. But it certainly got tiring, and it kept him rehearsing long after school was over, until the sky was dark outside.

He must have repeated his lines ten times just today. If he heard ‘start from the top again,’ he might faint, and he was beginning to resent every inch of the school stage. He kicked it in irritation. It didn’t budge. The stage waits for no one, he’d been told, but he wished it would wait a few more days and give them time.

He’d barely gotten a moment with Patton all week.

That was the only reason he’d agreed to this. Everyone was already gone, bundled in coats and tucking scripts against their chests. The stage was empty and the lights glowed yellow, so bright that Roman could see the dust spiraling in each beam, so bright that he could barely make out a single seat in the audience.

Next week, he’d be up here, saying his lines to the whole school. Slightly to the left of center stage, then cross downstage, then gesture to the right.

Roman looked down at the pamphlet in his hand. Midsummer Night’s Dream. Or it would have been, if he hadn’t folded it backwards.

“Crap!” Roman said, unfolding the pamphlet and trying again. “Why are these so hard?”

“It’s just fold, fold, and then fold back over!” Patton showed him. “Easy.”

“Easy for you, darling.” Roman fumbled his way through the pamphlet. “Who was supposed to do this again?”

“Us,” Patton said with a smile. “We did sign up.”

“Hmph,” Roman said, flattening the edge of the pamphlet. “That’s because you’re a sweetheart and can’t say no to anyone.”

“It’s the nice thing to do!” Patton’s eyes widened in the way they always did, cute and pleading and a bit teasing. “Who else is going to? We need pamphlets.”

“Just don’t hand any out,” Roman suggested. “No names. No plot summary. People can go into this play and figure out what’s happening for themselves, like real audience members.”

Patton giggled as he placed a folded pamphlet on the pile. All his pamphlets were perfectly folded. Of course they were--when was Roman’s boyfriend anything less than perfect? “It’s a Shakespeare play anyway,” Patton said. “I think they all know what happens.”

“Fair,” Roman admitted, trying not to cut his fingers on the edge of his pamphlet. He wished he could reach out and hold Patton’s hand. But he was busy. Even when it was just the two of them, they were busy. Roman was a bit tired of that. “Stupid pamphlets, though.”

Patton gave him a sympathetic look. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to--”

“No, no, I am valiant! Brave! Noble!” Roman pressed a hand to his forehead. “I shall persevere through this struggle, for peasants are in need of my gifts!”

Patton giggled. Success!

“We can make it more interesting for you, though,” Patton suggested after a second, fingers dancing nimbly over the pamphlets. “Maybe you could run lines?”

Roman groaned loudly. “Not more lines.”

“Aw, isn’t it more fun when I’m here?” Patton grinned at him. “Just suggesting! To make this worth your while.”

“Fine,” Roman said, and Patton squealed. “You’re lucky I love you.”

“I am!” Patton agreed.

Roman tried not to splutter. He stared fixedly at his pamphlets as his face grew hot. “You were saying?”

“Practice your lines!” Patton said. “What’s a scene you want to work on?”

“None of them,” Roman said, truthfully.

Patton fixed him with a look.

Roman sighed. “Act Two, Scene One. The fairies kept forgetting their blocking and we barely made it to my part of the scene.”

“Okay!” Patton looked around for his script book. He fumbled with it and pulled it out. “Sorry, I’m gonna need this for any scene with no Theseus.”

“It’s okay!” Roman waited for Patton to finish. Patton flipped through several pages, still pulling at the pamphlets with his other hand. Roman poked at some pamphlets himself. There were entirely too many of them. Maybe he should have guilted some of their classmates into staying behind, too.

“Here?” Patton asked. “‘Ill met by moonlight’?”

“Yep!” Roman stretched and looked out into the audience. Nobody was there, except for their stage director bustling around backstage. It was less stressful when nobody could see him, but it was stranger, to be the only person in the room. Patton and him, single spotlight.

“I’ll be Titania,” Patton said. “You can practice being Oberon.”

“Great.” Roman turned to face Patton again. “Go?”

Patton nodded, twin afro puffs glowing in the stage lights.

“Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania,” Roman began, trying to deepen his voice a bit. He couldn’t do his perfected stance--feet slightly apart, shoulders back--but he could still pretend he was a snooty fairie king.

“What--” Patton blinked at the script and looked up. Then, in a nasally voice, he said “What, jealous Oberon? Fairies, skip hence: I have forsworn--”

“Wh--” Roman snickered. “Patton, what is that voice?”

“What?” Patton said, batting his eyelashes innocently. “I’m acting! Anyway--” He cleared his throat and dipped back into his faux-Elizabethan falsetto. “I have forsworn his bed and company.”

Roman laughed, covering his mouth. “That’s not--”

“What?” Patton said again, giggling.

“Why are you doing that voice?” Roman asked. “You know how to act, dear!”

“I’m trying to distinguish this one from Theseus,” Patton said. “I have to go all high up!”

“No, you don’t!” Roman laughed harder. “Nobody’s going to think that Oberon is flirting with Theseus.”

“Oh, is thy humours unaligned?” Patton said, in the same nasally voice, somehow even more posh and oddly British. “Art thou irritated at me, oh wise one, havest thou irritation at me--”

“No!” Roman leaned back, trying to stop laughing. “No, no, that is so wrong.”

Patton pouted. “It is?”

“Yes!” Roman let his head hit the stage. He stared into the lights, laughing. “You know how to do this, honey, don’t mess with me.”

“I was just trying to make it more interesting,” Patton said. “I don’t even like this scene. Oberon’s a jerk.”

“He is,” Roman admitted. “But I don’t think any Shakespeare characters aren’t. Or, at least, the men.”

“Oberon tries to steal a baby!”

“Like I said.” Roman sighed. “Contrary to what I believed at first, Shakespeare is rather messed up. The words are still pretty, though.”

“They are.” Patton cleared his throat. “Then I must be thy lady, but--”

Roman started laughing again. Patton just sounded ridiculous. After a few seconds, Patton laughed, too, and dropped the script on the ground.

“You’re adorable,” Roman told the ceiling.

“You aren’t even looking at me.”

“Don’t need to.” Roman swung upright and held out his hands, framing Patton’s face. “See? Knew it!”

Patton giggled and looked away. He did look adorable. The golden light glanced off his glasses and gleamed on his nose, and reflected something deep in his brown eyes. Roman would be happy to just sit here and look at his boyfriend for hours--goodness knew he hadn’t had the chance for a while.

Roman looked down at the pamphlets. Right.

“You’re going to distract me,” he teased. “And we’ll never get this done. So much for running lines.”

“Yeah, I know.” Patton let out a breath. “Just figured--oh, I don’t know, I just wanted to make things easier on you. You’ve been so harried by the play all week. I thought giving you more time to practice would make you feel better.”

"You--” Roman blinked. “Oh.”

Patton gave the pamphlets a small smile. He’d started to fold them again, easily, fold-fold-and-fold-over-top. “I just want you to be excited for this. Not scared or stressed.”

“Oh,” Roman said again. “I am excited.”

“I know!”

“No, I seriously am!” Roman laughed a bit. “It’s all been a blur, and I’m definitely filled with adrenaline, but I’m not stressed about it. It’s going to be fine! I’ve practiced my lines enough to recite them in my sleep.” He smiled softer. “And I’ve got you there on stage with me. It’ll be okay.”

Patton laughed and rubbed at his cheeks. “You’re making me all flustered! I don’t think we even have a scene together.”

“Yeah, but you’re backstage most of the time!” Roman raised an arm and twirled it. “I do my beautiful, spellbinding acting, then I go backstage to the most beautiful and spellbinding person I know!”

Patton squeaked.

“And yeah, I’ve been a bit stressed,” Roman admitted, letting his arm fall. “But that’s just because I’ve missed you. We’ve barely had any time to hang out--which is fine, I just...yeah, I’m looking forward to when we can be together again.”

Patton’s eyes widened in his classic you’re so cute expression. He didn’t even have to say it. Roman cursed his blushing cheeks as he tried to hide his face.

“You’re so cute,” Patton said. Roman blushed harder. “And sweet, and I’m sorry I didn’t notice sooner!”

“No, it’s okay!” Roman shrugged, still trying to force down his blush. “We were both busy. I get it.”

“Yeah.” Patton looked down at the pamphlets, glossy in the light, then back at Roman. “And it’s worth it. But--I miss you, too.”

Roman smiled at him.

Patton smiled back. “So, what do you want to do now?”

“What?”

“We can talk about anything,” Patton said, waving a hand. “Or we can go peek at the costumes, or dance around onstage--tons of things!”

“What?” Roman said again. “But--the pamphlets--”

“Can wait!” Patton beamed and folded one pamphlet. “It’s easy, see? Fold-fold-fold? I’ll get them in no time, we can take a break or two.”

Roman found himself grinning brighter than the stage lights. “Really?”

“Of course!”

“Fantastic!” Roman jumped up and extended a hand. Patton took it, and Roman pulled him to his feet. They stood there for a second. The stage lights were always uncomfortably hot, but Roman couldn’t tell if that was why he felt warm. Maybe it was just Patton’s hand in his.

Patton looked beautiful, on the stage, in front of the world. Absolutely beautiful. Pretty words and beautiful sentiment.

Who needed Shakespeare, fake accent or not?

Roman had really missed this.

“So,” Roman said, “want to practice blocking? I think you start out center stage--”

He tugged Patton to center stage. Patton giggled and stumbled to a stop, and Roman caught him, arms around his waist.

“And then you go downstage, upstage, all around!” Roman squeezed his hand. “Wanna practice?”

Patton beamed back. “Sure.”

And Patton was right--with his boyfriend around, Roman didn’t mind practicing at all.

Give me a prompt, and I’ll write a short drabble!

#royality #patton sanders #roman sanders #sanders sides #sanders sides fic #high school au #long post #asks and answers #im-an-anxious-wreck #averywrites #yeahh this did not turn out as a drabble either rip #not super super short but here i am!

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