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Hermie grinned, satisfied with his own performance as the final curtains closed on Teen High’s production of Zombie Prom .
Feeding riddles to his friends' dads (plus some old hot guy?) was a great pastime, but nothing took priority over theater.
He made his way through the backstage area and out into the hallway, heading towards the repurposed classroom that held his bag and his change of clothes.
He heard a familiar voice.
“ HERMIE!!!”
One Normal Oak sprinted around the corner and almost tackled Hermie in a hug.
“Hello, Normal,” Hermie greeted him, wrapping his arms around the boy in return.
Normal squeezed him tight, and Hermie couldn’t help the pink that came to his cheeks.
They stayed there for a moment before Normal pulled away from the hug, grinning ear to ear.
Hermie was still shaking from the post-show adrenaline like he always did, but it was hard to tell how much of it was that, and how much of it was Normal giving him that goddamn smile while still tightly holding onto Hermie’s shoulders.
“Gosh, Hermie, you were so amazing! You are so amazing!” Normal let go of his shoulders to gesture wildly with his hands, but Hermie’s face didn’t cool down as Normal continued complimenting him. “AGH!! The song where you burst out of the locker all zombie-like, you looked so cool, and-” He continued rambling on about the performance, and Hermie had to hold back a smile of equal proportion.
“What was your favorite part?” This was something Hermie always asked anyone who had come to see his shows- he needed that audience feedback, good or bad, to help advance his own acting. That was the excuse in his brain, at least, but hearing Normal inevitably compliment him more certainly wouldn’t make him feel worse.
“You!” Normal responded simply, holding his arms out in enthusiasm.
Hermie snorted. “What about me?”
“Just… anytime you were onstage!”
Hermie raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah! You were so believable, which, you know, isn’t a surprise.” Normal looked away before continuing in more of a mutter. “And you seemed really in love with Toffee,” he added, coughing, clearly trying to hide the twinge of jealousy in his voice for the leading lady Hermie had professed his love to onstage.
Hermie nodded. “An important part of acting is drawing from your own experiences and emotions, Normal.” He smirked, and then decided to add a wink for extra effect.
Normal’s face reacted before he could control it, twisting into a quick grimace of confusion and disgust before he brought it back just as fast.
“Oh! Okay. I didn’t know you… okay.” Normal stepped back, his posture becoming much more stiff and awkward.
Hermie put his hand on Normal’s shoulder, who weirdly wasn’t smiling anymore. Maybe he was still flustered from Hermie’s great line.
“Let me get out of all this face paint, and I’ll meet you and the others out by the pussywagon for Sonic’s.”
Hermie squeezed Normal’s shoulder before strutting past him down the hallway, back to the changing room.
Totally nailed it. A++ flirting. Hermie felt so worthy tonight.
- - -
Normal felt awful . His stomach hurt, and the cool breeze did nothing as he walked up to his friends outside the entrance of Teen High, lit up by the light coming from inside the school. Most of the audience had dispersed, a few stragglers still getting into their cars or talking on the sidewalk. Taylor, Scary, and Lincoln all lingered by the stone wall.
He sighed as he approached, and spit it out immediately: “Guys, I think Hermie’s in love with the girl who played Toffee.”
Taylor spit out a gulp of his small, overpriced intermission water bottle.
“WHAT.”
“He was talking about her, and he said something about how he drew his performance from his real life feelings, and like… Ughhh.” Normal put his head in his hands and leaned against the wall.
“That could mean anything, right?” Lincoln suggested, grimacing.
“I mean, you guys saw his performance!” Normal gestured to the entrance to the school, exasperated.
“Yea, he was really believable,” Lincoln admitted.
Scary leaned over the railing. “That’s, like. Gross.”
Taylor squinted suspiciously from his seat on the wall. “Nah, Hermie’s in love with you.”
Normal whipped his head around to glare at Taylor, who was now absentmindedly folding his Zombie Prom! playbill into some odd origami creation.
“Taylor!”
“I’m his uncle. I would know.”
“You’re his nephew -”
“Listen.” A gruff voice sounded from the other side of him, and Normal whipped his head around in the opposite direction. “I agree with that kid. Hermie makes too many weird flirty remarks for this to not just be a misunderstanding,” Vice Principal Tony Pepperoni shrugged.
“AH, jeez. I forgot you were here,” Normal shuddered.
“We didn’t watch any anime today. I figured I would come see the show with you. Hoped it would open my eyes up to love like a teenager for the first time again.”
“Did it?” Lincoln asked, hopefully.
“No. I am unequivocally sadder.”
“Aw.”
“Is Hermie still coming to Sonic’s with us?” Taylor asked.
“Yeah, he’s just getting changed,” Normal explained.
Scary propped herself back up on the railing. “You want me to punch him at Sonic’s, Norm?”
“No, Scary, I just… Agggh. It’s weird now. Was it selfish to think he would maybe like me just because he asked me to the dance that one time?”
All three teens stared at Normal and blinked in unison.
Normal sighed one last time and pushed himself up and away from the wall, shaking out his disappointment with determination.
“I gotta cheer up. Hermie just did a great performance! I should be happy for him!”
Lincoln and Scary exchanged a worried glance.
“Besides, he’s still our friend, right? We’re all gonna have a good time at Sonic’s!!”
Normal gave the others an enthusiastic double thumbs-up that was just a little too forceful, and a big smile that was just a little bit too lopsided.
Hermie approached from behind and Normal practically jumped out of his skin.
“Are we ready for some food?” Hermie asked.
Scary threw Taylor’s origami-ed playbill at him.
- - -
Taylor used Tony Pepperoni to get all five of them into the Sonic’s establishment before promptly kicking him to the curb. Tony did not protest.
They found a booth in the far corner. Lincoln and Scary sat down on one side, and Hermie on the other. Normal squirmed as Taylor nudged him into the same side as Hermie and then slid in after him, scooting toward the middle of the seat so Hermie and Normal were forced to sit extra close.
They started discussing the show after ordering food, and Scary was going on some long-winded monologue about how Jonny Warner was sooooo fucked up and misunderstood actually, and how he was pretty much the same as her because neither of them had a real father.
“I just don’t think he should have agreed to go with Strict and Eddie at the end. Like why would anyone even want to do that ever ?” She continued, swirling her drink with her straw.
“I honestly think the second act of the show was quite drawn out,” Hermie added. “Not to mention Toffee’s motivations towards Jonny change near the end almost on a dime.”
Normal and Hermie were pressed shoulder to shoulder.
“Though again, the convenient deus ex machina ending fits the exact wacky tone of the whole production, so I don’t know whether I’m complaining,” He elaborated.
Lincoln nudged Scary with his elbow, failing to be discreet about it. Scary’s posture stiffened immediately.
“Oh, right. Were you, like…” Scary glanced at the others, unsure. “In love with the girl playing Toffee or whatever?”
Normal nearly choked on the one vegan dish Sonic’s had to offer. He gave a hasty and desperate wave of his hand in front of his own neck across the table to Scary, who shrugged, damage already done.
Hermie barked out a laugh at her question instinctively.
“What? No,” he replied, indignant. Normal perked up immediately.
“Really?”
The other members of the table glanced around, and Hermie looked at all of them, eyebrows furrowed. Did they all really think…? He tilted his head.
“Was my acting that good?” Hermie asked, blinking innocently.
Scary frowned. “But-”
Lincoln cut her off. “Yeah, it was just… really impressive!” He grinned, and hoped Hermie’s insight check couldn’t see through it.
“Oh no,” Hermie scoffed. “I would never date a co-star, believe me.”
He glanced at Normal beside him and bumped him with his shoulder playfully. “Unless there were very special circumstances.”
Normal went bright red, all previous gloominess gone from his demeanor as he laughed nervously and fiddled with a straw wrapper.
Hmm. If they all somehow thought that Hermie had a crush on someone else , did that mean he somehow had to flirt with Normal more obviously?
He honestly didn’t know if he could. He was sort of already at max.
Plus, the more time he spent around Normal, whether it be in the Earth Forgotten Realms or in the Forgotten Realms Earth, the more of a nervous rush he felt whenever he tried.
The conversation continued around him as Hermie picked at the dish of fries in front of him. If he was being honest, he didn’t know what else to do to show Normal he liked him, save for actually asking him out. That wasn’t an option, though; he wasn’t going to set himself up for possible failure. Normal would have to ask him .
When it was the dance, asking Normal didn’t matter. Hermie didn’t care about him then, just his role. Now he had been through another realm, got half his skin melted off, and almost died a plethora of times. Even the option of a “no” from Normal was not something he wanted to fathom. He would have to just stick with what he was doing.
On the other hand, he wanted all the classic highschool romance shit embarrassingly bad. He had played it out a million times onstage, but now he couldn’t stop thinking about the added context of Normal in any romantic scene he engaged in. It was annoying, and more importantly, could mess with his method.
They were so close right now too, and this train of thought was actively hurting his charisma and involvement in the conversation (Not that the others remembered he was there half the time regardless). Their arms were still pressed against each other, though. Hermie could grab Normal’s hand so easily, and just hold it while they talked.
He could just hold it.
Normal’s voice, and more so, his hand grabbing Hermie’s arm, interrupted his pondering. “Hey Hermie, you good? You were kinda zoning out there.”
Taylor piped up. “Yea, we talked about the Joker anime remake (2029) and you didn’t even flinch.”
Hermie fixed his glasses. “I was simply formulating a way in which I could let you down easily in telling you how much better the musical adaptation was.”
“Hmph,” Taylor responded. “Honestly, yeah. We just watched it with Pepperoni Tony and it wasn’t that great. Nothing like Parent Trap 4.”
Normal fidgeted in his seat and sighed.
“Guys, I’m gonna go get some fresh air really quick, I’ll be right back,” he announced. He squeezed awkwardly past a nervous Hermie and an unbothered Taylor before slipping out the restaurant door.
Hermie looked after him and frowned. He turned back to the rest of the table, all of whom were staring at him.
There was a moment of awkward silence before Hermie and Lincoln spoke up at the same time.
“I should go check on him-”
“-You should go check on him.”
“Yeah- Okay, I’m.” Hermie pointed at the door, and Taylor moved out of the way so he could get out.
The cool breeze hit and the bell jingled as the door shut behind Hermie. He scanned the empty parking lot and found Normal standing there almost immediately. He strode up to him.
“Hermie?”
“Normal. Are you alright?”
Normal grinned awkwardly. “Yeah! I’m great! Just a little bit tired, and I figured the night air would wake me up!”
Hermie narrowed his eyes. He knew Normal well enough to identify his tells. The way his eyes were a little too wide, and kept glancing back and forth under Hermie’s gaze.
“Normal,” he asked again, putting his hands on Normal’s shoulders. “What’s going on?”
“Uhhh…”
“Was my acting inadequate tonight? I can take criticism, I don’t want sugar coated praise.”
“What? No! No, the opposite.” Normal took a step back, letting Hermie’s hands fall away. “Aw, jeez, this was exactly what I didn’t want to happen.”
Hermie tilted his head, a silent inquiry for further explanation.
“I didn’t want my… whole thing to bring down the mood. You were so great tonight, and I just wanted you to have a fun time at Sonic’s!”
Hermie was slowly putting the pieces together. He chuckled.
“Normal. Was this about my co-star Toffee?”
Normal's eyes widened and he looked away immediately, telling Hermie everything he needed to know.
“NO.” He replied too passionately.
Hermie sighed, stepping closer to Normal.
“Was following you into another realm and telling your fathers riddles every afternoon not enough to prove that you are my will-they/won’t-they partner?”
Normal gulped, his face visibly turning red.
Hermie felt his own heart pick up, but it was a strange combination of anxiety and relief at the same time.
Normal spoke in an unnaturally high-pitched mutter, but didn’t step away from Hermie.
“I just worried that maybe you were leaning more towards the won’t-they part?”
Hermie tentatively put his hands on Normal’s waist. “Normal, I told you that for my acting I draw off of my own real-life emotions.”
He watched Normal’s eyes wander and recenter on Hermie as he put together that Hermie had been talking about him .
Normal put his hands on Hermie’s shoulders, both of them holding their breaths.
“...Maybe you could reassure me?” Normal whispered, almost inaudibly, sliding his hands up from Hermie’s shoulders so that they cupped his face.
Hermie felt the whole earth spin under him. This was happening.
They locked eyes for a second that felt like a lifetime.
And Hermie kissed him.
Just once. Quickly, and softly. It felt so vulnerable, both of them holding onto each other’s shirt fabric as if this was something to be afraid of.
They pulled away, just barely, and Hermie watched as Normals face sprouted as big of a smile as he had earlier.
This time, Hermie didn’t hold himself from grinning back just as widely.
They heard a familiar chorus of voices protesting in the distance, and turned around to see Taylor, Scary, and Lincoln being pushed out of the Sonic’s doorway, undoubtedly recognized and kicked out.
“FUCK!” Scary mourned her lost half-finished slushie, and then they all saw Normal and Hermie, still half holding each other as they looked back at the others.
Taylor pulled his pork-pie hat down on his head and grinned. “Heh. All according to plan.”