Chapter Text
Tybalt Capp wanted to kill Mercutio Monty.
He was fucking sick of him. The way he walked around Veronaville thinking he was the hottest guy in the world, that tangled mass of ashy black hair he loved swaying just to show off, that obnoxious smirk he would give to everyone-and Tybalt especially-telling them what an arrogant prick he was. Tybalt absolutely hated him with every fibre of his being and he wanted to kill him. He had ever since they were kids at age ten-for nine long years. Tybalt was going to fucking kill Mercutio.
The gathering at the Capp manor was going well so far. So far, no Mercutio, or a single one of those scum from the Monty side of town, which was good. Almost all the Capps were there-Tybalt recognised his aunts, Goneril and Reagan, and their respective husbands, Albany and Cornwall. There was his uncle Kent, standing by the drinks table and drinking by himself awkwardly. His cousin and Goneril's eldest daughter Miranda was standing with a drink nearby, looking bored to death in a short, black and white spaghetti strap dress Goneril probably disapproved of. Among the crowd of other family members he embarrassingly couldn't quite remember, pouring each other drinks and exchanging conversations, he bumped into his younger sister Juliette. The well-loved star girl of the Capp clan. She had a cascade of long red hair, of the same fiery shade as Tybalt and his other sister Hermia, and wore a blue crop top and short pink skirt. She had just finished a fruit punch and was putting the glass down on the table when Tybalt had appeared.
"Juliette," he greeted her.
"Oh hey, Tybalt," she replied with a smile. She seemed distant though-like she was hiding something. Tybalt was obviously not going to let that pass.
"So what are you doing now, Juliette?" he questioned just as Juliette was about to head up the stairs to her room, hiding his suspicion behind an emotionless face.
"I'm tired so I'm heading to bed. Parties aren't really my thing anyway. What, Tybalt?" She looked at him with eyebrows raised. Tybalt had obviously failed to hide that note of concern he had.
"Well you know... just making sure you're not doing anything in secret. Like seeing Romeo Monty behind our family's back," he glared at her accusingly.
"Oh shut up Tybalt. Not everything is about Romeo and Mercutio and the Montys," she said, rolling her eyes. I'm going upstairs because i'm tired. Now don't follow me-or watch me," she added with one last accusatory glance before heading up the stairs.
Tybalt, still convinced that something was going on, didn't listen of course.
He wasn't going to follow her upstairs but he was going to look up at her room from the outside, on the grounds. Romeo Monty had become quite good at climbing the walls of the Capp Manor. This wasn't the first time. Tybalt loathed the way Juliette stepped all over the Capp name in this way. Having clandestine meetings with a boy from the very same family that had murdered their parents, and many other members of their family. Did she have no respect for them at all?
The vast grounds of the Capp manor was a noticeable landmark in the Veronaville countryside, the lush green of the gardens sprawling all around the tudor-style walls of the manor itself. Several flowerbeds splashed the outside with purple, pink, red and yellow and the sections of uncut meadow grass between them all swayed in the gentle breeze. On one side of the manor was a fenced area enclosing a graveyard and a small crypt, where the Capp family's deceased lay-many of them victims of the feud, including Tybalt's own parents. The other side had the beginnings of a forest, a lone oak tree towering by itself with an over a dozen other trees further back. Walking onto the grounds was like walking into a faerie garden. Which wasn't far off for Veronaville.
As Tybalt walked amongst the trees heading for the side of the house where Romeo would break in to Juliette's bedroom, he noticed two figures amongst the dark shape of some bushes. Their laughter echoed in the air and he couldn't help but investigate. Both of them had short, slightly unkempt red hair. The shorter one was wearing a purple crop top, jeans and black doc martens and was embracing and smiling up at the other happily. The other was wearing shorts and a brown coat over a yellow flowery shirt, looking down at the other with that same happiness. They also sparkled-literally sparked, their pale skin glowing like a beacon in the night. If one looked closely enough, which Tybalt was, they could see two distinct, delicate points to their ears. And if they looked even more closely, they would have seen the outline of the peacock butterfly wings sprouting from under their shirt.
The shorter one noticed Tybalt approaching and hastily let go of their lover to speak to him. He realised now that it was his younger sister, Hermia.
"Tybalt! What are you doing here?," she asked.
"Just going for a walk," Tybalt replied unconvincingly.
"Yeah right. It's Romeo again isn't it?" She said, raising an eyebrow. "I don't know why you have to make a big deal of it, Juliette's happy isn't she?"
"Of course it's a big deal! Hermia, Romeo is a Monty!" Tybalt said, slightly
"I don't know, the Capp vs Monty thing is getting old for me. And I'm kind of fed up of my brother attacking everyone who thinks that way," she added, poking fun at Tybalt.
"At least someone is carrying the Capp name with pride. Unlike Juliette who's decided to tread all over it," Tybalt hissed.
"Should I be in this conversation?" The other figure piped up awkwardly. He really was a faerie, with the arch of his butterfly wings which he fluttered every now and then, iridescent blue eyes, pointed ears and glowing skin which had light freckles splattered over some of it. Despite being an ethereal, immortal being though, he came across as just a regular, socially awkward teenager who didn't quite know where to put his hands. He put one around Hermia's waist and she nestled into him contentedly.
"No, probably not," Hermia said. I'm so sorry Puck, you never asked for this drama. You mind pissing off, Tybalt?" She added, glaring at Tybalt. She put her arms back around Puck, which made him blush. Me and Puck were having a moment together and you kind of... barged in."
Tybalt resisted the urge to retort back, as he so often did, quick as his temper was. He reluctantly walked away instead, leaving Hermia and Puck amongst the bushes where they resumed embracing each other and laughing at jokes together. Puck Summerdream was a faerie, no matter how hard he tried to be a regular teenager, and the idea of Hermia mingling with the fair folk like this made him uneasy. He was a powerful supernatural, whose kind could easily kill her with the snap of a finger. And immortal-Puck would live for eternity, whilst Hermia, trapped in her mortal body, was doomed to grow old and die. But at least he wasn't a fucking Monty, like Juliette's little forbidden secret, so he tolerated them together.
Tybalt continued on his way to where Juliette's window sat wide open, to catch Romeo. Where the fuck was he? Had he already gotten in? Shit. Tybalt really wanted to show him what happened to trespassing Montys like him.
Tybalt was about to leave and head back towards the entrance of the manor when he noticed a dark figure leaning against the wall.
The figure, a tall, tan male with a tangle of black hair falling over his eyes, a black, sleeveless biker jacket, and the biggest sly grin on his face caught Tybalt's eye. "Hey, kitty," he said.
It was none other than Mercutio Monty.
Tybalt immediately went to shove into him hard, clutching his jacket in both of his fists. "The fuck did you just call me?" He seethed.
Mercutio looked completely unbothered by the fact that Tybalt had trapped him against a wall and appeared to be trying to kill him, that same wide grin plastered onto his face. He even laughed in Tybalt's face, which made his temper flare even more.
"I asked, WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST CALL ME?"
"Watchers, calm down Ty! I called you kitty. You have a cat-like face. A cute cat-like face. Is that bad? Or do you want to be called tiger instead? Yes, that matches your red hair and associated fiery temper more I think"-
Tybalt shoved into Mercutio again, raising one of his hands into a fist ready to punch him and trying to ignore the fact that he'd called him cute. What the fuck was he talking about? "My name is Tybalt." he hissed. Tybalt Capp. It's a Capp name I carry proudly and it will not be spat on. Especially by a Monty."
Tybalt drove his fist towards him but Mercutio was quicker, managing to grab Tybalt's arm before it could hit him. Mercutio used this opportunity to spin around and throw Tybalt against the wall instead. "I wasn't looking to fight Tybalt. I was just saying hi that's all. But if that's what you really want, to be beaten up by a hot Monty like me, then sure, kitty," he added with a cheeky smirk.
Tybalt shoved into Mercutio hard, pushing him off him. Watchers, Mercutio was so fucking arrogant. The way he acted like he didn't give a shit at all, like he even enjoyed this, winding Tybalt up. He hated the fact that he was attractive, no matter how much he tried to deny it-something which felt like a threat to Tybalt, for reasons he was not going to think about right now. Why did he mention being hot to him? Or call him cute earlier? It didn't matter. He was going to make him suffer. To kill him.
"I SAID NOT TO CALL ME THAT!" He raged, trying to punch Mercutio again and missing as he dodged. "YOU'RE A MONTY TRESPASSING ON CAPP PROPERTY AND YOU'LL GET WHAT YOU DESERVE!"
He pounced on Mercutio then, managing to catch him in the face this time. He continued to smile manically, even with blood pouring out his nose. Mercutio fought back, returning a punch back at Tybalt and continuing to crack jokes about him being a cat which pissed him off to no end. The two continued to fight each other like that until Tybalt had Mercutio against the ground with no way of escaping. He put his hands around his neck, trying to suffocate him. He was going to make him suffer. To kill him. Mercutio no longer had that fucking maniac grin on his face, he'd started to turn blue from the lack of air-
"TYBALT, STOP!"
Tybalt let go and quickly got up again as he heard his grandfather Consort approaching. Mercutio gasped, relieved to be able to breathe again and that Tybalt was not going to kill him after all. He got up too, not knowing whether to wait for Romeo to come down from Juliette's room again or to take off immediately.
"Grandfather!," Tybalt stuttered, wiping the blood off his face with one shirt sleeve. The Monty boys! I took care of one of them and the other is in Juliette's room. They're trespassing."
"I know. Do you think I didn't notice Romeo sneaking in before? Or every other night he's been here?" As Consort said that, Romeo Monty ascended down the trelis outside Juliette's window. He joined Mercutio on the ground and the pair stood there, not sure of what they were going to do. Consort glared at them for a while. "Leave before I change my mind about this," he said threateningly.
Romeo and Mercutio knew better than to stick around, so together they took off.
"But grandfather! You can't just let them run off like that!" Tybalt burst out. They were trespassing Montys!"
"I know, Tybalt. But I'm not having violence at our family gathering tonight," Consort said, looking at Tybalt judgingly. The Montys have done enough to us-you don't want them to cause more damage, do you?"
Tybalt shook his head reluctantly.
"Now please go back inside the house, Tybalt."
Tybalt trailed behind Consort on his way back to the entrance of the manor.
Tybalt went straight up to his room, even before the party had finished. Some blood was still dripping from his nose, which he dabbed at with a tissue, and he had several bruises on him. He sat at his desk with the window wide open, the night breeze making the sheets of paper on the desk flutter up and down, and he thought of ways he would make Mercutio suffer. He'd love to see him burn alive, let him feel what had happened when the Montys had murdered Tybalt's parents, Cordelia and Caliban. Or have him poisoned-watch the light go out of him as his face turned blue and see that fucking smirk disappear like it had when Tybalt had almost choked him to death tonight. One day, Tybalt would kill Mercutio, no matter what. It was a promise.
The sound of laughter and the rev of a car engine echoed from outside, and Tybalt glanced out the window to see Mercutio, Romeo, and a few other associates of the Monty family their age he didn't recognise. They all had the distinctive tan skin and black hair of the Monty family, although the other's hair was notably a lot neater than Mercutio's wild look. Romeo's hair was slightly covered by a grey beanie hat and he wore a red jersey. They were sat in a red convertible outside the driveway, Mercutio in the drivers seat, Romeo next to him and the others in the back, talking loudly amongst themselves and passing around bottles of beer. Mercutio congratulated Romeo about his "conquest" of Juliette and they all burst into laughter, Romeo laughing along awkwardly, and pulling his beanie hat further down. Tybalt also cringed at them talking about his sister like this, like she was nothing more than a game for the Monty boys. How could Consort have just let them go like this? He had thought he had gone unnoticed, but then Mercutio was staring right at him.
It was hard to make out everything Mercutio said but Tybalt caught the words "Look, it's Kitty!" Well enough. He shouted what he thought was a deserved "FUCK OFF," out the window at him and stuck his middle finger up.
"Alright, alright, Tybalt, I'm fucking off. See you, kitty," Mercutio teased, sniggering one last time. With that, he started up the car and he drove off with his Monty friends, their laughter fading into the night. Tybalt slammed his window shut and took himself to his bed, glad to finally be rid of that dickhead for now.
Tybalt absolutely loathed Mercutio, and everyone knew that. He was a Monty, and like the Capp generations before him, he hated Montys. But there was another fact that Tybalt would never dare to admit. A forbidden, unspeakable little fact that he would for sure be shunned for. The real reason why he hated looking at Mercutio, seeing him, being in his presence, why he would prefer if Mercutio died, or didn't exist at all. Every time they crossed paths, he was reminded of that secret of his, and he wanted to kill himself for it.
Tybalt Capp had fallen in love with Mercutio Monty.