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Eda crept through Hexside’s halls until she reached the backstage area. Bingo! She thought, spotting her turquoise-haired target. “How’re you doing, Rainestorm?”
“Nervous, mostly,” Raine replied, wringing their hands in the apron of their costume.
“Stage fright? From you?” Eda snorted. “I know you’ve got every line down cold - you’ll be fine! Opening night or not - I snuck into the dress rehearsal and you crush it as Dot.”
They sighed. “It’s just - this is the first year I’m playing the title role, and I know the head of the Bard Coven is here to watch.”
Eda snorted. “Let him. You’ll be fine. You sing like a dream, you dance brilliantly, aaaand,” she stretched the word out to see how red she could turn their ears, “you’re cute as a button.”
“I suppose I’m also worried about fighting the beast they brought in to play the Spirit of Capitalism,” they offered. “I mean, The Witch of Oz is such a classic allegory about the triumph of magic and creativity over soulless money grubbing. I mean, I understand the desire for verisimilitude, but still: what if I botch the fight and everyone gets the wrong idea?”
“Trust me, you’ll be fine! You’re a total badass - remember the HECK trials? You could probably solo some mangy old beast, let alone with the rest of the cast to help you.” Eda frowned. “Honestly, I’m surprised they let you put this on, and not some shitty propaganda like The Emperor and I.”
Raine rolled their eyes. “We had to make some tweaks to the ending - after Dot and her companions get back to the Boiling Isles, I ‘get’ a whole extra song with the boy playing Belos about how glad he is to have me back, safe and sound, and how glad I am to be back in the good, patriotic Boiling Isles, not in the strange Oz, Land Without Magic.” They shiver with disgust.
Eda grinned: mission accomplished! She’d gotten Raine thinking about something other than their own nerves. “Hey, don’t you feel better? You know I give the best pep talks.”
“Thanks, Eda.” They gave her a thin smile before the rest of the cast started to bustle with energy.
“Looks like you’d better get to place,” Eda said, then gave them a quick kiss on the cheek for luck before darting away.
“I’d feel better if you were onstage with me,” Raine murmured to no-one in particular. Eda certainly had the musical skill for it, but she always brushed off their invitations to audition, saying she didn’t like having other people’s words in her mouth.
Eda stole away to the balcony to watch Raine’s performance. She’d heard their parting words - she always did linger longer than she really should, where they were concerned - and she had to fight back tears. This is why you can’t be onstage with them, she reminded herself. Acting with Raine - putting herself, their relationship on display like that? That wasn’t something she was ready for. She still had enough to figure out on her own without letting a whole audience in.
The lights lowered briefly, and raised again. Time to take her seat, Eda thought, and she settled in for the show.