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It was quite the nice little show Gricko had come up with.
With the whole thing about Sir Morgo (Hootsie) and her friendzoned companion mr. Wigglewag (rest in peace), the pieces of their own adventure mixed and matched, and the original songs… he was impressed. If he had known it before he would have surely added it as part of the Carnivale. Maybe they wouldn’t have lost so many patrons like that.
Still, Kremy was enjoying his participation in the play. He had already played Snake Snake, with a quick but jazzy song, and one of the willow wisps in the sad well, and now he was all dressed up for his second act as Ragnarachel. Why Ragnarachel, why him, he did not know. He knew Gideon would be playing Ragnaross, his romantic partner of the scene, and that left him a bit nervous, but it was just a play and they had done worse things together before.
As Gricko narrated Gideon’s part, he saw his partner in crime and scene rush out and stand behind a witch’s caldron, getting ready. Hootsie and Frost walked into the scene, and there he was, Ragnaross, singing the song Gricko had prepared.
It was a weird song, it had happy chords but the lyrics and the pace of the song were sad. He was confused. But alas, he had to get himself ready as he reread his lines and his song, warming up his voice. He hadn’t played a character in so long!
As he heard the song coming to an end, he fixed his lipstick and rushed in, sitting on the large high budget sofá and grabbing the picture of Gideon the bullywugs had somehow found so he could sing to it. He cleared his throat and the curtain opened, and he looked up at the crowd, feeling both the nerves and giddiness in his chest.
Right. Time to shine!
“ On my own, pretending he’s beside me! ” he began, and he felt the eyes of the crowd fall on him. The nerves bubbled up and he looked at the picture of Gideon, framed in his hands, and he felt his cheeks burning a bit. It was weird because technically he was singing it to Gideon… fuck… he had to focus. “ Gi -I mean- Ragnaross, for you my heart… is burning… ”
Fuck fuck fuck! He felt heat in his cheeks as he continued to sing, ignoring the lump on his throat as he had literally almost said Gideon’s fucking name instead of the character’s and shit! He did not have time to think about that at that moment! He just didn’t!
He was glad he couldn’t see his friends from here, fuck, they were probably laughing their asses off.
“ And all I want is him and me, forever and… forever… ”
Oh thank the good Baron that it was over. He let out a girly sigh and fell back onto the couch as Gricko continued his narration of what was happening as the ‘heroes’ came over to his volcano layer so that Ragnaross could confess his love for Ragnarachel.
Alright. Time to act.
As the group arrived, Hootsie leading them, Kremy sat up and looked at Gideon in his tight leotard and funny eyebrows. It was still very Gideon, but funnier. He liked the look. He knew he had gone all out but damn he loved the silicone breasts they really made him look good.
They had a short interaction between them, something about a show with 10 seasons and highest views or whatever, but what Kremy was waiting for, or rather dreading, was approaching. The ‘stage kiss’ as it was written in the script. And he knew that Gideon wouldn’t let it pass, not if Gricko had written it out. He knew it, it was fine. It was a stage kiss, Gideon would figure something out.
“I love you Ragnaross!” Kremy said after his stupid speech, trying to keep his voice shaking so the audience would think he was almost crying. He blinked quickly towards Gideon and he looked back at him, his voice strangely deep and also kinda shaky.
“Oh Ragnarachel… I love you too… and I can finally see its importance thanks to brave sir Morgo” Gideon said, in his same shaky voice, although Kremy suspected he was holding back a laugh and not trying to act. Which was kinda funny. The whole play was supposed to be a comedy after all. “Now let’s kiss…”
Welp. Gideon approached him, and Kremy felt his heart racing, his stomach turning. It was just a stage kiss, he could see Gideon lifting his hand to block their lips from touching, part of him feeling disappointment while a bigger part of him felt relief. Imagine what would happen if they kissed for real? Kremy wasn’t fucking ready for that, he had been hiding his feelings for too long to be ready for that!
Gideon’s hand covered his snout for a second as their faces got closer to each other, but in the last moment, for some unknown reason… Gideon pulled his hand away.
Both their eyes widened as their lips pressed together in a light but very real kiss, Gideon’s warm lips pressing against his own cold ones, glances meeting as they both seemed surprised. The crowd cheered, loud and wild, but Kremy’s ears began to ring and his eyes focused on Gideon and all he could do was see and hear him for those short seconds.
The world stopped, his stomach went up to his chest and his heart to his throat, and he felt like he was going to throw up.
They pulled away together, and Kremy looked away while covering his snout while Gideon took a second before he cleaned his throat and went on with his lines. What happened after was pretty much a fucking blurr, Kremy couldn’t think as he still felt the warmth of Gideon’s lips against his own.
There was a scene happening, there were things going on, but he couldn’t focus on them, not when his mind was swirling around the fact that he and Gideon had kissed. Kissed, truly kissed. It wasn’t supposed to be such a big deal, honestly he shouldn’t have even cared, but fuck… he did.
He thanked the gods when he saw the others running out of the scene, and he followed, feeling his heart beating out of his chest. The moment they were back to the fringes, he looked at Gideon and grabbed his leotard, pulling him close.
“What in all hells was that Gid?!” he asked, angrily, showing his teeth as the play continued, now with the final scene between Morgo, Wigglewag and Skabatha. He couldn’t care less. He could see Twig and Torbek standing around but fuck! “It was supposed to be a stage kiss! A fucking stage kiss Gid!”
“I-I know!” Gideon said with his eyes as wide as Kremy’s, clearly in distress but not as much. He couldn’t be. He didn’t know what was happening inside Kremy’s mind. “I don’t know what happened man I’m sorry!”
“What do you mean you don’t know what happened?! You had your hand to my snout, you took it away last second!” Kremy replied, and Gideon shook his head.
“I didn’t mean to! I don’t know what happened, I don’t know why I did that, I was really going to cover your lips up man!” he said, and Kremy didn’t detect any lie in him but fuck! “It was probably some fey magic shit, I don’t fucking know!”
Kremy groaned and pushed him away, rubbing his eyes and feeling distress and anger and sadness in his chest. He could still fucking feel the lips against his own.
“Fuck Gid…”
“Was it that bad?”
His eyes snapped open and he looked at Gideon with incredulous eyes that quickly softened at Gideon’s unsure and a bit upset expression.
“What?”
“I mean you’re so fucking upset, is my kiss that horrible?” he asked, and he truly sounded hurt. Kremy felt a pinch of pain in his chest, damn, he had to keep a hold on his feelings. Gid didn’t deserve that.
“I mean… no. No the kiss wasn’t all that bad, it wasn’t really bad at all, I was just surprised” he said, and Gideon stared at him with unsure eyes. “I mean it Gid I mean… you’ve kissed so many people, your kiss can’t be all that bad.”
Ouch. That shit hurt.
Gideon seemed to calm down a bit and nodded slowly.
“I mean what I say Krems. I didn’t mean to kiss you. I was going to block your mouth, I don’t know what happened.”
“It was probably fey magic, don’t worry about it. Sorry I yelled at you” Kremy replied, and Gideon gave him a bright smile and a nod before turning his attention to the play.
But Kremy didn’t look away. Gods… his heart was bleeding out inside his chest. Everything hurt. The back of his eyes burnt.
He would never really be able to kiss Gideon outside of some stupid shananigan or… love sickness spell or… anything like that. And until now he could live with the fact that he would never know what it felt like… but now he knew what it felt like. How soft his lips were, how his beard tingled against his sensitive scales, how warm his kiss felt against his cold lips. Gods… gods…
What wouldn’t he do for just another kiss…
He noticed his vision getting blurry and quickly wiped his eyes, shaking his head and looking back at the play. The curtain closed and they were called for their final bows. He stood next to Gideon, and he felt his body aching for his warmth as they bowed together.
Gods, he was fucking depressing.
When the opera finished, the king declared Morgo a free bullywug, and they were allowed some time to rest before the Electrum Chef competition. As they gathered up, Gricko looked absolutely jubilant, he had never seen the goblin smile so big before. He gave Hootsie a bunch of pets and treats, and Kremy found himself smiling. She really was the star of the show, and a cutie for that matter.
As they changed, Gricko jumped closer to them all.
“You were all great! You were fantastic, you sang beautifully, you did everything with mastery, I’m so proud of all of you!” he hugged each one of them tightly, hopping in place. Then, he looked at him and Gideon. “And that kiss! I was sure I had written ‘stage kiss’ on the play but you guys really delivered!”
Kremy wanted to die once again.
“I mean yeah! I was going for a stage kiss but like my hand slipped or something” Gideon said with a soft shrug. “Was good though, gave the scene some more pzazz.”
“Yeah, we think it was some form of fey magic” Kremy said, and Gricko nodded excitedly, but Kremy noticed Frost looking away and cleaning his throat.
Wait…
“Frost?” Kremy asked, and Frost looked at him with an expression that Kremy immediately knew. “Did you have something to do with it?”
“Well…” Frost hummed and crossed his arms. “I mean I thought it would give the play more… veracity. So I used my mage hand to… nudge Gideon’s hand a bit to the side.”
Kremy stared at him, feeling his blood begin to boil. Gricko gasped and looked up at Frost, grinning widely.
“Frosty you’re such a genius! I can’t believe yo-”
“What in the fucking nine hells Frost?!”
Kremy was pissed. He had magic coursing through his body, his eyes beginning to look purple. He was so fucking ready to kill the tabaxi at that very instant. Frost looked at him, as did Gricko and the others, but Frost didn’t look intimidated.
“I mean… isn’t it obvious Kremy? Do you think Gricko took that story about Ragnaross and Ragnarachel out of nowhere? He clearly used someone as an inspiration, and it was no major image” he said, and Gricko’s eyes widened before he hid behind Frost.
Kremy’s eyes snapped to Gricko but then returned to Frost.
“What the fuck do you mean?”
“It means that you and Gideon have been beating around the bush for long enough, and I am a bit tired of it” Frost said, with all his typical honesty. “You are already literally married. How long will it take for you both to finally take the next step?”
The room was silent. There was tension in the air. Kremy wanted to disappear, he wanted to kill Frost, he wanted many things…
But before he could do them, someone knocked at the door.
A short bullywug came inside, requesting his four companions to follow. After a moment of hesitation, they did, and Kremy was alone with Twig. She requested a list of ingredients and he handed it to her, before he was left alone in the room.
His eyes filled with tears immediately as he sat down on the couch, rubbing his face and sighing shakily. He had to calm down, he had to focus, he had a competition to win… but fuck .
Fuck Frost, fuck Gricko, fuck everything!
He breathed in shakily and looked over, seeing the prop of Gideon’s picture, framed, with fire drawn all around it. He took it and looked down upon it, feeling his chest aching. He couldn’t do this… he wasn’t worthy… Gideon deserved so much better.
And now, he had had a taste of what it felt like. And he hated that he wanted more.
“ I love him …” he mumbled, his thumb brushing over the frame of the picture “ but every day… I’m learning… all my life… I’ve always been pretending… ”
A single tear slid down his face and he sighed shakily, wiping it away with trembling hands.
“ Without me… his world will go on turning… a world that’s full of happiness that I… will never know… ”
He closed his eyes, pulling the picture frame closer to his chest and laying back down, taking a deep breath and leaning into the couch, staring up at the ceiling.
“ I love him… but only on my own… ”
He hated Gricko, and his songs, and his opera, and this place, and Frost and Torbek and Twig and Garou and life.
But Gideon?
Fuck.
He loved him.