Alex and Theodore ✓

for beautiful masks

act four:

i
There is something to be said for beautiful masks. Beautiful masks worn by beautiful people. Beautiful people like Theodore. Theodore has too much vodka and his beautiful mask shatters on the floor. The porcelain pieces fly, they skid across linoleum. Alex thinks that what is under the mask is even more beautiful. Even though what's under the mask is pained and dark and twisted up. Theodore chips away at Alex's own very average mask. Then they mirror each other, each a little broken and a little bruised. The only difference is that when Theodore wakes up in the morning, his beautiful mask will be back. It will be back, and he will be gone. And Alex will be steadfast, dependable, average. Average Alex. For the night, though, he is Alexander. He charms, he woos, he flirts his ass off in an attempt to keep Theodore in the morning. There is a sinking dread in his gut that it will not be enough. That it will not be enough and Alex will go back to being average and Theodore will go back to being extraordinary. That Theodore will go back to stumbling into his dressing room and not knowing that he is there until he reaches out and touches.

ii
Alex is drunk. He's drunk and he's rowdy. Theodore has told him several times that this is the most fun he's ever had in San Francisco. Theodore has asked him several times why he isn't always like this. Alex thinks back to his cup of Earl Grey. He thinks back to Darla. He thinks and he knows why he isn't always like this. Because he is Alex, not Alexander. Theodore requests to call him Alexander for the night. It's like Alexander the Great, Theodore tells him, excited. Maybe that can be my nickname for you! Nickname? Alex wants to ask. You want to have a nickname for me? Nickname as in best friend or nickname as in boyfriend? Nickname as in you're-drunk-and-I'm-drunk-and-I-won't-be-here-in-the-morning? Theodore calls the bartender darling. Alex feels a pang in his chest. Theodore has never called him darling. He calls Theodore darling, and Theodore laughs. He says that darling doesn't roll off Alex's tongue in the way it rolls off a thespian's. He says that he wants to hear Alex say it again. And again. And again. He listens to Alex say darling until they're breathless, stumbling out of the bar and into the night.

iii
Theodore sweeps onto Alex's roof and sits down at the edge. Alex sits down beside him. Theodore is wearing rhinestones on a pink leather jacket today. Alex thinks it looks fantastic. Alex is wearing a blue hoodie instead of black. Ordinarily, he would say that the outfit is adventurous. But next to Theodore, everything pales. The moon pales next to Theodore. The stars in the sky pale next to Theodore. Because Theodore shines. Alex asks why Theodore never goes by Theo. Theo is drunk enough to tell the truth. It's because I used to be teased at school, he confesses. They called me The-Odor. Theodore shrugs. I guess this is my way of reclaiming my name, my identity, myself. There. That showbiz smile again. Alex asks if he can call Theodore Theo. Theo leans in closer. Only if I can call you Alexander, Theo says. Alex asks why. Alex says that he is hopelessly average, that a name like Alex suits him. Theodore rests his head on Alex's shoulder. No, Alexander, Theo says, you are extraordinary.