April 2023 Multifandom Oneshots

TPTGW

Fandom name : The Play That Goes Wrong
Chronology : Pre-canon
Pairings : Dennis & Chris
Headcanons : Female!Chris, Autistic!Dennis
Author's note : So today is opening night of my high school's musical (we're doing Chicago and I'm playing Amos) so I'm pretty stressed and Dennis (a character which I also played) is like my projection character for any theater stresses so here we are

Dennis was shaking his right hand rapidly, trying to offset some of the growing anxiety he was feeling.

See, in a little over 12 hours, he and the rest of the Cornely Polytechnic Drama Society would be putting on their opening performance of A Murder at Haversham Manor, and he was nervous.

He wasn't worried about the audience, no. For all his anxieties, he'd never had stage fright. No, he was afraid of messing up. Of getting hurt. Of something going wrong.

"Dennis, hey" a familiar voice sounded, accompanied by a snapping of fingers. Dennis looked up in alarm, worried for a moment he was in trouble, only to see Chris in front of him with a concerned expression on her face. "What's going on, bud?"

"Stressed" he answered honestly. The director nodded. "Don't get me wrong, I'm also excited. You know I love performing and Perkins is a very fun character, but... I don't know" he sighed. "There's just a lot of things that can and will probably go wrong, given our track record"

"Dennis, look at me" she said firmly and he met her gaze for a moment, but the eye contact was too much so he settled on looking just past her, which she accepted. "No matter what happens during the show, I'm so proud of you for all the work you've put in this show, okay? You're doing amazing, buddy"

"Okay..."

"Do you want a hug?"

"Please" Dennis nodded a bit hastily and, with that, Chris wrapped her arms around him.

He always liked Christine hugs, however scarce they were. Not only was she a very good hugger, but they were also just about the same height (she was 5'3 and he was 5'3 1/2), which made it easier to hug her. Not many people talk about it, but hug quality is also very dependent on height. For example, Dennis has a harder time hugging Trevor since Trevor is 6'0. He always has to get a step stool if he wants it to be comfortable for the both of them.

"You're doing awesome" Chris said as she rubbed the anxious actor's back.

"You are too" he told her, which caused her to chuckle slightly. She didn't bring it up then, but she was also quite stressed, so the affirmation from Dennis (a man who never sugarcoated things) was nice to hear.

"Thanks, Den"