We've Got Magic to Do (Snowbaz AU)

Chapter Five

Simon

"Ow, Penny!" I grimace as she pokes at me with the eyeliner.

"Simon, do you want help with your makeup or not?" I scoot forward in my seat, and take a shifty glance back at the wall clock. Thirty minutes left until show time. I can't risk doing the eyeliner myself and then messing up my whole face somehow and having to start all over again.

"Fine, just be careful, please." Penny nods, then turns away from me for a moment to grab a makeup wipe from her kit. "So, about this note-"

"Simon, listen. It's opening night. You're going on tonight as Pippin. Is Baz seriously your top priority right now?? Are you mental??" She dabs the wipe at the corner of my eye where the pencil made an ugly streak, and then chucks it into the bin behind her.

"I wouldn't say he's my top priority, but I also wouldn't say I'm not worried about his intentions. He's got duct-tape and a hammer, Penny!"

"Are you seriously telling me you couldn't protect yourself with a wand against whatever tech supplies he's got on hand?" She comes back at me with the eye pencil, poking at my waterline.

"Yeah, but-"

"Simon, don't talk, you're moving too much. Just be still for a second so I can finish this." I let out a huff of air, but don't try to strike up the conversation again. Instead I just try not grimace as she pokes at my eye, try not to blink as she presses down on my lower lid. She takes the pencil away, takes a look at me and nods. "Alright, now."

"Yes, I can defend myself with a wand, but with spells you have to say them out loud! With weapons, he can sneak up on me!"

Penny packs her makeup into her kit, and I can see her shaking her head at me. "Will you please relax? We've got a two hour show to do, and Baz will be stuck in the orchestra pit for most, if not all, of it. You need to focus, Simon."

"Penny, he is diabolical, I can't trust that he will stay put for an entire two hours."

"Simon, you barely know him, why are you so-" Out of the corner of my eye, I see Baz walking into the green room.

"Penny, penny-" I hiss under my breath, my eyes never leaving his dark hair as he walks toward the water fountain. Penny follows my gaze and sees him, and stops talking abruptly. Baz leans down to the fountain, takes a sip, and stands back up. He turns around, and looks over to Penny and me. We both look away, probably too quickly. If Baz picked up on us staring at him, he doesn't show it. He looks away from us, then straightens his shirt and walks out into the hallway.

"Speak of the devil," I mutter. Penny's right, of course. He'll go back into his beloved orchestra pit, and for two hours, I'll have nothing to do with him. He will be stuck, if not be an obligation to play music then by the orchestra around him. It's always so awkward to scoot in between the chairs and stands down there, and even more impossible when you have to do it in complete silence or risk disturbing the show. But silence and alone time leads to plotting. And plotting leads to murder and destruction and evil. I can't just let him slip through my fingers and go back to the pit to plot and scheme a way to get rid of me, or anyone else in the drama department who rubs him the wrong way.

I stand up and rush out of the green room, finding Baz only a few paces down the hall. I quicken my pace, ending up right next to him as he walks down the hallway. He gives me a sideways glance, but doesn't ask what I'm doing. Until he notices I'm following him, that is.

"What?" He says, stopping in his tracks and folding his arms.

Suddenly it occurs to me that a spur of the moment action plan was ill-advised. His stare is unwavering, and I have no clue how to look him in the eye and accuse him of sabotage and murder. I take a breath. "Look...um.."