Work Text:
This was done by Tanalit for Team Maqua Fest. Enjoy!
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In three years of being wardrobe head, no one had given Maxie nearly as much stress as Archie had.
The actor was simply insufferable. As much as Maxie liked to insist that all of his wardrobe crew act as though they were on the same level of the actors, and not talk down to them – a habit that a lot of people struggled to break in undergrad - Archie seemed to be the one exception to Maxie’s rule of peace backstage.
Archie regularly showed up late to his call, and then often times preferred to get his undergarments and mic pack on, just the bare minimum for running mic check before the house opened and the audience was let into the space, and walk around in only his underthings until five minutes before places were called. Sometimes longer, depending on the show. He insisted that he didn’t know how to style his hair, or do his –usually very basic – stage makeup for the show at hand, and given that he always insisted he was fine until they started into tech, Maxie usually ended up performing these tasks himself, due to all of his dressers being busy with the rest of the cast.
He would eat and drink in costume, which was a strict rule but yet he had never actually messed any of his costumes up. He was frisky with is dressers and wouldn’t shy away from making jokes of a more sexual nature with his dresser. (This, of course, was only Maxie – while others were capable of handling Archie’s changes, Maxie simply did them himself to make sure they ‘did it right’.)
And so it became almost routine that Archie would, very irresponsibly, sit on the counter with his back to his station, legs spread apart as Maxie had to stand between them, working out the fine details of his hair and makeup, which had to be perfect as always. Even more routine was the constant bickering back and forth between the pair; an almost constant stream of insults between wardrobe head and actor. Maxie would constantly berate Archie for being incapable of doing his own prep work – he was graduating soon, after all, and should be more than capable of doing this himself – ‘I TA the stage makeup class, you know’- and Archie would, smile wide on his face, mock him for his motherly taking care of Archie every show, and pick on how strict Maxie was.
The rest of the cast and crew often took bets during tech week as to whether this would finally be the show they ended up fucking in the dressing rooms or the wings. Far from professional, Tabitha insisted, one of the other wardrobe assistants and used to working by Maxie’s side. He would never allow for that, Tabitha thought. Shelly fought the opposite argument, saying she would never be surprised to find they HAD been fucking, and they had all simply missed it by accident – or perhaps they had just been careful enough to avoid getting caught.
It wasn’t until Romeo and Juliet that things finally came to a head.
The cast had been wonderfully assembled – and among the talent, Archie had landed himself the role of Mercutio – Romeo’s best friend and the first death of the story’s downward spiral. Maxie had assisted in the build process for the costumes, as per normal, as well as the fittings for certain actors whose garments he had worked on – and among several other tasks, had been given Mercutio’s third – and last – set of clothing to construct and fit. The designer, Maxie cursed his name, had decided to go with Regency-era costumes, taking advantage of the shapely legs of the men in their cast by putting them all in extremely well-fit garments that hugged their legs snug and left little to the imagination on their backsides.
The measurement and fitting process had been awkward enough. Maxie needed specific measurements to build such a tailored look, which involved a lot of measuring down on his knees in front of Archie, trying to constantly remind the man that this was a professional situation that he would have to repeat in his future if he hoped to get any jobs at all – and No, Archie, I won’t measure your dick for you–.
And once their mock-up had been made, they had to adjust it to be tighter around his legs, hugging them even more, and god DAMN Archie’s specific, tall, broad-shouldered and long-armed, muscled body for needing so many adjustments; so many that he couldn’t keep his face from getting hot as he pinched out the ill-fitting fabric and pinned as Archie talked the whole time. Unprofessional as it was, he may have even poked the man in the ribs with a pin after a particularly sexual comment, feigning ignorance as Archie complained and Maxie’s supervisor got after the both of them.
But the final costume was another problem all together. The lovely royal blue, tailored to fit across his broad shoulders and define his slim waist, coming to an end just as his rear end started tapering out in white-gold drop-front pants, clinging to every muscle that he had. Maxie learned first hand how difficult it could be to finish a costume fitting when he couldn’t look at the person wearing it without his face going red.
And so, after their arguing through makeup and hair styling – defining Archie’s sharp brow and cheekbones, slicking back his hair to a neat ponytail – Maxie then had to ensure that Archie got dressed in one extremely well fitting costume after another. He started the show in a much more casual attire; slightly less tight pants, and a waistcoat and ascot with his billowing shirt, dressed in his house’s blues as he led the fight at the top of the show. Then, the bright and elegant scene from the party that Mercutio helped crash put him in more royal golds and a fitted coat similar to the one Maxie had built for his last costume.
Though he would claim he was simply keeping an eye on his cast, Maxie watched from the wings every rehearsal, and then every show as Archie was on stage, and chewed on his lip as he watched others around him be drawn in by Mercutio’s charm. He lead the fights, he was always bright and cheerful, he flirted with Romeo and danced with everyone possible at the party. Maxie could never recall a time he wished he had stayed at least in part a performer more than when he watched Archie dance and flirt and play his part; to be one of the party guests, dressed in red, that he would snatch up and swing around, the flush of his face hidden behind the masks they all wore.
He continuously pushed it off as simply being fascinated by the thought of having that kind of attention lavished on him. Never would he seek out that kind of affection from Archie. And yet…
Every evening, when Mercutio lost his fight with Tybalt and died, stabbed in his side and bleeding carefully-created blood down his bright and clean gold and blue ensemble, Maxie would have to carefully peel him out of the tight ensemble, clothing wet and clinging to his body even tighter than it normally did, and carefully wash the clothing and help clean the excess of soap and food coloring off of Archie’s mostly nude body. And every single night, the undressing in the isolation of the shower room, away from the rest of the cast with the monitors playing just barely loud enough to hear, the undressing somehow became far more intimate than Maxie had ever thought it would be.
For the first time, one night, their second to last show, Archie was silent in the process of being undressed, watching Maxie and moving for him to unpeel and unstick the blood-soaked clothing from his body. Watching Maxie, biting his cheek and once even trailing his tongue along his bottom lip as Maxie peeled his last article of top clothing from him. He couldn’t help but let out a soft whine – a complaint if it could even be called that – as Maxie peeled the last layer from him, causing the man to pause just after removing the article, half between kneeling and standing.
The noises around them, show still running but neither of them needed, played in a blur for what seemed like hours as they both sat in silence. Hesitantly, Archie reached out and pushed a strand of Maxie’s hair out of his face, lingering along his jawline and chin for just a moment until the redhead flinched, standing abruptly and turning to wash the blood out of his costume. Archie approached him from behind as Maxie stood at the sink, carefully washing the white gold fabric, watching his hands shake as he did so.
Still barely dressed, more than a little amused by the way he had managed to affect the redhead with only a little touch and some silence, Archie placed his hands on Maxie’s hips, causing the redhead to jump, his attempt to turn around thwarted by the hands holding him in place. Carefully, very carefully – Archie placed the lightest of kisses on the back of Maxie’s neck, continuing as he massaged the wardrobe head’s hips with his hands, fingers digging pleasantly into his hips. Hands shaking too much to wash, Maxie dropped the clothing and put his hands on the sink, protesting quickly.
“Archie, stop—“ He growled, trying to move the hands from his waist now.
“Come on – I don’t have to be on till Curtain,” he whispered, sucking on Maxie’s ear. Maxie was surprised by how natural it felt, along with the shock that trailed down his neck to his groin. He bit his lip, to keep himself from letting out a satisfied noise similar to Archie’s as the kisses moved back down his neck, slowly shifting to sucking and biting. The hands on his hips drew him back ever so slightly, pressed up against the heat of the body behind him. Despite knowing Archie’s body inside and out – measurements and muscles and how his body liked to wear clothing – he still was enthralled by the feeling of it up against him. Enticing him to learn it in a whole new way.
“N-no – You may not have to, but I have to be available – Archie, s-stop” he insisted, moving the hands from his hips and forcing himself to take a step forward and away from Archie’s tempting body, scrubbing harshly at the pants in the sink quickly after. His hands were still shaking, and his face was red, but Archie took a step back, still biting his lip as the silence grew between them again, heavy and hot and far different from anything Maxie had ever experienced with Archie before outside of wandering thoughts and active hands on his own in his dorm room.
Maxie turned on his heel, leaning against the sink and meeting Archie’s gaze, interrupting the actor as he was taking in Maxie’s body from behind and catching him just slightly by surprise. Archie’s face was different, when he wasn’t smiling and antagonizing Maxie, or anyone else – in character or not. Instead, his lips were parted and pupils blown – and a need he had never seen before in his classmate filled his eyes, and Maxie very suddenly felt the years of their bickering and teasing back and forth ignite and start changing.
The redhead sighed heavily. “If you’re serious about this, then you can stay after tonight and help me with the laundry,” Maxie provided, almost hesitantly, before picking up the newly clean clothing and draping it over his arm, taking his leave. “I have the keys to lock up, so— if you help me finish up, we can take as long as you would like on that.” And with that, knees shaking, Maxie let himself out of the shower room, leaving Archie with a grin on his face and Maxie far more flustered than he could ever recall himself being.
(Shelly and Tabitha may have caught Maxie as he stormed around the corner, face still red and biting his lip, and Archie soon after looking far too satisfied for his own good. “Pay up,” Shelly insisted, holding her hand out to Tabitha, who took a twenty out of his apron pocket and into the actress’ hand. “Told you they’d try and get it on here.”)