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On their first magic show ever, Sigma didn’t know what to expect.
Yes, he had watched some videos of street magicians performing at random corners or even parks, but the place they had been brought to by Kyôka (she was supposed to go with Atsushi, but he had ended up as an emergency catsitter for his boyfriend, and was taking it as seriously as if that was a test for future marriage, and maybe it even was indeed) was a rather fancy venue-- an old theatre which had been fixed up both inside and out, at its grand re-opening. So it looked very beautiful, but also somewhat intimidating, for starters.
“Don’t you feel kind of underdressed for this?” He asked, being offered a shrug for a first response.
“Well, the place is elegant, but we don’t have to be.” Kyôka reasoned, in her usual calm tone. “Besides, we look fine.” That was true; her wearing one of her newest yukatas and him attending in a suit they had from when working at the casino, none of them stuck out from the rest of the people around.
Therefore, Sigma had to quickly come to terms about the fact their own feeling of restlessness was laying somewhere else.
“I think I’m… so excited I’m actually nervous.”
“I feel you, this is my first magic show too. You know.” Kyôka then replied, looking like she was faring way better than Sigma himself was, at least. They believed her, still: her parents’ death years ago had made her miss out on a lot of things.
Meanwhile, Sigma’s-- unconventional upbringing, to put it simply, had a similar effect when it came to them too. Maybe that was why Atsushi had chosen Sigma to be his ‘replacement’ at the function, as well as the reason Kyôka lost no time in agreeing; apart from having become friends with her by virtue of being friends and coworkers, there was something nice about discovering something new together.
Finding their seats was easy enough, and thus there was nothing more to do than wait for the show to start, which happened rather soon.
And that was where something else started as well for Sigma.
As the room’s lights dimmed out and the stage’s ones got switched on, there entered the magician; Nikolai Gogol, as the brochures said-- and the absolutely most gorgeous man Sigma had ever laid eyes on, no exaggeration. Tall, long white hair combed in a single braid, magnetic mismatched eyes (one scarred, adding a smidge of mystery to the mix), a face which might as well have been sculpted by a Renaissance artist Nikolai Gogol looked like a dream come true.
Plus, the fact he seemed to glimmer under the lighting and carried out said entrance with an impressive display of acrobatics only made things worse. Or, rather, better.
“Good evening, everyone!” He greeted the audience with, taking off his top hat and bowing. “Ladies, gentlemen, folks from all around, welcome!” After yet another bow, then a third one, he continued as he put on the hat back again. “You may know it already, but allow me to introduce myself anyway, manners matter. My name is Nikolai Gogol, and I’m here to make you marvel tonight.” After those words, a wink followed, and Sigma was pretty much done for.
They were as smitten as if he had just gotten struck by lightning. Even if it had been Cupid’s arrow instead.
Sigma couldn’t say they believed in love at first sight; love tended to and had to be the fruit of time and work, of knowing the other person way more than a small bunch of minutes. He, though, believed in crush at first sight-- and how not to, when that was exactly what was happening to them in real time?
Again, he had just met the man, and not even properly because Nikolai was up on the stage instead of having a one to one conversation with them. But that didn’t seem like an obstacle, for Sigma had just gotten overcome by the dire craving (need, even) to get to know him for real, to strike a conversation, to learn if his lips felt and tasted as nice as it seemed from afar, to…
“Damn, he’s so dreamy. And hot.” Escaped his lips almost on its own, not very loudly but in a high enough volume everyone in the vicinity might hear since silence had fallen for a moment.
Fuck.
Well, at least nothing indicated those words had traveled as far as to reach the magician’s ears, and thankfully so.
“People around us have noticed.” Kyôka whispered in their direction, not exactly helping to make him feel less embarrassed until what came next. “But I doubt he has, though.” Perhaps he had been a tad bit quick to judge or at least discern the girl’s intentions; blunt as she always was, she rarely acted with mean-spirited intentions, of course she wasn’t going to start then.
So, bomb defused, sort of.
Even if things were going to change pretty soon, for what Nikolai said next changed Sigma’s approach to not wanting to attract much attention from the rest of the crowd to doing something which was going to achieve exactly that as a side effect.
“Anyway, let’s start, shall we?” The magician continued, clapping in more than obvious delight; that man loved his job, and it showed. He then let a few seconds pass, so the audience could express their excitement over the upcoming tricks, before asking the question that was bound to change everything. “First of all, I’m going to need someone to be my assistant for tonight, so--” He clapped again. “Any volunteers?”
In an instant, Sigma’s arm moved up.
“Me, please!!” Whether he looked desperate or not, they didn’t care; a chance to both experience the magic show as part of it and actually approach Nikolai was too good not to grab it. Or try to, at least. “I can be perfect for you!”
Needless to say, it was only when those words were already out when Sigma realized how they sounded.
Not like he didn’t mean it in exactly that way, but it was embarrassing nonetheless, being so earnest so fast and in a room full of people no less. At least, and despite blush starting to splash their face with pink, he had enough experience with handling awkward situations in a public setting to work towards fixing it.
“I’m new to magic, but I know my way around cards. And having an audience.” Sure, his previous work at a casino wasn’t exactly the same, but still Sigma wasn’t saying so simply to save face.
Even if saving face was something he wanted to do too.
“Oh, do I have a qualified candidate?” Nikolai replied, smirking in a very enticing way and holding out a hand in invitation. “Then, please come up here!”
Said and done, for Sigma nodded in a matter of seconds, already gesturing to get up and move towards the stage. As he did so, they offered his things to Kyôka, wordlessly asking her to keep an eye on everything.
“Of course.” She simply said, offering him a small smile. “Have fun.”
To be fair, there was no need for Nikolai to keep extending his hand towards him as Sigma reached his side, same as there was no need for him to insist as they walked up the stairs that connected the floor and stage. But he did, and Sigma didn’t hesitate in taking it; not only due to craving the touch but because… Well, it wasn’t a bad idea, getting some help when narrow stairs and heels weren’t always the best of combinations.
And they refused to risk putting himself in evidence in front of (again) both the crowd in general and Nikolai in particular.
“Everyone, give it up for my gorgeous assistant!!” Was the first thing Nikolai said once they were both at center stage, and blush threatened to make its comeback, doing so soon after. “What’s your name?”
“Sigma.” Not even several people staring at him, Nikolai included, would be enough to mess up something as simple as their own introduction.
Though it was hard, that for sure.
“Sigma.” Nikolai repeated, and the way he said it made Sigma beam. “Nice to meet you, and hope you’re ready.” He then leaned in, as if about to tell them a secret when the reality was everyone would still hear him. “Don’t worry if you’re not, though, just follow my lead and you’ll see this is easy-peasy.”
It would better be easy-peasy indeed, because if he was going to do things like that all evening, Sigma’s ability to focus might get severely impaired. For obvious reasons.
The fact Nikola hadn’t let go of their hand yet was one of those reasons.
“Alright.” He answered, because ‘I’ll follow your lead anytime’ was incredibly forward and sure not something to say in front of the whole audience.
“So, what if we start out with cards, since that’s your thing? Who knows, maybe you can teach me a thing or two.” Reaching inside one of his vest’s pockets, Nikolai fetched a deck of cards he graciously handed out to Sigma. Of course, there was no need for anything else to deliver a message; that had been a wordless ask for them to start shuffling, and mention card tricks if he had some-- which was indeed the case.
“Well, there’s no way I’m impressing a professional.” Sigma shrugged, discarding the small box containing the deck and starting to shuffle indeed. “But I’ve worked as a croupier, so…”
“Yeah, your thing for sure.” Nikolai said, grinning from ear to ear.
As time passed, Sigma started becoming more and more comfortable, to the point he could almost forget there wasn’t just Nikolai and them in the room and the audience hadn’t disappeared. Just almost, because the sound of applause when a trick was finished was impossible to miss.
After cards, they had progressively moved up towards more complicated tricks; culminating with the classic of splitting someone in two-- except that, instead of being Sigma the one getting into the box used for it, Nikolai had taken said place. And made a point about how that was an unusual circumstance when performing that one while at it.
“Don’t worry, my darling Sig,” He had told both him and everyone watching. “I can assure you it’s going to be perfect like this.”
And perfect it had been, because as they followed the magician’s instructions to a T, Sigma could easily notice two things: everything was working out as supposed to, and he still had no idea of the mechanics behind it.
Damn, if suddenly it was revealed that it was real magic instead of an assortment of carefully prepared props to fool the eye, he may have even believed it.
“Can I ask how?” They whispered, as both moved the box away once Nikolai was out.
“Oh, you can.” Was the immediate answer he got… with a-- could it be called a twist, when such words were to be expected? “Sadly, I won’t be giving you anything of interest. Sorry, sweetie, a magician doesn’t reveal his tricks that easily.”
As Nikolai’s theatrics were contagious, Sigma first replied with a dramatic pout. Then, they let out a brief giggle.
“Alright, legit.”
When the show ended, Nikolai held his hand once more, guiding a joint bowing at the audience which was swiftly followed by a couple more as applause kept coming, and a final one as the stage’s curtains closed in front of them.
And then, they were technically alone, even if the world was still there behind the fabric.
Not for long, though, since Sigma should leave eventually and meet back with Kyôka… but still, the circumstances of the present were more than enough to make them giddy with anticipation: after all, Nikolai could have sent them off before fully calling the performance to an end, and he hadn’t.
“Did you have fun, Siggy?”
Sigma had by no means been immune to the nicknames and endearment terms before, but having to focus on several other things at the same time back when still under the lights and the crowd’s eyes had helped in terms of-- managing it, if it could be called that way. More or less, though and again.
But now, effectively alone… things were different.
“A lot, thanks.” They replied, not bothering to hide the instant and somewhat dumb smile appearing on his face. “Good thing I could pitch myself as a nice assistant, right?” Sigma was rather proud of both such a choice of words and their delivery, sounding more playful than awkward even if there was no way to completely take away how those things were still new to him. Still, Nikolai was going to surpass them, and rather easily while at it.
“Well, yeah, since I had my eye on you already.” He admitted almost casually, with a grin which made Sigma feel a tad bit weak at the knees. “Do you happen to have any plans soon, by the way?”
Sigma’s answer was fast in a way that could have been read as desperate.
Not like he cared about it.
“I’m not letting the friend I came here with go back home on her own.” Even if Kyôka’s street smarts were lightyears above his. “Then I’m free.”
Upon hearing that, Nikolai clapped in a very similar way to how he used to do it while addressing the audience; sudden and delighted. And, of course, nothing said ‘Oh, great!’ in a context like their current one like such a gesture.
“So, shall I assume you’re up for dinner, then?” Obviously, yes, but it was also crystal clear he was after verbal confirmation. And Sigma was happy to deliver.
“Exactly, and I’d love to.”