Romeo and Tybalt

Act I - Scene 5

In which Romeo meets Juliet...

Romeo stood amongst the crowd, watching people dance and enjoy the feast.
At the beginning of the feast, he felt a twinge of excitement! Mercutio and Benvolio had made it fun for a while. Until he lost sight of both of them later on. They were on the dance floor for one second, and gone the next. Leaving him with no one to talk to.
And to make things more emotionally frustrating, Romeo's mind was stuck on that attractive fellow, the one he only saw for a minute. It's not like he was going to see him again, so all he could do was fantasize.

Until he did see him again.

First, Romeo mentally panicked, trying to make sure that he didn't mistake someone else for him.
Chestnut hair? Check, but anyone could have that color of brown hair.
Tall? Check, but Romeo was short in general.
Eyes? Well, he wasn't wearing a mask, but they looked brown, so check?

Romeo wormed his way through the crowd of masqueraders, looking for anyone who could possibly identify him. He saw a young girl and caught her attention by tapping on her shoulder. "Excuse me miss, but who's that?" Romeo asked.

The girl narrowed her eyes behind the mask and pointed at the boy who captured Romeo's heart. "Are you asking about him?"

"The tall one in red, without the mask." Romeo added to give her more context.

"Ah, that one," she clarified to herself, "that's my cousin, Tybalt."

"Tybalt," Romeo said in wonder, still staring at him. "Lovely name." He mumbled to himself.

"Pardon?"

"Uh..." Romeo trailed, now looking at her with a blank mind. "Fuck, did I say that aloud?" He whispered, not paying any attention to his language.

The girl snickered. "You're funny, you know that?" She asked.

"I don't think so..." he replied nervously. This youngin' sounded... well quite young, and Romeo was unsure of interacting with a child.

She couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Oh, and don't forget to watch your mouth," she stated at random, " I heard you say fu—"

"Hush hush, young one!" Romeo chided, clamping a gloved hand over her mouth. He was not going to be responsible for corrupting this child. "No need to attract any attention with swears, hm?"

She shook her head, and yanked his hand away so she could speak again. "No, but I have a question for you."

Romeo blinked and told her to go ahead and ask.

"What do you want with my cousin?"

Oh no. Now his mind was beginning to fill with inappropriate thoughts, and they definitely included Tybalt.

"Uh, I want to... erm, befriend him!" Yes yes, befriend was totally the right word. "If you don't mind...?" Romeo trailed off, realizing that he didn't ask for her name.

Being a smart girl, she caught his drift and said, "Juliet."

"If you don't mind, Juliet, I'd like to know more about your cousin." He stated, hoping that he wasn't weirding her out.

Juliet hummed in thought. The feast was starting to get boring, and it wouldn't hurt to gain a new friend for once.
"Follow me," she ordered, "I know a place where we can talk."

Romeo did as she told and both of them weaved through all the people, walking away from the loud sounds of partying. Juliet went down the halls, and there were so many that Romeo almost got lost. He wondered how she knew her way around the house, but didn't dwell on it so much. She lead them to an empty lounge room, then plopped herself down on a sofa and encouraged Romeo to do the same.

"So, what do you want to know about Tybalt?" Juliet questioned, adjusting her seating to feel comfortable.

Romeo sat across from Juliet and considered on what kind of question he should ask. Should he be direct with his intentions? Or should he play safe?
Say something, Romeo. "What's his favorite color?" The sixteen-year-old blurted out.
Of all questions, he had to ask that one. Valorous job, Romeo.

"Hmmm, if you asked him directly, he would tell you that it's red," she recalled, "but it's actually green."

"Ah, alright then." Romeo made a mental note of that, and then continued asking Juliet about Tybalt.

Most, if not all, of Romeo's questions would be considered tame. Now, would he prefer to learn about more interesting things? Yes. Was he also tempted to ask about Tybalt's sexual and/or romantic preferences? Yes. But, he's managed to keep the conversation going smoothly so far. That result made Romeo content with playing safe.

Juliet on the other hand was slowly, but surely, beginning to get fed up. While she loved talking about her dear cousin and tell stories from when they were little (in Juliet's case: littler), she originally thought that she would be sharing more embarrassing things. For example, the first time she heard Tybalt's high-pitched scream after being startled by a cat.
Nevertheless, her duty was to answer and not interrogate. Even though she wanted to know why he wanted to befriend Tybalt.
Wait, what even is his name?

"Julietttt!" Romeo sang, tired of everyone spacing out around him. "Earth to Julietttttttt!!"

The younger teen blinked and looked Romeo dead in the eye. "What's thy name?"

Romeo suddenly felt uneasy, well more intimidated, but still uneasy. Up until now, Juliet wasn't speaking formally.
"P-pardon?" He dared to question, adding confusion to his mixture of feelings.

"I told you mine earlier, and you never mentioned yours, so I must ask," Juliet reasoned. "What. Is. Thy. Name?"

Now, Romeo was starting to feel a little bit scared. The pure wrath of a female is frightening (cough Mother cough).
"Romeo," he replied quickly, also considering to answer Juliet formally. "Thou mayest refer to me as Romeo." He added with hints of hesitation.

Like a switch, Juliet's demeanor changed as soon as she smiled. "Okay Romeo, why do you want to be Tybalt's friend?"

"I..."

Romeo didn't think this far, but then again, did he expect to be grilled by a little kid? Not really. Should he jut reveal his true intentions, so he can get this over with?
Hmmmmm. Oh well.

"I, uh, to be honest," uh oh he be stammering, "I think I'm," in love "infatuated with your cousin."

Juliet just stared. Her face expressionless.
She didn't see that coming.