A Comedy of Eros

Act I

Author's Note: Inspired by Shakespeare, real life, and thank you "Xena: Warrior Princess" for the title and more. Don't own XWP or OITNB, not even Shakespeare.

Note on the first part: Where the Prologue spoils it all. Then in Act I the story it told starts to unfold, we meet some of our characters, and move closer to our location.

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                          Prologue

Six characters, not alike in eccentricity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,

From starting strangeness grow to new complicity,

Where imperfect knowledge arise desire keen.

From forth the misfired arrows of a certain bow

The pairs split up, their feathers all a-ruffled;

Whose misadventures caused by fatal blow

Do with their swift appearance Love leave puzzled.

The young meetings and the novel romance groove,

And the stain of its disruption on Valentine's glory,

Which, but for Cupid's intuition, nought could remove,

Is now the five acts' business of our story;

The which if you with patient eyes now read,

What here's unclear, will later find its heed.

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                           ACT I

                         Scene I

Somewhere between America and Europe, over international waters

Love was in the air.

He was less than mid-flight on a very long flight, now over the vast watery expanse of the Atlantic Ocean.

"Pff. Finally," Neri leaned against the seat.

"Yeah," Cal whispered back. "But this late it was impossible to find the optimal departure time for her circadian cycle."

"Mh-m."

The work assignment had come just a few days before. Four years since he had started and it was always like this, unpredictable and last-minute.

"Have you told Piper?"

"Not yet. Gonna contact her when we get there."

Neri sighed. "Okay. I really hope this has nothing to do with her."

"Yeah, me too... Hearing her with the ex that time was bad enough."

Neri grimaced; she had not witnessed anything, luckily, but Cal's tale had been vivid and scarring. She did not envy his job.

"Try not to think about it anymore," she said. "I'm gonna sleep too. Don't wake me up till we're at least over the Alps."

He nodded, they exchanged a peck over Goodall's lightly snoring form between them, and she closed her eyes.

Cal took out his thermos cup from the bag under his seat, gestured to the flight attendant and got it filled with some barley coffee; he glanced at Neri - eyes still closed, yay! - it probably wasn't organic but they couldn't die of thirst. At least he had remembered the cup and was avoiding caffeine, kudos to him!, he gave himself a mental high-five.