Late that night, having decided after supper to talk to Tante Mattie, Claude and Fifolet met outside the traiteur's bedroom door. Getting through supper had been something of a challenge, and both of them had dealt with said challenge by doing and saying nothing. They spoke only if one of the others spoke to them, and made a pointed effort to not look at each other.
When they arrived outside Tante Mattie's bedroom, they both stopped. They looked at each other hesitantly, mirrored looks of fear, desire and uncertainty in their eyes. Finally, Fifolet spoke.
"Talkin' to her was your idea. You go first."
Claude nodded and knocked on the door, his hand shaking.
Inside the room, Mattie smiled. She made herself comfortable in her rocking chair before asking them to join her. "Come in, bot' of you." When they did so, she smiled warmly at them. "What can I do for you tonight, boys?"
"Dat d'pends on how much you know..." Claude replied, casting a sideways glance at Fifolet. Claude remembered that Fifolet had not openly told the healer about his sexual orientation, but figured she knew anyway.
"I know more'n either of you realize. I am an empath, remember?" Mattie chuckled. "Everythin' you feel, I feel."
"So..." Fifolet began, not looking at either of his two companions.
"So...don' get me wrong. I've known de truth 'bout bot' of you for years an' you know it. Fifolet, to be honest, I'm glad you finally told someone other den Bella Donna an' Gris-Gris. An' Claude, I'm glad you've told someone other dan me. Neither one of you needs to be afraid of de others..dey will support you an' still love you even if dey don' understand. It will be difficult, of course, but you'll both feel better in de end b'cause of it." Mattie told them.
"You t'ink we should jus' come out an' tell 'em all?" Fifolet asked. This time he cast a glance at Claude, who was lost in thought and didn't notice.
"Of course I do. Why wouldn' I? Dey're your fam'ly...de only fam'ly you have. If you can' be honest an' open wit' dem 'bout who you are, den dat's a sad t'ing." Mattie replied. "An' stop lookin' at each other like you t'ink I can' tell what's goin' on."
"Dere's nothin' goin' on!" The two men replied in unison.
"Oh sure dere isn'. An' I'm de Queen of Sheba. Listen to me. I want nothin' more den for de two of you to be happy. Dat's not an easy t'ing, given de circumstances, but seein' as you bot' seem to be gettin' so caught up in each other...I noticed you didn' even look at each other durin' supper, which is a sure sign of avoidin' de truth...answer me dis. What harm could experimentin' cause? Why are you bot' so afraid of bein' happy for de first time in your lives?"
Seeing that neither of them had an answer to either question, Mattie continued. "I do t'ink, b'fore you do any kind of experimentin', you should trust your fam'ly enough to be honest wit' dem. An' after dat, you won' have to be keepin' secrets an' goin' b'hind anybody's backs. You know as well as I do dat de others would appreciate de truth. Dere's no need to keep dem in de dark, jus' as dere's no need to deny yourselves a chance at happiness even if it don' work out. An' it might not, but you'll never know if you don' try. Now dat's all I'm gon' say. De rest is up to you, an' I'm here for you if you need me."
They thanked Tante Mattie and made their escape. Neither of them had known she would talk that much and strike so many chords with them.
"You t'ink she's right?" Claude asked quietly as they walked towards the library. Claude was going there to get another book to read for when he finished the one he was reading, and Fifolet had just joined him, not knowing why. He had always enjoyed going to the library, even if it meant the possibility of running into Minister Hoard and Minister Tome, who spent more time there than anywhere else. Fifolet hated to admit it, but the two thieves from the Antiquary's Clan gave him the creeps.
"'Bout tellin' de others? Yeah, I do." Fifolet replied. "But dat don' make it any easier to tell 'em."
"No kiddin'." Claude sighed. "Hey...how did Gris take it when you tol' him? I mean I know he's your best friend an' all, but it must have been a shock to him..."
"Wonderin' how Theo's gon' take it?" Fifolet asked with a grin. "Dey ain' anywheres close to bein' similar people, Claude. But b'cause you asked, Gris was shocked, oui. But he understood, too. S'ported me from de word go. I've talked to him 'bout it more'n I've talked to myself. De good t'ing 'bout tellin' dem is de fact dat dey're all outside de situation. Dey don' have a clue how to react, but it don' change de fact dat dey care. Real friends are like dat. Y'know who taught me dat?"
"Non...who?"
"Marius. I t'ink he might have suspected, but he never confronted me 'bout it. He merely told me one afternoon de secret to real friendship. I've never forgotten it. He was right. Gris coulda killed me for bein' diff'rent, but he didn'. He accepted me instead, and nothin' changed in our friendship."
"I hope dat's what happens wit' Theo an' me...I'd hate to lose his friendship over my sexuality...I'd hate to lose any of dem, actually..."
"Somehow I don' t'ink we're gon' lose 'em. Tante Mattie wouldn' have been so sure of sayin' what she said if she t'ought maybe we would." Fifolet commented.
"Yeah..."
Fifolet waited while Claude searched the library shelves for a book he hadn't read already. It was silent in the huge room, as befitting a true library, and surprisingly they were the only ones there. The walls were lined with floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with books. Fifolet guessed there must be over a thousand books in that one room. At the center of the room was a long, rectangular table, surrounded by chairs. There were desks too, and a computer setup that wasn't nearly as elaborate as the one Emil and Theoren used in the safehouse. Fifolet wasn't interested in any of that, though. His attention was focused entirely on Claude while the other man looked for a book.
Suddenly overcome by that same urge that had nearly been his undoing earlier in the day, Fifolet tilted his head and interrupted Claude's search. "I don' care what Tante Mattie said, y'know what we should do b'fore we tell everyone?"
Claude straightned up and turned to face his friend. "What's dat?"
"Dis." Fifolet grinned. Before Claude had time to react, Fifolet crossed the space between them and had him pinned against the wall. Claude's breath caught in his throat as he realized what was going to come next but he didn't struggle. He admitted to himself he was just as curious as Fifolet and let it happen.
Fifolet leaned in and gently brushed his lips against Claude's in a soft embrace. The kiss, which was over fairly quickly, was sweet and thrilling, but neither one of them pushed it. It was still too soon.
"Dere we go." Fifolet smiled as he stepped back again. "Now maybe my curiosity won' be drivin' me nuts for awhile..."
Claude stared at him, his pulse racing. "Uhm...yeah..." He stammered before turning back to the shelf and picking out a novel from the vast selection. "Holy...oh man...hell Feef...can you do dat 'gain...only slower next time?" Claude almost laughed out loud at the thoughts that went through his head, but he managed not to. They had ignored one of the things Tante Mattie had advised them to do, but he didn't care. He had a feeling, however, that they just made things simpler and more complicated at the same time. With just one little kiss.
In her bedroom, Tante Mattie shook her head. "I knew dose two would end up doin' somethin' like dat..." She complained to the darkness. "But I can' really say I blame dem. Dey're under a lot of stress, an' dey're bot' more confused den dey're willin' to admit. An' I know dey're smart enough to take t'ings one step at a time. B'sides, one kiss ain' gon' hurt anythin'."