Surprises...they can be surprising...!!

Dedication: To Opaque Opal. Her genius makes this fic known!

Disclaimer- I own nothing. Not even the idea. OPAL!

"Guess who?!" said Esmeralda flirtatiously, clamping her hands down on Pheobus's eyes.

"Hmmm...let me think...?" he played along, knowing full well who it was. How she got in his house...he didn't want to know.

"Diane?" he guessed.

"Nope!" she giggled.

"Helen?"

"Who's she?"

"Ah--I know! Esmeralda!"

"That's right!" said Esmeralda, still not taking her hands off his eyes. He waited for a few seconds.

"Esme...why are your hands still on my eyes?"

"I have a surprise!" she laughed. He smiled. Surprises were always good. Suddenly Esmeralda whistled, Pheobus heard the bleating of Djali and some other footsteps.

"Esmeralda..." he said, just as Esmeralda whipped her hands off his eyes and Pheobus got an eyeful of Clopin. He groaned softly into his cheek, then smiled at the Gypsy King.

"What can I do for you, Clopin?" he asked, getting up from the chair he had been sitting in. Clopin pushed him back down with one hand, keeping the other behind his back.

"The question is, my friend, what can I do for you?"

'You can get out of my house, you insane Gypsy.' thought Pheobus, what he said however, was:

"I don't know Clopin. What can you do for me?" he asked, truly not wanting to know.

"We are going to make you a Gypsy!" Clopin looked truly overjoyed to be sharing this information. Esmeralda nodded.

"Eh?" Pheobus was confused, to say the least. Make him a Gypsy? How? "How do you plan on doing that?"

"By piercing your ear, of course!" said Clopin, finally producing the object behind his back. It was a needle.

"Hell no!" shouted Pheobus, shoving the needle out of his face. "You are NOT piercing my ears!"

"It's just one ear." said Clopin, looking over-dramatically hurt.

"That's like saying, 'It's just a life-altering disease!'" he retorted, hearing Esmeralda's giggle from behind him. Before he knew it, she had him pinned to the ground. "Esmeralda!" he complained, trying his best to wriggle free.

"No, you are not getting away from me!" she teased, holding him firmly in position. Clopin took the needle in a pair of tongs and held it in the fire for a while. In the mean-time, Pheobus was cursing a blue streak, trying his best to get away from Esmeralda.

"I do not want my ears pierced!" he shouted, rolling sideways.

"It's just the one ear!" she said, rolling him back. "It's a good luck charm."

"To get my ear stabbed through with a red-hot needle? Count me out!"

"Please! Do it for me!" Esmeralda played her trump card. Pheobus stopped struggling.

"You really want me to do this?" he asked.

"Yes." she replied, kissing him on his ear. He sighed.

"Fine then, Esme." Esmeralda rolled off him, he sat up. "Just don't expect me to enjoy it."

"I won't make promises." she said, taking hold of his hand. He sighed again, looking up at Clopin, who was humming and waving his butt around in the air as he heated the needle. Esmeralda showed Pheobus the small gold hoop that she was going to place in his ear.

"It's to represent that you are always part of the circle of life and it will never break." He thought it was poetry coming from her lips.

"Hold him still Esmeralda!" shouted Clopin, coming forward with the needle. Pheobus gulped as Esmeralda clutched his hand. Clopin grabbed his chin and turned his chin so that his right ear was visible. Sticking out his tongue in concentration, he aimed the needle. Pheobus broke out in a cold sweat.

"Pheobus..." said Esmeralda. He grunted to show that he was listening. "I'm not going to marry you."

"WHAT?! What? Esme...what?!" He was shouting, he was furious, he was heart-broken, he was- "Esmeralda! After all that's happened, you've broken off like that?! Please don't do this to me!"

She clapped him on the ear. He grew furious. "Fine, if that's the way you want it, I-!!"

"Pheobus!" she said, smiling.

"What?!" he snapped, mad to be interrupted in the middle of a tirade.

"Your ear is pierced."

"What?"

"The deed is done. That wasn't so bad, was it?" she took his hand again and kissed his cheek. It was flaming red with embarrassment.

"It...is?" He reached up with his free hand and felt the small gold hoop in his ear. "Huh...it didn't hurt at all."

"I distracted you. And yes, I am still going to marry you." He smiled, holding her hand tighter.

"I'm really glad I have you, Esme." he said, leaning in.

"Ah-HEM!" came a very familiar fake throat clearing. Pheobus smiled as Clopin made gagging faces behind their backs. "You can thank me later, Pheoby." he said, pocketing the cooling needle. "I need to get back to the Court. Lots to do, lots to see. Esmeralda."

"Coming, Clopin." she smiled, getting up. "Leave your ear alone for at least three weeks, and if it starts to bleed, come find me in the Court. I'll fix it."

"Esmeralda! I don't like to be kept waiting!" shouted Clopin from the street.

"More like you don't want to keep Jacqueline waiting." said Esmeralda teasingly, hurrying out. Pheobus watched them go, then fiddled with his new accessory. Life was certainly very strange.

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