Can You Feel the Love Tonight?

A ScipioxProsper ficlet

Summary: Why, oh why, dear God, is Hornet singing?! And why that stupid Lion King song, of all things?! Come ON, Riccio, it's not that funny!!!! Mosca, do NOT videotape this! I swear this is not what it sounds like!

It was about ten after nine, the time Scipio had promised to come back. But of course, when was the Thief Lord ever on time? Prosper had given up and gone out on the canal, leaving Bo with Hornet and Riccio. Mosca was babysitting (Ernesto Barbarossa!). The African boy seemed to think it a great joke that Bo's aunt and uncle trusted him with their new son. Hornet seemed to have a lot on her mind, as she had tried to run after Prosper. Riccio saw how pathetic this looked and held her back, saying as he did, "He's not worth it, Horn." She glared at Prosper's back, and sent an insulting finger his way.

Back at the Stella, Boniface was long asleep, having had his dinner and a puppet show by Riccio and Hornet, who had found some old Disney puppets lying around the attic. She put them away carefully and sat back against the cardboard box. She looked depressed, but Riccio didn't really want to dive into an in-depth analysis of Hornet's feelings for Prosper and his lack thereof for her. So the hedgehog boy did the only reasonable thing. He turned to her, smiling, and demanded that she sing something for him. So she scowled and said lyrically, "I can see what's happening."

Riccio, taken aback at this new turn, was baffled. "What?"

But she ignored him and went on, "And they don't have a clue."

"Who?" But she was on a roll, growing angrier by the second.

"They'll fall in love and here's the bottom line: Our trio's down to two."

Now Riccio got it. This was another of her harebrained ideas that Prosper and Scipio actually liked each other. In the gay way. He rolled his eyes, and said sarcastically, "Oh."

Hornet waved her arms in a mock-romantic way, gesturing out the open window to the summer evening. "The sweet caress of twilight; there's magic everywhere… She looked in danger of bursting into tears. Riccio knew where this was going, but he was powerless to stop her.

"Can you feel the love tonight?" Her tone was accusatory. "The peace the evening brings… The world, for once, in perfect harmony with all its living things."

Luckily for Riccio, Scipio chose that precise moment to come strolling in the Stella's front door, with his arm around Prosper's shoulders. Hornet's eyes burned into them both, and since she remained quiet, they heard the last bit of the boys' conversation. Or rather, Scipio's thoughts which were obviously not meant for Prosper.

"So many things to tell him, but how to make him see? The truth about my past—impossible! He'd turn away from me." Riccio had to agree. The Thief Lord wouldn't manage that out all right. But to Hornet's anguish, Prosper now noticed Scipio's appraising looks, and said to the rafters,

"He's holding back, he's hiding; but what I can't decide. Why won't he be the thief I know he is, the lord I see inside??" So it was hardly a surprise that Hornet jumped up onto the box, leaning over the balcony, and sang now ever louder.

"Can you feel, the love tonight? The peace the evening brings. The world, for once," her soprano dipped in sarcasm, "In perfect harmony, with all its living things." She bit her lip. "Love is where they are." Then, turning away from the pair, she said musically to Riccio, "And when he falls in love tonight, it can be assumed—"

Riccio knew what to say before she prodded him on. "His carefree days, with us are history…" Together they turned on Scipio, who still didn't drop Prosper's hand.

"In short, our pal is doooooooooooooomed!"

Of course, Boniface chose that moment to make his appearance, assert that he'd been awake the whole time, and to demand in his adorable accent, "Are you and my brother an item, then? Well, go on!" To which Prosper and Scipio only laughed and hugged Bo, while Riccio turned tomato-red and Hornet burst into tears.

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