Work Text:
Nicely-Nicely Johnson put his hands in his pockets of his white suit, his brows furrowing as he eyed Benny Southstreet- his best friend- and his boss, Nathan Detroit. Nathan was finally getting married to his fiancé of 14 years, Miss Adelaide. He should be happy for him, as Nathan was not only his boss but his closest friend other than Benny, but he wasn't.
He sat in the back of the mission on one of the benches, tapping his feet on the ground and massaging his temples. All the guests were more at the front of the mission, congratulating Nathan. He felt sick to his stomach. Sergeant Sarah Brown, who had been setting things up for the long-anticipated wedding, waved to him from the altar, dropping a box of flowers. He waved back before slumping back down. She frowned.
Sarah made her way over to the (generally) cheerful right hand of Nathan, tucking a curl behind her ear. She hummed, adjusting the white carnation pinned to his lapel. "Are you feeling alright, Brother Nicely-Nicely?" Nicely shifted his feet, scratching the back off his neck. "Well, Miss Sarah, I've told you that you could drop the second 'Nicely' a million times." He muttered, smiling a bit. She cocked her head slightly to one side, nodding. "Well then, Brother Nicely, is everything alright? You look so troubled.
"I fear I have gone back to sinning." Nicely said, frowning sheepishly, as he was the gambler who convinced at least 5 or 6 others to follow in the blueprint of God, including himself. He had actually been quite helpful at the mission as a volunteer lately, and so eager to figure out what was so wrong with gambling and drinking the religious way, that Sarah was a little taken aback by his statement of honesty. "Oh."
Sarah sat down next to Nicely; her hands were folded in her lap and she was leaning forward ever so slightly. "Have you returned to gambling?"
He shook his head. "No. It is not a new deck of cards or dice that troubles me this time." He adjusted his bow tie, clearing his throat in hopes of clearing some tension as well. "I uh.. well I..." He pinched the bridge of his nose, gesturing upwards aimlessly. "I really like someone..." Sarah's face softened. "Nowhere in the bible does it say you cannot love. That's not a sin, Brother Nicely-" "You shall not lie with a guy as with a doll; it would be an abomination." Nicely mumbled hopelessly, dragging his hands down his face before they flopped down into his lap.
Sarah smiled, clasping her hands together. "Great reciting, although it says man and woman, not 'doll', but you must have been studying like I sug-" It suddenly hit the Sergeant what exactly he had said. "Oh." Nicely wrung his hands together, slumping back against the wood. “If a guy lies with a male as with a doll, both of them have done a' abomination; they shall... whatever." Sarah frowned. "So you have affections for..." She coughed. "A man." He nodded. "Now Miss Sarah- um, Sister Sarah- I have tried very hard not to sin anymore. You know that, right?" She bit her lip slightly, nodding. "Well yes, I do. But Brother Nicely, homosexuality is unnatural. And by Leviticus, against God." She nearly fumbled her words, feeling almost guilty as she spoke to him. "I know." He said, the sheepish expression returning. "And it's the worst possible guy to like, too."
Trying not to seem critical, especially not of Nicely's unhappiness, Sarah just nodded. "And that would be?" He looked at her for a moment and laughed under his breath before facing the floor once more. "I do not wish to inform you." She nodded once more. She pulled a pamphlet from her uniform pocket, sighing. "Alright then." Nicely frowned at the pamphlet, scratching his neck.
She paused, before continuing. "Well I'm really not..." She chose her next words carefully, not wanting to upset Nathan's best man on a happy day such as this further. "pleased with this, Brother Nicely. But if it's really out of your control, God may be forgiving. If that is how the Lord made you, well..."
She put away the pamphlet. "Who am I to interfere with the work of God. You've been very dedicated to changing your ways." She leaned a little closer to him, nudging him. "And if you ask me, Leviticus is more leaning towards against pedophilia rather than homosexuality. The Bible can and will always be misinterpreted by some, but if there's really no telling what they really meant. If you can't change how you feel, it must be how God made you." She whispered, smiling. He smiled softly, nodding. "Thank you, Miss Sarah." He mumbled, before correcting himself. "Sister Sarah."
He gave her a side hug before sitting up, fixing his collar. "'Guess you should go back to wedding stuff." "Mm." She stood up, making her way back to the podium and picking up the box of floral arrangements. While he didn't feel better, Nicely smiled wider and made his way over to the other gentlemen.
"Hey, Ben." He said, tapping Benny on the shoulder. "Nicely!" Benny exclaimed, slapping him on the back. "I was wondering when you'd join us. Nathan sure does look sharp." Nicely turned to Nathan, who was fixing his tie and had his signature charming grin spread across his face. Nicely quickly turned back to Benny, nodding. "He does!" The man himself made his way over to the two men, shaking their hands and pulling them into half-hugs. "Oh, boys, I'm so happy. Just think- 14 years and today's finally the day." Benny and Nicely nodded enthusiastically. "Congrats, Nathan!" Benny said. Nicely nodded and mumbled the same. "Something the matter, Nicely?" Nathan asked quickly, slightly concerned for his friend. "Oh, uhm.."
Suddenly, Sky Masterson clapped Nathan on the back, making the groom jump. "Nathan, you old promoter, you." He said, grinning as he restated his phrase from when he had first interacted with Nathan before the Joey Biltmore ordeal. "Funny seeing you here, I wasn't expecting you." Nathan turned over his shoulder, his shoulders growing less tense. "Sky! It is crazy that Nathan Detroit is at his own wedding." He then whispered to Sky. "I was almost late! Adelaide would have skinned me!" Sky laughed, nodding. "That's how you know a doll's the one, I've found. She could threaten to kill you and you'd still love her. I can't tell you how much Sarah's been on my case, but hey, we're talking about dolls, like my daddy always told me: 'can't live with them or without them'."
Nicely bounced on his heels awkwardly, half-listening to the conversations happening around him. He wanted to leave. "And so that's why it's so important that you- Nicely, are you listening?" Benny asked, snapping in front of him. "Uh, pardon me. What?" Nicely asked quickly. "Oh, never mind."
The ceremony began about a half hour later.
Miss Adelaide looked so beautiful in her dress. Three hot box girls in short white skirts followed, two lifting her train while the third sprinkled flower petals around the mission. Nathan looked so... happy. Nicely attempted to smile. Benny whooped and hollered along with he rest of the crapshooters, nudging Nicely with his arm. "What's up Nicely, aren't you happy for the guy?" "All good." He responded, snapping back to reality and clapping.
Arvide read all of the stuff you need to read to have a proper wedding, finally ending with "you may now kiss the bride." As the bride and groom kissed, Nicely looked to the floor, whistling awkwardly and tapping his thighs with his hands. He slipped away after the main ceremony ended.
Nathan ran up to Benny, his smile wide. "Hey Ben, where's Nicely? Was he not here?" Benny paused. "I regret to inform you I uh..." He looked around, shrugging. "do not know." Nathan sighed. "I don't want him to miss the after party we're having at the hot box..." Benny scratched his head. "Uhh... I could look for him?" Nathan nodded. “Yeah, you do that.”
They found Nicely the next morning, holding a flash of whiskey on a rooftop just south of Mindy’s. “Nicely, you know you were suppose to quit drinkin’ when you joined the hallelujah joint!” Benny called to him and he opened the door to the roof from the building staircase.
”I’m depressed, Benny.” The shorter man processes for a minute. “Oh.”
Benny sat down next to Nicely-Nicely, poking his hat up from covering his eyes. “Do you wanna talk about it?” Nicely shrugged, then paused.
He turned to Benny, who gave him the most sincere, soft look he’d been given in a long time. A look he wished he got from Nathan a lot more often than 0. He has better odds betting all his potatoes against Sky Masterson than he does then getting a deep look from Nathan Detroit for more than a second. He tensed his shoulders which he realized were tense, shaking his head.
Benny paused for a minute, then scooted a little closer to him. “Do you wish for me to just sit with you?” Nicely froze again, but for a much shorter time. Yes, he would. “…Yeah.”
And so, they sat. They sat up there until the sun set. Though plagued with guilt and anxiety, Nicely felt just a little better.