Chapter Text
If Jedediah had never laid eyes on the flamboyant Roman general ever in his life, he could’ve been a free man. He could’ve lived out his days in the Museum and done the same thing every day, fulfilling his idea of manifest destiny he once held dear. He could’ve lived a normal life and fulfilled his idea of the status quo. But Octavius, he changed all of that.
The cowboy remembered all those years ago when he had met the Roman when he had moved into the exhibit next to his. He laid his eyes on the armored man and his deep brown eyes and absolutely hated him. And the feeling was mutual. For over five decades they feuded every single night. They feuded physically as well as verbally, and Jed recalled how the dragon of hatred overcame his very being for all those years every time he saw Octavius. It gripped him with a ferocious intensity, and it seemed to grip Octavius too. But never to the extent that Jed did. The hatred and never-ending war between them surely would’ve continued, if it wasn’t for the new night guard who came in and decided was going to play Negotiator and have them talk. The more he thought about it, it occurred to Jedediah that Larry Daley was the cause of all this.
From that fateful night on, Jedediah and Octavius went from bitter rivals to having a shaky but steady friendship. They fought by each other’s side during times of trouble and relaxed together in the museum during peaceful nights. It was during this period when Jed felt truly peaceful with the Roman general he knew so well, they smiled, they laughed, they ate together, they harassed Larry together, and it was a far cry from the absolute animosity they once had towards each other. Jedediah often noticed how light and blissful the Roman’s laugh was and how his short but curly brown hair looked so soft. He almost wanted to touch it. Too much. The more he looked at the Roman general, he noticed how beautiful he was, how precious he was, and how much Jed wanted to hold him dear.
That was probably the straw that broke the camel’s back when it came to his emotions.
Every time Jedediah looked at Octavius, he wanted to hold him so badly. He noticed how tight and blistering his chest got whenever Octavius was talking to someone, literally anyone that wasn’t him. He tried to laugh it off to himself afterward, but that didn’t stop it from getting worse. He started to want to follow Octavius he went, just to make sure nothing happened to him. Whenever the Roman had a short nap during the night, Jedediah would gaze at his face and admire it for almost the entire time, making sure to dash away when he saw him begin to stir. Soon, the Roman was invading his thoughts and he never left his mind once he did. Octavius spread like a virus from his waking thoughts to his dreams. More than once, the cowboy had awakened when the sunset in a cold sweat from a dream about the Roman hand in hand with someone else. That cursed Lancelot was usually in a lot of these dreams as well, that cursed knight’s face still mocking him even when he was long gone. It was enough for Jed to want to track him down himself and make that pompous knight wish he had never seen the Roman. Was this love? He concluded that it definitely was.
A new dragon replaced the hatred-filled one that filled his stomach and chest and seemed to be much stronger than before. It was a new brand of hatred, one that was directed at anyone else other than Octavius but also contained obsession. An obsession that Jedediah had toward Octavius and spurred him to keep him to himself. The dragon controlled Jedediah, it felt like a yoke or a shackle that controlled everything he thought and did. Yet it was also a drug that made him giddy, a drug he longed and pined for more of. Usually, he would’ve hated this predicament, as Jed definitely considered himself a free spirit who wasn’t bound by anything. But strangely, he didn’t care. He didn’t care that he had fallen so madly in love with the Roman that he hated everyone else by comparison. Octavius gave him purpose, a reason for him to keep living. These feelings could all end if Jedediah could just tell Octavius all of this, if he could just tell him how much he loved him and how much he wanted to be by his side forever. But would Octavius even reciprocate? The Roman had asked to hold his hand when they were in the vent at the British Museum, a request that Jed was too taken aback by to answer back. He had sacrificed himself for Octavius and had gotten captured just to protect his beloved from Al Capone and his goons. Octavius had then saved his life when Jed was in the hourglass just when he thought his life would end, and he remembered how the Roman cried when he hugged Jedediah and apologized for not getting to him sooner. Surely this would mean that Octavius loved him, but how could Jed know for sure? Even amid the chaos of his love-crazed mind, a nagging feeling of doubt remained. All this would end if he could just tell Octavius how he felt. But alas, the only thing that Jedediah Smith, King of the West couldn’t do was confess. All of these feelings he had tormented yet satiated him, and in the end, he was a coward.
Jed was pacing at some part of the museum pondering all this to himself when he realized he was far away from home. Usually, Octavius would’ve been exploring the museum along with him, but Jed said he needed time alone to himself “just because”, like a liar. Just as he was about to resign himself to make the long trek back, he was interrupted by clopping and a great booming voice from up above.
“Jedediah!”
The tiny cowboy jumped in surprise as he looked up to see the beaming face of Teddy with Sacagawea sitting on his horse behind him. The burly man had gotten off his horse and offered a hand to Jed, which the cowboy gratefully accepted as he was lifted into Teddy’s pocket.
“How didya know I was here?” the cowboy asked, perplexed as he peeked over the pocket.
“Octavius was looking for you my boy, he suspected that you’d be somewhere around here,” Teddy answered back as he tightened the reins on his horse as he rode.
“He probably didn’t want his boyfriend to get lost,” Sacagawea quips slyly at the cowboy and chuckles with Teddy joining in at the sight of Jed’s grimace of annoyance at her. Teddy and Sacagawea were literally the busybody parents from the cheesy sitcoms he and Octavius would watch, but they seemed to care at the very least.
Before long Jed was back at his diorama, where he was lifted next to his tent. He waved goodbye to his friends and began to stride over to the Roman diorama, but was soon stopped by a familiar someone grabbing his shoulder. The cowboy turned around to see the most beautiful man in the world, aka Octavius, smiling at him, and for a moment Jed’s mind went blank like it usually did when he saw the Roman again after more than ten minutes, before finally coming to his senses.
“You alright Jed?” the Roman asked, clearly concerned.
Jedediah immediately felt guilt. “I’m alright, Octy. I just wanted to lollygag and daydream I guess.”
The Roman general looked at him with a certain expression that Jedediah immediately recognized as skepticism. Other than guilt, Jed felt satisfaction that he and Octavius could communicate wordlessly, something special between them both. It reinforced Jedidiah’s hope that Octavius would only be his and his alone.
“I’m fine. I promise ya, just wanted time to myself.” Jedediah looked sheepish as he said this. “I'm sorry I didn’t tell ya earlier, I should’ve.”
Octavius’ expression turned from suspicion to relief. He slapped the cowboy on the shoulder as a show of camaraderie, which made Jed feel that the arrows of Cupid himself had shot up his shoulder, and reached behind him. He pulled out a Hershey’s chocolate bar wrapper and began to break off a piece for his friend. Soon enough they were both digging into the leftover chocolate before they were interrupted by a soft tap behind them. The two spun around to see Ahkmenrah in his royal glory standing just beyond the diorama. While he looked noble at first, he began to lose his cool and giggle as he looked at the tiny men looking like chipmunks with chocolate stuffed in their mouths.
“Are you ready to meet them?” the teenage king finally asked them. Jed paused, not knowing what he was talking about. He had been stewing in his self-pity and romantic pining all day that he had forgotten what was planned, as he had been doing lately. It wasn’t until he looked over and saw the newly opened diorama across the hall with a crowd milling around it did he remember what the occasion was, and his mind filled with dread. A new Egyptian diorama was just opened, and Jed honestly should’ve immediately remembered when Ahk came excitedly to them. On one hand, the cowboy was happy for Ahk that he could have fellow Egyptian friends even though they were microscopic compared to him. On the other hand, however, he couldn’t stop them from going over and trying to be friendly with Octavius, his Octavius. The green-eyed dragon rose in his chest a bit at the thought but quickly tried to shut it out by telling himself he was being delusional. But the feeling still stuck with him, much to his dismay.
“Sure, fire away Gigantor,” Jed finally remarked back. “Ready when you are, my liege,” Octavius then responded. Jedediah took that moment to stare at his companion. God he was so cute.
Before Jedediah knew it, his thoughts were interrupted when Ahkmenrah had scooped both him and Octavius up into his hand and strode over to the newcomers. Once they regained their guard, the cowboy and the Roman gave a quick glance into the diorama. There were civilians lined up with what looked like food and other gifts in woven baskets, all smiling and looking friendly all the while. This was a mostly normal sight, but it was the center front of the diorama that caught Jedediah’s attention.
On a luxury seat held up by four slaves sat what looked like to be a queen in all her finery. She was very beautiful, Jedediah objectively noted out of annoyance, and she smiled at the three newcomers that had come before her. Ahk set Jed and Octavius down before the diorama while the cowboy shot him a dirty look.
“I told you I don’t like to be manhandled!” seethed Jed at the teenager. The queen giggled, which annoyed him even more. Ahk’s face quickly turned apologetic.
“Sorry, I just got carried away.” Ahk turned to face the queen. “I am King Ahkmenrah. Fourth king of the fourth king. Ruler of the lands of my fathers. With this, I hereby welcome you to your new home with open arms.” He bowed slightly before gesturing to Jedidiah and Octavius. “These are my friends and comrades: Jedediah Smith and Emperor Gaius Octavius of Rome. My friends, allow me to introduce you to Queen Cleopatra, Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt.”
The two men bowed after this greeting, and Cleopatra smiled. Jed noticed her eyes shift to Octavius and scrutinize him up and down. The dragon immediately awoke in his chest and gripped his heart as she did so.
“I thank you dear Ahkmenrah for your generous hospitality,” Cleopatra announced. She was still eyeing Octavius, more seductively now. She got down from her throne and began to inspect the two men more closely. “Jedediah and Emperor Octavius. I trust we will be close partners from now on.” She continued to smile her sly smile that Jed hated so much, and the fact that she was eyeing Octavius the whole time was making him want to strangle her in front of everyone, to snuff the life out of her so she wouldn’t try to get near Octavius anymore.
While Jed had this inner predicament, Octavius was being very cordial by comparison. He had bowed to her several times and smiled back at her, but Jedediah didn’t know if he appreciated her clear interest or not. Cleopatra continued to pace seductively in front of them as she talked to them, and at this point, Jed was convinced that she was doing it purposely to annoy him. Finally, she was done talking and giving formalities and Larry was running around trying to get everyone back to where they belonged.
Larry finally ran over to them. “I’m sorry to cut the formalities, but it’s almost sunrise, you have to go back to your dioramas now.” He soon ran away again when he realized Dexter had stolen his keys, and was soon out of sight. Jedediah turned his head from Larry’s predicament to be met with Cleopatra right in front of Octavius. Stroking his chin fondly. The grip inside his heart quickly tightened the most it had done in a while and screamed at him to do something. And Jed certainly would have if there weren’t so many people milling around. The rage and jealousy pounded in his head and he could hear his heartbeat increasing like it was a thunderstorm, and his blood turned to lava inside his veins as we witnessed the sight. Octavius was still smiling, however looking clearly uncomfortable, and he had no room to step back away from the situation.
“I’ll see you tomorrow night then Octavius~” Cleopatra purred at the general. “Maybe you could come back to my palace once in a while ~?” She then waved them goodbye as she went to her position in the diorama. Octavius finally stepped sideways, leaned on Jedediah, and sighed with relief, while Jedediah all the while had a whole hurricane going on inside his body. As Jed and Octavius were picked up by Ahkmenrah and carried back to their respective places, the cowboy was fuming with rage and jealousy. Ahk waved goodbye at Jed once he set him down, which the cowboy completely ignored as he stomped to his tent.
“How dare she? How fucking dare she?” Jedediah was curled up in his tent with his hat to his chest. His ears, head, and chest were still pounding to the point that they hurt and they didn’t seem to be calming down anytime soon. Cleopatra was still branded into his mind, her seductive looks at Octavius, her holding his chin, and Jedediah felt nauseous just thinking about it. That woman was eating the Roman up like he was a banquet, and Octavius had no chance to step away. He certainly didn’t try until the end. Was Octavius attracted to her?
That thought was the most terrifying one of all to Jedediah, it made the already raging dragon roar and writhe around in his chest. No, no, he tried to assure himself. Octavius only liked men anyway, as he saw with the utterly moronic Lancelot. But did he? Did he have a preference? Jedediah’s mind continued to dance around the subject as he waited for sunrise to fully come.
He had to get rid of her. That was the only option at this point. Jedediah wouldn’t let Octavius be taken away from him. Ever. This wasn’t a new feeling to him, but it still startled him a bit. Jed was a trained killer, but he wasn’t an outright murderer of innocent people. But he would do anything to keep anyone or anything from taking him, and if he had to go to drastic measures, then so be it. His mind was filled with a whirlwind of violent thoughts; thoughts of blood, limbs ripped from limbs, more blood, sinew ripping, just pure unadulterated fury that was pulsing through the cowboy’s tiny veins. There wasn’t anything else he could do. If he threatened her, everyone would know. If he disfigured Cleopatra somehow, he’d most definitely be found out. No. There couldn’t be anything left behind. He wanted to make her into a lifeless bloody pulp, but even making her disappear would be risky. He began to bite the brim of his hat out of desperation as he made his way to his place as the sun came up, before quickly cramming it back onto his head. He’d think of something, it’d be alright. And after she was gone and out of the way, he’d be alone with his beloved Octavius once again.
“Dagum I’m a maniac.”
That was his final wary thought as the sun finally shone in on the Hall of Miniatures, and he was back to his abyss of thoughts in his slumber.