THE SET-UP
Seth is a young Marine serving during wartime. Nicholas is his civilian longtime companion who waits back home. In addition to the strain on their relationship caused by distance and absence, they must hide their love for one another behind code words and secret identities because of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy barring gays and lesbians from serving openly in the United States military. Seth’s mother Anne assists them by providing the cover of a woman’s handwriting for Nicholas’ daily letters, but Nicholas and Seth’s resolve is starting to weaken. Jonas, another young gay Marine in Seth’s unit just coming to terms with his identity, forms an intense bond with Seth overseas. Tyson, a former Army soldier who got fed up with “don’t ask, don’t tell” and didn’t reenlist, now works alongside Nicholas, providing temptation as well as a reality check. When Seth returns home for an unexpected leave, with Jonas at his side, and post-traumatic stress following him from the battlefield, old relationships are tested, and new ones bloom.
For examples of Jonas and Seth’s bonding, check the scenes also available here online under the titles:
Showers
Seth and Jonas Alone
Desert Night Watch
Just prior to the scene below, Nicholas has just discovered how close Seth and Jonas became overseas, and is about to learn more.
“One of the many reasons I would never do this to you? I know you’d hunt the guy down and kill him.”
Emphasis shifts to —
SETH and NICHOLAS, entering their bedroom.
NICHOLAS
You and Jonas.
SETH
No.
NICHOLAS
You and Jonas.
SETH
No.
(pause)
It’s not what you think.
NICHOLAS
How the hell do you know what I’m thinking right now?
SETH
We weren’t fucking.
NICHOLAS
That wasn’t what I was thinking, and God, I should hope not.
SETH
We never —
NICHOLAS
Did you kiss him?
SETH
No.
NICHOLAS
Did you hold him?
SETH
Sometimes.
NICHOLAS
Wow. Suddenly I don’t have words.
SETH
It wasn’t… it didn’t…
NICHOLAS
Don’t tell me it didn’t mean anything because clearly it did.
SETH
I love you.
NICHOLAS
Do you love him?
SETH
I care about him.
NICHOLAS
Wrong answer.
SETH
How could I not care about him? We’re working side by side in a foreign land with rifles, every day. We have to watch each other’s back.
NICHOLAS
Obviously it wasn’t just his back you were watching.
SETH
We just touched.
NICHOLAS
There are about seven different ways I can’t listen to this right now without throwing up.
SETH
It’s not emotional.
NICHOLAS
Bullshit.
SETH
It’s physical, it’s just comfort. It’s someone understanding. No one else understands me over there the way he does. And no one understands him the way I do. We have to hide. But at least we’re not alone. It makes it bearable.
NICHOLAS
This is unfair.
SETH
Yes.
NICHOLAS
I don’t have a leg to stand on here. We’re not living in the same reality. It’s life and death for you, 24/7. So how can I deny you anything, even this? It’s petty.
SETH
You have a right.
NICHOLAS
You’re damn right, I have a right. No one. I have no one. I don’t go anywhere, I don’t look at anyone. I certainly don’t touch anyone. Because I know you’re over there, fighting, doing what you have to do, what I can’t do. So I write you letters, every single day. I think about you all the time. And you touch him. You let him touch you. Bastard.
SETH
I’m sorry.
NICHOLAS
Well, gee, thanks for that at least.
SETH
I was hoping —
NICHOLAS
You were hoping you wouldn’t get caught so we wouldn’t have to have this conversation. Well, oops.
SETH
Pup.
NICHOLAS
Do not. Call me that. Not right now. Not when we’re talking about… dammit.
SETH
Nicholas.
NICHOLAS
Where?
SETH
What?
NICHOLAS
Where does he touch you? Where are all the places his hands have been that mine can’t go?
SETH
Here.
NICHOLAS
And.
SETH
Here.
NICHOLAS
And.
SETH
Here.
NICHOLAS
And.
SETH
Here.
NICHOLAS
Just above the waist?
SETH
Yes. I would never let anyone — Some things. Some places, are yours.
NICHOLAS
I guess that’s comforting.
SETH
I am so sorry.
NICHOLAS
Please, sweet Jesus, if you’re really sorry, stop saying that. I’ll puke, I swear to God.
Wash up.
SETH
What?
NICHOLAS
Scrub every single one of those places until it’s red. I don’t want a single trace of him coming back to this bed.
SETH
I haven’t. We haven’t.
NICHOLAS
Since you’ve been back.
SETH
No.
NICHOLAS
Scrub anyway. It’s not rational but you owe me that.
SETH
OK.
NICHOLAS
One of the many reasons I would never do this to you? I know you’d hunt the guy down and kill him.
SETH
Probably.
NICHOLAS
So you know how I feel.
Pause.
SETH
Want to help me wash up?
NICHOLAS
I’m gonna strip the bed.
SETH
Nicholas —
NICHOLAS
Don’t ask me to live with your mess and clean it up, too. I’m trying very hard not to hate you right now.
SETH
Do you want me to sleep somewhere else?
NICHOLAS
Fuck no. I can rant and rave and sleep alone for months and months. You’re here now. You’re going to hold me. If you can’t be faithful the least you can do is be present.
NICHOLAS strips the bed and takes the linens off into the dark.
(photo: (left to right) Nick James Parker as Seth and Tim Schmidt as Nicholas in the 2008 production of “Leave” by AfterDark Theatre Company at University of Minnesota-Morris, and the Bryant-Lake Bowl in Minneapolis; photography by Alex Clark)
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