Where did this come from? No idea. Did I plan much out? Noooope. Should I of? Probably. Might this become discontinued? Quite possible, given on how much of a plotline I can pull out of nowhere - my brain is fried. School + a lot of acting + a lot of other things = my brain practically gone. So... (this is.. let's say, a couple months after RENT.)
Mark's P.O.V.
Roger was out tonight, with Mimi. Collins was back at MIT. God knows where Maureen and Joanne were. Benny was... well, I really didn't care much about Benny anymore. I'd gotten my job back at Buzzline, Roger was taking his AZT, being okay, so was Mimi. Collins was out there, living his life as full as he could. Roger was starting to come out of his shell a bit more, becoming a little less angry at the world, and though he'd never admit he was in the first place, becoming a little bit less mad at April.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door to the loft. I figured it must've been Roger, possibly with Mimi, and he'd forgotten his key. So I opened the door, and backed up when I realized that was not Roger at the door.
It was a girl, of about maybe eighteen (Possibly older. Mimi looks younger than she is), grinning smugly at me. Probably at my startled, now blushing face. Then I figured it must be another girl looking for Roger, not me. She held up a candle to me and asked, "Gotta light?" Did Roger put her up to this? I know how Mimi and Rog properly met. Was this girl just a prostitute or something?
She brushed dark brown -not quite as dark as Mimi's- hair our of her green eyes and looked at me expectantly. Right... a light... my pocket! My lighter! I pulled it out, flipped it open and on, and lit the tiny wick on her candle. Her smile turned from smug to genuine and she said, "Thanks." I took in the rest of her, her tattered looking clothes, fair white skin, her long, skinny legs... I snapped myself out of it. But it'd been so long since a girl had actually talked to me, not to Roger and me. Maureen doesn't count.
She caught me staring, and I blushed again. "So..." she said, in attempt to start conversation with the human tomato that happens to have a lighter, "You're name is...?"
"Mark. And you?" Good. I didn't sound ridiculously idiotic.
She gave a half-smile and said, "Not that it's of any importance, my name is Celestie, after the great big flaming balls of gas out there." She gestured to the stars outside the window.
I laughed nervously. Then she began talking again, "I just moved in downstairs, and my pack of matches seems to have run away. Possibly my parents afraid I'll accidently light my stuff on fire or something. Thank God I got away from them."
I shrugged and said, "There's a shop right around the corner, sort of expensive, but then again, everything in New York seems to be." She laughed, and then I felt the need to ask, "So, how's Benny been treating you?"
Her eyes closed for a moment, "Benny is... weird. He told me the cost, then he got... sort of freaky. I sort of gave him the first payment or whatever and ran away."
"Sounds like Benny, actually," I told her, remembering New Years Day and what I assumed to have happened between him and Mimi. I assumed he'd come onto her, as she'd said, and it sounds like Mimi to kick someone and tell them that she's not their whore. But I was questioning her career choice because of this.
She give me a questioning look before turning to leave, "Wait!" I told her, for reasons unknown to myself.
"Yes?" Her eyebrows were raised, and now she looked impatient.
"Some friends and I are meeting at the Life Cafe tomorrow - I could show you where it is, introduce you to everyone..."
"Sounds good to me. When?"
"Uh... can you come up here around 2:30, me, my roommate, or his girlfriend will be here. I promise."
"Okay, I'll be up." She flashed me a smile before turning, making sure the candle didn't go out, and walking down the stairs.
Then Roger chose to come in noisily along with Mimi. I blinked, had that really just happened? Or rather, what had just happened? If only I knew...
[A/N] Well? Good? Bad? Eh? Mary-sue-ish? Out of character? I need opinions, because my own... well, I've realized with writing, I am a perfectionist when it comes to plot, so I'd rather have YOUR opinions than my own. So... what did you think?
