Mulan Rooge
CohenTheKitty
Chapter One
The Pitch
AN- This story is especially dedicated to PandaFireMcMango for her awesome support and just plain awesomeness and to any other Collins/Angel shipper out there! Feel the fluff!
"I've got it!!!!"
Six pairs of curious eyes raised from their books to see Mark Cohen, standing, his chair thrown back onto the floor behind him, a book of Parisian photography held high in his hands. Maureen and Joanne returned to their 'Anatomy of a Lesbian Love Affair- Illustrated!' while Angel and Collins returned with snickers to their 'Kama Sutra- Illustrated!'. Mimi looked back to her 'Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll, Why Rockers Don't Rock' and Roger returned to 'I Fucking Hate Strippers' whose cover, oddly, seemed to have been slipped over the jacket and written in his handwriting. No one cared.
Mark blinked a few times and looked around at all of them. "What, you don't even want to know what my new movie's gonna be about?"
"Movie?" Collins said, his interest sparked as he looked up from 'The Missionary'. "I thought you only did 'films'."
"Well ok, I do but I just got this wicked awesome idea. Roger, you have paper handy, you jot this all down."
"Uh," Roger set the book as close to Mimi as possible so she'd read the title. "Ok." He grabbed another sheet of paper and his pencil and looked up.
"It's gonna be called," and he pronounced the name as slowly as he could. "Moulin Rouge."
Roger blinked and in frustration scribbled what he thought it was.
Mulan Rooge.
"And it's gonna be about the bordello/nightclub in Paris, late 1800's, with Harold Zidler pulling the reigns. . ."
Crap. Uh. Nightclub, 1880's Paris, Harold Zeedler.
"And there's gonna be this courtesan that everyone, by that I mean the men, loves. Satine. And she's going to meet this writer, Christian who falls for her but they have to hide their love from the Duke, who's funding the Moulin Rooge to be converted into a theater with promises of Satine being solely his from Zidler. . ."
I fucking hate you Mark. Hot courtesan, Sateen, writer Christian, hide out from weird Duke guy who wants to bone her. "K."
Mark was surprised to see Roger had written that all so quickly. He walked over and read the paper, nearly laughed out loud and grabbed a pen from the middle of the library table.
Moulin Rouge, Zidler, Satine.
Roger looked up at him. "It was an outline, did it really matter?"
"Well of course, this'll be on auction some day when the movie's huge."
Roger snorted.
"What?"
"Well Mark it's a cool concept and all." He lounged in his seat. "But it could use some adjustments."
"Such as?"
"Well more Satine/Christian banging, more info about Satine's jugs, I mean, she's a prostitute, so are they tiny, huge? They should be huge if so many men like her. . ."
SMACK.
He glared over at Mimi. "Excuse me?"
"You're such a perv! Mark has a very interesting, possibly romantic idea."
"What do you know about romance?" Roger muttered under his breath, his arms crossing over his chest.
"It is a lovely idea honey," Angel piped up, her caring eyes moving from the dirty book to Mark's excited features. "But how are you gonna be able to afford hiring the actors?"
"Well I won't," He set the book into the center of the table so all could look at the photos of the Moulin Rouge as it stood today. "I'll have you all act it out. I'll work on writing as much of it as I can tonight and tomorrow I'll let you guys know about casting!"
It had Mimi and Maureen in loops, if nothing else.
The next morning, to hardly anyone's surprise, the loft was full of prospective actors and lacking a certain director. Roger kept trying to play it off like he didn't care, but Mimi kept pestering him about how much he did care. He was about ready to chuck the guitar at her when Mark emerged, tired but smiling from his room.
"Well?"
"Who am I!?"
"I get a speaking role, right?"
"Mark!!??"
"Pookie?"
Mark blinked. "Benny?"
Benny almost blushed. "Well you know, figured I may as well."
Mark set the typed cast list out onto the table and almost everyone dodged for it when Angel blew a trusty whistle around her neck. "WAIT! Grow up people, two at a time, Roger and Mimi first and no one have any reaction or say anything until we all get to see it!"
So Roger and Mimi went, followed by Collins and Angel and then Maureen and Joanne and Benny and Muffy.
They all saw this.
Moulin Rouge 1990 A Mark Cohen Film
Satine: Mimi Marquez
Christian: Roger Davis
Toulouse Lautrec- Angel Schunard
Harold Zidler- Tom Collins
Nini: Maureen
Marie: Joanne
The Duke: Benny Coffin
Extras (cancan girls and gentlemen): Life café volunteers.
Oh the insane atmosphere that ensured. Poor Mark looked ready to cry at all the fuss and yet again, Angel was forced to blow her whistle and wave her arms hard and fast to get everyone to actually look at her and listen to what she was saying.
"All right. One at a time, yeesh! Mimi?"
"I am not kissing that . . . that . . ." A very long pause. "Jerk!"
Angel frowned a little, looked to Roger. "Erm, Rog?"
Roger had his arms crossed but Angel's hurt expression made him think very strongly about what to say now. "Well you know, whatever works. I'll give it a shot." He said softly, accepting a hug from Angel with an uncertain, but slightly warm smile.
"Benny?"
"I have no complaints."
WHACK!
" . . .ow. Allison, it's just art."
"Allison, honey?"
"I want to do crew so I can keep a CLOSE eye on this one!" She had her arms crossed and one eyebrow raised in warning, her foot tapping rhythmically as she glared at her husband. Mimi muttered something and she shot her one hell of a look.
Angel scratched the back of her neck and looked around. "Anyone else have anything to say?"
"Uhhhh." Everyone turned to look at Maureen where she'd gotten a hold of what Mark had written of the script. "Do I really have to can-can while I'm wearing a corset?"
Mark snatched the script away and glared slightlt, gave an indignant huff. "Yes, you do if you want to be in the movie!" She smoothed the pages over his chest. "Anyway Angel I typed up some costume stuff, do you think you can make them?"
Angel took the paper with a giddy smile. "Of course! Tommy, let's go buy some material."
"Say what? Oof!" Before he could get and answer he was being yanked out the door and down the stairs. Mimi giggled to herself and hummed lightly as she danced around the loft with an imaginary partner. Suddenly she stopped and pointed a thin finger at Roger. "You! Dance with me!"
Roger raised a brow and crossed him arms, let out a little manly 'pfft'. "No."
"We have to practice!" Mimi urged, moving closer to him to grab him and place his hands awkwardly on her waist. "Dance with me!"
"Go dance with yourself some more!" He tried to tug himself away but Mimi was unrelenting. "Goddamn you Meems!"
"Hmph!" And with that she started out into a clumsy, poorly timed waltz that had Roger biting his lip hard enough to draw blood. Mark went to type and Benny and Allison went home, and shortly after sitting Mark heard a loud. "NO! You're doing it SOOOO wrong! Here!"
And from that moment on, there was silence in the living room except for the timely taps of feet on floor.
Reviews please??
On to chapitre deux!
