A couple ppl wanted this continued, so here we go. (Man, a lot of you really want Mike in a dress!) Btw, I've decided to use 'Moon' instead of 'Mr. Moon' when writing for him, cuz it's easier and I'm lazy.
"MOON!" Mike came storming through the theater in fury. "What exactly are the posters out on the front of the theater about?!" He angrily approached the back of the theater where Moon and the rest of the employees were gathered standing or sat on crates on stage. Unbeknownst to the mouse, Moon and Ms. Crawly had just explained the situation to the others, telling them that the secretary had mistakenly called the organizer for the charity and told him about he show plan as though it had been decided on by Moon. The organizer had been surprisingly eager to approve it and Ms. Crawly made and hung posters explaining what the show was and how to donate. What's done was done and the performers/stage crew had been more or less easily forgiving of Ms. Crawly's fumble.
"Well, look who actually decided to show up! Odd, we don't normally get to see you at these meetings, Mike." The koala was unfazed by the small singers rage.
"Don't act cute, Moon! I demand an explanation!" Mike was seething.
"Now Mike, there's no need for that tone." Rosita's voice was sweet and motherly, but her expression was warning.
Meena was the first to try and answer Mike's question rather than just give him disapproving looks with everyone else. "We're, uh, we're doing a charity show, ya know to help raise money for a homeless shelter, and started coming up with ideas for it on Friday." Meena was fidgeting with her hands as she spoke from where she was standing further back on stage. She glanced at Ash as she continued. "Ash had the idea for us to do acts that were kinda... outside of our comfort zones?"
"I think she was thinking more along the lines of fan service." Eddie spoke up with a wary smile from where he was leaning against some stage rigging.
"Hey, I didn't think we'd actually do it!" Ash defended with a light chuckle from her seat on one of the available crates.
"So why are we doing it?!" Mike growled in irritation.
Ash gave a worried glance at where Moon and Ms. Crawly were standing. "Well..."
"Uh-that was my fault!" Moon jumped in, quickly taking the blame. The others had been understanding about the whole ordeal, but Moon didn't have faith the mouse would be as forgiving. "After typing up everyone's very amusing ideas, I accidentally sent them to the charity's coordinator along with some other information. The acts were approved and the charity has already started advertising for the show so... here we are!" Moon gave an uneasy smile, hoping Mike bought his lie. There was a stillness in the theater as everyone waited for Mike's reaction.
"...It said I had to wear a dress." Mike gritted out after a moment.
"Yes." Moon nodded, not seeing anything wrong with that.
"A. Dress."
"I'm well aware what the posters say, Mike."
"In what universe do you see me wearing a dress?!" The mouse's voice increased sharply at the end of the question, making everyone present tense up.
"How 'bout the one where you're nose-deep in debt and under contract with us and don't have a choice?" Eddie chimed, all too happy to take Mike down a few pegs.
"What about princess porky, huh? Her name isn't on there and she's under contact with you bozos too!" The tiny singer pointed accusingly in the direction of where Rosita was standing next to Ms. Crawly.
"Yes, well, Rosita ask to bow out of this particular show when we were first coming up with it. Something you could have done too if you had, I don't know, been at that meeting?" Moon explained somewhat gleefully. The situation was a mess but telling Mike off like this almost made it worth it.
Before the huffy mouse could think of a response, Gunter piped up. "Don't be such a up-tight-dinkel-shplat! It will be fun! And is for a good cause, no?" The pig cheerily tried to lift Mike's spirits from where he was half leaning on Ash's crate.
"Well, what if nobody bothers to donate? My lose of dignity would be for nothing!" Mike snapped back.
"Mike, chill. If no one donates, we don't do the show." Ash stated with an eye roll, getting tried of the mouse's tantrum.
"Ash is right. We're only on for the show if people donate enough t' the shelta'." Johnny explained when Mike gave a confused and heavily annoyed look.
"Well, why didn't ya say so!" Mike grinned is selfish glee. "I knew there had to be a way out of this. You better set the limit high, Moon! Ya hear me?"
"I assure you I will, though I doubt it would even be necessary." Moon said as he straightened his bow tie and recomposed himself. He turned slightly as he was addressing every on stage now. "As I was about to tell everyone before Mike's colorful entrance, I don't think anyone should be getting too worried about preforming just yet. Getting folks to donate to the theater is like pulling teeth! Believe me, I know." The koala heaved a little, exasperated sigh. "I tried everything I could think of to raise funds for the theater before. So although this is a possibility, it's not a very likely one." Gunter made disappointed noise at this. "Nevertheless, the professional thing do to is to prepare for it, no matter how unlikely. That means you all will still be expected to be preparing and rehearsing your acts once finalized."
"Oh good! We'll still get to see Mike in a dress." Ash smirk.
Mike glowered at her. "Why you littl- "
"Alright! We still have work that needs to be done today." Moon cut in before things had a chance to get ugly. "Johnny and Eddie; you two are on for organizing props. Ash, Gunter, we had a new shipment of stage makeup that needs labeling putting away. And no getting into it this time! I know there are 36 cases of sparkly eyeshadow and there better still be when you're done, Gunter. Mike-" After warning Ash and Gunter (mostly Gunter), Moon stopped when he saw the mouse stomping off. The theater owner sighed. "Meena, can go and keep an eye on him until he calms down? He's nicer with you." Meena nodded with a sympathetic smile in response and followed after Mike. The others had pretty much dispersed as well to complete their tasks. "Rosita, a word in my office please?" Moon motioned for the mother pig to follow him and Ms. Crawly upstairs, which she did with a slightly confused expression.
Once in his office, Moon closed the door behind Rosita and faced her. He adjusted his suit jacket nervously. "Now then, incase we do have to preform this show, which is highly unlikely, but in the incredibly unlikely case that we do..." The koala trailed off looking uneasy.
"Mr. Moon?" Rosita tilted her head, confused as to why her boss was acting so fidgety.
"I know this wasn't your first choice for a show and you didn't want to be a part of it! And I completely understand that-"
"Me. Moon." This time the pig said his name sternly, pushing him to get to the point.
Moon sighed. "If we raise enough and have to do this show, I will have to perform. So I was wondering if there was any chance you might be willing to announce the acts?"
"Oh, of course!" Rosita chirped sweetly, much to the koala's surprise.
"Really? That was easier than I expected. I thought you weren't fond of this kind of show?"
The mother shrugged softly. "I may not want to do these kinds of acts, but I wouldn't stop others. Although I'm a bit concerned about the children preforming." Rosita was referring to the three youngest members of the theater team; Ash, Johnny, and Meena; all of whom were actually legal adults and Rosita knew it. "But I suppose I have really have no say in that. Besides, this is for good cause and I'm happy to do my part!"
This left Moon beaming. He took Rosita's hoof in both hands and thanked her before going up to his desk. "If you see Eddie, please send him up here. Oh, and could you please check on how Ash and Gunter are doing?" Moon asked as Rosita headed out of the office. "You know how Gunter is with glittery makeup." The pig smiled knowing and nodded before leaving.
A few minutes later, Eddie causally strolled into the office. "Hey, what's up, Buster? Rosita said you wanted me?"
Moon looked up from the paperwork he had been doing. "Ah, Eddie. Yes, I have a bit of a technicality I need to discuss with you." The sheep cocked an eyebrow and smiled in amusement at his friend's overly formal word use. "You see, the wording Ms. Crawly used was vague enough and the communication was unclear enough that the coordinator only knows the final act will be done by the owners of the theater. He wasn't given our names." Moon was sitting up straight with his hand clasped in front of him resting on his desk. He looked the image of professionalism. However his eyes were shifted off to one side as he spoke, not meeting Eddie's. "Most of the town is unaware that you are now my business partner. So it's unlikely that anyone is expecting you to preform. What I'm saying is, well, you don't necessarily have to be casted in the show." Moon hoped against hope that he didn't sound disappointed saying the last part.
"Wow... you actually think it's gonna happen, don't you?" Eddie said with worry for his small friend.
"No no, I meant what I said down there. I don't think this show stands hardly any chance of coming to light." Moon brushed off Eddie's concern, his voice genuine in just how little faith he had in the show happening. "Nevertheless, there's still a chance. And I assumed you'd rather there be no chance at all of you having to go on stage and-"
"Oh come on, Buster." Eddie cut off The koala with a light chuckle. "I'm not about to let you embarrass yourself in front an theater audience... by yourself." Moons ears peaked up and his gaze finally met Eddie's. The sheep smirking a bit at him. "If we have do this, we do it together." As if the emphasize his point, Eddie stuck out his arm to shake on it.
Moon didn't take his hoof. His was too busy staring in awe of his friend's loyalty, giving the sheep the same look he did the day Eddie decided to help with the car wash. "Really?" Moon finally managed to breath out.
Eddie used his free hoof to scratch behind his head and he looked off to the side. "Yeah, going through with this sounds terrible, but it sounds even worse doing it alone, ya' kno-" His sentence was cut short due to the short and formidable arm crushing his rib cage. Moon had, as it seemed to Eddie, teleported from his seat behind the desk to standing on it in order to hug his taller friend, completely ignoring the sheep's out stretched hoof. All professional mannerisms gone out the window.
Eddie froze at the sudden display of affection, he face suddenly feeling warm for some reason. Slowly, Eddie's extended arm lowered and his hoof cane to rest in the smaller mammal's back.
A moment later Moon's common sense return, he quickly separated himself from the sheep and cleared his throat. "Thanks Eddie. You're- you're a real pal." The koala spoke sincerely and smiled up at his company.
Eddie felt his throat go dry for a moment before coughing out a nervous chuckle. "Heh. Yeah, well, what's a little public humiliation between old friends, right?" The sheep started walking backwards towards the door, doing finger (hoof?) guns as he tried to exit casually. Unfortunately, when Eddie spun on his heels to face the door, he miscalculated how far the door was and his face smacked into glass. He rubbed his nose and glanced back at Moon, giving another nervous chuckle before ducking out of the office.
Moon watched with concern, then smiled and shook his head at the sheep. He went and hopped back down to his seat and continued his paperwork, the smile still on his face.
that came out shippier than I expected. Let me know what you guys think! I love fed back about which characters i write well and which ones need improvement. Also, i have a song I like for Ash picked out but I'll still take suggestions for her act. And I still need songs for Meena and Johnny so if you have ideas please share!