Alyse watched him as he came closer. He had a cigarette between his lips--was he ever without one? She wondered--and his hat was perched rakishly atop his head, giving him a distinctly bohemian look. He stopped at the edge of the stage, right below her, and looked up.

Christian took the cigarette from his mouth and asked, "Do you smoke?"

She looked at him, confused, and said, "Umm…"

He held his cigarette out to her, and she took it doubtfully. He kept his eyes on hers as she held it to her lips and inhaled delicately, then proceeded to cough indelicately. He laughed as she held it back out to him. "I'll take that as a no," he said, and stubbed it out in the tray he'd brought over with him.

"No--I mean, yes, that means no." Alyse said, and realized it made little sense, but she was still coughing and couldn't be bothered.

"You all right?"

She nodded and straightened a bit. "Yes," she said with a last cough, then added, "At least now I know why I've never tried them before."

Christian grinned, and she felt a little pinch in her chest. She was fairly sure it wasn't from the smoke still burning her lungs. "They take a little getting used to, but I imagine since you're going to be singing, you might want to stay away from them."

"Right." she nodded. "Good idea."

They stood for a moment in silence, and then she let out a sigh. "I feel like a life size doll," she said without thinking, and then grimaced when she realized she'd spoken aloud.

But he took her words seriously. He looked her over, and then he said, "Well, you look like one."

Alyse glanced at him, startled. "I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an insult," she said.

"It's a compliment," Christian said, then laughed. "Mostly."

She laughed with him, somewhat surprised at this humorous side of him, especially after the mess yesterday. Which reminded her…she fidgeted with the skirt of her dress as she worked up the courage to say what she wanted to say. Finally, she just blurted it out. "Christian, I'd like to apologize for yesterday, for what I said to you. I had no business…it was very inappropriate for me to say what I did, and I'm very sorry."

He was shaking his head before she'd even finished. "No, no, I owe you an apology. I didn't handle it well, and I was unkind to you. You've no need to apologize to me."

She nodded. "Well, all right, if you say so…"

"I do say so," Christian said firmly, and then he smiled again. "But I do accept the apology that you didn't need to offer."

Alyse giggled. "And I accept yours," she replied. She met his smile with one of her own, and felt something click inside of her. She couldn't figure out what it was, and she didn't have time to think on it, because she heard Zidler's voice coming towards them. She quickly straightened up, as she'd started to relax while speaking to Christian, and clasped her hands in front of her. She had to get over this nervousness, she knew she did, but for right now, it was difficult. Then she looked down at Christian, and he gave her an encouraging smile. Some of the tension melted away.

"Oh, my peach!" Zidler cried when he saw her, as he climbed up the steps to the stage. "Oh, how magnificent! Marie, isn't she magnificent! Christian, look at her!" Marie murmured her agreement, rolling her eyes a bit at Alyse, and Zidler turned expectantly to Christian.

Christian coughed. "Y-yes, she's quite lovely," he commented, and couldn't quite meet anyone's eyes as he spoke.

Zidler took Alyse's hands in his. "This is so wonderful! I'm more certain than ever that you are absolutely perfect for this role. Perfect for the Moulin Rouge!" Then he sighed dramatically and turned to look at the others who'd come back with him. "Now if only we could find the male leads! You would think there are no good male actors in this city!" He started to sigh again, then his eyes narrowed as they fell on Christian. "My boy…now that I think about it, you would be perfect to play the musician! Yes, I can see it now…"

"No." Christian's voice was cold, and firm, as he interrupted. Zidler stopped mid-tirade and stared, as did everyone else.

"But…but…" Zidler blustered. "Just think about it! Can't you imagine…"

"No." Christian said again, and now his face had hardened to match his voice. "I'll never step foot on that stage again, and you know why. And don't ever ask me to." With that, he turned around and walked over to his typewriter, gathered up his papers, and grabbed his coat. As he moved towards the exit, he tossed over his shoulder, "I'll work on the script tonight. You'll have more by tomorrow." Then he disappeared through the doors.

Alyse stared after him for a moment, and then turned back to Zidler as he brushed off the outburst and continued chattering. "Well, of course there must be some men in this city…" he continued, but she tuned him out, as he really wasn't directing much of his talk at her. She couldn't blame Christian for reacting badly to Zidler's unasked question. She didn't know if she'd ever have the courage to come back to the place where someone she'd loved had died, yet he did. He was a strong man…

She was shaken from her thoughts when Marie took her hand again and pulled her back to her dressing room. She spent the rest of the day, save for a break for lunch, being fussed over and trotted out onto the stage for inspection, or to play out a scene against someone auditioning. One of the men, Jerome, seemed to be a very good actor, but he made her a little uncomfortable with his wandering eyes. At the end of the day, he was told to come back tomorrow for further auditions.

Alyse left for her room that night feeling weary but excited. She remembered the stops she'd wanted to make and picked up some flowers, some bread and vegetables, and a few books. Out of sheer silliness she wove one of the flowers into her hair, and strolled home in high spirits.

Christian heard her soft footfalls on the stairs before he saw her. He'd left his door open, for once, and was in his usual place at his typewriter. He'd been working for a few hours and had made good progress. He'd lost his bad mood fairly quickly and had immersed himself in his writing. But he looked up when he heard Alyse approach her door. Her arms were full, of flowers and food, it appeared. She had one of the flowers in her hair, which was starting to curl again, apparently despite all that Marie had done to it. She looked like a pretty little faerie, and he couldn't stop himself from calling to her. "Alyse."

She looked over and smiled at him. "Just a minute!" she said, and finally managed to open her door. She pushed inside and laid the flowers across a table, tossed the food on the bed. She dropped off her coat and bag as well, and then stepped back out the door and across the hall. "Yes?" she said, pausing in the doorway.

He suddenly realized he didn't actually have anything to say to her, and then the pile of papers next to the typewriter caught his attention. "Have you read the script yet?" he asked, motioning to the pile.

"No, not the whole thing, just parts…why? Is this it?" she said curiously, coming forward and touching the stack.

Christian nodded. "Would you like to read it? I could…I could use someone's opinion."

Alyse looked at him, surprised. "Me?" she squeaked, then blushed.

He didn't seem to notice. "Well, you're going to be performing it, I suppose I can't think of anyone better to read it through."

"Well…all right," she said, trying to hide her excitement. He wanted her to read his play? She, who had no experience with anything like this? She was smart enough to know, however, that this wasn't something she should turn down, and she picked up the stack of papers and looked for somewhere to sit.

He saw her gaze sweep over the room, and he coughed. "I, uh, I don't have guests very often, so you'll, uh, have to sit on the bed, if that's all right…"

She blushed again and said, "No, that's quite fine." Was he blushing too? She couldn't tell. She settled down on his neatly made bed, and started to read the first page.

Before either of them realized it, an hour and a half had passed. They'd sat together in a comfortable silence, aside from the clatter of Christian's typewriter. Alyse read the whole play through, him passing her pages as he finished typing them. Finally, he sat back, and she finished the last page. "I'm still not done with it," he sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"This is really good, though, Christian," she said enthusiastically, putting the pages down and stretching out her legs. She'd long since pulled off her shoes, which amused him a little. She'd had no trouble settling in after that first awkward moment.

"Do you think so?" he asked, scratching his neck nervously and then wondering why he was nervous.

"Oh, yes!" she exclaimed, pulling her legs underneath her in such a fluidly graceful motion that if he hadn't known her to be a dancer already, he'd have guessed it then. "The love between Julia and Pierre, his feelings of not deserving love, and her sense of duty toward Henri…it's such a triangle. Have you any idea how you'll end it?"

He shrugged. "Well, I think that Julia and Pierre will have to end up together, don't you? That's what people always want to see, even if it isn't always realistic." His voice carried a hint of bitterness, and before she was able to comment on his statement, he looked at his pocket watch. "Oh, I didn't realize what time it is! Are you--are you hungry? I don't really have anything…" He looked around his room somewhat bleakly, and thought again how unprepared he really was to have guests.

Alyse smiled suddenly and jumped up. "I have something…" she called over her shoulder as she dashed out of his room and across the hall to hers. She came back a moment later with the bread she'd bought earlier, laughing as she handed it to him. "I couldn't resist, it's so French!" she said on a giggle, and Christian couldn't help but laugh with her.

He got up and found a knife, which he used to cut off thick slices of the fresh bread. Then he turned to look at her. "Would you like something to drink? I could fix tea, or I have absinthe, wine, water…"

She tilted her head as she looked at him. "Absinthe? You have absinthe?"

"Yes," he said, and studied her face. "Why? You'd like to try it?"

She shrugged. "I've never had it before…"

Christian grinned. "Well, by all means, then I feel it's my duty to introduce you to it before someone else that is less of a gentleman than myself gets the chance."

Alyse laughed. "All right," she agreed. She liked him like this. He was funny and friendly, and part of her wondered why he was being so kind to her. She watched him as he moved about the room, first lighting a few candles, as it was late and growing dark. Then he moved over to what she had to assume was the table where he usually ate.

He poked through the various eating utensils he had in a bowl on the table until he found two absinthe spoons, and as he located the rest of the items he needed, he spoke to her. "Now, I usually just drink absinthe from the bottle, sometimes with a little water, depending on my mood--" which was generally sour, so he commonly drank the absinthe straight "--but for your first time, I think we'll go all out." He came back over to his typing table, and pushed a sheaf of papers aside. He carried the spoons, two glasses, a bowl of sugar, and a carafe of water. He set them down and went back across the room to retrieve a tall bottle. He turned to her with another grin and said, "Absinthe."

She giggled at his little show, and he sat down at the table and went to work. He set up the glasses on the table, and poured a small amount of absinthe into each. Then he placed a spoon over the top of each glass, and then dropped a cube of sugar onto the spoons. Next, he slowly poured water over the sugar, dissolving it into the liquid. When he was finished, the sugar was completely melted, and he took the spoons off and set them on the table. He handed her one of the glasses and picked up the other for himself.

Alyse suddenly felt nervous, holding the glass in her hand, and as if he could tell, Christian smiled sympathetically and said, "Are you sure about this?"

She looked into his eyes for a minute and then nodded. "Yes, I think so," she said, and then laughed. "Yes, I want to do this. You've already fixed it, why waste it?"

He chuckled. "All right," he said. "Together?"

She nodded again, and kept her eyes on him as he raised his glass to his lips. She lifted hers, and then he tipped his back and swallowed it all in one long gulp, never taking his eyes off of hers as she did the same.

Alyse never had more than the few occasional sips of wine before, and so the effects of the absinthe were immediate and strong. She could have sworn she felt the alcohol seeping into her bloodstream, winding into her veins and warming her whole body. She focused on Christian's face--he was watching her closely--and his eyes seemed even greener than before, his features a little more clear. She giggled a little at his expression, and he spoke to her.

"Are you all right?"

She nodded, and handed him her glass. "More," she said on another giggle.

Christian gave a laugh as he looked at her. Her eyes were wide, looking around the room in wonder, and he remembered his first glass of absinthe--the absolute clarity he'd felt, the way the world had looked--all sparkling and shiny--the way he'd felt like he could do anything. She had that look on her face now, and for some reason it pleased him, that he'd been able to do that for her. "You should wait a few minutes," he said, regretting a bit that over time, he'd grown somewhat immune to absinthe's effects.

"All right," she said, and continued to look around the room. "This is…" she searched her clouded mind for a word and finally came up with, "amazing!"

A few more minutes passed, with her making odd comments and him laughing more at her, and just as Christian was about to prepare them a second glass, a clattering on the stairs had him looking to the doorway. Alyse followed his gaze, only her head moved much slower.

Toulouse came into the doorway, took one look at the scene in front of him--Alyse's face, the bottle in Christian's hand--and cried, "Christian! You've given her absinthe! You should have called me down!" They all laughed as he hobbled over to the table and snatched the bottle away. Christian found another glass and spoon, and they all shared a few more glasses together, along with the bread. It was the wee hours of the morning before Alyse stumbled into her bed and fell into green tinted dreams.