The three ascended the rather dusty stairs in the building. Seeing as
Toulouse's apartment was the home to nearly every former Moulin Rouge
dancer at one time or another, he'd offered for Pearl to live there a
while. After all, they didn't have a pure actor in their list of Bohemians.
A dancer, an artist, a pianist, a newly added singer, and a very strange
sound and stage effects artist. An actress may prove to be a valuable
asset.
"My room." Christian announced, smiling at the both of them. The depression in his eyes seemed to have vanished at the thought of getting the Moulin Rouge back from that bastard duke. He swung the door open, and Pearl took a quick look inside. Nothing unexpected, she thought, as he stepped inside and closed the door.
"We're one floor up." Toulouse informed her in a rather serious manner. As if that was a very important topic in today's discussion. Pearl smirked and ignored Toulouse inquiring of what was so amusing.
"Oh, here we are." He announced as he threw open the door. Pearls eyes widened, and she dimly thought she'd never seen this much junk and clutter in a room her entire life. Bottles of absinthe, exotic clothes, half-finished paintings, paper with musical notes on them, and an endless supply of noisemakers haphazardly littered the floor.
Besides that, there were four men just as interesting looking as Toulouse lying around the room.
One was a tall and quite muscular black man. To Pearl, he seemed to have very kind and gentle dark eyes. But it also seemed he had become fit for a reason, and she guessed (correctly) that society had been quick to wrongly judge him. The man had tufts of dark raven hair on his head, and donned some rather spectacular clothing. A glimmering silver vest, a white shirt with splashes of paint on it, and emerald pants.
Another man passed out on the bed beside him seemed a bit old. He had a remarkably long, graying beard that was longer on the two sides than it was in the middle, giving him a rather satanic look. The rest of his hair she could not see, for it was tucked under a rich purple and gold hat. His skin was slightly wrinkled, but the older man must have had something to keep him going if he kept up with this crowd.
On the opposite side of the room, there was a dark looking man. He had dark hair, dark eyes, dark beard, and a dark tan. Pearl guessed he was Spanish, or perhaps Argentinean. He had quite a devilish look on his face, a broad smirk and a mischievous twinkle in his dark eyes. This man wore red suspenders over a red shirt, and black boots. As she continued to stare at him, she saw his eyes flutter shut, and watched as he crumpled to the floor.
"Toulouse, check to see he didn't hurt his head." The last man said without looking up from the piano, which he sat at. Pearl turned to look at him, the last of the male occupants in the room. He was bald, she could tell, even if he did wear a strikingly Bohemian style brown hat. Swung around his neck was a multicolored scarf, and he wore the most colorful costume of all the guys in the room. He was also too engrossed in his work for her to get a good enough look at him, but she would see him later.
Her attention then went to the two girls in the room, who by this point, were also looking at her.
The first one sat beside the man who'd just passed out. She had very striking dark sapphire eyes, and short eyelashes that must've been done up to make them look darker. If layers of make-up had not been applied to her skin, Pearl assumed she would be pale, with a few wrinkles. From stress or age, she figured, or maybe even both. She was very slender, but that could have been from the corset under her golden dress with red windmills sewn across the bottom. Her raven hair was done up into a rather fancy bun, and Pearl wondered why anyone would waste so much time on appearances.
The other was nestled comfortably in the big African mans lap. She had shimmery golden hair that flowed down to her back, and light blue eyes. The area around them had also been covered with make-up in order to make them seem big and innocent, but Pearl ignored such things and saw the girl was anything but innocent. Her willowy form was also wrapped up in a corset, and she wore a fleshy pink colored dress with white lace trimming the ends. She had a very bright rose color painted onto her lips, and Pearl thought it slightly resembled a clown.
Toulouse who had been standing beside her, watching her look at all his friends pointed to them in the order she'd seen them and gave a quick summary of who they were.
"Chocolat, he used to be a singer at the Moulin. The Doctor, who does special effects for plays. That's The Argentinean, a narcoleptic dancer. Satie, a very talented pianist. Nini, she used to be a performer at the Moulin. And Babydoll, also a former performer from the Moulin Rouge!" Toulouse speeded so quickly through the introductions, so Pearl had only concentrated on the names.
"And this my friends, is Pearl. She just arrived here today, and is an actress." As he spoke, he waved a free hand at her and Pearl smiled softly.
As Pearl went to put her belongings away (all the dressers were of course unused, as the rest of them just put everything on the floor) as Toulouse explained the Moulin Rouge situation. The thought of just maybe getting it back seemed to thrill everyone, even though no exact plan had been worked out yet. Toulouse had figured on discussing it with Pearl that afternoon, and the others agreed that was fine.
So once Pearl had her clothes shoved into a couple drawers, she sat on the couch and waited for Toulouse to come over. After talking to his friends a while, he grabbed a bottle of absinthe and scuttled over.
"Want any?" Toulouse asked before taking a sip. She shook her head, a bemused grin slowly creeping across her face. After that they discussed their plan. Toulouse had to fill her in on details, but come nine o'clock, they thought they had a finite plan.
"All right. So we'll put posters everywhere in the city that say "AUDITION FOR PLAY AT MOULIN ROUGE, TOMORROW NIGHT! PLEASE ARRIVE BEFORE 5 TO BE ABLE TO AUDITION FOR A LEAD ROLE, OR ARRIVE AT 7 TO TAKE PART IN OTHER AREAS OF PRODUCTION". Which of course is a scam, because we have no play. But you say this Duke who owns it, will be outraged we're trying to do a play without his permission will burst into Zidlers office for an explanation. Except Zidler won't be there, and I will. From then on, I am to seduce him, until he agrees to give the deeds of the Moulin Rouge back to Harold as a token of his love. Right?" Pearl asked of Toulouse.
"Exactly." He replied with a wide grin. Whether it was because of his excitement, or the absinthe, Pearl hadn't a clue.
"Afterwards, can I tell him that everyone hates him, and it was all just a trick?" Pearl asked mischievously. The girl was nice to anyone she liked, but if someone she disliked annoyed her, she didn't usually bother to mask those emotions. Better if you just tell them they're the scum of the earth, the lowest of the low, the most vile, wretched, creature to ever walk the face of the earth.
"No!" Toulouse exclaimed, snapping out of his drunken stupor, shaking his head forcefully.
"Don't do that! The Duke himself is probably to weak to do anything to you, but he has a violent temper, and a very scary servant." He said, shivering at the memory of Warner. Very scary fellow, he thought to himself.
"A 'scary' servant? Oh no.whatever will I do?" Pearl teased, putting a hand up to her mouth and dramatically gasping in horror.
"Pearl, it's not funny. Please promise me you won't do anything to upset the Duke!" Toulouse implored, staring straight into her eyes.
Geez, Pearl thought, he really is worried about me. She could not help but smile, and she nodded.
"Okay. I promise not to upset the man." She replied gently.
After that, the talk broke into different things. Each other's past, their favorite things, family, friends, money, and at one point, a discussion on why Frank was a stupid name. Sometime around midnight, they fell asleep on the couch. In the course of the night, Pearl managed to fall into Toulouse's lap without either of them waking.
"My room." Christian announced, smiling at the both of them. The depression in his eyes seemed to have vanished at the thought of getting the Moulin Rouge back from that bastard duke. He swung the door open, and Pearl took a quick look inside. Nothing unexpected, she thought, as he stepped inside and closed the door.
"We're one floor up." Toulouse informed her in a rather serious manner. As if that was a very important topic in today's discussion. Pearl smirked and ignored Toulouse inquiring of what was so amusing.
"Oh, here we are." He announced as he threw open the door. Pearls eyes widened, and she dimly thought she'd never seen this much junk and clutter in a room her entire life. Bottles of absinthe, exotic clothes, half-finished paintings, paper with musical notes on them, and an endless supply of noisemakers haphazardly littered the floor.
Besides that, there were four men just as interesting looking as Toulouse lying around the room.
One was a tall and quite muscular black man. To Pearl, he seemed to have very kind and gentle dark eyes. But it also seemed he had become fit for a reason, and she guessed (correctly) that society had been quick to wrongly judge him. The man had tufts of dark raven hair on his head, and donned some rather spectacular clothing. A glimmering silver vest, a white shirt with splashes of paint on it, and emerald pants.
Another man passed out on the bed beside him seemed a bit old. He had a remarkably long, graying beard that was longer on the two sides than it was in the middle, giving him a rather satanic look. The rest of his hair she could not see, for it was tucked under a rich purple and gold hat. His skin was slightly wrinkled, but the older man must have had something to keep him going if he kept up with this crowd.
On the opposite side of the room, there was a dark looking man. He had dark hair, dark eyes, dark beard, and a dark tan. Pearl guessed he was Spanish, or perhaps Argentinean. He had quite a devilish look on his face, a broad smirk and a mischievous twinkle in his dark eyes. This man wore red suspenders over a red shirt, and black boots. As she continued to stare at him, she saw his eyes flutter shut, and watched as he crumpled to the floor.
"Toulouse, check to see he didn't hurt his head." The last man said without looking up from the piano, which he sat at. Pearl turned to look at him, the last of the male occupants in the room. He was bald, she could tell, even if he did wear a strikingly Bohemian style brown hat. Swung around his neck was a multicolored scarf, and he wore the most colorful costume of all the guys in the room. He was also too engrossed in his work for her to get a good enough look at him, but she would see him later.
Her attention then went to the two girls in the room, who by this point, were also looking at her.
The first one sat beside the man who'd just passed out. She had very striking dark sapphire eyes, and short eyelashes that must've been done up to make them look darker. If layers of make-up had not been applied to her skin, Pearl assumed she would be pale, with a few wrinkles. From stress or age, she figured, or maybe even both. She was very slender, but that could have been from the corset under her golden dress with red windmills sewn across the bottom. Her raven hair was done up into a rather fancy bun, and Pearl wondered why anyone would waste so much time on appearances.
The other was nestled comfortably in the big African mans lap. She had shimmery golden hair that flowed down to her back, and light blue eyes. The area around them had also been covered with make-up in order to make them seem big and innocent, but Pearl ignored such things and saw the girl was anything but innocent. Her willowy form was also wrapped up in a corset, and she wore a fleshy pink colored dress with white lace trimming the ends. She had a very bright rose color painted onto her lips, and Pearl thought it slightly resembled a clown.
Toulouse who had been standing beside her, watching her look at all his friends pointed to them in the order she'd seen them and gave a quick summary of who they were.
"Chocolat, he used to be a singer at the Moulin. The Doctor, who does special effects for plays. That's The Argentinean, a narcoleptic dancer. Satie, a very talented pianist. Nini, she used to be a performer at the Moulin. And Babydoll, also a former performer from the Moulin Rouge!" Toulouse speeded so quickly through the introductions, so Pearl had only concentrated on the names.
"And this my friends, is Pearl. She just arrived here today, and is an actress." As he spoke, he waved a free hand at her and Pearl smiled softly.
As Pearl went to put her belongings away (all the dressers were of course unused, as the rest of them just put everything on the floor) as Toulouse explained the Moulin Rouge situation. The thought of just maybe getting it back seemed to thrill everyone, even though no exact plan had been worked out yet. Toulouse had figured on discussing it with Pearl that afternoon, and the others agreed that was fine.
So once Pearl had her clothes shoved into a couple drawers, she sat on the couch and waited for Toulouse to come over. After talking to his friends a while, he grabbed a bottle of absinthe and scuttled over.
"Want any?" Toulouse asked before taking a sip. She shook her head, a bemused grin slowly creeping across her face. After that they discussed their plan. Toulouse had to fill her in on details, but come nine o'clock, they thought they had a finite plan.
"All right. So we'll put posters everywhere in the city that say "AUDITION FOR PLAY AT MOULIN ROUGE, TOMORROW NIGHT! PLEASE ARRIVE BEFORE 5 TO BE ABLE TO AUDITION FOR A LEAD ROLE, OR ARRIVE AT 7 TO TAKE PART IN OTHER AREAS OF PRODUCTION". Which of course is a scam, because we have no play. But you say this Duke who owns it, will be outraged we're trying to do a play without his permission will burst into Zidlers office for an explanation. Except Zidler won't be there, and I will. From then on, I am to seduce him, until he agrees to give the deeds of the Moulin Rouge back to Harold as a token of his love. Right?" Pearl asked of Toulouse.
"Exactly." He replied with a wide grin. Whether it was because of his excitement, or the absinthe, Pearl hadn't a clue.
"Afterwards, can I tell him that everyone hates him, and it was all just a trick?" Pearl asked mischievously. The girl was nice to anyone she liked, but if someone she disliked annoyed her, she didn't usually bother to mask those emotions. Better if you just tell them they're the scum of the earth, the lowest of the low, the most vile, wretched, creature to ever walk the face of the earth.
"No!" Toulouse exclaimed, snapping out of his drunken stupor, shaking his head forcefully.
"Don't do that! The Duke himself is probably to weak to do anything to you, but he has a violent temper, and a very scary servant." He said, shivering at the memory of Warner. Very scary fellow, he thought to himself.
"A 'scary' servant? Oh no.whatever will I do?" Pearl teased, putting a hand up to her mouth and dramatically gasping in horror.
"Pearl, it's not funny. Please promise me you won't do anything to upset the Duke!" Toulouse implored, staring straight into her eyes.
Geez, Pearl thought, he really is worried about me. She could not help but smile, and she nodded.
"Okay. I promise not to upset the man." She replied gently.
After that, the talk broke into different things. Each other's past, their favorite things, family, friends, money, and at one point, a discussion on why Frank was a stupid name. Sometime around midnight, they fell asleep on the couch. In the course of the night, Pearl managed to fall into Toulouse's lap without either of them waking.