Death of a Muse
Legal Disclaimer-All of these characters came from the mind of Jonathan Larson, the one exception being Mary Blaine. The rights all belong to the Larson family and I only play here in the world of fanfiction, living in America.
Authors Note-Mark has a life. Whoo hoo! Maureen has to realize that Mark has one now. Mary is brought along for the ride. My reviewers are golden, my muse is beating me daily, and the music that is helping breathe this story into life is that of Adam Pascal. Go get "Model Prisoner" People! It rocks.
Maureen looked at Mark stunned for a moment then turned to Mary.
"I'm Maureen," she said, extending a hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Same here," Mary said, "I have heard all about you. It's about time we met."
Maureen smiled, this was not as awkward as she thought it might be. Mary was pretty cool. Mark's heart started beating again and he turned to watch the group, grabbing his always loaded camera.
Roger watched the moment with a smidgen of glee. He knew that if Mark admitted that he had moved on, maybe Maureen would be better with Joanne. He knew they fought regularly, but he didn't like mentioning it to Mark, who still feared Maureen's mother.
"Mo, Mary, you guys better hurry, cause the rice is disappearing," Roger interrupted, "There's mushu pork if anyone's interested."
After a group lunch and conversation, Roger sat on the fire escape, smoking a cigarette. He didn't smoke that much anymore, just on occasion, to dull the aftereffects of taking his AZT. Strangely enough, the food, the drugs and his lack of sleep really didn't bother him. Mark's girl was amazing, she fit in with everyone, and he didn't feel like he had to keep entertaining her for Mark's sake. She could carry her own.
Why had Mark been so reluctant to tell her about Angel? About any of them? He knew from Mary's reaction to the movie she had no clue that Roger was positive. She knew about Collins though. Was he so concerned about Roger and Mimi that he had lost himself in the mix? He remembered their fight just before he left for Santa Fe. He had been wrong to tell Mark that he was living a lie, the guy had given up several jobs to keep his ass alive when he was ready to give up. He had seen him through rehab, had kept their meager home going, and when it looked like he was getting his own private life back, he couldn't talk about his immediate past. Roger wasn't one to judge, but he knew that Mark would eventually want to talk and this time he would be the one listening.
"Penny for your thoughts," Mark said from behind him.
"I'll take that penny and raise you a quarter," Roger replied, motioning for Mark to join him on the rail, "Where are the women?"
"Being entertained by another one of Collins', 'When I was at NYU' stories," Mark's replied, "I don't think I'll ever get Mary out of this loft today."
"She needs to meet everyone, Mark, she's your girlfriend, it's just lucky her rehearsal cancelled," Roger took another drag off the cigarette, "You seem a little calmer. Maureen was a class act, you don't have to worry."
"Thanks, I think," Mark sighed, "I was so scared when Maureen and Mary met, but she took it very well."
"Mark, the woman in there who you are just getting to love, is STUNNING," Roger turned to see his friend's reaction, "Maureen should take it very well, she lost you when she went with Joanne."
"I lost her," Mark said, "I don't want to lose Mary."
"Is that what had you so worked up today?" Roger lit another cigarette, "You didn't mention Angel to her at all. Mark, you won a local emmy with your movie. First time out of the gate. No one does that."
"I did," Mark turned to look at the group inside the room, "I don't know what made me not mention Angel, Roger, I just don't fucking know. I wanted to bring it up with her, but the words couldn't find a way to work. She showed me a lot in the past two weeks. I learned all about her life, she's so much like we are, just on the other side of town. She even has a version of my mother."
"Hey, the Irish are the lost tribe of Israel," Roger commented, trying to lighten Mark's mood, "I don't think Angel would have minded. I was a little upset when I realized that you hadn't mentioned my HIV status with her."
"It's not my comment to make, Roger," Mark's eyes met his, "It's yours."
"Thank you for that," Roger looked away, "It's about life, not the disease, right?"
"Amen," Mark replied, "Now, I'm gonna go finish lunch and shoot some scenes in this fucking town, you interested in joining us?"
Roger laughed and nodded, it would be good to go out and sieze the day.
Six people looking for the Holiday Spirit in NYC was almost overwhelming for Mark and his camera. They spent the entire afternoon shooting all over Alphabet City, getting every form of Christmas, Chanukah, Ramadan and any other conceivable Christmas decoration that was visible to the naked eye. Mark even stopped at the tattoo parlor where Maureen got her star tattoos to see about a Christmas tree tattoo. They had one. He shot a picture of it, not willing to permanently mark his body with one. While wasn't against tattoos, he knew a Christmas tree would send his mother into conniptions.
Collins stopped for a moment in front of the center where he and Angel used to go for Life Support. The decorations out front made him a little sad, but he knew that he had to go onward. He didn't realize that his friends had noticed, even the newest one, who with her hand in Mark's put on a hand on his shoulder.
With a deep sigh he found himself putting his hand in hers as they headed down the street. Life did move on.
Evening found them remembering the day in the Life Café. While the group had settled into a large table, Mark and Mary found themselves next to each other, hand in hand at the end of the table.
"I'm so glad that you wound up with the day off," Mark started, "This was perfect."
"Yes, it was," Mary replied, "Tomorrow's going to come early though. Two more rehearsals and it's opening night. Aw hell."
Mary reached into her purse and pulled out an envelope. Checking it, she counted the number of people at the table, then looked back at Mark.
"I have a surprise for all of you," Mary announced, " I know Mark told you that I am in the ballet."
Mimi smiled. It was great to have another dancer in the crowd. Roger, laughing, raised his glass in the air.
"To dance!" he toasted and the group then drank, Mary included.
"But seriously, folks," she continued, "As a principal, I get a certain number of tickets, and I thought all of you might like to go to opening night. On me."
"Really?" Mark asked, "Mary, this is a lot of people."
"And these people are rapidly becoming my friends," Mary said, "You guys want to come?"
Mimi smiled, she had always wanted to see the Nutcracker, and seeing it at the ABT had been a dream of hers. She shook her head yes, as Roger watched her. To see the light in her eyes over the ballet was a given for him. Collins was enchanted, asked if he could bring a date, Mary laughed and handed him an extra ticket. She also made sure that Maureen had two, mentioning that she would love to meet Joanne as well.
Mark was sipping his tea and smiling at her when he had to finally admit it. He was in love.
Once the meal was finished and Maureen and Collins went their separate ways, the two couples found themselves heading back to the loft. Roger and Mimi were talking about going out, both of them being off, while Mark and Mary sat on the couch.
While the other couple headed out to embrace the night, Mary yawned.
"Wow, I'm sorry, I didn't realize where time had gotten," Mark said, "I should probably get you home."
"Mark Cohen, I'm not having you travel alone at night," Mary laughed a little drunkenly, "If you are okay with it, can I stay on your couch?"
"Not the couch baby," Mark said, trying desperately to sound sexy, "There's plenty of room in my…"
"Mark, not tonight, I'm too fried," Mary replied quickly, "Besides, that's something we would have to talk about. All I really want to do is sleep."
Mark watched her face. She was beat. The alcohol at dinner had done it's job, she was relaxed to the point of barely being able to stay awake.
"Then sleep you shall, my lady," Mark smiled, gently picking her up and carrying her into his room.
He covered her with his down comforter, the one truly warm thing he had from his parents other than his scarf and settled in next to her. Within minutes, both of them were asleep.