Moulin Peache

Chapter 3

A/N- Bear with me with an open mind, I'm trying to fit Satine's character into Ed, and it may be a bit strange at first, since Ed is hardly considered multi-fasceted. This Ed has layers. He can be a proffessional performer, and a smoldering temptress. I do not own Moulin Rouge or EE&E, just borrowed some ideas ;)

Tell me your thoughts! And yaoi is next chapter, which I am almost done with, you won't have to wait long!

oh, and the //name here// are the different POV's. You'll see.

Though Ed stood a very towering 6"4, he was poised and graceful like a butterfly, his glimmering tights appeared almost as a second skin as he danced across stage with the other can-can dancers. It was almost difficult to tell he wasn't a female, he had nicer legs than four-fifths of the women in Peach Creek.

"Come and get me boys," he sang in a breathy voice, and the males in audience went bezerk, howling and shrieking for Ed's attention. A crowd of can-can dancers were gathering to form a tight circle around Ed as he was singing.

" 'Cause we are living in a material world, and I am a material girl," he blew a flirty kiss to the audience. Eddy appeared upstage opposite of him, and the two flitted towards each other.

"MMm, talk to me Eddy Ziddler, tell me all about it!" Ed crooned.

"There may come a time when a, lass needs a lawyer!" Eddy belted. He actually wasn't half bad. "But diamonds are a girls best friend," and the two suggestively disappeared into the center of the mass of dancers, which was actually and onstage make-shift dressing room, the walls being the shielding bodies of the performers.

"Eddy, is the Duke here?" Ed mumbled as he struggled to change into his next ensemble. Eddy was thumbing his thick stack of dollar bills.

"Would I ever let ya down, cupcake?" He said without looking up.

//Double D//

I clutched the arms of the chair, bracing myself. I was sure I would spring up at any moment, and dart out of the cabaret. This was too much. His skin was like milk. Smooth and radient, silky. I could not handle this. Jonny must have sensed my disoncertment, and he quickly rose.

"I'll see to it that everything goes forth as planned," he said. But as he stood up, his sudden movement startled a scantily clad drink server. She wavered, and managed to catch herself, but one green glowy drink toppled over, and splashed generously on someone next to their row in a private viewing table.

"Oh! I'm terribly sorry!" Jonny exclaimed as he pulled out his hankercheif and began dabbing at the man's suit, who, invariably, was the Duke. Soon, his hanky was drenched, and he realized he would need another one.

//Ed//

Eddy and Ed emerge, with Ed now dressed in his new, frilly and sparkling outfit.

"He's here, Eddy? Where!"

"He's the one that Jonny is shaking a hanky at…"

//Double D//

Jonny looked over at me worriedly, and leaned down so we were at eye-level.

"Sorry, Double D, can I borrow a handkerchief?"

I looked down at my shirt pocket, and saw the corner of a blue handkerchief, Jonny saw it first, and reached down to pull it out, shaking it loose from my pocket

//Ed//

"Are you sure…?" Ed said, squinting at the slim-frame that was assisting Jonny in pulling out the hankercheif. Eddy sighed and began to maneuver around Ed.

"I'll look again," He said

//Double D//

I thought it to be quite humorous of Jonny, who spun away from me to try to soak up the mess he spilled on the important-looking man with cobalt blue hair.

"Let me finish, I apologise!" Jonny said frantically.

//Ed//

"Yes, princess, that's the one. God, I hope that annoying Jonny doesn't scare away his money-er, I mean, good humor.

"You think he will invest?" Ed said longingly. Eddy rolled his eyes

"After spending a night with you?! How could he possibly refuse?" Eddy smirked, but his voice was sweet with charm. Ed thought a moment.

"What's his type? Pretty little flower? Orr how 'bout bubbly an outrageous… I so love bubbles…or, maybe, smoldering temptress?" Ed batted his eyes. Eddy raised an eyebrow.

"I'd say your best bet is smoldering temptress. Don't screw this up, Ed. Remember, if you capture the Duke's affection…that means a real show, a real theatre, with a real audience…and you'll be…"

"…A real actress," Ed cooed, his eyes glazing over a bit

"Yeaaa. Actress. My first choice was moneymaker, but, one step at a time Lumpy,"

Ed snaps out of his daydream and leaps back into his number to finish the song to the audience. Meanwhile, Jonny has finished mopping up the Duke and makes his way up to the stage, scrambling to try and get Ed's attention.

"Cause that's when those louses…"

"Great oaf of grace!" Jonny called, but Ed didn't notice

"…Go back to their spouses…"

"Goddess of the dance!" Jonny tried again. But two can-can dancers dressed as clowns were carrying Ed towards the seat where Double D was sitting.

"…Diamonds are a…"

"I've got fantastic news!" Jonny scrambled after Ed and his carriers, trying to get his attention.

"…Girl's best friend."

//Double D//

I looked up at him, dumbstruck, as the two can-can dancers set him down in front of me as the last notes of his song poured from his mouth. An angel of perfection. For him to be up so close to me, him looking through my eyes down into my misunderstood soul, I stared, and knew my mouth was hanging slightly open. I could not bear to look away, and yet even my peripherals took note of every inch of his satin skin. His long tapered fingers, his statuesque poise.

"I believe you were expecting me," he said softly, but his eyes did not match his lips. His words were feathery and light, while his eyes commanded every wick of attention. Of course, this was part of his act…how silly of me.

"Yes," I managed to choke out. Really? Yes? How original of me. Excellent, I thought.

Before I could take another longing breath, he pulled me onstage to dance with him and the others. Audience participation, or had Jonny gotten to Edward?

"That went well," Sarah said, the group of them startled at their luck.

"He has such a poetic gift…" Jimmy swooned.

"Told ya!!! He's a genius!" Jonny proclaimed.

As Edward lead our dance, I was hesitant and a great deal awkward with my steps. Perhaps I should have prepared more for this?! I looked like a monkey next to him, as he cooly danced along side and around me. His eyes did not move from my face, and that's what may have saved me from toppling over my two left feet.

"It is so nice of you to take interest in our show," he whispered. I struggled to collect my words.

"It sounds…very exciting. I would be delighted to be involved."

He looked at me with wide eyes.

"Really?"

His childlike wonderment threw me off once again.

"A-Assuming…you like w-what I do, of course."

His eyes began to smolder once again.

"I am sure I will."

"Jonny thought we might be able to, uhm, do it in private."

His eyebrows knitted together.

"He did?"

"Yes…you know, uhm, a private poetry reading…?"

He suddenly looked at me as if he grasped some complicated idea.

"Ooh, poetry! I so very much like a litte poetry after supper…"

I wondered why he had put so much emphasis on poetry, as if it was just a code word for something else. But I didn't dwell on the thought, I didn't want anything distracting me from his grace and attention.

However, as quickly as he had pulled me into his trance-like dance with him, he plunged into the crowd of dancers, disappeared for a moment, and then reappeared once more as he rose up into the air on the swing where I had first spotted him.

"Diamonds…." he began to sing once more.

"Diamonds, are a, girls best…" He paused before he said the last word, ending his number for the night.

The pause elongated.

It elongated a little too long, too long so that everyone in the audience around me looked to each other as if waiting for some kind of answer. My eyes never left his frame, as I strained to see him clearly in the smoky air. I wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but I thought I saw him waiver, which was not a part of his routine, I was certain.

Only moments later, I saw him slide off the swing backwards, falling. A loud gasp swept over the crowd as his limp body fell downwards. It happened so fast, I wish Icould have at least had the reaction to jump in and try to catch him. I felt my throat closing up, though I wanted to scream. At least do something.

I didn't hear the loud thump of his body slam against the wooden floorboards. I struggled to push the gentlemen in their expensive coats out of my way, and strained my neck to try to see where he had landed.

A single spotlight shone down on a dark-skinned man. And in his arms was Edward, limp and unconscious, but otherwise unharmed. Relief washed over me like a cool mist. Perhaps his fall was a part of his act. But my instincts told me otherwise. The dark-skinned man shuffled away behind the curtain, and everyone including myself was left scratching out heads.

Moments later, Eddy's voice resonated from the stage. The stocky ring leader was saying something that sounded a little too improvised about Edward's fall, but my ears were ringing still from the shock.

//Eddy//

Shit shit shit shit shit shit, fucking shit! Eddy thought.

He was half concerned about Ed's safety, and half concerned if he was going to be able to sleep with the Duke later that eveing.

"Ed!" He burst into the dressing room, where Marie was dabbing his forehead with a moist cloth. Hed's face lit up when he appeared, and jumped up, knocking Marie backwards.

"Everything okay with you, Lumpy? You looked a little pale out there," Ed still looked a little pasty, and Eddy couldn't help but be concerned for him. If the bouncer had not been there, Ed would have broken every bone in his body. The thought struck him, and he shuddered. All Ed had ever wanted was to be a performer. Eddy wouldn't voice it, but he was ultimately glad Ed was okay.

"Fine and dandy, Eddy," Ed chirped, and jumped up to twirl around, showing off his outfit. Eddy shot a look of concern at Marie, who nodded, confirming Ed's healthy state. He relaxed a little.

"Good, good. You sure showed the Duke a good time out there," Eddy grumbled, settling back into his sarcastic, masochistic entity.

"Oh but the show is not over yet. Smoldering Temptress, right Eddy?" Ed grinned widely.

"Yea, he can't possibly resist you," Eddy rolled his eyes. "Do whatever you need to do, princess, to lure that Duke so he can't say no to the Moulin Peache."

//Double D//

I was a nervous wreck. My hands were drenched in sweat, and my entire body was shaking repulsively as I clamored up the steps to Edwards resident apartment; which was inside a gigantic cement elephant-shaped building. The circumstances couldn't have been more dramatic, and I, attracting more attention than I could ever imagine, was making my way up the stairs of an elephant, pretending to be some famous English writer. I knew that if I looked directly into his eyes, my lies would unravel around my tongue and I would give away my title, and everything Jonny, Sarah, and the children of the revolution had worked for.

It was a tough break, and my anxiety was starting to kick in. Excellent.