plaguedrat | Big bright accent, catty smile, Oscar Wilde confrontation

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Big bright accent, catty smile, Oscar Wilde confrontation

"Can I think about it and call you back?" Rat looked at the script in front of him as well as the drafted contract. The casting agency's offer was far more than he'd expected, especially for an 'out-of-towner' and Rat needed the money more than he was actually willing to admit. The city stipend paid his bills bu. Marius but Rat had a little more pride than that.

"Okay, Mr. Nezumi," the casting agent said, looking a little less than pleased with it. Rat felt strange being addressed as a Mister anything, much less a stage name he'd made up because he didn't have a real last name.

Besides all that he liked working. Television was a new prospect and it wasn't the stage, but there were plenty of actresses here. They didn't need to put a dainty man in a dress and hope the audience was forgiving the way they had in the West District. There was only so much call for Shakespeare too. Rat had to either diversify or embrace his niche.

But playing an effete gay secondary character, a drag queen? Rat wasn't sure about the script. On paper, it wasn't much of a part or even much of a show. It was a miniseries, apparently, with hope for renewal as a full time show. Dark stuff, they promised. Very edgy. Rat wasn't impressed, but he was hungry and he needed work.

"I'll call you first thing in the morning with my decision," Rat said, letting himself out through the lobby.

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"You're going to get me typecast," he says, cupping Marius' face and gently returning the kiss. As if that's something he's concerned about; his whole life before here, Rat had played two roles. He had been the beautiful Eve on stage and the hateful, protective Rat on the streets. The reality is that all of his roles are permutations of two personas.

When Marius delights, Rat shakes his head. "I've been offered a part. I haven't decided if I'll take it yet," he explains. Squeezing Marius' hand, he stays quiet and walks a few blocks down until they reach an Ahab's Coffee. Away from agents who might overhear him, Rat takes a seat.

"I don't know if I want the part."

"Oops?" He says, leaning into Rat's hand as they kiss. He hasn't seen Rat perform; not yet. But he's heard Rat read to him, and the effortless way he weaves between the voices of multiple characters makes Marius certain that his beau possesses an abundance of talent; so much so that he could hardly see how anyone could typecast him. But then, Marius is also fairly biased.

Marius lets the quiet settle between them as they walk, enjoying a silence that feels comfortable with Rat. He lightly swings their hands together in lieu of conversation, enjoying their entwined hands and their closeness amid the crowded, city sidewalks.

"Ahab's Coffee?" Marius muses as they walk inside, taking the seat across from Rat. "This city is nearly as fond of literature as you," he teases.

"What sort of part is it? Is it not the sort of part you like?" Marius frowns, leaning closer to Rat and watching him with a mixture of concern and curiosity.

"Oops," he agrees, leaning his head forward for just a moment before walking with him.

He shrugs at the name, grinning slyly at Marius' comment. Usually, he prefers to make his own coffee and save the money, but he needs someplace to think and sort out what to do with Marius. Even if he doesn't know the show, Rat trusts Marius' ability as a sounding board.

"I'll buy."

When he collects his coffee, Rat finds a seat at an isolated little table by the window and sighs, putting the script in his bag. "They want me to play a drag queen. A homosexual accessory to the plot."

He returns Rat's sly grin with one of delight, pleased by the response. Marius enjoys literature and puns as well, so Darrow's seeming fondness for them in terms of names for its restaurants makes him happy as well. Something about the names helps make such public spaces cozier for him. And Rat appears to have a lot on his mind regarding his potential role; this place seems like a good spot for such a conversation.

"Alright," Marius agrees, though he wants to offer to buy himself. It's still new and wonderful to him, having a beau to do these sorts of things with and for. "I'll buy next time, then."

He orders a coffee for himself and follows to the table by the window Rat selects, letting his hands rest around the cup while Rat speaks. He hopes he can provide sound advice, even as he isn't an actor himself.

"Accessory to the plot?" He asks. From Rat's description, Marius guesses the role isn't a large one, nor does it possess much agency beyond propelling the plot forward. "So the role is an archetype of sorts?" He pauses, taking a moment to think. "It sounds to me like it could be a gateway for a good opportunity for you, even if you dislike the role. But if you dislike the role that much, you shouldn't take it. You shouldn't have to endure an unpleasant part for the sake of it."

"Sounds fair," he says. The equivalency is easy enough, a coffee for a coffee. Even with Marius, maybe even especially with Marius, Rat doesn't like to have to owe. It's in no small part because of Marius that Rat is considering the role. Marius works long hours and Rat has been endlessly picky, waiting for theater work that has yet to materialize.

"More of a stereotype," Rat says, stirring cream into his coffee. "To provide witty commentary on the main character's love life. Then I'm briefly suspected of theft. Really deep stuff."

Rat scoffs and takes a long drink of his coffee. "It's honestly sort of disgraceful. Aside from the suspicion of crime, you could replace the role with an amusing dog and the plot wouldn't suffer." The implication leaves a bad taste in his mouth. Rat hasn't got much by way of capital-p Pride when it comes to his sexuality, finding it simply to be an aspect of himself, but having his orientation made into an amusing bit for the audience bothers him deeply.

"I think so," Marius replies with a nod. He doesn't mind buying meals without any reciprocation, either. But from what he knows of Rat, Marius knows he doesn't like owing other people. So he's happy, either way. As long as he gets to spend time with his beau, Marius is satisfied.

"Sounds downright philosophical, when you put it that way," he observes as Rat describes more of the role to him. "I suppose your part would be the flicker of comedy in an otherwise dramatic story, right?" Marius has been venturing into books about plays and the theatre, thanks to Rat. He's working through various points of time and history, fascinated by every little detail he reads. He doesn't know much about film or television, still, but it seems unfortunate to him that they seem as modern as some of the plays from significantly older eras of time.

Marius, too, sips from his drink, watching Rat scoff. He doesn't blame him at all; it's insulting, really, the type of role he describes. "You should hold out, then, for a better role. At least one that doesn't rely on stereotype. Or perhaps they'd be willing to compromise, and rewrite the role to be more dimensional?" Somehow, Marius doubts that's really an option, but he figures he should at least mention the idea.

Theirs is an easier kind of reciprocation. Rat wants to give back to Marius out of affection, not obligation, but even so he still wants to try and achieve balance in those scales. It is his way of caring, the only way he'd known for a long, long time.

And of course Marius finds a silver lining to Rat's description and he smiles a little into his coffee. "You make it sound like there's a great drama hidden somewhere in there if I look hard enough." He shakes his head. The script is ambitious, but ultimately hackneyed. It will take a truly talented (and argumentative cast) to pull it off.

"The truth is, I need the money. I've been holding out for roles I like but those haven't come very often. I need the work and the exposure." He does like Marius' idea though; Rat is very good at being argumentative. The director had seemed a bit green, easy to push back at.

Marius knows how much acting means to Rat, and he knows that he's had a difficult time in finding work. He wants to help anyway that he can, even if he can only offer suggestions the other man might find useful. Still, he's stubborn as hell from his own days of trying to find work, both in Darrow and back in Paris. He understands, too, Rat holding out for a role that both provides income and rewarding for an actor.

"Well," he says, pausing to take another sip of his coffee, his own lips quirking around his cup. "I mean, as the actor, you can make the character your own, right? Is there room in the script for you to subvert the stereotypical aspects of the role?" Marius thinks, from what he knows of acting, that there must be space in the creative process for an actor to develop their character outside of the lines they speak. And if anyone could take a flat character and breathe life into them, Marius believes Rat to be the one to do so.

Marius pauses, knowing what he wants to say but entirely uncertain as to how to say it. He is happy to provide, if Rat wants to wait for more lucrative roles. He exhales slowly, taking another sip of his drink before drinking. "I don't mind helping out if you want to wait for better roles," he says with a shrug. It's not meant as charity; he knows, from what he's seen and read of couples in this modern age, that some people will work while others look for work. "You shouldn't have to settle for roles that are insulting."

Marius is either very astute or has absorbed more than Rat had expected when he starts ranting about the acting process. Either action pleases him and makes Rat smile, nodding. "I do plan to be incredibly difficult on that front," he agrees. Primly, he takes a long sip of his coffee as if that does anything to reduce the stubborn threat against directors who are expecting an easy, compliant actor in Rat.

"It's supposed to be six episodes and it should cover my next four months' of expenses, assuming the city doesn't go completely to hell in that time." Sarcastically, he raps his knuckles on the wood of the table for good luck. "Did you know?" he observes. "They used to knock on wood to scare out spirits living in the trees, to avoid being cursed."

He can't quite dismiss it as superstitious nonsense, not after his own experiences with woodland spirits in all their vengeful malice. Wasps still make him suspicious.

"I hope you give them hell," Marius cheerfully tells Rat with a smile that is both sincere and just a tad mischievous all at once.He raises his own cup of coffee towards the other man in a toast. He never thought he would be encouraging even more upset of the established order in the wake of the barricades, but here he is, encouraging Rat to undermine his potential employers. Well, perhaps Marius does hold a special place in his heart for rebuffing the ancient ideals of an older generation. "And I'll be here for rebellious actor support, if that's even a thing."

"Knowing this city, I'm sure it'll conjure something dangerous. Or twelve," he replies with a shake of his head. "But six episodes! That could be quite the opportunity, especially for exposure, no?" He watches Rat knock against the table with an arched brow.

"I did not know that, no. I met a spirit once, here," he replies, thoughts drifting to the lost spirit boy he'd found in the rain. He helped return him to where he belongs, but he still thinks of the child, now and again. He wonders how he's doing.

"Are you encouraging my anti-authoritarian tendencies and general proclivities to being a bastard? They'd really frown upon that in...both places we're from, really." It's not a habit he would have expected from Marius, though perhaps he should have. Marius might be a gentle, romantic sort, but Rat remembers what he read of the barricades and that Marius was in the thick of it. Why should he be surprised at a little subversive disobedience?

He shakes his head and points at Marius as if to say stop tempting fate. If he predicts twelve, the city will come up with twenty-four new disasters just for spite.

"I've met at least one spirit," Rat agrees. "I think she's a spirit. Regardless, she had a very large cat with a slightly mashed-in face."

"Does that make me a terrible beau then, to encourage such tendencies?" He asks, unable to keep himself from laughing a bit at the thought. Both places where they're from would do more than frown on such behavior; they'd try and stamp it out. Or shoot it out, if they were in Paris. Marius, for all his romanticism and otherwise quiet ways, still holds onto some of the fervor from the barricades. Perhaps, if he had remained in Paris, such fervor would have cooled out by now. But Darrow, perhaps because of Rat, seems a different sort of story.

"You're right, I shouldn't tempt fate," he says, guessing at the meaning behind Rat shaking his head and pointing at him. It hardly keeps him from grinning, or from saying his next words. "Next thing you'll know, we'll have an army of Tiffany Charlotte zombies, or something."

"A spirit with a cat with a large, mashed-in face," he muses. "Sounds like something out of Poe."

"Only if you're trying to mold me into someone polite and obedient." Rat phrases it as if such traits would be a curse. In reality, he thinks Marius is too savvy for that. Sweet and optimistic though he might be, he understands cynicism and why some people wear it so proudly. It's more than he would expect of many.

When Marius continues to blithely make up suggestions, Rat pokes him hard in the shoulder. "Stop thinking of things for it to use!" he says, somewhere between laughing and scowling.

"But I don't think Poe could have come up with that girl, Agatha. She's a real live wire."

"I would never even want to try and do that," he assures him, catching the way Rat emphasizes the words. Marius favors optimism and clings to hope as often as he can, but it doesn't mean he doesn't understand why people prefer cynicism; he'll never begrudge Rat for it, only gently tease him, the same way Rat teases Marius for his optimism. "You're much cuter when you're grumpy," he assures him, eyes sparkling with mirth.

"Hey!" Marius only laughs at the poking in his shoulder, too tempted to keep joking even though a small part of him wonders if he actually his pushing his luck. "What, no desire to witness an outbreak of bees who infect you with Todd Chad's songs instead of fire or ice?"

"Agatha," Marius repeats. "I like the name. A real live wire, huh? She must get along fantastically well with you, then." He sips from his coffee again, waking up more with each drink.

Rat screws up his face, a little troubled at the idea of being cute. "I am no such thing," he says, taking a long drink of his coffee. Now that he's said it, of course, it will only serve as provocation for Marius to insist upon it more.

"I'll have you know I have a roll of gaffer's tape in my bag and it will be very effective for stopping the flow of idea," Rat warns. It's an empty threat, largely because gaff tape is painful to remove from someone's face.

"Apparently dying released a lot of power. She's quiet though. Doesn't bother me. Scares people sometimes, which is a bonus."

Rat kind of undermines his own protestations when he screws up his face like that; it only endears him to Marius more. He beams at the other man around his own coffee, taking a long sip himself before remarking on it. "You're positively adorable," he assures Rat, with a nod and a knowing look in his mirthful eyes. "Or maybe precocious is the better word." He really hasn't ever had much of a nerve for teasing anyone like this, and Marius finds he rather enjoys it.

"And deprive me of coffee, in the mean time," he deploys his faux pout again. "Ooh. Coffee bees! Those could actually prove useful, even if painful!" In his thoughts, he wonders if, perhaps, he's been indulging in too many books of the science fiction and fantasy genres lately. He makes a mental note for his next book of choice to be something historical and less tempting to his vivid imagination.

"You almost sound fond of her," Marius observes, again teasing.

When Marius calls him adorable and then continues to throw ideas into the air, Rat puts on a blank face and goes into his bag to retrieve the tape. Picking off the end, he stretches out a long strip and holds it up in front of Marius as a threat.

"Keep going and I'll tape you to the chair and stiff you with the bill." The latter half of the threat is moot when their drinks are already paid for, but it's one he can also use at a later date if necessary.

He does nod, regarding Agatha. "She's a walking cataclysm. What's not to like?"

"Okay, okay! You win," Marius says at the sight of Rat pulling out the tape, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender. Still, he can't quite wipe the amused smile from his face, and the caffeine provides him with energy to keep teasing, regardless. "That bill you already paid for? I see."

He drinks from his coffee, still eyeing the tape. "Do you always have that tape handy or is this just a special occasion?"

"I'm sure there's more to her than being a 'walking cataclysm,' as you put it," he points out.

"I'm likely going to be part time at another theater doing stage crew," Rat explains. He needs to go and sign the contract but he'd been waiting to see how today's audition went. "Apparently this sort of thing is indispensable."

Rat spins the tape around two fingers before letting it pass to his wrist like a bracelet, a subtly present threat.

"She's very powerful. It makes her both fearless...and very kind."

"So would you work at the theatre while working for the television show?" Marius asks, curious. He understands loading himself with more work than he knows what to deal with. Not that he doubts Rat's abilities to handle both jobs, but it does seem to him as though the schedules for both jobs could wind up interfering with one another. "Tape does seem to have many uses," he says, thinking of the suggestions in the repair manual he'd read the other day while trying to fix his broken faucet. Eventually, he'd given up and called the plumber.

His gaze follows the rapid movements of the tape as Rat swings it around his hand, lingering for a moment when it settles on his wrist, like an odd piece of jewelry.

"That's not a combination you usually hear," Marius muses, thinking of Enjolras then. He had certainly been fearless; kind was another question altogether. "She sounds like quite the personality, this Agatha."

"Maybe. The miniseries won't take long to shoot. Their schedule is for two months." It's more time than he's ever really had. The theater in the West District had given him a script and demanded it be memorized by the end of the week and he'd been able to do it every time. "And I'm not counting on it being renewed, so I'll need work lined up."

He huffs a quick laugh and nods. "She also walks her cat on a leash. It's not even the strangest thing about her."

"Two months? So that's shorter than normal for acting work then?" He asks. Even for the brevity of two months, it sounds to Marius like such an amount of time requires an intensity from its actors. And Rat seems to embody intensity, so it sounds like the job itself suits him, even the role itself lacks in depth from the script. "Well, stage crew is good. It'll let you get close to a theatre for more of the stage roles you like, right?"

"It sounds like you've decided to go for the role, then," he also observes, taking another sip of his coffee. Marius will support Rat, whichever endeavor he chooses.

At that, Marius grins, further endeared to this Agatha though he's never met her. "I've a friend who walks her cat on a leash. Jennifer. I've thought about trying it, myself. I suspect Shelley would enjoy it. Courfeyrcat would likely claw me at the attempt."

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Big bright accent, catty smile, Oscar Wilde confrontation

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