First of all: I don't own, I RENT.
Now that that's out of the way; this is cowritten by Angel Dumott Schunard Collins, the wonderful author who has become Collins on Tomorrow For Us. This is her audition; I am Angel, written in normal font, and she is Collins, written in bold. Since this is RPing, it's a little different style than normal writing, but it turned out really great, so we decided to publish it. Hope you like it!
And TFU still needs a Jo, Alexi (yes, she's important), Benny, and Allison. Come on and join!
Angel pulled open the door to her apartment, plunking her pickle tub down off to one side of the door and dropping her drumsticks inside. She pulled her red jacket off and hung it on the little hook off to one side of the door, shutting the door behind her.
Walking into the living room, she plopped onto the couch with a sigh. Collins wasn't home yet, as usual, though he probably would be soon. It had been a long day; her talk with Mo, checking up on Mimi in the hospital... she was ready for some relaxation, and maybe some cuddling with Collins.
Picking up her book from the side table, she began to read while she waited for him to come home.
Collins sighed as he put the final mark on his last essay. Finally, his day was over, and he could go home. After filing away his students' papers and grabbing his jacket, he began his journey to his apartment.
Cheer up, he thought, in just a few minutes you'll be back home with Angel, and everything will be alright again. He stuck his hands in his pockets and whistled a merry tune, anticipating what he hoped to be a nice night ahead of him.
As it started to snow, his casual walk turned into a faster jog, and he grinned widely as he finally reached the building in which he and Angel lived.
Angel hummed a quite familiar tune to herself as she read, not really seeing the words. Her mind was on Collins, as usual. Finally, she set the book aside, unable to concentrate on it anymore. Instead, she leaned down and took off her heels, then, in a sudden fit of hyper energy, started twirling and dancing around the apartment.
"Live in my house,
I'll be your shelter,
Just pay me back
With one thousand kisses..."
She sang, giggling happily.
As Collins jogged up to the front door, he could hear a familiar voice belting out a familiar tune. He chuckled and quietly unlocked the door, peering around the edge inconspicuously. There was his Angel, twirling around the room madly.
He closed the door behind him and quickly ran behind a wall so that he wouldn't be seen. He grinned as he peeked out and saw that Angel still hadn't noticed his presence.
Waiting for the ideal moment, he jumped out from his hiding place and enclosed Angel in a loving embrace, adding to the cheerful melody.
"Open your door
I'll be your tenant
Don't got much baggage to lay at your feet
But sweet kisses I've got to spare
I'll be there
And I'll cover you!"
Angel jumped in surprise as she felt very familiar arms encircle her all of a sudden, letting out a small "Eep!" Turning around in his arms, she slipped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Hi honey!" Pulling back, she continued the song happily,
"I think they meant it
When they said you can't buy love,
Now I know you can rent it,
A new lease you are, my love
On life
Be my life!"
With that, she looped her arms around his neck, stood on tiptoes, and kissed him.
Collins smiled as Angel began kissing him passionately. As they broke away, Collins laughed. "I'm so glad to be home!" He said. "Work was hell. 'Mark this, don't do this, yadda yadda..." He pulled Angel closer. "You look lovely," he said, as he gave her a peck on the cheek.
Angel giggled, answering jokingly, "Don't I always?" She smiled mischievously and gave him another small kiss. Then she buried her face in his shoulder. "I'm glad you're home, too." She missed him when he was away at NYU, but they needed the money, so there was nothing for it.
"So, have you had anything to eat yet?" Collins asked as he nuzzled Angel's shoulder lovingly. "We've come into some extra cash lately. There are a lot of students over at NYU, so I get paid to stay there for extra hours. Maybe we could grab a bite?" He took one of Angel's hands in his and put his other around her waist, then slowly began waltzing around the room as the conversation continued.
Angel waltzed right along with him, a wide smile on her face. "I've only been home a few minutes, so I haven't eaten yet." Her smile only got wider as he suggested going out for dinner. "That sounds great! Where should we go?" She ran her free hand lightly down his arm, continuing in their slow waltz around the room.
Collins pulled Angel closer. "Well, what are you in the mood for? A party, or something a bit more..." He gave her a short, teasing kiss. "...personal?" He took in her sweet scent as they continued to dance, and sighed blissfully.
Angel responded to the kiss with enthusiasm, slightly disappointed when he pulled away after a moment. "It's been a while since we've spent a night together..." she remarked, tracing circles on his chest with a finger. "You know, just the two of us..." It was great hanging out with the other bohos, but occasionally she liked to spend time just with Collins.
Collins smiled as Angel suggested the 'personal' option. She began tracing circles onto his chest and he moaned in pleasure. "I get what you're saying..." He pulled her onto the couch and adjusted their position so that she was balanced comfotably on his lap. "So, my queen, how capable of a cook are you? Or will we be enjoying a dinner of Cap'n Crunch and cold milk tonight?" Collins laughed.
Angel settled onto his lap happily, leaning against his chest so the top of her head was just below his chin. Then she pretended to be indignant, sitting up straight and giving him a mock-scandalized look. "I can cook! Rather well, actually." She'd had to cook for her family a lot when she was younger, since everybody else was so busy. She folded her arms and pretended to be miffed, fighting to keep back the smile that was tugging at the corners of her lips.
Collins let out a booming laugh as Angel pretended to be annoyed. He gently lifted her off his lap by grabbing her around the waist, and set her on the floor in front of him. Then he got up as well and took her hand, leading her to their small kitchen.
"Show me, then!" He leaned against the wall nonchalantly, smirking in amusement.
Angel crossed her arms again, huffing, still pretending to be mad. "Fine! I will then!" She flounced (I love that word) over to the fridge, flinging open the door. Bending over, she began rummaging through the drawers, giving Collins a rather good view of her skirt-covered rear end. Pulling out a jar of spaghetti sauce, she went over to the stove and got it started cooking in a pot, then went to the cupboard to get the noodles. All the while she pointedly didn't make eye contact with Collins, keeping up the pretense of being annoyed.
Collins, barely able to stifle his laughter, watched as Angel marched around the kitchen, as if she was on some sort of important mission. He let out a low whistle when she bent over to grab something from the fridge, and he got a rather good view of her (sadly, in his opinion) clothed rear end.
As he realised what she was making, he scoffed. "Spaghetti? Ha, I bet even I could make spaghetti!" He rolled his eyes sarcastically and watched for what he hoped to be an amusing reaction from Angel.
Angel stopped as she was about to put the spaghetti noodles in the pot. "Oh/really/..." she questioned, turning around to face him. She marched right up to him and, taking his hand, gave him the box of noodles. "You think so? You're on." She indicated the two pots on the stove, then turned to head out of the kitchen. In the doorway, she stopped and pinky waved at him with a mischievous grin on her face. "Have fuuuun!" she said in a sing-song voice, walking out of the room.
Angel handed Collins the box of spaghetti noodles and left the room. He stood there for a moment, staring at the box in astonishment, as that was not what he had meant to happen. He was startled out of his trance by a sudden loud hissing noise. He jumped and located the sound.
"Aw shit!" He yelped as one of the pots on the stove started boiling over. He ran over to it and stared at the various round knobs. Another loud hissing broke his concentration as the second pot started to boil over as well.
Collins reached out and started playing with the buttons, hoping one would work, but he was unsuccessful, as the stove started making another strange noise. In desperation, he hit one final button which made the stove start bouncing up and down uncontrollably. With a quick sigh, he gave in, defeated. "Angel! HEELLLP!"
Angel poked her head around the doorframe, giggling uncontrollably. She raised an eyebrow at the bouncing stove; that was a new one. Walking very calmly over to the stove, she twirled a couple of the dials, which caused the water in the pots to calm down, simmering peacefully once more. It took her a moment longer to figure out how to stop the bouncing, eventually hitting the same button Collins had, which succeeded in stopping the bouncing. In the relative silence that then descended over the room, she turned to Collins with a small smirk on her face. "Anyone can do it, huh?" Her eyes sparkled with mirth, letting him know she wasn't really mad. She could never be mad at him.
Collins frowned playfully, though he was a slight bit annoyed with the stove. "It was the stupid stove's fault! All I did was press a button and it... it... Attacked me! I swear! I didn't do anything wrong. If I had been provided with a SANE stove, I could've made the stupid spaghetti." He crossed his arms with a big "harrumph".
Angel stared at him for a moment, then completely lost it. She burst out laughing uncontrollably, doubling over and clutching her stomach with one arm, the other holding onto the counter for balance. The look on his face as he spoke had sent the giggle fit she'd been holding back over the edge, resulting in hysterical laughter. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she laughed; it had been far too long since she'd really laughed that now that she'd started, she couldn't stop.
"I-- can't-- breathe--" she panted, still laughing uncontrollably.
Collins's laugh-preventing skills proved to be bogus as well, for he too let out the booming laughter that had been contained inside of him for far too long. He collapsed on Angel and they both fell to the floor, laughing uncontrollably. Too taken up by their streaming giggle fits, they both forgot to pay attention to the stove.
Another hissing sound interrupted their laughter and Collins looked up in fear. "Ohhh no, not again!" He shouted as the pots boiled over once more. He dove for the stove and madly pressed the buttons, making the stove resume its former bouncing qualities.
Angel raised a hand blindly, still laughing hysterically. She grabbed onto the counter and hauled herself up. Biting back her laughter to a stream of giggles, she twirled two knobs and pressed a button, bringing the stove back to it's normal, calm state. Then the laughter exploded out of her again. Around her mirth, she panted out, "Sorry-- honey-- but you're-- hopeless-- with-- the stove" She collapsed onto a chair at the table, still laughing helplessly.
Collins sarcastically rolled his eyes and grunted. "Thanks," he growled. He stomped out of the kitchen and plopped himself down on the couch, putting his feet up so that there would be no more room left. "Fine then!" He called into the kitchen. "I won't help at all!" He looked up at the ceiling and twiddled his fingers absently.
Once Angel had finally gotten control of her breath again (several minutes later), she dumped the spaghetti noodles into the pot so they would start cooking. Twiddling the dials to a low enough setting so they wouldn't boil over again, she padded into the other room. She quietly crept to the end of the couch where Collins's head was, then peered over the arm so her eyes were inches from his. "Oh, come on, Tom. Don't be mad..." She gave him her cutest puppy-dog pout, knowing he wouldn't be able to resist.
Collins heard the gentle padding of feet coming from the direction of the kitchen, and wasn't at all surprised when Angel's head appeared over his. What he wasn't prepared for, though, was her puppy-dog pout.
"Oh baby, don't, you know what that does to me!" He moaned, turning over onto his stomach so that Angel was no longer upside down in his perspective.
Angel giggled. "Yep." That's /exactly/ why I do it. she added silently, grinning at him innocently. She knelt next to the couch so that her face was level with his, then puppy-dog pouted again, big brown eyes only adding to it. "You left me all alooone in the kitchen..." she told him sadly, fighting to keep a smile from tugging at the corners of her mouth again.
Collins attempted to stifle a small snicker as Angel started complaining. "Poor baby," he said sarcastically. He sat up and patted the space beside him. "Come here, you. You're irresistible." He paused for a moment and then frowned. "I hear something. Uh oh, is that possessed piece of plastic and metal in the kitchen going off again?" He looked at Angel sadly before getting up and walking to the kitchen. "And just when I was starting to have fun!" He muttered, just loudly enough for her to hear.
Angel stood up, smoothing her skirt, and was about to sit next to him when she heard the noise from the kitchen. She frowned slightly; it shouldn't be boiling over again, she'd made sure of that. Her frown turned to a small smile as she heard Collins's remark, and she skipped past him to check the spaghetti. All that was going on was one of the pots was rattling loudly, tipping slightly from side to side. That happened a lot, actually, though it was usually when Angel was home alone during the day making lunch or something. She grabbed a potholder thing and picked it up, holding it in the air a moment, then set it back down. That usually made it stop rattling; and it did. "There we go!" she announced cheerfully, flinging the potholder off to one side and skipping back over to Collins.
Collins jumped as Angel flew past him, into the kitchen. He trusted that she was able to take care of the stupid stove by herself, and went back to sit on the couch. After a minute of tinkering about, the sound stopped and she appeared in the doorway again, smiling.
Collins patted the spot next to him yet again and then frowned as his stomach let out a large grumble. "Dinner almost ready?" He asked, grinning sheepishly.
Angel padded over to the couch, giggling as she heard the loud rumbling of Collins's stomach. "In a few minutes." She vaulted over the back of the couch and plopped onto it. Scooting over closer to Collins, she leaned on his shoulder and looked up at him with the hints of a pout once again.
Collins laughed as Angel jumped onto the couch next to him. His stomach growled again, much to his embarrassment. He blushed and tried to turn his attention over to Angel. She was giving him her pouty face again. "And on an empty stomach too!" He play-complained as he leaned in to give her a long kiss.
Angel decided to ignore his playful complaint, preferring the kiss. She leaned up and met his lips, feeling warmth spread through her instantly, like it always did when they kissed. And yet, the feeling never got any less wonderful. She scooted even closer, deepening the kiss, and traced circles on his chest again absently.
Collins thought some extremely happy thoughts as Angel continued the kiss enthusiastically. He pulled away after a long while and sighed contentedly. He seems to come out of his gleeful trance soon enough, though, for he opened his mouth to speak only moments later.
"How much longerrrr?" He complained loudly, reaching for the remote. "Anything good on TV that you know of, baby?" He asked Angel, his finger tapping the 'channel' button on the remote repeatedly.
Angel stayed leaning on his shoulder after the kiss, closing her eyes contentedly. As he started to complain again, she slowly sat up. Popping to her feet, she answered his first question, "Should be ready about now, actually. Wait in here, okay?" She bounded off to the kitchen, feeling very energetic and peppy all of a sudden. Checking the pots, she nodded to herself. They were, indeed, ready. But she didn't call out to Collins just yet. Instead she started quietly getting plates and silverware and cups out, setting the table for them both.
As Angel bounded into the kitchen to check on the pasta, Collins remained on the couch, still lazily flipping through channels. He stopped on a channel where they were broadcasting the National Annual Fifth-Grade Spelling Bee, and waited for the first word to come up.
"Spell the word: Anaphylactic" The announcer said. As the young child struggled with the word, Collins laughed.
"Easy! A-N-A-P-H-Y-L-A-C-T-I-C!" He stated, matter-of-factly. "God, kids sure are stupid these days..."
Angel heard Collins in the other room and rolled her eyes, calling playfully. "Collins, be nice! They're only ten, after all!" She grabbed the lighter they kept in one of the drawers and lit the two candles that were sitting on their simple little table. "There!" she proclaimed happily, then ran over and turned off the lights. She bounded into the other room again, almost falling over the back of the couch as she skidded to a stop, her tight-clad feet slipping slightly on the floor. "Dinner's ready!" She announced, smiling at Collins.
Collins heard a small squeak as Angel skidded to a stop behind him. He turned off the TV and turned to face her, after hearing her delightful proclamation. "Finally!" He said, getting up and adding a stretch to the gargantuan yawn he was in the process of letting free. He finally stopped, and sensing that Angel had made a romantic fuss over the table settings, scooped her up from behind and attempted to add to the fun. Laughing, he carried her into the kitchen.
The drag queen put her hands on her hips, teasing, "Well, it would have been done faster if /someone/ hadn't almost blown up the stove..." I bet that story would cheer Mimi up if I tell her tomorrow! This thought ran through her head, and she grinned widely. She squeaked again as Collins scooped her up from behind. She laughed too as he carried her into the kitchen, resting her head on his chest.
A delicious aroma wafted through the kitchen door as Collins approached, and his mouth started watering. He closed his eyes and took a big whiff, right before he entered, and then grinned when they were open again. Angel had set their small fold-up table to look like something from a mushy chick flick - scented candles and all. Instead of scoffing at the clichéd scene, he found it rather touching.
Collins walked over to the table, Angel still cradled lovingly in his arms, and pulled out a chair before gently setting her down in it. He took her napkin and made a show of folding it onto her lap by encircling her from behind as he did so. He gave her a tiny kiss before moving to sit in his own chair across from her.
Angel giggled as Collins made a big deal of folding her napkin on her lap, very much loving the feeling of his arms around her. She returned the kiss, watching with a grin as Collins went over to the other side of the table and sat down. "It tastes even better than it smells." she remarked, twirling her fork in the pasta absently. She would wait to eat until Collins had taken a bite, wanting to see his reaction for herself.
Collins watched Angel twirl some of the spaghetti onto her fork before turning his attention to his. "Is that even possible?" He asked, smiling. He twirled some noodles onto his fork and slowly lifted it to his mouth, trying to make Angel laugh. After a few seconds, he popped it into his mouth.
...And grabbed his napkin and spit it out again. "AHHH!" He screamed. "What the heck did you put in this stuff?!" He popped open the cork of the champagne bottle in the middle of the table and poured himself a full glass, draining it faster than one could say 'fried llama'. "SO...FREAKIN'...SPICY!" He coughed and spluttered, trying to down more champagne.
Angel stared at him for a long moment. Picking up the mouthful she had on her fork, she popped it into her mouth and chewed thoughtfully. "Tastes good to me..." she commented, pouting slightly. Reaching over, she took a bit of Collins's noodles and tried them. Her eyes widened, and she quickly drained her glass too. "What in the--?" She frowned. "That's weird..."
Getting up, she padded quickly over to the stove and started to investigate. After a couple minutes, she shrugged and came back over. "I don't know what happened to that one, but that's not how it's supposed to taste." She took Collins's plate and set it on the counter, then gave him hers instead. "Here, try mine."
Collins watched Angel as she investigated the stove and came back with no further evidence as to why the stupid spaghetti had nearly killed him. He looked at her plate suspiciously and narrowed his eyes, poking at the noodles with his fork. He slowly lifted the plate up to his face and sniffed it, and, finding it normal enough, placed the plate back onto the table.
"I don't know about this... But I suppose..." Collins twirled some spaghetti around his fork and lifted it to his mouth, plugging his nose before he popped it in. Chewing cautiously, he started to trust Angel in the kitchen. The new bite he had taken seemed good enough, and he unplugged his nose, smiling again.
"Dish ish goot!" He said, as he slurped up some more of the delicious noodles. Suddenly, he stopped and his eyes grew wide. "Ohhhhh myyyy..." Collins threw back his chair and leapt out of it, running out of the room. "BATHROOM! WHY WON'T THE FREAKIN' DOOR OPEN?! AAAH!" His shouts pierced through the kitchen walls.
She heard Collins's shouts, calling back, "Try lifting it up a little bit, sometimes it gets stuck!" When you lived in an East Side apartment, stuff wasn't always of the best quality.
Angel frowned, eyeing the spaghetti. No one else who'd eaten it before had ever had that kind of trouble with it. Jeez... Sadly blowing out the candles, figuring the mood was ruined anyway, she cleaned up both plates. She went over to the counter, going through some of the spices she'd used, looking for some reason it had gotten so messed up.
Investigating the spice packages, she wound up finding a couple that were long since expired. Since there was no other explanation, she figured they must be the culprit. She tossed them into the garbage, wishing she'd spotted that earlier.
Letting out a big sigh, she sat on the counter to await Collins's emergence from the bathroom, staring forlornly at the once-again-cheap-looking foldout table. She fought back the tears that were threatening to spring up in her eyes as she thought of the ruined dinner.
Collins finally got the bathroom door open and shut himself inside, calming down as soon as he was alone. His plan had worked out perfectly, and he was retty damn sure that his performance was more than dramatic enough. He got up and opened the door to the little closet beside the shower, rustling around in the back until he found what he was looking for. Hiding it behind his back, Collins quietly opened the door and walked back to the kitchen.
He gasped when he saw Angel crouched on the floor of the kitchen, sniffling. He shot down to the floor and grabbed her hands in one of his, lifting her head up so that their eyes would meet with his other. "Oh baby, what's wrong?" He asked gently, letting the box in his hands clatter to the floor noisily.
Angel sniffled, looking at him sadly. "The dinner's ruined... and it's all my fault..." She still couldn't really understand why a couple of expired spices would cause such a violent reaction. "Usually my spaghetti is really good..."
It finally registered in her mind that something had clattered behind Collins, and she slowly peered around him at the box. "What's that?"
As Angel cried about the ruined dinner, Collins leaned forward to enclose her in a loving embrace. "Shh my love, it's okay, really, shhh..." He rocked her back and forth, trying to calm her down. Then she noticed the box, and he smiled.
"That, my dear, was supposed to be a surprise. But I guess it will be now!" Collins reached behind him and pulled out the small yet long, white box. He scooped Angel up into his lap and held the box in front of him, teasing her a little. "Remember that diamond necklace you were looking at all those months ago in the store window?" He said, as he gently prised open the lid.
Angel settled into Collins's lap, watching The dinner was instantly forgotten as Collins slowly opened the little box. Angel's eyes widened to the size of saucers, and her mouth formed a little 'o' shape. She reached out a shaky finger to touch it, running the finger along it almost reverently.
She turned her head to look up at his face. "But, how did you...? When...?" She stuttered a couple more times, unable to complete a sentence. Slowly, she reached out her other hand and gently picked up the necklace, trembling so hard she barely held onto it. "Oh, wow..." she breathed, a radiant smile slowly spreading across her face.
Collins chuckled as Angel slowly reached out her hand to pick up the necklace. "I've been saving up with the extra money I've been getting from my late-night marking sprees at NYU. I figured you'd want to eat in, so I planned the entire charade way before you even turned on the stove" Cursed stove that it is... He added to himself. "The spaghetti was delicious honey, I hope you didn't get rid of it."
He shifted Angel's position so that she was now facing him, and placed a hand on the necklace. "May I?" He asked, indicating her bare neck. He smiled at her both questioningly and lovingly.
Angel stared at him for another long moment. "I did, but I can make it again another night." she offered, unable to be mad with him right now. She let go of the necklace slowly, making sure he had enough of a grip so the beautiful object wouldn't fall. She'd missed him all those nights, wondering why he was spending so much time away. Now she knew. She gazed into his eyes, nodding in answer to his question.
Collins gently took the necklace from Angel's hands and placed it around her neck, clasping it at the back. He picked up the front and held it slightly above her skin, tilting it from side to side so that the little light filtering in from the other room caught on the tiny diamonds, making them sparkle.
Collins let the necklace fall back onto Angel's soft skin and nuzzled her neck lovingly. "I adore you, my dear." He said, and closed his eyes in content.
Angel giggled happily, pretty much melting into Collins as he nuzzled her neck. Ruined dinner or no, this evening had been great. She sighed in contentment and planted a soft kiss on the side of Collins's head. "I love you, too." she replied, closing her own eyes in contentment.
The end!