June 4th, 1990, Mimi's apartment.

"Please don't touch me," she said, trying to push Mark out of the way. "Understand -- I'm scared, I need to--"

"I know a place," Mark was saying, voice sounding pained. "A clinic."

"A rehab..." Benny offered. Mimi nodded, frantic.

"Maybe," she said. "Could you--?" she said. She really needed to see him again, before they took him away.

"I'll pay," Benny said, and Mimi nodded, not caring about any of that, she couldn't, not when Roger was in there-

Mark stepped back, and she pushed into the room.

"Goodbye, Love," she choked. "Goodbye, Love," she said, tripping across the room. They'd moved him to the bed, and she kneeled beside it, and took one of his hands.

"Came to say goodbye, Love. Just came to say... goodbye..."

Sometime in March, very late at night, on the subway back to Manhattan.

Adult content...

Mimi climbed awkwardly onto Roger's lap, not breaking the kiss. They were heading back to Manhattan, from Brooklyn, from a party. One of the girls at the club's boyfriend's brother or something. But it was kinda boring, so they left early.

She twined her fingers in his hair and groaned against his lips. Damn he was hot tonight. He'd worn the leather pants she'd found in his room, he said he used to wear them on stage. She'd convinced him it'd be worth his while dragging them out again.

It was kinda why the party had held little appeal. Far too many people and no nice spare rooms or even dark corners she could drag Roger into. Now, they were in the end carriage of the subway train, all alone. It wasn't exactly private, but Mimi really didn't care.

Mimi was very relieved to see that Roger, though very jealous of Benny, and more than a little bit possesive, seemed to trust her.

Dancing still wasn't a problem, thankfully, mostly cos every night on that stage she still thought of him and what they'd done there. And she told him that, every night when she came back to find him, drag him to the nearest room and tear off his clothes.

She knew what April leaving him had done to him, so she made sure he knew she would never do that. She loved him, she hated Benny. And she may have suggested several things about Benny that made Roger very secure in his own masculinity.

She'd learned with Roger Davis that flattery got you everywhere.

Not everything went smoothly all the time. They had some huge arguments, though mostly when they were both coming down, and never over anything major. Just they were loud and they could both be cruel when they wanted to. They never lasted very long, though.

After their first one of these, around the end of January. Mimi was terrified she'd lost him. Though he found her crying in her apartment after a few hours, and they hugged and made up, she was still shaken.

"I don't want to lose you," she told him, stroking his face. "I - I'm sorry, I'm really sorry..."

And he held her, and she buried her head in his chest, and she said it. Because she couldn't not anymore, and though it terrified both of them, he had to know what he meant to her. That she loved him.

He froze, and so did she, not daring to pull back to see his face. They sat for what seemed like hours, until his grip relaxed and he pulled her up and kissed her, and Mimi could breathe again.

And they knew that however bad the fights were, it would usually be okay in the end. Most of the time it was because they needed a hit, anyway, and once they did, they would be much more patient with each other.

She got to know Mark and Collins, Joanne and Maureen a lot better. Joanne and Maureen were arguing a lot more than them, but they were making up too, though their fights were different. The ones Mimi witnessed were actually quite entertaining.

She was happy, mostly. They had money issues and they almost froze to death when Benny turned off the heat in the middle of January. He turned it on again when Mark told him her and Roger didn't seem to be that effected, they were somehow managing to keep warm.

But despite all that, Mimi was happy. She had everything she'd ever wanted.

She walked into the lobby and smiled sweetly at the receptionist.

"Mr. Coffin, please," she said. The receptionist looked questioningly at her boots, and the fishnets.

"And who can I say is here?"

"Mimi," she said. The receptionist called up.

"There's a girl called Mimi here for you, Mr. Coffin," she said. Mimi looked absently around the room. "Mr. Coffin said go right up," the receptionist told her. Mimi nodded and headed for the lift. She knew where his office was.

She didn't knock, just walked in, and didn't close the door behind her.

"Mimi, hello," benny said, in that typical smug tone.

"Benny, we had a deal," she said, not interested in his small talk.

He smiled, and leaned against his desk.

"Circumstances have changed since we made that deal," he said smoothly. "I'm not getting the same... benefits."

She rolled her eyes.

"Actually, the deal had nothing to do with your benefits," she reminded him. "It had to do with me not telling Muffy about them..."

Benny looked at her, narrowing his eyes.

"Muffy?" he asked, cooly. "So you're sleeping with him?"

Shit.

"So what if I am?" she said, nonchalantly. "No business of yours."

"Seriously?" Benny said. "Roger?"

Mimi blinked, but didn't answer.

"Sorry, just didn't think he'd be your type," Benny said.

"What, good in bed?" she asked cooly. "Suppose it is a bit of a departure."

Benny laughed, incredulous. "Ooh, Mimi," he said, walking over to her, standing close, running his hand along her side. "That's a lie, and you know it," he said, voice low and in her ear.

She rolled her eyes.

"Benjamin Coffin III you really better rethink what you're doing," she warned. He laughed, and brought his other hand to her leg.

"Oh, come on, Mimi, we both know why you're--" he started, but Mimi brought her knee up to his groin before he could finish the sentence. He doubled over, and she pushed him back, sending him sprawling over his desk.

"The deal was that I get to live rent free. And since I've been homeless the past few days, you aren't really keeping your end up, are you? Not that that is anything new. You've got three days to let unlock the building, or Muffy will know all about what happened between us."

"Goodbye, Benny," she called, walking out the door.

December 29, 1989, Cat Scratch Club, NYC, later that night...

Warning: Adult content.

They ate quickly, sitting close together at the table ignoring everyone else. Mimi couldn't stop thinking of the promise he'd made her, the handcuffs in his pocket... And every time their eyes met, she knew he was, too.

After stopping to buy a couple of grammes, they made their way back to the Club. Mimi let them in with the key, and then turned around to pull him into a kiss.

From here on in, it was his call. She was his, for whatever he wanted.

She was so turned on.

Note: onesongglory here is Alt!Roger.

December 29th, afternoon, Cat Scratch Club, NYC.

Warning: Adult Content...

Mimi sighed, and poked at the pile of clothes that she'd assembled from around the Club and borrowed from the other girls. She couldn't get back into her apartment to get her regular clothes, so needed to find something to dance in tonight.

Roger was sprawled on the mattress behind her. She looked over her shoulder and smiled at him. He really was something else, she was having what she thought must be the best week of her life. And she had been evicted. But this thing with Roger was - well, nothing short of amazing.

She bit her lip and walked over to the mattress.

"You going to sit there all day or are you going to help me?" she asked, standing over him and quirking an eyebrow.

December 24th, 1989, The Loft, 11th and Ave B, NYC.

She paused, just for a second, hand poised to knock on the door. She'd been noticing the cute musician who lived above her for a while now, had been to some of his gigs, and seen him around... She wanted to meet him, properly.

She took a deep breath, and used it to blow out her candle. She knocked on the door, three sharp knocks