Alternate 4x08 Carnegie Hall backstage prompt: if Midge hadn't screwed up the Tony Bennett thing and Lenny was in fact just dragging her off round the corner for a celebratory makeout rather than to yell at her 😄
Pairing: Lenny Bruce & Midge Maisel
Rated T
“Wow…this is amazing,” she breathes as she looks out at the now empty audience of Carnegie Hall. “How did it feel?”
“How did it feel?” Lenny repeats, and she hears his footsteps coming closer until his voice is right behind her. “It felt great.”
“I’ve been here before for concerts, but out in the audience, obviously.” She lifts her hand, touching the microphone reverently.
The last three days have been a whirlwind. She got the biggest gig of her life, slept with the man she’s been falling in love with for the last year, watched that man give the greatest performance of his life, and is now standing on the greatest of New York’s stages with him.
She feels his arms slip around her waist, and a kiss lands on the crook of her neck. And then one at the corner of her jaw. One on her cheek, and then she’s turning in his arms to kiss him fully, passionately, indecently. His arms pull her tightly against him, and her fingers thread into his slightly damp curls as his tongue finds hers. It’s a long, fiery kiss, and suddenly she wants nothing more than to have Lenny Bruce make love to her right here on the stage of Carnegie Hall.
Based on the way his hand is gripping at her hip, he's having the same thought.
They part for air only when absolutely necessary, and Lenny rests his forehead against hers. He takes a deep breath as one of his hands moves to cup her neck. “Am I dreaming?” He asks quietly.
She shakes her head gently against his. “No," she whispers.
A soft grin finds his lips, and he releases a quiet, happy sob before pulling away and looking out at the empty house again. Midge moves next to him, lacing their fingers together and leaning against his shoulder as he basks in this moment. “I still can’t believe it,” he breathes.
When she looks up, she sees that his eyes are filled with tears, and she squeezes his hand. “You did it, Lenny.” She smiles. “And you killed.”
He chokes out a laugh, releasing her hand in favor of wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She circles his waist with both of her arms, and he presses a kiss to the top of her head.
“Hey, Midge?”
“Yes, Lenny?”
There’s a long beat, and she looks up at him as he says, “There’s no one I’d rather share this moment with.”
Tears pool in her eyes, and she stretches up to kiss him again. Slowly, tenderly this time. Less urgency but no less passion than the previous kiss, it melts her insides as his other hand lifts, his fingers carding through her hair.
Can you do Abe and Lenny getting drunk together and Midge and Rose finding their hangover asses the next morning?
"LENNY!"
It turns out they've been getting drunk in the same bar the whole night and didn't know it.
Abe on one end of the room with his Voice coworkers, and Lenny, on the other, alone.
He takes a deep breath, and then a long, long drag off his cigarette.
"Abe," he says, turning in his stool, and almost falling off of it.
Right. Drunker than he thought.
"It's so good-It's won'erful to see you, Lenny," Abe tells him. "You should come join us! We're celebrating a bit- a big scoop!"
"That's very nice," Lenny says. "I'm very happy for you, but I'm- I'm fine right here."
"Oh, nonsense-"
"Really, Abe."
Abe frowns and stumbles into the stool next to him. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing."
"No, wha's wrong," Abe insists. "I demand to know why the boy my daughter loves is sad."
Lenny coughs on his cigarette and nearly chokes on some booze that makes his way up his throat. He coughs into his sleeve, eyes watering before looking at the older man. "Scuse me?"
"Oh, come on. Subtlety is-Miriam is not a wilting flower of a girl."
"No," Lenny says slowly. "No she is not. But she has made some very questionable business choices lately, and we fought about it."
"Oh. Well. Then make up."
"What?"
"Make up! You told her you disagreed with what she was doing, she's had time to think about it, now go make up!"
"I don't know if it's that-"
"It is," Abe tells him, patting his shoulder. "Relation-...ships are only as complicated as you make them."
"We're not in a relationship, Abe."
"Of course not. Come on. We'll catch a cab."
"Where?"
"Miriam is at home tonight."
"Oh. No. No, no, no."
"Yes. Come on." He tugs on the younger man's arm. "All you have to do is say...you're sorry for being mad, and she'll understand. Miriam is very understanding. Joel schtupped a whole other woman behind her back and she still speaks to him."
Lenny cannot believe he's considering this as an option.
"Oh, god," he groans. "I'm really drunk. And I'm gonna say yes."
"Because you miss her," Abe says.
"Fine."
"And you love her."
"Do not tell her that."
He pays up his tab and stumbles out into the cold with Abe, hailing a cab and heading for the Upper West Side. He knows that this is a wild, stupid, ridiculous idea, but his drunk brain is very excited to see Midge, so he chucks it in the fuck-it bucket and gives in.
In no time, Abe is unlocking the door to their apartment and stumbling inside, Lenny strolling in behind him.
"Miriam!"
Both Miriam and Rose walks out quickly at the sound of Abe's booming voice, looking confused.
"Why is Lenny here?" Rose asks.
Midge looks surprised, but mostly amused. "Yes, Papa. What is Lenny doing here?"
"He's here to say that he's sorry for being harsh with you, Miriam," Abe informs her. "And that he loves you."
Lenny rubs his eyes. "I told him not to say that."
Rose rolls her eyes and snags Abe by the hand. "I am putting him to bed."
"G'night, Abe," Lenny waves.
"Good luck, Lenny!"
And suddenly he's staring down the barrel of a gun.
Not really, it's just Midge's amused, slightly nervous blue eyes.
"Hello," he says.
"Hi," she says slowly. "You wanna come sit down?"
"I should really...go...now that your father has thoroughly embarrassed me," he says awkwardly. "You're clearly busy, and I don't know that I'm actually drunk enough for this conversation."
"You were right," Midge tells him gently. "About me. The hiding. I was. You were right. I'm not doing it anymore."
"Good," Lenny says. "That's great. I'm sorry I yelled. I'm not-sorry it helped. But...I don't like yelling."
"You were mad."
"I was."
"I was dumb."
"But pretty," he offers.
"Oh, I'm always pretty," she waves a playful hand. "You know that."
"I do know that," Lenny concedes. "But I should still...go."
"There's a very nice couch," Midge offers. "I'd offer you Ethan's bed again, but I think that room gave you a nervous breakdown, so..."
"Really...it's very kind, but..."
"Or you could come back to my room, and we could sneak you out to the couch before my parents wake up in the morning."
"Naughty girl."
Midge smirks.
Which is how they wind up making out on her bed before falling asleep together. He's really too drunk for anything else, and when he wakes up in the morning, he finds his hangover isn't as bad as he thought it would be.
He suspects that Midge, tucked in against him, sleeping soundly, has something to do with that.
Well. And the water and aspirin the night before.
Still. This is.
Good.
He tries to shift out of bed, but she grips him tight around the middle.
"Nope," she mutters with her eyes still closed.
"Your parents are gonna be up soon," he whispers.
Midge gives a pathetic, playful little whimper. "Mine."
"Yes, but - parents."
She sighs dramatically and slips her arm away from him, rolling to lie on her back with said arm draped over her eyes. "Fine. Leave me here all alone. In this big bed."
"Why, Miss Weissman. I think you might be trying to seduce me."
She shifts her arm up to look at him with one eye. "Is it working?"
"No. I do not want your mother to walk in here while we're...compromised."
"Good word for a having a hangover."
"Thank you."
He kisses her softly and slowly before stumbling out of bed and heading for the door opening it up and heading quietly into the hallway, only to turn and run right into Rose.
"Uh."
She eyes him warily. "I'm going to ignore which door you just walked out of," she tells him. "And pretend you were using the restroom."
"Okay."
"Coffee?"
"Sure."
She leads him to the kitchen and begins making coffee, while he leans against the doorframe, watching.
"You can sit down, you know."
"I'm afraid I'll fall back asleep if I do," he admits. "I'm sorry about last night. Your husband insisted."
Rose grins wryly. "Abe thinks he's superman when he's drunk. He gets very insistent."
Lenny nods.
"So. You and Miriam."
"Oh, please, please have mercy on my hungover soul," Lenny begs. "I don't have any answers right now."
"I'm merely interested in your intentions."
His intentions are to bed her again as soon as possible, and see where things go from there, but he can't tell that to her mother.
"Do you really love her?" Rose asks.
Does he love Midge? If he's very, very honest with himself (which he is very very bad at), then...yes. He is. Whether he's ready to admit that to other people...
"I could be," he tells her.
"She clearly cares for you," Rose tells him. "Otherwise she would have stuffed you in a cab last night and sent you on your way."
"No, she wouldn't," Lenny says.
Rose grins a little. "No. She wouldn't. But I would."
Lenny nods as he takes a cup of coffee from her. "Thank you."
Rose nods and starts gathering things for breakfast. "Why don't the four of us have dinner this weekend. Abe and I can get to know you better. I can see how good of a match you and Miriam are, and we'll go from there."
[ID: Screenshot of a tweet by @ kendrawcandraw that reads
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Me receiving psychic damage 23 hours a day from my phone: Ouuughhhh oouuuuwwwwaaaaaa ooaaaaghuuuuuhhhowwgah hhhh guuuuuwah" End ID]
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