Singing in the Rain (M)

[groundcontrol]

Hi all

You may have seen my post about the movie Singin' In the Rain in the observation/stories section of the forum, and this fic is my response to it. In short, this is based off the true fact that the actor Gene Kelly had a bad cold while filming the famous title scene. I know very little about the actors outside of the movie, so I did my best to craft their personalities!  Also, this was my first time writing anything using real people, and I underestimated how awkward I would feel lol, so there's no spellings in this one unfortunately  But I still hope you enjoy!

Note: At the start of the filming, Gene Kelly was a bit of a jerk toward Debbie Reynolds since she wasn't a dancer and he didn't think she was suitable for the role. In turn she worked her tail off to "prove herself", even going so far as to cause her feet to bleed because of how hard she was dancing! After all of this, their relationship smoothed over more, but I kinda play with that dynamic here. Anyhow...

 

    “Cut!” The producer’s voice echoed like the voice of God through the flooded set, and it was lucky; Gene Kelly didn’t know how much longer he could keep dancing on the wet set. “Take twenty. Mr. Kelly, still doing alright?”

    “Right as rain,” Gene said, coughing as he shrugged off his woolen suit that was soaked through with the hybrid milk and water mixture the studio used as rain. It seemed the mixture made his suit colder and wetter than just water alone, or perhaps he was imagining. One of the makeup ladies handed him a thermometer, which he took with a congested “Thank you.”

    “He’s still joking,” Donald O’Connor said, “so he’ll live yet.” Donald followed Gene offset to a spot behind a makeshift building in which they sometimes talked on breaks. With a few hitching breaths, Gene retrieved a handkerchief from his pocket and sneezed several times powerfully into it. 

    “Uh, God,” he moaned softly, closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead. Only now that he wasn’t moving did he realize just how achingly tired his body really was. He waved the thermometer and spoke before sticking it in his mouth. “Time for a check, huh?”

    “Christ, you sound terrible. Have you tried taking anything? Some cough syrup at least?”

He shook his head and spoke around the thermometer, out of the corner of his mouth the way one might talk around a cigarette. “It’d make me drowsy, and you know that’s no good for dancing.”

“Ok, enough talking. You’ll choke on that thing.”

Shivering even without his wet suit, Gene took it out of his mouth and shook it to have a look. God, what he wouldn’t give to crawl back into bed again, but then again he had signed up for this life of acting. He’d have to take every part of it; good and bad.

“Any better?”

Gene frowned. “Still 103.”

Donald shook his head. “Jesus, you don’t do anything halfway, do you?”

Gene’s only reply was a sneeze followed by a subdued round of coughing.

Sighing, Other guy pulled out a pack of cigarettes, stuck one between his teeth, and inclined the pack toward him. “Smoke?”

Gene shook his head and tended to his streaming nose. 

Other guy slapped him on the shoulder before walking away to smoke. “For feeling awful, you look good as usual out there. Keep it up and you might be as good as me someday, eh?”

In spite of all his malaise, Gene found himself smiling. “I have a fever, and you’re the delusional one.”

    Only when Donald left did Gene notice Debbie was there hovering in the background, hesitant and small, leaning against the studio wall. Gene made eye contact, but her eyes darted away quickly. Looking awkward, she knotted her hands and searched for something to talk about. He sneezed and stifled a groan at the pain in his head. 

    At last Debbie found it. “Feeling pretty sick, huh?”

    Gene sighed. “You can say that again.”

    “For what it’s worth, I can’t dance like you just did out there even when I’m healthy." She looked away but Gene still caught the glisten of tears in her eyes. "Not that that’s saying much, I suppose.”

    “I guess now’s as good a time as any to apologize. I was kind of an ass, wasn’t I?” Gene tried to laugh but it quickly turned to coughing. He cleared his throat. “The point is, I’ve been dancing all my life. I could lose my legs and I’d still find a way to dance. I'd have to. It’s in me. If it wasn’t in you before, it’s in you now. I’ve never seen your kind of dedication before. How are your heels?”

    She giggled softly in spite of herself, and wiped little tears from the corners of her eyes. “Still healing.”

    “Good one,” he said, and the two laughed at her unintentional pun. He managed a few chuckles before they went to his chest and turned to a wheezing cough. Three sneezes ripped their way out of nowhere, and he scarcely had enough time to pull out his handkerchief to catch them. 

    Debbie's voice came softly. “If I may say so, you really shouldn’t be working so hard in your state.”

    Head pounding, he said a touch shortly, “You don’t know the first thing about show business.” Debbie stared wide-eyed at him, looking like it has taken tantamount effort to say what she had. Feeling guilty still at his former conduct toward her, Gene softened to what he hoped was a brotherly-teasing voice. “You’re new at it, but I’m sure you know what they say. the show must go on. That applies in this case.”

    The producer stuck his head around a prop. “Five minutes and we’re back on. Another take, starting from the goodbye kiss.”

    Once the director had disappeared, Gene shook his head as he blew his nose. “Sorry it has to start with the kiss again. I wouldn’t want you to catch this.”

    “I’ll be fine," Debbie said. "After all, you’re the one singing in the rain. It makes sense that you’re sick and not me.”

    He smiled, but said forlornly, “Guess that means I have to put this wet thing back on, huh?” Holding his soaked suit, he sneezed, folded double at the waste with the force and giving a few wet sniffs. “Ugh, proves we dancers aren’t as immortal as we look on screen, huh?” He wiped his nose with his handkerchief and slid his suit back on.

     “Keep resting those feet of yours because in a few days I’ll be good as new, and you’ll have some suitable competition to keep up with again.” He winked before going back on set, and Debbie followed him to their positions. 

     "Still ready, Mr. Kelly?" the producer asked. 

     "As ready as I'll ever be," Gene said. "Let's get this over with, so I can get out of this damn suit once and for all, huh?"

     "His voice sounds a little rough," the producer's aide whispered in the producers ear. "Are you sure we shouldn’t cut the goodbye dialogue?"

      "I'll make it work,” Debbie said simply.

     The producer shook his shock at Debbie’s sudden confidence off his face before retreating behind the camera and giving the order for the damn milk-rain to start again. "Whatever you say. Ready, and action!"

     "Take care of that throat, ok? You're a big singer now. That California dew is just a little heavier than usual tonight."

     Gene smiled genuinely at her improvisation. There was no doubt about it; Debbie had surely earned her place in show business. "Really? From where I stand, the sun is shining all over the place," he said, and for the first time when he kissed her, it didn’t feel quite as unnatural. He’d thank her later; for now, he had dancing to do.
    

[Luisa39]

Good story!  I do especially love fanfics about performers and behind-the-scenes situations.  It's interesting, too, to consider that the "take care of your throat" line in the movie may have been improvised.

[Subtly Clashing Wishes]

I have always loved this musical. Your story feels just right to me. 

[Arty]

I really wanna watch this movie again. This was great!!!

[groundcontrol]

On February 6, 2017 at 8:21 PM, Luisa39 said:

Good story!  I do especially love fanfics about performers and behind-the-scenes situations.  It's interesting, too, to consider that the "take care of your throat" line in the movie may have been improvised.

Thank you very much! Upon learning of the behind-the-scenes situation, that the "take care of your throat" line was improvised was the first thing that came to mind. For a fic, it just seemed too good to pass up

On February 6, 2017 at 8:42 PM, Sanguine Cheerful Worrier said:

I have always loved this musical. Your story feels just right to me. 

Thank you, that's quite the compliment!!  

On February 8, 2017 at 9:35 PM, Arty said:

I really wanna watch this movie again. This was great!!!

Thank you very much for reading