And Now For Something Completely Different

Participants:

melissa_icon.gif nadira_icon.gif quinn_icon.gif

Scene Title And Now For Something Completely Different
Synopsis Melissa calls an impromptu meeting with two of Tartarus's employees to discuss a new type of event for the club.
Date September 6, 2010

Tartarus


It's been a week since Melissa was seen in Tartarus. Quinn knows why, but whether she told the other employees or not…Well, Melissa will find that out soon enough. Yet, oddly, despite the reason for her absence, she enters the club looking almost excited. There's still a shadow in her eyes, that won't fade for some time yet, but she seems genuinely happy about whatever has come to mind.

Quinn and Nadira are asked to come into her office, other employees set to cover them. Once Mel has herded them into her office - a small room that is perfectly tidy, and comfortable enough, with a couch instead of chairs in front of her desk - she offers them something cold to drink and perches on the edge of her desk.

"Okay, first? I want to assure you both that you're so not in trouble or anything, so don't be freaked about being back here. Second? I'm sorry I've been gone. I know everyone, you both included, have had to pick up the slack. Quinn, I'm sure you understand that well enough. Nadira…I'll just say again, I'm sorry. But that isn't why I called you back here to discuss the next big event I want to host here at the club. It's not the same as the last two. No date auction, no charity event. Just something fun to get customers in the door. Hell, I hope it'll be fun for us too. And I want your opinions on it, because it'll mean a lot of work over the next month. Okay?" she asks, glancing between them.

"I don't mind the extra work, honestly." Nadira rubs the back of her neck. "I like keeping busy. Besides, everyone needs time off occasionally." She doesn't ask why, but she does offer Melissa a smile. No one takes time off unexpectedly unless something bad happened. She tilts her head to the side, peering at Melissa. "Alright, what's the idea? I'm always game for something fun to draw in some faces… and again, I'm just fine with the extra work."

Honestly, Quinn was a bit surprised to see Melissa back at work, even after a week. She hadn't said much about why Melissa was away, just that she knew it was "personal matters". Being called back into the office with Nadira presents an even greater surprise. But finding out she's not in trouble for some reason should would know of brings forth a long sigh of relief. And the idea of a new event? That brings a wide smile to the Irish woman's face, who promptly leans forward, an excited look on her face.

"No need t' worry, Melissa, I understand. You know it's all good. But really… I am way more interested in hearin' what this idea a' yours is." She looks up to Nadira, giving a bit of a nod. "I could use extra work, yeah. I had t' get a new second job recently, so… any extra work's always nice." A grin forms on her lips. "Are we gonna throw some sorta Halloween part or somethin'?" At least, that's what she would do.

Melissa points at Quinn and smiles. "That…is not too far off, actually. There will be costumes anyway, and it will be in October, but I wouldn't call it a Halloween party, necessarily." She leans back slightly, hands on the desk behind her, supporting her. "Have either of you seen the movie Labyrinth? If you haven't, we can't be friends anymore until you watch it. But it actually has a point in this conversation, so I bring it up."

Nadira smirks. "I believe I've had the pleasure of seeing it once, but I thought the movie was actually titled 'David Bowie's Crotch'." She clears her throat, grinning slightly. "But… now I'm intrigued. What's the idea?"

Quinn beams at her close estimation of what Melissa was going for - still, it looked like a true Halloween party was going to have to fall to her. "Even if I hadn't seen it by now, I could probably just go t' my girlfriend's an' see it. Sounds like I should probably watch it again anyway." She laughs, hands placed on her hips. "So, what exactly are you plannin'?"

"I have it, if you want to refresh your memory," Melissa says to them, though she smiles. "There's an annual ball out in California that we're going to emulate. With our own personal Tartarus touch. It's called the Labyrinth ball. Or the Labyrinth of Jareth Masquerade, or other names like that. It's based on the ball scene in the movie, and we, are going to host our own. Costumes mandatory, some sort of entertainment beyond just the music. Live entertainment. Like…I don't know. Fire eaters or acrobats, which is really more like the ball scene in Van Helsing than Labyrinth, but we will need to make it our own."

She glances between their faces to watch their reactions. "So what I want from you two is your general opinion on the idea as a whole, along with any ideas you may have for the ball. Entertainment, decorations, whatever."

"That sounds fantastic." Nadira grins at the idea. "Going to do masks as well? That might be a dramatic." Nadira purses her lips, trying to think of entertainment for something like that. "I just think there should be things out of the ordinary… catch people's attention, you know?"

"Oh wow, Melissa!" Quinn's reaction is one of excitement and wonderment as she pictures this event in her mind. "Okay, this is totally brilliant. Masks too!" The Irishwoman lets out a sound somewhat akin to an "Eee!", once again reflecting her excitement. "We should see if any appropriate bands are playin' in the area. If we can raise the money t' have someone come in and play a short set to go with the fire eaters or whatever…."

"I agree completely," Melissa says, nodding to Nadira. "Only two things is it needs to be themed sorta towards old Venetian stuff, and the fae. I mean, Labyrinth ball, it's gotta have fae sorta themes. Faeries, goblins, whatever. And masks would be an awesome idea. Preferably domino type masks, or those sorta masks like people wore at the ball in the movie."

Quinn gets a smile at her enthusiasm. "I'm sure we could manage that. And I don't know about the fire eaters, they just popped into head." She looks a little sheepish. "I confess, sometimes I mix up the two movies with their ball scenes, but both are sorta old Italian or whatever, so they could sorta be meshed without ruining the feel of the ball."

Another smile. "I'm glad you guys like the idea though. It came to me earlier tonight, and I just…the idea was too perfect to pass up. So I want you two to start thinking up ideas. Feel free to veer a little towards the ridiculous since, yanno, faeries and all."

"I think there'd be plenty of interesting things you could do… the costumes alone would be amazing. Entertainment could certainly be interesting… maybe a magic show of some sort?" Nadira suggests.

"Faeries?" Quinn repeats with a grin as she balls up the hands, and then after a moment unfolds them, sending a ball of glowing light floating up between the employees and their boss. "Well, I guess that's more like the ones in Celtic legends, but I think I can manage!" She grins wide at her boss - at the moment, she can't remember if she's ever told Nadira that she's Evolved, but she also doesn't particularly care. "I think you've hit on a jackpot here, Melissa. It's certainly an idea likely t' get people who might not normally come by here."

"That's an excellent idea," Melissa says to Nadira, just before she beams at Quinn's display of light. She knew the woman was evolved, even knew her ability, but it's different from seeing it. "Don't suppose you want to have a little fun that night by giving a light show, do you?"

"Oh, you should definitely do that at the ball. That'd be an amazing thing. We should put up those dangling Christmas lights I've seen… I think they call them icicles? They kind of feel like fireflies or stars and we could put them all over the ceiling." Nadira suggests, glancing between Mel and Quinn.

They only stay there for a moment before they rise back up, clapping together excitedly. "Icicle lighting would be really neat!" she enthuses at Nadira, nodding repeatedly. "Hmm. I know Labyrinth borrows a lotta things from Celtic legends an' the fae, yeah. I can read up an' see if anythin' comes t' mind. I just even gave a friend a' mine a big book on Celtic history an' myths. Maybe she'll let me borrow it."

"I'll definitely start looking for the icicles," Melissa says, nodding and smiling. "And awesome, Quinn. If either of you wanna borrow my copy of Labyrinth for ideas too, lemme know. Or Van Helsing. Either way. And just any ideas you have, lemme know. If we can do 'em, we will. I want this to be a party that people will talk about for a year." She cocks her head and the smile goes a bit impish. "Until we throw it again."

"First Annual, then?" Nadira nods a bit. "We should really get the feel for it.. maybe find a way to make vines or leaves or branches of some sort to have on the walls… give it the feel of a forest. Setting is everything."

Quinn's smile doesn't abate, the DJ nodding enthusiastically at Melissa. "Hmm. What could we do that's thematic and fitting of the club…" Her foot taps as she looks off, as if lost in thought pondering on what, exactly, they could manage. "If it's a costume or masked ball, there does have to be a mandatory 'find someone random that you don't know who it is and dance with them' thing like they always do in the movies."

"That's not a bad idea," Melissa says, nodding to Nadira. "I'm not very crafty myself, but I'm sure we can find someone to do it. And while that's a good idea too, Quinn, we can't exactly enforce it, yanno?"

Nadira nods. "Well, we can announce that it's that time and see if people do it. I think most would comply… it's part of the spirit of the thing." She seems thoughtful. "Well, if we come up with a plan on how to do it I don't mind putting in grunt work to put it together… I just need to figure out how to do it on the decorations…"

"Mm, fair 'nough," Quinn replies with a slow nod of her head. "It be cool if people went with it, but yeah, I guess that's hard t' actually go with." A hand reaches up and taps her cheek as she thinks, eyes looking up towards the ceiling. "I like the idea of decorations. I work most late mornings, 'cept for the weekends, but I would mind coming in t' help put 'em up when I can. We definitely need somethin' else for entertainment, though, cause I wanna have fun to!" She flashes a wry grin to the other two, before returning to thinking on what to do.

Rising from her perch on her desk, Melissa smiles happily at the two women. "I'm just glad you're both on board. I knew I was excited about the idea, but I'm weird. Had to make sure it was something more people would like. Now, I'll let you both get back to work, but let me know as soon as you have any ideas. And I should totally see about giving you both raises."

Nadira laughs. "Thanks. You're very generous, Melissa." She looks back to Quinn, then gives a nod back to Melissa. "Let me know what you need me to do. I've got plenty of spare time and I'm not opposed to coming in when I'm off to work on things. Trying to keep myself busy, so.."

Quinn looks jolted out of thought as she looks back to Melissa, almost literal stars in her eyes as she gives Melissa a grateful expression. "You are the coolest boss ever," she enthuses with a laugh. "An' I'm not even tryin' t' kiss ass for once!" She laughs again, before looking over at Nadira with a slight smirk. Her mouth opens, a finger raises - and then she just shuts it again, shaking her head. "The automated playlist should be running through soon anyway, I should get back out."

While Nadira's comment gets an appreciative smile, Quinn's gets a laugh and shake of Melissa's head. "Yeah, yeah. But for the record, I don't mind a little ass kissing. Better than ass kicking anyway. Now shoo! I've gotta start figuring costs of what I do know we'll need for this thing!"


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