Participants:
| Scene Title | Open Mic Night |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | It's Open Mic Night at the Blue Moon Cafe and Bookstore! |
| Date | August 1, 2010 |
Blue Moon Cafe: Patio
Coming down the stairs one finds themselves stepping onto a broad bricked patio. A green and gold awning affixed to the far wall shelters tables from both fair and foul weather. A grill provides space to cook, the food served is all vegetarian fare.
The real attraction of the Blue Moon is its teas and juices, however. Hippies, pagans, witches and Earth children of all makes come together to brew up potions that tantalize the mouth while providing all the natural goodness the body might desire. Six small tables are draped with colorful cloths and candles, each of these bearing a small bowl of fresh flowers taken from the nearby flower market. The walls here have been painted to resemble the Major Arcana, the ornate images of the tarot sending the mind toward an expansion of consciousness. Rumor has it, if one has the proper words, other things can be gotten in this place. Whether that is a foolish rumor or not remains known to only the staff.
The Blue Moon is hoping tonight. The inside of the occult store is filled to the brim with hippies, artists, nerds, musicians, and every walk of life who wants their chance to express their creative side under the stars. The cafe is bussling with filling drink orders of the various guests while on the patio the small 10 by 10 foot stage in the lower corner has a single man with a clip board standing at the bottom of the small staircase leading up to the stage. He is speaking with a woman holding a snake around her neck.
The linger smell of fresh baked cookies and coffee linger in the night air as the tables are beginning to fill up. The tables are dressed with crisp white linen and a single large candle in the middle. All the candles have a trim of blue cresent moons around the rim. Their glow casting various reflections on the guests this evening.
Not everyone who is showing up for the open mic night intends to express anything, though. Other than mild curiosity and a faint hunger, anyway. Melissa's one of those. She's found herself a table near the back, and is slouched down so that she's positioned her body as straight as she can. Before coming outside she snagged a couple of cookies and something cold to drink. No way is she drinking coffee outside in the summer!
As Aric turns from the woman with the snake, he smiles and begins to walk up on the stage. He moves himself in front of the mic and taps it. "Hello…welcome to the Blue Moon Cafe and Bookstore. We hope tonight will be an evening filled with fun, mystery, and magic. My name is Aric. I will be your host this evening. If there is anything you need please let me know how I can make you happy. The show will begin shortly as our first person to the mic will be Maurice Finkleman." Aric smiles as a skinny young man runs up on stage as he begins to get himself set up.
She arrived here with others, but upon getting through the door, Sable quickly made some vague excuses and disappeared behind rows of books and stacks of do-it-yourself star charts. Not secretive with friends by nature, Sable's sort of embarrassingly obvious about the insubstantiality of her reasoning for ducking into some (temporarily) private nook. Something about how she needed to check if they had this book that she bought for an old girlfriend, or maybe it was a book her old girlfriend bought for her, and maybe she needed to take a piss actually and- look over there! Poof!
When she reappears, however, she's got a not-unfamiliar swagger in her step, her sling-bound arm making her dedication to jauntiness more impressive, however it may limit her expression of said jauntiness. The effect is augmented by the genuine slate-grey two-piece suit she's wearing, complete with dark, thin tie, the ensemble cut to fit her diminutive frame. Custom tailoring just screams Magnes J. Varlane. One has to wonder if it's the suit of a particular heroic (or villainous) alter ego.
The tap of the mic draws Sable's attention, and her weird yellow eyes find Aric first, then slide over the the hopefully virtuosic Master Finkleman. Sable stays on her feet, lurking by the edge of the patio, gaze occasionally searching for familiar faces she pointedly escaped before.
Maurice Finkleman? What a nerdy name if Delilah ever heard one. But she can't really laugh too hard- she's the one with the male middle name. She's come for several reasons, one of which being the hope that she'll meet someone that she knows. The redhead has put herself somewhere near the middle of the tables, sitting quietly and waiting with a cup of tea between her hands. Flowery dress contrasts with the ambiance at least a little bit, but not nearly as much as Sable does- Dee can see her from a mile away, despite her being half a foot and an arm and a leg smaller than most people. She'll let Sable figure out she's there, no use calling out. Sharp eyes as anyone.
As Aric turns his attention out to the crowd, he closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths. This many people close to him always seems to make him a little nervous. When he has steadied himself he opens his eyes in time to see Maurice explode in a poof of smoke. The man was once dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans is dressed in a full tux and top hat now. Aric smirks as he begins to watch the magic show.
As techno-borderline porn music begin to play Maurice moves to his box and opens it up. It holds two metal circles. He clicks them as they resist and do nothing but make a clanking sound. Maurice clicks them again as he throws them together in the air and two metal circles join in the air and become four metal circles as he catches it with one hand. Maurice shows the crowd the metal circles joined like a chain link fence.
Ahh, familiar faces. Melissa glances over Delilah and Sable, clearly making a note of their presence, before she looks back at the stage. The type of music has her lips twitching a little and she shakes her head, picking up a cookie to nibble on. Her eyes follow the metal rings as they're moved and thrown, but while she's paying attention, she doesn't seem too very impressed. Yet.
Sharp-eyed alright. Red hair is the first thing Sable is on the lookout for. One glance, one quick confirming double take/check (the bright dress is all the confirmation she needs), and Sable veritable swoops over to Delilah's table. She slows upon the final approach, playing it cool, sauntering the last few steps up next to Dee, keeping her eyes on the stage and speaking to Lilah out of the side of her mouth. "Y' here by yerself, darlin'? Breaks m' heart t' see a lady like you sittin' alone. Mebbe I could give y' some company, whaddya say?" She turns to flash a grin at Dee, before thumbing up at the stage. "You gonna show us somethin' tonight, beautiful?"
Sable cannot but smirk as the Fantastic Finkleman goes to work. She spots Melissa and throws her a peace sign, the tilts her head towards the stage. Get a load of this guy huh?
Delilah perches her head on one hand, watchful of the little stage and the man on it. She watches Sable swagger on up from the side of her vision, smiling when the girl talks. "If I come alone I'll never be alone, there's always someone for company. Don't know yet- been thinking about it, I did bring the guitar." A shoe thunks on something hard perched under the table. "This guy is kind of boring though." She leans over, confiding, with a tone that suggests she may actually know what she's talking about. "I could see him doing that trick, he's not hiding it hard enough from people who know what to look for."
As Aric turns his eyes on the crowd, they fall on Melissa. He looks her up and down curiously before looking back at the stage. His attention back on the show as Maurice puts his metal circles away and takes out a dove. He pulls up his sleeves and says into the mic in a shaky high pitched voice, "Don't try this at home." He pets the drove and then turns it out to the audience. He rips it into two as two doves fly off into the night air above the Blue Moon.
A woman down front screams in horror and then begins to clap when she sees he turn it into two doves.
Aric's look towards Melissa goes unnoticed by the woman. Instead she seems to still be paying attention to the act on stage. Brows lift at the bird trick, then her head tilts. But rather than simply enjoying the trick like some must be, she's instead just wondering…what evolved ability allows him to do that?
"Then let me accompany you, darlin'," Sable says, setting a hand on the table and leaning down. "I'd love t' see you up there. Y' know I'll be cheerin' f'r five if y' do."
And wait… the people who know what to look for being…? "Darlin'… you know I'll love y' regardless, so you don't gotta fear tellin' me the truth, no matter how awful," Sable says, giving Dee a 'serious' look, "'r' you a magician, hon? Just… just tell me, tell me quicklike. Wait!" Sable pulls out the chair next to Delilah, "Better I be sittin' f'r this…" She swings into the chair and leans up close, ear turned to receive the dreaded news.
A flash of buff brown wings offset by a paler belly with large, dark spots skips over the top of the wall that separates the patio from the street and has a small songbird with salmon-coloured feet alighting upright on the edge of an open table, where it pauses to survey its surroundings with glittering black eyes. It scissors a look between Melissa and Delilah and causes a woman still inside the shop to reconsider her plans for the evening. When Raith suggested that Eileen do something for herself, she did not envision doing it in front of people she knows.
A few moments later, she steps out onto the patio with the handle of a violin case clutched in one hand and her white cane in the other. The cane she uses to navigate the crowd, the polished case she sets down on the seat of an empty chair at the table where the thrush is perched.
As Maurice moves to his box he takes out a box and places it on the stand. He places a watermelon inside the box and turns it for all to see inside the box. The young man moves to close the box as he takes out a large set of knifes. He begins to stab the box with the knifes into the watermelon inside. He turns the box for all to see and then removes the knifes one by one. He licks one of the knifes and smiles as he opens the box and watermelon is full of holes. The young man looks embrassed and begins to gather his things and runs off the stage and out of the patio area.
Aric makes a sour face as he moves up the mic and says into it, "Seems out next act is not ready and so the mic is open and will remain open for the first person who wishes to come up and use it."
While Melissa may not have noticed Aric's look, the appearance of Eileen after all that's gone on definitely draws Melissa's attention. She looks surprised, then frowns as she spots the cane. Well what's going on here? She glances back to the stage, and rolls her eyes at the failed act, shaking her head. "Amateur," she mutters, which, of course, he is. Who else shows up at open mic nights?
But then her attention is right back on Eileen, and she rises from her seat, picking up her cookies and tea, then heading over to the woman with the cane. "Hey Eileen. Want some company?"
Delilah at least lets Maurice fail completely before turning with a grin to Sable. "My grandfather taught me. Haven't done many shows of my own- enough I guess- kind of slowed down when I started music. It's hard to do that kind of magic now, without people thinking you've got powers." She leans back to consider her guitar in its case. "What would I even do up there? What song? I have no idea.
"Hey!" Sable hollers after Maurice, "Leave th' fuckin' watermelon! I'll eat that sucker all by m'self!" Ah, but too late. Sable wrinkles her nose. What a waste. He'll probably chuck it out of shame. Maybe if she checks the dumpster later… No, nooo… that's one old habit she can afford to kick. She's no vagrant no more. Look at her - she's got a suit.
That magic is family legacy makes it better, certainly. "I'll say straight up, darlin' - music's a finer fuckin' art," she takes a moment to soften her tone, "It's real nice t' see you. Always is, 'course, but it's always worth sayin'."
Eileen's appearance causes Sable to frown. Wait, where has she seen that petite little bit before? Context is everything, and the lack of a grand chamber for the avian telepath to address, Sable has a hard time placing her. Being an associate of Melissa's further confuses things (maybe she saw her at the party, but no… she doesn't think so…), and finally Sable is forced to ask Dee: "Who's th' chicky with the fiddle 'n' th' cane? Swear I've seen 'er b'fore."
Nothing announces one's presence better than surprising a friend, and that's exactly what Quinn intends to do as she steps out on to the patio, a smirk on her face as she catches sight of Sable sitting down at a table - sitting instead of standing somewhere, something which seemed a bit unusual to Quinn. Dressed a red, short sleeved button shirt and a white skirt, she slips silently through the crowd, pausing to scan the others out on the patio in hopes of spotting Elaine.
Tip toeing up, using the noise of others to her advantage, trying her best not spill the cup of tea she carries in one hand or drop the small instrument case she holds in the other. Once she sidles up behind Sable, she leans down with a smile of her face, and quite suddenly exclaims "Boo!" into her ear, resting an elbow down on Sable's shoulder.
"I wouldn't mind it," Eileen says to Melissa, coaxing the thrush onto the crook of her left index finger. She tips her cane against the table's edge to rest within easy reach in case of an emergency. Although her back is to Delilah and Sable, the slope of her neck and the loose twist of dark brown hair pinned up at the back of her head is immediately recognizable to the mother-to-be. Pearl earrings and the cashmere cardigan she wears over an ivory blouse with feminine accents are likely to banish any lingering doubts about the chicky's identity.
There are also only so many women of her stature and complexion who habitually wear flowers in her hair like the white gardenia at her ear. Taking a seat at the table, she transfers the thrush from her finger to a higher perch on her shoulder and laces her hands together, posture alert but seemingly relaxed.
Delilah leans her head back to look, and it doesn't take her long to relay. "Ah. Eileen. Yeah, you've probably seen her, she's with the group. She looks just lovely, doesn't she?" Meanwhile, she can see Quinn getting closer- closer- closer- isn't it Shark Week? YES-
Delilah says nothing even as the other girl has crept all the way up to Sable, holding back a laugh.
The agreement has Melissa smiling and settling down before breaking off a small piece of cookie to offer to the bird on Eileen's finger. "Been a while. I'd ask how you've been, but I'd feel a lil' stupid," she admits, glancing towards the stage. Tarot cards? "Depends. You a precog or clairvoyant?" she calls out to Aric.
The group? Ooooh, the group. It falls into place. "Lovely 's spun glass, delicate li'l thing," she agrees. Unaware that she's being approached by a deadly Irish Landshark.
"AAAH!" Sable cries out at the 'boo', loud, much too loud, clearly startled witless. She turns her head to glower up at the perching Quinn, her lips tugged down in a scowl as her heart tries to slow back to a normal rhythm. "Motherfucker…" she says, shaking her head, "You… fuckin'…" she narrows her eyes, "I'm gonna get you. You mark my goddamn words. This ain't th' last 'f it. This shit's only th' beginnin'."
This threat levelled, she gives a sniff, and then slowly lifts the corner of her lips in a smile. "Where've you been, eh? Show already started. Y' missed the magic show…"
Sable's eyes cut back to the stage, and she bites her lip. "I'm gonna perform 'n' all," Sable calls out to Aric, "But I'll get m'self read if y' need. Ain't never sayin' no t' more time on stage! But I, like, defer t' any who wants it more, dig?" Sort of a length stipulation, but… hey. Precision is important.
As he cocks his head to the side, Aric's eyes look at the woman who yells at him. He smiles his charming smile as he runs a hand through his hair and says, "Yes. I can fly and blow sunshine out of my arse all the way to the moon too. Care to come up ma'am?" His eyes fall on Sable as he motions her to the stage. A quick one card read and then lets see what ya got."
"Uh huh," Quinn responds with a wide grin as she takes a sip of her tea, reaching down to awkwardly pat Sable's head, the small instrument case bumping up against the side of Sable's head. "I'll believe that when I see it," she continues, looking just smug as all hell as she looks down at her friend. A moment to turn and give a wave over to Delilah, and then she shrugs. "Magic show? Oh, I would 'ave like to 'ave seen that. I was out shoppin', actually. Gettin' a new swim suit,"She looks for an open chair, meandering her way over next to Delilah, setting the case down on the table.
"Didn't expect t' see you here, Delilah," Quinn says as she regards the redhead with a smile. "How've you been since the 4th?"
Delilah laughs as Sable and Quinn come to a head, motioning an open palm to another seat at the table when she sees Quinn looking. "I'm around all the time, I think I just keep missing you. I wish I could go swimming more often- seems like no matter what the day I can go turns rainy or way too hot for me to be out baking. We should all go sometime."
"I wanna see you do that." The redhead's next comment is on Aric's explanation for Melissa. It is said with a laugh, and just loud enough to be heard and taken jokingly.
The yellow eyed girl makes a face as her head is lightly concussed. Her brows arch as Quinn explains her lateness. "Oh, sure, sure. I dig. You take yer past fuckin' time with that, eh?" Aesthetic considerations are, after all, the province of the artist. And swimsuit purchases fall within a field of aesthetics Sable takes very seriously. As for a swimming trip? "I love th' sea. I love this plan. I'm pretty much, like, all fuckin' for it. What c'n I do t' make this dream a reality?"
Caaaards? Sable winks at Delilah. "Mebbe he'll tell me what kinda jet plane I buy y' when I'm rich 'n' fuckin' famous," she says, before pushing herself to her feet and heading up to the stage, hopping up and turning to face Aric, foot places so that she's still facing the audience somewhat. A ham 'til the end.
"Let's do this thing," she says, dipping her head and drawing herself up, looking as if she were expecting a punch rather than a cartomantic reading.
Aric's response gets a dismissive wave of Melissa's hand and she shakes her head, dismissing him for now, especially once she sees Sable waved up. There, he's got his volunteer, and she can go back to her tea and cookies. Mmm. Cookies.
Eileen's mouth curves around a rueful smile, her eyes lowered. She reaches out to the bowl of fresh flowers at the center of their table and plucks out one of the blooms. Diminutive beads of fresh water splash across the cloth as she turns the stem between her fingers and brushes the petals against the point of her long nose. The thrush is much more interested in Melissa's offering and snaps a crumbling bite of cookie in its beak. She doesn't ask the Englishwoman how she's been, and in return Eileen neglects to inquire about her relationship with Messiah. Instead: "Is Kendall well?"
As Aric holds the deck out, he looks at Sable and says close enough to the mic for everyone to hear, "I want to to focus all your energy on the deck. When you have yourself centered and focused. In your mind I want you to ask the deck a question to yourself. Do not say it out loud. It is a question only you must ask the deck. The universe will hear your question and it will answer accordingly." The man cocks his head watching Sable intently, his eyes almost glaze over for a moment.
Dare anyone gaze into the mind of Ms. Diego? Her yellow eyes focus on the deck, like maybe she'd about to take a swing at it, a furious look that must pass for concentration - a focusing of energies. To be honest, thinking up a question is hard, and she flickers through various half-formed, hastily assembled ones, the nature of quite a few which, well… this is a family occult establishment. No need to give examples. When she finally settles on one, you can just tell. She smiles a little, and her gaze become less searing and more just closely expectant.
Kendall. Of course she had to mention Kendall. Melissa slumps down in her seat, even as another speck of cookie is offered to the thrush. "I don't know. I haven't seen him in almost a week," she admits, sounding dejected. "We had a…clashing of ideals, and he ran off. I keep hoping he'll come back though. I'm worried, and this is hardly a safe city."
"Well, stop by sometime," Quinn says with a smile, "next time you'ew around, I'm in room 403 next t' Colette." She takes another long sip of her tea and sets it down on the empty cup down on the table, looking rather relaxed. "I have done much swimmin' this summer. Maybe Sable, you, me, an' Elaine should get t'gether sometime! Have… I dunno, a girls afternoon out?" She grins at Delilah and shrugs, turning her attention up to the stage afterwards. "So, what's going on here anyway?"
As the woman focuses her energies, Aric can't help but smile at the woman. She having no knowledge the man can hear those questions and concerns that some in this family bookstore might blush at even considering. As he nods and pulls the top card he looks at it and hmmms looking back upon Sable. He shows it to the audience and then to Sable as he reveals the "Magician" card. Aric places a hand over the mic and leans in as he whispers to her something for her ears only.
When he is done speaking with her he removes his hand and says into the mic, "A reading is a personal experience. You were present for the reveal but not for what I had to say to this beautiful rocker." Aric moves to walk off the stage and leave Sable up there by herself.
Eileen's smile fades, though not quite as abruptly as Melissa sank. She tucks the flower — a blood red azalea with petals like velvet — behind the other woman's ear and brushes several flyaway strands of hair from her cheek with her knuckles. Watching the stage isn't important; she has the thrush to do that for her, albeit between sugary mouthfuls of cookie. "If you'd like, Jensen and I can take a look around the island. He can't have gone very far."
Stepping into the bookstore, Elaine gives a quick wave to her friend outside who dropped her off. She peers around a bit awkwardly considering that there's people already assembled and she moves to step off to the side, looking around as she spots familiar faces.
That prompts a smile from Melissa as a hand lifts to touch fingers lightly to the blossom. "That'd be great, Eileen. I know you can look a lot better than I can. Or, well, in a different way." She glances towards the stage, then back to Eileen. "What happened to you though? Nothing too serious or permanent, I hope," she says, concern obvious in her voice.
Sable peers at the card with something like skepticism, but not at the act itself, not the reading, but the figure of the magician, his scroll held high. Like - who're you, buddy? How can you help me? Sable tilts her head to receive the whisper in all its clarity. Her brow arches and she slowly smirks at whatever it is she's being told. She regards Aric with a sidelong glance. "I dig," is her reply, audible to the microphone and thus the audience. She seems… satisfied.
And then… she's alone on the stage. Which, like, hey. She can get into that. Sable moves around to stand in before the mic, but must adjust downwards so that she doesn't have to stand on tip-toes to use it. Effing tall people. She flashes a grin at the crowd. "F'r those that don't know, I'm Sable. 'n' I'm a musician, guitarist mostly, but as y' c'n' see…" she tugs aside the suit's jacket, revealing the sling that hides under her limp sleeve, "I ain't got what I need t' play it. Which got me feeln' sort 'f blue, y'know? So I figured… I'll play a song 'bout that."
She reaches into her sling and tugs out a silver plated mouth organ. "I play rock, but rock wouldn't be if it weren't f'r the blues," she states, "'n' th' blues is more th'n a kind of music, it's a place we've all been. Bein' blue, bein' heartborken. If y' haven't had yer heart broken, well, Jesus get th' fuck up 'n' out 'f here 'n' get started. 'cause y' ain't lived properly 'til y've loved 'n' lost. So… yeah…" she dips her head, "This song's called One Handed Blues."
"Sable's getting her future read or something." Delilah is canting her head at the man getting off the stage, then at Sable, then back to Quinn like a bobbleheaded mouse. Hmm. It isn't long after Sable starts fiddling with the microphone that Delilah sits up to watch her, half expectant and half wary. When she pulls out a harmonica, Dee chuckles and settles in to listen to her do what she sort of came to do.
"Huh," Quinn says with a clear bit of surprise, head tilting as she looks up at sable on stage. "I had no idea she was going t' play tonight. I didn't even know she could play tonight!"" The Irishwoman laughs, ealning back in her seat - she ahsn't yet noticed Elaine's arrival out on to the patio. Instead, she's looking down at her empty cup, wishing her evolved ability was, at that moment, the spontaneous generation of tea.
No such luck, a moment of disappointed concentration reveals. Oh well.
Sable starts by playing the harmonica in a simple, bluesy tune, and when it leaves her lips, she begins to sing, low and husky.
I sold my right hand to the devil, baby
So now I can't play the blues
Woulda given my soul instead, baby
But it's worth nothing without you
I wanna play my heart out, baby
But what can I do?
I got no love, I got no hope
I got just one more hand to lose.
"It's nothing I can't manage," is the soft-spoken assurance that Eileen offers Melissa. She lowers her hand and places it back down on the table, palm flat, unwilling to elaborate any further — and not only because her blindness is a subject she isn't yet comfortable broaching. Sable has begun to play, and while she might not be able to see her, her eyes aren't the sensory organ that the younger woman's harmonica appeals to.
You took all my lovin', baby
You helped yourself to your fill
You emptied my heart out, baby
And I'm hollow still
Now I standin' like a scarecrow, baby
On top of this lonely hill
I got no love, I got no hope
And I never will
Eileen is studied for a long moment, before Melissa nods once. "Just let me know if there's anything I can do to help. I mean it," she murmurs to the other woman before turning her attention to Sable and her singing. Other than more cookie being offered to the bird.
I'd've given my sight to keep you, baby
I'd've given both of my eyes
I'd've lost both my ears, baby
So I'd stop hearin' your lies
But it's too late, yeah too late, baby
'cause no matter how I try
I won't see you again, baby
All I'll I hear is my sighs
Elaine can't help but chuckle a little as she notes Sable's song, folding her arms over her chest as she listens in. She notes Quinn, working her way over towards the Irish girl with a little bit of a smile. "She's still making her music, even one-armed. Nothing's gonna keep that one down." She comments to Quinn.
"Not a chance." Delilah doesn't face Elaine until she speaks behind her to Quinn, having been distracted by listening to Sable's harmonies. "Even if she was just down to a thumb, she'd be up there playin' one of those little metal thumb pianos." You know it.
A warbling turnaround fades into an ending on the harmonica, and Sable slips the harmonica back into her slip before dipping in a bow to the audience. Despite her persistent theatricality, performing her song has put her in a sombre mood, or she has adopted a sombre expression for the end of it. "Thank's f'r listenin', y'all. Peace and love."
She hops off the stage, and strolls back to her seat, giving Elaine a big grin when she sees her. "Y' catch all 'f it?" Sable asks, low, betraying her excitement through the tinge of happy nerves in her voice.
As he continues to listen, Aric runs a hand through his hair when one of his wait staff comes to speak with him. He leans in and begins to speak with her in soft tones to not interrupt Sable's number. When she is finished, he turns and begins to clap for the woman nodding in approval of her performance.
"All of it. And a right beautiful song it was. I'm lucky to have been showing up just as I saw you up there." Elaine looks back to Sable and offers her a nod before looking between Dee and Quinn. "Couldn't miss something like this, not when I've got friends around!"
Eileen's thrush gleefully consumes anything that Melissa holds up between her fingers, but is mindful not to catch her skin in its beak and bite off more than its throat is capable of accommodating at one time. By the end of Sable's piece, the bird has bounced from Eileen's shoulder to Melissa's wrist and hooked the tips of its clawed toes into her skin, rewarding her kindness with a sharp pinching sensation that tickles more than it hurts. "If you're not careful," she warns, voice just audible over the sound of the crowd's applause, "he'll follow you home."
As he walks up on stage, he walks up to the mic and says, "Who else is ready to perform for us?" Aric asks?
When the song is done Melissa lets out a soft whistle of appreciation, before she looks at Eileen, then the bird, and she grins. "You know, I don't think I'd really mind. I keep having a lot of things, people included, follow me home and stay." Her head tilts, then she glances up at Eileen. "How do I…Do birds like to be pet or anything like dogs?" She smiles a bit sheepishly. "Don't know much about birds. Sorry."
Quinn looks a bit surprised to hear Elaine, her head tipping back so she has a somewhat awkward view of the other redhead as she reaches up and pokes her in the cheek. "I was beginning t' think you bailed on me, dear! I'm glad you made it!" She gives Elaine a warm smile, only letting herself be momentarily distracted from Sable's song. Once it comes to a close, she clap heartily, continuing until Sable retakes her seat at the table.
"You never cease t' impress me, Sable," Quinn remarks happily. "That was pretty fantastic. When'd you come with that, anyway?" Even as she speaks, she rising from her chair, picking up the instrument she had plopped down earlier. Turning her attention over to Elaine, she grins. "I know y' just got here, but how's about we go ahead on up?" she asks quietly, a hand reaching up to Elaine's shoulder.
Delilah claps with everyone when Sable's song ends, grinning from ear to ear despite the somber tone of it. "You guys can go on if you want, I was hoping to confer with Sable about song choices." She has lifted her hand to talk behind it, as if hiding the idea from everyone else on the patio. "Gotta get myself together, yeah?"
Elaine laughs a bit and then nods to Quinn. "Sounds like a good deal." She offers a wink to Sable. "Looks like I'm up." She looks to Dee. "You tell 'er who's boss!" She stretches a bit before another nod is given to Quinn. "Lets do this before I get stage fright."
"Probably not this one," Eileen says of the thrush. "He's wild, but be still and so will he." As she speaks, the bird's toes tighten and flex around Melissa's finger and it dips its head to feel along her joint with the edge of its beak in search of jewelry to taste like the silver rings Eileen wears on hers.
"Aw, hell," Sable says, beaming as she settles back into her seat. She casts Delilah a grin that is most definitely in the 'cocky' range, though it disappears as soon as Delilah lowers her voice. Sable tips forward, joining in the show conspiracy. "Consider me at yer service darlin'," she says, low, "Song, lyrics, sound levels," her smile gets crooked, "Dress room-type preparations."
But wait… Elaine and Quinn are performing together? Sable blinks, then smiles, looking pleasantly flabbergasted. "Holy shit. You get to it, gals." Then she crosses her fingers and mutters, low, "Please oh please, Lord, I've been good. I deserve a burlesque show…"
Unfortunately Melissa doesn't wear too much jewelry. The only jewelry she's wearing at the moment is her earrings, though they are silver. Poor birdy. She lets out a soft snicker. "Can't be still if he's tickling me though. But hey, he's pretty cool. You got any birds at home? Like pets you name and feed all the time and all that?"
As the women come up, Aric smiles and bows his head to them. He walks down the stage and gives them their time to shine for open mic night at the Blue Moon. He moves to look down at his clip board while they get set up.
Quinn gives a grin and a nod to Elaine, handing the small case over to her. "Just play," she advises with a smile. "Don't over think it. Just let it come to you, an' you'll be fine." Eagerly, the Irishwoman makes her way up to the stage and briefly out of sight, returning a moment later with a keyboard and an appropriate sized stand, disappearing once more as she retrieves a stool to sit on.
"Hi!" she says enthusiastically as she steps up to the mic, a wave out to the crowd. "I'm Robyn Quinn, an' this-" she motions over to Elaine, "is Elaine Darrow. T'night we're going t' be playing a song called 'Woke From Dreaming", written by the lovely Emma Pollock. I hope you enjoy it!" With that, the Irishwoman takes a seat behind the keyboard, waiting for her companion to say anything she wishes, and to prepare before she begins playing.
"Jeez, you shoulda met me again before I was blimping." Delilah comments after a sidelong whispering, as Sable crosses her fingers and murmurs that. She's right there- it's not impossible to hear. "Though I guess there are some pregnant burlesque girls. Hm." Stop giving her ideas.
"Okay okay, hush, they're starting." Dee wags a hand unnecessarily, sitting up to listen and watch.
Elaine carries the violin case up with her. She peers out at the people around while Quinn settles down, but declines on saying anything, just looking slightly nervous. She just offers the crowd a smile. She moves to pick the violin out of its case, which happens to be a nice purple-colored one, and she moves to stand in position, picking up the violin's bow as she looks to the Irishwoman to lead them on in the song.
Sable spends a good long moment gazing at Delilah in wonder. "You hold that thought, darlin'," she says, "'n' hold on tight. Don't you let it slip away…" Oh, but there's starting! Sable tosses a spirited wolf whistle up at the Irish-Scottish alliance, but as soon as the song begins, she shuts the hell up. Rambunctious yes, but she's respects the music. She respects performance.
"Bran." Eileen touches the tips of her fingers to the pearl necklace at her throat and teases at the beads. It's not a nervous gesture, not exactly, but the display belongs to someone feeling the need to keep her hands occupied. "I'm more his than he's mine. Bigger than your new friend, to be sure." The appearance of a violin case has her hesitating and the thrush shifting its focus from the absence of rings on Melissa's fingers to the stage where Elaine and Quinn are setting up.
"What kind of bird is Bran?" Melissa asks, picking off another piece of cooking to offer to the thrush, not wanting to lose her new friend quite so soon. But here she does look on stage and smiles when she sees Quinn and Elaine up there. "That's my DJ," she tells Eileen, nodding to Quinn. "Or, well, the club's DJ."
Unaccompanied by her voice, Eileen's lips move around the word raven in response to Melissa's question. The thrush, growing bolder, seizes the entire piece in its beak this time and hunches over Melissa's wrist to consume it, drizzling crumbs onto the tablecloth.
As he turns his attention on the women about to perform, Philipa the manager comes to speak with her boss. Aric holds a hand up for her to wait a moment as she falls in next to him to listen to the performers on stage. A smile on her face as if she was welcoming the break and the chance to enjoy open mic night for a brief moment.
Once Elaine is settled into position, Quinn scoots up to the keyboard. Taking a moment to theatrically crack her knuckles, the Irishwoman takes a deep breath before she begins to play, a slow piano driven piece, alone in its playing for several moments before her alto voice joins in, quiet and airy as she sings.
Woke from dreaming
But it took convincing
I was shaking screaming
I was still alive
And you were picking strangers
By the side of roadways
Little, little
Let the danger unfold…
She seems entirely focused on her hands moving up and down keys, eyes closed as she sings, and while there's no overdone swaying or theatrics, she is not entirely still as she sings.
Melissa follows Eileen's lead and just mouths 'awesome' to her before settling back to listen to the music. But while she's listening, her eyes remain on the little bird, and once he's finished that crumb, she tries to offer him a bit of water. Someone's enamoured with the thing, it seems.
As Quinn starts singing, Elaine joins in with the violin, taking a moment to shut her eyes and simply focus on the playing, doing it by feel. It's a lot less nerve-wracking when you can't see eyes staring back at you. She continues to play, simply going with the music and following Quinn's lead with it.
You can do what you do
If you think you'll take it
You can do what you do
If you are that way inclined
Suffer with silk
As the pressure's tighter
You have skin pale as milk
With the pressure on
My heart is getting heavy
And my hands are weak now
Hatred lifting
And I'll start to weep now
Sable sits back to enjoy the music as it unfolds. And… what the hell? Elaine is playing? Violin? Sable has to suppress a delighted laugh. The look on her face… it's uncommon. She looks proud.
Going over the chorus once more, Quinn ceases playing entirely once the song hits its stride instead letting Elaine have the spotlight as the time comes for the violin to build to a crescendo
Delilah takes a moment to at least lean over and comment in Sable's ear- "I didn't know Elaine played something. I learn something every day." Elaine also keeps getting cooler whenever Dee sees her. She's making mental notes by now to see them both more. Maybe the swim date isn't a terrible idea.
As the song progresses, Elaine gets the chance to really put her practice to good use. She focuses, but relaxes at the same time, proceeding to use the opportunity for a tiny solo. She opens her eyes at last, as she plays, seeming like she's finally really gotten into it.
As Elaine takes advantage of her solo opportunity, Quinn can't help but smile. As the solo builds to its climax, Quinn reenters the song with a rather violent sounding, dissonant clash of keys, letting both instruments fade before continuing.
Just for a moment
Can we take a little time?
Just stop for a moment
Can we make this moment mine?
I've tried to let go
But I've never had much to say
Take a day, take them all now
Just for a moment
Can we take a little time?
Just stop for a moment
Can we look inside this mind
We try to control
But we never quite know what's there
We will kill if we need to…
With that, she falls silent, continuing for just a while longer before she lets the song fade. Giving Elaine a moment to finish as well, she rises from her stool and waves, pulling the mic close. "Thank you everyone!" she exclaims, before stepping away and offering it over to Elaine - a hug and a quick peck on teh cheek given beforehand.
Sable cannot applaud, so she stomps her feet and hollers, loud. "Hell yeah! Hell yeah! Beauty 'n' talent! Right there." She lifts her available hand and offers a high five to both of the descending performers. Put it there!
Since she has a bird pirched on her wrist, Melissa lets out another whistle of appreciation rather than applauding. "They're not bad. Didn't figure Elaine for a musician," she murmurs thoughtfully.
The thrush flutters from Melissa's wrist to the glass of water she'd offered, feet braced against the lip so it doesn't spill in when it dips down to drink. "Elaine?" Eileen asks Melissa. "Elaine Darrow?"
Elaine grins over towards Quinn as the song finishes. "Thank you!" She offers into the mic almost timidly. She looks back towards Sable as she heads off of the stage. "Surprised?" She high-fives the shorter woman, glancing around a bit. "Not used to this whole being-on-stage thing…"
Sable cannot clap, though Delilah sure can. She isn't as ecstatic as Sable is- but her appreciation is just as profound. And a bit quieter. A pause comes midway through her clapping, however, and though she gives a weird wriggle in her seat- a moment later she is smiling and palming her hands together a second time, slower. "That was so great, girls. I don't suppose that I can borrow a bit of fiddling sometime?" Like now! Hm. "Wish me luck, ladies."
That is all the real preamble that the others get before Delilah is waving down the person beside the stage and toeing out her guitar case. She's not at the point where she is above carrying it, quite yet, which she does unless Sable falls out of her chair to.
Melissa's head tilts as she looks to Eileen, careful not to move the glass. "I don't know, maybe? She's Magnes's girlfriend, if you can believe it. Why?" she asks curiously.
Sable winks at Elaine. "Y' were up there like it was meant t' be. 'n' it always is. Nowhere y' c'n be that ain't where yer meant t' be. 'n' y' blew me away. How'd you keep a secret like that from me, eh? Little Miss Strange…" she clicks her tongue and lifts a brow at Quinn, "'n' you, 'n accomplice in th' deception, I figure," she grins, "Fuckin' beautiful job. Well taught."
Her eyes slide up to follow Dee over to the edge of the stage. She leans forward, clearly anticipating. "I've been workin' with her. 'course, th' best teachin' don't mean nothin' next t' real talent," she smiles, already ready to admire Dee's work, "Sit back 'n' enjoy, gals."
"I've been asked to speak with her," Eileen says, and does not mention that the person who made the request of her was none other than Magnes himself. Neither does she make any move to rise from her seat at the table and approach Sable's. The thrush makes the trip for her, its wings filling the air with crackle of feathers as it launches itself off Melissa's glass and deftly swings over over heads, around a skinny throng of cafe patrons finally making their way outside onto the patio, and drops down to occupy Delilah's vacated seat.
Eavesdropping is not her intention, but.
When Quinn has finished moving her keyboard back off stage, she looks back over the audience with a smile on her face, scanning the crowd - and doing a double take as she spots Melissa and the familiar looking woman with her. A tilt of her head and a wave is given, but for now she follows after Elaine and back to the other.
"You did wonderful, and you shined during that solo" she first says to Elaine, rubbing her violinist's back as she walks up beside her, a grin directed at Sable and Delilah. She returns the high five. "Thanks, guys. I'm glad you were both here t' hear that. Just wish Magnes coulda stopped by too…" She shrugs, and then looks back over her shoulder at Melissa. "Hey, look, I'll be back in a few. Good luck, Delilah!"
And with that, she's making her way over towards Melissa, giving a wave as she makes her approach. "Heya, Melissa!" she says just loud enough to be heard over the din of the room. "I didn't know you were going t' be here."
Melissa looks a little disappointed when the bird takes flight, then curious as Eileen's words settle in her mind. "Oh? Nothing bad, I hope," she says, before being distracted by Quinn. She shrugs a little and smiles. "It was a spur of the moment thing, really. No one knew I was going to be here. You were good though."
Delilah takes her time in setting herself up, even though it does not take that long to begin with. Guitar out, microphone height fixed a little, tweaking of fingers to instrument. She leans forward to the microphone, a momentarily breathy voice coming as she scans the patio- notably, she ticks her eyes to Eileen a couple of times. "My name is Delilah, and this- I have to tell you- is my first time doing something like this. Pardon my patience, I ask for yours." She laughs and smiles, adjusting the guitar on its strap so that it is less obtrusive in battle for the space directly in front of her. Something's there as it is. She starts, with a few chords of lengthy, twanging tones, before getting into the vocals:
Hello blue-eyes, welcome me, back to the person I've always loved to see,
You're so inviting, like a light put out for me, showing me the way to the one I hold, dearly,
I'm drawn, to you, there's nothing I can do-
Oh why do your eyes have to be so blue, why do I follow your every move,
And why, when I dream, is it always of you? Oh, why do your eyes have to be so blue?…
Oooh, Delilah's up there! Sable's attention becomes undivided, fixed on the stage. She positively beams, though her foot taps in a bit of a fidget. Vicarious nerves, mixed with anticipation. She wants to holler encouragement but… she doesn't want to break her concentration, her stride. So she stays quiet. For once.
"We all know what kinda teacher you are, Sable." Elaine states with a bit of a sly smile. She watches Dee head up there, grinning just a bit. "I'm sure she'll be wonderful." She gives Sable a nod. "I learned when I was little, but… Quinn and I've been working on it as a bit of a surprise. I figured since all the people really close to me are into music I at least owe it to everyone to try a bit more." She falls silent as she watches Dee with her music.
"Huh. Well, that's cool," Quinn says with a smile. "An' thanks! It was Elaine's first time up on stage. I've been refreshin' her old violin lessons." She snickers, moving past Melissa and to an empty seat. "Mind if I sit for a bit? I haven't seen you around work lately." And then she turns her her attention to Eileen, peering at her thoughtfully. "Have we met?" she asks after a moment. "I hate t' be rude, I'm just pretty sure we have."
It occurs to Eileen that Teodoro's eyes are very blue. She stills the hand at her necklace, presses it against her collarbone, and turns her head so her chin is resting in the soft curve created by her wrist. Acknowledging Quinn's arrival at the table is difficult without being able to meet her eyes, so she simply offers her a faint smile that brushes the corners of her mouth. "No," she tells Melissa, "nothing bad."
She offers no protest when Quinn moves to adopt a seat. "Gun Hill," she says. "I brought lunch for Colette and Tasha."
The toying with the necklace, or rather, the holding it against her body draws Melissa's gaze to it for a moment, before she looks back to Quinn. "Yeah, sorry. Been a…rough couple of weeks. Back at work though, as of last night. Got to try Nadira's latest drink. A fruit basket," she says with a roll of her eyes and faint smile.
The next instrumental verse of the song takes up almost a minute, showcasing, very skillfully, the ability of Delilah's fingers to dance across the strings. Like Sable perhaps wished, she seems to be in her own little world.
Catch me in a stare, I don't care, I'm hypnotized forever more,
Show me a world that I've always been lookin' for,
And diamonds have never shined so bright, before,
I don't know what to do, I've lost myself in you,
Oh why do your eyes have to be so blue, why do I follow your every move,
And why, when I dream, is it always of you? Oh, why do your eyes have to be so blue?
Take me away sweet blue-eyes, take me away to a world so new,
Take me away sweet blue-eyes, I've lost myself in you,
I've lost myself in you,
I've lost myself… in you…
"Right!" Quinn exclaims quietly, a flash of recognition on her face - and then asecond thought of recognition, although this one remains unvoiced. "In that case, a pleasure t' see you again… Eileen, was it?" She gives a nod as she takes her seat, looking over at Melissa.
"Another new drink?" Quinn inquires with a raised eyebrow. "I got her t' make me a new drink a bit back, somethin' with butterscotch schnapps, Irish crème, an' cinnamon. Called an, um… Irish floozy. I told her when we hung out the other night that it's been pretty well received an' she should add it to the menu, if she hasn't."
Quinn gives another nod at that, slouching a bit in ehr seat as she takes a moment to listen to Delilah. "So, things've rough? Sorry t' hear that, Melissa. If you need anythin', let me know an' I'll see what I can do t' help."
"Eileen," the Englishwoman confirms, but in a voice quiet enough that it doesn't disturb Delilah's playing.
"Yeah, I heard about the Irish Floozy. The day I met her, actually, if I remember right." Melissa shrugs a little. "It's smoothing out now, but thanks." It's really not, but Quinn is hardly the sort to get involved in terrorist activities!
Quinn tilts her head at Melissa - something seems off about that, but she can't quite place it, shrugging, she turns her attention to the stage so that she can pay more attention to Delilah. "Well, that's good t' hear. But the offer stands, you know?" And then her eyes move between the two again, an eyebrow quirked. "Oh, I wasn't interruptin' anything, was I?"
Having found herself a place to sit, Elaine watches Dee's song contentedly. She seems more than happy to just sit, now, keeping an eye on things as she observes her surroundings. "This turned out not-so-bad, if I say so myself…" She murmurs, mostly to herself.
Sable tilts over in her chair towards Elaine, teetering on two legs of her seat. She reaches out to grasp the back of Elaine's chair to stabilize herself, and murmurs in reply. "That's a criminal fuckin' understatement, darlin'."
When Delilah finally brings the last words and notes to a close, she lets the minute hang for the span of a breath before peering up and smiling into the microphone. People have shifted, girls have stuck together, and she glances about at the familiar faces dotting the crowd. "Thank you." A tiny curtsey of her hand on skirt comes next, and she proceeds to take her guitar back into its case.
When Delilah comes down from the stage, it is towards Sable first. Thankfully there will be no bird-sitting-on. "What did you think? " The student pries for praise from one teacher.
Melissa shakes her head. "Nah. In fact, I was about to head home. But again, you did good up there. Though I didn't expect anything less." She smiles as she rises with just a little more care than usual. "Was good seeing you both though. And Eileen? Won't hurt my feelings any if you give me a call sometime."
Sable is on her feet before Delilah has left the stage. The review is clearly going to be positive. Which is also an understatement. She steps up to Dee as she approaches and hops up to half-hug the taller girl. "Darlin'," she says, planting a kiss on Lilah's cheek, "It's an honor just t' have helped. Y' made it, didn't y'? You were there, in th' music. I saw it," she glows even as she falls back to her heels and pulls out a chair for Delilah. "Beauty 'pon beauty."
Eileen removes her violin case from the seat beside her. She's put this off long enough. Her cane she leaves leaning against the edge of the table until she's risen from her chair. There are a limited number of places she can leave it once onstage, but she needs it to navigate the steps even with her thrush keeping a watchful eye on her from afar. "I don't like phones," she says to Melissa with a note of apology, "but I'll stop by the next time business finds me out in Port Ivory."
Right now, however, her business finds her moving toward the stage.
"Aw, alright," Quinn says with an exaggerated pout, but she does sound genuinely disappointed. "Alright, well, it was nice t' see you again. Hopefully I'll catch you at work soon." She eyes Eileen as she pulls up the violin case, grinning. "Another violinist?" she says quietly. "How fun!" But with Melissa leaving and Eileen going up to perform, she rises up to stand as well. "Come t' join me an' Sable when you're done!" Quinn calls after Eileen, before turning to Melissa.
"I'm going t' head back over there with them," she says with a bob of ehr ehad over towards Sable & friends. "You really should stay an' hang out with us," she says with a grin, patting Melissa on the shoulder as she passes on her way back to the table. Coming up behind Dee, he hands find teh redhead's shoulders. "Hey! You did great!" she says with enthusiasm. "I didn't know you played!" And with that, she takes a seat next to Elaine.
There's a laugh and shake of Melissa's head. "I didn't necessarily mean a phonecall, Eileen," she points out before shaking her head again, this time at Quinn. "Thanks, but no. You have fun though." Then hands are sliding into her pockets, and away she goes!
Once onstage, having located a speaker to leave her cane tilted against, pale fingers that appear to have the same colour and texture as the petals belonging to the gardenia Eileen wears close around the clasps that fasten her case shut. A moment later, she's cradling a dark violin of polished spruce and maple, a bow in her dominant hand and chin already in position. There is absolutely no danger of her hair getting in her way thanks to the pins in it, but the tension woven through her slim frame presents other difficulties. A slow pull of air steadies her nerves.
"It was an experience, yeah." Delilah finds the seat that Sable pulls for her, sitting down quietly and steadying herself with a few breaths. Eileen is up next, and perhaps out of everyone- Delilah was most hoping that the waif of a woman would get up there and put something to song. Because of this, she has almost totally lost concentration with that Sable and the others are talking about, brown eyes steady on Eileen up ahead.
No introductions. She begins slowly, tenatively, with an inordinate amount of care placed on the movements of her bow, but as the piece progresses and Eileen becomes more comfortable with the quality of the warm, rich notes that her instrument's gut strings are producing, she gradually begins to pick up speed. She achieves fluidity around the time her tune becomes recognizable — in spite of her conservative clothes, which include a knee-length skirt and simplistic black flats on small, tapered feet, and that a practiced ear can identify her as a classically trained violinist with more then a decade of experience, the piece itself is contemporary.
Elaine offers Dee a warm smile and a bit of murmured praise, but she stays quiet, listening to Eileen's music intently. "Mm, I kinda feel a bit inadequate now." She murmurs, though she goes silent again as she enjoys the music.
Quinn chuckles, glancing over at Elaine. "Oh, stop that. You were quite good up there, an' you know it," she says reassuringly, reaching up and rubbing the girl's shoulder. The brunt of her attention, however, is on Eileen, watching her with rapt attention, eyes fixated on her and her movements. "I feel a little inadequate," Quinn adds, tilting her head. "She's very good."
Sable rests her chin on her hand as she leans forward on the table to peer up at Eileen, listening with a perked eared interest. As she follows familiar notes on unfamiliar strings, she slowly smiles. "Aw, hell…" she says, quietly, and bites her lip, canine dimpling the flesh. "That's fuckin' cute."
As Eileen's confidence increases, so does the aggressiveness with which she plays. Bold experimentations in tempo and pitch define her rendition of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy and reveal a more playful side to her personality than her demure mannerisms and coyly decorous style of dress suggest. Her enthusiasm is genuine. So is the enjoyment she's appearing to derive from her performance.
She hasn't done this for a long time, and it shows in the sweat beading on her brow, carving salty paths down the side of her face that follow the shape of her jaw, set like marble. When she finishes and her bow has fallen to her side, the sharp rise and fall of her breast betrays the amount of energy she's spent. So do her trembling hands as she goes through the motions of putting her violin back in its case.
"I didn't know she played either." Delilah says this before tuning in to listen close; shedoes not recognize the beautiful melody until its tempo speeds up- at that point, she is stricken with a good sized dose of wonderment about it. She really didn't even know Eileen had a playful side. At least, enough of one to put a thrumming song like that one to a violin. As Eileen comes to a final close, Dee is one of likely many that is giving the violinist a pure smile and hearty, bell-tone clapping.
Quinn can't help but clap, and very loudly once the performance comes to an end - she doesn't recognise the source of the piece, but that doesn't stop it from sounding quite good, and as a violinist she's rather impressed. A "Bravo!" is even shouted out, a wide smile on her face.
Sable isn't going to holler at Eileen quite the same way she did for her compatriots. Her enthusiasm there was a show of love, but her cries are, while just as heartfelt, ones of appreciation. An artist applauding artistry. "Fuckin' killer image," she comments, to herself, "Little whisp 'f a girl like that, playin' violin? That's a fuckin' career, right there."
The thrush hidden in the shadows of Sable's table takes flight as Eileen makes her way down the stage steps, both violin case and cane in hand. It settles on the top of the wall, providing her with a vantage point she can use to successfully weave her way around the other tables. She's accepted Quinn's invitation.
Shaking her head a little, Elaine looks impressed. "Certainly was something." She peers towards Quinn, gesturing at her seat. "Make sure no one steals this? I'm gonna head to the bathroom. Be back in a minute. Gal's got to look her best, after all." With that, she's on her feet, headed off towards the bathroom.
Quinn smiles as she sees Eileen approaching, tilting her head at the woman curiously. Momentary attention is turned back to Elaine. 'Sure, sure. Try not t' take too long, though!" She smiles warmly at Elaine, watching her for a moment as she runs off. When she disappears from sight, Quinn turns back to Eileen, giving the woman a nod.
"That was fantastic," she says happily. "From one violinist t' another, I'm quite impressed." She leans back a bit in her seat, grinning. "I wouldn't a' guessed you played." Not that she knew Eileen that well anyway.
"I don't usually." Eileen slips into a seat at the table — not Elaine's — and sets her violin case down on the ground between her feet. She straightens, pushing a piece of hair that worked itself free of her twist during her performance away from her flushed face. "Not anymore. Thank you."
"I don't think you'll be surprised when I say I'm as shocked as anyone." Dee says this towards Eileen when she gets within earshot. "I think you really came out when you played. Should do it more." The redhead isn't shy about saying this right to her. "Sable's got me thinking music is a gateway drug, maybe there's a point there."
Elaine's departure causes Sable to give her a parting wave. Sable can't help but notice Eileen's arrival, especially after that performance. She leans across the table to offer her hand, giving Eileen a slanted smile. "Some fine fuckin' work up there. You make that composition yerself?," she asks, "Dunno if y' know me. I'm Sable, up on Gun Hill. It's a real pleasure t' get word with you." Respectful. Dee's comment earns a wolfish grin. "Music gets y' high like nothin' else can, if y' let it. All natural, too. Though mixin' yer drugs ain't uncommon 'mongst musicians."
Quinn leans back in her seat, snickers. "No lie," she replies with a nod. "Music an' performin', there's nothing like it." She glances over to Sable, grinning, and then back to Eileen. "I think I agree with Delilah. If you don't play much, you should. You looked like you were enjoyin' it. Hell, come by Gun Hill sometime, an' you can play with me an' Elaine, or me an' Sable. It'll be fun." After a moment, she glances down at the violin she got for Elaine, and then back at the patio entrance, shrugging to herself afterwards.
Eileen's breathy laughter is neither a yes nor a no. The colour has already begun to fade from her cheeks, and with it some of her good humour, but the almost crooked shape of her mouth has yet to lose its mirth. "The pleasure's mine," she says gently, but with no small amount of sincerity. "I was hoping I might have a few words with Elaine."
"You just missed her," Quinn remarks with a laugh. "She just went off to the bathroom, I think," she states, again glancing back over her shoulder. "She's takin' quite the long time, though…" Quinn quirks her lips, and then scoots her seat out, rising to her feet. Elaine's violin is pulled up, and handed over to Deliliah and Sable. "This thing cost a bunch. Make sure nothin' happens to it, I'm gonna see if she needs help or somethin', girl is takin' forever." And with the, Quinn turns and takes off after Elaine.
Delilah is more than happy to accept something else to babysit. You know, besides Sable. "Maybe she's irregular, you never know." Thanks, Dee. "This is why I've been taught to take bathroom breaks before I go anywhere." Okay, really, thanks. She sets the violin case down with her own, confident that her guitar can babysit as well as she can.
Unfortunately for Quinn, though, the bathroom is unoccupied. What's there, however, is a bit disturbing. Elaine's purse is tossed near the door, her cellphone some distance away on the ground. The bathroom's one window is broken entirely.
Quinn's eyes scan the room, and it takes her moment to register the various articles strewn about the room, to notice the broken window. But once she does, the realisation hits her like a gear turning into place.
"Fuck!" The Irishwoman shouts, dashing to the window, peering out it to see if she can catch sight of Elaine, and with no such luck, grabs the cellphone and purse. Running back into the main part of the book store and down to the patio (muttering "fuck fuck fuck fuck" repeatedly as she runs), she skids to a stop at the table, throwing down the purse, rather forcefully grabbing Sable by her good shoulder.
"Call Magnes. Now."
The brusqueness in Quinn's tone has Eileen immediately on edge. The fingers on one hand curl around the edge of the table, the others tighten their grip on her cane. Some of the patrons at nearby tables tip nervous glances in their direction, but the poetry reading that's taken over the stage has most of the audience's attention — there are plenty of explanations for the fuss, most relatively harmless, and not one among them takes kidnapping into consideration. That's something that only happens on the news.
"James?" she asks in a much terser voice than the one she'd been using a few moments ago.
This is the second time tonight Quinn has come up behind Sable to surprise her. The first time was cute. This time…
Sable's head whips around and her already pale face drains of what remaining color is there. She doesn't know quite what is wrong. She only knows there is a wrongness, deep and ineluctable, without name or form but with no less force. There is only a moment's pause to understand Quinn's words, rather than just her tone and her expression. And then Eileen's naming causes Sable to use her own name for him.
"Motherfucker…" Sable says, tonelessly, and pulls her phone from her pocket, tapping into her contacts list.
Mouth halfway into her tea, Delilah is quick to spot Quinn hurrying back, watching as she stops beside Sable, Eileen commentating. Who? "What's going on?"
Quinn blinks, turning her gaze over to Eileen with a surprised expression. "So, Magnes is talking t' people about it?" She asks, though meant as a rhetorical question - it's more that she's reiterating the fact for her own benefit, happy to see that Magnes is following through on what he promised her.
"Her shit was everywhere in the bathroom, an' the window's just gone," Quinn says with a deadly serious tone, one very unlike her. "So, I'd say that's a safe guess." Quinn holds up Elaine's phone and grimaces - no call in progress or the like, which meant no police or Magnes had been called.
Eileen fishes her own cellphone out from her cardigan pocket and rises from her seat at the table, saying nothing initially. Her eyes are lowered to its luminescent screen even though she can't see or feel its sallow glow washing across her face as she enters a sequence of numbers, relying on her memory. It doesn't belong to Magnes. "I have people who can look," she says, though it isn't clear who she's addressing, if she's addressing any one person at all. "If she's still in the area, we'll find her."
Sable has the phone to her ear, her eyes roving in that impatient way that says, without her saying, what she eventually actually says - "Come on, come on, pick the fuck up ferchrissake…" When she finally speaks, it's not with the relieved tone of success. It's the strained, weird, one sided way people use when talking to voice mail.
"Magnes, boy, you call me right the fuck back as soon as you get this. I am not fuckin' around here, dig? This is urgent." And then she presses end and gives a low, feral growl that builds into a: "Fuck!" Sable fixes Quinn with a look, clearly beyond seething, somewhere between icy cold and blazing fury. "What do we do? Quinngirl, I can't trust m'self t' act rational 'bout this. I'm gonna tear his fuckin' heart out if I see 'im. Fuck!"
Elaine's words catch her ears, and she turns a desperate eye onto her. "Do it, fuckin' please. He's a goddamn beater, and I dunno what he ain't fuckin' capable of."
At this point, Delilah is more than unsettled. Her heart races nervously, and she can feel the responding fidgeting inside of her only seconds later. "Guys- Sable- Settle down, get a grip, tell me what's happened." Eileen is calm enough, and so Dee's job has turned into trying to corral Quinn and Sable into less noisy-angry moods.
Quinn exhales sharply, looking over at Eileen, smiling at her. "T-Thanks, Eileen," she replies with a nod. "It'd be greatly appreciated. Any help would be." And then she looks down to Dee, putting a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "The dick who broke Sable's arm, it looks like he came for Elaine again. I'm serious that window was just shattered."
She wrinkles her nose, this time moving over Sable, and reapeats the smae motion of putting her hands on the girl's shoulder, attempting to calm her. "You already have one broken arm, Sable, I'm not going t' let you get even more messed up. I need you t' be playin' again as soon as possible.
Her eyes close for a minute, head shaking. "Sable, do you know anyone one that we can, you know. Call?" Not knowing the status of the other two, she ostensibly means the Ferry, though how well that comes across is debatable.
"I'll come see you at Gun Hill if I have any leads," Eileen promises, shifting her phone to her ear. She picks up her violin case next, then finally her cane. She lacks either the time or the inclination to provide Delilah with a more thorough explanation than the one Quinn has for her, but the Remnant works best when the trail is still fresh — one is much more likely than the other. Just as she had given no introduction onstage, she disappears into the crowd milling around the entrance to the patio without a farewell.
Sable rises to her feet, phone clutched with a tightness that exceeds the talismanic and enters stress-toy space. She thumbs through her contacts, but really… most people she knows are right here.
Or gone.
"You gotta head home, I'll find Magnes," she says, finally, "You c'n talk t' folks there, but he's gotta know. Lord keep 'im from what he'll want t' do when he finds out…"
"But he's gotta know."