005 ✽ We be all night

[giglio_madonna]

Who: The willing from Pride and Virgo
What: Want to know what party sucked? The solstice party. Want to know what party won't suck? Luci and Luce's.
When: Jan 8th
Where: The basement of the club Blue Heist
Warnings: None planned besides possible/probably intoxication




A little while after the disaster at Naomi's, those who had attended might find themselves approached- by Luce on Virgo's side, by Luci on Pride's, or perhaps by someone who had heard about it from either of them. The subject of conversation?

Another party. One that involves another mingle of both labels, without being used for any ulterior motives.

Those who seem up to it are given a time and place. Blue Heist is one of the clubs around town that has what could be called a "basement level", for private renting and parties available to anyone who has the cash to spend on it. It's a pretty simple set up, nothing extravagant like the party at Naomi's... Which is absolutely on purpose, let no one tell you otherwise. There's a reason any mics or karaoke equipment has been pointedly removed. All the music is on the system already.

Nope, tonight it's just dancing and drinking, with a couple of rooms to the side that have cheesy movies playing in case you're tired out. No closed doors, no poison at the bar, no murder.

And if you want to take a moment to maybe have a talk to someone on the opposite label to discuss or apologize for the events of the prior night... That's fine too.

Just be careful. Both labels are still under watch, it seems, with a few bodyguards from both sides around the perimeter here and there.

Comments

[consocius]

After his first ever hangover experience on New Year's Day, Sora would probably agree with her about that, even if he had turned seventeen last month and the drinking age in Americana was... what, thirteen? He can never remember. Really young, anyway.

He looks relieved, clearly trusts her answer, and takes a sip. Soda. Excellent. "Good. I don't really want a repeat of my New Year's," he explains with a laugh, then stops and glances at his phone again, for just a split second. "Well, the hangover part, anyway. The rest wasn't so bad. Anyway, I'm Sora."

[maipokerface]

His youthful looks belie his real age, it seems. At least to Mai. Either way she makes an amused sound as she sits down. Her own phone sits just within reach, buzzing now and then but only rarely checked. She's not too tied to texts or social media evidently.

"Mai. And the hangovers are never something anyone in their right mind should like."

[consocius]

To be fair, it's not just Mai. He's had other people mistake him for younger before too. Maybe it was the curse of having started out as a child actor or something.

"Man, tell me about it. Like the jello shots were pretty awesome but totally not worth the consequences."

Sora isn't usually this tied to his phone either, not that Mai would know that. And he actually does apologize as he checks it again, looking a touch sheepish. "Uh, sorry, my..." A definite pause there. "My friend's not here right now and I just want to make sure he's not trying to reach me or anything."

[maipokerface]

Mai waves off the apology with one hand, holding onto her drink with the other. "Don't worry about it. It's nice to see someone worried about their friends."

No, really, it is. Not that Mai has a load of them. "I mean after the mess of the last party and all."

[consocius]

The last party for Sora was his band mate, Maxxie's New Year's Eve party just last week, but it's not hard at all to guess which party she's talking about.

"Yeah... I wasn't there, but the rest of my band was. The shuttle stopped off somewhere completely different and I lost signal on my phone so I couldn't reach them..." He taps his finger against his glass, looking down at it. "No one really talks about it much, just that people got hurt."

[maipokerface]

"Yeah, just a little." There's sarcasm there in her voice but it's not really aimed at Sora. It's pretty clear she's been rubbed in the wrong way by the whole event. To say the least that is.

Then she gives her shoulders a shrug. "I guess everyone made it out alright in the end though."

[consocius]

Not like Sora can blame her for that. He understands.

"Yeah. Though I think it's still like... I think it's been on people's minds still, making them hurt in another way." Even Mai's attitude about it is evidence of this to him, though he doesn't mention that. "Sometimes I wish there was more I could do to help, but maybe just being here for everyone will be enough."

He laughs suddenly. "Sorry, this conversation got to be kind of a downer, huh? Anyway, you're with Crown of Thorns, right? You play the violin? I saw you guys perform at the music festival!"

[maipokerface]

She takes a moment to just look at Sora a little, chin balanced on a hand and eyebrows raised. And then she huffs out a laugh, her smile actually pleasant and not bordering a smirk for the moment.

"Well look at you. You're a pretty nice guy, huh?" She sounds amused but honestly it's something of a compliment. She segues right into the rest of his questions though. "That's right. The music festival went pretty well, I thought."

[consocius]

Sora laughs at her amused tone and what she says though, rubbing the back of his head a little sheepishly even though he's grinning. So, he's definitely taking it as a compliment, no worries there.

His eyes light up as they continue talking about the music festival, and he leans forward in his seat a bit. "Yeah! Being in a band means being kind of busy a lot so it was really fun to get to see everyone perform live! I usually listen to lots of my friends' music but that was the first time I'd got to see any of 'em do that. It was pretty awesome."

[maipokerface]

"I guess I really should listen to the other bands more. I never really pay attention." That probably sounds pretty bad and honestly Mai wouldn't blame him for the thought. She professed throughout school at that prestigious music academy that she didn't give a damn about anyone else's playing. All she cared about was playing music and not popularity contests.

[consocius]

It's surprising to him to hear that, which shows on his expression, as he'd assumed most musicians enjoyed listening to music regularly like he did. But he doesn't immediately think of it as bad. Instead, he's curious. "Oh. Do you not listen to music a lot in your free time? What do you like to do?"

[maipokerface]

"I listen to music, just not a lot of things from Pride or Virgo bands. Mostly classical or older music." She had grown up in a music academy after all, classical was pretty much the bread and butter of the place.

[consocius]

"Oh, okay," understanding visibly sinks in, and he's back to smiling. Different people had different preferences, and he knows Mai plays mostly classical music. So it makes sense.

"I like instrumental stuff too. Piano and violin are always nice to listen to. I don't really play instruments besides the ukulele sometimes but I'm still learning it. How long have you been playing the violin?"

[maipokerface]

How long. Mai looks upward a bit as if counting the years out in her brain. It's foggy but it's no wonder, given how long she's been playing.

"Eight years at least, probably a little more. My parents started me off on the piano to begin with if you can believe that."

[consocius]

As someone who only kind of plays one instrument and not for very long either, Sora is impressed.

"Eight years. That's like half of my lifetime! So, why'd you switch? Did you just like the violin more than the piano?"

[maipokerface]

"I wasn't as good at the piano. It wasn't a question of enjoyment back then."

If she wasn't good then her parents considered it a waste. That's just how it was. She shrugs a little then.

"I think the change was better though. My violin is the whole reason I'm here."

[consocius]

There's a part of Sora that says 'you can understand that' regarding enjoyment not being a part of it, just doing something your parents wanted. But then something else in his mind collides with this thought like 'how would I know that?' and he ends up sitting there looking confused for a moment.

In the end, his programming wins out, and settles on understanding. His parents made him act even during times he wasn't into it. All for the money. That was all true, right?

"But you do it because you want to now, right? You like playing the violin?"

[maipokerface]

"Oh yeah, definitely. Helps that it gets me away from them too."

She seemed to be on an eternal quest to get away from her folks, though her mind tells her it hasn't always been like that. Which is stupid because yes it has.

"Is it the same with you? I mean... I'll be honest here, I don't know what any of you guys play so."

[consocius]

Sora nods. "I like what I do a lot. It's a lot more fun than acting was and I don't have to worry about my parents anymore either. Flashstep's mostly just about singing and dancing, though, we don't usually play our own instruments with our songs and some of it's just electronic stuff anyway."

[maipokerface]

"So you really are a boy band." Not that she's shocked or anything, that's what she had them pegged as.

[consocius]

"Yeah, that's what they call us. We're all guys around the same age. It's kinda nice, feels like a party around the penthouse a lot of the time." Except when things are weird. Like after Predator's hazing thing and after Naomi's party. "We play video games together a lot."