i love you baby baby

[hearted]

Who:Aino Minako Waitress Diana and her patrons at Brad's Diner (aka YOU)
What: Serving up milkshakes, greasy sandwiches, and love advice!
When: February 14th, mid-afternoon
Where: Brad's Diner
Warnings: Flirting possible. It's Minako. Otherwise none so far!


Those who have visited local grease shack Brad's Diner in the past may be surprised to see the radically changed decor for today. The booths were already lined in red cushions, but now there are additions of heart balloons, shining ribbons, and red and white candles on each table.

The festive atmosphere hits you right in the face when your server arrives! Her name tag reads 'Di', the I dotted with a heart. But that's usual. More unusually, she's sporting a pink mini-dress and red apron, and there's a long red ribbon laced through her usual braid. She winks at everyone coming through the dtheoor, presenting them each a small chocolate.

"Welcome to Brad's, home of the chocolate strawberry milkshake! Everything's half-price for singles today, and couples all receive a free cake! But if you'd rather flip it around that's fine by me too! It's Valentines, all about showing you some love! I'm Di and I'll be taking care of you today, cuties."

She then bounces to lead her customers to their seats. Even the regular table seats are well cushioned with fluffy pillows, so there's not a bad seat to be had in the house! She's also piled a lot of big balloon decorations between the tables, hopefully making it easy for musicians to go incognitio just as Rei asked. With luck, they can make this a warm and welcoming place for any and all.

[ooc: this is a free for all! Lemme know in the subject line if you want to interact with 'Di', or feel free to just take in the tacky decorations on a diner date of your own.]

Comments

FoB Flash-Performance!

[sponsorigami]

[ Ivan takes the laminated milkshake menu from the table and starts tapping the edge to the table. He'll also move to shaking sugar packets or a salt shaker if need be, but he works with this. Paper, he thought, is something he's becoming increasingly known for because of his origami. He felt that he should choose something along that line. ]

[trustme]

[ Doctor slides in next to Ivan and grabs the pepper shaker. While he begins shaking that, he starts knocking on the napkin dispenser. He turns to the Luce and Pao-Lin and nods them over with a grin. ]

[i_am_not_cute]

[Pao-Lin is armed with a fork and knife to lay down some delicious beats. She alternates between brushing the utensils against each other for a softer sound and sharper beats by drumming them against the edge of the table. Her bonneted head bobs in time to the rhythm.]

[giglio_madonna]

[Luce knows, technically, that she can't really fight Angel right now if she really decided to push. Fortunately, there's her band to push back, it seems, and there's a certain glitter in her eye as she takes her own glass. There's still ice in a quarter of it, and the cubes clatter against each other nicely with just a bit of movement. A nice backdrop to the clinking of Rei and Pao-Lin's silverware.]

[faithfulflame]

[They probably cut quite the ridiculous sight, but that doesn't seem to matter at all, not with music playing. Rei's free hand picks up a knife and adds to the beat with several solid thumps against the cushion of one of the chairs. A kind of swing beat, it seems.

She'll leave the song choice to the rest, instead starting with a preface, voice strong and stern as it always is on stage.]

We'd like to thank everyone here for coming out to support your local diner. Di here told us those big chains were starting to move in and take over, and you know what? We weren't too fond of that. So here we are, reminding you once again to shop and eat local, so places like this can thrive and survive!

[It's the hipster way.]

[sponsorigami]

[ Ivan's unsure if he would have so bluntly said their reasons, but this is Rei's idea. He'll follow her lead and try to get his head more into music than it has been.

After tapping the menu to the beat of the song,Ivan starts to sing. ]

We're some light years away from comfort, we have traveled the galaxy
But as long as you are with me, there's no place I'd rather be
I would wait forever, flowers on the breeze
As long as I am with you, I'm not weighted by gravity

With every star that falls, another heartbeat calls
Beating so rapidly
We're different and the same, a soul that can't be tamed
Switch up the melodies

[trustme]

If you gave me a chance I would take it
It's a shot in the dark but I'll make it
Like a comet on course you can't shake me
When I am with you, there's no place I'd rather be
N-n-n-no, no, no, no place I'd rather be
N-n-n-no, no, no, no place I'd rather be
N-n-n-no, no, no, no place I'd rather be
Ooh ooh

We danced throughout the ages, circling space and time
Joy, madness, and sorrow, this path is yours and mine
Let's walk this road together, to the future, back down history
As long as we're together, there's no place I'd rather be

[i_am_not_cute]

With every year that passes, we see so many flashes
Of doubt and uncertainty
Is it different or the same? Let's live another day
And seize all these memories

If you gave me a chance I would take it
It's got me so scared but I'll fake it
I am a diamond star, you can't break me
When I am with you, there's no place I'd rather be

When I am with you, there's no place I'd rather be, yeah

[giglio_madonna]

We're a thousand miles from each other, connected by a starry sea
But as long as you can hear me, I'll continue to sing
I can wait forever, utterly serene
As long as I can hear you, my heart continues to beat

With every star that falls, another heartbeat calls
Beating so rapidly
We're different and the same, a bright burning flame
Light up this galaxy

[faithfulflame]

[As that song comes to a close, Rei looks at the band and the audience, the real strength of her personality and charisma shining through the music.  This was fine, since most of the people around were musicians, and nobody was going to rush their table or anything, so…she nods again and immediately launches into another song.  This one’s newer, one she’d written a bit recently, and not one from their albums.  Her fingers continue to drum a base beat for everyone else, and she hopes they’ll follow along.

As she sings, her eyes focus on Di, Serena, and the sour Alex standing in the corner, flitting between all three of the women who clearly have come for her.]

Oh don't you dare lose faith
Just give your heart to me
I said you're holding back
She said stand up and fight with me
This moment is my destiny
She said woah woah woah
Stand up and fight with me

[Her attention shifts as she finishes the portion she’d written with them in mind, and she breaks away from the table, spinning around behind Flowers over Bones and resting her hands Pao-Lin and Ivan’s shoulders.]

We are captives of the night
Hit with spiritual, cerebral, kryptonite
Chained to the bass, trapped in waning light
Oh we’re bound to stand together

Bound to fall together…

[actsmagnificent]

[ Sure, sure. Her facial expression is the coffee's fault, okay?

Haruka switches to a glass of water partway through the song, listening with (apparent) absent interest. A smile touches her lips right before she takes a sip. Trying to tell her that Rei's not leaving without her bandmates, maybe? That's fair. It'll complicate things, but Haruka is trying not to let complications bother her, since they....don't seem to be going away. She has to accept reality as it is in order to create the future that she wants.

And if she's trying not to think how nicely a violin would sound with this song, well, that's her business. She'll offer the world's most polite, unassuming applause as the song concludes.

Or, well. As unassuming as one gets when one's mere presence makes a girl one booth over swoon. ]

[sponsorigami]

[ Ivan continues to play the milkshake menu, helping to sing the harmony as the song continues. He feels like he knows there's something special about this song to Rei. Maybe something to do with her "space ladies." Maybe something to do with the ones Rei looks at.

He also doesn't flinch when he's touched; he's used to the constant feelings of his power copying forms. It feels familiar now like he's had it most of his life. ]

[trustme]

[ Doctor jumps up from his seat and starts pacing up and down between booths and tables, clapping his hands together and encouraging the crowd to join along. People around the diner put down their forks and knives and begin clapping to the beat. ]

[i_am_not_cute]

[Pao-Lin, too, whirls into motion, her skirts flaring out like a blooming flower. She makes sure not to twirl too fast, though, as she's still armed with her fork and knife to add some delicate touches to the improvised instrumentation.

Spotting one girl who serendipitously happens to be wearing an aster flower headband given out as part of a recent FoB promo, Pao-Lin drifts over in her direction, winks, and then steals a fry off the girl's plate.]

[giglio_madonna]

[And almost as if to scold the young percussionist, Luce is right there as well, flicking the tip of her nose with a bright grin before whirling off along with the Doctor. Rei seems to have the vocals covered, so she adds something else to the performance by grabbing the doctor and pulling him into an energetic dance.]

[All the while, she hums along, making sure to click her heels against the floor to add them as part of the music as well.]

[faithfulflame]

[Rei keeps up the song, spinning away from Ivan in a whirl of red skirts and dark hair. Her feet stamp against the floor to keep time with the beat, and she dips low, winking at one young girl in particular. The girl swoons a little, cheeks turning pink.

Rei reaches out onto the table and plucks up a pair of folded flowers, tossing the two of them out into the audience as she sings...generating a bit of a rush as onlookers snatch them up!]

[sponsorigami]

[ So, they're dancing now? Ivan slides out of his chair to make his way toward Pao-Lin. His geta clack against the floor as he alters his gait to make a rhythm of his own in addition to the wibble and wobble of the menu. He continues providing backup vocals as well. ]

[i_am_not_cute]

[As the song approaches an iteration of the chorus, Pao-Lin pauses at a table and begins to use it as an impromptu drum set, clanking audibly but gently on the table edge, booth edge, plate edge, all kinds of edges. She knows instantly the kind of sounds they'll produce and the timbres they belong in, and she effortlessly weaves them all into her performance without missing out on harmonizing with her bandmates. She smiles encouragingly at the table occupants, although they all look like they'd be more Manticore fans than FoB fans.]

[trustme]

[ The main chorus comes around again and Doctor leans down to the level of the seated guests and waves to any who are singing along with them to raise the volume. Left and right, people join in at the encouragement and start to clap and sing with the band so the entire diner is soon filled with the sound of the crowd singing together. Like magic, they all know the lyrics of the next verse when it comes, even those MANTICORE fans. Perhaps Pao-Lin had just converted them with that great show of talent. ]

[giglio_madonna]

[Why not dancing? It comes so naturally in the scene, after all, just like everything else. As the collective voices of the diner rise up, Luce finally begins to sing to the chorus as well. After the rough past couple of weeks, she lets loose with everything she has.]

[And that, for whatever reason, seems to carry her elation through crystal clear, until her own happiness is echoing throughout the various diners.]

[faithfulflame]

[Rei's voice comes through the chorus as clear and bright as a churchbell, and she finishes up her performance on an incredibly strong note. Taking a step back she gestures to her bandmates to join her and leads them through a final verse, bringing the song to a close.]

Stand up and fight with me!

[And with that? A bow!]

[sponsorigami]

[ Their voices rise together, and everything feels like it's something out of a dream or stage production. Ivan steps and taps the menu in tune without wondering if anyone has noticed his contribution or not. When the final notes fade of their second song, Ivan bows low.

Well. That was different. ]

[i_am_not_cute]

[Caught up in the musical magic, Pao-Lin's dancing (and drumming) becomes perhaps a touch more frenzied than what should be expected for a dainty little doll like herself. By the end of the song, her face is flushed and she's breathing hard, and her bow is not an elegant curtsy but more like the top half of her body flopping down and up again.

But she feels great. Really, really great. Better than she has in a long time. Vaguely, it occurs to her that she might pay for it later, but Pao-Lin doesn't really care at the moment. Somehow, everything seems brighter and sweeter, sizzling with the electricity of life.]

[trustme]

[ Doctor throws his arms up in the air as the final words of their song ring out, including the hand that is clasping Luce's for their dance together. After a split second of silence, marking the end of the performance, the entire diner cheers and applauds the artists. Surely Brad's will be packed with customers after the video goes up online.

Doctor turns to smile at Luce, elated to feel an aura of joy radiating off of her again. Perhaps she is feeling more herself, he hopes. ]

[lightthedarkness]

[She didn't exactly want to look at Rei, mostly because then she would get the other woman upset again. All she seemed to do was upset her. And that isn't what she wanted in the slightest.

Still, when she felt eyes on her, when she looked up and Rei was looking directly at her, she thought at first it was just Rei panicking at her presence... again.

When Rei's gaze lacked any fear, and she watched her look at Haruka and Minako her eyes widened. She pressed a hand to her lips. Did... did she remember?

Well, maybe, but certainly not everything. What did she remember then? Usagi listened to the song and stopped eating altogether as she sang. Rei had such a beautiful singing voice.

But the words... she swallowed as she listened.]