002 ┼ THEY LEFT US ALONE / KIDS IN THE DARK / TO BURN OUT FOREVER / OR LIGHT UP A SPARK

[stylistic_disloyalty]

Who: Cosmic Indulgence, Flashstep, Junkyard Carnival, & System Shock + Any Virgo Onlookers
What: The Revenge EP is debuting in a flashmob-style performance. Four bands, four never before heard songs, one massive social media frenzy.
When: November 7th
Where: Sinammon
Warnings: ......sigh. Carnies.

The second the lockdown is lifted, Luci springs into action. She's mass texting everyone involved:

It's time. Tomorrow night, we ride at 7PM for an 8PM start. Get your best shit dry cleaned.

There's already an exodus happening out of Pride HQ given they weren't the only ones on lockdown either, so slipping out is easy enough. They converge on the location, Luci makes good on her suggestion and hands the techbooth a wad of money to stop playing recorded dance mixes and let them take over the stage. She can already see one guy frantically texting into his lap as she explains what's about to happen. Perfect.

"You should tell your manager to call in more bouncers and remove some of the tables, this place is about to be packed."


((OOC: Welcome to the culmination of the EP plot! Not much else to say but here's a description of the stage setup courtesy of Garnet for anyone curious, and LET'S ROCK!))

Comments

[traumatizing]

You too.

[He smiles when his drink comes and turns toward Maxxie, leaning side-on on the bar. He glances around the room before he settles back on Maxxie.]

Good show, huh?

[notahobby]

Think so. We did what we wanted, so I'm free to party the night away.

[As opposed to suffering Jamie's neurotic wrath if someone fell out of step too many times. He puts that out of his mind and lifts his glass to Terry.]

You guys were great. It's pretty amazing that all these songs came together in such a short amount of time.

[traumatizing]

Well, we were all pretty motivated. [A small, almost bashful laugh.] I know I had a lot of energy to channel into this.

[notahobby]

Is that what you did all week? When you weren't drinking, I mean?

[traumatizing]

Pretty much. [Shrug] It's not like there was much else to do.

[notahobby]

Well, [Maxxie looks down at his drink, his smirk getting coy.]

There were other things to do.

[traumatizing]

[He's literally about to ask "like what?" Until he catches the look on Maxxie's face and he raises an eyebrow.]

Unfortunately, I didn't know that until a couple of days ago.

[notahobby]

Guess you don't read the tabloids then.

[There's not a hint of bitterness in his voice. They call him a bit of a party boy, and while most of the time you have to read between the lines, sometimes they outright say it: he's quite liberal with his time. They don't have anything worth a scandal, of course, just a few firsthand accounts plus a few dozen eyewitnesses to his flirting, but it's enough to get the rumour mill turning.]

If I'd have known you were into it I might have acted sooner.

[traumatizing]

[He laughs, full on bashful as he looks down at his drink. Absolutely avoiding looking at Maxxie's face.]

I don't really... Advertise. I guess.

[He's too neurotic about his privacy.]

[notahobby]

[Maxxie nods, taking a sip from his beer and then tilting his head at Terry.]

You wanna get away from this bar for a bit? It's pretty quiet backstage. Green room should be empty.

[traumatizing]

I do need to apologise for falling asleep on you the other day. [Frown.] Semi-literally.

[He sighs thoughtfully.]

The green room's pretty open though...

[As in: You can't lock it.]

[notahobby]

[It takes Maxxie a moment to catch on, but when he does he breaks into a grin that he tries so hard to dampen because he can't be too obvious here. He glances around casually to make sure no one can hear them, but the music and the crowd are too loud anyway.]

I think there's a bathroom back there. VIPs only, you know?

[traumatizing]

Alright.

[Terry nods and looks around, mostly to see if there's a clear way backstage without getting accosted by anyone. A bad liar he might be, but he's pretty practised at being casual about this kind of thing, (there's a reason his sex life has approximately zero tabloid coverage,) and he pushes off the bar, giving Maxxie a friendly pat on the shoulder as he makes his way.]

[notahobby]

[Maxxie stays at the bar for a moment, taking a sip from his drink. He's too eager to wait for long, so barely thirty seconds later he's pushing off the bar and winding his way to the door backstage. He has to stop a couple times to sign a couple CD cases but eventually he finds his way backstage again, heading toward the aforementioned VIP bathroom.]

[traumatizing]

[Terry's leaning against the wall, drink in hand, and he looks up when Maxxie comes in. He smiles and puts his drink down by the sink.]

I was almost worried you wouldn't make it through the sea of fans.

[notahobby]

I have my ways of ducking out when I have to.

[He puts his drink down next to Terry's, then leans on the wall and tilts his head with a smug smirk.]

You like flying under the radar?

[traumatizing]

[He moves so he's standing in front of Maxxie and puts a hand on the wall next to him to lean on, shrugging at the question.]

I just like my privacy.

[notahobby]

Well, you've got it now.

[He glances at the door, which he locked on the way in, then back up at Terry with a raised eyebrow.]

And you've got my attention for as long as you want it.

[And it's pretty impressive really, the way he finds Terry's belt without looking and with minimal fumbling.]

[But this is where we fade to black.]

[Goodbye.]