give out the good, leave out the bad [open]

[hauntedsavior]

Who: Anna, Kainé, and you!
What: Anna's girlfriend makes her musical debut
When: Late November/early December
Where: Anna's bar

Content Warnings: Faces being rocked off

All right. Here it is. Their big debut, the two of them, right on stage at Anna's bar. She opens the show the way she normally does—with a rousing chorus of "Fuck the Shit" by Sons of Butcher that she hopes she never stops thinking is funny. And when the crowd dies down, she grabs the microphone and plants her feet firmly with her bass swinging around her neck.

"What's up, Trench? How we feeling tonight?" She drinks in the reaction the same way she always does, and right now, she does feel a little bit like a rockstar. Even if it's the same as every night so far, she knows that something incredibly important is coming.

"So you guys might not know it, but you're about to see something pretty fucking cool. See, it gets lonely up here on stage sometimes. I know, I know—but don't feel too bad for me, 'cause tonight I'm gonna have someone else here helping me out. You're gonna hear her play guitar, you're gonna hear her sing, and so help me if you guys don't clap I'm gonna get Steve to throw you all out."

She flashes a thumbs up towards the bartender on staff tonight and grins in his direction; he gives it back.

"See, he's on board. Okay, everyone, please give it up for local guest musician and the absolute love of my fucking life, Kainé!"

Kainé shuffles onto the stage with a guitar slung around her neck. The only thing giving her stage presence is her revealing outfit, practically just a miniskirt and a bustier, with stiletto heeled boots, but she's nearly expressionless as she approaches the mic, her eyes quickly darting away from the audience to look meaningfully at Anna.

She clears her throat her once, and growls, "Anybody who doesn’t cheer at her music, I'll fucking kill you." Yeah, that works. She'll let Anna handle the rest.

"She'll do it, gang," Anna says seriously with her head bowed low. "So here's what we've been working on together."

The setlist they play together has a bunch of songs that people who are regulars to Anna's shows haven't heard before. Nothing too complex, but things that lend themselves to an additional live guitar, to the angelic arias and guttural growls that Kainé is capable of producing—and a lot of the time during the show, Anna finds herself getting distracted. She's staring at her girlfriend and she knows it, not because of how hot she is but because of how proud Anna is of her.

The two of them get through the set, say their thank-yous, and then it's time to meet the adoring fans. Or the people who wandered in not expecting to see a miniature Lilith Fair's worth of lesbians on stage. Either way.

Comments

[noniad]

In the very front row, a solemn and imposing blackclad boulder of a man stands primly in prime viewing space, his hands folded inside the sleeves of his finest (only, and freshly patched) formal robes. His face is painted in a delicately detailed rendition of The Chain, its nomen marked out in precise links across his brow and his lips adorned with neatly sketched teeth for one of the loveliest and most formal skulls of the Ninth House.

It is important to present a proper effort.

After the debut of Kainé and Anna's announcement of their intentions, Ortus clears his throat with great intent, revealing his hands so he might raise one in a fist of support. In a profoundly resonant voice, laden with the utmost gravitas, he declaims:

"Oh sirens, hark! fall still, behold - thine match, peerless, bold, puissant in songcraft and battle, mighty -
Without fear they stride forth, unto glory and gleaming shine, as pearls in foam, to the cry: slay, queens!"

After this, he falls into attentive and appreciative observation, clapping with vigorous passion at every occasion to do so. Once the set is finished, even unto the encores, Ortus retires to a seat near the stage, his eyes bright and glittering with enthusiasm.

[foulhussy]

Kainé is pretty sure this is one of the most terrifying things to happen to her. She can only drop her jaw in incipient horror as the robed and painted nerd in the audience regales her with apparently improvised poetry. It is only through an act of supreme willpower, and several deep breaths that she is able to shake off the full body cringe and begin performing.

She approaches him after the show with a marked scowl on her face, but it's hardly one to rival the Reverend Daughter's. Indeed, the successful set has her in a good mood, pleasantly exhausted, with sweat plastering her bangs to her face and her cheeks flushed. But she has to keep up appearances. People can't just get away with doing that.

"The fuck was that about, Ortus?"

[noniad]

Ortus meets Kainé's confrontation with serene equanimity. He blinks once, slowly, and inclines his head in unhurried apology.

"I wished to provide you with encouragement in your endeavour," he says, placid as a content bovine feed animal, "And, perhaps, so that you would appear...what is the word? More 'awesome' by way of contrast."

She once intimidated him much more than she does now, shining (as predicted) with the effort of her successful debut, but he has come to recognize her bark as farther sharper than her bite - at least when it comes to those she does not count among her foes.

"But largely the former. I was...overcome by an impulse, and I apologize for its suddenness. I have had little occasion to show my support for the works of other artists, and a spirit of collegial feeling possessed me." He pauses, brushing his thumb over the backs of his knuckles. "Your performance was excellent. I was, as they say, rocked."

[foulhussy]

Kainé just throws her shoulders up in an exasperated sigh. It is... pretty nice, that so many people came out to see her. They probably came to see Anna first. But maybe they liked her singing too. At least Ortus says he does. She can't imagine what his taste in music would be like, though.

...Rap? Probably not.

"I didn't really think you'd be into stuff like this. Loud, in your face stuff." As if half the playlist wasn't soft and moody. Still, in her mind, it doesn't seem like his type of scene. He sticks out in those robes.

"Well. I guess it's cool, if you were into it."

[hauntedsavior]

Anna approaches Ortus and has a much different tack to things, probably because she can pick out enneameter (which she now knows is the proper word) and recognizes a few more words than Kainé might have.

"Yeah, we really put our whole puissants into that one," she says like she's having the time of her life. "See, I told you you kicked more ass at poetry than I did, dude. So you liked the show good enough?"

She knows very much that Ortus did, and she's all smiles even as she says it. Her hair is a mess, so she brushes it back, and it feels so casual and like such a relief that she can stand here and do this and her friends can come out and be in the audience. It makes her feel like she's finally hit the place that she'd seen every local band in Recollé inhabit.

"Thanks," she says without waiting for an answer quite yet. "For always supporting me with this."

[noniad]

Ortus does not laugh at 'put our whole puissants into that one'. Any detectable twitch of his mouth and sparkle of startled amusement in his eyes paired to a loud, repetitive cough he muffles into his fists is surely an artifact of the light, and his lingering smile when he lowers his hand is not pressed carefully down over more of the non-existent laughter.

"It is my honour to support artists of your calibre," he says, solemnly, and then he softens, his tone mellow and warm to add, "And my pleasure as your friend."

Such a simple thing to be able to say; such a privilege he did not expect to ever know again. Anna's mussed hair and easy stance speak of tension that has unwound from her shoulders, as if the concert helped drain away stagnant unhappiness and self-doubt.

"I enjoyed the show very much. I was reminded of what you said to me before, of the unity that forms between a band and their audience...was it everything that you hoped for?"

[cuddlery]

Scorpia had become a semi-regular at this bar recently, and she was eager to catch the big joint performance! So once the time comes, she's easily one of the most enthusiastic members of the audience, cheering and clapping along as well as she can with pincers (occasionally substituting snips of her pincers).

Once it's time to meet them, Scorpia lets some other fans have their chance before approaching them. "Wow. You two were absolutely fantastic. It was like watching an awesome musical super-team of love!"

[foulhussy]

It was an absolutely phenomenal experience for Kainé, unlike any other she has experienced in her life. She's out there, pouring out her heart in perfect sync with the person she loves most in the world, letting herself be heard. It's a feeling that fills every part of her, and it's as bright and warm as a supernova explosion.

It's also terrifying and nerve-wracking, and by the end she's a bit exhausted, but the sort of buzzy exhausted where the excitement refuses to leave. She grins at Scorpia, wider than she's ever seen on her face before. "Yeah. It was cool."

[cuddlery]

She has never seen Kainé be smile like that before. It almost feels like she's a different person! But that is definitely her, and that warms her heart to see her so happy! That must be the power of their love.

"The coolest! I knew you could do it, Kainé. I knew the two of you would be great together, but you went even beyond my expectations! You two are a sensation."

[robussy]

[ did you not think 2B would come? preposterous. she isn't flashy as she enters and takes a seat somewhere, but then again, her presence isn't forgettable, even when she is simply sitting at one of the front-center tables and not for a moment does she pull her eyes away from the musical lesbian duo.

she's never quite heard music like this, but who is to say she dislikes it? 2B doesn't follow with applause, but she does give her silent congrats in her own way when she is met, either with the stars or with a gaze: full eye contact and perhaps 1/4 of a smile. you're winning big today, ladies. ]

[hauntedsavior]

[this is absolutely a victory, and it's a victory in a way that anna hadn't realized she needed quite so badly. when she's not smiling at kainé or working the crowd, she catches 2B out there in the audience and her heart swells even bigger than it already is.]

Hey, sis. [she greets the other android with a peaceful sort of reverence to her tone. her girlfriend and her sister are both here in one place, and this is just what her life is like now, isn't it?] What did you think of the show?

[robussy]

Loud. [ —but she doesn't mean it in a terrible way, despite being direct and blunt in her word choice. because it was loud, louder than she was kind of used to, not counting firearms and laser blasts. ] Pleasantly.

You both make a good team.

[overlies]

[ what better way was there to know more about anna than seeing her perform? meeting her girl? oh, makima can do all of that, and while she's not somewhere in the front row of tables, she finds a way to stick out anyway. call it aura or presence, but her red hair and golden spiral eyes just stick out. especially if they're burning unblinking holes into you.

she doesn't scream, or shout when the songs come and go. she drinks her beer, and claps when an encore is deserved. ]

[foulhussy]

[ Kainé remembers the woman in the audience from their little run in with the Tower working through some shit with itself. She doesn't know if there's any particular reason she would seek her out after that— more likely she was just looking for some entertainment and happened to stop in here. It's nothing strange.

But something about that weirdly intense gaze unnerves her, just a little, when her eyes rest on her between songs.

By the time the show is over, she doesn't greet her. She just gives her a nod from across the room as she steps off the stage. ]

dropkicked dw into giving back this notif

[overlies]

[ oh, just as the beer comes . . . ! kaine seems to be leaving her center of attention, but that hardly stops makima's gaze on her at all. in fact, if she were to look back—

the red-haired woman is waving her over. ]

[hauntedsavior]

[anna has no such compunctions. she probably should, but she kicks away from the stage with a beer in her hand and very impolitely plants her hand down on makima's table.]

Hey, girl, glad you could make it. How's the vibe out here? I know we mixed up the genres a bit, but hopefully you could follow the thread of the setlist.

[overlies]

There's nothing wrong with a little diversity.

[ cheers with their beer! clink! ]

You should join me, if you have a minute.

[azurestar]

A whole lot has been going on the last few months that has taken up most of his attention and time. There are people he hasn't seen in a while, and Anna is one of them, but he heard something about a new bar. So of course he had to come check it out, and it's an awesome surprise to find her and Kainé on stage killing it. Also, there's drinks, so he sits off to the side at the bar and flirts with anyone who seems open to it with a drink in his hand, enjoying the music.

Then when they finish up, he knocks back the rest of his drink and heads over to say hi after ordering another. He leans on the end of the bar near where they are and gives a little wave and a grin.

"Hey there. Long time no see, that was a hell of a show you put on there."

[hauntedsavior]

"Lance!"

Anna pushes away from the stage and greets him with a wide smile and a high-five, because she's an adult and a professional. "Shit, dude, you're still around here. Nice, cool. Been a while." She's just relieved that more people haven't squidded up and bit it lately; she's damn tired of that by now.

"So how you holding up? What'd you think about K's big debut?"

[azurestar]

He smirks and meets her high-five with his own gloved hand. When was the last time he saw her? It felt like months ago. Probably before Hunk left…

He clears his throat of that grief and nods, maintaining his smile, "Yeah, I've had a lot going on, you know how it is."

The squidding up is pretty exhausting to him too. He lost a lot of people over the last few months, and much of that time she hasn't seen him has been due to his grief driving him into… bad isolated places in various ways.

"Well, I'm still here," he shrugs and grins, that's how he's been holding up, "And it was awesome, you guys killed it together."

[foulhussy]

It has been a minute since she last saw Lance, hasn't it been? She knows that he was already privy to her plans to start performing, but she'd barely known two chords back when she first brought it up. Though for that matter, he'd only ever heard her sing, and never the harder numbers she delivered tonight.

"Damn fucking right we did." She grins down the bar, cocky with success of her first show. She's still high of the rush of it as she downs her beer— not that it's doing much to her with her Vileblood.

[azurestar]

And he's damn glad he decided to come out tonight and check this place out when he did. Otherwise he would have totally missed her first show and that would've been kind of a bummer.

He raises his glass to her in a toast and then takes a gulp. After swallowing with a pinched look, he takes a seat with a little grin, "I never would've guessed you could make sounds like that."

[slayerskiss]

[She's seen Anna's girl around, of course, though they've never really exchanged two words, Faith can at least admire her style. And Anna's taste in women, damn. She grins as she watches the performance, getting into it at multiple points, and cheering loudly when needed. She's not dancing wildly - honestly she's still too depressed about Tara to really go all the way, but she's

When the two of them descends, Faith isn't among the first to greet them, but she is waiting close-by, holding up a drink in cheers.]

Well, safe to say Trench's never seen that kinda heat before. Nice one. [She's not even jealous of the way Anna looks at Kaine or vice versa. Which is... a new sensation for her, being actually happy for other people, rather than the gnawing selfish desire to steal it.

To Anna, because she's more familiar with Anna and thus knows what to order, she says,] Saved you a drink.

[hauntedsavior]

[anna slides into a chair across from faith and greets her with a smile, first towards her then to the drink. man, they really do just keep meeting like this.]

Thanks, Faith. Glad to see you're still out here and kicking. How have things been since the last time we talked?

[on that rock at the oceanside, when everybody had been at their absolute lowest points. or maybe only anna had been. funny how memory colors perception like that. surely nobody has had any additional crises since then.]

[slayerskiss]

Happy to say I've been murder free since July.

[She smiles. Taking a sip of her drink and relaxing against the chair.]

Ozpin tempted me at the wedding though.