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Patron Saint Of Farewells Crew
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 Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2010 6:00 pm
There she stood center stage and peering out at her audience. She wasn't too comfortable with introducing her little project to the crowd just yet but Reginald, her manager suggested that this would be best. Svetlanna was trying new singing styles and he had advised to slowly introduce it to her fans by doing little shows to small groups. Jesus, the last time she was this nervous was when she had her very first performance.
Swallowing back her fear and gathering her courage, she parted her lips and began to sing. The smooth melodies that left her danced through the dimly light room adding to the sophisticated lounge feel. She was singing about love and love lost and each word that left her lips held meaning to it. She was putting on quite the show.
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Posted: Sun Jul 25, 2010 6:17 pm
Helias was sitting in the shadows behind the bar, legs tucked up to his chest and feathers tied up in a rather embarrassing manner to be kept out of the way. His task for the night was to be a statue, said Nikolai, and statues neither talked nor bothered him. The boy had figured it was going to be a long night, but he was absolutely mesmerized when the woman got on stage and began to sing. He had stopped listening and trying to mimic the people around him now, having long tired of producing the mundane sounds of glass klinks and drunk men swearing. This was a different type of sound he could produce-- beautiful in a different way-- not quite exotic, but still pleasant. Even if he didn't understand the words, it would most certainly be a good addition to his repertoire.
Nikolai, on the other hand, was busy. Even if there were only three people to tend to at the immediate bar, he was trying to listen over the music. It wasn't that he hated melodies, but the man was on the job and the sole reason he bothered putting on the facade of being a barkeep was to gather information. It was hard to do that when everyone was quiet, giving their undivided attention to the singer; sober or drunk.
"You don't hear a song like that every day, do ya?"
Nikolai frowned, fighting the urge to roll his eyes as he set the drink down in front of the older woman who leaned far over the counter. He was just waiting for one of those over exposed puppies to pop out of her deep plunge dress, but it was more so that he could time it well enough to avoid having to look. Older women shouldn't dress slutty, just like older men shouldn't try to act suave. Nikolai was only twenty eight, but he still considered himself old-- the woman had to be pushing fifty.
"You don't get a singer like that every day." Nikolai responded out of courtesy, casting a glance to his ward before filling in the next order.
"You don't seem very interested. Love's not a topic for you, darling?"
"It's the same topic in every song." Why don't you quiet down and enjoy the show?
Biting back the last words, the redhead heaved a sigh, cheering quietly when the performance ended and the hubbub of conversation began again. It would take a couple of minutes before the applause and praise calmed down enough for any meaningful tidbits of information to crop up, but it was a start.
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Patron Saint Of Farewells Crew
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Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 12:31 pm
Relief enveloped her being once her audience gave her applause. She was rather surprised with how well her audience took her new style. Though she was beginning to doubt that they actually liked it. Perhaps they were just applauding because she was well known and they didn't want to seem harsh. No, that wasn't it. She had come across many hecklers in her career so she should know better than that. Once everything settled, she left the stage and headed towards the bar. She wasn't much of a drinker but she could do with one beverage while Reginald mingled with the others and until it came time to sing once again.
In silence she took a seat on one of the bar stools. Once settled she smoothed out the bottom of her dress. While normally she'd be dressed in something far more elegant or just all out costumed, her attire tonight was far more simple. Tonight she wore a dress that had been thought to be a top with a black skirt. The top of her dress was creme in color, sleeveless, and the neck rounded with a draped ruffle flounce. The second half of her dress was a contrast high-waist pencil skirt that stopped just two inches above the knee. Adding to the illusion of the skirt bottom she wore a skinny belt with adjustable buckle closure. Dangling from her wrists were silver bangles.
Looking to the various bottles behind Nikolai that were resting neatly on shelves, she put a great deal of thought into what she might order.
"Excuse me sir, when you have a moment could you please fix me a glass of Katogi Averoff Traminer?"
Her voice was loud enough to be heard over all the hubub of drunkards and those who sober enough to carry a decent conversation but still soft enough to keep from being an annoyance.
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Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 2:03 pm
Nikolai nearly dropped his order as his ward suddenly uncoiled from the stool and stepped in his way. Cursing, the man side stepped, falling at a short angle as he expertly caught the glass before it hit the floor. Amazingly, he only lost a single drop of the mixture.
Glaring daggers at Helias, he made a mental note to come up with an appropriate punishment later. As he delivered the drink down the counter, the man glanced over to Svetlanna to acknowledge her request.
Helias attached himself to one of the beer barrels, peaking out at the singer as though she couldn't see him if he didn't look at her fully. The boy wanted to sing her song back to her, but he knew he'd get in trouble. More often than not, people didn't appreciate his skillful mimicry. Wings ruffling up, the boy glued himself as close to the corner as he could, not really wanting to get in Nikolai's way again. The area behind the bar was really quite small.
"Here you go. Thank you for your hard work." Nikolai set the glass and bottle in front of the songstress, popping the cap before filling the cup half way. He really had no interest in the woman's field, but it never hurt to be pleasant to customers.
It wasn't long before he was pulled down to the other end of the counter, leaving Helias to stand awkwardly across from Svetlanna. Still, the hraapea sent glimpses and glances her way, trying to make himself invisible in a place that offered no such cover.
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Patron Saint Of Farewells Crew
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Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 2:56 pm
If Nikolai hadn't nearly dropped the order prior to her, she would have continued to be clueless to the Hraapea's presence. It wasn't that she was that dense, she just wasn't being very observant as she felt more comfortable with just keeping her eyes on the bar counter. She only looked up once again when Nikolai brought her order to her and thanked her for her services. In return she gave him a curt nod.
"It was my pleasure. I offer my thanks for your hard work as well sir."
With poise she moved, reaching out with her left hand to grasp the bowl of her wine glass with the stem resting between her fore finger and middle finger. For a moment or two, she pivoted her wrist just slightly, swirling the Katogi Averoff Traminer inside. Her eyes were transfixed on the deep golden hue of the liquid and her nose flared just slightly in quick secessions as she scented the fragrance it gave off. The scents of fruits, flowers and a variety of exciting inorganic aromas drew forth a soft content sigh and caused the left corner of her mouth to curl upward into a small smirk. Waiting not a moment longer, she brought the edge of the class to her lips and allowed the golden hued liquid to enter her mouth and dance across her tongue. In an instant it filled her mouth with a pleasant acidity and aromatic aftertaste pleasing her that much more as well as bring her a sense of calm.
Her eyes then averted their gaze from the wine glass and rest themselves onto Helias who clung to one of the beer barrels in his best attempt to keep out of the way. She took in his features and found him to be beautiful. That's when she noticed something off about him. Were those wings? Were they tied up? The poor dear. It must have been cramped back there behind the bar.
"Would you like to come sit next to me? I'm sure you'd be able to stretch your legs a bit more and not worry about almost colliding with the bartender again."
She called to him in a soothing manner to show that she meant him no harm and that she wasn't alarmed at all by his unique features.
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Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 12:30 pm
Helias shifted a little bit, glancing from side to side as the woman addressed him. It took him a while, but eventually the hraapea pointed to himself questioningly. There was no one else in his general direction she could have been talking to. Nikolai was all the way down the other side of the bar and even though the boy couldn't hear him, he knew the other's movements well enough to know the mercenary was flirting.
Wings perking up a little, Helias shifted from foot to foot, almost a little too eager. He casted several glances from the songstress to his guardian before slipping out from under the counter, knocking his wings and head on the partition before scrambling up from the other side. Even though he was smarting with pain, Helias eventually climbed up onto the seat beside Svetlanna, legs swinging a bit to drum a soft rhythm into the wooden stool. He wasn't tall enough to reach even the foot rest.
"Um.."
Freezing suddenly now that he realized he hadn't at all planned for a topic of conversation, Helias rubbed his wings together uncomfortably.
Click.
Oops-- Wrong sound. That was the sound of a turning handle and from what he could tell, the lady definitely did not speak door knob.
Flushing a deeper shade of crimson, the boy turned his gaze to his hands, fidgeting madly as he tried to get his priorities straight. It was always hard for him to talk in his normal voice, as Helias was more used to mimicking other... Things-- and people. He knew it was kind of offensive, which is precisely why the hraapea didn't want to open his mouth and sing the girl's song back to her.
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Patron Saint Of Farewells Crew
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Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 3:05 pm
The moment Helias had knocked not only his wings but his head on the partition she felt a sense of guilt as well as concern. Thankfully however, he seemed to be alright when he'd found himself a seat beside her. Still something told her he was biting back a small yelp, a small chorus of curses or even a pained expression from it all. It was only natural to do so after all. He must have been embarrassed from the whole ordeal.
From what she was observing by his actions, it was clear he was just as bad at starting conversations as she was when it came to strangers and so she thought that perhaps she could alleviate the awkward silence by saying something until she heard it. It being the distinctive click of a turning handle but no door had opened. That click had come from the young man beside her.
“If you weren't sitting here, I would have sworn that someone opened a door. You’ve got quite a way with mimicking the sounds around you. Is that all your able to do or say?”
Her tone held no annoyance or malice. Instead her tone was filled with curiosity and her body language showed that she was rather relaxed. She had hoped that this would ease his nerves as well.
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Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 10:24 pm
Helias jumped again when the songstress actually spoke to him, seeming to be way out of his element by this point. He knew it was annoying-- Nikolai had only told him about two hundred times complete with a couple of punches, but it wasn't like he could help it. The hraapea rarely got to talk to anyone and nobody really bothered to talk to him since he was so fidgety. His guardian had once told him that people's nervousness rubbed off on others and nobody liked feeling uncertain.
Drawing in a deep breath, Helias set his hands firmly on the table to stop moving about, willing his heartbeat to slow a bit before nodding slightly. It was a bit rude-- that much he understood-- but he couldn't bring himself to look at the lady beside him or he was sure he'd go off on another twitch tangent.
"Your mimicry is annoying, Helias. Stop it."
In the bartender's voice, the lyrebird clasped a hand over his mouth when he realized what he had just said. What purpose did that phrase illustrate? He was really bad at this conversation thing.
"Um..."
Glancing at Svetlanna out of the corner of his good eye, the hraapea tried a small smile.
"I... Am not good-- With my own voice and making words." The sentence came slowly, broken and with a heavy accent that couldn't immediately be placed. It had a certain lilt to the end of each word that sounded like a slightly different key if one were playing the piano, as if he wasn't really sure which scale to talk in. It wasn't broken or inharmonious, but simply a little out of place.
"You had--... A very nice song."
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Patron Saint Of Farewells Crew
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Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2010 1:03 pm
She blinked a few times at his statement once he managed to calm his nerves. She had to agree that mimicry could be annoying but if this was all the young man could do, then one could only be angry with themselves for not trying to teach him anything else. That, and if it came to him so naturally then one would have to find some way of trying to be a bit understanding. Svetlanna spotted the small smile that had curled onto his lips and she in turn gave him one of her own once again.
“While you think you’re not good with your own voice and making words, you did wonderfully. Only thing I can suggest is trying to relax and simply let your thoughts flow freely. It may take a bit of practice but you’ll get it in no time.”
She paused momentarily, her cheeks reddening with his comment. Even now when people said something nice about her songs she couldn’t help but blush.
“Why thank you. Perhaps one day when the both of us had a little extra free time I could give you lessons so that you could use your own voice to sing. That and I could give you some tutoring in speech so that you would feel a bit more comfortable using your own voice.”
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