Originally posted from April 12 until May 12, 2011
The faux broken missile above the door never failed to elicit a chuckle from him as he entered Euterpe's Café. Thick, pink paint on that twisted piece of metal entreated passersby to "Make Love, Not War." A solid plan, in Chance's estimation.
The blond man slid lithely through the doorway, guitar case in hand. Chance nodded and waved, greeting servers and staff as he walked through the place. The restaurant had invited local kids in over the weekend to repaint the chairs. Still early in the evening and absent of patrons, the wooden benches and seats sent splashes of color peeking out from under tables. Gossamer veils and abstract art hung from the walls. The café always smelled faintly of hemp and Patchouli; the spirit of the 60's and 70's haunting its rooms.
The twenty-three year old paused for a moment in the middle of the space, his eyes traveling from the bar, to the many tables, to the small stage. The weather had turned. A warm night would let the crowd spill out into the beer garden. He breathed in, letting his body relax. He looked forward to these evenings, these evenings off from his restaurant, his costume. Nights he could step back from his roles as a boss, a hero, a step-father, a fiancée. These hours offered Chance the opportunity to reclaim himself.
A coil of wire slapped against his chest. "That cable's not going to lay itself," said a mullet on his way to the stage. His friend and drummer, Dan, turned around, walking backwards as he grinned. "Besides, I already have a beer for you back in the booth." Unwrapping the cable with a practiced flick of the wrist, Chance walked off to help his bandmate.
--
The stage lights hid the growing audience. A cool, spring breeze blew through the large windows the staff had opened to the street. The murmur of the crowd quieted somewhat as the band took their positions on the stage.
Chance looked stage right towards his sister, Yukuko. The teenager readied herself behind her keyboards, a maraca in one hand, a guitar slung around her back. Nicole would handle bass duties for the openers, her dreadlocks shaking in a laugh shared with Dan. Yukiko would need her Strat for the second number. She wouldn't play lead. She wouldn't play rhythm. The closest thing to a professional musician in Scaring Engrish would apply her creative talents to playing the guitar of interesting noises.
Nicole turned her attentions to Chance. They stepped closer together, heads tilted, nearly touching. The band didn't need an introduction, here. Scaring English had become the house band, leading, emceeing open mics at Euterpe's Café for the last six months. They would warm up the audience, let a few others show their talents to a live audience, then come back up to close the night.
The corner of her mouth curled into a wry grin as Nicole laid her pick against the strings.
Don't You Evah - Spoon
Bet you got it all planned right
Bet you never worry, never even feel a fright
Bet you got it all planned right
Never fit to worry, never even feel a fright.
Single sleeps alone
And I know you don't really mind
Five years by your side
So I know you really don't mind
But don't you love her
Deep down
I said don't evah
'Cause it's gonna keep him hanging around
Never
Deep down
I said don't evah
Because it's gonna keep him hanging around
Bet you never think it's right
Bet you think you had to but it doesn't feel right
Bet you never think it feels right
Famous-sounding words make your head feel light
Petals getting picked
With the love-yous
And the love-you-nots
Five years going by
Everyone is staying on their side
But don't you love her
Deep down
I said don't evah
Because it's gonna keep him hanging around
Never
Deep down
I said don't evah
Because it's gonna keep him hanging around
But don't you love her
Deep down
I said don't ever
Because it's gonna keep him hanging around
Five years going by
Everyone is staying on their side
Never
Deep down
I said don't ever
'Cause it's gonna keep him hanging around
Five years going by
Everyone is staying on their side
I said don't ever need to worry
'Cause it's gonna feel all right
Chance gave Gale a few moments to plug in. He lifted a hand by way of introduction. "You all know by step-daughter to be?" he asked through the microphone. The crowd's cheers brought a blush to both their cheeks. Chance stepped forward, looking back and forth, double checking everyone was prepared. Three guitars, a bass, and drums. It felt like a rock band.
Heavy by Collective Soul
Complicate this world you wrapped for me
I'm acquainted with your suffering
And all your weight
It falls on me
It brings me down
And all your weight
It falls on me
It falls on me
Hold me up to all whom you've deceived
Promises you break you still believe
And all your weight
It falls on me
It brings me down
And all your weight
It falls on me
It falls on me
Chance let Nicole handle the introduction of the night's first act as he unplugged, tousled Gale's hair, and head off-stage in search of a beer and some friends.
--
"Here, let me get that for you." Chance followed the cash filled hand up a length of arm, past a tattooed shoulder, to settle on a thin, feminine face, framed by a bob of stringy blond hair.
"I'm not one to turn down a beer," he answered, examining the tattoo. "Hey, I know you. I think I owe you some drinks." The woman Nicole called the Queen of France had purchased any number of rounds for Chance and the band since they started playing at the café months ago. He didn't remember her looking so thin, before. He tilted his head to get a better look at the fleur-de-lis on her boney shoulder blade. "That's some nice work."
"Thanks," she replied, collecting her change and a pint of Magic Hat from the bar. "Goes with the name." She tucked some bills into the pocket of her jeans and extended a hand. "Emily Winters." Chance grasped her hand firmly and introduced himself. She giggled, nodding at the stage. "I know who you are."
"Well, then. It's a pleasure to finally learn your name," he told her with a smile. He lifted his glass in a toast. "The local music community appreciates your contributions." She returned the gesture, chuckling.
A moment of silence passed as they looked around the crowded bar. She leaned in, speaking loudly among the conversations around them. "So, does your love life just suck?"
"Huh?" Chance blinked, nonplussed. Emily tilted her head towards the stage once again. "Your choice in music. I've been coming here for a while. It's usually a pretty good indicator of your mood. 'Don't You Evah?' 'Heavy?' I've got a feeling that your love life is in a bad place."
"Riiight." Chance stumbled over the word. The woman's eyes turned upwards, as if looking for an answer on the ceiling. "Let me guess," she continued. "'Head in the Girl.'" Her eyes darted around the bar. "If Yukiko came in with a cello, I'd say 'Volcano.'"
Chance felt his jaw drop. She smiled warmly before adding with a wink, "I nailed it. Didn't I?"
He shook his head a bit too quickly. "Nah," he told her. "It's just that not too many people know both 'Big Wreck' and Damien Rice."
"What can I say?" she answered him with a shrug and a grin. "I have eclectic musical tastes."
Another moment passed.
"Hey, not for nuth'n," she began. "It's easier when you rip the Band-Aid off. Sometimes, it lets the healing begin more quickly."
Chance nodded slowly as he took a step back. "I'll try to keep that in mind. Thanks for the beer,... Beers." The guitarist tried to lose himself among the people while trying to track down a band-mate. He found Dan nursing a drink behind the sound board, keeping the current act in balance.
"Dude, we need to change our second set."
"But dude," the drummer looked up, eyes wide, "I love that 'Big Wreck' tune."
"No way, man. You'll have to trust me on this one."
"What are we going to play then?" Chance mentally flipped through their song catalog. He couldn't think of anything not related to a break up.
"You pick something." Dan smiled before his friend quickly added, "No 'Freebird'"
--
Chance stepped up to the microphone, admitting to himself that Dan had chosen well. No romantic overtones. A popular tune, one that would get the crowd up and dancing. The song got Yukiko out from the keyboard and wrapped around a fun bass line. Nicole could rock out, her dreads flailing as she strummed. It left Chance without a guitar. He didn't mind. The conversation with Milady d'Winter added too much of the surreal to the evening for him to concentrate.
Dan laid down a beat as Chance slipped into entertainment mode.
Vertigo
Songwriters: Clayton, Adam; Evans, Dave; Hewson, Paul; Mullen, Larry;
Unos, dos, tres, catorce!
Lights go down it's dark
The jungle is your head
Can't rule your heart
A feeling so much
Stronger than a thought
Your eyes are wide and though
Your soul it can't be bought
Your mind can wander
Hello hello
(Hola)
I'm at a place called Vertigo
(¿Donde esta?)
It's everything I wish I didn't know
Except you give me something
I can feel, feel
The night is full of holes
As bullets rip the sky
Of ink with gold
They twinkle as the
Boys play rock and roll
They know that they can't dance
At least they know
I can't stand the beats
I'm asking for the cheque
The girl with crimson nails
Has Jesus 'round her neck
Swinging to the music
Swinging to the music
Hello hello
(Hola)
I'm at a place called Vertigo
(¿Donde esta?)
It's everything I wish I didn't know
But you give me something
I can feel, feel
All of this, all of this can be yours
All of this, all of this can be yours
All of this, all of this can be yours
Just give me what I want
And no one gets hurt
Hello hello
(Hola)
We're at a place called Vertigo
(Donde esta?)
Lights go down and all I know
Is that you give me something
I can feel your love teaching me how
Your love is teaching me how
How to kneel, kneel
--
The shoulders of her jacket hitched up over her ears as she slid further down into the booth. Aggy sipped her lemonade. She didn't like alcohol at the best of times. Now it seemed like an especially bad idea. Who knows what stupid babble would dribble out of her mouth.
She hated nearly every ridiculous question that came out of her mouth on the comms. The words would echo in her own headset before she realized she was talking. The filter between her brain and her tongue had grown thin since coming here and was getting weaker with each passing day.
It was all getting worse. All of it.
Maintaining the armor took more effort than just three weeks ago. Basic constants and formulae for resistance and power slipped her mind. She couldn't hold the suit's schematic in her head any longer and the portable computer she brought with seemed to be suffering from the same disintegration as her and her brother. They were dying, literally unraveling in a world not suited for them.
Returning to their own reality was no longer an option, according to the In-Betweener. That plane, that collection of strings, waves, quarks, and other particles Aggy had spent her short life studying, apparently didn't exist. It never existed. The young physicist didn't like her position in the study of her own paradox. If I come from a place that does not exist, than how is it I exist? Cogito ergo sum. But my thinking isn't coming too clearly, lately.
She looked back towards the stage as Scaring Engrish returned. Her Da had never played guitar. Music was always playing in their house, a bizarre mix of funk, jazz, hip hop, and rock. But that Chance, the Chance that never existed, never married Regina Howard, never had a set of twins, had never stepped up on stage to perform or strummed an instrument.
That Chance Thomas never owned a restaurant or returned to Japan for anything other than a vacation. That Chance Thomas became Samurai Indigo after his teen years as Kid Harrier, and then retired from the cape to teach as one of the most popular history professors at the University of Chicago.
Agnes fought the urge to find him in the crowd after the set and talk to him. She wanted to tell him he would make a good dad. That when.... That when.... She could no longer remember the name of that first love that broke her heart. But when he did, she remembered her Da holding her as she cried, listening to her anger and hurt. She remembered how her father's presence made a long night, shorter.
She ran the memories through her head: their first rocket launch, that incident with the soldering iron, that other incident with the car and the arc welder, the first day of university. All those thoughts, all the formative moments of her life, didn't exist for him. They would never be a part of his life.
Trying to catch recollections as they flitted through her mind, Agnes slouched more deeply against the hard wooden bench.
-- by Darkbladex96
Not long before, Sanctus had been concerned about his relationship with the mortals of earth. He began to feel as if his origin and immortality had begun to isolate him. Unsure what to do Sanctus turned his concerns to a fellow guardian Nocran who isnt of earth origin, he inquired of him how he had adjusted to life here currently. Nocran simply replied, "Socialize my friend." Its not as if this is an alien concept to the angel. He once had booming human relationships and an active social life, but this was back when ceasar was still in power and before christ walked the earth. So now he finds himself headed towards a local hub of human interaction, clad in a new tailored outfit complete with hood and full mask all made to his specification.
Sanctus came into ear shot of the cafe, he could hear the tunes pouring out of the establishment like a fine liquor, warm and blithe. His normal ways are to travel amoungst the mineral and lurk in on the conversations of others while waiting for a moment to step fourth from the wood work, but he promised himself thats not how he was going to conduct himself this night.
"Humans use the front door", He said to himself.
With a great breathe, the first he'd taken in centuries Sanctus heaves the door open. Music floods his ears, flamboyant chatter of flirty singles and couples mingle into the air with the other sounds to create a sort of surreal hive like enviroment. New to the social scene Sanctus scans the space for a place to jump start his integration back into the society. Sanctus spots a familiar face across the room.
Sanctus glides carefully across the cafe, being careful not to bump or interrupt any who are enjoying their time. The figure slid deep into the booth, requiring sanctus to work his way around the crowd to get a better look. Realizing that he's just beating around the bush he makes his way towards the Booth.
"Ive seen you before, Samurai Obsidian. Heard you on the guardians comms a few times as well. I dont believe we've met in person though."
The words flow out of Sanctus' mouth as smooth and calm as ever. Despite his attempts at normal tones his voice still carries a "presence" that cant be described by words. He eases himself in to the booth and sits directly across from the familiar person, though his face and eyes are hidden by the stark white and candy cane red hood the fact that he is awaiting an answer is clear.
-- by Rex Celestis
Fuck it. Just fuck it. Dance music would come later. Now, her needed to play something. M'Lady D'Winter be damned.
He slipped on his guitar and said something to the rest of the band. They nodded as he drew his pick against the strings and stepped up to the mic.
Crooked Teeth
Death Cab for Cutie
It was one hundred degrees
As we sat beneath a willow tree
Whose tears didn't care
They just hung in the air
And refused to fall, to fall
And I knew I'd made a horrible call
And now the state line felt
Like the Berlin wall
And there was no doubt
About which side I was on
'Cause I built you a home in my heart
With rotten wood, it decayed from the start
'Cause you can't find nothing at all
If there was nothing there all along
No you can't find nothing at all
If there was nothing there all along
I braved treacherous streets
And kids strung out
On homemade speed
And we shared a bed
In which I could not sleep at all
'Cause that night the sun in the trees
Made the skyline look
Like crooked teeth
In the mouth of a man
Who was devouring, us both
You're so cute when you're slurring your speech
But they're closing the bar and they want us to leave
And you can't find nothing at all
If there was nothing there all along
No you can't find nothing at all
If there was nothing there all along
I'm a war of head versus heart
And it's always this way
My head is weak, my heart always speaks
Before I know what it will say
And you can't find nothing at all
If there was nothing there all along
No you can't find nothing at all
If there was nothing there all along
And you can't find nothing at all
If there was nothing there all along
There were churches, theme parks and malls
But there was nothing there all along.
Chance fled the stage, leaving someone else to introduce the next act.
--
"You are not picking another song the entire night," Nicole slid over a full pint as she settled into the bench opposite Chance.
"But?"
Her lifted hand to dismiss him. "Yukiko, Dan, and I are on board for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but you sir, are cut off."
Chance picked up the pint and tilted it in her direction. He nodded. "It's over, Nicole."
"Yeah." The dreadlocked woman took a long drink of her pint before answering. "Chance, Kori propelled you further in death than in her life." She slammed her pint on the table. "Is that what you want out of a relationship? Really?"
"She saved my life, Nikki. I rediscovered a purpose."
"And you saved hers, twice, three times. What the fuck do I know? Chance, really? Seriously? It's not that you don't deserve a CEO multibillionare, but you deserve one that has her shit together and will treat you as something more than a fucking pawn in the game that is her life." Nicole drained her pint. "Fuck, Chance. If I had the energy, I'd reach over and slap you."
The conversations of others intruded on the silence of the moment. "I..." Chance began. "I hoped..." Nicole's hand darted out to take his. Five years, separated them. Five years. Enough time for Nicole to discover things never worked out the way one hoped. Things worked out the way they are. "Hey!" Hey!" she called to him across the wooden space between them. "Reality strikes."
"And I think it's +50 to hit, but I'd need to look it up." They shared an honest laugh. Nicole looked at him, her hand rolling in his. Her eyes moved back to the sound booth. "Come back and hang with us."
He smiled. "Thanks, Nikki. Really. I need a moment, then I'm all yours."
"No declines?"
"None. I will play whatever you direct me to."
Nicole cast a wicked grin at him. "Yes. Yes, you will."
--
Nicole pressed her hand against his cheek. "You get this one, Chance." She kissed him, full on the mouth, to remind him what love felt like. "It's not for the last girl, it's for the next. So that she'll know what you expect."
Chance looked at her once and nodded. "Good," Nicole whispered in his ear. "Because after this, you are so my bitch." She grinned as the spotlight fell on her band-mate. She would be ready when the moment came.
Chance took his beer forward, guitar around his neck surprised by the crowd. They would know the lyrics and the song. They would sing of his pain and their own,... They would slow as he fumbled though the words, and then the pain would be would be gone, dispersed across the moment shared. He would pause, free, free of that for the moment, he would rush back to the other musicians. Like dreamed of family, they would support him.
Everlong
by the Foo Fighters
Hello
I've waited here for you
Everlong
Tonight
I throw myself into
And out of the red, out of her head she sang
Come down
And waste away with me
Down with me
Slow how
You wanted it to be
I'm over my head, out of her head she sang
And I wonder
When I sing along with you
If everything could ever feel this real forever
If anything could ever be this good again
The only thing I'll ever ask of you
You've got to promise not to stop when I say when
She sang
Breathe out
So I could breathe you in
Hold you in
And now
I know you've always been
Out of your head, out of my head I sang
And I wonder
When I sing along with you
If everything could ever feel this real forever
If anything could ever be this good again
The only thing I'll ever ask of you
You've got to promise not to stop when I say when
She sang
If everything could ever feel this real forever
If anything could ever be this good again
The only thing I'll ever ask of you
You've got to promise not to stop when I say when
--
Chance wondered what Land Hunter would make of this. At some point in the evening, inter-spaced between the other acts, Scaring Engrish had breached the line between entertainment and raw emotion. Could the alien pick up on it? He scanned the crowd, looking for his finned friend.
--
Aggy looked up at the figure. "Hmm, Hi? You're Sanctus, right? You find beauty and wonderment in everyday Humanity, right?"
She paused, her face expressing a wash of conversations. "Why are you in a bar?"
-- By Kenneth Haun
She didn’t so much as walk in as glide from one arm to another in a series of flirtation and sparkling blue on blue eyes that left any dancer she moved with seeing stars.
The music of the singer became something she danced with on the floor, spun and then grinded first with one partner and then another letting her senses fill with their emotion. Letting the power of passion and love become a spinning dynamo within her mind with no limit.
If everything could ever feel this real forever
If anything could ever be this good again
The only thing I’ll ever ask of you
You’ve got to promise not to stop when I say when
The music echoed through the minds and hearts of those around her and she took them as invitation merging desires with daring and urging those around her to as well. It was what she was meant for and as the song crashed to a halt her feet flew across the floor palms slapping hard on the bar. She grinned, hungry for all the glory of life and winked to the bar tender.
“The spiciest beer you have.” Her voice drifted with the echoes of lust, before reined in with a sip of the beer.
The she felt the cold and the strings attached and laughed sipping down the beer and letting her inner light of love and passion flare out in meta-psionic wave that made women blush and men wonder. Where it passed emotions of passion and excitement rose as the music did. The wave didn’t so much as send a challenge to the ‘beast’ feeding on despair, as began to ‘spoil the milk’. The rising tide of emotional energies a positive flare over shadowing the despair coming from Chance.
She didn’t even bat an eye and enjoying the spice beer wove herself back into the crowd, small nudges here and there.
As she moved through the music her body spun through the dances of the lives she had experienced till merging into one spiraling movement and responding to the anguish from the booth deposited her on the other side of Agnes and Sanctus. Her blue on blue eyes sparkled and fair to glow with the energy she was looping through the crowd.
“Well hello there.” She purred and placed the empty mug on the tray of a passing waiter. Then with a gasp she laughed, almost wickedly. “My goodness I seem to have lost my way back to those I came in with. Mind if I join you?”
Alexxia smiles and it’s a warm, living thing that carries with it kindness, and a promise of …something.
-- by Rex Celestis
Aggy's eyes lifted, then traveled back and forth between Sanctus and the exotic figure. The petite young woman drew herself up on the bench. "hmmm, Sure."
-- by DarkBladex96
"Humanity is quite the gem is it not?" He said whilst folding his arms across his chest and leaning back in the booth seat.
"Im here in hopes of reconnecting with humanity, Ive been disconnected for a long while now and its began to affect my outlook on things." Sanctus pauses for a moment to let what he said sink in. "I spotted you when i walked in, but what brought me over here was you feelings of intense sadness and uncertainty, you dont look well either...."
Another then walks to the booth where Sanctus and Aggy reside, Aggy welcomed her company so with a nod Sanctus welcomes her as well.
-- by Ken Huan
Alexxia’s eyes seemed to sparkle in the dusky light of the bar and walking up a waiter unsummoned deposited another beer in front of her and turned walking away.
The smile doesn’t waiver as she speaks.
“Thank you both soo much.” She sounds exuberant to the possibilities and radiates self assurance. “But your anything but sure.” She lets a gentleness into her tone as she speaks to Aggy. “And your very disconnected my new friend.” turning her head to look at Sanctus past a lock of hair that falls over her face.
“I’m Alexxia Moon, and if you want I’m at your service.” She sips her beer lightly and watches the bubbles for a moment before setting the mug down and looking both of them over.
There's no measuring, or scrutiny to how she looks at them. Its as if she was seeing something beautiful like a flower or other work of art and she smiles afterward.
“You both wandered in here for different reasons, and drawn to different sufferings, but you don’t have to be psychic to see your both in pain.” Alexxia leans closer to the both of them and radiates a clam strength.
-- by Rex Celestis
Aggy's eyes flitted between the two, not unlike the orbs of a caged animal. The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could catch them.
"Do both of you know who you are? I mean really know who you are? I mean, I thought I did. Cute, perky time traveler, just willing to pop back 20 some years to see my mom and dad on their wedding day. So what that the time machine I invented, I invented, mind you, plunged my brother and I into an alternate past where my parents never married and my dad never even finished college. I mean, he seems to have a nice fiance and everything even if they broke up, Big dummies, and mom just looks fantastic but, well, anyway. No big deal. Ya think? I mean, I'm a genius. I have two, count them, two doctorates by the age of 22. Tweak the doohickey on the thingamajig, pop back tot he future and try again. But something doesn't work right. I figure it's the physical constants of this alternate universe, right? I mean, that's the first thing you'd think of, right? Well, whatever it is, it's messing with our bodies and minds. Not always the picture of restraint, my filter is like, thin. microns thin. maybe atomically thin. It gets worse, it's like were falling apart. There's nothing keeping us together here. And you know why? 'Cause it's all a lie. None of it is true. Wash and I didn't exist until a few months ago and we come from here. So my whole history. All those times with my family? Those doctorates? That boy I had a crush on sixth grade? All not real. Like unreality. Like my memory is the only thing making those people and things real, and oh boy, my memory is going fast. Like, I can't even recall the atomic weight of Ununquadium? I mean Ununquadium! I mean, what will happen if I forget the entire periodic table? Are you two just a figment of my imagination, bound to discorporate as my memory of this moments fades? Am I a figment of your imagination, trapped in some quantum state between reality and the not real. Well, pet me and call me Schrödinger. Thing is. I don't know why we're here, where we come from, how it is we've kept it together for so long. But I know what's keeping us together isn't doing a very good job and I'm going to fade away in a few weeks. Not die. I'm not even sure I'm alive. I'm just going to stop existing."
The young woman threw her hands over her mouth, shaking. She swallowed, then looked past her two companions for a waitress. "I think I'm ready for a beer."
-- by DarkBladex96
Sanctus sits across from Aggy completely dumbfounded. The torrent of emotion pouring from her was immense as dense as Sanctus was, even he didn't need telepathy to feel this, the power only confirmed her as sane.
"I...umm...you.."
This is the first time in a thousand years someone had just threw their situation on Sanctus, he had forgotten what true human pain and suffering was outside the immediate threats of world destruction and petty crime that he was no engrossed in. Unsure of how to go about the situation, throwing caution to the wind he gave his best shot at human sympathy.
"It sounds like you've had that on your chest for awhile, good that you got it out holding it in was only compounding the problem. Your problem seems extremely complicated as is. I get that you don't belong here, but what makes you think that your past is a lie, that you've only truly existed for a few months?"
"Existence and reality are the most complicated concepts one can explore, and this dilemma isn't something you and this Wash can handle alone. What kind of help have you sought out, and from who? What did they tell you?"
A truly interesting dilemma, interesting in the sense that Sanctus had rarely heard such a thing. Here in front of him sits a young girl whose life is quite literally unraveling before her.
-- by Ken Haun
Alexxia took a sip of her spiced beer and then slowly slid it over to Aggy with a wink.
“Take a breath, a drink and then another deep breath.” Alexxia let the gentle tone back into her voice as she finished absorbing the bulk of what the young woman had said. She smiles as she speaks.
“The only truth is to question.” It’s a playful remark. She lets out a breath and looks into Aggy’s eyes. “You have a choice to make, and its by no means an easy one. To exist or not to exist?” Alexxia holds up her hands in front of her.
“In many cases of the world, or worlds, whatever title you want to put on it whether physical, energy, or other it always comes down to a choice.” Alexxia keeps her hands out.
“That’s another choice you have to make, is whether or not even to choose to believe.” There’s that wink again combining something sultry with kindness. The thing is you have become so wrapped in the concept of the paradox of what’s happening that your forgetting that despite what ‘they’ do or don’t do you still exist. By letting yourself get so mired by the scientific ‘what ifs and what nots’ your fulfilling what you believe the end result to be.” Alexxia frowns.
“So you fade.”
Another drink arrives, unordered to the table, another brand of beer from another country.
“Now if you need a scientific theory to graft onto.” Alexxia rolls her eyes and between her hands stretches a brown, common, piece of thread. “You see the thread. Our space and time, but look closer and you’ll see its comprised of dozens of twisted threads. Look closer and you’ll see hundreds of small threads branching out like limbs. Look closer and you start to see the atoms, wrapped around each other mirroring one another.” Alexxia pauses and then winks again at Aggy.
“Now just because one pieces gets separated from the whole or even from the piece that originated it…its still string.”
“It might get a little unraveled in the process, but you can always twist it back together again.”
Alexxia leans over the table and with deft fingers ties the simple string around one of Aggy’s fingers before turning to look at Sanctus.
“Now there tall, handsome and bewildered, your turn.”
She sips her beer from the bottle more like kissing someone than drinking, blue eyes glittering.
-- by Rex Celestis
"But, but, but," Aggy humphed, puffing her bangs off her forehead. "There is no paradox. This isn't my fault. The In-Betweener told us we're from here. We didn't come back in time. We were never in the future! I don't know how or why I'm here!" Her lip quivered as she took a sip from a beer, then grimaced. "Ug. You'd think I'd remember that I don't like beer."
The pale figure took a deep breath before looking up and flagging a waitress. "I'd like one complete, autonomous existence, please. Barring that, a glass of spiked lemonade will do, thank you."
-- by Ken Huan
Alexxia smiles and ‘borrowing’ a pad of paper and pen from a passing waiter with deft hands writes something out and folding the paper passes it over to Aggy.
“I never said anything about blame, or being any one’s fault. Your going to have to let go of that thought.”
She watches Aggy sip and then order something to drink with that same smile and eyes.
“You’re going to have to choose to be here.” She says the words with deep emphasis and her eyes gleam. “Not the how or why. If that was so important we would all be fading. It’s the choice that one wants to be.” She sips her own beer and then smiles and in a kinder tone adds. “You have to make the choice to accept what and who you are without the contradiction of self unbelief.”
-- by DarkBadex96
"You, Miss Moon, might just be a genius of the metaphysical. You took the words right out of my mouth. I suspected that her state of mind might be affecting her, seems in not the only one with this theory." Sanctus drums his fingers on the table in thought wondering who this incredible insightful woman is who just by chance ended up in this booth with them. "your thread metaphor was well made, would also help explain some of what In-betweener said, but that's for another time."
"As for In-betweener. I've never heard of him, but put what he said out of mind. Don't doubt yourself, believe that you and everything you hold dear is real. It might not completely stop it, but it definitely doesn't help to be bogged down by all the irrelevant details." He looks up at the ceiling. "you want to live exist and that's whats important"
"Try to keep it together for at least another week." he says in a plotting tone.
Sanctus sits back, looking as natural and casual as any other guy in a bar, save the hood and full mask he wore with his outfit. What a night this is turning into...even demon and angel conflicts aren't as complicated as this.
-- by Rex Celestis
Alexxia turned her blue on blue eyes to Sanctus and smiled alittle too wickedly.
“You say the kindest things, tall, hooded and delicious when you flirt.” Some of that hair falls over her face obscuring one eye as she speaks. “But then its your turn now handsome. Whats the weight that pulls you down from the heavens cause I’m thinking anyone this beautiful has to be divine.” She mixes the old bar pick up line into the question but her voice is gentle and serious.
“This troubled woman has shared her pain and your still mired in yours. Maybe there's a way for both of you to help one another if looked at from another view.” She sips her beer one more time before continuing, aiming her eyes at both but settling to Sanctus as Aggy absorbs what has been said.
“Everyone hides a secret pain. It must be exposed and reckoned with. It must be dragged from the darkness and forced into the light. Share your pain. Share your pain with me... and gain strength from the sharing.” The words come out of her mouth husky and open, blue eyes shining slightly.
-- by Rex Celestis
The bangs flew from her forehead again. "OK, Yoda.... Yodas? Is it a yokel of Yodas?" She inhaled sharply as if surprised by the sound of her own voice.
"Thank you, both of you, any idea...." Her eyes caught Chance as he worked through a song on stage. The words of a graying, slightly more pudgy, older version of that man came back to her. "I"m beautiful, smart, brave, and strong," she whispered. "I'm beautiful, smart, brave, and strong," she said again more loudly. "Is that what you mean? Is positive self talk going to get me through another week?"
-- by DarkBladex96
"You've got to believe it or whats the point?" He nods.
"I don't think its the end all, but state of mind can help clear the "fog" in your mind....not to mention the fabric of reality is metaphysical. I think therefore i am is a real issue, just not to people native to their reality. I have a few theories on your situation, but there's nothing I can do about it here or now."
-- by Ken Haun
Alexxia’s laugh is startling soft and decadent.
“That’s it!” She remarks as Aggy makes the joke about yodas and startles at her voice. She shifts to slide into the booth beside Aggy, near enough to touch. “That’s exactly it.” Her blue on blue eyes sparkle. “You set your definition for being. You choose what to keep as memory and focus it, dream of it and never let go of it.”
Alexxia takes another sip of her beer and pushes it away, only to have it replaced by another brand with another strange label without asking. “No its not simple. If it where everyone would be doing it.” She lets the words out as she examines the beer bottle before opening it. “The fact is that there are very few people who can choose to exist without someone anchoring them. For you it seems the fact maybe more so. You need not just to repeat the words and go farther than believe the the words…you have to become them.”
She shakes her head. “Yes it is awfully metaphysical mumbo-jumbo, but it could be scientific equations and the challenge and results would be the same.”
“As for helping with your mental memories and what not…That I have to have special permission from you for.” She touches Aggy’s shoulder gently and her eyes are soft. “Ultimately the only real person that can help you with this, is yourself.”
-- by Rex Celestis
"Can I have dark skin?" Aggy chuckled. "My mom has the most beautiful skin. As a kid, I wondered what went wrong that I look so white.
Furrows appeared beneath her dark bangs. "What kind of permission?" Aggy's eyes shifted towards Sanctus. "Metaphysical? What do you have in mind?"
-- by Ken Haun
Alexxia gets that wicked grin again as she answers.
“Why the same a doctor would need or other individual would ask before journeying into a intimate place…..Permission to draw you into my mind.”
There’s that wink again, sultry and playful. Alexxia looks between Sanctus and Aggy and sips her beer again sliding it away from her to be picked up and replaced by another brand.
“Looks like your getting the double aid. One part magic, the other from in here.” She touches her own forehead for a moment and the blue on blue eyes dance playfully. “Your asking questions. Protecting yourself, that’s a good sign of your choice.” Alexxia states this like it’s a great victory. “Some one like you should fight to exist, despite any over whelming odds.” She salutes Aggy and sips the beer briefly.
-- by Darkbladex96
"Think back to Ms. Moons thread analogy, Imagine your reality as a bundle of threads and you as a single thread, all bound together. What happens when you unbind one? It unravels."
He taps his finger on his forehead for a second in thought.
"You have basically broken loose from the bundle that is your reality and are unwinding because there is nothing here that binds you together. Now normally that thread would fall back in place if moved, i.e. you fading. You would appear in your native reality safe and sound. But if the place you come from doesn't exist then your form has nothing to guide its unraveling existence back into place so you disappear. You to be bound to something.."
Sanctus leans back and rubs his chin.
"Also I don't believe that it never existed, I believe it could've been tampered with."
-- by Rex Celestis
"So, outside of a positive self image and remembering things I don't remember, how do Wash and I get re-bound?"
-- by Ken Haun
Alexxia can’t help herself. The eyes glimmer with mischief as she speaks thoughtfully.
“While I usually get paid to tie people up, I havn’t yet stocked up in those sorts of supplies yet so the bondage may have to wait.” She fakes a pout and then smiles at Aggy proudly.
“You’ve already taken the first step in staying reality-stable. You made a choice. As for Wash, he will have to make his own in that regard.”
She looks to Sanctus and smiles wickedly. “Half right on the string analogy angel eyes.” There’s that flirtatious tone and bad bar one-liners again.
“The string piece carries its own ability to keep cohesion when separated from a reality main mass. Call it inner special gravity, sympathetic harmonic tension, or static cling if you want. They have the ability to stay connected to a reality if they make the choice to.” For all the scientific and metaphysical grammar she uses the tone is warm and playful, shifting to a gentler level when she looks back at Aggy.
“As for the ‘hows’ you have to decide to either use your science, some magic, or duct tape.”
-- by Rex Celestis
The small, pale face shook from side to side. There's not one solutions to this? I mean, I've searched for a physical solution. My brother's looked for a biological one. I don't believe science can help us here." Her dark eyes settled on Sanctus. "I've never been one for faith," then shifted to Alexxia, "and I've never studied magic."
-- by Ken Haun
Alexxia smiles, blue eyes glimmering and reaching one arm around Aggy hugs her warmly.
“One of the neatest things about faith and magic. You don’t have to study either for them to work for you.” She winks letting the smaller woman go. “And you're brilliant. Even without those two I’m positive you would have found a scientific solution. You just needed a little support making the choice.”
Alexxia suddenly look up at the dance floor and with another quick hug releases Aggy. “Now I get dibs on the next dance with you, when your ready.”
-- by Rex Celestis
"You hate me. You've been planning this for weeks." Chance offered both comments neutrally, no tone. Nicole patted his cheek. "I wuv you, and yes. I've waited for this moment."
"This is Hell." Chance paused, watching Nicole as she tilted her head and placed a finger along her jaw. "What?"
"I'm wondering if I should ask you to take your shirt off." Chance heard Yukiko snicker from behind her keyboards. Nicole patted his cheek again. "Buck up, camper. My first choice was 'Smack my Bitch Up' but I didn't want to offend anyone." Chance chuckled in spite of himself. The open mic had run pretty dry, leaving Scarring Engrish to crank out song dance numbers. Chance had to admit it, playing some fun and mindless covers had lightened his mood. "Besides," Nicole whispered to him, conspiratorially, "I'll be right here next to you."
"Where will Yuki and Dan be?"
"Well, Yukiko needs to hit the button, but then she's running away. Dan said he couldn't watch without a strong drink in his hand." Nikki smiled. "OK. You can keep your shirt." Before Chance could utter another sound, she nodded towards the keyboardist.
Take a Chance on Me by Abba
If you change your mind, I’m the first in line
Honey I’m still free
Take a chance on me
If you need me, let me know, gonna be around
If you’ve got no place to go, if you’re feeling down
If you’re all alone when the pretty birds have flown
Honey I’m still free
Take a chance on me
Gonna do my very best and it ain’t no lie
If you put me to the test, if you let me try
Take a chance on me
(that’s all I ask of you honey)
Take a chance on me
We can go dancing, we can go walking, as long as we’re together
Listen to some music, maybe just talking, get to know you better
’cos you know I’ve got
So much that I wanna do, when I dream I’m alone with you
It’s magic
You want me to leave it there, afraid of a love affair
But I think you know
That I can’t let go
If you change your mind, I’m the first in line
Honey I’m still free
Take a chance on me
If you need me, let me know, gonna be around
If you’ve got no place to go, if you’re feeling down
If you’re all alone when the pretty birds have flown
Honey I’m still free
Take a chance on me
Gonna do my very best and it ain’t no lie
If you put me to the test, if you let me try
Take a chance on me
(come on, give me a break will you? )
Take a chance on me
Oh you can take your time baby, I’m in no hurry, know I’m gonna get you
You don’t wanna hurt me, baby don’t worry, I ain’t gonna let you
Let me tell you now
My love is strong enough to last when things are rough
It’s magic
You say that I waste my time but I can’t get you off my mind
No I can’t let go
’cos I love you so
If you change your mind, I’m the first in line
Honey I’m still free
Take a chance on me
If you need me, let me know, gonna be around
If you’ve got no place to go, if you’re feeling down
If you’re all alone when the pretty birds have flown
Honey I’m still free
Take a chance on me
Gonna do my very best, baby can’t you see
Gotta put me to the test, take a chance on me
(take a chance, take a chance, take a chance on me)
-- by Rex Celestis
Aggy turned her head, watching Alexxia slither towards the increasingly crowded dance floor. "Do you dance, Sanctus? There might be safety in numbers."
--
Milady de Winter crept towards an exit, a plastic smile affixed to her face, her stomach turning sour. His friends had rallied around, eventually raising a honest chuckle from throat. She had eaten enough for one night, a pleasant repast after the fast. Strutting on the stage, Chance filled her gaze once more. There would be plenty to eat, later.
-- by Ken Huan
“Run, run, as fast as you can.” Alexxia whispered watching the crowd, band and feeling a presence withdrawing itself.
She could sense the young woman’s drive, and Alexxia let herself bask for a moment in the emotion of it.
Yes the young woman would survive.
She wondered about the brooding professional but knew that some people found it easier to hide from their own choice by helping others pain. Still though a good evening.
She accepted another beer brand, letting the previous be taken away after a mere few sips.
There was so much to experience, and as always never enough actual time.
“Now why would you need safety in number?” Alexxia turned looking at Aggy with a wicked smile
“Or am I that intimidating?” The smile turned to a dramatic pout, playful for all but the eyes. Those blue on blue eyes, bright yet at the moment more like a predators. Then her smile is back and Alexxia is laughing watching a man go down on one knee and propose to the girl he was dancing with.
“You never need safety from your own choices. It is by choice you set your mind at motion. It is by your choice that thoughts acquire speed. The speed of thought become emotion. The emotion becomes a choice, and with it one lives life!” She recites the mantra looking at both Sanctus and Aggy as she slides out of the booth like a luxurious cat, back arching and limbs already moving to the music.
-- by Rex Celestis
The lump felt strange in her throat, as well as a tingle in other places. "That's one Hell of a super-power," Aggy muttered, softly. She watched Alexxia move through the dance floor, wondering if that woman ever felt awkward in her own body. The concert t-shirt and baggy jeans felt suddenly extra mis-sized.
"What the hell," she said to no one in particular. "Time to live a little." Agnes slipped out of the booth and made her way to the dance floor.
-- by Ken Haun
Alexxia doesn’t so much as work with the rhythm and crowd to the music as prowls it. She makes every movement her own and seems to know exactly where to step avoiding hands and veiled offers through the crowd to find Aggy on the dance floor.
She moves with the experience of someone who practiced to be a good dancer. Someone who trained herself to be graceful and sure footed. The sensuality comes to her for free though as she dips herself back and around Aggy playfully bringing her up onto the dance floor.
She doesn’t speak, it wouldn’t do any good. Instead speaking with the way her body moves.
‘Come play with me.’
Her body weaves the meaning clear as if she had spoken.
‘Move to the rhythm that is natural to you.’
‘I want to see you dance.’
In the gloom of the dance floor Alexxia’s face is illuminated by the glow of her eyes as she breaths into the next steps as if seeking Aggy to match her steps and partner in the dance.
“When you need me, or want me, or both. Think of my eyes and my name as hard as you can.” She meets each of their eyes and then with a spin melds to the crowd. It seems the partner or partners don’t matter to her. She dances and spins, weaves and grinds into anyone who steps up. To anyone who makes the choice to step into her arms, or seek a kiss. She dances with them, and as she does so the emotional energy flows into her, amplifies and charges the crowd with more positive emotional force and hope.
-- by Rex Celestis
Watching the band form this side of the stage seemed odd to Chance. Yukiko's skirt looked even shorter from out here and Nikki's movements, more exaggerated. A three person song gave him a much need opportunity to run to the men's room, grab another beer, and hit the dance floor for a short time.
He waved to a few teammates at the cafe. Crystal offered him a smile and Chance wasn't sure Sanctus saw him from that booth in the back. That girl, Samurai Obsidian, seemed entranced by an exotic, distinctly feminine figure in the crowd. They danced closely, as intimates, yet a small gap separated them. Asking Agnes how she got both of her names would have to wait for another night. He wasn't going to step between anyone and getting lucky.
For a moment, he lost himself on the floor; lost himself to the music and the beat of the crowd.
--
Her lip threatened to bleed as Aggy bit it. At first, she moved in rhythm, but not with the music. Long nights in the lab didn't leave a lot of time to dance. She watched Alexxia as the woman twisted, turned, and writhed, fascinated with how it all came so easily to her. The petite, pale figure drew confidence from the taller figure; comfort in relation to proximity. Within the span of a few numbers, and at least one more spiked lemonade, she found herself released to the notes and phrases, existing in spaces between the beats.
Colin. That was his name. He broke her heart, splitting up with her on her sixteenth birthday.
-- by Ken Haun
Alexxia moves to incorporate every movement, even the unsteady ones that Aggy makes, into the dance the two share. As Aggy found herself beginning to swim through the rhythm both physically and mentally Alexxia’s eyes blue on blue drew her to step and dance in focus with one another.
Alexxia’s dance shifts as the songs do and her movements through the next few numbers speak out to Aggy.
‘Invite me.’
‘Let me help you’
‘Together with this dance you can remember.’
Alexxia moves her body to the rhythms as she trained herself to do. Its an old method of dance. Rythmic, hypnotic swaying motions, music, eye contact. Alexxia uses them all to make her request clear.
‘Come into me.’
Alexxia’s smile is warm with the flush of the dance, but her eyes carry a serious focus for a few moments as she watches and listens to Aggy.
-- by Rex Celestis
Nagaina, Rikki, Nag, characters from a half remembered story flashed though Aggy's mind. A chuckle dismissed her caution and fear as she looking into that pair of exotic eyes and invited them in.
-- by Ken Haun
The lights in Alexxia’s eyes suddenly go out, or to be more descriptive vanish into her. For Aggy there is a single moment of disorientation and then she’s watching herself dance to the rhythm and flow to the motions of the crowd around her.
Seeing herself through Alexxia’s eyes.
There’s probably a moment of panic followed by Alexxia’s voice sweet in her thoughts as if she was whispering into the girls ear.
“Into my mind.”
Then the sensation of moving, without movement and her vision of the world blurs to soft blue light and mist. She floats in a vast, eternal space filled with a soft blue lamination, clouds drifting and in the distance a soft vibration like a heart beating. There in the distance a intensity of blue light surrounded by hundreds of orbiting crystals refracting the light into the clouds.
Around Aggy rise a dozen mirrored crystals each reflecting a different image of Aggy. Different bits of memory, and some even focus. It seems as if there should be a great deal of noise as well but each crystal is silent, only the heart beat setting the rhythm of the crystals slow turning. “Memories.” Allexia’s voice purrs around her.
Slowly the individual facets of the crystals begin to rearrange themselves into a cohesive series. One event after another forming over the facets like thousands of small computer screens.
“Together.” Alexxia’s voice whispers gently as smaller, fractured crystals rise around Aggy. They hold ‘bits’ of memories that had begun to fade. Thoughts and the focus of thoughts that Aggy was beginning to lose, all these Alexxia copies in her own mind and then suspends them for Aggy’s to lead the way in reconstructing.
On the dance floor Aggy and Alexxia dance arm in arm. Eyes locked and a smile on each face as if somehow sharing a secret.
-- by Rex Celestis
Chance looked stage left as he fiddled with some effect pedals. Nikki looked larger without a guitar. His dreadlocked bandmate stood on stage, talking the audience into their last number as Yukiko let the sound bleed in. He had promised Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, but for all the ups and downs of the evening, he had kept his head.
Heads Will Roll by the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs
Off with your head,
Dance ’til you’re dead
Heads will roll (4x)
On the floor
Glitter on the west streets
Silver over everything
The rivers all wet
You’re all chrome
Dripping with alchemy
Shiver stop shivering
The glitter’s all wet
You’re all chrome
The men cry out the girls cry out
The men cry out the girls cry out
The men cry out, oh no
(repeat)
Off with your head
Dance ’til you’re dead
Heads will roll (4x)
On the floor
You can last
Take the past
Shut your eyes
Realize
Glitter on the west streets
Silver over everything
The glitter’s all wet
You’re all chrome
You’re all chrome
Oh oh
Off off off with your head
Dance dance dance ’til you’re dead
Off off off with your head
Dance dance dance ’til you’re dead
Off off off with your head
Dance dance dance ’til you’re dead
-- by Ken Haun
Alexxia let the music flow through part of her, even as the other half worked with Aggy to assemble the shards of memories into whole parts.
She danced and wove herself with the other woman and gently pressed away prying eyes or offers to cut in. This was a private dance and she disliked being interrupted during this sort of a healing.
Healing the mind is easy, the heart can never be healed.
She remembered the old Benne Gesuit hag that had first uttered those words to her so many life times ago. How that one lesson lead to so much destruction in a single life time. How many life times had it taken to be unlearned.
Healing the heart is easy, when it chooses to heal.
Alexxia smiled and shifted to connect with the part of her that aided Aggy.
The images in the crystal shards formed more and more cohesive memories and Alexxia monitored each piece that Aggy restored herself.
She let herself watch a few and then created a mental image of Aggy near her minds core.
Alexxia laughed at the old description. ‘Her minds core.’ The old Benne gesuit nuns had spoken of it in secret whispered. Talked about the place they could not look. They always look outward, that was the trap. Alexxia looked inward and there her mental core lay within the love of her heart.
The mental aspect of herself smiled to the construct of Aggy.
“I love you. Will always love you, and in that circle lies the secret.” The construct rose, became a mirrored crystal and began to revolve around the core.
Alexxia, surrounded by the memories of her love and their mental constructs fed the loop of positive emotion. Drew from the dance crowd around her and then pushed the power outward again letting it infuse the dancers. Taking the music to emotion and back again.
-- by Rex Celestis
"Iya da! Chigaimasu yo!" Yukiko hissed as she pulled the slide from her finger and shook out her finger. Chance chuckled, shaking his head and taking another sip from his beer. His sister went through the motions, her hand hovering over steel strings before reaching out for a petite cup of sake. What's some underage drinking between friends?
"Yukiko," Nicole began, looking at the teen over the neck of her guitar, "if you're going to swear, do it in English." Chance blurted out a laugh before assuring the small gathering that his sister did not, in fact, swear in Japanese.
The four of them, Scaring Engrish, sat in a tight circle on the small stage, surrounded by beer bottles and a few die-hard fans. The bar had closed hours before, leaving a few trusted patrons and staff to lock up. Dan had traded the drum kit for a set of maracas, bongos, and a zither.
"I don't know how you do it," Chance told Nicole behind another drink. "I couldn't pick that way." Nikki set down her glass. "Just don't ask me to do it again in the morning," she countered.
"We can rock those harmonies," Yukiko chided. "I'll get the slide. Let's just try to nail the voices." The group nodded in ascension. Chance set down his beer to ready his pick above the strings. "Ready?"
Who Needs You by John Deacon
Performed by Queen
I make it half past six you come at seven
Always try to keep me hanging round
You little spoilt thing girl you kept me waiting
Never contemplating my point of view
This comes as no surprise
I'm a fool for I believed your lies
But now I've seen through your disguise
Who needs well I don't need who needs you?
Oh I believed you
Went on my knees to you
How I trusted you
But you turned me down
But it's dog eat dog in this rat race
And it leaves you bleeding lying flat on your face
Reaching out reaching out for a helping hand
Where is that helping hand?
I like it I like it
Well I don't need you
How I was pushed around
Don't let it get you down
You walked all over me
But don't you ever give in
Taking one step forward slipping two steps back
There's an empty feeling that you can't forget
Reaching out for a helping hand
When I met you you were always charming
Couldn't sleep at night 'till you were mine
You were oh so so sophisticated
Never interested in what I'd say
I had to swallow my pride
So naive you took me for a ride
But now I'm the one to decide
Who needs well I don't need who needs you?
The last chord faded into a small chorus of quiet chuckles and laughter. The group said very little as it cleaned up the space, packing instruments back into cases, picking up empty glasses and bottles of beer.
The four of them stepped out into the silence of the morning, shadows long in the dim light. "See, Chance?" said Nicole, gesturing with her guitar case towards the east, "The Sun still rises." She punched him lightly in the arm with her free hand.
Chance looked east at the slivers of sun poking through the spires of the Ren Center. He nodded, keeping his thoughts to himself for the moment. "Anyone need breakfast?" Together, the four of them walked into the light of a new day.
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