ArchivedLogs:A Magical Place

A Magical Place
Dramatis Personae Hive, Joe, Flicker
In Absentia	2014-01-31 Hive and Flicker come to the show!
Location <NYC> The Picturesque Theatre - Off-Broadway
Joe's show goes about how one might expect. His components are executed with picture perfect skill, and the average audience member is unable to see how they're done. As promised however, one trick is indeed accomplished through the use of Joe's mutant ability. An elaborate card trick which involves a member of the audience. It probably could have even been done without his ability, but apparently he just likes using it. The rest of the show is done with legitimate misdirection and sleight-of-hand however. Unfortunately, in spite of his technical proficiency, his stage presence leaves a lot to be desired. On Yelp, and in general opinions around the audience in their minds, plenty of people are impressed by the actual tricks, but Joe is just /so/ unlikeable. He generally earns three stars in reviews, which seems to be enough to keep the house two-thirds full, but doesn't fully explain why the off-broadway venue would keep his show on. After the show, Joe is backstage, toweling off in a shitty dressing room. The place looks like it hasn't been properly cleaned in years, the full-length mirror is so grimy it's almost opaque. Joe is still cleaning his makeup off, and his tuxedo jacket is hanging on the coat rack by the door. << Knock. Knock. Knock. >> It comes thudding into Joe's mind with all the grace and gentleness of a sledgehammer. But on the actual /physical/ door, a more polite tap-tap-tap of knuckles. Flicker is dressed in corduroys and a black turtleneck, cream-and-black sweater over top, a dark jacket slung over his jacket, gloves and hat and scarf over-stuffed hanging out of its pockets. Leaning up against his side. Hive is scrubbier, dark blue hoodie with a stormcloud on its stomach, raining down blue raindrops (and red hearts). Faded jeans worn and frayed at their hems, more heavily in the backs where they drag down over the heels of his workboots. Old battered denim jacket. << S'easy to see, though. Why people used to believe in magic. Or I guess some still do. >> Joe tips over backwards in his chair with a "Wah!" when Hive crashes into his brain. He pulls himself together and gets off the floor to finally cross and open the door. He's wearing tuxedo pants, shiny black shoes, and white shirt with some decent cufflinks. His tuxedo is probably the nicest thing in the theatre actually. He blinks, and scrunches his forehead up as if fighting back the last of a headache. "Yeah, hey, nice to see you too," he says with a roll of his eyes. He sighs and adds, "Actually, thanks for coming to the show, guys. You wanna come in?" He backs up and makes room for them to enter. Flicker gives Joe a warm smile when the door is opened. "Hey," he greets warmly, nodding and taking a step into the room. "Congrats, man. That was fun." Hive looks around though, with an exaggerated press of lips. "Dunno, m'I going to catch something?" But he does step inside, leaning back against Flicker again, and then back against a wall. "Yeah sweet. Well the magic part." "The whole show was the magic part," Flicker answers in some confusion." Hive's lips just twitch. "How long have you been doing this for?" Joe shrugs his thanks at the compliment and looks back in the grimy mirror to finish taking off his makeup, but he doesn't sit down this time. He's almost done with it, after all. "Glad you liked it," he says with a slight grin, showing off yellow, crooked teeth made to look dirtier than they are in the mirror. "How long I been doing magic? Shit, well, my whole life I guess?" His mind flicks to childhood practice, being taunted in later years, and then returning for master classes with Atlantic City professionals, all in barely a second. "But uh, what d'you mean 'the magic part'?" he says, grinning, already expecting the answer. "I mean the parts that didn't include you," Hive says bluntly. Flicker /thwaps/ him at the back of his shaggy head. "He's a dick," he tells Joe. Hive snorts, thudding his head back against the wall. "Look, your tricks are good. Your schtick is just -- well, you're a dick." Flicker /coughs/. "Pot, kettle." "Just calling it like I see it." Hive's grinning, too. His arms cross over his chest. "But the teleporting thing's a neat addition. Don't know many magicians who have /that/ going for them." Joe actually snorts and then laughs out loud. "Nah it's ok," he says to Flicker. It looks like he's gotten the last of the makeup, the worst of it anyway. "I /am/ a dick. They say 'you can't fix stupid'. I think it might be the same for assholes." He shrugs and opens a faded cabinet that looks like it might be made out of balsa wood, and was probably once painted to look like a fancy Japanese type armoire. He looks over his shoulder and says, "But if you like the teleporting, don't blink-" And in a blink, his shirt and tuxedo pants are in a pile inside the cabinet, and he's wearing his jeans and the clean(er) white button-up that was hanging up inside. For the quick eye, he was in just plain white boxer for a fraction of a second, but he's grinning like an idiot, obviously pleased with himself. "What about a Denny's run? Never had anyone come back after the show before, so it's on me. To celebrate." He chuckles and knows exactly while no one ever comes to visit his jerkwad ass. "Shiiiit." That's Hive's response to this blinking. And Flicker's is to /grin/. And in a blink, he's over on the other side of Joe, peering into the armoire, thoughtfully. "Neat trick." Hive snickers. "Man, I don't ever turn down free food. Poor for too long for that. Don't feel like breaking the habit even now that I get a paycheck." He skips a beat before admitting, "-- Every once in a while." "What like pancakes? I will totally have pancakes." Flicker actually /bounces/ at this suggestion. If he were a puppy his tail might be wagging. He might not fit in quite so well with the rest of this asshole company. "Thanks!" When Flicker comes close, and then when Joe is ready to go and approaches where Hive is standing, in turn, a small part of Joe's mind flits through the pockets of both men, without him even realizing he's doing it, the way someone's eye picks out the obvious details in a room. Joe grabs his leather jacket off the coatrack and leads the way out the door. Once on the street, he flags down a cab for the three of them and they're on their way to the nearest Denny's. People say it's a magical place.