melodiesofeternity | [Player Plot] The Masque of Nusquam, Part I

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[Player Plot] The Masque of Nusquam, Part I

Who: Open to all.
When: December 3-9th, 10:00 AM-4:00 PM
Where: The Lady of Bliss, Sparks Golsaucia
What: Kuja is conducting open auditions for his upcoming tragedy, The Masque of Nusquam. If nothing else, the event is catered.
Warnings/Notes: Monsters, Sword fights, Revenge, True Love, Miracles...

The main lobby of the Lady of Bliss is a fantastic sight. At the moment, it’s dressed in lights and tinsel and wreaths in honor of the holiday season, and there’s a certain amount of bustle around the place. Kuja, of course, stands at the far end, dressed in festive-and-eye-catching silver and green, tapping one finger on the banister. At his side hovers a moogle, dressed simply with a bow tie and sunglasses.

He greets the assembled group with a critical eye, holding his slate and a stylus poised to write. “Good morning all, and welcome to the Lady of Bliss. Firstly, I’d like to thank you all for coming, of course, and we’ll direct you to Rehearsal Room Three, wherein you can find complementary sandwiches and refreshments if you wish to partake. Now!” He turns smartly, leading the way through a side door and into a corridor, before holding another door leading into a large room with a mirror on one wall.

“All aspiring actors of course will be auditioning, whereas any prospective stage-hands, electricians, special effects artists, engineers, carpenters, et cetera, will have a slightly less-involved process, but you’re all of course welcome to take in the atmosphere and mingle. We're going to have a brief bit of question-and-answer before I depart to conduct auditions, and after that if you require anything, Mojito will certainly be able to accommodate you."

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Kuja nods, as the last question is asked. "Right. Any more? No? Well then, take your numbers if you please, and I'll be calling you one at a time to come to my office. Please don't leave until everyone's been seen, as some of you I will be calling back further. Until then, enjoy, try to relax, and ask Mojito if you require assistance."

Asriel is here mostly for the food and to see Kuja. This isn't exactly not-obvious, but at least he's not over-stuffing a plate of mini-muffins. No, he's just over-stuffing his mouth instead. He heads over to sit down on a chair, swallowing as he looks around.

"So, Kuja's in that room? I guess I'll just wait until he's not busy anymore."

He turns to get a look at the other people milling around here.

Corrin is scanning the crowd of people, a small plate of snacks in her hand, when she sees Asriel sitting away from everyone else. She catches his eye and waves to him with a smile before she heads over.

"Hello again, Asriel! It's good to see you." She gestures to a chair next to him. "Can I join you? Just for a bit?"

Asriel smiles, gesturing at it. "Mmh mrr mmph!" He says, through a mouthful of chips. He swallows.

"Yeah, go for it. Jeez, there's a lot more people here than I expected." Asriel says, scratching his fuzzy cheek.

Corrin grins. She's glad Asriel is happy to see her. She takes her seat next to him. "There really are! I wasn't sure how many people to expect, but...I didn't think there'd be this many!" She giggles. "But that's okay. I honestly don't expect I'll get picked to be in the play. I just wanted the experience, you know? I've never had the opportunity to do something like this before and I couldn't let the chance pass me by."

She nibbles on a biscuit before continuing. "What about you, Asriel? You here to audition for a part, or for something back-stage?"

Asriel gives an awkward smile. A part? Oh... huh. He didn't expect Corrin to be that kind of..

Hold up, no judgement, just surprise.

Asriel shakes his head. "I'm just here to say hi to Kuja. I was going to ask him about.. uhh.."

The boss monster rubs his head fluff, glancing towards his door for a second.

"Forming a.. support.. Forming a project, kind of. And, uh, talking with him about some other stuff. But it looks like he's a lot busier than I expected? I don't really think this is the kind of thing I should be.. y'know, doing."

Corrin nods. "Supporting people? That's a good thing to want to do, Asriel." She knows all about the need for support, oh yes. "But yeah, this is probably going to eat up most of the day, at least for Kuja." Why does he seem nervous? He must just not be used to being around so many people. It was a bit of an adjustment for her certainly, after she was finally allowed to leave the Northern Fortress. Maybe she could help him come out of his shell a little.

"Hey, but since you're here anyway, why DON'T you try out?" She asks helpfully, then laughs lightly. "You never know, you might end up enjoying yourself!"

Asriel rubs his neck, nervously glancing to the side. "Ah.. I.. I mean, for starters, I do not think most people want to see a giant fluffy person doing that kind of"

Oh god, this is already a horrible way to start this sentence.

Asriel rubs the bridge where his eyes meet his snout.

"Look, Corrin, I just.. I think that I'm not at a place in my life where I'm able to think about this sort of stuff at all. Much less take part in it."

There was that one time his mother set him up.. that sure was awkward.

"I mean, more power to you, just, I'm really not sure it's for me, you know?"

Well, that's an unusual reaction. Stage fright she'd understand, but from how embarrassed Asriel is acting about this you'd think she was encouraging him to do something indecent like-

Corrin suddenly remembers where they are. Oh. Oh! Ooooooooooooh.

After a moment's confusion, Corrin starts laughing. "Oh, gods Asriel, I'm sorry! I didn't mean-we're trying out for a play!" She manages. "S-Sorry, I didn't mean to give you the wrong impression! Mr. Kuja's holding auditions for a...a performance he wants to put on here. There was something about it over the MogNet, I thought maybe you'd seen it."

Asriel blinks. "You mean 'come down to the Lady of Bliss to partake in an evening burlesque'? Yeah, I saw it, alright. You uh, wait, you know what sort of place Kuja works, right" He asks, just kind of staring at her. Well, there is clearly a miscommunication somewhere here.

Corrin is still laughing despite it all. "N-No, no, Asriel, I promise you, this isn't a burlesque performance, it's an actual play! It's called, uhm...the Masque of Nusquam, I think? I just came out to audition for a part because I thought it would be fun to at least try, you know?" She pats Asriel good-naturedly on the shoulder. "But I promise you, nothing indecent about it."

"...Huh. I can't say I'm not surprised, but hey, at least this is something my mother probably wouldn't disapprove of as much. So, what, he's actually transitioning into drama?"

Asriel rolls his shoulders a little.

"We didn't have much of that in the underground. Just a robot on TV. There were books, though. What kind of thing were you trying out for?"

"I guess? I've never really met Mr. Kuja before, so I couldn't say. He's a friend of yours?" She asks.

"A good book is never to be looked askance at, I always say." Corrin says primly. "Growing up, some of my best friends were books." At least, thanks to the incredibly well-stocked library the Northern Fortress possessed that her siblings had always been adding to as well; she'd never been in any danger of running out of reading material (especially once she was fifteen or sixteen and had found the romance novels that had somehow found their way into the collection. Corrin always suspected Camilla probably had a hand in that; either way, they'd gotten her hooked on the genre, hopeless romantic that she was). "Anyway, I don't have a specific part in mind; I think the play is an original one, so it's not as though I can buy a copy of the script anywhere, but I'm sure Mr. Kuja has accounted for that. And if I don't get a part in the play, I think I'll offer my services as a seamstress; you know, working on the costumes and the like. I'm pretty good with a needle and thread so that's always a good fall-back."

"-I think I'll offer my services as a seamstress-"

There was a loud spluttering from a nearby chair. Vimes had, apparently, been consuming the contents of a cup of coffee, which had for some arcane reason been spontaneously inhaled. He was now hacking and coughing, making hand gestures to the effect of 'I'm fine' to concerned onlookers.

Asriel glances over at the man with the coffee, raising an eyebrow as he stretches his shoulder slightly. "Uh, right. You sure you're ok there?" He asks the guy, returning to look at Corrin.

"...So, wait, was he getting more than just actors? I thought he was just getting actors. Well, okay, I thought"

NEVERMIND WHAT YOU THOUGHT

"that.. he was.. just getting actors. Maybe if he really is just getting people in general I could help out. I.. kinda owe him and I have the height to hold, like, stage lights or something if he needs it."

Corrin glances up confusedly when Vimes appears to start choking on his drink. For a moment, she's worried, but then he starts indicating he's fine. Must have just drank a bit too quickly, she thinks.

"Oh no, I think people are here trying out for all sorts of positions, not just for roles in the play. My friend Richard is here to try out for some sort of electrical position; lights and the like. And there you go! That'd be a great idea, Asriel, I'm sure Mr. Kuja would be amenable to the idea."

She frowns though. "Oh, drat. I was so excited to come out for this, I think I forgot to actually bring something to show Mr. Kuja if my audition falls flat though." She chuckles. "Wouldn't be a problem if I was half the seamstress my big sister Camilla is, though. Everything I know about being a seamstress I learned from her. She was very big on hands-on training, you know? I learned a lot from her."

Vimes, privately, felt he was out of his depth, here. But he felt, somehow, that accepting the charity of the people of the Curti Center was somehow belittling. It was probably the Cockbill Street blood in him, rebelling at the notion that he'd need the help. But, this Tribal woman was advertising work and- as much as he hated the notion of working as 'private security', it was all he could find until the damned police here returned his letters. Even opera houses needed someone to keep the peace, right?

Even if his prospective 'employer' looked for all the world like a Seamstress. He did, however, select a bottle of juice- and he checked very carefully that it was juice, lots of things proclaiming to be made of apples could be dangerous- before settling in and watching the goings-on. "Oh, damn- I don't suppose anybody's got a match?"

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[Player Plot] The Masque of Nusquam, Part I

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