13043/Catching up at Club Evo

Catching up at Club Evo
Date of Scene:	16 April 2021
Location:	Club Evolution, Mutant Town
Synopsis:	Andrea practices a new single at the Club and meets up with several friends and a photographer.
Cast of Characters:	Rage, Nightingale, Spider-Man, Cannonball, Sunspot, Red

---

Rage has posed:
The Club is currently closed but that doesn't mean it's not being used. Andrea is currently standing in the middle of the dance floor as she listens to what appears to be a heavy rock infused retrowave track, all instrumental. The speakers are rumbling the track and at times she'll pull her phone out and tap along an app to change the acoustics, or the bass, or the treble. Her manager is nearby as well at the bar, working on his third drink as he listens while tapping away at the phone, followed by taking a call here and there.

Today she is dressed in a baggy Xavier sweater and a pair of stacked skinny jeans with slices along the thighs and legs and repatched. They are currently 'in' right now. Her hair is pulled up behind her into a bit of a ponytail with a hint of makeup to get through the morning and afternoon.

At times she'll glance over to her manager, then over to her sound engineer who tagged along, getting some quick feedback as she adjusts here and there.

Nightingale has posed:
     On occasion, there was a familiar face during off-hours at Evolution. Today was one of those days, as Shannon curled up in a booth not too far from the stage, with a notebook and a plate of tex-mex potato skins on the table in front of her. She's in a simple cream cotton poet's blouse, skinny dark blue jeans, and some simple black flats. Her hair is long and loose except for what has become her signature pale blue braid on the left side of her face. Though she's occasionally humming and jotting down something in the notebook, she's also observing the interplay between Andrea, her sound engineer, and manager, as intrigued by that as anything else at the moment. Her wings are partially unfurled behind her, moving lazily to and fro as she keeps an eye on things.

Rage has posed:
"Okay, Andrea, I think that's it right there. Let's run it back once more and then we'll add the lights to it."

Andrea glances down at her phone and taps it again as the engineer who is set up behind the DJ booth goes about tapping along as well on their control panel. The song kicks in again, rumbling through the speakers as the lights overhead the stage begin their automated performance. It starts out with a black stage, followed by a strobe effect before the spotlights hit at different parts where it would reveal the singer and the band.

As she watches with a critical eye, she squints one eye, tilting her head for a moment, then glances over to Shannon. "Hey, what do you think about this?" She calls over to her. "Does it sound okay?"

Nightingale has posed:
     A little surprised to be called out in the midst of another artist's sound check, Shannon glances up quickly with a, 'who, me?' sort of expression on her face for just a moment. The notebook is closed and tucked beneath her arm, the pen tucked away behind her ear, and the nearly-empty plate of potato skins abandoned for the moment, as the young mutant slipped out of the booth and made her way over to join Andrea.

     Tilting her head, she closes her eyes, listening to the music as it rumbles through the air. Her foot starts tapping, her wings flicking out behind her and swishing in time with the beat of the song. "Sounds like you've got a good balance there," she finally says, after about a minute or so. "Good amount of bass, but not so much that it would overpower anything else. I like it."

Rage has posed:
As she sways a bit back and forth on her ankles, Andrea closes her eyes for a few moments to listen as well. "Yeah, I think it sounds good. The team did a good job on this. Now I just have to add the lyrics to it and then we go back to tweaking and adjusting again." Her lips give a curve upwards. "Kinda took The Blue Pirates natural instruments and infused it with my energy style and this is what we came up with. A little bit rock, a little bit techno. Something to get the body moving."

She gives a long stretch of her body, arching herself all the way up and then back down. "What are you working on by the way? New song? Homework?"

Nightingale has posed:
     "Yeah, that almost has a late 80's, early 90's rock sort of feel to it. I love that kind of stuff." Shannon grins, bobbing her head in time with the beat, and even managing an air guitar riff, giggling--and dropping her notebook. "This song's gonna have the place jumping."

     Though forgotten for the moment, she blinks, glancing down to where she dropped her notebook, picking it up again with a rather sheepish smile. "Yeah, it's a new song. Nothing too remarkable, but hey, what are the odds of bottling lightning twice anyways? I'd play what I have so far, but my guitar's back in my dorm."

Rage has posed:
"You're a good singer, Shannon. With a good team behind you, you can sell anything to the crowd. Pop music is mostly about a good hook and telling people that it's popular. Remember that old Bieber song called Yummy? That was a piece of shit but it sold millions because the labels told everyone it was great and no one wanted to be the one to say it sucked." Andrea says with a laugh. "But you have actual good music, so I wouldn't be too worried. Just sometimes good music gets lost in the cracks due to the amount of crap music that is out there."

She gives a long pause, then groans. "God, I'm sounding like Mason now." She says, softly laughing. "He and I would argue all the time about it. He'd go on and on about how he hates the predictive melodies of current pop music and he wanted to go off the script like John Lennon and start making 'noise'. Some of the stuff he experimented with was so awful but he was so rebellious." She presses her lips together for a moment in thought, then taps the music off with a swipe of her finger along the screen.

"I don't know how he and I grew so far apart, not after everything we went through together." She says as she stubs her foot against the ground, then glances around the club for a few moments, softly sighing to herself under her breath. "Anyways, you gonna show me this bottled lightning or gonna hoard it to yourself?"

Nightingale has posed:
     "And yet, the stuff he -really- wanted to play was things like Rhapsody In Blue. Gershwin, and all that. Go figure. But it's not what sells, so he hasn't got that luxury." Shannon smiles faintly, looking down at the notebook, and lets out a soft sigh. "People grow apart. Sometimes without realizing it till it's already happened. Sometimes they can see it coming. And it all stings, either way, even if you never show it on the outside."

     There's an eyeroll, a laugh, and she shrugs, nodding. "Sure, I could. There an acoustic guitar I could borrow? Got a couple verses and a chorus so far. Kind of surprised how easily this one's flowing, really."

Rage has posed:
"He worked way too hard on those abs of his to fuck up his mainstream career. But, you know what they say about guys who love their cocaine a bit too much." Andrea says as she gives a rock of her shoulders to loosen them up. "I just sorta wish he woulda waited until I came back from my European tour to break up with me, instead of do it in a text message like a pussy." She says with an amused noise. "He was always scared of me."

Shaking off the conversation about Mason Steele, she gives a glance over to the notebook. "Just sing it acapella. Let 'er rip without the guitar. Sometimes the instrument can get in the way of the message."

Nightingale has posed:
     Nodding once, Shannon just closes her eyes, shutting out the rest of the sounds, the instruments, and the remaining echoes of the music that would be bringing down the house later on that evening. It was just her, the song, and one of her best friends listening. If anybody else happened to be within earshot? Well, so be it. It takes a moment or two of silence on her part, but when her voice lifts in song, it's soft, perhaps a little bittersweet, and yet with an underlying strength and hope throughout each word.

Hey homecoming queen
Why do you lie
When somebody's mean?
Where do you hide?
Do people assume
You're always alright?
Been so good at smiling
Most of your life

Look damn good in the dress
Zipping up the mess
Dancing with your best foot forward
Does it get hard
To have to play the part?
Nobody's feeling sorry for ya

But what if I told you the world wouldn't end
If you started showing what's under your skin
What if you let 'em all in on the lie?
Even the homecoming queen cries....

Spider-Man has posed:
Peter Parker, friendly neighborhood photographer for the Daily Bugle, makes his way into the club with one camera slung around his neck, another in a case on his left side and a sling bag on his right that contains who knows what. Dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up he looks pretty much like any other photographer out there.

As he passes the security guy he had to show his press badge to, Parker wanders into the space currently occupied by the two young ladies. As Shannon belts out a tune he stops moving to listen, almost forgetting to utilize the camera around his neck. Almost. The camera does come up so that Peter can snap some shots of the singer while she does her thing, flash off of course so as not to disturb her. When she finished her tune he lets the camera hang on its sling and approaches where the rehearsals are happening with a smile on his face, "That was really great." Then he lifts up his press badge and says, "I'm Peter Parker, here to snag some pictures for the Bugle."

Rage has posed:
As she listens to the song, Andrea folds her arms over her chest and half lids her eyes. She is taking in a slow breath, followed by letting it out as she soaks up the lyrics. The popstarlet is standing before a girl with wings on her back, much like an angel with the voice to match.

When the song finishes, she shifts her jaw to one side as she gives a glance over to her manager at the bar and lifting her brows upwards. They meet each other's eyes and the older man reaches up to tap the side of his skull twice. There's a small smile from her as she looks back to Shannon. "I could sell that and make it a top ten on the country billboards. That is a /great/ song, Shannon. That is so Taylor Swift at fourteen."

At the sight of Peter Parker, she perks up a bit. "Oh! Hello Mister Parker. I'm ready if you are. This is Shannon Lance by the way. She is signed to my label and just had a charting song recently."

Nightingale has posed:
     Grinning a little bit sheepishly, Shannon ducks her head, curling her arms around the notebook now in her hands; by the look of it, it's not a standard notebook, but is standard staff paper for musical notation, a volume that looks to have been well-worn and well-loved over a couple of years now. "Thanks, Mr. Parker. The song's not quite done yet, maybe another couple verses and a chorus, but it won't take much to complete. It's not meant to be very elaborate, just simple and from the heart. Anyways, this is meant to be Andrea's show."

     That same sheepish smile is turned towards Andrea. "Wow, seriously? Thanks! I'll see about finishing it out, then. Could probably knock out the rest in a week or two, in between studying for my EMT exam and all that."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie comes walking into the place like he owns the place. He does not but the next guy who enters as Sam does actually own it. "Glad your back in town bro, the security we updated to has been really good." He looks over the people who are are. "You know Andrea, and think you met Shannon when you were in last time." He says of two of the people here. "Andrea needed to test the acoustics on a few songs." He explains to Berto as they walk in.

Sunspot has posed:
Roberto Da Costa nods following in his manager's wake. He looks around, Berto looks older a bit more care worn but the mischievous kid still sneaks in at the corners. "The security looks good Sam, you've done a great job running this. Really kept it up." Bert offers Sam a Dap, "I mean I had to it's not every day that you BEST friend gets ENGAGED?!?! When were you going to tell me?" He glares at Sam but at the same time raises a finger rto forestall further argument until he's interacted with the ladies, I mean priorities. He smiles to Andrea eyes glittering with mirth, "I do, we talked a bit earlier." He smiles and nods Shannon as well, "Yes, I remember Ms. Lance. How are you? EMT exam? That's great. I heard the instrumental part to her newest track, really catchy, is that the one your checking or is it some of the Blue Pirates music?" Yes, Berto has been informed. and now the finger is dropped and he turns his attention back to his best friend. "Seriously, how could you not loop a brother in?" The hurt is real, this being Berto it's also passing.

Spider-Man has posed:
"it's really nice to meet you two," Parker tells the young women with a bright smile on his face, just a hint of nervous energy about him. "I'll just grab candid shots of you, if that's alright. At least to start. Then we can have you pose a little bit for the camera. I know you've done all this before and I don't want to get in the way of your rehearsal."

His gaze travels to Shannon and he grins, "I'm still going to snag some shots of you if you don't mind. Our entertainment section could definitely make use of them. If you're okay with that."

Rage has posed:
"I'm only going to be okay with it if your employee Jonah Jameson doesn't use the words 'mutant menance' or any other type of deragotry term to describe us." Andrea says as she tucks some hair back behind her ear. "Because I would hate to have words with him privately if he did. I've been told that my bite is worse than my bark. Otherwise, I'll have my associate Mister Worthington buy your newspaper and flush him down the toilet he belongs in."

It doesn't seem that the popstarlet is a 'fan' of JJJ in any way shape or form. It was probably the hit piece he put out on her two years ago that still stings. "And if I see one single disparaging word about Miss Lance in it, I'll send my lawyers in like a nuclear bomb. She's off limits for slander and is a minor. You guys can talk about my weight or my haircut or my makeup all you want, but she is off limits. Cool? Cool. Snap away Mister Parker."

As she lifts her hand up to Sam and Roberto, she shifts her mood from business to playful as she heads over to them. "Hey guys! Sorry, Sam. I may have let that slip about your big news when he came to visit me this morning for business."

Nightingale has posed:
     Shannon just chuckles rather darkly, an odd sound coming from someone who physically resembles an angel. "Andrea, I think perhaps your lawyers may be the least of Mr. Parker's problems if there's anything even remotely slanderous," she intones, leaning over to whisper something briefly to her. Once that is done, she settles back, giggling softly and nodding. "As long as it's all on the up and up, I don't mind a picture or two, Mr. Parker."

     Turning to Roberto and Sam as they enter, she waves to them both, grinning. "Heya, big bro! Hey, Mr. DaCosta! Mhm, you heard right. EMT exam. I was just going to go for the state one in July, but the more I think about it, why put myself through the whole thing twice? I'm going whole hog and to heck with what people say about mutants. Not gonna let anything stop me."

     When engagement talk starts happening, she just snickers softly and steps back. "Nope. Not getting in the middle of this one. No way."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie looks over to Berto, and says "Hey, I tried calling you, but you were working and could not take calls every time I called, so figured the best thing was to wait till you got into town and let you know." He is smiling though. There is a bit of worry in his mind, he still needs to make a hard decision for the wedding perhaps the hardest one for him. Berto or Jay as Best man.

Spider-Man has posed:
"Mostly he just picks on Spider-Man lately," Spider-Man says with a little chuckle. "Though I'll let the entertainment editor know to keep him away from the article that gets written. I'll even pass your warning to him if I think he's getting involved or wants to do an editorial."

The photographer drops back a bit and grabs his camera, starting to take shots of the singers, trying for some natural looking photos. As he snaps away he replies to Shannon, "Don't worry, I'll delete anything unflattering before passing the pictures on.

Sunspot has posed:
    Roberto Da Costa looks exasperated, "Three phones Sam! Did you even take the time difference into account? I mean you have my insta, snapchat, even my real twitter handle. And once you actually proposed and she said yes." Berto stops and takes a step back towards Shannon and Andrea, "She did say yes, correct?" Taking for granted they say yes, we proceed. Berto nods relieved and steps forward, "You could have just left a message." Berto shakes his head, "So, who's getting married first? You or Scott?"

    Bert turns to Shannon, "Libel, in print it's libel." He looks at her for a moment and nods, "You got the boy wonder in check? OKay, No, seriously, that's great about the EMT thing, yeah, definitely go for the whole enchilada." Then back to Sam, "Okay, so I haven't been here, how far behind are we?"

Red has posed:
Alice knows Andrea. And Shannon. She had been on some of Andrea's last tour's concerts - to assist Dazzler with costumes. And she knew Sam, from some things at the mansion. And she was here for the latter. Or rather a letter of the letter. The door still left ajar a little, she pushes it open a little further. "Mister Guthrie?"

Closing the door behind her again, she works her way through the half dark area, following the sound of music getting tested, people talking. A black faux leather coat, buttoned closed to the top, the short collar thrown up, the arms crossed behind her back, either hand on the other lower arm, mirrored glasses. The fire red hair tamed to a ponytail hanging down behind her. Yes, pretty much the attire Mr. Fishburne wore in the 1999 scene underlayed with Robert D's Clubbed to Death. Just that the black, strappy stilettos belong to the feet of Fiona Johnson from the same scene

Repeating herself with the call for Sam as the lights of the club proper hit her feet. "Mr. Guthrie? You left the door open. Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

"I have a message for you, Sir." The arms unfold behind her as she reaches into the pocket, pulling two envelopes from them. "This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue envelope - a story ends. Someone wakes up in their bed, and believes whatever they want to believe. You take the red envelope - you stay in Wonderland, and I will see how deep this rabbithole goes."

Which, practically speaking both is true. Because the blue envelope is empty, the red one contains a request to rent the club.

Rage has posed:
"Thank you, Mister Parker. By the way, I'm a fan of your work. You take great pictures." Andrea calls over to him as she hops back on the stage to walk across it to speak with her manager and the sound engineer behind the booth.

Nightingale has posed:
     "Thanks, Mr. Parker!" Shannon replies, her tone a much more cheery one as she tries to ignore the camera going off so close by. Leaning in towards Andrea, she murmurs, "Do you ever get used to people just up and wanting to snap a picture like that? I mean, the closest I had happen to that was when I was shadowing someone at the Salem Center hospital and a little kid wanted a picture with me because she thought my wings were pretty" She half-hides her mouth behind one hand at that, but her eyes dance with remembered mirth. "It was too precious."

     Smiling at Roberto, she nods, making a mental note of the different turn of phrase. "I'll try to remember that. Thanks!"

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie looks to Berto and starts to say something. As Alice beings him a letter, two in face, he looks over her attire a brow raises and he reaches out to grab both letters "And what happens now?" He offers with a smile, watching her reaction to this. He looks back to Berto, and says "We aint set a date, but will have time to plan, and have to be prepared to fly her grandparents in, not 100% sure if we will have it here or back in Kentucky yet.

Spider-Man has posed:
"Thank you, Ms Jackson! It really means a lot to me to hear that," Peter tells the singer, smiling from behind his camera as he takes pictures. When she disappears from view he stops taking pictures and looks between Roberto and Sam, "You two sound like you're pretty busy. Need a wedding photographer?"

It's not entirely clear if he's joking or not.

There's a little chuckle then as he looks through the pictures he's already taken on the viewfinder. "These are going to look really good. Photogenic subjects make my job a lot easier."

Sunspot has posed:
Roberto Da Costa looks back between Alice and the door, "No, that was me, I'm the conscientiously stupid one. Sorry, Sam, was honestly surprised how good it looks. You've been doing a great job with this. All of this." he nods, "okay, so it looks like we have some time. Yeah, flying people in isn't a problem." Deep breath. "I guess my little guys is all grown up." Berto faux sniffs, and opens his arms for a hug, "I love you man."

    Berto barks out a laugh at Peter, "You have to admire the hustle and even over the threat of ongoing litigation."

Red has posed:
Alice raises an eyebrow at Sam's action. "Well, that wasn't planned for, but I guess it's red you want to look at." she muses, taking off the sunglasses. "Never seen Matrix?"

Opening the top button of that coat, she brushes through the hair, despite it being taken together into a ponytail. "I wanted to ask if I can have the club for a birthday party... didn't have the chance to really do a 21st party yesterday and maybe I can have the club on the weekend for that? Or monday, if that's better?"

Rage has posed:
Up on the stage Andrea can be seen, talking with her manager as the two go over a routine. She can be seen moving along the stage quickly in a half-assed bit of a dance routine, doing count offs to see how many steps she'll need. During this, the two are pointing animatedly to the stage, here and there. It looks like a smashing of heads together to try and find common ground. One has a vision, the other has theirs. In the end, they always find something great in the middle.

Nightingale has posed:
     For a few moments, Shannon keeps an eye on what Andrea is doing on stage, smiling some. Much like a healer's work, a performer's was never quite done, it would seem. She glances over towards Roberto and Sam, smiling. It was good to see Sam happy, and it was nice to see Mr. DaCosta back. Kindness was not something she forgot easily, and it drew out her smile still further as she thought on it.

     Briefly, she turned to Mr. Parker, peering curiously at the camera in his hands. "Yes, miss Jackson is very photogenic, isn't she? I don't think a single bad picture of her exists or is even possible."

     The talk of birthday parties, however, has her wrinkling her nose, and she calls out to Andrea and Sam, "You two better not do anything crazy for my eighteenth!"

     Sometimes, one's mouth should be kept tightly shut....

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie looks to Alice, and says "I have seen, it but was curious how well you would think on your feet, and come up with a reply." He offers a smile, and then says "Monday would probably work better, and you don't have to pay for it Alice, your part of the family." He tells her meaning one of the school but not going into details in front of Parker. To Shannon and says "Oh Ah was thinking maybe we would get you an ice cream cake from the store, heard if they are getting close to their sell by date we can get them cheap." He smirks a bit at Shannon. Then to Berto he will smile and says "Brave too offering to take photos for some of our friends. To Parker, he asks "Got problems with volcanos forming out of no where, and rather.... odd looking doorways to even odder places?"

Spider-Man has posed:
"Hey, can't blame a guy for trying," Peter replies to Roberto with a big grin even as he maneuvers to get a good shot of Andrea working on her routine. This will be a great set of photos if Mr. Parker has anything to say about it. Looking to Shannon he smiles, "Don't jinx me. I don't want to take any bad shots of anybody here today. Save Mr. Jameson some lawsuits, not that he's afraid of them."

Sam's odd question gets Parker's brow to furrow, but he shrugs his shoulders, "Nope. I take quite a few photos of superheroes in action. I'm usually good to take some snapshots even when things are pretty crazy."

Sunspot has posed:
Roberto Da Costa snaps his fingers, "Alice! That's it. Knew I had it in there." Then in Parker's direction, "Him I am still drawing a blank on." He turns back to Sam, "Yes." He walks around the bar while talking, "Sunday's a possibility too?" Berto then looks at Sam and shrugs. "Or Monday." He snaps his finger, at Peter "Now I think there needs to be some sort of qualifying event, Prove your ready." He nods to Sam as he pulls a bottle of the good whiskey from the top shelf, and places it on the bar near Alice, "You said you missed your birthday? Well, Happy Birthday from the Evolution." Bert nods, "Is anyone else famished? Can jet lag do that?"

Red has posed:
Alice snickers as Shannon calls out for not doing anything crazy. "She just needs a halo and would be golden. Though she wouldn't like that I bet. Though if you *really* wanted to mess with her..." leaning forward to sam, she stage whispers. "Add the rogue gallery as choco people under the edge of the cake. Or put the X-men on top. Eat your hero-style."

Turning to parker, she raises an eyebrow. "How could I jinx yea? I'm just a regular. Is it the red hair or the trench?"

She returns to Sam for the answer, smiling wide. "Ah thanks... The whole club just for little old me? Though at least the champagne bill I'll spend. I mean, can't let you foot everything..."

Roberto earns a little sceptic glance, the eye raising as he speaks for the Evolution. "Wait, I throught Sam owned the club. But lunch sounds great."