15740/The Visit

The Visit
Date of Scene:	25 October 2023
Location:	5A 51st Floor, Four Freedoms Plaza
Synopsis:	Nick and Sinister.
Cast of Characters:	Phantasm (Drago), Sinister

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Wednesday has overall been a productive day. As Nick had crashed at his room at the Lux the night before, he had a bit of a trip to get back home. While he could have taken a short cut he ended up taking a round about way of going home. The end result was a fully stocked fridge, and way more drumsticks than a drummer could reasonably use in a year. Even more-so when one considers that drummer plays other instruments as well.

The only thing that's really missing is a meal cooking in a slow cooker but a well timed phone call took care of that. So instead, with the minimally furnished apartment needing little maintenance. All that really was left to do was to take a nap.

Naps are good.

Sinister has posed:
He called ahead. This time, with plenty of warning. And Essex, in true casual fashion, took the limo about town to pick up a few things, so as to travel in style. New York style pizza and a small cheesecake, a six pack of guiness and...

Style. He's got style tonight. Dressed like he fell out of the '70's, collided with victoriana and then got better tailoring, his coat shimmers as he steps out, is nodded to by the doorman and heads on inside cheerfully humming to himself. Earbuds in the ears, so he doesn't have to listen to anyone, the ascent to the condo isn't a snail's pace kind of affair.

But it's enough time to check his presentation; impeccably groomed, hair cut like daggers and gelled just enough that it looks rock-star, pink lennon glasses on his nose with golden rims and a cane in hand.

A knock is heard. And when it doesn't quite do the trick, a knock is repeated with the amplified illusion of <<RAT-A_TAT-TAT>> in the dozing mind.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Eyelids part ways, granting the pale eyes a view of the ceiling for a few moments. Not being fully asleep, the process of recovery is a tad quicker. After a quick brush back to gather up the hair and secure it, Nick moves over to the door. Taking a moment to check the other side. As if the rat-a-tat-tat wasn't enough of a hint.

Habits.

After the general sound of chains and locks, the door opens. "Evening." Nick greets, waving in Sinister.

The table in the kitchen area has been prepared, clear of anything that takes up valuable real estate. The same goes for the counters as well.

Nick has a style of his own. Well, it is the style of one with limited closet space and an ability that will mirror his appearance when he shifts into it. So, in short. Lots of solid colors, no patterns, and stuff that can easily be mixed together. Case in point. A nice pair of jeans, and for the chill in the outside air, a long sleeved henley. Being he is indoors, the knit cap is not even a factor. The ponytail though, while it keeps the hair out of the face, betrays it being a last second thing. No ribbon this time. Nothing of the sort. Just a common hair band.

Once the guest has made his way inside, and Nick's confirmed there's not a second who is just idling down the hall for some reason he closes the door. "Thank you for picking up some food. Saved me a bit of prep time."

Sinister has posed:
"You're welcome," sashaying into the condo, there's no comment about the size or anything else, just a float of the beer to the fridge, open before it arrives and pizza to the countertop. "I didn't know what you fancied, so I went with Deluxe pan pizza. It should still be scorching hot." He glances about then, gives a short chuckle. "You know, part of me expected your place to be under dust covers with you being gone so long. But I'm old fashioned like that."

The saunter takes him to the counter, his phone and a few very thin blue-tooth speakers are set down, as he pulls up a barstool pew.

"Thank you for yesterday, by the by. Truly."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick looks over to the pizza that sets down upon the counter before moving to the cabinet to pull out some plates. The comment about the choice in pizza gets a nod. "That'll be fine." He replies, setting the plates down next to the box before turning to grab some napkins.

"A perk of a small apartment and minimal belongings is that it is reasonably quick to get back in order." Nick replies. The stack of napkins is placed on the bartop. Nick stays to the other side of the counter. "And no problem. Glad I was of help." He notes the lack of items placed in front of Sinister, "Would you like some tea? Milk? Guinness?"

Sinister has posed:
"Tea would be wonderful, but I can get that started..." with a cupboard opened from where he's sat, the kettle filled from the tap and set to boiling. "I don't know where you keep your tea, but at least that's that."

Sinister props his elbow on the counter then, resting chin against the heel of his palm, fingers all curled in at the height of cheekbone. "There's no real easy way to begin this, so I'm not going to dance around. I'm here to hang out for a bit, but also to teach you, if you want to learn."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick smiles, stepping away from the counter to head over to a cabinet next to the stove. Opening the door he reaches in to move an orange bottle out of the way before pulling out a few boxes, setting them down on the counter near the stove. There might be a desire for another cup later, after all. The cabinet door shuts "I have Peppermint, Lemon Balm, Chamomile, Green, and Black Tea. Any preference?"

The musician lingers by the stove, taking a moment to open up the first one he had opened to retrieve a mug for the doctor.

The head turns, allowing for Nick to look at Sinister as he offers to teach him. Teach him WHAT... he's not sure. The guy is a doctor, scientist, apparently inventor... there are a lot of potential paths possible and one shouldn't just assume...

Admitedly he still does, but he shouldn't.

"Teach me what?"

Sinister has posed:
"Black please, no milk, no sugar. Boring creasote drinker, I am." Sinister plucks at the edge of his moustache with his little finger, smoothing the line as he watches, marking the spot in the cupboard for a later date.

ANd of course, given all the possibilities, clarification is required and so he straightens, tapping the side of his own forehead with two fingers. "How to protect your head more reliably -- you get it sometimes, but not with any consistency."

He grins then, observing "...somehow, although I could teach you just about anything I've encountered, I doubt any of that is actually appealling."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick nods, turning to grab the appropriate box. "Black it is." Unwrapping the packet, he drops it into the waiting mug, leaving it to wait for its future companion to heat up in the kettle. Task done with over there, he moves over to the fridge to pull out one of the Guinness that was brought over.

He looks over the door to Sinister, noting the gesture as he backs up to let the fridge shut. "Ah..." Nick nods, "The noisy thoughts. Sorry about that. If you want to show me how to better manage them, that'd be good."

Sinister has posed:
Sinister's gaze glances to the tea-bag, but he makes no comment regarding it. They are after all, so very common and extremely convenient. Only the truly dedicated do little loose-leaf steepers!
"A little of the noisy thoughts, but those are actually something of a defense mechanism for you, though unschooled. But you can block something extraneous from getting in, too -- you did it fleetingly when Luci used his talent, but I think it's knee-jerk." He waves his hand, shaking his head dismissively. "I'm actually getting ahead of myself."

Smiling, he props his elbow again, this time with a look to the phone and the speakers. The speakers float out and away, to settle themselves in proper surround sound position and he returns his gaze to Nick.

"You have a creative mind. I would like to have some fun with you, if you don't mind?" -- he nods to the phone -- "infinite playlist, of just about any song ever recorded. I'd love to see what you pick just instinctively."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
"Defense mechanism?" Nick repeats. He never really thought of it that way. His thoughts generally have been like that since he was ten. Problems processing? Avoidance? Disassociation? It's probably one of the few times someone's ever said something good about it. Although... oddly enough it does help with stringing together lyrics on the fly though. There was even this documentary about David Bowie where he did something similar only he'd slide words on paper around until he had lyrics he liked.

Focus.

Watching Sinister set up the speakers, the musician tilts his head curiously. And as sure as when someone tells you not to think of pink elephants, when Sinister mentions picking a song, the speaker's already kicking on.

\'It's over now I know inside no one will ever know...
The sorry tale of Edward Hyde,and those who died...
No one must ever know..

They'd only see the tragedy,
They'd not see my intent,
The shadow of Hyde's evil...
Would forever kill the good that I had meant...

Am I a good man?
Am I a mad man?

It's such a fine line between a good man and a...'

\'Dooo you really think
That I would evveeerrr let you goOooooo?
Do you think, I'd ever set you freeeeeeeee?
If you do, I'm sad to say,
It simply isn't sooooooo.
You will never get away from meeeeee...'\</span\>\</span\>

Sinister has posed:
Sinister's head tilts, angling his head a little toward the array of speakers, rearranging them a little until he knows that the accoustics are absolutely spot on, looking at the phone and up at Nick with an eyebrow raise. Musicals. An odd musical at that and here it goes a'playing.

"What does that song make you feel, by the by? What does it evoke in you?" -- he doesn't smile. Nope. but there's a sparkle in his eyes -- "Aggression, defiance? Energetic?"

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
As the song plays, Nick's eyes close for a moment. "That whole piece is sung by one man... but when you hear it. When you watch it being performed, it does feel like two completely different people are in a battle for control. Jekyll's in a losing battle. But not once in that particular song does he give in to Hyde."

He pauses, "Also, that is an example of amazing voice control when you consider what has to be done to pull off that performance. One singer, two vocal styles, rapid changes between registers. Along with the physical acting. That is an ideal practice piece."

Sinister has posed:
"So inspired then, it would seem. What else do you find inspirational?" -- pause -- "don't tell me, just think about it. Let it flow."

Sinister's preparing perhaps for the fact that this might get cacophanous, but that's the point. "It is quite astounding what the human voice is capable of, not to mention the simple ability to pretend to be something you are not, convincingly."

The kettle's boiled but he can easily take care of the pouring on of hot water, the floating over of his cup, watching steadily.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick starts to open his mouth to answer but ends up closing his mouth. And since they're on the infinte playlist talk, something else ends up popping up. A little bit different from the previous one. A woman's voice this time paired with violin

\Some things take a while
To be ready for the world to see
We gotta wait for the wine
To take its time to get fine
Just like you gotta wait for me

Time will stand still for no one
But don't tell me that I'm runnin' out
With every passing day
I'm more out of my own way
I'm getting rid of my last shadow of doubt

I'm just getting good
I'm just getting good
I'm not gonna stop 'cause some statistic says I should
I'm just getting good
I'm just getting good
Now I stand my ground where before I never stood
I'm just getting good...\</span\>

"...sometimes, playing roles like that make for good outlets."

A way to vent before something explodes.

Sinister has posed:
"Ok, now... I am going to bet that you can sing along with her. Start. Get really into the music."

Which will crescendo with his thoughts, pump the base, make the tenor more levelled out, all by thought alone, to support. "Wrap the song around you and let it into your blood. Get your heart pumping."

Ahhh, but that was a toe-tapper, that was.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
To the prompt to sing, Nick's first instinct is to part his lips but he stops before making a sound. Considering the point of the visit...

He focuses on the music. It's already started so he's got to wait for the chorus to end to have a good starting point. His fingers shift, mimicking fingerings. Eyes closing as he focuses on the music. Flashes of bright stage lights in his mind's eye help time. \<<"Good enough to not waste time or to gladly suffer fools
Good enough to call the shots and to know that there are no rules
Good enough to realize there's nowhere I can't go
And good enough to understand just how much I don't know">>\</span\>

And of course he picks to enter in just as an instrumental starts up. His thoughts drifting to tempo keeping while his fingers continue with their movements.

\<<I'm just getting good>>\</span\> \<<Just getting good...>>\</span\>

Sinister has posed:
Sinister sips his tea. Anyone on the outside would find this really peculiar. There's two men sitting in silence, sipping tea, sipping beer and staring at a phone. A phone with floaty speakers.

But in the mental exercize, "Excellent, yes! Go! Make those strings -sing-! Drown me out..."

And in the mind, he does hum along. But it isn't a hard thing in the mind of the infinite playlist, to drown one voice out in the music. Not at all.

In fact, it's trivial. Easy.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
For a man who has spent years on stage, the request to recreate a concert mentally seems rather reasonable. But it's not just the music that ends up getting pulled in there. Along with the dynamics of mental sound, there's the pulsing of the light, the movement across the stage, and the general surge of energy that comes with each performance. And as the song ends... Memories of an arena cheering fills in.

Because what's a concert without people watching?

15740/The Visit

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