tellthestory | THE BOX OFFICE

[With the second trial over, the cast members scattered and the Balladeer back in his office, there's a gentle rapping but not on his chamber door. It's coming from the wall behind his desk.

Open up, B, someone wants to have a chat.]

[Ah, well, there's only one person that could be! Given the way the crew doesn't really...talk. Or socialize with him. The Balladeer flips his cookbook shut and goes to open up the passage.

Normally he'd be really happy to have her visit. But the excitement of having a friendly conversation with someone has started to dim as it happens more often with more people, and today was so...unnecessary. The cast suffered so much, and for what? To condemn someone already dead?

Still...he smiles when he swings the shelf aside.]

Evening!

Evening.

[The Leading Player flashes him a wide grin as she slips into his office and plops her butt down on the corner of his desk. A good boss just coming for a good chat with her favorite showrunner, that's all.]

What a trial that was! It lagged a little near the end but well done getting them back on track.

Thanks... [His smile falters a little as he shuts the shelf-door behind her, circling around to take his seat at the desk again.] I was getting worried about them towards the end there. That kid just had to set up some kind of Wile E. Coyote thing...

[..........]

We weren't really going to execute them if they got that wrong, were we? I mean, there wouldn'tve even been a winner left.

Don't you worry your pretty little head about that, friend. [She reaches out and gives his cheek an affectionate pat.] They're already two for two, I've got no worries about their staying power with this show.

But you! You did so well tonight. The audience is already warming up to you.

Yeah...

[She is right, they're pretty good at this. And they'll only get better. It's a good sign that this trial went the way it did, right...?

The Balladeer still worries. But he can't help smiling a little, both at the affection and the praise.]

Are they really? It's still kinda weird for me here, not being able to see them. I could almost reach out and touch them before.

Trust me, they're loving you. Setting you up with the box office was the best idea we could have had. Especially everything you've got going on with the Prince. Keep all that up.

You'll get used to it, baby. What matters is they can see you and your cast and they're utterly enchanted.

[Okay, now he's smiling in earnest.]

You know, he reminded me them when I got the bios? [you know, the ones back home] But he's not that bad! I can appreciate someone at least taking criticism.

[She knows better than anyone how people took criticism in his old show. If she hadn't showed up when she did, they would have taken it right out on him.]

Thanks, though. It's nice to hear people are appreciating it. Even if it didn't exactly...end up the way I hoped.

He's got some staying power, that one. [Not like she's already started digging her claws in him or anything, hahaha why would she go and do a thing like that?] But good, good. Actors who can't take a little constructive criticism are a nightmare.

[She's got your back, Balladeer. ♥

Her smile quickly turns sympathetic as she reaches up to gently run her hand through the Balladeer's hair.]

I know. It can be so hard when people start showing their true colors. Those two could've been spectacular if things had gone down a little differently.

[That's a thing. He's never sure how to handle it - not a lot of affection to go around, in his show. But he knows she's being kind in her way, so he lets it go on, ducking his head a little into the gesture. It's nice, really, and maybe eventually, when he's used to being here and not there, it won't give him that uneasy jolt.]

I almost thought I'd talked D-ne out of it. Should've known better. Someone like her...she was more like us than them.

[A girl from a story that knew it was a story, someone inhabiting a role. She seems to change in each telling, but how far could she have ever really deviated?]

[She doesn't remove her hand from his hair, instead rubbing her fingertips over his scalp. Her expression is soft, all her attention focused on him and making sure he's happy and comfortable.

Like any good friend would.]

I almost got a little sad when she went through with stabbing the old man. Girl like her, she would have been amazing to see more of. But that's just the way it is, Balladeer. You can tweak the dialogue, rearrange a scene, change a setting but at the end of the day we're still who we are.

[It's almost overwhelming, being the center of anyone's attention like that. He gets his songs, sure, his few moments in the spotlight. But they're called The Ballad of Booth. The Ballad of Guiteau. Nothing, in the end, has ever been about him.

He accepted that. He's the Balladeer, what more can he do? But still...now, he can't quite hold her gaze.]

I...guess that's true. I'd just hoped she could be better. A better version of herself, at least.

[That's a belief he's always tried to hold to. It's been persistently proven wrong. He chuckles sadly.]

And then Gabe. I never even talked to him, but he knew. He knew exactly what he was. Why is it the ones who understand are all going first?

[People like them, who see the narrative working around them. The Leading Player was the first person he could really talk to about it, and now there won't ever be another one.]

Not everybody's as ready we are to deal with all this. [She makes a wide gesture at nothing in particular but she knows he understands. The knowledge, the responsibility, the everything that comes with what they do, who they are.] We're cut from the same cloth but only a select few of us can really understand it.

[A flash of a wide grin.] Like you and me. We get it and that's why we make such a spectacular team.

Edited 2016-11-26 07:31 (UTC)

Right.

[He smiles, though it's a little uneasy. Something about that doesn't sit right. The flattery, maybe, god knows he's not used to that.]

I am glad I met you. [Even with all of this, he doesn't say. It's not her fault this show has gone the way it has, and she's obviously concerned enough about him to show up here. The last thing he wants is to make her feel bad.] It's good to have...a friend, yeah, but someone who actually gets it.

[Leading Player goes quiet for a moment, the warmth in her expression shifting to something more contemplative. She studies his face, not for more than a few seconds, but it's almost like she's searching for any signs of deceit in his expression.

But as soon as it starts it's gone and she's back to smiling, even going so far as to gently boop the tip of her index finger against his nose.]

Ditto.

[He ducks his head, a startled laugh bursting out of him. He doesn't - he never knows how to reciprocate these things, it seems impossible to ever touch her like she does him. For all his confidence in performing, he hasn't got quite that same ease about him that she does, not in things like this.]

Hey, uh - have you eaten? [It's a spontaneous thing, and he doesn't quite know where he's going with it. He just suddenly doesn't want her to leave yet, and he can feel it coming. It's been lonely sitting in this box office by himself most of the time, without her company anymore.] Raoul brought me this cookbook from the library, I could make us something.

THE BOX OFFICE

Saturday, post-second trial

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quietly...backtags this...

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