tellthestory | THE BOX OFFICE

Not right now. I'll let you know if I think of something.

[ Bye, bro. Hans turns around before he gets an idea-- ]

Oh, wait. If you work here, does that mean you get to leave? You're not stuck here with the rest of us, are you?

[The Balladeer cocks his head quizzically.]

I don't have anywhere else to go.

So you live here, too?

[ What, can't a guy worry about his weird captor? ]

[literally why would you do that]

Yeah. Not here in this room - [Gesturing at the box office.] - but here.

[ How else would one befriend and manipulate someone if one does not become their friend first? ]

You have your own room? Is it in a wing of the Opera house that the rest of us can't access?

You can't get there. And you don't really need to, either...you all get your private rooms, I get mine.

Interesting. It sounds like you're trapped here as well.

Not really. I mean, does it count being trapped if there's nowhere else to go?

What do you mean, "nowhere else?" There's outside, isn't there?

There aren't any shows going on outside.

Is that all you do, then? Work in these shows? Don't you have, I don't know, a family...?

It isn't my job to have a family.

[Which would seem to answer that question, but.] This is my role. I'm the Balladeer. I facilitate...narrate, you could even say, for other people's stories. I'm not supposed to have one of my own.

Is that all you have? Your job?

[ That's... kind of sad, actually. ]

No one's ever written a story about you?

There wouldn't be much to tell. Just the work I've done - which would just be other peoples' stories once removed, really.

[So, yeah. That is about all that's going on for him.]

That's a bit lonely, don't you think?

[ Have u no friends, Balladeer? ]

You're here just like the rest of us, yet you don't get to be part of the show?

I... [The Balladeer seems a little uncomfortable with this line of questioning. He rises from the desk and steps around it to sit in his chair like a proper office worker, elbows resting in front of himself.] Well, it's always been like that for me. It'd be worse if it were someone like one of you having to do this job.

Besides, this is a lot better than my last situation. Management will step in if anyone tries to hurt me. [He smiles, spreading his hands as if to indicate whatever protection surrounds him.] And I've got this office, and my room, all to myself! Heck, I'm safer now than I've ever been!

[His smile turns a little thoughtful. And gosh, is that the faint sound of music?]

Safe behind these windows and these giant walls of stone
Gazing at the people down below me
All my life I watch them as I hide offstage alone
Hungry for the histories they show me

All my life I'll memorize their faces
Knowing them as they will never know me
All my life I'll wonder how it feels to pass a day
Not above them
But part of them...

[...but he shakes his head, denying the crescendo before it can build.]

It's the variety, you know? I'll probably do a totally different show after this, and there'll be more new people to get to know. I like that part.

[ Aw, did Hans find your insecurities, Balladeer? Do you want to be part of the show? ]

That is a pretty good deal.

[ Maybe he wasn't safe in his last gig? All good things to know. ]

But no one remembers you, do they? The narrators take center stage, but top billing goes to the actors. They're the stars.

[ Hans sounds almost sad to say this. He's starting to understand you, Balladeer. Maybe. ]

Is it worth it?

It doesn't matter if it is or isn't. What else am I going to do?

[But he pauses, tilting his head and looking keenly at Hans for a moment.] I don't want to give you the wrong idea, I don't dislike narrating. Some stories should be told, for one reason or another, and that can be rewarding! I think people get something out of it...sometimes.

But at the end of the day, that hope's what I have. Rule Eight applies to me too. Probably more than the rest of you.

["Everyone is expected to play their parts to the best of their ability."]

I see. I suppose if it's your job, you'd want to do it well.

[ I mean, if Hans had actual purpose in life he'd want to do it well, too. He can understand that, if only on a theoretical level. ]

Well, if we're going to be stuck here for a month together, I hope we deliver a good story at least. Even if it turns out the be a tale of people trapped in an opera house for a month without much to do... or however long that lasts.

[ He pauses. He doubts it'll be long, but really, Hans isn't even lying then. He's got his own web of insecurities, too. ]

I suppose I'd rather the tale be narrated by you than go through all this trouble without ever being noticed.

Don't look at it like that. You're...strangers, most of you, brought together by something entirely out of your control. And look at you all - already making friends and building bridges. It'd be easy to turn on each other, stuck in a closed space like this, but you haven't. There's something to that, even if nothing more exciting than a group dinner ever happens here.

That's part of why I was so eager to do this one. This could just as easily be a story about people being good, even when it might benefit them not to be.

[He's definitely talking to the wrong person about that particular subject. But he's waxed on about it enough anyway, so he pulls back.]

Either way, I guess that's nice of you to say. Management would've gotten someone else if not me, but I do hope I can make things a little easier here.

[ Oh no, that's sweet... I mean Hans would betray them all in a second, yes, but he's starting to really understand you, Balladeer. Hans has to admit, he's somewhat surprised. ]

You're rooting for us, aren't you?

[ What a concept. Really, Hans didn't expect that. ]

You've already been helpful, considering what little the management actually lets you do.

Of course I am! Who would root for you all to murder each other?

[Even you wouldn't do that, Hans, it wouldn't benefit you at all.]

I figure if I make things as nice as I can, it's good for everyone. Getting you guys some stuff here and there's no big deal.

Someone with a morbid sense of humor, perhaps.

[ I mean, Hans wouldn't have judged you too hard if that was the case, but yeah, no. Hans would rather solve his problems with lies than with bloodshed. Violence is so uncivilized. ]

That's my thinking too. [ A pause. ] Well, about things being as nice as possible, anyway. Everyone is much easier to deal with when they're happy than when they're on edge.

[ That's the Hans preferred method of manipulation, really. ]

It's true. People are more likely to lash out if they're unhappy, and then we'd just have a whole crop of other problems.

[Like murder investigations, and trials...nasty business.]

Besides, that's just being a good host or something, right?

Right. I imagine an angry cast doesn't make for nearly as good a story. Or good decisions.

[ Only bread dad could hold them back... ]

Well, besides the kidnapping and trapping us here, you've definitely been a good host.

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