Karaoke Night

[hazlogs]

It is currently 22:34 Pacific Time on Wed Sep 4 2002.

Currently in Saint Claire, it is clear outside. The temperature is 57
degrees Fahrenheit (13 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in
from the east at 3 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 30.00 and
rising, and the relative humidity is 69 percent. The dewpoint is 47
degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees Celsius.)

Currently the moon is in the waning No Moon phase (15% full).

The dimly lit pool hall is actually busy tonight for a change, people of
all kind's crowding the bar and pool tables, playing off rounds, talking
and murmuring about each other. Smoke fills the air from cigars, as well
as the buzzing scent of alcohol. Synthesis gathered up tonight in
celebration of their newest packie, half of them taking off early before
the morning came, all but two. As Salem seats himself in the crowd, a form
makes her way to the stage, carrying a Mic. Dressed typically as any
popstar would, which is barely anything, yet just enough to make a young
boy squeal, she wonders to herself if that fourth beer was wise.

Dane peers toward the....this place has a stage? He never noticed that
before.

Salem, for a wonder, actually appears somewhat relaxed tonight, relatively
speaking. He shrugs out of the trenchcoat, letting it drape itself back
over his chair, and then leans back, stretching long legs out under the
table, settling himself with a bottle of non-alcoholic beer. His eye
follows Alicia as the Child of Gaia heads for the stage; one corner of his
mouth is quirked upward in thin amusement.

Yi is slow in coming, but seeing as she has something burning in her
pocket, the Gnawer slips in. And nearly bumps into Dizzy in the process.

"Hey, watch it!" Dizzy says angry at the close encounter before realizing
who it is. "Oh, hey," she says in greeting to the gnawer. "Kareoke night,
huh?"

Rhiannon wanders in through the propped-open door, hoping for at least a
few hours out of the apartment before tomorrow's hectic schedule closes
in. Not expecting to see familiar faces, she's a little surprised at the
sight of Alicia on the stage, and Salem sitting at a table. She stands a
little left of the door for a bit, surveying the Hall from behind Dizzy
and Yi and so unable to recognize them for the moment.

Dane blinkblinks as he hears the one word that strikes terror in even the
bravest of hearts. The word that reduces strong men to quivering bundles
of terror. The word that requires much fortification with the strongest
gifts Gaia has to offer before facing. He looks for a nice shadowy spot to
vanish in so he can search his bag for just the right substances to
fortify his soul.

Yi automatically readies a 'sorry' response, though she knows she didn't
happen to step on Dizzy's toes or anything. When the woman turns around
though and offers a greeting, Yi glances up. "Oh," she says with a coverup
of startlement. "I don't know. I did not think this was a karaoke bar..."
as she says this, her eyes go to the figure standing out. Alicia. The
Gnawer stifles a laugh, and simply starts towards a table nearby. It isn't
until she sits down that she can see the rest of the tonight's crowd.

"Woo! Sing it baby! Lets hear it!" A guy sitting up front waves his hands
towards the Gaian as a light giggle echos in her throat, swaying a bit
from foot to foot. Alicia, though a bit tipsy, looks almost too
comfortable up on that stage, lights pouring upon her, staring out through
the faces that gaze back at her. And just for a moment, she pretends, that
this is Madison Square, that this is her big moment.

Lifting the Mic up to her lips, she begins to pour her voice out, stomping
her foot. "Your love is like a tidal wave, spinning over my head! Drowning
me in your promises, better left unsaid! You're the right kind of sinner,
to release my inner fantasy, the invincible winner, and you know that were
born to beeeeeeee! You're a heartbreake! Dream Maker! Love taker don't you
mess around with me!" Whipping her head back, she dances, grin widening
upon her lips.

"I think only on Wednesdays," Dizzy says to the gnawer before she goes off
to find a place to sit.

Salem's attention is more or less rivetted on his packmate, but not so
much that he misses the entrance of certain familiar faces. In particular,
he gives Rhiannon a kind of salute, lifting his bottle slightly. The table
he's at has plenty of empty chairs and a good view of the stage.

Rhiannon returns Salem's salute, and beings slowly meandering through the
crowd towards the table. She takes her time, however, and does give
Alicia's performance a wry smile.

Yi chooses a table a little off to the side, though she does glance back
at Dizzy. With a silent meet of eyes, the Gnawer rather invites the other
no-moon to sit down as well. Eyes scan the room, finding Salem and Rhi at
another table. Yi's lips draw tight, though she looks over towards Alicia.
Hooboy.

Dizzy catches sight of Salem and is a bit surprised. She proceeds over to
Yi and points him out to her. "Let's go sit over there," she suggests.

"You're loving sets my soul on fire, burning out of control! You taught
the ways of desire, now it's taken my toll! You're the right kind of
sinner, to release my inner fantasy, the invinicble winner, and you know
you were born to be. You're a heartbreaker! Dream maker! Love taker don't
you mess around with me!" Alicia has completely lost herself in the song
as her voice wails into the Mic', nearly entrancing the audience as she
moves from left to right on the stage, drawing whistles and cheers from
some of the more gangly men. Softly, her voice dips down, repeating the
chorus, staring out with slitted eyes, pointing a finger out at no one in
direction, then wiggling it in a 'come here' motion, soon slapping her
hip.

Dane settles down in his place and roots through his bag, smiles a little,
then gets up to go get a soda before settling back in to numb himself.

As Rhiannon gets close to the table, Salem remarks, almost blandly, "She's
a natural." His comment's pitched low enough not to interfere with the
Galliard's enthusiastic performance.

Rhiannon takes a seat at the table with Salem, and nods. "A true Galliard,
I'd say," she agrees in a low but audible voice. As a waitress happens by,
Rhiannon murmurs an order, then goes back to watching Alicia.

Yi eyes Dizzy for a moment, but in efforts of being polite nods and
stands. She will end up joining them at their table. And the Gnawer bows
her head stiffly to the two.

Dane pulls a small bag of brownies out of his shoulderbag and begins
munching on them, washing them down with his soda.

"Hey guys," Dizzy greets Rhiannon and Salem as she arrives at the table
occompanied by Yi.

Salem's smile for Dizzy is thin but amiable enough. And it's perfectly
polite where Yi is concerned. "Evening." He takes a swig from his bottle
and nods toward two of the remaining chairs.

Bathing herself in the quick, short lived cheer of the crowd, Alicia
smiles brightly, running her free hand back through her hair. She walks
back across the stage and secures the Mic on the metal pole, then hops
down, making her way over to Salem, clapping her hands and squealing
quietly.

Rhiannon gives both Dizzy and Yi a friendly wave, unsure if Yi's reaction
is to Salem--who's certainly not known for liking Gnawers--or something
else entirely. She doesn't remark on it, though, and settles for, "Dizzy.
Yi." What luck, she remembered the other Garou's name.

Dane relaxes as he works his way through his brownies. OH yeah. That's
enough to take the edge off of even karaoke.

Yi chooses a seat farthest from the Walker group, gratefully glancing over
at Alicia when the galliard comes back. "Hey," she greets the Coggie.
"Nice singing up there."

Dizzy nods in agreeance to the gnawer's review of Alicia's display of
talent. "Yeah. That was pretty good."

Salem salutes the triumphantly returning diva Gaian with his bottle and
takes another drink. Glancing over toward Rhiannon, he offers an
explanation. "Synthesis has a new member. Alas, neither she nor Mr. Smith
had the stamina to see the celebration to its completion."

Order delivered, Rhiannon raises her glass of soda to Alicia in a toast.
"Excellent, hermana." She listens to Salem, then tilts her head, curious.
"Who?"

Alicia slides into her old chair and grins widely, cheeks tinted red. She
looks half embarrassed, not knowing that others of the Sept has snuck
their way inside. "Thanks everyone. Wow, the entire gang is 'ere. Ya'll
wanna drink er' something?" She asks about.

Salem speaks a nice, short, one-syllable name. "Tatt." Then he elaborates.
"Tatiana. Bald, tattoos, tends to sleep in the park on occasion?"

Yi has a closer look at Alicia, then at Salem's bottle. "Sure," she
answers quietly, as to not impose on Rhi and Salem's conversation. Tatt...
she has to think about that one. Oh yes, now she remembers. "She's the one
who dislikes Owen, isn't she?"

The oddest flicker of recognition alters Rhiannon's face for just a
second, and she nods after Salem says her name the first time. "We've, ah,
met," she says after taking a drink from her soda.

Dizzy shakes her head, "I don't think I've met her." Then, to Alicia she
answers, "Yeah. I'll have a drink."

Salem's bottle sports the name of O'Doul's, and the Philodox seems
stone-cold sober, unlike his Gaian packmate. "Nearly everyone dislikes
Owen," he says, tilting a look over toward Yi.

Rhiannon indicates her soda with a tap of her finger, and gives Alicia a
rueful look. "I'd celebrate the real way, but, there's work tomorrow."

"I think Owen -rocks-." Alicia says with a giggle, waving her buddy the
waiter over. She flashes him a smile, drops a fifty on his tray and
motions him off to gather up the next round of drinks, a -lot- of them.
"Ya should have at least one, Rhia." She says with a murmur.

"You're drunk," Salem says, eyeballing Alicia. "Your judgement is
impaired." Straight-faced.

Yi shrugs once. "Owen can be... disagreeable," she notes, though maybe the
ragabash doesn't dislike the Get. If that isn't the darnedest of things.
She's not drunk either, though she -does- give Alicia a glance of concern.

"Is that why ya look a whole lot cuter all'o'sudden?" Slurs the Gaian's
voice as she blows a kiss to Salem's direction. "Fo'ah'secon, ah'thought
ah'was ganna go crazy."

Dizzy smiles and lets out a small chuckle at Salem's comment, thinking him
joking.

An obvious struggle, and Rhiannon shakes her head. "I really can't,
Alicia. One will turn into two, and three, and then I'll get pretty rude.
Better this way." She smiles slightly, and adds, "Besides, some of us have
to stay sober so we can tell all the drunk people what they got themselves
in to."

"Hah," is Salem's deadpan reply to Alicia. He takes a drink from his very
alcohol-free beer. "Not only drunk, but _extremely_ drunk. I'll ignore
that blatant disregard for the laws."

Yi's glance of concern turns into a bit of a stare, but she lifts a fist
to her mouth and clears her throat gently. "I'm sure she is just teasing,"
she says, in hopes that her excuse might be true. "Synethesis is big now,
isn't it?" Hoping to pull the subject back to something less touchy, the
Gnawer glances at the members of the Roach pack.

Alicia starts to laugh, quite hard at Salem's statement. "Dude! Like.. oh
my gawd. I can't believe you said that." Covering her mouth, she slumps
her head over her arms, giggling the entire time.

Rhiannon drinks from her soda, and watches Alicia with a mixture of humor
and pity. She glances at Yi when she asks about the Pack, and looks to
Salem, curious.

Salem nods, as though the Gaian's response were exactly what he expected.
Then he looks over toward Yi. "Myself, John, Alicia, Francisco, Leala, and
now Tatt. Six." He shrugs slightly. "It's at its upper limit, more or
less. I've seen packs with more."

Yi lightly bites the inside of her lip, trying not to be actually
embarrassed for Alicia. When the server comes around with the beers, she
also adds a couple glasses of water to a request. On second thought, was
there coffee? When the guy leaves, the Gnawer raggie twists open a bottle,
letting it sit for awhile. "It's not unheard of, no."

Dizzy giggles softly, finding it a bit contagious. "John say anything
about me lately?" she asks Salem as she obtains one of the beers.

Alicia controls the giggles after a bit, then bites on her lip, simply
grinning. She looks so happy and content at that, quite cute in a way.

Salem's face tightens slightly, some of his apparant good mood turning
into something a good deal more brittle. His reply is calm enough,
however, even and measured. "No, but then, I haven't spoken to him much
lately. He's been fairly busy with his challenge."

"Any word on how that's going?" Rhiannon asks casually, her soda almost
finished.

"I've no idea," the Philodox responds coolly. He takes a drink from his
bottle.

Yi would normally turn to the galliard, but then again. She sips at her
beer, washing down the sick feeling churning around in her. "No one knows
the 'right' stuff for Dizzy?" she questions, glancing more to the halfmoon
now.

"Oh okay," Dizzy says, nodding. "Just wondering." She takes a drink of the
beer and sets it down. "Huh?" she querries the gnawer, not understanding
what she just said.

Salem turns his attention over toward Yi, unsmiling but not overtly
hostile. And his answer sounds polite enough. "Francisco knows the proper
procedures, if that's what you're asking. But it's up to John to set the
time and place." He glances over toward Dizzy. "Which will, I imagine, be
fairly soon."

Rhiannon gives Dizzy and appraising glance, and nods. "We could use
the...help," she says absently.

Yi hadn't expected any pleasantries. She just nods again, sipping away at
the alcohol in hand, grateful it's ever so slowly sapping the tensions
away. Her eyes go to Dizzy, older than she, still a cub. "Help in what?"

Dizzy looks surprised at Yi, "Oh, I was just wondering what you meant.
That's all." She looks at the table, holding her bottle with both hands,
"A while ago, Roger asked me if I was ready... I faltered and said 'I
suppose' and he chewed me out for it. Now, I'm sure I'm ready. I realize
that this is what I'm supposed to do."

Salem studies Dizzy for a moment and then nods. "Good."

"'Kids', most significantly," Rhiannon tells Yi. With the emphasis placed
on the word 'kids', she probably intends it to mean something else.
Dizzy's statement brings a smile to the Kin's face, and she finishes off
her soda.

Yi on the other hand, fields the ball back to Dizzy. "So what do you do
now?" she asks of the Walker cub. Call it a test. Or just basic inquiry.

Salem's eyes narrow very slightly, but he merely takes another sip of his
drink, saying nothing. His glance wanders back toward his now very quiet
packmate. "Hm."

Dizzy smiles, "Finishing as much school as possible. I've been trying to
keep in shape by going to the gym." She glances over to Rhiannon, "I've
met some of the newer cubs. Larger moons than were arround when I
arrived."

Rhiannon grunts, the sound one of mingled agreement and comiseration. She
sets a few dollars for the waitress under her empty glass, and gives those
assembled a tired smile. "I have to be going, folks. Have a good time."
She spares Alicia a final amused glance, then leaves the table with a
final wave goodnight. Her pace through the hall is meandering and casual,
and she vanishes out the door as silently as she arrived.

Yi nods, nursing the beer in her hand. "How is school?" she questions, a
bit curious to the Walkercub's doings. Gasp. Normal life things. But she
realizes where she is and the company she's in, and adds quickly, "I mean,
not to say the rest of us do not do anything." She flits a quick, darted
glance at Salem, before bowing a quick dip of her head to the departing
Marshal.

Salem nods toward the departing kinfolk, then glances at his watch. A
final swig finishes off his beverage, and he pushes his chair back,
preparing to stand. Yi gets an arched eyebrow, somewhat quizzical. "Hm."
Then he shakes his head and shrugs back into his coat. "I'm heading out
myself. And so is Alicia." He eyes his packmate again, then shakes his
head and helps her to her feet.

Yi watches the halfmoon sum up the 'party' with a hoisting of the crazy
Coggie to her feet, and shakes her head. "Her head is going to hurt in the
morning," Yi comments offhand.

"Good, good," Dizzy answers, nodding. She takes another drink and brushes
her bangs out of her face, "The classes haven't been too hard, not to say
that they're not work, but I try and spend a lot of time studying." That's
probably not entirely true, but who's to know.

Salem arches an eyebrow at the Bone Gnawer. "Of that," he says, "I have no
doubt." He sounds wryly amused, and he has little difficulty in steering
the half-conscious Child of Gaia out the door and to his car. "Enjoy the
rest of your evening," he offers to the pair.