not_every_mage: (Default)
Anders ([personal profile] not_every_mage) wrote in [community profile] fandomtownies2014-07-13 02:07 pm

The Magic Box, Sunday, July 13

It was Sunday evening. Maybe in other, better cities people were waking up from the naps they took to sleep off Grandma's pot roast dinner after church. Maybe they were riding bikes under streetlights or swinging on suburban porch swings, counting fireflies.

But this was Fandom, and Fandom Sundays were a lot like any other day. Which meant the magic had to keep coming. Anders had an opening shift, which meant he had to sweep up the cigarette butts and wipe the sticky rings of dried hooch off the tables, and check to make sure all the props and sheet music were in order for the night. It was dumb, and dull, and more than a little gross, but it kept him on the owners' good sides and that was where he liked to be.

He fretted as he went through the routine of busywork. The kid, Elsa -- the chatter backstage was that she was up for a couple special jobs. She was way too young for anything like that, but Anders wasn't the type to stick his neck out, not when it would just give somebody like Angelface a perfect chance to slit his throat. Besides, Karla wasn't dumb. If anybody could going to keep Elsa pure, Karla could.

Once the club was in tip-top shape for the night, Anders went backstage to get into costume, chat with the girls, and wait for the show to begin.

Re: Immediately Before the Show - Backstage

[identity profile] iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com 2014-07-13 08:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Elsa, normally quiet and with a reputation for being something of an ice princess around here, had gone even more quiet with this news. She and Celia had never been super close. She and Karla were still fairly new around here and Elsa had a tendency to keep her head down and try not to draw attention to herself.

No, she and Celia hadn't exactly been the best of friends, but they'd been friendly enough. And with her being murdered the day of Elsa's sixteenth birthday, the whole thing left a sort of lurching feeling in Elsa's chest that made her feel very much as though she was about to be ill. She'd been afraid for much of her life, of one thing or another. This was one of the first times she was afraid and at the same time uncertain that her sister could get them through this unscathed.
glacial_queen: (Downcast)

Re: Immediately Before the Show - Backstage

[personal profile] glacial_queen 2014-07-13 09:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Karla walked up to her sister and took her hand with a gentle squeeze that asked if she'd be okay.

No words, of course. It was a hard lesson they'd learned together. Conceal. Don't feel. Don't let it show.

Otherwise, you gave too many people keys to what made you tick. Showed them all of your wekanesses.

Make one wrong move and everyone will know.

Re: Immediately Before the Show - Backstage

[identity profile] iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com 2014-07-13 09:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Elsa's hand tightened a little around Karla's. Of course she couldn't say anything, not here, with so many ears around. She ached to take her back to the dressing rooms, to cling to her and sob into her shoulder and be not okay, at least for a little while. Later. She could do all of that later, away from prying eyes, but it was agony to wait.

So, for now, just that. A small squeeze of her hand in turn. A silent promise that she was fine.

Even that much was a lie.