(Placeholder) (disco_dazzler) wrote in gangs_of_nyx, @ 2009-01-29 11:54:00 |
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Entry tags: | asgardian, dazzler |
Characters: Alison "Disco Dazzler" Blaire and Billy "Asgardian" Kaplan
NPCsLounge lizards, bartender, etc.
Location: The ever-swingin' Hellfire Club
Time:
Description: Billy shows Alison what he's got.
Rating: PG
Billy really dug the Club. Really dug it. It was decorated in the height of 70's chic and it was obvious that no expense was spared. He enjoyed the few occasions that he was given jobs inside the Club, and this was one of those occasions. He'd been asked to do some promo posters for some of the entertainers. His first meeting had gone very well. The 'entertainer', and he used the term loosely in her case, had loved the art that he'd done. Not that it was difficult to make her look enticing when she was a tiny little barely legal looking dancer who favored dancing in a bra with tassels on them.
Truthfully, this job as a whole wasn't all that difficult. The worst part was finding new and creative ways to market the lovely talent that the Club employed. For the girl he was about to meet with, Billy had prepared five different poster proofs for her to look at. He hoped that she was easy as the last girl. He'd heard that some of these girls could be real primadonnas, but he'd been lucky not to run into any of those yet.
He'd gotten a table all his own in a small, secluded lounge in the Club. He'd arranged with the bartender to keep a steady flow of beers coming his way. It wasn't the ost professional way to have a business meeting, but it seemed to be the way things worked in the Club. Most business dealings were done with alcohol and cigars abounding, sometimes some of the 'entertainers' even present to help make the mood more enjoyable. Billy didn't need all that, but he would be willing to get drinks for the girls he was meeting with today. It was all on the Hellfire Club's tab, anyway.
Alison would be quite offended if Billy lumped her in with the rest of the girls who unabashedly bared there breast on stage. She'd never think about taking off her top for money, not that they weren't fantastic, they were, but Alison was a class act. And besides, when you had a voice like she did, she would never, ever have to strip to support herself. So where did that leave her? Guess that just meant she was a bit of a diva. And why not? She was The Dazzler!
She was running fashionably, Alison was coming from across the other side of town. From the apartment complex Genosha Towers, which was in Genosha Heights. It wasn't a particularly large apartment, but it had windows, floor to ceiling that offered the most spectacular view. It made for fantastic after party, parties. Just when the night was winding down, but you were too buzzed to fall asleep, Alison would invite all of her friends back for more drinks to lounge and watch the sun come up. The apartment would be flooded with colors and heat from the rising sun. She liked it.
Finally getting to the Hellfire Club after what seemed like an eternity, Alison quickly paid the cab fee and hopped out of the car. She gave the bouncer who recognized her a quick nod as he held the door open for her. Who was she meeting with today? Some guy? Some artist? Alison wasn't really sure of the details, she just hoped he was cute. Heeled strides closed the distance to the bar, where she flagged down the tender. She talked with him a few minutes until he pointed in Billy's direction. She didn't immediately go to him, instead she waited until a drink was fixed for her. Gin and tonic, they made the best at the Hellfire Club.
Alison swizzled her drink, taking a sip and closing the distance toward billy. "Alison Blaire," she introduced herself, sticking white-gloved hand to shake.
While Billy waited, he nursed his beer and flipped casually through the proofs he'd made up for her. He rearranged the order of them, once, twice, wanting them to be in a logical order. He left two that he didn't like as much as the others at the back, and placed the one he liked best of all second in the order of renderings.
When Alison entered the lounge, of course Billy recognized her. He'd sketched her several times over from photos given him and from once or twice across the room. She was different from many of the others, he could see that. She had an air of professionalism about her. At least that was what he hoped it was, and not that she was a primadonna. But he was at least pretty sure she wasn't an empty-headed bimbo like some of the girls around the club.
When she finally approached, Billy stood and took a step toward her, shaking her hand firmly. "Billy Kaplan, nice to meet you", he returned, giving her a reserved smile. "Have a seat", he offered, moving to pull out a chair for her. "I have a few things for you to look over, this shouldn't take long at all." At least he hoped not. Not that he minded the attractive company, but he knew that a long meeting would mean lots of changes for him to make, and he wasn't wanting that.
Professionalism? What was that? Sure, she took things like her career, fashion, and party politics very serious, but not much else. Not school, Alison couldn't wait to graduate high school! Not work, she had countless secretarial positions. And definitely not her family, now that her mother was gone and it was just her and her father, Alison couldn't WAIT to move out of their house.
Alison flashed him a big toothy grin. She was certainly different most the other girls that went to the Hellfire Club. They were all dark and mysterious, dreary. Alison was more like a spring breeze - bright and warm and full of color and life. In fact, she was practically glowing.
"Nice to meet you, Billy." Setting her drink on the table, Alison made quick work of unbuttoning her overcoat, revealing mini-dress made of blue and green floral fabric with a white peter pan collar and white cuffs at the sleeves. Thank god, for an opaque pair of tights, or else there wouldn't be much left to the imagination. It seemed dresses were getting shorter and shorter every year! The mini-skirt! Greatest invention of the 20th century. But despite the short skirt, didn't look trashy at all. Alison was something of a fashionista and dressed to the nines whenever she could. It was important, especially in winter, when most people preferred to wear drab collars, Alison went for outfits that popped! against the landscape.
"Thank you," she offered him another smile as she sat in the chair he had pulled out for her. "Oh, good. I'd love to see your work, you have my undivided attention."
Once Alison was seated, Billy moved back around to his seat, sitting back down. He'd already taken his jacket off, it was draped over the back of his chair. Billy was wearing the dress casual of the day, brown pants and a button down shirt bright with warm colors that complimented his hair, a pattern of browns and oranges, the collar big and white. He made a point to dress nicer when actually in the Club (they probably wouldn't let him in the door otherwise), even though
when away from it he preferred to dress more casually.
"Good", he said with a smile as he moved a hand onto the portfolio of proofs he'd brought with him. "I have five, they're a pretty wide variety of styles and poses and such." He was hoping that she'd find one that she liked as is, but even if she didn't he could at least get an idea of which poses, backdrops, and styles she liked best and combine those elements into a suitable finished product. Billy opened the folder up, taking the first sketch and turning it so it faced
Alison and slid it across the table toward her. He'd drawn the Hellfire Club logo in behind her and the background was a bright, flamey design. Her hair was drawn in a different style than it
currently was in, more reminiscent of a Farah Fawcett look. She held a mic in her hand and looked fierce in a black outfit that displayed a "V" of skin clear down to her navel. "The outfits I picked are a variety of stuff in your current wardrobe and things on order for you from the Club. I thought this first one was eye-catching."
Alison visibly "oohed" when Billy showed her the drawing. "Wow." It was nice. Dramatic. Different. A little darker than she had envisioned, but nice. She liked the way her hair was drawn with the Fawcett-Flp. Maybe she'd get it styled like that. Currently Alison's hair was long and straight with blunt bangs cut across her forehead. She looked from the drawing up and Billy again, he was certainly talented. "I like it, but can we look at your other drawings?" Alison flashed him a brief smile before taking a sip of her drink through a slender straw.
Alison's reaction was a very good sign to Billy, who'd opted to show her the one he didn't like the very best first. If she was liking the very first thing he showed, it was a good sign. As long as he could decide on one she liked best.
"Yeah", Billy said about showing her more. "Here's another." He flipped to the second one, his favorite. He didn't mention it was his favorite, just in case their tastes didn't match. Her outfit was silver, again with a dramatic v-neck that went nearly to her waist. She had roller skates on, a last-minute add-on that Billy'd thought was a great touch. He'd drawn a disco ball on the top of the page, and prisms of light being reflected by the ball all through the background. It was a little goofy maybe, but more light and fun than the first. Billy took a swig of his beer as she looked.
She immediately reacted when he showed her the next proof. Alison double tapped the table with her finger. "This one. This one. Only..." She hesitated and blushed, she wasn't sure if it was alright to critique, but she did have a few comments -suggestions really- that she'd like to share. "Um, I like this, I like this a lot I was just wondering...if you could make it more colorful? Its a little...stark?" That was the word right? Stark? Stork? No, no, stark. "It should be brighter! More wow!"
He smiled when she showed that she liked the second one. When she voiced the critique, he listened, his body still. Artists tended to be sensitive about criticism, but he really was wanting it. And it was a lot more constructive than some he'd heard in the past.
"More brighter?" He frowned slightly, looking at the picture. "Do you want the outfit to be brighter, or the light reflecting off the ball?" He could see that with the silver of the costume that much of the picture was in neutral colors. He wanted to make sure he was getting
just what she wanted.
Alison leaned back and pondered the picture. "The ball, I guess. I do this...thing with the lights. During my performances, its really outta sight. You know technology these days, it's pretty impressive." Alison smiled wide as she lied to him. Truth of the matter was there was no technological explanation to what she did with the lights. In fact, she didn't really have an explanation for how she did it at all. She just did. She felt the music, felt the sound and willed the light to happen.
"You should come to my rehearsal and then you can see," Alison nodded up and down. She hoped he wasn't sensing her lie. Alison would just be horrified if it were ever to come out that she was a mutant. She upped her charm and offered him another smile, this one different. It was warm, inviting, her brow quirked upwards gave her a flirtatious coyness. A finger found its way into her hair, twirling absently around a strand.
"Oh yeah? With lights?" Billy wasn't sure what she meant, but it sounded interesting. He'd have to figure out just what she wanted light-wise for the drawing. Maybe he would have to go see her rehearse.
"Yeah, I think I'll do that", he said to the invite. A smile tugged up one corner of his mouth at the smile she made. Flirting was fun to him and he did indulge in that much, but it was just having fun for him, not a means to an end. "I'm sure I could get a lot more ideas from seeing you at work." His hand moved to fan out the remaining drawings he'd done. "These're the rest. You can see, I did a pretty wide variety of styles, themes, dresses." And he did. One ensemble was a
powder blue, one an obnoxiously bright canary yellow, the final one in pink.
"Yeah," she said, just nodding. That was a path she wasn't wanting to go down. She didn't want to explain the "technological phenomenon" of her lights because...she couldn't. She couldn't even make something up if she wanted. Alison wasn't very bright in that regard. Anyways, he'd recognize the lie and she'd just have to go on about her powers anyways. Best to cover it up with another flirtatious smile and glance.
"You should." She looked down at the table when he splayed the rest of the proofs out in front of her. They were nice, but they weren't as great as the first two. "Yeah, you most definitely should, I think you'll get a better idea about my show and my...personality," was that right word? "...once you see the rehearsal. These are good though. But I think you kinda missed the mark." She giggled to let him know she wasn't being malicious.
That was enough to satisfy Billy. He was only politely interested, he didn't really need, or even want, details about the light show. He was assuming it was no different than any light show he'd ever seen before for a concert.
"Yeah, I think I will", Billy said about attending a practice. He couldn't help making a face at being told he missed the mark. Some people had the talent to tell people bad news in such a way that they thought it was good. Alison didn't appear to be that kind of person to Billy, though she seemed to be trying. He wasn't going to be mad about it, he just needed to be sure he got it right for the next batch. "So what you're mainly looking for is more color, is that right?" He wanted to be sure that he changed what she was wanting him to.
It was true, at times, Alison was a little tactless and usually she'd try to make up for it. Usually. But this was about her. Her music. Her show. Her image. He was suppose to be helping her. So, right now, she was generally unapologetic about her criticisms. She'd show him, though, at her rehearsal that she was something special, something more.
"You'll see."