A Date?
Who: Jonas, Cara, and Jane Where: the theatre When: early evening
Despite the fact that Scarlet Oaks was a little city and the play wasn't exactly the Russian Ballet, Cara was dressed for a night on the town. She had seen to it that Jane was as well, although Jane's outfit had to be more functional, given the role she was to play. She was a bodyguard -- a full, fluffy skirt and heels were not exactly combat gear. Cara, on the other hand, was dressed in a simple black gown. The v-neck dipped tastefully, braided straps meeting behind her neck. Her dark hair was down, completely pulled over her right shoulder in a style which, once again, was a deliberate attempt to mask the black eye. Jonas had forewarned them he could be a little late. Rather than hover near the door, they had already taken their seats in the busy theatre. The seat beside Cara was open, reserved for Jonas. She half-turned to glance at the door, searching for signs of him.
What fun, the first outing of her new job. It had irked Jane a little bit that Cara had insisted that she dressed to some sort of occasion - first, because it was just Scarlet Oak and second, because Jane knew how to dress herself provided she had the money to, and now she did, thank you very much. Question was, if she didn't enjoy the play, how was she going to amuse herself? Of course she could just start laughing about the whole 'date' thing and making a running commentary of it, but what if that got boring? Luckily her new cell phone/PDA had games. She'd just put it on silence. Who would attack Cara at a theater, anyway? She noticed her 'boss' looking at the door several times, and snickered. Girl was anxious, apparently. Maybe if he didn't come she could call it an early night and go to a bar, have a drink, maybe pick up some hot man to take home - she was on a continuous lucky break, after all. Jane thought twice about addressing Cara, but then thought she might as well use her PDA and just smirk. Maybe he was a no-show. That would be funny, if a little sad.
Jonas was not a no show, but the need to make sure he was ready for work after the play, and the sun to set did mean he couldn't arrive until about thirty minutes to curtain, when everyone would anxiously be waiting for people to get in, running to the restroom last minute or some other thing. He took a moment outside the theatre to straighten his jacket and do his best to center himself in hopes that he'd get through the play without any hallucinations that might distract him. He loved the theatre and the last thing he wanted was a repeat of Luxemburg and the flying mice. Once that was done he entered the theatre, he was wearing a nice white button-up with black blazer and slacks. Pulling off his fedora as he approached the seat that the usher pointed out as his he ran a hand through his hair and greeted Cara before taking a seat. "Sorry I'm late."
Cara's mouth at once became a smile. "You aren't late yet," she pointed out as she relaxed against her seat. "The lights aren't even down yet." Alright, so maybe she had been getting a little anxious, but here he was. It really had been a while since her last date, hadn't it? Of course, this date had a new element: a bodyguard. Did you introduce them like a person or treat them like an invisible servant as so many did? Perhaps, someday, she would be more accustomed to Jane's presence; right now, things were still in the awkward stages. "This is my bodyguard, Jane," she decided at last, gesturing to the other woman. "Jane, this is Jonas." She wasn't sure what she was expecting -- Jane wasn't exactly Miss Social Butterfly.
Oh, but he was old school, fedora and all! Jane smirked when she saw the guy come up, but obviously didn't speak. Invisibility, she could deal with that just fine. And it wasn't just Cara to find the situation awkward, Jane did, too. She wasn't much of a theater fan, and she wasn't much of a third wheel either. Never had been. But a job was a job, and for those big bucks on her bank account - she had a bank account now! - at the end of the month, damn, she could do third wheeling. She wasn't expecting Cara to introduce Jane to her date, but she thought it was kind of a nice move to do so, although being treated like the invisible servant was much more what she'd been expecting. It showed Cara at least wasn't enough of a stuck up bitch to not acknowledge an employee as a human being. Jane smiled, her well perfected business smile drawing across her lips, and held out her hand to the Jonas guy. "Nice to meet you, Jonas." She said, almost impressed with herself.
"Pleasure." Jonas took Janes hand politely and gave it a single shake, aknowledging her as a 'bodyguard' instead of a 'woman' where his greeting may have differed. He then turned to Cara after putting his had under the seat. "I'm glad you decided to do this." Jonas said with a smile, quickly shrinking it after a split second realizing it might not be wise to flash his fangs in such a crowded- or reasonably crowded room... for a community theatre (something he's not always lucid enough to think of). "I haven't been to a Panto in a very long time. This should be very entertaining."
"Of course I came," Cara responded with a bright smile, bright enough to light up a room. "I promised you I would, didn't I?" She had practically invited him. Her eyes turned towards the stage with an eager expectation of what was to come. She enjoyed traditional plays -- seeing them was much better than reading them -- but she had never ventured beyond the classics. "I've never been to one of these before," she confessed. "Have you seen this one before?"
Only when he shook her hand did Jane notice he was a vampire. Well, she wasn't all that surprised, not after having met her new boss, but it was still something it took a while getting used to. If she had been drinking - which she wished she was at this point - Jane would've choked on her drink. A Panto?! They were there, Jane included, to see a Panto? Closing her eyes, Jane snickered. Unbelievable. She had to control herself massively not to shout "WHAT?" in Jonas' direction, but self-control was something she had learned during her 'hunter training' and she put it to good use. A Panto. When she took this job she wouldn't have imagined the great places it might take her was a theater to see a Panto. But new things were good - at times - and she had to stick around for the duration, so she might as well sit back and try to enjoy it. Cara seemed mighty cheerful with this dude, Jane noticed. She hadn't seen her boss smile quite that bright before. Then again, she didn't know her for more than a day.
"Well then I hope you'll enjoy it." Jonas laughed. "It's not a 'normal' play and something that is actually hard to find being done frequently here. It's a play that takes classic elements of the Comedia dell'arte and sets it to a satirical version of a fairy tale." Clearly the way he spoke about it, he was familiar with it, and his 'teacher voice' could be detected ever so slightly. "There's most frequently audience participation and a 'pantomime dame' who is normally a man in drag." He explained. "The last one I saw was years ago in England and I laughed so hard I litterally almost fell out of my chair." At least there had been no flying mice in that one.
Cara 's eyebrows rose slightly as he began to explain the panto, including, it seemed, even some of its history. She was just about to ask if things were going to go over her head when he mentioned audience participation. Her eyebrows rose slightly higher as she glanced at Jane. The woman was bound to hate this. Cara herself wasn't sure how she felt about it. "What kind of audience participation?" she questioned cautiously.
His initial description actually got Jane interested - she wasn't the southern dumbfuck some people took her for, there was depth and brain in there too - and she tuned in to listen to the rest. She would have laughed at the Dame thing, a man in drag was nothing if not funny, but her brain got stuck on the previous part of the description. Audience participation? Jane's jaw dropped, not in awe but in some form of terror.
"Hell no!" She let escape, barely above a whisper, as she noticed Cara glancing at her and she glanced back, visibly intrigued. At Cara's question, Jane all but leaned in to hear the answer better.
"Oh nothing that's required of course." Jonas said shaking his head. "It's all vocal mostly, booing at the bad guy and cheering for the hero. People in the front-" Of which they were not. "-at least in the last one I saw- were poked fun at and one was pulled onto stage, but that's not a frequent occurance."
Cara couldn't help but look a little relieved. She preferred to stay well out of the limelight, which was part of the reason her and Sebastian's relationship worked so well. She had been there, done that, and she was happy to remain in the wings. His description of audience participation...well, that was something she thought she might be able to do. "Sounds like fun," she said with a nod.
Somewhere along Jonas' explanation, Jane started thinking that this could actually be some fun. Hell, apart from awesome mindblowing rough sex with Torque, when was the last time she had really had fun? A young female deserved better. With a smile, Jane sighed in relief - a sigh that was entirely too audible for her own taste. Pretty soon, her face had gone back to emotionless and focused, and her eyes had moved back to the PDA where she had been playing some sort of Minesweeper for the last half hour.
Jonas took Cara's hand and gave it an excited squeeze. "It will be. I hope." He said with a chuckle as some of the stage hands started to pull part of the set out, an unofficial signal that things were starting soon.
Hand-holding seemed to be a definite indication that this was a date. Cara smiled at him and squeezed back, casting her eyes towards the stage. The show was, at first, a little difficult to get into the swing off -- theatres in America were usually quiet places. Soon enough, she was jeering along with the rest of the crowd and laughing so hard that she had to wipe the tears out of her eyes more than once.
As a hunter - and as a bodyguard - one is, by default, extremely observant. Or should be, if one wants to do a good job. Jane did want to do a good job, and she was trained to be observant. Out the corner of her eye she had seen the vampire hold Cara's hand, and raised an eyebrow, then smirked. Briefly, the woman wondered if it was her duty to tell Cara. Maybe she knew already, but those things weren't easy to come by to the untrained eye, so then again, maybe she didn't. Of course Jane wasn't thinking of simply lean over and whisper in her ear "You do know he's a vampire, right?" just now, maybe later. If he didn't end up taking her home. Jane was in for a long night in the SUV if that was the case. Oh, happy day. The show started to a skeptical Jane, but soon enough even she couldn't deny how funny it was. And yes, she'd ended up laughing a bunch of times, clapping, booing, cheering, and whatever else. This was her new leaf after all, broody Jane had taken a holiday and might never come back, if she had any say in it. *** After a point intermission came. Jonas had really been enjoying it thus far and while he didn't need to use the facilities like most he shuffled into the lobby with the crowd, making sure that he didn't loose sight of his theatre companions- well save for if they went into the ladies room. "You seem to be enjoying it so far." Jonas said with a plesant smile.
Cara had given once glance in Jane's direction as they exited, partly to see if the other woman would indeed follow. No, she definitely wasn't used to the bodyguard thing. When Jonas spoke, however, she turned to him with a smile. "It's hilarious," she agreed with a little giggle bubbling up from her throat, an echo of the joke which had sent the into the intermission. "I'm really glad you brought me."
Well, she had to, didn't she? With a sigh Jane stood up and followed the happy couple outside, hardly paying attention to Cara's glance. In fact, Jane was hardly paying attention to anything at this point, just checking entrances and exits, possible threats, the works. This chick was like the fucking President. Of course, yes, she had been enjoying the show and could even have been seen laughing - if anyone had paid attention, which Jane knew hadn't happened. But this job could get boring pretty fast, too, if there were actually no threats at all. Not that she was wishing for Cara's life to be in danger...Or at least she shouldn't be.
"Did you want something to drink? Or a snack?" Jonas offered as they found a clear spot in the crowd. So far the evening was going well, he hadn't seen anything that wasn't supposed to be there (or so he was pretty sure) and his new friend seemed to be enjoying herself.
"Well," Cara began, glancing upwards towards the lighted boards. This was no different than a movie theatre, it seemed -- the boards offered everything from soda to nachos. And, damn, did nachos sound good. "Some nachos and a bottled water would be great," she told him after a moment of consideration. Confidentially, she murmured, "Nachos are sort of a weakness of mine." She grinned and added, "But I only let myself have them on special occasions." Oh, and speaking of snacks... Half-turning, she asked, "Jane? Anything for you?"
Jane hadn't even registered someone was talking to her until she saw Cara's expectant face. "Oh! Um, just water, thank you." She said with a polite smile directed at both Cara and the vampire Jonas.
Jonas nodded. "I'll be right back." He said as he slipped into line. It wasn't that long just then because everyone was running to the bathroom, but he did have to wait a little bit.
Cara wasn't exactly comfortable discussing the date itself with Jane yet -- after all, she hardly knew the other woman! -- but the play seemed to be an open topic. Sliding down onto one of the sofas decorating the lobby, she glanced at Jane with an amused twist of her lips. "How do you like the play?" Although she was speaking to Jane, her eyes never left the figure of Jonas across the lobby. "I hope you're not bored..." Truly, she hoped Jane was enjoying herself, because if Jane had to be here, why make her miserable?
And Jane was thankful for that, for the exact same reason. It would be all kinds of awkward if Cara did the girly thing and turned to Jane all excited asking 'isn't he just dreamy?' or something to that effect. The bodyguard decided not to call Cara on the fact she wasn't even looking at whom she was talking to - it was amusing, after all, how her eyes seemed to be glued to the guy. Who wasn't at all bad looking. Too bad about the 'technically dead' thing. Although it probably wouldn't matter either way for Cara, and it was starting not to matter to Jane. She was working for a vampire after all. She nodded, even though Cara wasn't looking. "It's fine. Pretty damn funny, actually. I'd never been to one of these before."
"Neither have I," Cara replied, leaning backwards until her upper back and head bumped against the wall. It was atrocious posture, but she was relaxed and comfortable for the time being. "I'll admit to having my doubts, but..." Here, at last, her eyes finally shifted to Jane. "But I like it. I'm surprised they don't put on more of them here. They usually do the classics -- or plays for the kids." It was usually a combination -- like the Wizard of Oz, Cinderella, and so on.
After the not-so-long line Jonas returned with the small nachos- most of the food was in small portions due to the fact there was only about 20 minutes of intermission. He handed Cara the nachos and one of the waters, and Jane the other with a small smile. "There we are."
Cara rose to her feet with a smile. "Thank you," she said graciously as she took the nachos and water from him. "Nothing for yourself?" she questioned curiously, eyebrows raised. "I'll share my nachos..." A small portion it may be, but it was still too many for her to eat without completely pigging out on them. They were nachos, but she still wanted to eat them like a lady -- if ladies ate nachos, anyway.
"Yeah, not bad." Jane agreed as she watched Jonas coming back towards them. She nodded thankfully at him and took the water, opening the bottle and taking a sip right away. She was definitely thirsty. "Thanks." It was all Jane could do not to roll her eyes (and then laugh) at nacho-sharing. It was cute, really cute. Except Jonas was probably not the nacho type. Few technically dead people were. Cara would do more good sharing the nachos with Jane, although she wasn't in the mood for them, and she wasn't hungry. At least, she could savor them.
Jonas waved a hand. "No." He replied with a light chuckle. "I'm fine, thank you."
"Alright," she replied with a similar chuckle in response. "But you don't know what you're missing." She dipped a chip in the melted cheese, turning to her last hope: Jane. Little did Jane know she was also to serve in the capacity of helping Cara to look like a little less of a pig. "Nacho?" she asked with a grin. "What's your favorite play, Jonas?" she asked curiously, nachos still extended to Jane although her attention had returned to Jonas.
Of course he was fine. With a snicker that was barely there, Jane turned to Cara and took one nacho for herself, dipping it carefully on the cheese. "Thanks." She said before eating it. They weren't bad, but she had had better. She just didn't remember where.
"You mean in general?" Jonas asked. "I tend to prefer satires like Marlowe but a lot of more modern pieces are nice- I love Pirates of Penzance and other musicals as well."
Theatre nachos usually weren't fantastic -- but they were certainly going to satisfy the craving she felt for them. She nodded in gratitude towards Jane, then returned her attention to Jonas. "Do you have any pull with the theatre here?" If this could be called a theatre... "Or do you just have to put up with whatever they're performing?"
It was kind of strange that Cara was the one nodding to her in thanks - after all she had offered the nachos. But Jane had pretty much given up on trying to get most people, and Cara was no exception. Maybe she thought they were poisoned and wanted Jane to try them first. Although, had she tried them first? Probably not. In all honesty Jane was enjoying the Panto but had no wish in participating in the theater conversation. People were different, and Jane wasn't the theater type. Actually, she wasn't the anything type, at the moment. Being penniless did that.
Jonas shook his head. "No, I'm just a lowly patron like yourself. Though I am a part-time member of an improv troupe." He furrowed his brow slightly. "I don't have much pull there either."
Cara laughed at his expression. "I was kind of hoping I could convince you to bring Les Miserable to our little theatre, but I guess we'll have to make do." Musingly, she asked, "An improve troupe? Just for fun or do you actually put on shows?"
"There's some shows." Jonas said. "I participate when I can." His work schedule and the sunset time permitting. "But it's amatour, but everyone has a lot of fun and that's what matters."
Cara grinned, trying to summon some idea of what an improv show would look like. She imagined it wasn't much like her own improv shows. "Promise you'll invite me to the next one." People were beginning to trickle back into the theatre -- the show would probably be starting again soon. That was, in its own way, rather too bad.
Jane really didn't mean to, but she was getting quite bored at the conversation. Even if she did think it was kind of cool that the vampire did improv theater. When Cara made him promise to invite her again it was all Jane could do not to roll her eyes. She hadn't been on a date in a long, long time but wasn't the guy supposed to want to do it, and weren't you supposed to wait it out instead of hounding him for another date? Maybe times had changed. She noticed people walking towards the doors into the theater again and signed the other two with a nod. "Shall we?"
Jonas nodded, gesturing to Cara in an 'after you' move. "I'd love to invite you, once I find out when I'll be able to go again- probably would be a weekend night- my new job would overlap slightly... but it's only Monday through Friday." He chuckled slightly and shook his head, it wasn't like his -other- job didn't overlap slightly or the fact that the sun set later in the summer than it did in the winter.
Cara nodded in response to Jane and accepted Jonas's invitation to go first. "I'll look forward to it," she said with a genuine smile. *** Well, that had been fun. Really, this time Jane wasn't being sarcastic to herself, it had really been fun. She left the theater thinking she might have to come back for another one of those soon. Standing outside near where they'd been at intermission, Jane waited for Cara and the date to come out, wondering if they were going to call it a night now, or hang out some more somewhere else. If the latter, she hoped they sold beer there. And she didn't give a damn about drinking on the job; she was sure she could still kill about three people with some moves and a weapon after one beer. That was a comforting thought.
Jonas escorted Cara from the theatre, glancing at his watch. He still had a little time before work- thank goodness they'd caught an earlier show and Pantos weren't extremely long. He was chuckling as they walked out. "That stuffed goose was brilliant at the end." He commented.
The whole thing had been brilliant as far as Cara was concerned. Once the show had started, there hadn't been much time for the nachos -- although, it was eat them or risk dumping cheese sauce everywhere. Nachos consumed, she was once again free to concentrate on the play...and she was glad she did. "Is the cross-dressing suposed to be part of the show?"
Jonas laughed and nodded. "Yes, the dame is traditionally a man dressed as a woman. It's done for comedic value, but partly as well akin to back before women were allowed to act and all roles were played by men."
"I think I sort of remember something about that from my freshmen history class," she told him with a slight shake of her head. Very different times.
Now, Jane was woefully bored again. Instead of settling for listening to their back-and-forths about uninteresting stuff, she clasped her hands together and smiled politely. "Now. Where to?" They ought to make up their minds soon, because even for her job's sake she needed to know.
"Actually." Jonas said, looking at his pocket watch. "I've only about a half hour before I have to head to work." He would be showing up close to show time today, but he'd already discussed it with Viv and she was ok with doing the prep by herself.
Cara's smile never wavered. It was perfect: not too soon they had to rush and not too long that things would get awkward. "Why don't you walk us to our car?" she suggested with a smirk. "And then you can get to work on time and there will still be time to say goodbye on the way."
"Alright then, that works." Jane said after Jonas and Cara had said their piece. Then, she started walking towards the doors, looking over her shoulder to see if they were following.
Jonas offered his arm, as he followed Jane outside. "I had a nice time." He said. "I'm glad you enjoyed the show."
"I did," Cara replied, sliding her arm through his. It made her feel like quite the lady. "I've never laughed so hard in my life." And she was still inwardly chortling over a few of the jokes. "I never asked. How's your new job?"
"Wonderful." He replied. "Though we've not gotten many callers in yet, we've gotten a few."
"It's new," she told him confidently. "Just wait until the word gets out. You'll have the most popular show in Scarlet Oaks." Granted, there wasn't a whole lot of competition for that time slot, but she still wanted him to do well.