u(゚Д゚u) (oncechained) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-05-12 19:03:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, laura kinney (wolverine), marguerite blakeney |
Who: Laura and Marguerite
What: Meeting after a show
When: Recent
Where: Theater then coffee place
Status: complete
Rating: PG
The last time Laura had been to a show in her dreams, she’d killed three quarters of the cast. But Nat had given her tickets to this show and one of Nat’s ‘shadows’ was in it, which was enough to make her curious. It turned out to be a really good show and Laura wondered if she could act too. It might be fun. A good distraction from her dreams the night before. She hadn’t relished being a child test subject again.
She caught Marguerite after the show. “You’re very good.”
Marguerite was doing what she had to in order to get past what had happened at the courthouse earlier in the week. The fact that it was the last week of shows did help in that regard. There was something comforting about going through pre-show rituals and being someone else for a while. She just… couldn’t let it get her down.
Having changed back into her normal clothes and washing the stage make up off, Marguerite left the theatre and smiled as Laura came up to her with the comment.
“Well thank you.”
“You’re welcome. What made you want to act?” Laura clasped her hands behind her back, giving Marguerite plenty of space.
Marguerite wasn’t always in need of space, she could be fairly tactile, but she didn’t know Laura all that well, mostly just from the Russian lessons. That and she was still a bit out of sorts with everything that had gone on. Still, the question caught her off guard. It shouldn’t, and she knew that. But after being on stage for so long, and then the fact it was a constant in her dreams?
“I..honestly don’t remember, actually. It just feels as though it’s a part of me. I liked watching movies and pretending to be people to make my brother laugh that it seemed a natural fit.”
Laura could tell something was off, but she wouldn’t pry. At least not openly. It just wasn’t her place. “So it’s a part of you then. It’s in your blood and a part of your soul. I .. understand that.”
“Yeah, sort of like that.” Smiling some, Marguerite folded some loose hair behind her ear, “The fact I’ve been an actress in three sets of dreams now certainly adds to that. So, what brought you to the theatre tonight?”
“Natasha said I should get out.” She rubbed her palm with her thumb, but otherwise remained perfectly still. “I’ve never been to a theater show before, so it sounded interesting.”
Laura thought that Marguerite had it a little lucky. At least in the occupation her dreams had given her. Laura knew that that didn’t mean the dreams were good. From her observations, Dreamers never led simple or unadventurous lives.
Marguerite well knew that compared to a lot of dreams that hers weren’t that bad. They were dramatic, there was danger, blackmail, betrayal…. But twice now things had ended up working out. Then again, she also didn’t see the point of dwelling or keeping a scorecard. Each dream had its own impact and lasting effect.
Like her guilt over St. Cyr, no matter what he put her through in the dreams and then what had happened at the courthouse.
“Sometimes it’s good to get out. I hope you enjoyed the experience.” Even if the only motion Laura did was rub her thumb over her palm, Marguerite did pick up on it. She was fairly observant despite how flighty she might appear in her live let live way of life. “Do you want to go to a coffee shop and sit?”
“I really enjoyed it. I think acting is something I need to learn. And I’d like that.” Laura wasn’t the best at acting. She could shut down her emotions and her feelings, but she couldn’t pretend to be someone else. That was a gift, and something she’d never been trained for.
Acting could be terrifying. For Marguerite it was second nature, and that was one of the reasons she was making a name for herself on the stage. Yes, she worked hard, but it was also second nature to slip into a role. Others, not so much.
“Well if you ever want help, or a chance to do background work in the company, let me know. And wonderful, there’s a wonderful cafe nearby that is open late. This way.” It was where she and Percy had gone when they first met before switching to her flat. How time flew. Once there, Marguerite led Laura to her normal booth.
It sounded like a good place to start, Laura thought. And it would be some good work to do when she wasn’t in class. And it might be fun. “Okay.”
She followed Marguerite to the cafe, taking a seat at the booth where she could keep an eye on the door. “People say the kind of coffee they drink says a lot about them.”
As a rule, it did tend to be a good idea to put yourself out there and try new things, even if they seemed scary initially. You never knew what you might discover about yourself.
“I believe I have heard that mentioned.” Grinning some, Marguerite looked over the menu. It wasn’t like she didn’t have a normal post-performance drink or anything, but sometimes she felt like switching it up.
For Laura, she liked her coffee to be simple and sweet. Her life was too bitter to want to drink a bitter drink. It would be better if it was beer-coffee, but that wasn’t an option here, even with a fake ID. So a caramel macchiato was her usual go-to when she wasn’t in the field. “My… dad drinks his black. I think it’s a macho thing.”
Marguerite scrunched up her nose at drinking it black. “It must be, I find it rather boring when it’s just black.” Frappuccinos were good, so were lattes. However, post shows, Marguerite tended to get a mocha because of the chocolate factor. And this particular diner had a mint mocha that she liked.
“He’s very boring. He also puts beer in his cereal. My family really likes beer.” She grinned over her drink. Marguerite’s had a very strong smell at least for a feral mutant, but Laura discovered she liked mint.
“Beer in the cereal, that’s one I haven’t heard of, and I was in France for awhile recently.” Taking a sip of her mocha, Marguerite leaned back into the booth. Just what she needed. And it was good to see Laura grin like that, she had noticed that she had seemed… different than she’d been during their language lessons. Part of being an actress meant she was well aware and able to access her own emotions, as well as read others.
“He’s Canadian,” As if that explained everything. To Laura, it kind of did. She liked to talk about and tease Logan. It was a lot more fun than thinking about heartbreak or their missions, anyway. “Canadians are weird.”
“Ah yes, Canadian. That does explain it.” Okay, not really, though Marguerite didn’t know any Canadians well enough to know if it was a valid explanation or not. Still, she was all too familiar with talking about anything and everything to avoid thinking about things that were upsetting such as heartbreak or watching someone commit suicide in front of you at an appeals hearing for their stalking case. “It sounds that way though.”
“Where are you from, originally?” Laura asked. “I was from New York.” Though she guessed she was probably half-canadian thanks to Logan. She still wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.
“France. We moved to Los Angeles soon after my brother was born.” Marguerite had always been more interested in her French roots than Armand had, though part of that had been his way of dealing with the death of their parents. While she had more memories of living in France, France was too connected to their parents so Armand hadn’t been as interested. At least until the dreams.
Laura nodded, “Comment est votre français encore?” pretending that wasn’t google translate Laura was fluent in numerous languages, though she’d honestly trade about half of them to erase the memories of how and why she’d learned them.
“Je le parle couramment.” She wasn’t that surprised that Laura might know French. It was a fairly common language that was taken in school. And given she was one of Natasha’s prodigies of sorts and given the nature of that work? Definitely not that shocking.
“It’s a fun language to speak,” Laura admitted, smiling softly. “Do you miss it? Or is California more like home now?”
“It is.” And also second nature for Marguerite, especially since the dreams. True she used to start speaking French when upset even before the dreams, but after and now again during? It was easy to switch between English and French. “I do. I was there until November actually. But California is also home.”
Laura’s eyes fell to her drink as she thought about home. “It really is home. I think I was afraid to put down roots here. Even with my dad being here, I never really… unpacked.”
And with Rapunzel leaving and ruining her root-plans, she’d wondered what she was going to do.
Nodding some, Marguerite took a sip of her mocha, watching Laura’s demeanor seem to change some as she talked about how she was afraid to put down roots. Something was definitely going on.
“Is everything okay?” She probably wouldn’t be able to help, but sometimes a neutral ear was helpful.
“It’s dumb stuff. My girlfriend had to move away, so we broke up. I don’t deal with emotions well. I feel like I’ve been drifting and I don’t have anything to focus on.”
That explained it then. Especially if Laura wasn’t really in tune with her emotions. Everyone had their reasons for that.
“It’s not dumb. Even amicable break ups can still hurt and lead to feeling like that.” But it wasn’t like she really had anything that would give Laura something to focus on right now. Still, she could at least listen and offer reassurance that Laura’s feelings were valid.
“You’re right. I just need to convince myself of that.” Was it dumb to actually be a little… well not happy, but content with this? Something normal, the kind of thing a normal girl would go through. It was confusing but also kind of welcome. “You said something about background work?”
“That’s always the trickiest part, convincing yourself of that fact.” And it was. Just like Marguerite logically knew that what happened at the courthouse wasn’t her fault, she still carried that guilt. Of course it didn’t help that it was St.Cyr’s son because of course it was. But a topic change. “Yes! I mean, we’re closing this show and I haven’t looked at audition notices yet. However, if you want to do stagehand work, or be on stage, I can let you know about those opportunities once I know the show or who the director is.” Since she had more sway with some directors in the area than others.
“I think I’d be interested. I like to work with my hands and maybe I can learn to act some time.” It would probably be a useful skill, even if she doubted she’d ever be as good Marguerite, who was clearly enthusiastic about talking about her work.
Smiling, Marguerite nodded. “It’s how I learned in the dreams, actually. I started as doing costumes, and had the chance to cover for our lead for a performance which led to the acting. But stagehand work is also easier to get into initially.”
“Everyone has to start somewhere.” And the thought was an exciting one for Laura.