It had been a good run. The Dark Elf had been a hard sell, especially for the Players of the Plot Continuum's resident elves, but a few good costumes, a few well-written songs, and the company had pulled together once again. Tech week had been frantic, dress rehearsal had been properly horrendous, only a late-night duct-tape session had gotten the Kudzu back together in time, and then...
Opening Night had been perfect, down to the warm August weather. The house was full, the mood set when the lights dropped in time with the sunset, and the stage, the paint, the makeup all did its most subtle magic and vanished, transported the audience to Middle-Earth once again, carried them through the joy, the horror, the final, emphatic triumph.
The run was perfect, the reviews rave, the house full, every night.
And then it was September, and the summer was ending, summer theater season ending. New friends and old started saying their goodbyes, going their separate ways, back to the rest of their years, the rest of their lives.
Huinesoron had been with the company long enough to see many arrivals, many departures, over the years and performances. The elf had been there since practically the beginning, drafted to play the Sunflower by virtue of being one of the two people with the right gender for the role, despite protestations that puppeteering was hardly an elvish art.
This year had been a new one, a newer, bigger, more complicated Flower playing a bigger part in the conclusion of the story. A differently-gendered Flower, one for whom they'd pulled another person out of the crew to voice, and to spare an extra couple hands for the critical moment where many tendrils did many things simultaneously. Puppeteering had suddenly become strange and awkward again, and if his assistant hadn't been a veteran, someone he'd worked near for years...
Well. He wouldn't have bailed, couldn't have bailed. There was a reason the theater was called a 'house', and it was a home to him too. He loved it, in all its seasons, including the bittersweet autumn of departures.
Kaitlyn had been with the company long enough to see all the same arrivals, all the same departures. She'd pricked her fingers sewing the beautiful, horrid "gown" for Rambling Band, at the beginning of it all, and had been surprised when she'd volunteered for the second summer, the second run, the second mad chaos of sequins and glitter and quick costume changes.
This year had been new. This year had thrown another wrench in her plans, pulled her up to the stage to voice the slightly-malevolent Kudzu, along with still trying to ride herd on the chaos of Costuming. It'd be simple, they said. Just a couple minutes out of each run, working with a reliable, experienced partner.
She hadn't realized that performing was fun right up until the last curtain had dropped, when summer had become autumn.
Eventually, inevitably, Kaitlyn went to say her goodbyes to the stage, to the house, to the scarred black plywood where the Kudzu had sat.
For all that there was work happening, techs resetting lights, laughing about ridiculous ideas (who were the techs of the in-universe PPC? What stories could they tell, of broken hardware and last-minute fixes and maybe finding who you really were along the way?), the house was quieter than it had been all summer. The house was calmer than it had been all summer, the intensity, the purpose of a show in progress gone.
The house was, Kaitlyn was somehow not surprised to find, where Huinesoron was also spending time. Saying goodbye, perhaps, in his own way, from a seat on the stage.
Kaitlyn didn't join him, exactly. She took her own seat, left him enough space that they could each be alone with the moment, if they wanted. Let the moment happen around them. If it had been a play they might have soliloquized, two actors reading thoughts from their own scripts in turn.
"I'll see you next year?" Huinesoron asked.
"Always," Kaitlyn promised. "The grind's just a grind, it won't keep me."
A light flickered on, sweeping across the stage before a tech in the rafters unceremoniously unplugged it, unhooked it from the rack. In the wash of its beam, the glitter in Kaitlyn's dark hair sparkled like stars.
"You'll be here?" she asked.
"I don't go far," Huinesoron said.
Kaitlyn went to stand, pushing herself off the hard plywood. Starting the journey away from the theater, away from the family who'd cared enough to sand the stage so it'd stop snagging her costumes. Away from the warmth of lights on plastic leaves, the hushed glee of waiting for their scene to begin. Away from...
She looked back. Huinesoron was looking at her. In that moment, as another light came on, they were center stage. There was no one else to dress up, no puppets to hide behind. It was just them. It had, perhaps, always been them, one short summer at a time.
"Stay?" Huinesoron asked.
Oh.
Kaitlyn didn't answer with words. She just stepped closer, sat close enough that they were together. One couple, one dialogue, instead of two individual soliloquies.
Rambling Band: A PPC Musical (by Huinesoron, Zingenmir, Delta Juliette
1. Protecting the Plot Continuum [Sunflower Official & Agent Chorus]
2. Through the Portal [Jay & Acacia]
J: It's happened! / A: What? / J: It's happening again! / Somebody is mucking with the plot continu-em. / We've got one! / A: Who? / J: We have a Mary Sue! / A Mary Sue is mucking with the plot continu-oo.
3. Robes and Gowns and Hairdos (Oh My!) [J&A, Arwen, Laurel]
4. Egyptian Rat-Screw [J&A, Laurel, Geoff, Cole] - (A manic piece where J&A alternate playing cards with hiding from the OCs; their SLAPping of the pile provides part of the beat to the song)
'Egyptian Rat-Screw' quickly becomes a favorite, thanks to the driving beat. Subsequent runs of the show occasionally integrate tap, when they have a cast that can do so, making their footsteps part of the beat as well.5. Dream of the Archer / Fix It [Legolas & Jay] - (A haunted ballad by Legolas, with Jay's replies)
Legolas: /singing dazedly, slowly. It could almost be a love song, that flush of new attraction and dreaminess, but for the occasional unsettling tone in the music and the fact that he sounds rather…drugged/ Beautiful Laurel…
Jay: /far more alert and snappy counterpoint, faster time signature/ Wait, what is this?
L: I dream of this archer…
J: What? Analysis, now!
L: Gentle, gentle, beautiful…
[CAD shrills, loudly; Jay grabs it. Legolas pauses, swaying unsteadily, then keeps walking downstage]
J: /rather syncopated/ Sixty-five…character rupture?! Oh, oh, oh no.
[bridge, probably; Jay gets up, leaving Acacia sleeping, and hurries to follow Legolas]
L: Beautiful…beautiful…beautiful voice…!
J: What’s wrong, won’t you tell me—!
L: /not seeing her/ /music swells/ Dream of the archer! Of the gentle archer!
J: Hey, listen, look at me—
L: Laurel!
J: Won’t you, just for a moment, just pay me some heed!
L: Laurel! Beautiful Laurel…beautiful voice! Beautiful Laurel, don’t have a choice!
J: /catching him by the arms/ Just look for a moment, yeah, see me, okay? Great, now fight it, and see me—
L: /daze beginning to break down/ Dream of the—beautiful—dream of her—gentle—gentle, so—Lau—
J: /counterpoint/ Fight it, I know you can, come on and try! /shakes him/ Look at me, pay some mind—I’m an agent, I’m here to help—
L: Laurel—Lau—Lau, Laurel… /gasps, staggers/
J: There you go!
L: /alert for a change, fear creeping in/ /still singing the melody he’s had all along, but now only a hair away from Jay’s time signature/ What is—I cannot—
J: Oh, hey, it’ll be—
L: Help me, I need you to—
J: Really, it’s fine! We’re here to help—
L: Need some help—
J: We’ll help—
L: Cannot fight—
J: We’ll fix it!
L: Cannot fight…
J: /pats his arm/ No need to worry!
L: Cannot do this alone—
J: You’re not alone! Now, ah. /lets go of him, cheerful and slightly awkward pat to the shoulder, backs away/ /spoken/ Ah, sorry. Can’t fix it yet. But we will! I swear!
L: /alarm, which gets swallowed by the returning daze as he sings/ Why will you not… /time signature slows, daze setting in; the creepy, unsettling notes in the song are out in full force/ I…I… /turns to face the audience, not seeming to see them/ I…dream of the archer…
J: /backing away; grimaces/ /spoken/ Sorry, buddy. I wish I could fix it faster.
L: Dream of the archer…sweet, gentle archer…beautiful archer, your beautiful voice…Yes, Laurel, oh, Laurel—be mine! /musical finish; Legolas spreads his arms like he’s ending a sweeping romantic ballad. Jay backs away into the scenery, visibly unhappy and uneasy/
6. Can We Kill Her? [J&A] - (Moved further on in the story, from just after #3)
7. Stairway to Suedom [Laurel, J&A] - (A bit of a physical theatre piece, with Laurel ending up puppetting the canon characters.)
Laurel: There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold / But I think we can make some improvements. / With some diamonds and jewels, add more glitter - this rules! / I'll be seen from the top of the mountains! / Ooh, ooh - now we're climbing the stairway to Suedom!
8. Lust Objects [Laurel, Gandalf, Elrond, Boromir]
9. Can We Kill Her? (First Reprise) [J&A]
10. Killer and a Flake [J&A] - (Polaroids and Acacia's target practice / burrs)
11. Dusk to Dawn [J&A, the Fellowship]
12. Can We Kill Her? (Second Reprise) [J&A]
A: I've followed the rules / We're out in the hills / The canon is broken / She's going to sing again! / So now can we kill her? / Please let me kill her / PLEASE can I kill her? / J: YES!
13. "It is my duty to inform you..." [Jay, Laurel, others] - (With shades of "I have the honour to be / your obedient servant...")
In 8, of course, and a proper tongue-twister when performed at its intended pace. With apologies to Gilbert, Sullivan, and Lin-Manuel...14. Ye Olde Poisonous Poison [J&A, Laurel, Cole, Geoff] - (Including Jay extolling the virtues of headshots)
A: Ye Olde Poisonous Poison / What would I do without you? / Laurel: Come here and face me, you coward! / A: Hush, dear, I'm getting to you.
15. The Fellowship of the Ring [the Fellowship] - (After the OCs are thoroughly dead)
16. Cutie in the Water [J&A, the Watcher]
Jay: Cutie in the water
Dangerous and sweet!
Oo’s a good boy—
Acacia: Jay—
Jay: Smile—great, sweety! /click! Jay snaps a photo/
Momma’ll be back soon!
Acacia: /spoken/ Open the portal, okay?
Jay: Yup!
17. Protecting the Plot Continuum (Reprise) [J&A, Agent Chorus]
FIN