11950/Running Lines ... not that way, for a tv show!

Running Lines ... not that way, for a tv show!
Date of Scene:	09 July 2022
Location:	The Strait Lace Steakhouse - Hellfire Club
Synopsis:	Scene Test goes over well, Beroe gets some pointers
Cast of Characters:	Thomas Blake, Beroe Kazinski, Michael Hannigan

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Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake has made the Hellfire Club's steakhouse a favorite eating place lately. It also has a lot of alternatives to9 steaks, well, four anyway. A decent place to discuss business or pleasure. Pleasure is never off the table with Catman. If it seems that way look under the table or the sides. It lurks somewhere. It's a fairly quiet crowd so far. Henri, the maitre'd, directs Thomas and company to a booth in the back. He sighs happily, good food and very attractive company. Get a few drinks and he'll be three for three.

"I hope you like this place, Beroe. It's not too fancy and you can get some interesting pictures for your followers." He stands out of the way for his friend to sit first. A gentleman.

Beroe Kazinski has posed:
The Hellfire Club. That's the name of the place, it sounds all dark and creepy, so it is then no surprise (or maybe it is) that Beroe shoes up dressed up more like an older Wednesday Addams than anything else. Her hair has been dyed black, or maybe it is a decent wig, and it's been mostly taken up into two long braids that act as pigtails of sorts. The outfit ends, like most of hers, in a mini-skirt type length, but she's otherwise still smiling.

Today, however, she's also brought with her a backpack. It is a black backpack with little skeleton legs dangling off the bottom, skeleton arms off the sides, and she looks around, with a bit of a smile, "Ohhhh, I thought it was going to be more creepy than this." She beams, "Oh well, I hope I don't scare anyone." And off to the booth she goes, scootching around, and opening up her backpack as soon as she's further in. From that pack she pulls out a tablet, with a digital pen, and sets that down, along with grabbing her phone from a 'pocket'. Perhaps the tablet is too big to store at home, or maybe she needed something to make the backpack make sense at all?

Michael Hannigan has posed:
It is not long after the pair are seated that a familiar face in the form of one Wade Shaw appears. For one who has grown accoustomed to the foods overed at the Straight Lace but not really desiring to deal with crowds, the earlier hours are the time to go. The dress code is also relaxed considerably which honestly can be viewed as a blessing for one working in the music industry. The studio owner is taking advantage of the lightened dress code as well by just wearing a nice pair of pants and a buttoned up shirt. Granted the attire is still nice and of the high end variety but they are not something Wade would wear to one of the finer Hellfire club type events.

As Wade is led towards his own table, conveniently in the back, the square jawed blond gives pause as he spots Thomas and Beroe already there. Blink. A hand raises to give a quiet wave of acknowledgement to the pair.

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake guesses she took the tablet to need the backpack. The backpack going with the outfit. Thomas is about to sit down when another member, in his sixties passes by and says, "Have you no shame?" quietly in his ear.

"Yes she is young," Thomas agrees. "But youth is a temporary thing and stupid in you case is forever. See you at the game Thursday, night. Bring your wife's diamonds. Wait, bring your girlfriend's those are better I hear."

The other member pauses a moment and then starts laughing, "Cat bastard." Thomas sits down next to Beroe in the booth."He's a fun guy. Like athlete's foot."

Oh damn.

Thomas waves back. "Wade is over there," he informs Beroe. "Maybe he is waiting for a date or a business meeting?" Waves again.

Beroe Kazinski has posed:
Already turning on the tablet, and tapping a few things on the screen to get it up and running to the place where she can take notes - and whatever script was sent her way for the scene test. The person passing by and asking a question isn't so much ignored as, not even noticed, not even when the person is close to the table and asking Thomas a question.

It isn't until there's laughing that Beroe looks up, a little fog eyed, having been reading over lines and she laughs too, since, laughing is fun and contagious. Then she ohs, to Thomas, "He's an athlete? That's great, staying in shape is very important, especially as you get older. I should really think about joining a sport, or doing exercise, at all. You have so many friends, everywhere we go."

And then Thomas points out Wade and she perks up, someone SHE knows, and she reaches her hand up a bit in the air and waves it back and forth enthusiastically, then starts waving him over. Speaking up she kind of shouts out, "We're running lines!" A pause, "I think! Practicing, for my big debut!" As if that line hasn't been used by Hellfire club members before, but she's waving Wade over now, and starts scooting a bit further along the booth making sure there's room either at her side, or Thomas's for Wade.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
Wade has waved to Thomas and Thomas has waved back. With the social practice of acknowledgement concluded, all that is left is for Wade to sit down at his tab-

Oh. Now he's being waved over.

Looking over to the maitre'd, he gives a nod, acknowledging that he knows which table is his. The general signs of a table marked for usage is in place. heavy set black lined folding menu set upon the table, water poured into the glass. Surely there will be no mistake that assigns another person there in the brief moments it takes to exchange a few more formalities.

There is no contestation coming from the employee. Being that the young woman has resorted to shouting across the room, the act of approach is instead encouraged by not complaining. He walks off while Wade approaches Thomas and Beroe's table. He doesn't sit, indicating the intent to leave the pair alone after a bit. "Blake." He greets once more, now within the proper range of verbal acknowledgement. He looks over to Beroe, recalling the name from having to deal with starting the process of getting her ARA representation. "Miss Kazinski. Good to see that you're approaching the opportunity given to you in a serious manner."

Thomas Blake has posed:
"Shaw." Wade Shaw could turn a bachelor party into a learning experience, suck all the water out of Six Flags over Gotham and make Starfire dress respectably, thinks Thomas. Well, maybe he can take a hint and will take off having enjoined Beroe to act responsibly. He sits back and favors Beroe with a smile and a hug. "I'm keeping her on track." He leans in a little to look at the tablet.

Beroe Kazinski has posed:
"Of course!" Proclaims Beroe excitedly to Wade, "I even put on my serious clothes." Though her smile and bright eyes tends to conflict with the more muted colors, certainly Wednesday Addams fans are rolling over in their graves at this point due to her cheerful demeanor. "Are you here on a date? Busines meeting?"

Then she looks back to her tablet for a second, and then back to Wade Shaw, "Also, you can call me Beroe. It's probably better, someday I want to be as popular as Madonna. Then I can have just one name, or, if I find I have foreign roots, it may just make sense. Like Bjork." She still sits there though, and is smiling, even though she's being hugged from the side, and then released, sliding the tablet to give Thomas a better view. It has her script on there, the basic layout of the scene test, and she's already been scribbling emojis on various lines to indicate emotional content.

Looking around though, she wonders, "Have either of you been here before? It looks fancy. Do many scene testers come here for lunch? Is it a place where we'll see movie stars? Or oooh ooh, some pro Streamers? I would LOVE to meet people from the Overwatch League." A side comment, "I also do value the non-league streamers, they have better representation."

Michael Hannigan has posed:
"Just a couple people from work." Wade answers, regarding the inquiry to his being there, "We generally have some reservations here in case we have someone of note to entertain. But other times, it just becomes a case of use it or lose it. And I'm sure Thomas can back me up when I say the food here is worth it. You're in for a treat...Beroe." The advisement to use the first name is noted. And to keep in form of the conversation, Blake ends up being addressed by the first as well.

There are a lot of questions and statements being posed by Beroe but Wade manages by just picking out select portions of the conversation to focus on. "We do entertain some of our music based clientelle here from time to time so it would not be wrong to assume other industries do the same thing."

Thomas Blake has posed:
What? Pro... what? Wade looks a little lost too. At least there's that. Thomas decides to push on. Staying close he points to the tablet. "Okay focus. You have trapped me -Catman and you are menacing me. You're going to stick me in a trap that is certain death, but first like any good cook, you're going to gloat and maybe tease me a little. Here pretend I'm tied up." He places his hands behind his back. "So improvise something to say... pretend you are a very bad person, but fun. Quinn is a lot of fun." He gets into a sort of glower and presses his lips together like he's gagged.

Beroe Kazinski has posed:
There are ohs, and nods, eyes widening and then squinting a bit with grins, from Beroe as she listens to Wade. "A treat? They have desserts?" She questions as she looks over to Thomas, and then puts her hands together and moves them back and forth a bit, like yummy yummy. "That's amazing! I didn't know, do you think they do pop tarts?" A pause, more serious of a look, "They're so convenient."

The music stuff is talked about, and then Catman adds in the comments about the lines and trying to get her to focus. She looks back down at the tablet, and moves her face about some, and then. Then. She takes on a slight squint, her mouth stops smiling, getting to be more serious, a slight upturn of her head shows off her long neck, allowing her to also 'look down' a bit on Thomas despite being no taller than she was a moment before.

It's sultry but serious, and she looses most of the bubbly in her voice, a whisper of air coming in with her words as she talks with clearer tones, "You've made the mistake. Catman." Her hand comes up, a finger with a slightly pointy long black nail runs along his face just tracing his jawline "You underestimated me, and over estimated your self. Hah hahah." Her laugh is more words than laughter, but it comes out like some movie villain as she takes her hand away, "Douglas, start the grinder." Looking over her shoulder, and slowly pulling her vision back to Thomas, eyes first, then the rest of her head slowly turns to look at him, "Soon, you will be nothing more than ground cat ... food, so at least you'll have that. Eaten up by your furry friends." Then she puts her hand on Catman's chest and 'pushes' before grinning big, "This is where I'd want you to fall on a conveyor machine, and there would be big machines, squashing and booming and going to pound you into nothing." She says in a happy toned, bubbly voice.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
"...Yes. They do serve dessert." Wade answers. It's not exactly what he meant but yes they do have that. "Just not Pop Tarts."

This would probably be a good time to move back to his table but Wade ends up lingering. Observing quietly as Beroe switches into character, reads her lines, and then goes back to Beroe mode. A brow raises. And then, he smiles as an idea comes to mind. "Good start." He comments, looking over to Thomas while he fishes out his phone. "I should head back to my table before the others get here." He glances back to Beroe, "Good luck."

Thomas Blake has posed:
That was so frigging HOT.

Focus. Focus,

"That was great except... where do you get Douglas? You need to give you gang theme oriented nick names. Like... " He struggles to recall. "Oh, I had a leiutenant was actually named Leo, and there was Felix, and Claws, and Boots -he showed up late for the naming meeting so screw him! At the very least go with something memorable and thuggish like Iggy or Knuckles or Meat. No tohg guy is going around named Douglas... that's a chauffeur's name. Douglas fetch the car please for myself and the mistress." Thomas' voice suddenly adopts a very upper crust accent and he speaks as a very entitled person. The arm goes back around Beroe as if she were the 'mistress' referred to.

Beroe Kazinski has posed:
The dessert mention, gets Beroe's head turning to face Wade again rather quickly and then her eyes light up and then, disappointment. Well, cute pouty lips, disappointment, "Oh. That's okay, I'm sure they have something close to as good." Yes. Pop Tarts. The top tier of desserts.

Listening to Thomas she hrms and nods her head, "Well, I thought Douglas was a good, villain name?" She shrugs a bit, and then offers, "Theme, themed, names, what about Bob? And he could wear yellow and blue?" Did she JUST describe Sponge Bob Square Pants, as a good villain? Beroe thinks about it for a moment, and then takes in a deep breathe before letting it out with her lips vibrating and making a sound.

"Do villains have those kinds of names? I mean, wouldn't it be scarier if they were, like Frank, and Bob, and Douglas, because then... you couldn't really find them on the rap sheet so easily. If the police capture a Knuckles, Forefinger, and Thumb McCoy, don't you think they'll put that together as all thugs from The Hand gang?"

Whether or not it's a good point, she is now bimbo smile, tilting her head left to right and laughing some, turning to face Thomas and laughing more, "Oh ho ho oh, yes. The like one that goes, Vrooom." It's that valley girl stuck up prom queen accent as she rolls her eyes at this invisible Douglas.

Michael Hannigan has posed:
"Hmm. What are the most notable influencers you know about?" Wade asks, tapping on the phone to bring up a contact. "Maybe for the time being, pick out a few of the more interesting names for filler?"

Without much further clarification than that, Wade gives the pair a nod of farewell before he turns, walking away from them, typing up a storm on his phone. He sits down, having a silent conversation with whoever is on the other end of the line.

As he types, two nicely dressed women and a man are led to the backroom and over to the table Wade is seated at. Wade hits send on the phone and sets it face down on the table before standing up to greet the newcomers.

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake starts laughing. "You need a Gotham accent. Here... Yaw Gotham accent needs wo'k. Yuh lose the 'r's in the middle o' end. It's half Je'sey and half Trans-Atlantic. But yes... Putty close -till you used Valley Girl speech. Heah, try some moah. "Douglas get the cah, please. The trophy wife and I ahh going to be late for heh seniah pwom. Mistah Shaw... may I pwesent my new wife, Bubbles, to yuh?" He tilts his head, resting it slightly on hers and tries to look happily married. Sneaks a hug again. "Yuh should let him kiss yaw hand, madame. Show off the ring I gave yuh to celebrate gettin yaw braces off."

Yes. His parents knew people like that when he was growing up. Rumor had it they played that bowl full of keys game. That was an exaggeration. His father did. His mother usually left.

Beroe Kazinski has posed:
There's a bit of a listen, and Beroe just half pays attention to what Thomas is saying for the moment as her eyes follow after Wade. And then she's listening again, blinking a few times at the accent and squints some. It is weird, and she, huhs. Thinking about it a moment she sounds out a few things, "Cah, purhtehy close." She then looks over to Thomas, and laughs a bit, "You are really, going for really young here. I think that's probably inappropriate for a family show. Though, it's good that you think of all demographics, like that, trying to draw them in and all."

It's a smile, and she hmmmms, "I'll have'ta purtice this accent." She stumbles over some words before taking in a breath and then mentions, "I'll just go to Jersey and listen to some people, talk to them, people like to talk all over. So, should be pretty easy. Is that a need to have for the show, or is it a could maybe have? But not needed? I'll go, right now, if needed, I don't want to disappoint."

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake strokes Beroe's cheek gently. "You could lea'n it talking to me foh that mattuh. Anyway, don't go to Gotham alone. Beroe... can I say something on a personal level." He drops the accent, now serious. He proceeds without waiting, "I like your company, a lot. I don't remember laughing this much in a long time. I still have almost no idea what you do on your phone, but, I'm having fun with you. I hope this can continue and you'd like to see me... outside work. We can do some of the things we talked about."