At 10:01 AM 11/6/99 -0500, Bob Schroeck wrote:
<comments as I read>
"I can't believe I let you talk me into this!" Linna yelled into
Nene's ear as the crowd's noise doubled in volume.
"I can't believe you were in the theatre and never did this
before!" Nene shouted back as they settled into their seats --
two on the aisle, as she'd insisted. They were about two-thirds
of the way back from the screen, which seemed to disappoint Nene
slightly, but the redhead quickly recovered.
"I didn't think I'd like it!"
Nene smirked. "Trust me, you'll love it. Especially the live
show. I know *I'm* looking forward to it -- it's been months
since the last time I came here. Now, do we have everything?"
you didn't...
Linna looked into the plastic-handled shopping bag on the floor
in front of her and made a face. "Do we really need all this
stuff? What all do you have in here, anyway?" She cautiously
pawed through its contents, as if expecting something might leap
out and bite her.
you did! <bg>
"Rice, toast, toilet paper, newspaper, playing cards, confetti,
rubber gloves, party hats, noisemakers, hot dogs, squirt guns,
butane lighter," Nene singsonged.
"What do you *use* it all for?" Linna demanded.
"You'll see!" Nene smirked again.
Linna rolled her eyes. "So why is it just the two of us?"
"Priss doesn't like the show." Nene shrugged. "Go fig. And do
you really have to ask about Sylia?"
Linna laughed. "Yeah, she wouldn't be caught dead here."
Nene pouted. "Well, I *did* call to see if she wanted to go, but
Mackie said she had plans for the evening and was already out."
oh no! She's not.....
"Lucky Sylia," Linna murmured, and Nene lightly smacked her on
the arm.
Looking over at Nene, Linna once again marveled at the difference
in her friend. Linna had barely recognized her when she'd picked
up the redhead at her apartment. To begin with, Nene had poured
herself into a tiny French maid's outfit that did wonders for her
figure. She had added fishnet stockings and stiletto-heeled
shoes that were at least 12 centimeters high, and the combination
easily put the lie to all the teasing comments her friends had
often made about the younger woman's weight and figure. To top
it all off, Nene had teased and sprayed her hair out into a wide,
slightly curly mop and done up her face like something out of a
kabuki play: paper white base, bright red lips, and heavy
mascara and eyeshadow. Linna had to admit that right now, next
to Nene, she felt rather plain and frumpy in her designer sweats
and headband.
Nene should have gotten Linna to bring her tap shoes
At that moment, the house lights began to dim, and the crowd
erupted in cheers and whistles. On the screen, the studio logo
appeared, heralded by familiar music, and then the screen went
black.
"A long, long time ago," the crowed roared as one, "God said, let
there be lips. And there were, and they were good!"
And with a colossal cheer, another midnight showing of "The Rocky
Horror Picture Show" began in MegaTokyo.
<snicker>
<snip>
She had never seen this kind of audience participation before,
and it simply overwhelmed her. Linna found herself quickly swept
up in the spirit of the evening, carried along in a kind of
contact high by the hundreds of oddly-costumed and loudly
rambunctious movie-goers surrounding her -- whose numbers
included a downright *rowdy* Nene who unselfconsciously screamed
very un-Nene-like profanities at the flickering screen. Linna's
shock and surprise had faded into a kind of disbelieving delight
about the time that Nene yanked her into the aisle to dance the
"Time Warp"; and by the time the song was done, she had
surrendered completely to the atmosphere and mood.
aw, gee, I thought Sylia was going to turn up as either Janet or one of the
cast members for "Time Warp". unless......
Nene had been right, she decided. What appealed most to her
about this ... happening ... were the live performers who acted
out the film in the small open space in front of the screen. She
found herself spending as much time watching them as watching the
far more visible action projected above them, and felt a growing
kinship with the strangely-dressed band.
As she sprawled in her seat, happily panting after the exertion
of the Time Warp, she grinned in devilish delight as the live
Brad and Janet slowly backed up the center aisle of the theatre,
only to run into a tall, dark-haired figure in a black satin
cloak who had silently glided towards them. Linna screamed along
with both the live and the film Janets when the figure's bone-
white face was revealed by a tightly-focused spotlight.
"How d'you do, I/See you've met my/Faithful handyman..." the
figure mouthed, tossing its head, and Linna suddenly had the
strangest sense of deja vu; there was something disturbingly
familiar about this bizarre, androgynous figure in the black and
purple sequined merry widow and fishnet stockings. As the song
progressed, the live Frank N. Furter strutted up and down the
aisle wreathed in the glow of the spotlight. Fans both male and
female reached out for a touch of a hand or a thrown kiss --
whoever the performer was, Linna realized, they had a hell of a
following.
YES!!! You DID! (you *are* going to cross post this to afbgc, aren't you?)
She watched "Frank" with great interest. He was tall, almost 2
meters, and the high heels he wore had to add another 15 or 16
centimeters to that. "Frank" also had a strong but slender build
and a seductively confident strut that faltered only once, when
he was stalking up the aisle near where she and Nene sat. His
face was a study in stark relief: heavy white pancake makeup
setting off great dark blobs of eyeshadow and mascara and black
lipstick, all framed by the black fright wig he wore. Something
about him tugged at the edges of Linna's memory, as if this were
perhaps someone she had known once, long ago.
<snip>
As the movie and the floor show continued on, Linna realized that
she was half out of her seat. She slowly lowered herself back to
the cushion as strangers on all sides whispered envy and desire
and longing to her, and Nene brushed Linna's ear with her lips to
say, "Wow, she's never done that before."
It took a minute or so for Linna to bring her palpitating heart
and near-hyperventilation under control enough to realize what
Nene had said. "'She'?" Linna hissed back to Nene. "That was a
*woman*?"
Nene looked genuinely surprised. "You didn't realize? Her
name's Lee -- that's all they put in the program, just 'Lee' --
and she's been playing Frank on and off for a couple years now.
She's not the regular Frank, but she's one of the most popular."
Nene leaned in, a conspiratorial look shining on her face. "So,
how was it?"
"Lee"? As in the 2nd syllable of a certain character's given name when
pronounced in English? :)
Without thinking, Linna touched her lips with her fingertips and
murmured, "Nice..."
Nene laughed.
Linna spent the rest of the movie in a partial daze, which seemed
to amuse Nene to no end. She soon forgot to watch the screen at
all, her eyes never leaving the tall, slender woman who was so
provocatively dressed. But "Frank" never again came back up the
aisle to where she sat, and seemed to avoid looking in Linna's
direction at all, even when doing so made their staging clumsy or
stiff. Linna once again wondered if she might know this Lee from
somewhere...
She was only roused from her speculative trance when Nene elbowed
her sharply in the side and pointed to their identical custom
wristwatches, which were glowing and beeping softly. She swore
under her breath, and together the two of them quietly stepped
out of the cinema as twin Rockys carried the corpses of their
creators while a pair of Riff-Raffs fired useless antimatter
lasers at them.
gee, good thing for them that she show's over. Could have made for a *very*
interesting performance otherwise
<snip>
"Where," Linna repeated, slowly, "is Sylia?"
Mackie shook himself, as if to rouse himself from a dream, and
replied, "She didn't respond right away to the page, but she did
call in a few minutes later; she's on her way right now."
gee, I wonder why
<snip>
"Mackie!" Sylia's voice followed hard on the heels of the buzz.
Mackie left off "helping" Nene (for which the latter gave silent
thanks) and loped over to the control console. "Yeah, Sis?"
"I'm on my way down now. Go upstairs and get me the spare myomer
actuator control unit."
excuses excuses. I guess Mackie doesn't know what she's been up to tonight,
huh?
"Sis?" Mackie sounded genuinely puzzled.
"Do it, Mackie." Sylia's tone brooked no argument, and despite
the confusion he clearly felt, Mackie nodded.
"Right, Sis, I'm getting it now." Punching the "off" button on
the intercom, Mackie looked at Linna, shrugged, and ran for the
elevator.
Mere moments after he had left, Sylia stalked in, an imposing
figure in a full-length black trench coat, with a gym bag in one
hand.
"Hi, Sylia," a hardsuited Nene, her helmet under one arm, called
>from the door to the locker.
"Yeah, hi," Linna added as Sylia dropped her gym bag on a handy
chair.
Sylia nodded curtly. "Ladies," she said, something close to a
scowl darkening her expression. She reached for the top button
of her trench coat, then paused. She gazed intently at the two
of them for several long moments, saying nothing. Then she
turned her back to the two women; from the movements of her arms,
she had begun unbuttoning the coat.
"If the two of you *ever* say *anything* to *anyone*," Sylia
softly warned, "I will personally help Mackie bug both your
apartments. Understand?"
She whipped off the trench coat, threw it over the chair and
picked up the gym bag, then stalked into the changing room.
Nene and Linna stared as the black-and-purple sequined merry
widow and fishnet stockings vanished behind the changing room
door, then turned to each other and began to laugh.
Very good, I loved Linna's reactions to it all. I think the final pay-off
is a little weak (I don't like the last line, with the laugh), but a little
tweaking of the last 2 paragraphs could take care of it. Maybe something like:
"If the two of you *ever* say *anything* to *anyone*," Sylia
softly warned, "I will personally help Mackie bug both your
apartments. Understand?"
She whipped off the trench coat and threw it over the chair, picked up the
gym bag, and Nene and Linna stared wide-eyed as Sylia, clad only in a
black-and-purple sequined merry widow and fishnet stockings strutted into
the changing room.
I sure hope you send this to alt.fan.bgcrisis some time. People there will
love it :)
Jeanne Hedge
jhedge@wwa.com
jhedge@compuserve.com
http://jhedge.simplenet.com
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