The doors close. Lock. Lights dim. Thank you, one and all, for coming to our Night Show this evening. :)
Kaede and Minato come out on stage to deafening applause. They bow a few times. Kaede does a spiel about how she's grateful to be hear and hopes you love their duet as much as they do! Tonight you'll be hearing some Beethoven again, but the pick is Apassionata, followed by Chopin's Scherzo - a special duet they made themselves! - and Schubert and yeah Mista's not listening anymore. She has this cute little comedy routine where occasionally she'll point to Minato for an answer, and he just gives one-word quips until she gets annoyed and gives up. At least they're being normal.
Then they open with the Night Show's opening, one note, deep, wrenching, deep in your stomach, then up the scales one after the other, little pops of fingers tapping up your spine until the last note. It stabs straight through your brain, a lobotomy with no pain. And with results of 16 for Shinjiro and 4 for Da Vinci, they are no longer aware of anything.
Mista, with a 19 gets to hear the whole song. Kaede is a pianist possessed, pounding on keys in a song that sounds like HATE. Minato's violin is a wail of anguish regret, nails on a chalkboard, desperately scratching. It wants to come in. It wants to come out. It loved you. Once. Once.
The song ends with a flicker, static, a record skipping, and suddenly the casino dealer at Mista's table changes. It's Maria now. She blinks in confusion once, then smiles brightly. Another Maria comes up to the man sitting next to him with the drink he order, smiling like the sun, do you need anything else? He smashes the glass and stabs her in the throat with it. No one notices. At every gambling table, the dealers are replaced with Maria. The bartender is Maria. The waiters and guards of the exit and everyone is her face. Placidly smiling as she's insulted by people who lost their rolls, backhanded when she gets the order wrong, spit on for not being fast enough. She moves on every time.
The games are more interesting. Shinjiro ponders a poker play, sets a few chips down, bets his Regrets. He wins with resounding results. Until the end of this mission, his self-worth is through the roof. Euphoria and false confidence will overtake him at times, but he'll wake up at midnight - and every day Until - feeling a whole lot better.
Da Vinci, at the roulette table, bets her love of Beauty, and loses miserably. Her world goes gray, drab, an apathy that follows her until the end of the mission. She'll find it extremely hard to care about anything that goes on around her.
Kaede and Minato remain unchanged. They continue to do their two-man gag fest like nothing's wrong. For one song, Stylosa joins in with an aria, spots Mista, waves lightly and coyishly, like how she is in Vista Virs. No. Was. They needed the money. Everyone here does.
If Mista even makes an attempt to gamble, the Maria at his table will freeze. Place her hand on his. Smile. You're a special guest tonight sir. There are no bets for you. Just enjoy the Show.
A man bets 20 years of his life. A wife bets her womb. A Maria, between the sets, is hacked to pieces by a man who bet the love of his wife. By the next set, she is unharmed, tries to wipe the blood off her outfit and fails, continues her work.
The last song begins. It's the same wrenching tune as the first, but lighter, somber, plinking keys like dying breaths and long droning violin notes like tears, sobbing, a mother who misses her son.
cw: gore, memory loss
Kaede and Minato come out on stage to deafening applause. They bow a few times. Kaede does a spiel about how she's grateful to be hear and hopes you love their duet as much as they do! Tonight you'll be hearing some Beethoven again, but the pick is Apassionata, followed by Chopin's Scherzo - a special duet they made themselves! - and Schubert and yeah Mista's not listening anymore. She has this cute little comedy routine where occasionally she'll point to Minato for an answer, and he just gives one-word quips until she gets annoyed and gives up. At least they're being normal.
Then they open with the Night Show's opening, one note, deep, wrenching, deep in your stomach, then up the scales one after the other, little pops of fingers tapping up your spine until the last note. It stabs straight through your brain, a lobotomy with no pain. And with results of 16 for Shinjiro and 4 for Da Vinci, they are no longer aware of anything.
Mista, with a 19 gets to hear the whole song. Kaede is a pianist possessed, pounding on keys in a song that sounds like HATE. Minato's violin is a wail of anguish regret, nails on a chalkboard, desperately scratching. It wants to come in. It wants to come out. It loved you. Once. Once.
The song ends with a flicker, static, a record skipping, and suddenly the casino dealer at Mista's table changes. It's Maria now. She blinks in confusion once, then smiles brightly. Another Maria comes up to the man sitting next to him with the drink he order, smiling like the sun, do you need anything else? He smashes the glass and stabs her in the throat with it. No one notices. At every gambling table, the dealers are replaced with Maria. The bartender is Maria. The waiters and guards of the exit and everyone is her face. Placidly smiling as she's insulted by people who lost their rolls, backhanded when she gets the order wrong, spit on for not being fast enough. She moves on every time.
The games are more interesting. Shinjiro ponders a poker play, sets a few chips down, bets his Regrets. He wins with resounding results. Until the end of this mission, his self-worth is through the roof. Euphoria and false confidence will overtake him at times, but he'll wake up at midnight - and every day Until - feeling a whole lot better.
Da Vinci, at the roulette table, bets her love of Beauty, and loses miserably. Her world goes gray, drab, an apathy that follows her until the end of the mission. She'll find it extremely hard to care about anything that goes on around her.
Kaede and Minato remain unchanged. They continue to do their two-man gag fest like nothing's wrong. For one song, Stylosa joins in with an aria, spots Mista, waves lightly and coyishly, like how she
is in Vista Virs.No. Was. They needed the money. Everyone here does.If Mista even makes an attempt to gamble, the Maria at his table will freeze. Place her hand on his. Smile. You're a special guest tonight sir. There are no bets for you. Just enjoy the Show.
A man bets 20 years of his life.
A wife bets her womb.
A Maria, between the sets, is hacked to pieces by a man who bet the love of his wife.
By the next set, she is unharmed, tries to wipe the blood off her outfit and fails, continues her work.
The last song begins. It's the same wrenching tune as the first, but lighter, somber, plinking keys like dying breaths and long droning violin notes like tears, sobbing, a mother who misses her son.
Please. Do not forget me. Please.
And with a 3 - Mista forgets.