The Black Swan Theatre, Saturday all day

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Unlike many of its fellow theatres, the Black Swan had resisted the modern trend of changing over to a 'movie house'. Unfortunately it had also resisted that whole 'air conditioned' trend as well.

Welcome to the Black Swan Theatre.



One of the finest stage theatres this side of the Atlantic. Especially if you ask the mysterious foreign Count who owned it. Which you could only do if you could find him. For some reason, the handsome and charming man rarely appeared before evening, even if there were early shows playing.

And speaking of shows, this weekend the Swan was still running, The Screen Door. Though for the third time this run there were changes in the leading ladies. Odd how many female company members seemed to disappear when they came to play at the Swan.


[The Boards is now the Black Swan Theatre. Still a stage theatre, just very luxurious. Enjoy the show!]

Comments

[tigerundercover]

Raven wasn't here for a show. Not one on the stage, anyway. Fandom was Lady D's town, and if Raven wanted to stay in good standing with Lady D's organization, she had to go out and make sure it stayed that way.

She came in, giving a sly eye around the establishment, occasionally running a white gloved hand over the counter tops and walls. All very proprietary, like she, and by extension, Lady D, already owned the place.

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While the count may not recognize the actual lady, he definitely recognized a lady of that establishment.

He descended the staircase slowly, establishing his presence as if he owned the place. Oh wait, he did.

His dress was pure old world elegance, almost as if he was going to an opera and not just to the theatre lobby to mingle. He stopped at the last step, his own gloved hand holding his top hat to his waist as he bowed to the newcomer.

"Good evening. Welcome to the Black Swan."

[tigerundercover]

Raven's own dress was on the swanky side, but she still wore it like a teenager playing dress-up. She told herself not to be intimidated, though she'd heard the stories about ingenues going missing. She was a big time gangster, now. Not just a struggling girl from the wrong side of New York.

"Nice place you got here," she said, her accent giving away a hint of Brooklyn attitude. "Real classy joint."

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There was no trace of a wince at that accent. Instead, the Count's smile softened - as if he somehow found it charming and quaint. He began again to walk in her direction, stopping close in front of her.

"From a woman as beautiful as you, that is indeed a compliment." His voice was smooth, despite his own foreign accent, and reached for her hand to lift it to his lips.

[tigerundercover]

Wait, was he shmoozing her? Raven was not used to being shmoozed. This was not in the script!

"Thank you," she said, smiling a little goofily before remembering she was a tough gangster. "What I'm saying, though, is you don't want anything to happen to such a classy joint, right?"

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The Count hadn't let go of her hand and was caressing it, like it was the most natural thing for him to do. The corner of his eyes crinkled slightly, adding to his smile as if she'd just initiated a private joke between them.

And she sort of had, he'd been wondering how long until he was noticed by the Lady.

"My dear, I am sure I don't know what you mean." And did she really want to talk about such things?

[tigerundercover]

She was leaning a little towards "no" just now, actually. He was pretty charming. With the hand caressing. And the accent.

Right, business, gotta stick to the business. Lady D would not be happy if she screwed the pooch on an assignment.

"You know," she said. "Like a -- a fire. Or -- accidents. Unfortunate ones."

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The Count shook his head softly as he chuckled. "Ah. We do have our fair share of accidents, already. The stage is a precarious mistress, you know." It was almost cute how she was trying to scare him!

[tigerundercover]

"Yeah, well, that's 'cause, uh." She was really doing very badly at this. Why couldn't he stick to the script? "That's 'cause you're not buying your insurance."

[bluhblahbluh.livejournal.com]

"Insurance?" It rolled off his tongue like a melody. The Count took a step and somehow was now standing at her side, her hand held high as if he was escorting her to a ball. "I have complied with all the local laws and regulations, but I have not heard of this." His tone definitely asked for her to continue speaking, even as he started walking back towards the stairs.

"Perhaps you could tell me more... over a drink?" Was she coming along?

[tigerundercover]

Discussing business over drinks wasn't bad, right? "That makes sense," Raven decided. "Lady D wants to make sure everyone's very clear on their roles."

Like hers. Which was looking to not turn out to be the one she thought it was.

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"Ah. And I do know roles, my dear." The Count agreed with her, moving easily, leading her back up to his rooms. "Almost as well as I know beauty."