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Lights. Camera. Action.
Or, in this case, lights. Music. Act one, scene one.
Enter from stage left, recite your line, walk here, hold this prop. Talk amiably. Talk stubbornly. Talk intelligently. Raise voice. Lower voice. Next line. Exit right.
Scene two.
The stage lights are hot on Alanna's face, and she's sweating under her big detective overcoat. Her hairline's wet under her fedora. Damn, it is so hot.
Lilith smiles at her from behind stage left, giving her a big thumbs up. Lilith plays the sister of the murder victim in the play, the overdramatic and esteemed Lady Fischer. The sister who may or may not also be the murderer.
It's nice that the two of them finally got lead roles. When they saw the cast list, the two both broke out in happy screams.
Honestly, Alanna couldn't believe it. She's never gotten a lead before. Only minor roles and ensemble—and she was lucky to receive those.
But now? She's at dress rehearsal, at 7 p.m., going through the entire play.
And it's amazing.
Alanna always gets a little thrill whenever she's onstage—whether she's playing a small role or not. A little flutter of the heart, a flick of the stomach, a nostalgic, inexplicable joy.
She's so glad she's here. And she can't wait for the others to see the play in its full glory.
She can't wait.
—————————✌︎—————————
"Okay, is everyone except Alanna and Lilith here?" Roshan says, leaning on the picnic table. Faun's wearing a cable-knit sweater with a white collared shirt underneath for the warm weather. Damien hates the way it fits faun so well. Or maybe he just wishes he could pull that kind of outfit off.
They'll just stick to rumpled, oversize shirts.
Damien finally snaps out of his distractedness to bite out a remark: "Hey, why do Alanna and Lilith get a free pass out of these meetings and I don't?"
Roshan smiled with a knife-like sharpness. "Aw, I thought you liked these meetings?"
"Not anymore," Damien mumbled as Roshan said, "They're at play rehearsal. They're exempt. Just like if any of you had lives and therefore mandatory practices or work, you would be exempt as well."
"Someone's in a mood today," Damien mutters, sitting across from Roshan at the picnic table as the others crowd around, sitting as well.
"Okay! So, today, let's discuss our individual strengths and weaknesses to figure out which role for the prank would fit each of us best. Meg, why don't you start..."
