Sanders Sides Oneshots

Inktober Day 15- Theater

It had been way too long a day for Virgil.

His most recent play was in the casting stage, and the director insisted he cast the roles. Saying how he knew the characters better than anyone else and knew what they should be like.

"I do the writing so I don't have to interact with people," he muttered, watching another actor cheerily leave the stage, way too sure that they got the role for the performance they just gave. He leaned back in the theater's chair, letting his head hang over so he was staring at all the rows of seats.

"We're almost done for the day Virgil. And besides, you are hardly talking to them, you're just judging their performance," a voice popped up from beside him, but he didn't lift his head. He didn't need to. The only other person in there with him right then was the assistant director and backstage manager for the play. They just so happened to also be his best friend, Logan.

"Yeah, but I'm getting tired of seeing people prance around stage like an overly cocky prince."

"Then maybe try not writing an overly cocky prince next time?" he questioned, causing Virgil to scowl and lift his head.

"You know the character's not like that. He acts cocky, but as the play goes on, he sees the fault in his actions and resolves to fix them, teaming up with the dragon-witch to do so. Everyone does the first half of the song fine, pulling off the confident prince, but that's the easy part. The hard bit is showing how he's uneasy about his decisions, despite what he's saying. Everyone just keeps playing it like there's no pause or hesitance, there's no change when they hit the bridge of the song. If they can't play it for one song, how are they going to do it for practically half of the show?"

"Hence why we've gone through roughly 30 people. I know this isn't some street performance, Virgil, but we are not Broadway either. You aren't going to have 100 or so options, we're probably looking at only a few more coming through today."

"I know, I know. I'll pick from the schmooze lineup if I have to, just... hoping someone will get it right I guess. And soon, I'm reaching my people limit for the day."

"I know, I'm actually surprised this is the first you're complaining. Now, are you ready for the next actor? Sooner we get through the sooner we'll be done."

"Yeah, send 'em in. I might keep my head back though until they actually start talking."

Logan let out a humored hum, moving to go let the next person in. Virgil only heard the footsteps as they bounded on stage. Their footsteps were light, but quick. He felt like he could sense their excitement just from that, And the way the small patter continued for a few seconds in the same place, indicated they bounced a bit before coming to a rest.

Virgil waited for Logan to take his seat next to him again, letting the other start questioning the actor. His voice wasn't great at projecting, and he really didn't feel like raising it.

"So, Mr. Prince?"

"Yes, Roman Prince here! I find that funny, don't you? Prince auditioning for a Prince?"

Virgil rolled his eyes at the bad joke, finally lifting his head to see the man on stage. He had a good stature, and looked like the part of a prince anyway. His hair seemed perfectly styled into an "effortless" look, and his hands were at his sides, his weight dispersed evenly on each foot. His fingers were tapping on his side, Virgil noticed as he carefully scrutinized, but that didn't necessarily worry him. If it was due to nerves and that was his only tick, he was still doing better than most. Besides, most people would try to hide that during an audition. He couldn't help but feel a little respect for the guy who seemingly didn't feel the need to.