XANADU OPERA TIME | ALL INVITED

[shall_yield_us]

WHEN: Jan. 15 | the Xanadu gardens.
CHARACTERS: Everyone.
SUMMARY: we interrupt your regular Xanadu viewing for the following special reminder: ...the visit ain't over til the bloody plant sings.

That's right: our green belle been giving rather obnoxious titillating performances in Xanadu, to what can only be the... enjoyment... of certain Citizens. Adding injury to insult, it's quite possible that a couple of residents have also captured the plant's tune on film, and now the video's been turned into a network viral phenomenon!

But as Citizens surely know, every grand artist needs a doting live audience: come get dibs on more plant footage? Save someone from its evil clutches? Help a poor soul that's got lost in the gardens' great expanse? Get the plant to sign with your talent agency? Embark on a mystical quest to get it to shut up?

Just put your chlorophyll-tinted glasses on, and anything is possible.


[ ooc: Find whatever excuse to throw your character in Xanadu, tag someone new, and all around: GET IN HERE. Just as a note: hearing the plant is definitely optional, so please don't think it's an overwhelming sound that'd keep your character up at night or some such. It's just a log prompt. XD ]

Comments

[likeboudica]

[ Considering all the time Tessa usually spends in the library, a walk and some fresh air sounded like a good idea, so she's bundled up warm and made her way to Xanadu.

She's brought a book, though now that she's actually outside it seems unlikely she'll get any reading done. For once thing, it's a little too cold still to curl up on a park bench to read. And secondly, there's a singing plant.

A singing blood-thirsty plant, even, it seems. ]

I should not be so surprised. [ Muttered to herself, though loud enough to be overheard by any bystander... ]

[brobeforehos]

[A bystander that happens to be Mae, who shared Tessa's idea for an afternoon of fresh air and reading in the park. For the most part, she's managed to tune the plant out, but her patience has limits.

Limits which get tested, and broken by something as simple as overhearing someone's comment. She snorts.]

I know - no-one should be surprised, it fits right into the City, doesn't it?

[likeboudica]

[ Tessa hadn't expected anyone to overhear, much less react, but she smiles at the girl next to her regardless. That people here are open and approachable is one of her favourite things about the City. ]

It rather does, I should think. And yet, I did not expect this [ She makes a vague hand gesture towards the singing plant. ]

[knaveswitness]

[To a man who relied more on hearing than sight these days, and whose hearing was quite acute for said reason, the plant's ruckus was... grating to say the least.

Though at first, he had no idea it was a plant.

It was someone with an obnoxious voice, and with no plans otherwise engaging him at the moment, (frustrating), he tracked it down by hearing alone, cane tapping away casually, picking up the bars and humming along.

That green blur in Break's mostly failed vision was far too big and definitely the wrong color for a person. The motion was all wrong.

... It was a plant.]

[brobeforehos]

Expect the unexpected. [She returns the smile right away, and marks the page of her book before closing it.] It should be a motto for this place, don't you reckon?

I can't help but wonder who was the masochist to went through singing lessons with it.

[likeboudica]

That seems very fitting.

[ She turns to look at the plant again. ] Perhaps it did not have singing lessons.

[brobeforehos]

[A pause as she considers it.] It seems more likely. [Muttered, before she grins and holds her hand out.]

Anyway, I'm Mae.

[likeboudica]

[ Tessa takes the hand and shakes it, and then, because old habits die hard, drops into a brief curtsy. ]

Theresa Gray, Miss Mae.

[brobeforehos]

[It's Sunday, and as such, Sunday is a great day for catching some fresh air and light - albeit in a chilly weather - and Mae has yet to visit Xanadu, so here she is.

For the second time today, no less; after a nice conversation with someone new, she's decided that it's a good time to socialize. If there's anyone out there coming by to listen to the plant at a very, very prudent distance, they'll run into her.

Currently, she's found herself a nice place to sit on the grass, her bag open and a blanket under her making for a solitary (but maybe not for long) picnic. Or dinner picnic, considering the time it is. But Xanadu's as good a park as any to have a sandwich-and-fruit dinner with a nice, thick book to keep her company. If they do it in London, why can't she do it in the City?

And she will have to admit - the plant can sing.] Guess they really do have lungs.

[brobeforehos]

[Oh - that's fascinating. Trust the City to introduce her to new and interesting people everyday. This one curtsies. Mae grins, but refrains from doing the same and ending up looking ridiculous in the attempt.]

Nice to meet you, Theresa. Just Mae's fine, though. I don't think I'm miss-material.

[likeboudica]

[ She inclines her head, acquiescent. ]

In that case, please call me Tessa.

[brobeforehos]

Tessa. [She nods, again - this, this feels like the same excitement and awkwardness that sept in when she met Sin the first time, but it might be why she's eager to keep talking.]

What brings you to Xanadu today, Tessa?

[likeboudica]

I thought that perhaps a walk and fresh air would do me good. I meant to read on a bench here, but it is a little too cold, I think, so I've just been walking.

[ She smiles a little, again. ] It's very beautiful here, is it not?

[brobeforehos]

It is, yes. It's not too cold if you bring ammunition against cold.

[Like her, for example. She's wearing her coat and a scarf around her neck, and has been huddling - slouching; her mother would have scowled at her for it - the book still in her lap.]

What book are you reading?

[likeboudica]

Trousers may be more suited to this weather than skirts. [ Tessa is, as usual, in one of the dresses she is used to. She's wearing a coat over it, of course, and the skirts almost reach the ground, yet they're not very well insulating. ]

A Tale of Two Cities. It's one of my favourites.

[ She eyes the book in Mae's lap. ] And you?

[brobeforehos]

But not as gorgeous looking as the one you're wearing now. [Mae's mind is working a mile a minute now, taking all these tidbits of information and connecting dots - but it's not a mystery, she reminds herself. It's as easy as asking, with some people. Not everyone keeps secrets and speaks in undertones.

She looks down at her own book, turning it over for Tessa to see.]

A Room of One's Own. It's...not a favourite, but it's an interesting read.

[A pause - easier to ask; she's going to test that.] Can I ask you where you're from, Tessa? And - when?

[likeboudica]

What is the book about? [ Tessa ignores the compliment to her clothes. They're part of her time and what she is used to, even though she knows that they seem foreign, strange and out-dated to others. ]

I'm from New York, but I was in London before I came here. And it was 1878.

[brobeforehos]

I thought so - it was published some fifty years later. It's an essay, actually.

[Victorian age, she thinks to herself. Nice dresses, horrible way of treating women, for an era governed by such a strong queen. She holds the book out.]

Here, I'll lend it to you, you might find it an interesting read.

[likeboudica]

[ Tessa takes the book, running a finger over the spine. ] Thank you, Mae.

Where are you from?

[riseto]

[ That noise is grating. And everywhere. ]

Can we kill it?

[brobeforehos]

Don't mention it. It was a reread for me, anyway.

[And introducing Victorian ladies to feminist essays is something she can do now. Yes.]

Me? I lived - back home, I mean - in Exeter.

[oceantrauma]

[Ken decided it was time for a visit to Xanadu, to see the plant life he had heard about. ...there had been no warning about this particular plant life, however, so he keeps his distance, walking way out of grabbing range. Considering the songs the plant sings, despite being curious, Ken doesn't want to get too close and be mistaken for plant food.

He does, however, want to talk to it. It almost reminds him of a Digimon, but they're not typically blood-thirsty.

He notices the woman sitting, hears her speak, and decides this is a much safer conversation to have.]

Lungs...and very sharp teeth.

[likeboudica]

I would lend you mine in return, but it is merely borrowed from the library. [ Tessa's been spending so much time in there, it hasn't been necessary to buy books of her own. Though perhaps she should, now that she thinks of it. ]

Exeter. So you are British, then. I thought your accent sounded it.

[brobeforehos]

[She looks up at the reply, her sandwich half-way to her mouth. Stops, and grins.]

Add a few shiny necklaces, and it's like any other famous singer I know.

[brobeforehos]

Born and bred, yes.

[She waves dismissively.] Don't worry about it. Books are nice, but company is nicer right now. I've been turning into a hermit enough as it is.