Another night's work done. (open)

[azure]

Tonight's work outfit was a green satin silk dress that left her right arm and shoulder bare and her left covered by a long sleeve that lightly flared at the hand and had a small loop that went around her middle finger.  It came down to her ankles showing her brown one inch pumps.  Woven leather wrapped around her waist like a belt and hung down along her left leg ending in tassels about knee height.  Her hair was braided into several ropes, one small but long braid on either side with another, larger one that reached from one side near her ear to the other along the front, then down to the base of her head and down her back. It wasn't one of her usual outfits, but it wasn't an unusual one either.

Arianna had time enough for one last song before she would need to give up the stage area for the night.  Having just finished with Mountain Music by Alabama she decided to move on to A Place In The World by Mary Chapin Carpenter.  It was a quieter song in comparison, and it was one she hadn't performed publicly in a while.  She also one of a few songs she felt she could sing well, not just decent like most.  'Good thing it's not my voice I'm trying to get a good job with.' she thought to herself as she began to pick away at the strings.  She let the music flow from her fingertips and began to sing softly, glad that the microphone would carry her voice for her.  Her voice wavered slightly during the song, but her 15 years of guitar practice helped her to hit each note with precision.

She let the last few notes hang in the air, ignoring the noise from the crowd as she had up to this point.  She took off her guitar and knelt next to the case to put it away and lock the case before picking up it and her flute case to clear the stage for the next booking.  taking her instruments to the counter she placed the guitar between her seat and the counter to keep it from getting kicked and let her flute rest in her lap.  She didn't ask for the Irish trashcan that was placed in front of her along with an envelope, but then, she didn't need to, having followed the same routine for two years now.  Come in, play her instruments for a few hours, then sit at the counter and have a pair of Irish trashcans and maybe mingle a bit before heading home for the night.  She took the envelope that held her paycheck and tucked it into her flute case, then took a sip of her drink and looked around.

[raze]

Tired of wandering, Khaos slipped inside of a bar. She let the bouncer and barkeep know she was underage, then got herself a glass of water. She wasn't looking for anything in particular. She listened to the music currently, she didn't much care for country music, she did happen to like the guitarists' play style.

After the performer finished, Khaos asked the barkeep if she could perform. Once he gave his nod, Khaos got up and headed for the stage. Once there, she opened the case, grabbed out her old Crimson Sunburst Mahogany Fender Mustang guitar, "Spear." Khaos plugged it in and tuned it. Strumming it a few times to check tone, she got ready for the first song.

She started with Sublime's "Santeria." She moved into the more upbeat "The River," by Good Charlotte. She flew from that into the haunting tones of "Tourniquet," by Evanescence. Then she ended the half hour performance with Alice Cooper's "Welcome to My Nightmare." She flourished the end. The 5 years she has been playing gave her some insight.

Once she was done she went back to the bar for another glass of water.

[azure]

Arianna watched as a new face stepped on stage and pulled out a snazzy guitar. She didn't care for the electric ones herself as they sounded best with an amp, and lets face it, who wants to lug an amp around all day? Still, she was pretty decent, and Aria even got caught up in one or two of the songs, lipping along with the 'fuzzy'. She finished her second drink as Khaos finished and came over for a water. "Not bad, I take it you've practiced quite a bit." Aria said with a smile to the Volant when she was close enough.

[raze]

"When you grow up on the streets, ya learn to do something or ya die." Khaos said turning around to the questioner. "You're not bad yerself. Where'd ya learn yer craft, school, tutor?" She questioned eyeballing the human. She was slightly worried for being judged but, she had heard it before due to her punk style clothing, and demonic visage. she was slightly surprised that they hadn't chased her out yet but guessed that was a good thing. Her wings were twitching beneath her coat but nothing serious, they did that when she got anxious or nervous. "Where I come from we introduce ourselves first though. Call me Khaos."She said extending her hand.

[azure]

Aria nodded in response to the question. She extended her own hand and shook Khaos's saying, "I'm Arianna, I've gone through both, but recently I've been trying to teach myself. It's a little more frustrating, but it's helping me learn patience..." She stopped herself before she continued that thread about her life thinking it wasn't anything that needed her to go into detail about. She almost asked what brought her to this place, but a second thought caused her to discard that idea leaving a small pause in conversation before she thought of something that she thought was reasonable. "You had a good list of songs up there, what other songs do you know?"

[raze]

Khaos couldn't help but laugh. her fangs showing. "HAHAHA! That sounds just like something a country girl would say. Patience. Don't you know the point of music, of passion. It's about letting go. It's about living in the moment, taking your emotion throwing it on the stage, and putting it on display for all the world to see and feel. From melodies of sorrow to ballads of passion. From sonatas of love lost to anthems of good times come and gone. Music is about the magic of letting go and putting your heart out there letting everyone know." Khaos stopped herself before she let too much go. She could get a little passionate at times. "You don't need patience with music. It will tell where to go." She smiled then grabbed on of her albums. " I have a small list I can do. Here have a listen if you want." She handed Arianna the CD. " It's not much but it's a start."

[azure]

Aria was amused to be called a 'country girl', as well as being told to 'let it all go'. It was because of her mood that she had shown up in her green dress rather than her usual red or black dresses or outfits, though sometimes she was in the mood for old music and she'd show up in a goldish dress. She took the cd thinking she'd play it once she got home, and set her flute case on the table. It was frustrating sometimes, not having a purse at gigs, but they only got in the way. Instead she tended to use her instrument cases if room allowed, as her guitar case would work for this. She pulled it up and opened it, setting the cd in it carefully, then pulled out her guitar saying, "I'll certainly give it a listen. Tonight wasn't my usual, I'll admit, but I was feeling a bit melancholy." she explained as she carefully lowered the case back to the floor and settled her guitar in her lap. A quick glance at the stage saw that no one was playing right now so what she was about to do wouldn't be a big deal. She looked up from adjusting her guitar and gave Khaos a smirk saying, feel free to sing along if you want." Then launched into My World by Avril Lavigne. It was a favorite of hers and had no problem belting it out while keeping in tune.

[raze]

Khaos nodded in understanding, She had gotten in the bad moods herself. When the girl got up and performed Avril, Khaos had to laugh. She then got up plugged her guitar in and joined in the performance. When the song died down in the end she started beating the rhythm to "Girlfriend." " Try to keep up, Girlfriend." She smiled emphasizing the word "girlfriend." She then went into the main guitar riff and, smiling her fanged smile, she started singing out the lyrics. She was almost laughing while singing and dancing to the song. She was almost waiting to be thrown out. Though nobody seemed to be moving to do so.

[azure]

Aria was thrilled when Khaos joined her in playing, then laughed as Khaos began a song she recognized on the tail end of hers. She joined in immediately and found herself enjoying having someone to duet with for once. She knew it was getting late, and she should be heading home soon, so when they finished the song she asked, "Any chance we can do this again some other time? It's getting late, and I'd rather not be breakfast for any Vamps in the area." She began to put her guitar away again, making sure the cd was still ok in the case.

[raze]

Khaos smiled as she turned down the amp and unplugged her guitar. "Not a problem, girlfriend." She smiled again, packing up Spear. "There are vampires here?" She asked. She was beginning to feel a little worried again. Not at the fact that there were vampires, but what they might do to her because of how she looked. She grabbed another water for the road. now she really needed a place to stay. she hoped there was somewhere around that could help her out. She didn't have enough money for a motel, nor did she happen to know an town. perfect end to a day? yeah right.

[azure]

"A few." Aria said putting her guitar in her case. "I haven't met any that I know of, but that's not to say I haven't seen any. I try to avoid them whenever possible..." She had a thought that worried her and she asked, "You got a place to stay? Between the vamps and the wolves it's not exactly the safest place to stay out on the streets." She brushed a few stray hairs out of her face and tried to remember just how much she had on her person and if it would be enough to cover a night at the motel just down the road.

[raze]

"Do you really think I would be playing bar side if I had the money for a place to stay?" Khaos Asked looking at Arianna confusedly. " That's like asking a homeless man if he needs money for a beer run. I'm technically not old enough to be in here. and I'm not making money cause it's my first night in. so tell me where they have a room for free here, that's where I'm going to be." khaos said this all in about one breathe. " No offense but the question should have answered itself. a girl with a guitar older then she is, walks into a bar, gets on the stage, sings her heart out, and drinks water all night long. yeah that screams she has money."

[azure]

Arianna was completely surprised by the response and it showed quite a bit in her face as she said, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't realize." Because of course she hadn't. She said in very apologetic tones, "I thought you were just looking to get noticed by a talent scout, same as me." A thought crossed her mind though and with that thought came a change of emotion. She wasn't so sorry but rather a little confused and a bit demanding. In an almost chiding manor, but still friendly she asked, "If you don't have any money than why'd you give me your cd? You can't afford to just hand them out without something in return, and a few good songs together isn't enough to pay for one. I know you're going to make it big some day, same as me, but you got to live that long to do so, and sleeping on the streets aren't going to help your chances of that." As she talked she pulled her flute case to her lap and opened it, then opened the envelope inside it and pulled out a few bills and took a business card and added it to the bills. Closing the flute case, she set the bills in front of Khaos with the business card on top. The card had her name, phone number, and house address while the bills consisted of a ten, a 20, and two 50s. Khaos would have to move the ten to see what the other bills were. "Take that and get yourself a room at the motel down way. It's only two blocks from here." she told Khaos as she grabbed her two instruments and got up, then headed for the door to leave.

[raze]

Khaos looked confused. "What did you think I was? Someone who looked young?" Khaos asked. " Granted it's a nice compliment, but." Khaos paused. not sure how to say it. " At seventeen years of age and looking after myself, I think I can safely say I'm not here for scouts, unless they think I owe them money. Not that I owe anyone." she then spied the money and card. "I cant take anything from another artist. I'll be fine." She shoved the money at Arianna. She kept the card though. "Think of it as a demo. Nobody buys cd's of an unknown artist anyway." She kind of laughed at her own joke.

[azure]

Aria turned back to Khaos and decided to explain just what she had thought. With a sigh she said, "Actually, I didn't know what to think. You could still be living with your parents, living with friends, or maybe some relatives or something. Maybe you wanted to strike out on your own for whatever. I can honestly say I don't know many people who would travel without money without making sure they had a place to stay. I'll admit I don't need the money I earn, but I don't want to rely on what my parents left me for the rest of my life either." She noticed that Khaos had only taken the card and left the money. "If you don't take that I'll find some other way to spend it on you." she said as she glared at Khaos, "And it's not a freebee, so you better pay me back by getting famous."