★ ( ' the fame, the fortune ) onexone with consulting

[Consulting_Angel]

Cian started to walk up the steps to the door of the building. Part of him wanted to stay outside and talk more, or invite Matty in - but he also didn't want to take up more of the musician's time than he already had. Which, admittedly, wasn't a lot, but he thought that maybe the other was looking forward to getting back to his own home. Besides, they'd both have to be back in the theatre tomorrow afternoon anyway. Although given they hadn't actually met each other properly until now, he wondered how likely it was that they'd even interact at the theatre. Well, as long as either of them put a bit of effort, there was no rule to say that actors and musicians couldn't interact.

When Matty called out, Cian stopped just before he opened the door, and turned around. He was a little surprised by the invitation, but Cian nodded. "I'll keep that in mind. See you tomorrow!" He waved a goodbye, waiting until Matty was out of sight before he went inside the building, and up to the fourth floor to his studio apartment. The elevator was still broken - it had been for a couple of weeks now, and he expected that it would remain broken for at least two or three more weeks - so the stairs it was. At least it meant he'd get some more steps in, he supposed.

Entering his apartment, Cian turned the main lights on, and texted his parents that he got back home safe, noting their apology that they hadn't been able to come and see him. If he had been able to afford it, he would have paid for them to do so. Ah well - he appreciated their well-wishes, and he knew that they would bound to find a video that someone filmed of the curtain call to watch instead.
Anyway, he went to take a shower, and once he was finished and dried off - and changed into a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt - Cian went to bed, to rest up and prepare for tomorrow.

Cian woke up at about 10 the next morning. He wasn't needed in the theatre until the afternoon, for another rehearsal to polish or change anything that the directors decided to change, notes - if any - for the previous night, warm up, and just to prepare for the evening's show. Last night felt like a blur, and it took him a few minutes to really remember the details, but he did think about Matty. He wondered what time he was required to be in - did musicians have a different start time? He hadn't really thought about it.
After he'd had breakfast, and got dressed and ready for the day, Cian made his way out of the building, and to the subway station. On the platform, he glanced around, but didn't see Matty. Even as the train pulled up, the musician hadn't made an appearance, so Cian boarded and figured that Matty was in early after all.

Soon enough, he was back in the theatre. He went directly to the stage, where the physical and vocal warmups took place - since it was the only space large enough to have all the actors gathered at once. Only he and a few of the other actors had arrived so far, so they stood around talking about the previous night.
At that point, Alexa, one of the stage managers, bustled over. "Cian! I've been meaning to catch you," she said, with a bright smile - one that seemed to only ever be reserved for him and a handful of the others - "there's something in your dressing room for you, when you get a chance."
"Oh - thank you." Cian replied, and Alexa nodded, before she quickly walked off to go and find someone to tell off.

[vaska]

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spacerMatty caught up with John and Audrey, as the trio walked to the pit for rehearsal. It was about this time the actors would start to do warmups, as would the orchestra. Occasionally kinks in a scene would be worked out during these mornings, and the orchestra would play at a skeleton crew's capacity during scene re-works. Alexa had been sharp on it today; yapping in everyone's ears with complaints and dogmatic remarks. When Alexa was around, it was as if a black storm cloud rained over only the person she was chewing out. Then, as she left the veil of stormy weather cleared and the day could resume as always. Matthias did his best to play mouse and not be seen by her, but he'd nearly bumped into her on his way into the pit.
spacer"Pardon me, Alexa!" He backed away and let her pass, hearing her mutter snide remarks as her cone heels clomped away. "Jeez," Matty huffed. He caught up with John and Audrey, who had left Matty behind in Alexa's dust out of fear.
spacer"Good plan, you two. Ensuring eternal love by letting the single guy nearly get eaten alive." He chuckled, hearing his laugh echo in the theater. He looked around the empty room, comparing it to the full house just the night before. Usually the second night did just as well - and sometimes even better. Audiences were so different from night to night, it was always a treat to hear what they'd 'oo' and 'ah' at.

spacerHe unclasped the locking mechanisms on his violin, glancing at the stage as he took out his faithful violin. Matty did a double take, catching Cian front and center chatting with other actors. Matty paused, watching whatever he was doing for a moment. He didn't see Cian busy rehearsing lines, so he took it upon himself to waddle toward the stage and drape his elbows off the edge and greet him. He set his violin and its case on the stage and looked up to Cian eagerly from the main floor.
spacer"Block-neighbor," he joyfully greeted from the curtain line. "Did you sleep in and miss the subway? Or are you leading men too busy to come in before the sun rises?" He jested. Of course he was joking, and the cheeky grin on his face confirmed such.

[Consulting_Angel]

Cian felt a little awkward. Alexa would try and pass off whatever was in the dressing room as being a general gift from the collective managers, and that perhaps everyone else had also received a gift in their dressing rooms, but he knew it was only from her. And sure, maybe everyone else would also have a gift, as to not be too obvious, but would be much smaller. He decided not to think about it too much - he didn't have to be in his dressing room until the evening, and he could hang out elsewhere until he actually had to start getting ready for the show.

Once most of the other actors had arrived, they split off into smaller groups, running a few lines. He was in a trio with Grace and Melanie - both of whom he'd had a lot of scenes with. The director, Rachel, had also entered for a few minutes, to give out a handful of notes of things to change or improve on from last night's show, and then she'd left to go and work on something with the lighting and sound technicians, leaving the actors to run lines with the notes they'd been given. Cian had only been given the one note - to change a couple of lines in the script to something slightly different that flowed better. So that was the scene he was running with Grace and Melanie, since they'd also had lines changed for that scene.

He also worked on a few bars of a duet he had with Grace, so they did a few vocal warmups and exercises before singing. "I don't know how or why, But who am I that I should get to know you?" Okay - that sounded better than it had last night.
After a while, they decided to take a break for a few minutes.
That's when Cian saw Matty, elbows on the stage as he was stood on the main floor of the auditorium. He went over, sitting down on the edge of the stage, legs dangling over it. He laughed lightly at the teasing.
"It helps that I'm not required to be here until the afternoons," Cian replied, "how's your rehearsal going?"

[vaska]

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spacerMatty took Cian in, this was him well rested and relaxed it seemed. He was backlit by the stage, little flecks of dust gently floated behind him as the other actors stirred it up. It was an old theater after all, no matter how clean it would always smell a little stale. But it was a good stale, and a good dusty. Matty slowly turned, looking at the orchestra pit behind him. They were warming up and screeching their violins and violas like a child who'd just gotten one for Christmas. They all played around with nails on chalkboard-type sounds, like it was a game. It was something this group did alone, and Matty never understood why.
spacerHe grimaced and turned back to Cian. "Our warm up is cold so far, I'm afraid." He chuckled before continuing, "We came in early to gather our things and make sure we had everything.. but I think most of us are struggling with productivity. I haven't even started!" He brushed his hand over the casing for his violin, then locked his gaze onto Cian again.
spacer"How about you?" He asked, cocking his head to the side. "how are your warm ups going over here in the land of the performers?"

[Consulting_Angel]

The contrast seemed to be quite stark between the two groups - the actors had gone right into the rehearsals and warmups, and the musicians not quite so much. He couldn't quite help but to wince slightly at the screeching the orchestra were making. Much different to the beautiful music they'd play during the serious rehearsals and actual performances. But despite that, looking down at Matty's face, in a much better light than last night, was a more pleasant experience.
"I hope you find your productivity soon - maybe once you've had a break? Or you could join us for our physical warm up - it's just stretches and a little bit of aerobics to get us moving." Cian suggested. There weren't any rules, as far as he knew, about musicians joining the performers for warmups. He was sure that, at the very least, that the others wouldn't mind having someone else join them, there was always plenty of space on the stage.

"So far, we've gone through a few lines that the director wanted to change. Said that it'd make the scenes flow better. And some vocal warm ups, you might have heard a few of us running lines or singing a few bars. Now we're just waiting for our dance captain, Ryesha, to arrive to get started on the physical warm up." Cian replied, though just as he said that, a young woman bounced onto the stage from the wings with a bright smile.
"Sorry I'm late guys! Give me a few minutes and we'll get started on the warmup." Ryesha called out, and then spotted Cian and Matty. "Cian!"
He turned around, quickly.
"Is your friend going to be joining us?" she asked, brightly, grinning towards Matty.

[vaska]

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spacerCian offered that Matty could join for their physical warm up. He was quickly apprehensive, shooting another glance back at his crew. He worried they might make a fuss about him interacting with the actors. Though all of the orchestra members knew there was no reason to segregate themselves from the actors; there had been a few too many bad experiences that left most musicians with a sizable chip on their shoulders.
spacerThey talked for a moment more before Cian's dance captain Reysha hopped on stage, excitedly asking if Matty was participating. She had an undeniable energy, and Matty couldn't help but participate.
He sighed, slowly tucking his violin back into its case and setting it against the stage on the floor. "Alright, I suppose. Don't know what good this will do a violinist but I'll give it a whirl!" he said. From the ground, he hoisted himself up onto the stage and smoothed his shirt down and walked wherever Cian led him.
spacer"I'm not much of a dancer, the only cardio I do is run." He muttered to Cian, fighting a smile. What a strange thing, he'd been walking this man home only hours ago and was now trying out a very new new thing with him; being on stage where he'd never thought he belonged.
Matty glanced back to his crew members, and none had taken any notice to his joining Cian on stage. Part of him was a bit thankful for it, but he knew once they caught sight of him they wouldn't have much of a choice but to let him do whatever they were doing. Which, by the way - what were stretches and aerobic warm ups for actors?

[Consulting_Angel]

Cian grinned, getting to his feet as well, as Matty joined him on stage, leading him towards the back, figuring that maybe he wouldn't want everyone's attention on him. "It's not too strenuous, I promise. Although I will warn you that Ryesha might try and challenge you a bit more." Cian muttered back, unable to keep himself from smiling - and unable to keep himself from thinking about how this would never be happening if they hadn't met the previous night. What a twist of fate.

Joining him towards the back was Melanie, Zachary and Grace - all of whom quickly noticed the newcomer to the group. Melanie was the first to speak, with a warm smile, "I see we have a new person joining us. Part of the orchestra, aren't you? Don't worry - I'm sure you'll move better than I do."
Zachary just nodded with a smile, silently, raising a hand in greeting, the furthest away of them. And then Grace, with also a warm, slightly shyer, smile, said, "Have fun!"
"Ah - this is Melanie, Zachary, and Grace. Grace is my leading lady. And this is Matty - he's the second violinist." Cian said, quickly introducing the three of them to Matty, and vice versa.

Before they could talk more, Ryesha began the warmup - starting out with some basic arm stretches, first stretching out high up, and then leaning down to try and touch toes, as well as leg stretches. Then, shoulder rolls, and neck rolls.
The warmup continued - jogging in place, jumping jacks, standing elbow to knee crunches, amongst others.
Cian glanced towards Matty a few times throughout to check how he was doing. Towards the end of the warm up, when glancing towards Matty, Cian spotted Alexa just off the stage, looking annoyed - clearly waiting until the end of the warm up, as she knew better than to interrupt Ryesha.
Melanie also seemed to notice, and she leaned over to whisper to the two, "Stick with me, she won't say anything while I'm around."

Indeed, as the warmup came to an end - finishing with some more stretches - Alexa stepped into view on the stage, while the other actors started to disperse and get ready for another rehearsal.
"Someone's not happy. As usual." Cian murmured to Matty.

[vaska]

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spacerHe quietly introduced himself and greeted Melanie, Zachary and Grace. He did his best to note their names, and then followed the warm up as Ryesha.
spacerHe followed closely, keeping as close to their tempo as he could with the stretches: The high stretches, the toe touches, leg stretches and shoulder rolls and neck rolls. Sure, it was necessary to get all the kinks out of your body. But Matty always thought it looked ridiculous from an observer's perspective.
The pace picked up, and Matty glanced at Cian as they jogged in place and did their jumping jacks. He had a lot of energy, and was seemingly pretty enthusiastic about it. Matty wasn't sure he knew how he felt about it, but he was following well. The cardio felt good - though unexpected. He had planned on skipping any exercise today. But the jig seemed to need music with it, something upbeat and fun to get things moving. Matty thought the clomping of feet on the stage was too quiet, echoing, echoing, echoing through the auditorium. But it might be fun if all the orchestra tried this at some point, they'd probably enjoy it.
spacerMatty hadn't noticed Alexa glaring daggers at them at all, he was too busy following the warm-up routine and thinking about music. Melanie pulled him from his thoughts, telling them that 'she won't say anything when I'm around'. Matty slowly turned his neck to look where Melanie gestured. Alexa. Dreaded, annoying Alexa. What was her deal! She loved to make everyone suffer.
spacerHe caught his breath and stretched a bit as he lingered near Cian.
spacer"Hah! Well, what gave it away? Since it's a day that ends in Y?" Matty chuckled. "But you know, before she cuts us off. That was fun, if we had more space it would be fun to do it with all the orchestra and you guys. We could all meet each other that way, feel less separated by the great wall over there. " Matty nodded at the cliff of the stage. It was just an innate response to not interact with a different community, and after meeting Cian Matty realized how silly that response was. "Just impossible with the small stage space to do warm ups.. but maybe we could come up with something to get the mingling going."

[Consulting_Angel]

"Yeah - how did you know?" Cian laughed lightly back. He hasn't considered before that the orchestra would have also had their run-ins with Alexa - but it made sense. That was probably where she went when she wasn't finding something wrong with what one of the actors were doing.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it - normally we go for a little bit longer. But that's an interesting point, I don't think any of us performers had ever thought to involve the orchestra. It feels like two separate worlds." Cian said, glancing towards the edge of the stage. He imagined that they still appreciated and acknowledged that the other side existed, but no one had ever made the effort before to really talk to one another.

"Maybe we could - a proper get together or something?" Cian idly suggested, trying to think of something that could be done to encourage more mingling between the two groups. "We should discuss it later - I think we need to get back to work." Cian added, noting that the director, Rachel, had also now made an appearance. He walked towards the edge of the stage again - Melanie following close behind, much to the frustration of Alexa, who'd been hoping to cause a scene - figuring that that would be the easiest way for Matty to get back with the rest of the orchestra.

[vaska]

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spacerMatty was giddy like a little kid with candy; something about Cian's attention was priding, sweet like honey to hear. He grinned and began to walk. "I'd love to plan something. We'll talk later, you're very right about getting to work. My time is borrowed." He remarked, glancing at the director who'd accompanied Alexa.

He scooped up his violin and lept off the stage, quickly joining his orchestra.
"What was that about?" Audrey asked. "You looked kinda.. silly up there." She laughed.
"Sometimes you have to look silly to know if you like something." Matty said softly, taking his violin out as he sat down before his sheet music.

They began rehearsing, tuning their instruments and following the songs they struggled with the most. Matty's focus was unmoving, playing his violin at full tilt. When he was playing, he was expressive and focused on whatever the music made him feel. It was a very passionate thing for him, as always. He and Joel played side by side, and if an outsider compared the two you could see that Matty had been playing for longer than Joel; but all violinists were essential to the orchestra. Not only did Matty play the violin, but he was familiar with the piano thanks to his mother. He had dabbled in a few other instruments, but the violin was the most comfortable.

They'd wrapped up, and some of the members continued to play (and had already come in their nice evening attire, and planned to camp out at the theater all day). Matty knew Sheldon would have to potty, so he wrapped up earlier than most to run home and change, and walk Sheldon.
He was gone for an hour, at most. A quick train ride, a jog to the apartment, change into his suit and walk Sheldon before returning.

He came back in, dressed clad in his black suit. He wrapped around the back entrance, avoiding any people who might be standing at the entrance already. There was a general preference Matty had to stay back from crowds, finding confrontation to be uncomfortable at times. There were occasionally obsessive fans who would camp outside the day of in order to get in as soon as possible or try to meet the actors. It was all an ordeal, and he just avoided the main entrance after a certain time.

This entrance took him down by the dressing rooms. Usually the primary cast had their own, and the foreground characters shared like locker rooms. He strung his bow-tie around his neck, carefully tying it as he ventured down the dark halls. A particular dressing room caught his eye; "FINN". Would that be Cian's dressing room? The door was just ajar. He paused, stepping back just a bit to glance through the crack. The room looked unoccupied. He carefully pushed the door open, popping his head inside.

"What are you doing?" Alexa's snobby voice griped.
"I-" Matty turned around, pulling the door shut. "So sorry, I didn't mean to be snooping. I was going to wish Cian good luck, and honestly I've never been inside a dressing room, so I got curious. I'll be on my way,"