"My head hurts!"
Let's take ibuprofen together.
The earthquake stopped. The building still moved, but it was less a shaking and more a wobbling. Tsubomi could feel it swaying, but the pain had mostly stopped, lessening to a dull ache. When she reopened her eyes, she saw that the theater was still standing, its wavering movement making it seem as if the walls were made of opaque jello. But things were different. The audience seating was back, and she found that she was no longer sitting in the middle of its space. Instead, she now seemed to be sitting in a box seat, far above the ground, viewing the curtains that hung across the performance platform from stage-left.
The music that she didn't recognize still played, though it seemed to be a new piece, rather than the somber notes that had preceded her skull's explosion. She still couldn't find the speakers, but what she did find was that there was an audience. More than there seemed to be when she had ever performed. Why was she up here, instead of on the stage? How did she get here, anyway? She didn't have time to guess; the audience began clapping and broke her from her thoughts.
The curtains rose and parted, moving in such a way that from the ground floor it would seem they were not curtains, but rather waves being broken. From Tsubomi's seat it only looked unprofessional. Maybe this was a school play? The upbeat music added to the idea, but wouldn't a school play's music have lyrics? Or would that be something the children would provide?
Speaking of the actors, where were they? When the curtains fully disappeared from view there was not a single person on the stage. Instead, there were more of those cutouts. She could recognize some of them, but there were others she couldn't. Rei, Willow, and Earthshaker were there, house right. And Kiyo, Oros, and Acid Drop were opposite them. None of them aligned with any of the others, clearly prevented on purpose by the director. From her new vantage point, Tsubomi could see that there were more standees off to the side of the stage, hidden from the normal audience. She could spy Schrade, Nyxia, Shuuko, and Haruna hidden away in the darkness of stage-right, just enough light from overhead to see.
The clapping stopped, and the play began. The overhead lights dimmed to nothing and spotlights appeared around each of the standees. The whole thing seemed to pass by in an instant. One moment, Tsubomi was looking at the stage with the six characters, and the next they had all disappeared. The music died down, and the word 'Intermission' was spoken in its stead, only to be followed by much lighter sounds. The stage was empty, leaving nothing to watch until the play continued. Shouldn't the curtains be closed again?
That was when she felt something on her shoulder. Tsubomi slowly turned her head, and soon saw Acid Drop sat in the seat next to her. Her eyes were on the stage, and she didn't say anything, so neither did Tsubomi. A few seconds passed before Acid Drop turned to look at her again, pointing to her eyes and then to the stage. When Tsubomi followed them and the platform reentered her sight, the music changed again to a much slower, darker sound than before. It seemed the play had resumed.
This time the cardboard people were different. Instead of the previous lineup, this time the stage held Schrade, Suki, Evil Eye, Hizuki, and the Light Girl who wielded a baseball bat. As Tsubomi watched, the facsimiles of those she knew broke free from the stands that held them, now moving like real people, if still made of paper. Once more the play seemed to be over in a second, another blink being the transition between their first movements and the end of the Act. And again the word 'Intermission' came from the hidden speakers, once more the music changed to something more peaceful.
And yet, there was clapping from the audience. They seemed moved by the performance, whatever it had been, giving a standing ovation to the end of the Second Act. Even Acid Drop was clapping in the seat next to her, though hers was much more reserved than that of the general audience.
"What's... going on?" Tsubomi's words came at the snail's pace that she was most comfortable with, at least they did as she spoke them. It seemed that they somehow were said at the speed of a normal person at the same time.
Acid Drop sighed.
"Don't you know that it's rude to speak during a play?"Tsubomi's head tilted to the side quizzically.
"Isn't it intermission?"With the expression of an exacerbated mother Acid Drop shook her head and pointed to the stage. It seemed that the performance had begun once more. This time it wasn't the cardboard cutouts that were there, but rather it seemed to be several Miseria in costumes doing their best to put on the proper show. Their black bodies worked well as Running Crew, but less so as actors. Though at least the actors' body shapes were varied enough to be easy to tell apart. Each one wore a paper mask, fixed to their heads with a string, which bore a crayon drawing of the character they were meant to portray.
The current cast seemed to be composed of Rei, Acid Drop, Oros, and the frog girl. The scene was strange, evoking a sense of deja vu as each moment passed. Acid Drop was dropped from high up, the wire holding the actor aloft and lowering it down slowly clearly visible, and Rei's actor took off her paper mask to replace it with one bearing Schrade's visage instead. She then 'caught' Acid Drop as she 'fell,' jumping a few inches off the ground to do so before landing safely on both feet. Or rather, on all four tentacles, as this Miseria actor had.
"Hey Tsubomi. I ran into your partner earlier. Pretty sure you two got split up." The words rolled from the sound-system across the audience. Some of the viewers began to chuckle, some began to laugh. There were a few that seemed to be weeping, for some reason.
The Acid Drop on the stage stood up onto her own three feet, and more dialogue came from the speakers.
"Yeah, Boss, we did get separated. I'll fix that."A booing came from the audience below. But before they could have their opinion swayed, the actors scurried off the stage, 'Intermission' once more coming from the walls.
"Are you the director for this?" Tsubomi asked the girl sitting next to her. Acid Drop merely shook her head, wordlessly denying the accusation. Tsubomi turned her head back towards the stage, prepared for the short pause this time, and on cue the next Act began.
The platform had been filled with sand. Cacti had been placed in regular intervals across it, forming a grid pattern. Despite the implication that it was meant to be a desert, there was a kiddie pool filled with water in the center of the stage. Next to it lie a Miseriactor with Tsubomi's face drawn on its mask, and another sat crouched next to it, wearing an Acid Drop mask. The sound-system once more began its task to deliver dialogue.
"Heeey, you did it! You saved the town! Or at least the beach. Well, the rest of the club did. But hey, you at least helped!" The Acid Drop on stage began to poke the Tsubomi that lay there.
"What's with the sad look? You're not supposed to be feeling anything at all."Tsubomi didn't think that the Tsubomi on stage looked sad, despite the tears in the eyes of the mask.
"Still kinda weird to think there are Miseria that can do all that, huh? It's too bad your magic doesn't work on them; imagine what you could do with an army like that! I bet you'd never have to leave the house again!" the Acid Drop actor stood back up, giving the Tsubomi on stage a light kick to the cheek.
"Aaaanyway, are you planning to wake up soon? Or do you like me enough to stick around for a while?"Tsubomi's actor didn't move, but the audience once more broke into laughter. Some even began to cheer. Tsubomi blinked, and the scene changed completely. There was a marble wall now standing on the left side of the stage, vines of ivy covering it in a crisscross pattern. Tsubomi's actor was crouched against it, holding an unlit cigarette in one hand. It brought the cancer stick to its mouth, then lowered it slightly to mime blowing the smoke out. The actor playing Acid Drop walked out onto the stage, holding a pair of gardening shears, stopping just in front of 'Tsubomi.'
"Having magic sucks, right? It-" The speakers cut out, static playing instead of the intended dialogue. It seemed to be only momentary, as it quickly came back into focus.
- so I'd have to say it's all just a wash. Catch twenty-two, ya know?" 'Acid Drop' began the mime cutting the ivy with its shears. Soon 'Tsubomi' brought the cigarette back to her mouth, and the other actor quickly cut it in half.
"Seriously, do I have to do everything for you?" Static took the place of more dialogue once again, taking much longer this time to get fixed.
"Maybe I should help you a little more." On stage, 'Acid Drop' brought the shears in front of 'Tsubomi's' face and closed them, cutting her eyes and the bridge of her nose horizontally. At least, that's what it seemed to be intending. It was hard to tell, since the Tsubomi mask was sliced entirely in two by it.
This seemed to be the climax, as the audience roared to life, not a single member of it on the ground floor still sitting. A total standing ovation, the sound of their clapping and cheering deafening Tsubomi as it echoed around the theater and into her ears. The force of it seemed to be making the building's jello waver even more, much faster than before. As the crowd grew louder, the actors and cutouts all reappeared on the stage, each giving a bow or being folded down the middle to approximate one.
A glance to her left showed Tsubomi that Acid Drop was once more clapping softly as well. But the reverberations of the audience was growing, and soon the walls began to wobble too much, the theater collapsing on itself and into darkness. All that was left was the box that Tsubomi and Acid Drop sat in.
"Well, that wasn't nearly as good as I expected from the script. I think even you could have done better. Not bad for their first time, though." The rainbow haired girl said as she stopped her clapping.
"There was a script?""Yep." She waved a small paper pamphlet in front of Tsubomi, who slowly reached out to grab it.
Once Tsubomi began reading, Acid Drop stood up to walk around and stand behind her. She leaned over Tsubomi's right shoulder, pointing to the current line with her right hand, and rested her left hand on her other shoulder.
As she spoke, Acid Drop's left hand began to move further and further right, up to Tsubomi's neck. With each line that her finger traced on the paper, Tsubomi's headache increased in intensity. But she stayed focused on the script, as if trying to memorize it in spite of the pain in her skull.
"Now, read along with me..." ---
From outside the darkness that remained in place of the theater, it was hard to tell if Acid Drop was actually still awake as she was jostled around on Diamond's shoulder. Tsubomi's eyes were closed completely, her slow breathing adding to the impression that she may be asleep. Her face was mostly placid, as or perhaps even more relaxed than it usually was. But her mouth was wrong, contorted in a twisted mockery of the attempt at a reassuring expression that had been given to Suki in recent days. A smile, one that was far too relaxed and yet equally unpracticed, like a gear that was rusted just shy of being unusable but still spun at full speed, sat visible to the world around her.
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