A Night at the Banque

This excerpt is part three of the post, but I thought it was most fitting to put up here, because it's the part with Moonchild's performance. In spite of the drama, they—and the post itself—are about the music. --Aurora 01:08, 14 March 2007 (CDT)

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Fabian strode onto the center of the stage, looking out at the gathered crowd. The dimly lit chamber was small, strangely intimate, and packed to the gills with people. The air was thick with a familiar smell, that peculiar mixture of hairspray, exotic liquor, and clove cigarettes which always brought a smile to Fabian's lips. It was here that he felt most at home, on a stage surrounded by his friends. This was his domain, and he was about to claim it.

He stepped in front of the microphone and closed his eyes, shutting out the adoring cheers of the black-clad masses. The faint chill that began to creep around his ankles, even through his thick, black leather boots, marked the dry ice that Valsu always released at the beginning of their sets.

Serena's keyboards began with a quick, discordant trill, and then Rachel came in with a loud crash, hammering on her drums, as a hard, driving rhythm emanated from Lex's bass. Fabian opened his eyes on cue, and Rei strummed out a dark, sensual melody on his guitar. As they had done so many dozens of times before, Fabian's hips began to unconsciously sway to the rhythm, and he raised the mic to his pouting lips.

"You'll never understand...the meaning in the end...we're standing at the gate...you'll meet the darker fate," Fabian sang, his voice a smooth, passionate tenor, pure and angelic, but paradoxically, there was also a hidden edge of shadow and carnality to it. He began to slither across the stage, his lithe and sinuous half-elf's body twisting and gyrating to the music.

"Your purity and rage...your passion and your aches...you promised more than bliss...with your God and...with your kiss."

Fabian sauntered over to Rei, who was swaying with his guitar, and suggestively knelt in front of him, a playfully dirty look on his face. This part always drove the fans crazy.

"I'm on my knees...I beg your mercy..." Fabian sang as he writhed on his knees before Rei, "my soul is my loss...I'm well hung from your cross..."

Fabian leapt to his feet with feline grace, and spun behind Rei, grabbing a fistful of long, silky purple hair in his free hand.

"Take me...take me in your arms my love and rape me...hide behind your rage, I know you love me...and always will..."

At the cue, Rei closed his eyes, not missing a riff, and affected a swoon. Fabian yanked his hair back and forth, and the two swayed in time to the music.

"You're my possession...that my love, there really is no question...hide behind your rage, I know you love me...and always will..."

Fabian let go of Rei, and slithered away. He gave his best friend a cursory look out of the corner of his eye. All this was for show, of course--this sort of blatant fanservice had always been part of the band's act--but Fabian knew Rei sometimes took it a bit too seriously. As he glanced back at him, he could see a look of undisguised lust in those dark, handsome, almond-shaped Eblanese eyes. That, too, was also part of the act...but Fabian wondered just how much of it was pretending for the crowd. After all, he could feel himself growing flustered. One could never tell with Rei, though, and it was all a part of the elaborate game they played. Fabian rather enjoyed it.

"My better half, it's true...I've seen the darker side of you...innocence stripped away...at least I've the brighter fate..."

Fabian was totally in his element. The red lights over the stage mingled with the misty fog of the dry ice, and turned the entire club a dull, red haze. As Fabian launched into the chorus again, continuing his limber gyrations, he could see a mass of swaying limbs and bodies, completely enthralled by the music. The energy was electric, the crowd was on fire. There was nothing else like this feeling in the world...this is what Fabian lived for.

"Take me...I know you love me..." Fabian sang again and again, completely lost in the music, spinning and sweeping his arms. The synth swelled to a crescendo, and Fabian was almost disappointed. However, he had one more trick up his sleeve. He continued dancing as before, but slowly gathered in his will, visualizing and focusing on an image in his mind.

"Cartelle," he muttered imperceptibly in Elven under his breath, making a sweeping gesture toward the throng of dancing fans. Dozens of bright red rose petals emerged from his fingertips and showered the shocked and delighted crowd as the song ended with one last resounding thud from Rachel's drum kit.

There was thunderous applause as Fabian flashed a mischievous grin. He was momentarily startled, however, as he noticed a middle aged Marak in the back sitting at the bar, wearing a black leather vest and trousers, his spiky, jet-black hair only slightly touched by gray. The bartender, a slender young woman who looked the spitting image of Valsu, grinned at Fabian and cocked her head toward her customer. The battered-looking Marak looked decidedly impressed by the band's performance, and stared at Fabian keenly as Rei's power chord signaled the start of another song. Fabian nodded appreciatively, and began to sing again.

The rest of the evening's set went much like the beginning. Every note was played to melancholy perfection, and the crowd couldn't seem to get enough. Fabian's natural charisma was on full display, and he wrapped all of them around his finger with little effort, seducing them with his voice and his hedonistic dancing with any band member in sight. At the end of the final song, they took a bow and filed off stage, back to the Banque's lone dressing room, but were stopped at the door by Valsu, who could barely contain his excitement.

"You guys were brilliant!" he exclaimed.

"Thanks, Val, but we'd really rather get changed--" Fabian gently pointed out.

"There's no time for that, you can do it later! We gotta head over to Kalen's, Jade and Uncle Dion are already on their way there," Valsu interjected. Fabian blinked. Uncle Dion?

"Alright...well, we'll just head to the diner when we're done here."

"You daft or somethin'? Don't you want to see about getting signed?"

Rei glared hard at the Marak teen.

"I think you're leaving something out, Val."

"Didn't I tell you there was gonna be someone from Sera:Nova here?"

"You neglected to mention it was your uncle."

The five of them stared at Valsu, astounded.

"Your fucking uncle works for Sera:Nova and you never told us?" Rei yelled.

"I thought you knew," Valsu said with a shrug. "Everybody does. How'd ya think Mum got the dosh to open this joint? Not like we've got a Saizer family fortune."

"One of these days, Valsu," Lex started ominously, "I'm gonna kick your ass all the way to Tasnica. And then kick it back here and start all over again."

"I'll help," Rachel muttered.

"Alright, that's enough," Fabian said. "Though it would have been nice if we'd known this earlier," he said with a pointed glare at Valsu, "there's no point arguing about it now. Let's head over to Kalen's and talk some business."