The Blueberries Meet the Press?

[Hagen-Autem]

Was Andrew nervous? He wouldn't say no. But was anxious? Yes! So much so that it's fascinating how transmissive his imperterested face can be.

If this opportunity had manifested itself in his mail when his boss or they secretary was in charge, it would be one more session to fit into the agenda; but that it came when he and Faye were in front of the management, could only mean that they were doing a good job with the space they occupied on the L.A.W. screens. That or that the girls who were representing them there were doing very well.

So, whatever, it had to be perfect, it had to. The whole club mobilised to furnish one of the best offices while Tim tried to decide what would be the best cocktail for the guest. Would she be a wine woman or would she settle for the best in the house? Should they put the little table between her and the twin, or would it be better to arrange everything with a big desk in Madeleine's favour? Maybe they should move the whole thing to a ring to make it more in keeping with the club's theme!

Too many opinions, not enough resolution. And Daymetter had to step in. "Let's just stick to the original plan! A nice sofa for the gremlim and another for the interviewer, the little table in between them with cocktails, two glasses and a couple of bottles of water and that's it! ... And we also give the magazine lady a control with which she can ask us if she fancies a whim. And the rest is left to the result with the bluenette. Done!"

And so it was done.
As afternoon fell, the bluenette was already settled in her seat, choosing something general to wear in this tense moment, counting the seconds trying to be as unalterable as possible for the interviu and there was nothing, nothing, in which she could ruin this. So everything should go as well as we all want it to.

Spoiler

And please, let it be so... "Hm..."

[Malkavia]

To the casual observer, this pub seems little different than any of the other forty seven thousand nestled in the hills and dales of His Majesty’s domain. Little do they know…

Little do they know…What? Difficult. Not for a lack of content, but for the opposite reason. Volume. Here lay a wrestling promotion as entertainment at an English club of a pub. In any world, that’s a story. Ah, but the roster.

One struggles to describe the impression these young vixens leave upon the mind. Soft as rose petals, yet as sharp as a butcher’s blade, they epitomize the paradox one finds so often at LAW. The sweeter the sex kitten, the more deadly their maw…

The cab slowed to a gentle rest, interrupting Miss Citronelle’s thought. And now, finally—the club. Madeleine and her camera boy ventured into what would no doubt be…quite a project.

The Countess

Guided inside, the Countess caught a glimpse of an entire underground world. The smells were an assault: Beer, tequila, whiskey, cigarette ash and grilled cheese. Fries, steak, the body heat and smell of a packed crowd, roiling as raucous as any LAW could boast. Where was the ring? Or did they even wrestle in a ring? Madeleine’s scarlet eyes scanned this fairyland she’d found, but found herself whisked upstairs before she could sate her curiosity.

Fine, though—all the better, in fact. The sooner she could meet the Cyan Twins, the better. Her mind flitted to the scribbled notes she’d set aside for her first interview.

Twins. Poor record, but can be built up w/ creative framing. ADORABLE. Book each w/ low rated LAW talent if possible.

The wait would not be long. A bouquet of functionaries awaited her arrival, all business suits and yada yada yada. The usual types one must wade through. But at the opposite end of a couch...There was the real reason for the hour. The first of two blue-haired cuties, petite with smooth skin and eyes like teddy bear glass. How rare it was to meet someone prettier in person than in their glamor shots! Madeleine took a deep breath—appreciating the cleaner, more wholesome quality of the air in the backroom—before offering them all her smile.

"Ah, Miss...Well, I know it's Hellen or April! Maybe I should guess. I have a fifty-fifty chance, and at worst—Well. I've mixed you up with someone gorgeous and talented." The Countess tossed a wink in with the smile. Let's see if we can get some shine in that sweet face. "There are, I imagine, worse fates."

[Hagen-Autem]

The bluenette had been settled for about five minutes. She was adjusting her glasses every minute to make the wait less languid. And just when she was debating whether it would be rude to take one of the shots before the counterpart of this encounter arrived, the reporter appeared on the scene at last. Flattering her with a potentially rehearsed ice-breaking compliment, though made her smile with that well-spoken compliment to be honest.

"It's not so hard to tell us apart in the short term, you know," she added decorously, returning to fiddling with the corners of her glasses. The twin had no clear idea how to proceed from here. She liked hers outfit, hers beret, and all the visual that could be admired at this reporter, but she didn't have the impetus right now to do so. Her sister might, because of how blatantly inapporpriate and entitled she could be; but she herself is not like that - furthermore, she wasn't focused enough to show a bit of mischievous wit. "I feel I have seen you before..., is this your first time in England? I imagine not... But, anyway! do you want to start this right away or would you prefer to prepare some things beforehand?" She wanted to be as everyday as possible with the interviewer, and that was a bit difficult! This was her first opportunity to be in a magazine and she didn't know how to take it, excited? Indifferent? sympathetic? They were all valid and the Cyan could almost feel her resolutions manifesting themselves at the same time.

[Malkavia]

“Oh, sweetheart. We’ve already started!” Madeleine dropped her things on the couch, then leaned in towards her interviewee. She aimed to take the Blueberry’s hand between her own before shooting a wink. “And trust me. You’re killing it.”

Madeleine took her seat, handbag at her side. She set a recording device on the table beside a blank pad of yellow-sheet paper and two pencils. The bar’s staff had left a selection of spirits on the small, round, wooden table, one of which Madeleine plucked. The smell of the liquor was tart, but when she downed the shot, the taste settled with complexity in her mouth. Dry, chill. Hard cider.

“...Exquisite.” She sighed, leaned into the backrest and threw back her head as she savored the taste, the decor, the thrill of being at the center of a delicious new setting and having the attention of this beautiful woman. She cracked a peek at the Blueberry and grinned. “It must be amazing working here. Free drinks from one of England’s premier pubs, a breathtaking setting, and all you have to do is fight beautiful women. The life. Tell me how much you love it.”

A softball question that wasn’t a question, designed to puff up what Madeleine intended to sell. The recorder on the table was live, but Madeleine kept her hands free—an encouragement, perhaps, for the blueberry to treat this as a conversation between chums.

[Hagen-Autem]

The twin shook Madeleine's hand as a formal gesture; but the other lady's palm was so delicate and soft, even for an everyday greeting it had a gallant cadence and who would make others nervous about their distinguished grace - what a good life Maddie must have. Surely better than all the girls on Gart's list when they are at the house, and of all the responses the Blueberry could prepare for, the one she least expected was: We've already started!.

"Eh?!" ... But before she fell back into that cycle of exasperating musings that will do nothing but spoil a good session, Madeleine settled her in with her praise and confidence exuding. There are things to be nervous about, maybe this wasn't one of them...let alone if there are no losers.

"You make it sound so easy...," she replied, arching her eyes to one corner, with a smile she couldn't hide, and guilty as charged. This was the best job with she could have ever dreamed of, and how she got it made it all the more mind-blowing. "But I see that you can be charmed with a shot." An ingratiating chuckle escaped her.

[Malkavia]

“Moi?” Madeleine raised a hand to her chest with faux indignation, which she was quick to undermine with a sly slip of a grin. ”Welllll. Maybe. But only when the bribe is as rare as this one. How would I put it, exactly? I think in the review it will read something like…”

She bit her finger, turned her eyes ceilingward. Paused. Then picked up her yellow pad and began to jot her notes. She dictated: “This hard cider delivers a splendid sensory journey…mm…The…initial tartness swiftly gives way to nuanced layers of crisp apple and autumnal spices. Its texture…” The Countess wrinkled her brow, stuck her tongue in her cheek, and cocked her head to one side. This made her left hair ribbon hang at an angle, like the cocked ears of a wolf in thought. She picked up what was left of the cider, fanned the aroma to her nose. Held her breath—then gulped the remainder of her liquor. She smacked her lips and got straight back to writing: “...is lightly effervescent, adding an invigorating touch. A subtly lingering finish of oak and apple skin adds a delightful finale to this dry, chill delight...”

And…full stop. Madeleine considered the neat pad of paper and the pretty loops of her handwriting. It would require some editing later, stretching out and cutting down, cycle after cycle, until nothing could be removed or added. But for a first draft, hopefully it sold her host on Madeleine’s good intentions. She placed her pad and pen back on the table.

”But! Of course, the real attraction isn't just the fine liquor, is it?” Madeleine leaned back in her seat, almost far enough that she could have put her feet up on the table. But she wasn't a heathen. Her fingers rested on her belly while her fingers formed the shape of a diamond. All the while, she kept her eyes on her adorable, blueberry companion. ”What you have here is your own privately run wrestling league, complete if I'm not mistaken with ladders and prizes. That's quite a unique operation.” Which was true. In the whole of Europe, there wasn't another establishment like this one. ”Why don't you tell readers who might be unfamiliar a little bit about your business?”

[Hagen-Autem]

The interviewee would laugh in embarrassment and be very flattered, averting her eyes from the miss - Madeleine had really done some good research on this place. Not only did land with a very, very sketchy outline of what she would find in this pub.

"Well, I wouldn't say it's mine..." The little blue-haired cutie clarified as she arched her eyes in the other direction with neck outstretched and confident in the face of no danger, keeping a beautiful cheerful smile still in front of a Madeleine who managed to pronounce as a compliment with every syllable without fear of being wrong. As if she planned every word in advance and at the moment to generate the right effects on others.

Then, with a blink, she would return her blue eyes to the bright and attentive rubies that would be Citronelle's gaze. "... But it sure is like my second BIG house...with butlers!" which she doesn't have in her other life. The blueberry would start extending her fingers to count all the benefits she has, even while in her position. "With good pay, royalties every night, and mostly doing what I want... as long as they don't notice." She whispered before her hand reached out to take one of the long glasses from the little table. She wouldn't know what kind of drink it would be. Maybe it would be a lucky shot.

The reporter had peeked out enough good intentions to get this mischievous bluenette to stop playing dumb and let herself be seen more as she is.

"And...besides, some people seem to be glad I'm here... I mean! It's my job! isn't it?" she fixed trying to make herself understood. "But they seem to really value it here." Maybe it was the smell of the drink that was to blame for her nostalgia, the blueberry was getting emotional looking at her abstract reflection in the long shot and giving it a quick sip might snap her out of that trance before proceeding. "Oh, right! You asked me about us, excuse me, I got carried away with the first thing you told me." The Cyan twin would take another sip to conceal the reborn nerves before setting the glass down beside her and remain seated upright, hands on her knees and knees together, looking at the reporter as if to compensate her for diverting her attention from her so momentarily - maybe Madeleine could have said something to her and this blueberry wouldn't even know it. " Erk... Hehe... Do you still want me to tell you about here or is there anything else you would like me to answer now?"