Rehearsal For Life (Dani)

[Deleted]

While the Quinn girls were pretty little spoiled princesses that had little care for others that were not themselves, they were hard workers, especially in things they cared about. Like music. It was one of their shared passions and their rehearsal were one one the few times when they were not constantly at odds with one another. Working their performance over and over to perfection was one of the things they enjoyed. Unfortunately, while being gestalts had the potential for their routine to be absolutely flawless, it also opened the door for much more distraction, as the girls often confused their respective parts.

They were working on a performance piece, something they hoped to show off at the end of the year recital. Maybe even take it state competitions if the music advisor was willing to enter them. Of course, performing it was just because they wanted to show off. They deserved recognition for being the best.

Temperance started to unpack her bag with contained her music. Charity pulled her own copy from her bag, to look it over while Temperance figured out what she was doing. "Are you ready yet?" she inquired.

"Give me a minute, I haven't even warmed up yet."

"You're so slow."

Well...there was supposed to be an agreement here and lack of conflict, but it wasn't always easy. And getting it right was still more important than getting into an argument, so Temperance just ignored Charity and Charity ignored Temperance while she set up the recording of the piano accompaniment that she would be playing. Unfortunately, the piano hadn't been moved into the auditorium and they didn't feel like lugging the keyboard all the way down from their rooms.

After a few moments of humming and key finding, the girl finally decided they were ready. Charity hit play on her ipod connected to the speakers and they began singing their duet. (ooc: Charity's part is on the right, Temperance on the left)

[Danielle Cooper]

“Hmph. Call this a flood. That’s bull…”

Dani wasn’t happy with the lights in the auditorium. Whoever had set them up had done a horrible job, causing dark spots in a simple full stage flood. The teen decided to take it upon herself to fix them. She had originally noticed them when she turned them on after coming in to do a little dance practice.

But as soon as she looked at the stage, she decided she would be better off fixing this mess. It wasn’t exactly uncommon to see Dani tinkering around in the theatre; after growing up with parents who worked in the profession, Dani found it very easy to find her way around them, and when she had first come to Hammel, she figured this place as a second home.

She had just finished adjusting the final light in the catwalk when two girls walked in. Dani watched with curiosity at the two, wondering what they were doing there. She figured she could’ve spoken up and made her presence known, but it was always fun to see people perform, especially when they were unaware that anyone else was there. Dani found it was normally when people did their best. Okay, so she had kind of picked up the habit of spying on people in there, but it was harmless, right?

She stayed perched up in the catwalk as the pair got themselves ready, fiddling with her adjustable wrench as she did so.

When the girls began to sing, Dani’s eyes lit up. They were good. A grin started to spread across her lips as she wondered who exactly they were. Unfortunately, she was a little too eager, and got a bit excited, causing her to drop her wrench right from the catwalk and into the house, falling with a loud thunk. Thankfully, it hadn’t hit anybody, but it was more than enough to draw attention to herself.

[Deleted]

The girls were completely unaware that there was anyone else in the auditorium. Had they known they might have chosen a different venue for their practice, perhaps the rehearsal rooms for the student clubs. Truthfully, they loved having an audience, however not at the expense of their perfection. Also, they didn't like eavesdroppers(even though they were guilty of that themselves on more than a few occasions).

The wrench fell while they were on the bridge of the song, a place they were having difficulties mastering in the first place, so when their practice was interrupted, they were not altogether pleased about it. Temperance and Charity uniformly shot a glare in the direction of the fallen tool, then traced their eyes up to the catwalks from whence it had fallen.

Temperance stood, a fierce look in her eye. "Who's up there?" she demanded. Charity only looked away with a disgruntled pout on her lips.

[Danielle Cooper]

The moment the wrench hit the floor, Dani was scrambling to her feet. She barely heard herself being called out to, for she was already heading down the ladder that lead to the catwalk. It was only a few moments before she was on the stage, tripping over a loose XLR cable as she approached the pair. “Oh! Hi! Sorry!”

Dani gave an embarrassed grin as she scratched the back of her head. “I was just, uh, doing some work.” She moved her hand so it pointed up towards the catwalk. “I didn't mean to interrupt or anything! You guys are awesome!” Growing up in a musical theatre environment, Dani knew a trained voice when she heard it. These two weren't just some kids fooling around.

She approached them, offering a hand to shake. “Uh, I'm Dani.” Might as well introduce herself, right? Her curious eyes traveled down to the iPod and speakers. “Want me to play that through the auditorium?” she offered. The electrokinetic felt bad for breaking their focus; she knew how annoying it was to have a person interrupt her dancing, so she could only imagine that it would be the same for singing. “I can get in the booth.” Dani nodded towards the sound booth. She found herself in it quite often doing random acoustics checks and whatnot, because that was just what Dani did in her free time.

She offered a classic Cooper grin to the pair. "And I can mic you."

[Deleted]

It didn't take long for them to get a response from whomever was eavesdropping in the catwalks. They could hear the shuffling up above and so waited until the offending girl appeared on stage, uttering out a fumbling apology as she stumble about like a buffoon. Needless to say, they were not all that impressed with this girl.

As such, Charity was already ignoring her. Temperance, at least, would give her the privilege of half an ear.

And that half an ear was pleased with the flattery. "Thank you," she said with a semi-bright smile. She stood and presented her hand as well. Courtesy dictated the action. "It's nice to meet you, Dani. I'm Temperance, and this is my sister, Charity."

"It's a pleasure," Charity offered concisely.

But apparently this bubbly sounding girl had her uses and finally piked some attention from the girls at the opportunity to use the proper sound equipment. Actually, the prospect had both girls looking at Dani with a slight twinkle in their eyes. "Can you really do that?" Charity urged.

"That would be great if you could!" Temperance followed up.

[Danielle Cooper]

Dani took the girl’s hand, shaking it energetically, her smile never fading. “Ah! Cool names!” she said with a nod, looking back and forth between the two. She’d have to figure out a way to tell them apart.

Her grin grew as the girls seemed excited about having a proper set up, and she gave another excited nod. “Yeah! Give me like…five minutes!” she said, turning immediately to grab the XLR cable she had tripped over.

Quickly, the electrokinetic made a list of items she needed. Another XLR, a monitor, two microphones – SM58s would do – and two mic stands. Easy stuff. “I’ll be right back!” Dani bolted off to back stage.

Not even a minute later, the Asian returned, carrying the mic stands and a few cables. Two microphones were shoved into her back pocket. “Okaaaay.” Dani set the stuff down on the stage and immediately started setting up.

“So where’d you guys get lessons?” she asked curiously and to try and spark conversation.

[Deleted]

Yes they were cool names but it wasn't so cool to have every single person say so. After a while it just got old. And boring. But they supposed they'd have to forgive this bouncy bubble-brain, since it seemed like she was about to provide Temperance and Charity with a great service.

They loved being on the microphone. Sure, singing acapella was difficult and required training. They honestly didn't need microphones too much, their ability to project was exceptional, but using a microphone was a skill all in itself. Learning how to adjust your voice and your enunciations so that they could pass through the electronic medium and out as pleasant sounds from the speakers was very trying. And the girls did not get the opportunity to practice it often.

Temperance nodded to Dani and then stepped to her sister while the other girl went to get things set up. They waited patiently, but expectantly, holding their music in their hands and watching Dani as she worked.

Charity smiled when she asked her question. "Our fathers bought us private lessons," she replied sweetly, a small smile adorning her lips. "So we would have a voice tutor come to our home and teach us." It was something that both girls had enjoyed incredibly.

[Danielle Cooper]

It didn’t take long for Dani to set everything up. She had been doing stage work since she physically was able to. She knew equipment and how it worked, and although her naturally clumsy nature never gave the impression that she was fluid with anything, the Japanese girl showed an almost artistic grace with how smoothly she set up everything in such short time.

It was easy to be graceful when you get caught up in the act of doing something. For Dani, doing tech work was something she could easily lose herself in.

She pulled the microphones out of her pockets, snapping them into the mic clamps before plugging the XLR cables into them.

The electokinetic looked over at the pair, smiling as they explained. “It certainly shows. You two are incredible!” She also knew the advantage of private voice lessons; she herself had received lessons from different theatre performers scattered across the states as she traveled with her parents for shows. The perks of growing up in the business, although Dani was never one to really enjoy singing like some did.

She didn’t dwell on the thought, however, and clapped her hands in excitement. “I just gotta run up to the booth. You guys got a CD or iPod I can run through the system with?”

[Deleted]

The Quinn girls had to admit that it definitely looked like this Dani girl knew what she was doing. If they played their cards right, the might be able to commission her as their permanent mini---techie. She seemed eager enough to help and be useful.

"Thank you," Charity offered. Temperance smiled, lifting her chin proudly. If they had the talent and the training, why shouldn't they be a little bit prideful?

Everything seemed to be in order rather quickly, and as the microphones were set up, the girls took their places behind them, adjusting the height for their individual comforts. Which were about the same.

Temperance nodded. "Yes! I have the background music on my ipod." The girl pulled it out and handed it to Dani. "It's already set to the right track," she explained, pointing at the display screen. "So all you need to do is push play." Temperance hopped back behind the microphone and grinned, clearly excited and showing it far more than her sister, who merely smiled pleasantly.

[Danielle Cooper]

Dani nodded as the iPod was handed to her. “Perfect! Here, I’ll be just one second!” Without another word, the electrokinetic jumped off the stage, making a quick bolt to the booth. Although she was short, the girl was quite good at sprinting the distance between backstage and the booth – she had done it dozens of times before.

As she reached the booth, Dani even went out of her way to turn up the stage lights and take out the florescent work lights of the auditorium. If they were going to do this, might as well do it right. Once the lights were set, Dani eased her way to the soundboard, grinning at it. It was her baby, even if it technically belonged to the school.

Dani reached for the auxiliary cable and plugged the iPod into it before adjusting what she determined would be an appropriate level for the monitors. “Alright, you guys ready?” she waited a moment before pressing play.

If they ever needed a permanent mini-techie, Dani certainly would be the right girl for it.

[Deleted]

When the lights came on, both girls squinted in concert and held their right hand up to shield their eyes from the sudden flash of bright lights until they had a moment to adjust. That was one thing they didn't like about the stage; the lights hurt your eyes and blinded you from seeing anything else. What good was performing if you couldn't see your audience fawn over you?

They also couldn't see the little window to the sound and light booth, which made it irritating because they had no visual indication of where their new helper was other than a voice that seemed to come from everywhere. Still, the girls nodded in unison to show their readiness.

The shared a glance as the music started playing then turned back out to their "audience". Charity started first, her voice thin and sweet, light as a feather and matching up very nicely over Temperance's harsher, yet quiet harmonies. This was one of the few activities that being gestalts actually helped more than hindered. Or maybe it was one where they resisted the least in their syncing. Either way, it produced a sound that was pleasant, trained, and damn near professional.

Lost in themselves, it was a nostalgic haze that had washed over the two once the song finally ended, neither sure nor wanting to be the first to break the atmosphere they'd created.

[Danielle Cooper]

Dani, however, was more than happy to break the atmosphere. Once the song ended, the electrokinetic remained silent, letting the moment settle. They were amazing! Dani had personally dealt with professionals who weren't as skilled as the pair. A grin spread across her lips as she looked down at them from the booth, and then finally, she started clapping loudly.

She brought up the houselights again before waving down to the twins. “You guys are awesome!” she called down honestly. Things like this excited her, and it was clear from the way she balanced herself on her heels that she was. “Do you guys have a YouTube account? You should!” Was she already planning music videos in her head? Yes, yes she was.

[Deleted]

The girls always liked to bask in the tingling atmosphere after pulling off something that well. Close their eyes, imagine the applause, the cheers from the audience; one day they'd have that for real, right? An entire stadium full of people just to see the twins Temperance and Charity. Of course, this entire fantasy was quickly interrupted by an actual applause,. However sincere it was, it was still small and annoying and seemingly patronizing. Temperance fought back a scowl while Charity offered Dani her traditional false smile.

"Thank you!" Charity called back, with a big wave of her arm. But both their spirits were lifted when Dani asked about the YouTube account.

"We have one." It was just for watching videos, though. "We don't…well, we've never tried putting anything up ourselves though." The prospect, both had to admit, had a tickle of excitement spinning in their chests at Dani's insistence. "I don't think either of us even know how," Temperance admitted, looking for a moment to her twin then back up to Dani.

[Danielle Cooper]

Dani was oblivious to the fact that she annoyed her new friends, and the electrokinetic simply grinned down at them from the booth. At times, Dani was completely unaware that her friendly personality could irritate others, and she gave a thumbs up to the pair as she started heading back to the stage.

The electrokinetic couldn't help but to laugh when she heard that they didn't know how to upload a YouTube video. The tech savvy girl found it strange that someone wouldn't know how to. Then again, that's what Dani was there for. Personal tech support for anyone and everyone who was nice enough and needed a hand. “I can do it for you!” She chirped, hopping back up onto the stage. “We can make some cool video for you guys!”