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Post by Manou de Chagny on Dec 19, 2011 23:43:18 GMT -5
Manou had long since broken off from her parents, who were chatting with the managers, and hied herself off elsewhere in the room. Namely, she had snuck a glass of champagne from a character singer named Fernaud who had known her since she was knee-high and begun talking rapturously to their prima donna about the performance.
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Teo
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Post by Teo on Dec 19, 2011 23:59:43 GMT -5
The heat made him skittish. The crowd made him skittish. The wine made him skittish. This was shaping up to be a fine idea, and however did one perform this way? The Italian stood off from the pack a bit, attempting to telegraph through body language alone that yes, it had truly been a virtuosic performance, and no, he did not speak all that much French.
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Post by Manou de Chagny on Dec 20, 2011 4:43:47 GMT -5
Her father's status as patron meant she'd nearly grown up here--or at least she seemed to think so. She was clearly very comfortable in this setting, but kept looking around as if she thought she would catch a glimpse of someone.
The boy soprano had been new. She'd have known if they had cast him in a production yet, which they had not, and she hadn't seen him around until he'd come out onstage. So she was really very eager to meet him, and when she spotted him she didn't seem to quite notice the standoffishness.
She grinned and began moving towards him, punctuating her arrival with a practiced curtsey.
"It is a very great pleasure to meet you, monsieur," she said with another bright smile.
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Teo
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Post by Teo on Dec 20, 2011 11:40:27 GMT -5
It had really been easier to perform, ushered out of a too-hot backstage before a crowd of nameless faces, than to endure this gauntlet. He looked up from his sulk to see a steadily advancing woman-child aimed at him.
Teo made courteous gestures right back at her, stiffly and without much of a smile, though not from hostility.
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Post by Manou de Chagny on Dec 20, 2011 13:57:56 GMT -5
She had an easy, open manner and tried her best not to come off as The Patron's Daughter, or, as was more likely, as somehow creepily always-smiling.
"Your performance was exquisite," she said, the picture of genuine enthusiasm. "Truly, I was blown away; we don't usually have male sopranos and Father didn't tell me; have you taken a contract with the Opera or are you just a visiting artist?"
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Teo
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Post by Teo on Dec 20, 2011 14:18:35 GMT -5
He did smile then, while his internal gears ground. Under no circumstances was he going to laugh in her face nervously, no, that would be rude. He felt abandoned here, notwithstanding that he'd been the one to wander off --
"I am very pleased to meet you," he said, his intonation perfect but his timing completely lost under her enthusiasm, as he'd been thinking more about what to say than what she was saying. "Pleased to be here-- ah--"
His French was very bad, and which of these things did he respond to? In what order?
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Post by Manou de Chagny on Dec 20, 2011 14:25:18 GMT -5
Her eyes went round, remembering. "Oh!" She dipped another quick curtsey and came up smiling. "I'm Émanuelle de Chagny."
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Teo
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what the hell is a benvolio%\0\%
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Post by Teo on Dec 20, 2011 14:39:59 GMT -5
He straightened up like a man twice his age, and made appropriate introduction with reasonable fluency.
"How do you do, Mademoiselle de Chagny?"
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Post by Manou de Chagny on Dec 20, 2011 14:42:06 GMT -5
Having already curtseyed, she just nodded her head then giggled. "Enchanté, monsieur."
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Teo
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Post by Teo on Dec 20, 2011 14:54:26 GMT -5
He rattled off a name and title significantly longer than just "Teo", though somewhat sullenly considering he didn't even have the titles Silvio did and there was a giggling maiden in his personal space.
"Where is your father?"
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Post by Manou de Chagny on Dec 20, 2011 14:59:51 GMT -5
She looked suitably impressed. With brothers named things like Philippe Abélard she was used to long names, but those were decidedly French. Teo was Italian. Or, well, his name sounded it, and she was so excited to get to ask him, in that language, "Oh! You are being Italian?" that she forgot to answer his question.
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Teo
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Post by Teo on Dec 20, 2011 15:08:55 GMT -5
His brows quirked.
"Why yes, I am... being... Italian. Is your elder brother present today, if your father is not?"
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Post by Manou de Chagny on Dec 20, 2011 15:10:53 GMT -5
"Oh! I am apologize; I forgot! Papa is talking with the managings." She gestured vaguely in what was probably supposed to be his direction. "My brothers are not here."
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Teo
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Post by Teo on Dec 20, 2011 15:21:34 GMT -5
He had been about to make a polite comment about what a learned young woman she was, but wasn't much of a liar.
"Your father, Miss de Chagny, what is his name?" The surname struck a chord immediately. "Ah-- Never mind, pardon my rudeness. Would you kindly lead me to them? I thank you very much for your-- praise."
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Post by Manou de Chagny on Dec 20, 2011 15:25:27 GMT -5
"Oh, his name is Raoul," she offered cheerfully and in French. "Follow me--" She went up on tiptoe to look around and, after spotting her father, put a hand around Teo's wrist and led him in that direction at a rapid clip, weaving in and out of people.
She interrupted the conversation quite boldly with a little smile to the managers, tapping Raoul on the shoulder. "Papa, this is Teobaldo Giacomini; he's the soprano--"
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