The sharp ringing rose and blared out of the speakers before the stagehand pulled the plug, nearly blowing them out. Heath had been covering his ears but still felt that odd sensation of ringing before finally dropping them to his sides.
"Jeez, man, talk about horrible feedback. I'd even prefer booing to that."
"Sorry, Mr. Moore," mutters the stagehand a little too insincerely. The guy didn't seem to know what he was doing and didn't seem to care either. Maybe the club's regular guy was sick or something, but Heath didn't know. The club was supposed to open in a few minutes and they couldn't even get through a mic test.
"Hey, where are you going?" called Heath as the guy suddenly up and walked away. "I'm supposed to perform any second now!"
"I'm going to have to call the manager about this. You'll just have to stall."
Heath, exasperated, placed his face in his palm. Technical difficulties were not going to help his act at all. Chances were they'd just cancel the whole event and it was a fat chance that Heath would get paid in full for it. Already people started filing in from the entry hallway. The Fairest, not knowing what to do, sat on the edge of the stage, his feet dangling down looking dejected.
Larry was actually a bit exited to go and see the comedy show. The guy that offered him the ticket in exchange for fixing his kid's mechanical toy car assured him that the guy was a riot and really worth the time.
As soon as the doors of the club where the guy was supposed to preform opened he handed his ticket to the guy waiting at the door and stepped inside the room and paused seconds as he saw a changeling sitting on the edge of the stage looking surprisingly similar to a dog that just got scolded for no reason.
Still, it probably wasn't any of his problems and whatever was going on in that changelings life could wait till after his show at the very least, if he bothered to butt in on the guy's personal life at all.
He managed to get a seat somewhere at the back and the side. All set to enjoy the upcoming show.
As the place began to fill, Heath was still waiting for the manager and the stagehand to return. He knew the audience wasn't going to like it but he owed them an explanation for any delays. Getting to his feet he tried to raise his voice over the crowd.
"Hey folks, there's going to be a bit of a delay on the show, technical difficulties. Please enjoy yourselves, grab a drink, and things will get started...sometime!" He was unsure about when exactly that would be, but it seemed out of his hands unless he found a book on electric wiring and soundboards and could absorb the knowledge by eating it.
Larry let out a groan at the anouncement that there where technical difficulties and the show would have to be delayed for a while. This show was already starting to shape up like a good example of piss poor planning.
Larry tried to keep himself occupied during the wait, having to refrain himself from getting a drink of the bar. Reminding himself that his funds where pretty low at the moment.
The minutes slowly ticked by, with no sign of help arriving to fix this collosall mess. He let out a tired sigh as he stood up from his chair and made his way over to the stage.
“Just lemme get a look at the piece of junk that you guy's call your sound installation. I'll see if I can salvage something of this show.” He bluntly said to the changeling still standing on the stage.
Heath was first startled by the fact that a Changeling had actually come to one of his shows. The strange mechanical man that seemed to have crawled out of a steampunk novel he had never seen before but his offer to help seemed most opportune.
"Yeah, sure, buddy. I'd really appreciate it. Are you pretty good with...stuff like this?" asked Heath ignorantly. All he knew was comedy and maybe a little bit of everything else, but he was far from the trade of mechanical or electrical. Hopefully the fellow was good. He didn't want to subject his audience to another feedback loop.
“Yes I'm a mechanic.” responded to the Changelings question. “Worked on machines for nearly my entire life so I doubt getting a crappy sound system to work again is going to be particularly hard.” He said in a curt tone before climbing onto the stage.
“Now where is the system and what is the problem with it?” He asked in return eager to just get this over with.
The wires trailed from the cardioid microphone sitting in its stand to a preamplifier off stage which in turn was connected to an amplifier and then discretely led to the speakers. Heath merely gestured to the amp, not sure what else was involved. "Well it seemed like the noise was popping when we did a test and then we got some horrible feedback after the stagehand tried some things."
Looking over the mechanical man, Heath eyed the audience, trying to get a sense on how much this might affect him. Well, a little anticipation always sets the mood. He wondered if that also counted for laughter.
“Thanks.” larry replied in a curt tone as he made his way to the amplifier and the connected stuff, beginning to examine and fiddle around with the wires. Trying to find out what the cause of the problem was.
After a few minutes of work on the amp he stood up and motioned at heath that he should pick up the microphone.
“Give it a try now, It should work at least half decently.”
ooc: no roll was made since this was only for story purposes.
Well, there wasn't an immediate squawk of feedback, but he could hear the mic come alive with a sudden whum in the air. Heath tentatively walked over to the mic and gave if a gentle tap which resounded through the speakers. He put his mouth to it and breathed, "testing..." which toned perfectly in the open space of the room.
The audience began clapping in applause, glad the show was going to be starting soon, though they seemed happy enough with their drinks and mixed conversation. Heath walked back to his fellow Lost and extended a hand to him. "Thanks, man, I really owe you one. What can I do to repay you? Want me to buy you a round after the show?" he suggested, all smiles now that they were back on schedule. "My name is Heath Moore, by the way, though you might have known that already since my name's on the board outside."
“I'm not gonna refuse an offer of free drinks” He said with a grin on his face as he gave the comedian a firm handshake. “My name is larry, just larry. Nice to meet you.” He glanced at the audience. “Though now that everything is fixed, I really should get back to my seat so you can start the show. We will talk a little bit more after the show over one of those drinks you promised me. I think that the audience had has a long enough wait.” After he said this he clambered off the stage and quickly made his way back to his seat. A few of the more grateful people giving a loud cheer as he passed them.
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