Open Mic at the Temple

[Martha Villiers]

Martha watched with obvious excitement as Azure and others make musical plans. She would have clapped in glee, but her hand was holding fast to Kiko's perfect knee and was gently rubbing at that joint.

"A jogging-date! I say!" she began, almost a caricature of Englishness, "this all sounds most exciting!" she smiles again. Still holding to Kiko's leg and eased off holding the knee tightly to offer a more gentle stroke of the joint that held her attentions.

"I simply cannot wait to hear you all perform! Do...do you need any help moving your equipment?" she asked Azure with sincerity of intention.

[Princess]

"Uh, yes. I would greatly appreciate someone helping me get my keyboard in here. Anyone up for some lifting?" She asks the little group in general, not really favoring asking someone with a prosthetic limb for help carrying heavy things.

[Martha Villiers]

Seeing that Azure deflected taking up her offer of help and then Vincent accepting the task Martha felt momentarily useless..though she managed a meek nod to Vincent with a shy look. Her hand lingered a little longer on Kiko's knee than she might have expected and she bit a little more timidly at her lower lip.

...I want...I want... her mind taunted her like some cruel matron as she fell into a silence.

[Princess]

"Great. Martha, do you mind coming along to carry some cables? I'll need an extension cord, I think, maybe I can save some batteries," she replies to this collective body she's found herself in. She was still empathetic to a fault.

"Where do you like to jog around town, Martha?"

Reverb, and potentially Martha, in tow, Azure retrieves her required performance equipment from her car and makes some small talk on the way.

[Chrisie]

Hearing her name spoken broke the spell she'd fallen under and looked up to listen obediently to Azure. Nodding and smiling.

"Oh, miss! I should be most delighted to help! Happy to!" she chirped and smiled to Kiko. For the first time in a while she let go of Kiko's leg to clap in glee and smile to Hildegarde and others. Delighting in her project to help Azure she struggled heavily to her feet, gathered her cane...dipped a small curtsy to Kiko and others and made her posture ready to follow Azure.

"Oh...I tend to jog along the river path. Or the central parks. They tend to be better lit than other parks." she adds with a cautious tone, as if trying to alert Azure to some safety issue she had in mind.

Leaning hard on her cane she suddenly wanted to skip outside to help with the cords immediately.

"I do hope we can all enjoy a satisfying jog soon!" she adds to Kiko, Azure and more generally...eager to avoid leaving anyone out.

A smile signals her readiness to follow Azure at a moments notice.

[Princess]

"Uh, yeah. I am not friends with light, so I prefer night jogs to minimize our contact, which is why I need to go out with other people. Funny how that works. Anyway, let's get the stuff."

Azure will lead her band of assistants to the trunk of her shiny yellow convertible, so as to bring her keyboard and all accessories into the coffee shop. The equipment is professional grade, and she's ready to drop a phat beat. And then she needs to return some overdue slang to the '90's.

[Martha Villiers]

With obvious eagerness Martha hobbles out to follow the rest...not missing a single chance to observe more closely Kiko's legs and shoes...or, for that matter, the legs and shoes of other ladies close by.

She'll happily take custody of anything handed her in the name of helping get equipment inside.

And express delight at hearing real music.

Even if it means she'll miss out her own chance to sing.