Inspiration Hunting

[Satori]

"Room for one more, huh?"  Luna repeated.  "Not like you've been worried about that before.  This is already my biggest album yet."

The idol had to wonder if things had really changed that much that even the way the new album was being treated was strange and unusual to her.  Before, everything was kept as simple and formulaic as possible, not to mention short.  Before there would have been plenty of 'room' left over and nobody would care, least of all the manager who organized everything.  But now, suddenly, not only had she been given much more freedom over what she performed, she was actually being encouraged to go all out.  Or, that's how it seemed at least.

Funny.  All of this had been made possible by a prank.

"I'll get back to you tonight," she said.  "You've already released the full track list, so let's make this one a hidden bonus track.  ...Yes.  I'll be sure to bring you something weird."  She laughed as she hung up.  The rest of the day to think of the weirdest bonus song she could.  Just so long as she could actually find the inspiration.

She leaned against the skyway railing, staring down into the mess of a city below.  Ideas never came to her when she was cooped up indoors, so she had gone out for a walk along Haviah's upper levels from the moment her manager had asked if she had any.  Normally she'd be a little more concerned about being mobbed by fans, but as far as anyone knew she was still busy recording.  So at the very least, nobody was looking for her, and she figured she could safely walk around without going to great lengths to hide her vaguely alien, purple-streaked hair.  Or her light, smooth skin.  Or her curves.  Or much of anything, really.

And if she was wrong...well, that could end up being fun too.

[Rhak]

The upper levels of Haviah were lined with various bars, clubs, pubs and other dens of pleasure seeking. It was from one of these pubs that one Ethel Haute came stumbling, though that was less because she'd been drinking and more because she'd been bodily tossed out for provoking fights. She took almost comical scrabbling steps for a moment as she tried to regain her footing before straightening with a scowl.

 "Oi, ya fuckin' wankers, I ain't got me-- oh bloody hell."  She hopped out of the way as her silver topped cane was hurled out through the door and sent clattering to the pavement. Grumbling to herself, she gathered it up in the crook of her arm, fixing her bowtie and smoothing her jacket. It was then that the shady character caught sight of the nearby idol; not that she recognised her. Haute was hardly from these parts, and she didn't really follow the charts.

 "A'ight luv." The part-alien went to doff her hat, only to remember that she wasn't wearing one and touched her fingers to her forelock instead. It made her slightly uncomfortable that such a fine young lady had just witnessed her being thrown from a bar, but she recovered well. Haute gave a bright, sharp toothed grin and stood confidently with her shoulders back and her feet apart, cane held at a jaunty angle.

Haute wasn't here for business today (though she wouldn't pass it up if it presented itself) but was rather just looking for entertainment. She rocked up to the railing near the woman, looking down nonchalantly. "What's a fine young lass like yourself doin' out alone at this hour, ey?"

[Satori]

Luna turned at the sound of commotion nearby, just in time to see a lady in fancy dress thrown out of the nearest pub and a cane was tossed out after her.  The idol laughed to herself at the scene.  Normally such fights were confined to inside the establishments that were occasionally prone to hosting them...although ending in such a way was not too uncommon either.  She also suspected that they should have been more common on lower levels, but of course a high-class idol like her wouldn't know anything about that.  No way.

From the lack of dawning recognition upon seeing Luna, she assumed that the stranger was not one of her fans.  Might not even be native.  The upper levels did occasionally get tourists, after all.  Luna figured she would either leave her alone or...well, even strangers often had other things on their minds.  But without worry of being mobbed for her identity alone, she could manage that much more easily.  So she waited casually, pretending not to take any further notice of the...admittedly very pretty woman until she approached her.

"At this hour?" she repeated after the woman's 'greeting', glancing up toward the sky.  It was hard to tell sometimes through the electromagnetic dome covering the city, but she was sure it was still only late afternoon.  Certainly not late enough for a line like that, at least.  "How much have you had?" she asked, laughing pleasantly.  "It's not even night yet."

[Rhak]

Haute blinked at the young lady, brow creasing as she yanked back one of her sleeves and checked her watch. Oh, blimey. Either she had been in that bar much longer than she thought, or her jet lag was kicking the crap out of her sense of time. The latter was much more likely, as she hadn't even had much to drink at all, preferring to spend her time clear headed-- intoxication made it much easier to be taken advantage of in any respect, and Haute preferred to be the one taking said advantage.

She rolled down her sleeve again and shrugged. "I s'pose the travel musta knocked my sense o' time for six. Feels pre-dawn to me, and I've been strugglin' with ya dome-sky. Oh well, was a piss-poor line anyway." The miscreant flashed a bright, pleasant grin-- which would've been less unsettling if it weren't for the very sharp teeth-- and turned to lean back onto the railing, cane against her hip.

 "Shall I try again? What brings you out at this entirely reasonable hour, yeh?" Her tone was light and tinged with laughter. Haute was never one to get embarrassed by social slip ups, instead turning them into jokes, which generally went own much better than wincing in embarrassment or apologizing or something silly like that.

 "I'm Haute, by the way. Might I request your name, fair lady?" This was said with an ironic use of a much posher accent, as Haute was sometimes prone to doing. She tended to flick between rough and common to blue-blooded royalty almost at random, depending on her mood and the situation.

[Satori]

Travel, huh?  Definitely wasn't native, then.  People in the city weren't allowed to move between levels except under special circumstances, much less leave it.  It was one of the few things Luna couldn't quite accept about life here.  Not even to visit other places, or to go on tour and spread her music to people who might not otherwise hear it?  Well...she hadn't actually asked about that one.  Maybe eventually.  The city was a beautiful place, and she always had everything she wanted here, but...

Well, it wasn't worth worrying about now.  She still had work left to do.  Stray thoughts like that were only useful if she could turn them into a song, but she'd already gone that route before.  She wanted something new.

"Just wanted to get out for a bit," she answered after the traveler corrected herself.  An entirely reasonable answer for an entirely reasonable hour.  She smiled pleasantly as the woman introduced herself, shifting to a much more proper manner of speech in an instant.  "I'm Luna."  For a split-second, she wanted to use her real name, 'Astrid.'  It seemed like this woman wouldn't recognize her for who she was, and Luna couldn't deny wanting to try her old name on for once, but...no, she couldn't do that.  If anyone found out, they might realize she remembered more than just her name, and they might try to take it away again.  Or worse.

[Rhak]

((Wowwww, truly sorry for the inexcusable delay-- I'll bow out quietly if you've lost interest))

Haute smiled and nodded once at that entirely reasonable response. She understood the urge to get out and about, though seeing as all Haute really did was get out, the urge rarely bothered her. It was more common for her to feel the need to go somewhere quiet and put her feet up, but she couldn't do that too often or she got restless and agitated. The wandering lifestyle called to Haute whether she wanted it to or not, it seemed.

 "Luna," She tried the named out, smiling just a little. "'s a nice name, that." She sensed a hint of hesitance behind the giving of the name, however, Haute's empathy picking up on the vibes Luna was putting out into the air rather than actively seeking through her thoughts. It was a hesitance that Haute encountered regularly, usually amonst people in her line of work who didn't want their real names connected to their business in any way. So Luna was a fake name, fine, Haute didn't really care. Everyone had secrets.

 "So," Haute rolled her neck, popping the joint pleasantly. "What sort of things do you do, Luna?" That could be interpreted any way her company liked; what did she do for fun, for work, for hobbies. Haute was just nosy, and liked to know things about people.