"To be fair, it's got so many issues, on the topic of the main plot. I prefer the movie because it's at least better than the hot mess of the Katherina and Petruchio plot. Imagine managing to destroy a woman's personality and individuality in it's entirety." Con said, a semi-disgusted look on her face. "I wonder if Charlie's troupe is planning on changing any of that, or leaving it as is. Are you ready to go?"
"Yes, that's true. Shakespeare was, however, very much constrained by the… attitude of his day towards women, people of color, and queer people. Of those categories, I fit two, which can make it a little difficult sometimes, when the only people of color in Shakespeare are usually evil or violent, but that's a discussion for another time. However. I will go to my grave insisting that Shakespeare had to be bi, because…I mean. Come on. There's so much evidence for it." They said with a laugh.
As they loaded up, Con started up the truck, making a face and adjusting the seat. "Seatbelt. It's his only comedy that's like that though, right? Aren't the others generally pro-equality and listening to women? I read somewhere that if you compare them to his tragedies, it's listening to the women that lets everything end up well. I don't know enough about Shakespeare to really back that up myself though."
Then they were pulling out of the parking spot, Con using the manual crank to roll the window down and let in the warm night air. Mixed with the smell of salt water and faint smoke from the bonfire, there was a sort of serene vibe about the whole thing. The radio came on to a country music station and Con snorted, turning it down just enough for it to be background noise.
"You're gonna like this. Charlie's troupe really knows how to capture the essence of Shakespeare."
He fastened their seatbelt, cocking his head at her faintly, then nodded. "Yeah, that is strange. I don't know why that's the only play of his that seems to be like that, because you're right, for his time Shakespeare did very well with his treatment of women. Although, ah, that final point could be argued, because in the uh, the Scottish play, everything goes to hell in a handbasket because the main character listened to his wife. So you could make that argument as well." they smiled a little. "I hope that I like it too."
"That one's an outlier and can't be counted. Though, all she really did was influence him. He made his decisions." She said, shaking her head. "Personally, I don't commit murder no matter how much someone tells me to. Oh, look at that dog!" Pointing, she grinned at the sight of someone walking a dog. "When I was a kid, I really wanted to get one. We couldn't 'cause we moved a lot, and mom said that's unfair to an animal. She's right. They're still cute though."
((do we want to do the grocery store bit, or skip to after the show, in a few responses?))
"Yeah, dogs are great." Lucian agreed. "And yes, you're correct in your point about the play, I suppose." He smiled faintly, running a hand through their hair with a faint sigh.
(Sounds good! Sorry for the small response)
((is that a yes to the skip lmao?))
(yeah lmao)
"That was like, ten times better than the original. Full offense to Mr. Shakespeare."
Con's clapping would have drowned out her words, paired with the clapping of the people around them, if she hadn't leaned over to speak closer to Lucian. The paper bag of snacks sat at their feet, half of them opened and munched on. All in all, it had been an honestly fun time. Between the show, which had featured an extra scene involving Katherina leaving Petruchio and leaving their home unsecured to allow a rowdy group of sailors to rob it, and the atmosphere created by sitting on a blanket on the grass under a starry summer sky, it was enjoyable.
As the cast took their final bow together, Con scooped up the bag in one arm. She tossed the blanket over her shoulder, and grabbed Lucian's hand once more. This time to drag him toward the stage. "Come on! I have to introduce you to Charlie. He was Tranio! Disguised as as Luciento for that huge chunk of the play. He's–Charlie!"
They reach the out door stage, and Con just barely managed to let go of Lucian's had and set the bag down before being practically attacked by a tall boy with bleach-blonde hair. He scooped her up–not that that would be hard, she was pretty light–and swung her in circles while hugging her.
"You came!"
"I've made it to every other!"
"Well, yeah." He said, setting her down finally. He was definitely taller than 6 feet, and his face was lit up with an excited grin. His energy matched Con's perfectly, the two somewhat like puppies greeting each other. "But you said you had that party, for that Sam girl. I didn't know if you'd be here. And you brought a friend. Let me guess, you met them just tonight?"
"Yeah, but we're bros now." Con stated matter of factly, shooting Lucian a grin. "Lucian, this is Charlie! Charlie, this is Lucian, my new partner in crime. I'm starting a gang." She told Lucian.
Lucian smiled in agreement. "It certainly was good, but I'm not sure anything can beat the original. I say this out of loyalty to Mr Shakespeare." He replied, but went quiet as he listened to Con rattle on and on, then looked at Charlie, nodding faintly. "It's nice to meet you, Charlie." They said with a quick smile. At Con's words about a gang, which they hoped were a joke, they said, "I think I'm the entertainment, then, as my skills are limited to art, music, and poetry. Not exactly prime gang material, I don't think." He laughed a little, a smile tugging at his lips as he spoke.
"Every gang needs someone to act as levity." Con said somberly, her grin replaced by a very serious expression. "Organized crime is scary and stressful as is. You need something to ground you. Anyway!" Once again back to her cheerful self, she dropped into a crouch to dig through the bag and give Charlie his food. "Charlie's been acting since he was three!"
"'tis true." Charlie said with a nod. "My moms are both actors. A lot of secondary character appearances between the two, but one of them is set to play a leading roll in this new TV show about farmers in the apocalypse, which she's wicked excited for, 'cause she was raised on a farm. You do art, what kind? Any acting?"
"I don't…I don't know. I'm a little too shy for acting, I think. I meant like, drawing, painting. That sort of art. Also poetry, like I said. I like reciting poetry, if that counts?" He laughed faintly, running their hands through their hair and looking over at Charlie. "But acting has always seemed really cool to me, it's great that you can do that and that you enjoy it."
"Maybe that's it." Charlie mused. "I'm just overbearingly outgoing, and that's why I act. I'm a spot-light lover." He added, laughing at his own joke. "I think reciting it counts fine. Of course I do, that's seventy percent of my thing, right? Memorizing words and reciting them with the right tone. The rest is being good looking."
"I always fall off of stages." Con chimed in, looking up from the bag with a lopsided smile. "But memorizing things is so hard, too. There's so many words and memorizing them all seems like its impossible. Not to mention my brain is too filled up with languages. I think learning those is enough of that for me. There's an after party, Lucian. Would you rather go there, or me take you somewhere? Home or anywhere, really."
Lucian blinked at the rather abrupt change of subject, raising their eyebrows faintly. "Oh, the after-party sounds fine." He replied with a quick little smile. "But if you don't want to, then that's fine too." He looked at Charlie, nodding a little. "Well then yeah, I guess I'm a bit of an actor." They chuckled quietly, smiling a little.
"We'll have you recite sonnets on stage. Maybe you could narrate." Charlie said, holding up his hand for a high five. Con quickly stood, slapping his hand even though the gesture wasn't meant for her, before shaking her hair out.
"After party it is. I hope there's shrimp. I love cocktail shrimp." Con paused for a moment, apparently daydreaming about cocktail shrimp.
Charlie, meanwhile, lowered his hand after the high five from Lucian. "She'll be busy for at least a minute. You ever want her to do anything, cocktail shrimp is the way to convince her. If you're rich, try any precious material. So, you from around here?" He had scooped up the bag, guiding a spacey Con with a hand on her shoulder and motioning for Lucian to follow. "If you're going to say 'what are you, a cop?', I'd like to warn you that Con already made that joke. Fiend."
Lucian returned the high-five, then nodded at the question. "Yeah, I am. Been meaning to come to one of these performances for a while, just haven't really gotten around to it." He smiled faintly, running a hand through his hair and looking over at Charlie. "Although I am curious as to why you're asking?" They cocked their head at the man curiously.
"I'm not a cop, if that's what you're asking."
"He would make a wretched cop." Con chimed in, acting as if she hadn't zoned out completely.
"That's so rude, but so correct. I'm just asking because I'm curious. And I've never seen you. Not that that means much, since I'm still not sure if Con is from here or not, and I don't know the entirety of the people who live here." Charlie said, shrugging a shoulder. They were headed back over the hill, in the vague direction of the cars. "You kinda seemed local though. You've got the Cali vibe. The artist part, probably. I like to think I've got 'suffer boy' down pat. Where do you go to school? I'm over at Los Leones Marinos. Go sea lions, babey."
Lucian hesitated for a moment. "Ah, Weatherton." He replied after a moment. "Go, uh, Knights." They laughed faintly. "I graduated, though, so no more school. I'm taking a gap year before college." Mainly because he had no idea what would happen to his mom if they left and went to college, and left her behind. She couldn't keep a job for long enough to survive without them; she would end up homeless and on the streets, or dead, and they had no wish for that to happen to her.
"That's hot."
"What," Charlie questioned, making a face. "The fact that your friend goes to my rival school, or the fact that he's taking a gap year?" He obviously wasn't actually serious about harboring any ill will towards Lucian for what school he went to. This wasn't a bad teen movie. It was weird, but definitely not that.
"Both." Con said, linking her arm through Lucian's. "But imagine going to school. Nerds."
Lucian laughed a little. "School is useful though, Con." They replied, not really saying anything about her comment about "that's hot". He had no idea which thing she meant, and didn't really want to ask, figuring it would be extraordinarily strange of him to do so. "And what, are you saying you don't go to school? Not even homeschool? Did you get a GED instead?" They raised their eyebrows at her.
"I was 'homeschooled'." Con said, making air quotes. "Which means yeah, I got my GED, but I learned a lot of the bigger things right before getting it. My mom is big on only learning things that you want, and also school sucks, so I got to skip that. Which translates to me being a lot luckier than you guys. I can't imagine sitting at a desk learning math, when there's so much to learn by being out in the world. Not counting the fact that I learned algebra from an old man in New York."
"I really want to be mad at her." Charlie said to Lucian, honestly looking pained. "Pretty privilege, I can't believe."
"I'd like to think I'm very pretty, but it's actually a work privilege thing. Hey, do you wanna see me do a backflip?"
Lucian returned Charlie's look with a laugh. "Same, except homeschooling with my mom would have sucked." He replied, then looked at Con. "Sure, let's see your backflip." They smiled a little, stuffing their hands in their pockets as they watched her to see what she would do.
Con let go of Lucian, happily bounding forward before turning. She had already been thinking about it, and knew how to use the hill to her advantage in a back flip. Which was exactly what she did, landing it perfectly and only remembering she was wearing a dress once she was on the ground. Thank the gods for shorts.
Eyes sparkling, she spun in a circle with her arms out before coming back, looping an arm over each of her friends' shoulders to drag them down to her height–which was a distance, for Charlie–as she grinned. "Nights like this are so fun. New and old friends, clear skies and the beginning of summer. Night like this make me want to do something fun. Like a heist, or dancing. Lucian doesn't dance." She told Charlie, frowning slightly. They were finally cresting the hill, reaching the lot where all the cars were parked. "Do you sway? I can dance for both of us." She looked at Lucian, leaning a bit closer to them.
Lucian looked at her. "I can sway, yes." They said slowly. "I just don't enjoy dancing. I don't quite have the rhythm for it, I'm afraid." He laughed a little. "Your backflip skills are impressive, by the way. I can't do them, but you did really well." They wondered what she meant about a heist, but figured she was probably kidding. Or something. No way did she mean an actual heist, that would be ridiculous.
(little does he know–)
((con's gonna have her own heist subplot lmaooo))
"I told you, I'll dance for us. I'm good at that." Con said proudly, leaning into him briefly. "And thank you! I can do them in heels, too. It's my greatest skill. I didn't go to school, so I spent all my time practicing backflips with really weird hindrances."
"Every single thing that comes out of your mouth just adds to my list of reasons I think you might be Catwoman." Charlie said, shaking his head as he slid out from under her arm. "Capo is giving me a ride, so I guess I'll see you two there?"