1965-01-02 - It's a Kind of Magic
Summary: Gwen and MJ see a show, and try to get some gigs for their band!
Related: If there are no related logs, put 'None', — please don't leave blank!
Theme Song: None
zatanna mary-jane-watson gwen-stacy 


Gwen stops at the entrance to look at the playbill.

THE AMAZING ZATANNA
She will AMAZE and ASTOUND!
She looked at the address on the slip of paper, then over to MJ. "This is the place. A little nicey-nicey for a rock band, but we probably should hear the Las Vegas Miss with the Las Vegas Glitz out before we tell her what kind of music we play and let the demo tape shake her up."


Mary Jane Watson grins at Gwen, "Well, if you think so… I mean, we could definitely use some gigs. Now that we have a bass player and all." She chuckles a bit, looking at the playbill, "We could definitely try to experiment with the sound, though…"


Outside of the venue is indeed the playbill:

https://irvintustin.deviantart.com/art/Zatanna-522131855

Within, there's a decent sized crowd that's currently getting worked up by a comedian - he's not very good, and most of his act is dry, which is why Zatanna is looking for a new front act for her show. There's only a bit of polite applause for the poor guy when he's done and he comes off the stage. Zee's waiting for him and places a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Lawrence. Just not your night."

"Hasn't been my night in a while, Zee. I'm done."

"Just a few more days, please.."

"No, Zee, I can't do this anymore. I need to concentrate of selling televisions. Especially if I want to support my family."

Zee sighs and puts on a brave smile. "I understand. I really do." Even if she doesn't.

But the show must go on. Stepping away from Larry, she brings up her hands.

"Ekoms. Sthgil. Ecnartne!"

A plume of smoke erupts on stage, and the lights grow into tight beams, before Zatanna arrives admist the smoke and lights and waves her hand to the cheers of the crowd. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! Thank you, you're too kind! Let's here it for Larry, it was his last night and he's done really well!"

And with that, she goes into the act. Gwen may be able to note the sleight of hand and her senses may pick up on some of the things that she does as exaberant stage tricks, modified with her natural charisma and confidence.


Gwen steps in ahead of MJ, the platinum blonde hair as visible as a beacon beyond the footlights. Behind her, another head, as red as heart's blood, as red as wild roses. The blonde looks like she's casing the joint for a biker gang, but she makes her way to the table near the front, waiting for MJ to sit before she sits herself.
She whispers, "I brought yours instead of mine. 'Face It, Tiger.' 'Fess up, it's more heartfelt than my picks." She looks up as a waiter appears. "I'll have a virgin strawberry daquiri."


Mary Jane smiles over at the waiter, "Just a Coke for me, please." She nods to Gwen, "Yeah, that seems like it'd fit… let's watch the show." She grins a bit, having not seen a magic show in ages.


If Zee catches sight of the two women taking a seat, she doesn't show it, instead, Zatanna's show continues, as she smiles out towards the crowd. "I've had a lot of guys ask me to hold my hand, but every time they do, I have to share that I have a secret.." holding out her hand, she pulls it out of the sleeve, and the hand comes away. There's the shock.

The stream of ribbons that comes out where her arm is supposed to have been? That was the awe.

"Why don't you take off more than your jacket!" comes the first carrion call of a man that's had one too many and sees an attractive girl up on the stage.

For the moment, Zee ignores him, pulling her jacket around to expose her arms as she turns to pull her hat from the table. "On a first meeting? Goodness, I don't even know your name." she says with a wink in the direction of the heckler.


The heckler grins, leaning forward. "Well, now, it's not my NAME I'd like ya to get acquainted with." He leans back…
And the chair seems to slide out from under him, and Keister only flirts with Lady Seat before deciding to make out with Mrs. Floor…because it certainly isn't a Miss.
"GRRRNNHH!" he blurts out.
"Maybe you should stop upstaging the lady on the stage." That came from Gwen, the chair now sitting halfway between her and the heckler.


MJ gives Gwen a wry look, and says towards the heckler, "Not that you're really capable of much, from all appearances." She wrinkles her nose, then settles back to watch the rest of the show.


The problem with what happens is that it draws the attention away from Zee and to the heckler. As he hits the ground, he stands up and he looks to be ready for a fight. "What, got a couple of dimestore dames helping you out? I can handle all of ya."

Zatanna has to pause her show, going off the script that she's practiced time and time again as she strolls to the edge of the stage. "Let me make it up to you." she coos softly, moving to where the man is pulling himself up off the floor. "I tell you what. My next trick is the escape part. If you can lock me up to where I can't get away, then tonight, I'll take you to the most expensive steak dinner in town, my treat."

"Uh huh." the guy says. "No tricks."

"No tricks! Come on, everyone, lets give this big burly man a hand!" She offers the fake hand she had earlier to the guy with a wink, before leading him up to the stage. It takes a few moments, but Zee finds herself in a straightjacket, chained, and the man is grinning with ill intent as he works on securing the rope. "You better live through this, we're going to have some fun later."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll be happy." Zee offers as she has the hood pulled down over her head, and is then dropped into the tank of water. Just before she's released, she whispers, "Retawrednu ethareb." And with that, she hits the tank with a splash, sinking to the bottom.


Gwen stands up, eyes alert, watching the man. Was he a confederate? If he was, he could win an award for the act. She watches him intently. If it looks like she is in trouble, she'll give her as much rope as she thinks Zatanna needs.
But no more than that.
She forced herself to sit down, the drink forgotten.


Mary Jane places a hand on Gwen's shoulder, whispering, "Don't steal her thunder. She's got something in mind, I'm sure of it." She isn't sure what that is, but there has to be something.

Right?


Zatanna floats down to the bottom of the tank, in full view of everyone. She struggles, she fights, but soon, it seems like the act has gone terribly wrong. No more bubbles rise from the hood. It seems that perhaps.. Zatanna is in trouble. The man on stage goes from looking smug to concerned as he taps on the glass. "Hey, hey!" he calls into it worriedly.

Larry comes running out with an axe and smashes the glass from the side, spalshing the front row with..

..confetti?

The water has been changed to confetti somehow, and standing in the middle of it, is one not even damp Zatanna Zatara, as she smiles over at the man. "The concern was sweet!" she offers as she gives a little bow, and directs Larry to show the man back to his seat.


Gwen BLINKS! But…wha…buh…HUNH?
"I…wow." Nothing else seems to fit. That was amazing. Really amazing. She sits back in her chair, utterly flummoxed.


MJ blinks as well, then applauds, looking completely stunned by… well, there's sleight of hand, and then there's… what the heck THAT was!


There's a few more tricks after that, but the show wraps up shortly afterwards. "Thank you! You've been a great audience." Zatanna offers with a bow, and glances towards the seats she had set aside for the 'Mary Janes'. There's a wave to the two women, before she gestures towards the backstage security as she goes off-stage to head towards her dressing room.


Gwen exhales. After that thing with the tank, she realized she'd paid three bucks for a completely-melted daquiri she never even drank. She drops a five-spot on the table. "I think we're being summoned, MJ."


Mary Jane gets to her feet, "Cool, because I got a lot of questions about that… whatever that was." She shakes her head and follows along with Gwen.


Security will show the blonde and redhead through to the dressing room. It's not the plaza, that's for sure, but there's a small dressing table, a screen for privacy, and a small couch and table with snacks and drinks. Zatanna is already behind the privacy screen. "Hi!" she peeks out from behind the screen, a peek of bare shoulder hinting at her state of dress. "I hope you don't mind, I wanted to change before the two of you arrived, but a little ahead of schedule." she says with a small laugh as she slips back behind the screen.

"So are you both called Mary Jane? That would be groovy. Or is the shoes?" she asks curiously as she goes about the process of changing. "What did you think of the act?"


Gwen chuckles. "She's Mary Jane. Thought it would be good to name the band after the lead. I'm just the drummer. Gwen." She paused. "That was…something else. You definitely can move attention anywhere you want, and you've got the hands a three-card-monty dealer would envy."


Mary Jane looks a bit relieved when Gwen explains the band name, then grins, "Yeah, I'm sure you hear this all the time, but I can't figure out how the heck you managed that stunt. Though handling the heckler was pretty boss, I gotta say."


"I've had a few years of practice, my dad raised me in the arts." Slipping on a sweater and a pair of jeans, Zatanna hangs up her magician's outfit and comes out from behind the screen to offer her hand to the blonde first. "Zatanna Zatara, my friends call me Zee." Once Gwen shakes her hand, Zatanna will move to greet Mary Jane the same way before taking a seat. "So I was told that you have a pretty nifty sound, and as you can tell.. my opening act needs some work." she sighs. "I love Larry. He was with dad back in the day, but his act hasn't aged well. People don't want jokes about celebrities anymore, they want something more.. exploratory. It was suggested that the Mary Janes may have what could help."


Gwen pursed her lips. "Well, we brought a tape of one of our better songs. Okay, maybe it's our *best* song." She smirked to MJ, then held up a thick cassette tape. "If you don't have a player for this, I could grab the player I brought. Left it in the trunk of the car." She smiled to MJ. "I didn't think there'd be room under the table. I wish they'd make them smaller."


MJ chuckles, "Maybe someday they'll figure something out, but yeah, everyone calls me MJ, Zee, so that's alright. And well, we do have a bit of a different sound, but most bands aren't all women either." She grins at that.


"It's one of the reasons why I wanted to talk to you - not very many female magicians about either, though plenty of us are assistants." Zee smirks at that, before she gestures to a nearby cabinet. "Liquor on the top shelf, recorder underneath." she offers with a smile before she crosses one leg primly over the other. "And I like different."


Gwen stands up, dancing the tape on her knuckles as she walks to the cabinet. She doesn't even glance at the alcohol, reaching down to slide the drawer open. She pops the lid, then slides the tape in and closes it. "Be honest," she says, then takes a deep breath and hits PLAY.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_inenhypZI


Mary Jane sits back and listens, just watching Zee's reaction to the music while she taps her foot to the beat, unable to help herself really.


The instrumental opening comes as a surprise to Zatanna, the young woman closing her eyes to bob her head thoughtfully with the beat. She listens to the song, offering no real tell one way or another that would suggest that she likes or loathes it. Finally, a few moments after the song ends, she lifts her gaze towards Mary Jane. "Did you write this?" she asks curiously. "What was the inspiration?"


Gwen sits back. She's used to it, being the drummer. People come to watch Elvis Presley, not the drummer keeping the beat. Although MJ would never denigrate Gwen's abilities or her work, when she took the stage, everyone else…faded. It was that raw charisma she had, the stage presence.
And so what? She knew MJ was going to be a red-hot star. She was content with just…keeping the beat going.


Mary Jane hmms, "Well, honestly… I wrote it with Gwen, she does the drums while I do the guitar and vocals." She glances over at Gwen, "As far as inspiration, well, you could say we both had some things happen the past year, so we wanted to express it."


Zatanna nods, and then gives an approving smile. "Well, I think it could definetly work a crowd up." she admits finally, before turning her attening between the two women. "The gig pays forty a week, plus tips and drinks. This is an off-week, so I'm doing shows every night, but I usually only perform from Wedensday to Saturday. Is that an issue for any of your band?"


Gwen pauses, then looks to MJ. "We…do have to check in with the bassist, see if that works for her." She reaches into an inner pocket, pulling out a folded sheaf of papers. "Here's some off our other stuff. If it makes you feel passion, then MJ wrote it. like 'Tiger.' Wrote it while moon-eyed over her boyrfriend." She winks to MJ. "MY stuff is more…righteous indignation. Probably not the sort of thing you want to send into a crowd before your act. Why don't you read everything you have on our playlist, pick and choose what you'd like to hear in a set?"


MJ hmphs, "Look, just because it worked out for us…" She gives Gwen a good-natured grin, the teasing apparently common for the two of them, then she looks at Zee, "shouldn't be a problem, we got quite a lot to do, plus we can always do a few covers if we need to fill out the playlist."


"I'll give this a look over and see what I can come up with. Maybe even work my performance into a little. The more distractions I can make." she winks to the pair of women before Zatanna rises to her feet. "Discuss it with your bassist, I would like to hear you in concert myself before making a final decision, but I like what I heard so far." she admits before accepting the papers in her hand and tucks them away.


Gwen grins. "All right, then." She fishes out a card. "This is the answering service I use. You need to reach us, day or night, call there. MJ and I both have access to it, so we can both respond quickly." She holds it up for Zee to take. "I have a soundstage built in the basement of the house. If you don't mind listening there, we have all the equipment we'll need.


Mary Jane nods, "That might be the easiest thing to manage, if you wanted to come down. It's pretty nice with the setup, so…" She smiles a bit, "I know you can't tell, but I'm still trying to figure out how you did the thing."


"A magician doesn't share her secrets." Zatanna winks at Mary Jane, before her attention turns to the card and she tucks it with the songs. "I'll be sure to do that, and bring a nice meal for the trouble. Though I don't cook. Is delivery okay?" she asks with a wry lift of her brow, before she glances between the two women. "Everything has a way it works - the unexplained may eventually be found - but sometimes, when you're listening to that little voice in your head that tells you that it's not possible; instead listen to the child in you that says everything is possible."


Gwen chuckles. "Yeah. Just keep in mind that the term shouldn't be 'magician,' it should be 'illusionist.' Illusions, made to look like magic, but it isn't. It's just skill, agility, talent. But not magic. But it is nice to think about…"
She pauses, then says in a slightly more muted tone, "…even if they cause more problems than they solve."
She takes a deep breath, then smiles sheepishly. "Sorry. Holding forth again." She extends a hand. "Nice meeting you, Miss Zata…uhm, Miss Zee."


MJ nods, "Well, yeah, kinda figured that, but sure, swing on by and delivery is good for us." She offers a hand to Zee as well, "It was really nice to meet you, Zee."


Accepting Gwen's hand one more time, Zatanna's smile is not unkind. "Magic exists if you believe in it. Even in yes.. a young girl's heart." she smiles brightly at that, before she releases Gwen's hand to let the pair of women make their leave. Before they do, though, she takes her own card. "Here, my own answering service." she offers. Shadowcrest.


Gwen takes the card, looks at it, then hands it to MJ. "Just…check out the songs before you call us in for the audition." She looks to MJ, not wanting to do or say that might ruin MJ's night. "Take care of yourself."


Mary Jane smiles, "Right. And thanks Zee, we'll definitely be in touch." She gives Gwen a curious look, but shrugs a bit at that, getting ready to make her way out.


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