Learning the Ropes (Tim and Bebe)

[Bebe Tenko]

Bebe pinned back her bangs with a jade-colored barrette that clashed brilliantly with her yellow Pikachu shirt and purple-streaked jeans, noting the singular feeling of being watched. Bebe was sure that it was Tiny. Who else would it be? Emma was nowhere to be found, Sharpay and Ryan were running around being them, and Ms. Darbus was running detention. Perfect time to show Tiny how to do the lights.

"Hey Tiny, c'mere," Bebe beckoned, pointing to the light board in the back of the theater, flanked by a wall of speakers. The light and sound board were squished together on a long rectangular table covered in black masking tape. It was intimidating to many of the drama students. Not to Bebe. She basically lived back there. Hopefully Tiny would feel the same way. He was a hard worker. Something the Drama department needed.

"Today, I'm gonna introduce you to the light board," Bebe nodded. She crossed her arms over her chest, pushing up her breasts inadvertently. "You're gonna need to know how to use it. Do it wrong and you're gonna get hell, got it?"

[Tim Bostoket]

Tim had been relaxing backstage, anticipating the arrival of Bebe. They had made an agreement that every other day they would meet in the theater. Then, she would proceed to give him lessons so that he could familiarize himself with all the stage crew gear. For many people, the prospect of working alongside Bebe wasn't only intimidating, but just downright nerve wracking. She was experienced and talented in all 'techie' matters and heaven have mercy on anybody who disappointed her.

But Tim didn't feel like the others. Not in the least. Any opportunity he had to work with her was pure bliss. He thrived on her attention and devoted himself to proving to her that he was a hard worker dedicated to stage crew. Just thinking about her made him smile. He tried not to act like an obsequious freshman, desperate for acceptance, but with Bebe, all bets were off the table. He didn't want to be spineless or servile, like the majority of immature freshman class, and yet...he found it to be extremely difficult with Bebe. How could he not be obedient with her? All he wanted was to make her happy.

"Hey Tiny, c'mere." Finally, Tim heard the words he had been waiting for and he eagerly abandoned his chair to join her side. Realizing immediately how quickly he responded to her, he winced a little, hoping she didn't grow suspicious. He didn't want her to think he was weird--that would be devastating. Taking a deep breath, he composed himself, and smiled softly at her, implying that he was ready to work.


"Today, I'm gonna introduce you to the light board." Tim nodded his understanding as he studied the humongous table and all of its blinking lights, confusing switches, and tangled wires. He felt his face flush momentarily before he met her gaze once more and the effect was immediate as he became serene. "Alright. Not an issue," he asserted, a confident smile gracing his features. He began to speak again when Bebe interjected. "You're gonna need to know how to use it. Do it wrong and you're gonna get hell, got it?"

Biting the inside of his cheek, he nodded again...maybe a little too enthusiastically. "Yep. Got it. Perfectly--hell," he started, stumbling on his words. He winced inwardly, noting how stupid he sounded. But on the outside, he kept a calm composure. One would've never suspected that someone could be so excited at the prospect of hell as he smiled, prepared to follow more instructions.

[Bebe Tenko]

Bebe rolled her eyes. Tiny was so eager, something she admired about him. He wasn't subservient in a grudging way - he honestly wanted to help Drama to the best of his ability. The world needed more yes-men, and Tiny was the best of the best at the moment. Bebe grabbed Tiny's arm and walked him over to the other side of the light board.

"Okay, we've got a new light-board, capable of combination lighting," Bebe began, "but I think we should work on programming first."

She glanced up from the lighting board before narrowing her eyes. "Would you stop staring at my shoulder? My face is UP HERE. Now focus, Tiny, we can't have you spacing out like you do in Choir. See this little knob?" Bebe pointed towards a circular knob, leaning over in the process. There wasn't much room to maneuver on the platform, so Bebe had to do with about two feet of elbow room. Hopefully Tiny didn't klutz out and fall off. Sometimes Bebe wondered WHY he was so eager to help out, if half of the time he was such a nuisance.

"This little knob is the program button. You press it. I'll make this easy for you to remember... turn the knob and I will kill you." Bebe stared Tiny down for a few seconds before continuing. "Now, moving on..."

[Tim Bostoket]

Tim caught her rolling her eyes and he simply smiled sheepishly. Nothing dissuaded him from wanting to please her and make her happy. He was like a golden retriever puppy in that sense. Push him away just a little, and he comes bounding back with even more enthusiasm and devotion than before. He just hoped that he could contain his excitement enough so that he wouldn't scare Bebe away. He wanted so badly for her to befriend him so that, in her eyes, he would be more than just an aggravating underclassman.

At that moment, she grabbed his arm gently but with urgency and brought him to the opposite side of the taped up light board. Immediately, he felt his skin prickle as heat rose in his cheeks. It was amazing how just a simple touch from her could make him blush with such ferocity. Spacing out, he hadn't even noticed that he was staring at her. He bit his lip as she snapped at him and shook his head. "My bad. S-sorry," he apologized, smiling as he assured her that he was ready to concentrate.

Inwardly, he kicked himself. He hoped she hadn't gotten a wrong impression. He had an older sister so he understood, for the most part, how frustrating guys' reactions to girls were. His sister would often tell him stories of disrespectful men who found it more appealing to talk to her breasts than to her face. Tim made it a point not to do so...he knew it was rude to stare when a girl was talking. However, he couldn't guarantee not stealing a glance when she wasn't looking. But he was male. Sneaking a glimpse just meant his eyes were open.

She then introduced him to a knob and his reverie was shattered as he came clambering back to reality. Blinking his eyes, he looked at the tiny knob in question. That was a program button? Funny how a simple thing like that could control so much. "Press it. Got it. No turning...," he started. He smiled cautiously and attempted to joke. "Could, um...could you bop it?" Staring into her eyes, he became dismayed and tried to explain himself. "Just--y'know. Twist it...bop it. Th-the Bop It game? No? Okay...," he said, trailing off, a little disheartened.

As she turned and walked away, he grimaced, frustrated that he had managed to make himself look like a fool once more. "Hell and death would be welcoming right now," he muttered to himself.

[Bebe Tenko]

"Bop it." Bebe let out a low whistle. "Well... that was a pretty good pop culture reference, but you've gotta be confident when you use them, Tiny. I mean, if I was to tell you that you're more pathetically endearing than Piro in 'Megatokyo', I wouldn't apologize... even if you have NO IDEA what I'm talking about."

Bebe shook her head. "And we could bop it, but I really don't want to find out how much damage that'll do to the equipment."

She walked away, needing some fresh air. Tiny smelled like soap, but in such a small space, that mixed with her fruity perfume was choking her. She hated allergies, badly. A few calm breaths and she wandered back over.

"Sorry, claustrophobia," Bebe explained before going back to the knob. "THis knob programs the lighting sequences you've made with these." Bebe gestured to rows and rows of levers, designed to be pushed upward. Bebe tested one out - a green light bathed the stage, giving the eerie effect of living in radioactive waste. "Say I really wanted the stage to look like an acid trip for scene one. I'd set this lever up, then press the knob." Bebe pressed it, and a set of numbers lit up on the right side of the board. "Now just hit one."

Bebe did so. "Now watch." Bebe turned down all the lights, not the least bit unnerved. Tiny was so asexual it didn't matter whether the lights were down... he'd never try anything. Bebe hit the one confidently. Instantly, the stage turned back into the Springfield Nuclear Waste Plant.

"Easy as that. It gets harder when you want to program a bunch of lights to go off at once... and then you add specials... but we'll deal with that later." Bebe shrugged, returning the lights to normal. "Wanna try?"

[Tim Bostoket]

"I mean, if I was to tell you that you're more pathetically endearing than Piro in 'Megatokyo', I wouldn't apologize... even if you have NO IDEA what I'm talking about."

Tim narrowed his eyes in obvious confusion. He had no idea that Megatokyo existed, let alone a Piro who was supposedly in it. And for that reason, the pop culture reference went whizzing over his head. "Right. I'll just--nod and act as if I know what you're saying." At least she had used the word endearing to describe him, right? However, Tim decided to ignore the fact that the word 'pathetically' had preceded it...

Tim watched as she walked away, a little concerned. His eyebrows furrowed and he followed her movements with his eyes. He didn't want to be inconsiderate, but he also wanted to make certain that she was alright. But before he had to worry too much, she had already drifted back towards him. "Sorry, claustrophobia." Tim smiled sympathetically and nodded. "No problem," he assured. But he barely got the words out of his mouth before she resumed her lesson. At this, he smiled widely. He admired how straightforward and hard working she was--he was never one for dilly dallying around either.

"Nice," Tim noted, as the green light shone on stage. "It's either an acid trip or Invader Zim's living room."
"Now watch." And with that, the theater was enveloped in an onyx blanket, the tiniest bit of light shining from a few switches several feet away. Immediately, Tim found the similarities between the darkened auditorium and the back of a movie theater. Both were crowded and dark and had enough commotion going on to mask (most) action that was occurring besides the play or movie, respectively. Like...makeout sessions in the last row of a movie theater. Tim couldn't help but think about Bebe at this point... True, he had only kissed during the movies once...but it had been admittedly fun. However, it turned out to be bad. The girl had only used him to get to his more attractive friend. He didn't like to talk about it...

And before he had more time to dwell on his reverie of him and Bebe, the swampy green lights returned. He listened to some more of her instructions before she questioned him. "Wanna try?" At this, a huge smile lit up his face. He was enthusiastic about trying out the light programming. So, gently snaking past Bebe, he started testing out various levers, happy with some and rejecting the others. After a few minutes, he made the final programming touches
before looking back at Bebe for permission to continue.

"Alright...here goes nothing," he said. Pressing the button, a series of multi-colored lights turned on one by one, before interchangeably switching and finally, turning off. He looked proud of his small accomplishment as he looked back at her. "Sort of like an epilepsy waiting to happen but--it'll do." Then, hoping to gain her approval, he added, "Right?"

(OOC: Sorry if that light pattern isn't realistic. lol Like I warned, I know nothing about stage crew I can modify the post later if you want.)

[Bebe Tenko]

Bebe watched the technicolor light show that Tim had single-handedly set up on his own. She was... impressed. Very impressed. He'd picked up on how to create a special sequence without even being told. Bebe was right in trusting Tim, she realized.

It was hard for Bebe to trust. So she picked the most loyal person she could find. And Tim was loyal. If Bebe ever became president, Tim would inevitably be her head of Secret Services. He was Largo to her Erika Hayasakawa, the bodyguard to her Whitney Houston. Except without the relationship. Tim was just... loyal. It made Bebe glad that someone was willing to not question her past or anything.

But Bebe, though impressed, had to berate Tim. "That's really impressive, but..." Her eyes narrowed. "I hadn't taught you how to do that yet. Are you an AP prep or what?" Bebe laughed before pressing the button again to watch his light show. "Now, this would be useful if we wanted to give the audience a sense of collapse, mental or physical... add a strobe light and we give the audience a seizure. This button" (a bright orange glowing box) "is the strobe light. I avoid using it... I get seizures. You, go ahead, if you don't have Tourette's." Bebe's face was stony. "That wasn't a joke. If you have seizures or Tourette's or anything, don't use that button."

[Tim Bostoket]

Tim felt the moisture in his mouth evaporate as he watched his light show alongside Bebe. He was figuring out that with her, she either seemed to like something or totally despise it. There didn't seem to be an in-between when dealing with stage crew stuff. He just hoped that this particular light show met her approval. If not, he didn't want to know what the repercussions would be. Probably some teasing mingled with humiliation and a whole lot of disappointment. And that would not be good.

But instead, Tim was pleasantly surprised. "That's really impressive, but..." Tim's smile fell a little at that particular word. But. Ugh. He hated that word with a passion. Almost just as much as he hated the word, No. However, he listened to what she had to say without so much as a peep. Besides, like his father always said, "Nobody likes comments from the Peanut gallery."

"Are you an AP prep or what?"

Tim grinned softly, deciding that that wasn't bad. Nodding, he felt elated as she pressed the button to watch the lights once more. He had actually impressed her! Afterwards, she turned back to address him and he knew that she would be back in business mode.
"That wasn't a joke. If you have seizures or Tourette's or anything, don't use that button."

He shook his head enthusiastically in reply. "'Kay. Check. No strobe lights. There won't be any raving...but on the upside, there won't be seizures." He finished with a timid smile, hoping he hadn't sounded stupid...again.

[Bebe Tenko]

"That's the whole point of not having strobe lights," Bebe said coldly. Tiny could be so... so overwhelmingly THICK! But he was a freshman. That explained quite a bit, in Bebe's book.

Bebe's mind flittered to Chad. SHe wondered where he'd been lately... she'd barely seen him, and sure, they'd talked on the phone and such, but it wasn't the same as actually being with him. Bebe looked to Tiny, half-expecting the door behind him to swing open, and for Chad to run in and kiss her. Not happening. Bebe shook her head.

"Sorry... zoning out," Bebe shrugged. "So I don't have to teach you special lighting... that's really good. I'm glad... one less thing I have to deal with in my life..."

Great. She let it slip. Bebe bit her lip before sighing. "Sorry. Bad times... let's move on. Now, when you light for a show, you're gonna need to write down what number corresponds to what sequence. And you're gonna go into double-digits. So to input two digits, press the shift key while tapping two numbers. Like..."

Bebe lit the blue and green lights. A night sky blanketed the stage. She then hit shift, then 1... then 9.

"So that's set to number 19."