(no subject)

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee is sitting on a sofa near the fireplace.

At his side is a tablet with a browser open to a list of Youtube search results.

What he's doing now, though, is using cellophane tape to attach coins to the soles of his boots, at the toes and at the heels.

Feel free to inquire what on earth he's up to.

[tiny tag: Cassian Andor, Baze Malbus]

Comments

[yinyangwizard]

"Why hello, Emcee-san," Seimei says, stepping around the couch. He looks from the tablet to Emcee's unusual project and puts two and two together. "That is certainly one way to obtain tap shoes."

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee looks up from his work and his expression lights up with a smile.

"Guten abend, Abe-san," he greets him, the German words and Japanese name flowing oddly well together. "This is how dancers in the vaudeville days made do with what they had. Personally I don't want to break in a fancy new pair of tap shoes just to practice."

[yinyangwizard]

"Quite sensible," Seimei says. "Shall I perhaps play the piano for you to dance to? Once your shoes are ready, that is."

[i_am_your_host]

"Oh, that would be delightful, thank you," he says brightly as he tears off another strip of tape.

"I'm afraid I'm very, very rusty. I haven't tap danced for years, so perhaps a simple soft-shoe like 'Tea for Two,' if you're familiar with it. And speaking of which, would you care for some?"

[yinyangwizard]

"Oh, that is very kind of you," Seimei says at the offer of tea. "What prompted you to take up tap dancing again?"

Seimei is not surprised that Emcee can tap dance. He is a little surprised that Emcee is apparently out of practice with it.

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee waves over a waitrat and orders a pot of tea that's to Seimei's liking.

"Expanding my repertoire," he explains. "If I'm going to keep doing what I do when I get to New York, I will be facing a lot of competition. And I believe tap is quite popular among Americans in my time. There wasn't much of a demand for such acts at the Kit Kat Klub."

[yinyangwizard]

Seimei nods, sitting on the sofa next to Emcee. "Are you perhaps thinking of trying out for Broadway?"

He's not joking. Emcee might be able to pull it off.

[i_am_your_host]

But Emcee laughs at the suggestion.

"Dear me, no," he snorts, shaking his head. "I would be perfectly at home in any dive bar with an audience of drunks."

[yinyangwizard]

Seimei chuckles. "It is true that the reality of fame rarely brings happiness with it," he says.

The waitrat comes back with tea, which Seimei pours for each of them.

[childofrebellion]

Cassian wouldn't have expected Emcee to have a datapad, he's back at the base and in the process of putting together reports, repairs and preparing for his next mission.

So he's in his captain's jacket as he sits down and looks at the coins, "What are those?"

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee looks up from his work at the question, smiling when he sees it's Cassian. He holds up one of the dull gray, well-worn coins.

"Money, darling," he says with a grin. "Not very much of it, though. These are only one pfennig coins, the lowest denomination in my country's currency."

[childofrebellion]

He picks up one of the coins, shifting it between his fingers, "Its so small. Why are you putting coins on your shoes?"

[i_am_your_host]

"To make dance shoes," he explains as he tapes down several coins in a semi-circle along the edge of a boot heel. "They are for a style we call tap. Obviously because of how each step sounds. Authentically made tap shoes have metal plates nailed to the soles, so I'm improvising cheaply."

[childofrebellion]

"Dance shoes? You're going to dance here?" Cassian didn't expect dance and laughs at the simplicity of making shoes noisy with coins.

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee chuckles at that.

"No, I'm only going to practice here. So, well, technically yes, but still mostly no." He grins as he continues to work.

"I need to get better at more dance styles in order to make myself more hireable. The entertainment business is extremely competitive at every level. And since I am going to New York City, which is practically the entertainment capital of America, I have to prepare while I'm still here."

[childofrebellion]

He plays with the coin, it would make a useful tool for breaking into some devices,

"Yes, that way you'll have options and be able to impress everyone you meet."

[i_am_your_host]

"I make it a point to do that anyway," he says with a sidelong glance and a playful wink at him.

"I can do a little demonstration for you, though I am quite a bit rusty. There wasn't much demand for tap dancing in the nightclubs I worked in."

[iprotectyou]

Baze does just that. "What on Jedha are you up to?" he says, as cheerful as he ever is. He's seen plenty of Imperial credit coins before, but never taped to shoes. He beams at the erstwhile bartender. "Hello, Emcee."

[i_am_your_host]

"Ah, good evening, Herr Malbus," he greets him, looking up from the upside-down boot held between his knees. "I am crafting a pair of poor man's dance shoes."

[iprotectyou]

"Dance shoes?" Baze says, slinging the staff draped across his back to his left shoulder instead. "With coins? Why? Do they give you a better grip?"

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee chuckles and shakes his head.

"No, the coins are for the sound. The style is called tap."

And he demonstrates with the finished boot, tapping the toe lightly on the coffee table with a bright, metallic tap tap tap.

"Authentic tap shoes have flat metal plates nailed to the toes and heels."

[iprotectyou]

"But you're making do with what you've got?" Baze says, clearly approving of Emcee's life choices. "Very good. So the point of tap is to make sounds? I'd like to see that."

[i_am_your_host]

"It's a tried and true trick among those in my line of work," he grins with a nod.

"Yes, you can create your own percussion if you don't have music to dance to. I can do a little demonstration for you, though I fear I am rather rusty. I haven't practiced this particular dance for a while, but there is no better time than now to start again."

[iprotectyou]

"No better time, indeed," Baze says, his voice fond. "I'm sure we can get the bar to play music for you. I saw some speakers in the rafters. Why did you choose to start tap dancing again?"

[i_am_your_host]

"Oh, this can play music, too," he says, gesturing at the tablet.

"And I am just honing my skills and expanding my repertoire. The entertainment business is highly competitive, so looking for a new job in a new city is going to take some work."