milliways_bar | (no subject)

*Meg blinks back.* Who's Tom Cruise?

Guessing that's a no?

*Xander shakes his head.* Never mind about Tom Cruise. Just a foolish hope of mine that I will someday be admired by thousands of teenage girls I've never met.

Well, I haven't seen the film, *Meg says, with a small shrug.* For all I know, you're played by Bach. But I think Warren has a copy -

*He nods.* Warren would.

I saw mine, *Meg volunteers.* It was kind of funny seeing what they'd got wrong. Although they got the bit about the sheep right.

*Xander raises an eyebrow.* Sheep?

*Meg makes a face.* The sheep. In the opera. It was a bloody stupid idea, all they did was get in the way.

Maybe I need to brush up on my Phantom of the Opera, but why would anyone ever think to bring in sheep?

It was for a pastoral ballet, *Meg explains.* They thought it would look cute.

It didn't.

'course, the dead guy hanging from the rafters didn't help.

Dead guys tend not to help with the whole "cute" atmosphere. It kinda creates the wrong ambience.

In general, yes, *Meg agrees.* And Buquet really wasn't a prize even when he was alive.

*Xander can't help but chuckle. His sense of humor has become truly warped over the years.*

*Meg grins.* It did get us lots of publicity for the Opera, though . . .

I bet. Did you give the police half off admission?

*Meg looks shocked.* Of course not! They pay to see the show like everyone else.

You cold, calculating thespians.

*Meg grins at him.* . . . yes, and?

*Xander shakes his head.* Nothing but gimmicks. Sheep, dead guys ... what happened to art?

We had that, too, *Meg informs him snootily.* Don't you go insulting our dancing.

Well, you know, you didn't say anything about it. I'm just checking. I'm sure it was great, and that no one tripped over the sheep.

*Meg looks defensive.*

Well. I didn't. Maybe some of the other ballerinas did.

*Xander resists the urge to pat Meg on the head.*

I know, I know.

... What was that opera even about?

Oh.

Well, see, there was this Countess, having an affair, *Meg explains cheerfully,* so she disguised her boyfriend as a girl so that her husband wouldn't find out - only actually the boyfriend was played by a girl, I never quite got that - and then the husband had a thing for the boy-dressed-as-a-girl, and it was just basically chaos.

*Xander grimaces.* Ah, veiled homoeroticism. Always a favorite in the literature of yore. Why haven't I seen this opera already? And when did the chandelier fall?

Well, really halfway through, but in the movie -

*Meg doubletakes.* Hang on, you've seen the play?