How to be dead [vulnavia]
Posted: 03 Apr 2019, 11:04
Tonight the brilliant moon sits proudly in a throne of starlight, illuminating an inconspicuous patch of greenery that shelters - juxtaposed - by steel trees and stone bushes that dominate the urban jungle. The world looks older at night, because everything that makes it magnificent and vibrant in sunlight, becomes as anaemic and tired as old movies when lit by the cold silver glow of the moon and the sickly yellow blush of streetlights. It’s at night when the butterflies become moths.
Baptiste Laurent - or B as he prefers to be known - thinks the nocturnal world is dull and much too quiet. He needs the night to burn neon pink, to taste like cotton candy, and to feel like velvet roses on his cheek. He wants to hear a jangle of voices competing with the twinkle of glass as cocktails are mixed and champagne flutes are raised to celebrate a toast. He wishes to view the complex artistry of human faces twist and bend as emotions stir inside them, wound up like spinning tops by jealousy and posturing. He demands the whisker-curling perfume of a dance club that clings to the clothes like cigarette smoke and pink peppercorns. Tonight, B gets everything he can think of and more as he celebrates his first day in Harper Rock in the velvet bosom of the Rouge Lounge, Elmsworth.
Music fills the air like waves plug holes in beach sand; the sound rushing in and around every person in the room. Some react to the beat with small movements, others continue in chatter, and a few more spill out onto the dancefloor to show off their moves. B nods his head along to the beat because he doesn’t know this song and isn’t all that familiar with industrial metal. He thinks that he could get into this kind of music, though. The aggressive, electronical cries of the guitar float on a deep sea of sonorous vocals and rusty bass notes that are altogether ear-grabbing and discreet. It’s the type of music that B thinks could add a much needed layer of background noise while also being fascinating if paid attention to because he can’t quite make out the lyrics; the vocals are distorted by Auto-Tune to sound like a robotic angel.
The Rouge Lounge is different to any club B has been to before as well – it’s an experience he won’t forget any time soon. With wide open spaces decorated to excess; there is lots of black, gold, and jewel tones of deep, shining emerald and crimson. Delicate lights are strung up along the ceiling edge, giving a soft halo to the room that glints off the cut glass ornaments and crystals that are tastefully strewn about. The dominance of Avant Garde, the sleek curves, faux-antique ornamentation, and retro-style furniture all bear a heavy influence of Marcel Wanders. The bar is easily the centrepiece; the marble horseshoe shape gathers quite a crowd. Along the wall is every colour of the rainbow captured within inverted bottles, glowing sweet like gummy bears. B favours the red one that tastes like strawberry cough syrup; his martini glass is dipped with pink sugar and popping candy.
He’s found a nook along the back wall where he and his agent/friend shoot the breeze and collaborate on future assignments. B’s known Michael Moore for half his life and just around a third of Mike’s, so he trusts him to get the right deals and make the right kind of decisions. It is always Mike’s idea: where to go, what to do, and with whom and why and when. Plus, B doesn’t mind being bossed about because it saves him having to make a decision and think. B knows that alcohol provides another great excuse to avoid thinking and having serious conversations; he’s swallowed down four drinks in an hour as Mike shakes his head and gives him a knowing smile that shows the white flash of teeth. When B gets up to order his fifth drink, however, Mike laughs, plants a bear-sized hand on his shoulder, and tells him to sit while he gets them both some water – maybe a coffee too. B shrinks back into his chair, compliantly.
It’s only minutes before Mike returns with two perfectly white and symmetrical ceramic cups, but, something’s shook the core of B. Something is not right because all of a sudden he feels drunk. The colour washes out of his face and his eyelids droop. Initially, Mike puts it down to drinking too much and too fast, but with B looking more ill as the seconds pass, Mike decides to head outside and hail a cab. There are so many bodies on the dancefloor now that it’s hard to see the ground, but they wind their way through to the brisk air. His body is moving like an uncoiled rope, he walks like the ground is the deck of a storm-tossed boat. Each foot comes to the sidewalk as if the collision of shoe and concrete isn't entirely anticipated and B lurches, stumbles, only to be held up by an arm coiling around his waist. The muscles that tighten around him in waves, fighting gravity, makes a small burp of bile twist up his throat. They pass a line of people queuing for the club, but all B can make out is a blur of colour and movement. He shuts his eyes for a moment and Mike leaves him for only a moment to hail a cab.
Baptiste Laurent - or B as he prefers to be known - thinks the nocturnal world is dull and much too quiet. He needs the night to burn neon pink, to taste like cotton candy, and to feel like velvet roses on his cheek. He wants to hear a jangle of voices competing with the twinkle of glass as cocktails are mixed and champagne flutes are raised to celebrate a toast. He wishes to view the complex artistry of human faces twist and bend as emotions stir inside them, wound up like spinning tops by jealousy and posturing. He demands the whisker-curling perfume of a dance club that clings to the clothes like cigarette smoke and pink peppercorns. Tonight, B gets everything he can think of and more as he celebrates his first day in Harper Rock in the velvet bosom of the Rouge Lounge, Elmsworth.
Music fills the air like waves plug holes in beach sand; the sound rushing in and around every person in the room. Some react to the beat with small movements, others continue in chatter, and a few more spill out onto the dancefloor to show off their moves. B nods his head along to the beat because he doesn’t know this song and isn’t all that familiar with industrial metal. He thinks that he could get into this kind of music, though. The aggressive, electronical cries of the guitar float on a deep sea of sonorous vocals and rusty bass notes that are altogether ear-grabbing and discreet. It’s the type of music that B thinks could add a much needed layer of background noise while also being fascinating if paid attention to because he can’t quite make out the lyrics; the vocals are distorted by Auto-Tune to sound like a robotic angel.
The Rouge Lounge is different to any club B has been to before as well – it’s an experience he won’t forget any time soon. With wide open spaces decorated to excess; there is lots of black, gold, and jewel tones of deep, shining emerald and crimson. Delicate lights are strung up along the ceiling edge, giving a soft halo to the room that glints off the cut glass ornaments and crystals that are tastefully strewn about. The dominance of Avant Garde, the sleek curves, faux-antique ornamentation, and retro-style furniture all bear a heavy influence of Marcel Wanders. The bar is easily the centrepiece; the marble horseshoe shape gathers quite a crowd. Along the wall is every colour of the rainbow captured within inverted bottles, glowing sweet like gummy bears. B favours the red one that tastes like strawberry cough syrup; his martini glass is dipped with pink sugar and popping candy.
He’s found a nook along the back wall where he and his agent/friend shoot the breeze and collaborate on future assignments. B’s known Michael Moore for half his life and just around a third of Mike’s, so he trusts him to get the right deals and make the right kind of decisions. It is always Mike’s idea: where to go, what to do, and with whom and why and when. Plus, B doesn’t mind being bossed about because it saves him having to make a decision and think. B knows that alcohol provides another great excuse to avoid thinking and having serious conversations; he’s swallowed down four drinks in an hour as Mike shakes his head and gives him a knowing smile that shows the white flash of teeth. When B gets up to order his fifth drink, however, Mike laughs, plants a bear-sized hand on his shoulder, and tells him to sit while he gets them both some water – maybe a coffee too. B shrinks back into his chair, compliantly.
It’s only minutes before Mike returns with two perfectly white and symmetrical ceramic cups, but, something’s shook the core of B. Something is not right because all of a sudden he feels drunk. The colour washes out of his face and his eyelids droop. Initially, Mike puts it down to drinking too much and too fast, but with B looking more ill as the seconds pass, Mike decides to head outside and hail a cab. There are so many bodies on the dancefloor now that it’s hard to see the ground, but they wind their way through to the brisk air. His body is moving like an uncoiled rope, he walks like the ground is the deck of a storm-tossed boat. Each foot comes to the sidewalk as if the collision of shoe and concrete isn't entirely anticipated and B lurches, stumbles, only to be held up by an arm coiling around his waist. The muscles that tighten around him in waves, fighting gravity, makes a small burp of bile twist up his throat. They pass a line of people queuing for the club, but all B can make out is a blur of colour and movement. He shuts his eyes for a moment and Mike leaves him for only a moment to hail a cab.