Act One: you've got no show without the producers!
[over the journals comes the resounding -thud- of the lobby doors being thrown open, and two men in rather nice suits and very, very rakish hats come striding in. the larger of the two raises his voice to a volume that auctioneers would probably envy] Carmen! Roger! We’re here! ... Finally... Sorry we’re late, Prince Myshkin here had to wait for FOUR cabs before we could find one he was willing to get into!
[following along a couple steps behind] Max, the first driver was wearing a turban, the second one looked... angry... and the other ones smelled like............. [stops dead in his tracks, looking like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. His voice trembles as he reaches into his pocket] Maaaax...
Leo, they were taxis. They ain’t all gonna smell like your mom’s home cooohhh---- [the word sticks in his throat as he realizes what, exactly he’s looking at: not an overly posh penthouse on a cool evening in August, but ... well ...] Okay, I know they liked Camelot when it was at the Knickerbocker, but this is taking remodeling a little far. ... ROGER! HALLOOOO?
[backs up a few steps, still looking panicked. He slowly starts pulling his scrap of blue blanket from his pocket, winding it around his fingers as he goes. Unceremoniously, he trips over the door jamb, flailing as he falls flat on his back. When he looks up and sees blue sky and trees instead of the multitude of buildings in the Upper East Side, he yanks the blue blanket up to his face, rubbing it against his cheeks] MAAAAAAX!!! What happened to New York?!
Whaddaya mean, what happened to New York? It’s --- [the elder man turns, and slowly sinks to his knees on the floor beside Leo] NnggghaaaaaAAAAaaah. [quietly, he fumbles blindly at his side, until his fingers curl around the free end of Leo’s blanket and pull it up to rub at his cheek, too] It’s NOT right there.....!
[Too terrified to sit up, the younger man just arches his head to look around, trying to figure out what’s going on. Giving up, he covers his eyes with one edge of the blanket. His voice goes up an octave as he starts hyperventilating] M-M-Maaaaaaax?
Oh god, not now. Leo... okay. Okay, Leo. [he drops his end of the blanket and holds up his hands.] Breathe, okay? Just ... fill up your lungs. Deep breath in ... c’mon, c’mon .... [he demonstrates, sucking in a mouthful of air noisily] ....and let it out. [he sighs, gesturing with his hands] That’s it. Just ... breathe. You can do that. Not that hard. Right?
[He takes in a few shaky breaths, then resigns himself to laying on the stone, his blanket pressed against his cheeks as he mutters in gibberish]
[Max watches him, silently, just alternating for a moment between staring at him, then out the door, then back around the lobby, for a moment] .... Good enough .... [and then his eyes fall on the pair of books on the floor between them] Uh. You dropped the books. Here, I’ll just .... pick these up ...
[naturally, since these two have just barely started to pull it together ... SOMEONE should try and explain things and make it worse. yes? yes. fresh meat has arrived!]
[following along a couple steps behind] Max, the first driver was wearing a turban, the second one looked... angry... and the other ones smelled like............. [stops dead in his tracks, looking like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming truck. His voice trembles as he reaches into his pocket] Maaaax...
Leo, they were taxis. They ain’t all gonna smell like your mom’s home cooohhh---- [the word sticks in his throat as he realizes what, exactly he’s looking at: not an overly posh penthouse on a cool evening in August, but ... well ...] Okay, I know they liked Camelot when it was at the Knickerbocker, but this is taking remodeling a little far. ... ROGER! HALLOOOO?
[backs up a few steps, still looking panicked. He slowly starts pulling his scrap of blue blanket from his pocket, winding it around his fingers as he goes. Unceremoniously, he trips over the door jamb, flailing as he falls flat on his back. When he looks up and sees blue sky and trees instead of the multitude of buildings in the Upper East Side, he yanks the blue blanket up to his face, rubbing it against his cheeks] MAAAAAAX!!! What happened to New York?!
Whaddaya mean, what happened to New York? It’s --- [the elder man turns, and slowly sinks to his knees on the floor beside Leo] NnggghaaaaaAAAAaaah. [quietly, he fumbles blindly at his side, until his fingers curl around the free end of Leo’s blanket and pull it up to rub at his cheek, too] It’s NOT right there.....!
[Too terrified to sit up, the younger man just arches his head to look around, trying to figure out what’s going on. Giving up, he covers his eyes with one edge of the blanket. His voice goes up an octave as he starts hyperventilating] M-M-Maaaaaaax?
Oh god, not now. Leo... okay. Okay, Leo. [he drops his end of the blanket and holds up his hands.] Breathe, okay? Just ... fill up your lungs. Deep breath in ... c’mon, c’mon .... [he demonstrates, sucking in a mouthful of air noisily] ....and let it out. [he sighs, gesturing with his hands] That’s it. Just ... breathe. You can do that. Not that hard. Right?
[He takes in a few shaky breaths, then resigns himself to laying on the stone, his blanket pressed against his cheeks as he mutters in gibberish]
[Max watches him, silently, just alternating for a moment between staring at him, then out the door, then back around the lobby, for a moment] .... Good enough .... [and then his eyes fall on the pair of books on the floor between them] Uh. You dropped the books. Here, I’ll just .... pick these up ...
[naturally, since these two have just barely started to pull it together ... SOMEONE should try and explain things and make it worse. yes? yes. fresh meat has arrived!]