Still smiling, amped up from the adrenaline of performing in front of thousands of people, Paige dropped into the chair in her dressing room and scrubbed her face with both hands. She felt like she was almost tingling all over from the excitement, which never got old. "Wow," she breathed, leaning back and grinning at the ceiling, feeling simultaneously energized and exhausted. "That was… incredible."
"It was fantastic, my dear," a voice from the door said, sounding very pleased. She looked over her shoulder to see her manager, Will, smiling broadly at her. "You are unbelievably talented, even ignoring your ability. Add that in…" He shook his head as he entered the room and closed the door. "In two years you're going to be playing to crowds of tens of thousands, I guarantee it. You'll end up right at the top."
"You really think so?" she asked, feeling happy about the praise but worrying he was laying it on a little thickly. Was she really that good?
"I really do, Paige," he nodded, his smile becoming smaller but still there. His voice rang with sincerity. "You have a gift. I intend to nurture that gift, and make both of us very wealthy in the process. And a lot of people very happy." He opened the door for a moment, the sound of some five thousand people still shouting her name coming to her as a dull roar. "Like that. They love you, girl. You may only have a relatively small fan-base so far, but it's growing fast, and those fans are serious about it. And only part of that is your power. Sure, it helps, but most of it is you."
Will closed the door again as she looked at him, hoping he was right. She knew how much her power improved her voice, but she also liked to think at least some of her success was actual talent.
He seemed to pick up on the line of her thought.
"You are a good singer, Paige, powers or no powers. And the more important thing is that you are a good entertainer," he said quietly, walking over to put a hand on her shoulder. "You know how to work a crowd, give your fans what they want, and make everyone have a good time. That's something that a lot of very successful performers never quite manage to pull off even after a decade or more of practice. Trust me, I've been in this game a long time, and I know talent when I see it."
She put her hand on his and gave it a quick squeeze. "Thanks, Will. Sometimes I still can't believe it, you know? It's all happened so fast."
He shrugged. "Sometimes that happens. You can try for years and get nowhere, then suddenly find the right combination of things and before you know it, you're everywhere. Other times, you get lucky and drop right into a career. And still other times, someone has to work for everything they get harder than most people will ever understand, and still never hit the big times. Everyone is different, there's no guaranteed recipe for success." He grinned at her. "If there was everyone would be doing it and no one would need me."
"Or your ten percent, right?" she giggled.
"Exactly. And I'm going to use my own talents to earn that ten percent, don't worry." He chuckled as she laughed again. "I'm no looker and I couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, but by god I can work a deal. And we're going to get some nice ones out of tonight."
He moved over to the small fridge in the corner and opened it, pulling out a couple of cans of coke, then handed her one. She popped the tab and drank from it. "I've already been approached by two different studios who want to work on an album," he added after taking a drink himself. "Tonight really put you on the map. Sure, recording deals don't make as much money as they used to, not in today's world, but they get your name out there. Name recognition is priceless. And it makes the live performances more and more successful, which is where the real money is."
Paige watched him pace back and forth, gesturing with his can. "It'll take a couple of hit singles, or a decent album, to drive your name high enough that we can book the really big venues. But I don't see any reason that won't happen. Word of mouth alone has already tripled the crowds in only nine months or so. A little careful work should improve that, we get your songs on the radio, maybe on TV in a few months… Sooner or later they come to us. Movie deals, merchandise tie-ups, that sort of thing."
She nodded, listening and thinking. It sounded good when he talked like that. In her darker moments she wondered if this was really going to go like he said, but so far he'd been right. Idly toying with one of the feathers that mixed with her hair, she smiled to herself. Even if she never hit the really big times, she was doing a hell of a lot better than she'd ever thought possible and was having a hell of a lot of fun in the process. And apparently making a lot of people enjoy themselves. She could still hear a faint hum of the large crowd in the venue as they slowly started to leave, the floor gently vibrating underfoot from the thousands of people moving about.
"I hope you're right, Will."
"I am, Paige, don't worry. I've done this before, you know." He grinned at her. "Although those last guys were ungrateful little shits. As soon as they hit the big times, poor old Will was out on his ass. And look what happened to them. Picked the wrong agent, got fucked over, and lost millions."
"Not that you're bitter or anything," she quipped with a smile.
"Not at all," he snickered. "It was pretty funny in a way. Served them right too, they were talented but fuck me they were arrogant bastards. When the real world bit them in the dick, hopefully it taught them a lesson."
She giggled again, finishing her coke, then turning on the TV and turning the volume down just to have something in the background, before leaning forward to start removing her makeup.
Will glanced at the screen. "Huh. Would you look at that," he muttered.
Paige looked over her shoulder at him, then followed his eyes. Her own widened slightly. "Holy shit."
"Impressive, isn't it?" he commented. She nodded slowly as they both watched the vast shape of the cape known to the world as Kaiju slice up a supertanker like it was a roll cake. "I never thought I'd see anything like that," he added. "I mean, don't get me wrong, this world is a weird fucking place these days, but some little dockworker's union having Godzilla as a member is pushing it, you know what I mean?"
"Yeah," she nodded, absently running the cleansing pad over her face as she watched. "Did you see that documentary on them the other day?"
"I did, yes. Impressive as hell." Will shook his head in wonder. "Strange things seem to happen in that place."
"You ever been there?"
"What, Brockton Bay? No, I've managed to avoid that place so far. Sounds like a good idea, considering it's full to overflowing with Nazis, drug dealers, and villainous Parahumans. And lizards, now."
She nodded slowly. "But the lizards seem friendly, and from what I've heard they've pretty much wiped out the drug dealers. And PHO says the Nazis are on their best behavior these days too."
"Wouldn't you be, with that thing wandering around?" he said, pointing at the screen as Kaiju picked up what must have been thousands of tons of metal like someone moving a chair and put it on the shore, dozens of men and women standing at a safe distance and looking like ants next to her. "Not to mention the rest of the Family. You'd have to be insane to start trouble with that crew nearby."
"I guess so," she agreed, putting the pad down and picking up a clean one, then glancing at the mirror to check how much more makeup was left. A smear on her left cheek was quickly removed. "But from what I've heard, they're nice people. And they're helping the city a lot. Some people on PHO are going nuts about it, but most of the people who actually live in that place seem to like them more than anything."
"I can't say I'd be entirely happy about it myself, but I have to admit they seem friendly and helpful, so I can see why the locals would be OK with it," he said a little doubtfully. "Compared to literal Nazis, I mean. Crazy lizards who go around fixing things has to be an improvement after that."
She laughed, looking at him. "And I bet you never thought you'd say that," she commented, getting a rueful smile in return.
"Not really, no."
Finishing her makeup removal routine, she put everything away, while he continued to watch the news segment. Glancing at the TV intermittently she marveled at how calmly those dock workers seemed to be dealing with the incomprehensibly huge reptile in their midst, just treating her like one of them. It was oddly comforting to see how people could work together even if they were vastly different, and you probably couldn't get much more different than a ninety-foot tall lizard…
Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she felt the feathers that grew in among her hair. A lot more different than she was, despite the slightly worrying thoughts she'd had about people seeing a slight resemblance to the Simurgh. It had been something she'd been a bit paranoid about ever since she'd got that damn vial. The powers, that was great, but the physical changes, not so much.
Even though it did look kind of cool.
But… She looked back to the TV, which was now showing some background to this Family who seemed to have practically stopped crime in one of the most crime-ridden cities in the US overnight, almost without trying. Part of the interview with Saurial, the smallest of the reptiles, from the documentary she'd seen was playing.
Compared to being a six foot plus lizard, a few feathers were almost irrelevant. And people seemed to like Saurial. Even trust her, from what Paige had read online. Never mind the rest of them.
If people could get used to that sort of thing without getting too worked up, possibly she'd been worried about nothing? Or at least getting too paranoid about it.
Sighing faintly, she leaned back and closed her eyes, relaxing as the high of performing wore off, leaving her mostly just tired but in a way that was more relaxing than anything.
She jumped violently, startled, when the door to her dressing room slammed open. Both she and Will whirled to see an unpleasantly familiar person in the doorway.
"Oh, for god's sake, Frank, how the hell did you get past security this time?" Will growled.
"Hey, man, I just wanted to talk to my girl," the younger man replied, slurring his words. Even on the other side of the room, Paige could smell the alcohol on his breath.
"I'm not your girl, you bastard," she said loudly, glaring at him. "We broke up months ago. After you cheated on me with that slut."
"Paige, Paige, you know that was an accident," he said, then hiccuped. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"An accident. You accidentally fell on her with your dick out while she was naked, you mean?"
Will muffled a snicker while Frank's face reddened.
"It's not like that."
"It's exactly like that," she snapped. "You told me the only reason I'm going to get anywhere is because you pushed me into it, too. Which is a complete lie."
"Hey, bitch, you were nothing before you met me!" he shouted, moving forward. Will was suddenly in front of him, his hand on the younger man's chest.
"Now, now, none of that, son," he warned. Will might have been nearly fifty, but he was also six foot two and an ex football player, so not unimposing in his own right. Frank stopped and stared at him angrily.
"Fuck off, you old shithead," he snarled. "I bet she's fucking you, right?"
Will leaned down and smiled nastily at him. "No, she is not. And if you say something like that again where I can hear you, I might have to take you around back and whip the stupid out of you for a while. Why don't you go home and sleep it off before you say something that I'll take seriously?"
"Frank, just go away, will you?" Paige sighed wearily, standing up and moving further away from the door. This was the third time in as many months when her ex had made a fool of himself. As soon as she started earning real money, he turned up out of nowhere and started demanding his cut. Like he'd ever done anything to earn it. All he'd done was half tear her heart out with his sleeping around, break up with her in about the most embarrassing and public way she could imagine, call her any number of unflattering things on the way, and he somehow thought she owed him?
No.
She owed him nothing. Other people, yes, but Frank was just a parasite. One she really wished she'd never met.
"You'd be nothing without me, you cunt," he said loudly, leaning to the side to see past Will. "I want what I deserve."
Paige opened her mouth to tell him what she really thought. As she did, she caught sight of the TV, on which a smiling Saurial was talking to a reporter, who looked stuck between impressed and confused. She slightly lost track of her train of thought for a moment as the sheer happiness of the lizard-girl showed.
"What you deserve is a good kicking," she muttered. "But I've got better things to do. Will, call security, get him out of here."
"You got it, Paige," her manager said with satisfaction. He pushed the protesting man out of the room and slammed the door, then pulled out his phone and dialed a number, while Frank hammered on the door and screamed insults. She ignored him talking to the security people, and the shouting from outside the room a couple of minutes later when they turned up and were apparently unimpressed by her ex, who by the sound of it had the lack of sense to resist.
The shouting and yelling disappeared into the distance as she dully watched the TV and the lizards doing strange things on it. Will put his hands on her shoulders and gently led her to her chair, making her sit. "Forget him, Paige. He's a jealous fucker who thinks a lot more of himself than anyone else does. I'll make sure he doesn't do this again, I promise."
"Thanks, Will," she said quietly, wiping a tear from her eye. "I used to think I loved him, you know? But… After what he did, what he said..."
"Some people are just worthless wastes of space," he shrugged.
"Guess so."
They were both silent for a while. The news segment ended and switched back to the studio anchor, who started talking about Parahuman crime statistics across the US. Apparently there had been a noticeable if small drop almost everywhere since the Family came to the public notice, although experts weren't sure exactly why.
Eventually she sighed again, before deliberately smiling and trying to cheer up by remembering how good she'd felt before her former boyfriend had come in and ruined her evening. "Hey, one day we should do a concert in Brockton Bay. Maybe Kaiju would come."
Her manager looked oddly at her. She grinned back.
"Imagine her in a 'Bad Canary' T-shirt!" she added mischievously, then giggled as he looked suddenly very thoughtful.