"That was amazing." Said Tyson as he leant back in his chair rubbing his stomach. They had decided in the end to eat at a local pub called The Tram and once everyone had finished eating (apart from Tyson who had two more courses) they stayed to chat and have a few drinks.
"So how long have you two been acting?" Max asked before taking a swig of his lemonade.
"Well I've been acting since I was a child," said Raven. "I was in a few adverts when I was very small, then I did a fair bit of theatre, actually played one of the children in the stage version of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I had a few tiny often line-less rolls through my teens, took a break whilst I studied acting at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts or LIPA as we call it, did a bit of stand up, joined a local improv theatre group and ended up with a job on an improv TV show which I now write for as well as starring in it."
"Wow, that's pretty impressive." Said Ray.
"It was a little bit of luck and a lot of hard work. I got rejected from so many jobs along the way I could not begin to count them."
"Because there were too many or because you've had five glasses of wine." Zoya asked grinning wickedly.
"SILENCE FOOL!" Raven shouted as she poked Zoya in the face.
"H-how about you Zoya?" Kenny asked nervously, "how long have you been acting?"
"Ooh nowhere near as long. I did theatre in school, even went to a stage school at the weekends during my teenage years but didn't think I'd ever make a career out of it. So I worked my butt off at my A Levels, took a few music exams, and did a load of extra curricular activities with the intent of getting into Cambridge University which I did not manage so I went to Anglia Ruskin University, also in Cambridge but dramatically less good. I studied Illustration which I did well in, joined the drama club and also partook in my fair share of stand up nights at various venues until I got noticed. Did a few gigs in London and people started to take notice, through that and the connections I had made through knowing Raven I managed to get auditions for musicals, even making it to the West End. Now I star in a comedy TV show which Raven also acts in and I'm currently writing for my first stand up UK tour."
"Wow, so you two knew each other before you did acting together?" Max asked.
"Yeah we went to middle school together in Cambridge. Raven moved away when she went to Uni but when she came back we decided to live together. It's a beautiful city and it's fairly close to London so we can still get there for work."
"I'm amazed you even have time to be doing this show for Mr D. it sounds like you're crazy busy." Said Hillary.
"Well we've already finished filming for the year so it won't be an issue until after December." Zoya smiled.
"Yeah we packed all the filming into a few months so that we'd have time to do it. Mr Dickenson is an old friend and we wanted to help out," Raven smiled. "By Christmas we'll have had multiple rehearsals with the cast, then they've got the Christmas 'break' if you like to make sure they know all their lines, dances, songs etcetera before we re-convene in March to squeeze in a few more rehearsals before we open for April. We're hoping we can run it every night for a week but we have to wait for the theatres to get back to us."
"Wow, well I can't wait to sit in on some of your rehearsals." Smiled Max, charming as ever. Raven winked and started giggling so hard she almost fell off her chair. Zoya got up and helped her friend to stand.
"I think maybe it's home time. You need a nap you nutcase." She said lovingly to her poor slightly drunk friend.
"This is why I don't drink." Raven whispered. Zoya patted her on the head and made her way with her arm around Raven to leave the pub. The Bladebreakers stood up and followed them out with Tyson bringing up the rear, clutching his swollen stomach and groaning.