Summary:Karaoke night in a bar in the Village brings a mutant and an alien together. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
Related LogsTheme SongNone |
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It's a fairly decent bar, truth be told. Way more upbeat than seedy. It's also accessible, which is good. Wide aisles, tables at a good height, and there are attractive servers in tight clothing. Greenwich Village has some great places. Tonight, they even have karaoke.
On the stage, a drunk pair of bros sing Sweet Emotion, and thankfully they're winding toward the end, because these guys may be able to drink their weight in craft beer,, but they cannot sing. Even so, when they get done, there is polite applause and some hooting from the other patrons.
The perky woman with pale pink pigtails who's MCing takes the mike back and looks at her list. "Okay, everyone, give it up for Kai!"
The guy who walks out isn't very tall, but he's memorable. He's fashionable in sockless running shoes and khaki's folded up at the cuff, a long grey t-shirt that fits snug, and a light wool jacket over it. His hair is in curls, golden like a cherub's, and his eyes are a startling blue. Even with a mild illusion humanizing his features, there's something fey about him. He takes the mike with giddy confidence, bright-eyed and free of stage fright.
Beau Sartre likes this place. Partly because it's accessible but mostly because the fine, fine servers and karaoke. It's not some huge secret that Beau loves to sing, loves music. He's the guy with pricy headphones at work. Always on and playing something. So when he comes in, he puts himself on the list and parks near the stage to wait his turn with a beer.
He's dressed in that casual sort of style that whispers money but doesn't yell outright. Plain dark t-shirt under an open plaid shirt. Add in jeans and a pair of red and black Air Jordans and you got yourself a typical Beau on a night out.
Kai flashes Beau a smile when he catches his eye, and there are dimples beneath the well-trimmed beard. That beard saves him from being mistaken for a teenager, no doubt. He looks so young. He radiates youth. It practically glows in his skin. Some young women wolf-whistle, because he's freaking adorable, and he laughs and says with an English accent, "You'll make me blush." Sadly, anyone with a gaydar could ping him as 'like a Christmas tree.'
Queen's One Year Of Love starts to play. Queen is risky. Freddy's shoes are some big ones to fill. Turns out the guy can really belt it out, though. He doesn't sound like Freddy, but he has Freddy's range, and his pitch is fantastic. "Just one year of love is better than a lifetime alone…" So soulful, and since the girls seemed to like him, he sings to them. The man has no shame, how he hams it up.
Someone is recording. As soon as he starts, Beau's phone is up and out and recording. He's being fairly discreet about it, to his credit. At least the recording part. He is fixated on the singing Kai. He looks impressed and surprised and utterly engaged. He leans forward to listen, eyes bright and big.
Close scrutiny is a funny thing, especially when it comes to watching his face. It's a gradual thing, but the shape of his eyes changes, subtly, and they seem more luminous. The color still seems the same from a distance, though somehow deepening. The roundness of his ears, what can be seen through his curls, elongates (or maybe he always looked that way?). It's him but it's an ethereal him, surreal to behold. His glamour doesn't stand up to close attention, and under the human face is a light elf wanting to be seen. The difference isn't super huge, but suddenly he's just brighter somehow.
The girls aren't noticing, alas. They're sauced, and they're hooting and whistling at him as he croons to them, "It's always a rainy day without you. I'm a prisoner of love inside you…" He brings it to a heartfelt close, and as the drunk women go nuts, he bows, quite courtly for a bar in the Village.
And besides the drunk ladies, no one is whooping louder than Beau. Who is cheering and clapping as soon as he finishes his recording. He's up next, apparently, so his adoration is cut short. He takes the mic and laughs. "That is a /hard/ act to follow! Especially with this song choice. Before I start, just, uh…fuck the artist for being a piece of shit. I'm taking the song back. Hit it before I chicken out."
"Now, usually, I don't do this but, uh, go head on and break 'em off with a lil' previews of the remix.." Yes, this is R.Kelly. Ignition (Remix). He went there. But owns it by way of theatrics. He's very expressive in his performance. The line "Running her hands through my 'fro, Bouncing on 24s…" is particularly funny because his blond curls are overgrown and they grown up and out. And he is on wheels. "So, baby, gimme that toot toot, Lemme give you that beep beep…" Comes with motions of tapping a car's horn. The verses are ruled by pure, natural flow and the kind of gyrations you'd imagine from a gross R&B singer. It's funny, yes. But he is actually good behind the humor. And he's having a blast.
Kai passes off the mike and winks at Beau. "Knock 'em dead," he says. He must be an extrovert, after putting out that much energy, he's still bouncy as can be. He takes a seat at Beau's table, since he didn't bother getting a table for himself, and it's either that or the girls. Who are nice to sing to, but he's not ready to have another 'sorry ladies, but…' conversation just now.
He stops shy of helping himself to Beau's beer, preferring to order one from one of those hot servers. Then he turns his attention to Beau. He perks up. If he's got a poker face, he's not showing it tonight. There's delight plain upon his features. He might not have the background to know why fuck R. Kelly, but he likes the tune, and Beau's performance is utterly charming. He clasps his hands together and watches, bright-eyed.
Beau's performance is a delight and the drunk and half sober do give it up to him. "Thank you! Thank you for indulging my long dashed dream of R&B stardom. Tips your servers!" And Beau hands off to the next, who is about to bring the mood down a bit with 'Every Rose Has Its Thorn'
Beau is surprised to find Kai sitting at his table. Like, shocked. Blinking dumbly kind of shocked. "Hi." He blinks a few times and then parks beside his new guest. "That was really good Queen, by the way. I mean, not everyone can do Freddy. I-I can't. But I can rap so…balance of the universe, yeah?" He sips his beer. "I'm Beau. Spelt with a U." He extends a hand after checking it and flicking off a bit of something on his palm. "Pardon the glitter. Someone was bombed at work two days ago. I rolled through it and you know how that stuff gets everywhere." His hands are glittery. As are his tires when you really look.
Kai gives it up for Beau, clapping and calling out, "Bravo!" When Bravo comes back to the table, Kai gives him a little wave. "Hello," he says. He doesn't explain why he's here. One might infer there are limited places to sit, but the bar has places, so who knows.
"Thank you," he says. "He was so talented. I'm in awe." He grins, adding, "I can't rap, so you've got me, there." He shakes Beau's hand, unhurried with the gesture, and says, "I'm Kai, and I'm always a fan of a one-man pride parade. The other day I saw a man covered in the stuff. He said something about a K-pop demon. I'm like hey, man, whatever does it for you."
"Fucking K-Pop. Ugh. Strangest thing to cross over here." Beau says, leaning back a bit with his beer. "One-man pride parade and I am the float. Oh fuck, Pride is coming up. I think New York is making a huge fucking deal about it this year. So, I suppose it's time to break my pride cherry." He snorts. "As if these queens will have me. The chair is like…man repellant." He leans on the table suddenly, pulling out his phone. "I noticed something while recording you…watching you." His voice lowers somewhat. His video is dark. Too dark to demonstrate his point so he has to come right out. "Are you an elf?" He whispers.
Kai flashes a smile at the server as his beer arrives, and he says, "Thanks, luv." The English accent lets him get away with it. He takes a drink, then says, "I'm so excited about pride. I can't wait. It'll be my first, and I just…" He actually gets a little verklempt. "It used to be so bad, Beau."
He starts to refute the chair being man repellent, but then the E word is dropped. "You know about us?" he asks tentatively. "I mean yes, I am, but most Midgardians have no idea."
"It's part of my job to know. Heard of SHIELD, my employer?" Beau is still quiet, speaking only loud enough to be heard. But the noise of the bar causing him to be a little louder than he'd probably like. "If not, it's…covert ops and espionage and anti-terrorism with a billion branches. One of those houses biomedical tech. That's my job. I'm a medical doctor with extra degrees in technology. And I'm a really good medic in a pinch." He pauses a moment. "Also, I kinda saw the point of your ears. I mean, blink and miss it kind of thing. I put it together." He sighs and shakes his head. "Please don't think…I was just curious. I don't care. I mean…I'm a mutant, so…" Beat. "More dude repellant."
He takes another sip of beer. "You said it used to be bad? For gays, you mean? Well, this year is Stonewall's 50th anniversary. Which is why New York's got a month of shit planned. But yeah. It used to be bad…do you have, uh, first hand knowledge?"
"Oh! Yes, I know about SHIELD," Kai says. He leans in so he can keep his voice low, and the full of his attention is on Beau, alas for the new person on the karaoke stage, who doesn't get a second glance. "That's so cool. You wouldn't believe it, but I'm actually a friend of Captain Rogers and Sargeant Barnes. We were in the same war, way back when." He glances down at the table briefly. "I'm older than I look." He's quick to look back up though. "Don't say that," he says. "Mutants are great. I'm so sorry, what you all had to go through."
Stonewall was 50 years ago. Woof. That hits Kai like a to of bricks, and he actually puffs air out of his cheeks as he sighs. "I left in '66," he says. "I had to go back to Alfheim. I needed to clear my head for awhile. I was ready to fight the good fight, but then I missed it." With a little laugh, he says, "I used to beat up bigots for fun. They thought I was weak."
"An /old/ friend of Rogers and Barnes? I am a lucky guy to be in such esteemed company." Beau says and drains his beer. "I reckoned you had some years when I saw the points." He gestures to his ears. "You missed the dark times though. So did I, since I was like…an infant. But 1966 was a good year to bail. I hope you found the time away, uh, restful?" He chuckles. "I got fined for not registering that ended up being waived when it was repealed. I didn't know I was a mutant until…well, I fucked up in a highly visible way. Then all of a sudden, I'm a mutant! I mean, I was always one but we just…ignorance, I suppose. It's a long story and I am not drunk enough to tell it." Beat. "But that's why my fiance broke up with me. Mutant hate." He takes a slow, deep breath. "God I still hate that fuckwit."
Kai waves a hand and says, "It's not as glorious as you think. I didn't meet Captain Rogers that time around, and Barnes watched me drink all his friends under the table and take their money. They called themselves… what was it? The something commandos? Anyway, I drink like an Asgardian, but Barnes put me through my paces." It was one night in Belgium, I was part of the resistance, and you remember something like that. We've gotten to know each other lately, though."
He's prattling away pleasantly, and then his features go sad, like someone just kicked a puppy. "He left you for being a mutant?" He lays a hand on Beau's, mindlesly casual about the physical contact. "That's awful. You're too good for him. Oxygen is too good for him." He purses his lips, then offers, "The last man I dated had me murdered. It's hard to trust again, isn't it."
"God damn. Murdered?" Beau blinks. "Had you murdered? Did he succeed? I mean, you're here nowyou know what I mean." He laughs, nervously. The contact doesn't bother him. He pats Kai's hand, in fact. "Uh. It's worse. It's…a terrible story. I can heal others at the cost of my own health. Which isn't usually a big deal. I heal quickly. Balance, you know? It's almost one for one, in a way. So my Ex get hit by a car. He was a cyclist. Olympic level. He ended up making it to the Rio." His gaze averts. Lip twitch. A sigh. "Where wasoh, the car. I was a trauma surgeon and I remember seeing his name come up—fuck. Sorry. Long story short, his neuro was like, he's going to be paralyzed. Spinal cord injury. Probably won't ride again. And I knew that cycling was his whole life. So. I took it." He looks towards a server and is about to order but changes his mind.
"What I didn't know was that while all of his other injuries would heal on me…my body doesn't repair nerves. So." He spreads his arms. "This is where I'm at." He chuckles mirthlessly. "He was fine right away. I was down for a little under a week. Four days, maybe? But, my spinal cord was and still is, quite damaged. He broke up with me after I got home from rehab. He didn't want to marry a mutant. A crippled one at that. I'm sure Professor X knows my troubles."
Kai says wryly, "Let me just tell you my grandmother is so overbearing I can't even get away from her in the afterlife." He takes a swig of his beer, then adds, "She's a powerful sorceress, though, and I had some powerful friends, and she called in some markers. Between the lot of them, they broke me out of Niflheim. I don't think I'll get another ressurection. She never fails to remind me how favors she harbored for millennia are now claimed because I can't stay out of trouble." He smiles a little, awkward because death is rather awkward, and he adds, "An accident befell my ex. I don't know the details, but Gran won't speak of it. She has different flavors of silence, and this one is the kind where all the heat leaves the room and she looks daggers at you. My theory is there was a 'soul for a soul' clause, but we'll never know."
He bows his head and says, "Wow, that's… that's a smooth move. Talk about my terrifying grandmother. I've been single a long time." He sweeps a lock of hair behind a slanted ear. "That's horrid, by the way. You sacrificed your health for him, and he left you. I'm sorry that happened. I'd fight him if he were here. I'm not even violent, but I would. I'd punch him through a wall. See him walk away from that."
Beau is completely enraptured by the story. He tries to drink from his empty glass, and laughs lightly. "Oh, you otherworldly types. I love it. It's fascinating to think of all the worlds that I am not aware of. Lives lived. People loved. Worlds turn and it's not…here. But away. Somewhere. I-I…when I came to SHIELD, I must have spent months just gawking. Hours just listening. It's unreal." He runs a hand through his frizzy curls. "My fucking Ex…if you put him through a wall, I wouldn't stop you. He left Louisiana after we broke up. Never told me where he went. I know he's alive because…I Googled him. Mistake. That's how I found out he made the team to Rio. That was a bad night for me." He clears his throat. "My mother's side is Cajun and some of them practice the dark shit. He has a root on him. Something bad'll happen. One day. I don't know what or when. Auntie wouldn't tell me." He smiles. "Family, yeah? Always there to save your ass. And before you ask, I used to have a thick Cajun accent. I speak the language and everything. But I went to college and hated how I sounded. I hired a voice coach to get rid of my accent."
Kai snaps his fingers and says, "I know what Googling is. You're right, it's a mistake." He slides his beer over to share it without thinking twice. "I can understand whatever you say," he mentions. "It's something we can do. I could be speaking Old Norse and you'd understand, but I'm actually speaking English at the moment."
He studies Beau for a moment. The elf wears his heart on his sleeve, and this ex Beau speaks if, he really bothers Kai. "I will punch him through a wall if I ever meet him. I know it won't make up for what he took from you, but it'll be very satisfying. Anyway, I think you're delightful. The loss is his."
Beau slides the beer back. "Thanks but I gotta roll home. I'm a lightweight." He pauses a moment, looking over Kai. "At this point in my life, I will take a little satisfaction in regards to him. He really hurt me, man. He wasn't my first but the first one…being out, you know? Took a while for my heart to mend. Another thing I can't heal! Hey!" He laughs. "Yeah, it is his loss. I'm a workaholic, sure but…I was a good partner. He proposed and I thought…eh, it's tough to explain. I guess it was like it was all coming together. And then it fell apart so fast but…I am resilient. I like my life here, now. Especially right now." He picks up his phone again. "You have a phone number? Or do I call your name to the heavens and you flutter down?" He grins and winks.
Kai says, "You're more resilient than I am. It's been over fifty years, but I finally think my broken heart might beat again." He takes his phone from his pocket and hands it to Beau. "Text me your number," he says. "If you call my name to the heavens, it'll have to be near the Asgardian Embassy. I haven't gotten a place of my own yet."
Beau frowns as he passes along his number. "No place? No shit? Please…you do now. Follow me home." He speaks quickly, not allowing for disagreement. "I'm always working and I have this sick penthouse overlooking the fucking park but I am never home. It's big and open and all redesigned for accessibility. But I have guest rooms and some of the surfaces aren't lowered. Some." He smiles again. "If you don't want charity you can, uh, do groceries. I'm a good cook but again…never home. And always too tired to go out and get the food to cook it. Something. We'll work it out, yeah? So? You ready?"
Kai smiles broadly. It's one of those smiles that's like the sun peeking out from behind the clouds on a dismal day. Sudden brightness. "I'd love to," he says. He takes another drink of beer, then sets aside the glass and says, "Let's go. We'll work it out. I live on coffee and alcohol anyway, so don't come home just to feed me."
"Boom! Done." Beau smiles back and it seems like the first /real/ one of the night. "We all live on coffee and booze. Break the cycle, man. Let's get out of here." Beau leads, chattering away about his apartment and his family money and how much of a waste it is for someone to not enjoy it. In the end, he adds, "It'll be nice to come home to someone. Even if it's just some guy I met at karaoke."
Kai follows after with a final wave to the drunk women who did not score with him. They did get serenaded, so that's something. "I'm just making up for lost time," he says. "They didn't have fancy coffee back in the day, and you couldn't get it everywhere you look." That's right, the eternal youth is giving the 'back in my day' speech. "But it'll be nice to have a reason to be somewhere that isn't weapon's practice. I'm a lover, not a fighter."