Summary:Kai and Beau meet at the Met for their Camp Exhibit and never quite make it to the door. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Something about the way Beau called Kai seemed nervous. His voice wavered as he tried to talk over traffic. "Are you busy? Y-You wanna come to the Met? I've n-never been and—well, I'll, uh, I'll be over at the crip entrance. I've got the tickets already…" And he literally trailed off and hung up before Kai could give a full response.
Sure enough, on this lovely spring day, Beau is dressed casually but he's a little /too/ put together. He's wearing a black t-shirt with a scrawl of gold letters that read 'They Will Know Your Name'. The jeans are also black. New. No fade. As for the shoes? Beau knows sneakers. He has a shoe closet that Carrie Bradshaw would envy. Air Jordan Lows in gold, beige, and black. Combined with a hair trim and a professional's shave? He's looking clean as the board of health. Fresh. Crisp.
Also? Nervous as fuck.
Kai is cheery over the phone, and from the sound of the background noise, he's near a mariachi band. Of course he'll com— oh dear, Beau has hung up. No matter, Kai heads over to the Met. He's in shades of grey, with matching jacket and trousers with a darker shirt and black wingtips. He's nothing if not fashionable, and he does clean up rather nicely.
Despite his recent trip to Hell and Chernobyl, he looks fairly upbeat, and there are dimples when he smiles upon seeing Beau. "Hey!" he says as he comes jogging up. "You look great!" He leans down to hug Beau, and he kisses him on each cheek, because the Europeans know how to greet their friends, damn it.
He draws back and tilts his head, almost like a curious dog hearing a whistle. "Are you all right?"
Beau blinks at Kai a few times and then blushes. "Oh? I do? I-I-I'm just over-compensating because I'm here to see the Camp exhibit before Pride and all the gays flock in and crowd up the place." He rubs the back of his neck, shudders and turns to speed up the ramp. "I am…well, you've seen the Shoe Show. My actual closet is just as big." Beau's master suite is a serious sanctuary space. Kai's never been in. Never seen more than the bed that sits in view the door. A door with a deadbolt that he /uses./ The shoe closet is a converted bedroom next door. "I've been kinda into fashion my whole life? Is that too fa—ugh." He rolls his eyes. "Sorry. I don't know why I am so fucking jittery. Anyway, I'm a southern boy who likes to dress well. I was voted Best Dressed my senior year of high school and I did it without wearing ties or more than like, two polos the whole four years." Once inside, tickets are checked and they are pointed towards the exhibit. There is a short line to get in. Beau queues up.
"What was I…Oh! So, anyway, I'm a big fucking queen and I love the Met Gala and red carpet shit and all of that and I didn't want to come here alone because my Mama says I spend too much time alone and she's usually right about these things and it's almost Pride and I want to participate rather than taking all of my vacation time and going home." Then, he breathes because he just sucked up all the air in that rushed, run on statement.
Kai has left Beau the sanctity of his bedchamber. Even though there are few locks Kai can't pick, he's still a ljosalfar, and they're supposed to be essentially good. This man has opened his home to the elf, and so Kai will behave himself. He hasn't even tried to bring anyone over, though that might have more to do with his inability to attract non-aggressive predatorial types and being so over them.
He, of course, shows no nerves at all. "Oh, there'll be other gay men here?" he asks as though asking after the weather. He flashes a passing stranger a warm smile that just comes so easily to him. To Beau, he says, "Wasn't the Met Gala wild? I loved it. I'm so looking forward to my first Pride. We fought so hard, Beau. I saw friends go to prison, and to mental institutions, and just awful stuff. This means a lot to me, you know? To see what all that suffering eventually got us."
He lays a hand gently on Beau's shoulder. "Relax. You look great, and it's going to be a celebration. Everyone's going to be in a good mood. We should bring the rock to Pride. The good vibes might make it stop being evil."
Beau exhales and laughs lightly. "It's almost June. Staten Island already did their Pride so…yeah, gays everywhere, dude. Every. Where. I am glued to the internet during the Met Gala. I swear I'll get tickets one day. I mean…I kinda sorta know the Avengers but not really at all. I shared an elevator with Tony Stark once. He could get me into the Met Gala." He shifts a bit and lowers his voice. "I grew up in the deep south. It's still shitty back home sometimes but yeah, I can't imagine being an eyewitness to what you saw. I mean, I was out at work and to my family. I was engaged to a dude." He sighs and shrugs. "It's good to celebrate when we can. These New York queens aren't wild about my wheels but fuck them. I'm going shirtless. With glitter. And fuck it, I'll paint a rainbow on the rock. You know, it was in the box with these shoes when I opened them. I hadn't opened them since I got them weeks ago." He smiles. "And I know a SHIELD guy who is mounting the fang in a case for me."
"To Hell with them if they don't like the chair," Kai says. "I like the chair. It's too bad you're such a sweetheart, because I'd date you in a heartbeat." He perks up at the notion of painting the rock. "Yes! We should. That'll turn its attitude around, whether it likes it or not." He beams to hear the fang is getting mounted in a case. "I don't know where I have to go next, but I'll bring you something from there, too."
"I know Captain America," he says. Which is true, he sent Beau a selfie once of himself with Captain America in the background in what looked like workout clothes. "We could get you tickets to the Met Gala. Maybe I can get them as a diplomatic whatchamacallit. I mean I'm kind of representing my holdings back home. At least that's what I tell them at the Embassy."
Beau blinks at him, dumbly. "You'd date me if I wasn't such a sweetheart. Oh. Right Predators. Prey." He rubs his temple and the line moves closer. "I'd do the fuck out of the Gala theme…whatever it is. I have a creative streak. I sew more than suture. I'm more than just a man of science." He cringes a little. "Mutant of science…" He mutters bitterly. "I swear I half expect to wake up to blue skin or maybe a red cross on my forehead. But, Auntie and Granmere and Mama seem to think that none of that will happen. But, there is a chance I could either slow down or stop aging. Auntie stopped." The line moves again. "Didn't know until we had to register. She's my great-great-aunt! And I always thought she was Mama's little sister." Something seems to occur to him then. He looks down and away. He's quiet and misses the line moving again. "Where in the fuck are the other two?"
Kai nods to Beau. "If sweethearts liked me, then maybe you would." He smiles wanly and utters a quiet sigh. "I'd love to dress up for the Gala," he says, perking up a little again. "Hey, you're a man. You're not less human because you're a mutant, you're more." He shuffles along with the rest of the line. When Beau misses the line moving again, Kai gives him a gentle touch on the shoulder. He doesn't presume to push the chair without permission. "They probably lived their lives," he says, "and the family just created a little fiction to account for the auntie who doesn't age."
"What? I like you, Kai. Why do you think I actually shed my polo/khaki work combo, visited a barbar and dragged you to a big gay art exhibit to be 'just roomies'? Christ. These shoes came out of deadstock and these jeans were in plastic this morning." Beau explains his attraction to Kai as if it matters little compared to whatever else he is thinking about. He does move up. They are next. "The gene swaps gender per generation. So there is a missing woman in my mother's and a missing man at my Gran's. Then there is Auntie. The fiction is fine but it doesn't account for two whole fucking relatives." He's all nerves again and then that compounds. "Did I admit to being attracted to you? Out…loud? I feel like I spoke but…" And Beau goes red all over.
If real eyes could do the anime glimmer, that's what Kai's eyes would be doing right now. Hell, they almost do anyway. Flecks of silver in their blue depths shimmer like stars. "You like me?" he asks softly, and so tentative. He's being checked out by a pair of sassy friends behind them in line, but he doesn't even notice (they're a little on the mean side anyway). He's just staring at Beau. "I thought you got all nice to go to the exhibit because of other gay guys, and Pride, and everything."
He stops the line, because when he should be shuffling ahead, instead, he leans down to kiss Beau with impossible sweetness. It's a genuine wonder cartoon hearts don't explode around them. Those elves with their emoting. He does seem to gleam a little. Just under the skin, barely noticeable, the silverblue shimmer of moonlight.
The Sass Twins behind them groan and sidestep the kissing pair. Just as well. Beau could not be moved. He kisses back. He can't quite match the sweet elven magic Kai exudes but he tries. He pulls from the kiss first and puts up a single trembling finger. He tries to say, 'We should move out of line.' But no sound comes out. All he can do is roll away to a quieter corner, near a water fountain. His state seems to be just disbelief. He seems dazed and dazzled. He leans forward to rest his elbows on his knees and eventually, he buries his face in his hands. Finally, he says, quietly, "I'm having a lot of emotions right now." He lets out a dry sort of chuckle and looks up. He's close to tears but he is fighting them, hard. "But I'm okay. We're okay. Okay?"
"I want to give you a million reasons…bullshit reasons to not like me. It's only because I don't understand. I just don't know what you see." His voice is soft, raspy and it wavers. But no tears.
Kai strokes Beau's hair, and he stands beside the chair with no hurry whatsoever. If Beau needs to hide his face for awhile, that's okay. The elf rarely rushes things when his life isn't on the line. He smiles down at Beau, his glow fading somewhat, rendering him almost mortal-looking again. Almost. Maybe it was just another illusion. "We're better than okay," he says. "Better than even fantastic." He kneels so that he can look up at Beau and speak to him quieter and more intimately. "You're kind," he says, "and strong, and funny, and knowledgable. You make home feel like home. When I go out there and think about making it back to my life again, you're in it. It's not just the apartment, it's you and I in the morning with coffee. It's reading on the couch while you work, and how safe you make me feel. I never get to feel safe, Beau. It brightens everything."
Beau makes a lot of faces as Kai talks. Mostly frowns and head shakes. All tinged with disbelief. But at the end, when Kai says he feels safe? Beau's done for. He buries his face again and he sniffles. "Y-Y-You notice I'm home more, yeah?" He says, still covering his face. "I guess I just needed a reason to be there." He drops his hands and wipes his eyes, quickly. How /dare/ these tears! "I've lived there for two years or so. I picked it. Hired someone else to decorate. Had all the modifications done so I can't never sell it as-is. And I just worked. And worked. I love my work so piling it on was fine. Now…I trade for remote days if I know you'll be around. And I've been feeling so gross about it. You are so pretty and youthful and I feel like an old troll but I keep forgetting you got a couple centuries on me." He rubs his neck and laughs. "So…together we make a cold penthouse feel like a safe home. That's…not worth nothing—no, ugh." His Louisiana accent and cadence keep slipping in his words. "What I mean is…it's priceless. So. Let's do this. Try it. Now I'm scared. I got you. What if I lose you?"
Thankfully, Allspeak translates Louisianan, and Kai follows Beau's words. "I noticed you were around more," he says, "and it made me so happy. Did you notice I learned how you like your coffee? So I can bring it to you? I love that part of the day. Don't feel gross about wanting to be with me. I love it. I love our life." He takes Beau's hand in both of his. "Don't worry too much about losing me. I'm hard to kill, and even when I did die, it didnt' stick. And… I know this is a little, I don't know, whatever, but a thousand years from now I want to look back and love what we had instead of regret never having it." Then he perks up and adds, "And if you don't age, I'll take you to Alfheim with me when Midgard gets too dull for you."
"Okay." Beau sniffs again, wipes his eyes. He nods. "Okay. I'm not even going to consider the idea of growing old in front of you. That's…that gives me the willies. And I'm a doctor. I don't get the willies." He laughs and it sounds like a weight is going with it. "And, uh, I have noticed minor milestones of aging that I am not reaching. Like I don't have a single gray hair. And my skin is kinda nice. A little bit of crow's feet but eh…" He stops himself and leans in for a kiss but hesitates. "You are so sweet, I'm gonna to wind up with a toothache from kissin' you." He /drawls/ out before closing the kiss.
That drawl, though. Kai melts into the kiss. The exhibit is forgotten for the moment, so are the people giving them sidelong glances, because dudes get a room. "I love it when you talk like that," he murmurs, and steals another quick kiss. He studies Beau's face with open affection. Which looks a lot like those sly glances he's been shooting Beau lately at home. "You look pretty fantastic," he says. "But whatever happens, I'm in. I want this." He glances toward the line, then grins slyly. "So are we going to go sere the exhibit or should we call it an early night?"
Beau's hand goes over his heart and he smiles bigger than Kai's ever seen. "You like my accent? It took me like, three years to sound like a professional—" He covers his mouth, to stifle what might have turned into a sob. None of that nonsense. "A-and not like some backwater bayou trash who trying to convince you that he's got some real good book learnin', he swears, and he'll fix that spleen up quicker than you can spit." He laughs again. "And then an elf tells me he likes it. And now I'm wondering if I wasted my time and money and energy. Because…that's what all my sweet nothins are gonna sound like. Let's git outta here. We got all June." He steals a kiss before pushing past him with a playful light in his eyes. The Beau that entered the Met is not the one leaving.
"It wasn't a waste," Kai says. "You can talk to me that way if you want, and however you want at work." He traipses after Beau with a laugh, then settles into pace beside him. He's not literally radiating just now, but one looking at him wouldn't see anything but joy. "My friends were all 'is it smart to move in with a guy you just met' but they're fools. I knew when I met you that you were amazing. When the bad ones single you out, you become a good judge of character."
Beau is a speedy guy on those black and orange spoked wheels. He rushes ahead, urging Kai to give chase. He's like the happiest puppy. "That's nice of you to say. I mean, aside from my natural hospitality and desire to help a guy out." He shrugs. "I think I just hoped to sneak a peek at your bare ass. My altruism apparently has its limits." He winks and pounds the exit door's button but he squeezes out before it's fully open. 'Chase me.', he all but says. He /does/ woot out a holler of happiness as he sails down the ramp. For once? Beau has won.
Kai does give chase, and it may look odd to see a guy running after a speeding away wheelchair, laughing joyously. "You mean I've been wearing pants all this time when I didn't have to?" he says. He laughs again and continues his pursuit. This is what he needed, not to mope around a manor with servants and obligations. He needed to return to New York. New York holds more magic in it than Alfheim can imagine. An ache older than Beau has lifted, and he'll chase Beau all the way home if he has to. Good luck getting rid of the elf, now.