OTA

[kersen]

Kersen sometimes did this thing where when he was feeling his worst, he tried to look his best. Elaborate drag when he was the most down, for example. Like maybe he could force cheerfulness with sequins and lipstick.

This time, he couldn't seem to muster up the energy for drag, though. What "look" said 'I just found out a lover is a serial killer'? Particularly coupled with 'what does this say about my taste in men'? Finally, he'd just gone with the forced cheerfulness: dark purple leather pants and a shirt (gifted to him by an employee years ago) that read OF COURSE I'M PRO-GAY, DO YOU THINK I WORK THIS HARD TO BE AN AMATEUR GAY in bright rainbow colors.

... also he'd started smoking again. Which was a little ironic since he was pretty sure that any effect they had on him was purely psychosomatic.

However, at the moment he was having a smoke break outside his bar. It was fairly early yet, just past 9pm. The streets were still full, lively with people leaving restaurants and shops, heading into bars and theaters. He liked this time of night, where the world was still alive. Wished he could experience more of it.

Some asshole walking by threw a homophobic slur at him, and he was briefly, stupidly tempted to flash his fangs as a threat. Instead he said, "The most fabulous you'll ever see, honey," and flicked the cigarette to the ground. Luckily it was the cowardly sort of asshole, and he just stuck up his middle finger and kept walking.

Comments

[utterly_mysterious]

Angelique chuckled under the newly-rakish angle of her hat, and took Kersen's arm to press up at his side with a little shiver she didn't have to exaggerate. "That's exactly what I need. How have you been, gorgeous?"

[kersen]

Kersen walked into the bar with her, and was glad that she was human; he didn't have to worry about everyone looking at her like food, which had been the reaction to recent visits by Fin and one of his family members.

He nearly said 'fine' out of habit, but then offered her a little smile and said, "Honestly, had a slightly rough time of it lately. But let's not talk about that, hmm? Later, maybe. Right now, let's have a drink. What would you like?"

[utterly_mysterious]

There would be no maybe about that later if Angelique had anything to say about it. She had worked too hard to earn Kersen's trust to let him go on pushing down his feelings in her company. Still, she smiled for him, accepting that they could let troubles lie for now. "What I always want," she chuckled, low in her throat. "Something hard, and delicious."

[kersen]

"Oh, I see," Kersen said with an amused smile on his lips, and led her to the bar. He tapped his fingers idly there for a moment, and then said, "Stay right here." He hopped up onto the bar and swung his legs over so that he dropped to the other side. Then he started making two lemon drops.

[utterly_mysterious]

Angelique had to admire the lithe, supple lines of Kersen's legs and his back as he slid across the bar. She'd certainly like to snatch a handful of that leather-wrapped backside for her own, but not in front of all of the bar's patrons. Instead, she slid up onto a stool and watched Kersen at work. "I'm always discovering new things about you," she laughed. "I had no idea you were a bar-top acrobat."

[kersen]

"I'm very flexible," Kersen said with a smirk, and then pushed one of the shots to her. "Bottoms up," he said, and tipped his head back to knock back the other.

[utterly_mysterious]

Angelique accepted the glass and dipped a little bow of thanks. Then she braced her hat with one hand, and tossed back the shot with the other. Sharp and tart and flavorful, it was just what she'd wanted. With a satisfied sigh, she plunked the shot glass back on the bar, and grinned over at Kersen. "Just the thing. You're perfection, sweetie."

[kersen]

He smiled at her. She was just so sweet. She made him feel good. She made him feel like he was good.

"You want another?" he asked. "Or I could make you something sweet to sip on."

[utterly_mysterious]

"Hm. I am warmer now," she drawled, pretending to consider it very thoughtfully. "Sweet, I think. Can you match my outfit?" Angelique laughed, then, leaning her arms on the bar and clasping her hands as she watched Kersen work.

[kersen]

"Mmmmm..." Kersen hummed thoughtfully. "Perhaps a cosmo, then," and he started pulling down bottles and pouring things into a shaker. "It's the pink that really makes this."

[utterly_mysterious]

"If anyone has ever said that bartending isn't an art, they've clearly never watched you do it," Angelique observed. "Though I believe that anything worth doing is worth doing beautifully. There is simply no excuse for ugliness."

[kersen]

"Agreed," Kersen said.

Though after a beat this statement made him think of Hannibal, and the tableau of the dead man in the hotel room. Well, there was a gruesome application of that principle.

He poured the contents of the shaker into two martini glasses, a shade of pink that was indeed rather like Angelique's hat, and pushed one to her.

[utterly_mysterious]

Angelique took the glass and smiled a sweet smile for Kersen, then tasted her drink and sighed contentedly. Delicious, of course. "What else shall we do beautifully tonight? I don't have your voice, but I can sing a decent harmony. Shall we duet?"

[kersen]

"Really?" Kersen looked genuinely charmed by this idea. "Yes, I'd love to. What would you want to sing?"

[utterly_mysterious]

"Do you know anything by Hozier?" Angelique asked, brightening up over sips of her new drink. "I'm utterly obsessed with him right now. His songs are my anthems."

[kersen]

Kersen laughed. "I do, actually. Mostly because of that video of the incredibly hot ballet dancer, but yes." He drank from the other martini glass. He did make a good cosmo.

[utterly_mysterious]

Angelique laughed, a delighted little sparkle of a sound. "I'm having a very difficult time imagining you lying around watching internet videos like the rest of us." Grinning, she sipped her drink. "Does that mean you'll sing 'Take Me to Church' with me?"

[kersen]

Kersen chuckled. "I do know how to use a computer," he teased. "You know, for cat videos and porn." Then, thinking of the American tabloid added, "Vampires, they're just like us."

[utterly_mysterious]

Angelique broke into a helpless laugh over her drink, bright and easy. She traced a fingertip along the edge of her martini glass, and tipped her head with impish curiosity. "And what kind of porn do you prefer?"

[kersen]

Kersen laughed. "Oh dear, I walked right into that one didn't I. Let's just say I'm old and experienced and my tastes are varied. But I do enjoy beautiful things. I also lived a few hundred years without pornography so I'm not terribly dependent on it."

[utterly_mysterious]

"Certainly not when you could crook your little finger and anyone in here would come running," Angelique agreed. Her teasing little grin confirmed that she knew she was laying it on pretty thick just then. "Besides, it's all fantasy fulfillment, isn't it? Fun, certainly, but... I'd rather explore my fantasies with real people. Wouldn't you?"

[kersen]

Kersen smiled at her, almost a touch embarrassed. "I think you may overestimate my appeal," he said fondly. "But... yes, you're right about that last part, I suppose. What are your fantasies, Angelique?"

[utterly_mysterious]

"Well, a number of them are... physically impossible, I'm afraid," Angelique said with a brief glance away. She liked her body, and was quite attached to and enamoured with the equipment granted her by nature, but still, there were times she dreamed she could know what other women felt, physically. It just wasn't a permanent step she wanted to take.

"But I have a bit of a thing for outdoor sports. Nothing so tawdry as an alley," she was quick to point out. "I mean more... full moons, sultry summer nights in an empty meadow. The breeze on your skin, nothing between you and the sky."

[kersen]

Kersen wondered if he ought to tell her someday about the week he'd spent as a woman, after Will had changed him on a lark. He felt awkward telling her, because it had been so upsetting for him.

So for right now he just said, "Well I admit, I'm relieved that you prefer the night to the day."

[utterly_mysterious]

"Maybe I'll find us a a nice empty meadow some night," Angelique suggested, but she was still playful, still grinning secretly, just for Kersen.