Glittering Wallflower

[Methos]

Bradley patted Adam's hand as he slide away from him to preform. The air felt different with Methos wrapped around him. It felt almost electric. Adam went up to the manager of Methos - or at least the man in charge and struck a deal. Free publicity for Manifesto with a free performance. Even a ritzy joint like Manifesto wasn't going to turn down free. And Methos had a reputation anyway. He'd been doing the same thing for a good 10 years now.

As Anton played the lights dimmed. Methos wished for Troy and Bev, but he could put on a show without them. It just wasn't as spectacular. Methos stepped up beside Anton and started singing on cue with the song that Anton had chosen. One of the softer ballads from Fertile Anomaly. By the second line the lights flashed on, the colored lights from above danced around the room.

Methos would preform for the rich and famous tonight - not his usual gig and not his normal coming out party. But this was for Bradley more than himself. He hadn't expected to find himself in this position to give his husband more than a night out on the town.

[Anton]

As Methos did his thing, Anton smiled. It wasn't his show, but the gift of music was always a beautiful thing. Anton switched from soloist to accompanist with a practiced ease. Just because he was classically trained it didn't mean that he didn't have an understanding of other styles, and he switched his style to match Methos' own.

As the song continued, Anton added in some vocal harmonies with his tenor voice. He sang softly enough as to not detract from the main performance, but loud enough that it added nuance to the sound. As with his piano playing, his voice reflected the correct style. Had someone not known that he was an Opera star, one wouldn't have thought so.

The music flowed and the emotions flowed with it. Anton was tempted to draw upon the emotions of the crowd as was his usual M.O., but this wasn't his show, so he held back. Still, the fear in the crowd was subsiding as people turned to face the duo performing. This was the power of music. With all this talk of magic in the world today - no one was talking about the magic of music. As he played, Anton was reminded of the words of William Congreve - "Music hath charms to soothe a savage beast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted Oak."

[Danika]

Danika tugged at the hem of her dress where it cut across the top of her thighs. God it was tight. She felt so subconscious in it, but the girl in the mirror next to her wore one even shorter! She caught her eye, and long fake lashes blinked back at her.

"That's a nice dress. Is it Harchesa?" The woman asked.

Danika assumed that was the name of some kind of designer.

She flashed a big, confident smile in return. "Thank you, and yes."


That must have been the correct answer because the woman nodded in approval and left the bathroom. As the door opened, the sound of live music filtered it.

The song sounded familiar, but Danika couldn't place it so she returned to looking at herself in the mirror.

The dress was a serious departure from her usual attire-even for a club scene. Munich had nothing even close to the same plane as Manifesto. In fact, when she and her lab mates arrived earlier, she was worried they wouldn't get in.

In fact, one girl didn't.

The color of the dress was a blue lapis, a rich gem of a color, and the bodice was feathered. She couldn't believe the price tag, but tonight was about celebration. The Ilustris project was finally published and accepted in the field of theoretical physics. Danika's work was going to change the composition of astrophysics as mankind knew it. That was the kind of body of knowledge that won Nobel prizes.

Happy with her appearance, she plucked at a few last pieces of hair, glosses her lips and returned to the club.

Of course, her lab mates were no where to be found.

"Stay right there my foot,"
she furrowed her brow in frustration, music pounding thunder in her ears, vibrating her skull, and turned in a circle.

Finally, she gave up and went to the bar.



((Ooc: dress))

[Methos]

Adam loved to sing. He loved to play music. He loved being center stage. It was his home away from home. It was perfect. He could live life in those few moments. As he sang and moved across the floor flirting with the men and women nearest the piano he noticed Bradley sitting at the bar waving for another glass of wine. Once his attention was back on the floor Adam winked at him and blew him a kiss. Bradley blushed of course but caught it and stuck it in his pocket. He was so cute sometimes.

A girl in a blue feather dress sat down beside him and Adam turned back to the crowd who he was wooing with his words and the piano accompaniment. He loved his job!

****

Bradley drank another glass of wine. He didn't normally drink so much, but he was he and Adam was busy being Methos. The girl who sat down next to him looked a little upset. He gave her his award winning smile. "Your friends ditch you?" He laughed softly. "Mine too." And he nodded towards the floor where Adam and Anton played in perfect harmony. It really was a sight to behold, one of his own stardom crushes and the love of his life in a duet of different sorts.

[Danika]

The top of the bar transformed into a screen with the brush of her fingertips. Danika scrolled through Manifesto's signature cocktails, not sure what she sought. When a martini glass filled with bright blue liquid filled the screen, she caught the bartender's attention. He leaned over the table, ear tilted ever so slightly to get her order. He was so pretty, her lips pursed at the attention.

"I'd like a Galaxy,"
she ordered. The bartender complimented the choice and said he would be right back with it.

Danika watched him work for a minute, weaving concoctions through his fingers like an ancient alchemist in his laboratory. But she soon became distracted. The toe of her heel tapped on the footrest under her seat along with the song. It had shifted to something far more her speed than the base and thump of club techno.

Every so often she checked their surroundings, straining across coifed heads of hair and through glittering shoulders to search for her group.

The scowl in her heart must have bled through to her expression. The man next to her noticed it anyway.

He was at least ten years older than her, but attractive anyway. Not as pretty as the bartender though. She kept her wits about her this time, and followed his gaze toward the stage.

He was friends with the band? A pianist and vocalist were performing, and it sounded like a Methos cover.

"A loneliness worth the sacrifice then because they are much better than the techno before."


The bartender returned, gently placing a glistening martini glass before her and flashing a sexy smile.

Danika squealed at its appearance. The blue was glowing within, casting the glassware with eerie crystal shards of light.

"This must have a splash of quinine in it! It absorbs ultraviolet light, which excites it's electrons to a higher state and upon their descent back to steady state, they emit a photon that we perceive as fluorescence. There must be some black lights above us!"
She exclaimed and lifted the rim to her lips. A jablonski diagram filled her mind's eye as she sampled the cocktail, anticipating bitterness. It was like drinking liquid heaven. Galaxy was an apt name for the cocktail.

Her neighbor at the bar had wine. It seemed so ordinary in a place like Manifesto.

She lifted her glass anyway. "Cheers! I'm celebrating!"

[Methos]

Bradley watched as Methos and Anton played their parts. Adam was all over the club floor flirting with man and woman and he say his songs. It was a sight to watch him in his element. He'd long gotten over the jealous moments when Adam would touch another person. He knew where his husband came home to every night even if they weren't in the same location.

The girl beside him rattled on things he didn't quite understand. Science must be her thing. He smiled and nodded and basked in her excitement.

Bradley had forgotten how many glasses of wine he'd had as he sipped his last one - at least that was what he told himself. She declared she was celebrating and Bradley smiled. "What are you celebrating my dear?"

"Academic rigor! The promise of tenure! Changing the field of physics forever!"
Her expression changed, more like she was changing gears. Probably dumbing it down for him. "Badass science!"


Bradley smiled. "Definitely in need of celebration then." He waved over the bartender. "Three of what she's having. Methos will want to celebrate with us." And he couldn't leave out Anton, he and Adam were having a grand old time.

His drink arrived and the other two were being held for when Adam returned to him. It was a truly fascinating drink, the way it glowed. Bradley turned to watch his husband on his latest rendition of a ballad he'd written when they were very new to this life.

****

Methos was in heaven on stage. Every eye on him. The roar of the crowd. Though the rich and the famous were a little more discrete in their roar. But the energy was there and that was what Adam loved.

He and Anton paused a moment and took a moment to wet their whistles so to speak. While he breathed in he spoke to the crowd. "Anton Stepanov, ladies and gentleman. You can see him preforming Orpheus Monteverdi's L'Orefeo. One last song. Any one specific?"


A man in the crowd shouted out, "Dark Necessities"

Methos frowned. "I am not a cover band."
Methos waved the suggestion away.

A woman in the crowd shouted, "Found His Soul."

Methos grinned "Yes. That one. I can definitely do that one."
He hoped Anton knew the song. But if not a capella it was. Methos started singing the song he'd written for Bradley. It was his bearing of the soul to the man he loved. The first time he'd ever sang the song he and Bradley were alone, and he'd proposed afterwards. It was not a whirlwind romance, years upon years went into crafting it before Adam proposed to him. And Adam had been terrified Bradley would say no.

As the song came to the chorus his eyes landed on the pair at the bar. Bradley grinned at him and he leaned in to the girl with a whisper. Bradley knew the game...

****

Methos started singing. His voice as lovely as the day he'd first sung that song to him. And when his husband turned to find him with a beautiful girl. Bradley leaned in and whispered. "It seems you have an admirer. He will sweep you away when this is all said and done. Your friends will be ever so jealous. Teach them to leave you here all alone."
Edited by Methos, Aug 31 2016, 08:42 AM.

[Anton]

Anton, like Methos, was in his element - possibly a little more. The discrete roar of the crowd was a little more normal for Anton. Fingers moved with practiced ease over the keys as they finished the first song. Methos introduced him, and Anton stood giving a wave and slight bow before sitting back down.

Methos took requests for the second and final one. The first song shouted out was turned down. No covers. Anton smiled and went directly into the introduction as the second song was requested and accepted.

Bradley was at the bar with a very attractive young lady. Anton offered her a smile and nod before turning back to the piano. He rarely let himself get attracted to others. Although he could control his sentience, it was often difficult if it got to a point where physical contact happened.

But still, she was very attractive, so the smile came nonetheless. The bartender had made four very bright drinks, one of which Bradley and the young lady had. The other two sat waiting, and he assumed they were for him and Methos. Anton had to watch it. He had several drinks already, and it was difficult to focus when you were drunk. It was a lot easier to get overwhelmed with the emotions of others when intoxicated.

Anton followed Methos in tempo and style, catching all the nuances. Finally he closed his eyes, letting the music envelope him.

[Danika]

They clinked glasses and the man next to her ordered more Galaxies. Danika's eyes went wide, "Who are the other two for?"
Surely not the pair of them! The drink was smoother than liquid silk, but she was sure to get drunk on more than one! She hadn't eaten all day! Not if she was going to fit in this dress, she didn't!

She followed his gaze back to the stage again. The live music was rather intoxicating, or maybe that was the drink making her head fuzzy. A gathering of club goers had congregated by the stage, reaching hands outward and shouting requests for songs. When Found His Soul began, the musician caught her eye. Danika's mouth dropped open, and when her new friend whispered in her ear, she guffawed, throwing her palm against her chest.

"That isn't.... who I think it is? Is it?"
She shook her head. The Galaxy must be stronger than she thought!

[Methos]

Bradley's smile brightened. "Of course it is darling. That is Methos in the flesh. My love, my life and my light here to sweep you off your feet."

****

Methos continued to sing his song of love to his husband and to the girl accompanying him at the bar. Bradley was holding a shimmering blue drink between two fingers waiting for him. His own sat next to him on the bar. The girl seemed awed. It was perfect. They couldn't have done better if they'd planned it - which they had not. But it was perfect none-the-less.

Methos walked up and the last few bars were sang in front of the pair before him. Methos winked at his husband then laid a gentle kiss on the girls cheek and spoke softly into the mic. "That's it for tonight folks. You can find me on stage in a few weeks. I'm sure tickets are going like hotcakes. And my lovely Anton's tickets as well. Show him some love to my friends."


Methos handed the mic to the bar tender who took it without a thought. Adam smiled at Bradley then gave the woman beside him a good look. "And my lovely dear, what might I call you?"
He sipped at the sparkling drink at smiled. "And what shall I call this?"
Methos took another sip. "This is not something Bradley would drink on his own."
Methos picked up the other drink and handed it to Anton, or at least he assumed Anton had joined them and he held it out for the other man to take but never taking his eyes of the little darling in front of him.

"When these drinks are done, I think we should move the party to someplace we can let our hair down - more comfortable anyway."

[Anton]

Mini rock concert done, Anton stood and headed to the bar, taking the drink offered to him by Adam. Anton leaned casually on the bar, while Adam spoke to the young lady, sipping the interesting colored beverage. It was surprisingly tasty. He hadn't expected it to taste like that.

The young lady next to Bradley seemed a bit irritated to his senses, but at the same time, surprised. She likely hadn't suspected that Methos would make an appearance, but then again, Anton hadn't either.

"Hello, Anton Stepanov, at your service,"
he said politely, offering his name and a polite bow of the head to the lady. He found that worked better than shaking hands for him. It kept other emotions from jumping into his head unbidden.

Anton had to wonder what game that Methos was playing here. The song he had sung had been for Bradely, that much was certain, but he certainly didn't hold back from the lady either. Where did the singer want to go? Anton remained silent and waited.