"AND IIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEAAAAIIIIII WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOOOOOOUUUUU!" Belting into the mic, a rotund, passionately red-faced lady grips hard at the stand, to keep herself up from the several drinks fueling her vocal cords. All around the area, people are drinking and talking and laughing, and holding up lighters for the singer. It's well into the night, and the air is heady with alcohol and happy humanity.
At the bar, Alex is splayed back against the wood, arms laid along the polished wood, a half-empty beer in one hand and many more laying dead behind him. His head is back, and he's silently mouthing along with the words, a grimace of passion on his face. He's dressed up for the occasion, a long-sleeve black shirt pulled tight over his broad chest, and he's got clean, hole-less jeans on for once. The black-haired, blue-eyed college dude is moving up in the world.
Zoie enters into the club with open curiosity to this establishment. It was also the sign of open mic, but she is not carrying an instrument. A hand shakes as she moves it up to push through her hair as her green eyes sweep the club. When Zoie sees the first free seat, she all but scampers into it to stare at the stage. "I.. seriously.." The young woman is close enough to the bar to order a drink or be overheard.
It's like some sixth sense raises Alex's head, and his just-barely-on-the-side-of-glazed eyes slit open to peer out at the crowd. His nostrils flare in a sniff... Hmmm, /sexiness/ has entered the room. But where...
His eyes sweep from face to face, lingering on a few...and settle finally on Zoie. She certainly wakes him up from his pleasant stupor, and he sits up with a broadening smile. He can only see her in one-quarter view, but it's enough to admire the fall of her golden hair over her shoulder. Idly, he takes another drink of his beer, admiring.
To Zoie's left, a bespectacled woman with shaggy black hair and a low-slung turtleneck is belting along with the girl onstage, juggling an empty cocktail glass in one hand. When Zoie sits down, she smiles and turns to the blonde to sing in a voice that's even /more/ off key than the one coming from the mic. Oh yeah, feel the love.
Zoie is too nice to actually tell the woman to shut up. Instead, the very beautiful young lady sort of recoils back from the overly loud singer. "You um.. sing.. um.." She can't lie well either. A breath is taken as she looks around. For some reason her eyes fall on Alex. It might be fate, or it might be trouble, but they land there. A silent plea comes from those large, innocent emerald eyes. 'Save Me'
Alex's lips part into a faded, white smile when Zoie looks his way. He quirks an eyebrow at her mouthed words, and his jaw sets in determination. He makes a show of rolling up his sleeves and steeling himself for the task. In the meantime, the woman has started to drape herself against Zoie's chair, leaning dangerously close, her eyes closing. That empty cocktail hovers over Zoie's lap, tipping...tipping...tipping...
And it's snagged at the last moment, with Alex reaching around past the beautiful blonde to take the drink from the drunk lady's hand. "Whoops! I think you've had enough, ma'am."
The lush looks up with a bemused frown, peering upside-down at the two Alex's before her. "What...what are you gonna...No, I wanna have more! Can't make me..."
Well, that didn't work, but Alex puts on a pleading smile, settling a hand on Zoie's shoulder. "Could ya at least spare a seat so I can sit next to my girl, then?"
The woman's demeanor changes almost instantly and she sits up, squealing shrilly. "Oh! Ohhh, I should...should have known. You two are so adorable together!"
Those beautiful green eyes start to open with horror and not just because of the singing, now there is a threat of water damage to her lap. "I.." However, her soft voice is cut off by the hero or the evening, much like Batman, he's not radio-active. "Oh! Um.. yeah.. I.. I was looking for you." She blushes across her cheeks and looks away from him when his arm finds the back of her seat. The squeal causes Zoie to jump straight up and clutch at her heart. Then her eyes round back to Alex. "Thank you."
Alex nods his thanks to the woman, face flushing a little in embarassment. "You're too kind," he says, giving a small laugh the seems to disarm the tipsy woman. "Do you mind? We've got some snuggling to catch up on."
"Oh, of course of course!" More quickly than she should, the woman rises to her feet, and Alex grabs her by the arm to keep her from toppling forward. Turning her about, he nudges her on her way to stumble closer to the bar. Then, there's an attractive boy sitting down beside the gorgeous blonde, all smiles for her. He's leaning in towards her this time, his elbow on the armrest as he says in a consiratorial tone. "I should warn you, I have a fear of commitment, so if we want this relationship to work, we'll have to put in our all."
Zoie watches as Alex gets rid of the drunken woman for her and leans in. A nervous look causes Zoie to chew on the right corner of her lower lip. When he speaks of his fear of commitment, she gives a soft chuckle. "To be fair, I should warn you that I'm already down here for a shotgun wedding. We will be running off to Vegas to do one of those drive-thru marriages really soon." She offers her hand to him and scoots back just a little bit, as if uncertain how to deal with the attractive man. "Zoie Croft."
"Need a bridesmaid? I'm told I look smashing in puce, but not enough to show up any brides." Alex's eyes slips down over Zoie's body appraisingly, head tilting with a smile, "Though I don't know if I could hold a candle to you." When she scoots back, he sits up, turning sideways in his chair and taking her hand in a light squeeze. "Alex Bard. But my friends call me Jason. So please tell me you came here to sing. We'll need all the help we can get to beautify the stage tonight." He winces, shooting a glance up to the woman up there. Tears are starting to run down her cheeks as she gets /really/ into the song. "Well, no one can fault her for not having passion, I guess."
Zoie smiles and laughs to that comment as she shakes her head a bit. "Oh! Well I'm sure we will need witnesses, but it's okay darling, I'd be sure to make sure you could wear pink. I'm sure you would look fabulous." There has just been an assessement of his sexuality made and Zoie seems calmed by this. "Oh!" Zoie's face drains of color. "I.. I can't sing.. I um.. I don't.. I just want to listen. I um.. I can't go.. //on// the stage."
Alex puts his hands on his cheeks and flutters his eyelashes prettily. Oh yay~ When Zoie gets that panicked look however, the black-haired youth snorts and shakes his head. "What? Oh that's a lie, /everyone/ can sing! You just gotta get up there and do what you do every day in the shower." He gestures up to the stage, where the woman has broken away from the mic, having fallen into a full-on sobbing fit, while the audience applauds a little awkwardly. "Only you get to imagine everyone else as naked instead."
Zoie shakes her head rapidly. "Oh.. no.. no no! I can't get up there. Um.. why don't you do it. I mean you could sing It's raining men or something." She smiles sweetly to him, full of innocence. "Oh! I really couldn't imagine everyone naked." Her green eyes move over him as she suddenly turns very red.
"What? Not even me?" Alex spreads his hands, displaying himself to the girl's eyes. He's beaming brightly when he sees her turn red, though, and he clucks his tongue. "Unless I miss my guess, that's not a bad image, eh?" Winking at her, the man frowns thoughtfully at her suggestion for a song. "Hmmm...I don't think I'm drunk enough for that, yet..." he says, glancing back to the bar, then back to Zoie, looking even more thoughtful. "What do you usually sing? When you're alone and no one can hear you?"
Zoie looks around for a drink and if he brought his with him, she will steal Alex' beer. "Well.." Zoie smiles a bit. "Everything? I haven't met a music I haven't liked. What about you, Al-Jas-eh.." She blushes slightly again. "What do you do here?" Her eyes move to the stage to watch a man take up his guitar while he preps to sing some country music.
There's certainly a beer in Alex's hand, resting lazily between their seats. "Al-Jas-eh...makes me sound like I might be a terrorist." He rubs at the dark scruff on his chin. "I don't look Arabic, do I...oh Christ." His spirits fall as he looks up to the man on stage, seeing that overdone cowboy hat. He groans. "Most music I like, but this is...starting to be a bit much. What say we grab a few drinks and go somewhere less painful on the ears for a bit? Maybe..." And he smiles over at Zoie again, winking. "If there are less people around, I can coax a little tune out of you?"
Zoie looks up with interest at the man and then back towards Alex. "I would never say you look like a terrorist. Um.. where do you suggest going? I'm still sort of settling in and all of that." She looks a bit longingly back to the bar and shakes her head. "I shouldn't really buy too many drinks until I find a job."
"Well..." Alex glances at his wrist, frowning to realize there's no watch there. "Hmm...well, there's a lounge room in the back, where we can still hear the music over the speakers. And I'll treat you to drinks tonight, how's that sound? I hear there's a really comfy couch back there." Offering a long, thin hand out to her, Alex presents Zoie with a winning smile. "Join me? I don't bite."
Zoie laughs to that. "I'm not your type to bite either. Okay, let's go." She comes to her feet easily as she looks around and then offers. "Do you think they will really let us back there in that lounge?" Her lips curve a bit to that. "So is the city very progressive?"
"I'm positive we won't get in trouble, if that's what you mean," Alex says, taking Zoie's hand and slipping into the crook of his elbow as he leads her over to the bar. "Progressive?" he asks, flashing four fingers to the bartender, who pulls up four beers, "How do you mean?"
Zoie moves to the lounge. "You know.. they are open about gay rights and all that. I mean a few of the cities aren't even if they are a main city." Zoie flashes a quick smile over her shoulder as she leads on.
"I suppose? I haven't really asked around. It's the southwest, though. Kinda trapped between California and Texas, so there's gotta be some oddness going on. Not as cool as Cali, but then could anyone ever be?" As they get near the lounge area, they come up on a closed door. Alex's arm links about Zoie's waist, urging her out of the way with a smile and a murmured, "Allow me." Pulling some keys out of his pocket, he fiddles with the doorknob until it clicks open and he ushers his blonde companion through, a hand on her lower back.
The lounge itself is definitely part of the VIP section. Couches line the walls in a four-lead clover shape, heavy curtains raised between each section, giving plenty of privacy. Still, the muted sound of Achey Breaky Heart comes in over a speaker set in the ceiling. Alex slips in past Zoie, and plops himself down on one of the deep, red velvet couches, sighing and grinning up at her. He pats his lap. "Now /this/ is luxury, eh?"
Zoie moves through the door easily. "Well I was wondering if it is hard for you to live in this society being gay and all." There she goes disclosing her thoughts on the matter. A look of confusion moves through her eyes when he pats his lap while looking at her. So her lips quirk upwards as she moves to sit beside him. "So are you from here then or somewhere else?"
Well, that throws him off. Alex blinks in surprise, jaw falling open as he tries to find words for that. "Ummm..." Congratulations, Zoie! You made Alex speechless! It's not an easy feat.
As she sits beside him, he just shakes his head, mind still trying to make sense of that. "Uhhh...yeah, born and raised in north Cali. Beer?" One gets offered up to the cute girl beside him, and Alex drapes an arm over the back of the couch around behind Zoie, brushing up against her back.
Zoie smiles in that innocent manner of not understanding that she has it all wrong. Those lovely, lovely, innocent eyes gaze up at him so trustingly. There has been no mention that she might not be right on this assessment. "I went to California once it was nice and green with surfers." She grins to that. There is a tip of her head to the look of his arm across her back. "Oh! Sure.. but not too much. I'm a bit of a light weight."
Alex's eyes slowly narrow, and his lips curve into a small grin, as he slowly shakes his head in amusement. "Lightweight is right. I could lift you up with one hand," he says, his arm draping lightly against the back of her shoulders. He scoots in, giving her a shoulder to lean on, his body curving to form to hers. The perfect leaning couch. A cool beer gets touched to the side of her arm. "Ahhh, hopefully you didn't just see the beaches. They're nice, but nothing like the mountains and forested. The greenest leaves you've ever seen, short of ol' Ireland." At that last bit, a creep of an Irish brogue sneaks into his voice.
Zoie shakes her head a bit to that as he wiggles in. "You probably could. I've lost on the scales instead of gained lately. I think it's the move." She laughs lightly to that before stretching a bit. "So what do you do around here? I'm sort of looking for a job you know."
"The move, huh? I've heard of stress dieting..." Alex pats his stomach through his shirt, smiling and shrugging. "I prefer working it off, but what are you gonna do, eh? Hmmm? A job? Heh, I'm the wrong person to ask. I was a drifter myself, up until recently, but I'm starting to get some good leads on some music gigs. There's a promising opening at the Aftermath. Heard of it?"
Zoie shakes her head. "I just got to town today. I haven't heard of anything." There is a smile of relaxation though as she studies him. "You actually are a musician? That's kind of cool. What kind of music are you into?" She stretches out her legs and reclines back against him.
Alex's chest is warm and comfy, and he turns more towards Zoie, letting her lay her head back against his shoulder, his cheek pressing to her temple. Two arms slip easily around her, resting his hands easily on her waist. "It's a blast. I feel like I'm playing all day and not actually working. Guess that's why they call it playing music, huh? Oh god, all kinds, really. I'm especially enamored with folk music and hymnals when it comes to singing. But for being up on stage? You can't beat some good classic rock. You?"
Zoie thinks about it for a few moments. Music is important. "It depends on my mood. Like I said I love all kinds of music. I tend to listen to classical beyond most other kinds. Everything sort of has it's appeal and reason that the genre is recognized. I'm not large into rap, but I can admire the skill that it takes to rhyme to the beats. As well there is just so much expression in music that it is hard to pin down just one form to like, you know?"
"Well, rap isn't exactly music, is it? I mean, I can admire the skill it takes to weld four cars together end to end, but that still doesn't make it a good idea." Alex's fingers brush ever so lightly against Zoie's stomach, tickling her. "Oh, you know it! Why stick with one genre anyways? The best kinds of songs are the ones that combine genres anyways. You know honky tonk seems to be making a comeback."
FTB - Zoie gets a call from Daddy and leaves, promising lunch later.