Participants:
Scene Title | Of Intimacy And Such |
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Synopsis | Nice talk, nice kiss, good song. |
Date | November 3, 2008 |
The Orchid Lounge, owned by the mother of Senator Nathan Petrelli, is an Asian-inspired martini bar lit by candlelight and the soft glow of wall sconces spaced evenly throughout the room. Although there aren't any employees at the door to check for identification, it's unusual to find anyone in the college-aged crowd at the Lounge, which caters to young professionals with plenty of extra money to burn. During the day, the plush burgundy drapes affixed to the windows are used to filter out the sounds of traffic and at night are drawn back to allow passersby a glimpse inside.
Seating is simple: clusters of rectangular tables fashioned from white marble, each with two leather benches parallel to the longest sides. Silk pillows in varying shades of red, brown, yellow and orange lend a splash of colour to the Lounge, vivid against the pale walls and black-painted cement floor. On one wall is a giant mirror with an intricately carved frame that reflects almost everything in the room and makes the space appear twice as large as it really is. Clearly, the proprietor of this establishment wanted to get her money's worth - real estate in this part of town isn't cheap!
It's a slightly cold night and there are not that many people in the Orchid Lounge this evening. Currently on the stage is a woman singing a slow song that is slowly beginning to grow with more power behind her voice. The song speaks of something new coming along and how people shouldn't except that things will not always be the same. Wearing a dark red dress and black boots, Eve is look especially nice today. When she finishes the rest of the song, the crowd claps and cheers and Eve modestly thanks everyone and leaves the stage, walking over to sit in a booth in a corner of the lounge.
This place is way too nice for the likes of him. Teo is well-aware of this fact. Fortunately, his ego is large enough— and based on all the right things, that he chooses to make good on his oath from years ago rather than succumb to social inferiority. He shows up in shoes that aren't sneakers, pants that aren't jeans, and a shirt that he might have worn to work if it wasn't black.
He pays the overhead charge without a visible wince, steps around a woman who has fingernails the color of scabs, and smiles quizzically when the man she's with gives him a Look that is definitely capitalized at the first letter. Past sequins and talk of the stock exchange, he meanders until he finds— "Eve?" She stands out in the half-darkness of atmospheric lighting.
"Hey there, so you came after all" Eve smiles softly and chuckles at Teo who obviously seems out of place. "Did you pay at the door? I would have gotten you in if I knew you were coming" Eve looks around the lounge then pats the seat next to her in the booth. "Did you get to hear me sing at all?" she asks and leans forward some to study Teo. He does look good to Eve right now.
Teo's ego is indeed partly propped up on the fact that he is a fairly handsome fuck. None of your floppy-haired and poofy-lipped underwear model types, but his hair, lips, and musculature serve him pretty well, he thinks, whenever he allows himself the vice of vanity. Which isn't altogether often. He'd just rather not show up at the Orchid Lounge looking like an utter slob; he gets the sense that half the people in here are carrying flutes full of beverage that cost more than what his kidneys would catch on the black market.
It's kind of funny, if you have that sense of humor. Teo hasn't entirely grown out of that. He sits next to her where she indicates. "Buona sera, bella. I caught the last couple bars," he says. Adds, mock-imperiously, "You'll have to go up again before I'm outta here. I didn't recognize the melody." He cants his head, lean shoulders stooping to sit his elbows casually on his knees. "What was it?"
"Just something I wrote a while back" Eve comments softly and then adds on, "I talked to Helena the other day, no fighting. And I have something for you and some other people of PARIAH, photos of before all the craziness with our faction started to happen" Eve looks sad for a moment and then goes back to looking at Teo again, "Oh and by the way. You look really nice tonight, as in hot" Eve chuckles and winks. She can flirt right? It's harmless.
Not if you're Alexander around Teo twenty-four hours ago. But Teodoro is twenty-four hours older now, dressed up reasonably nice and, really, less of a prude than he occasionally thinks would be more morally correct. He gives her a grin that reaches his eyes. "You look pretty hot yourself," he says. "Not enough people wear red in this city. I think it's something about solemnity." He sobers slightly, running blunt fingernails through his hair. "Glad you and Hel managed to have a civil conversation. I thought you were were friends once." He puts a parody of paranoid insecurity across his face, eyes turning furtively too and fro. "Somebody /photographed/ me?"
Eve laughs, "Why thank you and red is one of my favorite colors, symbolizes passion" she says in a soft tone and then she nods at the younger man, "We all were friends once" Eve says stiffly and then laughs again at Teo's antics. "You smiled for the picture and it's being sent to HomeSec as we speak" she teases lightly.
"S'pose we were," Teo acknowledges with a half a smile. All friends once. And perhaps they might be again. Some other notion clouds his eyes a moment, but he clears them with a blink. "I like red for that reason. And I can't stop looking at your boots," he states after a moment, straightening. He sits back on the seat, suddenly exchanging his hangdog slouch for a lazy sprawl. And just like that, as tangible as touch, he's expanded his personal bubble to include the woman he's with, his arm falling on the furniture behind her head without intruding so far as to rest on her hair. Cheerfully, he asks, "If I can keep up small-talk for at least fifteen minutes, will you promise to kick my ass with them?"
Eyebrows are raised at Teo and Eve grins in response, "My boots" is all the seer says and her shoulders shake with laughter. She inches over more toward Teo but not /too/ close. Her light grey eyes study his, "I love it when you talk dirty" Eve sticks her tongue out in a playful manner and then she kicks Teo softly under the table.
That's a start. Teo laughs. Glances up briefly when the next musician takes the stage: a man with an acoustic guitar carved from tan wood and a voice in deep bass, which rumbles at a dieselly register that fits the song he starts to play. "You fight like a girl," he complains without heat. Blue eyes meet gray; his grin seals around a smile and goes crooked. He looks younger then. "You've come back to us then?"
Eve takes the opportunity to prove Teo wrong and she punches him in the arm and then snickers, "How's that better?" Eve studies the musician for a moment and then returns gaze back to Teo, "Yep, back in action. Hope you missed me"
Two nods of assent fade into a skeptical look and then the beginnings of a shake of his head, before Teo aborts out of that rather unconvincing deception with a grin. "Nearly withered and died," he assures her lightly. "Sorry I didn't get here earlier. I'm all over the map these days. You were probably right taking a few weeks off to collect yourself. If you're going up again, I have a song I'd kind of like to hear in your voice, if you know it. Morcheeba's 'The Sea.'" He looks at her a protracted moment while the guitarist starts to punk through a few opening bars. Offers her a hand, palm up. "Do you have the photographs with you?"
"Then it is good that I came back when I did" Eve says in a light tone and then ruffles her head a little, "No worries and I agree that I didn't a little bit to get myself together or I would have been no help to anyone" the singer nods and grins widely, "I'll sing it next, speaking of next. I'm up right after this guy" she takes Teo's hand and shakes her head, "I'll bring them when I come back around to HQ" she says simply
Palms crosswise, Teo folds his fingers over the back of Eve's hand, gives it a reassuring squeeze. His hands are rough but clean; he's a laborer, but not by trade and certainly not by night. The touch is as much gratitude as comfort, reciprocal. "I'll hold you to it," he replies, far as her return to headquarters goes. He squints through the half-light at her. "I withdraw the question if it's stirring shit or whatever, but I feel like it's something I should know. You and Cameron?"
"There was something there" Eve looks down and squeezes Teo's hands softly. "But we never had the chance to do anything about our feelings, with the cause and all. I told him how I felt about him and he did what a leader should do, turned me away. I loved him once" Eve says all this with her head bowed and when she looks up, her facial expression isn't one of sadness, something more like peace. "We were content with our close friendship"
Teo couldn't say that peace is something he's familiar with, but he's given to understand that it can be a welcome relief from many of the alternatives. He studies her face with gentle interest, fades into a nod, a slightly troubled knot on his brow. He eases it with effort. "That's rough," he grunts sympathetically. "I've seen what that can do to people." Losing the one.
"Cam wouldn't have wanted me dwelling on his death and so I'm not and he also wouldn't want me to be alone all my life" Eve says softly and then sighs as the man that was stage finishes his performance and he leaves the stage. "I have to go sing" Eve gives Teo a soft smile and then does something that surprises even her, she leans in and kisses Teo gently before standing and beginning to walk towards the stage. "I like you Teo, you have a good heart" she says and then she makes her towards the stage again.
The Linkin Park soundtrack was blaring away to his private misery, thinking of Romero, of Gianina; he conjured half a smile when she mentioned Cameron's well-wishes, let go of her when she rose to approach the stage. And then she kisses him. He tenses up fractionally but refrains from bunting anybody with his elbow this time; his eyelashes brush her cheek as she moves back and he turns his head along a tangential line. He clears his throat. "I'm all right," he allows after a moment, without the weight of conviction behind it. His eyes look pale. "Thank you," he says. He probably means: for the song.
Flocking to the sea,
Crowds of people wait for me.
Sea gulls scavenge, steal ice cream
Worries vanish
Within my dream.
Fishing boats sail past the shore,
No singing May Day any more.
The sun is shining, the water's clear,
Just you and I walk along the pier.
A cool breeze flows, but mind the wasp.
Some get stung, it's worth the cost.
I'd love to stay,
The city calls me home.
More hassles fuss and lies on the phone.
I left my soul there,
Down by the sea.
I lost control here,
Living free.
November 3rd: Your Best Interest |
November 3rd: Just The Beginning |