runningred | to Berlin with love.

Emcee is about to reply to Jay when the plain but still cute man comes up to them. And it takes a moment of staring at him before he realizes who he is.

Eyes wide, Emcee takes his hand and clasps it between his own.

"Oh my god, darling, I didn't even recognize you without your tits on," he gushes with a laugh. "And there's an after party? Devil's Ducky??"

He glances at Jay, still clutching Simon's hand, then back at Simon.

"Will Alice and Jared be there? We made plans with them. Rather, Alice made plans with us and its probably imperative that we stick to them."

Simon chuckles, far lower and softer than Kitty's giggle. "So we've heard. Alice can be like that."

He glances to Jared. "Couple of drinks at the Ducky before Alice drags you off?"

Jared shrugs, addressing Emcee and Jay. "If you don't mind. The Ducky is where club staff go to drink after work. It's nothing like this. Just a little bar with a silly name. The owners are Korean. They wanted it to have a Germanic sounding name so they picked a couple of words out of a book that looked right to them. It came out as Satanic Mallard so it's been Devil's Ducky ever since."

"That is fucking hilarious," Emcee snorts laughingly, "but I love it."

He turns to Jay again, and slips his hand around his arm.

"What do you think, darling? One more round with these lovely people?"

"Sounds good to me." Jay smiles.

Simon smiles as well as the little bunny girl, his wife Lara, joins them. "Jared and Alice will follow along as soon as they lock up, no doubt. They take looking after this place very seriously."

Outside the sun is rising and the staff of Wonderland share cigarettes and casual insults as they walk towards the Devil's Ducky. There's an easy feeling of family here, relaxed and open.

Simon lets Lara skip on ahead with some of the other girls and drops back to talk with Jay and Emcee. "So, Alice tells me you're moving into the penthouse? I hope that means we'll see more of you? I'd love someone to work on new material with."

Emcee bums a cigarette off one of the band members before everyone splits into loose groups as they proceed down the empty street. A smoke is perfect right about now.

He smiles as Simon joins him and Jay. But his questions leave him a little flustered.

"Oh, um--"

He chuckles airily, glancing up at Jay, as he tries to pull words together through the haze of alcohol.

"Well, you know, I'm between places at the moment. I don't know when I can move in yet. But as soon as it happens, I would most definitely like to work with you. I think that could be quite exciting."

"No hurries." Jay gives Emcee a little squeeze. "Things'll sort themselves out when you're ready."

Simon smiles. "Well, when you do, it'd be great to have someone to bounce ideas with." He gives Emcee a warm little bump. "Another showman."

One of the bar staff at the head of the group calls back something about Karaoke Combat. The reaction is split between cheers and groans as they turn into a narrow lane.

Satanic Mallard is a low roofed place with stained dark wood counters and a garish karaoke stage in one corner and a dance machine in the other. The high scores on the board are the names of local bars and the teams. Wonderland - Kitchen holds the top spot.

A tired looking Korean woman starts pouring drinks as they all stumble in, clearly accustomed to this crowd.

The thought is of course sobering. Emcee can almost feel the alcohol dissipating in his bloodstream.

But he continues to smile and chuckle, appreciating Jay's support and Simon's camaraderie.

"I may already have several ideas for shows, but we'll save them for later," he tells Simon with a grin.

As they follow the rest of the group into the pub, Emcee looks around with amusement. He's never seen a dance machine before, but doesn't want to ask what it is in case it's a common future thing. But thanks to Milliways, he definitely knows what karaoke is.

Overall, the place has a quirky, local vibe that he likes.

"Oh my god, that poor woman," he mumbles under his breath with a faint smirk when he sees the bartender. It's a familiar look on the bartenders at the Kit Kat Klub.

"She's use to us." Simon chuckles, accepting a tray of shots from the lady as she mutters complaints in Korean that make Jay snort.

He passes the shots around as the kitchen staff make a bee-line for the dance machine, offering shots to Jay and Emcee's. "Happy Pride Week, everyone!"

Much cheering answers him.

Emcee takes his glass and raises it with the others.

"May all your days and nights forever be gay," he declares before downing the shot.

While he is enthusiastic, he still must contain his wonderment at the existence of such a thing as Pride Week. Again, it might seem out of place.

His attention is then drawn to the group headed for the dance machine. Mostly he just wants to see what it is and what they're going to do with it.

The kitchen crew take over the machine and load up their favourite routine. A few minutes later, the four machines are blasting overly cute K-Pop as they bounce along to the screen instructions.

Jay shifts to a corner, perched on a bar stool and talking again with the pretty young man he's been taking to in Wonderland. The youth's body-language implies he's very, very interested in being closer than he is to Jay.

Emcee glances over at Jay and sees that he's being kept busy. So he orders a bottled beer from the bartender, something simple so she doesn't have to work too hard, and then wanders over to the spectacle of the dance machines. His eyes widen as he watches the rapid movement of their feet and the scrolling screen, and he gets the gist of it-- it's a game.

"Oh my god," he laughs over the music, to whoever is standing near enough to him to hear. "How are they even doing that? They're amazing!"

Lara, who happens to be standing close to him watching, laughs warmly. "The kitchen team are champions at Dance Dance Revolution. Don't asks me why but this is what they do to wind down." She leans against him in a friendly way as they watch. "I'd wonder if they were on Speed but the boss has opinions about drugs in the workplace and Jared's pretty strict with them. Even if he and Alice are the only ones who have met the boss."

Of course Emcee lets her lean on him, he's very open to people leaning on him.

"The boss? You know, I thought Alice was the boss, but I have only heard vague and mysterious things about the boss. What do you know about them?"

He restrained himself from asking what speed was. Slang for some kind of drug, obviously, but he didn't want to seem unfamiliar with it. The policy on drugs in general, however, makes him rethink a few things.

Edited 2016-09-14 19:10 (UTC)

Lara's a cuddly little thing who just loves being near people. "Oh no. The owner hired Alice and Jared." She giggles as the kitchen team work up to a big finish. "See, I could never do that. Simon could, but only in his heels."

So, not much more information about this big secret boss. Oh, well.

Awestruck, he watches the kitchen team's fast-paced footwork, and applauds when they finish.

"I couldn't do that either," he chuckles, "in or out of heels. The karaoke, however..."

Jared and Alice come in, Jared applauding his team. "Still haven't beaten my score, I see." He teases.

They bow and step away, giving him the machine. For a solidly built and muscular guy, he knows how to move.

Emcee watches with equal parts amusement and astonishment as Jared matches the machine step for step, and his feet are a near blur when he difficulty levels increase. Plus, he does move with finesse.

They say that how well someone dances is indicative of what they're like in bed. So at least Emcee knows he's got rhythm.

Alice heads over to the corner with Jay and the young man, clearly making the young man uncomfortable.

Most everyone else is watching Jared whose eyes are closed, not needing the screens to know the routine.

Emcee laughs and rolls his eyes.

"Oh, now he's just showing off," he tells Lara teasingly.

Lara giggles. "He's not, you know. He doesn't do it for attention, Jared's not like that. Alice is the flashy one. Jared's just... Jared." She says it with utter admiration.

"I can definitely see that," he agrees with a chuckle, before cheering him on.

At the forefront of his mind he wonders how Jared and Alice would work in a foursome.

Jared finishes his routine and takes a bow as the perfect score lights flash at the top of that machine.

He steps down, laughing as his team clap him on the back and offer him shots. He turns down the drinks and gets some water instead. He smiles to Emcee and Lara. "Would you like to have a go?"

Lara giggles and goes up on her tiptoes to kiss Jaden's cheek. "You know what I'm like. I'd fall over my own feet."

"Does it have a ridiculously easy level with baby steps?" Emcee asks, taking a sip of beer. "Because at this point I may fall over her feet. But I'll try."

"It does have a pretty easy beginners level." He offers Emcee his hand to come up onto the machine next to him. "I'll play it with you if you like?"

He turns to Lara with wide eyes. "He's such a gentleman," he says exaggeratedly.

Tossing back the rest of his beer and shedding his coat (you know it's on when the coat comes off), he takes Jared's hand and steps up onto the machine. The platform is like a little stage with tiles that act like buttons under his feet.

"All right, how do we start?"

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