to Berlin with love.

[runningred]

 From here

Jay opens the door into a quiet back alley that could belong to any city - the lingering scent of garbage and the miss-matched colours where graffiti has been washed off or painted over. In the mid-afternoon chill of early spring, he takes Emcee's hand and leads him out into the street, pocketing the key. The sunlight is thin but warm and picks out the green swell of buds in the branches. The tree lined avenue is quiet this time of day. Not lacking in people but without rush, a lazy Saturday afternoon.

Comments

[runningred]

"No wonder Alice picked you for the first dance. You scold like her." Jared teases playfully. "But I'd be happy to keep running the kitchens here, even after I qualify. No reason we can't run the club as a restaurant as well. it'd bring in more people in the lunch hour."

[i_am_your_host]

"I do not scold like her!" he giggles. "For one thing, nobody ever takes me seriously when I scold."

That's not entirely true, but he rarely ever does so anyway.

"And that's a wonderful idea. People like to drink and dance, but they like to eat, too."

[runningred]

Jared laughs warmly. "Clearly you need to get to know my sister better." He smiles shyly again. "And I think she'd like to get to know you better too."

[i_am_your_host]

"Mmm, likewise," he says with a warm grin. "The night has just begun, darling. By closing time I suspect that I will have made the acquaintance of many."

[runningred]

Jared smiles and takes Emcee's hand, kissing it softly. "I hope so." He flushes again. "But I'm keeping you from your date, I'm sorry."

[i_am_your_host]

Sweet.

"Such is the life of a social butterfly," he says with a little smirk. "I'll see you around, darling."

As he makes his way toward the bar to find Jay, he can't help being distracted by someone's unusual hair color or their fascinating outfit and telling them a compliment or two.

[runningred]

Jay's leaning against the bar, chatting with Miss Kitty, turning to offer Emcee a glass of very good gin.

Kitty grins and greets Emcee, "Well hello, beautiful. Your charming toyboy was just telling me you're quite the entertainer. You were magnificent on stage with our darling Alice. Will you dance with me later?"

[i_am_your_host]

"Well, hallo yourself, gorgeous," Emcee chirps back as if they were old friends, before taking the glass of gin with a kiss to Jay's cheek.

"Thank you, I would be absolutely delighted to dance with you, Miss Kitty. But what has he been telling you about me, I wonder?" he then says with a playful nudge to Jay's side. "I assure you that rumors of my entertaining prowess have been greatly exaggerated. And that's just the way I like it."

He smirks.

[runningred]

Just the way Miss Kitty likes it. After all, all her guests are friends. As they should be.

"Oh, only the very best things! I can see why you keep him." She grins to Emcee, running a finger over Jay's bared shoulder. "Well, that and the rest of him. Do you tango or would you prefer something else?"

[i_am_your_host]

"Oh, yes, he's very handy to have around."

Emcee hangs on Jay's arm and affectionately leans against him.

"Tango? I can improvise. Jay is the one who knows how. He tried to teach me once, but as an instructor he was very, very distracting and our lesson swiftly led to other things." He squeezes Jay's arm.

[runningred]

Miss Kitty looks Jay up and down. "Yes, I can see how that might be a problem. Big handsome lad like you." She touches the tip of her fan to the underside of Jay's chin. "Perhaps I should invite him to tango and pull you back on stage for something else? We do love having our friends join us. Makes the show so much more exciting."

Jay's eyes glitter, lifting his chin to the touch, his arms around Emcee's waist. "I'm willing if you are."

[i_am_your_host]

"Do it, darling," he encourages Jay with a grin. "I want to see you dance."

With a sip of gin he turns to Miss Kitty. "And I certainly am a firm believer in audience participation, so pull me up for anything you like, my dear, I know I'll enjoy it."

[runningred]

"Then I'd be glad to." Jay grins, turning to kiss Emcee's cheek.

Kitty purrs deeply, her lips curling in a grin as she looks Emcee up and down. "Which begs the question, darling, what do you like to do? Tonight's show we have have plenty of room to be...flexible."

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee smiles and coyly shrugs a shoulder.

"Oh, you know, I like to do a lot of things. A little bit of this, a little bit of that. Dancing and singing and whatnot. I must admit I'm not up to speed on today's popular songs, but I do love the classics. Does the band know any Queen?"

Queen is classic, right?

Emcee may be adapting better than one may expect.

[runningred]

"Oh darling!" Miss Kitty grins. "Freddy Mercury is one of our personal saints. Pick a song and the band would love to play it with you."

[i_am_your_host]

"Wonderful!" he chirps with delight.

He would never be able to do this back home. Not even in Milliways, not without people who played the proper instruments.

"I really must say, Miss Kitty, this is turning out to be a marvelous evening. Jay and I would probably be somewhere else if we hadn't run into Alice in the sex shop where she picked up her costumes. Speaking of which, I hope I see the cute boy who manned the counter, he was quite a little dish," he adds, scanning the crowd.

[runningred]

"Ah, the Fates know these things, darling. Or our lovely Alice would never have found you. You needed to be here tonight, just as we needed you." She leans in with a playful grin. "I'm part gypsy, darling. I know these things."

She scans with him. "I'm sure you'll find him. Or when he sees you, he'll find you."

[i_am_your_host]

"Then everyone who is here at this party, is meant to be here," Emcee agrees.

But is he meant to be in this world? In this time? If he could just stay within the walls of this club...

"Well, darlings, if you don't mind, I think I'll go mingle before the next part of the show starts. I see so many interesting people that I just want to talk to them all."

With a peck to Jay's cheek, he dances off into the crowd.

[runningred]

Jay squeezes his hand and lets him go, smiling as he watches Emcee become part of the crowd. Kitty leans on Jay softly. "He's beautiful, boss. Please tell me we can keep him?"

Jay shrugs, his voice wistful. "That's up to him, Kitty. But I hope so."

***

The DJ has the crowd dancing and more than a few people invite Emcee to join them. The cute boy from the sex shop spots him and greets him with a smile, lingering against a wall and watching, sipping a drink.

[i_am_your_host]

And Emcee dances with them all. Men, women, gay, straight, and everyone in between. It's quite the mix, and that's what Emcee finds so exciting and fascinating about this crowd. He effortlessly moves from one person to another like the self-proclaimed social butterfly that he is. Sometimes he exchanges bits of conversation with them, leaning in close to hear them over the music, relaxed and unguarded enough to let others into his own personal space. To the casual observer, he seems at home.

The boy from the sex shop catches his eye, and Emcee dances over to him and holds out a hand. The boy looks as if he's too shy to join him, but Emcee insists, tugging him off the wall. He doesn't pull him out onto the dance floor, though, but hovers near him, still stepping to the music as he talks to him, saying things into his ear.

Within a few moments the boy has got his hands on Emcee's hips, and they're both moving to the beat.

Emcee works very quickly indeed.

[runningred]

Jay watches from near the bar, sipping his drink and talking with anyone and everyone. The pageboy keeps drifting back to him, whispering in his ear, Jay's friendly with him, an arm around his waist but nothing more.

[i_am_your_host]

At some point, Emcee pulls the boy in for a kiss. It's not much longer than a peck on the lips. The boy smiles and laughs, and Emcee giggles at his reaction, and they dance through the rest of the song before they part to enjoy themselves with other partners. Emcee keeps an eye on him, though. He's never too far away.

And then there's the big bearded bear of a bartender from the Cat and Mouse. Emcee lets out a cheer and waves to him, coaxing him into the middle of the crowd, and greeting him with a kiss on the cheek. He gets a dance, too.

Eventually Emcee has to refuel, and so he makes his way back to the bar, flushed and happy.

[runningred]

Jay’s waiting with a gin cocktail and a warm smile. “You really have got that pretty boy in your sights, don’t you? He blushes very cutely.” He nods up the stairs towards the smoking area on the balcony of the mezzanine. “I’m told there’s a couple more acts before Miss Kitty will be calling for audience participation.

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee beams at him and takes the cocktail, leaning up to kiss the corner of his lips in thanks.

"He's very sweet," he murmurs, taking a sip. "And quite a sexy dancer."

He follows his gaze and looks up at the balcony.

"Upstairs? Ooh, that would be perfect, I want to see more of this place while I can. Let's go." He slips a hand around Jay's arm.

[runningred]

"So I saw. At least when I could take my eyes off you." Jay flatters harmlessly as they walk up the stairs.

They walk along the mezzanine - more tables with views of the stage and dance floor, private booths to the back with less of a view but very much more private. Something that's being made the most of, judging by the giggles and soft moans coming from some of the closed curtains.

The smoking section is a partitioned off area of the balcony, resembling an oversized theatre box with a silent but very effective ventilation system. Modern smoking laws being what they are. Some very fine cigars are being shared around a group of well dressed women in Humphrey Bogart-eque suits, touching the brims of their fedoras in greeting as Emcee and Jay join them.

"Have you seen Vic before?" One of them asks, offering them a lighter almost as old as Emcee. "Love this act."

Below the lighting is being dimmed, the stage cleared for the next act.