karaoke in the afternoon [[open]]

[Guest]

Cassiopeia Lestrange had never quite been able to decide whether two o'clock on a Saturday in the Drunken Elf was her favorite or least favorite time to be there. She liked having the bar empty, it gave her time to let her mind wander or to sneak in some reading time under the bar. At the same time, though, she hated being the Bartender of an empty bar. She felt useless. Slothful even. She supposed she'd gotten too used to constant action. But it wasn't like she had any choice in the matter, working at two on a Saturday. She took every shift she could. This whole 'new life' thing seemed to be lacking the actual 'life' part. She worked, she worked, she hid a little, she read, she worked, and sometimes she slept. That was if a nightmare or that hideous skull on her arm didn't manage to keep her up. That didn't matter. What mattered was that Cassie had been working at the Elf for nearly six months now and she still hadn't made many friends. True, she seemed to always make a good impression on the rowdy late-night clientele, but she was positive that most of them wouldn't remember the first thing about their conversations with her. That was one of the plus-sides of drunks. They had very very leaky memories. She pretty much got to make a new impression on them every night they came in. Granted she had to maneuver quite cleverly to avoid them tweaking her bottom or letting their hands roam over her, but she had been an expert dodger since she had been six. Rule number 28, To be able to dodge is to be able to live another day. She brushed her father's words away with a fond smile and a shake of her head. There were no life-or-death situations to be found around here, thank Merlin.

The worst that had happened so far was an extremely brutish and extremely sober (imagine that) man who had tried to corner her. A quick Jelly-Brain jinx had dealt with him easily. She'd had to go outside after that, though. She'd come far too close to throwing a 'Crucio' at him, and it had made her feel sick. She had recovered quickly, and hadn't been bothered like that since.

Her hands had been polishing tankards as she'd gotten lost in her memory, doing what she'd trained them to do, but she came to herself and stopped them. There was nobody in the bar except for old Higgins over in the corner, and he'd been going at it since they'd opened. She didn't think he was going to be ordering anything else in the near future. In fact, it looked like he was asleep. She crept over to the haggard and strangely endearing patron and nodded. Yup, he was snoring. She crossed her arms and stepped across to the small raised platform that served as the stage of the Elf. There was a karaoke machine set up on it now, in preparation for the night's festivities. She whipped her wand from the long sleeve of her shirt, she kept it in a spring clip on her forearm, and gave it a flick to turn the machine on. She clicked her wand back into place and picked up the heavy, beer-smelling microphone from on top of the machine.

She hummed a couple of bars of amazing grace and her voice practically begged to be let out. She glanced around, didn't see her boss, and raised the microphone to her lips. Higgins didn't make much of an audience, but she would take anything she could get. She punched the sticky 'Play' button of the machine and music gurgled out from the crusty speakers. She recognized it as a pretty muggle song, one she knew the words to and that suited her voice. What luck. She let the music go for a couple of eight-counts, then joined in.

"Kiss me, out of the bearded barley.
Nightly beside the green, green grass.
Swing-swing, swing your spinning step.
You wear those shoes and I will wear that dress. Oh-oh."

She stepped onto the stage and let her voice out, closing her eyes and pretending there was a roomful of people in front of her. Her voice was clean and pure and hit the notes with no trouble.

"Kiss me! Beneath the milky twilight.
Lead me out on the moonlit floor.
Lift your open hand, strike up the band
and make the fireflies dance,
the silver moon's sparkling."

She opened her eyes. Nope, just Higgins. "So kiss me." She said, wishing horribly that she hadn't left home and the arms of those who appreciated her. She wished there was someone here that would remember her the next day.

[Guest]

It just so happened that upon the very day in which none other than the infamous Billie Baxter had intended to get drunk with a good deal of friends, he was stood up. Preposterous! He was a man of good standing among the ruffians with which he often hung around with. He had never before in his life, however, been stood up in such a way. As fate had it, there were quite a few little 'standing up's' going about, if that's the way to put it. He had, in fact, stood up all his friends on the very evening he had intended to get drunk with them. Who had stood him up had been the devastatingly ravishing young female he had met earlier that morning, who he had been absolutely positive he had never seen, but who had been just as absolutely positive that she knew him. To make up for the confusion, he proposed they solve the matter by getting to know one each other... er... better I suppose.

This meeting was supposed to take place at the Drunken Elf, approximately... thirty minutes ago... Hmmm... Billie Baxter knew when he was being stood up well enough to realize it had just happened. He, however, being a gentleman and honestly, not caring one bit as long as he had a good time, decided he may as well get drunk. Even if it was only with some mangy bum. And so he approached the bar, having waited in the streets for the lovely little snipe.

And so it was that his timely approach allowed him to hear the clear and radiant voice which pierced air and soul, or so he thought, being a romantic when it came to music. He stepped with some caution into the bar, when the lady seemed to have finished the rendition, in case she wanted to start up again he in no way wished to hinder her. However upon entering he saw it was none other than his good friend, Cassie! Miss Le Strange, whom he was absolutely delighted to see. He had entirely forgotten that she was the bartender, having not come to the bar the entire year. Maybe the evening wasn't going to be an absolute disaster as he had earlier predicted.

He sidled up all fancy like to the karaoke stage, tipping his black fedora over one eye and straightening his black vest over his purple dress shirt. He was certainly looking fine for the occasion, and observed to himself that Cassie was as well, which was no surprise. He sat smack dab down beside her in an empty chair, his face partly hidden in hair and hat. He pulled a little flask of his own from his pocket, seeing as Cassie wasn't really doing her job, and wasn't really even paying much attention to much it also seemed. Then he sat, humming to himself. Though he didn't realize it, the tune was 'on the road again' which didn't make much sense but was the only song in his mind at the moment.

[Guest]

Cassie bit her bottom lip in distress and set the microphone back on top of the karaoke player, pressing 'stop' a moment later. She left the machine on, just in case a paying customer had the urge to use it, and stepped down from the low stage. She stopped pitying herself and her situation long enough to give the room another glance and found that it hadn't been as empty as she had thought. The proximity of the previously unforeseen customer startled Cassie and the back of her heel slipped off of the stage. She came down hard on her rear end and the air rushed out of her lungs. "Oh hell." she said, quite audibly. She was glad that there were so few customers around here. It really wasn't like her to be caught off guard like that. Of course, this whole self-pity thing really wasn't like her either. It hadn't been until she'd come to Woodberg County that she'd had any self doubt. It apparently came with the territory of being a decent human being. She picked herself up and dusted off her black jumper, giving extra attention to her arse since the floor of the place was rather dusty.

"I mean, oh hello of course." she said with a slightly embarrassed grin. "Good to see you Billie, you don't know how good it is to see a friendly face." She ran her hand down the side of her head, twisting up her curly hair. Her eyes fell on the flask at his lips and she glanced at her post at the bar, a little horrified. "Caught me slacking on the job, I see. Can I get you anything to keep your mouth shut for a while?" She grinned mischievously, knowing she could trust him not to tattle. Well, she knew she should be able to trust him, but she still had a little trouble with the whole adjusting to being around decent human beings.

[Guest]

Billie had excepted surprise, but he honestly hadn't expected her to entirely disregard her surroundings. He hadn't mean to startle her into hurting herself, and winced a little as she hit her rump, taking a swig and muttering a guilty 'oh dear'. She seemed, however to retain her wits. He grinned at her when she greeted him, and nodded.

"Its always nice to see you, Cassie. I couldn't pass up a chance to scare you witless." He teased. He loved to tease, it was part of his charm. Though it wasn't always taken the right way he generally knew the right thing to say at the right time to lighten the atmosphere. When she offered him something else he looked at his flask and deliberated for a moment before deciding it would be impolite to inconvenience her when he already had his own brew. He made it himself, in fact, and it was strong enough to knock most people off their feet, but he was used to it by now. He shook his head and lifted the little flask.

"Nahhh its quite alright, darlin, I've got my own little brew. Care for a sip? Its on the house, of course." He added with a grin, proffering the liquid, surreptitiously leaving out any comments on its potency. He had shocked more than one of his friends with the little brew, and wasn't about to miss another opportunity. After all, Cassie was a good friend, it would be a shame to not proffer something, eh?

[Guest]

"Wasn't scared, just startled. There's a difference." she nodded her head once and smiled bemusedly at her own little lecture. Probably didn't matter to Billie anyway, he was always so good at taking things in stride. She wondered what he was doing here without a posse or even a striking brunette to hang off of his arm. He wasn't the kind of person who could manage to keep his own company very often. She sighed a little at his refusal of his offer, wishing for something to do while she tended the empty bar. She always had her notes on that old Potions tome to go over, but that was out of the question now that he was here.

She raised an eyebrow tentatively at the flask, clasping her hands around her elbows in trepidation. It wasn't ever safe to drink unknown substances where she'd grown up, especially offered by people outside of her family. She doubted that Billie meant to poison her or anything of the sort, but she also doubted that the offered draught was non-alcoholic. She didn't make a thing of it, but for a bartender she was ridiculously lightweight. "Aw, thanks love, but I'm on the clock. Take a swig for me though, will ya?" She glanced again at the empty bar. "You mind if I move this party on over to the bar? I'd more than likely get the sack for not 'manning my post' or what have you."

She stepped over to the bar, her shoes crackling against discarded peanut shells, and waved him over. Turning her back on him, and hoping he meant to join her at the bar, she put her hands on the thick wood and vaulted easily over the bar and back to her post. "Aren't you a little young to be drinking so well, Billie?" she asked skeptically, picking up her glass rag and resuming her endless polishing. She felt a little more at ease on the other side of the bar, as if she was barricaded from the rest of the world.

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