17233/So, About That Drink

So, About That Drink
Date of Scene:	20 February 2024
Location:	Boho Karaoke
Synopsis:	A song, a fight and some romance. Sparks fly between the most unlikely pair.
Cast of Characters:	Olivia Gaudin, Luca Bandoni

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Olivia Gaudin has posed:
    All eyes on her? Olivia does that several nights a week! Seeing her reprise this role is something that people would usually throw down good money for. Tonight it's free! When she finishes the song, though, she has something to add.

    "Let's hear it for New York's bravest! And please, everyone, play nice for the rest of the evening," she calls out, aiming that brilliant smile at the men of the FDNY. What self-respecting girl doesn't give credit where it is due?

    On her way from the stage, she slips a toe under her dress and lazily flicks it up into her grasp. Where is she heading? Straight for Luca, with a focus that makes one wonder if she even sees the rest of the room.

    "So, about that drink..."

Luca Bandoni has posed:
And here NYPD think they have the hearts of the city what with all that 'New York's Finest' crap. Better to be brave than fine. Luca watches every detail of everything Olivia does. As she approaches him, he's still grinning and the very tip of his tongue is peeking out from the corner of his mouth.

That turns into his tongue making a pass over his bottom lip, he pulls it off without making it seem lewd.

"Sure, whatcha drinking?" he asks, easily enough. Any gawking he's doing at her undressed status is done with enough subtlety she might not even notice. "Name's Luca, Luca Bandoni," he offers before he tilts his head in the direction of the bar. His hand hovers at the small of Olivia's back as they walk. He never quite makes contact, it's more a way to keep her from getting bumped and bounced by the still rowdy crowd - much in the same way a man should always walk on the street side of the sidewalk.

He's a gentleman, it seems.

Olivia Gaudin has posed:
    Olivia watches him for a moment before answering. She considers her options, but falls back on the drink she left at the bar what feels like an hour ago. "I'm drinking blue arrows tonight." She likes the color, and they taste great, too.

    "Olivia Gaudin," she replies. She manages to do something of a curtsey after. It's hard to say if she meant to or not, but wow does it call attention to things! Then it is off to the bar.

    Due to her special gifts, she knows where his hand is. He doesn't touch her, though. It makes her curious. It takes all her focus to not focus on his heartbeat. That is, after all, cheating.

    "How long have you been a firefighter, Luca?" she asks, once the bar is reached.

Luca Bandoni has posed:
"Since the day I was born," Luca answers. He guides her without ever touching to the end of the bar, a spot where it bends around a corner, a place where people seem to have decided wasn't worth their time. A small section of bartop and two stools, perfect spot.

Luca doesn't even have to flag down the bartender because he's coming to them, holding a t-shirt. The bartender hands the shirt off to Luca along with, "One of your friends left this for you." They always have Luca's back.

"Blue arrow for the lady and a Jack'n'Coke for me." He's a simple man when it comes to his drinking, most blue collar sorts are.

"So, how long have you been a singer?" He may not know her outright, he's not much of a Broadway guy, but he knows a professional when he sees one.

He makes sure her stool's pulled out enough for her to sit comfortably before taking his own.

Olivia Gaudin has posed:
    Olivia grins at his answer. "Runs in the family, huh?" she replies. She doesn't know the last name, but she has met others who answered the same way. It is telling.

    She settles onto the stool with grace, her legs crossing in a way that isn't meant to be so expressive but probably draws attention anyway. It's hard not to considering what she's wearing.

    "And thank you. As for me, I've been singing since I was a child. First on television, and later on Broadway. I imagine some of this lot recognizes me." There is a subtle change in her posture. She leans forward, elbow on the bar, attention locked on Luca. Not just to focus on him and make sure he knows she is, but to prevent others from bothering her. "But I like that you do not. No assumptions or preconceived notions about who I am. Careers aside, I hope to return the favor."

Luca Bandoni has posed:
While waiting on their drinks, Luca puts the t-shirt on - for shame! "Assholes," he mutters when he glances down to check out exactly what he's wearing. It's a Rescue 1 t-shirt alright, but it's not the official one. There's a Rescue 1 fireman's hat with two halligans crossed behind it like a skull and bones. The shirt reads - I'm here to save your kitty. Don't worry, I'm a professional.

"You could say that," is his answer to 'runs in the family'. "It's a running joke really, people say you can't toss a stick inside an NYPD or FDNY building without hitting Bandoni blood."

The bartender returns with the drinks, Luca asks him to start a tab.

"Careers aside, huh? I don't do assumptions. The one thing I don't peg you for is a fire chaser and I like that you're not."

Luca takes a moment to sip his drink, but it's also a way to check out their surroundings, a reason to take his attention momentarily off of Olivia and check to be sure there aren't any stares or picture snapping. He's not a cop, but he has the instincts of one. He chose the firefighter route, doesn't mean there's not 'cop' in his blood too. Two out of his four siblings are NYPD.

Olivia Gaudin has posed:
    Olivia looks at the shirt and raises a hand to touch her forehead. "Your... friends have quite an interesting sense of humor," she manages. She cannot help but imagine the kitty was implying... well, something else.

    "That's really great, though. A whole family that not only grew up in that life, but aspires to help others. It's a strange world, isn't it? Where a girl who pretends to be other people is famous but a guy who runs into a fire to save someone isn't." She doesn't push that aside, but she does want to get past careers.

    "So what's your idea of a good time between calls? Other than giving girls one hell of a show, that is."

    She lifts her martini glass to take a sip of the blue drink. "Mmm, love that taste." She has to pace herself. It's the kind of drink that gets a lightweight like her in a lot of trouble.

Luca Bandoni has posed:
After his round about of the room, he circles back to the conversation. "You don't know the half of it," his smile's a fond one though when his crew's mentioned. "Was it rough? Growing up in the spotlight? I feel like that'd be... I don't, fame isn't something I'd want to deal with." He'd rather run into burning buildings.

"What do I like to do? Hmmm, well first, it's not between calls. It's between shifts." He's not trying to correct Olivia in a way that seems mansplaining or something, it's just an important distiction. "We do twenty-four hours on and forty-eight off. Sometimes we have to pull extra shifts or just volunteer to because, well, money."

It's another way that things might seem backwards? A firefighter sometimes struggles to pay bills, while someone in the entertainment business tosses money around like it's water.

Back to the question. "I like to hike, run, baseball, football, just take long rides out of the city on my bike." He pauses and laughs. "I sound like an online dating profile. But really, I'm pretty much an outdoors sorta guy. How about you?"

Olivia Gaudin has posed:
    "Honestly I never really thought of it as the spotlight. After all, that first role, at the tender age of six, was as a caroling child in a cheesy Christmas romance thing. Hallmark Channel." She laughs at herself over it.

    She is focused on what he explains, though. "I see, so you do your full day on, ready for a call at a moment's notice, then have two days away," replies Olivia. She is not offended in the least by the correction. She makes a lousy diva, but a really good listener. As her next answer will make so very clear.

    "You sound pretty awesome, really. Those are good hobbies to have. Me? Well..." She ponders, for just a moment, to cast her Broadyway life as this glamorous affair, but something about his eyes changes her mind. There is a notable hesitation.

    "Honestly my life is kind of a mess. I work weird hours with the show, and I'm often pulling extra time to help my understudy progress. It's a thing I don't have to do, but well, I really believe in her and I'm doing my best to get her a big break. But, well, that doesn't answer your question."

    She takes a drink and admits it. "My favorite thing to do is babysit my niece. She's honestly my favorite person in the world. She just turned five on New Years. While everyone else celebrated a ball drop and all that she and I spent the night in, having a wonderful time."

Luca Bandoni has posed:
Circling back again, to her comment about his family - because he needed a minute to think about his reply, "It's great in some ways, you know? Coming from a family, a huge one at that, where everyone's... I don't know, it makes us family in more ways than just blood. It's just something he can't explain. Bonded more through service, blood and loss. "It also means we have more than the average amount of funerals in our family though." Getting a little too morose with the gorgeous girl you just met there Bandoni.

"Kids," there's that laugh again. "We have them coming out of our ears and I love them all. When I say my family is huge, I mean huge. I have five siblings, all older than me and my aunts and uncles didn't stop at one or two either. Cousins galore, we damned near have to rent a private island for family reunions."

Another pause, another sip from his drink. At this point it's obvious that he's doing that from time to time just to give himself a moment to carefully consider his words. "I get the weird hours and I get doing things you don't have to do. Still, people recognize you wherever you go? Even if it's only a few people? I hate stories in the news that mention me by name, I don't want that. I prefer being the faceless guy that saved your kitty. It's a joke, but it isn't. I've pulled more than my fair share of cats and dogs out of fires."

Olivia Gaudin has posed:
    Olivia listens intently to his talk about family. She doesn't think he's putting on a performance for her. If he were, he'd not mention the dark side of his life. He is, after all, very human. It occurs to her, quite suddenly, that she now has a huge problem. Because she is a very much a mutant. This sudden realization is all due to her not being used to this. She hasn't been like she is for long.

    Shit. She likes him. She has to tell him. But then he might not like her. Worse, he might reveal it to others.

    Shit. Shit. Shit.

    "I really like you," Olivia says quietly. "We obviously just met, I'm obviously attracted to you." She refrains from saying how she wants his hands all over her. That is probably understood. She's wearing very little and she's very close to him. "There's something you need to know about me, and I hope it won't change your mind."

    Her eyes look around, but they aren't really important. She can 'see' everything around her. She can hear every heartbeat here, if she wants. She will not listen to Luca's though. With a deep breath she leans in to whisper into his ear.

    "Luca, I'm a mutant." She lingers there, cheeks not quite touching but very close, and then slowly draws back. Not far, though. She positions her eyes to meet his, and close, to read his reaction. There she will wait, hoping he will pull her out of the metaphorical fire she just put herself in.

Luca Bandoni has posed:
"So am I," he replies just matter of fact and returning her gaze just as steady as can be. A few in my family are actually. I really like you too..." He means what he says, he truly does, but it does seem like there's more; maybe a but? "...just.." It's now that he looks down, away. "I mean, we just met and all this you're feeling is mutual for sure. But you have to know, relationships? They're just hard for someone in my line of work. Not that I'm assuming it'll turn into that. I'm just trying to manage expectations?"

"Speaking of dogs," he backtracks as he's reaching into his back pocket for his wallet. Luca seems to do that a lot, the backtracking, especially after an important and serious bit of information is dropped. He stays in close Olivia can see the picture he's talking about when he says, "This is my running buddy, he's name's Rigatoni, Rigs." Damned if that isn't the cutest picture - Luca down on one knee, his arm around a Belgian Malinois that's grinning nearly as big as he is, only Luca doesn't have his tongue all hanging out the side of his open mouth.

Olivia Gaudin has posed:
    Olivia did not expect that. He is, too? She laughs at herself over it. "Thank god," she mutters. As for the next thing he says, her answer is gentle, not rehearsed, but she obviously has thought about it. "I have tried, you know? It never works out. And I hope you won't think less of me when I say this, but, maybe we take the good that we can get and hope that maybe somehow the next thing just happens? If it doesn't, well, maybe that's par for the course for you, too."

    She directs her attention to the dog with a grin. "Rigs! I love him. What a handsome animal." She pauses, "I love animals. I should probably have mentioned that." With a wrinkle in her nose she playfully teases, "So which of you is the most house-broken?"

    Her eyes rest on his. Her glance is bright and curious. Front-loading the potential for disappointmen has had an odd effect. She feels no stress.

    She does add something very playful though, with another of her impish grins. "You keep this up, I'll show you my blowhole tonight." That is definitely punctuated by a giggle.

Luca Bandoni has posed:
The rest of the conversation just got shoved to the back of his brain. "Uh, I'm not really sure how to respond to that." He just glitched! But it's not said in a malicious way or with any sort of judgement. He just really has no idea how to respond to that.

"Is that a euphemism the kids are using these days?" Clearly he's yet to connect it with her being a mutant.

It's just a beat before it happens though, Luca can be an impulsive guy when he's not on shift, hell even when he's on - he can be pretty 'leaps before looking' when trying to save a life. He gives into impulse and leans in for the kiss.

It's not anything deep and probing. It's not a kiss meant to absolutely curl toes and make a person crazy for the next step to happen. It's gentle, sweet and combined with his hand barely cupping her cheek. It's just long enough to be this side of decent for a public space.

When he pulls back again, he murmurs, "Sorry."

Olivia Gaudin has posed:
    Olivia is laughing at the mention of a euphemism. She was totally ready to correct him, maybe to even try and /show/ him here and now. But then something quite different happens.

    When his lips meet hers there is a soft gasp. Just not an intake of air through her lips, obviously. They are otherwise occupied. She leans into it, her whole body blushing. And then, so very soon, it is gone.

    Her eyes are shut and she just hangs there for a moment. His apology is heard. It truly is. But her brain needs a little while to turn on the language center again and remind it what was said.

    She takes a drink. Okay, more like a gulp, to finish that drink off, the last of the blue liquid vanishing past her lips. It helps her kind of come down. You know, to recenter.

    "Don't apologize," she replies. It dawns on her that her dress is just sitting there on the bar. "Maybe I should slip back into this so we can get a ride back to... your place? My place?" Any place! She was going to say help me slip back into this so you can take if off later, but it felt a bit silly.

Luca Bandoni has posed:
"I have to feed Rigs and take him out to do his thing. So I guess my place?" Luca downs his own drink, but not because he seems out of sorts over any of it really. She told him not to apologize, so he no longer feels as if he might have stepped to far inside her bubble when, maybe, she didn't want him to.

It wasn't much of a tab, with only two drinks, but Luca pays it the next time the bartender comes by. He pays it in cash, which is almost as cute and antiquated as the picture of the dog.

He leaves twenty-five for a fifteen dollar tab and waves off the attempt a change. Tips good too, even on his blue collar salary. Loves dogs, tips well.

Luca /is/ a good guy, even if the thoughts he's having about what they might do when they get to his place? Well, those thoughts are not anywhere near this side of safe for work.

Once she's dressed, he actually takes her hand to walk toward the door.

Luca calls an Uber, opens her door for her. Olivia will hear more about his family on the way, but the good things; a few funny stories, about his mom teaching him to play the piano, how he couldn't say 'truck' right when he was little - we all know what that led to.

But he also takes time to listen to her, genuinely listen.

It's obvious that none of this is any sort of game just to get a gorgeous blonde into his bed. He'll still want to see her again if it doesn't go there.

Olivia Gaudin has posed:
    Olivia takes a note of the generosity, and she loves his stories. Honestly she's hanging on his every word. There's part of her that is incredibly excited, that has all the little girl princess dreams. But that part is not allowed to get her hopes up too high. Another part of her, that is not so sweet, is all too eager to whisper something Luca might be shocked to note. That's Olivia isn't worthy of a guy like this. Some people are beyond her reach.

    Regardless of that inward battle, though, she enjoys every moment. By the time they reach his place she's told her own share of stories. Not much about work, but about her father, who has bought her a place in Metropolis and constantly wants her to come back and commute to work every day. And her mother, who has dragged her on days-long quests to race around junk houses looking for the perfect antique for her next show. And of course her niece who is, of course, named Elsa. She's a gorgeous little blonge girl and Liv's phone has pictures only of her. Well, plus a funny number of selfies with Liv and super heroes she's met.

    As for what happens after she gets to his place? They have an amazing time. It's all a roll of the dice, really. Who knows what happens next? Liv really is into Rig's human, though.