[k-run] Dec 31-Jan 1 New Year's Eve in the Queen City
"Ain't misbehavin'"
Louis Armstrong
Most people would be drunk by now. Or they'd be drunk and envious. New Years was his least favorite holiday. People getting drunk, people doing stupid things, people ruining their lives because television tells them that getting plastered makes them cool and that cool matters in any respect.
He hated New Years because it was a working holiday.
And because it made so much more work for him in the days ahead.
No one to talk with
All by myself
No one to walk with
But I'm happy on the shelf
Ain't misbehavin'
I'm savin' my love for you
Most people would be feeling lonely now. Pretty much everyone but T and Abaddon would be hanging out with someone, even knowing it was a mistake they'd regret later. But the momentary warmth of that human touch would make them act like the Sleepers. For one night, forget the world. Give in to the lie.
Every year there was the temptation.
Catch up with Helena. Wonder if P-dawg ever told her they met up? That he was a mage?
Find out what she was doing...
That thought always hurt. He knew what she was doing.
Either someone was dying...
Or someone was fucking her so she could feel worse about herself the next day.
Some magi we are...
Just as bad as the sleepers with our self-delusional bullshit.
I know for certain
The one I love
I'm through with flirtin'
It's just you I'm thinkin' of
Ain't misbehavin'
I'm savin' my love for you
He dropped off the gifts. The Veteren asked him to stay and spar but he couldn't. He had a date with a lady.
The wolves were happy for the meat. If there was any envy, it was for their life. To run. To hunt. To be beholden to no one and to nothing.
He left the toys for the Kid. Erector sets, fiberoptics, and anything else he might find pretty and fun. Maybe one day the Kid would learn to actually play.
Maybe one day he could teach that lesson to Abbaddon.
Doubt it.
They always wondered why he kept trying with the "hopeless case".
They didn't understand how much alike the two were.
Magic is a lonely road.
Like Jack Horner
In the corner
Don't go nowhere
What do I care?
Your kisses are worth waitin' for
Believe me
He was going to be late.
Dammit.
Fight on Elm street. Quickly broken up with a queasy stomache and some vomit for the agressor.
Frat boy with no idea what no means. Kick to the head fixes that.
Family freezing in a station wagon since the tech businesses died. Wonder who left that food just sitting on top of the car.
He smiled.
That was the difference...he still had hope.
It's the little things.
Every ripple spreads out across the pond.
Expediency is the coward's way out.
Doing the right thing, that takes effort.
I don't stay out late
Don't care to go
I'm home about eight
Just me and my radio
Ain't misbehavin'
I'm savin' my love for you
"You're late darlin'," comes her scotch and cigarette voice. "Thought you forgot our yearly ritual?"
"Never. I don't believe in keeping a lady waiting, but the city needed to be put in order...sorry about that." He passed the cigarillos and the scotch over to her and sat next to her on the bridge. Underneath, he could hear the troll. They never let on that they knew he was there. Everyone should have a chance to enjoy the next part.
She looked him over, "I hate the way you get on New Years."
"What do you mean doll-face?"
"Flattery isn't necessary with a whore honey. I mean, you're feeling envious of them. You always do. Walking your solitary road doesn't mean someone can't walk along with you for a while. Doesn't mean there aren't folks out there who want you around."
"But what do I need them for when I can sit here with you and Bridge and watch the fireworks?"
"And after the lights, you'll head back to Boston and I'll go back to turning tricks. But there's someone you could talk to. Someone real, not a spirit like me. Call her Dey-u. Just to hear her voice."
"And hear what a loser I am in her world? No thanks. I'd rather be alone. One night of the year I judge them...the rest of the time I'm their Shaman. But there is nothing in the world that would make me call her. Not after what she said."
She sighs and drinks her scotch, "People say stupid things when they're hurt."
His answer was lost in explosions. Fireworks.
Children marvelled. Frat boys stared in awe. Couples smiled and hugged each other closer.
The same force could blow a child to pieces, push a tank shell at a crowd of innocents...or light up the world with magic.
It's the little differences that change the world.
Louis Armstrong
Most people would be drunk by now. Or they'd be drunk and envious. New Years was his least favorite holiday. People getting drunk, people doing stupid things, people ruining their lives because television tells them that getting plastered makes them cool and that cool matters in any respect.
He hated New Years because it was a working holiday.
And because it made so much more work for him in the days ahead.
No one to talk with
All by myself
No one to walk with
But I'm happy on the shelf
Ain't misbehavin'
I'm savin' my love for you
Most people would be feeling lonely now. Pretty much everyone but T and Abaddon would be hanging out with someone, even knowing it was a mistake they'd regret later. But the momentary warmth of that human touch would make them act like the Sleepers. For one night, forget the world. Give in to the lie.
Every year there was the temptation.
Catch up with Helena. Wonder if P-dawg ever told her they met up? That he was a mage?
Find out what she was doing...
That thought always hurt. He knew what she was doing.
Either someone was dying...
Or someone was fucking her so she could feel worse about herself the next day.
Some magi we are...
Just as bad as the sleepers with our self-delusional bullshit.
I know for certain
The one I love
I'm through with flirtin'
It's just you I'm thinkin' of
Ain't misbehavin'
I'm savin' my love for you
He dropped off the gifts. The Veteren asked him to stay and spar but he couldn't. He had a date with a lady.
The wolves were happy for the meat. If there was any envy, it was for their life. To run. To hunt. To be beholden to no one and to nothing.
He left the toys for the Kid. Erector sets, fiberoptics, and anything else he might find pretty and fun. Maybe one day the Kid would learn to actually play.
Maybe one day he could teach that lesson to Abbaddon.
Doubt it.
They always wondered why he kept trying with the "hopeless case".
They didn't understand how much alike the two were.
Magic is a lonely road.
Like Jack Horner
In the corner
Don't go nowhere
What do I care?
Your kisses are worth waitin' for
Believe me
He was going to be late.
Dammit.
Fight on Elm street. Quickly broken up with a queasy stomache and some vomit for the agressor.
Frat boy with no idea what no means. Kick to the head fixes that.
Family freezing in a station wagon since the tech businesses died. Wonder who left that food just sitting on top of the car.
He smiled.
That was the difference...he still had hope.
It's the little things.
Every ripple spreads out across the pond.
Expediency is the coward's way out.
Doing the right thing, that takes effort.
I don't stay out late
Don't care to go
I'm home about eight
Just me and my radio
Ain't misbehavin'
I'm savin' my love for you
"You're late darlin'," comes her scotch and cigarette voice. "Thought you forgot our yearly ritual?"
"Never. I don't believe in keeping a lady waiting, but the city needed to be put in order...sorry about that." He passed the cigarillos and the scotch over to her and sat next to her on the bridge. Underneath, he could hear the troll. They never let on that they knew he was there. Everyone should have a chance to enjoy the next part.
She looked him over, "I hate the way you get on New Years."
"What do you mean doll-face?"
"Flattery isn't necessary with a whore honey. I mean, you're feeling envious of them. You always do. Walking your solitary road doesn't mean someone can't walk along with you for a while. Doesn't mean there aren't folks out there who want you around."
"But what do I need them for when I can sit here with you and Bridge and watch the fireworks?"
"And after the lights, you'll head back to Boston and I'll go back to turning tricks. But there's someone you could talk to. Someone real, not a spirit like me. Call her Dey-u. Just to hear her voice."
"And hear what a loser I am in her world? No thanks. I'd rather be alone. One night of the year I judge them...the rest of the time I'm their Shaman. But there is nothing in the world that would make me call her. Not after what she said."
She sighs and drinks her scotch, "People say stupid things when they're hurt."
His answer was lost in explosions. Fireworks.
Children marvelled. Frat boys stared in awe. Couples smiled and hugged each other closer.
The same force could blow a child to pieces, push a tank shell at a crowd of innocents...or light up the world with magic.
It's the little differences that change the world.