Mark & Jay, backdated to Friday evening

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Mark meets the new bartender on his first night back at Silver, and gives him some tips on how to succeed.


The Warwolf fell to the ground at Mark's feet, its head charred and smoking. A second later, he followed it, and couldn't even feel the cold ground with his hands and knees anymore. He struggled against the oncoming dry heaves, punching the ground angrily every time his body threatened to expel what wasn't there anymore.

He killed Zeppelin again and climbed back to his feet. This small pack had found him, but he took Remy's advice and didn't withhold. Every Joule of energy he could manage went into each blast, and now his body count was up three more.

The familiar howls sent him back to his hands and knees, and he hid behind one of the corpses. His finger hovered over the play button, but surprisingly they didn't come to him. He dared to look up and in the distance saw at least six wolves, glowing silver under the pale moonlight. The lead paused, looked up, and sniffed. Mark immediately dropped down and cursed himself. When nothing happened, he peeked up again, only to see the six retreating into the distance. Two more followed a minute later.

Then so did Mark.

~

Mark arrived to Silver early for a change, before the front doors had even opened. His set didn't usually start until late, when the crowds were warm and the alcohol was flowing. But following a month's absence, he'd stayed home all week to prepare himself and damned if he was going to miss even one minute.

He strode in proudly to a round of applause, bowing and blowing kisses to his fellow club-goers. He caught their curious glances at his waxy skin and new hairdo (or lack thereof), and just waved it off as a new effect of his mutation. They may not buy it, but it would shut them up for now. After greetings were made, he headed over to his booth to set up, and caught a glance of a young winged man he vaguely recognized. Mark all but stared at the guy as he helped Larry unpack boxes of beer, trying to determine who the hell he was and how Mark knew him.

Jay had a glimpse of Mark briefly when he walked in though he hadn't known what the applause was all about until he asked his coworker Jen. She gave him a name and shrugged because she knew he had been out of commission but she wasn't really into gossip. Jay rolled his eyes at her, saying it wasn't gossip though he knew what had happened to Mark (the general story) from Amanda, so he stopped asking questions and went on with restocking the fridges.

By the time he was done, Jay was standing behind the bar with two others, showing Jen his latest trick. The beer bottle pivoted on the ball of his palm before he fumbled it and caught it. He blew out a grimace, clutching the bottle to his chest. "Al'ight, not so good at it,but Ah'm workin' it."

"Look, like this," the other bartender twirled the bottle in his hand and caught it smoothly before setting it down on the counter.

"You're too tense," Jen said, cleaning off her hands before leaning over the counter. They had a little free time before the night started up and Jay wanted to master it before he dove in. He set the bottle down while Jen sauntered up to him and flirtatiously rolled her fingers under his collar. "Here, undo this," she started, fingers expertly unbuttoning the first three buttons of his black shirt and grinned at herself for the discomfort she cause Jay.

The other two leaned against the counter smirking as well, though one caught Mark's eyes and tossed him a nod before going off to call his girlfriend. Jay briefly caught the nod and glanced over to Mark, locking eyes with him before his attention was drawn back to Jen and her pawing.

"Uhh, yanno," He bristled, wings drawing back slightly. "Ah'm jus' gonna go an' help 'em out." Jay gestured to where Mark was and slipped out from her grasp. She laughed at his retreat and turned her attention on the other bartender while Jay made his way over.

"Hey," he greeted, shoving his hands in his pocket. "You needing some help?"

Mark watched the whole encounter amusedly. Fresh meat. Kid was likely to be hazed a bit before really becoming part of Silver, and memories of his own first weeks made him smile. "Sure," he said kindly, handing Jay a bundle of wires. "I'm Mark. You're . . . from Xavier's, aren't you?"

He took the wires, and offered a smile, along with a hand shake. "Ah'm Jay.. Guthrie. Paige an' Sam's brother. Maybe yanno 'em?" he asked. Most people knew one or the other, not like he wanted to be associated with them all the time but introductions usually helped break the ice. "An' is it tha Mark tha's back from tha hospital. Heard you was in pretty bad shape but makin' nice recovery, yeh?"

"That's me. You're neighborhood mutant zombie." Mark pulled up a stool and started fiddling with the mixer. "Can't say I know Paige or Sam personally. I think I've heard of Paige, though. She's Angelo's ex, right? She and Amanda don't get along." Based on what gossip he'd heard.

That was exactly the reason he didn't like to bring them up. "Oh yeah, tha's 'er," Jay rolled his eyes and crouched down, coiling up the wires separately. He changed the subject. "How's it feel ta be back?"

Mark shrugged. "It's like coming home. Silver's a great place, done a lot for me. Been here, like, five years now. So you're new the bartender, huh?"

It felt like a place Jay could get use to and he nodded absentmindedly, casting a glance over his shoulder. "Yeh, it ain' too bad. Tryin' a hand at flair. Ah heard it'll get me better tips an' Ah reckon it's wha'll keep tha job interestin'. Five years is along time. Got any pointers?"

"Just talk ta people. We get a lot of interesting types here." Mark grinned. "There's this one girl that comes a lot, Diana. She's this little pixie, wings and glitter and everything. Real sweet. Knows everythin' about New York and always talks up a storm with everyone she meets."

He turned back to Mark, nodding in agreement. "If she's got wings, Ah reckon we'll get along good." Even if at times he hated the wings on his back. "Any sorts Ah should be avoidin'?" That would be something to remember.

Organ farmers? Mark bit his lip to keep himself from saying that and having to explain it. "Not really, no. Just your general skeezy-types. Chicken hawks. You know. The people who’re obviously just here to make trouble." Mark cocked his head to the side and examined Jay closely, sizing him up. "So what brings you to Silver, anyway?"

Jay met his eyes and smiled briefly before dropping them to mindlessly look like he was busy. "Money mostly. Ah'm waitin' fer September ta enroll in school. Needed somethin' ta do in tha meantime an' Ah'm gonna send some money back home. They need it more than Ah do. But ya, keeps me busy an boredom at bay. You?"

Mark nodded slowly, eyes still on Jay as if trying to see inside him. Finally, a kid without a tragic origin. "Came to New York when I was 17, knew some people, and they brought me here. The rest is history." And not terribly interesting, in Mark's opinion. He wasn't the only one run out of his home by anti-mutant bigots.

He felt Mark watching him and pointedly ignored it, pretending he didn't notice. He wasn't sure what Mark was staring at. "Seventeen huh? So wha' does that make ya now? Must be good ta be 'ere fer sometime. Ah'm hopin' ta get inta bartendin' flair ta help me with tips. Or at least Ah heard it gets ya good tips. Saw it on YouTube too. Seems cool ta do it."

That remark made Mark laugh, and he shook his head and turned back to his equipment. "Hon, first of all I'd suggest a new wardrobe. You'll make more tips if you make people not able to keep their eyes off you. And you've definitely got the body to turn heads."

New wardrobe? Bod to turn heads? Jay looked up at this. "Ah..well Ah -- this shirts 'ere is new. Can't ya tell?" he asked a little hopeful. "Ah ain't exactly the fashion queen 'ere. Guys can only wear so much before they start takin' stuff off. 'Sides, Clarice - yanno 'er right? She cut holes in 'em." He turned his back to Mark so the other could see the shirt modifications.

Mark waved his hand dismissively. "Oh, it's a nice shirt, but here I'd suggest a tank top or wifebeater. Flash some skin, show off your arms when you do your tricks. I'm not sayin' to look trashy, but you gotta make people comfortable. If they see you smilin' and flirting and lookin' vaguely attainable, then you're gonna attract more people."

He vaguely wondered how Kevin would feel, seeing people fawn all over Jay, but then, his boyfriend had that problem right now with girls. He said he didn't like the attention, but Jay didn't believe that for a second. Who didn't like that kind of attention? "Ah reckon it'll get me just enough tips ta pay fer all them bottles Ah'll be droppin'. Havn't exactly mastered ma style yet." He grinned before glancing over to see Jen waving at him along with another bartender.

"All style takes time, young Padawan. You'll learn to be fabulous soon enough."