Standing Up - Chapter I
** ** Like any other club one could wander into on a late weekend night, the music, lights, and crowd were flashing and bumping about. The music was great, as luckily, the Starbolt had a perpetual contract with many of the greater DJ's in the area, each dropping mixes of the hottest new music and even some of their own original tracks. Nearly everyone was dancing, at least those drunk enough to let loose on the floor. Various personalities littered the bar and surrounding tables, the area itself even wrapped around three whole sides of the spacious dance floor. Behind the tables, prospective couples mingled in the shadows, whispering whiskey-breath nothings into their counterpart's ear.
The Starbolt was, in all ways, primarily a diverse gay bar. Slightly less than half of the participants were women or somewhere close; upon their own terms. There were stories of gay regulars tugging along a straight friend, and the bartender could name a few 'straight' regulars for someone interested enough to buy an expensive drink. Despite the Starbolt's primary crowd, this was no dirty, grungy dance hall, as the lesser clubs in town may be considered by those with noses tilted to the sky. The place was spotless, spilled drinks or stomach contents always disappeared in the blink of an eye, and trash seemed nonexistent. It was a friendly place overall, and perhaps these reasons attracted the lone brown bear sitting in a booth near the long side of the dance floor.
He sat turned slightly outward, facing the dance floor. Watching as silently as he'd come; even the greatest of noise from his throat would be silence compared to the pounding rhythm. Not that he had anything to say. He swirled an iced beverage in his paw, seemingly lost in thought. After a short while he finally moved, only to hail a passing waiter.
"Refill, sir?" the crow asked, hiking up a leg and turning sideward in rather sexy stance. He held a serving tray in one hand, leaning down from his some 7-foot height to take the condensation drenched tumbler. At the same moment, a few hoots and screams drifted from the dance floor; as hawk-eyed dancers checked out the bird's presented backside.
"Please. Uh.. double shot this time." He said, to which the bird nodded and darted away. Within moments it seemed; hardly enough time for the bear to grab a tip from his pocket, the bird returned, dropping a fresh serving down. The bear nodded, offering up a fiver to the waiter, who grinned and bowed graciously.
"How sweet. Ah... Please enjoy your drink, Casper, sir." He wandered away, eyeing for other tables low on sustenance for the night. The waiter secretly knew the bear as a regular, almost always sitting at the same location. He served the man just as well as he was tipped, and usually feeling a bit greedy taking a five-dollar tip for every refill, the crow offered many on the house during each of his visits. The bird himself made a living serving the patrons. While the bear's generous tips were greatly appreciated, the bird made up the same amount within minutes of leaving his table from lesser donations.
It wasn't long before the bear became lost in thought, this time swirling his glass and smearing the cold sweat drooling along the edges along the tabletop. Still, it might have been moments before he realized a figure stood to his left, blocking a decent portion of the dance floor's view. It was another short moment before he realized the figure had a paw outstretched to the bear, perhaps the loudest introduction possible given the atmosphere.
Casper turned his head, glancing upward. The figure was a wolf, clad in a white jacket that rotated in hue as the stage lights flickered and strobed along with the music. His bust was more dimly lit than his shoulders, enough that Casper could see his aged features as he shook with the man, who then gestured at the opposite seat. Casper nodded, and so he sat.
The wolf placed his own drink along the wet table, smirking at the realization the bear had already downed a few drinks himself, by the look of the water mess. He leaned forward, arms crossed on the tabletop.
"Hi there. I'm Daniel." He said. His voice was deep, assertive. Casper assumed instantly this man was some businessman type.
"Casper." Replied the bear, shifting in his seat and leaning a bit closer as well.
The flashing lights and music slowed suddenly. Casper glanced at his watch, chuckling at his fortune. The DJ was going on a dinner break for the next hour, as scheduled. The crowd on the floor thinned just as quick as DJ left the stage, turning down the audio and letting general jukebox tunes play through the speakers.
"Hah, you have timing, Daniel. Nice to be," Casper said, downing a gulp of his drink, "...acquainted." His head was a bit airy-feeling, and a moment was needed to steady himself as his head swam from the movement.
"Likewise. What brings you?" The wolf said. "I'm here for... Ah..." he trailed off, shrugging. Casper knew what he'd come for anyway.
"Heh, I see." Casper replied. "I come here a lot. I'm a regular by now, I'm sure. Not quite sure what I want myself, aside from leaving the house for a drink. Nice here, once you get used to having damaged eardrums."
Daniel chuckled too, sipping his drink. "I... got a wife n' kids." He broke a short silence. He shrugged, looking unashamed. "She thinks I'm out for a business meet and dinner" Daniel sighed, looking over to the sparsely populated dance floor. "Guess I'm 'curious'?"
Casper stayed silent himself, thinking. He wasn't great at this himself. "I see. I guess everyone should have their own adventures, hmm?" he surmised, unwilling to comment directly on the man's marital status.
"Been married since I was twenty" he replied. "Coming up 20 years of happiness, a good woman and good relationship, I must stress. ...But I can't stifle this 'problem' for very long" he chuckled, rubbing an ear nervously.
"Well.. uh, grat's on 20 years and kiddo's." Casper smiled. "I'm 23 myself. Since about a couple weeks ago. I guess I'm just tired of sitting at home, work this, study that. Sometimes the silence is more deafening than DJ Gobii's sets." He smirked, uncaring that he was talking to a man nearly twice his age. Anyone was better than nothing at all, and nor was Casper bitter about his loneliness as of late.
"Hey... you want to join my old bones on the floor? Could use a lesson or two on how the kids dance these days." Daniel smiled, nodding toward it.
"Well.." Casper started. "I appreciate the offer, but.. I can't, heh. I can't walk. Even then I might be too drunk, I'd look like a fool in a heartbeat" he laughed, hoping to soften the blow to himself when the wolf, like few others, made an excuse to leave anyway.
"O-oh. I see." Daniel said, lips pursed as a mixture of thoughts ran through his mind. "N-no problem at all. Err... I guess you's got a wheelchair or something?" He inquired, scratching his neck. His voice had a bit of a southern accent, treated with years of living around the north-eastern locale they were in now. It was a welcoming tone.
Perhaps Casper was oblivious to Daniel's continued interest. The wolf shuffled in his seat as the bear looked away for a split second. He smiled at the alcohol infused expression adorning the bear's face. He seemed unlike the muscle jocks and gimps and other weirdo's he'd met during his visits here. A thought passed through his mind condemning himself for calling those people weird, yet none of them interested him. Many of those type of people seemed too deep a dive for Daniel, who'd sheltered his more homosexual interests over years of marriage aside from incognito-tab image and video hunting when alone. This particular bear - his warming presence and form; albeit simple, was enough to satisfy Daniel's interest enough for the grown lump in his slacks to cause a nervous shift in his posture.
"Uh, yeah. It's actually under the table. It's a Transformer." He chuckled, watching a grin spread on Daniel's face too.
"Uh..." Daniel started nervously. "How late you stayin'? I might run outside for a smoke. I'd... like to rejoin you afterward, if you'd allow it." He grinned, fearing a declination. He wasn't great at reading people.
"I'm usually gone... "He checked his watch. "About 3 drinks ago." Casper smacked the table, laughing at himself. "No, no. I'd be happy to join you outside actually. Got a bit of a headache from all this commotion." Casper said. Daniel replied with a grinning, "sure", and with that Casper spun himself around, legs hanging over the outward edge of the seat as he reached below the table, dragging a compact wheelchair out and in front of him, working to fold various parts up or down or snap this to that. It was done just as quick as he'd started. Daniel stood himself, impressed by the newness of this whole string of events.
"You sure that thing ain't a Decepticon?" Daniel wondered, leaning close enough to be heard as the music picked up to a rather obnoxious techno beat.
"When I find out I'll let you know." Casper said, finally sliding into the chair. Suddenly Daniel felt awkward. He towered over Casper, who he'd finally gotten a chance to see all of at once. Casper appeared to be a slimmer bear than ones he often met. Daniel gestured ahead, smiling sheepishly. He felt like a teenager, under the spell of another boy crush who seemed so much more interesting than the average bear.