Starring: Colin Chambers (Drew), Mateo James Whitney (parthenogenic)
Date: May 24th, 2014
Notable Locations: Club Haus
Summary: Colin visits Club Haus shortly after arriving in Manhattan, and sees a face he recognized from a poster for a play.
Colin Chambers (Drew) (5/24/2009 9:56:46 PM)
Sunday night was usually quiet in Club Haus, and tonight was no different. No live music tonight, which didn't help, either.
And that was fine with Colin as he slid into a chair at the bar, looking around. He'd been in the city for about two weeks now, and after hearing a lot about the famous Club Haus, this was his first visit. He cleared his throat as the well-tattooed bartender passed him, grabbing the man's attention.
"Uh, hi, I'll have a, umm, a Guinness," he said. "Pint."
Ethan Mowbry, the barender, looking Colin up and down for a moment. "ID, kid?"
Colin frowned. He was getting carded? "Seriously? Wow," he mumbled, digging out his wallet and flashing his drivers' license. Ethan nodded and walked away to get his drink.
Colin bent his knees, resting his flip-flopped feet on the bar stool's legs, and looked around. Everyone looked relatively normal, not that he was expecting much different.
Mateo J. Whitney (Caerie) (5/24/2009 10:08:57 PM)
Sunday, the night of rest. Or, well, it's supposed to be the day of rest, but I spent all of my daylight hours on a matinee at the theatre, so now I have the night. The play I'm in right now is a ghost story that I hated about five pages into the script. Misogynistic, with a grotesque Mexican stereotype as the detective. And then seven pages in the whole thing got good as all of the expectations that've been built up are turned upside down.
So even if it's unlikely to win me any Tony awards, it puts food on the table and I find it relatively satisfying.
Tomorrow, I have off, which means that I can thoroughly enjoy my evening. In this case, that means going out to Club Haus. One of the few places where I can fully relax and enjoy myself, for a variety of reasons.
I settle in at the bar, perfectly happy with the lack of live music tonight, since I'm all for keeping things lowkey after my weekend.
"Jack and Coke."
Colin Chambers (Drew) (5/24/2009 10:18:07 PM)
Colin looked up at the fellow taking a seat further down the bar, nodding politely then looking forward again as his drink is placed on a coaster in front of him.
Waitasecond… He'd only been in New York two weeks. He hadn't seen any Brangelinas or Bennifers or Mikleys, didn't frequent any of the more popular clubs, so his brushes with the famous had been, thus far, non-existent.
But this guy, he'd seen before. On a poster, maybe? A commercial? The internet? Somewhere. Could be famous. Then he'd have something exciting to Tweet about.
Because most of the other exciting crap in his life? He'd probably be thrown in prison for Tweeting about it.
"Hey," he said to the man. "I know you, don't I? Seen you in something?" He stood, dragging his beer and coaster down the bar and taking a seat one away from Mateo. "I'm sorry, can't remember your name."
Mateo J. Whitney (Caerie) (5/24/2009 10:23:31 PM)
I'm not recognized every time I go out, but it does happen occasionally, and it's always flattering, really. Just knowing that my face is out there enough that people can recognize me makes me feel good. So, the man down the bar moving over to me with that question gets a bit of a lopsided grin as I offer him my hand.
"Mateo Whitney. You may have seen me in 'A Secret Known by Three', or at least one of the advertisements for it? That's the play I'm in at the moment," I offer.
There have been a few other plays that have had some better publicity, but I wasn't the lead in any of them, so while it might make my face vaguely familiar I'd be less likely to be instantly recognizable.
"And you are?"
Colin Chambers (Drew) (5/24/2009 10:28:48 PM)
Ah! A play! Slightly less exciting than a movie star, but in New York, that's like, almost as good as being on TV. "Oh, yeah! Of course! You were great, really great." He shook Mateo's hand eagerly.
"Oh, me? I'm nobody. I mean, I'm Colin." He chuckled nervously, then clamped his mouth closed with a look of pure mortification he prayed Mateo hadn't seen.
"So, you come here often?" That sounded like a pick up line, didn't it? Damn, he was on a roll.
He slowly turned his head forward again, taking a sip of his beer.
Why did he order that? He hated Guinness. He just didn't know what else to say. Silently he wished he'd been granted the power to cause the earth to open up and swallow him whole.
Mateo J. Whitney (Caerie) (5/24/2009 10:36:25 PM)
"Nice to meet you, Colin."
I just keep watching Colin with a bemused look on my face. He seems mortified by everything that comes out of his own mouth, but I can't quite grasp why, since I haven't noticed him saying anything particularly strange or embarrassing.
Well. Except when he asks me if I come here often. That gets a slight lift of an eyebrow in response.
"Ah, yes. I do." I take a sip off of my drink, shooting him a look out of the corner of my eye. "And I'm going to assume you don't."
Colin Chambers (Drew) (5/24/2009 10:44:28 PM)
"How can you tell?" he asked sarcastically. "First time, I'm new in the city," he explained, closing his eyes tightly as he took a gulp of the beer.
Yuck.
"I'm here for, uh, work," he said. "Not used to the big city. And, man, is this a big city." He knew New York was big, but he'd always pictured it like Toronto, if Toronto was American.
He was pretty sure that Central Park was bigger than downtown Toronto. Well, at least it had seemed that way when he got lost last week. Those paths are windy!
"I'm such a dweeb, I'm really sorry if it seemed like I was, you know, doing the whole lame pick-up line thing, because I wasn't." He paused. "Not that, you know, you aren't a, uh, good looking guy, but you, ah…" He turned various shades of red before continuing. "I'm really sorry, I'm just gonna go, uh, back over there, nice meeting you!" He slid off the stool to his feet.
Mateo J. Whitney (Caerie) (5/24/2009 10:49:57 PM)
"Hey, it's okay. Sit down," I tell him with a laugh, gesturing him back over before he can scurry off in shame. "I'm a native, so I suppose I forget sometimes how intimidating it can be to people who aren't from around here. Sitting all by yourself and drinking something that looks like it has you on the verge of gagging isn't going to make you any more comfortable, though."
I point at his stool again. "Sit. I didn't think you were hitting on me. This is New York. You think we're that subtle?"
It's a joke, really, though I have seen people be very, very blatant before. The best was the charming man whose idea of a smooth pick-up line was, 'Y'fuckin'?'
Colin Chambers (Drew) (5/24/2009 10:55:40 PM)
He let out a breath, visibly relaxing. "Thanks," he said appreciatively. "It's been a long week, I'm really not always this big of a spaz." Okay, so, that one was mostly a lie.
He laughed a bit, at himself, in response to the comment about his drink. "My mind totally blanked when the guy came over, it was the only thing that popped into my head."
He slid back onto the stool. "So, been acting long?" He took another gulp of the drink. He wasn't going to be getting paid for another two weeks, and he was raised better than to let a perfectly good drink go to waste.
Even if it did taste strikingly similar to mud and rat pee. Not that he knew from first hand experience.
Mateo J. Whitney (Caerie) (5/24/2009 11:02:16 PM)
"I got into theatre when I was twelve. I didn't start really getting good roles until I was done with my BFA, though. So, depending on how you look at it, I've either been acting for almost thirteen years or been an actor for two years."
There are many, many people who don't make a living off of acting and still call themselves actors, of course. They pay their rent waiting tables, bartending, dancing in strip clubs, what have you. I've done my fair share of waiting tables, too, but I'm finally to the point where if I live very, very frugally I can survive. And if I can hold out for a few more months, there's always my trust fund to help matters.
"Now, Colin, why don't you share a bit about yourself? Where're you from originally and what do you do?"
He says he's not always this much of a spaz, so I'm doing my best to try to set him at ease. The New York welcoming committee.
Colin Chambers (Drew) (5/24/2009 11:11:59 PM)
"That's really cool, I don't think I've ever met a real actor before," he said, smiling. "It must be great."
"Me? Oh, I'm boring." He chuckled, a little nervously. "I'm from, uh, a city called Winnipeg? In Canada. It's not like Toronto, or Vancouver, most people down here haven't heard of the other parts of Canada, but that's where I'm from. This is actually the first time I've left, so it's… it's pretty big." He smiled a bit, and braved another drink from the foul stuff in front of him.
Either the alcohol was getting to him, or he was actually getting used to the drink.
"I work down on, um…" What was it again? Oh, right. "Sixth? Big building. You hear of Kx International?" He watched Mateo's reaction. Most people he'd talked to had heard of Kx, but very few knew it was a consultancy firm.
And, of course, no one knew it was a fake. But that's what his cheques were signed with, that's what he was told to say when asked where he worked, and most of the time he even remembered. Tonight was a good night, he even recalled one of the streets the building was on.
"It's not very exciting, not like acting, I'm sure," he said before taking another swig of his drink.
Mateo J. Whitney (Caerie) (5/24/2009 11:25:40 PM)
"Hey, I've heard of other places in Canada," I assure him with a laugh. "I've even been to some of them. I have a friend online from Calgary and…um. Oh, there was this extremely obnoxious woman originally from Hamilton in one of my classes at the university." I may not be an expert on Canadian geography, but I am aware of at least a few cities within it, aside from the two obvious ones. "And once I was on a road trip and ended up getting lost and drunk in Thunder Bay. I don't like to talk about it."
When he asks if I've heard of the company he works for, I nod vaguely. "I've heard of it, yes. I don't know much about it, though." Just the name in passing, really.
Chuckling slightly, I'll shake my head. "Oh, acting has its moments, but if you don't have a passion for it, I'm sure it would get tiring and boring quickly. So much of it is repetition, you know."
Colin Chambers (Drew) (5/24/2009 11:32:30 PM)
He laughed. "You're the first person I've met who does! Other than this guy at work, but, he's from Vancouver, so I don't think it counts. Thunder Bay, that's cool, my ma was actually from there." His smile faltered a bit and he looked into his almost-empty glass, brow furrowed for a moment, before finishing the rest of the drink quickly and turning back to Mateo.
"I guess it's like that with everything," he said. "You gotta love what you do, and all that."
He paused, looking around. "So I heard this place was popular with the, um, you know." He leaned in slightly, the alcohol (which he so couldn't handle) emboldening him. "The Sigil-branded."
Mateo J. Whitney (Caerie) (5/24/2009 11:36:41 PM)
"I suppose so. If you don't have a drive for it, eventually you'll come to loathe it. Unless you're a workaholic or you just love the money itself, but…" Well. Few people are so lucky to have a job that can make them filthy rich enough to not care about what the job is.
When Colin leans in with that comment, I regard him a bit cautiously, with a small frown.
"I've heard that, too," I agree cautiously. There are people who have less than friendly ideas about such things, so I'm not quite willing to admit that I'm one of the Sigil-branded. Not even to sweet, spazzy Colin here.
Colin Chambers (Drew) (5/24/2009 11:50:00 PM)
"I don't know what I was expecting, but… it looks so normal, you know?" His eyes wandered around the room. "I mean, I wasn't expecting people with horns or glowing eyes or whatever, but this is just like a bar from home, except without the drunk guy barfing in the corner."
"And, well, everybody's better dressed." He smiled a little, very aware that his t-shirts, shorts and flip-flips didn't exactly scream chic.
He'd only been out to the island a couple of times, and while everyone there looked normal as well, he knew most of them were also posthuman. But that was a business - he was expecting to see more interesting sights in a bar.
Had he been too forward? Mateo did sound cautious. But he was the nicest person Colin had encountered in the city so far - well, that wasn't true, there was that girl, Aria, she seemed nice. But Colin wasn't sure she'd even noticed he'd joined the team yet, so…
"I guess it was stupid, Sigil-bearers to look different here," If Mateo looked, he'd notice the edge of his brand peeking up over the collar of his shirt, on his left collarbone.
He hadn't realized how badly he wanted, needed to have a friend here. Was Mateo that person? Too early to tell, and he didn't want to be all stalkery and assume. And besides, the guy was an actor, practically famous, why would he even want to associate with him?
"So I should totally go see your play," he said after a moment's pause. "Where is it?"
Mateo J. Whitney (Caerie) (5/24/2009 11:57:49 PM)
"Oh, around three in the morning on a Saturday you might catch a guy barfing in the corner, but he probably won't be allowed to stay there for very long," I offer wryly.
I'll go quiet, letting Colin ramble for a moment, feeling vaguely guilty for not trusting him with my own status, until I happen to catch a glimpse of a brand over the collar of his shirt. Then, I sit up a bit straighter, suddenly paying a lot more attention.
"Most don't make it too obvious, really. That wouldn't be entirely safe, considering some attitudes out there," I point, casually reaching up to unbutton the top button on my shirt. No, I'm not undressing. It's just so I can pull my shirt open a bit and down to the right, where he can probably just barely see a glimpse of the mark on my pec there, before I straighten my collar again.
"It's, ah, off, off-Broadway. Here," I'll reach into the inner pocket of my jacket, finding a copy of the program to offer him, which has the address for the theatre on the back.
Colin Chambers (Drew) (5/25/2009 12:12:10 AM)
His eyesbrows raised, his mouth open in a little "o" of surprise at the sight of Mateo's Sigil. "Dude, me too!" He tugged his t-shirt down a bit, on the wrong side, then corrected it. "That's awesome, I mean, I thought it was just hype or whatever." He smiled, relieved.
He accepted the program, glancing over. "Next day I have off, I'll be there." And he would do his best to follow through on that. The fact that it was off, off-Broadway probably meant it was less, less money than on-Broadway, which increased the chances.
"So —" He was interrupted by a buzzing from his pocket. "Sorry," he said, clearly apologetic. "Could be work." He turned in his stool away from Mateo slightly, bringing the sleek black mobile to his ear. "Hello?" He cast a sidelong look at Mateo as he listened to the voice on the other end, disappointment evident on his face. "Yeah, okay." He turned away. "Yes, I do know how to get there!" he hissed quietly. "Okay." He closed the phone, and turned back.
"Sorry, that was…. yeah, gotta go." He dug his wallet out, smoothing out some crumpled bills before placing them under his empty glass. "Oh! Right!" He had cards! Business cards!
He dug one out of his wallet, only slightly crumpled, and held it out for Mateo. "Thanks for being so cool, man. If you ever want to hang out or anything, my number's on there." He smiled.