And Blackjack [IC]

[angrydurf]

"Princes of the Universe" Ace said as he slid into his seat. "Great song, one of my personal faves."

He took a sip from his drink and winked at Lynn, "Or you could go with 'One is the Loneliest Number' to bemoan being stuck unattatched with this lot." He gestured at the couples with feigned disgust. "As long as you don't mind risking some gallent soul solving your problem." he added flirtatously.

[Dr Archeville]

"Did somevon say 'gallant soul'?!" a rich tenor voice asked.

Alright, we're here. Now where are the woman you said'd be here?

I said there was a high probability there would be some here, not that there definitely would be.

Gah, all I see are high school kids! You know those... things are too spastic for my liking!

Patience, patience, I am sure something here will catch your eye. Just keep to your side, and let me keep to mine while I am here to congratulate Phantom.

It was indeed the renowned Dr. Archeville, carrying a small package. It was about a foot on each side, wrapped in blue paper and topped with a simple yet elegant red bow.

"Und a very happy birthday to you!"

[alderwitch]

Taylor's nose wrinkled up seconds before Doc popped around the corner. It was still hard to get used to the way her senses jangled around the German. He was, of course, invited and Taylor gave him a genuine smile as she stood up to return his greeting. "Thank you. You have excellent timing. We'd only just settled in."

Out of her costume, and even with the strappy heels, Taylor was downright tiny as she offered him a quick hand and a smile that dimpled both her cheeks, "Ace just finished 'showing us how it's done' and Lynn's trying to figure out what to sing. I've put my choice in Jack's hands."

She flashed a teasing grin back her boyfriend's direction.

[Cyroa]

Derrick stood silently next to Stesha, sipping his glass of water with on hand and gently/lightly rubbing the small of her back with the other. He watched everyone happily but said very little. He was out of his element here, not exactly fitting in with such a highly social setting. But he was here for his friends. It was Taylor's birthday after all, and they were here to celebrate.

[Dr Archeville]

So Taylor/Phantom and Jack/Avenger are still together? Hunh.

He said he can control himself, and apparently he can. No don't you go making a scene, or you will get us all run out of here, and I know you would not want that.

Not 'till I've had a few drinks, at least....

Hrm... aw, Derick/Dark Star and... that green-haired girl make a cute couple.

Meh. Say, what're the odds Ace has slept with everyone here?

... I would rather not think about that. Oh - do you think he and Grim are together? Or here separately?

Hrmmm... I've always wanted to try a shapeshifter....

No! NO! We do not sleep with our... employees!

Archeville looked around the room, smiling and nodding to everyone in Taylor's little group. "I am sure Jack vill make a fine selection," he said as he laid the present on the table before Taylor. "So, haff de gifts already been opened, or are you vaiting to do so later?"

[angrydurf]

Ace nodded greeting to the Doctor, "Well they don't come much more Gallant." he said as he rejoined the group. He took a long sip from his drink, "What are you drinking Victor? I'm sure theres something here to satisfy even your discerning tastes." He inquired with a flash of a smile at the handsome genius.

[Avenger Assembled]

"I Love Rock and Roll," said Jack with an amused smile after a moment's reflection. "I think we're about ready for a song that we can all sing along to." He leaned over and pecked Taylor on the lips. "You'll do fine, honey." He waved at Dr. Archeville, eying his present with a curious look. "Ah, I see our audience is getting here just in time!"

[Dr Archeville]

Ace... Ace is flirting with us again, yes?

I don't know which is worse, him or the Valentino look-alike.

Archeville gave a curt nod to Ace, "let us start mit someding light und simple: Jägermeister. Not a Jägerbomb, a Jägermeister, neat."

He then turned to Jack, "I shall be more dan mere audience, Jack -- I intend to show I can sing as vell as I can dance!"

He then did something which was perhaps unexpected: he extended his hand to Jack.

[Heritage]

Lynn frowned as she continued chewing on her straw.

"Mmm, I don't know that Highlander song, never got into those movies for some reason."

"Or you could go with 'One is the Loneliest Number' to bemoan being stuck unattatched with this lot." He gestured at the couples with feigned disgust. "As long as you don't mind risking some gallent soul solving your problem."

The petite brunette rolls her eyes.

"Oh, Jack's mysterious older brother, you are such a character! Seriously though, I don't think it's right for the dumper to sing a 'woe is me' song; that's the privilege of the dumpee. Though I might make an exception tonight..."

She trailed off when she saw Doc approach Jack with hand outstretched; from what she'd gathered, this might prove to be interesting.

[Avenger Assembled]

Jack didn't hesitate a moment. He reached out and shook Archeville's hand firmly, his grip strong before he sat back down next to Taylor. "Good to see you again, Viktor," he said politely. There, who was to say how he felt at that moment, surrounded by people who could kill him without thinking about it, who maybe had ever reason to do so? He put his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders, relaxing in the moment. "Knock 'em dead, honey."

[alderwitch]

She touched Jack's hand, squeezing it lightly in support. After all, she knew full well how difficult it was to face the ex Knights with his secret out in the open, but he was here, with them all and for her birthday.

"Sure," Taylor agreed with a gamine grin as she stood up to pull the jacket that had made her outfit 'parent appropriate' earlier in the evening, pausing to fold it neatly over the back of her chair. The one good thing about running around in a leotard was she didn't feel nearly so akward in shorter skirts these days.

She hurried up to the small stage and sighed as she had to pull the mike off the stand as both Ace and Jack had almost a foot on her. Even in tippy high heels, she wasn't going to be able to use the stand. She shook the cord out and launched fearlessly into the selection.

It wasn't professional, but she had a husky alto voice that worked well for the song and she threw herself into the campy song with an infectious amount of enthusiasm that made up for a good deal when it came to karaoke.

[Electra]

Stesha leaned comfortably against Derrick and listened to the music, sipping her shockingly pink beverage from time to time. She smiled and clapped enthusiastically for Taylor when the song was done. "We should go up there," she encouraged Derrick with a grin. "Everyone else is doing it. We could even just do happy birthday, if you don't want to do something longer. That one's easy, because everyone else will join in."

[Cyroa]

Derrick smiled and clapped with the rest for Taylor's performance. It was pretty good actually. And everyone was having fun which was the point after all.

Then he blinked. Twice. Maybe a third. Stesha's comment took a little while to really sink in. "Err...what? Isn't the arguement of 'everyone else is doing it' the thing we tell people to fight against? Peer pressure and all that. I must admit to some...trepidation here given my lack of skill, not to mention knowledge of musical material. But far be it from me to be the odd one out." He wasn't afraid per se. Just a tad uncomfortable being the center of attention. And sounding like he was killing a cat or something. He steeled himself for the experience, taking a quick kiss from Stesha to fortify him. "Very well. Whatever song you wish. I'll do my best to not mangle it to bad. I hope," he said, the last line more to himself than anything else.

[alderwitch]

Taylor flashed a dimpled grin after her at least impassioned contribution to the nights karaoke. She caught herself before floating off the edge of the stage - the problem with hanging out with one's super hero friends in civillian identity - and caught herself with only a little bit of a wobble on one heeled foot before sashaying down the stairs with a faintly guilty look. Next she'd be phasing through the table and she didn't even have alchohol as an excuse. It didn't affect her after all. Maybe she could blame it on that anyways.

She scooted in next to Jack a little breathless from both the song and her near stage-mishap and grinned, "Mental note: no stage diving. So who's the next brave soul up?"

Taylor let her hand fall casually on Jack's knee as she glanced around the table cheerfully, "We haven't even put it on random yet. That's when the pain truely starts."

[Avenger Assembled]

When she finished, Jack applauded the birthday girl with a cheerful whistle. When she came down to join them, Jack leaned in and kissed Taylor on the lips. "That was great, Taylor," he told her warmly. "Though I have to admit, I don't have any dimes." His arm easily around her, he turned to the others. There, who says I'm not a perfectly human being who isn't thinking about drinking my girlfriend's blood tonight...ah, damn. "Who will take the challenge?"

[Electra]

"We'll go," Stesha volunteered, setting down her drink. She gave Derrick a kiss on the cheek and smoothed his hair back behind his ear. "It won't be so bad, I promise," she told him with a laugh. Keeping her arm twined in his, she led the way up onto the stage. Queuing up the music, she took the microphone. "This next song is for our friend Taylor, who is celebrating a very important birthday tonight. Since we're all in a bar, you can probably guess which one. Let's all give her a hand!" She gestured with the microphone, then cheerfully led the house in a round of applause. "Everybody knows this one, so you can sing along."

Turning on the music, she leaned against Derrick to share the microphone with him, sliding one arm around his waist. A rather embellished version of Happy Birthday came out of the speakers, complete with words on the little television screen. Stesha wasn't a great singer, but she found the right key to lead off in, and she had a lot of enthusiasm for the piece.

[Cyroa]

He blinked at Taylor. Random? Ye gads... With Stesha taking his hand and leading him toward the stage, he was going to give it his best shot. Smiling, he happily slid his arm around her waist and held her close. When the music started, he followed Stesha's lead, singing with enthusiasm and giving it his all.

He was a rather skilled individual. Derrick was a skilled astrophyscist. He knew multiple languages, crisscrossed the galaxy dozens of times at least. As Dark Star, he wielded phenominal cosmic powers, changing the forces of the universe with ease. He had powers beyond imagination. He was a 'man' of many talents. But singing was apparently not one of them. It didn't quite sound like he was torturing animals to death...not quite. He wasn't causing anyone's ears to bleed in pain but it might have been a close call. But he got point for trying and enthusiasm if nothing else.

[Avenger Assembled]

"Wonderful, you two, just wonderful!" called Jack, an enthusastic host if nothing else. He couldn't quite resist the urge to yell "Encore, encore!" if only because the look of embarassment on Dark Star's face was amusing in that way only a harassed friend with such good nature could be. They made a lovely couple, he decided, and Derrick was unlikely to have the problems he'd had with Stesha.

[alderwitch]

Taylor was laughing and blushing by the time the song finished and she whacked Jack lightly on the shoulder for his remarks, "I'm going to be a total hypocrite and tell you not to tease poor Derrick. Birthday girl's perogative. If he blushes any harder he's going to go up in flames."

"Thank you." She flashed a dimpled smile at the couple as they made their way back to the table. She glanced over the table at all the gathered friends and added, "Really, I'd like to thank you all. I know just how busy everyone is. It means a lot that you're here."

Then, before it could get too somber, she glanced around at Archevielle, "Now, I do believe we were promised a song by the good doctor."

[Heritage]

"Good to see you again, Viktor,"

Well that was anticlimatic...

Lynn shrugged, and turned her focus back to the rest of the performances, vigorously applauding and wolf-whistling for her friends and former teammates.

"Thank you." She flashed a dimpled smile at the couple as they made their way back to the table. She glanced over the table at all the gathered friends and added, "Really, I'd like to thank you all. I know just how busy everyone is. It means a lot that you're here."

Lynn felt all warm inside; her second rum and Coke was definitly helping, but it was the comraderie and sense of belonging that was making her feel all tingly. It occured to her that other than one or two people at work, all her friends were crimefighters.

I need to find a new team and start over, but still stay in touch with this lovable bunch of freaks.

"Now, I do believe we were promised a song by the good doctor."

With a whoop, the tiny shapeshifter sat up in her seat and applauded loudly.

"Whooo-hoo! I'm up after you, Doc, and then I think we need to see some wrapping paper fly!"

[Dr Archeville]

"Vell, in dat case," the doktor said, "let me get started!"

Rock!

Classical!

Classical? Classical music doesn't have lyrics!

Oh, fine, we can sing one of those ditties we heard while in college.

Dr. Archeville leaped to the stage, and began searching through the karaoke's options. In a few seconds he'd selected one, and started it up: Mambo #5, by Lou Vega.

Or so it seemed.

"Damen und Herren, dis is Cell #5.

I have a story to tell

It's about all the organelles in a cell

The little bitty organs that make it run

So that we can still learn and have some fun

Look at your hands and arms while I sing

They're made up of cells as are all living things

The cell is the basic unit of life

And if you understand that it will be alright

Cells are small can't be seen with your eyes

But if you use a microscope you'll get a surprise

Inside a cell there's a whole lotta things

These are organelles of which I sing

A little bit of nucleus controls it all

And if it's a plant cell it has a cell wall

A little cell membrane for in and out

Cilia and flagella to move about

A little bit of ribosomes to synthesize

The proteins that travel on an ER ride

A little bit of Golgi to package them

All of these organelles are in your cells"

Archeville danced a bit during the instrumental interlude.

"Inside the nucleus is DNA

Tangled up as chromatin but that's okay

Cells have mitochondria for energy

Stored in the form of ATP

Vacuoles to store more stuff

And thought there's more I think that's enough.

A little bit of nucleus controls it all

And if it's a plant cell it has a cell wall

A little cell membrane for in and out

Cilia and flagella to move about

A little bit of ribosomes to synthesize

The proteins that travel on an ER ride

A little bit of Golgi to package them

All of these organelles are in your cells"

More dancing during a second instrumental interlude, including giving a quick twirl to Grimalkin and Phantom.

"A little bit of nucleus controls it all

And if it's a plant cell it has a cell wall

A little cell membrane for in and out

Cilia and flagella to move about

A little bit of ribosomes to synthesize

The proteins that travel on an ER ride

A little bit of Golgi to package them

All of these organelles are in your cells"*

At the end, he gave a slight bow, then handed the mike over to Grim.

* lyrcis © 2003 Annette M. Parrott

[Electra]

Stesha laughed and clapped for the doctor's performance, years of science education giving her extra appreciation for the parody. And he really sold it too, with all the dancing. "I wonder why he doesn't have an accent when he sings," she murmured to Derrick, then smiled at the doctor as he returned to the table. "That was wonderful, I've never heard that before. I need to find the words for that and send them to my dad."

[Cyroa]

Derrick nodded. "Well, he's memorizing from something he heard, not something he is consciously processing I would think. Given his intelligence, simple rote memorization of a song should be child's play. But still, I was rather impressed myself." He clapped loudly along with everyone else as the Doctor finished his performance. He nodded to the super genius as the man returned. "You know Doctor, if you ever decide to give up your multi-billion dollar companies and super inventions, I do believe you could take that act on the road and do quite well."

[Avenger Assembled]

Jack applauded the latest number as well, looking quite pleased for Dr. Archeville's performance. "All right," he said jovially, "is that everybody once Grim goes? Because if it is, I know some people who are ready for an encore." He grinned. "It's a long night, and there's plenty of music in that thing." He turned to Taylor and said, "I think you and I owe the crowd a duet."

[Heritage]

Lynn gave it up for Doc and his impressive if bizarrely educational tune.

"Alright, Doctah A! Woooo-oooo!"

"All right," he said jovially, "is that everybody once Grim goes? Because if it is, I know some people who are ready for an encore."

"Oh crap, it's my turn, right? And it's 'Lynn' when I'm oot and aboot, Mister Tall, Dark and Mysterious."

She hops up onto the stage, takes the mic and switches her overall tone and demeanor to something closer to a lounge lizard crooner.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! What an impressive display of talent we've seen here tonight, give yourselves a big hand!" Lynn does little golf claps; yeah, she's enjoying this way too much. :roll: "Go on! You deserve it!"

Then she clutches her hands below her chin, all mock-serious. "But really, we're here to celibrate the special day of a special friend, the one and only Taylor Chun, everybody! Look at her, she's just radiant tonight! You go, girlfriend!"

Finally, Lynn starts laughing and nearly drops the mic.

"Alright, I'm sorry, that was horrible! But it is in fact a special day for an awesome girl who can finally get legally blitzed in any state of the union, and to that I say 'Hell yeah'! Wooo!"

She thrusts her glass up in the air, then takes another sip of her rum and Coke before setting it down on the stage and punches is in her selection.

"But this song's for me."

Lynn quietly waits for the piano chords, nodding along before she tears into Queen's "Somebody to Love"; like most of the heroes gathered here tonight, she's not a trained singer, but while she might not hit every note, she gives it tremendous heart as the trials and trevails of the last year well up inside her.

When she's finished, the girl is clearly shaken as she replaces the mic in in the stand, recovers her drink and hops back off the stage; she makes her way over to Taylor and gives her a fierce hug as she whispers in her ear.

"I hope you guys are very happy together; seriously."