Who: Tony W, Kent Brightstar, and Cate Adler What: Viva Las Vegas! When: The witching hours, very early on Saturday, May 4 Where: The Vegas Demimonde Warnings: A little kissing. A little sad. Mostly fine.
Much as Tony loved Vegas and all the excitement the Demimonde had to offer, as Finn's party at the bar went on he was looking at Kent and Cate with an increasing need to just be alone with them both. The good thing about Finn was that she was way more responsible at 21 than Tony had ever been, and he didn't really feel the need to babysit her even if she'd drunk all those drinks people kept buying her. Anyway, she had enough friends here to make sure she got to her room (or whoever's room, Tony was absolutely not judging) safely.
It was only a little after midnight when he came up behind Cate and Kent at their table and slung an arm around each of them. "Hey, babes," he said, and kissed Cate's cheek and then Kent's. "Want to get out of here? I thought we could take a walk around the park, get some fresh air. Then maybe go up to our room and get up to some mischief." He grinned between the two of them. "I don't think my cousin will mind if we go. Or even notice, probably."
"Oh good, because Sir Dr Kent has been ready to leave pretty much since we got here, and my PG-13 distraction techniques can only go so far." Cate squeezed Kent's thigh where her hand was currently resting, then turned in her chair so that she could see both of them better. "Need to drop a few coins in the fountain to improve your luck for later?" She gave her eyebrows an exaggerated waggle before standing and taking a second to make sure nothing had gotten twisted while she lounged.
As utterly dudebro as it was, Kent had actually resorted to conjuring a pair of sunglasses so that the weight of his glare wouldn't be quite so cutting. Those had gone on pretty early on, because, as much as he wanted to be around Cate and Tony in a place that seemed to scream Them, he'd found out within ten minutes that Vegas wasn't really for him. It was loud and bright and people, and his estimation of the general populace had reached such depths as he had not experienced since the one time in college when he'd had a moment of optimism madness and let himself be dragged to a frat party.
Even with Cate trying to distract him from time to time and watching Tony own the room with an ease that Kent really envied, his outlook had reached blackhole proportions, except he was actively repelling people by just sitting there. So when his boyfriend made the suggestion, and his girlfriend seemed amenable to the idea, Kent actually leapt to his feet and thrust his hand out at Tony. A muscle in his jaw twitched. "She made a valiant effort at getting me out of my head, but she's right. I'm so done here. Can we go? Now?"
"Aw, poor baby," Tony said, and took Kent's hand, leaning in to bump his shoulder against Kent's. "Let's get out of here and I'll kiss it better. Or Catey will. Or we both will. Either way, lots of kissing."
He wasn't drunk -- he never really drank enough to get out of control -- but he'd had a few over the course of the evening and probably not enough water in between, and he was a little buzzed, loose, and happy. Tony grinned expansively around at the bar and everyone in it. "That was a good party, right? I did good." He headed toward the exit, towing Kent in his wake. "Let's do what Catey said and throw some pidges in the fountain so we can all get lucky."
"It was a great party!" Cate agreed, moving to follow before pausing with a glance at the bar. "Just a second." She popped over to give Finn a quick hug and kiss on the cheek, before returning to slide her hand into Kent's free one. The whole thing took all of ten seconds, and she felt a little breathless from the exertion, the few drinks that she had, and general giddiness at being here with these two great guys. She leaned into Kent's side and around so that she could see Tony. "I have no idea how you do it. A few days ago there were no plans, and all it takes it a few words from you and we've got a massive group vacation weekend. I mean, I was already impressed with you, but damn Tony."
They reached the front, and the doorman gave them the double-door exit so that they didn't even have to break apart. Even so, she dropped Kent's hand to dance a little way in front of them, pulling a coin from her pocket and waving it as she looked over her shoulder. "I know what wish I'm going to make," she said, drawing out the last words in a teasing tone.
Now that they were out in the Vegas night air, Kent could actually breathe a little easier. He had no idea just how stifling that place had been until they were past the doors. Now he felt like he could actually appreciate the two people he was really there to spend time with. For the first time since Apparating in, he let himself smile to see Cate so happy and gorgeous, and to be tucked up against the warmth of Tony's side. "I don't know what else I could wish for."
"Aww, dork," Tony said, and wrapped his arm around Kent's waist. "Man, I could wish for so many things. World peace, for starters." He grinned at Cate. "Eternal youth. The ability to eat carbs without it all landing on my waist." He patted his stomach, which despite his complaint was still trim. "Limitless stamina… man, I've got so many wishes."
He followed Cate, carrying Kent along with him; the park was just next door, and though he'd been here many times over the years, he always liked to see the Fountain of Fair Fortune. This year there was a special desire to actually be in the fountain, for no particular reason he could think of except for that one he was not thinking about on this trip, but he figured maybe getting his hands wet would be enough to satisfy that notion. "Maybe party planning is my next career," he mused out loud; Cate's compliments had made him think of it. "If the other thing doesn't work out. I'd be pretty good at that, right? Vegas is easy, you can always do it on a whim, but I can do parties wherever. You think I should explore that as an option, Catey?"
Though there was that tiniest desire to run off ahead of them, in that way Cate might have when she was a kid, the combination of her high heels and the far-more-acute desire to be near the two of them won out. She alternated between walking a few steps ahead and then turning back around to wait for them to catch up, always sneaking some little touch or expression for one or the other of them before she'd happily move ahead once again.
"I can see it," she said, pausing to let them catch up to her again. This time she fell into step on Tony's other side, winding her arm around his. "But what other thing? Something other than being a tour guide?" She glanced over at Kent, wondering if he knew anything about this.
"Mm-hm," Tony answered, and grinned down at her, feeling too good to be diffident as he had been when talking to Kent, when he wasn't sure whether it was a really dumb idea or not. "Well, it's just a possibility, nothing's for sure yet, but you remember at the Flyboys party a few weeks ago when Kris dragged me away while you were talking to the Golgothas? She introduced me to Orrin Holloway from Art & Soul, and he liked my face. I mean, how could he not?" he added fairly, and winked. "Anyway, he wants to cast me in the show. So if that happens, I might have the chance to be, like, an actor. And I think that could be pretty cool. And Kent thinks I would be amazing. Don't you, baby." It wasn't really a question; he turned his head to grin at Kent in turn, secure in his expectation of his response.
Kent heaved a dramatic sigh. "We're going to lose him to the glitz and glamor of the Hollywood machine. Or possibly the Vancouver one. I have no idea where Art & Soul is even filmed."
He smiled at the end, even though the truth of his beliefs in Tony's inevitable success made a place deep inside him ache with a preemptive type of mourning. But that was eventually. It wasn't right now. Right now was the cool night air, and the light pollution, and the noise pollution, and some lucky fountain that he didn't entirely believe in (and he doubted they did either) but they were happy about it, so he could be too. He just had to capture this night in his head. Get the colors just right. The blue splash across Cate's sinuous arms, the gold that caught in Tony's eyes and making them sparkle. He just needed this moment. The rest would fall wherever it would.
He looked around Tony at his girlfriend and winked at her. "And then Cate's gonna get wooed away by some tech startup in Silicon Valley and show us all up in the end. Just wait. I know these things."
Cate's eyes lit up at this new information, and she slid closer to Tony, her arm around his back to give him a squeeze. She left it there, resting at his waist as she walked tucked into his side. Kent was close enough that her fingertips occasionally brushed his side. "Of course you'd be amazing. And not just for your face." She beamed up at him. "So are you gonna do it? Please tell me you said you'd do it. Seriously, I can totally see it."
She rolled her eyes at Kent. "Silicon Valley is so 2010. Anyone with a decent phone and a Patreon account can be a startup nowadays and blast those investment firm blowhards out of the water. The only thing wooing me anytime soon is you two...if the fountain wills it, anyway." She laughed.
Tony beamed back at her, his arm slipping around her waist in return. He leaned down to catch her lips in a soft, quick kiss, a kind of thank-you for being so excited for him. "I definitely would. If, you know, if it happens. I'm not counting on it. But I would be really good, right?"
He turned his head to give Kent a brief kiss, too, so he wouldn't feel left out. "I don't care what the fountain wants, to be honest. It's not the boss of me." Tony stuck out his tongue at the fountain as they approached. The leaping streams of water, magically lit from within and dancing in ever-changing patterns, didn't seem to care. "So prepare to be woo-ed."
Even Kent, who had prepared himself to be underwhelmed, was a bit dazzled by fountain. He actually fell back a half-step, just out of Tony's handhold, but it was really so he could watch the two of them, commit this to memory too. It seemed trite to call anything magical, but that's what this was. Magical, filled with wonder. It was terrible, not being able to find the words, because in that moment he wanted to shout what he was feeling to the entire Nevada desert. Instead, he followed the pair of them up to the fountain and actually fished out a coin.
He held it first out to Cate and then to Tony to be kissed. "If not for me, then for you. Extra wishes--not that either of you need it. You're both gonna rule the world eventually." And then, under the cover of the rushing water, Kent added, "You already rule mine."
"I don't know about that, but you're sweet." Tony grinned and kissed the coin, but mostly Kent's fingers. "Toss it in, baby, let's get that luck going."
He dropped his arm from around Cate and vaulted up onto the ledge around the Fountain of Fair Fortune, with enough grace despite being mildly tipsy that he barely even wobbled as he straightened, and pivoted on his toes to face the other two. "You know what? I really kind of want to go swimming. Should we? Do you think we'd get arrested? Probably, right?"
As Tony stepped away, Cate dropped in next to Kent and slid an arm around him, kissing the coin before doing the same to his cheek. "You're such a sap," she said fondly, nuzzling his jaw and leaning into him as she watched Tony's antics with a raised eyebrow. "I would much rather go back to that hotel room than a jail cell, thanks. But I could just push you in and we can blame it on my clumsiness?" she teased.
"I don't care how magical that fountain is, that's Vegas water and therefore disgusting." Kent crossed his arms over his chest even as he leaned a hip against Cate's. The twice-kissed coin still resided stubbornly in his fist. Her arm was warm around him, and he wanted to give her the same, but he wasn't done giving both of them his best Healer's Warning look, complete with raised eyebrow. "Please consider this a health advisory and abstain from hurling yourself into the Cesspool of Good Fortune. This isn't even factoring in the legality, nor the much more enticing idea of going back to the hotel. Together."
Tony laughed at both of them. "It can't be that bad, babe. I think people even drink it sometimes." He dropped down to sit on the edge of the fountain, dipping his hand into the water to cup some in his palm, and he looked down to inspect it. "It doesn't look dirty or anything. Probably totally safe, Dr. Grumpyface."
He flicked the water at Kent and Cate, grinning at both of them. It was just a few drops, not enough to even get them damp -- so he was justifiably surprised when a whole wave flew out of his palm, dousing both of his paramours in cool, oddly river-scented water.
If Cate had thought she'd have even a remote chance of being able to budge him, she would have already been pushing Kent playfully toward the fountain with threats of pushing him in. It made for a funny mental picture, but that was unfortunately where it stopped. Though, she had to admit that the idea of actually drinking from the fountain was pretty gross.
So when that thought was followed immediately by a faceful of water, she wasn't entirely embarrassed that she squealed in surprise and raised her arms in a vain attempt to keep it out of her mouth. "Ohmygod, Tony!" She looked down at her dripping clothing and couldn't do anything other than laugh—well, that and attempt to spit out disgusting fountain water. "No fair with the friendly fire. I'm your ally here!"
This was one of those instances where Kent's reaction could have been anything from anger to amusement, or even swift (but playful) retaliation. But he did none of those things as the fountain water dripped from his hair and sealed his shirt to his chest. No, he was far too busy staring at Tony in open wonder. "How?"
"Um," Tony said, looking down at his hand, just as baffled as Kent. Okay, no, he was not just as baffled as Kent, because he had some context for why he might be able to shoot water out of his hand without touching his wand or focusing on a spell. All that research into what it meant to be part-naiad had borne some fruit, after all. But the 'how' of it… that part he wasn't quite sure about. He hadn't meant to do anything.
He drew his hand back experimentally, closing his fist gently, instinctually, and the water flew backwards into his palm again, leaving Kent and Cate bone dry once more.
Tony swallowed, and tipped the water back into the fountain, and looked up at the other two. "Um… so I think I should tell you guys something."
Cate looked between the two of them, confused by Kent's reaction and Tony's similar response. But his follow-up left her staring at him wide-eyed and gaping, because she may not have been magical, but she'd witnessed plenty of it...and that didn't look like anything she'd seen. "Okay...that was wicked cool. Also crazy. What was that?"
The wheels were turning in Kent's head. Wandless magic. Outside of summoning spells, it was virtually impossible for a witch or wizard to use it. There was just something inside them that wouldn't allow it. Needed the focus. But magical beings--that is, beings that could use effectual, practical magic--had no such restrictions. A question crawled up to his tongue, but caught at his teeth, which he clenched tightly to keep them inside his head. He had to give Tony a chance to tell them. This felt important. Really important. What are you?
Tony studied both their faces for a moment, suddenly feeling very sober indeed. They were both staring at him now, Cate mostly looking surprised, Kent harder to read, like his darker expressions usually were. His stomach twisted itself into a knot, and he looked down at his hands, which he clasped in his lap. "I guess that was from… my mom's side. You know how we never knew who she was? Or is? We still don't, but… when Nat was in the hospital and they couldn't figure out what was causing her complications, the healers ran some genetic tests on her, and on me. And they found out that we're--"
He glanced around, his skin prickling with goosebumps at the sudden concern that other people around could be listening in, and he lowered his voice. There wasn't anyone so nearby that it was a concern, probably, but it still felt dangerous to say it very loudly. "We're crossbreeds." He swallowed, still not used to saying that out loud, or the unmoored sensation it left in him. "Me and Nat and Stevie. Our mom was a naiad. So that's why." Tony chanced a look up at them again, almost dreading what he would see on Cate and Kent's faces. "We never knew before, we just found out, and if that changes things, then--"
Cate's surprise shifted gradually into concern as Tony spoke, because she couldn't recall ever seeing him seem so unsure: serious expression, hands in his lap, lack of eye contact. She would have already been moving, already stopped him, but it seemed like something he'd been needing to say, so she rocked forward on her feet and gave him that time—until she didn't.
She closed the three steps between them, dropped into a squat, and kissed him mid-sentence. "Don't be ridiculous. It doesn't change anything." She shifted to sit next to him, reaching for his hand.
Cate moved in before he could, but she'd effectively done what he'd wanted to do. And that was okay, because it just meant he could take her place when she moved again, except Kent went to his knees and stared up into his face. He brought his hands up to cover Tony's knees, an anchor for himself as much as anything else. There was no need for his normal swirl of thought; everything was as clear as glass in this moment. "She's right. This doesn't make me love you any less."
Tony couldn't speak for a moment, the intensity of the moment stopping his throat. He squeezed Cate's hand instead, and dropped his other to cover one of Kent's hands. After a moment the tension eased enough that he could try out a shaky laugh. "Okay. Okay, that's good." He sighed and leaned in against Cate. "It doesn't really mean very much as far as I can tell. Maybe we can do some little things with water, and we don't really have to come up to breathe when we're swimming, and we've got this… connection to people who have water beings in their ancestry. And there's something about being charming, or more attractive to hu-- to people. But I'm still me." He smiled, though it wasn't his usual easy grin; it was smaller and softer and more fragile, and he was still gripping onto both their hands like twin lifelines. "Whatever that means."
"You're still you," Cate said, nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck where he was leaning close. Her gaze drifted down to where Kent was still crouched...and that look was unmistakable. She kissed the underside of Tony's jaw lightly. "Should we go back?"
While the hand that was free to do so came up to the side of Cate's neck and slid into her hair while she showed her affection, his other turned and twisted beneath Tony's until he could interlock their fingers, giving them a supportive squeeze. His gaze had shifted momentarily to Cate, darkened eyes and slow smile telegraphing his intentions. Kent surged up, then, and caught his boyfriend's mouth in a kiss meant to relay all of his support and assurity that he was going nowhere anytime soon.
By the time he finally pulled back, he was breathing hard. His voice was rough and had dropped at least twelve octaves. "We should go back."
Kent had this way of driving every thought that had seemed important right out of Tony's head, along with the air out of his lungs. He came away from that kiss a little dazed, a little melty around the spine regions, and a lot inclined to forget everything serious in favor of getting back to that hotel room with its very handy wide bed.
He didn't want to let go of anybody's hand, but walking back to the hotel seemed like a bad and boring idea right now, so he released both of their hands to fish in his pocket for the room key with its handy auto-apparate feature. It really paid off to upgrade to the deluxe package sometimes. "Let's go back," he agreed, and wrapped an arm around each of them, and pressed his thumb to the key.