new_ophelia

"I don't wait in line," Jack teases, but it's the truth and the person at the door recognizes him and pushes a bunch of other patrons aside to let Jack go in.

"Them too," he says, nodding at Kate and Lionel and the guy at the door gives them a nod, signaling them to follow him. It's weird to be here again, Jack's only really gone the once for a cast thing on some strange play he did once, but it's a good club. Plus, this is really all for Lionel anyway.

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Lionel's not sure what to expect at all, though the name of the club gives him an inkling. He has a few million questions as to why the bouncers recognize Jack, but his fame probably has something to do with that. It doesn't explain how he knows about the club in the first place, though.

He sticks close to Kate, trying not to look too out of place when they get inside. The staring definitely doesn't help much.

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The staring, Kate dislikes. A lot. Luckily most of the stares are directed at Jack with just a few trying to figure out who Kate is and why she's holding his hand and where exactly Lionel fits into the picture. She tries to duck behind Jack as people begin raising their phones to take photos of them. Glancing over at Lionel she gives him an incredulous smile, figuring he has to be feeling some of this.

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It's weird how easily this all comes back to Jack and he grins at a couple people who start to take pictures, smiling at a girl who practically bounces up to him.

"Hi," she says, then holds out a pen and a magazine to Jack, which he takes and signs, asking her name so that he can personalize it. It's like falling back into a role, something he's always been good at playing. It's not him, but it's still easy.

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"Apparently Jack's really famous," Lionel says dryly, leaning down so only Kate can hear him. He's seen more than his fair share of fans mobbing the famous Faye Thayer or the up and coming starlet Valerie Thayer, but it never gets any less weird or amusing.

The music's loud as they slowly make their way inside, Lionel trying not to roll his eyes every time Jack stops to sign an autograph or take a picture. It's nothing he's really heard before, and he wonders how anyone can stand that much bass for more than a few seconds. But he's still a bit excited, and mostly eager to go inside.

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Kate feels a little awkward when Jack drops her hand to talk to the fan and moves back to stand with Lionel, not really sure where she should be. She understands that they want pictures of him but she doesn't know if she should actually remove herself. As more and more people start to crowd around she reaches down to take Lionel's hand and looks around. There are a lot of guys and more girls then she expected. Tapping Lionel on the shoulder she points at a boy dancing up on a pedestal. "Did you have places like this when you lived here?" she half-yells over the noise.

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"Hey," Jack says, managing to extract himself from the nearby group of people, his arm circling Kate's shoulders as he leans in to hear what she and Lionel are talking about. It's only that he notices she's pointing at the dancing boy and Jack grins, trying not to laugh, then looks at Lionel expectantly. Somehow he doubts that's something he's used to.

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Lionel can positively say he's never seen anything like this before, and there's just so much going on he doesn't know where to look first. Well, he does, he's just not sure he wants to.

Talking is hard, so he just shakes his head, still staring at the dancing boy.

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Kate tries not to laugh at the expression on Lionel's face and instead just leans into Jack, trying to ignore the confused and dirty looks being shot her way. She wonders how many of them already know about the gay, panty-buying scandal. "So," she says, leaning up so Jack can hear. "Did you miss all that?" She points to the knots of people who are trying to pretend like they aren't inching towards Jack.

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"Hmm?" he asks, glancing away from Lionel and the boy to look down at Kate and then the crowd of people around them. "Oh... no... I dunno. It's not really something you can miss, it's not really very comfortable, you know? I always have to be on when I'm out in LA. I always have to be Jack Crew, I can't ever just be Jack and that's fine, I don't mind it. I just didn't miss it."

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Lionel finally tears his eyes away from the guy who's done his job in grabbing his attention, and turns it back to Jack and Kate, catching the last bit of what Jack's saying. He's not sure Jack actually gets Kate's growing discomfort about his fame, so he grabs her hand and tugs it, leaning in so he doesn't have to yell at them as loudly over the music.

"Can we go to the bar?" Lionel's pretty sure he might need a little bit of alcohol to keep from spending the entire night just outright staring at everyone stupidly. (And to wrap his mind around what they're calling dancing now.)

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"God yes," Kate readily agrees, clutching Lionel's hand. She's really glad that he's here, actually. Which should probably say something about how well she and Jack would fare living here, but she can't think about that right now. "Jack, you're paying!" she yells, pulling Lionel towards the crowded bar.

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"Um... okay," Jack says, frowning a little as he watches them weave their way through the crowd without him. The second they're gone, he has a girl yammering away at him on one side and a really feminine looking boy grabbing at his arm on the other and the thing with Jack and his fame is that he doesn't know how to be mean to anyone who's a fan. So for the moment it looks like he's stuck there. Until Kate and Lionel come back, anyway.

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Lionel's not sure if people are staring because they're with Jack (well, those people who aren't already staring at Jack) or because they're actually interested - and that he's maybe kind of interested back.

Looking back, Lionel sees Jack trapped again, and tugs on Kate's hand to bring her back around. When they reach Jack, Lionel gives the guy clutching his arm a smile that's not really polite. "He's with us."

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Quite frankly, Kate isn´t sure if Jack would prefer they leave him to the fan thing or not but she willingly goes back for him and places herself between him and the girl. And kind of that guy, too. She reaches down to grab his hand and tries to ignore the stares. "Let´s get Lionel some drinks," she says, leaning up to his ear.

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The girl almost looks like she's pouting and Jack says, "I'll sign your friend's napkin before I go, I promise," because that's what she's been asking about and he hates not coming through for fans.

"This is my girlfriend, Kate, by the way," he tells them, trying to tug both Kate and Lionel toward the bar. "And my friend, Lionel." Because if he tells just a few people, the entire bar will know before long.

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Lionel's of the opinion that Jack doesn't have to explain himself to anyone, but he knows the demands of stardom better than that. And it's growing more and more obvious just how much of a star Jack is.

They finally make it to the bar without anymore incidents, and Lionel gives Kate and Jack an expectant look. "Pick a drink for me?"

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Kate just kind of tries to smile at the girl who now looks even more disappointed as they move towards the bar. She appreciates the acknowledgement, though, probably more than Jack knows. Kate's not a huge drinker but she figures that in Lionel's case, when in Rome. "You need something neon or dirty sounding," she says, raising her eyebrow at all the guys trying to crowd around them. "Then you need to go dance with one of them," Kate says with a smile, nodding towards the rapidly forming pack.

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"He's gay, not a girl," Jack teases with a grin, ordering a beer for himself before he glances at Kate and tries to decide what they need for Lionel. There's a lot of choices there and he tends to only drink beer himself, which he's really looking forward to after not having it for so long.

As he tries to decide on a drink, some guy behind them gets a little too close for Jack's comfort, leaning first toward Lionel, then Kate and Jack shoots him a dirty look.

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"You mean there are names dirtier than the Manhole?" Lionel says to Kate, too amused by the prospect of neon drinks to really mind. At the mention of dancing, though, Lionel just raises his eyebrows. "That isn't dancing going on out there, that's practically sex," he points out.

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¨Exactly,¨ Kate says, leaning away from the guy rubbing up against Lionel and her respective asses. She leans across the bar, noting with a frown that none of the bartenders will even pay a little attention to her. ¨Order me a shot," she says, tugging on Jackś sleeve. ¨And get Lionel one.¨

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"A shot of anything?" he asks, rapping his knuckles on the bar top as he turns to glare at the guy who's still way too close. Knocking on the bar is sort of an asshole move, but he's Jack Crew and he knows it'll get him attention. All he has to do, honestly, is just stand there and he'll get service within minutes, he knows that.

But right now, he's sort of distracted by the guy who's leering at Kate. "Jesus Christ, I thought the guys here liked other guys," he says, then glances at Lionel. "Not that I want any creeps drooling on you either."

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Lionel just gives Jack a bemused look, not really sure where the protectiveness is coming from since he's the one who was dragged to the bar, but he doesn't mind it. "Thanks, Jack. I'm sure my virtue would thank you too, if it still existed."

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Kate leans over for a quick kiss and shimmies in towards the bartender that Jack somehow was able to summon. "A lemon drop, please," she asks sweetly. "And an Irish car bomb for him," she finishes, pointing at Lionel. As she turns back to get the drinks she can´t help but notice a very pleased looking guy eyeing Lionel. She hopes for his sake it´s not because of Jack and tries to subtly point at the curly-haired brunette down the bar. "He´s checking you out," she informs Lionel with a nod, handing him the drink.

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"He is," Jack agrees, looking down the bar at the guy and he doesn't even seem creepy or anything. So he nudges Lionel. Like that's going to make Lionel do something.

It's actually not so bad now that most of the people in the bar are giving them room to breathe. There's still a couple really excitable fans who are milling around nearby, but Jack flashes them a smile and then both squeal and giggle to each other, which he figures will tide them over for awhile.

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"Everyone here is checking us out," Lionel protests, and at least the lighting in the club is good for something, namely hiding the full-on blush Lionel's sporting. He still looks down the bar at the guy Kate's pointed out, though, and is pleasantly surprised to find out that Kate was actually right.

Which is weird on it's own, since it's been ages since Lionel's done anything of the sort, so he just gives the guy a smile and turns back to Kate and Jack, taking the drink he's being handed.

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Kate raises her eyebrows at Lionel, giving him the look. "Do you want to talk to him?" she asks, wondering if maybe he needs encouragement. She's not sure how it worked back in the 70's or whenever Lionel is from. From the way the guy has slowly began to edge over, the talking seems kind of inevitable. She reaches down and tugs on Jack's hand, hoping for some sort of encouragement.

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Jack's concentrating on his beer and he blinks at Kate when she tugs on his hand and then looks at Lionel. "Oh," he says. "You should. I mean, if you want to." They've just arrived, after all, he doesn't want to push anyone to do anything they don't want to do and the gay club itself is probably pretty new.

Except the guy is pretty good looking and he does seem interested, which Jack approves of. He's also looking at Lionel rather than Jack or Kate and that's another point in his favour.

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Lionel's not sure what he wants. It's been so long since he's talked to someone, dated anyone that wasn't John, and while maybe they won't be sticking aroung long enough for that to happen, it still makes Lionel nervous.

He glances at the guy again — who, any other other day, Lionel would have been more than glad to talk to — but he's still just getting used to the idea of the club and everything that's actually happening around him that he doesn't think he can do it.

"Maybe later," he finally says, and takes a swig at his drink, which he almost immediately regrets doing. "Oh my god, Kate, what is this?" he asks, eyes watering. Once it goes down, though, he gives it a curious look, then takes another drink.

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"Oh, shit," Kate starts, reaching for the half-finished drink. "No, you put the shot in and then you drink it down in one thing," she instructs, downing her own shot. She reaches over to grab Lionel's hand, giving him a grin. "Hey, do you want to dance?" The people trying to press around them aren't actually touching Jack now, which makes it easier to deal with. Not to mention Jack acknowledging who she was.

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"All three of us?" Jack asks, because he figures that will just give the tabloids more dirt, but he doesn't really care right now. He's been on an island for nearly a year and now he's home where there's beer and real food and real clothes and real music. And he's here with Kate and Lionel and really, the only thing that could make this better is if Geoffrey shows up. So right now he doesn't give a shit what the tabloids might think of him.

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Lionel does what Kate explains, and it does make the drink better. He's sure it doesn't work right away, but the knowledge that it'll kick in some time soon is enough of a courage booster. He just shrugs when Kate asks if they want to dance, and gives Jack an amused look when he suggests they all dance. "I guess?"

He's kind of curious about how that works, but taking a look on the dance floor, Lionel's pretty sure how it works doesn't really matter. Not in the way he's thinking, anyway.

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Kate didn't exactly mean all together like a weird threesome thing, but she thinks that it is very important that Lionel dance, flirt, and drink in a gay club. That way the night is actually the entire cliched experience. "Do you want another drink?" she asks Lionel, thinking another shot might help the freakish amount of staring they are all receiving. God, aren't there other famous people in this city? On second though, just the one shot might be affecting her a tad.

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"I think Kate's trying to get you drunk," Jack points out with a teasing grin, resting against the bar, his elbows up on the edge as he looks at the other people in the club. There are some familiar faces, but they're the people who aren't staring and Jack appreciates that. The others are calming down a bit, backing off, getting over him and his new surprise girlfriend.

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"I'm kind of okay with getting drunk," Lionel says, shooting Jack a smile. He doesn't really notice the people staring or not staring; he's finally got his fill of the place and knows where Kate's coming from. "You're not going to dance?" he asks Jack, and bites back a smile.

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