drear | i will sail to the far shore

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i will sail to the far shore

[ Los Angeles is a city of easy prey, and that's nice, when he's not feeling up to a chase or trying to find new ways of getting close to Naoto. Not only that, it's where Heine lives.

At first he really thought the guy was fucking his beloved "sister". Continued denials and his own sniffing around have put that thought to rest, and then brought to light a new fact: Heine's pretty easy, too. It probably helps that he knows Magato has no interest in fame or fortune for himself. All Magato really wants is the fucking around—in all meanings of the phrase.

Speaking of fucking around, there's that one guy walking into the bar... Eames, if he remembers correctly. Sorta famous, sorta not, whatever. He definitely has a thing for Snowflake.

So of course Magato turns from where he's sitting at the bar and raises one hand in a lazy wave, fingers curling toward his palm. ]

Fancy seeing you tonight. You come here often?

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[ The awkwardness is there and they can't deny it, but at least they can almost talk like normal people now. Almost. ]

Nothing specifically. [ Heine missed his smile, but like hell he's going to admit it. ] Are you fishing for compliments now?

Don't you think I'm allowed to have a few, all things considered?

[He leaned back in his seat, taking his drink with him, trying to be the perfect picture of someone sulking. But his grin was most likely ruining that image.]

[ Is... is Eames just going to be insufferable from now on? More insufferable than usual?

He's mostly right, though. Heine just doesn't want to admit it. ]

I saw some of your recent videos. You sounded good.

[Eames was definitely going to be more insufferable, congratulations Heine you chose this life.

He grinned at the compliment, pleased, even though for a moment his stomach did uncomfortable flip flops. He hoped that Heine hadn't seen some of the other videos he'd done, the embarrassingly melodramatic covers of sad songs.]

Don't push yourself too hard with those compliments, someone might think you want something from me.

[Still, he'd let it lie for now, instead venturing with:]

So what business brings you out this way? Other than this?

[He gestured between the two of them lazily.]

[ They each chose their lives unfortunately. Heine rolls his eyes at Eames and his retort. ]

I'm meeting with someone for a new song. Work. The usual.

[ Eames' recent releases had been sort of dreary, and a brief conversation with Mal suggested it was partially his fault. Not that she laid the blame on him, but it was one more bit of encouragement that got Heine off of Magato and on a plane to the east coast. ]

Are you working on anything new?

Anyone I would have heard of?

[Despite everything, he still respected Heine's work, considering he seemed to have an eye for talent and improvement.

He hummed thoughtfully at Heine's question, tipping his head to the side, considering. They could make small talk at the bar for a while, or they could head to Eames' house. He did want Heine's opinion on his work, but considering everything that had just happened... Well, what was the worst that could happen?]

Only a few things, but I'd like to get your opinion on them. Are you free?

Someone Mimi knows. I'm not sure if you'd know them.

[ Heine's gauge of the public mood isn't always on base; that's why he has an agent. And Naoto. ]

Yeah, I'm free. You want to go now?

That girl knows everyone. It's hard to say.

[That being said, he wasn't too interested in discussing Heine's other business at the moment. He flagged down the server to get his bill, grinning.]

Sure. Try not to be too blown away by it.

[Time to delete most of those corny break up songs he'd been working on.]

Yeah, I'll keep my expectations low.

[ Heine pays off his own bill before they leave. This is more normal, though their usual pattern would include sex. Tonight Heine doesn't know if that's going to happen, but he's okay if it doesn't. They have more than physical desire in common. ]

So what kind of things have you been working on?

Don't make it sound like that's the norm.

[He tucked his hands into his pockets as he ambled forward, turning to glance at Heine.]

I've been experimenting with more retro 80's type of music.

[Or Toto lbr.]

Did you drive here?

[ I BLESS THE RAINS DOWN IN AFRICA ]

No, took a car. Did you?

[ With maybe half a drink in each of them, Heine isn't worried about getting in Eames' car if he did get himself here; calling a ride isn't hard either.

Though if Eames were driving Heine might have a slight excuse to not talk to him. ]

Same here.

[Because he figured he would either storm out right away or that he would wind up getting plastered and be unable to drive himself home.

He stepped out onto the sidewalk to flag down a cab, glancing over at Heine.]

Are you staying close to here?

[ Seems like their caution is resulting in a fairly uneventful trip back to Eames'. Heine nods and stands with his hands in his pockets, staring somewhere around knee-level at the street until he's asked another question. ]

Yeah, in the Marriott. Are you still living in the same place?

[ The hotel and where he remembers Eames living aren't too far apart; he could call a cab to get back easily. He doesn't want Eames thinking he's trying to overstay his welcome. ]

Yeah.

[He fell silent as a cab pulled out in front of them, and he opened the door to let Heine slide in first, settling down after him.]

It's a bit of a mess. I wasn't expecting anything out of this meeting, truthfully.

[Heine had probably seen it in worse states, but it made Eames a touch embarrassed that he'd let it fall so far because he'd been too much of a mess to take care of his place.]

Guess I'm glad I surprised you.

[ While getting into the cab, Heine is quiet for a while, looking out the window at the nightscape. ]

[Eames was glad too, but there was no use in putting it into words. He was fine with letting silence blanket them both, quiet until he had to lean forward to pay the driver as he slowed to a stop in front of his place.

As he headed towards the elevator of his apartment complex, idly he wondered if he should be looking into new places soon. His career had been taking off ever since he had participated in the Voice, and eventually the anonymity he had here wouldn't last.

But for now, he was happy to unlock the door to his apartment, gesturing for Heine to go in first before locking the door behind them. Clothes and take out boxes were strewn everywhere, and his furniture in the living room had been pushed to one side to make space for a huge canvas that was only halfway finished. There were vague shapes outlined by huge explosions of color, and the tarp keeping his floor neat crunched underneath his shoes as he moved towards his recording room.

Unlike the chaos of his living room, it was relatively neat in it, the only thing out of place was a lone mug that had once housed tea.]

You want anything to eat or drink?

[ The quiet is better than awkward conversation. When they make it upstairs, Heine is thinking about what to say. Anything other than production or musical possibilities seems too personal, but talking only about technical parts of the work seems too distant.

Luckily Eames' apartment provides some easy conversation topics. ]

From your kitchen right now? [ Because... it was a little scary. ] No thanks.

[ He jerks his head at the computer. ]

Show me what you have.

It's not like I can't wash up.

[Eames tried to look offended, but considering the state of his apartment, he didn't blame Heine.

He sat down at his computer to bring up the latest tracks he was working on, glad that his highly self indulgent and self pitying ones were in a completely different folder. He got back up, handing Heine the headphones and settling down across from him on a chair.]

Have at it.

[He could go clean, he supposed, but he also wanted to see Heine's honest reactions and hear his critiques.]

I'll play it safe.

[ Which is ironic, given what he's been up to for the past few months, but whatever. Heine has other things to do. Taking the headphones, he sits in the other chair and starts to play the tracks in the editing software.

As demos, they still need more work. But like he thought before, Eames has the creative spark and artistic voice that shines through. He listens to one of the tracks about halfway through before stopping and saying anything.

Talking about the music is easy. This kind of conversation is work, and work has never been emotional for him. ]

This sound is new. What's the sequence you're using in the bridge, a two-four-five?

[ It's good. Heine starts to continue playing it, holding the headphones to one ear. ]

[It's on the tip of his tongue to make a smart ass remark about how anything in Eames' kitchen would be infinitely safer than anything of Magato's, but their agreement to patch things up and try again was still tenuous. He didn't want to ruin it by being catty so early, so instead he was just content to watch Heine as he started listening to his work, admiring his profile and resisting the urge to lean forward and tuck his face into the back of his neck where wisps of his hair were tickling his neck.

When Heine spoke, he forced his gaze back up to his, distracted.]

Yeah. You caught onto it quickly. Like it?

[ Heine doesn't notice the intensive stare Eames is giving his neck, even when he turns around to talk to him. The room is dim except for the glow of the screen on them. ]

Yeah. I'm going to start the next one.

[ As he continues to listen, Heine relaxes by fractions into the chair, head tilted to the side to follow the rhythm of the song. ]

[As it seemed like Heine was settling in, Eames left him to it, going to start trying to clean up his flat, starting with the kitchen. He washed dishes then gave everything a good scrub down, before poking into his fridge to see what was edible. Unfortunately, he hadn't been grocery shopping in a while, but on the upside, he had stocked up on beer.

He took out two bottles, heading back towards his makeshift studio, holding one out to Heine.]

So what would you change?

[ Heine takes the bottle, barely looking over before he pops the top open, already engrossed in the music. ]

The lines coming into the second bridge could use something more. Tension or energy before the resolution.

[ Finally turning back towards Eames Heine takes a swig of the drink. ]

What do you think?

I'm a big fan of air horns for energy.

[Eames joked, settling back down in his seat as he started nursing his drink, watching Heine's face with a small smile.]

But I have to admit, I'm a bit surprised you don't hate it all. Before you used to be so critical.

[ While Eames smiles, Heine doesn't quite return the expression. He looks back at Eames, holding his gaze while he drinks. ]

What, would you prefer if I said everything I didn't like first?

[ Despite the retort, Heine follows it up with a quieter statement. ]

I never thought you were bad.

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