There was a quaint little hole in the wall, somewhere on the outskirts of the city where the hustle and bustle was much less drastic than toward Central NYC. Xavia decided she would pull her Harley out for a ride. She hadn't ridden since before her daughter was born, so it was nice to have the bike moving her along again. She was dressed ripped jeans that hugged her butt just right, a tank top, and a cropped, leather jacket for the cool breeze of the night. She rode the bike into the parking lot, which was of cracked concrete and tar, and filled with mostly hoopty looking cars and a few motorcycles.

Her booted foot hit the kick stand after she parked and cut the ignition. She swung her leg over and stood, then pulled her helmet off and stuck that on the back of the bike before grabbing the keys and pocketing them.

It was then that she casually strolled into the bar, ready to drink a beer to ease the road dusty feeling of her mouth after a ride through upstate NY. Xavia found herself in a dimly lit interior, which smelled of smoke from bygone days but was no longer filled with it (there was a no smoking sign right on the door next to one of those cigarette thingies that you stub em out with and drop down into some sand through a tube, right out front.)

The plant mutant eased her rump onto a bar stool and waited for the bartender to notice her. It only took him a moment, he was wiping down the bar. "What can I do for ya?" asked the ZZ Top-esque old man with the long beard.

"Got imports or jus' domestic?" she asked.

"We got Corona, Bud, Coors, Pabst, Miller, and Guiness. We also got some specials if you ain't in the mood for em beers. Sangria, Irish Car Bombs, and Rattlesnakes."

"Sangria is fine," she said flatly, then paid the man asking price plus a healthy tip. He immediately liked her.

He made her drink, she received it on a napkin, sans the fruit garnish, and swiveled around on the stool. Her eyes immediately fell to a large young man in a jersey and baseball cap, singing quite out of tune to some country song of an origin she was not quite sure of... It sounded like... Rhinestone Cowboy? Oh, lord. With a grimace, she sipped her summer wine and looked around. As soon as she spied the paper and pencil, she rolled her eyes heavenward and tried to ignore it. After all, her singing days? Yeah, limited to singing to her kid now. Besides, did she want to risk being recognized for her voice? Then again, she was in a hole in the wall, not one of the jazz clubs.

So far Ghost was 3 for 3 in going to clubs and making potentially poor life choices. But that was probably because the places she had gone before were all about loud music and hard dancing. It was easy to get swept up in that kind of thing. So this time, when Ghost decided that she needed to get out and meet new people, she was more purposeful in her choice of location.

For one, it was smaller. It was also not in the expensive part of town, that meant it was aimed at a different demographic than the young and impressionable. Also, this place promised, "Live nude girls!?" Ghost's jaw dropped when she saw the sign. She looked between her phone and the parking lot where she'd become corporeal after her flight here. There had to be some mistake!

Nope! Nopenopenopenope. She pocketed her phone and turned right back around.

And saw the little bar she'd actually been aiming for, was right across the street. Silly Street View app. Ghost was so relieved to have found the place that she did not even hesitate to step in through the doors to a less than stellar atmosphere.

Hm. It had less energy. There were fewer places to hide, but... well, if she found someone she wanted to get to know it might be easier to make a friend without all the shouting.

Emboldened, Ghost took a seat at the bar one seat away from another young woman and smoothed down her frilly skirt.

"Sangria, please." The special's board had caught her eye and sangria sounded exotic. Far more exotic than Coors Light.

That voice... It struck a chord somewhere deep within the recesses of her brain. Xavia swiveled on her stool and squinted through the dim light of the bar toward the other female and canted her head a little. Where in the Sam Hell had she heard that voice before? Sometimes it was still hard to place faces with names.

And then she remembered the brief meetings they had had, one or two of them, more specifically the one at the mansion when Calley had rescued her. "Hey, you were at Mansion, right?" She asked, while scratching her head with her free hand.

Xavia had changed a bit since their last meeting, though, so it might me hard to recognize at first, what with her black hair having been bleached years ago when she went by Layla, and now an almost, neon red. That and she had filled out to a more healthy weight after her kid had been brought into the world.

She didn't remember the woman's name, herself, just the face and the voice. Either way, Xavia raised her own glass of the cocktail and nodded, "Sangria o'er beer, yes?" Or at least what she considered pee-water.

> "Hey, you were at Mansion, right?"

Hmm? Maya turned to the woman who'd addressed her. The whole point of coming here was to make new friends and yet, she'd already wandered off mentally, into her own little world. She hadn't been expected to be approached. She'd expected to have to do the approaching.

"Just recently returned." Should Maya recognize the woman? She was wracking her brain and coming up empty. "I'm sorry. It's been a rough couple years. What's your name again?"

Maya, herself, was quite different looking with longer hair, stripe-ed horizontally and unnaturally with darker tones. She was perhaps a little paler, a little thinner. Like she'd said. It'd been a rough couple years.

"I'm Maya. Uh, but if you know me from the Mansion, you might know me as Ghost." She offered her hand to the woman for a proper howdy-do.

The barkeep placed her glass in front of her on a little flimsy napkin. That hearned him a warm smile and a thanks.

> "Sangria o'er beer, yes?"

"I don't have a lot of experience with either, to be honest. I just wanted to try something new." And just a little bit of something new. She had no intention of going overboard this time.

"Xavia..." She squinted a little harder, "Um... I t'ink I met you years ago when rescue from kidnapping." The plant mutant smiled wryly at that, and took the offered hand. To be fair, they didn't know each other beyond that weirdness when she first arrived in New York.

"I know more of beer t'an I should, comes wit' territory of lounge singing." Xavia rolled her eyes. Oh, how she was glad she didn't do that crap anymore. She was very glad she rebooted herself so she wouldn't have to deal with the weird men who obsessed over her, and the having to hire body guards.

"I return to mansion too, just yesterday. I will be teacher of Biology." Which was going to prove interesting. She omitted the part where she'd talked to Sam about joining the X-Men for the simple fact that they were in a bar around a bunch of rednecks, who are an unpredictable lot.

When the current singer hit a sour note, Xavia cringed and shook her head, then tossed back a hefty swallow of the Sangria. The part of her that used to be a star had that itch to boot a bunch of people off the "stage" so she could take over... But then, it was just karaoke and these were just some drunk dudes and dudettes who were singing, not professionals. She would try to ignore the urge for the moment.

"Well, cheers," she said, voice a little higher pitched than intended, eye twitching as another sour note was hit.

It was sad to say it, but kidnapping and rescue didn't exactly narrow it down for Maya either. But whatever. It was nice to know there was someone friendly around. "Biology! That's amazing. Sciences are so important." Was that hypocritical coming from someone who hadn't made it through a whole year at university? Maybe. She didn't mean it to be, though.

"Oh, well, maybe I could ask you about beer. Is there one that doesn't taste—" Well, how to put this delicately? "—like day old butt?"

And the lounge singing thing definitely informed Maya's reaction to Xavia's eyebrow twitches. She laughed. "It sounds like you could go remedy this situation." Maya held up her glass in a toast to encourage the other woman.

Since graduating high school, Camille hadn’t really maintained connections with most of her old school friends. She wasn’t even really sure some of them were really ‘friends’ due to the fact that she needed to use her powers to bring many of them around. Usually, going to parties, clubs, and bars was something that she did with a group, and having lost most of her school connections, she hadn’t had much of an excuse to do any of that. Except now, one of the friends she did still talk with, texted her to ask if she wanted to meet up at a little hole-in-the-wall bar. It certainly didn’t hurt when he mentioned it had karaoke.

Of course, finding the place had been a pain. She didn’t go to this side of the city that often, and the directions he sent her were terrible. And now he wasn’t responding to any of her texts. After going the wrong way for what felt like the trillionth time, Camille finally managed to stumble across the place. Wasting no time on hesitation, she stepped through the doors, ready to enjoy the singing, and the company. She just wished she didn’t need to deal with the carding stuff. It was a pain. Worse, her size and physique made her look younger than she already was. Even with her powers, trying to bluff that was out of the question.

She looked around for her friend once she was in, but he was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he’s late? Or maybe he just stood her up. Whatever the case, she was here now, and figured that she may as well have as much fun as a girl who is two years too early to buy any alcohol can have in a place like this. The blue ‘haired’ siren walked over to the bar to take a seat by two other women already there, and trying to ignore how painfully out of tune those karaoke singers were.

While she wasn’t allowed to order any alcoholic beverages, Camille did know one fancy, non-alcoholic drink that almost every bar and restaurant can make, despite the fact they almost never put it on the menu.

“Do you make Shirley Temples here?” The bartender nodded, and Camille pulled her wallet from her jean pocket as she waited for him to put it all together.
As soon as she quenched her thirst, she really wanted to show those singers how it was done.

"Imports... Pilsners, IPAs... Porters.. Much better t'an t'at pi-- urine-water t'ey call beer. I am considering to remedy... T'is guy is awful." She groaned into her cup and took a swig of her own swill. It had been, after all, years since she had been in front of a crowd, singing and such. Her ear hurt just listening to the guy on stage... He finally left the stage and was quickly replaced by someone much worse.

Xavia grimaced and reached over to grab several slips of paper. She quickly scribbled some out and slipped a few papers in the direction of the other woman, then downed the last bit of what was in her glass. The glass was set down, and she signaled for another from the tender.

"You sing too?" Her eyes settled on the other again and a grin was spread across her lips.

And then she heard another who was ordering a Shirley Temple... She craned her head over and glanced toward the voice of the newcomer. She nudged at her companion a little and said, "Maybe we get her to join too."

Did Maya sing? "Oh no. Not me. You just looked like you were in actual pain there for a minute." Yeah, she was starting to feel the pain now too with this new guy, all liquored up with no place other than a lonely karaoke mic to express himself. "I will gladly cheer you on from here." Maya nodded and smiled her most encouraging smile. Really. She was a great cheerleader!

> "Maybe we get her to join too."

Her? Maya hazarded a peek. Yes! Absolutely! Anyone but herself. "Excuse me." The air elemental tried her most winning smile on the new comer. "Are you a singer? My friend really wants to go up on stage, but I think she might be a bit shy?" To say nothing of the fact that getting up on stage seemed like the absolute worst idea for herself. Yes. She would gladly pass this buck over to her new best friend... uhm... did she even know her name?

"My name's Maya. I'm sorry. I just skipped right on past the pleasantries. And you are?" A hand was offered for shaking. See? Making new friends already.

Camille grimaced slightly as the new drunken singer went up on stage. She had forgotten about this part of karaoke bars. All the drunk, tone deaf people who shouldn’t be allowed within three miles of a microphone. She glanced over at the other two women at the bar beside her, and was about to ask if they could slide one of those slips of paper over when the closer, white haired woman, turned to her and started talking.

The white haired woman’s friend didn’t look very shy at all. She couldn’t help but crack a smile as she replied, “Yes, I love singing, and someone certainly needs to show these people how it’s done.” If Camille were to hazard a guess, she would say it was Maya that was the nervous one. “However, your friend doesn’t look like the shy one to me.” She took a quick sip from her drink once it arrived.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Maya. I’m Camille.” She took the proffered hand with a friendly smile. Her friend was starting to look like a a no-show, but it looked like she may have a chance to make some new ones. “Anyways, would you mind passing one of those slips over?”

"Gladly... I am Xavia," said the Hungarian woman, slipping a wad of the papers over before sauntering over to the DJ and handing him a wad of ones SHE filled out. She grimaced again as another sour note was hit, glad he chose a shorter song. Xavia moved back to her stool and took a healthy swig of the sangria, pulled off her leather jacket and said, "From what I saw, stage will be mine soon."

The plant mutant sat with her back to the bar at that point, trying to tune out the ear bleedingly bad song that was going on at the time, but having a hard time doing so. The song couldn't finish soon enough.

It wasn't until she actually managed to space out so she wasn't being tortured by the song that she heard the DJ hit the mic and mispronounce her name, "EggzAyVIA? Come on up girl." She didn't bother to correct him. It was a common enough occurrence that it no longer bothered her. She stood up, sangria in hand because she wasn't about to let someone spike her stuff, and she took the mic with her free hand. She did not bother looking at the screen because she knew the song inside and out.

The first few bars started playing, she looked around just to make sure there weren't people who might figure out she was once Layla, and she started to sing with her low and husky voice, "Your fingertips across my skin, the palmtrees swayin' in the wind... Images... Hmmmmmmhmmmm..." She hadn't warmed up, so her voice might crack here and there, but she was good.

> “However, your friend doesn’t look like the shy one to me.”

"Guilty!" Maya ducked and helped the slip passing to happen. "I will gladly cheer for you too. The two of you, too." Maya smirked at her own lame joke. Yep. Tooootally making friends over here.

So, as promised, the elemental cheered for Xavia when her name was butchered.

And made a loud cat call right along with the crowd of boozers that was starting to perk up just from hearing a sultry voice.

"See? Nobody wants me up there after that." Maya sipped her sangria cheerily since she now had a perfectly legitimate excuse not to put her own name in the karaoke cup.

Xavia was certainly an interesting name. “Xavia...” Camille repeated quietly to herself, before responding, “It’s nice to meet you as well, Xavia.” She couldn’t help but laugh and shake her head at Maya’s response as she started to fill out some slips of her own. “Just be sure that I can hear your cheers over the rest of the crowd at the end.”

When the announcer called Xavia up to the stage, Camille couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the butchering of the woman’s name. Camille quickly said, “Knock em’ dead!” to Xavia as the plant mutant stood to approach the stage.

However, once Xavia started singing, the Siren paused and tilted her head, before smiling broadly. She suspected that the woman would be a better singer than the few she had heard when she came in, but Xavia actually seemed to be quite talented, other than the occasional voice crack.

However, Camille rather dramatically rolled her eyes skyward before bringing her hand up and pinch the bridge of her nose in a dramatic fashion at Maya’s attempt to stay off the stage. “If you say so.” Was her response before wandering over to the DJ to hand over her slips.

She didn't even look at the screen at that point, and fell into old habits where she was in performance mode. It was funny how muscle memory worked, like... Oh yeah! That is how it works! The microphone was held in a precise manner, her stance was that of a performer, she even walked to a random table and settled her jean clad rump on it as if to sing directly to a bushy bearded guy who looked like he had been in prison, and he seemed to enjoy this attention. "Goodbye my almost lover, goodbye my hopeless dreams... I'm trying not to think about you, can't you just let me be? Goodbye my luckless romance, my back is turned on you! Shoulda known you'd bring me heartache, almost lovers always... do..."

In her mind, she was back in the night clubs, the heat of the spotlight beating down on her , the sound of people simultaneously holding their breaths during those moments that made her almost famous... or at least a local celebrity before she disappeared from the spotlight of that promising career as the seductive, blond bombshell, Layla. Her voice stopped cracking and just... fell into it's old groove by the time the most impassioned part of the song came up, most eyes riveted to the former lounge singer as she poured her heart out for karaoke whilst daydreaming of her old life.

"I cannot go to the ocean, I cannot try to sleep at night.... I cannot wake up in the morning without you by my side! So you're gone and I'm haunted, but if you would just try.... Do I make it that easy... to walk right in and out of my life?"

It was during the last round of chorus that something shifted within her, and she was just Xavia again... Not Layla. She barely finished the last strains when she seemed to look a little startled at her actions, and she moved awkwardly to her feet and shoved the microphone into the hand of the KJ (Karaoke Jockey).

She ignored the round of applause and took a healthy, long, pull of the Sangria.

Maya folded her hands in her lap and nodded an almost bow from the neck. "I don't think I have the courage." She flicked her eyes to her drink and decided that not even enough of those would work to get her on stage and singing. "Anyways, good- uh..." No wait. That was bad. She didn't want to wish ill on her new friend Camille, "Break a leg!"

And just like that the elemental was alone. She worried her lower lip with her teeth and looked around for anyone else that might look friendly or open to making a new pal, but there seemed to be a lot of people there with friends or a lot of people who's only friend was at the bottom of their glass.

Overcome with an extra heaping of shyness, Maya retreated into her own drink. It was sweet, this Sangria wine. But this wasn't at all the reason she'd come.

Zavia started a bit self-conscious, but as she progressed, she seemed to lose her inhibitions to the song. Wouldn't that be nice? To just get up in front of people and do something you love? And do it well?

Needless to say, Maya gave a hearty round of clapping when the mutant exited the stage. "Wooo!"

((I am so sorry, I for some reason thought it was someone else's turn T_T))