closed starter: @miller-mayfair 

Blaine had no idea what he was getting himself into.  A mis-text that ended up as an invitation for a complete stranger to come to the piano bar that he now called his home away from home.  Not that his home was much of a place he wanted to be anyway. Not with it’s faded wallpaper, traffic outside that could drown out the sound of a train running by mid-mornings and wonky heater that never quite seemed to work enough in winter and yet always made a comeback to prove it could still make a room to a near boiling point in summer.  Forget the AC.  Unless it came from two fan towers he bought at Walgreens trying their damndest to make a difference and only managing to just swirl the hot air around.  

At least the bar was cool and his boss always had a good meal waiting and the crowds were coming in if for no other reason than to grab a cold one and soak up some air conditioning. They always seemed to stay once Blaine started to play and the tips were good enough to pay the bills.  Using his pointer to tap away the message to his mother (the fifth he only replied ‘i’m okay, i promise’ to this week in reply to her asking him if he’d let her send him something), Blaine lightly toyed with the raised embroidery of one of the sailboats scattered across the fabric of his navy blue pants with the other.  Nearly a half an hour went by since he last heard from Miller. Who knew if the guy would show?  But, hey, it was something new.  An adventure to see what might happen. Movie quality weird and who knew what might come of stepping outside his comfort zone? Something he used to be good at..but now…didn’t really do so much.  

Lifting his glass of bourbon and ice with his fingertips, the singer made his way back to the piano. The smile he caught from a couple snuggled in close earned them one back and a request of their choosing. A brow lifted and he gave them a cheeky grin.  “You should keep her if she’s a Billy Joel fan,” he lightly teased the guy as he sat down on the piano bench and gave a few keys a testing plink. “Those are hard to come by and by my experience?  They’re the best sort of people you can hope to meet.  Mostly.”  The woman laughed at Blaine’s sly wink and when the first notes touched his ears and his voice filled the room, he let his eyes fall shut and the world slipped away.   
“She can kill with a smile.  She can wound with her eyes...”