video; @waltz

[enveloped]

[It's that man in the suit again, broadcasting live to you from a room currently being decorated with tables, lights, and tasteful decorations.]

Hello everyone,

To any newcomers, my name is Cameron Waltz, and I'm currently serving as your public representative. It's been a pleasure to get to know so many of you over the network, and I think we could all stand to get to know each other even better in person.

I'd like to extend an open invitation to the "Bring Yourself" arts and culture event this Sunday at Riverside Community Centre. This will be an exhibition of all the different cultures and people Riverview has to offer. Whether it's food, artwork, music, or a story, everyone has something of value to contribute, no matter where you're from, so I'd encourage everyone to bring a little piece of home to share with others. If you can't think of something to bring, or simply don't have the time or energy, bring yourself. You're from somewhere else too, and I guarantee you bring something interesting in just being yourself.

The walls are empty, the stage is free, there's an open floor for dancing and more active demonstrations, and the venue is booked for from 5pm-12am. Come when you want and wear what you like. Refreshments will be provided. I'm happy to answer any questions or concerns you may have on this post.

Please come. I'm well aware of the current going ons in the city, many of which are incredibly stressful, which makes coming together as a community and expressing yourself in a safe space even more necessary.

[Passing a few volunteers, Cam walks to the only wall with anything on it. A mixed series of artistic ink calligraphy prints in a variety of different languages.

Cam stops with a slight clearing of his throat, and a very casual gesture towards the prints. Very casual. Which he is not looking at. A tight, shy smile at the camera.]

And I will be putting myself out there right beside you.

[Bring whatever it is your character has to offer that they'd want to show, whether it's a martial arts skill, artistic ability, performance, food, an interesting object, games, there's nothing that doesn't go, characters are free to take the stage/set up a booth/do whatever they want in terms of display, and can drop pieces off or set up in advance! Feel free to be utterly ridiculous.

Event log!]

Comments

[enveloped]

I can do fun. I'm very fun.

[A pause.]

I am fun, aren't I?

[A moment of panic, but Jeff always knows how to make him smile. Cam does smile, ducking his head. He was even more shy in high-school]

Did I ever tell you my favourite song?

[bardish]

You're the perfect amount of fun, Cam. [ That's right, they're that couple. DISGUSTINGLY LOVEY AND SUPPORTIVE. ]

You definitely haven't. [ Jeff's PRETTY SURE he would've remembered if Cam had! That's one of those tidbits you always file away for later. ] What's top of the charts for Cameron Waltz?

[enveloped]

Uh, well it's--

[A pause.

What if Jeff thinks his taste in music is lame? He's a musician. A real one.

Cam fusses with the edge of his ear, one arm folded across his chest. Thank god they're in private video.]

I don't have one.

[Firm nod.]

[bardish]

And I thought I was a bad liar...

2/2

[bardish]

You know what I love about music? All the different genres. I never got those people who were like, 'Oh, I like everything but rap and country.' Screw that.

[ Look, he gets why Cam is SUDDENLY BEING COY ABOUT IT. This wouldn't be the first time somebody had second thoughts about talking music with him. ]

[enveloped]

Me too.

[Alone with Jeff, Cam's very different from his public persona.

He fidgets, doesn't always think through what he says and does (often to his detriment), and is more honest. Cam doesn't like lying to people, but he likes lying to his boyfriend the least.]

Seal. Kiss From a Rose. Believe by Cher is a close second.

[bardish]

Really?

[ Quickly, he adds: ]

I don't think it's a bad choice! There aren't any-- it's just. I've never heard anyone pick that song before.

[ LET HIM EXPLAIN: ]

It's romantic. And sweet. It fits you.

[ Is it one of Jeff's favorite songs? No. But that doesn't mean he can't appreciate the choice. It's so perfectly Cam, and that's what he loves about it.

It's not like Jeff has any interest in dating himself. ]

[enveloped]

Yes, really.

[There's a moment where Cam looks like he might get defensive and/or annoyed. It's in the furrow of his brow and tension of his jaw. That stormy look in his eyes.

Thankfully for Jeff, he talks fast. Cam's shoulders drop, his face relaxing. Mostly.]

Well what's yours?

[bardish]

[ Pauuuuse... He wants to answer! But: ]

Ahh... well... That's a very broad question.

I've got a lot of favorites, but no one, true, all-time song to beat all songs! Do you want my favorite-for-sentimental-reasons pick, or my favorite-because-it's-got-a-killer-guitar-solo pick, or--

[enveloped]

[He doesn't look entirely approving of this stalling tactic.]

Commit, Jeff.

[bardish]

[ Whine!! ]

But it's so complicated! Don't make me choose one!

2/3

[bardish]

[ Okay, he senses he's just digging his own grave here and pissing Cam off. BUT!! ]

I just feel like a lot of albums are best taken as a whole! I can't just extract one song, like a cruel surgeon, and--

3/3 lmao this took way too long

[bardish]

[ Okay, he's going to try to answer as best he can. He'll narrow it down to 'sentimental value' songs, since he's pretty sure if he name drops some obscure, technically impressive song-- the kind of composition that's by musicians, for musicians-- Cam will only feel insecure again. ]

Fiiiiine. It's a tossup between 'Sometimes I Do' and 'Cold Feelings.' I don't know. That album helped get me through rehab.

Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell. Fitting, right?

[ Look, they're not his absolute, all-time favorite songs. HE CAN'T GIVE SUCH A SIMPLE ANSWER IN TRUTH. But the whole album has tremendous sentimental value to him. He played it to death before, during, and after rehab. It's consistently been a part of his life, and its meaning keeps changing for him, as his life changes. ]

[enveloped]

[Watching Jeff, his face, and the way he gets all worked up talking about music.]

You're absolutely adorable.

[A smile. Too in love with Jeff Calhoun to be insecure about anything in the moment.]

But that does make sense. Good music should speak to you as much as it sings to you. On a personal and emotional level. I think a really good song is one people can connect to, either through the artist's own self-expression or the sound.

[bardish]

Yeah... [ Jeff grins. ] Yeah, exactly. And it's so tied into, like... your experiences, you know? Which song or album might've been playing at some point in your life, just listening to it again will take you right back there.

I lost my virginity to Siouxsie and the Banshees. The album, Peepshow? Still brings back way too many memories of that night!

[enveloped]

I think I might like Kiss From a Rose so much because ever since I heard it, I thought it would be a good song for a wedding. My wedding, I mean. As a dance song. The first dance.

Silly, I know. It's just so romantic, and dramatic... and gender neutral.

[So many good love songs feel out of bounds. Alien, because he isn't a woman, or a man who desires a woman. If there are queer love songs, Cam hasn't found them. As a forty-something he isn't on the up and up with new, contemporary music.

Cam can only imagine Jeff losing his virginity like a rock-star. He'd seen him in his youth. Wild, charismatic, and carefree. The polar opposite of himself.]

A tape playing in someone's car?

[bardish]

It's not silly. [ YOU'RE SO CUTE, CAM. And now he has some good romantic info to file away for, y'know, whenever he might need it. ] You'll get your dance to it, one day.

[ Even if they're not close to MARRIAGE CHATTER YET, Jeff still believes Cam will have his dream wedding!!

He snorts out a laugh: ] No, that time wasn't in a car. [ But there definitely were plenty of times in a car. HIS OLD TOYOTA HAD SEEN SOME SHIT. ] It was in her bedroom. She snuck me in through the window, I brought it over because she'd never heard the album before... [ SUBTLE TEENAGE SUBTERFUGE. ] Anyway, her dad started pounding on the door before we finished. Then he got it open and threatened to arrest me, 'cause he was a cop-- and she totally promised he was working nights that week!

I had to escape out the window with my pants half on, then jump the fence into her neighbor's backyard. That man was really creative with his threats...

And the neighbors had a very mean dog... Then again, I was trespassing on its turf, so I guess the aggression was justified.

[enveloped]

I'm not so sure about that.

[He's forty-three and his longest relationship was only a year. In a month or so, Jeff will come in second place. Marriage seems impossibly far away, if not impossible.

Cam's was married, in some sense of the word. For all of a month before they separated. Technically, he's still married.

It's complicated.]

That's so you. All of it.

[Cam laughs, shaking his head. Sexy. Cute. Funny. That's Jeff Calhoun in a nutshell.]

Mine was... not what I was expecting. It doesn't make for a good story.

[bardish]

Rude! We only just started dating; don't doomsday our long-term prospects!

[ HE'S TEASING, OF COURSE. Trying to lift Cam's spirits into the realm of optimism. Sure, they're so fresh that 'marriage' is just a far away hypothetical, nothing to seriously entertain at the moment, but that doesn't mean Cam should count that possibility out!

Jeff laughs at Cam's comment. ] Yeahhh... I never got along well with the dads.

[ Even his ex-father-in-law hated him!

ANYWAY. Jeff frowns a little, furrowing his brow, looking like a lost and confused dog for a moment. ]

Why? How'd it go? You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to, but... [ Well. You know. HE'S HERE TO LISTEN. ]

[enveloped]

[Did Jeff just imply he'd be interested in marriage, or is he joking? Cam doesn't know. Either way he's too startled to properly respond, a deer in headlights. It's good Jeff keeps talking, or there would have been a very long, very awkward silence as Cam struggled to find a response.

Finally, with a frazzled smile he hopes Jeff doesn't notice.]

I can see why you wouldn't. There's no doubt in my mind you were a fox in the proverbial hen-house.

[Cam finds a more private spot for this next part of the conversation, away from the volunteers, and anyone who may be listening. A quiet stairwell.]

I've never told anyone. I've always been too embarrassed.

[Cam would much rather have been caught by a parent and chased by a dog.

He rubs at his face and jaw, leaning against a wall, exhaling heavily.]

I'm afraid you'll think less of me. You will think less of me.

[bardish]

[ HE TOTALLY NOTICED AND NOW HE'S WORRIED HE SAID OR DID SOMETHING WRONG!!!

But.

Moving on... ]

Cam, I've got so many stories where I don't come out smelling like roses. Why do you think I'll think less of you for something that happened way in the past?

[ Jeff's, like, the last person who'd get judgey over this kind of thing. Unless Cam's First Time story involved... murder???

...

DID YOU MURDER SOMEBODY, CAM? ]

[enveloped]

[Cam has murdered someone, but it wasn't the man who took his virginity.

Even if he'd strongly considered it.]

Because I lost my virginity to a married man, who was also my college professor. In his office. On his desk. He said he would leave his wife for me. His children. I don't know what's worse. That I believed him, or that I wanted him to.

I was twenty-three. Old enough to know better.

[bardish]

[ Jeff winces in sympathy, and yeah, he can see a lot of wrong in that story. But he doesn't think Cam's the one to blame there. ]

He took advantage of you, Cam. I'd never think less of you for being young and falling for an asshole.

[ Especially with what he knows of who Cameron Waltz was in his youth. ]

[enveloped]

I swear to god, I can never fall for anyone the right way, I always fuck it up somehow. Either I pick the wrong person, or do things the wrong way. Something always happens.

I wasn't joking when I said I don't have much experience in this area, I've never just dated someone I liked, who wanted to date me back. Until you. Even then, when we first met... and then the second time we met, when I was awful--

[He rubs his face, shaking his head. Close to tears. It really is too easy for him to cry.]

God, sorry. I don't know why I'm talking about this right now. It's too much information.

I liked your story. It was funny, and cute. I'm glad you told me.

[bardish]

Babe...

There's no right way to fall for someone. It's one of those things you can't really do by the book, because there isn't a book.

[ It breaks his heart to see Cam like this, close to tears over his track record of being overlooked or unlucky in love. He's so exceptional... Jeff still wants to kick his past self for turning his back on him, being another shitty guy in a long line of them.

Then again, he also remembers how he treated the people he'd dated at that time, and he can't help but think it's for the best, that things hadn't gone anywhere the first time. ]

It's not too much. You're never too much for me, Cam. [ Even if they do fight sometimes! ] Not all my stories are funny and cute. I've got a lot of bad ones, too. You're not alone in this whole... having a fucked up past.

[ He means it as solidarity, not an attempt to downplay Cam's struggles. Hopefully it's taken that way. ]

Want me to come over there? I can help you with the setup.