The Wanderer - 223 (Patreon)

Chapter 223 – Counting Stars

[2009 – October]

Having finally decided on a simple yellow sweater with a U-shaped neckline that showed off a part of her clavicles, a pair of light-blue jeans, and a slim light-grey coat that reached just below her waist, Celeste's outfit for her first night out was perfected by a pair of white Chuck Taylor All Stars.

She looked almost angelic with her delicate features and flawless pale skin, her large crystal eyes reminding of silken ice while a thick knitted grey scarf temporarily shielded her decollete from curious eyes.

It wasn't much of a challenge for Jean to espy traces of Emma's incredible beauty and womanly charm in Celeste, genetics making sure that she would be just as gorgeous in a few years.

Jean herself had decided to wear a light-beige knitted dress that reached just above her knees along with a long dark-grey coat. The dress had a slim style that hugged her curves and a rounded collar that sat snuggly around the base of her neck.

Her ankle-high brown leather boots matched the season and fit comfortably on her little feet.

She also wore the same long silver earrings with numerous emeralds and smaller diamonds, which were arranged in a rhombus shape, that Elijah had gifted her for Cordelia's birthday party. Her flaming hair naturally was braided at the sides and done up in a loose ponytail, so that her ears and earrings were visible.

They were obviously her favorite accessories, along with the light-grey stone ring that Laura had made for her, which she also wore.

Having met up with the others in the lobby as it was time for them to get going and met the guys from the Xavier's, they stepped out of the Hellion Mansion to find Elijah and Laura, which was an easy task to accomplish.

Hanging around her love's neck like a little monkey, Laura sat on the steps behind Elijah as he reached back and held onto her thighs and bum while rising to his feet to prevent the dark-haired she-wolf from doubling over without his support.

Letting go as he turned around to face her, Laura landed steadily on her feet like a wildcat without any troubles.

Elijah on the other hand stood tall with soft shadowed eyes that lit up the moment he saw her approach, a light smile blooming on his handsome face.

He wore a coat that was as dark as his hair, a light-grey knitted sweater with a high collar that fit tightly around his well-muscled chest and abdomen, as well as a pair of ripped black jeans with rolled-up pant legs and a pair of brown leather boots not too dissimilar from hers.

Arya, like always, peeked out from inside his collar, hooting happily as she saw her approach.

Walking down the steps, Jean didn't hesitate to fall into her love's embrace, her left hand coming up to caress his cheek, her thumb brushing over his cheekbone while she tiptoed to kiss him, her free hand holding onto the fabric of his sweater just above his heart.

Elijah was much the same as she felt his hands bypass her coat, one of them running up the back of her thigh, over her rear, and ending up laying flat on her back, holding her close and making her hum quietly in comfort while his other hand just naturally held onto her behind.

He didn't do so lecherously but possessively, his whole presence coming alive as it wrapped itself around her protectively.

“You look gorgeous.”, he whispered softly after she disconnected their lips, which caused her to smile up at him radiantly.

"You too.", Jean replied, leaving a playful bite on his jaw before stepping back and turning to Laura, who looked at her with her large green eyes, affection, trust, and a hint of wild allure in them.

Laughing lightly as she saw the dark-grey smudge on the usually quiet girl's cheek and nose, Jean didn't hesitate to call on her telekinetic powers as she gently brushed away the dirt with her fingers.

“You mucky pup.”, she uttered teasingly before taking Laura's hand in hers and turning to the group while leaning against Elijah's chest.

“All ready?”, her love asked into the group, earning a lot of nods while Angelica hollered a loud 'Yes, let's go!' as her answer.

Nodding, he turned towards Clarice with a light smile before asking: “Are you going to do it, or should I take us to the city?”

“I can do it, I know of a good spot for a portal not far from the karaoke bar.”, Clarice stated before gathering a dense cloud of pinkish/lilac energy above her palm and throwing it out after condensing it into a short dagger.

…

Walking through the portal, we arrived at an empty warehouse near the Downtown area, which was barely a 15-minute walk away from the bar.

Sending Ellie a message so that she and the others wouldn't freak out, I reached out through the Darkforce Dimension after confirming their location via Farsight and directly brought her, Yukio, Pietro, and Rogue to our sight before we set off together.

It didn't take us long to arrive and by the time we entered the bar, found a few tables that were close enough so that we wouldn't be too far from each other, some of the girls were already excited to go on stage and sing something.

Funnily enough, it wasn't just the girls as Pietro was also raring to go.

We ordered some cocktails, mostly non-alcoholic as John, Laura, and I were basically the only ones that could without any risks. Younger mutants generally didn't react that well to alcohol as their powers may become unstable due to mental inhibition, which was especially true for those with psychic powers like Jean.

But since neither Laura nor I enjoyed drinking, John was the only one that ordered himself a drink.

The place was comfortably full but thankfully not cramped and it was only a few minutes later when the drinks arrived, which was good timing since Angelica and Yukio had already convinced Jean to go stage together.

The three gorgeous girls attracted quite the attention on their way up, some whistles and hollering here and there, which only got more intense when the song started and it was revealed that they were performing 'Bang Bang' from Jessie J ft. Arianna Grand and Nicki Minaj. Naturally, I whistled too as encouragement as did Laura.

Still, as soon as the music started and Jean confidently took the lead, I couldn't quite hide my adoration, her beautiful voice full of melodious strength even if she didn't make every note.

My eyes practically glowed as I watched her sing and I could feel how much fun she had after just a few seconds, the excitement and joy radiating off her shining brightly in my Extraordinary Perception.

The greatest surprise though was Yukio, who sang Nicki Minaj's part and started rapping like it was nobody's business. Even Ellie nearly spit out her drink as she heard her quirky Asian girlfriend fire out line after line.

Angelica wasn't any less impressive, as her voice was a bit deeper and the slight rasp to it gave her a lusty edge.

To put it in simpler terms, they blew the roof of the place with their first performance that night.

…

Rehydrating while sitting in her love's lap, alternating between the fruity drink that she had ordered and the water that Elijah had ordered for her, Jean slowly caught her breath while Elijah gently wiped away some of the sweat on her forehead and helped her cool down with a small ice cube from the water glass that he lightly traced over her neck.

She had already gone on stage a few times with Angelica, Clarice, and Yukio, even Rogue, Ellie, and Allision had joined in the fun, as well as Pietro, who had trouble finding even half a correct note.

He made up for it with his enthusiasm though, as well as his apparent inability to get embarrassed.

Celeste hadn't yet gathered her courage, which was understandable since she had never gotten the chance to even listen to music until a couple of weeks ago. Though Jean felt her nervousness mixed with excitement and knew that she wanted to try it out.

At this point, only Laura, Celeste, John, and Elijah hadn't gone up yet.

“When are you going up, Elijah?”, Ellie asked, her tone rather demanding with a somewhat fierce glint in her eyes, “Don't think you can get out of embarrassing yourself.”

"Yeah, you have to go up!", Pietro insisted before adding with a rather evil smirk, "Otherwise I brought my phone for nothing."

The grey-haired teen was obviously of the same opinion as Ellie and thought that Elijah would embarrass himself and he clearly hoped that he could record it for the future.

"So be it.", her love though just shrugged and rose from his seat with her in his arms before placing her back down in his seat. Popping the ice cube in his mouth and giving her a kiss on the side of her neck just below her ear, Elijah whispered: "I will be right back."

Her eyes glowing, Jean turned to look at Laura, whose eyes were also glittering brightly as she watched Elijah move towards the stage.

They exchanged a knowing look since they were the only ones that had heard her love sing before while he was playing the piano, which was a rare occasion in any case.

…

Watching Elijah approach the stage and talk with the guy that took care of the music, anticipation bubbled up in Ellie's heart.

She had never seen the dark-haired teen find himself in a bind, much less embarrassed or the like. It wasn't that she harbored ill intentions for Elijah but she just wanted to see him lose his composure for once.

And while his calm gait made her suspicious, she didn't quite want to believe that he was good even at this.

Still, as soon as the guy that was performing at the moment, finished his rather average performance and Elijah went on stage, a hint of confusion appeared in her eyes as he just grabbed a wooden stool from the side and adjusted the height of the microphone before sitting down calmly.

The guy responsible for the music had made no announcement, nor was he putting on any music.

She wasn't the only one that was confused by this as faint murmurs went through the crowd while they looked on as Elijah pulled the dark-grey ring from the index finger of his left hand.

It was then that Elijah just closed his eyes and suddenly started to quietly knock on the wooden stool with his ring before joining in with his other hand and right foot, creating an acoustic beat out of nowhere while he joined in with soft hums.

Ellie's eyes widened incredulously as she watched this rather incomprehensible performance, not recognizing the melody but finding it familiar.

And then he started to sing, his voice flowing like warm honey, and she immediately recognized the song. It was 'Counting Stars' from One Republic.

“Lately, I've been, I've been losing sleep

Dreaming about the things that we could be

But baby, I've been, I've been praying hard

Said, "No more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars"

Yeah, we'll be counting stars"

He barely finished the first verse when the people in the bar finally managed to pick up the jaws from the floor and thick anticipation started to press down the atmosphere, though nobody dared to breathe too loudly for fear of missing out.

And then Elijah opened his eyes again, his gaze carrying a beautiful, near-overwhelming passion for music as he continued to sing, his hands and feet not missing a single beat as he created a simple melody that captured everyone's heart and mind.

"I see this life, like a swinging vine

Swing my heart across the line

And in my face is flashing signs

Seek it out and ye shall find

Old, but I'm not that old

Young, but I'm not that bold

And I don't think the world is sold

On just doing what we're told

I feel something so right

Doing the wrong thing

And I feel something so wrong

Doing the right thing

I couldn't lie, couldn't lie, couldn't lie

Everything that kills me makes me feel alive

Lately, I've been, I've been losing sleep

Dreaming about the things that we could be

But baby, I've been, I've been praying hard

Said, "No more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars"

Lately, I've been, I've been losing sleep

Dreaming about the things we could be

But baby, I've been, I've been praying hard

Said, "No more counting dollars, we'll be, we'll be counting stars"

Yeah, yeah

I feel your love, and I feel it burn

Down this river, every turn

Hope is our four-letter word

Make that money, watch it burn

Old, but I'm not that old

Young, but I'm not that bold

And I don't think the world is sold

On just doing what we're told

...“

Ellie didn't even realize when it happened but at some point her head started shaking to the melody, her hands clapping as if infected by Elijah's performance, her lips parting to sing the refrain along with all the other patrons of the bar.

When he finally finished, his voice fading out and his claps and stomps coming to a halt, it was as if she was woken up from a surreal dream.

And then, all hell broke loose as the people in the bar were just going nuts over what he just did.

Turning towards Pietro, Ellie saw him openly gawking as the hand that held up his phone was slightly shaking and she heard him mutter: “Holy hell … “