Work Text:
The environment in the pub was much louder than anticipated, although with it being a Friday night it should have been a given. The bigger surprise was that Jon had decided to join them that evening. Tim had asked him when they were on their way out for lunch, something he always did even though the answer was always the same. Jon was silent for a moment before agreeing, mentioning that it wouldn’t hurt to go out for once. It had surprised all of them, but Tim had cheered once the shock wore off. Jon shook his head at the man and shooed him out of his office, saying he had a statement he needed to record.
That was how Martin found himself seated next to the man he had a growing crush on. Tim and Sasha were seated around them, arguing a bit about something that Martin had not noticed. He was drawn back into the conversation when Tim raised his voice.
“I don’t think you have what it takes.” There was a grin on his face and a challenge in his voice as he watched Jon across the table. The song someone was singing came to a close under all of general background noise of the pub. “I mean Sasha, can you see him singing that?” Tim turned to the woman, egging on Jon even more. Martin looked at the man in question and noticed the contemplative look that was sitting on his features.
“Well, lets see about that then.” Jon took a sip from his glass before standing up, once more surprising everyone at the table.
“Tim, what did you do?” Martin asked as he leaned towards the man over the table. The expression of shock on his face made him think it was something bad that was going on.
“Someone was singing really badly so he said that Jon wouldn’t be able to do better.” Sasha laughed slightly as she fumbled in her coat pocket for her phone. “Apparently Jon took it as a challenge and now here we are.”
“What?” Martin quickly turned to look over where the karaoke machine was and found Jon talking to the person in charge of it.
“I didn’t honestly think he was going to do it!” Tim told them in his defense. “Although, I didn’t know he had it in him to even go up.” He turned an appreciative glance to the man who was stepping up to the microphone. “This is a lot more entertainment than I thought we would have tonight.”
Martin was about to make a reply when it was choked off by the music starting along with Jon’s voice singing along. “You have got to be kidding me! Girlfriend?!” He looked at Tim and Sasha with wide eyes.
“I didn’t think he would!” Tim shouted back before pointing over at their boss, his expression shifting into stunned. Martin turned and stared, it was like he was watching an entirely different person at the mic.
Jon seemed to move with an air a familiarity with the mic, singing confidently with the lyrics without the help of the screen. It wasn’t that which had caused Martin to pause, it was his movements. He was dancing, actually moving with the music as he sang and grinned with the song. When his eyes fell on Martin he pointed at him, singing lyrics that made him flush from his ears to his neck. Sasha whistled, making Martin turn to glare at her. As he turned he noticed Tim’s dumbfounded expression and almost laughed, certain he was wearing a similar expression only a few moments earlier.
“So, are you going to question why him anymore?” Martin finally found his voice and asked as he took a drink from his mug.
“Uh, no. I don’t think I will.” Tim stated, still staring up at Jon.
It wasn’t long before the song ended and it had actually gotten some applause from some of the other patrons. Jon made his way back to the table, a smug grin pulling at his lips as he did so.
“Okay, how do you know how to do that?” Tim immediately asked as Sasha leaned forward, laying her phone down on the table.
“Didn’t I mention, I was in a band in college. I was the frontman.” His grin never left as Tim sputtered in response.
“Wait, a band? You never told us that!” It was Sasha who spoke up that time. “You never told us anything about what you did before working in research!”
“Oh, it must have slipped my mind then.” He took a drink from his glass, a mischievous glint still lighting up his eyes.
Yeah, Martin was screwed.