A Club, Baltimore, Wednesday Night

[spin_kick_snap]

So, most people probably did not have a twenty-item, bullet-pointed list for ways to relax and/or enjoy themselves during the last week of break before the beginning of their senior year (definitely and/or; parties were fun but stressful), but relaxing had never been something that Kathy was all that great at anyway. And her normal method of relaxing was typically nerdy and kind of introverted methods anyway: reading comics, playing video games, practicing a routine. Stuff she enjoyed, yeah, but also things that she'd spent her entire life doing. Her current list was all about trying new things, rather than defaulting to the same activities she'd been doing for years.

Which was why she was at a club (number 8 on the list) tonight. Sure, it was a Wednesday, which wasn't exactly peak club hours, but fewer people in the club meant fewer people to get flustered by, especially if she decided to also cross off number 14 on the list, dance to make someone's jaw drop. And if she managed to humiliate herself trying for number 14, fewer people meant fewer people laughing and fewer people in her way as she bolted for the door.

Right, awesome, great pep talk.

Ignoring the small voice that was trying to convince her to trade her dress for her gi, Kathy drew on some of the confidence she had has Banzai and entered the club. It was just people. Just dancing. It wasn't a gymnastics meet with hundreds of spectators or even a nasty fight in a back alley against a guy with a knife. It was supposed to be fun. And, if it wasn't, she could always go home and play video games until dawn.

She could do this.

[For one please]

Comments

[smilestopscars]

Ezra had no list. Ezra had no great reasons for being here, either. If you'd dug around a little, maybe the fact that he was heading home for the weekend might've qualified. But maybe not.

Anyway, the dance floor wasn't packed, but he thought he was doing a fine job of filling it up with some other folks with a desire to dance away a drab Wednesday night. A fine job. The random girls he was currently dancing with seemed to think so, at least, and that was good enough for him.

[spin_kick_snap]

The heavy bass made it easy for Kathy to slip into a rhythmic walk as she entered, rather than the determined half-march that she'd used to cross the street. There was a small moment of shock, as the heat and (relative) quiet of the outside gave way to the noise and air conditioning within, but she brushed that off and continued inside, heading right for the bar. There were more people on the floor than she would have guessed there'd be for a Wednesday; she might need a bit of liquid courage before braving it herself.

But hey! She was here and she didn't look too out of place in her club clothes and makeup. Score one for Kathy!

[smilestopscars]

Ezra would've given her more points than that, just based on her dress all by itself.

And if there'd been fewer people, he might've spotted her by scent alone. But no such dice right now. There was a lot happening in his senses right now, just in his general vicinity. Sweat and perfume and aftershave. The bass and moving bodies.

He was in his element, and kind of lost in it. For the moment, anyway.

[spin_kick_snap]

That was fine. Him not noticing her meant that he didn't notice her when she finally sat back and started examining the dance floor--and nearly spilling her drink when she noticed him in the cluster of girls grinding to the beat. This was unexpected. Ezra was hell on her composure when she was alone in her room, never mind in the middle of strangers, in a club, experimenting with moves she'd never tried in public before.

There was even a moment when she considered running away. He hadn't seen her and there was a reason she'd come alone.

In the end, though, she didn't. She knocked back her drink and asked for another (the bartender didn't even ask to look at her fake and it had cost her $300 and a several future favors from her little sister), then finished that one too before hopping down from the stool and heading out for the floor.

She'd come to dance, dammit. To make some jaws drop. And that was exactly what she was going to do.

...And if she succeeded in this tonight, she was going to buy herself the biggest ice cream sundae tomorrow and eat it all without shame.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Impressive, really, with all that was going on, but guess he was tuned to taking note of new people entering his current area.

(A skill honed in battle rather than on dance floors, but that was neither here nor there.)

Reflexively, he glanced over.

Then he smiled.

[spin_kick_snap]

Okay, drop down low, groove, groove, slow push back up ass-first, hair toss...

It helped to think of the dance as a routine, letting her focus more on what she was doing than how people were reacting. Kathy couldn't quite get into the same zone she would during meets, where nothing had existed outside of her next move, but she'd been able to forget that there were people watching her bend and stretch and shake her ass.

At least until the last hair toss, when she looked up and accidentally caught Ezra's eye. Her face flamed immediately. She would have put money on him being too caught up in his own thing to notice her. She quickly glanced away--did he see? Of course he saw! He's not BLIND--then made herself look back and raise an eyebrow at him. Yes, Ezra? Was there something?

...While still blushing, yes. Shut up, it was an autonomic function, she couldn't help it.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra was smirking at her.

And raised an eyebrow right back, without even faltering in the moving and grooving he was doing. Multitasking!

[spin_kick_snap]

Well, wasn't he just all lithe and muscu--SPECIAL. WASN'T HE JUST SPECIAL. Also, that smirk was in no way distracting and so there!

And if she repeated this enough times, maybe it would even be true.

No, no, it was fine, she was still dancing to. And, in fact, she was just going to deliberately turn and shake her ass at him. See? Totally not bothered!

[smilestopscars]

Ezra's snicker disappeared into the music.

He disengaged from the girl he'd been dancing with. Nicely. By gently turning her by the shoulders towards the other girl he'd been dancing with. From what he'd seen so far, they'd do just fine together without him.

He had a small crowd to slip through towards Kathy.

[spin_kick_snap]

She turned again, flexing her hips, glancing over to see what Ezra had thought of that--only to see he'd vanished. Was she not looking in the right direction? It wasn't like she'd bothered to examine his surroundings or whatever when she'd spotted him. Maybe she hadn't turned around enough? Impossible to tell. Girls dancing, small group of friends dancing and laughing, guy clearly dancing at her--no sign of Ezra.

Had he left? It was a lot harder to figure out what people were doing when you were in the middle of them, rather than perched high above--especially since Kathy wasn't all that tall to begin with, even in two-inch heels. She shifted into a slow bump-n-grind while trying to peer around the guys who were constantly trying to slide into her line of sight.

[smilestopscars]

Funny, here Ezra thought he was taking the straightest possible route to her. Granted, sneaking was in his blood so he blended into crowds with idle ease.

Still, when he noticed she’d lost him, he decided to use that to his advantage. By turning up behind her. He wasn’t going to grab her since knowing her that might lead to a black eye if she didn’t immediately realize it was him, but he did slide in to dance as close to her as he dared, to make his presence known.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy started when she felt someone slide in behind her and start to dance. She'd tried to keep some distance between herself and anyone who'd seemed interested, but she'd been distracted. But even as her lips were forming No thank you, she realized who it probably was.

Because of course Ezra would have managed to sneak up on her. "If this isn't who I think it is, I'm going to be annoyed when I turn around," she said, loud enough to be heard over the music. Still, she bridged the gap between them until her back was firmly pressed against his chest. "Hi," she added with a smile.

[smilestopscars]

"If this isn't who you think it is, I'm going to be disappointed," said a voice in her ear. One arm wrapped loosely around her. "As well as hurt, Kathy. Hi."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Let it never be said I hurt your feelings," Kathy said, shivering a bit when his breath hit her ear. "I mean, I was checking out this one guy, but he vanished on me when I was shaking my ass at him." Look, she was a lot better at looking over crowds than through them. She'd probably seen him like three times but just hadn't realized it. "Do you think he didn't like the view?"

That question absolutely needed to be punctuated with an extra grind.

[smilestopscars]

"Sweetheart, I think he just wanted a closer look." Way closer. As if to make his point, he gave her an answering grind. "It was a good view."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy wasn't sure if Ezra could hear her gasp over the music, but he likely felt the way her stomach jumped when she did. "Well, I hope it's just as enjoyable close up," she said, bending at the waist with the music before arching back up. "So, umm, this was what I was practicing when you came by that day." She glanced back at him and winked. "Maybe if you're good, I'll throw in a couple of the moves I was planning on skipping because I'm wearing a dress."

[smilestopscars]

Ezra raised his eyebrows at her.

Then waggled them. "I don't know if good is really on the menu because you're wearing that dress ––" It was a great dress, okay? "–– but I suppose I could try."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Ezra, I promise, when I use the word 'good' in relation to you, I in no way mean it as 'well-behaved,'" Kathy said with a laugh. "I wouldn't want you to strain something!"

[smilestopscars]

"Phew."

He even made a show of wiping his brow. So relieved.

"For a second there I thought I'd have to actually work."

[spin_kick_snap]

"No, I came here to work it," Kathy said. "You came here to...indulge?"

That was the best verb she could come up with.

[smilestopscars]

"To enjoy myself." See how simple that was? He pulled her into him, just a little bit. "Nothing more, nothing less."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Which general involves indulgence, doesn't it?" Kathy asked, letting her head rest on his shoulder a bit. She picked her foot up and slid it up and down his inner calf. "I was hardly judging."

[smilestopscars]

"No one said you were," she replied. He didn't have the time of day for anyone he thought was actually judging him. Because sometimes that happened, and it was amazingly boring every time. "Don't get into semantics, though."

[spin_kick_snap]

Considering Kathy was very fond of Ezra's brand of indulgence, it would be terribly hypocritical of her to judge. And that was one trait she tried damned hard to avoid.

"Nobody's going to get into an argument about semantics on the dancefloor of a club," she said, laughing. "Actually, okay, I probably could--" and now she was laughing harder, because she could see herself being that ridiculous "--but I promise if I do, it won't be about whatever words you use to talk about having a good time, okay?"

She slid her hands up the side of his legs until she was holding onto his hips. "Besides, why argue about something like that when I'd far rather blow...your mind."

What else would she have meant?

"I mean, I don't know if I managed to make your jaw drop with my dancing yet."

[smilestopscars]

"I rarely drop my jaw for anything that isn't directly related to putting things in my mouth or putting my mouth on things," Ezra replied, smirking while he slid his hand over her stomach. "But I would like to see you try."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You say that now, just as the conversation took a turn for the enticing," Kathy teased. "I see how it is."

Look, she really liked the things he did with his mouth, okay? It was pointless to pretend otherwise and Kathy wasn't that great at stuff like that anyway.

You know what she was good at though? Bending forward until her palms were flat on the ground, legs straight and ass still firmly pushed against him, still grinding to the beat. That, she could do, no problems.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra exhaled a laugh. And held back from doing anything that would've been too dance floor inappropriate – although she could be sure he would've liked to. As it was, though, he let a hand squeeze her hip.

"Okay, that's moderately impressive."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Looks like I'll just have to work harder," she said, wiggling her hips a bit to let him know she was about to move. Glancing over her shoulder to grin at him, she slowly lowered herself to the ground in a perfect split--which was a lot harder than in looked in heels.

That was one move she wouldn't have dared if Ezra hadn't been there to see it. Tiny skirts weren't made for doing splits in and with the hem pushed up to her upper thighs, it took a decent bit off effort to keep from flashing anyone on the floor.

...The dim atmosphere also helped with that.

Still she took a minute or so to groove her shoulders along to the music before leaning forward and pushing herself back up--which, of the two maneuvers was actually a lot harder than coming down. But that was why she'd practiced.

[smilestopscars]

The other people on the dancefloor were probably pretty glad when she got up again. Not that Ezra was paying them much attention, mind.

But he tsked and shook his head. "I already knew you could do that."

[spin_kick_snap]

Neither was Kathy, not to the ones who'd made approving noises when she went down or to those who were making approving noises when she got up.

"I'd love to see you try it in these heels," Kathy laughed. "Though I'm pretty sure you've seen a lot of my best moves already. In a, umm, different setting."

[smilestopscars]

"A better setting," Ezra agreed, reaching for her hand. Not that he didn't love a good club – hey, he'd come here by himself tonight. Some things were just best enjoyed in private. "But they are good moves, sweetheart. Great, even. Fantastic."

[spin_kick_snap]

"In fairness, I didn't expect to run into you," Kathy admitted, sliding her hand into his and giving him a smile. "And I'm pretty sure I impressed a couple of people here anyway. So I'm going to call it a win."

She batted her lashes at him. "I guess the question is what I should do with the rest of my evening?"

Kathy felt certain Ezra might have an idea.

[smilestopscars]

An idea, or several. He used his hold on her hand to try and give her a little twirl. Since they were on a dance floor, and all.

He was also smirking at her, because of course he was. Couldn't turn it off. "I think that depends on a few things," he said. "Like whether you want to stay in here or go outside."

Both ways led to dirtiness, no doubt.