Not too bright though… too bright was too harsh, and no one wanted harsh tonight.
Magenta eyes glanced up, swept across the sea of color and movement that was the dance floor. People moved to the music, and with her fingers on the controls, it was like she guided them… like they danced for her and it pulled her lips into a contented smile. This is why she loved music, why she loved being a DJ. When she performed, the world closed down to this dark, hot place and nothing else mattered. It all just faded away…
Some inner sense of time tickled at the back of her mind and the young woman reached to hit a few keys on her laptop, switching the music over from her control to a playlist she had set up for breaks. PeaceTreaty’s “Seasons” began to pour from the speakers and Sidney set her headphones with their little rainbow LEDs down on the table beside her laptop. The playlist should hold everyone for a bit… and she needed a drink. It had been long enough her buzz had mellowed out and she was thirsty besides. A lifted arm wrapped in beaded bracelets caught the attention of the guy, James, behind the bar tonight and he waved back. James the Fames knew her and what she wanted by now, he’d have her drink ready for her by the time the rainbow-haired DJ managed to weave her way through the writhing bodies to the relative calm of the bar.
Granted, she was a few months shy of being old enough to drink, but hey… James had her back, and she certainly wasn’t going to tell anyone. Everyone else got the fake ID she’d gotten years ago, back when life had been in New York. Sid was looking forward to a real ID. October could not come fast enough.
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After all the craziness in his life, it was nice to just go out and have some fun. To lose himself in the push and pull, the thrum of bass beating heavy and thick like blood - better than blood, headier even. Often when he went clubbing anymore it was with Nadia, but he'd wanted to go and she'd been spending the evening with Lorne, so the curly-haired danseur was alone under the flashing, multi-coloured lighting.
By the time the DJ - a cute gal with rainbow hair that worked a good mix - stepped down for a much-deserved break, Colin was pressed back against some dark-haired guy with his eyes mostly closed. With the heat, his hair was sweat-damp and his shirt clinging. It was perfect. But he was hot and thirsty - and, unlike most of the people gyrating to the music, knew better than to dehydrate too much - so the blond left his random partner behind to find someone else while he went to get a drink from the bar.
To his pleasant surprise, the DJ was there, chatting with the bartender amicably and enjoying her drink. Colin stepped right on up, pushing through a few swaying bodies and ponied up to the bar right next to Sidney. "Hey, good set." He grinned and then got James' attention for a house shot and water - his usual order when he was still planning on dancing. The water was the important part. "I'm Colin." Tossing the shot back and chasing it with water, he then offered his hand - it was automatic, something ingrained now.
By the time the DJ - a cute gal with rainbow hair that worked a good mix - stepped down for a much-deserved break, Colin was pressed back against some dark-haired guy with his eyes mostly closed. With the heat, his hair was sweat-damp and his shirt clinging. It was perfect. But he was hot and thirsty - and, unlike most of the people gyrating to the music, knew better than to dehydrate too much - so the blond left his random partner behind to find someone else while he went to get a drink from the bar.
To his pleasant surprise, the DJ was there, chatting with the bartender amicably and enjoying her drink. Colin stepped right on up, pushing through a few swaying bodies and ponied up to the bar right next to Sidney. "Hey, good set." He grinned and then got James' attention for a house shot and water - his usual order when he was still planning on dancing. The water was the important part. "I'm Colin." Tossing the shot back and chasing it with water, he then offered his hand - it was automatic, something ingrained now.
Sidney laughed as she leaned on the bar listening to James flirt with her, her height forcing her to her toes as she braced her elbows on it. Unable to sit or really stand completely still, the DJ wiggled her hips from side to side to the music. It made her glittery black tutu flutter above her knee-high converse, which was something of an attention grabber for a few of the guys nearby. Sadly, there was not a ton of anything to be looking at… She ran small and thin, only partly a gift of the same heritage that had given her her almond shaped eyes.
Someone new squeezed his way between a couple of clubbers she promptly forgot the faces of the moment they turned away and Sid tossed him a bright-eyed glance. Taller, blonder and way more damp than she was, but no surprise if he’d been dancing. She cocked her head as she settled back onto her heels and drug her Long Island back with her, leaving James to take care of a red head down the way who was flashing him her cleavage.
“Hey, Thanks!” Sid grinned as she leaned her ribs against the edge of the bar, taking another sip of her mixed drink. One ankle crossed over the other, toe tapping the floor, as she gave the newbie a once over. Hadn’t seen him around here before, but the crowds blended a lot on stage. “Colin? You can call me Chou. I’m glad you came out! Having fun?”
No, Chou was not her real name. Was she going to give her real name? Maybe. If he wasn’t a creeper. What she could see under his shirt was promising though, and his grip when she took his hand, her own damp and chill from the sides of her drink. She really needed a smoke, but it could wait. Towhead Boy was more interesting.
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“Chou the DJ rainbow, huh?” He flashed a smile and took in the comfortable way she lounged against the bar; her body language was open but wary - which was smart and reasonable. What if he were some freak or creeper that just wanted to get her alone to cut out her kidneys? He wasn’t, but how was she to know that?
“Oh yeah, I always do on the dance floor.” Colin moved in so he could lean against the bar too, close enough to not have to yell but not so close she’d need to move away for space. “Is this your usual place to spin? I don’t come to this club often.” There were others, of course, but mostly it was a matter of time - the danseur didn’t often have the time (or energy) to go clubbing...not when he was working and doing patrols and the like.
Perhaps he could get her to dance with him, after he finished his water and she her drink. Chou was a bit thin for his tastes, but she was lovely still and he just wanted to dance - not marry her.
“Oh yeah, I always do on the dance floor.” Colin moved in so he could lean against the bar too, close enough to not have to yell but not so close she’d need to move away for space. “Is this your usual place to spin? I don’t come to this club often.” There were others, of course, but mostly it was a matter of time - the danseur didn’t often have the time (or energy) to go clubbing...not when he was working and doing patrols and the like.
Perhaps he could get her to dance with him, after he finished his water and she her drink. Chou was a bit thin for his tastes, but she was lovely still and he just wanted to dance - not marry her.
The small woman laughed as she leaned towards him, giving him a wink as she touched an extended forefinger to her cheek, the overall effect cutesy and playful.
“The one and only Techno Butterfly.” She agreed with a laugh. “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself. That’s what its all about! Its a party, after all. As for usual place…” Sid flapped her hand like fluttering wings, her drink lifted with it though she couldn’t mirror the gesture. The grin she gave him had some fang to it, two pairs of her teeth on the top unnaturally long from the custom dentures she wore.
“I come and go with the wind and the whim of the Managers. I could be here tonight and gone tomorrow and you might never see me again. I’m like a dream, Cutie. A little magic to spread joy and happiness. I just flew in from NYC not long ago, so DC is new territory for me. Are you a native, or a traveler like me? Do you know the mystical portal through which to get pancakes and sausage at 2 AM around here?”
An entrepreneuring girl like herself didn’t need someone to hand-hold her just because she was living with them in an entirely new city halfway across the country. She knew how to make friendly with the locals.
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She was adorable like that, being overtly cutesy and purposefully over-playing the gestures. Techno butterfly, huh? It was quite the evocative mental image and idly he wondered if perhaps she didn’t have some sort of tattoo representing that on her body. He laughed brightly at her descriptive and gestural responses to him and sipped his water, green eyes bright as he gave her his full attention.
“I’m a native, but I’ve traveled quite a bit for work.” Colin glanced around secretively, “As a matter of fact, I do. And it’s not a chain restaurant, either.” Not a Denny’s or Waffle House - though really he found nothing wrong with either of those (or any place like them) - but most newcomers wanted something a little more...local.
“It’s near the DCU campus….not too far from here. Carl’s.” It was a small place that made money off students, which was fine. The food was good enough and cheap enough that you didn’t mind the fact that the floor was covered in sawdust half the time. “Good and cheap, free wifi too.”
“I’m a native, but I’ve traveled quite a bit for work.” Colin glanced around secretively, “As a matter of fact, I do. And it’s not a chain restaurant, either.” Not a Denny’s or Waffle House - though really he found nothing wrong with either of those (or any place like them) - but most newcomers wanted something a little more...local.
“It’s near the DCU campus….not too far from here. Carl’s.” It was a small place that made money off students, which was fine. The food was good enough and cheap enough that you didn’t mind the fact that the floor was covered in sawdust half the time. “Good and cheap, free wifi too.”
Sid made a low ooooo of sound and leaned in conspiratorially, her elbows on the bar as she grinned.
“Not a chain? Oh my, how scandalous. Do tell.” The shorter woman fluttered her lashes as she faked a southern accent. Her mannerisms even changed, taking on something of the stuffy, prim and proper bearing of those Belles. It was intended to be comical… there was no way anyone would ever mistake her for actually being one, not with how she looked. Mimicry was fun though. Ice had always laughed at her when she did them.
The thought was a bit of a downer and it reminded Sid all over again how much she really needed a smoke. Reminders of Ice were so much easier to deal with when the world wasn’t so hard-edged.
“Carl’s…” She hummed as the name was revealed. “Good and cheap are two of my favorite words, you know?”
Fingers studded with rings swirled her glass around between her hands, moving the ice with the straw to keep the alcohol from all settling on the bottom. She drank Long Islands for their taste, not to get smacked in the mouth with alcohol.
“You know…” She said, feigning nonchalant as she leaned on the bar and arched her back a little, pushing her a** out a little bit and her less-than-impressive chest. It wasn’t much, but hey? work with what you got, right? “I get off in a couple of hours… probably when you’d be ready to quit the dance floor and find somewhere quieter. You wanna show me this little hole-in-the-wall of yours? I promise I can be great company.
Syrie
