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Off to the side of the stage, out of the line of sight of much of the crowd, Yukio was bobbing his head to the beat of the DJ currently up, dancing as he mentally went over his set one more time. He wasn't officially on the bill tonight, but he'd planned this as a holiday surprise, taking on the role of "DJ Santa" for the night as the headliner. DJ Buster, his alter ego, was known around town enough that the crowd reaction when he made his appearance should be a good one. The focus on his setlist was helping distract him from other things he had on his mind: Holland, his recent revelation about his sexuality, Holland, the accidental kiss, Holland… Quietly he hoped the small young man would be here tonight, just to see him again and maybe confirm that what he was feeling was in fact valid and true.

The last DJ's set was almost over, which was Yukio's cue to change hats. He had a special hat for tonight, a red fur-trimmed Santa hat (since he was guesting for the holiday). Removing his favorite hat, the vintage leather flight helmet, he put the Santa hat on, arranging his hair and the tail of the hat and pushing his little round shades back up his nose, and waited.

There was his cue, the DJ announcing a visit from Santa. Taking a deep breath, Yukio put on his DJ Buster face and strode out onto the stage. He gave the previous DJ a hug and a pat on the back, then turned to face the crowd, raising an arm to them as realization rolled through the gathered attendees and the cheers started. This was one of the best things about being DJ Buster – the love and appreciation from his audience.

"Ho ho ho," he intoned into the mic. "Happy Holidays."

The other best thing about being DJ Buster was seeing people dance to his mixes. He took control of the deck in front of him and cued up one of his favorite intros, a techno mix he'd concocted of Daft Punk's "One More Time" – always a sure bet to get the crowd going. Fading in the track as he faded out of the beat that the previous DJ had left him, he hit the sliders and buttons deftly, long black-tipped fingers dancing over the controls like the wind. He did a stuttering repeat that hung just long enough to let the tension rise, then spun the turntable, hit the pause for a split second, and dropped the beat.

It was then he was able to look out into the crowd as he danced with them. And there, right at the front of the stage, was a familiar pink-fringed, teal-eyed face, dancing and chanting his name with the rest of the crowd.

Holland!

A weird tingle started in his gut at the sight of him. Was this butterflies? Yukio didn't know, couldn't be sure, because he'd never felt anything like this before, at least not over another man. And Holland looked adorable, a hat on his cute little head and a huge grin on his face. That was that – Yukio knew he had to play the song he'd put together for Holland the other night.

He couldn't let the young man's presence distract him from what he was doing, but oh was it good to see him out there. Looking right at him, Yukio gave a nod and a small but noticeable smile before turning his attention back to the DJ deck. Let people think whatever. He didn't care.

Yukio saw the blush rise on Holland's face despite the colored lights illuminating the crowd and allowed himself a satisfied little chuckle. Despite the sensation of butterflies in his stomach, he felt pleased that he'd been noticed by the one person he wanted to be noticed by. A relatively soft mosh of dancers began forming around Holland, and for a moment he was worried for the small young man, until he saw the huge smile on his face. That egged the DJ on, and he decided to egg the crowd on – including Holland. In truth, he wanted to see what the little guy was made of.

Laying down some deep house beats with some of his sampled random sounds gathered during his walks around Destiny City, Yukio bounced madly as he threw some old-school Skrillex and Diplo at them. The pounding beats, resonating through his body like some kind of dance music electric shock therapy, rolled over the crowd, and he danced along with them, reveling in the shared experience. Dancing was almost better than sex. Almost.

He looked out at the crowd to see what Holland was doing. Hopefully he was dancing his tiny a** off, because that was Yukio's intent. He was DJ Buster, after all, the Mad Sound Scientist.

The crowd was at a fever pitch of hype and excitement, and so was Yukio. His hands flew over the deck, mixing on the fly, throwing beats and samples and songs out that would drive them into an even deeper frenzy. All the while he looked up to watch Holland dance; the guy was a natural, losing himself to the music like his life depended on it. Yukio's heart was pounding as he watched, fairly hypnotized, almost losing track of what he was doing. He recovered smoothly, then decided the moment was now for the special track he'd chosen.

Reaching for his headphones, he dialed in the song he'd written for Holland on a back channel, blending and timing it in so it would follow the current track seamlessly. He made a few adjustments on the deck and allowed the frenetic pace to ease a little – give the crowd a break, a chance to breathe. Then he eased up the fader on the channel the song was keyed to and unleashed it into the wild.

The music was still dance, still at the tempo he'd been maintaining all night; but it was coiled, like a serpent in a relaxed but still vigilant pose. There was tension there, a sort of quiet tension that gave the impression of uncertainty and longing, all set to a low thrumming muted beat. Samples of wind rustling the limbs of trees and whistling through power lines accented the melody, accented with vocal calls and sounds tuned to the music itself. No words, just impressions. Yukio swayed as he performed, eyes closed behind his shades, hoping against hope that the song hit the mark not just with the crowd, but especially with Holland.

Opening his eyes, Yukio watched Holland for reaction, only halfway paying attention to the rest of the dancing crowd. He realized the small young man was looking directly at him as he swayed, and the DJ slid his shades down his nose, golden-yellow eyes meeting teal. Oh yeah, he'd scored a palpable hit with this one.

Eyes locked with Holland's, he slid his headphones back up and dialed in a slowly strengthening drum track, timing it to the song and easing it in until it was the only thing playing. Hands deftly dancing over the deck, he pulled up a throbbing techno synth beat and added it, flicking the fader on that channel rapidly up and down as the beat strengthened. Yukio threw more samples into the mix, hand on the fader and arms crossing over to the turntable to dial more things in, the tension in the music increasing, driving the crowd back into a frenzy.

Suddenly he paused the music and reached for the mic. "You want more?" he murmured into the silence, then he dropped the beat into a raging techno remix of "Running Up That Hill". The crowd howled their appreciation and flung themselves into frenetic dancing. Sweat glistening on his exposed shoulders and arms, Yukio pushed his shades back up and bounced as he controlled the music like an artist at an easel, painting a masterpiece. Even he had to admit that this was likely one of the best sets he'd ever done.

Yukio danced on the stage almost as frenetically as his audience danced, as he spun tunes and worked the deck, all the while watching Holland lose himself in the music. This section of the set was the easy one, with most of the mixes pre-selected; all they required was playing with levels and sounds to keep the energy up. He could work it in his sleep. It gave him a moment to reflect on the show so far – and on Holland, who seemed to be really enjoying himself, to the DJ's delight.

He had a lot to reconsider about Holland. For one thing, the small man didn't seem to be as delicate as he'd always imagined tiny people to be. He couldn't see Holland's arms due to the sleeves of his shirt, but just the way he moved demonstrated he was built with stamina in mind. Which made sense to Yukio, since Holland worked at a cafe as a server – that required hella stamina. He also guessed that the young man was older than he appeared, close to his own age, as he watched Holland's face. Such a baby face, deceptively youthful (and so darn cute). Idly he wondered what it would feel like to hold him in his arms, kiss those lips with intent this time instead of on accident…

Before he knew it, it was time to pay attention to what he was doing and mix things up musically again. Yukio shook off the reverie and flipped in a slow swooping section as he transitioned to another song. Swaying back and forth to the synth playing beneath it, he cued up Swedish House Mafia and started building tension again, increasing the bpm slightly to match the song and blended the intro into the building beat. He held it, allowing the beat to raise the crowd to a frenzy again, then dropped "Turn On The Lights", singing with the initial shout.

Yukio only had a couple more songs in the set, and he was already thinking about how he was going to get to Holland without getting mobbed….

The sight of someone else dancing with Holland made Yukio's heart leap into his throat. Did Holland have someone in his life already? He hadn't thought so, but now he wasn't so sure. That split second of panic almost made him miss his cue for the next song, and he cringed mentally at the amateur move. Recovering quickly, he brought it down to build more musical tension and eased into BT's cover of Tori Amos's "Blue Skies" – a fitting song for the sudden melancholy mood he found himself in.

His thoughts brightened a bit when Holland looked up at him as he was dancing and held up his phone for a picture or short video, but that could have just been a fan taking a snap of DJ Buster – then it occurred to him that he hadn't told Holland his real name. He'd have to rectify that, if they met again. Then he paused and thought a bit as he added his own touches to the mix. Should he be resigning himself to losing out on a chance with the small, cute young man who only half an hour ago had been biting his lip and gazing directly into Yukio's eyes with a look of pure want?

As the song ended, the long synth tone hanging in the air, the DJ took the mic. "Thank you all, happy holidays," he said, waving at the crowd and listening to them roar his name. Maybe he could catch Holland at the side of the stage… if he came over, if he didn't leave with someone else. Invite him to the afterparty just down the street.

At the very least, he could tell Holland his name….