What Not to Do (Kallisti)

[Nox]

Nox felt Ori’s offense at being offered such a trivial task. He didn’t want to explain it all. And he was more than curious about what she might add. He just hoped it didn’t end up being something disruptive. Or an attack on the Atharim in attendance inadvertently. He had to hope she meant her help he had other things on his mind.

The stage dimmed, and the rings lowered. Nox took his place in the blue flames to brood as the floor moved to add the extra invisible security of the air mattress below. They trusted Nox to keep them safe, usually it was Juls doing that, but they wanted to always have a mundane back up. That was the safest thing in all their minds.

His biggest contribution to the finale was the changing of the seasons on the plants and decorations. As their skit moved on, it was clear Persephone’s coming and going made her mother sad and thus the changing of the seasons. It was a shitty story just so you could explain the changes through the seasons. Who the fuck sells their kid… Nox titled the skit “What Not to Do” for a reason.

He had a lot of time to think while he went through the motions. But he made himself appreciate the girls on the rings high above the ground, bending and twisting. Dangling from ribbons without real safety gear. The girls trusted the cushion below.

[[ ooc: will not post my last bits allowing ori to add to whatever she may want. ]]

[Sage]

Sage was grateful Aiden had snapped out of whatever he had fell into. His dreams were plaguing him and now they seemed to touch his waking life -- the wasn't a good thing. He returned to his position in the chair and watched the show unfold before him. His hand resting on Aiden's inner thigh. One of his favorite spots. His fingers twitched once and a while when an automatic response from his brain reached the nerves before he could stop them. His mind was busy but he watched and enjoyed the feeling of his boyfriend underneath his hand. The video Jaxen had requested had lit a fire and he was aching for a little more than he had bargained for watching a former crush (well not exactly former) on stage nearly naked, his boyfriend sitting next to him.

And as he was toying with another hacker at Paragon trying to reach Raffe to show him the show, a pair of feet landed in his lap. The intrusion pulled Sage away from it all and he looked at the owner of the sexy feet in the high heels and smirked. Nox's actual boss sat with them. She seemed like she didn't care and she used him like she probably used everyone else in the joint. She was a spider. Manipulative and gorgeous and Sage wondered what she was up to.

He gave her a sweet smile and then removed one heel and then the other. There was only one reason a woman put her feet in your lap. She rested very close to his ever tightening pants and her feet were only making matters worse. Sage returned his hand to Aiden's leg and rubbed Oriena's feet with the other. And attempted to return to the game afoot. But his mind was distracted, by other obsessions. Instead he watched the video of the girl stripping down in a shop overlaying Nox dancing on stage. Lost in another world.

[Nox]

The show was nearly over and the sweat pouring from Nox's forehead was more than enough to show how tired he was. It wasn't a physical tired so much as mentally and emotionally tired. He barely had time to think beyond what weave was next, what to drop and were to go.

A gust of wind blew up from underneath near the crescendo of music that would wrap up the last of the ring maneuvers. The short toga flew up and instinctually Nox shoved his hands down in front of him and the silhouette gave the impression of mocking the famous Marilyn Monroe pose of her on a grate with that white dress. Nox took it the step further up on realization and held his hand just far enough from his face that the shadows the audience saw knew for a fact that he was mocking embarrassment.

Funny thing was -- he almost told Oriena she could do that -- or something similar. But he hadn't needed to. She did it freely herself and at a very good time almost like it had been rehersed. Except it hadn't.

The lights dimmed and the curtains closed and Nox collapsed the the ground unraveling all the tied weaves and letting the power wink out. The cool floor helped to ease his aching muscles. He was dead. He wanted to sleep. But he had things to do.

The girls helped him up and they all refreshed themselves before taking a stroll around the club to make their tips and extra fun with some of their favorites.

Nox had a few friends he wanted to see. And at least one he wanted to meet before the night was out.

But first Nox grasped the power one more time and wove the flaming blue fire illusion about his head and let it dance in the lights of Kallisti. It made him smile as he dropped the power.

On the floor he glanced at the bar where Raffe should be but w asn't and took a deep breath. He could do this -- all of it. If anything he'd show Ori that he could do his job and flirt just fine with the patrons.

Nox stopped at each table and smiled and did the small talk thing while they stared at the flaming hair up close and personal. One guy asked if he could touch it. Sorry, man -- Nox smiled and moved on, waving his hand to one of the waitresses to bring the girls he was about to approach a round on the house. He stopped between the women and put his arm around both of them just as the waitress placed two glasses in front of them. "Danika, you came. That the diet coke I owe you? Or did you choose something a bit stronger?"

[Danika]

As soon as the show concluded, Danika hopped to her feet. The precarious shoe wobbled under her ankle, and she had to catch herself on the table to keep from falling! She briefly looked around to see if anyone noticed the embarrassing incident, but everyone had eyes for the performers. Danika was quickly swept up with their admiration and clapped animatedly in appreciation.

In the closing moments afterward, the audience was already talking among themselves. Some were filtering out now that the show was done. Danika wondered if another would follow, but she had to assume it would take time to set up. The club wasn’t a theatre, after all, and with the curtain drawn, it felt more like a club again.

A server eventually came by and Danika was parched. She ordered a rum and diet coke, which she drank greedily by the time Nox had started mingling the floor.

“Oh my god i’d love to stay and meet the girls! How fun!”she finally answered Ilesha’s offer just as she elbowed the other girl. Nox was coming their direction! When he stopped, she moved to hug him. It wasn’t that she was that friendly, but she wasn’t sure how else to greet him. Afterward, she was all eyes for the top of his head until he asked about her drink.

“Oh well yeah there’s diet coke in it,” she smiled. “But also rum..”

[Ilesha]

The show was amazing. The lights were fabulous, and she even saw some of them form. There was a soft glow from a woman across the way. She recognized the beautiful face of the owner. Oriena was scary. And hot.

And Danika stood so she did too and applauded with the rest of them. She stared as the man from the stage walked towards them. His hair on fire with blue flames yet he wasn't in any pain. She couldn't take her eyes off him. His skin glistened under the lights and he was nearly naked. Ilesha dropped her eyes when he wrapped his arm around Danika and draped an arm around her.

Drinks arrived and Ilesha's gaze was drawn to his navel and she realized where she was looking and her eyes popped straight up the big brown eyes lined with guy liner. God he was hot.

He took her hand, he hadn't offered his but he took hers and pressed it to his lips. "Nox. And you are?"

"Ilesha."

"Claire's friend. I've heard about you. Juls suggests you come by. Maybe you can teach Sterling that her education is just as important as learning how to use her gift." He waved his hand and a blue flame leaped into his hand and then disappeared just as quickly.

"You know who I am?"

He smiled, it was enchanting. "Of you. The girls like to talk. How do you two know each other?"

"We work together."

[Nox]

The other girl blushed like a school girl in health class. He did his best not to embarrass her even further. "I'm glad you are loosening up. I promise I won't get into another fight tonight. Well I shouldn't promise that. I might." He grinned at Danika. To be fair he really might. Depends on the crowd and the Atharim out here. "I don't know how you lot do those shoes. I wore them for five minutes as a fun skit and my feet hurt."

A lot more than his feet hurt. But that wasn't something to talk about here. "Anything I can get you two?"

"We'd like to stay and meet the girls."

Nox grinned. "I'm sure we can arrange that. Anything else? One of the girls or other guys on stage catch you eye? They like working for tips."

[Danika]

Danika laughed awkwardly at Nox’s joke. At least she hoped he was joking about not getting in any more fights. The last one was shocking to say the least, and she glanced at Ilesha with a look that said she’d explain more about it later. For now, Nox was being so friendly and Dani was feeling highly out of place. Then again, she always felt like she was sneaking in to social circles that made her extremely uncomfortable.

Then he commented on her shoes, and Dani’s eyes were wide in response. “Well we can trade if you want more practice! Yours look more comfortable,” she laughed uneasily but she was only half-kidding. The shoes on her feet cost an insane amount of money and while she’d trade them up for loafers, her account would regret it the second she went out to buy a replacement. Between the invites going out and the Kremlin events, she needed at least one pair of heels.

She nodded along emphatically at Ilesha’s request. Dani would be thrilled to meet them, but she simply didn’t understand Nox’s follow up question. She looked at Ilesha and shrugged, question apparent?

“Caught our eye? I’m sorry, I”m new. Are we suppose to tip the performers? Was there a QR code somewhere I missed?” and she looked around for one.

[Aiden Finnegan]

“That’s my job, Love. You’re missing the best parts,” Sage said as he walked down the steps and into the round room. Lugh looked away from Tlachtga with a whip of his head. Sage smirked.

Reality flickered.

Aiden stood in place of Lugh, although he was wearing the same outfit as the long-dead God. Sage’s smirk widened and he approached Aiden, arms outstretched. Sage was wearing leathers and furs, his hair cascaded down his shoulders. An aura of Power emanated from him as his arms closed around Aiden.

Reality flickered and Aiden gasped.

Nox was on stage, carrying the performance forward with surprising pomp and flair. The dancers moved about him, the music playing on as if the Graces themselves were hidden away somewhere behind stage. Sage’s hand had found Aiden’s thigh, causing his stomach to flutter about as the bulge in his pants grew more pronounced. Sage was watching the show intently. Dimitri, on the other hand, wore a shocked expression.

Aiden mouthed the words ‘what happened?’ to Dimitri. The man responded with a shrug of the shoulders and a shaking head, ‘I don’t know.’ He downed the rest of his drink before turning his gaze away from Aiden and back towards the stage. Oh, Aiden wanted to smack Dimitri. He had clearly seen something – had Sage? Aiden’s boyfriend could be indifferent about things, but he’d certainly have reacted more if anything odd had happened while visions of Lugh attacked Aiden’s psyche.

That had been Lugh – Aiden was sure of it. The vision had been more clear than any of the dreams that he had been having as of late. Aiden had actually felt like Lugh in this vision. He had been seeing through the eyes of the God, feeling what the God felt, knowing what the God knew. It took every ounce of Aiden’s self-control to remain fixed at the table. He wanted to run out of the venue, back into the limo, and all but fly back home so that he could properly record every last detail of the vision.

Aiden had to stay for the show. He was already doing his friend a great disservice through the many distractions that now danced along his mind. To leave would be to say ‘I really don’t give a damn,’ and that was the opposite of how Aiden felt. The trouble was that he could not shake those thoughts of Lugh and the Spear. It had consumed his heart and his soul.

Nox.

Aiden had to talk to Nox after the performance was over. Had the man ever suffered from the same type of dreams and obsessions? Was this something that eventually happened to every man and woman that could wield the power of the Gods? Nox would know. Nox had to know. Aiden would get a few hours alone with the man and everything would be explained. Why, they would surely be laughing about all of it before morning and Aiden could move on from the God to focus on more mundane things.

Goosebumps rose along Aiden’s flesh and a cold shiver ran down his spine. The fourth chair at the table was pulled out by unseen hands as an unknown woman deposited her ass into it and her stilettoed feet onto Sage’s lap. She was a gorgeous thing, Aiden had to admit to himself, but he did not much care for the way she treated his boyfriend like a piece of furniture. Oh, he and Sage were open to sharing, but Aiden liked to know the people that might be dandling Sage.

It was clear that the two knew each other. Sage took the woman’s heels off and rubbed at her feet while stroking Aiden’s inner thigh. The expression on Sage's face said that he wasn’t completely present. Did he actually know the woman or was the massage just an absent-minded flair of muscle memory? Aiden cocked an eyebrow as he looked at the woman, thinking of the best way to chase her off – but then everything clicked. She had moved the chair without hands. Sage clearly knew her. She was at Nox’s show.

“Oriena?” Aiden whispered as he leaned across Sage and towards the shadowy woman, “Are you Oriena? I’ve heard much about you.”

[Nox]

Nox chuckled at Danika's comment. He wasn't going to trade shoes, pretty sure they wouldn't fit. And besides the girls had plenty in the wardrobe that did fit. The few men who danced with the girls they had their own costumes.

Ilesha was full on red when he suggested the eye candy come join them for some more private attention, but Danika was oblivious to what he meant it made he grin broadly. He put his arms around both women and pulled them closer together so he could whisper above the rising music of the first act on stage. "Look around you Duckling." He nodded to Mist chatting it up with a table of men three tables over. Her fingers trailed softly across one man's thigh, while her foot was placed in a precarious place in front of another man's crotch her elbow resting on it as she spoke in hushed voices for the men who hung on every word and oggled the sex appeal his friend gave off.

At another table a man and woman chatted with Chet. He wasn't great at anything, but he played with fire like no one's business. He was born like Nox with the gift of the gods, except he didn't really know he was doing it. And when Nox tried to tell him, it was like talking to a box of rocks. So Nox had stopped trying. Chet couldn't channel outside the stage, and he didn't do it without his fire batons already flaming. Ignorance was bliss. The woman was drunk and handsy and Chet was doing his best to keep the woman's hands at bay. Nox thought he'd skip that table when making his rounds.

"You are of course free to just watch the show." On stage, one of the girls was singing a raunchy sailor song and dressed in a very sexy sailor's outfit that she nearly popped out of each time she moved.

[Ilesha]

This was the part that she hated most about this place, everyone was so comfortable being nearly naked and flaunting their bodies. It took everything she had not to reach out and run her fingers across the scars that were clearly ripped across his chest. Three giant scars that looked like claw marks -- she wondered what happened. And then there was the arm that weighed heavy on her shoulder. It wasn't real, the soft hum of mechanical parts sang in her ear. She wanted to take a look.

She wanted to look at him, and everything about him. She wanted to talk to him, but this place... was not about talking. "You could dance for us." She blurted out without thinking. He was acting like he had better places to be. Looking around at all the beautiful people maybe he did.

He chuckled softly and leaned in close, but his words did not match the seduction he put into them. He teased and Ilesha blushed even deepr. "I don't do private dances. I'm more bouncer even after a show."

And then he laughed louder than needed. Was something they said funny? Or was he playing more of a show. "Neither of you look all that at peace out here. Do you want to go out back and wait for the girls? We can order a pizza, you can take of your shoes in the lounge and have a few more comfortable drinks while you wait?" He spoke in quieter tones like he was speaking sweet nothings to us. Ilesha had to admit he was good at giving the other customers the shoe they desired. A hot man wooing two women like they were just there to be candy for the taking. It irked her to be treated like a piece of meat, except he wasn't -- he was being sweet and concerning but they saw differently. He was pretty good at the game she thought. Maybe...