Cat And Mouse: Winging It

[Sreeya]

Qailan listened to him, though she couldn't maintain eye contact for long. She had sounded so fleeting, so indecisive. His loyalty to his Order made her ashamed to call herself a Bogan. However, as she thought more about it, she realized the Orders varied in many ways. Hers was one that had restricted her for all her life, yet his allowed him to make his own decisions but answer when he was needed. Qailan thought over his words, finishing her second glass within moments. She had begun to feel a buzz by now, though it would take a lot more to cloud her judgment. At the moment, she was simply content, despite the troubling thoughts always eating away at her.

"I guess...I guess I'm trying to find my own journey. One that I choose alone."

It was a foolish desire, one that everyone had but few had the guts to chase after. It was far too simple to grow complacent and ignore any potential outlets. Qailan glanced over at the other patrons, all laughing and cheering, happy.

"Sometimes I think life would have been easier if we weren't Force users. We would be simple folk, with no greater purpose outside of our own. We could do as we please. I feel like we are restricted, bound by something."

She grabbed his hand and smiled up at him.

"But let's not discuss this now. I can't believe I'm saying this but...would you care to dance?"

For once it wouldn't be a dance involving blades.

 

[Ser Gregor]

“Why do you need to find it alone?” Adrian asked Qailan, hand idly spinning the red wine in the crystal glass. It wasn’t a question he expected her to answer, but it showed her plainly what he thought. He could help her, they could help each other. They could be together.

Adrian didn’t say anything for a long moment, staring in to the last bit of wine in his glass. Finishing it, he placed the glass on the table before looking at Qailan.

“Without the force you wouldn’t be the woman you are today, and I’d give anything to keep you as you are,” Adrian said in response, looking down at their joined hand.

Smiling across the table, Adrian got up from his seat, pulling Qailan up with him.

“There’s nothing I’d love more than to dance with you.”

===

The dance floor was filled with the rich and powerful, dressed in the elegant trappings of thousand credit dresses, and the music that was playing was one designed to inspire classical, reserved movement.

It was all of little interest to Adrian as he held Qailan against his body, one arm around her waist, the other extended out, guiding their careful movements like an arrow.

He led, the years of dance class he and his cousins had went through resurfacing as he stepped along to the tune of Camponzi’s no. 5, an old Corellian piece. The lack of practice evident with Qailan was easily kept in check by Adrian’s expert movements.

“You dance wonderfully,” he whispered, his breath hot on her neck as he let the music control him. “Everyone gives us all the space in the world. It’s amazing.”

It was also true. The other patrons seemed to sense the intensity between Adrian and Qailan, and wherever they moved there was ample space, as if they were a moving centre-piece, meant to be observed from a distance.

Stepping back, he shifted Qailan out, twirling her in a wide arc before pulling her back to him, her back to his chest, as he hugged her to his body before he finished the move and they were back in the base position of arm around waist and hand outstretched and interlinked.

“Enjoying yourself?”

 

[Sreeya]

Qailan couldn't remember the last time she had danced like this. Usually it was part of an act, a means to an end. She had never really done this simply to enjoy it. She had to laugh as he expertly twirled her. She found it impossible to wipe the smile off her face whenever she was with him. When her back was against his chest, she took a moment to glance at him sideways, offering a smile before leaning in to place a playful kiss on his cheek. It wasn't something she had done often, however she had been obliging her impulses more recently.

As they once again faced one another, she met his gaze. Her eyes were piercing, the golden orbs bearing a fire within them. It was similar to the fire they held when she was in battle, though it was a different kind of passion. It was something invoked for the first time by Adrian, something only he could see. Her eyes gleamed on their own accord, almost glowing amidst the dim lighting. Qailan had to grin at his question.

"Of course I am! I'm with you."

She glanced over to a woman that was walking by with a tray of drinks. Qailan lazily applied the Force to float two glasses over, much to the woman's confusion. Snatching one out of the air, she took a sip, smiling at Adrian.

"Cheers."

 

[Ser Gregor]

Adrian was almost intimidated by the intensity he saw in her eyes. He had seen her like that, in the warehouse on Iktotch, revelling in the fight they had found themselves in. There it was worrying, as if she could turn on him in a moment. Now, though, he felt a sudden warmth cascading outward, his extremities tingling and his face turning flush.

Grinning almost sheepishly, he was grateful for the glass of champagne to distract himself from her eyes. Clinking glasses with Qailan, Adrian took a healthy sip, letting the liquid bubble and melt in his mouth before downing it, he had to think of admonishing her for such a frivolous use of the force. He was about to speak out before he remembered he was forgetting about the Jedi, at least for the moment.

He had never stopped dancing. Even with one hand occupied with the glass of champagne he still managed to guide her, rather expertly, with his arm wrapped around her waist, his hand resting on her hip, pivoting her this way and that.

Soon enough he had manoeuvred them away from the centre of the dance floor and over to the bar, where he sat down on one of the bar stools. Finishing off his glass of champagne, he flagged the bartender down, ordering a glass of Taanabian Rye, on the rocks.

Looking at Qailan, seeing that same, intense gaze, he had to stiffen his back as he downed the drink in one, feeling the strong kick of the Rye hit his throat as he exhaled, making his body burn and his mind settle in to a nice, vague fog.

“You’re staring at me like a cut of prime rib...”

 

[Sreeya]

"I might have to take a bite later then."

Her voice was barely above a whisper, the grin matching her gaze perfectly. She let the words hang for just a moment before letting it flicker away. Qailan moved to the bar with him, getting herself a few shots. She downed them in quick succession, feeling it hit her all of a sudden. As she continued drinking, the soothing, calm music around them began to melt away. Instead, she could feel the thudding beats from the music down below. It coursed up her body, taking a firm grip of her. She knew she had to move to it. Qailan glanced up at him, grinning.

"I think the real party's below us."

She snatched his wrist and dragged him along. There was no subtlety in her movements, no grace, and simply a primal urge to let the beat take over her. She felt it in her blood as she got closer to the source of this different style of music, meant for a different style of dance. The journey took them only moments, but the doors opened to a whole new side of the club. It was the underground scene full of spices, drugs and alcohol of all sorts. This was where no one behaved and anything went. She could smell the musk in the air, could taste the salty sweat of everyone around them. Bodies were entangled, moving in the most provocative fashion. It all moved to the beat, all swayed to the rhythm and to the booming bass that encompassed the entire complex. Qailan looked at Adrian again, her golden eyes shining through the darkness. She almost looked like a beautiful demon, as if tugging him into a world of vice.

"Care to dance now?"

 

[Ser Gregor]

Adrian was pulled to his feet by Qailan, the eagerness in her step and the fire in her eye paralyzing him as he simply followed behind her, weaving through thickets of people before reaching the back-stairs that went between each floor. The pounding bass of the music became more and more powerful as they got closer to the ‘real party’ and as Qailan practically kicked the doors open it was clear they weren’t in the same place anymore.

He knew the place well enough. This was the place deals were made, money was exchanged and crime thrived. It was a place he had only ever been when necessity had brought him here. He had to fight the urge to pull Qailan away from the place, remembering ‘he wasn’t a Jedi’, not right now.

He didn’t even get to answer, letting her pull him out to the dance floor where she became a woman possessed, her body twisting and flittering around his body like a circling predator. He could barely keep up with her and relented to let her lead this time.

It wasn’t like anything he had experienced before. The way she moved and touched him made his blood burn hot and his breath come hard. It took a long time to get used to the movements before he could cut in and the two began to dance together, their hips pressing in near-perfect unison as the song crescendoed and he found him practically holding her against him, her weight supported on his knee as they undulated to the music.

His eyes were locked on hers, like a deer in headlights, and he couldn’t look away as he felt those violent ambers draw him in...