Glitter (Piffle)

[Xandir Blake]

Xandir loved people watching.

So do you, don’t lie. Yes, you, the one in the back, pointing at yourself and shaking your head in disbelief. We all know you love people watching, because everyone does. Still not sold on the idea? Let us put it in perspective for you: when you’re on the subway, what do you do? Look around you, see people. When you’re sitting outside at a café, what do you do? Look around you, see people. When you’re, oh, I don’t know, sitting in a crowded bar, trying not to fall off your barstool, what do you do? Look around, se—okay, have I made my point yet? Moral of story: like it or not, you people watch, and you enjoy it too.

Xandir loved watching too, when he wasn't the one being watched, especially while drinking or working somewhere which served liquor. Wow, that sounds creepy, right? Probably should have worded that a little differently. There were so many different types of people who came to have a drink at a bar; the locals who would drink there regularly, those who came to drink away life-issues rather than face cold reality, the few who'd come by on their lunch breaks, the "fun drunks", the girls who swing by to flirt with guys so they'd have drinks brought for them, the ones who just want to get drunk and start fights, those who'd come by to bet at the TAB, or flirt with the staff, plus many more.

When not on shift, Xandir preffered clubbing, and checking out the potential. Most club's were certainly not for the faint hearted. The fetish scene scorned the casual dresser. For Fetish clubbers, the more extreme and perverse, the better. Dress to sex-press, if you will. The dress code varied between clubs. In some cases there would be no admittance if you were not dressed in the right gear, while other clubs preferred members to simply use their imagination.

Punch ups were an expected occurrence. Though Xandir was a rare one for getting involved in punch ups in a bar but he’d witnessed his fair share during his life and had never had the interest in getting involved. He usually stood out of the way, watching the blood and fists fly and listening to the crowds either screaming or jeering the fighters on until security hurried over to put an end to everything.

What Xandir loved most, he thought, was the fact that he just seemed to fit in better at clubs. He didn’t feel as if he stuck out as much as he did in taverns, wearing his tight outfits, boots, make-up, hair spray and accessories. At a club they'd stare in a good way as twirled about the dance floor, caught up in the music as it pumped through the club; each person effectively oblivious in their own world of vinyl records and beats. In a bar, he'd probably have a group of drunk idiots waiting for him in the parking lot if he was entirely himself.

But Xandir wasn't drinking, or dancing this time. Situated behind the bar, he was serving drinks to those who were twirling around recklessly on the stool, rather than it being him. He scanned the crowd for interesting or familiar faces. More of the latter really, since he felt like dancing. Half an hour, he'd remind himself. Another half an hour and you can go out and enjoy yourself. He had no one in particulat he wanted to go out with, in fact there were nights where Xandir would just go out on his own. Strange to go out to a bar or club alone? Not if you plan on leaving with someone. No children, not like that – he is a personable individual, and he planned on making a friend or two before the night was over.

Xandir was what you’d consider a ‘fun drunk.’

When trashed, he became incredibly amiable and outgoing, even more so than he already was. Although he was one of those people who might be thought of as, ‘the life of the party,’ it really ended up screwing him in the end. For example, although he was normally fun-loving sober, he would never do something like, stand up on a table and imitate a penguin. When toasted, the sky was the limit, unless he was required to go to the moon, for he’d do pretty much anything intoxicated. Xandir was thoroughly surprised he hadn’t gotten in trouble for it yet, either with the law or with himself. He thought that after a night of partying, waking up in his own bed – or at a friend’s house – really surprised him. He half expected to wind up having to locate his pants from the room of a guy he didn’t know, nursing a sore backside, rushing then to the nearest store to purchase mouth wash and a new toothbrush. Every night that this didn’t happen, Xandir awoke feeling relieved but confused. He guessed he should just thank his lucky stars that my drunk self was either a) unappealing or b) still smart enough to make the right choices. He decided to go with b most of the time.

So half an hour left, he continued telling himself. He was even pretty much dressed to rush out as soon as he knocked off, yelling "later bitches!" as he sprinted out the door. Tonight, Xandir was clad in a black short-sleeved KISS jacket zipped up against his thin frame, over the top of a red shirt. He loved that jacket too - with flames lining the bottoms of the sleeves, and red lightning bolts striking in a vertical fashion on his right shoulder, outlined in white. The large 'KISS' logo, was also written in red lettering, with white outlines. Black jeans clung to his short legs, held up by a black belt, with a pacman ghost print on it. Red leather boot’s completed the ensemble, with a small stacked heel, to help give him a little height. Being 5’6” wasn't fun.

Xandir's black tresses had been root-boosted, back-combed, with the smell of the fresh amount of volume boost he’d also put in it. He sounds pretty spruced up doesn't he? No, this was pretty casual by Xandir’s standards. If you caught a glimpse of his closet at home, you’d probably think you walked into a forth dimension. Xandir put allot of time into his appearance (evidently). He liked to look different. Growing up, his heroes weren't comics, but androgynous musicians: Jagger, Bowie, Syd Barrett and David Bowie. (Although he liked Peter Cook’s style and looks too). He liked clothes and make-up, he liked the transformation. It actually wasn't even uncommon for Xandir to go out clubbing while wearing a dress. It was for fun, really. If he wanted to go out but not take anyone home or go home with anyone. It was just fun, sometimes.

In comparison to everyone else sitting at the bar, or working behind it, Xandir was still looking pretty flash. Of course he knew it too. "Another one, mate?"[/i] Xandir leaned over the counter, holding an empty short glass up and giving it a little shake in order to get a patrons attention. Once the guy turned to look at him with a raised brow and a nod - he'd been pretty keen on talking to his friend about which horses they had been betting on - Xandir rolled his eyes, and turned his back to the bar so he could find a fresh glass, and fill it with ice, visualizing he was away from the bar, somewhere else, getting intoxicated himself.

As usual on a quiet night, Xandir felt as though he was the only one working. On shift it was him, the manager, and a chef. The chef's daughter helped with general kitchen clean-up and serving food. The manager was the boss' son; a nerdy guy in his late 20's, who worked the TAB and spent most of his shift googling things like phobia's and philia's, hiding in the fridge where they kept the spare kegs and beer cartons or talking to whichever female staff was on shift about anything no one cares about. So Xandir was often left to pick up the slack.

He poured a shot of bourbon into the glass, crinkling his nose at the scent of it, watching it flow over the ice and turned back to grab the hose attached to post mix beside a few taps. As he pressed his thumb over the button labelled "pepsi", the liquid flowed, as expected, but he had to frown in confusion, his pale brow creased as the pepsi simply sat suspended over the glass. With a 'tsk', Xandir shook the hose before taking his thumb off of the button. "You are seeing this, right?" He crinkled his nose, speaking to no one in particular as he leant over, inspecting the "pepsi blob" more closely.

"If the cola isn't working, I'll have lemonaide." The patron offered in a bored expression. Xandir gave him an incredulous stare.

"You're kidding? A big pepsi blob floating in mid-air right in front of you doesn't bother you in the slightest?" He asked with a deadpan expression. "Stuff like this doesn't just happen"

The patron stared at the blob for a while. "Lemonaid will do."

Xandir blinked, shrugged, and went to press the button "lemonaid". He almost expected what happened yet, and refrained an "I told ya so" after realizing that he hadn't in fact said "I told ya so" at all, and settled on watching as the clear fizzy liquid poured out of the nozzel. "Ugh... Michael?" He called, leaning over so that he was eye-level with the fizzy drink blob. He even went as far as to try and poke it. "The drink nozzel thingy seems broken."[/font]



ICC -- Keep in mind I'm rusty at posting now so excuse the lame start. I'll have to work on a template etc soon.

[Eleanor Brennan]

Nora found it frustrating being in Montana, if she had stayed in Australia to finish her power studies she would already be of drinking age and be able to get into the clubs not a problem but in Montana she was still considered a minor so she had obtained a fake id in order to get herself into the bar. She had been sitting off to the side drinking light weight Lemon Lime and Bitters with Vodka watching the people around the bar, the most interesting was the barkeep. He was certainly different to the rest of the people in the bar, with styled hair and makeup he was probably more done up then most of the girls in there herself included.

Nora was dressed in torn, distressed look jeans, and a cute teal cami that showed off the tattoos down her arms with the one on her back slightly visible where the cami rode up slightly revealing her lower back. A leather jacket was slung over the back of the stool she sat on for when she went back outside. She was bored and would prefer to go clubbing but she hated going on her own and she had thought she would test her fake ID here first anyway that way if it hadn’t worked she would have had another attempt to try at the clubs before she was listed as a banned patron.

As the barkeep went to pour another drink she got a thought to mess with him, so as he pushed the button to fill the glass with pepsi she focused causing it to hover over the glass in a perfect sphere, she grinned but controlled her laughter as he looked confused at the ball of liquid trying to bring it to the attention of the guy the drink was for. Instead of being worried about it the customer just told him to use lemonade instead of pepsi if there was a problem.

She giggled to herself as he tried once again finding the same thing happen to the liquid, in the back of her mind she thought maybe she shouldn’t be using her power like this in public but she couldn’t help it she was bored and this was entertaining.

Watching from the sidelines as he poked the sphere she focused on it making it jiggle from the poke and then spit out a few drops to land on him as if the sphere was fighting back or something. She doubted the pretty boy would like sticky soda getting on his outfit or in his hair but that just made it all the more fun. While he was so fascinated by the lemonade sphere she released the pepsi one into the glass splashing it slightly over the counter as it plonked its way down into the glass.

[Xandir Blake]

Xandir wasn't so unintelligent that he did not know what was really going on here. Surely anyone in their right mind - maybe even a few in their wrong mind - would be able to see that this was the handiwork of someone with bending abilities. Either that or the bar had acquired a pretty eccentric poltergeist.

So in the time it took for the bar manager, Mike, to drag himself away from the kitchen, where he'd been hiding out - judging from the sauce smeared under his lower lip, eating some kind of pasta - and approach the "faulty" hose, Xandir had already swept up and down the few people situated on that particular side of the bar with his big blue eyes, taking a quick peer of the patrons.

There was a young man and woman sitting together, clearly the latter being the sort to flirt as long as she got a few free drinks as she poured her words out to the former about something he clearly didn't give two shits about as long as he got to have a good time with her later on. Xandir just hoped she had the sense to carry the appropriate pregnancy barrier mechanisms in her purse.

There was that guy who had ordered the drink Xandir was still attempting to serve, sitting with his friends, discussing those horses and how much money they were losing on said equestrian critter. They probably didn't even care that the horses who lost those races they so loved to bet on probably became dog meat for the racing grey hounds.

There was an adorable little ginger who looked barely legal sitting not too far from those boys, on her own. Xandir himself had poured her a Lemon Lime and Bitters with Vodka, regardless of the fact she was clearly barely legal. Xandir was the type of barkeep who didn't really care how old you were as long as you gave her an acceptable tip, and well, as long as he could say he thought you could pass as someone who is at least twenty-one years old. As long as you tipped generously, and gave him no trouble, he would continue to serve you faithfully. There were many a night where Xandir would thank the almighty rulers of the universe that most of the younger patrons did not have a designated money-holder. Many could not hold their alcohol very well anyway, therefore leaving them in a sticky situation almost right off the bat, and get sent home early anyway. They'd laugh about it now. Regret it later.

She was situated pretty close to the side-wall, where an older guy, called Jimmy had been sitting, slurring at the bar staff and trying to initiate conversations with the other patrons. Most of which often gave him a wide birth, especially if they had never had drinks at this bar before. Jimmy was a regular, at least seventy years old, with wispy white hair growing in patches over his balding scalp. It had been twenty minutes since Xandir had called the guy a taxi, and sent him on his way.

He hadn't really given the little ginger two thoughts, until now.

"What happened, Xed?" Michael asked, a confused frown upon his face. Xandir crossed his arms, sniffled, and raised a brow as he looked at the guy, who was supposedly in charge. Hey, given the chance, Xandir knew he could run circles around this lazy nerd any day of the week. Wasn't it obvious they had some joker with abilities playing jokes on them?

"Well, I'm not ruling out the possibility we may need to ask your dad to make an appointment with a parapsychologist, Mike." Xandir said in a flat tone of voice.
The tip of his tongue playing about one of his incises, Xandir knew that Michael would have a field day on the thought of there being an actual haunting in his fathers bar. Surely he had the sense to realize the possibility of something a little more logical happening here too. Well, logical by the standards of someone with an exceptional ability.

It was not a secret among the other bar staff that Xandir himself was a little out of the ordinary. Apart from his idiosyncrasies, of course. They knew of his own abilities. Xandir was intangible. Meaning he was able to walk, run, climb, fall, reach, etc through solid matter without being harmed. He could also do the same with other objects. Even people, if the person was willing. It certainly made clean-up finish fast on the nights where Xandir worked till close. He could just carry stock, and clean-up products through walls.

It also seemed a little obvious that the ginger girl here - who was not only smirking, but her chest was convulsing with held-back laughter - had something to do with this. He gazed back at the liquid blob/sphere, which was doing a very interesting little trick, and "spitting" little cola droplets at him, very narrowly missing his KISS jacket. Xandir could not resist a half annoyed smirk at the ginger, arching a brow and offering a mock-gasp. The lemon-aid portion of the blob splashed into the patrons glass, as the cola portion continued to spit for a moment before drifting lazily over Xandir's beautiful tresses, which he hastily ducked away from, and over the managers head before sloshing into a sink situated beside a few bottles of windex and cleaning vinegar.

At least ginger-girl had the decency to miss his hair, even if, Oh My Gawd, she actually got a few drops of that awful cola on his lovely new KISS jacket sleeves. As irrational as it seemed, Xandir was actually fighting to calm a rising panic. If he didn't clean it off now it may dry, and if it dries it will create stains, and if they turn into stains they could ruin the jacket forever!


So, as hastily as possible, Xandir finished off the order for the betting guy, took another order - which was thankfully just a beer on tap - before turning to Michael. It was ten minutes till it was time for Xandir to knock off, but chances the nerdy manager was going to notice were slim, so he decided to order himself a glass of wine, and " - a Lemon Lime and Bitters with Vodka for my little friend there." Xandir gave the little ginger girl a pointed look before hurrying into the kitchen to clean off the cola from jacket. He'd rather have the whole thing flushed down the toilet than try and clean it in the mens room, after all.

---
Upon returning from the kitchen, and straightening the sleeves of his now clean again jacket, Xandir walked around the side of the bar, spotting the ginger seated by the bar. Once he was but a few steps away, he then cleared his throat and presented the cola-free sleeves. "Nice try, sweetie. But you underestimate my mad dry-cleaning skills." Xandir smirked as he sat beside her, crossed one leg over the other, picked up the glass of wine he'd ordered - pinky up of course - and took a sip before placing it back on the counter in front of him and wrapping the glass in a loose hug between his palms. "Nice little fancy liquid display, by the way. Do you try that at every bar you sneak into?" He asked quietly.

[Eleanor Brennan]

The red head couldn’t help but let out a laugh when he literally ducked as she floated the cola over his head and let it splash into the sink. She made a mental note to mess with his hair next time just to stir him up. Nora grinned at the free Lemon, Lime and bitters coming her way despite the trick she had played on him but giggled as he rushed into the kitchen she wasn’t surprised after seeing the near panic attack over the liquid floating above his hair that he had rushed off to clean down the jacket as soon as possible.

While he was out the back cleaning his precious clothes she sat there creating a small whirlpool with her new drink as she mixed all the ingredients together with her mind the straw spinning around of its own accord. She looked up from her swirling drink as someone cleared their throat next to her, looking over she grinned at the guy held up his sleeves with a smirk announcing that she underestimated his cleaning skills.

She had a sly grin on her face when he picked up his glass of wine pinky out and took a sip before commenting on her awesome liquid display and quietly accused her of sneaking into the bar. Nora looked over at him and shrugged. “I have no idea what you’re talking about pretty boy I have ID or they wouldn’t have let me in” She said with a smirk, stopping the spinning straw and taking a sip of the well mixed drink in front of her.

“Also who said I had any estimation of your cleaning skills? But if I did mine are better” she said with a grin siphoning some of the liquid out of one of the betting mans drink as they continued to be oblivious as they debated. With a grin she flicked it at the guy next to her purposefully getting on his jacket and in his hair. She giggled at the look on his face from her actions and before he could freak out too much focused and pulled the liquid back leaving him as dry and non sticky as he had been a moment before.

With a cheeky grin she slipped the fluid back into the gentleman’s glass and giggled as he took a drink. He made a slight face at some hint of a strange taste in the glass but soon shrugged and took another sip. Little did the guy know his drink now had a slight taste of the guy sitting beside her to it. “So what’s your name pretty boy? Unless you just want me to call you pretty boy forever in a day” she said with a grin, though she doubted whether he would actually mind being called pretty boy from the looks of him.

[Xandir Blake]

As this little ginger girl sat there beside Xandir, looking very proud of herself over the fact that she had attempted to absolutely ruin his new KISS jacket by spilling stupid post-mix cola on it, he felt a mix of admiration, and a bit of disapproval at the same time.

He watched, with hardly contained suspicion as she grinned at him, but the feeling of curiosity overpowered this feeling of mistrust. One perfectly shaped brow raised at her claim that she had the appropriate ID, and he gave a derisive snort.

Running the tip of his tongue across one incisor, Xandir watched, brow remaining raised, as the young ginger as her gaze wandered towards the dickhead who had ordered that troublesome drink in the first place. While the guy, as per the apparent norm, was not paying attention, the young ginger haired girl siphoned a little of the liquid out of the glass... and to Xandir's horror, gave a careless flick of her wrist and the liquid, full of cola syrup, a cheap shot of spirit, and a gross amount of saliva splashed onto the front of his jacket and in his hair!

The ginger also had the audacity to laugh! She was laughing! Xandir's face was frozen in a silent, horrified gasp! His arms raised, fingers splayed, and breath hitched in his throat. His impossibly large blue eyes flicked towards the ginger, an accusing glare within them.

HOW. COULD. SHE! That bitch!

As quick as it happened, the liquid was sucked away from him, off of his jacket, and out of his hair, looking as close to his usual self, minus the look of absolute horror on his face, as possible.

The liquid in question floated back into the oblivious betters glass, which he promptly, as if on que, drank from. Unexpectedly, the horror was soon replaced by amusement, upon realizing that there was no trace of the awful syrup liquid upon him.
She then asked for his name. "Xed. Call me Xed... or "pretty boy forever in a day," he flicked his hair mock dramatically, "and for the remainder of the night, you shall be known as "that bitch who ruined by hair briefly" by everyone."

"Now," he added, taking another sip of his wine. "We're going to have a jager-bomb each, and then we're going to get our "white-trash-drunk-party-girl" on. Got it? Now... skull that drink, bitch-who-ruined-my-hair! We're going out clubbing."

[Eleanor Brennan]

His reaction was even better then she had anticipated she had been totally spot on in thinking this guy was a totally pretty boy who couldn’t stand to be messed up one little bit. His face frozen in a silent horrified gasp with his arms up and fingers spread just made her laugh harder before she removed the liquid from him, she had no doubt that he was swearing at her in his head.

The speed at which he went from horrified to amused once he realized the liquid was completely gone as if it had never touched him was almost as entertaining as his all out horror. She laughed as he introduced himself and declared that her name for the night would be bitch-who-ruined-my-hair. “I can live with that overly-dramatic-pretty-boy” she said with a laugh, if she was going to be called that he would have a nickname for the night as well.

As he instructed her on what was to happen that night she didn’t hesitate why not clubbing with a brand new stranger sounded like a blast, she lifted the glass to her lips and skulled the liquid like a boss. She placed the glass down in triumph and looked around the bar in front of her, “Well overly-dramatic-pretty-boy where’s my jager-bomb? You can’t expect me to get my white-trash-drunk-party-girl on and shake my mighty fine arse on the dance floor without my jager!” She said with a grin, how dare he demand she have jager and not have it ready immediately!

Nora spun herself around jumping to her feet, “Too slow overly-dramatic-pretty-boy” she spoke as she skipped around to the other side of the bar, the other guy that was supposed to be looking after it was god knows where. Grabbing up a bottle of jagar she dumped it on the bar in front of Xed trotting off she grabbed up two pint glasses easily filling them with energy drink, plonking them on the bar as well she whipped out two shot glasses as she trotted back around the bar and too her seat which she slid into and spun back to face the bar in one motion.

Grabbing up the jagar and dumping the shot glasses on the counter she took the lid off the jagar and filled the shot glasses. She stood on her stool placing the closed booze bottle down on the little counter behind the bar before pushing one set of pint and shot glasses toward Xed. “Bottoms up hooker” she said with a grin before dumping her own shot glass into the energy drink and began to skull the fizzing liquid not bothering to wait and see if Xed was doing the same yet or not. She finished in one and didn’t dribble a drop plonking the glass on the bar she grinned at Xed. “Right orders complete now where are we clubbing pretty boy?”

[Xandir Blake]

If there was an award for "best-sass", then tonight, this bitch-who-ruined-my-hair would probably take 1st place. She was delightful! Really, Xandir had not really met many people who could actually rival his sense of humor, or catch him off-guard like this fiery little water bender evidently could, and this intrigued him.

“Overly-dramatic-pretty-boy,” was what she had decided to call him in response to his name for her, the "bitch-who-ruined-my-hair", and he digged that. Like, allot. There was truth behind it too, but behind his tendency to create a little drama for funsies, was just a boy, who loved to tease and have a shitload of fun running amok with new friends.

Now that the shock of having that disgusting cola syrup spill rather unmercifully on his beautiful jacket and hair, then somehow having said disgusting cola syrup somehow evaporated from his finely groomed self, and back into that rude gamblers glass. It was then only a moment after Xandir instructed the young miss that they were to skull their drinks and then go out clubbing, that she literally swept up the glass of Vodka, Lemon, Lime and Bitters, and threw her head back, drinking the contents in a few large gulps.
Xandir smirked, and gave an impressed chuckle as he looked down at the now-empty glass, and also looked around as she then searched up and down the bar for a bartender. "Certainly can't expect any mighty fine ass shaking without our jager," he agreed, feeling a little irritated now by the lack of service. As predicted, there was none. Xandir stood, and placed both hands on the bar as he lent over to see if the boss' lazy son could be seen at the TAB; he wasn't there. Another bartender stood, looking flustered as he tended to the other side of the bar, completely unaware of their own. Xandir exhaled loudly through his nose as he realized that Michael was probably hiding again. Seriously, if he had to talk to the boss about his lazy good for nothing son again he... wait a second...

The bitch-who-ruined-my-hair had gotten to her feet, and on light toes, practically danced her way behind the bar. Xandir gave a short laugh, sitting back as he watched, allowing her to take the lead here. If he got in trouble for doing so, then so what? Xandir believed he had a pretty good case against the boss' son anyway. It was probably time to find a better bar to work behind anyway. To be honest, from the looks of things, Nora would probably make a pretty great bartender herself.

Finding everything easily enough, Xandir chuckled as he watched her, bottom lip clenched gently beneath his top teeth as she grabbed the bottle of jager, two pint glasses, two shot glasses, and a can of redbull, plonking them onto the bar in front of their seats, and filling the pints with energy drink equally before skipping back to her seat beside him. This whole time, a few patrons had glanced their way, a few even attempting to grab Nora's attention so that she may serve them drinks, but the little rocket was not to be distracted from her mission; jager-bombs.

From where she was sitting, Nora filled the shot glasses to the brim with the jager, put the bottle back behind the counter, and handed one of the pints to Xandir.

“Bottoms up hooker,” the delightful little thing grinned, dumping the shot into the glass. Xandir laughed jovially, dropping his own shot into the glass, and with a "Bottoms up!" he gulped down the fizzing contents in a few large gulps.

"Phew!" Licking his lips, feeling very pleased, Xandir took both pint glasses in his well-manicured hands, fished out the now-sticky shot glasses, placed them back in front of the two of them and filled them both with jager once more. "Patience bitch-who-ruined-my-hair. Just the shots now, and then we'll take a quick taxi to the clubbing district." He stated, placing the shot in front of her. As he placed the jager back behind the bar, he also grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, scrawling in messy font;

'2 X Jager Shots. Take from pay. <3 Xed.'

Then, leaving that behind the bar, he took his shot, and licked his lips as he got to his feet, the bar stool scraping behind him. "Now c'mon," with a flourishing bow, he held out a hand for her to take. "Let's go shake our mighty fine asses, girl!"
----

Xandir felt like a beam of electrified light, he had so much energy. The tips of his fingers were tingling with pent up enthusiasm for life. It was almost like he couldn’t wait to start experiencing everything as his large blue eyes danced around the bar, he could not keep a smile from his face, especially since bringing his new found drinking buddy, Miss "bitch-who-ruined-my-hair" herself, Nora into of the best clubs in the district. Xandir's shoulders bobbed up and down in time to the music, even before he had dragged her out to the crowded dance floor, demanding that they have a dance.

Music was contagious. Like a bad cold, it infected everyone who heard it. Even if you didn’t like a particular song, chances were that if it was popular, you knew the lyrics. Already, the disease had been caught, and they were bouncing along to the beat. Xandir found that if he moved a certain way, he got a tingling sensation in his belly, and so he made the dance move his main one. Hopefully it wasn’t going to end up hurting him in the long run – what if he dislodged his appendix? – but at this point, he didn’t really care. Sorry, mind’s closed. Too busy having fun.

It might’ve been cold outside, but inside the club, it was difficult to tell. The duo had arrived at the club about five minutes after leaving the tavern, and been walking back and forth from the bar, to the dance floor since then. Xandir's main drink of choice that night had been a daiquiri; a marvelous little drink made with light rum, lime juice and sugar syrup with ice cubes. Girly yes, but it was cheap, and you could get tipsy quite easily from drinking them. He'd also been drinking bottles of corona, and a pale ale called Coopers.

They had both had their share of shots by now, and when the duo arrived at the dance floor, Xandir pulling Nora along like a ragdoll, he was so happy that he let out an excited squeal. It was probably drowned under the intense boom of the music, but it was a squeal nonetheless. As soon as he’d successfully positioned her on the area in front of him, he began to wiggle his narrow hips in time to the music. Well, what he assumed to be in time, he was sure that the alcohol had impaired his judgment significantly. Xandir moved his hands around sporadically in kind of an avant guarde kind of robot, totally not in time with the hip-wriggling, he was sure.

The music’s catchy trance-techno sound had whisked everyone away to another world, brains probably reduced to the consistency of scrambled eggs. But as mentioned previously, their judgment and common sense were greatly impaired.

Only once did Xandir get in trouble at a club, and it was only because of who he was with. Obviously, he is not the most coordinated of beings whilst intoxicated, and this time was no exception. Believe it or not, he was probably more smashed then then he happened to be now. But that’s not the point. The point is, that after drinking his weight in cheap beer, Xandir was led through the crowd by a now long gone male ‘friend’ of his, who just happened to be his ride and his date. He wasn’t exactly gentle with Xandir as he dragged him through the horde of people, tightly packed like sardines, and so the ebony haired prince pulled away and quickly lost him. Feeling it in Xandir's best interest to navigate the crowd in a quicker way, he dropped to his hands and knees and began crawling in between the legs of the sweaty club goers.

After pulling himself around for a few feet, a song change came on that would change the course of his life forever. Okay, maybe a little too dramatic, but still, it hurt. For some strange reason that he cannot even begin to comprehend, the individuals at the club decided it would be a good idea to begin rapidly jumping up and down, and hurdling each other into the air like ragdolls. Xandir was quickly used as a sort of trampoline to gain air time. What seemed like hundreds, but was probably only about five people had begun climbing on top of him and bouncing into the air. Every time he went to pull himself off the floor, he was pushed back down by a wailing woman with alcohol stains on her dress and disheveled hair. Let’s just say Xandir needed about ten icy/hot patches the next day when he woke up for his injured back.

You’d think that because of situations like that one, Xandir would think before he drank. Wrong, so wrong. The truth of the matter was, he loved drinking. It made him feel loose and alive, and the rush he got from it was so worth the side-effects the next morning. Like now, for instance, cavorting around on the dance floor with Nora, inventing dance moves that looked good in his own head – he was having a great time. Yes, he was the dancing queen, only seventeen. He laughed out loud to think how perfectly that song seemed to be molded to himself. It was so perfect, he had the urge to hear it above all other things. So of course, he stopped all movement and began to shriek it at the top of his young lungs.

“DANCING QUEEN. DANCING QUEEN. PLAY IT. PLAY IT. DANCING. QUEEN. D-A-N-C-I-N-G Q-U-E…”

Xandir's throat began to hurt, so he coughed twice to clear it, and continued dancing. Then he had an idea.

“NORA, sing it with me: Friday night and the nights are gooooooooooo…”
Xandir smiled, passing the invisible microphone that he had just conjured up to his new friend. He realized only after he’d handed it off that the lyrics had been wrong, but no time for pumpkins now! Maybe they could tell the DJ to play it, but there was no way they would be heard over this crowd.

"So, Nora! You sweet liddle ha-hair ruining pumpkin..." Xandir lost his footing for a moment before righting himself. He lent forwards enough to yell into her ear. "Let's play truth or dare! You wanna? But without the truth bit. Just dares!" He threw his hands in the air and grinned. "But, I wanna dare you first. Ah'kay? I dare you toooo... oh! I dare you to go kiss a girl!"

[Eleanor Brennan]

Nora didn’t need telling twice to have another shot, so she waited for Xed to refill the glasses then with a grin she waited this time to drink together. Dropping the shot glass back into the fizzy energy drink she threw it too her lips and tossed her head back sculling the fizzing drink easily. Upon finishing she wiped her mouth with a giggle and put the grass back on the bar.

She laughed at his flourishing bow and he jumped off his stool and held out his hand it was clubbing time and she was ready to party! Grabbing up her jacket in her hand she swung herself off the bar stool and with a shake of her ass she grabbed his hand and ran off into the street to catch a taxi to the club.

___

It felt great to step into the club, the music was loud and hypnotic she felt her body moving to it as soon as she stepped through the door. It wasn’t long before they were on the dance floor spinning, jumping, and shaking along to the music amongst all the rest of the party goers there wasn’t a lot of room to move and people kept bumping into them jostling them around but that was part of what Nora loved about it, at a club there was no fear of personal boundaries, if you had personal space issues stick to the hillbilly bars.

They only left the dance floor to get more drinks, she lost track of the shots she drank and how many different types of drinks she tried. Some she brought herself some she was lucky enough to con out of some of the men and women around, it was kind of good being bi it was a breeze to flirt with both genders.

Nora broke down into fits of laughter as Xed called for them to play dancing queen, not because of his choice of song she loved that song. She was laughing because he decided to start singing it himself and totally messed up the lyrics, she couldn’t help herself when he handed her the pretend microphone to her she had to set him straight. “Bitch please your doing it wrong” Embracing the theater of it all she made a grab for the microphone lifting it to her mouth she busted out the correct intro.

You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life
See that girl, watch that scene, diggin' the dancing queen

Once she started she was in the groove and despite the distracting thumping music she continued with the song until the end of the chorus unable to stop herself. Maybe it was the copious amount of alcohol she had already consumed that made her not care about the fact she maybe took it too far but probably not Nora was the sort of person who would likely do this completely sober as well.

Friday night and the lights are low
Looking out for the place to go
Where they play the right music, getting in the swing
You come in to look for a king
Anybody could be that guy
Night is young and the music's high
With a bit of rock music, everything is fine
You're in the mood for a dance
And when you get the chance...

You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen
Dancing queen, feel the beat from the tambourine
You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life
See that girl, watch that scene, diggin' the dancing queen

Nora burst out laughing at the end of the chorus and tossed the pretend microphone over her shoulder and into the crowd. It wasn’t long before Xed was suggested playing truth and dare minus the truth Nora was up for that so when he dared her to kiss a girl she grinned a cheeky grin, grabbed either side of his face and gave him a kiss. Laughing as she dropped her hands and took a step back, “Oh sorry I thought you were a girl” she said with a grin before skipping off she spun the nearest girl around pulling her into her arms and dipping her giving her a kiss before she even knew what happened.

Pulling her back to her feet Nora then proceeded to kiss her on the cheek before skipping back over to Xed in the crowd. “Next time make it a challenge would you fancy pants” she said with a grin, she stood still in the middle of the moving bodies for a minute looking around the club at all the dancing bodies wondering what to dare him to do. Her eyes fell on someone who wasn’t dancing, in fact he was standing against the wall looking very serious.

“I dare you to kiss him...” she said as she lent in so he could hear pointing to the wall where the tall, heavy built security guard stood, she would be impressed if he pulled this off.

[Xandir Blake]

Positioned in front of Nora, Xandir's mind spun pleasantly as he rocked his head from side-to-side; long, jet-black hair swaying in rhythm with his movements. The harsh textures and lights of the dance floor flashed behind his eyelids as he lifted his arms over his head, moving his torso and jumping to the beat of the music and bass as it pumped around them.

He felt confident. As he twirled on the dance floor, he could feel the energy and sense of freedom that flowed from his body. His eyes were aglitter, with fireworks and barely contained energy as he danced to the music. Nora danced in front of him, incorporating her own style of rhythmic moves into the music as the lights flashed, creating strange patterns and colors to intermix with the crowd, distorting the shape's - or perhaps that was just an effect all of the alcohol that they had both consumed. They were both now completely immersed in the world of hot beats and rhythm.

So engulfed, in fact, that Xandir had almost failed to realize that Nora was now holding the invisible microphone he had given to her, and was now belting out the song "Dancing Queen" as loud as she she was able to, which as it turns out, despite her efforts, Xandir could barely hear over Katy Perry's "I Kissed A Girl" which the yummy DJ had decided to play. Suitable, for Xandir had then decided to take the opportunity to dare Nora to kiss a girl. Maybe that's where he had subconsciously gotten the idea from. Ahh Miss Perry, you big-breasted enchantress, planting cheeky ideas in our heads.

Xandir had not expected anything to happen right away. To tell the truth, he had not expected Nora to make such a quick decision on who she would kiss either. Nor had he figured that it would be him she decided to lock lips with. Key word; him.

Though it had been an easy enough mistake in the past, it was a fairly common occurrence that men often mistook Xandir for a woman, especially whilst out at night, when it was harder to see. Even if he wasn't deliberately going out of his way to cause such assumptions. There were times actually, where Xandir would deliberately go out in a dress while in the mood for clubbing, wearing a little more foundation and lipstick than usual, and remarkably pull it off.

But this time, it was clear that Nora was teasing him. Because a) she clearly knew he was a guy, and b) he was gay, of course, and was indeed rather feminine. This was all that Xandir's mind was able to register when Nora's lips crushed against his own, her hands pressed firmly against each side of his face. Xandir had given a little exclamation of surprise, his large blue eyes widened, staring at her in shock, and amusement, before Nora laughed and dropped her hands, releasing him from their impromptu kiss, taking a step back. After another fraction of a moment, getting over the initial shock, Xandir scrunched his nose and started to laugh with her, a loud, hearty laugh. "Darlin', I'm more man than you can handle, and more of a girl than you'll ever be."

Taking another sip from a bottle of corona he held in his hand, Xandir watched as Nora then spun on one dainty heel and skipped off into the crowd. Xandir stood on his own tippy toes before he spotted her, holding a little blonde in her arms, bent in a dip, and pashing on with her. Xandir gave a loud giggle, clapping his hands with enthusiasm as she skipped back to their spot on the dance floor.

"Maybe next time I will," Xandir laughed, the tip of his tongue poking at a couple of his incisors, then trying to think of a better dare, at the same time that Nora was evidently trying to find one for him.

“I dare you to kiss him...” Say, what? Xandir followed her gaze with his unfocused eyes, his brows knotted, he stood on tiptoes to see who it was that Nora meant. Xandir's stomach twisted, and this time it had nothing to do with alcohol as he realized who it was that Nora wanted him to kiss; a security guard stood against one of the walls, thick biceps bulging through his black shirt as his crossed arms rest against his broad chest. His skin was light brown, hair was dark brown, drowned in hair gel, and the only facial hair on his face was a small goatee. To top things off, this guy was an old boyfriend. Well, not boyfriend, so much, more of a regular fling for a time, about six month ago.

Great idea, Xed. Good game, right? Ugh. Xandir winced slightly, before giving a sniff, and handing Nora his beer. "Hold my poodle, dearest. I'm going to go change a life." Taking a deep breath, Xandir held his head up a little higher, plastering a grin with more confidence than he really felt as he gave a little skip and began to make his way to the security guard.

Weaving through the crowd, Xandir idly thought of himself feeling like Moses, parter of the red… well, the crowd of dancing people, which seemed exponentially larger than it had coming in, but maybe that was because he was weaving in and out of people rather than bee-lining a direct path. Eventually though, the fairy of a man managed to extricate from the hoard of gyrating individuals, before he stood directly in front of the security guard.

"Gavin, hi! He grinned, one hand on his hip as he gave a little wave with the other. The security guy raised a brow, and looked at him in a derisive way.

"Been a while, Xed. Thought you were too good to call me back, wasn't that what happened?"

Xandir winced, the faux confidence he was attempting to express faltering for a moment. Suddenly he felt a little more sober than he had a moment ago. "No! No, of course not. What happened was - " He resist the urge to glance back at Nora, knowing that he was failing the dare. "Actually," he gave a little wave of his hand, trying to smile again. "Let's make amends. I lost your number," he lied, and took a step forwards, smiling suggestively. "So how about I give you mine, and we can start over?" By this time, Xandir had stood on his toes and was right near Gavin's ear, right within perfect kissing distance.

Xandir had definitely not expected the sudden thump between his shoulder blade's as Gavin's large hand grabbed him by the back of his jacket, causing the smaller man to stumble forwards slightly, collecting himself just enough before he felt Gavin pull - no drag - him through the gyrating crowd of dancing people, towards the front of the club. "Hey! What did I do!? Let GO, this jacket is NEW!" He protested. "Ow! Seriously Gavin - OW!"

The crowd began to disperse and lessen in numbers the closer they got to the entrance, stepping out of the way of the broad-shouldered security guard as he practically dragged Xandir along by his jacket. The first thing that Xandir noticed as they stepped (or staggered) out of the club was the chill of the night air as it blew through his ink-black hair, and pale face, which looked slightly paler than usual on account of the alcohol he'd consumed, yet his cheek's remained a little flushed. He spun in an unsteady circle as his jacket was released, loosing his footing for a moment before he fixed himself, hastily rearranging his jacket so it sat right again. Seriously, what did the world have against his jacket?!

Xandir turned, intent on asking Gavin what the hell just happened, before realizing that his ex-fling had already disappeared into the club. Great. Xandir sighed heavily, stepping out of the way of a group of people who were walking by.

Xandir was really only half aware of what was going on around him now, still a little uncertain of what had just taken place. Through unfocused vision he looked around him. Everything seemed dimmer, and his ear's rang slightly, he assumed because of the sudden transition from flashing lights and fast paces music, to the street in front of the club. "Asshole," he muttered, and sighed as he looked about him, unsure of what to do.