Dance Me... [ME11]

[Moyr Ahaya]

[A music theme because why not]

It had been harder and harder to be Darwi until the day before, when an unexpected meeting had provided both closure and much to think about. Moyr did what she had not been expecting herself to do ever again - she bought herself an evening dress. Perhaps to break the memory of what she had done with the last one. Despite her best effort not to follow a pattern, it was again black backless of chiffon and lace, just with flared bottom rather than marmaid-like one. Just in case dancing would actually occur.

She didn't have his comm contact, and it was quite likely that he wouldn't come, out of reluctance of other circumstances. Still an information for her evening whereabouts had been left at the Corner where they had played together, and the owner was amenable to passing it along.

She was now sitting by the bar at the Ritt's, playing with the ice cubes in her whiskey. She had already sent a few guys eager to buy her a drink away, and was deep in her thoughts. The Moon had burned, but the life continued, and the direction of her ever shifting path was as blurry as before. The weight of subjects she contemplated were unenviable for anyone who was not into harsh, painful choices. And still, she was here, without the mask, without her Fett armour, just as she had been in her previous life.

Darwi was a name some people recognised because she had adopted it before when doing business on the Moon, to avoid the attention of the Hutts, who were rarely forgetful. Now, she was not afraid of the Hutts any more, she had assisted in bringing the terrors of her youth to their figurative knees, their domain was in ruin, and they were no longer as scary. But was there anything to replace the sense of semi-sated vengeance? She thought she had the answers. But the ironic itch someone deep in her heart remained, and she was now poking at it.

[Zanebry Varliss]

Zanebry was tired, which was probably to be expected as he had been awake well over thirty hours at this point, but there had been so much to do, and even after all that he found that rest eluded him. It was not surprising he'd been wound tight since all this finished, dealing his various debriefings among other things. The message from Darwi had been surprising, and he thought hard about it before deciding to accept, he would enjoy seeing her one more time.

Entering the familiar establishment, Z took a moment to look around, he was dressed sharply, having put in the extra effort to try and impress. On this final meeting she deserved a little more effort on his part. Zan didn't mind the lack of his hat, it was the fact he wasn't wearing his gloves that made him feel naked despite all the layers he was wearing. It didn't take him long to spot the beautiful twi'lek at the bar and slowly he made his way over.

"If your intention was to leave me spellbound, you have succeed Darwi." Ne'bry replied smoothly, as he leaned up against the bar beside her. There was no hint of the exhaustion Zane felt in his tone, but a careful observer might see it in his eyes. Turning in her direction he offered a smile. "How have you been?"

[Moyr Ahaya]

"I am not exactly leaving yet so you still have some time to do something about the binding spell." She replied, not exactly turning her face to him outright but removing her lekku from the line of side so she could take his getup in, taking time to register all the haves and have nots. "As well as one can expect to be in a city that went through an inferno last night. The Red Lights didn't suffer too much though." She twisted her form on the tall bar stool to face him, without changing position. "It was a shattering experience. One that makes a desire for some normalcy stronger." She pressed her lips together, her golden orbs meeting his eyes. "And you?"

[Zanebry Varliss]

"I think I'll manage something, I can't very well dance with you if I'm stuck here watching all night." The bartender came over and he ordered a glass of water, Z had been abstaining all day after seeing the state of Craw. His grey eyes didn't look away matching hers of gold, they were perhaps his favorite thing about her.

He turned as well, leaning on the bar with a elbow as he moved to face her more fully. "It's been a bit rough, I've been busy and my emotions have been flying all over the place. The incidents of last night didn't help with that either. Explosions and falling barges, I spent a bit of time this afternoon trying to locate some of the civilians involved in all this, tried to save as many as I can, but my success was limited."

[Moyr Ahaya]

"It sounded like a half-hearted commitment to the dance floor. I thought of you better. Perhaps it's about those emotions flying all over the place like carrier pigeons, not all of them has returned home yet." She chuckled, though there wasn't much mirth in it as heavier subjects were still pushing themselves to the fore.

"That was a bloody harvest for the terrorists. It is hard to accept that something like this could have even happened unless with hope that in time something better than what was will emerge from this carnage. After all, the Hutts have not created the best of worlds in this part of the galaxy. Not for my species at least." She sighed, turning her back toward the counter and leaning on elbows, observing the dance floor, with her lekku falling fully behind her. "Until that happens, I think I should move on from here, somewhere. I am not as good at helping people as you are."

[Zanebry Varliss]

"It wasn't meant to be." Z replied with a small chuckle. "Dancing is perhaps my favorite thing after music, and I'd truly enjoy the chance to share a few with you." His lips curled into a smirk. "Perhaps, they'll make it home eventually though."

"No they have not, honestly it's probably one of the worst, and while I hope things change for the better, I doubt it. Perhaps if Crescent Shadows attacks had been more focused, but these are the type of attack that breed Ill feelings. Children died out there among the ones they really wanted to target."

He watched her for a few moments before turning towards the bar. "That's a choice you must make for yourself Darwi. As for helping people? I admit I'm pretty awful at it, but I try a min the ways I can. It's the path I'm trying to walk on after all. I'll fail of course, and that will hurt me, but in the end I have to move forward."

[Moyr Ahaya]

"I want to dance tonight, Zane. With someone who can dance, who is capable o letting me put all of myself into it. After all that has happened, I think I need this kind of exhilaration." She turned her gaze toward him sharply. "It's hard to have any clear thoughts about all this without getting the haze of tragedy out of my system." She tilted her head. "Though, is this life and death thing you were worried about already past you?"

[Zanebry Varliss]

"Then dance we shall Darwi, for aa long as we can. Its rare that I find the chance to do so with someone who can keep up with me after all." He looked her over for a moment before offering his hand. "And I think we both need this in our own ways, to clear the last few days from our heads. All this tragedy can be a weight upon us"

"Some of it, there is still more though. Some things don't end so easily after all. I'll finish it though, soon enough with any luck."

[Moyr Ahaya]

"I take it as both your willingness and ability to leave those troubling things out of your mind tonight." She accepted his hand and elegantly slipped of the tall chair, ever so slightly rolling her shoulders with lekku following in a corresponding movement. "Because I want our dancing to be as good as it can get."

[Zanebry Varliss]

"I won't hold anything back then." There was a easy smile on his lips as he replied, and he let their hand drift down to their side, before slowly leading the red woman towards the floor. "Is there any style you prefer Miss Bewitching? Something fast, something slow? Maybe something a little sexy?" There was a smile on his lips as they walked. He really was going to enjoy this.

[Moyr Ahaya]

"Shouldn't we be dancing to the music?" She teased, slipping her hand around his waist and making sure he felt the grip. "Or are you going to hijack the repertoire to satisfy my whims?"

[Zanebry Varliss]

"I could if that was your desire." He offered with a teasing smile. "I work here upon occasion, the owner and house band are friends." Zane let his own arm wraps around her, careful not to touch her lekku.

This was perhaps the closest they had been physically, and he had to admit it felt comfortable, at least as far as he was concerned. "I kind of like the vibe they have going at the moment though."

[Moyr Ahaya]

"Then let's follow the flow and check how we can find ourselves in circumstances not of our choosing." She smiled gently, her agile body responding to his presence by a quick adjustment in direction and tempo of their walk toward the dance floor. She was responsive, seeking the sync on her own terms rather than passively waiting for him to dictate it. Her body was warmer than that of a human, though that hardly set her apart from other Twi'leks in Zane's life.

[Zanebry Varliss]

He raised a eyebrow, that was an intresting way of saying it. "Agreed, we'll see where the night might take us." It was pleasant, being with someone so responsive, with a knowledge of dancing likely similar to his own. Zane responded in his own way, letting her get a feel for him, much like she did for him. So, it should be no surprise that as they arrived on the floor they were nearly moving as one.

[Moyr Ahaya]

In dance, she was neither a gamester nor a flirt. She did not engage in teasy foreplays, she did not test him, but put confidence in his skill and awareness. She did not eschew physical contact but neither did she gratuitously seek it. When he wanted to dominate she let him, but not without end, just until the next opening when she could take the lead. There was no part of her that was distant in their dynamic, and she suffered no awkwardness or mishap, anticipating it and improvising for it not to happen, connecting them in one fluid choreography. He could swear that more often than not she could read his emotions and moods, her eyes finding his and connecting knowingly, without abashment. But it would soon become clear that for her it wasn't a mating dance, a prelude to or an excuse for bewitching him for the sake of what could follow. More like a partnership in entranced abandon of breath and motion.

[Zanebry Varliss]

It has been clear for him from early on that mating was not the intended direction of this meeting. The slight teasing and flirting they engaged in had lacked the tension he had felt in their first two meets. Which is why he didn't seek to take it in that direction, he matched her instead, leading at points but making sure to never be too demanding. They had gagued each other on the walk over and he knew where they both best flowed together. There was physical contact between the two of course, but he didn't try and push for it. If she could read his emotions she'd find him calm, calmer then she might think. Certainly there was a background of sadness, and a touch of desire, but not nearly enough emotion that he needed to dispose of it. One could come to the conclusion he was doing this more for her then anything. That's if one could read emotions though. Which was not the domain of the two dancing the night away on the floor.

[Moyr Ahaya]

And yet it looked like it wasn't the end of the dancefloor story. As music shifted and they were becoming not just fluent in each other's motions but also proficient in anticipating back and forth, subtle changes in her behaviour occurred. As if having made sure he was capable of being selfless for her, she decided to address it rather than keep it at a low equilibrium. Her touch became tenderer, and she started adding little embellishments to the intricacy of their experience. A dab, a longer look, a strand of hair taken away from his forehead, a deeper breath when her face was by his neck... They came without intensity that could let them be classified as teasing or enticing. But they were something that tinted the experience with a slightly different shade when coupled with the close contact of her feminine curves in seamless motion.

[Zanebry Varliss]

The change was a little surprising, and not exactly what he was expecting. Still he didn't deny her, letting Darwi's touches linger, her gazes last longer. The added color of the touches and her own feminine form, started to make something stir inside him. Zane fought it down though, blocking the building desire from rising to the surface.

He did reciprocate though, his own touches becoming longer, their eyes meeting for more then just a moment, as they fluidly moved to the music. Z's approach wasn't exactly playful, but it was clear he was enjoying himself as they skirted around some unspoken lines but did not cross them.

[Moyr Ahaya]

And she was not opposed to those enjoyments he may have been drawing from her closeness. If he ever looked for a guiding principle behind her behaviour that would have something to do with reciprocity, and proportionality. Her own tension was probably building as well, with widened eyes and deeper breaths, with bolder grips of his shoulders, arms, neck and waist. In how she firmly hooked herself around him with her leg to unfurl her hands and lekku into a fan-like canopy of motion, letting her body rely on that grip. In all this, she was not throwing her caution to the wind, being very attentive about him, never degrading him to be something less than her partner in crime.

But it was becoming clear that she was straining herself. There was a hidden frailty in her body she tried to overpower and ignore but it started to catch up with her. It surfaced as little things, a wince in her breath, a slowdown, but they were not hard to trace through their attunement.

[Zanebry Varliss]

A partner in crime is what he would be as the sensuality of the dancing began to build. He didnt try to tempt her to sway her like he would most women. He merely explored returning what was given, and adding a little more from himself.

His own breaths became heavier as the tension started to build the silent hunger he held at bay beginning to gnash against it's cages. He wouldn't let it out though, not yet. As his lips nearly brushed her she felt the frailty ahw had been concealing, and his gaze went to hers.

There was concern there a question as well, did she want to continue? Did she need to continue? He didn't back down though, not yet. Not until he had an answer.

[Moyr Ahaya]

She wanted to continue and she needed to continue, and both her insistent golden gaze and a small nod when her lip was half-bitten told him as much. At least to the end of that dance. But before the next began, she clung to him, bringing her lips next to his neck, letting their bodies align not just in motion, but also in stasis. Her chest pressed against him, and her calf locked against his. One of her lekku slithered onto his shoulder and rested on it. She was very warm, practically to the level of drawing sweat wherever she touched him.

"I will need a break at some point." She whispered. "And maybe I need to slow down a bit. But I don't want to give up. I haven't danced like this in a very long time, and I won't anytime soon. So whatever is happening now, it will matter."

[Zanebry Varliss]

There was a small intake of breath as she clung to him, and she could probably tell he has aroused. He tried not to act on it, but couldn't resist placing a hand on her butt to help support her. The other slide up her side for a moment before parting so he could signal for the band to bring it down to something slow and sexy.

The pair had dominated the floor for more then a while, and the message was recieved the beat slowing to something that might help the red woman catch her breath.

His breath could be felt on her skin as he spoke, a teasing tingly sensation. "I'm here for you tonight Darwi, for however long you may need me. So ask, and I'll provide as well as i can."

[Moyr Ahaya]

The grip made her conflicted. On one hand passion was pushing her in that direction and she would be the worst liar - before herself - if she claimed she had full control over it. Zanebry was on some level truthful in what he was whispering, that at that moment he was the perfect man to let her slip into a careless abandon with, to make her feel like a woman she sometimes was forgetting to be. His physical response was only natural, in fact her heating up was the observable sign of the corresponding process. Her mind quickly raced through the scenarios that could unfold, and her imagination of them together was very vivid. And yet while it would be good, she felt it would never end well...

The disconnection and the shift in music allowed for a short reprieve and getting frantic thoughts in order, but she reattached to him soon after, his body less and less alien to hers. "If there was a me and a you that could leave the rest of who we are behind and just float away..." She didn't even know how to finish this sentence.

[Zanebry Varliss]

Zane couldn't tell what was going through her mind, he wasn't gifted in that way. He did read a little bit from her body language though. A small feeling, perhaps uncertainty, it's was hard to tell in the state he was in.

He felt the momentary disconnection, he didn't mind it though, as moments later Darwi came back again without missing a beat. The dancing now, was slow sensual, and their bodies would spend more time together then apart. Limbs twined together, there breaths on each other's skin. "I think we'd be happy." He offered in response. "Thats not to be though is it? All we have are these few hours, to be the people we can't be. That is, if you want to dream of being those two."

[Moyr Ahaya]

"I don't know." She whispered softly, leaning into him, her fingers brushing at his nape. "Perhaps there is another time and place out there for that kind of us. Even if it takes quite a bit to get there, I choose to hope that there might be."