She had found Anzu in a sheer moment of luck. It was a place in the part of the city that rich folks flocked to so that they could feel better about themselves, more cultured; something to tell their equally rich friends about and brag. It was one of those backwards places that let in people like them but the "cast exit" let out into a less forgiving alleyway. It wasn't safe. And it certainly wasn't what Mai had envisioned Anzu doing with her life.
Sure it was business and it was money and it was dancing. But it just wasn't… right, for lack of a better word. Anzu was the second, or maybe third dancer, not a headliner, but not someone you could ignore on the stage. What she was doing was more of a shock, but Mai had made up her mind a long time ago not to judge anyone when they were trying to get by.
She'd gone to the place as a last ditch effort to get money off her hands. Unclean money where the rats of this city went to spend theirs, it sounded like a perfect fit. And well, she did love a good show. The moment she'd seen Anzu up there on stage, though, she'd reconsidered her choice. Then she made another one. For whatever stupid reason or shallow bond she thought she had had with the brunette, she decided to stick around.
It was only more 'luck' that there happened to be a casino nearby. Perhaps she had to sacrifice a bit of pride but so had Anzu in order to try and attempt her fantasy, so why was Mai any better? She went back to dealing but promised herself that when she found a way out of this for the both of them she would be through permanently. Then it was only a matter of time bumping into the girl after a show.
She was reluctant at first but the way Mai had showed up out of nowhere and offered to take her out led her to believe that woman knew more than she let on. It was embarrassing and she'd been writing home about how well she was doing. Not because she was a liar but because when she'd first landed the part she'd been so excited and naive. Now she knew better but it was too late to fix and too late to stop.
Anzu found a friend in Mai that she'd sorely been needing since she'd come out here. Eventually they moved in to a small place together. Pooling funds made it that much easier for her to live and Mai was a good roommate. Mai was a good everything, she soon found out. It wasn't surprising how effortlessly Mai slid into everything she did and wanted to do and had no problems. Anzu sometimes found herself wishing she could be that way too.
It was a particularly chilly night after a sold out show and Anzu was waiting in the back for Mai to come around. After starting to live together Mai had promised to go to every one of her shows in return for little things here and there like homemade lunches and dinners and small things that really didn't matter. Anzu knew why Mai had to pull an exchange but she was rather grateful to know that someone that liked her for her and was rooting for her was there so close.
And it helped to know she'd always be there to walk her home. She'd been lucky this entire time not to get into trouble. Anzu didn't need the help, she could fend for herself. But there was a quiet peace about walking home arm in arm with Mai that she couldn't deny.
An eventuality that she'd been warned about by old people since coming here finally arrived. Big burly looking men with shadowy faces came out of nowhere and started trying to strip their strength away with sexual noises and whistles. All the while they approached, hands reaching out as they got closer. Anzu had promised herself she didn't need anyone but in that instant she found herself falling back on a habit she thought was long gone.
Mai puffed out, becoming a bigger and much stronger shield. And Anzu cowered behind her. After it was all over she would feel disgusted with herself but right in the thick of it she was approaching a feeling that had left with a particular man. Maybe that's why she'd went to such a dark place, fleeing from a feeling she thought she could throw away.
In no time and with such grace the men were dispatched and Mai was wiping her hands of the dirt. "Big boys always think they're tough." She chided with a final stomp of her heel against one of their shoulders. "Come here again and it won't just be broken bones." A soft warning before turning back to she put her arm around Anzu and started walking away.
She could feel the smaller body of the dancer quivering even now and she knew it wasn't just from the cold. Once they got back to the apartment she shed her coat and went to pour Anzu a drink. "Soda will make you feel better." Hopefully. One incident could be just enough to break someone sometimes. Anzu was stronger than that she knew. She hoped.
Waiting for the Anzu to return from her room she plopped down on the couch, resting both arms along the top, head tipping back. It wasn't her job to follow Anzu into her room and console her. If she asked Mai would but she wasn't going to be overbearing about this. That had the potential to make it worse.
Anzu had gone to her room, hands clutching tightly, staring at herself in the mirror. What if Mai hadn't been around? Would she have been confident in her own ability to protect herself then? And what Mai had done, so easily putting those men in their place…
She left her room to pad quietly into the living room, looking at Mai on the couch. Every nerve was still shaking, her breathing was still raggedy. There wasn't enough real thought process going on to stop her from what she did next.
Mai found herself being greeted to a warm body moving to sit in her lap. Her head shot up from the couch, eyes curiously and disbelievingly watching Anzu as she seated herself like she belonged there, her hands going to her shoulders. She smiled, a little knowingly and reached a hand up to Anzu's face. "Come on." This was a mistake. "I know you're impressed but don't take it this far." Trying to joke her way out of it so that when Anzu got off of her and laughed it off they wouldn't be awkward.
Except Anzu didn't move. Instead she leaned in to press her lips against Mai's, eyes closing tightly. Mai tried to bend back slightly but it was clear Anzu wasn't in her right mind. She pushed the girl with enough force to dislodge her and her eyes grew a little harder. "I know what that kind of experience can drive you to, believe me." She warned, still calm though, not angry, just worried about her.
It only served to incense Anzu. "You don't need to talk to me like I'm a child. I know what I'm doing." But even as she said it she fidgeted slightly in her spot.
"I'm sure you think you do. But don't act on an impulse like this." She leaned up, pressing a sweet kiss to the corner of Anzu's mouth. "You'll regret it."
The kiss made her feel warm where she thought the feeling had been stolen from her by those men. It only cemented the decision even more. "I can't regret this."
There was a more careful and even kiss, trying to prove to Mai that she was thinking clearly. The older woman wasn't really buying it. This was going to lead to disaster. She just knew it. That's how things always went. But the way Anzu just melded so perfectly in her lap had the more rational thoughts leaving. It had been a while since she'd had someone to call her own, too.
Regardless of what Anzu thought she was doing, though, Mai proved to have superior experience in this realm. She had that lithe body stripped of her costume top in one quick sweep after she got through kissing her. Her hands went to Anzu's back and she turned the tables, pressing her back into the couch. Her lips dipped just underneath Anzu's jaw before going to her collarbones. The way the woman shuddered beneath her only made her smirk.
"You're always moving." She murmured as her lips continued a trail over her breast, tongue circling the peak. "You really are a dancer."
"I-I don't know what you're talking about." She tried to get out, breathless already, body humming and needy.
Mai laughed softly, nuzzling Anzu's neck as her hands went to the woman's skirt. She lifted her hips automatically for Mai. "That's what I'm talking about. Every muscle knows when to move." She admired, running her hand down over the space between Anzu's breasts and over her stomach. "Or maybe you're just twitchy."
Her reddened lips pursed. "Shut up already." Even in the thick of the moment she could tell when she was being teased.
"Ordering me around?" She mocked surprise as the tips of her fingers brushed Anzu's collarbones before lurking lower and lower, down over a very sensitive spot that had the girl shifting. "Your body is ordering me around too." Grinning like a cat.
She gulped for air, heart hammering in her chest. "If you'd just hurry up…" The longer she persisted the more time she had to think about what they were doing. She didn't want to process it.
Mai dipped her fingers in just the right way before pressing all the way inside, curling them in a soft stroking motion. Anzu's hips automatically rose to meet her every time she went in. Before this Mai had never really had the chance to notice this close how beautiful Anzu was. Sure she'd marveled at her grace when she was dancing but this was an entirely new experience.
Every move she was hitching, chest raising, hips moving, quivering, and all but begging Mai to keep going. Before she could stop herself she'd buried herself completely in the side of Anzu's neck, free hand moving up to grip her short brunette hair. She'd always been a dominant partner. Anzu didn't seem to mind, only gasping once before another moan. Mai's teeth and tongue were quick on her neck, making a mark that would be hard to cover for the next morning.
And then Anzu did the most beautiful thing of the night. She moaned Mai's name, long, languid and sweet as she trembled beneath her. "That's it," Mai urged her on. And it only took a little insistence to have Anzu moaning her name each time.
That was until her whole body had risen with a flushed color and she really did start begging. "Please… don't stop.."
Mai took her lips again, tongue twining around the shier girl's. "Wasn't planning on it." She got out between them in the middle of it all.
When Mai's moved up one last time that was all it took for Anzu's hips to shift and twitch again. The moan breaking from her was sure loud enough to wake the neighbors. Mai tried to urge her to be quiet with another kiss, stroking her only a few more times before withdrawing. Her hands couldn't stay still, though, admiring every line and curve of the dancer's body.
It made Anzu shudder and writhe all the more before reaching up to grab her wrists. "S-stop. Please…" She gone overly sensitive. Murky blue eyes opened only halfway to look up and plead with her quietly.
Mai smiled before leaning down to kiss her forehead. "You're pushy. You know that?"
"Someone told me once…" She barely got out, closing her eyes again.
She hovered over Anzu, watching her face calm before she knew the girl was slipping into sleep. Her own urges had been woken and gone unheeded. That Anzu was willing so quick to fall asleep after just one was only slight proof one thing. Mai sighed before sitting back and frowning. She watched Anzu's form a little more than she should have before standing and getting a blanket from her room to drape over her.
"I doubt it was just once." She said to herself, rolling her eyes before shutting the light off. There'd be no real sleep tonight for her. Not after that. Anzu continued to fill every empty corner of her brain. "Damn pushy little dancer."