The next night, I was filled with trepidation.
Yes, I cared deeply about Oz. But I couldn't ignore my attraction to the beautiful Yang.
I came to the conclusion that, I was learning how to live and therefore I needed to explore everything I could. It alleviated the guilt I felt when I thought of it that way.
Thankfully, Yang had her motorcycle so we didn't have to walk to town. I blushed when I sat on it behind her and put my hands on her hips. The proximity to her was in direct correlation with the color of my face.
Her hair and mine fluttered like banners behind our heads as we sped into Vale.
We decided not to go to The Club. Apparently, Yang had made quite an impression on Junior Xiong the last time she had been there, as proved by the sniper rifles aimed at us as we sped by.
Instead, I directed her to a dance club that served good liquor.
I had been there several times when I had first come to Vale, drinking up the courage to climb on the airship to Beacon.
"This place is banging!" Yang said, when she saw Raindance. It was blasting good dance music.
Yang and I were both dressed up for a night out.
She looked stunning in a red crop top and black shorts that accentuated all of her assets. Her hair was as wild as usual and her makeup gave her a saucy look.
Red was definitely her color.
I wore a black cropped tank top with the Beacon logo across my bust and tight gray cut offs.
I had had Elin put makeup on me. It itched and I didn't like it but it did make me look sexy. And because he wanted to, I let him curl my silver locks. They bounced and shined attractively and it made Elin very happy.
When we entered Raindance, all eyes turned towards us.
The biggest reason I liked this club besides the music and the drinks, was that it was a pro-Faunus place.
Faunus and Humans alike mingled, flirted and got down together without any tensions at all. Any show of hate towards anyone got you thrown out. And the bartender, Sam, was an empath Semblance much like myself, without my Healing abilities so the atmosphere of the club in general was pretty great.
I leaned on Orchid a little and smiled, drinking in the feelings of the crowd.
"Strawberry sunrise, no ice." Yang yelled to the smiling bartender. He was a huge man, gruff but sympathetic, especially to beautiful girls. He was a Bear but he usually kept his claws to himself when he worked.
He winked at me when I sat down. "Dahlia." He said, filling a shot for me.
I threw it back, feeling the burning of the alcohol slide down my throat.
It took a lot to get me drunk but thankfully I never got hangovers.
He looked at Yang, raising an eyebrow at the bottle in his hand. It was the strong stuff and Yang unflinchingly downed a shot.
I smiled. Silly, silly Yang.
Another shot for me. I smiled at her, igniting her competitive side.
She should have known better.
We chatted as we downed shot after shot and sipped on deliciously mixed fruity drinks.
Yang had a pretty high tolerance. Soon, she heard a song she liked and stood up to dance without listing or bumbling. She asked if I wanted to but I just looked at her.
I could barely stand without Orchid, so how was I supposed to dance?
She made her way onto the dance floor and showed her familiarity with the type of dancing one did at this kind of club.
She had a partiality to the Cat-Faunus which made me grin even as I was filled with chagrin. I just leaned against the bar and sipped my drink, enjoying watching Yang dance, ignoring the pain in my leg.
"Don't you want to dance?" A guy said, sitting next to me on my right, with a strange smile on his face.
I just looked at him and looked at Orchid. " I can't."
"Could you dance before that happened? Like do you have rhythm and stuff like that?" I rolled my eyes. Who was this guy?
"I was pretty good at it. But that obviously doesn't matter now does it." I snapped. I didn't like being reminded of everything I had lost.
Sam poured me another glass and I drained it angrily.
"Do you want to dance with that girl?" The man said, looking at Yang.
Perhaps it was the alcohol but I answered honestly. "More than anything right now." He smiled triumphantly.
"Well, Quicksilver, Daren Glass here, to make your wish come true." He said reaching for my leg. "Touch me and I'll break your hand." I growled at him.
He rolled his pale blue eyes at me and pressed his hand onto my leg just above the pain.
"I said-"
My leg didn't hurt.
It was the oddest sensation. "What the..." I said standing up.
Not even a twinge from my right leg.
I stared at Daren. "How...?"
He winked and settled back with a smug smile on his face. "It'll last till morning. My gift to you who is filled with so much pain. A night to dance with your date." He stated.
I must have looked like I had been hit unexpectedly with a board. Then I looked at Sam. "Give me a glass of your strongest." I said determined.
He looked incredulous after everything I had already drank but shrugged and poured me the glass.
I clicked Orchids third and seldom used trigger and it folded into a hand sized tube. I tucked it into my bra.
Then I downed the glass. It burned like fire in my belly and made me a little fuzzy brained. I turned to the smirking Daren. "You have no idea what you've done." I said.
His smirk faded a little. Then I leaned over and kissed him.
"Thank you." I stated before turning on my heel and walking with swinging hips out onto the dance floor.
A song came on and I let the energies of the room enter me in my drunken state.
I hadn't danced in so long.
Yang was surprised to see me and I winked slyly at her, moving my hips to the rhythm.
It felt strange to put weight on my right leg, but my body soon remembered how to dance. And when the beat dropped, I did too.
My body moved and rolled in smooth waves and eyes all around the room fixed on me. Some mouths dropped open, including Yang's.
Omar had made me learn how to dirty dance which he enjoyed watching. I learned other forms along the way, but I learned to dance to please.
After all fighting and dancing were very similar.
"Where did you learn to do that?!" Yang shouted, flushed from watching.
I just gave her a secret smile and I walked toward her. "Want to learn?" I said, sliding my hands onto her hips. "I-I-uh..." She stuttered as I turned her around and pressed her body against mine.
I moved my body and hers followed. I guided with hands and hips and the more we danced the tighter she was pressed against me.
Her hands rested on mine and they grew hotter with every roll of my body, and every grind of hers.
In a moment between one song and the next, I stepped in front of her and guided her hands to my hips. My lovely rounded backside pressed against her and I could feel her excitement and embarrassed attraction.
"Hold on." I advised when the song started.
I kept it rather slow, with bigger movements so the befuddled Yang could keep up.
I loved her surprise when I dropped it to the floor and then slid myself up her legs.
"I think I need another drink." She said laughing and she walked off the floor blushing.
I laughed in return.
"Can you salsa? Merengue? Tango?" Daren said coming up behind me as the next song came on. I laughed as people paired up except for Yang who was talking to Sam.
"I can indeed, thanks to you." I said taking his hand.
"T'is a gift to see you free of pain, Quicksilver. And may I say, your dancing has made every male and most of the females in this club hot and eager to see more. You know how to move this beautiful body." He said whirling me around.
The footwork was complicated but it was like remembering how to ride a bike, the steps coming back.
"You are quite the dancer yourself." I said back, starting to really feel the effects of my drinks.
"Ah, dear lady, I am a dance instructor. Though, I've never taught someone the way you taught your date to dance. Though, with you, I think I'd like to try." He said, his eyes smoldering.
I laughed freely, like I hadn't since the night I met Oz. His blatant flirting made me feel good.
I was desirable tonight.
"How'd you do it? How did you make all this possible?" I asked wondrously. I had planned to drink the night away.
Instead, this stranger with bright blue eyes, ash gray colored hair and a mysterious smile in a dance suit a little darker than his hair had allowed me to dance.
"My Semblance is easing physical pain. I sensed your near constant pain when you first walked into the room. And I could see the longing on your face to be on the dance floor. I cannot heal a wound but I can take the pain of it away. The wish was there for me to grant and I'm more than glad that I did. I haven't seen dancing like yours in ages. I've been working far too long with amateurs." He said dramatically as he spun me into a complicated series of moves.
A small area was cleared for us in the middle and people enjoyed watching us.
Yang was smiling and I winked at her before I flung my leg over Daren's shoulder and was swung around.
I was glad that I had worn pants instead of a skirt. "How can I repay you?" I asked before I was whirling and shimmying again.
"Perhaps we can work something out? I need a new dance partner who is up to my skill level." He said, grabbing me by my hips and flinging me into the air.
"I think we can work that out." I replied as he dropped me into a perfect dip on the last beat of the note.
We walked off the floor with applause thundering.
"Dahlia, I had no idea you were a dancer!" Yang cried. I smiled. She had consumed more alcohol. I looked at Sam who shrugged.
"No one knows, Yang. This is the first night I've been able to dance in years." I said, motioning for another drink.
I breathe deeply and smiled. "I missed it."
And while Sam poured my drink, Daren plugged himself into my Scroll and the location of his studio.
This would not be the last time I danced.
Yang's words began to slur and I decided that I was sufficiently intoxicated for the night.
I called for a taxi and Sam was more than happy to keep Yang's motorcycle for the night. He was just glad neither of us would be trying to get home on our own. Yang was listing badly and I was beginning to sway.
Daren called it quits long before Yang or I did.
My bill would be hefty but I'd never had to worry about money.
"Goodnight Sam! I love you man!" Yang shouted as we both left the building to wait for our ride.
There was no moon in the sky and the shadows were darker than usual.
Perhaps it was the darkness or my intoxicated state or a mixture of things I didn't understand.
But outside the building, I pull Yang against me and kissed her passionately.
She felt confused and vaguely turned on but something in her was telling her that this was wrong.
I was too drunk to care.
I pressed her back up against a pillar, hidden in the shadows. She was so hot... and submissive which was strange for someone who showed so much dominance in the rest of her life.
I kissed her neck before biting it gently. Incredibly gentle. If I really bit her, my fangs would pierce her skin and hurt her.
It felt so nice to be pressed up against her firm, curvy body.
She was too drunk to fight me for a while, then she began to push me back. "Dahlia..."
"I like you, Yang. I like you a lot." I murmured, my words slurring a little at the end.
"But I... I- and... you- but... Blake..." She said, desperately trying to get me to understand.
If I had not been an empath, perhaps I wouldn't have cared.
But I was. And I could not ignore the feelings she was pushing at me. Confusion, embarrassment and when she said Blake's name, a touch of longing.
Ah, so my little sister is the one you think about.
I couldn't keep pressing her, knowing how she felt. I ran a hand down her hair tenderly.
"I understand , Yang. Thanks for coming tonight." I said, kissing her gently on her kiss swollen lips.
"We're still friends right, Dahlia?" She said. I could feel her intense need to keep the bond she had with me. I hugged her tight. "Of course Yang. We'll always be friends."
Her fear of losing me eased and when the taxi arrived, we slowly climbed inside.
Back at Beacon, it was an adventure trying to find our rooms. I made sure Yang was in hers before slowly, I began making my way to my room.
It wasn't long before Daren's gift wore off and I felt the pain. I pulled Orchid from my shirt and reopened her. I leaned and wobbled, weaved and stumbled.
I was punch drunk.
And I was going the wrong way.
Naturally.
My vision swam and my head felt like I was underwater.
"Ms. Derivalle?" A voice said behind me. I barely heard them. I swayed and began walking again. "Dahlia?" That familiar voice said again.
A face appeared in front of me.
"Ozzzzzzz." I said happily. I stumbled forward to hug him.
Wow he smelled really good. So I buried my face in his chest and inhaled deeply. "Dahlia, are you drunk?" He asked with a bit of laughter in his voice.
I nodded happily.
Everything was better with Oz.
"How'd you get back to Beacon?" He asked, rubbing his hands up and down my back. It felt so nice. I shivered a little bit. "Taxi." He huffed a sigh of relief.
"You're so handsome, Oz." I said touching his face and petting his hair. He chuckled. "And you are very drunk, Dahlia. Let's get you to bed now-" I cut him off with a kiss. Just one short kiss.
I didn't know why. I just did it.
He tasted like the coffee he was always drinking.
His face was stunned. I felt his heart leap and the most peculiar feeling filled his chest. "So handsome." I murmured, running the backs of my fingers over his cheek.
He cleared his throat. "Ms. Derivalle-"
"Don't call me that. Don't shut me out." I said piteously, disgusted with my own behavior. He sighed and the warm feeling I felt before was replaced with anxious concern and resignation.
"Dahlia." He said gently as he pulled me along. It took a while to get back to the room because I kept tripping and trying to wander off. But we made it.
"Do you know the best thing about being drunk?" He asked outside my door.
I shook my head and heard my brain swish around inside.
"You never remember what happened in the morning." He murmured.
I was going to kiss him first, but then he leaned his head down and gently kissed me.
His left hand cradled the back of my head, while his right arm pulled my body tight against his.
His breathing was harsh as I went to deepen the kiss and he broke off from it. "No, my dear. I don't think I'm ready for that yet." He said breathless. I smiled and gave him a peck on the lips. "Then I will wait till you are."
His feelings were a jumble that I didn't have the coherency to sort out.
I hugged him tightly and whispered goodnight in his ear before opening the door and slipping in without a sound.
I fell on my bed, still clothed and in makeup, too tired and emotionally battered to think before the darkness swallowed me.