A/N: Darkness Blooms – lamest title ever, but it does the job. Might change it later. In the meantime, I'm trying out this new pairing. Tea's just gone out and flipped when Yugi said he didn't like her like that, and goes to a club to try and get away.
Tea kept bobbing to the beat, wondering who this guy was. She breathed in heavily, smelling schnapps and a spicy aftershave scent. His hair tickled her cheek, and she let it, white feathers on the wind. Mmmm. That was nice.
Half of her was protesting. She didn't even know this boy – who could be more than a boy, could have been anywhere from eighteen to thirty – and her she was, letting him get closer than she had ever let any guy before, even Yugi. And Yugi – what would he say if he found out she had been at a club dancing with some random stranger?
Like he cares, she thought dryly. He doesn't care about me, he said so himself. So why shouldn't I go looking for love...Even if it's in all the wrong places? This was good enough for her now.
After fifteen minutes passed, sweat beaded delicately on her brow, and her throat grew harsher with lack of breath. She muttered in his ear:
"I need to sit down."
"Sure, babe," he whispered, his breath on her skin. "Mind if I join you?"
"Yeah, go ahead." Tea twisted out of his arms and headed for the bar, the only lit area in the club, but still dusky and shadowed. She felt him following her, not far behind, brushing against her in an effort not to lose her in the crowd. It was almost a relief to have him near her – the only one in the club who she might know. She sat down heavily on one of the padded barstools.
Her mysterious companion chose the seat next to her, and said roughly, "Buy you a drink?" He slapped a wrinkled twenty from his pocket down on the smooth wood of the bar.
Tea snorted sardonically. She had never had a drink before in her life, not even a beer – let alone any of these fancy drinks. She'd only heard their names on soap operas and movies – Jell-O-shots, bourbon, vodka, whiskey, a scotch on the rocks.
"I'm a liquor virgin," she said, deliberately choosing her words, looking over at the shadowy face. "I've never had a drink in my life. Why don't you use your expertise to find something suitable?"
She saw white teeth flash in the darkness, an amused smile.
"A virgin? Well then, let me treat you to my own personal favorite." He raised a hand to the waitress who was mixing drinks at the far end. She strode over to him, leaning down to reveal her voluminous bust, just like her employers told her to.
"What's your pleasure?" she purred, holding out a small pad and paper to write down his order.
"Two blueberry schnapps for me and the lady."
"You got it," she said, and reached below the bar to pull out a large blue glass flask and pouring shots of it. She set them both down with heavy clanks onto the wood, and then left to attend to a group of guys at the other end.
Tea looked uncertainly at the glass of liquor as the stranger downed his in an instant.
"Like this," said the guy, smirking, putting down his own glass and sliding around to her barstool. He snaked a long pale arm around and guided her hand to the glass, curving her fingers around it with a gentleness that surprised them both. He pressed against her back, and helped Tea to down the schnapps in a single quick jolt of lightening energy.
It felt like fire burning down her throat, sickly sweet and sticky – almost like cough medicine. She swallowed thickly, and he chuckled.
"Like that?" he said, his voice low and seductive. Tea nodded, and he smiled and signaled to the bar waitress for another round of schnapps.
As she brought them over, he asked her, "So what are you doing around here?"
Tea gave a tiny smile. "You mean, I don't look like I fit in?" She gestured down to her outfit – a modest black skirt and pale blue tube top.
"No," said the voice firmly. "You don't look like the usual street trash that wanders in here."
"I'm flattered," said Tea sarcastically as she drank her second glass. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means you've got a story to tell, and I've got all night to hear it," he said. "So spill."
In between rounds, Tea told him all about Yugi, and their confrontation. By the time she was done, she was very drunk – having never had any liquor before, and having one round for every tear she felt like she had shed since then.
The figure watched her closely. He could tell she was drunk. And, he afforded himself, he hadn't even put anything in her drink. This was a new one. But he felt for her, somehow.
"Yugi is a real jerk," he agreed, standing and taking her by the arm. "Let's dance, babe."
"You know Yugi?" she asked, something barely registering through the haze of sound and voices. He didn't answer her, but led her out onto the dance floor. He held her tightly in his arms and whispered in her ear, with a voice like a snake:
"Remember, just keep dancing."