Not Myself
By Princess Alexandria
Princess_alex24@hotmail.com
Christy had dinner with the kids and hung out with them for a while, but when Jessi offered to help her get dressed for going out, she ducked out quickly to avoid that. She now stood glaring at the few pieces of clothing she had in the closet, but in all honesty even if she had everything she owned with her, she didn't have anything good for going out. Her sense of fashion had never been much and her time on her own world where they wore whatever they were lucky enough to find that fit destroyed what little she had.
"Dammit," Christy wasn't used to this concern about appearances, but she couldn't deny that she was concerned. She wanted to blend in with the others. Of course that also brought up the fact that she didn't know where they were going or what they were doing. How could she pick out clothes without that information?
She stepped out of her room and walked further down the hall, which she hadn't done yet. The others lived down this way. She just needed to find someone to point her to Sage so she could ask what they were doing that night. Anyone would do she thought, until she did find someone and it was Jono. Dammit, she couldn't even hear him. "Jono, I'm trying to find Sage. Do you know where she is?"
After a moment of Christy's frustration at her inability to follow his hand signals a door opened. "I've got this Jono. Thanks." Betsy smiled at him and Christy could tell the boy was relieved to not have to deal with her. She could hardly blame him.
"Looking for Sage?" Betsy's smile was obviously amused.
"I don't know what we're doing tonight. I need to figure out what to wear." The way Betsy seemed to light up was worrying.
"We're going to a club. You should dress for the heat and dancing." Betsy closed her bedroom door behind her and stepped out into the hall. "Let's go to your room and I'll help you." Christy actually had to walk faster to keep up with Betsy's determined stride. And to think she'd snuck out on her own kids to avoid playing dress up.
They were in Christy's room in no time whatsoever. Betsy didn't look impressed with the selection in the closet. Christy watched the woman study what she had. "You didn't bring a lot with you."
"I didn't expect to need it." Christy kept to herself the fact that it wouldn't matter how much she brought, she didn't have clubbing clothes.
"You came to New York and didn't think you'd need clothes to go out?" Betsy seemed completely baffled by that. Christy had the impression this woman didn't go anywhere without far more luggage than she could carry.
"I know." She just sighed and agreed. She hadn't expected any Xmen to ask her to go out. She'd expected nothing but tests and interrogations from them.
Now Betsy was studying her with a measuring glance. "We might be able to pull something together. Let's go back to my room." The questions on the way about her size, shoe size, even bra size, made Christy wish she hadn't bumped into Betsy at all. Images of clothes piles and endlessly trying on outfits haunted her as they walked down the hall.
********
Rogue was working on her hair when the insistent knocking on her door interrupted her. "Fashion emergency." Was all Betsy said as she came in uninvited. Rogue moved back carefully so that the woman didn't brush up against her bare arm. She wasn't fully dressed yet.
"What are ya talking about?" Betsy had far more clothes than she needed. That woman never had a fashion emergency.
"Christy doesn't have any suitable clothes. I found a few nice shirts, but she's too much shorter than me for any of my pants. It took me a while to talk her into a skirt, but now I don't have any shoes for her. What she brought simply won't go. I also don't have a suitable hair clip." Betsy spoke quickly. "And you're a size eight and a half shoe right?"
Storm was a bit leery of trusting Emma's opinion on Christy like the other team was doing, so they were taking the opportunity Sage bought them. The whole team, including Bishop were going out with Christy tonight. They couldn't risk Christy backing out.
"Alright." She glanced at the woman already going through her closet and Betsy turned with two pair in her hands. Damn, her favorite pair were one of them. Well, it was a small price to pay for this mission. Betsy left without even asking if it was alright.
Rogue was interrupted again just a few minutes after that. This time Betsy was dragging Christy behind her and Christy was obviously not dressed for going out. She had on the jeans and t-shirt she'd been wearing earlier. Rogue smiled gently at Christy. She could see Betsy's overpowering fashion advice was wearing Christy out. "I'm sorry." Christy spoke quietly as Betsy pulled her into Rogue's room and Rogue backed up yet again to keep her flesh from touching her careless team mate.
"Sugah, it ain't a problem." She glanced at Betsy and then back at Christy again. "What's up?"
"I can't walk in heels. Never learned." Christy answered with a sigh. "I don't see why I can't wear my shoes."
"They're tennis shoes." Betsy sounded like she'd answered this question before.
"I could wear my work shoes."
"They won't go with a skirt." Rogue just watched the polite argument quietly for a moment before she turned to her mirror and tried to finish her hair. Betsy pulled out another pair of shoes. "Try these sandals on."
********
Annie knew it was a bit obvious of her, but she sat by the window of the library and stared out at the entrance to the teacher's building for a glimpse of Christy on her way out. The van was pulled up and a large black man and a smaller Indian man stood outside it waiting for the women.
Christy came out smiling at the dark haired woman that had asked her out. Annie's eyes widened at Christy's appearance. Christy was actually wearing a skirt and looked very beautiful. So incredibly beautiful… and for her. Annie glared at the dark haired woman opening the van door and laughing while helping Christy into the back seat. Annie hadn't even considered that Christy could date anyone else. Christy wasn't with her, but as long as she'd known her Christy had never shown any interest in anyone else either. Annie continued to watch them all laugh and got in to leave.
********
Christy noticed Neal was blushing. It probably had something to do with Christy's disastrous attempt to get in the van the first time. The skirt Betsy dressed her in was very short, shorter than Christy realized, and he had a good view of her underwear for a moment, before Sage stepped in to help keep her from flashing everyone. "Sorry, I'm not used to dressing like this." She muttered to Neal and ignored Betsy's teasing look. Now she understood why Betsy had her change into better underwear and she would have preferred a warning instead. She'd never even heard of that boy before tonight, and that was the impression she made. Christy sighed heavily. Who was she more worried about embarrassing herself in front of, those she'd heard of or the new people she barely knew?
"No problem. You look very pretty tonight." He gave her a smile and turned back to face the front of the van.
"So you don't wear skirts?" Storm sat down on the other side of Sage.
"Not really, and never this short."
"That's a shame sugah, ya have nice legs." Rogue smiled at her and Christy gave her a look to see if the woman was flirting with her. She didn't seem to be. These women just talked like that, complimented each other and didn't think anything of it.
Neal turned from his place in the passenger seat to look at her. "You just found out you're a mutant?" He had obviously been wanting to ask about that.
"Yep." Christy gave him a small smile, but the look in his eyes bothered her. It was pity. Did he think it was a bad thing? That boy had some problems.
"Well, welcome to the club."
"I'd been hoping for telekinetics, or maybe something flashy like flying." She gave him a smirk. "But I guess the amazing power of taking beatings will have to do." She could hear Sage chuckling at her and turned to smile at her. At least someone thought it was funny. Christy was beginning to get used to the idea that her powers meant her body was just different and that other people had different bodies too. It was out of her control at this point, so she had to accept it.
"Logan's power is a healing factor." Neal was trying to draw the conversation back to being serious so Christy complied.
"But he's a fighter and I'm a sniper. I take out the enemy from a nice safe spot. It's the only way I know how to fight and now I'm gonna have to change my whole approach to take advantage of this power and I don't have the strength or fighting skill to do it yet." She knew she sounded like she was complaining, but really who else but Xmen could she talk to this about?
"You hardly need to become a warrior like Logan just because you have a similar power." Storm spoke and her voice was soft and regal at the same time. "It wouldn't suit your fighting style or body type. You'll find your own nitch."
"You don't even need to fight." Neal was staring at her with that pity again. "I heard you can pass for human. You could have a normal life."
Christy just sighed and glanced at the window. Normal life. He said that like it was a good thing and she should want that. It was a shame that she didn't think she could have it even if she wanted it. She'd seen and done too much already. She'd changed. "Just because you're a mutant doesn't mean you have to play superhero Neal. If you don't like it get out before it kills you. You have choices in this world." She said it a bit flatly and with a hint of command. She didn't know his power or anything about him, but she could see he was worse than a rookie. He was a reluctant one.
"No, this is where I belong." He spoke clearly. He believed it. Christy could see people watching this conversation. No other conversations were going on.
Christy just looked at him. Studied him. His innocent eyes, his stiff back. He was wrong. He didn't belong here. "Fine." She glanced at Storm and wondered why she had accepted that boy into the team. He really reminded her of Peter in some way. Hopefully he wouldn't blame Storm when he was forced to do something he didn't care for, like killing. "It's your choice."
"Did you have a choice in your world?" Neal asked her.
"Sure I did." She gave him a humorless smile. "Kill or die." She didn't know why she was picking on the boy. Maybe it was because he reminded her of Peter, and she'd never forgiven him. That wasn't fair. "Sorry." She muttered to the boy. Funny thing was, he was probably not that much younger than her. He just had that air of innocence that Christy had lost. It was like her kids.
"It was really like that?"
"Yeah." Christy's eyes traveled over the group a bit self-consciously. This conversation was obviously the only one going on.
"Did you kill a lot of people?" Neal asked and Christy flinched just a little. No one but Emma had any idea how very many people Christy had killed. She figured it out once, when she felt like torturing herself while laying in bed wide awake because of her nightmares. She'd averaged the kills a hunt, the weeks she'd hunted men. The number was rather staggering, and every kill that wasn't done by her hand was done by her command. "I'm sorry, that's a rude question isn't it?" He finally addressed her silence.
"You really shouldn't ask someone a question like that." She agreed with him quietly. "Only serial killers brag. Everyone else would rather not put numbers to it." She glanced at Storm and gave her a weak impersonation of a smile. "I thought we were going out to have fun. How'd we get on this depressing topic?"
"Do you dance much?" Rogue asked, helping Christy change the topic.
"Not really." Christy grinned. "I used to need to drink a while before I tried and it's been years." She had to think about it a little while. "I think the last time I went out it was with my brother on New Years for 1999."
"That's two years. You need to get out more." Betsy smiled at her.
"For me it was four." She could see the confused look. "Temporal difference. I lost two years in the move." It was strange how that worked. It was like she was being given another opportunity to live the last two years over without the horrors. She got to redo her birthdays. She got to be younger than she really was.
"So how old are you?" Neal asked and this time it was Betsy that sighed and shook her head.
"You really don't know what questions to never ask a woman." Betsy commented on that while Christy grinned.
"I'm forever twenty nine. That'll be my answer when I'm old and gray." Betsy laughed and Neal grinned. "Actually, legally I'm thirty, but really I'm thirty two."
"You don't look that old." Neal said, but then started to blush when Christy just stared at him. He had no tact. None whatsoever. "It's just you look younger, like maybe twenty five." He stumbled over the words, trying to dig himself out of that hole.
"Oh do stop Neal, before you shove your foot in your mouth any further." Storm grinned at him.
********
The rest of the drive had more innocent conversation and the tension that Christy felt from her talk with Neal faded as she prepared for a night out with friends.
"We are getting you out on that dance floor tonight." Storm smiled at her as they started to walk towards the club.
"It'll cost you." Christy grinned flirtatiously, feeling a little more relaxed with them after being stuck in a car with them an hour.
"How much are dances going for?" Neal smiled at her.
"For you, lots and lots of money." Christy glanced at Rogue and decided to change the price for the women from a kiss to something she could do. "But if the ladies promise to dance really close to me… I might do it." She liked flirting but never got the chance lately. Flirting with Annie was playing with fire, and Christy didn't want either of them to get burned. Unfortunately flirting with anyone around Annie also had tense moments, but there was no kids around that she had to be sensitive about their feelings now and these were some very pretty women. It was harmless fun.
Neal chuckled. "Maybe I should charge that too."
Christy matched her stride with Sage's and walked along side her. "Thanks for inviting me." She spoke quietly as they trailed after the others eager to get to the club. Sage had been a bit quiet on the trip here and Christy wanted to draw the woman out. She had a feeling she'd like her. "Do you go by Sage all the time now or should I call you Tessa?"
"Sage is good." Sage smiled at her and Christy thought she looked more relaxed. Sage had dressed up for the trip as well, but she wore pants. Christy wished she were wearing pants. The cool night air had too much access to her body.
"You look very nice tonight." Christy spoke softly while moving just a little closer to Sage. She was hoping this woman would want to dance. Rogue, Storm and Betsy intimidated Christy just a little and dancing with them would be a bit nerve racking, but Sage didn't. Maybe it was because she didn't know much about Sage, or that Sage had already admitted that she understood the darkness Christy lived with, but it could also be those pretty eyes and her gentle and delicate way of moving, even though she must be a warrior, she didn't move with silent threat, just grace.
"I think our latest dimension hopper is taken with Sage." Rogue smiled at Storm and glanced back Christy and Sage bringing up the rear of their group on the way to the club. Christy was just a little gentler sounding when talking with Sage and Rogue caught Christy checking out Sage a few times during the car ride.
Storm glanced back as well. "I really have no idea what Sage's sexuality is." Storm turned back to talk with her. "It's never once come up." Rogue tried to remember if Sage ever seemed interested in anyone and as she thought about it she decided to keep her thoughts to herself. There was only one person that Rogue thought Sage might have been interested in, now that she thought about it, Storm. Maybe Sage was gay. She was protective of Storm. Rogue sighed. But then Rogue was protective of Storm too, and it wasn't because she wanted her. Dang, ya'd think growing up with two mothers would improve her gaydar, but Sage defied description. She was always so very analytical it was easy to forget she was a woman, with very human emotions as well.
********
The music was loud. So loud Christy couldn't hear Storm until the woman was almost yelling in her ear. "We have a private booth in back. Follow me." Christy just nodded rather than attempt to yell back and grabbed the drinks she bought for her and Sage. She wanted to get an early start on the drinking. The crowds bothered her.
Following Storm was a danger room session all by itself. Christy had the added advantage that Storm's white hair stood out in the crowd, but she had to dodge careless people. That task got easier as they got further from the dance floor, and the sound was gratefully less intense as well.
"Here you go." Christy smiled at Sage and handed her the wine she'd asked for.
"Fine get her a drink and completely forget about me." Neal teased. Christy just ignored him and slid into the booth next to Sage. She'd only offered to get Sage a drink when she split from the group, but then Sage was the one standing next to her and the only one she could hear. Christy glanced at Sage's small smile.
"I don't think you're her type Neal." Sage teased and Christy felt a hint of a blush as a few people chuckled.
"I'll be back with a pitcher." Bishop finally spoke. He'd been relatively quiet all night. At least he wasn't as suspicious with his glances at her. Christy didn't get the feeling he was putting her on trial tonight. Christy had to scoot in a little further so that Rogue could sit and not having a way to get up quickly if she needed to made her tense for a moment. She forced herself to relax as she realized Rogue wouldn't accidentally touch her. Rogue didn't want other people in her head any more than Christy wanted to be there. She glanced over at Betsy and Neal. Now she could see it, they were a couple. Well, she wouldn't have picked Neal as Betsy's type. Storm sat on the end of the other end of the table.
Her eyes traveled to the dance floor and she was relieved to see a same sex couple dancing. If she could get Sage out there they wouldn't stick out too badly. "So Neal, do you have a fake id or are you actually old enough to be here?" He looked a bit surprised. "It's only fair." Christy grinned. She got even for his tactless comments. "I'm surprised Betsy's a cradle robber." Betsy just gave Christy a wicked grin in response to that.
"So what's your type Christy?" Betsy's voice held a note of teasing challenge and Christy couldn't help but glance around the table.
"Don't have one." She spoke quickly, trying to get out of that conversation. She'd had this talk with Emma, but she wasn't comfortable having it here with everyone.
"Don't be shy." Betsy's grin was wicked. "Maybe we could help you meet someone. There are a lot of pretty women here tonight." Betsy glanced at the dance floor. "Do you like blondes or brunettes?"
"I like pretty eyes." She finally answered a little. "Hair color doesn't really matter, even though the only two lovers I've had were both blonde." Christy had always thought that was a bit odd, since in all honesty she liked pale women with dark hair, but since she was sitting next to a pale woman with dark hair she didn't feel like admitting that. Still she couldn't pick out a lover based on looks alone, she always looked for something more. She'd never found it, but she still dreamed.
"Two lovers?" Betsy's eyebrow rose in question and Christy could see the low number surprised her.
Christy gave Betsy a slight grin. "Yes I know, I'm a complete whore aren't I?" The silence that got and the way Betsy and Storm seemed to lean a little closer told Christy they wanted more information. Where the other X-men focused on the time Christy's world was hell, this team kept asking her about her normal life before all of that. She'd already talked about her brother and her education on the way here. "I married a woman when I was a bit young, nineteen. It wasn't legal on my world, but we had a ceremony and all that." She sighed. "We were together six years and then she left me." Christy gave them a guilty grin. "I was always faithful, but I never knew what not to admit to. She found some young girl that pretended she didn't think anyone else was attractive and left me. Of course last I heard that uber faithful bitch was cheating on her." Christy chuckled with Betsy about that. Vindictive, maybe, but Christy felt it was justice. She didn't let herself dwell on the fact that all those people were gone.
Bishop came back with three pitchers and slid into the seat next to Storm. Storm nodded her thanks to him, but her eyes didn't really leave Christy. "You said two lovers."
Christy gritted her teeth for a moment and sighed. She did say that didn't she. "It was a last wish a few days before the asteroid hit. I found I couldn't say no to the girl. She didn't want to die a virgin." Sage reached over and rested a hand on the arm Christy had laying on the table holding her glass. It was a move to comfort, so Christy gave her a weak smile in appreciation. "Shelley wasn't anyone I would have picked, but I didn't want her to die without knowing love. She was really more of a daughter to me than anything else. Twisted eh?"
"No, she went to someone she trusted." Christy was surprised it was Rogue addressing this one. "Ah can understand how she'd want to do that at least once and if you'd been caring for her…" Rogue's smile looked sad. "Wasn't twisted."
"I'd have to agree with Rogue here." Storm's voice was always that commanding and yet soft. "Love takes different forms and giving that girl her wish wasn't something you should be ashamed of. How old was she?"
"Seventeen." Christy sighed. The age was obviously better than Storm had thought because she seemed to relax a little. Christy glanced down at her barely touched drink and wondered why she was telling them such personal things. She finally realized she was just doing it because she could. There weren't many people she could talk to about her home.
"I believe that's Annie's age right now." Sage spoke and Christy looked up quickly, noticing the slight smirk. "Are you still a cradle robber?" Christy just stared at her stunned for a moment before she laughed. She couldn't believe Sage was teasing her about this.
"No, no… I'm not after Annie."
"She's certainly sent a few nasty thoughts my way." Sage smirked. "She didn't care for you going out tonight."
Suddenly Christy found herself in the uncomfortable position of apologizing for Annie's poor behavior. "I thought she was getting better." She sighed. Christy almost bumped Rogue with her elbow as she moved to push her hair back from her eyes, almost ruining the way Betsy had done her hair. "I'm sorry."
"Well, she isn't aware I'm a telepath. She may not have realized I'd pick up on her jealousy." Sage spoke softly and took a sip of her wine.
"Well, ah…" Neal seemed to be embarrassed to be interrupting. "Betsy, can we dance?"
Betsy grinned, "I'd love to. Storm if you and Bishop could excuse us?" It took a little doing to free the couple so they could go out, but Christy was grateful that those remaining could spread out a bit more and it wasn't so obvious that Rogue was keeping space to herself.
********
Rogue noticed Christy glancing at the dancing couple a few times, as well as the nervous glance she gave Sage, but Sage was talking with Storm and didn't notice it, or if she did wasn't making it easy on the woman. Christy wanted to dance, and seemed to think Sage was the only potential dance partner around. "Come on." Rogue finally addressed Christy and everyone glanced at her when she stood up. "We have a dance floor beggin to be used." She'd never seen Sage actually dance when they went out. Sage usually stayed at the table. Christy would be waiting a very long time if she was waiting for Sage.
"Don't worry sugah, Ah won't bite." She grinned at Christy's nervousness and reached out to take her hand in her own gloved one.
"I'm not nearly drunk enough." Christy gave her a nervous smile. "I'm not a great dancer either." But she was getting up, so that was progress.
********
Ororo glanced at Christy and Rogue dancing. The woman was a bit tense, but seemed to be loosening up with them. "You do realize that she was wanting that to be you out there don't you Sage?" She turned back to the other woman at the table and smiled. "You lured the poor woman out with us and you won't even dance with her? She's been very attentive all night, she deserves at least one dance." Her grin grew wicked. They never could get Sage to dance.
"I'm very aware that she's treating this like a date Ororo." Sage sighed. "Even if I can't read her mind, her body language doesn't leave much to the imagination."
"So you've been studying her body?" Ororo's grin grew. "Is there anything you haven't told us about yourself?"
"I asked her out because you said you wanted to get to know her." Sage actually looked a little exasperated. "I may have misled her a bit to that end."
"What do you guys think so far?" Ororo asked more seriously. Rogue's dancing with Christy gave them a moment to compare notes behind Christy's back.
"She's being honest with us." Sage gave her analysis. "I also believe that she does in fact like us, her body language indicates an affection for a few of us at the table." Ororo managed to not tease Sage about paying so much attention to Christy's body again. "Rogue, you and I appear to be among those she cares about and to a lesser degree Betsy. She speaks a little softer to us, leans a little closer, and is more willing to answer our questions even when she would obviously rather not talk about it." Sage was quiet for a moment. "While her opinions of you and Rogue may come from her knowledge of our world, I believe she is lying about knowing me. Her tension when I first met her and the way she steered the conversation away from the past… my past… makes me think she's just covering up her lack of knowledge."
"So you're saying she likes you for you." Ororo smiled softly.
"I'm also saying that if things are tense, if she does prove to be a threat, her lack of knowledge about me and Neal could be an asset." Ororo just nodded, but it was disconcerting sometimes how Sage was so analytical and didn't let the fact that Christy liked her affect her report.
********
Christy didn't hold Rogue to the dancing close line she'd given them all earlier. Still they had fun for a couple songs, but when Neal and Betsy joined them in their dance Christy took the opportunity to pull away. She smiled her thanks and headed for the table again. She was barely comfortable dancing out there in the crowds, doing it as a group of four was a bit more than she wanted.
Sage's glass was almost empty so Christy turned away before reaching their table and got her another drink. They were a bit pricey here, but she'd figure out the bills later. She didn't want to worry about things like that tonight. She sighed. It wasn't like she needed as much money anymore with the kids gone. Forgot about that little detail.
"Here." She smiled at Sage when she sat the glass down and then slid back into her spot. "I noticed you needed a refill."
"Oh, thank you." Sage looked at the glass a bit too long and then back up at Christy. "Did you have fun dancing?"
Christy smiled at her and pulled her own new drink closer. "Yep." Normally she was only good for one drink, but like Emma said, she was limiting herself to human reactions. Margarita's tasted good and she had no blood to move it around. If she wanted to she could probably out drink Logan with her mutation.
********
Sage noticed that look again out of the corner of her eye and could almost predict to the second when Christy was actually going to ask. "Sage, do you want to dance?" It had taken Christy nearly three minutes from the moment she obviously felt like asking to complete the task. She turned to give Christy her full attention and was fully aware of her teammates eyes on them. The woman had been walking along the edge of date like behavior, clearly confused about whether or not this classified as a date. Sage managed not to sigh as she looked into hopeful eyes. She'd never been on a date without having ulterior motives, thanks to the Professors assigning her to a long term spy mission while she was still a teenager. Even this, which she hadn't intended to be a date, had ulterior motives for the team.
"Sure." The surprised body language of the others at the table went ignored as she waited for Christy to slide out from the booth and reach out to help her out. It was actually rather gentlemanly, like the way Christy made sure all night that she had something to drink if she wanted it. Christy's admission about her lack of experience with dating, which could be deduced from the fact she only really had one lover, coupled with her indecisive body language whenever she did something for Sage made it clear Christy was trying to be at her best and make a good impression with Sage personally. Sage regretted that once again she'd gotten close to someone under false pretenses, even if this was minor compared to some of the long term affairs she was a part of while spying at the Hellfire club. Maybe she could make up for that a bit. Sage moved closer when Christy turned to dance with her.
********
"Mah Gawd." Rogue muttered quietly as they watched Sage move closer to Christy on the dance floor. "is she gonna dirty dance out there?" They'd never even seen Sage dance, but the seductive sway and clearly good rhythm refuted Rogue's assumption that Sage just couldn't dance.
"Well, Christy did say the cost of a dance was dancing close." Neal sounded amused, but Rogue didn't take her eyes off the dance floor to look at him. Their human computer was looking far more human and far less computer tonight.
********
Christy almost stumbled back in surprise, but managed to stop herself. Sage had moved to wrap her arms around Christy's neck and was dancing so very close there must not be room for air between their bodies. Christy had never danced like this with anyone.
Sage leaned down a little and spoke into her ear. "Just relax and dance." She said a hint of teasing in her voice, but the thigh moving in between her own made relaxing hard. Sage was a little taller and clearly had ideas. Christy started to follow her lead and danced by moving seductively against her partner.
Christy closed her eyes so that the other dancers didn't distract her. She could feel her partner's moves and kept her dancing close and seductive. She'd never danced like this, but she wasn't backing down. She gently trailed a hand down Sage's side, caressing her until Christy could rest her hand on Sage's hip. She pulled back just a little, but kept her hips moving on the thigh between her legs rather suggestively, but didn't press down so that it would really be what it looked like. A wicked smile crossed her lips and she opened her eyes to see Sage smiling as well. The glance towards the table showed a very interested audience of X-men. Christy leaned closer and spoke into Sage's ear. "They look like they've seen a ghost."
"They've never seen me dance." Sage grinned at her. "So shall we give them a real show?"
"You're wicked." Christy's grin grew. "I like that in a woman."
"Follow my lead." Sage moved to sweep Christy's hair off one shoulder and Christy was a little shocked to feel lips kiss her neck. "Is this okay?" Sage whispered into her ear. "I want to shock them."
"Gimme a real kiss when this is over and I'll let you do anything you want." Christy could hear her own voice was a little deeper, affected by the closeness of the woman in her arms. She didn't used to be an exhibitionist, or into these type of games, but the idea of shocking the X-men sounded like fun, and the way they'd do it sounded funner.
"You're on." Sage's voice was tinged with humor.
********
Sage calculated when the dancers around them would part enough for the others at their table to see what she was doing and timed it perfectly. She ran her hand down Christy's back in a slow caress and then grabbed her ass, pulling her tighter to Sage's thigh. She kept her hands on Christy and encouraged Christy's hips to move in a pattern she wanted. Christy just let her take the lead, and was doing anything Sage indicated she should.
Rogue's eyes were a bit wide and Storm looked a little stunned as well. Sage smirked into Christy's neck as she ran a hand back up Christy's back. "I'm just a little tired of them assuming I'm asexual." Sage whispered into Christy's ear and noticed the slight shudder in the woman's body. Christy obviously didn't think she was asexual. Sage eased up on the thigh before Christy became a bit too interested in this dance. It was just a dance. "They've also been speculating about my orientation tonight. They think I don't notice these things, but I can read lips." She continued to explain her behavior while turning Christy around so that she was dancing behind her and the table would see Christy's front when the crowd parted again in forty four seconds. "How far are you willing to let me go? I need to know before the crowd parts."
"What are you thinking?" Christy sounded just a hint nervous so Sage told her.
********
Rogue didn't try to pretend she wasn't watching. Sage had actually had a woman dry humping her leg on the dance floor. Sage… "Ah don't believe it." She muttered as the view finally opened up and Sage was even more explicit. She was caressing Christy's breasts and Christy's eyes were closed with a look of real enjoyment on her face. A hand dipped down and… "Oh Mah Gawd." When the other dancers got in the way Rogue turned to stare at their leader. Storm looked equally stunned. "If this gets worse we might be asked ta leave."
"They aren't actually having sex on the dance floor." Betsy sounded very amused. "And their clothes are still on." Rogue figured that was because they didn't need to remove Christy's short skirt to do anything.
********
"I'm thinking I should actually charge you money for this." Christy turned in Sage's arms to face her. She was stunned by her own actions as well. She didn't have the excuse of being drunk, still she'd seen Rogue's opened jaw through her barely opened eyelids and had to admit it was funny. It would be funnier if it weren't turning her on. Sage's touches were more for show than real effect, but it was still much more than Christy had felt with Shelley's inexperienced lovemaking, and it had been a very long time since she had an experienced lover.
"The song will be over in one minute and twenty seconds." Sage sounded strange, the way she could time things so perfectly was probably a power or something. "We will have been dancing for five minutes and fifteen seconds. How much money do you think you've earned?" Sage chuckled in her ear.
"For not actually ravishing you? I think that's worth a lot. This is closer to sex than I've been in a long time." Christy wrapped her arms around Sage's neck and continued to dance a bit more tamely. Undoubtedly Sage would let her know when it was showtime again. She smiled flirtatiously and winked. "If you think you really want to shock them I could take you on the table. Too bad you aren't wearing a skirt, it would be easier."
Sage smirked. "I don't think that will be necessary, but thanks." Sage glanced at the other dancing couples again. "Twenty seconds and I'm going to give you that real kiss you asked for."
"You realize I'm going to be asking you to dance all the time now, don't you?" Christy smirked at Sage's wicked smile. How anyone could think this woman was asexual was beyond her. This woman was very sexual and a temptress as well.
Sage was a little taller than Christy and she leaned in for that kiss. Christy knew this wasn't anything serious, but she was going to enjoy this kiss as much as she possibly could. She didn't even try to hide the whimper in her throat as Sage's mouth descended onto her's and her tongue demanded entrance. She melted against Sage and pulled herself more tightly into her body with another whimper. Oh God, she'd never been kissed like this before. Sage was a very good kisser. When Sage pulled back Christy rested her head on Sage's shoulder and tried to catch her breath. "Oh God, if you wanted me right here right now I'd do it." She muttered half seriously. It had been a while since she felt this want and it felt good, but this was a game. She pulled back and looked up into Sage's eyes with a small smile. "Damn girl, you are so hot."
"Thanks." Sage pulled back a little. It was over. "Pretend like nothing big happened when we sit down, it will bother Rogue more."
"You got it." Christy smiled and laughed. She then leaned a bit closer. "So what is your orientation?"
Sage gave her a mysterious smile and just turned to lead the way back to the table. Apparently that was going to remain a mystery.