"Swipe" by Ed Alger aka "SecondLevelWriter"
Note: The song "Any Way You Want It" is performed by (and likely property of) Journey. "Round and Round", while only mentioned here, is performed by Ratt. All song lyrics are center-justified and in italics. You'll know 'em when you see 'em.
Chapter 8
Boogie Night - Part 1
Swipe paced back and forth across the living room, glancing nervously at the clock with every other lap. Although he could make it to the club in under five minutes, he had only made that run without a passenger.
"Uhm, Jinxie? Are you almost done in there?"
The rustling behind Jinx's bedroom curtains continued, "Have some patience, Swipe. It's a virtue. I'm just about ready."
After a few more minutes, Jinx parted the curtains open and stepped out. She was dressed in a purple, sleeveless silk dress that ended just below the knees, along with her black tennis shoes. She giggled a little to herself when she saw Swipe's reaction, as the rogue's jaw had all but hit the floor. The sorceress advanced toward her friend and closed his mouth with her index finger and asked him, "Shall we go, or would you rather stand in a puddle of your own drool?"
Swipe absently nodded his reply, making no other movement or attempts to coherently speak. Jinx took it upon herself to bring the bedazzled thief back to his senses by taking his hand and pulling him towards the door.
"Come on, K.F.! Can't - keep - the fans - waiting!" she urged between tugs.
After a few snaps of the sorceress's fingers in front of his face, Swipe finally blinked out of his trance and shook his head vigorously, "Wha-- Oh, right, the gig! Hold on, we're gonna kick up some dust!"
With that as the only warning, Swipe went into a full run and burst out of the front door with a hapless Jinx in tow. The girl screamed wildly as she gripped Swipe's hand for dear life while he rounded corners and shot down alleys at lightning speed. Thankfully for her, the club soon came into view and her friend was already starting to slow down. Soon, she was able to walk on her own feet again just as they reached the front doors.
"Well, here he is! We were starting to wonder if we'd ever see you again, Swipe!" a muscular gentleman wearing a red polo shirt and black slacks greeted them at the door, shaking the rogue's hand and throwing a smile towards Jinx. "And who's the lovely young lady?"
"Rick, this is my friend, Jinx. Jinx, this is Rick the Doorman, as I like to call him," Swipe gestured back and forth as he made introductions.
Rick gave Jinx a polite bow, "A pleasure to meet you, Miss Jinx. You'd better be careful of this fella. He's liable to sweep you right off your feet and take you for everything you've got." He chuckled while rogue and hex-caster alike turned bright red.
"Excuse me, Richard! I'm only showin' her where I work, that's all!"
The doorman chuckled, "Of course it is, Swipe. I'm just bustin' your chops. Go on in, you two. Mr. Bradley's been sweating bullets since you haven't shown up in the past few days."
"Yeah, yeah. I've been... busy. I'll give 'em an extra-good show tonight to make up for it, though."
"Break a leg, Swipester," Rick answered before turning to the sorceress. "Enjoy the show, Jinx. He looks fired up tonight."
Jinx chuckled a little, "I'm sure I will. This should be very interesting. Nice meeting you."
After a parting salute from Rick, the pair walked inside and were instantly greeted by several of Swipe's fans. The thief shook hands with many of them as he attempted to get to the stage where the band awaited his arrival. He brought Jinx to the very edge of the stage while he climbed up and greeted his friends.
"We thought the cops finally got ya for a while, there. Where've you been?" asked Jeff, the lead guitarist.
"Ran into somebody," Swipe grinned a bit and nodded towards Jinx. "Her name's Jinx. She's, uh, kinda had a rough past."
Jeff looked over, joined with Dave (the bass guitar player) and Mike (the drummer), "Whoa, cute! So this must be your first date, huh?"
Swipe tried not to make his reddening face apparent, "Hey, c'mon.. I'm just tryin' to give her a night out of the hideout. Now are we gonna play or what?"
Jeff held up a hand, "Hang on a sec. We gotta make some last-minute checks."
Dave gave his bandmate a confused look, "We took care of that MMPH!" Jeff cut off the protest by clapping his hand over the other's mouth and dragging him into a huddle with Mike and Tim (the keyboard player). Swipe watched suspiciously as his four friends conversed just out of earshot. Too bad he couldn't dash back and forth fast enough to catch the entire thing. After a minute, the four of them returned with rather untrustworthy smiles on their faces.
"All right, we're ready. First song tonight'll be 'Any Way You Want It', got it?"
Swipe already had a microphone in his hand, "Let's rock this joint." He then turned to the gathered crowd, "How y'all doin' tonight?" Everybody cheered their responses, including Jinx. "All right! For those of you new to the place, I'm Swipe. These guys are the Rock n' High Rollers, and we're gonna play it any way you want it! 1! 2! 3! 4!"
Any way you want it / That's the way you need it / Any way you want it
As the opening guitar riff played, Swipe accompanied with his own air guitar playing. He then jumped to the front edge of the stage, right where Jinx was standing.
She loves to laugh / She loves to sing / She does everything.
She loves to move / She loves to groove / She loves the lovin' things!
Jinx had probably heard this song a dozen times already, thanks to his "rehearsing" at the hideout. As a result, she was singing the words to herself in time with Swipe. While he couldn't hear her, he could definitely see her lips moving and gave her a quick smile.
Ooh all night/ All night/ Oh, every night!
So hold tight/ Ho-old tight/ Baby, hold tight.
Swipe pointed right at Jinx for the beginning of the chorus, then bounded back to the center of the stage for the rest.
She said, "Any way you want it / That's the way you need it / Any way you want it!"
She said, "Any way you want it / That's the way you need it / Any way you want it!"
Once more, Swipe walked slowly back up to the front of the stage and looked from the crowd to his friend.
I was alone / I never knew / What good love could do.
Jinx reached her hand out briefly, knowing the next line. Swipe grinned as he continued singing and touched his fingers to hers.
Ooh, then we touched / And we sang / About the lovin' things!
Oh all night/ All night/ Oh, every night!
So hold tight/ Ho-old tight/ Baby, hold tight.
She said, "Any way you want it / That's the way you need it / Any way you want it."
I said, "Any way you want it / That's the way you need it / Any way you want it."
Swipe spun around and pointed to the lead guitarist, shouting, "Take it, Jeff!"
As Jeff played the guitar solo, Swipe re-joined him for more air guitar, and both began to mimic each other. Jinx had started to really get into the show, clapping along and singing as loud as she could while a bright smile showed on her face the whole time.
She said, "Ho-o-o-old / Hold on! Hold on! Ho-o-old on!"
Oh! Any way you want it / That's the way you need it / Any way you want it!
Any way you want it / That's the way you need it / Any way you want it!
She said, "Any way you want it / That's the way you need it / Any way you want it!"
With one final "Bah-boom", the song was over and the place practically exploded with applause. Swipe and the band all bowed once before the rogue picked up the mic again, "Thank you! Thank you very much. Now, we got another song, and..." He was cut off by Jeff tapping on his shoulder, "What? What's up?"
Holding the microphone away, the guitarist whispered into Swipe's ear, "We'll do the next song. You should go down and dance with her this time. This is your date, after all." Swipe was about to protest, but Jeff had already put his hand up to stop him.
"Fine, you win... What song're you gonna do?"
"Round and Round."
"Nice. All right," the rogue turned back to address the audience. "This one's gonna be done by the Rollers, and it's called 'Round and Round'. So, when I hit the floor, you guys hit it!" With that, he hung the microphone up and asked for a clear spot right in front of the stage. He then hopped down beside Jinx and beckoned her over to whisper in her ear.
"I know you said you don't like dancin', but... well... would you like to give it one more try?"
Jinx blushed a bit but whispered back, "Sure. One more try."
Swipe had a lopsided smile on his face as he led her to the middle of the floor, just in time to notice two familiar faces walk through the door. He guessed that even superheroes need some time to themselves. Since the next song was about to start, the thief chose to save the greetings for later and took Jinx's hand.
"This one's a little fast. You okay with that?"
"I'll manage," she smirked back. "In fact, you might end up having to keep up with me."
End of Chapter 8
In Chapter 9: Jinx and Swipe seem to be having the time of their lives, and another couple are about to join them! But, what of the party pooper mentioned in the previous chapter's preview? Patience, my reader, patience.