A/N: Well here's another! Probably one of my faves. Not over the top, but... sweet? You tell me.


Chapter Sixteen: A Few Tricks Up Your Sleeve

His voice hummed in the air between them as he let out a quiet murmur of, "I'm waiting, Princess."

She couldn't think clearly. It was like every sense was being overloaded on Derek-ness, and the words weren't coming to her. So she pursed her lips and glared straight ahead. She needed to get a grip on herself. And she needed to end this silence. Which meant she needed to come up with a response, quick.

Rational Casey took control, sorting out all discomfort into a sub-section and all of her competitive energy into her primary drive, before flipping the 'cool' switch and shifting her facial expression into a sly superior smile, the light of a challenge in her eye. "Fine," she shrugged, turning to her stepbrother and ignoring the way his hand skimmed her thigh as she pushed it off the stool. She pointed to the end of the counter. "Stand over there."

As he moved to do as she bid (surprisingly, with only a muttered "Yeah, sure, whatever Princess,") she focused her attention on forgetting that Derek was… well, Derek. She needed him to be someone else right now. Someone very different. Like Wesley, for instance.

She closed her eyes for a quick second, face melting into a happy smile as she imagined the black curls, stony green eyes, the dimples, the charmingly sheepish smile he got when he was late to turn back their graded assignments… Her smile slipped into a scowl. Why was Wes smirking? That wasn't a very Wes look. It was a very Derek look. Shaking her head, she wiped the look off of Wes's imaginary face, replacing it with the grin he'd shot her when she aced her first exam. (Still, that smirk was haunting her. It had been kinda hot.)

"Any time now, Case."

Before her mental image could slip into a smirk again (and it wanted to with those words), she opened her eyes and shot Derek a glare. "Shush, you. I'm trying to forget that it's –" she pulled a face, and made a noise of disgust, "-you."

He rolled his eyes, but stood, arms crossed over his chest, and bowed his head to her with a 'go on' hand wave.

Right. Now, getting in character…

She was strong. She was independent. She was powerful and full of womanly wiles. She was, dare she admit, sexy. And in control. And she would bend men to her will. Right.

She stepped off her stool, flipped her hair, running a hand through it, and shook out her shoulders. She pointedly did not notice the raised eyebrow Derek directed at her. Lifting her rib cage and settling her shoulders back, she put on a confident smirk that may have even rivaled Derek's, and leaned one arm against the counter, cocking a hip out. She felt like she should have bubble gum and a beauty mark, and maybe a Pink Ladies jacket. Her voice was low and mildly affected as she attempted to smoulder her eyes at him. "Heya, Stud."

There was a beat of silence. Then Derek burst out laughing.

"You have got to be kidding me," he barely managed to straighten up, too overcome with laughter. "That's your line? 'Heya Stud?'"

Casey glared. "Well I'm not exactly in the practice of doing this, y'know. Usually a guy just buys me a drink, strikes up a conversation – I'm not usually the one making the moves, Der."

It took him another full minute to calm himself down. "Sorry Case," (he sounded anything but, but straightened and tried to smooth out his face,) "Try again." He nodded to her.

"No! You'll just laugh!"

He lowered his chin in her direction. "No I won't." Lies. After a moment's pause, he rolled his eyes. "Okay, I'll try not to. Just give it another shot." She refused to respond. "Please, Casey?" He sounded pretty earnest. "You must've done something to get those guys to give you their numbers yesterday. Try that."

"Fine." That was what she'd do. Just what she'd done last night.

Casey flipped her hair again, resetting, this time leaning her back up against the edge and raising her leg to rest a foot back against the counter as she fixed him with a level gaze, a small but confident smile on her lips. She flicked her eyes over him, seeming to approve. When she did speak, it was calm and cool, and a little playful. "Hey. So my friend bet me I couldn't get your number… Wanna prove her wrong?" She finished with a small smirk.

Derek's eyebrows had been steadily migrating higher as he watched. He looked, dare she say, impressed. With her. His lips pulled into a matching smirk, and he took a few slow, sauntering steps until he was less than a foot away, his eyes looking her over just as she'd done to him. Only, his look felt a bit more… thorough. She took a sip from her drink, not taking her eyes off him, as she tried not to break character. She could do this. She'd acted. She'd even been in plays and stuff!

"That depends, do you promise to call me?"

She hadn't been expecting him to keep the scene going. But she'd taken an improv course. Once. She could yes-and this. Her smirk widened, and she tilted her head side to side, as though considering it. Then she looked at him again. "I make no promises." Her voice was teasing, and her lips were coy. She gave him the look she'd tried to achieve at the Varsity: hungry, interested, and very forward. Alicia called them sex eyes.

Casey tried not to think 'sex eyes' and 'Derek' in the same sentence. She instead became very aware of how warm she was with the alcohol and the jacket, and the slight hum of the lights, and the quiet sound of pop music coming out of the speakers a few yards away.

There was something in the way he was looking at her. It was a lot like the guys from the night before, that touch of good-humored disbelief. "Y'know, I don't usually give my number to a girl unless I know her name. I'm-" he hesitated, and there was a flash of something else in his eyes, "-D." He held out a hand.

Well, it was better than flirting with a Derek. She could deal with that. (Heh. D-eal.)

"Casey." She couldn't come up with a new name on the spot. He was close enough that she didn't even have to reach her arm out. She transferred her beer into her left hand and shook his with her right, elbow still against the 'bar.'

"And what's a nice girl like you doing making bets about phone numbers, Casey?" He was smirking again.

Was it just her, or had he gotten even closer? His hand, resting on the bar, was almost brushing her elbow. And she didn't have an answer for that. Last night, she'd just made her excuses as soon as possible once she got the digits. She pulled out her phone, pulled up a new contact entry, and handed it over. "How do you know I'm a nice girl?"

He gave her a jokingly incredulous look, but a mischievous smile crept onto his lips as he took her phone. He had nice lips. "So, you're saying, if you had to be tagged as either naughty or nice you'd be…?" He glanced up from where he'd been typing, waiting for her answer.

She bit her lip. Was this a ploy just to get her to use that word? Cause she didn't like that word. It had way too many connotations. Still, in character she'd probably use that word anyway… Instead, she shrugged, and tilted her head to look up at him from under heavy lashes. "Who says you can't be a little of both?" When he'd finished typing, she took the phone back and held it up to take a picture for the contact card. "Smile, D."

He shot her a smirk. It was actually a pretty good picture.

"Well, y'know, D – I gotta go. It was nice meeting you." She managed to keep the flirtatious attitude as she finished her drink.

He looked taken aback. "Seriously?"

She shot him a smirk. "No worries," she cupped his face with her hand – a bold move, and one she probably wouldn't have turned to except the whole banter bit had been going so well, "-I'll give you a call." She patted his cheek with a wicked grin, placed her drink back on the counter, and turned to leave the 'bar.' A few steps away, she stopped. "Aaaand… end scene!" She clapped her hands together as she turned to face her stepbrother, a self-satisfied smile painted across her face.


A/N: This chapter's title is courtesy of The Soft Pack's 'Answer to Yourself.' It's a rockin' song, and I figured the independence angle worked well for Casey showing off her own skillz. ;) (Side note, MV has Chloe Grace Moretz kickin ass.) So yeah... I know it's not over the top sexual, but it feels (to me) like a pretty organic conversation. Does that make sense?

Repeating this again: looking for theories on the rest of the evening, and also playlist: bit. ly/1Js2Osw (removing the space)