A/N: I've always disliked characters like Shadash, but I was determined to write one anyway. Little did I know the little bastard would grow on me. Next chapter: animal instinct.
slither
In the darkness of the underground wine house it was cool and hushed with an air of expectation. The regulars knew what was coming and had no qualms hushing those that did not understand what it meant when a serpent dance was to be performed by the jewel in the teahouse's crown.
Bright sunlight streamed down into the middle of the room, slanting to the side with the angle of the afternoon sun. It was around the beacon of light the entire room, broad in expanse but low of ceiling, was centered. The bar, the fine rugs, the low unlit tables and couches, faced the area where performances were held. For while drinks and light repasts brought in ample coins, the establishment thrived on the money their entertainment brought in.
Every eye was drawn to the oblong circle and cylinder of white light that struck the stone floor pale glowing yellow. For the uninitiated, the silent anticipation reached for uncomfortable heights of stillness. Just as they began to fidget with their wine or tea or shift their weight from one side to the other, there was a sound.
A single sibilant note filled the room, caressing the crowd and reaching the short distance to the ceiling, and reverberating throughout the space. A steady flow of equally pleasant notes soon followed. The lyrics sounded familiar, but no one understood the language they were sang in. The voice alone could satisfy even a harsh critic, but it did not arrive alone with the somber song that conveyed loss and heartache.
Into the beam of light came the slow advance of a white snake's head and sinuous body. Four feet from the ground in the blackened room, the serpent seemed to slither through the sunlight itself. Then came a foot, dark as Calimshan coffee, adorned with a heavy gold anklet studded with red jewels and crimson tassels. Following it came a slender leg and then another equally dressed foot.
Wiry young arms, encircled by gold and red bangles, supported the snake's body. The whole figure stepped in behind his jeweled arms; a vision of darkness wrapped in white coils, a filmy length of pale silk belted low on his abdomen. He stood, sensual lips shaping the full sound of his voice as it flowed from him and filled the room. Not an eye in the house was ambivalent to the dark vision or the brilliant white scales that spiraled around his arm and chest.
An increment at a time, the dancer raised his hands, and the white python with them, up to reach for the untouchable sun. His voice rose with his wide-splayed hands, until it was certain that even without understanding his words the dancer wanted the sky. Face raised, bathed in light, his eyes finally opened. Pupils reduced instantly in size until large discs of red and green floated on the whites of his eyes.
He bit the song off with a clash of white teeth and suddenly he was twisting around on the ball of one foot. In the darkness beyond, sitar and tabrets made themselves known, while the sound of drums came in low and strong.
Like the voice that had flowed around the room, so did Shadash's body attain a fluid affect. Twisting and rolling his slender body within the coils of his partner's embrace, he captured and reeled in the gazes of his audience. He spiraled his body in arcs that spun out wide one way, then reversed in a slow corkscrew that brought him nearly to the floor.
Feeling keenly the slick scale-covered muscles that gripped and pushed against him, he followed the white python's travel, setting them both to the music. He sent his arms into undulating movements that enhanced the sight of the graceful snake as it quested its blunt head into the air above Shadash's shoulder. In the next instant, the boy was spinning upwards, hands raised over his head to form a bridge for the serpent's forward motion. The python moved up one arm and down the other, locking his arms more securely than any patrons.
His arms were dark, striped in thick white, and formed a nearly perfect hoop which he rotated around, up, and over his head time and again. At the same time, light-footed steps took him around the perimeter of the bright circle on the floor. The crimson tassels and silk cords on his anklets jumped drunkenly around his complicated and often blinding footwork.
Yet, when the music slowed, he slowed with it. His motions became unbearably lethargic, but no less fascinating. He moved in time with the python's slow caress. Arms still high, the snake began to wrap around the boy's torso on its way to the floor. Shadash moved with the serpent; as it spiraled around his body clockwise, he spun counterclockwise while undulating his body in sensual arcs.
The snake, only dimly aware of being in a performance, appreciated the way these undulations sped its travel. When it encountered too slick silk below the dancer's smooth belly, it nudged the cloth aside. It had no interest or idea that when it ducked its head under the silk over the boy's loins that it would excite the body heat of the general populace.
For his part, the dancer thought nothing of a snake beginning to circle one leg, he simply lifted the leg in question so his bare foot pointed out at the audience. The assemblage could easily see the python slithering over his thigh, while his opposite leg muscles strained with his foot to keep him in a continued rotation. His arms wove in the air, simulating the snake's sinuous movement and helped the creature's tail leave his arm more quickly.
With his arms free, it was easier for Shadash to spin on the flat of his foot and gently guide the python's head toward the floor. The moment the snake's head touched the warm stone, the music died away and Shadash slowly bent his body forward and gracefully swept his leg up and over his head. The snake's head was lifted from the floor and hung, suspended over the dancer's arched back.
Balance and flexibility was critical, but in this way Shadash could hang the python over his head and turn his face up to plant a soft kiss beneath its chin and flickering tongue. In the contorted position, his body was highlighted in all its youthful beauty. He held the pose for several torturous moments, allowing the rapt audience time to understand his dance was at a close.
When the applause began, Shadash brought his body up and his leg down, gathering up as much of the serpent as he could. When he had the sun-warmed serpent in his arms, he dipped into a shallow bow and sauntered out of the ring of sunlight. He made his way out of the room slowly, taking his rounds past all the low tables, shaking the heavy tassels hanging from his belt with twists of his hips. Hands caressed his body, lips expressed their appreciation, and coins slid under his belt. Gold coins, the locals knew, would be taken in the boy's teeth. He was known to nibble at fingers if he thought there was more than one to be found. For gems of high worth, Shadash was even known to give his undivided attention to his benefactor, sometimes including him or her in his performance.