Chapter 9.
After a short walk through Deling City the team reached the club in which they planned to spend the vast majority of the night. The building above the ground was sheerly a façade for the large three-storey, pyramid-shaped club that was constructed a good few meters under the ground. The building was fairly shallow and mostly consisted of backup generators and air conditioning units. Suffice to say, it was also fairly noisy. The front of the building had a large neon sign which read the clubs name 'The Blitz', easily visible from the outskirts of the city, it was also Deling City's number one club for people who could afford to enter.
Irvine could barely keep his eyes in head, whether it was Selphie or other women who were queuing to get into the club. Zell was following Irvine's example, and appeared to be having difficulty keeping his tongue firmly inside his cheeks. Quistis and Squall were walking together, exchanging the odd word now and then, and generally keeping to themselves. Then there were Rinoa and Selphie, practically dying of laughter all the way to the club.
The club had two queue lines, one for people who were queuing 'on the fly' and people who had pre-booked tickets, visibly smaller than the normal queue line. The team started to walk to the longer queue line, but Rinoa stood by the express queue.
"So, where do you guys think you're going?" she shouted, hands on her hips.
"Queue line" called Zell
"Im the daughter of a Galbadian General, you seriously think I wait in lines? Plus, I already booked tickets for us."
Zell just shrugged and walked back to Rinoa, prompting the rest of the team to walk back…All except Selphie who ran over and high-fived Rinoa on the hand.
"Can I help you?" the cheery voice said from inside the booth.
"I ordered tickets for six people" replied Rinoa.
"Name?"
"Rinoa Caraway"
The party stopped and again looked at Rinoa, who just turned around and winked at them.
"Here're your tickets Miss Caraway" the man in the booth said passing the six tickets to her through the glass.
"Payment has already been taken from your bank account, enjoy the night"
"Thank you" Rinoa said, passing the tickets around. A buzzer then sounded and the main door opened, the team sauntered inside then the doors closed behind them.
Squall hung back behind the rest of the group as they walked down the few flights of steps into the highest levels of the club. Upon reaching the bottom of the flights of steps there were three sets of double doors, the middle leading to the top floor, the left leading down another long staircase to the first floor, and the right leading to the second. There were also staff around collecting peoples tickets before they entered the club. To the left was another set of double doors with a sign above that read 'Shop'. This particularly caught Selphie's attention as she started pointing, jumping up and down and shouting
"Shineys!" the rest of the group all put on a Squall-like impression, shook their heads and placed them in their hands as the staff were all looking at them, Squall just rose an eyebrow and waited for the rest of the group to compose themselves. Once they'd done that, Rinoa walked over to one of the staff and handed the six tickets to the staff-member standing by them, he smiled and waved Rinoa and the party on.
They walked through the double doors into a corridor with another set of double doors at the opposite end, as they progressed along it, they started hearing the bass beats eminating from within the club, shaking the walls and the floor, even though the main speakers were two floors below them. The time was quickly approaching eight oclock when Zell looked at his watch as they approached the set of doors. Irvine walked in front of the rest of the group, turned, stretched his arms out so both his hands were touching opposite walls, stopping the rest of the group from going past.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, prepare yourself for the best experience of your life" he then coughed "If of course you haven't already been here" then moved out of the way, allowing the group to enter through the doors, grasping Selphie in his arms as she went past.
"Where d'you think you're going cowgirl?"
Squalls first point of reference was the balcony overlooking the two floors below him, there were people already on the massive dance floor two floors below him, he was looking straight down and also leaning over the barrier somewhat before somebody came up behind him and grabbed him by the shoulders, and as strange as it may sound, taking him by surprise.
"WHOA" he exclaimed in shock "I swear to god Zell, you ever do that again I'll"
"Yeah yeah yeah, I know" Zell said, grinning from ear to ear. "Eventually caught you off guard, you have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that" He didn't notice Rinoa coming up behind him and taking him by surprise with a backhand across the back of the head. "Ow!" he shouted before backing away from both Squall and his attacker. Squall just looked over at her, she just grinned and walked over to Squall before placing herself against the same balcony Squall was leaning against.
"Well whaddya know, Squall Leonhart in a club, wouldn't have thought it would'ja" Rinoa was surprised as Squall turned his head to face her, happy expression on his face.
"Its also amazing how some people change in some ways, and stay exactly the same in others"
Rinoa pondered over this for a second before asking the question that Squall was mentally dreading.
"Hey Squall, you wanna dance?"
"Not right now, we only just got here, plus, I've already promised Quisty first dance" Quistis then approached them,
"Did I hear my name? And if so, what did I do"
"You did, and Squall tells me he promised you first dance"
Squall and Quistis exchanged a quick glance, Quistis immediately picked up on Squalls desperation and quickly answered,
"Yeah, he did"
"Ah, its fine, I guess ill hafta catch him later then, eh Squall?"
"Yeah, I will dance with you tonight though, just not now"
"Sure thing, ill see you later" Rinoa walked off to mingle with her victim, Selphie and Irvine.
"Thank you" Squall mouthed to Quistis as she walked away, and Quistis replied with something Squall wasn't expecting. A wink. He blinked, looked away, then looked back, only to see her do the exact same thing again, this time placing her back against the balcony and arching back slightly…suggestively. Squall felt his face flush red before quickly turning away, shaking his head rapidly and placing his forehead in his palms. He felt a tap on his shoulder and somebody lean over and whisper into his ear.
"I'll be waiting for that dance, come find me if you think you can handle it" It was Quistis, he felt her arm brush against his back as she turned and walked off. He hazarded a glance in the direction that he knew she was walking, raised an eyebrow and again leaned over the balcony and looked to the floor below.
A few minutes passed with Squall still looking over the balcony at the people dancing two floors below when he saw a familiar figure saunter directly into his view, Quistis, people seemingly clearing out of her way for her to elegantly step into his field of vision. She looked straight up at Squall, his eyes widened as they made perfect eye contact, even over the two floor distance, she raised her hand in the air and beckoned for him to join her with one finger, he just stared, turned back to the rest of the group then headed towards the stairway actually built into the balcony that lead down to the first floor in a circular motion. He sauntered down the steps, avoiding the people either pushing past him or heading in the opposite direction as much as he could, all the time feeling two eyes boring into his side, her eyes, even as she was dancing to the beats of the music in more than elegant style, swift movements and footwork wowing the crowd of people also dancing around her. He stood. On the edge of the laminate dance floor, observing as she basked in the attention she was receiving until, almost on cue, she raised a hand into the air, tilted her head back, and the music stopped. She pointed towards Squall, and he felt the eyes of everybody around her make instant contact with him, she again beckoned him to her with a finger on her spare hand, to which he acknowledged and walked forward, people stepping out of his way as he walked forward. Toward the figure who was beckoning him. He got close enough, and stood facing the floor with a hand on his hip. She took a few paces towards him and took the hand from his hip and placed it in hers, he took his other hand and also placed it in hers, she then pulled him close, close enough that he could feel her breath on his neck, it was soft, and a little shaky. Then the music resumed. She snuggled further into his neck, letting her body move to the beat of the music, moving against his wherever possible.
"So, how does it feel?" she asked.
He was silent for a moment, standing relaxed, not dancing.
"How?"
"I asked the DJ to do me a favour, just dance with me ok?"
"I…I don't know how to dance to this sort of music…"
"It's easy, you just focus on the beat, and let your body do the rest"
"Uh…whatever"
"You did NOT just say that…"
"Say what"
"Nevermind"
It was then that he focused on the music, concentrated on each and every beat, and came up with something in his mind that would go well with the music.
What ensued was a show of such magnitude that by the time the song had finished, and the music had again done another 'magical' stop, both Quistis and Squall were sweating from head, to toe. The rest of the party had already run down the stairs and were there to greet the sweating duo.
"Well, that was different" muttered Squall, under his own shallow breath. Irvine, Selphie, Zell and Rinoa just stopped and stared once again.
"Alright, Squall, you're going to have to seriously teach me to dance, that was awesome" chirped Zell as the music jumped into its next set of beats. Irvine pointed toward Zell clearly saying 'What he said', Selphie pulled Quistis off to one side and was whispering something in her ear that was making Quistis visibly amused.
"So, when do I get a turn?"…Rinoa
"Just err…gimme a little while to cool off from that one…"
"So, fifteen minutes then?"
"What's the rush?"
"No rush"
"Hmmm…ok, make it thirty and you've got a deal"
"Done"
"Done, so, who's up for a drink?" Squall replied, desperately trying to divert attention away from the conversation at hand. And with that, they all headed off to the bar.