WARNING: NSFW, Mulanna. Please skip this chapter if you can't handle Mulanna content.

NOTE: Hey, look at that; made it home from Pride, safe and sound! And with plenty of time to spare for posting more SEEK! Hooray!

~ Chapter Twenty-Five ~

"Oh… MY god."

The party was one of the most ridiculous things Anna had ever seen. So many representatives of the eighteen-to-twenty-five demographic, with a few thirty-pluses sprinkled in for good measure. They were probably the ones who had provided a lot of the things that Anna didn't want to know about, being sold out of a fishing tackle box. That was off-limits for the wayward Canadian; bad enough she was drinking against her parents' wishes.

Mulan was nowhere to be seen, but that was to be expected in a sprawling beach-mansion packed to the gills with bodies. Most of them were dancing, but some were simply lounging around on furniture. Some bodies were lounging on other bodies, or doing more than lounging. People were jumping in and out of the pool like it was a trampoline.

"Okay," Anna breathed to herself, wiping her palms on her shorts as she approached a drink table. "What can I pick that's not going to murder me?"

"Try those," said a boy with a casual smirk. He didn't look nearly as well-dressed as everyone else there, but his dark features and shaggy hair gave him a rakish quality that went well with his pecs and abs. Anna wished Kristoff was there; he'd probably have exploded with glee.

"Try what?" Then she followed his index finger, which turned out to be pointing at the cans of beer in ice. "Oh… OH! You're right, those are probably safer."

"Definitely safer." Smiling warmer now, he reached out a hand to her. "I'm Al."

"I'm gay," she answered automatically. When his eyebrow went up, she froze in mid-handshake. "I… um…"

Shaking his head, he leaned back against the wall as she picked up the beer and held it up in front of her face. "That's, uh, not how people usually introduce themselves, but… good to know."

"Sorry, but I just, I had this feeling you were about to hit on me, and in my head I was thinking, 'If he knew I was gay I could head that off before it gets worse,' but I didn't mean to actually blurt it out, and now you-"

"Think you're really cool," he finished, heading off whatever she had been about to tell him instead. "Seriously, we're good. So… gay, huh? How's that working out for you?"

"What?!"

"Well, I don't have anything else to talk about with you so far other than 'how's the beer', and you haven't tried the beer yet."

Grinning, she popped the top open, gestured to the can like a girl on a game show, and then took a sip. "Yep… tastes like beer."

"Oh, it's you."

Anna turned to find herself nose-to-nose with Meg. This time, there was no Tiana in tow - or she was elsewhere in the party, which was a very high possibility. "Hey! How are you?"

"Better since I haven't seen your famous friend at this party." Glancing over at the boy, she said, "Is this your boyfriend?"

"Doubtful," Al muttered under his breath.

"No, no, just a new friend, I guess. What's… I mean, it's cool we're both here. Right?"

"Yeah… 'cool.' Are you claiming all these drinks for yourself?" When Anna moved aside, she picked up a wine cooler instead, then glanced up and down Anna again. "So, what's your thing?"

"My thing?"

"You know… what do you do, why are you here, who are you in this big, wide world?"

"Nobody. I mean, you called it at the club; I'm nothing special. Just Anna."

"Then that's how it's going to stay." When Anna looked away again, she went on, "Unless you figure out how to be a little less 'shrinking violet' and a little more 'check out my website at', you'll always be nobody. You have to grab life by the balls sometimes, or it can be a living hell."

Halfway through that, Anna realised that Meg wasn't just trashing her for being uninteresting; she was trying to give her advice. Maybe it wasn't advice that she necessarily needed, since she did have a plan in mind for her future. Still, it was better than just being yelled at.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll remember that."

"So," Al said, leaning in slightly. "You interested in either one of us?"

"Either one of-" Meg blinked, looking between them. "Wait, you think I'm… well, I guess I've been called worse things." Then she fixed him with a level gaze. "I am interested in neither of you - especially not 'Just Anna', thank you very much."

"What, I don't look cute in this cami?" At that, Meg couldn't help but crack a slight smile. "I mean, not that I'm any good at this kinda thing, but I think Al was fishing to find out if you're gay so he could fix us up."

"Ah, okay, that makes more sense." She had just taken a sip of the cooler when she froze in place for a moment, then slowly lowered it as she stared at Anna."Ohhhh. Okay, wow, my mistake — I mean, I hope you didn't take what I said as like, you not being attractive for real. Just not my type."

Smiling a little easier now, Anna leaned back against the table and asked, "What type is that?" When Meg nodded at a well-muscled man with curly hair, dancing close to the hot tub, Anna said, "Ah, I gotcha. He's cute, go talk to him."

"I'm already interested in someone back in Greece. Although… what happens on Ibiza…" Flashing them a suggestive smile, she flounced away from the table and toward the aforementioned dancing boy.

~ o ~

Anna took that to heart. She chatted with Al for a few minutes before forging her way back into the rest of the party. She wasn't sure where Mulan was, but she wanted to find her, to progress their evening instead of just loitering around with a bunch of people she didn't know.

Finally, much to her relief, Mulan flagged her down from across the living room. Even at that party, she was wearing a vest and a short-sleeved button-up with khaki shorts and boat shoes; almost as "dapper" as one could get at a seaside party like that. The sound system in there was too loud for them to hear each other, so they retreated to a hallway.

"Sorry!" Mulan half-shouted with a huge grin. "God, I went out back, out front, out everywhere — and I texted you but you didn't answer!"

"You did?!" Pulling her phone out of her pocket that just barely held it, she glanced at the screen. "Shit, you did; I didn't even hear it! I'm sorry!"

"Don't worry about it, I tracked you down. Want a drink?"

"Sure, if you can get me one without weird chemicals or rat poison."

"Rat poison?!"

Smiling a private smile, Anna said, "Nevermind. Let's go see if there's any non-spiked punch."

The two of them danced for a while, Anna doing her best not to look awkward while Mulan looked completely comfortable in her skin, a match for anyone else there. She might not have been doing any fantastic, showy moves — not like the girl literally dancing IN the punch bowl, thankfully having started after they both had a glass — but she was holding her own, quite easily. Now that Anna had a little libation inside her, she was growing more accustomed to the moves.

And then, when the DJ took a break and put on a SEEK song, Anna rolled her eyes. "I can't dance to this!" she told her partner. "Too weird!"

"What? Oh, because you were with Elsa the other day?" As they wandered the rest of the house, she asked, "How'd that all come about, anyway?"

"It's a long story…"

By the time Anna had finished what was becoming a very familiar tale to tell, they were sitting in what turned out to be a weight room, on one of the benches. Perhaps it was the alcohol going to her head, but she honestly couldn't remember when Mulan had scooted so close, or when she had begun resting her hand on Mulan's thigh. Everything just seemed to happen so naturally.

"And now Esmé's there, too?!" Sighing, she leaned back to gaze up at the dark ceiling. "Man… I wish I wasn't flying out tomorrow morning, it'd be awesome to meet those two."

"You're really going that soon, huh?" Both of her hands slid onto Mulan's leg; it was a calculated risk. Not that a lot of calculating was going on in her inebriated brain, but in the moment, she was proud of herself. "That's too bad."

And it worked. Mulan leaned closer, blinking shyly even as she advanced. "Terrible. Almost like… I'd love to have a perfect memory. Something to remember the end of this trip by."

"Maybe we can arrange that." No more waiting. Her face closed the last shred of distance.

Mulan's lips were soft and smooth, and felt incredible against her own. This was happening — her first kiss! Well, her first honest-to-goodness romantic one, and not cheek-kisses with Elsa or ones from her mom when she was little. Thinking about her mom was a bad plan; she shifted back to the present, a thrill shooting through her stomach from how this beautiful woman who somehow found her desirable could make her feel.

More came, a blur around her as she felt the bench up against her whole back, Mulan's body pressing down on top of her. A tongue found her own; where did that come from? But she couldn't stop herself from wanting more, running her fingers over the short fuzzy hair on either side of Mulan's scalp, the long hairs attached to the center. All of it was sensation, all of it mesmerising to her as she lay there, being kissed like never before.

"You're so good," Mulan panted between contacts, hands sliding up and down Anna's side. "So fucking hot."

For whatever reason, perhaps the way Mulan was grunting or that she was so heavy atop her, she whispered, "You're so butch… I'm really…"

"Butch, huh?" Mulan chuckled, sliding a hand up the side of Anna's cami - under it. The fingertips weren't at her breast, not yet, but they were coming closer. "Does that make you my bitch?"

"Wh-wha-" But her words were cut off by another kiss, deeper, harder. Another hand was on her thigh, and she felt tingles spreading from the contact.

"Yeah," Mulan breathed shakily, pulling back to gaze down into her eyes as the hand found her breast at last. Anna gasped, writhing under the touch, loving and hating it at the same time. "My little bitch. Don't worry; Mulan's going to take good care of you. I swear it."

The hand on her thigh was higher now, prying up the pantleg, heading in and further in as her tit was being pulled this way and that. Feelings were happening in both areas, but another was happening in the middle of her stomach that didn't have anything to do with where Mulan was touching her. At least, not directly.

"You want more?" Mulan asked heatedly, flicking a fingertip over Anna's nipple and causing her head to fall to one side, eyes sliding shut. "I got that. You can have anything you want right now. Anything."

Her stomach seemed to unfurl, to open up around the presence that had been growing there, the unwelcome feeling. It became more powerful when she felt a fingertip just touching her underwear; she knew what it was.

"I want…"

Fear.

"I want you to s-stop."

Mulan blinked down at her, hands no longer moving. "You want… wait, what?"

"P-please, I need to stop," she half-whispered, head still turned away from the girl atop her who had just nearly driven her to an anxiety attack.

"Uh…" Mulan sat back, hands raising away from Anna and sliding out of her clothing. "You got it. What's…"

Shaking her head, Anna stumbled for the door so fast she lost a flip-flop. Stopping to put it back on seemed to mean she had to say something, so she tried, "I'll be fine. Just… need… out of here."

"Wait, but we didn't- I don't get it. What happened just now?"

"Nothing. Nothing happened; nothing's ever going to happen. I'm… sorry." And then Anna managed to wrench the doorknob open and flee… like the little coward she felt she was.

~ To Be Continued ~