Daddy was so mean sometimes. Chrys had found a totally perfect and totally unwitting volunteer to play with at the business meeting of the day-- which was easily the only good thing to come out of one of those borefests. She was going to have so much FUN!

But Daddy gave her the look. It was the look he always gave her when she was eyeing a pool boy or using shredded documents to make her office look like Alaska. It was the "don't be a bad girl" look, and she did not want to disobey him.

Well, she did not want to disobey him when he was around.

She was in a sour mood after the meeting, and her moods were not easily broken. Even at the club, she was sitting at the bar with a drink in her hand, pouting. It was not a very crazy nightclub, so Chrys did her best to pick a tame enough outit, or at least ask a servant to pick one out for her.

Maybe it was because she was still sore at losing the Dent boy that afternoon, but Chrys was feeling very picky. A few men spoke to her, but she paid them no attention. There were pretty boys and strong looking boys, but they all seemed so... boring.

The night was getting late. Chrys needed to find a plaything or else she was going to have a painfully dull night. She turned to scan the dance floor. There had to be someone who seemed fun out there...

Akshay. Was. Back.

Ever since his last outing with Jean, Lexi, and Rebecca, Akshay had slowly begun to get back into his normal routine. Yes it was sad that his relationship of so many months had stopped but at the same time, he couldn’t let that stop his life all together. There was still so much to do, to see, to dance! Why was he going to curl up into a ball and rot away inside of his apartment when there were still so many other good things in the world? Sure, he was sad Emerald was gone, but at the same time he couldn’t let that stop him from living his life.

And Akshay was a life-livin’ machine!

Assuring Jean and Lexi that he was doing better, he decided to spend the night out by himself. He promised the pair that he wouldn’t be home, crying into a bowl of hot soup and making it cold with his tears. He was living up to that promise.

Tonight was a new club! Akshay had never been to this one before but the buzz about it was pretty good! Good DJs, good drinks, and ever a sexy woman or two strutting about the interior. That was not to say that Akshay was simply out hunting for a woman to seduce, he really was out just to have a good time. But, hey, if a pretty girl came up and started up a conversation, who was he to turn her down?

After all, the man wasn’t made of stone!

An new, energetic song filtered in through the speakers. Akshay tilted his head to side, grinning a bit to himself as he began to slip into his next dance mode. People around him, sexy clad women, men in clothes FAR too tight, nervous women, overly-confident men, they all began to pull away from Akshay. Having already seen him dance once, they knew that not only space was needed, but they wanted to enjoy the show and not be outshined by this obvious dancing star.

The song pumping him, Akshay tilted his head down low and felt the presence some brave soul come up to join him. Apparently this person not only wanted to participate, but he wanted to be a part of the dance battle. Akshay was fine with that.

“Mind?” his new dance partner asked.

Akshay just grinned and didn’t look at the dark skinned man with the gray sweatshirt and black jeans. “Only if you can’t keep up.”

The call to battle had been rung. Before the audience knew it, the dance started, Akshay leading with cool, subtle, and very calculated moves. Quickly it evolved into an impressive array of his skill, marveling the audience around him who gasped and grinned as the lithe and limber young Indian man danced to his heart’s content. It would be a battle easily won…

Chrys was just about ready to give up on her search for a fun new toy. No one on the dance floor seemed to be doing anything, which really made a dance floor seem pointless. Did people realize how dull they looked when they just started standing around for no good reason?

Of course, when Chrys found the reason for all the mannequinesque behavior, the woman's lips curled into a wicked smile. There were two possible playthings in the center of the dance floor, and they were magnificent. One was taller and his musculature was very well defined, and normally, Chrys loved that; to make a big, strong man hurt like a frail little girl. It was adorable.

But the man's opponent in what Chrys had been assured in the past was some kind of fight was the one she had her eye on. He was a pretty lean man; maybe even scrawny, depending on what he looked like under that jacket of his. She was quite possibly unremarkable.

But the way he moved.

Oh, the way he moved was beautiful. Every part of the mans anatomy was behaving like a separate entity. Each piece of him swiveled in a way she could only describe as marvelous. He was so intriguing! Chrys needed to ask him about how he could move like that.

And if she was lucky, maybe she could take a closer look at those mysterious joints and ligaments...

Chrys finished her cocktail and placed it on the counter with a credit card before jumping out of her stool and out to the dance floor.. She would just cancel it in the morning; it was less important than wasting time waiting for the bartender to cash her out.

Chrys nimbly maneuvered her way near the front of the crowd. She watched the man, giving him the eyes boys always loved. She had learned to look at a man right: like she was hungry and they were steak. He was absorbed in his dancing, but he would look up eventually.

She wanted him now, so he would be hers. If some other skanky girl wanted to stick her stupid self in the way, Chrys would just bite them. It was a sound philisophy that worked well enough in a crowded nightclub.

Akshay had to dance floor. That was not to say that the guy who danced with him wasn’t good, he was quite good, but Akshay was better. Each movement and step was calculated to the point that the young wordsmith looked as if he was made of several, separate moving parts rather than being a single being. It was an effect that he loved to display because of how much control that it took. On top of that, it was just plain fun! The looks on people’s faces as they danced was absolutely priceless and Akshay couldn’t help holding them all in the palm of his hand.

Yeah, his opponent was good. Akshay was simply the better man.

Women swooned, whistled, men had to nod in admiration, some just looked at him with jealous eyes, it was all so wonderful. Though his break up with Emerald had been a hard one, Akshay always felt better when he was out dancing. There was just something about the movements that allowed him to shun those thoughts away. It was very…cathartic.

The song wound down, so did Akshay. It was during this time that he looked up, finally, to see what had to an extremely gorgeous woman in black slinking nearby. Normally this would have only garnered a pause of acknowledgement. But before he could look away he locked in on her eyes.

Mmmm, rawr, her eyes said.

(and Akshay was fluent in eye speech!)

Akshay only momentarily forgot himself as the song neared the end, eyeing the same woman with a silly grin on his face. He didn’t know what it was about her; of course she was attractive but there was something else about her--a sense of the danger maybe. Either why, Akshay really couldn’t take his eyes off of her as he continued to last of his dance, finally winding down enough to end in a rather epic pose with his new found dance partner.

The crowd cheered, they clapped, and Akshay muttered his thanks. Adjusting his jacket and running his fingers lightly through his hair to tousle it up a bit (to look dangerous himself), he stepped towards the eye-speaking woman and put on his best smile. Yeah he had just gone through a break up, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t make a new friend, right?

He was a mere few feet from the intriguing woman when—

“O-M-G! Like, you’re SO hawt!”

“You dance like AWESOME!”

“Have my dancing babies!!”

Akshay suddenly found his way barred by a trio of blondes (who all surprisingly looked alike), wearing the exact same extremely short, neon pink dress that left absolutely little to the imagination. Apparently he was looking at triplets; club hopping triplets; very loud club hopping triplets…

Life was difficult for Akshay Malik…

Chrys definitely achieved eye contact! And he made a grinny-face! Chrys knew enough about the rules to know that when the dancing machine was done musically beating the other guy up, it was so on!

>> “O-M-G! Like, you’re SO hawt!”

>> “You dance like AWESOME!”

>> “Have my dancing babies!!”

IT WAS SO ON.

Three airheaded blonde stupid-face bimbos had been more fleet-footed, beating Chrys to meet the man. There was no way the girls were playing fair to get out there so quick! They must have been moving in before the dance was even over!

Chrys could accept that she had lost out and had her fun with the loser, but that would be accepting that she was also the loser! Besides, she CLEARLY called eye-dibs! He was definitely hers!

But there were three skankosaurs, and Chrys's powers only worked on one person at a time. It would have been impractical for her to deal with one, walk out of range, return to bite another, deal with her, get out of range and STILL have another girl to get rid of. At that point, even Chrys might end up lightheaded and woozy from blood loss!

She was going to have to use a lame non-hurty solution. Being bold and forward might work if the man was as fun as he seemed and played along. If he didn't, she would just bite him and punish him for being mean to her. It was a win-win plan.

Chrys took the longest strides forward that her short body could manage, parting with two of the plastic-twins to get in between them and her prey. With a big, sweet smile, she tossed her arms over his shoulders. "Sweetie! You were sooo cool! The most awesome thing on the dance floor!"

With all the confidence of a woman who had no social fear, she turned her head to look at the girls, still smiling. "Oh? New friends? That's nice."

She turned to look back at the man with her big brown eyes, speaking softly, but not so softly that the girls would not hear her. "But I was really hoping that after another dance or two, we could go back home, so I could get nice and comfy..."

She had chosen her toy, and she would have him yet!

Akshay was indeed going to head for the girl who eyed him so hungrily from before. But a problem arose. Well, more three[/b] problems arose. The three women who formed a protective wall barring him from any other women, stood strong and united as they fawned over his dancing skills and even attempted to proposition children out of him. Akshay wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about most of that, but hey, the three blonde women were pretty hot. Then again, that brunette, she was just so mysterious and tantalizing.

“Um, ladies—“ he attempted to say as he felt one reach out just a bit too far and graze something that DEFINITELY[/b] didn’t belong to her! That was not to say he wasn’t attracted to a bold woman but damn!

He attempted to calm the trio down when he looked up to see the brunette advance towards him. Maybe he willed her help, maybe she wanted to stake her claim, whatever the case she proceeded to push past the gathered women with a large smirk on her face.

Akshay was instantly captivated…

>> "Sweetie! You were sooo cool! The most awesome thing on the dance floor!"[/color]

He. Blinked. What could he possibly do? His only options were to either deny this idea and possibly both offend and lose the mysterious brunette, or he could go with it! In the split second it took to decide, Akshay slipped into the role of the embarrassed boyfriend.

“D’aww…thanks…babe…” he managed to squeak out. He really was no good at last minute pet names.

>> “Oh? New friends? That's nice."[/color]

The trio looked a combination of disturbed, irritated, and shocked at the recent turn of events. They could have all sworn that they had seen the magnificent dancer come into the bar alone and not with any girl in toe. But judging by how the two of them were reacting, they could see that they were at a loss in the situation.

>> "But I was really hoping that after another dance or two, we could go back home, so I could get nice and comfy..."[/color]

One of the trio huffed and walked away without a word, the other glared daggers into the brunette when she turned and called them “new friends” before slinking away, and the last stood there, gawking for a moment. It took a second but once the brunette had turned her back to her, the blonde raised her hand to her ear (mimicking a phone) and whispered in a breathless voice, “Call Me!” before dashing away to join her sisters.

Akshay was saved!

…from a trio of lovely blondes that wanted to rip his close off.

…

Ahem.

He turned his full attention back to the brunette that had her arms wrapped around him. When he was sure that the blondes were really gone, he grinned a little stupidly as he looked down to the slightly shorter woman.

“Hah, thanks for the save, beautiful,” he beamed. “If you hadn’t come along they might have, um, I-I guess ripped me apart and had their way with me?” Akshay tried to remember why that was a bad thing but instead of arguing with himself, he kept his attention fully on the brunette. “I’m Akshay!”

Introductions were a good start right?

>> “D’aww…thanks…babe…”

Oh good, he was playing along. Things would go so much easier if he did that. It would have been hard for her to handle it if he resisted or struggled. That would only be fun later.

Chrys could feel the eye-daggers cutting into her from the girls behind her, but she did not mind; on the contrary, the imagery got her blood pumping with anticipating. The girls yielded to the clear owner of the boy and retreated with their tails between their legs; victory!

And now she even had a cute little (or rather taller) prize made in India and just for her!

>> “Hah, thanks for the save, beautiful. If you hadn’t come along they might have, um, I-I guess ripped me apart and had their way with me? I’m Akshay!”

Chrys eyes widened at his original comment-- that was totally her thing! Three Barbie Dolls could not just move in on her game! It only took a moment before she pieced together that Akshay might be using some sort of euphemism. She was hit or miss with the non-literal, but she could play along with this one. "I'm Chrysanthemum," she greeted with a wide smile, "but it could be easier to just call me Chrys!"

She leaned in and whispered in in his ear, "And I wouldn't assume so quickly that you're safe... because letting me have my way is more enjoyable." For me... She considered nibbling his earlobe, but it was too early; she did not want him to notice he was bonded to her too early and have him run off.

She pulled away, flashing a sweet "daddy's little girl next door" smile. "I'd ask to dance, but I'm not sure I could keep up with the way that fascinating body moves..."

>> "I'm Chrysanthemum…but it could be easier to just call me Chrys!" [/color]

Chrysanthemum. Akshay had to admit that that had to be the most unusual and yet beautiful name that he had ever heard. While such a thing was usually said in order to seduce a woman, for Akshay the case just happened to be true. It was not a line he was trying to drop, but instead it was a true and honest to goodness thought. He had thought about voicing said thought but quickly found out that it would have come off as way too cheesy.

After all, he finally got his chance to be near this interesting and mysterious woman! He really didn’t want to ruin his chances by attempting to come off as some second-hand pick up artist…

>> “And I wouldn't assume so quickly that you're safe... because letting me have my way is more enjoyable." [/color]

She leaned in (boy did she lean in!) and Akshay found himself partially frozen. At first all he felt was her breath on his ear and he could have passed out with happiness right there! Instead, though, he grinned as that teasing, whispering voice snaked into his ear canal and tickled just the right nerves. It was easy to see that Akshay was on cloud nine just being around this woman.

She then pulled away but was still close enough for Akshay to grin very stupidly at the scent of whatever perfume she was wearing (if she was wearing one at all!).

>> "I'd ask to dance, but I'm not sure I could keep up with the way that fascinating body moves..."[/color]

Akshay smirked a little. She really was adorably cute/sexy. She had a magnificent look about her and she had a body that he was sure anyone would kill to possess. But the way she looked at him, marveling over his dance moves, he could only feel his ego inflate just a tiny bit. Who was he to deny this young woman a dance? Much less, a lesson in dance?

“Aw, Chrys, I’m sure you’re being modest,” he reassured. Just as he did song faded to an end from in speakers. In this place came on the perfect song for instruction. It was had a good beat, wasn’t too fast, and would be perfect for him to seduce teach the young woman. He let the song come on for a few seconds before he offered Chrys his hand. “Come on. I’m sure I can teach you a thing or two.”

>> “Aw, Chrys, I’m sure you’re being modest.”

She really was not. Well, she could dance as well as any twenty-something socialite because she studied other twenty-something socialites, but that mostly consisted of finding a male person and trying her hardest to fuse her body to him through contact and friction. Akshay's type of dancing seemed to require actual skill and dexterity to degrees that Chrys did not have the capacity for.

Another one of those dubbing-step songs started up and Akshay offered her a hand.

>> “Come on. I’m sure I can teach you a thing or two.”

Chrys smiled and took the hand. "Sure! Show me how you work!" Part of her wanted to just leave the club so she could enjoy her brand of fun, but dancing with this man would be fun too! Besides, she had plenty of play-time later, and he could show her new tricks! He could make her more awesome than she was, which was never an objectionable thing.

The dance floor was repopulated now that the battle was over, but Chrys and Akshay still had enough dancing room, possibly due to the respect the crowd seemed to have for Akshay. "So could you teach me how you do that arm-poppy thing?" She moved her arm in an attempt to mimic Akshay's dance moves, but she was unsuccessful. If he could prove to her that his ability to move was something learnable, she might even be nice and spare Akshay from games like Doctor and Autopsy.

That was a big deal! Those were two of her favorite games!

>> "Sure! Show me how you work!"[/color]

Akshay could only grin at the comment. He was getting that particular feeling that this was going to be the start of a beautiful friendship. Not only was the woman gorgeous (she even came onto him!) but had this mysteriousness in her eyes that Akshay just couldn’t penetrate. He had attempted to figure her out but all he received for it was this wall of mysterious. A mystery that he definitely wanted to find the answer to. What was it about her? He got some vibe off the woman, like she was a predator stalking through the jungles of the dance.

Hah! If she was a predator, he had absolutely no[/b] problem being the prey. Even now she was looking at him with those hungry eyes. Hell, if he hadn’t had just gone through a break up, he would have said that he was already in love with her.

>> "So could you teach me how you do that arm-poppy thing?"[/color]

But there was no use thinking of such things now. They had a dance lesson and he was more than eager to teach her anything that he knew.

He smiled as he watched her attempt to mimic the arm popping that he had been doing during the dance before. He had to admit that she had the right form, she just lacked the technicality of the move. Sadly, in order to teach her, he needed to get up closer. Poor, poor him…

“Hey, you’re pretty good. You just need a little fine tuning,” he smiled. “And you say you can’t keep up.” A grin followed his compliment as he waited for the next beat of the song for the both of them to jump into. “Now, I hope you don’t mind this, but it is the best way to learn.”

Akshay pressed up behind the woman. Not creepily so, but just enough so that her arms could press back against his own (after all, Akshay wasn’t a perv or anything!). Once he got her permission that it was okay for him to be this close he began the lesson.

“Arm popping is simple. It’s all about tension,” he said as he began to flex and manipulate the various muscles throughout his arm that was pressed to hers. “See? Start with the upper palm of her hand, flex it like this, move up to the tricep, the bicep, and finally your shoulder.” As he explained he slowly tensed and loosened the various muscles throughout his arm so that she had something to compare to. They were slow pops at first, just enough so that she could identify where he was moving them. “Once you practice like this, it is just a matter of speeding up and popping with the beat. Like this.” Gently he took her wrists and started to help her move her arms, popping his own at the appropriate times with the music just so that she could see where the correct moments were to do so during the beat.

To outsiders, this probably looked pretty sensual; Akshay holding the woman gently by the arms, her miming his movements if she wanted to. But to Akshay, he really was just explaining this part of the dance. He aided whenever he could, knowing that even if she didn’t get the lesson off the bat, she should be able to at least pick up the basics quickly.

Akshay was a flatterer, complimenting her wonky form. His compliments were probably motivated by the desire to get in her skirt, but Chrysanthemum Van Hart had a weakness for compliments and praise, so the young man was doing himself some favors. If he kept it up, she might have plenty of reasons to keep him in one piece.

>> “Now, I hope you don’t mind this, but it is the best way to learn.”

Chrys was unsure of what Akshay meant until he repositioned himself so his upper body and arms were pressed closely against her own. She did not mind this new game; he was being far more well-behaved than some boys and their games.

>> “Arm popping is simple. It’s all about tension."

Chrys could feel Akshay's arm flexing and tightening his musculature one area at a time. It was exciting to feel him operate, section by section.

>> “See? Start with the upper palm of her hand, flex it like this, move up to the tricep, the bicep, and finally your shoulder.”

Akshay changed it up, moving the tension in an organized pattern from his digits to the base of his arm. It was fascinating, like he was proceeding to open and close valves, letting the tension move into one area before opening the next section to it.

Chrys did her best to mimic the movements. She was not matching it perfectly, but she understood the concept. Where the tension seemed to flow naturally into each section of Akshay's arm before halting, Chrys could only manage to have all the tension switch into the next area, making her movement more choppy, but she was getting there.

>> “Once you practice like this, it is just a matter of speeding up and popping with the beat. Like this.”

Clearly Akshay was slowing himself down for tutorial purposes, because he quickly shifted speeds to match his popping perfectly with the beat of the music.

Chrys did her best to match the beat, but she was still inexperienced, her arm still transitioning in a jerky fashion. Still, she was improving, which was the best she could hope without the years of practice Askahy probably had.

"You're like an amazing machine," she mused, giggling. "I'd love to take you home and take you apart." Was that a sexy thing to say? Maybe the music would be loud enough that he did not hear her right.

Oh well, she'd just have to make sure to double her efforts. Akshay was well behaved, but maybe if she inched the rest of her body into a proximity that was a bit more snug, he would overlook any off-color comments from her. "I'm liking this lesson, though," she added sweetly.

Chrys turned out to really be a good learner! She did her best to keep up with his movements but even though he slowed them down for the lesson, he was still more experienced so the movements came more naturally. Slowly Chrys was learning, she was popping, but she lacked the finesse that he had. He had no doubt though that eventually she would be able to get it. All it really took was practice, practice, and more practice.

Grinning like a fool, the man beamed as he continued his lesson, offering his expertise to the young woman who seemed to take them eagerly. He was really liking this woman’s enthusiasm.

>> "You're like an amazing machine I'd love to take you home and take you apart.”[/color]

…

Did he really hear that? Akshay was not 100% sure since the music was so loud but he was fairly certain that he heard something along the lines of a come-on. Would it have been awkward to ask her to repeat herself? She may have just said whatever she said in the heat of the moment, or he could have simply misheard her and therefore would greatly embarrass himself. Nah, he was not going to jeopardize any possibility with this enchanting creature by making a fool of himself.

He smiled in response but made no allusion that he had fully heard what she said. He would pass it up as just the flow of music. Then again, if he didn’t respond and she was attempting to seduce him, he didn’t want her to think that he was jilting her.

And then she pressed back against him…

>> "I'm liking this lesson, though,"[/color]

…

Okay yeah, this was a whole new development. A grin on his face, he didn’t over think or want to draw any presumptions, instead he was just going to enjoy the moment. She was dancing in a manner that was similar to many girls he danced with before. The usual sort of club hoppers that liked to tease and press in real close to dancers when they wanted to have a fun evening. So far the evening was turning into a lot of fun.

Slowly his movements down a bit so that he didn’t dislodge her from his body, Akshay still managed to show off some mastery of his skills as he danced along with the music.

“You’re…definitely a lot better than you let on,” he beamed. “I’m beginning to think you’re trying to hustle me.” He laughed softly as he swayed to music.

>> “You’re…definitely a lot better than you let on. I’m beginning to think you’re trying to hustle me.”

Thankfully, Akshay did not jump on her disassembling comments, or she was even luckier and he still construed them as something flirtatious. (Men had the weird ability to look at anything in a flirtatious light if it was to their benefit.)

Still doing her best to copy Akshay's movements (and wondering if she would feel the distribution of tension with her powers,) she replied in a purring voice. "That's silly, Akshay. Why would I hustle you when I've obviously got you where I want you?"

You know, like a hawk eyeing a mouse! He was a cute, funny mouse at least!

>> "That's silly, Akshay. Why would I hustle you when I've obviously got you where I want you?"[/color]

…

Oh yes, Akshay was definitely beginning to like this woman a lot more. Yes she was a complete mystery to him but she was the best kind of mystery! She was sexy, cute, and just had this energy that he couldn’t quite identify. Maybe that was why he was so drawn to her; normally Akshay was pretty good at reading people and while he could pick up on the surface that the woman was hungry for him, there was something else behind her eyes that he just couldn’t identify.

He could only hope that the evening would go well enough for him to find out exactly what it was. He crossed his fingers for such a possibility at least.

“Who says you have me yet?” he beamed innocently. After all, he couldn’t make it THAT easy could he?

A glance at her clothing and the fact that she had practically melded with him while dancing caused him to change his mind though. Yeah. He could afford to be THAT[/b] easy tonight. But that didn’t mean he had to play it off like that. Initiate sexy poker face!

The beats of the song dwindled down to the end and Akshay slowed up his dance so that he was more in sync with Chrys’ movements. They were slower, closer, the point that he could feel each of her muscles as she attempted to follow him. He smirked as the song died and he nodded to her.

“You did awesome. I think you earned yourself a drink, on me,” he beamed sweetly. Such a nice guy.

>> “Who says you have me yet?”

He was puffing up with goofy bravado. They both knew he was on her hook, and it was only a matter of time until she reeled him in. If he was a fish, he was not even swimming in the other direction.

The fish imagery was starting to make her hungry again...

Chrys pressed herself into Akshay a bit more intentionally. She was not fluent in body language, but she had an understanding of the language; the subtleties of the language eluded her, but she was fine with being less than subtle. "I am good at identifying my property."

The song finally came to a close, and Chrys was actually having fun with the young man. He was advertising himself well; normally the dancing part of the night was mildly entertaining and just the means to a more mischievous end. She could only imagine how much fun she could get out of the man by the end of the night.

>> “You did awesome. I think you earned yourself a drink, on me.”

The idea of Akshay buying her a drink seemed silly since she could probably buy the small club if the idea tickled her the right way, but it was a gentlemanly thing of him to offer. "All that learning did leave me kinda thirsty," she agreed. She turned around and hooked two fingers into the collar of Akshay's shirt to pull him to the bar like he was on a make-shift leash.

Actually, a leash sounded fun...

Before she could dwell upon her new idea, the bartender waved her over. "Ma'am, you left your credit card here!" Oh right, she had abandoned the piece of plastic when she began her pursuit of the dynamic dancer.

Chrys took the card back, not phased one way or the other. "Thank you," she muttered, disinterested in the bartender. She turned back to Akshay, placing her hands on his chest, her doe eyes looking up. "So can you get me something sweet, you sweetie?" A victory drink would be nice before she brought home her prize.