Fourteen

The After Party

      “Wufei...” I whined petulantly. I don’t usually like to think of myself as petulant or whiny, but there it was. “Could I have another? Please?”
      “What do you want this time, Sam?”
      “Um...” That was an interesting question. “How about...a honeybee? No, I want alcohol. A butterfly nipple. And a honeybee.” I smiled at him sweetly, hoping he wouldn’t cut me off. He was a pretty good bartender, except that he seemed to think he was my big brother who had to protect me from the evil influences of the concoctions he was serving.
      “Alright. How about a glass of water, too?”
      “Hell no. I’ll be right back for them. I’m going to go dance.” A swing song had just come on, and I love to swing dance. I looked around for a partner. “Quatre, come dance with me!” I pulled him onto the dance floor only to find out that Quatre didn’t know how to swing dance. I ran back to the bar and grabbed some guy I’d never seen before in my life. “Dance with me!”
      He danced really well, and even tossed me once. Most guys refuse to do that, afraid they’ll drop their partners. A slow song started, and we kept dancing, but Quatre cut in after a few bars.
      “Having fun?” he asked.
      “Hell yeah. I need a drink.” I tried to disengage myself from his arms to head for the bar, but it didn’t seem to work.
      “I thought you wanted to dance with me,” he accused.
      “To that song. Song’s over.” I smiled in spite of myself and leaned against him. “This is fun, too, though...”
      “How much have you had to drink?”
      “I dunno...Ask Wufei. He’s matched me drink for drink so far...”
      “Yes, but he has more tolerance than you.”
      “Does he?” That was funny. “A little, maybe, ‘cause he’s bigger...If you’re going to accuse me of being drunk, I’m not going to dance with you. I’ll go dance with Wufei and get another drink. I think I’ll do that next time there’s a fast song, anyway...”
      There was an extended pause while we both thought about that.
      “Speak of the devil,” Quatre muttered as the song ended and a fast one came on. Wufei was being pulled from behind the bar by some girl. I laughed and headed straight for him, ignoring Quatre’s protests and his hand on my arm.
      “Wufei...C’mere...” I started dancing dirty with him and pulled him over to the bar. I stopped dancing long enough to pull myself onto the bar and pull him up after me. He stared at me for a minute before he started dancing with me. By then we’d gathered quite an audience, including Duo.
      “Hey, Wufei, you can’t keep her to yourself like that,” he protested, jumping onto the bar himself.
      “Duo, do me a favor? Help me get Quatre up here...” I whispered the request in his ear as we danced. He nodded, and we each grabbed one of Quatre’s arms and pulled until he had the good grace to jump up voluntarily. Then Wufei and Duo jumped down.
      I danced with Quatre until the song was over, then collapsed into his arms.
      “I’m tired.”
      “I wonder why...” His reply sounded rather too sarcastic for my tastes, but he wrapped his arms around me anyway.
      “Can we get down now?” I asked. Another slow song had come on, and the crowd had dispersed. We got down behind the bar where Duo and Wufei were standing as well. “Wufei, where’s my drink?”
      “Oh, sorry about that. What was it? Butterfly nipple?”
      “Ih. I’ll just have a honeybee.” He mixed my drink quickly, and they all watched me take a sip. “What?”
      “I was just wondering if it turned out okay,” Wufei answered.
      “Me too,” Duo chimed in, looking sly. “Can I taste?”
      “Which method?” I giggled at him. I knew what he meant, and it was funny. He grinned and leaned down and kissed me. “Good?”
      “Very.”
      “The drink, right?” Quatre asked with a raised eyebrow.
      “I’m not sure. I’ll have to check on that...” Duo kissed me again.
      “Quatre, if you’re so interested,” I began, pausing to take another drink, “You should come taste for yourself.” He brushed Duo out of his way and started to lean down, but I put the glass in front of his face. Duo cracked up laughing and walked away.
      “I’m just not sure it’d taste as good this way,” Quatre complained.
      “Well...alright...” I leaned up and brushed my lips across his very lightly. Apparently that wasn’t good enough for him, because he leaned down and kissed me back. Not very lightly. I took a step back, but he followed, framing my face with his hands. That made it rather difficult to break off the next kiss. After a moment, Wufei walked off, muttering something about not being that great a bartender.
      “Taste good?” I asked breathlessly when he finally ended the kiss.
      “Mm-hmm...” He hadn’t let go, and hadn’t backed up at all. I leaned up and kissed him. “Maybe you should go to bed now.”
      “Planning on joining me, or should I be offended?”
      “Umm...we’ll see.”
      We walked out from behind the bar and headed toward the door. Then I remembered something.
      “Hold on. I have to tell Wufei goodnight...” I ran back toward the bar, where Wufei was still standing. He was mixing drinks for Duo and Trowa. “Hey, guys. Goodnight,” I said brightly. I leaned over the bar, grabbed Wufei, and pulled him toward me. “Thanks for all the lovely alcohol, darling.” I kissed him on the cheek in thanks, then turned to the other two. I looked them up and down carefully, then kissed Trowa on the cheek. “Duo’s already had enough goodnight kisses. Night.”
      Quatre came up behind me and put an arm around my waist. “Hey, guys, have you seen Heero lately?” he asked them.
      Wufei and Duo looked at each other and laughed in response. “Nikki’s been missing, too,” Duo explained.
      “Oh dear. Hey, I’ll come back here in a few minutes and we’ll...discuss this...” Quatre answered. He turned me toward the door and we left.


      Sam was plastered. I tried to lead her away from the bar so I could put her to bed, but she broke away so she could say goodnight to the guys. She gave Wufei and Trowa kisses, but said Duo’d had enough, which he had...more than enough...I stood behind her and put one hand around her waist while I waited.
      “Hey, guys, have you seen Heero lately?” I asked them.
      “Nikki’s been missing, too,” Duo commented while he and Wufei laughed.
      “Oh dear. Hey, I’ll come back here in a few minutes and we’ll...discuss this...” I could tell Duo didn’t really believe I’d come back so soon, but she was plastered. I wasn’t going to take advantage of a drunk woman...
      I turned her around and started walking toward the door, my arm still around her. Her skirt swirled around her ankles, brushing against me...We got to her room and she collapsed on the couch. I went and pulled some pajamas out of a drawer for her, and she went in the bathroom to change. She came out in a minute wearing the pajamas and sipping from a glass of water. I turned down the bed and watched her crawl into it. I set the water on the nightstand and kissed her goodnight. A couple of times.
      “You could stay, you know, Quatre...cause a scandal...” she offered.
      “If you were sober, I might take you up on that,” I sighed.
      “I’m not that drunk...” she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me toward her. “And we’ve already established that I taste good...”
      “Sorry,” I told her after I’d kissed her again. “I told the guys I’d come back pretty quick...”
      “Yes, but I’m prettier than them.” She laughed at me and pushed me off the bed. “Go back to your little friends. See you in the morning.”
      “Sweet dreams.”
      “You too.”


      I jumped when my cell phone rang. I had set it to vibrate at dinner, and it surprised me when it actually did. Just about everyone who had the number was already at the party, and who would call another guest at the same party? I made my way to a quieter corner by the door as I answered it.
      “Hello?” It was really loud in here.
      “Hi, Kris? It’s Sam. Wanna ditch the party?”
      “What?” What was she thinking?
      “Do-you-want-to-leave?” she asked again. “I’m bored, and the boys think I’m too drunk to be seen in public.”
      “Are you?” She did tend to drink a lot...
      “Not quite. I did dance on top of the bar in a pink dress, but hey. I was caught up in the moment,” she laughed.
      “Well, where do you want to go?” I decided I might as well go along and keep her out of trouble.
      “Night clubs. With boys. Lots of boys. And loud music.”
      “Where do you want me to meet you?”
      “Garage in ten minutes. Wait; fifteen. You’ll want to change clothes, I’m sure.”
      “What are you wearing?”
      “A little black dress. As opposed to the long pink thing I was wearing earlier.”
      I sighed, “All right...I’ll meet you in the garage in a couple of minutes...bye...”
      “Bye...”
      I folded the phone and glanced up. Quatre was watching me. I smiled slightly at him, hoping he hadn’t heard me. He got ready to step to me as a few of the simpering courtesans intercepted him. He met my eyes a moment longer before being swept onto the dance floor. I couldn’t help but grin.
      Courtesans were good for something after all.
      I looked around for Nikki, she would be the best choice...she might want to come with us. She was no where in sight, but Kat held my eyes a moment.
      I smiled, stopping in front of her, “I’m going.” I informed her.
      “Where?”
      I looked away, “To bed.” I made it abundantly clear that I wasn’t telling the truth here.
      “To bed?”
      I nodded, “If anyone asks.”
      She grinned, “Where are you really going?”
      I shook my head.
      “Better if I don’t know, I take it?”
      I laughed, “I’ll see you in the morning. Have fun tonight, but don’t drink too much...”
      She sighed, “I’ve heard it three times from Duo. I know. If you bug me I’ll go tell Trowa...on accident of course...you know me...too innocent to...”
      I sighed, “All right. I understand. Just be careful and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
      She smiled, “Have fun and be good yourself.”
      I nodded acknowledgment as I started for the door. No one stopped me.

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Kyeian