The Bright Lights

[holiday_pirner]

"This girl was hogging the mirror. She's wearing blue velvet bellbottoms, you don't need a mirror to tell you that's wrong." Holly slid in beside Daniel, fluffing out her hair and closing the tab on her handbag.

She plucked the cherry out of her cocktail, looking up at the vampire. "Did anyone try to steal you away?" The brunette scanned the crowd surrounding them. "Tempting you with their scandalously exposed necks."

Another plus of hanging out with vampires was they could hear quite well over booming bass and synth. She knew Daniel could hear every word she said, and she didn't have to go home with a sore throat at the end of the night.

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[holiday_pirner]

She joined him in the second drink, sliding the empty glass back. She wasn't going to tell Daniel that straight tequila made her mouth dry. "I need a beer. I don't care what kind," Holly told the bartender instead.

"Okay, but what do you do for money? I had wondered that before actually, but I was a little preoccupied with --," and the brunette gave him an up-and-down glance with her eyes. "Well, you know."

That reminded her of something. "Hey, do you want to see something cool?"

[daniel_stacy]

Daniel knew. It contributed to that satisfied smile. He held up a two so the bartender would give him a beer, too, although he did care what kind, which was stupid considering the taste didn’t vary much on his palette. He drummed his fingertips on the bar. “Uhhh, for a while, I was living off my trust fund. Don’t just me. But now I’m coasting on fumes so I’ve gotta figure something out.”

He did a double-take.

“What about you? Vegas doesn’t come cheap.”

[holiday_pirner]

Holly shrugged, looking away. "My dad's estate was left entirely to me. And my mother's, although her's was a lot smaller. And I don't have any siblings, so." She punctuated the sentence with a long pull from her beer.

"Come on."

She turned and led him through the crowd again, this time to a place she knew quite well. The brunette knew no one was paying attention. She opened the coat room door.

"I discovered this when I -- um, was here last."

[daniel_stacy]

Okay. So they had danced into uncomfortable territory. That was clear. But Daniel made an exasperated face when she took off, abruptly discontinuing the conversation. “Holly— you— god.“ He sighed. She really did not want to talk about her life. Up until that moment, he hadn’t even known her mother was dead. But he played along and let her take the lead across the club, at least until they stopped outside a coat room.

He raised his eyebrows and pointed into the room. “You serious?”

Not that it was a bad idea, going in there. But she couldn’t be more obvious in her attempt to shut the topic down. Holly was actually hiding in a closet. “Alright.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I think I’m starting to get what’s going on, but I want to make sure. So… you want a guy who looks good without a shirt on and gets you drunk and it might even be okay if he doesn’t have a soul, because he won’t ask personal questions.”

[holiday_pirner]

She leaned against the wall, speaking more to her shoes than to him. "That's not -- ," she broke off, looking up at him. "That's really oversimplified."

Holly played with the row of black rubber bracelets around her left wrist. "You'll always be you. Forever. And I'm not just talking about looks. I'm not shallow, Daniel. Because I like you, how you are, and...that's appealing."

The brunette could feel things inside spiraling out of control. Usually it made her defensive, but she didn't want to be that way with him. "I've known plenty of people who act like they don't have a soul. But they don't make me feel like you do."

She fought against the discomfort. "You know...happy. So if you ask me something personal, I'll answer it. I won't run away." It was only fair, after all, considering what she had asked of him at his apartment.

[daniel_stacy]

Alright, so it was over-simplified. But Daniel was a simple guy. True, he was dealing with complicated things in the area of what constituted a decent vampire, but otherwise, he was a straight shooter. Holly was like an onion. Peel a layer and surprise! Another layer. Only she didn’t want you to do any peeling.

“I’m not gonna dig,” he said. “I just don’t know if it’s a good idea to go hiding in coat rooms whenever you feel like shit.” He had to assume the last time she was in the coat room, she felt like shit. Otherwise he’d have to picture her doing god knows what with god knew who, and that got under his skin.

He went into the coat room, anyway, and shut the door. “By the way,” he said, reaching out and holding her waist. He gave it a tug. “I’m going to try that thing. I’ll let you know if it works out. Don’t worry, I’m not doing it because you told me to.”

[holiday_pirner]

That made her smile, and she let herself be tugged closer to him. She put her hands on his shoulders. "This is like a school dance pose. Should we observe the six inch rule?"

To complete the effect, she kissed him, slower and more careful than she had done before.

"I don't think anyone could tell you to do anything." Holly rested her forehead against his chest.

[daniel_stacy]

Daniel thought back to high school. Yeah, he knew what she meant. He kissed her back; she tasted like lipstick and tequila, a winning combination in his book. In keeping with the joke, he rocked stiffly from foot to foot a couple of times. One time, he got a cramp in his hip at prom, which he figured was some kind of repetitive stress injury.

“Nah. You could.” He said, running his fingers into the back of her hair. They scratched at her neck. He was tall enough to prop his chin on her head, so he did, his voice vibrating them when he said, “You want me to pretend it wouldn’t work to save face?”

[holiday_pirner]

She laughed, her lips brushing over the material of his shirt. Maybe it wasn't healthy to run from everything, but she couldn't say she really minded being in that small, enclosed space with him.

"Maybe," Holly answered. One hand drifted from his shoulder, down his chest. "Let's test that theory."

"Kiss me again," she demanded.

[daniel_stacy]

“No. Huh-unh.” Daniel shook his head. “I am putting my foot down. You can’t make me.”
He intentionally kept his eyes on the ceiling. She probably didn’t realize it, but half the sway that Holly held was in her face. Big blue eyes, English freckles, and that zig-zag mouth. She could switch from wicked to sweet in two seconds flat.”

[holiday_pirner]

"Okay." She shrugged lightly. "If you really don't want to. I'll just do this instead, you know, to keep myself busy."

And she began casually undoing the buttons on his shirt. One, two, three...the brunette looked up at him, catching his eye.

"Are you sure you don't want to kiss me?" A smile edged over her lips.

[daniel_stacy]

“I hate it, honestly,” he said. Whew. Fingers on the buttons. Keep it together, Stacy. He screwed up his face in displeasure. “All that lip and tongue. I would’ve said something before, but I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.” He counted squares on the ceiling. Five across, five back. Five times five was twenty five. If she ran her palms over his chest, he’d need more than a few inches of space for the holy spirit.

[holiday_pirner]

"Well, that's unfortunate." She tried to keep a straight face. "Although I can't say I blame you. I find it rather difficult, myself."

She took her time with the last button, the one that was nearest the waistband of his jeans. Her fingertips dipped an inch or two beneath the denim, black polish against pale skin.

"What if...I kissed you here?" Holly planted her lips against his chest. They left a faint trace of lipstick behind.