Learn to Dance

Sean took a deep, bracing breath, then stepped inside the club. The music, lights, noise, and the press of people he could see just past the bouncer made his heart immediately begin racing. He wasn't used to the club atmosphere yet and he knew he would need time to recover after tonight. There had still been no way he would turn down an invitation to dance with Jai Peacock, though. He got a stamp on his hand and then he was in the crowd.

Cat had been in just long enough to get his blood moving when he spotted a looker nearby. One who appeared to be alone and unsure exactly what he was doing. No risk, no fun, Cat told himself and headed in that direction.

"Hey, I'm the Crow's Nest Welcoming Committee," he said, sliding up to the guy. Short and sweet with a dash of wild. He liked that. He gave a teasing smile.

"Oh, ah," Sean started, but was distracted from actually speaking when he looked at the guy. Where were all of these tall, gorgeous, alt guys coming from? "Hello," he said, hopefully after not too long, and smiled. Oh he really wasn't prepared for university, he probably should have practiced his social skills a little more.

Cat silently congratulated himself on a good call. He liked that look. And he told himself not to play so hard with this one or there'd be no game. "I was just messing," he admitted. "There's no welcoming committee. I'd love to buy you a drink, though. My name's Cat." He moved just a little closer.

"I'm Sean, I'd love a drink," Sean said. Wasn't he supposed to be meeting Jai? Or maybe it had just been a show up and we'll have a dance. After barely a moment's thought, he decided that a drink couldn't hurt, he liked drinks, and maybe he'd get to hang out with both guys at some point over the evening. "I like your look, it's interesting." The tattoos and the piercings and the hair and the clothes...yes, he liked it a lot.

"Yours too," Cat returned. His fingers touched down low on Sean's back, subtle contact and a light guide as they started to walk. He knew right where the bar was, but wouldn't mind taking his time. "You don't see a lot of throat tattoos. The wings are fierce. I've got a pair too, but they're down here..." He lifted his shirt just enough to show a bit of the ink on his lower abdomen.

As was likely intended, Sean's eyes swept down and hovered briefly. "I wasn't sure about this one, I'm glad I did it, though." It was unique and stood out, not that he particularly wanted to stand out, his ink and piercings were for himself. "Mine all stop about right here," he said, gesturing about halfway down his torso.

"I like this one too," Cat said, taking the excuse to touch the side of Sean's face. He almost pointed out his leopard spots, but he hadn't gotten a look at the stamp on the guy's hand. He'd make up a b.s. story if he had to, but he'd rather wait until he knew if he could tell the truth. "So what are you doing in Owlton? New job? School?" He'd just take the shortcut.

"School," Sean said. "I'm just starting. My room mate said I should come check this place out." It was turning out to be a very good thing he'd accepted the invitation. He reached up absently to touch the tattoo on that side of his face with a light finger, momentarily remembering when he'd gotten it. It was one of his older pieces.

"Your roommate was right. This place is great, I've met the owner. He's uh, a friend of a friend." He didn't know how to describe Jai's relationship with Dismas, it was iffy at best, but it wasn't a secret. "I've got my Transfiguration degree and I'm teaching animagus to pay for my Master's."

Sean's eyes brightened at that news and he looked up at Cat. "Really? That's impressive, I'm going for Transfiguration. The whole animagus thing is really advanced, though." It was something he would like to try, to have another whole body to go out and explore the world in. He wondered what he'd be. Ah, who was he kidding, he'd end up being something small and timid, like a mouse or something. His eyebrows knit in a brief frown.

Cat caught that frown, and after the moment of excitement he'd seen, he wondered what it was about. "If you're into it, take a class," he said. "That's what it's for, to get you advanced. My school didn't do much with human Transfiguration; I earned my spots here." He raised his free hand to touch the rosettes at his temple.

Sean worked his thoughts to more positive ones and looked up at Cat again. "What exactly do you change into? I mean, other than a cat of some wort," he said, looking curiously at the spots. They made him think of one of the big cats, but there were plenty of house cats that had spots instead of stripes or solid colors. Maybe he would look into an animagus class.

"I'm a leopard," Cat said with his most feline grin. "Registered and everything. We're supposed to stick to the classroom or the animagus reserve when we're in form at school, but sometimes you'll see someone heading to the hospital wing half-transformed. I had a giraffe last year. After the first time he transformed I started holding that class outside."

"You're kidding," Sean said. "Is there any way to know what people will turn into?" A leopard. It wasn't that difficult to see the tall, lean guy morphing into the cat. Of course, that only set his thoughts to things inappropriate to think with Cat walking next to him, even with the hand light on his back. Or maybe the hand made it okay. After a moment's debate, he decided to think the thoughts anyway.