Who: James and Xianghua What: Catching up and dancing. Also, beating up sleazy drunks. When: After this thread Where: A random club in town Warnings: There might be a tiny bit of language in there somewhere... and (non-serious) flirting.
8:57 in the pm. James touched down with little fanfare outside of Xianghua's quad and picked the broom up in one hand. He had on a set of nice black slacks and a good T-Shirt to go with it. Muggles were mostly useless, but their fashion designers were something else. Especially this Armani character, even if he had borrow a bit more money from home to afford most of it. His hair was still long and a bit disheveled the way he loved it. He checked his watch before he knocked twice on the door and hoped that Xianghua was ready.
Xianghua had perched herself on the back of the couch as she waited for James’ arrival, dressed in her favorite—rather skimpy—little black dress. Not that she had much choice in the matter, really; everything she owned that fit the description of ‘nice’ in her mind fell into that category, more or less. Oh well. Hopping down when she heard his knock and dashing over to the door, she threw it open and beamed brightly up at him. “Hey there! You’re right on time.”
"Never too early and never too late my dear," James said with a wink before he finally got a good look at Xianghua. He lost speech for a few moments before he shook his head to regain it. "Wow. I said something nice, but... Wow," was all James could muster as he forced his eyes to meet back up at hers. He offered Xianghua his arm. "Shall we go?"
Giggling a little as he looked her over, she struck a pose before simply setting her hands on her hips and looking rather amused with his reaction. “You did! So I decided to put this on. I take it you like it?” Hooking her arm through his as it was offered, she offered him a single nod of her head as she chirped, “Yep, let’s get going!”
"Do cats like milk?" James asked her the obvious question before he put the broom down seemingly into the air and it simply lay flat in mid air. "It may seem daunting but trust me it is the best way to fly," he motioned at the broom. "Which way do you prefer. You sit in the front and I hold you, or you hold me and you sit on the back."
She laughed again as he replied, before biting her lip slightly at the prospect of flying. She had never even considered her feet being anywhere but the ground before, so the idea was more than a bit daunting. “…I don’t know, whatever makes it easier for you to fly the thing? I’m just a passenger, right?” Either way, she’d be hanging onto something with a death grip, so it wasn’t as though it mattered.
"Well if you're going to ride on the side in a dress like that. You should go first," James said making the decision. He sat down on the broom, tilting it back a bit to make it easier for Xianghua to sit down on. "Your choice. If you sit side saddle you can hold onto me. If you sit like I am you can hold onto the broom and I will hold onto you," James motioned for her to sit down.
Still nibbling on her lip, she made the decision fairly quickly, throwing one leg over the broomstick and gripping it rather tightly with both hands. Best to have as many places to hold onto as possible, at least until she got used to being off the ground. There was a momentary pause as she got as comfortable as possible, before she piped up with an audibly nervous, “Ready when you are.”
James moved one arm around Xianghua's waist and held onto her tightly, more for her protection. He pressed against her back before she felt his head a little bit to the side of hers. "Then lets go," With that James moved them upwards. He was taking it slow for now. But that wouldn't last very long knowing James.
She felt vaguely reassured by his presence, though her fingers clutched still tighter as they began their upward ascent. Making a point to tilt her head backward slightly in order to ensure she avoided the mistake of looking toward the ground, she squeaked out, “How long is this ride going to take?”
"Say five or so minutes, I can make it shorter," James said with a hint of mischievous in his voice. "Much shorter actually..." The broom sped up then, going faster and faster, as James took off above the city, heading into the bright lights below.
As the broom picked up speed, Xianghua let out a startled yelp, before gasping, “That was not funny. That was so, so not funny.” Simply squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to ignore the feeling emptiness under her feet as they zipped along, doing her best just to trust James to get them where they were going without killing her.
"You just need to come along on a few more rides love. You'll learn to love it." James decided against the process of flying upside down or standing on top of the broom as a way to impress Xianghua, at least for now. He let her cower on the broom in silence until they began to slow down and eventually stopped, James feet on the ground. "We're here now love," he whispered to her as he let go of her waist.
“I really don’t think I will,” she hissed back, though there was a hint of humor in her voice as she did so. She practically leapt off the broom as they landed, more than overjoyed to have her feet solidly on the ground again. Letting out a wavering sigh as she automatically reached up to pat her hair back into some semblance of order, she cracked a tiny smile back at him. “…Yeah, we are.”
James tossed the broom up into the air. It proceeded to fly off enchanted on its own to the roof, and hide itself away. James then discreetly withdrew his wand and at the same time his ID. After a few quiet words and a brief bit of life the young man nodded with approval and stashed his wand away in his sleeve pocket again. He offered Xianghua his arm again. "Lets go have that drink shall we?"
She raised an eyebrow at James’ wandwork, but did not question what he was up to. Not like he would be getting into trouble or anything, no! She was pretty sure James was too smart to get caught, after all. Taking that arm once it was offered to her again, she gave an enthusiastic nod of her head and chirped, “Yep! Sounds like an idea to me.”
They strolled through and past the bouncers with no problems. James ID passed scrutiny with out any troubles. They found a little booth near the dance floor that was still open and James motioned for Xianghua to sit down, before taking a seat himself. Before James could even get out a word, a waitress appeared and asked for their drink order. "First round is on me love," James charming British accent in full swing. "Do you know what you like or do you prefer to have someone order for you?"
Taking a seat, she set her elbows down upon the table before her and laced her fingers together beneath her chin. She smiled brightly as he reminded her of his offer to pay, replying to the question with, “I don’t drink much, so go ahead and pick for me. Nothing too strong, though!” The reason for her request was fairly easy to discern from looking at her; notably petite, her alcohol tolerance was quite low.
"I will have a rum and coke, and the lady will have an ape shit," James said with a smile to the waitress. "No worries. I didn't take you for the type to chug Long Island Ice Teas," James gave Xianghua a wink again before his face and demeanor changed to inquisitive. "So what had you going back and forth so much love? You said family?"
She couldn’t help but to let one of her eyebrows quirk up slightly at the name of the drink, but made no move to question it. From what she had seen, drinks had… silly names. As he questioned her, she nodded as best she could with her chin set firmly on her fingers. “Yep! Although only some of it was really… family family issues. Some of it had to do with an old job of mine, and some of it was just… dumb.” Well, more dumb than the rest of it, anyway.
"What was your old job that is causing you such headaches?" James asked as he twirled a napkin in front of him around. The place was starting to pick up in action, it wasn’t too busy now but it promised to be one helluva night in the club.
“I worked for the Imperial Guard back home.” As she spoke, she let her eyes flutter down to study the table rather than his face, seeming to grow pensive for a moment. “The general’s sticking his nose into things he shouldn’t, and asked my family to call me back to see if I had any information on the… thing he’s looking for.” Suddenly straightening up, she slapped her hands down on the table as she cut herself off. “But! That’s not the funny stuff that happened. Pretend I didn’t say anything about it, alright?”
James raised an eyebrow at that but nodded. "Of course nothing else about that. As you wish. Tell me about the funny things then." James smiled at the waitress as she delivered their drinks. "I know yours looks like a milkshake but trust me. You'll love it." James grinned and paid the waitress giving her a nice tip before looking back hoping to hear some good stories.
As she took the drink, she grinned and replied, “I wouldn’t dream of doubting you,” before taking a sip. Squeaking out a quiet, “Mm!” as a stamp of approval, she sat back and clapped her hands together as she prepared to start explaining what was both her favorite and least favorite story from her recent trips. “Okay, you’ll probably be able to tell where this is going already, but! Back where I come from, arranged marriages are the common thing. Now, I thought I was off the hook with all that since Mom didn’t want to marry me off like that and I’m a little bit past the normal age, but… apparently that’s not the case.”
"Wait... You're past the normal age? You're 21 right? Isn't that like prime time to settle down and produce a mess of kids or something?" James said before he took a sip of his drink. "Wait that’s not the case... Oh you're kidding me. Your mother introduced you to your new husband to be?"
“22, actually. But, yeah, normally this stuff gets figured out when the bride and groom are a bit younger than me. Anyway, the point is, I’m not really the most… eligible girl by home’s standards.” Giggling a little as he guessed the direction her story was taking, she nodded. “Yeah, pretty much! Although it wasn’t Mom, since she wouldn’t stand for selling me off like that.” Not that she had much of a say in that now, seeing as she had been dead for nearly a decade. “You see, my aunt and uncle don’t really… approve of Sol, so…”
"Well. That must have gone over well with your parents and you. Did you have to break his hand because he got too grabby with his future wife? That seems to fit right along with how insane this story is going," James continues to smirk as he took another drink.
“Well, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have, but they’re both dead so they weren’t there to back me up.” As she said this, she tried to communicate that there was no need for an apology from him through a smile. “Anyway, it would up that he decided he didn’t want to marry me after we met, because I was too ‘headstrong’ or something. I’m kind of wondering what he expected when he signed up for a girl that plays with swords for a living!”
James winced. Had he been told that before? Fucking hell he should have remembered that if he had been. "Yeaaah. Clearly he wants the kind of girl that drops whatever she’s doing to go be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen or something," James waved his hands trying to get away from the subject. "Which unless I have totally misjudged you, is not your cup of tea."
“Well, I wouldn’t mind having kids and taking care of a home someday, but there’s no way I’m ready to do that yet! I’ve still got lots of things I need to see through before I can settle down with a good conscience.” She grinned a little as she spoke, leaning forward and cupping her chin in one hand again. “Anyway, now that I’ve stopped wanting to show my family what’s what, I found it pretty amusing.”
James smiled at her grin and raised his glass. "A toast then. To marriages, especially when they fall through and you didn't want them in the first place."
Giggling a bit, she raised her glass as well before replying, “I think I can get behind that!” Tapping her glass lightly against his before drinking a bit more of its contents down, she concluded, “That’s about it for the amusing bits, though. Everything else is me needing to go home for stuff that has to be done as a family or more stupid work things.”
James finished off his drink before nodding slightly. "Well at least that’s over for a bit. Were you able to get your classes taken care of in your brief times back here on campus?"
“I’ve got my fingers crossed you’re right about that.” Because, if she got another call, she would have to murder things, and that was never good! “Yeah, I think I got everything taken care of okay. Some of the assignments were a little rushed, but hopefully my grades will come out alright anyway.” She paused for a moment, nibbling on her lower lip in thought, before asking, “Hey, James, you took some white magic courses, right?”
"Yeah I did. Got damn good grades in them too. Helped the teacher was kinda cute too," James said getting off track before he looked back away from the dance floor. "Why. Everything alright?"
She rolled her eyes at the comment on the teacher, but snickered and grinned as she did so. “Oh, yeah, everything’s fine! It’s just that I was thinking about taking a class or two in that next semester, after everything that’s happened in the past year or so for me. I wanted to know if there was anyone I could go to for pointers if I needed some help!”
James cracked another smiles. "Absolutely. It would be my pleasure to help you out in that. Its quite easy too once you get the hang of it. Its all about one basic principal to grasp then expanding on it in different ways," James said trailing off on one of his favorite subjects before catching himself. "But really! That isn't why we're here now is it?" James stood up before Xianghua answered and offered her his hand. "Dance with me?"
“Well, that’s good to know! I’ve never really tried any sort of ‘magic’ before, so I’m a little worried about how well I’ll do with it.” She certainly knew it was possible even before coming to the school—Kilik’s exorcisms were enough evidence for her—but she had never imagined doing it herself. Grinning as he offered her his hand, she reached out to grab it and pull herself up. “I’d be delighted to.”
James took her hand and moved into the dance floor, first off to the side to see how everyone else was dancing before he began a little bit, slowly getting into the music, trying to copy a few things of what he saw. This certainly wasn't the way that muggles danced back home, it seemed more charged. Sexual. James liked it.
Xianghua, of course, didn’t take her cues from anyone, body rolling into motion almost as soon as her feet hit the dance floor. It was a bit different than the movements of those around her, a combination of the more sexually charged steps she had picked up since leaving home and something more refined and graceful, the basis of which lied in the art of her swordsmanship.
James really wished he could use his magic as that would really aid his step, but instead he kept with Xianghua, studying what she was doing, and her in the process, and eventually picking up on what she was doing, mimicking the parts that seemed appropriate for a guy.
Xianghua only seemed to be half-aware of his presence as she kept in rhythm, before she caught his eye by chance. Crooked grin working its way across her face, she might have made it a point to adjust the ratio of sexy-to-dignified in favor of the former. Just maybe, since she would deny everything if asked.
They danced for quite a while, toning it down a bit and at other ramping it up. Just as James was about to call it and go back to the table, a loud drunk moved between him and Xianghua and gave her a leer. "Hey you. You're looking good tonight," he said staring not into Xianghua's eyes but a bit lower.
Stilling her motions as she suddenly found herself being stared at in a way she… didn’t entirely appreciate—quick peeks were okay, but this guy was managing to be both really obvious and sleazy about it—she took a step back to put a little more distance between herself and the intruder. When he moved at well, she decided it would be best to remove herself from his presence by stepping to the side, and offering him a friendly, “Thanks, but I’ve already got a boyfriend, if that’s what you’re after.”
When she felt a hand seize around her wrist, she allowed him approximately five seconds to drop it again before spinning as best she could and connecting a kick squarely with his jaw. Probably not the kind of display of flexibility he was hoping to see, but… “…Well, I guess we should get out of here now, huh?”
Jame looked at the guy on the ground and shook his head. "Yeah before the bouncers kick you out for starting a fight," James said and took Xianghua by the arm while keeping himself from saying 'Or for indecent exposure.' They exited out the back way as the cold air assaulted them suddenly after the time inside the bar. "Ahhh. I always did like the cold." James snapped his fingers twice and the broom reappeared. He sat down on it and offered Xianghua a hand getting back on it.
Even as she let herself be led along, she couldn’t help but to protest, “I didn’t start anything!” She was just keeping some weird guy from putting his hands all over her, was that so wrong? Wrapping her arms around herself as they were suddenly hit with a good bit of cold air, she grabbed his hand and hauled herself up onto the broom a bit more confidently than she had the first time—though she still wound up gripping the broomstick a bit more tightly than necessary.
They took off without incident. James increased the speed a little this time to make sure that they didn't stay out in the cool air long. It wasn't long before they touched down outside Xianghua's quad and James let go of her waist. "I do believe this is your stop. I'd offer to help make you warm again, but I think you're boyfriend would have issue with that. So I'll just leave it as a goodnight Xianghua. It has been good to see you again."
Hopping down, she couldn’t help but to grin at his words. “Yeah, I can see where he might have a bit of a problem. Nice seeing you too, James. Night!” With that, she turned and dashed quickly back to the warmth of her quad’s interior… but not before pausing at her door and glancing back over her shoulder to blow him a flirtatious kiss.
James caught the kiss and winked at Xianghua. After the door closed James took off at high speeds into the night air, doing a few fast maneuvers that he was denied while he had company before heading back to his own quad.