Re: AHS: Sam A & Cris M
When you had a five-year-old, personal space wasn't much of a thing. Teresa was constantly climbing in her papá's lap, sitting on his shoe, arms around the trunk of his leg, as he walked around the apartment on the phone, throwing toys in his face and telling him to play the dragon—less so now than a year ago, but sticky grabbing fingers, someone sitting on his chest at the crack of dawn? Sí. He was used to that. It didn't ruffle his easily-mussed feathers. He didn't mind Sam's hand in his, so he let the girl drag him into the air-conditioned maw of the club.
But not without shaking his head, hat forgotten in the car, at that smile of hers—the one that clocked him, placed him, and called bullshit. She was right. She could get the fucking socks.
Through the doors, the sun cut out, the music loud enough to taste like Syrah wine and bright, beat brass on the back of the tongue, between the flats of teeth. He'd been to plenty of clubs for plenty of reasons, but none like this—but, of course, this was years before his time even, despite what he'd said about age. It was open, tables swept to the fringe of the room, people milling, tuning instruments, playing, dancing in the penguin black-and-white of service people.
Cris' eyebrows lifted at the doorman in the Santa Barbara necklace—he knew that expression: significa problemas, con "P" mayúscula. His own face read the hint of a smile that grew some at the whispering about Juan—a guy on the trombone—and he remained nothing but amused at the wink from the girl, no está mal.
He looked down at Sam as she finished her rounds of greetings and grinned up at him. It was fitting, the recurring mention of Santa Barbara, he thought. Chango. Fire, lightning. They fit the girl with the lips red as the devouring hunger of flames.
Against his better judgment—and all of this was against his better judgment, he lifted his chin and nodded toward the open dance floor.
"¡Pórtate bien!" Was all the warning he gave her, soft, before he settled his palm on the black thrush of her hip to escort them to the floor.