Who: Layla Dale and Avery Frog What: It's a very distinctive dance... When: Thursday night Where: Skin, in L.A.
The costume Layla wore for her dance wasn't exactly like Santanico's, but it was close enough. Not that the costume was that difficult to replicate; it was just lingerie, in the right color and cut. The details didn't matter as much as the overall effect, and that, she had. The most important part was the snake, anyway, and that was draped over her shoulders, tail curling around her arm. It wasn't exact, either, but finding a two-headed snake really wasn't practical, in the real world. It was large, and albino, and seemed fond of her (as far as snakes could be fond of anybody, when they weren't magical.
After as many years as she had been dancing, Layla didn't get nervous before she was supposed to go on. She waited behind the stage with the other girls, laughing and teasing, admiring little bits of decoration on their costumes, new haircuts, a new shade of lipstick. She got into place right in time to emerge when she was announced, hips swaying, arms lifting toward the ceiling, the snake following her slight nudges to get into position, or at least close enough. Dance wasn't a static thing, something that had to happen the same way every time. Dance flowed like water, like blood, adjusting to what was around it, the stage, the crowd, her move. She hitched her hip once, sharply, tossing her hair, the dark strands draping over the snake's pale scales, a punctuation to the gentle shimmy she had fallen into.
With a bit of gentle guidance, the snake started slithering down her body, head resting on the swell of her breast for a moment before dipping into her cleavage, and then down to her stomach. She turned to the side, so that the eyes of the crowd could follow its path as it wrapped around her waist, all the way around once, like a very strange belt. Arms held loosely at her sides, she rolled her shoulders, encouraging the rest of its body to continue moving downward.
When she'd fallen into a good rhythm, one she could keep up without thought, Layla took a moment to look at the crowd, see their reactions. Most were entranced; she accepted that as her due. No, the typical customer wasn't what she was looking for. Layla had a feeling, though, that there was going to be something different, that night. She wasn't sure on the what, but she thought she would know when she saw it.