| Logs |
2011 December 30
| Neverneverwhere |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
 |
| Realms: Taps Logs |
I Could Have Danced All Night
The musicians are shaking their heads and apologizing. They aren't familiar with those dances. The woman playing the fiddle, however, says, "We do know something that might serve."
Suraksha grins delightedly, "Excellent! Can you play a nice and easy song first, so we can cool down a bit -- and then one of those songs, please?" The band leader nods, smiling as widely as she can without actually showing any teeth, and turns back to the rest of the musicians. The next song is an old one, a ballad the caravaneers have heard in different versions in towns all across the continent. Suraksha grins at that and sighs happily -- she does love this particular slow and dreamy song! She glances around to see who is close enough to be a partner to her.
Malachai has been stopped by one of the other townies and is talking with the man, nodding slowly, but his eyes are flicking often over to Sulochana. One of the young men of the town edges toward her and half-bows, offering his hand, "May I have this dance, honored lady?"
Sulochana can see Malachai is busy, so she dimples at the young man in a friendly fashion, accepting his hand, "Why thank you! I was so hoping to dance." She slides gracefully but not familiarly into his arms as he leads her out onto the dancing area, adding cheerfully, "You can call me Sulochana! Aren't you the nice young man who offered graze for my camel, Amanda? I don't think I caught your name at that time...?"
The young man shakes his head and leads 'Chana out into the mass of dancers. He's graceful but not overly familiar and he says, "No, that was my brother. I'm Isaiah. But we all must look very much alike to folk as varied as your people."
Sulochana laughs at that, patting his shoulder lightly, "Isaiah, then? I apologize -- I should have seen the difference." She smiles as she adds, "I suspect we all tend to blend together a bit to you as well, then, yes?" She hesitates, then adds slowly, "Isaiah... may I ask you a few questions, please?" She dances well with him, partnering him beautifully -- but again, she is careful to also be quite courteous in her body language.
Isaiah dances like someone who is used to having his body do just as he wants: thoughtless grace. Many of the caravaneers have the same quality about them, so it's something the Hetaera is used to. "I would be happy to answer any that I can, ma'a... Sulochana."
Sulochana beams at him with a touch of relief, "Oh, thank you! First, I've been wondering: why is everyone so careful to smile with their mouths closed? Is showing teeth considered bad manners or something? When I laugh and my mouth opens, am I unwittingly being rude here?"
Isaiah blinks at the question, then laughs softly, "We are wolves here. Laughing is fine, but smiling..." he demonstrates a large, toothy grin for a flash of an instant, "is baring your teeth. To a wolf, it is a sign of aggression. Some of those that can shift have very wolfish minds."
Suraksha nods thoughtfully, "All right. I'd wondered about that." She grins curiously up at him, "Are you a shifting one, then? How many folks are here, and how many shift?"
Isaiah shakes his head, "No, but my brother can. The pack is not large now -- only about nine -- and there are perhaps one hundred and fifty of us altogether."
Sulochana looks quite startled, "One-fifty? Good heavens, how do you all manage to support yourselves in such a small town?" She frowns thoughtfully as she adds, "And... why don't you have more trade and intercourse with the folks from Accident? Usually remote villages split, from what I've seen, at about the one-fifty mark?"
The young man says, "The question, I think, is not how do we support ourselves while being so small, but how do the large towns support themselves? How do they survive when they have no feeling of family?"
Sulochana gives Isaiah a curious look, "You're asking that question seriously, aren't you?" She smiles faintly as she answers with the same solemnity, "The folks in large towns do have a sense of family, but their families tend to not be as extended as the one here. Further, they trade amongst each other just the same, I think, as you do here? That way the needs of some are met by the extras of others. There's also outside trade coming through, such as my caravan."
Isaiah nods slowly as he thinks and dances at the same time. Presently he asks, "And what keeps them from harming one another? Malachai and the other elders teach us that we must be kind because we are all brothers and sisters in god and in blood. Every one of us is family to everyone else, even if you have to go back ten generations to find it."
Sulochana looks interested, "In god? How fascinating! What god do you follow, if I may ask?" She smiles as she adds, "I suppose it is the general social nature of humanity which keeps most folks from attacking each other in any serious fashion." More gravely she adds, "There are people who allow power to go to their heads, of course. I cannot recommend you visit the city-state of Houston, for example. It has been rather... horrible for generations now."
Isaiah says in the tones of someone who has had a very strong indoctrination and believes it with all his heart, "All the gods and goddesses are one good. They are one light. And it is that god, that light, that we follow. And there is a spark of that light in all of us. Which makes us brothers and sisters in god."
Sulochana smiles faintly again, realizing she must be careful here, "So if all the goddesses and gods are one, it would appear there is no real gender to the deific, yes? So... do you ever refer to the god as a goddess instead?"
Isaiah smiles that close-lipped but friendly smile again, "The light has no gender. We do not think of god as male or as female. That would be limiting. I have heard some say goddess when they speak of the womanly side of god. But we do not think of the word god as meaning male."
Sulochana raises an eyebrow, "So if I, say, openly worshiped a goddess, it would cause no ruffled feathers here?"
Isaiah tips his head in an almost canine gesture; the more Sulochana is around these people, the more she notices they have very wolfish body language -- as if they are speaking with more than their mouths, "It would only raise eyebrows in thinking that you limit the divine light to one body."
Sulochana laughs aloud, "Really?" then hastily closes her mouth, "Oop! Sorry about that -- didn't mean to flash my teeth at you!" She grins ruefully, adding more quietly, "Really? That's very nice, then! Too many places think if you don't worship their specific god, you should be chased away!" She laughs softly, glancing around to locate Malachai as she adds, "So how do your folk signify agreement?" She remembers Malachai thinking very hard during the negotiations he had with her, then mentioning how showing agreement was probably done differently by the townies. She makes a mental note to ask Malachai what he was considering so heavily too.
Isaiah laughs as well, "Laughing is not flashing your teeth in the same way. It is like a wolf lolling its tongue." To her question about agreement, he says, "There are different ways." The dance is starting to draw to an end as he continues, "But a common way to seal a pact is to share blood: a small cut on the palm; the palms pressed together."
Sulochana nods thoughtfully again, "I see," then accidentally flashes a happy grin at the young man, "Thank you so much, Isaiah! This has been really nice, and really helpful!"
Malachai, by now, is been standing at the edge of the dance floor and watching Sulochana dance with the boy. His eyes have not left her, even when he was speaking with other people. The townsfolk have noticed this and smiled to themselves. It is only natural their alpha be distracted, after all. Sulochana has to suppress an internal -- and rather flattered -- giggle at that! She grins mischievously at Isaiah, patting his arm lightly, "So, is it courteous here to escort a lady to another gentleman, or would you get in trouble with Malachai by doing so?"
Isaiah has guided her to the edge of the dance floor and smiles a little at her, "It would be best if you went to him of your own."
Sulochana looks a bit surprised, but then smiles and nods, "All right." She gives him a quick, impulsive hug, "Thank you again then, Isaiah!" before she turns and strolls slowly in Malachai's general direction. She grins lazily at him from beneath her bangs, letting her hips sway and being deliberately, invitingly provocative; she knows the next song will hopefully be quite steamy, after all!
Malachai watches her come with a very slight smile at the corners of his mouth and his hands clasped in front of himself. To the outside eye it seems he's simply waiting patiently; it would take someone watching very carefully to realize he's doing so to keep from reaching out and grabbing her. When she draws close he says, "You looked lovely dancing with Isaiah."
Sulochana grins mischievously up at him, "You think so? Thank you! So... would you like to try a dance with me too, and we'll see if we can really knock their socks off?" She giggles in spite of herself at that mental image!
Malachai starts to say something and then the music for the next dance starts up. He chuckles, looking toward the musicians and then back at Sulochana, "Oh, I believe I may just remember how this one goes." He offers her one of his solid hands.
Sulochana dimples delightedly at him as she takes his hand with a swirl of her skirts, "Indeed? Perhaps you could show me, mmm?"
Malachai starts to lead Sulochana onto the dance floor; her eyes are sparkling invitingly as she gives a mischievous sideways grin up at him. The rhythm is not quite a tango, but the beat is slow and inexorable -- if stalking had a sound, this would be it! "I do not know if they have this dance beyond Friendsville. Here, we call it a chase -- and something tells me you are quite good at being chased." Around them, couples are pairing up, meeting one another's eyes very directly and circling around a center space, in the middle of which they touch hands.
As the song and the dance progress, it becomes quite clear why it is called a chase -- although interestingly it is not always the male of the couple in the hunter's role. The steps draw each couple together until they are almost close enough to share breath, and then the "prey" half of the couple moves away, flashing inviting and impudent looks back at the "hunter." The steps of the prey are light and meant to show off lithe bodies and quick movement, while the steps followed by the hunters are deliberate and sensuous, meant to denote hunger. It is much steamier and more overtly sensual than the dances one finds in most towns that consider themselves religious. Sulochana is glancing around herself with bright-eyed interest to see how the dance goes, and as the provocative nature of the motions registers she looks momentarily surprised. Once she's clear that this sort of behavior is indeed accepted, however, she almost gleefully throws herself into the dance!
Several times the dance brings them close enough that barely a hairsbreadth separates their bodies. At such points Malachai is able to look down directly into her tilted and almond-shaped eyes, letting his desire flash through for the moment until they are pulled apart by the dance again. She also draws on her belly dancing training when she's "prey," so Malachai gets a few delightful flashes of cleavage, as well as the smooth, firm pressure of her hip or rump brushing against him as she teases intriguingly. Malachai's hands move over 'Chana's body each time the dance brings them that close to one another, caressing face or hip or back.
Sulochana turns on all her focused intensity for the sheer sensuality of "hunting"; she's not sure how Malachai will react, but as long as he seems happy she's willing to pull out all the stops. He is surprisingly -- or perhaps not so surprisingly -- light on his feet, and his eyes gleam with humor and eagerness when he's performing the steps that denote prey. He is not, however, very good at looking vulnerable; even when he is prey his gaze eagerly meets 'Chana's. Sulochana chuckles at that -- she has the same provocatively up-front nature herself as well! She can clearly telegraph 'come hither,' but she's not so good at looking truly meek. If Malachai is adept at detecting the predator, he can see it lurking relaxedly in the back of his partner's golden-eyed, inviting gaze.
As the dance progresses the roles switch less often, and Malachai is in the hunter's role at the end. The final beats of the dance end with the hunter holding his or her prey with an arm around the waist and a hand on the side of the neck, their faces an inch or less apart -- not kissing but close enough to feel the heat of one another's skin. Malachai seems intrigued by the sultry invitation in 'Chana's gaze and body language; as the last notes of the song fade he presses in so his cheek slides against hers, burying his face in the hair at her temple before leaning back again a moment later.
Sulochana is sort of mirroring Malachai's position: she's got one hand on his shoulder and the opposite hand gently cupping his cheek. She smiles knowingly up at him as he once again meets her gaze, then deliberately lets her eyes go smoky with heat as she slowly licks her lips. The change in Malachai's pulse rate is almost tangible and the way his pupils dilate is unmistakable. His eyes are locked on her mouth for a moment -- then he pulls his gaze back to her golden eyes. When he releases her, it is with obvious reluctance.
Sulochana, however, does not release -- instead she closes her small hand around one of his silvery braids and holds on, purring up at him, "I think... I would like another drink! Would you care to accompany me, mmm?" Mischievously she adds, "-and you can tell me why I'm tricksy too, as we walk!"
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