I missed writing Shifthira. TAKE IT! 

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Not legit scene - Date Night

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"I'm going to kill you for this later," said Athira. "I hope you realise this."

Shift readjusted his grip on her wrist and continued to move forward, ignoring her protests with a huge grin. 

"You promised," he said. "And I wouldn't want to tell Zoe that you backed out on your promise." 

"When Zoe asked me if I'd do anything for her," said Athira slowly. "Going to a night club with you was definitely not what I thought 'anything' would entail, and you damned well know that." 

"Yup." They reached the head of the VIP line, another bonus of being one of Sirah's Colours. "But now we're here, and you're going to enjoy yourself."

Athira sighed. "I highly doubt that." 

Shift flashed his card at the bouncer who, after a secondary glance at Athira, waved them through. It seemed to alert the rest of the lineup to his identity, because that was the point where several girls burst out of the line and screamed his name, trying to reach him before the bouncers could catch them. 

"I see your fan club's here," said Athira as he led her down the narrow corridor, into the heart of the club. 

He'd picked this one specifically because it wasn't one he frequented often in the hopes of avoiding that, but that apparently hadn't helped. "This whole city's my fanclub, Thira. What do you want me to do about it?" 

"Not drag me into the middle of it, preferably."

"Blame Zoe." 

"Already planning on how I'm going to get revenge on her, don't worry." 

They reached the end of the corridor, with the nerves in Shift's stomach building to a breaking point. He wasn't entirely sure how Zoe had managed to get Athira to agree to this, but the idea of taking her out on what he'd tentatively call a date had seemed too good to pass up. Now they were here in the middle of it, he was starting to wonder if he'd made the right decision in taking her up on it. 

The club was more or less as he remembered it. 

There were two levels to it--one underground, one over. The floor-slash-ceiling between them was made of a reflective glass that split the strobe lights into a thousand different colours when they struck at the right angle. The walls of the main room in the centre, the dance floor, were made of the same glass covered in thick black curtains. A door on each wall leading to a maze of other rooms throughout the club, the bar on the side that stretched between the two floors seamlessly.

"So what," said Athira, looking bored. "People come here, move around in something you try to pass of as dancing, attempt to mate with each other and then go home? Is that the gist of this?" 

Shift laughed and took her hand once more, leading her around the dance floor and over to the bar. "Something like that, I guess. What's your favourite colour?" 

She looked at him like he'd gone nuts. "What?" 

"Your favourite colour," he said again. "What is it?" 

"Purple, I guess. But I don't see why that--"

Shift turned and placed his hands on the table between him and the bartender. "One purple drink and one of those fancy blue-coconut-chocolate swirly things, please!" 

The man seemed to catch on with a sideways glance at Athira. "Any preference on the purple drink, or shall I surprise her?" 

Shift grinned. "I doubt she'd know anything about this kinda scene anywa--"

"Make it a berry twist," said Athira, cutting him off. "With ice."

The bartender nodded. "Of course, miss," he said, turning away to make the requested drinks.

"Oh?" said Shift. "So you do know something about this kinda scene, eh?" 

"No, I just managed to hang around the Underground for a few years without ever figuring out what beverages I liked," said Athira, rolling her eyes and slipping into one of the bar stools. She rested her chin on her arms, watching the bartender mix the drinks and leaving Shift to his silence. 

He turned his back to the bar, clucking his tongue. The club was as active as ever, bodies writhing to the beat of the music that vibrated the floor under his feet. He didn't recognise the song, but it was one of those songs you didn't have to know to dance to. The predictable beat, the drops and the swells were all these as the vocals went on about something he couldn't make out over the bass. 

The blender whined behind him. Shift ran a hand through his hair, searching for ideas that could possibly get Athira to enjoy herself a little more. 

"Here we are." The bartender pushed the drinks forward. When Shift went to reach for his card, he held up a hand. "I'll start you a tab. No need for that now."

"You sure?" Shift made a dramatic gesture. "We could just run off into the night!" 

"The only problem with that is that everyone in this building knows where you live, Shift," said the bartender. He glanced at Athira, who was taking a sip of her drink. "I hope you'll both enjoy your night."

"We shall certainly try," said Shift. 

Athira still looked bored. She didn't want to be here, that much was obvious. Shift's thoughts were beginning to stray to the idea that they should have stayed at the base and watched a movie or something. People weren't really Athira's thing.

As he was mulling it over, attempting to keep the chocolate swirls separate from the rest of the drink because why the hell not, his attention was drawn to a group of four, maybe five girls that were closing in on him like a flock of vultures.

Uh oh. 

Sure enough, they approached the bar without any hesitation on the side opposite to where Athira was sitting. A red head perched on the seat next to him while her friends, particularly the blonde with the ponytail eyed him. 

Shift switched into his celebrity persona, relaxing his shoulders and returning their gazes with a confident one of his own. It took them three seconds after that to strike up a conversation. 

"How about we shout you the next one?" said the blonde, sidling up a little closer. "An extra shot of colour, see how that works out, yea?" 

Shift kept the distaste out of his expression. He wasn't keen on people who spiked their drinks with colour. It was supposed to give you an energy high or something, but to him, it just seemed like an extraordinary waste of the colour. 

Then again, I don't have to pay for things with my colour. It's there all the time.

"I think I'm good for the time being, but thanks," said Shift. "Do you lovely girls have names?" 

The blonde bit her lip. "I'm Sarali, but for you, Sara is just fine."

Two of the other girls introduced themselves next. One insisted on giving him a kiss on the cheek, to which Shift presented the side of his face in the hopes of getting it over quickly. The other two in the group seemed more interested in actually getting drinks than chatting him up, for which he was grateful. Three he could juggle--five was bordering on dangerous. 

I think it was a group of five that slipped me that thing last time. He nodded to himself. Yep. Three is definitely better.

Even so, Shift was careful to keep an eye on his drink. 

The conversation stayed casual for another minute or so, general questions about work and age that everyone seemed to want him to know about themselves. 

No, the problem was when the blonde edged closer still and became bold enough to put her hands on his shoulders. She leaned down on him from behind with her face just beside his, side-to-side, so close that he could smell the alcohol on her breath. 

Annnnnd this is where we end the acquaintance. 

Shift tried to pull away. "Well, it was lovely to meet you, Sarali, but--"

"Sara, Shift. Call me Sara."

"--Sara, then, but I'm sure your friends want to get back to the music. I'm afraid I'm already--"

She wouldn't be persuaded, if anything taking his words as playing hard to get. "Uh huh, of course, Shift. Can't make it to easy, can we?" She smirked, fluttering her lashes at him. "They can go back to the music, but I'd much rather stay here and talk with you some more, mmm?" 

Sarali--Sara, whatever, then attempted to climb on to his lap. Shift resisted, pushing her away with his elbow, but her death grip on his shoulder wouldn't relent. It was becoming a serious problem, and Shift could see no help in sight since her friends had indeed gone back to the music by themselves. 

The solution to his problem came in an unexpected form.

Athira. 

Shift heard the whisper of her clothes as she left her drink behind and stood up, her gaze focused the entire time on the blonde hanging over him. With two steps, Athira raised her hand and placed it directly in the centre of the blonde's chest, pushing her back. 

The blonde stumbled in her heels. "Hey! How dare you--"

"I'm sorry, who gave you permission to hang over him, exactly?" said Athira. 

The blonde smirked, slapping away Athira's hand. "I don't need permission to talk to him, honey." Shift saw the restraint on Athira's face. Apparently the blonde didn't, because she tried to regain the ground she'd lost. She flipped her hair. "Now, how about you go back to your drink and let the adults talk, okay?" 

Athira plastered on a smile. "I had something much more interesting than talking planned with him. Care to see?" 

Athira's hand reached for Shift's face, and in one swift movement that turned his head towards her, leant in and kissed him hard. She tasted like the berries swirled into her drink, her lips chilled from the ice as Shift snaked a hand around her back and pulled her closer, leaning her against him. 

She broke the kiss with the smallest breath of air across his face, eyes lingering on his for a moment like she intended to go in for a second time. Instead, her eyes flicked up and a triumphant smile spread across her face. 

Shift glanced behind him to find the blonde storming off into the crowd. 

"Keep fluttering those eyes and those fake lashes might just fall right off," Athira called out after her. Then, in her quieter voice, "I thought she'd never leave." 

"Was that all that was? So she'd leave?" asked Shift, nudging Athira's elbow that was still wrapped around him. "I'm heartbroken."

She sighed and picked up her drink, downing the rest of it in one go. "Shift, I think we're both aware that, had it gone any further, I may have been inclined to challenge her to a duel to reclaim my honour, and no one wants that." 

"Honour?" asked Shift in between mouthfuls. "What honour?"

"According to the tabloids, we may as well be getting married next month." Athira ordered another drink and Shift followed suit. "You've seen the things they write. You're going to tell me I have nothing to defend when the rest of the world thinks we're together?" She shook her head. "That girl knew who I was and she still went for it. Therefore, honour." 

"Ah," said Shift. "That honour." He paused for a second, trying to decipher her meaning. "Even though we aren't actually together."

"...Right," said Athira. "Even though we actually aren't." 

Neither of them said anything until the second round of drinks arrived at which point, Shift suggested they swap. Athira agreed with a nonchalant shrug as the conversation veered off to other areas. After a few more drinks and discussing the most recent case for a few minutes--a purple colour who seemed to have the ability to delete memories and was using it to steal colour from civvies--the dance floor suddenly seemed like an amazing idea to Shift. 

"Y'no," he said, offering Athira a lazy smile. "I think Zoe would be disappointed if you didn't try out that dress she leant you. Shall we dance, milady?" 

Athira gave him a pained look. "Really, Shift? Dancing?"

"Or I could go find that blonde again, I bet she'd--"

"Oh fine!" Athira stood up and folded her arms. "But don't expect me to enj--"

Shift didn't give her the chance to finish the sentence. He grabbed her by the hands and pulled her down on to the slightly sunken flashing floor, right into the middle of the crowd that flocked around the DJ at the centre. 

The previous song ended. Even as it faded into oblivion, the smooth tones of the next began. 

"Pull my heart of of my chest, train my mind so I'll forget~" 

The song picked up. The dancers responded with a swaying motion that slid between them effortlessly--Shift included. A sober mental state probably would have resisted the music a little more, but a tipsy one heard the rhythm and didn't want to resist. 

"Sink your teeth into my bones, dig me out then fill the holes~" 

The beat came in, sweeping the crowd with it. None resisted, with the exception of Athira. She stood lost among the dancing, glancing around, a frozen anomaly in the ocean of movement. 

"Tear me apart, tear me apart and watch it burn~"

People shuffled around, new faces surfacing with every cycle. Shift tried to involve Athira, but she truly had no idea what to do. A sidestep happened, but she retracted it quickly with a bite on her bottom lip. 

"Tear me apart, tear me apart and watch it burn~"

"Shift, I can't--" she started, glancing at the bar, her isle of identified safety. 

"It's okay, honey," said a familiar voice. "Because I can."

Shift turned around to see the blonde from the bar circling him, trailing one finger across her side, down to her hips. 

"All thats left is the window to my floor~"

The blonde took control of the situation before Athira could react. Her body fit the beats, brushing up against Shift's. 

"Falling faster, you made my heart your home~"

He lost his rhythm, but the blonde wouldn't let him escape. She stepped between him and Athira, the crowd moving around her, sensing in that wordless way that something was about to happen. 

"Come and get it, one more time, woah~"

Shift lost Athira. The only sign of her were the few crystalised shards of black colour tinkling to the ground, kicked across the floor by stranger's feet. 

"If you wanna lose your mind, woah~"

He couldn't concentrate on anything. His thoughts were yelling at him, verging on panic that Athira was about to bring the whole place down as the blonde put her hands in the air, sliding her manicured hands down her skin. 

"Come and get it one more time, if you wanna lose your mind, woah~"

The blonde spun around and faced him, pressing her chest to his so their breaths mingled. 

"Come and get it."

Shift put his hands on the blonde's stomach and went to push her away but she took his hands and clamped her fingers down. She pushed his hands lower, over her hips, down her back into territory he wasn't interested in--

A black crystal hit the floor and shattered as Athira appeared through the crowd behind the blonde. Shift expected her to look furious, possibly have her tail flicking around her legs, but in that little black dress that hugged her sides and wrapped around her neckline in a way Shift couldn't figure out, something was different from two seconds ago. 

Athira was no longer resisting the music. 

"If you wanna lose your mind--Come and get it~"

She stepped forward, twisting herself around on one black-booted foot as Shift watched, more than just a little stunned. The blonde seemed to sense something was wrong and turned, meeting Athira's gaze with a snarl. 

"Didn't get the message the first time?" said the blonde, yelling over the music. "Go back to the base, kid. You don't belong here."

Athira ignored her and locked her eyes on Shift. Her shoulders and arms swayed, molded to the beat with a flawless synchronisation while her feet carried her forward. Her arms went up, hands snapped down and around as she reached Shift and took his arm. 

"If you wanna lose your mind--Come and get it~"

In a movement that reminded Shift of their unarmed training sessions together, Athira pulled Shift away from the blonde. She swung him around as the melody kicked back into the chorus, leant back and circled around. Her arms went wide. Her head followed the movement down, invisible lines holding them together as one of her legs scooped the air beside her and she swung her hips left, curving her body with it. 

As for Shift, he could do nothing but move as Athira willed him, staring in awe as she maneuvered herself around the floor in a way he'd never expect her to attempt. The dancers, the crowd around them that Shift had forgotten existed adjusted around them, creating a circular wall out of their bodies that never once stopped moving. 

The music held its breath. The room followed suit as Athira brought herself up, standing before him grasping Shift's shirt with her short ebony hair draped across the lips Shift was considering feeling with his own. 

"Mouth to mouth I breath you in, swallow down your jagged sin~"

Her hands ran up the back of Shift's neck, fingers stretching through his hair as she pressed her forehead to his nose. 

"Let it drown inside my veins, the sweetest poison I could take~"

They came back down, faster now as they traveled over his shoulders, her head rising as the fingers kept down, reaching his elbows, extending his own arms to pincer her waist. 

"You make it an art, the way that you scar with every word~"

Her hands locked down on his wrists as Athira stepped backwards, her eyes never leaving his. 

"But before we reach the end, strip me down again..."

Just as she reached the end of her tether, the space that his fingers no longer occupied, her own curled around his, sealing them together. 

"Come and get it, one more time~"

The a tamer version of the previous chorus kicked back in and with it, Athira flicked his arms away to the sides, giving him a look that said chase me.

"If you wanna lose your mind~"

Shift was happy to oblige. He'd recognised the essence of what she was doing. Without a doubt, it was one of the unarmed sequences they'd been practicing recently, albeit with a few variations. 

"Come and get it, one more time, if you wanna lose your mind~"

The blonde was nowhere to be seen now, well and truly banished to the outskirts of the dance floor as Shift took Athira and the two of them stepped around each other, egged on by the crowd with various shouts and cheers. 

"Come and get it."

The song went on, filling Shift's mind and body the same way Athira filled his vision. He was dominated by the sight of her, reacting to her hips and her hands and her arms as she kept him entranced. No beat was left behind, no touch forgotten as the song drifted back into oblivion. 

Dun. Dun. Dun. 

Athira placed one hand on his shoulder. The next hand. Looked up. 

Dun. Dun. Dun. 

Shift followed suit, caressing her waist. 

Hand. Hand. Eyes. 

Dun. Dun. Dun. 

He pulled her close. The fading second beat was a step towards her, the final a spin under his guidance. 

They stood like that for a moment as the next song began, Shift searching Athira's face for any hint of what'd just happened. She just kept staring back at him, the barest hint of a smile turning the corners of her lips. 

"I told you," she said so softly he almost didn't catch her words over the music. "If she'd kept going, I'd have to challenge her, and that no one wanted that." 

"Not want to see that?" said Shift. "Thira, that was..."

He trailed off as she released him and back stepped through the crowd, back up the steps towards the bar they'd come from. More than a little confused, Shift followed her light steps back past the door and into the maze of hallways that skirted the main room of the club. One thought stuck with him as curiosity drove him forward. 

The hell is she going? 

*+*+*+*

A/N - There'll be a part two of this, probably sometime soon but I wanted to post this now because nyeh. Like the other not-legit scenes, it's not really edited and I have no idea if it's good XD I JUST WANTED TO WRITE IT SO I DID.

Also the song is on the side. I'm obsessed with it lately. No idea why O.O 

Leave me a comment, yea? <3