Holo-disks spun under the DJ's multiple hands to keep the beat moving, moving the dancers on the floor to the pulsing throb of the music like a collective heartbeat. As the crowd swayed and stepped to the tune, Daiya moved in harmony with them. Her arms raised, she tossed her hips from side to side with the beat, passing a hand against her scalp so her hair could move freely. The music pumped through her blood, the rhythm sunk deep into her bones, and when it pulsed she pulsed with it.
The girl watched as Zenie tried to mimic her at first, and gave up after a couple songs. Daiya let her try to flail around for a while, watching Zenie move the way she was feeling. Halfway through, Daiya motioned to another woman in the crowd, dancing along with a bunch of droids around her, hoping that Zenie would find something to emulate there. After too long, the girl couldn't hold back her cringe anymore, Zenie's halting moves were just too painful to watch. The younger girl didn't seem to have much natural flow to her, even though it seemed like she could follow a beat well enough. Daiya decided it was time to intervene, and tapped Zenie on her shoulder.
"
Follow me," she shouted, leaning close and talking slow so Zenie could make out the words. Daiya waited until the other girl nodded, and then started moving with the music again, slower now. Taking the cue on every other beat, Daiya tried simple things, moving as far back as she dared in the crowded dance floor so she could show Zenie the moves out in front of her. Starting slow seemed to help, and over the course of the rest of the song, Zenie picked up a few tricks that looked like actual dancing. Daiya leaned close with her words of encouragement, the grin she wore borne of approval and not just adrenaline from the music anymore, "
Yeah, you're getting it now!"
The crowd roared around them as the next song came onto the playlist, transitioned smoothly by the DJ's expert hands. Picking up her pace, Daiya urged Zenie to follow the faster tempo, and raised her arms again, hoping Zenie would do the same to try out her dancing now that the inexperienced girl had the basic motions down. Daiya's smile broadened as her young friend followed suit, and the girls danced through to the end of the DJ's set.
[End Soundtrack, Begin Band Performance]
"
Oh, the band's here!" Daiya squealed to her friend as the trio of musicians took the stage. She had been disappointed when the music faded out to the generic kick beat, meant only to keep the energy level up, but the dance floor knew when it was being had. The girl had slowed down, taking the break as an excuse not to exert too many motions, but kept to a gentle sway instead as the stage was cleared for the new performers. The shock-blonde of the lead singer elicited an extra squeal from Daiya in delight over their shared hair color. "
Their singer looks A-MAZING!"
"
She's like your older sister!" Zenie shouted over the crowd's cheers as the band started warming up their audience. The other members were introduced, including a tiny bassist with a gigantic guitar. Zenie giggled as she pointed to it, and Daiya laughed along with, wondering how the little Nautolan boy could manage such an instrument. He soon showed them, as the band started up a song completely unlike the club mixes they had danced to before.
"
I'm pretty sure this is the same music my mother listened to when she was a kid!" the girl exclaimed, but mostly to herself. The music was oddly compelling, despite the generational gap in tastes.
The guitar and bass created layers on top of the drum's kick, a sound that was far more organic than the synthesized electronic of dance music. It moved Daiya in different ways, slower and more methodical. The chaotic motions of the previous songs gave way to a simpler method, stepping from side to side while she clapped to the offbeats. Daiya found it easy, but incredibly unfulfilling. How could the rest of the crowd have so quickly shifted from their creative moves to this perpetual applause? Didn't they have any sense of
taste?
Zenie seemed to be getting into it, too, her feet leaving the ground when she jumped during the more emotional hooks. Daiya grinned at her friend's enthusiasm, though. At least one of them had figured it out. Between watching Zenie and the Nautolan boy thrash his head over the bass guitar, Daiya found the energy to keep dancing with the new style of sound.
As the first song ended, though, Daiya found Zenie leaning on her arm. The poor girl seemed to be all out of the same energy Daiya found it so easy to generate from the crowd. But Zak the Bass Player was already rocking the upbeat line for the next song, and Daiya felt the urge to jump and dance with the rest of the crowd, her plans halted only by the feeling of an auburn head coming to rest against her shoulder.
The blonde-haired teen giggled at the young girl's smaller amount of stamina, wrapping her arm around Zenie's shoulders to guide her out of the crowd. It didn't seem like the caf had done as much for her companion as she'd hoped. She had to switch to being behind her friend to get through, at least until they were out of the crowd's throbbing mass. She glanced around to find a place to sit, and didn't notice Zenie stumbling ahead, right into some masked figure who had planted themselves right in the middle of traffic.
"
Oops," the younger girl said, giggling euphorically at her own mistake. Daiya came up behind her again, putting hands on Zenie's shoulders to take up guidance once more.
"
Sorry, she's really tired, Daiya explained, then pointed Zenie in the direction of a booth she'd spied. It was only half full, and the other ladies parked there seemed like safe company. "
Let's go over this way, Zenie. Less people to run into."
Mr Black
and Ariel Yvarro approach the bar. His goal here tonight was find something to do, and it looked to him like her may have found what he was looking for.
