The pounding beat of the music permeated everything, from the pulsating flare of multi-colored lighting to the rythmically gyrating bodies of the beings crowding the dance floor. Two in particular seemed to gether the light and sound like magnets, one a humanoid dancing like a living flame and the other pale and ethereal, a mere shimmer of mist taking temporary shape for the dance.

People began to notice the two, stopping in their tracks to watch. Eyes locked on each other, the two dancers paid no attention to anything else. Light shimmered and shivered over exposed flesh, gleaming pink and icy grey-white, as each tried to outdo the other in a contest that now had the attention of everyone on the floor and even most of the bar crowd.

The contest ended abruptly in a spectacular flare of movement, an even draw between fire and ice. The two females finally became aware of their surroundings when the crowd let loose a cheer. The white haired dancer turned around and took in the crowd with wide, startled eyes, then bowed, with a cheeky grin and a wave. The other gasped and covered her mouth, looking at the crowd with alarm.

"Oh no! What have I done? Showing off in a public hall, like a common exhibitionist! My father—"

"Oh, lighten up, Princess," Chiana said, gliding closer. "Live a little. Your daddy's not here to see you."

Jool flushed, a deep rose color on her pink cheeks. "Chiana, I—what do you mean?"

Chiana curved her arms around behind Jool's head, almost, but not quite, an embrace. "You think about daddy way too much, Princess. What about you?"

"Me?" Jool squeaked, and broke away, only to find her escape cut off by the crowd of dancing aliens.

Chiana laughed. "You're pathetic, you know that?"

"What do you mean by that? I'm not the pathetic one. You're the one that thinks she can get whatever she wants using her body."

"And what else should I use, hmm?" Chiana smiled, shifting out of the way of a tentacled dancer and incidentally closer to Jool. She hadn't missed the signs of interest—rapid breathing, wide eyes, the way her lips were slightly parted with just the tip of her tongue peeking through... and it had been a long time, a long lonely time, since d'Argo had kept her company.

"Has it ever occurred to you to use your mind?" Jool licked her lips.

Chiana's head tilted, considering. "And has it ever occurred to you that you use your mind too much?" She reached out and caught Jool, pulling her in close enough that their breath mingled. "Maybe you should just let go and enjoy..."

The throb of the music was irresistable. She began to move with it, swaying and brushing up against the readhead. Jool shivered and closed her eyes, swaying along with Chiana to the beat of the music.

"Close your eyes, look deep in your soul," Chiana said in Jool's ear, barely audible through the waves of sound. The words echoed the music, although they took on new meaning coming from Chiana. "Step outside yourself, let yourself go..."

"You're frelling crazy," Jool panted, but her hands slipped around Chiana's waist, sliding over the cool smooth skin of her back.

"Not crazy, just hedonistic." Chiana brushed her lips against Jool's warm skin.

"Ai!" Jool twitched back, eyes wide and panicked again. "This is—public! Can't—people! Watching!"

Chiana threw her head back and laughed, lights dancing across the pale skin of her throat and chest. "If that's your problem, then come with me!"

She set off through the crowd, with one of her most seductive glances over her shoulder. Jool followed with short jerky steps, clearly torn between what she wanted and what she thought she should do.

Chiana grinned and shouldered her way through the crowd, still moving in rhythm to the pulsating beat. Either Jool would follow or not.

There were rooms available, rooms that were little more than a bed and four mirrored walls. Chiana didn't stop or look back until she'd reached a room with an "open" signal marker and scanned her credit chit. Then she turned... and Jool stepped into her eager embrace.

"I'm letting go," she said, closing the door behind her. "But remember... fire melts ice."

Chiana laughed. "And ice becomes water, which quenches fire. Are you ready to be quenched?"

"Yes," Jool whispered.

Clothing slid to the floor in an untidy heap, leaving warm and cool flesh to mingle, with intoxicating results.