Gamal was only too happy to help Nicora and Tulani out of their street-clothes and into their new ensembles in the performers' dressing room.
Tulani checks herself in the mirror. She has a mild harlequin theme of black and white, her right arm and left leg bearing white gauze and her left arm and right leg black. An amber loincloth with silver tassels hangs almost to her knees, while a black-with-white-chevrons beaded neck-piece hangs across her chest, the two wide hanging bands connected across the gap by small beaded strands. A silver chain crosses it, hanging below her jaw from clips in her ears. A matching chain circles her belly, held up by her hips, with tubular chimes hanging from it, the same as those on her bracelets.
Nicora borrows one of the other mirrors to examine herself. She went with a different coloration for a change. Her ensemble is almost entirely emerald-green; with the leggings, arm-sleeves, loincloth, and even muzzle-veil being made of the translucent material. All the borders are edged in sparkly green sequins or tasslework. She didn't stop there, though, she also wears anklets and bracelets made of silvery chitin, each decorated in a multitude of small bells. Her leggings are held up by a double-layer waist-chain, also made of chitin and adorned with various small bells. Her ears, well, those are decorated in tri-clip chitin chains stylized to look like reptilian scales that hug close to her ear-ridge. "Almost there," she says, "All that is left is to fit that scary-looking belly-gem and attach the waist-chains to it..."
"That is where you need my expertise!" Gamal claims, as he gets out the jar of wax. "Let me know if the chest clips are uncomfortable as well, Nicora," the boy offers, as he takes the two belly-button gems and begins to apply a wax plug to their backs.
"They feel ... really strange," Nicora admits as she fidgets with the chains again. "And very, very, distracting. I don't know how people wear these often."
"Here we go, suck in your tummies!" Gamal says, and then sticks the gooey-wax-blob-backed 'emerald' and 'amethyst' glass gems into the appropriate navels.
"I didn't think it'd be so gooshy," Tulani notes, gritting her teeth a bit until the wax 'sets' into the proper shape.
"Bleh! It squished," Nicora complains when she feels it go in and fit to the contours/indention of her navel. She pulls her stomach in and now waits for a bit, letting it set and trying to not think about how it feels like there's either a finger stuck in her navel, or a large blob of her own shadow-cloak.
It only takes a minute for the wax to set, and then Gamal removes his fingers from the two stones. "Perfect! Now jump up and down a bit to make sure nothing falls out."
Tulani crosses her arms instead, giving Gamal a knowing look. "Nice try," she says. "I already fell for the 'try to touch your elbows behind your back' bit when I was younger though."
"Well, I can't speak for Tulani. Who knows what she sticks where," Nicora remarks, sticks out her tongue at Tulani, then bounces up and down a couple times. "And okay, something to remember, bouncing while be-chest-chained is ... disturbing." She has to rub a few now sore-ish bits for a moment.
Gamal reaches out to help, but pauses when he receives 'the look' from Tulani and when Nicora takes care of it herself. "Well then, would you look a special performance from me? It's a routine I've been working on."
"I don't know, Tulani, should we make him entertain us for a bit?" Nicora asks her sphynx friend. She even rubs her chin thoughtfully as she eyes the other Eeee a bit appraisingly.
"I'm up for being entertained," the Sylvanian Sphynx agrees, showing her teeth in a smile.
"Okay, you two ladies go make yourselves comfortable through there," Gamal says, pointing to a particular curtain. "I will prepare!"
"I feel like we're walking into a trap," Nicora notes to Tulani as she heads for the curtain. "But! That is what makes life interesting. I could show you dozens of life-threatening places in Babel. You'll love it..."
Tulani finds a pile of cushions to lounge back on, and says, "I didn't know you'd explored so much of Babel! Are all of those places temples or bars?"
"Temples, bars, and ruins," Nicora claims as she saunters over to one of the sets of pillows. She practically oozes herself into the pillows, making herself comfortable by lying slightly on her side with her torso propped up by a pillow.
"What's dangerous about ruins?" Tulani has to ask.
"Old traps, crumbling structures, and gangs of roaming thugs," Nicora explains.
"Wouldn't the thugs have already triggered the traps and dangerous parts though?" the Sphynx asks with a grin. "Maybe they just need proper encouragement."
"Depends! Sometimes they make others go in for them and find valuable stuff ... or get squished," Nicora remarks as she streeetches out. She then reaches around, gathers up her tail, and drapes it over her hip.
The tail looks around, as if expecting something interesting, and ends up just staring at Tulani and licking its lips.
"You're popular," Nicora remarks.
"I know," Tulani admits. "I just wish it wouldn't lick its lips when staring.."
There's a squeak, and the skylight shutters begin to close. On the stage, a Zerda girl sets out a bucket, and then melts into a dark corner to start playing the bongos as the room goes pitch black.
"Well, if you moved closer it would lick you instead," Nicora offers, grinning her amused, fangy, smile.
"I think it's starting," Tulani notes.
"Nah, I think someone turned off the sun," Nicora teases.
Gamal enters, holding a candle and.. shining? No, he's wet, and wearing just a loincloth. He sets the candle down at one end of the stage, and drops two ball-shaped items from his hands - which stop when they reach the end of their tethers, which are about a foot and a half long.
"I think fire is involved, somehow," Nicora murmurs to herself. She remains relaxed-looking, yet her eyes are focused on the young Eeee. It's now her turn to lick her lip as she waits to see just what he does.
Sure enough, the dancer swings the balls through the candle flame to ignite them.. and starts spinning them around (apparently they're fastened to loose rings, making it easy to spin them on his fingers). They form blazing circles in the air which seems to move through one another, or split apart as he moves his hands. And then he starts to actually dance, using the rings of fire to highlight specific areas.
"Is that a gypsy dance?" Tulani whispers to Nicora. "I've never seen something like that before."
"Now if he were brave, he would have done this dry," Nicora murmurs under her breath. Still, it is rather impressive. She's not one to want to sling fire around like that; her role in the circus was enough with that! "Though, I have to admit, he's good," she thinks, "Good balance and control of his body." Nicora then shakes her head to Tulani. "Not a conventional one. Gypsies usually use streamers and colored fabric over flame," she whispers.
The wetness may not just be for safety - the water really makes the smoke-gray fur shiny, so it seems to glow when the fireballs pass close. It's enough of an effect to keep Tulani mesmerized at least.
"You're drooling," Nicora teases Tulani lightly, then pokes her. She doesn't admit she's feeling a bit ... odd herself in certain areas. It does cause her to shift a bit, though.
During a spin, Gamal somehow shifts the loops from his fingers to his wing-thumbs, keeping the balls spinning over his head but now freeing his hands. He squats down, and hooks his fingers into his loincloth. He winks at his audience, and then pulls the fabric away (it must have had a breakaway cord). However tingly Nicora may feel.. it's clear that Gamal is feeling moreso, since another ball drops from a hoop around his ardor. A pass over the candle, and he's standing again with a third flaming ball - and making it pendulum back and forth as he rocks his hips, eventually work it into a full loop.
Nicora's brow arches at that. She runs her hands over her mouth, trying very hard to not laugh at the sight before her. "I can tell you that is not a gypsy dance," she remarks quietly to Tulani. "Usually when that part is on fire it means the conquest the night before was ... unclean. And that can't be comfortable..."
Comfortable or not, Gamal takes the first two loops back into his fingers, so that now he's got three fiery circles going.. and has to keep up some considerable hip-gyration to manage it.
"Okay, he's very flexible," Nicora mutters to herself, finding his movements rather impressed now. "I can see why he's popular."
"What is he thinking of to keep himself so.. ready?" Tulani has to wonder.
"We are in his view," Nicora points out quietly, "And look at how we're dressed. What you should wonder is, would he be so ready if we were guys instead?"
"I choose to think it is our sexiness alone that makes this possible," Tulani claims, tilting her chin.
"I'm sure it's mainly me," Nicora teases and waggles her brow.
The bongo-beat picks up, Gamal lets go of the first two fireballs at just the right moment to arc them up and then down into the bucket of water. The third one is trickier though. He has to thrust his hips and get it closer and close to the tip in order for it to finally fly free. He catches the ball in his mouth to extinguish it though, then spits it into the bucket before launching himself into the cushions, landing right between Tulani and Nicora. "Well?" he asks. "What do you think?"
"It is quite unique," Nicora says as she looks at the younger Eeee, "I've traveled a great deal and I have not seen a dance quite like that before. It is sure to garner you even more attention." She has to think a bit more about it, though, to figure out quite how she feels about it. "Have you considered using different oils to make each of the balls a different color?" Her lips then quirk into a smile and she adds, "You also have a very limber spine and hips."
"Hmmm, colored fire," Gamal says. "I had not even considered that! So, which of you wants to take the stage first?" he asks with a grin.
"I think I am content to watch," Tulani says.
"Oh, well, Tulani always talks about how amazing she is, so I think she should go on stage, don't you?" Nicora asks Gamal.
"I am willing to keep her company while you dance though, Nicora," Gamal notes with a wink.
"I'm not going to dance," Tulani says with finality, crossing her arms and lashing her tail about as she sits up.
"You are, are you?" Nicora asks, brow arching up slightly at that. She does have a bit of an advantage given she can use her shadow for things. "And why not? she asks as she slides off the pillows and gets to her feet to actually take the stage. "I guess this does confirm that I am better than you," she adds as she saunters up on stage and even flicks her hips once to the side to accentuate her comment.
"I never learned performance dancing," Tulani claims. "I always dance with a partner."
"I'll be your partner," Gamal says, cozying up alongside Tulani while Nicora gets ready.
"I think I shall avoid the comment I could make about that," Nicora notes with her back to the pair. She looks back over her shoulder and smiles. It's the sort of smile a predator uses when she's got her eyes on prey. Who the prey is, though, is anyone's guess. The shadows around her feet seem to ripple. No, they don't seem to, they are. Coils of shadowy-snakelike tendrils coil and snake up her legs, making her gauzy pants ripple. Her raises her right hand and snaps once and the shadow-cloak spreads and ripples out along her body, making her exposed fur go from a duller black to a liquid-smooth-look. In fack, it looks like much of her skin is made of a shiny-black oil. When the drums start, Nicora starts off slow, her hips rolling and gyrating to each beat.
"Magic!" Gamal says in wonder, watching closely now. Tulani also focuses on Nicora - since it's the only way she can keep from staring at Gamal.
Nicora's movement has definite hallmarks of the Sylvanian gypsies. Her movements are not as fierce as Gamal's were; they're slower and more rolling. Her steps are light and used to accentuate how her be-jeweled stomach rolls and ripples with each breath, parts of her dance very much influenced by what she saw in Chronotopia as well. A couple minutes in and her shadowy-covering seems to become more liquid again. Each of her movements is now followed by a delayed ripple and snap to her body of the shadow-cloak. Each roll, twist, and snake of her arms leaves the momentary after-effect. It's hard at times to tell where her joints begin and end; she looks like she's almost completely liquid with the way the shadow moves with her.
"Wow," Gamal says, hypnotized. His 'interest' still hasn't diminished either, which is causing more tingles in Nicora - which her own dance seems to be intensifying!
"Oh calm down," Nicora thinks to herself, "Don't let Inala win." Her pace increases with the music now. hips rippling and rocking and arms snaking and rolling as she twirls about the stage. It seems like fragments of her shadow-cloak stretch out and snap away, though in reality it's just drawn back in as a thinned out ribbon. Her entire body has gone black now, even her head and hair. Her hair doesn't look like it is made of individual strands anymore; it looks and moves like a pure sheet of oil. The only break in her coloration are silvery eyes and white teeth.
Tulani's eyes widen (always interesting on a feline) as everything goes black. In the darkened room, it's like Nicora is invisible except for her eyes, teeth, jewelry and apparel - plush the yellow highlights from the lone candle flame.
If it hasn't gotten odd enough, the Eee's features seem to slowly shift. Her fingers seem to melt together, the shapes of serpent-heads replacing them after a fashion. It doesn't stop there, though it is hard to tell in the low light. Nicora's face seems to broaden and smooth out, taking on more of a naga's features ... and it doesn't stop there. Soon she has the hood of a cobra flowing up and hot behind her head and neck. The dance becomes more undulations, like a mass of writhing snakes upon the stage. Lower and lower she goes to the stage surface until she's swaying back and forth like a snake that has been charmed. The serpent of shadow seems to grow even flatter, slithering towards the two in the cushions ... then simply collapses at the front of the stage in a liquidy mass. There it lays for a few seconds before it draws back in, leaving Nicora laying on her back, sprawled out. She rolls over to her stomach, then props her chin up on her hands. Buy is she smiling smugly.
Gamal is up on his feet and applauding wildly, while Tulani is rocking and laughing!
"See? That's why I don't try performance dancing!" the Sphynx claims with a big grin.
Nicora is also feeling really good in certain areas, a mind-melty tingle, no matter how much she tried to deny it. "You're just determined to make me a lust-demon, Inala" she thinks to herself. "And why are you laughing, Tulani?" Nicora asks.
"Because I liked it!" Tulani claims, and then pushes Gamal's behind, causing him to stagger towards the stage.
"Good," Nicora says as she spreads her legs, kicks them, then spins herself around so that she's now sitting upright on the stage. She finds herself staring into Gamal's chest. She looks up, brow arched, when she asks, "Can I help you? You seem to have a swelling problem."
"Well, if you're offering.." Gamal says waggling his eyebrows. "It might help me impress Tulani after all," he whispers and winks.
"Oh, I doubt that," Nicora remarks. She looks around Gamal to Tulani now and asks, "So ... do you want to see me dance with Gamal?"
"Are you sure you wouldn't rather have privacy?" Tulani asks. The bongo-drummer gives a drum-roll afterwards as well.
"Depends. He seems more interested in you," Nicora remarks as she slides herself off the stage to stand beside Gamal.
"Well, I still want you too," Gamal notes, and nips Nicora's shoulder.
"I'm dangerous, though. I deal in all manners of supernatural threats," Nicora remarks to Gamal. "I am practically a monster..."
"I know, that's what's so great!" Gamal claims. "I wouldn't have to hold back! I could be a real Eeee with you.."
"Really now," Nicora remarks, right eyebrow arched a bit. "And just what does that mean, hmmm?"
"You know," Gamal says, winking. "Biting, clawing.. screeching." It does sort of remind Nicora of Alptraum's first time with Dr. Pike..
"Are you sure you don't want an Eeee experience, Tulani?" Nicora asks, looking around Gamal again.
"Not here where anyone could walk in," Tulani notes. "I'm still getting over that whole beach-tent thing.."
"Ah, yes. You certainly enjoyed that savanite ... then lapi. The things you did with each of them..." Nicora teases as she curls an arm around Gamal's shoulders. "Well, if you want to retire to your room, I can show you how I did those shadow tricks..."
She says to Gamal.
"Oooo! Okay!" Gamal says, and scoops up Nicora into his arms (even it means getting 'bitten' by her tail).
Nicora squeaks! With her head drapped over his shoulder, she does manage to 'mouth' to Tulani, "He's insatiable and terrible! You owe me."
"Maybe I'll spell you later," Tulani says with a grin.
"You might need to. Bedding a Barinala, effectively ... I'm not sure how my blessing and curses are going to react," Nicora thinks. Still, being so close to Gamal does make her tingle in ways that, well. She licks his cheek. "Lets see if you're as good as the Ki'rin was," she murmurs to him.
"I'm sure it'll better since we're both more compatible now," Gamal purrs, causing the tingle to rise all the way up into Nicora's chest! His room isn't far, and he apparently shares it with someone else since there are two beds. It's dark, and it hardly matters, since no sooner is Nicora dropped onto the bed than Gamal is on her, undoing her chest clips with his mouth while his hands work on her loincloth!
"Inala, what are you doing to me?" Nicora thinks in half-panic, half arousal-lust. She's never felt so ... the tingle go so far. She tries to say something as Gamal works, but all she can manage are some rather pitiful sounds of enjoying his touch. Her hands stay out of his way as the work; all she can manage to do is drag her claws down his side, which probably only encourages him more.
Claws do seem encouraging, and the young bat returns the favor. It's the most hectic encounter Nicora has had, outside of the times she turned Snow into a male. The jangling from her various bells and chains is non-stop as well, and Gamal has a thing for biting at her neck that triggers lots of vampiric responses.
As much as Nicora should be afraid, that seems to just go away. Everything fades to lust for the Eeee she's with and the intensity of it drives her to keep encouraging him. Claws, biting, wrestling, the moments are frenetic. Her body seems to decide for her that she has to have him, and the number of ways, well ... if she were thinking clearly she would be mortified. Everything is like a whole different kind of hunger and one she must sate with this young Eeee. She switches from being a passive enjoyer to an active participant multiple times, each time changing the way she finds to torment him in return.
The room is trashed by the time they both have to stop and catch their breath. And they both need washing and some minor first aid as well. But at least Gorphat's blessing hasn't woken up yet, despite the intensity.
"And there is one more thing I can show you," Nicora says, her lips drawing back in an evil smile. She doesn't even ask, she places her hand in the center of his chest and the shadow flows out from it, engulfing the young Eeee's body. Apparently she wants to ken him, since it feels good ... and will feel good to him as well!
This is something Gamal wasn't prepared for. "Are you giving me an oilskin costume?" he asks.
"Just relax and find out," Nicora practically purrs to him, "You'll enjoy it..." And soon he's cut off from the world. The shadow seems to seep down within him, filling him with its odd, cool, touch. It's strange and floating, the place he finds himself ... and so is the sensation of being licked from the inside out. It also feels good to Nicora too, since her head is arched back with a look of bliss on her face as she 'tastes' him in yet another intimate way. It's over fairly quickly, though ... and the shadow is retracting back into her body.
"Whooooo," Gamal goes once he starts breathing again. "Is.. is that another secret woman thing, like the boobie-purses?"
"No, it's something special to me," Nicora claims as she lies back on the bed feeling exhausted and a bit ... sweaty and sticky from a rather intense event with the younger Eeee, "Like I said, I'm almost a monster." What she thinks, though, is, "I'm ... a woman of no morals, driven by carnal desire. How did that happen?"