Catcratch Club Opening Night

[thedemonmagnet]

Xander sat back in the 'backstage' area of the newly opened Catcratch clubbed, arms wrapped tightly around his knees and head buried in them. Why was he doing this? He knew he'd worried the Emcee, the guy kept making puking jokes around him. Xander almost wished he could puke, maybe he'd feel a bit better. Why had he agreed to do this? He hadn't even wanted Buffy and Wills to know about this and now he was stripping in front of a bunch of people that he could actually know this time. Of course, he knew why, he didn't want to let Helen down. It was the white knight in him, unable to not help a lady. Of course, he didn't know about her making him the main male act when there were others who had to be better. Not that he'd paid attention when the others were practicing. He'd been keeping his distance from Dick, Christmas kiss not withstanding.

He listened to the music as each person performed, getting closer and closer to his turn and the tension just kept building his shoulders. He didn't know how he was going to move, much less dance. It took everything he had to just keep breathing.

---

When the first beats of the song started, Xander closed his eyes, took a deep breath and let himself drift down to the place he'd found in Oxnard. A place that disturbed him for the fact that it even existed inside of him but was there all the same and gave him a skill he'd never thought he'd ever have to admit too. When he opened his eyes again, he felt almost like a different person. Normal!Xander had just about checked out.

While most of the other dancers had gone the costume route, Xander had decided to go the other direction. His costume were a loose pair of jeans and a loose hoodie, complete with sneakers. He moved and bent his body, just like he was expected, but the loose clothes kept his body hidden. Like he was hiding. Invisible. But then he began to tug and pulled at the clothes, exposing a bit of hip here, a flash of back there, until finally in one smooth, practiced motion, thehoodie was over his head and his jeans undone. But a t-shirt and the jeans remaining on his hips continue the tease. Somewhere in the song and movement his sneakers are off, the jeans fall down his legs unaided and t-shirt is pulled up and over. It seems almost natural, how they fall around his feet as he never stops moving. Finally, he's all uncovered except for the g-string...and the song is done. A tease from start to finish.

---

Once the song was done, Normal!Xander returned in force almost as soon as the last beat sounded. He bit his lip to stay composed as he gathered his clothes and moved off the stage. He exchanged a quick glance with Helen, saw that she seemed pleased and with a small smile to himself, moved off to find a place he could get dressed in private and then bolted as quickly as he could from the building. He'd meant to watch Helen perform, but at the moment, he couldn't think of anything besides panic. Finally, he stopped by a nearby palm tree, still in full view of the club but at least it wasn't completely obvious that's where he had come from. That is, unless they had just seen him dance. Oh god. He couldn't think about that and breath at the same time.

Why did he think this was a good idea? Why had he let Helen get this secret out of him? Oxnard was one thing. It was a matter of survival in place where he was another face in the crowd so he could get home to his girls. Here? What if Giles saw him? Or Clark? It was bad enough Spike worked with him. Why did the one thing he was good at had to be taking his clothes off? It wasn't like he even liked sex. Faith had terrified of the very word.

He sank down into the sand and just buried his head under his arms, resting against his knees. Why was he doing this? He had a blank slate to work with and this is what he did with it. He had to take a few deep breaths before he hyperventilated.

Find him before, during, or after he dances, just let me know.

Comments

[scoobys-heart.livejournal.com]

Xander wasn't really in the mood to make fun of anybody. He was still genuinely surprised that no one had made fun of him yet tonight, after what he had done. "It's not that big of deal..." He said finally, softly when Clark repeated being jealous. It was just...hard to be believe he envied him, especially about this.

He felt the tension in the air between him and despite the situation, Xander didn't really know where it was coming from. Did Clark regret telling him that he liked watching Xander dance? He nodded slowly, releasing Clark if he was that anxious to leave. "If you want...though," he couldn't help adding glancing around at the still. empty night, "I wouldn't exactly use the word crowding."

[smallvilled.livejournal.com]

Clark tried not to be painfully obvious about things, so when Xander missed the underlying message in his jealousy statement, he couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head. Clark was the king of understatement. Maybe this was fate's way of telling him to let sleeping dogs lie. Though, he never quite understood what that meant. Maybe he was using it wrong. "Not exactly what I meant," he murmured before standing up and brushing some sand off his ass.

He looked down at Xander, tilted his head just a little, and held out his hand. "You could come with, if you want," he said. "Go for a walk or something." He glanced up. "I think it'd be a good time for a swim." Sure, it was at night, the island was cool, but Clark liked cool water.

[scoobys-heart.livejournal.com]

Xander hadn't even considered any other option, not after the disaster that had been the kiss after he broke up with Jill and the months of not talking. In his opinion, Clark wasn't interested and that was fine with him. It was just nice to have his friend back. So, when Clark clarified, Xander frowned. "What do you mean then?" He asked curiously.

Then he considered for a moment and stood up with Clark. "I think I could go for a walk. If you don't mind, I think I've done enough taking off my clothes for the night."

[smallvilled.livejournal.com]

Clark nodded. "Right," he snickered. "Of course." He slipped his hands in his back pockets. "A walk would be good," he said quietly, ignoring the other question. He was sure they'd talk about it again. Maybe. Possibly.

[scoobys-heart.livejournal.com]

They walked along in silence for a few minutes before Xander nudged Clark with his elbow. He hadn't forgotten his question. "Come on man, what did you mean? What are you jealous of?" He was starting to relax finally and he was curious.

[smallvilled.livejournal.com]

Clark didn't usually talk about this kind of stuff. When he did, though, that usually meant there was some sort of impending apocalypse and someone might die in battle (namely, himself). So, standing there, in the moonlight, on a island "paradise" wasn't exactly in the cards of his rolladex of scenarios in which he might say something like this.

Not to mention there was a whole thing about Xander having a penis and that being new (the attraction to him, not the fact that Xander had a penis, he clearly has had one the whole time. Clark was fairly sure of that, anyway.). Though, it probably wasn't the first time now that he thought about it, which colored the way he viewed certain friendships. Lex had always said he was repressed. Not in so many words, but that was the gist.

Clark stopped and sighed, turning so he could face Xander, and tried to find the words. 'Of them watching,' seemed to simple for something that was, to him, far more complex than anything else he'd dealt with. Well. Barring that whole alien thing he was still dealing with. This was like throwing fuel to the fire. Maybe they were right. Maybe there was something the water here. At least it was Xander, though. He could've done worse, though, right? Not to say that Xander was even the most remotely interested anymore, and Clark was fairly sure after his lamebrain farmboy actions, that ship had left the dock a while ago. For all he knew, Xander had someone new in his life. So, what would he accomplish in all this? Would this be for the better? Would he be willing to risk the friendship he'd just rekindled?

Leave to the farm boy to think himself out of it. "Of them," he said, finally. Figuring he'd do it now before he lost his nerve. He hoped that was enough for it to click in Xander's head. He crossed his arms, hugging himself a little in the cool night, and started the trek again.

"I'm thinking tomorrow I'm going to try a strawberry pie of some sort. Think there are cookbooks in the compound?" And just like that, Clark had changed the subject. He was good at that. Saving the world, putting himself in harm's way, avoiding emotionally raw conversations? That was Clark Kent in a nutshell.

[scoobys-heart.livejournal.com]

Oh it clicked. It clicked big time. Xander reached out and caught Clark's elbow, making him stop again. "Clark..." He said though his voice broke on the word slightly. "You can't just drop that on someone and talk about pie."

In all honestly, Xander coudln't think of anything to say to either. He was too busy being shocked. Clark Kent...the guy who hadn't spoken to him for months over a kiss...was jealous of people watching him strip? Mixed signals anyone? And that wasn't even going into his feelings on the subject...which were all jumbled up at the moment as it was.

[smallvilled.livejournal.com]

Clark wasn't sure what to say, so when Xander asked him to stop, he did, and kept his hands stuffed in his pockets and watched him carefully. He wasn't sure he had any answers for Xander if he asked. It wasn't exactly something he knew much about other than everything slowly falling into place.

It's not like Clark expected anything from Xander. For all he knew, it was something that was in the past. Maybe Clark had known for a while, but chose not to pay attention to what was going on. Clark had a tendency to do this, and he was aware of it. Still, the last thing he wanted to do was upset Xander.

[scoobys-heart.livejournal.com]

When Clark didn't say anything, Xander felt nervous. "Well...?" He asked. "There has to be more then that. What's going on with you?" He just...didn't know what to think at the moment and some explanation would really hit the spot right about now. "You gotta admit, this is kinda sudden..."

[smallvilled.livejournal.com]

Clark shrugged. "Not so sudden," he replied, "more like bubbling beneath the surface." He glanced at the floor, toeing at the sand, and tried to figure out what to say. "Not sure what to say." His brow furrowed. "I just." He sighed. "I care a lot about you, that's all I know."

[scoobys-heart.livejournal.com]

Clark didn't know what to say and neither did Xander. This was just...complicated and sudden and what a way to cap an already really weird night.

Xander didn't look up from the sand as he thought about what to say, bottom lip tucked between his teeth. "Were you ever going to tell me?" He finally asked softly.

[smallvilled.livejournal.com]

Clark took a deep breath. "I dunno," he said softly. "It's sort of a..." He looked up at the sky. "That whole month when..." He cleared his throat. "I missed you." He shook his head. "More than I think I realized and it all sort of... Clicked into place when we started talking again," he said softly. He hesitated, for a moment, before taking a step forward and placing a hand on the side of Xander's cheek, using his thumb to brush against the skin. It was a soft touch, gentle. "I didn't want to upset you or..." He pulled away. What else could he add?

[scoobys-heart.livejournal.com]

"You didn't want to upset me so you waited until one of the weirdest nights of my life to tell me." Xander couldn't help a small laugh. Not at Clark, just as the situation in general. Why couldn't his life be normal, just for once? It would be a nice change.

The touch surprised him, and Xander could only stare at Clark during it, still not even knowing where his mind was at. But he did have one more question. "So...what do we do now?"

[smallvilled.livejournal.com]

"I don't know," he said with a shrug. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, his brow furrowing, wondering if maybe he'd just made an ass out of himself. He cleared his throat again and looked around. "We could go for that walk," he answered quietly.

[scoobys-heart.livejournal.com]

"Okay." Xander said instantly. He needed a walk. He need to think about this. It was just....so much all at once.

But he could sense that Clark was worried so he reached out and squeezed his forearm reassuringly for a moment. Nothing was wrong, he just needed to think.