Carefully-honed, precision steps carried her effortlessly across the dance floor, incapable of missing a beat, commanding it in fact, controlling it, owning it like no one else could. Granted, it was a dance she was fairly new to, the Kolbasti, a vivid, almost frenzied dance involving lots of quick footwork and flexibility. To many it would look like a hybrid of part river-dancing and belly-dancing, two styles the average person might think incompatible. She took to it like the professional she was though. It wasn't as if she was worried though; the stakes of her dance were low, a room filled only with a few other performers ranging from barely above amateur to impressively professional, but the fact that she was among her peers meant they were watching her every step, every move, every minute point of her art. Timing her art to a beat she'd memorized and could dance to without hearing it, she let her body spread her perfection with the utmost joy.
***
The forms of entertainment around the table got to be competitive in a funny way. Two guys arm-wrestled in the middle of their meal, which somehow lead to french fries being thrown across the table in a pseudo-attempt to start a fun food fight. It failed miserably as the intended targets just caught the thrown fries in their mouths. Their partners next to them got them to stop by teasing them with the fries, pretending to feed them but pulling away at the last moment, tracing their lips seductively leaving salt and ketchup trails across their mouths. It looked so fun, every couple at the table tried it, which led to some pretty hot kisses to follow, and more laughter and smiles expressing how much they loved this gathering, even if it celebrated Thanksgiving way in mid-December.
Camille, the dancer that brought them all together, found her gentle smile brightened considerably as the door to the restaurant opened and she saw her fashionably late special guest. Everyone else turned their head to look upon the final arrival, all but Camille and Penny looking to her with some curiosity at first. Everyone else but Camille and Penny only vaguely expected to celebrate something in a grandiose fashion arranged by the infamous holiday performer, but Thanksgiving was usually reserved for some combination of them and the latecomer, always festive like Camille could never resist playing up to.
Camille liked to leave the regular holiday to meetings with families, which for some left much to be desired; she kept up her tradition of nontraditional with the much desired, in this case meant a friends version of Thanksgiving, people who you'd want to break bread with by choice, often the week after. This year end up being low-key; turkey-burgers and fries in an empty Salsa restaurant reserved just for them. The other guests were a collection of couples the Holidancer had amassed over since the past Christmas, the recently engaged Penny and Trent, June and Auggie, Teri and Carlie, and of course Keith at Camille's side. It constantly warmed her heart that she was partly the reason it was a collection of couples to begin with.
Camille maintained her smile aimed at the door while Penny groaned inwardly as if looking at a justifiably long-lost relative who'd walked back into her life, an hour late again. Someone she saw at least once a year, but that seemed more than enough, though she tried to keep her inward feelings to herself.
Teri and Carlie eyes eventually widened as they realized who had just walked in the door - the famous Celine Mansuer, the "other famous Canadian Celine" as she was known among celebrity and dance circles, the best dancer her country had ever produced, or so her publicist explained. She mostly lived up to the hype, but unfortunately so did the ego to go with it. The backdrop of falling snow being blown in behind her form made her look like she was walking out of a music video. She strutted in like she owned the place dressed in Gucci everything, boots, coat, even sunglasses big enough to hide her features from most untrained eyes, no matter how silly she looked at night wearing them. She seemed to match everyone else's color scheme, as they were all decked out in different shades of brown, except Camille who wore a white, sparkly turtle neck, shimmering like snow in the light, as if one person had to correctly represent the weather for the party.
Celine looked over several faces new to her, and two all too familiar. Her approaching body language expressed her near disregard for everyone else, and slight reservation toward Camille and Penny. Celine groaned at that ever-eager smile Camille wore that looked so unbecoming on her beautiful features, according to Celine. Penny shared a similar smile of contempt, borderline smirk, as they exchanged pleasantries.
***
Dancing like a tempest of passion and fire, she barely had to look in the direction of her audience to know they were practically mesmerized already, leading them on toward something greater. She wondered how many had caught on to the pattern each part of her body showcased, her arms gently, flailing in specific horizontal or vertical directions, not unlike an aircraft marshall signaling. They may have noticed it if it weren't for the swift jiggling of her hips, and the light and dark shades of golden brown glitter and jewels surrounding her where her naval would be across her sweater, undulating and heating up the whole club with it's efforts and making the overall level of body heat rise. Her stomach shifted like a flag in the wind, aided by wearing flats and having legs that bent by the knees on a specific tempo few may have been aware of. Even she couldn't keep up in a sense as the tempo was so practiced for a dance so new to her, made to set the timing for the rest of her body and overwhelm everyone else's senses. It was easy to keep up with it, practically able to set her watch to it.
Absent the ticking of a watch, or the beats of a song to dance to, she created her own with her steady tapping of her feet against the floor, emerging into her own slower, more impactful Kolbasti dance. Thanks to the slightly hard, sounding platform on her flats, each was measured and powerful, their full impact lying the rhythm set instead of how hard the collided with the surface she danced on. Deep inside though, every measured step and near-stomp reverberated, caused tremors of energy, reinforcing her precision. From the tips of her fingers, surging down to the tips of her toes and back, her core in her stomach circulated that energy like hear heart pumped blood thoroughly through her. The more she stepped into it, the more she needed it, the longer she could keep herself going if need be, if she needed to. Her audience was already where she wanted them though, giving her encouragement she felt deeply and loved.
***
Celine's extended hand was ignored and Camille moved in for a hug, made more difficult by the fact that Camille walked with a crutch this year, meaning she'd suffered another injury for herself. It amused Celine how Keith nearly rushed to her side to keep her from falling; it wasn't often the infamous Camille Fares had trouble staying on her feet.
"My, this looks like a familiar sight," a cultured and slight Canadian accent spoke with amusement. The words made Camille chuckle, Penny grimace slightly, and left everyone else confused momentarily. "What happened this time? Ambition with something creative get the best of you?"
"Seems like given all the looks at the table, explanations of the past are in order," Camille said.
"And who better to tell it than then one who profited from it the most," Penny regarded snarkingly.
"But you tell it so well, Pennywise."
Penny gave her an evil look only she and Camille could see, foolishly hoping against hope that that nickname from her least favorite Stephen King novel wouldn't come up, or for her absolute dread of clowns of any kind.
"Sometimes you can just tell when two people deserve to be siblings," Camille rested her hands on her friends shoulders, treating both of them like two bickering sisters who loved doing it just for the sake of. They helped her with her crutches to the table.
"Before we get into that, introductions are in order. The first lovely couple over there is June and Auggie; I met them on Valentine's day, which is the day they got together. Since I've known them, they act like Valentine's day never ended somehow," the Holidancer's warm smile belied her humorously sarcastic tone, and she received a pair of warm smiles from both, and warmed the room with as they looked at each other and smiled a little deeper.
"Aww," Teri and Carlie replied together.
