Hex Kittens

Never tried writing anything like this before, but it was fun to write -- I hope it's fun to read, too!

As usual, everyone involved in any sort of sex is 18 or over.

--=[::]=--

They stay that stage fright fades over time, and you can get used to more or less anything. I, however, would disagree.

Sure, I've performed before, and that had followed the usual progression from pants-wettingly terrifying to simply fun. All of my experience had been on a

lot

smaller scale than what I was facing tonight.

Even the fact that everyone else thought I could do it didn't help much.

Taking a deep breath, then letting it out slowly in an attempt to calm my nerves, I opened my eyes and faced my reflection in the hotel room's full-length mirror.

At first glance, there wasn't anything that really stood out about my appearance, just another human woman among a couple of billion others. With a fluffy white towel wrapped around my hair and another around the rest of me, I wondered briefly if I'd made a really

really

bad decision.

My reflection's vibrant green eyes met their real counterparts, and I took another deep breath, ruthlessly ignoring the butterflies in my stomach.

Just get on with it, you daft bitch.

Dragging the towel off of my body, I let it fall and ran a critical eye over the figure that was revealed. Tanned, graceful limbs, a tight belly, perky tits that would have filled out a bra quite nicely if I'd been wearing one... and the rather startling sight of no hair at all between my legs.

That wasn't something I normally did, but it seemed to fit what was happening tonight, and I'll admit to having felt a bit of a thrill as I'd shaved myself clean in the shower.

A twist around, and I checked myself out from the rear as best I could, and nodded in approval of the way my perky butt did the rest of me proud. I couldn't see any sign of tan lines, either, which was a bonus, and proof that the time I'd spent on a sunbed hadn't been wasted.

Okay, nothing gone wrong there, which is a start

.

Next up, the towel around my head, and I took a moment to whisper a series of arcane syllables before letting it fall to join its companion with a soggy thud. Freed from the fabric that had just had all the water left from my shower drawn into it, hair the shade of fresh blood tumbled down past my shoulders, unravelling itself until it brushed the base of my spine.

I considered running a brush through it, but figured the more rough-and-tumble way it looked right now probably suited the situation best, and thanks to the cantrip I'd just cast, it was fully dry already.

A very handy spell, that one, and possibly the single most commonly used one in my repertoire.

"Okay," I told myself in the mirror. "You've ready for this. They picked

you

to do it, and there are gods know how many people who'd kill for the shot you're being given."

As pep talks went, that wasn't too bad, but it didn't quite hit the spot.

"Don't. Fuck. It. Up."

After a moment, I burst out laughing at the sober, serious stare I was giving my reflection, and shook my head as I turned to head over to the bed.

And promptly tripped over the towels and nearly fell flat on my face.

"For fuck's sake..."

Muttering about the fact I seemed determined to screw up even the smallest details, I kicked the towels out of the way and grabbed the lacy black bra that was laying on the bed. Slipping it on, I scooped up the t-shirt next and hauled that over my head. A few seconds of getting my hair sorted, and the rest of the outfit followed: panties that matched the bra, figure-hugging jeans, socks, and a comfy pair of sneakers.

What I'd

actually

be wearing for tonight would be waiting for me there, but this would do me until it was time. And speaking of time, a knock on the door came just as I was straightening up after getting my sneakers on.

"Miss Khaine? You ready, or do you need a bit longer?"

I didn't recognise the voice, but when I opened the door, I definitely recognised the source. At nearly seven feet tall and built like a chunk of geology, the orc was rather smart in his well-tailored suit, and I felt oddly reassured to see him.

It had been made clear to me when I'd been introduced to him that his main function was my safety and well-being, and whilst I was a bit wary about the fact my new employers thought his presence was necessary there was no denying the comforting notion that such a powerfully-built individual was dedicated to keeping my favourite self safe and well.

He was pretty easy on the eye, too. For an orc. Personally, I've never really gone for the big and green type, but there was no denying that he was a good looking example of the breed.

"Just need to grab my purse," I told him, and he nodded calmly.

"No rush, Miss Khaine."

Turning to do just what I'd said, I paused to look back at him over my shoulder. "You do remember that I asked you to call me Candice, don't you?"

"Yes, Miss Khaine."

"And you're not going to do it, are you."

"No, Miss Khaine."

"And now you're just fucking with me."

He didn't say a word, simply giving me a smile that widened into a quick grin as I stuck my tongue out at him and grabbed my purse.

"Okay, Joshua. All ready. Are getting a cab or something?"

Stepping back to let me step into the hall, he gestured toward the elevators and fell in beside me.

"Or something."

Frowning slightly, I looked up at him, rolling my eyes at the faint smile on his lips. I saw no reason to admit it to anyone, but despite how little time we'd known each other - about 13 hours by this point - I kinda liked him, and his sense of humour.

Quite what he was talking about, I was sure I'd find out soon enough. Though I was somewhat surprised when he pushed the button for the lobby. Somehow, I'd expected something more...

Actually, I wasn't sure, but it wasn't something so ordinary.

That feeling of unexpected mundanity didn't last, though. Not when he took me by the arm, escorting me in an imposingly gentlemanly manner across the lobby, out of the door - with a polite word for the doorman - and right up to a car that looked like it should have belonged to some third world dictator or something.

Stopping dead, I ignored the cool evening breeze that tried to remind me that I'd forgotten a jacket as I looked between the car and Joshua. "Seriously?"

A solemn nod, and he opened the door, beckoning me to climb inside and make myself comfortable.

--=[::]=--

First appearances had not deceived, and the back seat of the car was, indeed, comfortable as hell. It was also big enough that, even with Joshua taking up as much space as he did, it didn't feel cramped at all.

Settling back into the leather upholstery, I ran my gaze over the car's interior, pausing for a moment when my eyes settled on what looked like a damned mini-bar, then carried on until I was looking out of the window as the driver pulled smoothly away from the curb and into traffic.

Definitely the most luxurious car ride I'd ever had... and it did nothing at all to counter the way the butterflies in my stomach were getting active again.

"You're nervous," the orc beside me said after a couple of minutes, and it was quite plainly not a question.

"No, it's fine."

Another minute or so passed as I carried on gazing out of the window, resisting the urge to wipe my palms on the legs of my jeans as I wondered yet again what the hell had possessed me to to agree to this.

Fuck, why had I even tried for it when the opportunity arose? It wasn't like I had any experience at this scale, and it only took two brain cells - which I had apparently not owned when I'd said yes to my agent - to work out that being a total fan-girl was

not

the sum total qualification needed.

"I'm really okay."

Once I'd accepted the offer my agent had called to tell me about, things had moved fast. It was hard to believe that it had only been a week, what with all the rushing for the audition, the nervous wait for a call back, the second round of screening, meeting everyone that I was going to need to know, learning the extra spells that were a vital part of what I was supposed to be doing...

"Really, really okay."

The car turned off of the main road, and the shift in direction jolted me back to the here-and-now, leaving me no excuse not to see that we were only another couple of minutes from the arena.

Okay, it wasn't a

big

arena, and nothing close to any of the truly massive stadiums, but it was still about ten times bigger than anywhere I'd worked before... and I'd never even set foot in the place. There was going to be no sense of familiarity to settle me down, no success to fall back on for reassurance.

"I think I'm gonna throw up."

The sound of Jousha shifting his bulk beside me barely registered, but his arm going around my shoulders, pulling me closer until I was nestled against his chest, definitely did. Normally, I might have taken exception to what he was doing, but right then...?

It actually helped.

"Just relax, Candice. You'll be fine. Remember nobody worth a damn thinks you'll make a mess of this."

"I wish I could share their confidence," I murmured back.

"They picked you. Not any of the other couple of thousand hopefuls.

You

. And they know what they're doing."

With the level of success they'd achieved, one would damned well hope so, but that meant nothing at all to my dry throat and sweaty palms.

"I guess it's too late now, anyway."

"Only if you want to go through with it," he observed dryly, a chuckle rumbling in his chest. Tilting my head up, I gave him an almost-serious glare, then shook my head and sat up straight. We were both right.

Whilst we'd spoken, the car had pulled into the arena's underground parking, and rolled its way over to what was marked as the VIP section. When it pulled to halt, Joshua climbed out first, then offered me a gentlemanly hand. It was only a short walk to the nearby doors, and the security guard standing by them gave us both a smile and a nod as he swiped a card in the reader and held the door itself open for us.

"Knock 'em dead tonight," he said warmly, and it took a moment to realise that he was talking to

me

.

"I'll give it my best shot," I answered, the reply sounding pretty lame to my ears, but it seemed to satisfy him.

Any further conversation was headed off by a rapidly-approaching clatter, and as the door closed I found myself frowning down the nicely-decorated corridor as I tried to work out what was causing it.

As it turned out, the answer appeared bare moments later: a tall, statuesque blond with the figure of a goddess and a pair of crutches compensating for the cast that enveloped her left leg right the way up to the knee. Unlike the

last

time I'd seen her, as part of that whirlwind of meetings, she was in shorts and t-shirt, but the warm smile was still there.

"Sorry I'm late! Always forget how long it takes me to get anywhere on these things."

"It's fine, Hazel," I replied, stepping forward to meet her, and the crutches didn't prove that much of an obstacle as she wrapped me in a tight hug.

When she backed off, her expression had turned more serious, and for a second I was worried about why.

"I know I said this last time we spoke, but seriously, Candy... thanks. I fucked up, and you

stepped

up."

"I'd hardly call it stepping," I answered wryly. "Not with all the other wannabes lining up."

Hazel just shrugged, and led the way back down the corridor, Joshua falling in behind us. "Well they can carry right on wannabeing. C'mon, let's get you to the dressing rooms."

The place was actually something of a maze, it turned out, and there was definitely more walking involved than I'd expected. Not that it was deserted, with arena staff bustling about too and fro, but I still felt the need to occupy myself with something.

"Hazel, if you don't mind me asking... I know you hurt yourself on vacation, but what actually happened?"

"Nah, it's fine. I went skiing. It's a nice place that my brother told me about, and I thought I'd check it out. Sun, snow, sexy ski instructors, a nice few days..."

"That could have gone better..." Joshua put in from behind us, and Hazel flipped him a finger without braking stride. Since she was having to use both crutches to move about, I found that quite an impressive display of coordination.

"Yeah, that. Stupid accident, a week in hospital, and thanks to what it took to rebuild my knee, there's damn all that can be done to accelerate things any more."

"Which is why..." I started, then wasn't sure how to continue.

"Yup," Hazel nodded, sounding remarkably non-bitter about the whole affair. "Here we go."

Another security guard was standing by another door, and this time he simply opened the door for us to pass through, saying nothing and barely acknowledging that we were there at all.

That didn't bother me, really. Not when I was literally seconds away from being in a room with...

"TAKE MY COOKIES AGAIN AND I WILL FUCKING CUT YOU!"

Stopping dead in the doorway, I felt like a deer in headlights as the full-throated roar of rage slammed into me. Hazel and Joshua both let out little sighs of resignation, but I was only dimly aware of it. Instead, I was almost transfixed by the sight of Dannithella Srelle, lead singer and guitarist of the Hex Kittens, poster girl for wet dreams the world over, glaring daggers at one of the doors leading off of the lounge area we'd just walked into.

"You could stand to eat a few less," came a reply from the other side of the door, and the pale-skinned elf took half a step toward it, fists clenched tight, before noticing that anyone else had come in.

Spinning our way, she scrubbed her hands through spiky, bright pink hair, closed her eyes, and made a visible effort to calm down.

Personally, I appreciated the opportunity to settle myself, as well, since I'd nearly jumped out of my skin. The fact that this vision of elven beauty was barefoot in sweat pants and a baggy Hello Kitty t-shirt kind of helped, too.

Opening her icy blue eyes again, her expression shifted into a welcoming grin as she saw me, and she darted over to give me a quick hug - something that was becoming a running theme for the evening.

"Candy! It's great to see you, girl. You all set for your big night?"

"Not even close," I muttered, not even really aware of what I was saying until the words were out of my mouth. She only laughed, giving me a knowing smile as she nudged me toward one of the couches.

"I can believe it. You want a drink? Haze? Josh?"

The big orc merely shook his head, but Hazel nodded.

"A coffee please, Danni."

Both of them looked expectantly at me, and I wracked my brain for something that wouldn't sound stupid. "Just water, please."

"Probably smart," Danni commented, opening up a nicely-decorated cabinet that turned out to actually be a fridge. A second later, a bottle of water was sailing through the air toward me, and I was pleasantly surprised when I caught it.

By the time I'd gotten it open, taken a sip, and gathered at least some of my thoughts, both of the other women were parked on armchairs, mugs of coffee in hand.

"Sorry about that, by the way," Danni said to me. "You'll find that things like that happen, but none of us actually mean a damn thing by it."

"The cookie theft or the death threats?"

Again, words that left my mouth without conscious direction from my brain, I really needed to get a grip on that...

"Both," Hazel chuckled. "But you've not heard proper death threats until someone's favourite toy gets 'borrowed'."

"Trish is still planning to skin your ass live on stage when you're healed up, you know."

Hazel accepted the elf's warning with a shrug, then Danni turned her attention back to me.

"Now, Candy. Shit, I never asked if you minded that..."

"No, it's fine. I may plan to stick my parents into the shittiest home I can find when they get old for lumbering with that name, but other than that..."

I shrugged, then wondered if the water had been spiked with something, because it felt pretty easy to chat like this. I'd expected to be stumbling over words every step of the way, like I had when I'd first met the members of the band during the whole audition process, but apparently I was past that.

Sort of.

I still felt terrified of what was coming, though.

"Cool. Okay, I'll grab the others in a minute, and we can spend some time just chilling. There's plenty of time before we have to start getting ready, and I think you could use the chance to club those nerves into submission."

She was giving me another one of those knowing smiles, which turned into a grin as I simply stared at her.

"We've all been there, honey. You think we were totally cool with things the first time we went up on stage?

Fuck

no. I nearly pissed myself, and Haze here came perilously close to setting the venue on fire."

I glanced at Hazel, who was nodding ruefully as she sipped at her coffee. Somehow, in the last few minutes, I'd forgotten to see her as anything but a friendly woman, as opposed to what she

also

was: the band's backing singer, on-stage magic-user, and an integral part of the group's live performances.

Or, more accurately, she

was

all that, and would be again once she was healed up. Until then, assuming I didn't screw the whole thing up, every one of those roles was landing squarely on

me

.

Okay,

really

think I'm gonna hurl...

A slow, careful sip of cool water helped fight that urge down, and I tuned back into what Danni was saying.

"...point is, we know what it's like, and none of us really like the idea of you getting dropped in at the deep end like this. You'll be fine, though, Just take it easy, and don't worry about making mistakes. We can cover any that happen, and we all just want you to feel like you can have fun out there."

"And I, for one, hope you do."

"Hmm?" I semi-asked, looking at Hazel - who, I found was looking right back at me.

"You really want to do this now?" Danni spoke up before the blond could say anything, and Hazel shrugged.

"It can wait."

"Okay," I put in, looking between the pair of them. "Really not helping with the staying relaxed thing."

Danni waved it off, sitting back with her coffee, then looking around with a faintly furrowed brow.

"Where the... Okay, can someone tell me just how the hell a guy that big can just disappear like that?"

Not sure what she meant, I looked around myself, only to realise that at some point during the conversation, Joshua had, well, disappeared.

"Screw it," Danni muttered a moment later. "He's probably sloped off to drink beer with the rest of the crew."

The door Danni had been glaring at earlier opened, and I watched in silence as an ebony complexioned woman stepped through, dreadlocks tumbling past her shoulders as she munched cheerfully on the contents of a cookie bag.

Right behind her, another woman, her skin a rich, deep red, long hair as black as her almost cute little horns, and a sinuous tail curling behind her, followed her, and both of them paused as they saw me. Drummer and bass guitarist, respectively, Trish and Merilla were both as casually dressed as everyone else, and they offered me matching smiles of greeting.

I wasn't quite sure how it happened, but a minute later I was in between the pair of them on the couch, taking a cookie from the offered bag - to the eye-rolling tolerance of Danni - and wondering if I was even going to get noticed alongside any one of these women, let alone the whole group.

I'm not ashamed of how I look, and think I'm pretty damned hot when I want to be, but these women...