FOR THE LIGHT, C

He somehow found his way to the party. A friend of a friend was invited, so he was dragged along. He'd been told it was rather uppity, though he didn't quite feel like dressing in super fine clothing just for a party. He cleaned up his looks, wore a nicer shirt and pair of dark jeans, but kept his hat. Rocky didn't care if it didn't look classy enough.

The brunette was sitting close enough to the stage to see, but far enough away to keep from the drunken idiots he'd rather not associate with. They were grabbing at the stage and hanging all over each other. It was unsightly.

Though once the performer came on, his eyes lit up. The way her body moved, her hands looked so fluid and delicate as they cut through the air, not to mention that body. She was gorgeous... He had to meet her.

When the dancer finished and stepped off the stage, shyly so, Rocky never let his eyes wander away, following all the way to the drink table. He cleared his throat, fixed his clothes, and made his way over to join her.

"You were really good," the southerner spoke once he'd caught up to the dancer, Rocky's hands slipped away into his own pockets, keeping himself defenseless. His voice was soft enough to be heard only by the dancer, just the slightest bit of a waver from an unfortunate nervousness. "I've never seen anyone dance as beautifully as you did."

It was hard to hear over the sounds of loud talking, rowdy drunk partiers, and the music they put on the speakers. However, Rocky managed to make out what the dancer was saying. He smiled when he noticed the blush spread across the dancer's face and that made him happy. Happy in the sense that the compliment was accepted and she was flattered.

"My name's Rocky. That's not too hard to remember, right? My last name's even easier: Vance," he answered, starting to feel more comfortable the more he talked.

He hated how clumsy he could be around women or very pretty people in general. It was his weakness, honestly. Give Rocky a pretty face and he'd be on his knees in no time, wrapped around their little finger. Even if he found out that Hadas was a guy, Rocky's demeanor wouldn't change. If anything, he'd be amazed and even more attracted.

"What's yours? If ya... don't mind me askin' that is..." What a fool Rocky was, being hypnotized by something as simple as a pretty face. "Are you going to dance again tonight? Or are you finished for the evening?"

"Oh wow... That's such a fantastical name. It sounds like royalty or somethin'," Rocky said with a soft snicker. "Madam Hadas Glick. You definitely fit the part." He took Hadas' hand and gave it a gentle shake.

At about that time, someone happened to stumble into the table near them, shaking the cups and bottles and other refreshments lining it. Rocky scowled at the guy when he tried to apologize and just wandered off with a stumble. Rolling his eyes, he turned his attention to Hadas. "Well, I was here because my friends brought me. Said it was an uppity party, but it's looking like anything but that." From the looks of it, Hadas didn't look like they were having all that much fun either. Scared, even. "Uh... want to find a quieter spot to talk? One where there aren't idiots falling into refreshment tables?"

Rocky wondered what it was that Hadas wanted to say, but pushed it out of his mind for now. Hadas had agreed to going somewhere else to speak, so Rocky gently took his, (or "her" as Rocky still thought it), hand and led them outside.

The party was at a nice place in North Nova, right? So where there were nice houses, there were quiet places hidden around the property outside. At least, every time Rocky drove through, he'd see houses with huge yards with gates around them. From what he saw through the gates, there was a lot of roaming space. As they walked, he thought perhaps, for a little bit of extra money, he'd ask around to see if anyone needed their grass cut or weeds pulled. Maybe someone wanted their pools cleaned? Rich people hired people like him to do stuff like that, right? Yeah, maybe he'd try that out.

Not far from the house there was a sitting area, a gazebo of sorts, and he sat down on the little bench built into it after making sure Hadas was comfortable. "So, you wanted to say something to me back there?" Rocky brought it up again.

He was confused at first. Honestly, he thought Hadas was demeaning himself--"I'm anything but a lady~". Though, as he looked Hadas over, he did lack certain qualities that a woman would have.

A blush crept up and spread across his face almost immediately. He wasn't embarrassed over the fact that Hadas wasn't a woman. He didn't care about that. What Rocky was embarrassed about was that he was going on and on about madam this and lady that without even knowing.

"Oh God... I didn't... I mean, I had no idea. It wasn't insultin' was it?" Rocky quickly asked, sitting up a little straighter. Then, belatedly, "Wait.. why would I hate you?" His eyebrow rose and he looked incredibly confused at that fact. Oh no. Was it his accent? Southerners were known to hate on stuff like that, but he wasn't anything like the people he grew up with.

He let out a sigh and relaxed again, leaning back against the bench and hanging his arm off the backrest. Well, it wasn't like he'd never met a man who dressed up as a woman. He'd seen plenty and it didn't offend him any. And that fact didn't change how amazingly wonderful Hadas was at dancing, either. "Actually, it's rather neat. You do have the perfect body for the outfit and you're still an amazingly beautiful dancer," the southerner finished with a smile, his eyes calm as they met Hadas' gaze.

He could tell that Hadas was nervous, even more so now that the cat was let out of the bag, so he hoped that his calm demeanor helped Hadas feel a little more at ease. He knew for sure that the atmosphere outside did.

Suddenly, Rocky felt strange. Was "neat" a strange word to use?

"Uh... well, when I say neat, what I mean is... It's fascinating. In a good way, of course. I mean, could you see someone like me fitting in an outfit like that?" Rocky responded, smirking a bit from amusement at the thought of himself in a belly dancer's outfit.

Rocky took in a deep breath of fresh air, then let it out slowly as he pulled off his beanie, tossing it over to the free space beside him, and ran a hand through his hair. He ruffled it a bit, freeing it from being stuck under the hat for so long, and let the breeze blow it around.

It felt really refreshing.

"How long have you been dancing, Hadas? You've clearly been doing it for a really long time if you're that good at it," he continued on, moving a hand through the air in a sort-of hourglass shape as he mimicked the movements Hadas' body made on stage.

That was true and he imagined himself in a male bellydancer's outfit instead and he smirked, rubbing his own chin in thought. "Hmm, I bet I could really pull that off, then. I've seen the male versions of the outfits before. I didn't even think about that until you mentioned it," he replied, then looked over to Hadas again. "Do you think that I'd pull it off?"

At about that time, Hadas reached up and scratched the back of his head, perhaps playing with his hair and Rocky perked a brow at him, but when Hadas jerked away suddenly and faced forward, he smiled a little. Normally, Rocky would have asked about it, but since Hadas looked so concerned, he didn't bother. Perhaps he liked his hair and that was why?

"I don't do anything glamorous, unfortunately. I work in a garage down in South Nova. That's where I live. Not the garage, but South Nova. That's why it's weird that I'm even here in North Nova to begin with. I rarely come up here but to admire the houses every now an again. Though, when I drive by, people give me dirty looks. I suppose they don't like a dirty truck driving through their neighbourhood."

It was true. His truck wasn't the quietest piece of machinery. He'd even took the muffler off so that it growled when he sped down the street. It was a miracle that he hadn't been pulled over by any cops yet. Both from the loud growl his truck made and how fast he usually drove. Hahah, what were speed limits? They were just meaningless numbers to Rocky.

"Oh uh... sorry if you live around here, too," he added on belatedly, not wanting to offend. Hadas looked like he'd live in that part of the island, in Rocky's opinion, but he didn't actually say that out loud.