Valentine's Day Venus Dance

So when he asked me to the Valentine's Venus dance I remained silent and on task, degumming the contacts on the Fordyo-GMonda electric-powered Zipper© in the shop. It's a fine art, mixing a paste of barely wet soda and brushing it on carefully. Rinsing it had to ensure all the liquid went into HAZRecycle containers; any misfalling acid would have the HAZCops at my business within a day.

But while I worked, my hands shook because of his green eyes raking up and down my form fitting Cornayon body suit. His eyes, his being, his aura, his intensity all demanded I meet his eyes.

I sucked in air when I finally gave in and inspected him back.

His eyes twinkled with aware mirth. "Well?" His grin sloped to one side beneath a floppy mess of red curls, his freckles on the edge of needing a visit to the DermoDoc for UVmitigation treatments. But then I noticed his shoulders, when had he beefed up so well? And his hands? He took a drag on the SynthCig, allowing clove scent to stretch between us.

Flutters in my chest lifted my apprehensions. I nodded merely, unwilling to be too eager.

"Seven for dinner then the Venus Valentine's dance, Saturday? Your place, Tina?"

A shiver ran up my spine as I mentally imagined him getting too fresh on my doorstep. "I'll meet you." I returned to my work, using an extensible hose and a funnel.

"I thought we might try the Airlift Cafe ... I can learn what you like that way."

A flop in my belly. Learn what I like, whoa, was he serious or what? "Okay. On Ninth?" The Airlift Cafe floated over the city at night on board a blimp, with three floors of anything you might want to sample. The cost was astronomical, I knew.

A smug look appeared on Blake's face but I couldn't see his eyes, he had red-spiraling VR goggles on as he wandered off, blue link flashing while he talked to an online customer, hands waving about. Weird.

Dinner on Saturday went better than I could believe, texted love haiku flashed up the Towers. Bursts of hearts were laid out in LEDs on the government lawn. Night light protection glimmering gold on the city windows let the stars peep into view and so much more added up to romance.

For once Blake seemed to concentrate fully on me, no side conversations and no handsy-footsy games at the table. His eyes glimmered and his expression said he listened. I found my mood lift like bubbly champagne butterfly candies you pop.

Blake only touched me once during dinner and only when we were leaving, placing a hand at the small of my back as he steered me toward the waiting slide ramp. With my knees feeling wobbly, I tucked my flimsy Cornayon dress tightly around my legs after locking the head protection gear. I fell away into fake free fall, head floating even more than before. My SimulSpike heels cushioned my landing; they were flat and as comfortable as tennis shoes but looked like they had four inch heels and made my legs look hot, or so I've been told.

It was while I awaited Blake's arrival down the slide ramp, I began to have doubts again. Just what was a Venus dance? Sure the name fit Valentine's Day, but I'd never heard of one. I had just arched my eyebrow in concern and paced back and forth twice to work off my growing butterflies when Blake showed up, grinning like he knew a joke that no one else knew. But he grabbed my hand, shoved open the exit door and said "C'mon" and so I just went along.

We ran up the alley, me feeling like a starflake and across the highway at the light and there, under the sweeping beam of a search light was a waiting line of people with two huge bouncers guys, probably bred for Army duties. No one argued with them.

Blake took me to the front of the line, waved his forearm credit tag and we popped in. Inside was a ballroom-sized room with pink walls and huge green balloons in the corners hanging down over the crowd of dancers. Music throbbed and vibrated from the synthesizer flooring. The band floated on mech-rafts zooming here and about. And then I saw a guest bite into the balloon tie down.

All my euphoria drained out. Uh-oh. Blake was one of those. FeederGamers.

Light-headed, I stopped in the foyer.

Blake tugged at my arm, obviously ready to feed and then I knew I'd get the proselytizer speech, "Join us. It doesn't cause damage. That's just a snow job by the medical police. We're cool and all that." Heat flared up through me until I could feel the blush on my face.

This time when the tug on my hand didn't move me, Blake turned around, his eyebrow arched. He leaned close to my ear and yelled "What's wrong" over the "doo-doo-te-doo's" of the band.

I yelled back into his ear, feeling the warmth of his breath and the heat of his body. "I don't do this sort of thing. I like to dance but... No. I'm not a FeederGamer."

He lifted my chin with his hand so I'd meet his eyes. "Neither am I. It's an anything goes sort of place, even straight. Let's just have fun. Let me get drinks, what do you want?"

"Water," I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

A smirk crossed his face but he patted my hand and called one of the robots to fetch it. He ordered cactus punch and it arrived looking red and fruity. He let me have a sip and it was thirst quenching but sweet and it reassured me the rest of the night would be as good as dinner.

Our first dance together turned out to be a slow free form one and disappointment hit me as Blake went his own way, painting on the air around us with feathery motions. I tried to follow suit but the red drool running down the chins of some of the dancers made me tense and so I was glad when it was over.

Blake finished his drink and set it aside just before the band kicked into a retroPogo headbanger song.

The dance floor filled with pushy hot bodies touching and bouncing and ricocheting off each other. After the song wound down into some low key metal rock, Blake went spasmodic.

I wanted to die. I pressed one hand to my head and dodged his flying arms.

Blake sank down to the floor and jumped his leg, then flopped into a crab shape on the floor then punched in fifteen directions and yelled at the top of his lungs.

Heat flooded my cheeks and I glanced around to see if I knew anyone there while dodging his legs kicking like a starfish on cocaine. What would people think of me being with total-zoner Blake? I had to get out of here. But the dance floor was filled with so many dancers I couldn't even spot the door.

While I was puzzling the way to the ladies room, the light in the room turned green. A scent of fruity flowers permeated the air. I looked up into the jaws of a giant Venus Flytrapper and ran toward the nearest wall. Ten feet away, the mouth chomped Blake into non-existence. I froze hands over my mouth.

I started to pant for air as the heat in the room rose higher and higher. Other dancers were sucked away. I tried to feel bad about Blake being gone but all I could think was please, please, let that plant spit out Blake's credit tag, how else was I to get home?

No such luck. Blindly I pushed through dancing couples, finding more and more crowded rooms and then a thought flashed through my panicked little mind. Get drunk, the taxis will take you home for free.

I checked and found a few hundreds, enough for one drink and asked for the cactus juice. I chug-a-lugged it down, almost gagging but then the warmth flooded through my belly and my lips turned numb and my eyes crossed and so my walk really wasn't so faked after all as I headed toward the entrance and the way out dancing and grabbing people's arms and twirling under them and laughing like and idiot and I was halfway back the way I had come before I realized the horrible truth. The waiters were filling up trays full of cactus punch ... from the Venus Flytrappers.

Then a shadow covered me. I tried to duck and managed to avoid the main bite, hanging on to the stem of the Venus Flytrapper but it managed to get one of my legs. I found myself tap dancing the on the outside teeth of the plant, trying to smack it off my leg when another shadow covered me up and this time it was too late to duck.

Air whooshed around me fluttering my skirt. It took me to the count of about ten holding my breath before I stopped worrying about how I would be processed into cactus juice and realized that I zipped along as if I rode on the slide ramp.

I landed on the top of the nearest slide ramp, breeze slowly cooling heated cheeks. I closed my eyes and covered my face and mouth. How much stupider could I be? Darkness surrounded me. A cling clang sounded nearby and I jumped. Shivers made me cringe. I peered around the rooftop of the skyscraper and spotted the empty can rolling. I gulped. Time to get home.

Then I spotted a person sitting cross-legged, slumped against the wall. Blake.

He didn't seem to notice me, just picked up a stone and tossed it.

Guilt squirmed inside me, I had had such mean thoughts about Blake while he was dancing and it was only the cactus juice and then I had behaved the same way and who could have known? And he'd been so sweet for most the night.

I moved to his side and sat down. "Hi."

He didn't meet my eyes although he tried to smile. "I stayed in order to get you home. I guess I behaved like a total Love Bug or something. Peace man, and all of that. I just wanted everything to be so perfect and show you a good time."

I found it hard to make words past the lump in my throat. I patted his hand. "I did, too. After you left, all I could think to do was get so drunk the free taxi would take me home, instead I got thrown out, too."

His eyes sparkled in the moonlight. "Really? You're not just saying that to make me feel better?"

A giggle slipped out before I could stop it. "Really." As I thought about the evening I realized, I'd never had so much fun and excitement. "I've really had fun. Thank you."

Blake crawled up, offering me a hand. "Want to watch the sunrise over the Venus building?"

I laughed. "Sure."

It took about an hour but we managed to find a good view of the Venus building where the scientists studied greenhouse effects and on a simulated planet three skyscrapers over. Sunlight glowed pure and golden through a clear blue sky, sign all the environmental improvements were working.

And just before Blake kissed me, I decided that even though he was weird, weird could be a lot of fun.