Ducking for Cover - Sakhmet

[Ella Tate]

It was weird going out alone now that she was...in a relationship. Again. With Chloe no less, the queen of oblivious and the biggest dreamer Ella had ever met. Which wasn't the worst thing. At least Chloe was already gay.

Funnily enough, Chloe made Ella deliriously happy. She'd even stopped grousing about not having Jake all to herself, now that he's met that Dylan guy. Whom she had yet to meet. She had to. If only to tease Dylan about what he was getting himself into.

If Ella didn't know any better...she would say she was settling nicely into relationship heaven. She just hoped the choking sensation that came from being monogamous didn't come so soon.

It didn't help that Chloe never questioned Ella's whereabouts every time she wanted to be alone. Like tonight. She was going to the club by herself and there was no saying who she would end up with by night's end.

She had only arrived ten minutes and already two guys had asked for her number and several others just stared at her from afar. Ella looked around and found a really pretty blond and grabbed her. "Hey, I'm Ella. I need you to block those guys views because they're seriously pervy."

[Sakhmet Richmond]

Ra and Isis had returned to England after only a brief visit to America. Sakhmet was a tiny bit disappointed; she'd hoped to have all the Richmonds (sans Osiris) together while they supported Horus, but alas, things hadn't turned out that way. And to make matters worse, Horus' condition had deteriorated. She tried to focus on cooking, on cleaning, on anything other than breaking down, because he needed her to be strong, but it was so difficult, particularly when everything in the house reminded her of her baby brother, from art projects to dresses he'd sewn for her.

And so she'd left her brothers and her stray at home and gone out to the clubs, to dance and feel sexy and forget about the troubles that plagued her clan, if only briefly. Because she couldn't do anything, and she needed to relax and stop worrying before the stress drove her mad.

So she'd dressed in plaid from head to toe and headed out for the evening, leaving the rest of the household to warm up leftovers as they saw fit.

If they saw fit.

Even with her heels she was graceful, able to move effortlessly to the beat of the electronic music. She wasn't there to flirt, though there were eyes (male and female) on her, a fact she was aware of. She was only there to dance.

She saw movement out of the corner of her eye, and then a hand was clamped around her wrist. She jerked backward, raising an eyebrow at the smoky-eyed woman who had so unexpectedly jolted her out of her dancing.

"So you want to sacrifice me to their perviness?" She demanded in amusement. "Do I look like a hooker to you? Ask someone else to do it."

[Ella Tate]

The blonde's response had Ella chuckling. At least she had a sense of humor. Ella didn't think there would be any negative response, if at all, once the girl had a good look at Ella. This was a first. She couldn't blame the girl either.

Unaware of the blonde's plight, Ella continued to dance with her, shrugging in response to her remark. "Nah, you'll do fine. You've got that sacrificial lamb look to you. And guys don't really go for plaid, do they?" She didn't think the remark through and didn't really see it as an insult to the blonde but if it came out that way, Ella was quite ready to apologise.

"If you are a hooker, you're a very understated one. But seriously. Just dance with me. What harm would a dance be?" She extended her hand to the blond and gave her the most reassuring smile in her recruitment portfolio.

[Sakhmet Richmond]

"I thought the plaid was cute." Sakhmet glanced down at her outfit in disappointment. It might not have been the eighties fabulous type club outfit she sometimes wore, but she liked it! She didn't see anything wrong with it! "but I wasn't trying to get their attention, anyway."

She gave the other woman a sweeping look; she was sexy, in that exotic way that dark-haired, cat-eyed women were. Maybe dancing with her would keep her mind off her family.

"I don't know, do I want to dance with someone who insulted my outfit?" She asked, though she accepted the outstretched hand regardless.

[Ella Tate]

Ah so she did take it the wrong way. No matter, Ella was ready and was easy with apologies. Throwing her hands up in defense, Ella shook her head. "Honey, I think the ensemble is pretty chic. Kudos for you."

Ella didn't even hide the smug grin when the other woman checked her out. She had chosen a pretty simple two piece outfit with killer heels and had her hair pushed back with a headband with the rest of her dark hair framing her face. She was feeling pretty hot.

"I was so not insulting your outfit." She laughed, gripping the blonde's hand and started dancing close to her. "So you never told me your name."

[Sakhmet Richmond]

"The name's Sakhmet."

She allowed herself to be pulled closer to the darker woman, swaying in time to Dev. A smile lit up her face at the compliment-cum-apology, and she placed one hand on Ella's waist. "Thank you. I thought it was cute, myself. I'm usually more of a neon girl, but I wanted something....different."

This wasn't a serious dance; it was light flirting, possibly making a friend. Definitely not meant to end in anything else. Still, had she known there was someone in Ella's life she would have backed off, not wanting to cause drama. She wouldn't have liked it if she'd had a partner who was dancing with someone else, after all.

But she didn't know, and she liked to dance, and Ella was dancing with her.

"Do you come here often? I don't think I've seen you around before."

[Ella Tate]

"Sakhmet," Ella let the name roll off her tongue with a smile. Very exotic. "Like the Egyptian goddess. Oh hey, you don't happen to be a Richmond, are you?" It was hard for Ella to actually remember people, let alone students she already didn't come in contact with but Horus Richmond was the talk of the office. Him and that Vincent Verax kid. Oh and Zachary LaRousse. Even the voice in her head curdled at that name.

Horus wasn't too bad a kid, she figured. She'd never met him of course and could be horribly wrong but at least he didn't flash himself around or do obscene gestures to staff. Ella was glad Verax and LaRousse were graduating.

"Well you did the right thing going for something different." Ella grinned easily. She pulled the other girl by her waist and ignored the catcalls from so many directions. At least she could concentrate on the blonde in front of her instead of being supremely disturbed by the leers around her.

"Hmm?" She looked up at the other girl in a daze before snapping out of her reverie. "Oh, this particular club no. I usually frequent the one a few blocks down the road. Figured I needed a change of scene." She nodded, glad the music wasn't too loud that they couldn't have their conversation. "Did you come here alone or were you with friends?"

[Sakhmet Richmond]

"Yes, like the Egyptian goddess." Sakhmet beamed, thrilled that someone knew the origin of her name; that was unusual, to say the least. But a second later the smile had slid off, replaced with a look of discomfort. Ella must have run into either Sett or Nubs, or possibly both, if she was familiar enough with the Egyptian-themed names to call out her family.

"Yes, I am," She admitted cautiously, surveying the other woman for any signs of annoyance or displeasure. There were none apparent, but perhaps Ella was simply good at hiding that sort of feeling.

"Did....did you run into one of my brothers?" The question was blunt, but there was no other way she would know about The Richmonds. "I'm so sorry if one of them behaved crudely toward you, they can be such cretins sometimes." She apologized.

The apology must have been unnecessary, however, as she found herself pulled against the other woman, her face flushing at the close contact. "Th...thank you." She stammered, the compliment unexpected, particularly considering Ella's flippant remarks regarding plaid earlier.

Not that Sakhmet was going to complain.

"I'm alone." She wasn't sure that Delilah would be comfortable here, and Avi was too young. She thought Avery had graduated, but she wasn't sure; she hadn't seen much of her lately.

"I assume you are, as well, since you're asking a stranger to rescue you from the men." She added, her smile returning.

[Ella Tate]

"Horus!" Ella spoke over the music, not noticing the weird look Sakhmet was adopting. Though she would have dispelled the other woman's worry about her judging Sakhmet based on her brothers. Ella wasn't that kind of person, surprisingly. She usually just judged people based on their own merits and not by association.

"Oh well, boys, you can't really blame them. They're wired differently." Ella chuckled, twirling Sakhmet around before moving to the beat. The blonde's bashful reply to Ella's compliment was met with a soft smile. What was it about blondes and blushing? They just looked so completely ethereal.

Ella chuckled and nodded. "Yeah I'm alone. I'm getting away from my roommate. I adore her, I really do but sometimes seeing the same person every single day is a little suffocating." The recruiter shrugged with a little grin. "So you're actually alone by choice?"

[Sakhmet Richmond]

Ah, only Horus. He had his own problems, of course, but they weren't in quite the same realm as either Sett or Anubis. And Ella certainly seemed to understand the troubles inherent in associating with men, which was a relief, and so she smiled gratefully.

"I suppose that makes sense," She responded to Ella's reasoning doubtfully. She didn't mind seeing the same people day after day, personally; if she'd known that the roommate Ella spoke of was actually a girlfriend she would have been thoroughly suspicious. She was nearly smothering in her affection, and as such didn't understand other people's need for such things as space.

She shrugged at the next question, not wanting to divulge her reasons for being alone here. That was private, a family matter, not to be discussed with strangers. Fortunately the music was loud, and it was an easy excuse to shout, "Sorry! It's difficult to hear. Let's just dance."

((wrap))