[hr][center][img]http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjk2LmY5OGJjYS5UTU9zZU1PNlpTQWlUR2xqYTNNaUlGcG9ZVzVuLjA,/nuku-nuku.regular.png[/img] [sub][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLxcFVUPjyM]Even though I know how else to feel in my heart Stuck inside my mind, I'm not good with words today[/url][/sub] [hr] There was a theory working its way through her head that the people that frequented a place like this weren't doing it because they cared about what it was they were dancing to. Everyone there had a story, surely, everyone there came through those doors, past the bouncers and the coat check for a reason. Some might've enjoyed the overpriced drinks served by bartenders who could barely understand an order; some might've been dragged by friends and were reluctant to cut loose and have a good time. Still some might well be there chasing a girl or a boy that was well outside of their league. It didn't really matter what stories brought them there, only that they found themselves under the dim lights and in front of the thumping bass. The smell of sweat wafted through the air, body heat mixing together and the close proximity of bodies on the dance floor made the atmosphere feel like a sauna. They didn't care. For some they were just elated to be dancing so close to people - the base desires of attraction and lust being unleashed in a public forum...it didn't matter much what noise was blaring from the stereo system so long as it gave an excuse for hands to grab hips, for waists to grind against laps, for hair to brush against necks, for whispers to be spoken in waiting ears. It was those people, those regular sauna attendees that kept the vibe going, kept the night alive, and most importantly of all kept her coming back night after night after night. Lìxúe was backstage, or what counted as backstage, at LUSH the hottest night club in Shine City - or so she had been informed and believed to be true - mere minutes before she was scheduled to come on, to do what they paid her to do, to do what made her a hit with the club scene and the fans of loud, pumping, electronic beat music. The Chinese-American girl was used to this, the standard playlist that bumped and grooved before she came out to mix it up and get the stool warmers up on their feet; and yet despite her familiarity with the scene, with her fingers on the turntables, she couldn't stop shaking. It wasn't nerves, no, it was never nerves. It was something far worse. The temperature was cool - it had to be to counteract the warmth of the main floor - but Lìxúe was shaking as if she was standing in the middle of a blizzard without warm clothing. She always got like this, the shakes, the feeling of dropping into a pit forever, the anxiety that came with it...she'd probably be sweating...well she'd be sweating anyway under those lights out there, but sweating even moreso were it not for the fan blowing her hair and the nape of her neck behind her. These shakes were nothing new, she'd had them before but they were happening with more alarming frequency. And it used to never happen more than once per day, typically just before she went on at LUSH...and yet...this was the second time today she had gotten this same feeling. [h1]EARLIER THAT DAY[/h1] [b]"Hey, Lix, you alright?"[/b] [color=magenta]"What?"[/color] Lìxúe shook her head at the concerned voice of one of the producers of the afternoon radio program. She had been rather out of it, only becoming conscious about an hour ago and barely made it to the studio on time. The previous night was mostly a blur - at some point they all became that way - and it was clear that her producers weren't happy. Another fleeting pretty face taking the gigs from people that were actually interested in radio. Lìxúe was there to play co-host to an afternoon drive station; conversation, phone calls, introduction of songs every break, an easy enough job. And yet in the green room, listening to the lead-in show end, Lìxúe was practically out of it. Enough so that the bespectacled balding producer had to physically tap the DJ on the shoulder. She had been shaking. She knew she had been. The guy probably thought she had entered into some kind of seizure or coma. [color=magenta]"I'm fine, totally fine, don't worry about it!"[/color] A bright smile and a dismissing wave was usually enough to convince people that everything was perfectly fine. It worked here, it worked before, it'll continue to work. The producer simply shook his head and went off to do his job, but not before telling Lìxúe that she was on in five minutes. Lìxúe waited until the green room was empty again to glance downwards. Her hands were clutching at the knees of her black jeans and as soon as she released the grip her hands were shaking, unsteady....good thing she wasn't a surgeon or she'd be slapped with a malpractice suit. Her left hand she dug into the pocket of her jeans, fingers feeling around for a small circular object. Slipping the little baggie between index and middle, Lìxúe slid the pill from her pocket and, with struggling, shaking fingers, opened the baggie and dropped the white little pill into the palm of her right hand. [color=magenta]"Down the hatch..."[/color] a quick mantra as she popped the pill into her mouth, using her own saliva to ease the swallow down. It used to be harder, taking those pills...taking these drugs. But like a sleep schedule change...eventually her body got used to it. Like candy. Her blue eyes trailed downward, staring at her hands as they steadied. A warmth enveloped her and her smile, when next she had reason to smile, would somehow be brighter than ever. Effervescent, really. When she entered the studio to begin the radio show that occupied her afternoons, no one was any wiser. She was just the usual bubbly DJ Licks. That was the trick. Acting like everything was fine on the outside, making sure no one knew what was going on inside to make things so damn normal. While under the influence of her uppers the only thing wrong was her heartbeat - the rapid pumping, the feeling like she was going to have an alien burst from her chest...but that merely manifested itself as her bobbing her head and tapping her toes - things written off as simple quirks of the plucky disc jockey. None the wiser. [h1]11:29, LUSH BACKSTAGE[/h1] [b]One minute, Licks."[/b] Some employee that didn't care poked her head in to snap Lìxúe back to the present. Lìxúe simply nodded in understanding, but she nodded to no one - the employee had said her part and didn't stick around to ensure that the night's DJ was able to perform. Licks' hands were shaking again. Had it been that long since her last hit? Her last walk down that all too familiar path? Her radio show ended like seven hours ago...surely she didn't need another hit so soon? Her mind was saying she didn't and yet a look at her hands...their gentle shaking...the feeling of overwhelming heat bearing down on her...her body was telling her something different. [color=magenta]"Down the hatch..."[/color] the mantra repeated as she popped another pill down her throat. She needed to be at the top of her game. The regulars out there sweating their asses off on the sauna floor might not truly have cared what it was they were twerking, bumping, and grinding to but Licks...Lìxúe had a reputation. She was here to give these future mistake makers something to put them in the mood. In the mood for WHAT, exactly, remained to be seen. The music stopped as the club announcer went to work. [color=chartreuse][b]"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, SWINGERS, SINGLES, COUPLES, AND ALL YA'LL INBETWEEN, GIVE IT UP AND GET YOUR ASS ON THE FLOOR FOR THE ONE AND ONLY...DJ LICKS!"[/b][/color] The applause happened. It always did, but Licks knew that it was just a polite gesture - they were just there to dance. There might well be one or two people at the bar interested in what new mix she brought to the night's festivities...but Licks was there to provide a service...and that was to keep the party going until last call. [color=magenta]"How we all doing tonight?"[/color] Licks called into the microphone, her pink headphones draped around her neck, gold and silver bangles clanging against her wrists and the neon pink and blue of her fingernails already shining in the dim light, [color=magenta]"DJ Licks is in the building and she wants all you lovely people out there tonight to lose yourself in the rhythms! Find you someone to dance with because nothing sadder than dancing alone!"[/color] After tossing the mic aside, Licks put her headphones on and began her session with a fresh remix, as she did damn near every time she took the tables. [hider=A song meant to get the bodies on the dance floor and ready for the rest of the night's vibes][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaF811Lp27w[/youtube][/hider] It didn't take long for the dance floor to start bumping again, and for people to lose themselves in the vibe Licks was putting down. She didn't know anyone out there in the faceless sea of clubbers, but it didn't matter. Right now they were all there for one thing, not for dancing or grinding or potential one night stands...they were there for the music...the vibes...for Licks. All of them losing themselves to the beats, the bass, the vibes, and the break down...all of them, the loners and the swingers, the drunks and the designateds, the tweakers and the twerkers...if only they knew what it took for their maestro to give them what they wanted. None the wiser.[/center]