Strictly Pleasure

Part 8

"Is Miss Heidi in there?" The soft voice of Calib the faun broke the silence. Another flare of embarrassment shot through Heidi as she heard the unmistakable sound of multiple feet shifting on the other side of the door. Who the hell else was out there? Heidi's throughs spun around the other people - Jek's bandmates - before landing on the orc himself. Her blush bit more aggressively at her cheeks.

Desperately, she looked to Periphoia, who merely raised her eyebrows and gave a grin. On the other side of the door, another person had began speaking.

"We're sorry for laughing. Really was just at Guj, though." Heidi thought that was the fish person, Dorzi, from team three. There was a lilt to their voice that reminded her of the stereotypical troublemaker from movies and tv shows. Like he was a second away from sharing his next scheme with you. "He's always preened and puffed his chest out at being soooo recognizable and the figurehead of Theoret—" A meaty sounding thump interrupted the apology. "Oi!"

"Stick to the apology, limp dick." That was unmistakably Jek. Heidi heard a similar gruff tone whenever he had to throw someone out of Strictly Pleasure, including that night at the sex shoppe's theater. The memory made heat crawl down her spine.

However, as the voices continued on the other side of the door, Heidi could hear the camaraderie between the group. She could almost picture what the five were like on stage, traveling together, behind the scenes. The thought made her mortification creep up again. How could she have not seen it sooner?

"That's slander that is! I'm never limp when it matters! It ain't my fault your little squee—" From the other side of the door, the sounds of a scuffle interrupted Dorzi. Heidi wasn't exactly sure what was happening, but it sounded like a mild tussle, threaded with curses.

A drawling voice, one that Heidi assumed was the elven man Minxi, cut through the low-key fray, "Oh, yes, you two fighting like that will definitely make her open those doors. Keep it up."

"Minx is right, you two are acting childish." The fifth and final voice, gravelly and gruff, sounded. That must be Torrik, Heidi thought, as she and Periphoia silently listened to the retired rockstars.

Dorzi and Jek started speaking at once, their counter-arguments overlapping each other. Despite herself, Heidi felt the corners of her lips tilt up.

Before she knew it, Periphoia was heading for the door. Fear jolted through Heidi as she followed the nymph, reaching out to tell her to wait. Before Heidi could stop Periphoia, she had thrown the door open.

Standing in the hall, Dorzi and Jek held each other by their collars, their shirts riding up their torsos and fists raised as if to strike each other. Behind Jek, Torrik stood, arms crossed and looking dour, while Calib had hold of Dorzi's upraised arm. Minxi stood away from the group, hands on his hips, expression a mix of bored and annoyed.

Like magnets, Jek and Heidi's eyes were drawn to each other. Heidi, eyes wide and in a state of perpetual embarrassment as she felt pathetic for running away, for almost crying about her ignorance. Jek mirrored her embarrassment as he abruptly let go of Dorzi, smoothing his stray bits of hair back in place as she averted her gaze. Like a delinquent caught mid-fight by a crush.

Jek barely refrained from throwing a glare at Torrik and Minxi, who both snorted at his actions. Unpleasant prickles crawled up his back as they both shot him knowing looks. Jek didn't even want to look at Calib and Dorzi, just to see those expressions mirrored on their faces. He forgot how well they knew him, how well they could read him. That acknowledgement edged Jek closer to his own realization, but stubbornness held it at bay.

After letting the awkwardness percolate for a beat, Periphoia laughed and raised her hands, as if to stop the fight though it was already over. "Boys, boys, there's no reason to fight. Heidi was just flustered, isn't that right?"