Thanks for Giving In

Carefully-honed, precision steps carried her effortlessly across the dance floor, incapable of missing a beat, commanding it in fact, controlling it, owning it like no one else could. Granted, it was a dance she was fairly new to, the Kolbasti, a vivid, almost frenzied dance involving lots of quick footwork and flexibility. To many it would look like a hybrid of part river-dancing and belly-dancing, two styles the average person might think incompatible. She took to it like the professional she was though. It wasn't as if she was worried though; the stakes of her dance were low, a room filled only with a few other performers ranging from barely above amateur to impressively professional, but the fact that she was among her peers meant they were watching her every step, every move, every minute point of her art. Timing her art to a beat she'd memorized and could dance to without hearing it, she let her body spread her perfection with the utmost joy.

***

The forms of entertainment around the table got to be competitive in a funny way. Two guys arm-wrestled in the middle of their meal, which somehow lead to french fries being thrown across the table in a pseudo-attempt to start a fun food fight. It failed miserably as the intended targets just caught the thrown fries in their mouths. Their partners next to them got them to stop by teasing them with the fries, pretending to feed them but pulling away at the last moment, tracing their lips seductively leaving salt and ketchup trails across their mouths. It looked so fun, every couple at the table tried it, which led to some pretty hot kisses to follow, and more laughter and smiles expressing how much they loved this gathering, even if it celebrated Thanksgiving way in mid-December.

Camille, the dancer that brought them all together, found her gentle smile brightened considerably as the door to the restaurant opened and she saw her fashionably late special guest. Everyone else turned their head to look upon the final arrival, all but Camille and Penny looking to her with some curiosity at first. Everyone else but Camille and Penny only vaguely expected to celebrate something in a grandiose fashion arranged by the infamous holiday performer, but Thanksgiving was usually reserved for some combination of them and the latecomer, always festive like Camille could never resist playing up to.

Camille liked to leave the regular holiday to meetings with families, which for some left much to be desired; she kept up her tradition of nontraditional with the much desired, in this case meant a friends version of Thanksgiving, people who you'd want to break bread with by choice, often the week after. This year end up being low-key; turkey-burgers and fries in an empty Salsa restaurant reserved just for them. The other guests were a collection of couples the Holidancer had amassed over since the past Christmas, the recently engaged Penny and Trent, June and Auggie, Teri and Carlie, and of course Keith at Camille's side. It constantly warmed her heart that she was partly the reason it was a collection of couples to begin with.

Camille maintained her smile aimed at the door while Penny groaned inwardly as if looking at a justifiably long-lost relative who'd walked back into her life, an hour late again. Someone she saw at least once a year, but that seemed more than enough, though she tried to keep her inward feelings to herself.

Teri and Carlie eyes eventually widened as they realized who had just walked in the door - the famous Celine Mansuer, the "other famous Canadian Celine" as she was known among celebrity and dance circles, the best dancer her country had ever produced, or so her publicist explained. She mostly lived up to the hype, but unfortunately so did the ego to go with it. The backdrop of falling snow being blown in behind her form made her look like she was walking out of a music video. She strutted in like she owned the place dressed in Gucci everything, boots, coat, even sunglasses big enough to hide her features from most untrained eyes, no matter how silly she looked at night wearing them. She seemed to match everyone else's color scheme, as they were all decked out in different shades of brown, except Camille who wore a white, sparkly turtle neck, shimmering like snow in the light, as if one person had to correctly represent the weather for the party.

Celine looked over several faces new to her, and two all too familiar. Her approaching body language expressed her near disregard for everyone else, and slight reservation toward Camille and Penny. Celine groaned at that ever-eager smile Camille wore that looked so unbecoming on her beautiful features, according to Celine. Penny shared a similar smile of contempt, borderline smirk, as they exchanged pleasantries.

***

Dancing like a tempest of passion and fire, she barely had to look in the direction of her audience to know they were practically mesmerized already, leading them on toward something greater. She wondered how many had caught on to the pattern each part of her body showcased, her arms gently, flailing in specific horizontal or vertical directions, not unlike an aircraft marshall signaling. They may have noticed it if it weren't for the swift jiggling of her hips, and the light and dark shades of golden brown glitter and jewels surrounding her where her naval would be across her sweater, undulating and heating up the whole club with it's efforts and making the overall level of body heat rise. Her stomach shifted like a flag in the wind, aided by wearing flats and having legs that bent by the knees on a specific tempo few may have been aware of. Even she couldn't keep up in a sense as the tempo was so practiced for a dance so new to her, made to set the timing for the rest of her body and overwhelm everyone else's senses. It was easy to keep up with it, practically able to set her watch to it.

Absent the ticking of a watch, or the beats of a song to dance to, she created her own with her steady tapping of her feet against the floor, emerging into her own slower, more impactful Kolbasti dance. Thanks to the slightly hard, sounding platform on her flats, each was measured and powerful, their full impact lying the rhythm set instead of how hard the collided with the surface she danced on. Deep inside though, every measured step and near-stomp reverberated, caused tremors of energy, reinforcing her precision. From the tips of her fingers, surging down to the tips of her toes and back, her core in her stomach circulated that energy like hear heart pumped blood thoroughly through her. The more she stepped into it, the more she needed it, the longer she could keep herself going if need be, if she needed to. Her audience was already where she wanted them though, giving her encouragement she felt deeply and loved.

***

Celine's extended hand was ignored and Camille moved in for a hug, made more difficult by the fact that Camille walked with a crutch this year, meaning she'd suffered another injury for herself. It amused Celine how Keith nearly rushed to her side to keep her from falling; it wasn't often the infamous Camille Fares had trouble staying on her feet.

"My, this looks like a familiar sight," a cultured and slight Canadian accent spoke with amusement. The words made Camille chuckle, Penny grimace slightly, and left everyone else confused momentarily. "What happened this time? Ambition with something creative get the best of you?"

"Seems like given all the looks at the table, explanations of the past are in order," Camille said.

"And who better to tell it than then one who profited from it the most," Penny regarded snarkingly.

"But you tell it so well, Pennywise."

Penny gave her an evil look only she and Camille could see, foolishly hoping against hope that that nickname from her least favorite Stephen King novel wouldn't come up, or for her absolute dread of clowns of any kind.

"Sometimes you can just tell when two people deserve to be siblings," Camille rested her hands on her friends shoulders, treating both of them like two bickering sisters who loved doing it just for the sake of. They helped her with her crutches to the table.

"Before we get into that, introductions are in order. The first lovely couple over there is June and Auggie; I met them on Valentine's day, which is the day they got together. Since I've known them, they act like Valentine's day never ended somehow," the Holidancer's warm smile belied her humorously sarcastic tone, and she received a pair of warm smiles from both, and warmed the room with as they looked at each other and smiled a little deeper.

"Aww," Teri and Carlie replied together.

"Which brings us to the next coupling, and hopefully they'll finally admit they are one now, at least among friends." Carlie feigned unsurety as Teri wrapped an arm around her brunette girlfriend's shoulder and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Teri and Carlie, two aspiring dancers that you're sure to hear about in their bright futures."

"Well, when we have such role models to look up to..." Teri regarded her mentor and the celebrity she never mentioned knowing.

"And you should know Keith, even if you two seem to have missed each other every other Thanksgiving."

"Hey Celine."

"Magic Keith. How's tricks?"

"Wonderful as always."

Camille smiled at how Celine and Keith when occasionally meeting seemed to get along decently, staggeringly more than with Penny. She could tell Keith was handsome enough to give him a once-over when she thought no one was looking, but she knew Keith had eyes for his favorite enchantress of a dancer, so she never really worried.

"Everyone, this is Celine. We just call her Celine."

***

Tingles under the skin of the balls of her feet felt absolutely sensational. The tingles flowed with the energy, concentrated to her feet, her core, to a ticklish sensation on her forehead. She perspired sometimes but never felt sweat when those tingles happened. They were their own form of reward, a sign of unity, cooperation, approval.

It started as far back as her old teacher, an ever-demanding taskmaster who expected nothing less than for that beat to be danced to. He would tap his foot, and she would tap hers in time during a freestyle of dance he let her do, the one she danced for her current audience. She felt lucky enough that every once in a while, someone would be intuitive enough to pick up on the same beat, tap along with her, becoming an external source of energy, as if it echoed in and out of her skin.

A small smile she couldn't hide anymore appeared on her face, and in her movements, happily giving more life to the dance. So unlike the side effects fear and apprehension arising from avoid a wrong move, at some point she could associate those taps with freedom, more than freedom to dance - freedom to be the dance. What her muscles and motions lost in rote methodology, they gained in the initiative to be more organic.

She eventually loosened her wrists and let them sway as she felt. She let her ankles bend until she was occasionally on the tips of her toes, twirling on them. Her entire routine changed to more of belly-dancing inclusion, hands now outstretched to symbolically invite the audience with cruxed fingers, when she wasn't hugging her figure and drawing attention to her sparkling midsection of her top. She let her hair whip to the beat as she turned toward and away from them every other tap of her foot. Every other stop became deeper, a strong refrain set apart from the rest. As she felt her stronger taps being matched externally, she let her eyes remain closed and mouth open more to moan and shudder uncontrollably, a new energized core forming below her stomach.

***

"How long have you guys known each other?" Carlie asked with unabashed interest.

"Seems like forever. 15 some odd years, I guess," Celine says, "Since my days as a young troupe performer, a little younger than you were, maybe. Your holiday enthusiast here found ourselves applying for more than the same auditions every so often. Those giving out the roles and writing the articles liked to play it up like a rivalry, just to see what we could produce against each other."

"And how silly that was," Camille regarded her fond past.

"Such is the price of professional dancing. Something you've seemed to willfully evade."

"Happily evade. Was never going to be my scene; all the exposure off the stage they tell you you need to stay relevant and working, just not worth it. Though no offense to those with the ambitions for it," Camille gestured her drink and Celine, Teri, and Carlie.

"I sense yet another false hypocritical argument coming," Penny said, finishing off her fries.

"Coming right behind your misunderstanding of the word 'hypocritical,' Pennywise. Biggest dance opportunity of our lives at the time, but the only reason I went unopposed wasn't because you didn't show up with your A game. Crutching your way into the theater, I still swear you were trying to find a way to dance that day. You had it in you Camille, or at least some of it in you."

"Just enough for me to see a legend in the making, which was worth the limping my way to a great show. But I was grateful for how things turned out. We both got to do things that we love; I'm in it for the love of the game, and loving the near autonomy of getting to do things exactly the way they want, no matter how weird they are to some."

"You're not weird Camille, what you do is like a...what's that word?" Carlie asked.

"Idiosyncrasy," Auggie guessed.

"Yeah, that word, I think." Teri snickered next to her, and Carlie gave her a gentle shove. "We love how you do things. It's nice to know there's more than one type of success in the dance world. We only saw one type in our cramped little world."

"Personal success, which even I've underestimated. No matter how corny it is sometimes," Celine couldn't help but comment.

"Sometimes corny is just another way of saying 'creative.'"

"Or weird. I mean, leave it to you to procrastinate this hard, a Thanksgiving celebration weeks after. Injury aside, I didn't expect that would stop you from having things on time."

"Weird or not, creative is creative," Camille said before taking a bite of her burger.

"That's true, I'll never look at Christmas trees the same again," laughed Trent, remembering his brother-in-law's bachelor party, and Camille's rousing attire and exploits. Everyone else laughed as well after what Trent told everyone, expect Penny who just smiled one of Camille's seductive smiles.

"You sure won't," Penny said under her breath.

"What babe?"

"I mean, you sure didn't," Penny falsely corrected her tenses, almost giving away her future Christmas plans, thinking of a dance or some captivating method that would get her fiancee under the Christmas tree, naked, a silk bow tied around his erection as Penny took her time unwrapping her present.

"And before I forget, since we're all here now, I think it's time to go around and say what we're all thankful for."

***

A heat bloom from the rising energy filled a thick, blanketing warmth nearly everywhere in her body, so much so that the clothes she wore started to feel uncomfortable and too restricting, especially the sweater she had on. Something in her told her said it would be absolutely no issue in discarding it mid-dance. As she caressed her body, hands edging toward the hem of the fabric, she felt like it was more something she was supposed to do. The relief via expending the heat underneath the sweater felt as good as the gasps she heard from those watching, her mind registering them as delighted reactions, encouraging her further.

Twirling on her toes, arms outstretched, she feels the wind against her movements more than she expects, as if an extension of herself flutters against the flowing air. She finds she loves that feel, as if she were a bird with a long wingspan, letting the wind keep her gliding above ground. She even felt it just below her back, a flourishing plumage, free to move and stimulate her rear, giving her more reason than ever to give her her asses more emphasis in her dance. She wondered earlier why she felt so constrained with the sweater on, and the freedom she felt from up under the sweater unlocked in her mind why it felt good to bear what was under. Everyone marveled at the design of Celine's top, an autumn-brown, opaque, semi-sheer bodycon dress. The semi-sheer showed off her bellybutton and had golden glitter strewn all over it. Sewn into the sleeves were actual turkey feathers, and attached to her belt was a sturdy paper plumage topped off with more feathers. Every other twirl, she stopped to give her audience and eyeful of the brown feathers in tantalizing circles and dips as she bent her knees. Diverse laughs and gasps of desire came when she turned her torso to provocatively turn that plumage into a fan for her to hide most of her face behind. Only dark eyes filled with passion could be seen behind the feathers, making nearly everyone lean forward subconsciously in their chairs to get a better look.

A flash from somewhere amongst the crowd went ignored by the entertainer, too lost in what she was in everything. Celine might have recoiled in horror to see herself, and to see Penny's overly-satisfied smile after the photo she took with her phone. Camille admonished her for it and tried to steal her camera away before she could start a video. She'd accidentally stopped the tapping with her shoe that was Celine's encouragement, only to realize Teri had taken up the slack. She'd been so caught up in the rhythm and dance she arranged for Celine that she paid little to no attention to those who joined in. She half-smiled at Teri, surprised to hear that of anyone else tapping, Teri also had the perfect salsa shoes to create the most profound sound that reached Celine's ears, much better than everyone elses generic sneakers or boots. It wasn't easy wearing them while dealing with crutches. Keith had to insist she wear something else; she overruled him pretty quickly, compromising to letting him bring a pair of sneakers so he'd worry less

Camille watched Teri carefully as she easily maintained the tapping while leaning over to say something to the unexpected guest who had yet to take his coat off. He happened to look upon Celine with a longing no one else did, understandably. She couldn't understand why his face brightened or why he confidently stood up and finally discarded his coat, to everyone's, especially Camille's shock.

Celine felt shock as well, coming from how a bout of fatigue unexpectedly set in. Someone said something in the crowd she didn't catch, but there was no stopping the need to rest, to stop for a moment. The expected shame she would've felt for welshing on a performance didn't come, just concern for the audience's enjoyment followed by the relief of their understanding as she felt herself wrapped in the arms of someone strong enough to support her weight. She was lifted off her feet, and smiled as she fell into a light, careless sleep.

***

Penny began with, "I'm thankful for good friends, good family," she gestured toward Camille, and even gave a look in Celine's direction, "a good excuse to drown non-dry turkey in ketchup, and a hell of a fella to share it with," Penny kissed Trent's cheek and watched his pale flesh redden.

"Well, for one, the idea that holidays can be shared with people by choice. This one like our burgers in a strange way," he tried to explain and not be embarrassed by his quick though. "The official holidays this season are like the buns, fluff and filler, and the meat is this party here - good, tasty substance." The nods he got from around the room were more merciful than his real family; he was glad his sister and brother-in-law didn't come, knowing they'd laugh at his example. "But more than that, I think I'm just a lucky sob who this sexy lady said yes to my proposal," Trent answered, feeling suddenly light-headed after another kiss for his words.