Chapter Text
The Lackadaisy was lively as it always was on a Saturday evening as Mordecai stood on the sidelines of the usual weekend party. Such frivolity never piqued his interest, but he was often required to stand in in the event that a gunman was required to step in or a simple errand needed to be run that no one else was able to do.
As he watched on with his eyes wandering up toward the stage once in a while, a woman stepped into his peripheral vision and stood a fairly comfortable distance away from him. Mordecai kept his focus on the crowd in front of him, ignoring the woman beside him until she stepped closer and decided to strike up a conversation.
“Everyone out there dancin’- looks like fun, huh?”
She began with a hint of nervousness in her voice. It seemed that the lack of physical reaction from Mordecai urged her to continue.
“...what d’you think?”
Finally, Mordecai’s ears pulled forward and his eyes shifted in the woman’s direction without moving any other part of his body. What a futile conversation starter...
“It looks like a heavily sequenced sea of limbs flapping about in tandem to the sounds of discord and witless conversation.”
He answered honestly before following up with his own question.
“Does that meet the criteria for ‘fun’?”
This seemed to deter his unwanted company the correct impression as she lowered her head, lifted her shoulders as if to hide, and turn away with quiet and fading words. Before he could claim his victory, a loud voice caught his attention and caused him to lean away with tensed muscles from the sudden voice with his head turning toward it.
“What? She’s not good enough for you? You can’t be polite about it?”
A second, slightly taller woman stepped forward.
“Excuse me?”
Mordecai asked with clear offence and confusion that answering a question honestly had another woman deciding to step in and make assumptions.
“She asked you to dance and you didn’t even-”
“She didn’t ask me to dance; she asked me what it looks like.”
Mordecai said in his own defense.
“What? What’s the matter with you?”
The second woman asked in something that could match disbelief that he had answered so honestly all while the first woman remained by his side with her ears at attention.
“I don’t-”
Mordecai began, though nothing following that beginning seemed to line up just right, causing him to stutter.
“That’s... wh- She-”
Instead of trying to make anything fit, he settled for something a little more accurate to something he would usually say.
“Can’t you see I’m busy?”
Both women seemed to hold different yet expectant stares at him, anticipating his continuation on what exactly he was busy doing. Mordecai paused again, looking to his left to see the plant he had forgotten existed; he turned and pointed at it as he turned toward it.
“Studying the botany?"
Perhaps it wasn’t his smartest and wittiest excuse to date, but both women seemed to cast their attention to the plant as well.
“The... Ficus?”
The first woman asked slowly, trying to figure out what was so interesting about it as she stood on her tiptoes to see over Mordecai’s shoulder.
“It’s an excellent Ficus.”
Mordecai commented as confidently as he could manage. With a glance over his right shoulder to see if the women were still there, the first woman watching him while her fingers toyed with the extensive strand of pearls around her neck and the second watching him with her hands disapprovingly placed upon her hips. His ears folded back as he turned to look at the plant once again.
“I wish I were this Ficus...”
He muttered to himself with a mental kick to his own rear for being so distracted in the first place.
“Oh, girls, don’t get upset.”
Mitzi cut in as she sauntered over with a glass in her hand. Now that the attention was on her, Mordecai took that chance to shuffle in behind the plant as if it would hide him enough to make the women think that he’d managed to step away.
“The icy mitt is all a ruse. He may look like starched shirt stapled to a post-”
Mitzi continued, finally looking at the poor man who was still visible.
“...pretending to be a plant...”
Mordecai’s displeased and sour expression only deepened, knowing exactly where Mitzi was taking this. There was going to be a ‘but’.
“But on the floor, he’s a devil danseur with a serious case of fancy-feet; and he’ll only dance with the truly determined... who wait and stare the most intently.”
Mitzi said, punctuating her hint with the back of her hand at the side of her mouth as if her words were any sort of secret paired with a wink. She knew exactly what she was doing and she knew that Mordecai had heard her.
The first woman seemed convinced as her big eyes stayed firmly on him. The second woman rolled her eyes and walked away. Mitzi gave Mordecai a cheeky little smile as she continued on her merry little way.
From within the leaves, Mordecai watched as his employer’s wife left, then looked at the woman who had initially asked him to dance. She didn’t appear to be interested in leaving any time soon, which was fine. He was content with hiding in the Ficus until the end of the night if he had to. With another glance toward the stage, it looked like the band was preparing for a break, so maybe this persistent maiden would leave and return when the music started up again to see that he was no longer there without a trace of where he went; he would be able to make a swift escape either to another part of the speakeasy or out of the caves and the general part of the city altogether. Genius. Now, all Mordecai had to do was wait for this woman to turn her back for even just a second and he would take action.
Unfortunately, the current song came to a close and the band proceeded with another. That song ended and so did two more to follow. The woman hadn’t moved from her spot and her eyes stayed intently on Mordecai even though a man had come along at one point and offered her a dance. In the middle of the song, he was starting to feel a little restless. He wanted to leave but the woman was probably going to follow him about like a lost puppy everywhere he went. Exhaling with one more glance at the band, Mordecai looked at the woman.
“If I comply to your demand, will you cease your gawping and take your farcical business elsewhere?”
He asked with ample regret.
“Just one dance.”
She said with those eyes of hers lighting up.
Stepping out from behind the Ficus, Mordecai brushed himself off and straightened his attire before hesitantly extending his arm. He had no idea why he was giving in like this, especially since he didn’t know the first thing about the act of dancing or how to do it. Before he could extend his arm properly, the woman grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the floor where there was plenty of space. Before he had any time to process what was happening, Mordecai found his arms being guided into position; his left arm up and bent with his hand posed to hold the woman’s and his right hand placed on her hip. He didn’t quite like that much contact, so he kept his right hand limp and his palm turned downward so that he wouldn’t have to touch her nearly as much.
As they ‘danced’, Mordecai simply stood stationary with his feet rooted firmly to the floor as the woman danced, his arms loosely following her general directions. He only hoped that the scowl on his face would be enough to show her and everyone around them that he wasn’t enjoying himself.
After what felt like hours, he was released and his hands immediately returned to his sides with his shoulders tense.
“You know you’re supposed to move around, right?”
The woman asked through her dancing.
Mordecai knew that the song was drawing to a close shortly, so he figured he would at least move his arms a little until the end just so that he could return to his comfortable spot near the plant. Even though they weren’t making direct contact anymore, he was still as tense as he was before. As soon as the song ended, his arms dropped to his sides again and he made haste back to the side of the room.
Over on the stage, Rocky had seen the entire interaction play out, noting how uncomfortable and on edge Mordecai seemed to be through it all. Normally, this wouldn’t have been noteworthy, but those feelings looked to be even more intense than usual. The tabby couldn’t help the occasional small chuckle as he watched Mordecai attempt to dance, but even he could feel the sense of relief that washed over the other man when he was finally able to break away and go back to his original spot once the song ended.
As the band prepared to start their next song, knowing it would be the last one before a small break, Rocky pulled his eyes away from the tuxedo once he realized that he had been staring only to see the same woman making her way back across the floor toward Mordecai again.
“Hey, Zib.”
Rocky called out in a split-second decision to save the poor tuxedo from any more discomfort or embarrassment.
“Think you guys could do this next one without me?”
Zib’s brows raised for just a second before he shrugged.
“I don’t see why not. Where exactly are you off to?”
“I, uh...”
Rocky paused for a second, searching his brain for an answer that didn’t have to do with saving Mordecai from another unwanted dance before an idea came to mind. With a wide smile, he gave his explanation in an overexcited voice with his arms flailing around as he spoke.
“Saw a choice bit of calico out there on the dance-floor. Real doll, you know? I mean, strike me blind! Thought I’d go show her some of my moves; prove I’m more than just a pretty face with a violin. So, whaddya say? Think I can sit this one out?”
With a lazy huff of a laugh, Zib shoved Rocky’s shoulder and took his violin to put off to the side of the stage.
“Go for it, Trouble. I didn’t care in the first place.”
He said as he nodded, watching the tabby run off and jump off of the stage the second he could. To Zib’s surprise, he managed to land on his feet and continue moving quickly across the room.
Rocky managed to make it to the woman in question just before she reached Mordecai again, practically diving in front of her and coming to a sudden stop.
“Evening, miss.”
He said with a bright smile once he composed himself.
“Care to dance?”
The woman halted in her tracks as her vision was obstructed with the sudden intrusion of this lively fellow.
“O-Oh, I... I was about to see if someone else wanted to dance with me again.”
She said in a rather quiet voice, looking over Rocky’s shoulder to see that her previous skittish dance partner was no longer where she last saw him.
Mordecai, of course, noticed the tabby bustling through the crowd toward where he was. This alerted him that the woman was following again. As soon as Rocky got in the way, the tuxedo ducked down and made for his escape while he had the chance; leaving the large and crowded area and out into the tunnels where patrons weren’t going to follow.
“Oh, come on, you don’t want just one-”
As he spoke with slightly fading words, he looked behind him to see that Mordecai had made his escape, then turned back to the woman with a relieved sigh.
“Ah, well, maybe next time.”
The tabby said with a smile and a nod before turning and walking away.
Not sure which way the tuxedo had gone, Rocky walked to the opposite side of the room, sneaking out one of the doors there and heading out into the tunnels, assuming that Mordecai had gone there to hide. Looking around the immediate vicinity, he could tell that the tuxedo was nowhere in sight, and so he paused for a moment to decide which way he should go. Pulling a coin out of his pocket, he flipped it up into the air, deciding which direction was which side before it fell back into his hand. After checking it to see that it landed on heads, he turned to his right and began walking.
Mordecai, now in need of a social recharge, sat on a crate that was nicely tucked out of the way. He knew that he would have to return to the party just to make sure that he wasn’t needed in any way and to at least let Atlas know where he was going to remain in the event of an emergency, but for now, he needed to collect himself.
The man’s ear turned toward the sound of approaching shoes against the stone floor, urging him to stand from his perch and brush himself off before rounding the corner to see who it was. The footsteps seemed to hold some sort of purpose in them as if the person was on a mission; they didn’t sound like a woman’s shoes either, which was a relief.
The moment he turned the corner while adjusting the cuffs of his shirt, he stopped immediately when his eyes landed upon the tabby in the blue suit. Slowly, Mordecai stopped fiddling with his cuffs and let his hands fall to his sides as his chin raised slightly.
“There you are.”
Rocky said with a smile as soon as he saw the tuxedo.
“I was worried for a second there. I thought for sure you had already made your way out of St. Louis altogether.”
Mordecai swallowed the lump in his throat and lowered his gaze for a split second.
“Yes, well, I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to that idea if I found the opportunity.”
He said with a desperate attempt of keeping his tone free of awkward inflections.
“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with your fellow musicians?”
“No, they’re about to take a break anyways. I just wanted to find you and make sure you weren’t completely traumatized.”
The tabby replied with a bit of an awkward laugh.
"Ah, yes, I assumed you saw all of that considering your sudden intrusion.”
The tuxedo nodded with a breath.
“I’d like to thank you for that. I don’t know if I’d make it through another cavort if it was forced upon me.”
“You looked like you could use the help.”
The tabby shrugged as he took a step closer.
“The Ficus didn’t exactly work as a hiding place the first time, and I was a little concerned that you might try to use it again if someone didn’t step in.”
Mordecai hummed in agreement at that observation and took a step closer as well, continuing with his paced steps until they were only a few feet apart.
“Yes, I certainly appreciate the aide. Thank you, once again.”
“You’re welcome.”
Rocky said and looked around them before inching closer again, chuckling a bit when he looked back to the man in front of him.
“After all, I wouldn’t want to subject you to the horrors of dancing.”
Nodding once more, the tuxedo exhaled and reached forward to straighten Rocky’s tie and lapels without a word. As soon as he finished with that though, the sound of a nearby door opening alerted him and had him pulling his hands away quickly.
“I- erm. Thank you. Again. We... I-…”
With a sharp inhale, Mordecai pushed past.
“Good evening, Mr. Rickaby. Excuse me.”
He said as he briskly walked away with stiff shoulders and tall back.
Clearing his throat with a curt nod of his own, Rocky began walking in the opposite direction before responding.
“Good evening, Mr. Heller.”
He said as he continued walking, making it to the nearest door before he stopped. His ears fell slightly as he pressed his hand against the wood of the door, pausing to look back with a sigh. He thought the tuxedo would be long gone, but the second he looked back, he was met with green eyes that for a brief second seemed to hold as much disappointment as his own.
With a much softer nod, Rocky offered up a small smile, getting a nod in return before Mordecai continued on his way and Rocky made his way back to the stage just in time for the next song.