It was a quick walk from the hotel down to 6th St., even with Aiyana in heels.  She moved with the grace of centuries spent in the same body, learning it, moving it, working it.  Unconciously, as she grew more comfortable around David, more of that predatory grace showed itself in small ways - the ease with which she moved, the subconcious manuevering that kept David at her side at all times, the way her eyes scanned the crowds piling in around them.  Yet, it seemed natural to her.  She pulled out another cigarette to remember to breath. 

They reached the cordoned off 6th St., and Aiyana turned to David, letting him look down both sides of the street to take in the clubs and bars, tattoo parlors and carriage rides.  "Gentleman's choice."  She smiled.  "Which way?"

There was only one thing that made David nervous about Aiyana. It wasn’t that she could move through a crowd like a mongoose on the scent of a cobra. She did that with natural ease, and it lit up some liberating genes in his system. Matter was of fact that he’d become attached to her. Not that he needed to be. She seemed to be attached to him. He would turn left and she was there before he turned. He would turn right and she’d have a delicate hand on his back - maybe lower down, for all he knew  - and seemed to anticipate his every move. It was exciting and perplexing at the same time. But what made him nervous was that she did not, in any way other than her appearance, seem the age she appeared. And it wasn’t just that. She seemed wise in physical ways that would have really made him nervous had he known the truth.

“If only I were a gentleman,” he said, “I could make a decision.”

Of course, he was just shining her on. Or at least trying. He could make a decision with the best of them. He pointed up toward a large sign half a block away.

“The Red Ruby,” he said. In another world, that might have been a test. He certainly did not mean to test her. She’d already proven more than he knew needed testing, but she’d given him a challenge. The Red Ruby, of course, had a reputation. He just didn’t know it. Not a clue. The name just sounded like it might be interesting and, possibly, a bit raw.

As though needing to explain himself, he added with a grin-ish laugh.  “No idea what it is, but I like the name.”

Aiyana had every idea what The Redy Ruby was.  It was as close to a strip joint as could be found in a respectable part of downtown.  The bartenders wore little and were often more than a little tipsy from the drinks people bought for them.  All kinds of things could be bought and sold at The Red Ruby, if one had the cash and the inclination. 

Aiyana took David's hand and pulled him through the initial rush on the sidewalk and into the middle of 6th St.  "Alright.  You want The Red Ruby, you got the Red Ruby."

At the door, a quick glamour over the bouncer got them both in with their ID's intact.  Aiyana just grinned and waited for David to take in the scenery.  There were girls dancing on the bar, couples making out in boothes, and possibly a pair having sex in the corner.  "This is just downstairs.  Wanna go up to the VIP," she asked him, with a daring grin.

There’s a strange thing about attraction. Certainly in the case of Aiyana’s hand in David’s hand. Her hand could easily be called ‘cold’. That is, there seemed to be no internal heat to warm it. But David had held her hand several times, and yet he had not noticed that much. If anything, her hand felt like cool silk - left out on a window sill on a cool autumn day. His attraction to her negated the coolness and accentuated the silk. In fact, her hand felt delicious and inviting.

That delicious and inviting hand led him to the object of his decision - the Red Ruby. Inside, he realized that the Red Ruby wasn’t the Red Lobster. Quite the opposite. There wasn’t anything PG about the Red Ruby.

As impossible as it sounds, the Red Ruby seemed darker inside than the night outside. Except for the dancing girls on the bar. They were lit quite well, and most of the patrons seemed very pleased by that. Well, accept for the couple in the corner moaning about as loud as the music. David thought that they had more pressing matters to attend to. Rather inventive pressing matters at that.

“Ah. Just downstairs, huh? That’s all,” he said with his words lilting on humor and barely above the loud music. His eyes skirted around, taking in the meaning and influence of the room. Sex, pretty much. Well, booze and sex. He wondered which one was the main attraction of the place. Maybe both.

“The VIP,” he asked in almost a shout. The music was good. Very good. It was the music of seduction. The music to ‘bounce her bones’ to, so to speak. The lighting was designed to make even the most plain woman look ravishing. David turned away from the carnival of flesh and back to Aiyana. She didn’t need any help from the lighting, but it did age her by a few years. Her wide eyes were daring him, and he was everything about giving in to them.

“You lead and I will follow,” he shouted above the din. He grasped her hand again, the same cool silk but bathed in seductive red hues, and nodded toward the stairs.