2019-08-04 - Time for Training and Boy Talk

The day of rest was over. Now it was back to working. Dahlia had a shift at Firefly later tonight but reached out to Zoiya to see if she was free to maybe start showing her a thing or two about how to work the pole. She wasn't totally sure how she felt about Zoiya over all, it would take a little more time BUT the chick was amazing on the stage and Dahlia admired that. Besides better dancing meant better tips yeah? There was still a couple hours before the club opened for business so it seemed like the idea time to get some practice in. And since it was just practice, Dahlia was dressed in a pair of cloth black shorts and a black tank top. The scar on her right arm was completely gone, though she still bore the one on her left shoulder. She was sitting on the edge of the stage, checking a couple things on her phone while she waited for Zoiya.

The sound of a motorcycle revving into the parking loud was loud enough to announce Zoiya's arrival. She sways into the door, all movement and smiles. "Dahlia!" She calls out, doing a pirouette before she continues toward the stage. She drops her purse near the DJ booth and is already looking over the music. "So I was thinking, once you've had a few lessons and you're more comfortable on stage. We should do a double act together. Men love to watch women strip and dance, but they really like to watch women strip and dance, while they're touching one another. Weird, huh?" She grabs something from behind the booth, bringing it on stage with her. She changed from her sneakers to a pair of red-bottom heels, putting her at over six feet.

"So .. this thing." She pats the pole. "It's easy to use, you just have to know your limits. You go to the gym at all? You're gonna have to start if you don't. Upper body strength is key, thighs too."

Dahlia looked up as Zoiya came in, flashing her a grin. "Hey girlie." She keeps her phone on the edge of the stage for now and gets to her feet so she can walk over towards the pole and the woman. "A double act could be fun! I get it. Some of my most viewed videos have girl on girl action in them." Pushing a hand through her hair. "We can do like a fire and ice thing, or angel and devil, or you know.Whatever. Opposites attract kinda thing maybe. We'll think about it." Eyeing the pole. "Definitely gonna be a minute."

Watching Zoiya carefully with those bright eyes. "I don't, this and the bar keep me running around enough. But upper body strength makes sense. I'll poke around and find a good one to join. I'd love to be able to do some of the tricks you do."

"I have a song that I think will work for it." Zoiya leans against the pole, showing off the container of powder in her hands. "This is mighty grip powder, you pat this on your hands before you go on. I wouldn't recommend doing too much on a pole unless you have at least six months experience with it, like.." She sets the powder down, pats it on her hands and then she takes hold of the pole, swinging until she's fully upside down, hair hanging down the pole, her legs straight out on either side of it. Her grip is where her legs split and down near her chest. She slowly eases herself down the pole until her shoulders touch the stage and then she swings a leg around, and gracefully gets to her feet. "You don't realize until you start doing the work all the shit that comes with it. Most never touch a pole, because it's the hardest thing to learn." She stands back, pointing to the powder. "Go ahead, coat your hands." She props a hand on her hip. "I'm going to show you the most basic move, and if you do it, you'll get extra tips. It's not hard either."

"Can't wait to hear it." Dahlia worked on putting her hair into a ponytail as she listened to Zoiya explain the grip powder. Her eyes went wide as saucers when she watched Zoiya swing into such a crazy pose on the pole. "Holy shit. That looks terrifying!" She laughed, gaze following as Zoiya lowered and then was upright again. "But also amazing. I'm sure that's a popular move. Dudes love bendy girls." She giggled. Leaning down to put some of the powder on, "How long did it take you to get to the point where you could do stuff like that?" Straightening and inspecting her hands briefly before her attention went back to the teacher. "Alright...what's the most basic move?"

"I got a little more into it my second year, like my first year I didn't do many things on the pole because I didn't want to crack my head open." Zoiya snickers softly and she jumps, which is impressive in heels, getting a grip on the pole. She uses her body weight to swing herself around, letting her legs bend at the knee and wrap around the pole too. She gingerly lowers herself as she swings, and soon enough her ass gently touches the stage and she bends her knee for effect. She clambers to her feet, taking a few steps back. "I think if you put effort into it, start going to the gym, you could be doing some bendy crazy shit in about three months. You have the body for it."

"Makes sense." Dahlia watched Zoiya jump on to the pole. "I feel like I'm gonna hurt myself just trying to do what you just did." She admitted with a laugh. "My body's been put into some pretty crazy positions over the years but none of them involved having to hang on for dear life to a pole." Rubbing her hands together a moment, feeling the powder between her fingers and flashed agrin. "But I appreciate the vote of confidence. I like this more than bartending honestly. I'd like to be good at it." Eyeing the pole again. "So...do I just try and do it how you did? Or practice just pulling myself up on the pole first?"

"Try what I did, you won't be able to jump high enough on the pole to hurt yourself, trust me. You'll bruise at beast." Zoiya takes two steps back and moves to the DJ booth, putting on a song. "This is the song I had in mind." She lets the beat start to roll out into the room, her eyes closing slightly. "Worse comes to worse babe, you hold the pole and swing yourself around it, never leaving the stage. Most of my routines don't involve acrobatics. I can slide along that pole, hands free, with just my thighs and shit like that. This isn't New York or Chicago, it won't be as appreciated, trust me." She folds her arms over her chest. "I wouldn't try it in heels the first time."

Dahlia listened to the music, taking a few moments to let it roll through her, relax her. A little bit of a wiggle to beat. "I like it." She opened her eyes again and took a slow breath. A couple steps back. "Oh fuck no. I'm not doing anything serious with the pole in heels until I don't think I'm gonna break neck." A laugh and then she tried to focus. On the pole. And like, really, how hard could it be to jump up and grab it?

Extremely. Apparently. Dahlia took a few quick steps and jumped up to grasp at the pole, which - while successful initially- also caused her to bang her knee cap RIGHT ON THE POLE as well. A breathless sort of cry escaped her as she tried to absorb this sudden pain to her leg. Her grip all but lost as she slid back to the floor. "That. Fuckin' hurt!" There was a strangled sort of laugh. The kind that sounds like the person might start crying - but, to Dahlia's credit, she didn't. Instead, she pulled herself back up to her feet with a little grimace. "And this is the day I learned I have no upper body strength. Or coordination, or something." She gave a wry smile to Zoiya.

"You.. have the things you need. If you plan on being serious about it, I can help you make a lot of money. I'm planning on taking some weekend trips up to Seattle. I have a few club owner friends up there, you can clear a grand or more a night if you're in any way talented." Zoiya shrugs, walking forward to offer a hand to Dahlia. "Got any more routines set up for the weekend?" She did gold body paint herself, and it went over like hotcakes. "I made close to five hundred on Saturday. Turns out when you wear nothing but body paint, people really want lapdances."

Dahlia accepted the hand, getting to her feet and doing a little stretch. "Yeah? I'd totally be up for tagging along to one of them. It'd be good to see how some other places do it too." Leaning carefully against the pole, "Well I dunno how anyone can top your body glitter routine." She giggled. "But I'm toying with a few. Noticed none of the girls have tried that good ole' country girl thing yet so I might do that. Or another leather and lace thing. There's so much...creative freedom? It's a little daunting." She admitted. "Though I think that patriotic themed one I did the other night went over pretty good. I do have a song I want to dance to that seems ironically fitting for me." She grinned. "I just gotta find or make a see through dress to go with it."

"You should totally work up a routine to that Old Town Road remix with Nas. Pigtails, a leather bikini top.. I have a pair of leather chaps you can borrow, a cowboy hat and some cowboy boots." She sizes Dahlia up, she's taller, but something could be worked up with hemlines. "I have.. a lot of clothes, most of them I just wear around normally, and wear here when I get an itch. I have a ton of pasties too, mostly because if you do a lap dance with nothing on your nips, boys get ideas." She points an inked finger at Dahlia and walks over to the DJ station, searching for the song in question. "Just find your best fantasy and share it."

"Really? I mean, sure! I'll take 'em if you have 'em. I was gonna drag my two best friends up to Seattle with me soon so I could get a few outfits, or inspiration for some. I'm working on getting back into sewing. Figure it could be fun to sew a few outfits together." She shifted again, gripping the pole and doing a gentle little sway. Might as well not let the grip powder go to waste! "What's your favorite routine that you've done? Or outfit you've worn? Do you have one?"

Zoiya chuckles, sliding down to sit, her very high heels glittering in the lights. She crosses her legs at the ankles and leans back on her hands. "Go shopping, you never know what you might find. I found this bodysuit in Seattle once, a fishnet bodysuit, with swarovski crystals. See.. the mindset you need in this job is that, I'm a bad bitch. I can do anything I want. I went out there to a song called Calm Down by Krewella, the lights turned into rainbows when they hit me, and I just danced, swayed and crawled along the stage toying with the men at the rails. If I didn't think someone was worthy of touching me, I'd slap his hand away. I made so much money that night. My favorite nights, my favorite routines that stick in my head are the ones where I come away with a lot of money, or I lure in a good lay. As much as this job is about only going so far? When you can where you want.. it's a bit of its own high."

Dahlia swayed around to the other side of the pole, listening. And then finally sat herself down near Zoiya, careful of her knee. Yeah there was gonna be a nice little bruise by the end of the night. But it was okay, she'd live somehow. "That sounds amazing." The outfit, well, and the performance. "That would've been awesome to see. Like front row at your favorite concert awesome. The energy must've been fantastic." Wiggling her toes a bit. She had been wearing flip flops, but they got slipped off before the whole attempt at the swing started. "I was definitely on a cloud 9 kind of vibe opening night. After my shift my...well. I dunno what we are. Friends with benefits I guess? Right now. Anyway." Dahlia waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "I was all riled up on adrenaline and stuff so we had a real fun time when he picked me up." She laughed.

Then she gave Zoiya a side eye. "...Speaking of boy toys. Are you and that guy from the other night really a thing? The one that was in the office with you and Boss Man?"

"Energy, attitude and confidence are pretty key. Anyone can strip. Good strippers need at least two of those three things." Zoiya glances over to Dahlia, eyebrows raised as she mentions the vibe. "Oh, go ahead girl." She laughs and leans in to bump Dahlia's shoulder. "After a good night, I just wanna get out of here, eat a huge meal, and then find someone for a fun time. This town is not conducive to that so much as Seattle was." She clears her throat and winks at the other woman. "Ever need a third, let me know." The question about Blake makes her go blank for a moment and then she shrugs, nodding. "We're a thing, but we're not dating. I call him Boyfriend because we went on our first date without exchanging names. He's a sweetheart, and we're roomies more than anything else. Why, you want me to set up a date?"

Dahlia laughed again, "Yeah, that sounds about right. Shit, I grew up in this town and I'll let you know it ain't any different than it used to be. Except more people dying maybe." A shrug of her shoulders. "Oh lord no." When Zoiya asks if she wants a date with Blake. "I've got my hands full with my ex and this new friend a mine." She shook her head. "He seems...interesting? Your roomie. I was just curious because he didn't really seem like your type?" Chuckling a bit. "Though I guess I don't know you well enough to know what your type is."

Zoiya's hazel eyes shift to Dahlia, a slight smirk on her lips. "My type has a dick, and if I'm lucky a healthy amount of attitude." She reaches up to run inked fingers through her hair. "Blake is cute in his own way, and he gets me." She clears her throat, her brow furrowed as she gazes down at her heels. "I've lived.. my life has been interesting. Sometimes in very good ways, more often in bad ways. I've seen some shit, I've done some shit. Blake doesn't push. He's just there, and he doesn't ping my alarm instincts. He won't hurt me, and I haven't had a friend like that in .. far too long."

Dahlia tilted her head to look towards Zoiya, giving a bit of a grin. "Having friends is good." She agreed. "When I moved to LA, I kinda shut out everyone I knew from here. Except one person. Even my family. You don't really realize how important having people is until you just...don't." Shaking her head. "It's good you have someone like that then. Who doesn't make you feel pressured or sets off any bells. Justin is like that for me. He's been my best friend since we were kids. And it's always so easy to just not feel like I have to be anything more than myself." A little shake of her head. "Well hey - if he ever starts setting off any alarms, lemme know. We'll gang up on him." A partial tease. Hey, girls have to stick together!

"Yeah. Have to have a few friends, otherwise you'll just go insane trying to keep up with shit." Zoiya leans forward, slipping the ridiculous heels off of her feet. She stands up, hooking them with her fingers. "I'll let you know if he misbehaves, though you could probably give him a stern look. Swear to god, I told him to get cereal the other day and he sends me a text saying he was on the run from a fucking schoolteacher." She rolls her eyes, but her look is fond. She picks her phone out of her purse and huffs out a breath, her thumb tapping out a text. "So tell me about what shit you're into, Dahlia." She drops the phone back into her purse, the shoes dropped in there as well. "There has to be something fun to do in this town."

"A...school teacher?" Dahlia laughed, like she was trying to picture it. Then sighed. "Honestly? Fuck all. I've been throwing myself into work, booze, sex and drugs, and trouble since my mom passed a couple weeks ago." She admitted. "Shit, maybe almost a month now..." Shaking her head. "People frequent the bars. There's an arcade thing. Well, there was. Not sure if it's repaired yet from an explosion that happened down town." Dahlia shrugged. "And managing to piss off my ex almost every time I see him. But that isn't nearly as fun as it used to be. So I'm tryin' to stay outta his way. What sorta stuff did you do for fun in Seattle?"

"A fucking schoolteacher." Zoiya responds, smirking as she pushes her fingers through her hair again, fluffing the curls out. "Sounds like you've been trying to go on a bender to shove the memory away. You miss her a lot?" She moves to sit back on the stage, folding her hands in her lap. "So there are bars, an arcade that exploded.." That earns Dahlia a mild look, like really? "Pissing off an ex can be fun, depending on who it is, really. I don't have many castoffs. I haven't been in a relationship for a long fucking time. I've fucked around plenty, but when you do this kind of work, permanent ties are usually a workplace hazard." She considers the question, eyes narrowing. "I spent a lot of hours in tattoo parlors, obviously. I'd go to bars, clubs, diners and karaoke. I'd swim in the bay when it was warm, petty crime for the thrill of it, there should never be a closed door when you've got time on your hands. You know?"

Dahlia just shrugs in a 'don't ask me' kinda way about the arcade. "Me either. He was my only real relationship. I loved him. Never really came out and told him that. And by the time I was ready to - I went and fucked it all up anyway." She shakes her head like she doesn't want to get into it. "I do like your ink. I'm gettin some soon myself. Some flowers for mom and a black wolf." She smiled a touch. "I do miss her. I knew it was coming but it was still a shock. We weren't real close for a long time. But that was because I tried to shut everyone out. Leave this place behind." We see how well that turned out. "Karaoke sounds fun. Maybe could get one a the bars to put on a karaoke night sometime. There's plenty of 'em around here. I'm sure someone would bite." She laughed. "Petty crime yeah - I get that too. Did plenty when I was growin' up. Did a bit of a B&E recently with a random hook up. It was fun.But I shouldn't be making a habit out of it."

Zoiya tilts her head, frowning over at Dahlia. "Loved. You don't love him anymore?" She shifts a bit, putting her closer to the other woman, leaning forward a bit to rest her elbows on her knees. "You know, nothing is ever fucked up permanently. Unless both parties are okay with that." She pauses for a beat, an impish look forming on her face. "Was he hot?"

She listens about Dahlia's mother, her hazel eyes shifting from the smile to Dahlia's eyes. "Glad you had that time with her, and I'm sure in some way she knew you still loved her." She grins and shifts on her hands, her hair spilling over a shoulder. "It's a thrill, but not one I indulge in often. I get paid enough that I don't have to steal to eat anymore, at least."

Dahlia shifted a bit, pulling her knees to her chest. "I don't know. I mean. I do. On some levels at least? But it's so...messy." She sighed and gave wry smile. "He heavily disagreed with a career choice I made. And I was stubborn enough to tell him he could deal with it or get lost. And we were both so...angry. It just exploded and I didn't see or speak to him again until I just happened to find out he worked here in town now." She groaned softly, resting her forehead on her non-bruised knee. "And now I have this other guy, who I think would probably be better for me and we get along so great but-" She looked back up at Zoiya. "Sorry. I didn't mean to start unloading all my baggage on to you. He was...hot to me. He's old enough to be my dad." She admitted with a laugh. "But he's got this like....smoldering look in his eyes, and it really comes out when he's riled and I guess that's why I like riling him so much. Well that, and angry sex is some of the best sex you can have."

Zoiya doesn't look like she minds the girly unloading, when she's not working she's pretty much a sloth. She settles and doesn't move very often. She tilts her head to the side, considering Dahlia's words. "Don't worry about the unloading. I could probably tell you things that would curl your hair like mine." There is a brief uptick to her lips, a grin curling there. "Older guys can be hot, I met a cop earlier today, looks like he'd be dangerous in the best of situations. They also usually have their lives together, or know better than to make a mess in yours." Her hand comes up, and she tugs at her shirt briefly before it settles again. "You should sail out into the new waters for a while, ignore the past, and watch the past chase after you. Nothing bothers a man than when you ignore him. They might say they want to be left alone, or they don't want your attention. It's bullshit." She nods her agreement about angry sex, clearing her throat before she adds. "Emotion is a pretty good spice in every area of life, I've found."

Dahlias stares for a long moment at Zoiya when she mentions a cop. That wry smile on her lips. "...That's him." She offers. "The cop. Captain Javier Ruiz de la Vega. Right?" She rose a brow as if to confirm and then nodded. "You're right. It's hard. Because things were so intense...but it sounds like good advice. Just focusing on the new guy and seeing what happens. I am pretty sure that we just bring out the worst in each other but we had good times too you know? It wasn't all bad. There was a point in our relationship where I thought I might just end up spending the rest of my life with him." She sounds a little bitter at that. Like she had kicked herself repeatedly for thinking such a thing as a normal, stable relationship was in the cards for her.

A more genuine smile now on her face. "That's true. Going through life in monotone isn't so exciting. My emotions tend to run high and hot. So I try to keep it in check but, eh." Running her fingers through her hair. "Also, I mean, if you ever wanna unload, I'm happy to listen too. Sometimes it's good to just get things off your chest."

Zoiya blinks slowly at Dahlia, eyebrows raised slightly. "No, this particular cop's name is Vince Bishop." She holds up a finger, and quirks it a few times in Dahlia's direction. "I do know de la Vega though. From Seattle." She sweeps her hair off her shoulders, letting it drape down her back like silk. "Anyway, don't dwell on the past, because that's how you prevent the future from coming to fruition. You'll spend all your time searching for how things could have changed instead of changing." She glances to the side, watching the play of light on the side of the stage. "Trust me, I have spent a lot of fucking time thinking about how I could have done things differently. I could have stopped doing this thing. I could have gone to this place. I could have accepted an offer of help. I would twist myself into a ball trying to what if myself into a better life, but here I am. This is my life. I can make the best of it, or I can keep wrapping myself up in uncertainty."

Dahlia starts laughing, it doesn't last long though. "Oh lord. I hope I don't meet him." Vince. "I clearly have a type." She shakes her head. "Yeah. You're right. You are. I know you are. I have a chance to try and do some things. More or less. And I shouldn't worry about him and what ifs. There's baggage. A ton of it. And I know we'll have to hash it out eventually since we're both in town but, doesn't mean it has to happen any time soon." Musing."Anyway. I need to start getting ready for my shift at Firefly. But I'm glad we had the chance to talk some. You should drop in some time when you're not over here. Grab a drink and say hey. The dancing's pretty good too." She flashed a smile, shifting so she could start standing up.

"I do like to drink." Zoiya follows Dahlia, getting to her feet so she can stretch her arms over her head. "I'm gonna go home and let Boyfriend pour me some cereal. Maybe order some pizza or some shit. Feel free to stop by the house if you want, we found a place on Elm. He could stand to have more contact with good looking women." She rolls her eyes, leans down and snags her purse. "If you need anything, shoot me a text." She pulls out her phone, glancing at the other woman. "Number me, and I'll send you something so you know how to get a hold of me."

"Sounds like a plan." Dahlia flashed a grin. "Maybe I'll stop by on my way to the trailer some time. That's right near Elm." She agreed and would rattle off her number for Zoiya to enter. "Same to you too hun. Text or call, I'm usually pretty easy to get ahold of. I'll see ya soon." Retrieving her own phone before climbing off the stage and heading out!