Buttered Popcorn

Chapter 22.75: June 15, 1987

The floor seemed to be breathing.

Or maybe it was the walls.

Jimmie couldn't exactly place her finger on it, but the room around her began pulsing like a heartbeat more and more as she continued to drink. Duff had persuaded her into finishing the lemon drop cocktail, then ordering another, and then eventually taking a tequila shot. Then a second. And after that, one more, plus another for 'good luck', Duff assured. Before she knew it, her head was thrown back loosely as she bellowed a laugh at something Izzy mumbled under his breath. Steven looked to her with a whimsically dreamy smile, then kissed her cheek, "I'm gonna go to the bathroom. Don't wait up."

Eyes fluttering closed, she nodded with a cheeky, close-lipped smile and returned her focus back to the table. Axl had procured a topless women onto his lap who was quite intensely sucking on his lips while grinding her hips against his own. His hands began to run along her body hungrily and Jimmie winced, "Christ, are they in heat?" Both Slash and Duff heard her comment and also looked to their singer, who's large metal belt was being unbuckled underneath the table by the luscious brunette woman.

"I know, right," Duff chortled while Slash muttered something like "You're one to talk."

The club's music faded out of one song and into the next, which happened to be 'Still Ill' by The Smiths. Jimmie's eyes widened and she looked up to Duff with soft 'o' shaped lips, "I love this song!" He tilted his ear and began listening intently to the track, pursing his lips while vaguely attempting to match the sound to a band. She leaned her head against the back of the booth and kept her gaze at his, "It's The Smiths! I haven't heard this in so long..."

"The Smiths?" he scrunched his nose slightly in confusion. He wouldn't have pegged her as a Smiths sort of girl. She nodded her head and unconsciously bounced her shoulders to the beat. "Well," he smiled, "Let's go dance."

Picking up two unidentified shots from the table and offering one to her, they both saluted their glasses and swallowed the drink whole. Jimmie's tongue almost twitched to gag at the poisonous flavor, but shook her head instead. They connected eyes yet again with anticipating smiles and both slid out from the booth, through Steven's seat, who was still yet to be seen. The slick wood beneath them almost brought Jimmie to the floor with a thud if not for Duff's quick hands, which saved her from tripping and held her by the waist. "Dude!" she cackled once she regained her balance, "That was a close one." He began laughing to and she pulled his hand onto the dance floor.

'Does the body rule the mind,
or does the mind rule the body?
I dunno
Under the iron bridge, we kissed
And although I ended up with sore lips...'

Morrissey belted as Jimmie shook her hair about and jumped up and down. Duff laced his fingers with hers and began bouncing around too, following her careless dance and tossing his mane in the air. She caught a glimpse of him while he swayed and whirled.

Her nose crinkled and her cheeks flushed red as she laughed, joining back in with him and continuing to jump. Their arms swung and their feet hopped and their hips wiggled. A few times, they had fallen into each other from pure drunkenness and loss of balance, but again, they laughed and persisted. Jimmie mouthed the words to Duff, pointing at him and holding her heart in theatrics before jumping back into the chorus and hearing Morrissey's voice moan and sing.

"Am I still ill?" she sang.

The song closed with a short few drum beats and they began laughing. Jimmie's head was very fuzzy and her entire body felt immeasurably giddy while she grasped back onto Duff's hand and stumbled around back toward the general direction of their booth. He fell in first and she followed, accidentally elbowing his thigh while she tossed herself into the seat, erupting into more laughs with him as he jolted. Another song began and the two eventually settled their giggles while Duff began sipping at a beer. Jimmie had counted seven that he drank before she had lost count. That was also around the time she had taken her second tequila shot after the initial two cocktails.