You're gonna show me that you already know.

Jamie didn't know what to expect. Yes, he'd been to Space Corps shindigs before, and dancing had happened. He wasn't a slouch on the dance floor, though his dancing ability was always more formal than most expected of him. He had managed to find a Tuxedo that fit, it was hidden in an old, abandoned laundrette. The radiation had been kept back by the fancy plastic sheath that had covered it for the 3 million years of the radiation leak. It could have been anyones, but the dry-cleaning tag on it proved that it had been cleaned, and that was good enough for him.

Especially considering it was a very fancy tux.

He had arrived at the Ball before a few of the others, and got himself a drink. It was wine. Not bad wine, though he had to wonder who had been making it.

Then, more Dwarfers started to appear. As Jade arrived in her Jade green dress, he had to grin. A very good choice for her, it made him want to get a bit closer...

He grabbed another drink, and headed over.

<snip>

"Hi!" There was a male dwarfer in a mask. Sounded a lot like Jamie, he handed her a glass of wine.

"Oh! Thanks!" She smiled and in the spirit of the event gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Have you seen Alex?"

"Nope, not yet. He said he was coming. I think Phi and Seymour are over here..." He lead Jade away to a corner of the promenade area.

</snip>

He could feel himself going a bit red. Jade had kissed him - yes, it was just on his cheek, but still... Jade was pretty, and she seemed to like him. He knew it wasn't like that, she was into Alex. Still, someone who hasn't got any in over 10 years is bound to feel a little like that.

Then, moments after, a rodent jumped up onto the stage.

<snip2>

"Welcome to the annual Whiskermas ball!" There was a huge cheer and the crowds went wild. "As is our tradition, we start with the subconscious karaoke. Whiskermas is a time to share what you feel. So what better way than with music!" The crowds cheered again. "Those who fail to sing will be put in...." He paused for dramatic effect as something was lowered from the ceiling. "The Dark Ball." The crowds oohed, the dwarfers looked bemused.

</snip2>

He stood and watched, and listened as Jade opened up, singing in front of everyone.

"When theevening shadows and the stars appear, and there is no one there to dry your tears, I could hold you for a million years, to make you feel my love." she sang. There was an irish twang to her singing, but she was doing a pretty good job of hiding it, as the song probably wouldn't have worked in her full accent. Still, it was better singing than he'd heard for a very long time, from someone not immortalised on any kind of digital media.

Then, the song finished, and everyone cheered. Jamie clapped loudly, but stopped just as quickly as he watched her flee the scene, obviously embarassed by the song that had been picked for her, by her own subconcious.

"I wonder what I'm going to have to sing..." He said to himself, though out loud.

"You're worried about WHAT you're going to sing?" Said Alex, who had appeared next to him.

"What do you mean?" Jamie asked.

"Nothin'" he replied.

Next up, was Artemis. It was a song Jamie didn't recognise, but he listened anyway.

<snip3>

Artemis continued the chorus until the music cut out. The lights came back on and the crowd roared. "Give me a few minutes to cool off and I'll sign the best hits of The Ramones" the crowd continued to roar as he walked off stage, collected his jacket, and returned to the Dwarfers, who exchanged mixed comments on his performance. Artemis could tell this was shaping up to be a fun night....

</snip3>

"Thanksyou." Said the rodenty-host. He took the Microphone back from Artemis as he left the stage, and spoke to everyone again.

"This has been the first Whiskermas ball that included Humans. But now an interlude from our guests, to some of our own.

A rodent that was obviously a hamster came up on stage, nervously twitching as he took the microphone. On the screen up above, the words began to appear, though they obviously weren't required, as the hamster made some strange noises in amongst the words...

"Hey, everybody! It's the hamster dance."

That song seemed to take an age to get through, but finally, it came around again, and Jamie was called up.

"So, from the looks of the song here, you have something on your mind... But we'll let you sing about it.

Jamie took the Microphone, and took a deep breath as a Piano sounds blared out of the speakers, and they were followed up by Guitar.

"If you listen to the night, you can hear the darkness call." He began, His singing voice was by no means perfect, and Meat Loaf would have been turning in his grave to hear his song defiled so, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. He continued.

"Come on closer to me now, like we're sharing the same skin. We gotta get out of this jail, we've gotta let the future in."

It had never been more obvious what was on his mind, as he got to the titular lyric.

"You'll have to pay for it later, if you don't get it when it's going for free. Believe me! Believe me! A kiss is a terrible thing to waste... A Kiss is a terrible thing to waste! It's something that's always been so..."

The audience were swaying. some had begun singing along, the truth of the words hitting home.

Jamie glanced down at the Audience for a moment during a gap in the lyrics, when he could take a breath. The only person in the audience that knew of the reason this song had come up - the only person he had told about it wasn't here. He had scanned the audience looking for her, looking for Jade, to see her reaction to it. But she wasn't there.

He caught the gaze of Alex for a moment, and averted his eyes.

He wouldn't think this was about Jade kissing him on the cheek when he gave her a drink, would he? No, Alex wasn't stupid...

"A Kiss... Is a terrible thing to.... Waaaaaaaste" he sang, and the song ended with a flourish, and a bit of Jamie Air Guitar on the final note.

<Tag. Anyone going to cheer?>