Light is walking home from college when, on a whim, he takes Matt up on his offer. His is bored, it Is dark, another dull day in the dust, and he has just turned down another date with Misa Amane. She will probably show up anyway when he is doing his homework. He is walking instead of taking the subway, to prolong his freedom, when it occurs to him he can call Matt and put Misa off completely.
He has slowed without realising it. He can see the neon sign he has passed before, glaringly obvious in the early dark. Shinigami.
He takes out his phone and calls Matt.
"All right," he says, as soon as the other boy has picked up. "I'll come."
"You got here fast." The other boy is looking down on him with his eyrbrows. He probably ran here.
"Yeah, yeah," Light says, getting to his feet. "This better be good."
"No-one's forcing you Yagami," Matt says lightly, even as they begin to walk towards the sign.
Light mutters something. He can't be bothered arguing, and Matt can't be bothered pushing it. They go inside.
A respectable looking man in a suit checks their ID. He is old enough to make Light uncomfortable, but he wears a suit and the place is clean, professional looking. It's not like he's backing out anyway. He's made his bed, even if he has always been bored at girl strip clubs. They are dirty, sleazy, boring, and there is no reason this one would be any different.
They leave the front desk into the main room, following the guitar music. Light's eyes take a moment to adjust to the dark. He struggles to control his breathing as he follows Matt to an empty booth. He doesn't know where to look. Men are dancing around him, on the tables, with other men, and it is not stupid or embarrassing; they are the most beautiful and…evil looking men Light has ever seen. He nearly stumbles over Matt as they reach their booth, he is so entranced.
Matt laughs at him. He orders them drinks, and they settle back to look around. Matt has never been much of a talker.
There is a golden blonde dressed in black leather and silver jewellery on the poles. On a few tables from there, a small ash blonde is kneeling on the table of five business men, smiling sweetly, shark-like. They look like they could give him his fingers and not notice.
Two apparently identical men were making out on their knees, on one of the tables. They were drawing quite a crowd. It was impossible to tell whether it was an act or not, if they even worked here.
"God," says Light, under his breath, and Matt laughs at him.
The twins draw back for air, and when they do, Light sees smudged eyeliner on one of them, and breathes out. So they are not, probably, hopefully, not related. He is both relieved and disappointed.
He watches them, trying to gauge the differences between them. One of them has slightly softer features, but it is hard to tell if that is just mood, expression, rather than any actual difference. The other, sharper jawed man pulls his back in to kiss his throat, hands going for his crotch, and instead of watching those hands along with everyone else, he watches the other's head tip back and follows his gaze along the wall. A very small and almost hidden clock. He looks almost bored.
Light stifles a laugh.
The man looks at him suddenly, right at him, as if he has heard him, although Light knows it is impossible over the guitars. His eyes hold him, slightly glazed. They are the largest eyes Light has ever seen.
Light swears and stumbles to his feet.
"Light?"
He ignores Matt, pushing and shoving through the crowd until he gets to the toilets. Even they are spotless, he notes with disgust, as he bangs a cubicle door closed and shoves his wrist into his pants, closes his eyes, and wilts as he thinks of those eyes.
Matt is laughing at him as he comes back. Tonight is the most Light has seen him laugh. He has been joined by the golden blonde on the poles.
"This is M," Matt tells him.
"Hi," Light says uncomfortably, as the other man nods at him.
"You don't have to go to the bathroom to do that, you know," Matt tells him.
Light grits his teeth, glad for the dark as he feels his skin growing hot. He doesn't look around. He doesn't dare catch that man's eye, though of course he has nothing to be embarrassed about, that's what he's here for, that's what they're hired for. He leans back in his seat as Mello and Matt make out. At least he is not bored.
He comes again. Matt doesn't even mock him for it. He knew it was coming.
He gets over his fear and always looks out for the twins, as they're known, and he and the twin never make eye contact again. He learns that they all go by initials. The one he likes is L. The other twin is B. The one Matt likes is M. The small one that unnerves Light is N. Every letter for the English alphabet, as the owners were apparently English. He doesn't really notice the others.
The blondes, M and N, are clearly in competition most of the time. Light's not sure if it's friendly or not. They keep to different sides of the floor. M can do pretty elaborate stunts and flips on the stage, but N seems to have even the toughest looking clients practically eating out of his hand, by doing nothing more than kneeling on the table and cooing at them. He wore baggy pants like he wasn't even trying, and he was rounded, young looking, like he didn't have much of a physique, yet he could perch on men's tables and look at them like he owned them, like he was daring them to touch him, and they'd just turn to mush. He is apparently quite creative with his toys when he takes someone upstairs.
Upstairs. Light still hasn't even considered it. Matt goes sometimes, with M. Mello. He assures Light it's clean, it's not awkward or embarrassing, they use condoms and stay professional and it's not even that expensive.
Even now, now he has pretty much forced himself into a corner to accept his sexuality, he's still not there yet.
"This is what got me out of the house again," Matt tells Light, matter of factedly. He is sitting beside Light in stripes and a fur and leather coat. Nothing and no-one stands out here. Sometimes he even wears his sunglasses in here, in the dark. He is watching L and B go at it, poker faced. Light is also trying to watch them while concentrating on what Matt is saying. "No kidding. I thought it was creepy as hell too. But everyone is so friendly. Even if I just want to sit here and have a drink, it's a good place to be, you know? Everyone knows each other and has each other's backs. There are never any fights or drinks getting spiked. You should find someone," he tells him. "Get off the fence."
Light mumbles something non-commital. The truth was, he only wanted L, and L was indisputedly, for unknown reasons, the most popular man here, even without his "twin." He would watch L even when he wasn't performing – as it was so laidback and small here, they would take their breaks with the customers, playing on his phone or eating cherries from the bar in one of the booths next to B.
"I was thinking of working here," Matt says.
Light turns to stare at him.
"What?" he says defensively. "It's such a good atmosphere, everyone has everyone's back. And I've talked to more people than M. they're all so smart. Most of them are putting themselves through school, because they don't have families or whatever. It's not like, a house of crack whores."
"They could be lying," Light points out.
"They're all sharp as fuck, though," Matt tells him. "I'm serious. Talk to any one of them."
"They've already got an M," he says, half jokingly.
He doesn't seem to be listening. "Some nights you don't even have to go upstairs. You can just put on a show, like them." He nods at B and L, who are sharing a bowl of cherries, apparently on break. they would be a hard show to top. Sometimes they used ropes – B was tying L earlier that evening- or had playfights, to mix it up, but Light would stare at them and feel like he was falling just watching them make out.
"Do you think they're dating?" he blurts, before he can stop himself.
"Nah," he says. "Probably just used to each other, good chemistry." His eyes are distant, still thinking about his stripper-dancer-prostitute career. "Mello, that's M, is thinking of leaving. So there would be an M. And he'd look after me before he went, help me, I know he would."
"Why's M leaving?"
"He's writing a book," Matt tells him. "Publishers seem quite interested. See, smart."
Light looks at his drink. There isn't much else to look at tonight. L is facing him and he doesn't want to push his luck. "I couldn't come here any more," he says, unsure if he means it even as he says it.
"You may as well not come here now," Matt tells him. "You don't talk to anyone. You might as well be at home jacking off."
Light opens his mouth to argue when someone interrupts him. "Hi Matt."
He turns around, thinking it is M come ot sit in Matt's lap and feed him chocolate again, and his heart stops and starts again when he realises it is one of the twins, the wrong one.
"Hi B," Matt says. "M around?"
"Sorry, he just went upstairs."
"Damn." He seems to remember Light and gestures to him vaguely. "This is my friend Light."
The other's eyes land on him and he nods politely, feeling nothing.
Then Matt says, "He's in love with your other half."
B smirks and Light aims a kick at him under the table.
"My brother?" he says innocently.
"Your brother?"
The two of them start cackling with laughter, and he feels himself going red, wanting to kick himself.
"Sorry," B says. He hops into Matt's lap and steals a sip of his drink. "Welcome. Not everyone's as dick-ish as me. It's just that most people really like the twin thing."
"Right," Light deadpans.
"Light hasn't gone near anyone since he got here," Matt says, spitefully.
"So?" B says, turning Matt's jaw back to face him. "What's wrong with watching?"
He kisses Matt, and Light hurriedly looks away, deliberately not in the direction B has come from, on the off change of his eyes landing on L. his eyes seem to draw to him, magnet-like, without his even trying. Up close he can see they are not alike at all.
"Do you want me to get him?"
Light looks back, and B is looking at him through slightly glazed eyes, while Matt nips at his throat.
"L. He's lovely. He's nothing like me."
"That's OK," he says quickly.
When Matt seems to calm down a little, B pushes him off gently. "Why don't I get us some more drinks?" he says. "On me, as a welcome to Light."
As he leaves, it occurs to Light that he should have used an alias. He mentions this to Matt.
"Oh Matt's not my real name," he says vaguely, like this is normal. "But I don't think it's a big deal."
B comes back with another pair of hands helping carry the drinks. A very similar pair of hands. Light follows them up their owner's body to a pair of familiar, huge eyes.
"Thanks, L," B says cheerfully. "Why don't you join us?"
When he kisses L, it is like it all disappears, the guitars, the lights, the stage, all of it.
"Going upstairs." Light turns, find B is looking at L, while an impatient Matt is tugging him to his feet. Low voice, holding L's gaze.
"OK," L says easily.
They are left alone, and it is somehow awkward, as if they are on a date.
L smiles at him, tilts his head coquetteishly. "Do you want to talk or keep going?"
Both, he thinks. He wants to do everything.
After he doesn't know how long, he finds himself in L's lap, desperately hard and whining, and L is murmuring, "Do you want to go upstairs?" Like he is going to tuck him into bed and sing to him. "You don't have to if you don't want to."
But he is already nodding, already sure, and L takes him by the hand and leads him through the floor. They are near the door everyone disappears through when L taps N awkwardly on the back of his blonde head, who looks up, frowning. "Going upstairs," L tells him.
"OK," he nods, turning his attention back to the man's legs.
"What's that for?" Light asks him as he's led up the stairs by the hand, because he's nervous. "Score keeping?"
L laughs and peels open the first unlocked door they come to. Light half expects each one to be adorned with a letter from the English alphabet. "Safety," L breathes, putting his arms around Light's neck and backing up to the bed with him. "In case you murder me."
The bulb goes then, making Light flinch, and L apologises, suggests they find another room, but it is the dark that strips away the last of Light's fears. His reserve is gone and he is on L.
"I'm leaving tomorrow," L tells him.
Light turns his head to look at him. They finished about half an hour ago, but they usually lie around and talk. In all the months Light has been coming here, if he's learned one thing, it's that L gets to do whatever he wants. With good reason. He's sure the other man under charges him. he can't believe there can even be a price on the things he does. In the post-orgasmic haze, it takes Light a moment to process what he said.
"Oh," he says. "To – somewhere else?"
"No."
"Oh," he says again. "That's good, I guess. For you."
L smiles at him and begins to play with his hair. "Will you miss me, Light-kun?"
"No, I come here for the music," he says, as sarcastically as he can.
"That's a pity." L leans up and kisses him. "I think you're the first guy here that I actually like."
"I bet you say that to everyone," Light murmurs into his mouth, keeping his eyes closed so he can think.
"Near, that's N, is apparently very good," L offers. "And B looks like me."
Light snorts. "But they're not you."
They lie in silence for a bit. Light pushes L's hand out of his hair and begins to play with his, and L leans into his hand.
"Near," Light muses. "What does L stand for?"
"I can't tell you," he says, nipping his lios playfully.
"Even though you're leaving?"
"Even so."
"But you told me Near's."
"Near isn't his real name."
"How many aliases do you guys need?"
L just smirks.
"Does anyone here know your real name?"
"Only B."
"Why B?" he asks, the jealousy stinging him before he can help it.
His smirk widens. "Are you jealous?"
"No," he says. Then he says, "Do you have to leave?"
"Yes," he says at once. "I'm getting bored."
Light flinches just slightly. "Can't argue with that."
"Don't be dense, it doesn't suit you." He brushes Light's hair back from his face. "You're the only reason I stayed this long. And that's not flattering post paid-sex bullshit."
"I only came here because I was bored," he says. "Not to sound patronising, but I'm surprised you ever came here in the first place. You obviously have a brain in your head."
"It's a little patronising," he teases. He tips Light's jaw up for another kiss. "How are you putting yourself through college, Light? Want to be the new L?" he jokes gently.
"My parents pay for it," he says, feeling the sinking feeling he gets whenever he thinks about how he pays for this.
L kisses his forehead, apologising for the joke.
"I'm getting too fussy, too," he says. "I've only been with you for weeks now. It's getting pretty obvious."
Light just shrugs, even as he feels his chest warm. "You don't have to undercharge me, you know."
"I know."
He sucks in a breath and speaks with his eyes closed. "So, are you still gonna be in the area? Geographically?"
He hums against his skin.
"What, you still think I'll murder you?"
Someone knocks on the door then, making Light jump.
"I'm OK," L calls, and someone walks away. "Safety," he explains to Light lazily. "We've been in here a long time."
He nods, wondering if anything has ever happened to L. He doesn't like to think about it. "It's good you're leaving," he says, as L pulls his hair back, exposing his throat. He wants to tell L more. Tell him he was watching him, that he always knew the difference between him and his slutty non-brother, that he was smart, that he was a fucking angel.
"I know," L says, when he doesn't say anything. "I'll miss you too."
"You don't have to." Light pulls his head free, as L skips a beat. "If you're worried about getting a stalker, I'd be more worried about the clone of yours. I see him watching you."
"B's OK," he says.
"So am I," he says, nips his lips again.
"I thought you were still in the closet?"
"I don't want to be," he says, and he means it. He wants to be like the men here, so easily, shamelessly beautiful.
"You should be nicer to B," L says into his mouth. "He was the one who convinced me to come over after staring at you for months, and to leave here so I maybe had a shot at dating you."
Light leans back so he can stare at him. l stares back, expressionless. It is impossible to tell whether he is serious or not. "Then why not just say that?"
He shrugs, and he actually looks a little embarrassed. It is startlingly cute. The great L, blushing and hiding under his eyelids.
"Let's get out of here," Light says suddenly. "I'll buy B a drink to say thanks. Several drinks, if you're planning on staying in touch and I'll see more of him."
"My shift's not done."
"You were just going to stay up here with me anyway," he says, kissing him. "Have your twin cover for you. I want you in my house. I want to wake up with you."
L makes a little noise in his throat. Light feels it in his mouth. "OK."