Chapter 1 – Distraction
Hint of lavender, sweat and glitter filled the air. The music switching beats depending on who was on stage: and scantily clad females serving drinks. Not outside the norm for a strip club. It was a special night after all and a special night called for something way outside the normal adventures of this mixed bunch.
Joey was still not completely satisfied with the arrangement but was beginning to get used to it. Tristan proposed and Serenity accepted he knew that. Still, he just didn't want to think of his sister depending on another man for protection and what big brother did.
Joey was most surprised about his best friend Yugi coming along. He thought for sure his shorter friend would deny the invitation to the party he had to arrange and just attend the wedding the next day. He was excited to have his best friend there, but shocked none the less.
"Seriously, a strip club? How cliché" Duke spoke up being the only one to comment on Joey's choice of party location.
"Can it dice boy" Joey snapped back to reality just in time to silence the spikey black haired man, "This is the best one in Domino and super hard to get any private bookings for so it's still original"
The group sighed but all were intrigued at least to the mention of "private bookings".
"Private Joey?" Tristan broke the silence questioning.
"Yea, we get to enjoy the normal show but then later get to go upstairs for a private one" Joey grinning mischievously obviously having something planned for his friend.
A fierce blush crept across Yugi's face as a woman in a bikini offered him a drink out of everyone first. "ah-um…no thanks" he managed to cough out receiving a chuckle from Seto, another member Joey was shocked to have accepted the invitation.
"Man up Yugi, show some pride" Seto said looking the girl in the eyes, "Give us all a round of your best and if you see one of our drinks empty, you fill it do I make myself clear? This is your new job for the evening"
Seto handed the woman 100,000 yen and narrowed his eyes in a grin, "This is yours, I'll pay for the drinks at the end."
The woman's skin trembled with delight. She was told off like a slave but Seto's eyes pierced into her soul and moved her in a way no ordinary man was capable of. She'd protest to the fact of paying for drinks after, but everyone knew who Billionaire Seto Kaiba was. She nodded in compliance and received a "good" from the billionaire.
"Didn't expect you to buy the rounds Kaiba" Tristan stated as Seto smirked.
"Like any of you chumps could afford it" Seto grinned and he was back to being the cold hearted jerk they all knew him to be.
"Well let's go front and center!" Joey led pumping his fist in the air "Let's make this a night to remember!"
The group of six nodded in agreement and followed Joey to the front of the stage where they grabbed chairs. Several other men and women filled the strip club in different locations. Some getting lap dances, some ordering drinks, some already enjoying the poll dancers and begging for more with bills.
"So, Yami didn't want to come?" Duke questioned Yugi as they all received their first drink.
"He's on a date…" Yugi said slumping onto the table cradling his drink, "I don't think I need to tell you who asked him."
"That's rough" Duke sighed, "I thought for sure she'd ask you man."
Yugi paused at Duke's comment. Tea and Yugi had been friends for years and it was evident the brunette showed signs of affection towards him. Everyone saw it the other way around though and he often wondered why. It wasn't so much that Tea was on a date with his former darker half, but rather he knew the assumption would be that he would be upset.
He wasn't. One thing he came to realize when his darker half acquired a physical form was that he wasn't just dodging Tea's advances, he wasn't interested. It was hard because she was his friend and her feelings mattered to him greatly. Saying "no" was just too hard, because the look of disappointment on her face crushes him every time. When she was rejected from dance school in the United States, he swear her look broke his heart far worse than anything.
He was upset because he felt he used Yami as a scape goat, a way out of a situation he saw no end too. When she immediately turned her affections towards Yami, everything became easier for Yugi. He could keep his friend and not have to reject her, the best scenario. However, yugi had to pass that responsibility on his darker half now though and it crept an equally sad feeling. He never asked if he was interested in Tea, which made it all worse to him. Yugi felt he'd probably be reflecting on it all night.
"Well cheer up" Duke stated patting the shorter friend in the back to break the awkward silence "Pleanty of ladies here tonight, and your first dance is on me!"
Yugi smiled at his friend desperately trying to cheer him up from a situation he didn't know the full story on. Despite uninterested in the dance he was happy to have a friend like that.
"So if I wave the bill do they come to me?" Joey asked completely dumb founded.
"Uh I don't think they're quite like dogs Joey," Tristan sighed, "You brought us here and you don't even know how it works?"
"Shut up I'm figuring it out" Joey said narrowing his eyes at others who got the dancers attention, trying to figure out their strategy. His intense gaze was broken from the laughter of the one man on this planet Joey hated to be around
"If you focus anymore Wheeler, your brain will fry" Kaiba grinned, "It's not rocket science."
"laugh it up rich boy" Joey mumbled while focusing back onto the individual getting the attention of one of the dancers. 'There's got to be a trick to this' he thought.
Yugi sighed again, he really wanted to enjoy the evening with his friends especially for Joey but just couldn't shake his mind off Tea and Yami.
"You know, drinking helps" Ryou finally spoke up, often being more of an observer then a conversation starter. Yugi looked towards his friend then back at his drink 'It couldn't hurt I guess' Yugi thought.
Yugi grabbed his drink and downed it in one gulp. Even Seto was shocked by the action
"Yugi I meant sip it, that's a lot of alchohol to drink in one go!" Ryou stated, trying to correct a situation long past fixing.
Yugi wasn't expecting the drink to be so harsh and ended up coughing a few times. "What is this stuff?"
"I did ask for their best, probably a mix of a few things" Seto answered chuckling, "You may want to slow it down."
"Now they tell me" Yugi choked a bit more, not much of a drinker in general and he just downed something most people take a while on.
"Would you like a dance cutie?" A pasties and lingerie woman asked Duke with a smirk.
"Most certainly" Duke grinned overing one of his bills to the beautiful woman "A work of art needs to be appreciated"
"What a smooth talker" The woman giggled before leaning into Duke in a suggestive manner, "I wonder what else is smooth?"
"How on earth did he get a lady before me?!" Joey growled, "I've been waving my money this whole time will no one take it?!"
"Oh relax Joey" Duke smiled and received an "Easy for you to say" glance from his friend.
The woman had rich amber coloured hair and curves that formed the perfect shape. Her skin was pale with a hint of freckles and beauty marks. She began slowly angling her hips to the tempo of the music in front of Duke, slowly but just enough that it enhanced the anticipation for him. She was gorgeous and she was all his for a few minutes.
Duke went to reach out but remembered that it was generally frowned upon to touch the dancers and had to quickly retract his hands as she turned around slowly in a curved manner that made her appear extremely flexible. She slowly rested her hands on his knees and as she regained her form to look directly at him, slid her hands up his thighs while arching her back. Duke couldn't wait for the next step and shook with anticipation. She leaned down, her lips inches away from the zipper of his pants as she erotically moved upwards not touching him with anything but her hands on his thighs but getting close enough he could feel the heat of her breath through his clothes. She slowly took one hand off his thigh and led up his arm caressing it slowly leading up to his face then without hesitation, repeating with the other hand.
As she cupped his face she leaned against his face just brushing her cheek against his to put her lips inches away from his ear. "time's up"
Just as quickly as she whispered those words, she stood up and smirked. Duke on the other hand, felt cheated and growled under his breath.
"That was…only seconds!" He angrily protested. The woman raised a finger up to her face and waved it in a playful manner.
"Now now, don't be upset" She cooed, "It's actually been fifteen minutes"
Duke was ready to protest when he looked around at his friends and they all nodded. He couldn't believe it, he was so focused on the subtle movements of her body and position he had no concept of time anymore. He knew this place was going to be dangerous.
"Would you like a dance?" She turned to Yugi, seeing the individual look sad compared to the rest of his friends, "Care for a pick me up?"
Yugi paused at the question, considering it thoroughly. He was at a strip club with his friends and this is what they came to do. It was expected for the bachelor party location Joey picked and it'd be rude not to engage. On the other hand, Yugi felt it wrong to accept such a thing even from someone being paid to do it. He just didn't want to lead anyone else on and be placed in another terrible situation.
"No thanks" Yugi declined as politely as possible. She nodded to him accepting the honest answer and not wanting to upset the man by pressing further.
"Papa Joey wouldn't mind a dance or two!" Joey grinned patting his lap to the woman. She smiled at Joey and walked over to him.
"You don't care that I just grinded on your friend?" She asked smiling mischieviously, "What a good friend you are."
To many thoughts raced in Wheeler's head and he protested quickly "n-no way! Actually I'll wait for someone else!"
"Suit yourself" she said winking before walking away from the group entirely.
"Man, I narrowly dodged a bullet" Joey sighed as Kaiba chuckled that "Stupid wheeler" chuckle he always does, "Whats so funny?!"
"She obviously said that because she didn't want to perform for you," Seto educated, and the realization that Seto was actually right sunk in.
"I have money, why don't they want it?!" Joey angrily lashed out, rubbing his hair furiously asking the same question he did earlier.
****** an hour later ******
The evening continued with more specialized shows to entertain the crowd and a few more friendly erotic dances for the group. Everyone was on their third or fourth drink by this point and having one heck of a time.
Everyone but Yugi that is. Yugi had declined every ladies advancement towards him, even the waitress serving their drinks who was asking to go to coffee with him. He just wasn't interested in the ladies and rather kept focusing his attention on his drinks.
Was that the problem? Yugi never thought of it before. What was his type? He had been so busy dueling and going through everyday life with his friends he never thought about it until now. He was nineteen and he hadn't even thought about a future lover.
'What's wrong with me?' he thought to himself, finishing his third drink. 'Am I just…broken?'
He looked around at his friends thoroughly enjoying themselves, even Kaiba was having a fun time teasing the waitress with cold advancements. He was the only one not really partaking and not really enjoying the attention either.
"Are you sure you don't want a dance man?" Duke asked Yugi for the fourth time that evening.
"Hey lay off Duke, "Joey intervened, "If he doesn't want one, he doesn't have to have one."
"But-" Duke began to complain but Joey defended his best friend.
"Seriously man, back off" Joey warned, "Yugi doesn't need a dance"
"Okay" Duke agreed, defeated looking back at his smaller friend. 'Joey can be a simpleton' Duke thought, upset with how little it seemed Joey cared about his best friend.
Suddenly a loud beeping noise came from Joey's watch. "Shoot I almost forgot! Our private show is going on upstairs in five minutes!" Joey grinned, "Let's go Tristan"
"That look is worrying me" Tristan spoke honestly as his drunken friend continued to grin "Like really worrying me man"
"You'll see" Joey chuckled as he stood up and led everyone upstairs to their private booth. Yugi made sure to grab his drink, figuring what was upstairs was not going to suit him either.
AN: Alright! Sorry about the slow start, I needed to get a lot of the situation and descriptive environment elements out of the way. The good stuff will be in chapter 2 and on. Won't be a long story, more testing my skills at writing a little smut/romance/erotic interactions. Feel free to R/R ! The pairings (well minus SerenityxTristan are not going to be revealed right away and some may be a surprise!
Again, I warn you that there will be yaoi, hints of yuri, and some heterosexual pairings within the shorter story so if that offends you I would refrain from reading further.