Surprisingly enough, working at a strip club could be frightening dull.

Oh sure the first nights were interesting enough–Ray would be lying if she tried acting like she hadn't enjoyed the eye candy–but it didn't take long for her to become desensitized to it all. After all, skin was skin, and once you saw a certain amount, it was hard to get excited over it again.

Besides, she wasn't there to watch. Her job was to keep the pretty little rich girls who thought they were oh so clever and risque for coming down here drowned in alcohol so they would throw away even more cash. They weren't the patient type and traveled in gaggles, so most of the time she was running ragged just to keep them appeased.

Still there was at least one thing that had caught her attention lately. The newest stripper they had hired was quite the character. His stage name was something dumb like Supreme King or whatever. It was pretty forgettable compared to the rest of him. Every night he came out wearing eerily bright golden contacts and painted scales across his skin. It looked crazy as hell, but the dragon aesthetic was a hit. Either he had tapped into a previously little-known dragon fetish or he had happened to ride the rise in the latest kink. Whatever the case was, he strutted around like his dick was God's gift to mankind. If it wasn't for his popularity, Ray figured he would have been axed on his third night.

Whenever he came out, all her customers disappeared in a flash. Nobody dared miss a second of his performance. As a result she was able to watch more of his routine than the others. By now she almost had it down pat.

First there was the general bravo, letting the audience hoot and holler and rile them up. He didn't even try to hide how much he got off on soaking up that attention. Then he started to dazzle them with his athletic prowess on the pole. Just flashy moves to begin, but as the spinning grew in intensity and he managed to remove different articles of clothing, even Ray was forced to admit his talent. Ever move of his was calculated with an almost inhuman grace.

However before she could ignore the dude's personality, he would always ease into one of his big move. Gradually he would come to a stop, hanging upside down with his thumb teasing the waistband of his underwear, and then he'd flash a shit-eating grin and fucking growl. Immediately the crowd would descend into squeals, and Ray would try to hold back a groan as she rolled her eyes. Lately though she had noticed an odd tic.

Despite the attention and praise, his gaze was always fixed on one particular spot at that moment. No matter what she was doing, he always stared at her with a hard and steady gaze. It was hard to make sense of the action. She was hardly the most interesting sight at the club, dressed in modest but dapper attire. Then again as one of the only women in the vicinity who didn't swoon over his theatrics, maybe he was just intrigued by the challenge she presented. Either way she had tried ignoring his fit, but that only seemed to make him attempt to get her attention more and more.

So this time, Ray returned a glance right back at him: cold, fixating, and not backing down.

She didn't realize there would be consequences until near the end of her shift, he ended up sitting at the bar.

At this point of the job, most customers were gone or too hung over to cause much trouble. Exhaustion wore itself on her a bit easier. As tired as she was though, Ray tried to keep her professional attitude and treat the dragon weirdo like a normal guest.

"Hey honey, you feeling down? 'Cause I can always feel you up." For all her effort, he wasted no time sprouting a bullshit line and adopting a flirty grin as he leaned back in his seat.

"You're cuter with your mouth shut. When you talk you ruin the illusion you might be tolerable."

"Pfft, you react that way whenever a guy shows his interest?"

"No, just when idiots do."

That made him almost spit out his drink. "Don't tell me you're the type that wants a nice little boy with a steady office job? There's never any real personality to them besides their unwavering determination to never deviate from the norm."

"It's more I prefer people who don't only think with their genitals. For example, if you stopped crowing for a second, you might remember to keep your personal life separate from your job. I rather not mess around with a co-worker."

"Ah, but if you came to my place I wouldn't treat you like one. I'd treat you like my little toe and bang you on every piece of furniture I own."

This time Ray couldn't stop her lips from quirking ever so slightly. "Got a cheesy line for every situation, don't ya?"

"Well what do you want me to say?" He set his glass down with a clink. "Roses are red, violets are blue, I suck at pick up lines… nice tits?"

A dangerous idea began to form in Ray's head. "Tell ya what, if you're so desperate to entertain, we can always play a little game." She leaned in closely so their lips were only a breath apart. "Try to actually amuse me and I'll throw you a bone for once, 'kay?" Something that could have been mistaken for hesitation flitted across his expression, but before she could confirm it, he regained his usual snarky attitude.

"Make sense. Besides what else could you be doing right now? Besides me, of course."

"Cheap."

"You know I admit I won't go down in history as some great wordsmith, but I can go down on you."

"Lame."

"You know what I like in a girl?" His expression grew surprisingly somber. For a beat, Ray sat waiting for the other show to fall, but it never really did. Then it hit her that this might be his attempt of seriousness.

"What do you like in girls then?" Ray mumbled, feeling a bit uncomfortable in this different atmosphere.

Golden eyes stared in to hers deeply, as if all the secrets to the world could be found there.

"My dick."

The sheer bluntness of that one managed to break her compose. Ray leaned her head back and howled with laughter. When she calmed down again, she found the master charmer beaming with a hungry look in his eye.

"So what's the prize?" Slowly he closed the distance between them until there was barely a hair left; however, before he got any ideas, Ray leaped back with a smirk.

"A drink on me." She slip another glass his way. "If you're not satisfied than you can always come back tomorrow night and see what else you can earn."

She could practically see the cogs in his head whirl around as he thought it out. It didn't take long for him to answer.

"You got yourself a deal!" He downed his drink in a flash and then left with the usual swagger. Still a gigantic pain, but maybe this agreement would help dull his appetite a tad. There was no telling when he'd move on to the next pretty thing he could chase, but Ray was finding that none of that really mattered.

After all, the fun had just begun.


A.N. My part of an art trade with dark-angel-of-muses on tumblr, this was a fun exercise in voice, but if you feel I should up the rating, or was offensive in my portray of the sex industry, then feel free to let me know