Hi everyone!
So, this little gorilla baby came started as a oneshot, as I was looking at Bruno Mars' video, and suddenly got a fantasy of Zechs dancing to Wufei's music, which is why the prologue is so similar to the video, which is not mine at all (disclaimer here, nor is Gundam Wing mine, by the way. I gain nothing from writing this fic). Where Treize came from and inserted himself in the equation, I have no idea. However, as I started writing, the idea became bigger and bigger, as they are wont to do, and a multi chaptered, romance and drama-filled story came about. I truly hope you like it, and give me honest feedback on it. Im not much for Author notes, explanations or review responses, but if you have a question, find a flaw or just want to give feedback, please feel free to do so, as I know my writing is less than perfect, and I have no beta (buuuuuu). So, without further ado, here's chapter one!
Treize sat on a table midway to the stage. It would not do for him to sit right in front of it, that place was for customers and their enjoyment. He wasn't one for strip shows. He had hated the danmed thing for as long as he could remember, considering them distasteful and not necessary for his business to keep afloat, and had swiftly informed Zechs Marquise as such, back when he had introduced himself as Milliardo Peacecraft and was still a potential employee, but Treize had to admit Zechs had been a very lucrative and enthralling exception. The man was something to behold, on and off stage.
On stage, nobody could do what he did. Or at least, nobody that Treize himself knew of. Zechs had remained off stage for the whole of three days in which, despite the alluring looks and the cold showers Zechs elicited in him, Treize seriously considered dismissing him from the club. What Zechs oozed on raw sexuality and allure, he severely lacked in personality and customer service. He never flirted back, nor smiled at the customers, kept forgetting the ordered drinks, couldn't be bother to do any kind of team relation, and was an overall headache of complaint after complaint from both customers and employees.
Until Friday night, of course, when Chang Wufei's band played. They were not an outstandingly great group, music wise, they had yet to present anything original, at least not to him, and certainly not in the club, but what they lacked in originality, they made up for charisma and spunk, turning any song into something their own altogether. They were fresh and hot on stage, and they had hoarded a regular crowd to prove it.
On the first song played, Zechs had remained impassive, silently listening to the beat, eyes closed, body swaying softly, ignoring all around him, seemingly mesmerized. The memory both exasperated and rejoiced Treize, whom remained by the door to his office on the second floor, looking down at Zechs, torn between pulling him by the hair and throw him out on the street, or pulling him by the hair, take him into his office and well…. Take him in his office. In any way he could.
Treize never managed to make up his mind, though. When the song came to an end, the blond snapped, made a beeline to the stage, surprising more than one person who worked there. He cornered the oriental singer, and requested he repeated the song. Wufei had looked skeptical for about two seconds, and then grabbed the mic, making show out of it, asking the audience whether they wanted an encore. Since most of the audience was a regular, and they liked the little ragtag group, the answer was a definite yes.
The song came again, but Zechs did not get off stage. He stayed there, and performed alongside Wufei and The Den.
Treize had never been so shocked, turned on, angry and happy at the same time. Zechs simply seemed to be one with the music, hitting every cord with his body, his hair seemed to be one with the drum and by god, those eyes! Treize slowly, unknowingly became bewitched with those eyes and, not knowing how, he ended up standing about ten steps from the stage, behind the crowd which amassed to take a closer look at this… this… sorcerer setting his spell on everybody. Treize had always believed erotic dancing to be untasteful. He had never been so glad to be wrong.
When the song was done, Treize had been patted on the back a lot for making such a smart decision to hire this fey, especially since the man didn't even remove most of his clothing, he remained with his pants on by the end of it, but the damage was done. People were asking for the hot blonde's name, licking their lips looking at those abs, wanting to look into those icy blues almost as much as Treize himself did. It was an instant hit. Afterwards, Treize pinned Zechs and Wufei to work together from that moment on, they would get together to work on which song to perform, Zechs would work the basics of what he would do, touching Wufei much more than was strictly necessary, not minding how little Wufei reacted to his touching, or the fiery looks Meiran kept throwing his way, and they would spend weekends playing their plan out, along with three more dancers he hired within a week, if only to appease both male and female population.
His rules were simple though: keep it classy, keep it alluring, and keep at least one garment on. Treize was not the owner of a lowly stripping joint and, as much as he'd love to see Zechs as the blonde came to the world, Treize had a reputation and an image he'd hate to destroy. When he calmly explained this to the blonde, Zechs simply leaned his head to the side, a small curve on the edge of his lips. "Don't worry, boss… unless he's fucking it, nobody gets a look at my ass" And that's how he knew Zechs was gay. It didn't help that the man had turned around, giving him a great view of the aforementioned, cloth covered ass, opened the door and, before exiting, gave Treize a once over that made his insides coil.
There had been hints. Lord, there had been hints that Zechs was just as willing as Treize himself was, but everytime Treize decided to forego his own work ethics and corner the man, Wufei came in the door and Zechs was all business, paying the oriental man his undivided attention, both musical and the occasional touching one, and left Treize ready to have a long, cold shower.
"Ladies and gentlemen in Victoria!" Duo, a highly energetic boy with the brightest eyes he had ever seen seized the mic. He was not a Victoria employee, Duo was generally there to spend some nighttime with his boyfriend and, while Treize had been initially irked by the constant presence of this young man, he couldn't help but be driven by that energy. Duo had seamlessly become a part of Victoria dynamic, and was now the official announcer to the Zechs-Den duet, a name the braided boy had morphed himself, much to Wufei's annoyance and Zechs's amusement. Duo also helped with unruly drunk customers along with his boyfriend and could even sometimes cover for Trowa or Quatre at bar tendering. All of that because he missed his boyfriend at night? Treize had rarely seen a better bargain. If anything, Treize was smart enough to even offer the empty space Victoria had on the upper floor for the two, and provide free drinks. Duo was a constant flow of energy, and nobody but Zechs seemed immune to his friendly, outgoing ways. That, added to his bar tender Quatre's peaceful aura and Trowa's calm but firm demeanor kept the club's employee's in a constant good mood. After the strictness of his previous assistant, effective as Lady Une's methods were, calm, good and positive moods were as welcome to Treize as Zechs's advances, isolated and random as they may be.
"You know its Friday night, right?" A rather loud affirmative was the long-haired man's answer, who seemed delighted in hearing the response. "I know, I know…. You all just wanna see tonight's show." The crowd responded accordingly, cheering loudly for the Den and, undoubtly, its dancing companions, one of them in specific. "I do too, don't get me wrong. I love 'Fei and his little Zex Deeenn" A very loud 'Maxwell!' erupted from a dark part of the stage, prompting a small laugh from Treize. The official name was a single word, Duo always made it sound like two. Duo may be lovable, but he had a knack for pushing Wufei's buttons the way Zechs had a knack for pissing off most of his employees.
"I am truly sorry for the delay. We've been preparing something really special for ya'll" What? Special? Nobody said nothing about special to him. Treize frowned, wondering about this last minute change. Treize had always been strict about what was suitable for his business as such, but never to the extent where his employees wouldn't inform him of any change. This must have been one of Zechs's last minute ideas. The blonde was annoyingly prone to those whenever the inspiration stroke, but never so soon before one of his performances. 'I am a fucking bomb, Maxwell. But even bombs need time to be detonated properly' Zechs had briefly explained the last time Duo had suggested a last minute idea he had conjured up. They were running a few minutes late than their usually start time, which was around midnight, but nothing out of this world. And where the fuck was Zechs?! He should've been near stage by now, but Treize was not able to spot that blond mane, hard as he tried. "but I would humbly ask you to give a warm welcome to our very own, crazy as shit Den, and hot as fuck Zechs Marquise!"
Suddenly, all lights went out, shutting down any applause attempt by the crowd. This was odd. Zechs was never one to shy away from the light, and Wufei claimed only amateurs didn't like to be seen performing, so the dark illumination was a true surprise. A dark red lighting substituted the total darkness, just as the bass player started pulling on his strings. It was an unfamiliar beat to Treize, strong but slow, and sexy… the kind that was made for slow grinding and lip biting. Treize groaned inwardly. If Zechs was hot with all lights on and upbeat music, he couldn't begin to imagine what may go down under this scenario.
Wufei didn't have to look very hard. He spotted Zechs the moment the man had walked out of his changing room. Admittedly, anybody could use the room to change, but the man had been such 'amiable' company when they entered it and he was there, that all employees simply chose to let the man have his space when he was in it, and not walk in that door for the time being. The only people so far to walk over Zechs's carefully drawn space were Treize, Wufei, Quatre, Trowa and Heero, because nothing could really make Trowa and Heero lose their cool and there was a grudging form of respect amongst them, Quatre because really, who the hell could be a bitch to Quatre?, Treize because for all the times they butted heads, Treize had never been nothing if not respectful of Zechs, despite dying to get into the blonde's pants, and himself, because Zechs wanted to get into Wufei's pants.
Oh, Wufei was not a fool. The moment he had laid eyes on the blonde, he knew Zechs was interested. Very interested. And it was a two way deal. Without even being properly introduced, to be honest. He had heard they had a new waiter, but he had never met the man until Zechs had come on stage after playing the first song of the night and asked him for an encore.
Wufei had been instantly convinced to please the man, if only because Wufei hadn't been able to tear his face away from Zechs while he sang, wondering what could be going through his head as he swayed to the music, eyes closed and alienated from the world as it was. It was the first time Wufei had ever seen anybody so into his music, or looked at him so intently, like Wufei was all that existed, and if anything else existed, it paled in comparison to him. At that moment, the look shocked a very vital part of him, and for a time Wufie couldn't pinpoint why he was so overwhelmed by Zechs's intensity, and it would take a few more encounters with the blonde in order for him to figure it out.
On that night, Zechs put his money where his mouth was, giving a surprising feat of slow dancing not even Treize, for all his sense of property, could deny, and they were assigned to work together from then on. At first, Wufei was reluctant, he had heard through the vines a little of Zechs's antagonizing attitude and he had no inclinations to work with a diva wanna-be.
However, when he met the man, instead of presumptuous and spoiled, Zechs was carefully attentive to his songs and creations, giving his ideas on what could be improved, detailing and pointing out Wufei's very own favorite pieces of work and showcasing them in his performances. The man knew how to listen, and he had a much greater knowledge on how to convey whatever he wanted the crowd to feel. And more importantly, Zechs knew what he wanted, and how to get it from Wufei in a way he didn't push any of his boundaries, making Wufei more than willing to deliver. The moment they both acknowledge they could only benefit from each other, they formed a rather efficient symbiosis even he was surprised of.
When Wufei finally gathered the courage to address Zechs on his attitude towards seventy percent of the Victoria employees, Wufei was truly floored by his answer: "Not everybody deserves your time, Wufei" Zechs had said, an eyebrow raised, while he took a sip of his coffee. "Sometimes, by being nice and pliant, all you can get is people trying to bring you down. I don't invest on people that don't add anything of true value to my life."
"That's cold. So, if you don't get an advantage with the people you relate to, you're not interested?" Wufei was quickly believing Meiran might have been right about her bitchiness towards the blonde, along with over half the people in Victoria. Zechs huffed, as if he was tired of explaining this particular topic.
"Value doesn't equal money, Wufie" He said, very slowly, but with a soft smile on his face, like he was humoring the Chinese. As with most of the times he encountered Zechs Marquise, Wufei didn't know whether to laugh or feel insulted. The man was a master at saying it all without really laying all his cards all at once. "We've been sitting here for three hours, out of which we've spoken only 20 minutes about our next show, about 30 minutes spent on classic music and which artist is more substantial, then 20 about freaking human inequalities, and I know a whole lot more about swordplay, history and the Chang code of honor than I ever thought I would care to know." He explained, then set his hand on top of Wufei's.
It was the first time Wufei didn't have the immediate impulse to pull away when Zechs touched him. All previous times Meiran's face came to his mind, and he would feel dirty and unworthy and wrong. At that moment, Wufei was only stunned, like he was having an epiphany of sorts, but he couldn't pinpoint what the feeling was about. Suddenly, Wufei felt completely exposed under Zechs's eyes, which seemed to once again zero in on him like there was nothing on this world and Wufei was definitely not ready for it. "You are so passionate about everything, it makes any moment interesting, new, fresh… The girls here are grey, mostly thinking about boys and how to get them, and the boys mostly thinking about pussy and how to get them."
"And what do you think about?" Wufei inquired, feeling the epiphany threatening to topple him over. Zechs, as usual, never disappointed. His smile was but a ghost of a smile, soft and sad, but wistful and full of hope. It was as breathtaking as it was heartbreaking.
"I think about what comes after the dick that comes with the boy. About the morning breakfasts and the star gazing, the afternoon coffees, having a back pack ready at a moment's notice, a tube of lube always available and the silly, silly pillow talk" Zechs answered, then broke eye contact, his gaze blanked, the way it does when you're not looking at anything in particular, and Zechs cupped his own face with his free hand. "Grey is the color that comes when you're about to reach black. And then there's nothing inspiring there. Only some… void sucking the life out of you, and you wonder how the hell you ended up doing nothing that could truly make you feel alive. If I have ANY choice about what to do, who to meet, how to fucking live my life, why would I choose grey and ordinary?"
Zechs's eyes met his again, and Wufei knew, right there and then, that Zechs had singled him out as extraordinary. Wufei also knew why he wanted to repeat the song when they first spoke, and why he still didn't pull his hand from under Zechs's: The blonde was looking at him like he was the only thing in the planet, the only thing that mattered, and everything else paled in comparison. And nobody, not even Meiran, for all their years together, had ever looked at him that way. The feeling humbled Wufei as much as it empowered him. This was not a man to give half truths, or play the kind of games that could destroy you. He was the kind to give as much as he got, simple as that, and it was the people around him who determined whether that was good or bad. That was when Wufei realized that rather than a bad attitude towards everybody, Zechs simply didn't trust to empathize with anybody to begin with, and his trust was hard earnt. Again, it helped a lot that the blond wanted to get into his pants.
Wufei felt his face heating up at his own revelation, carefully avoiding Zechs's encompassing gaze, and focused on the warm hand on top of his own. He couldn't remember the last time such a simple gesture made him speed up his heart, but at the moment his heart was racing, and right now, he didn't know what to do with himself.
"Hey, sweetcheeks" When Wufei looked up, he was blown away by how Zechs's face changed when he smiled, like his whole face light up along with his mood. It was like looking at a whole other man. "Im not declaring eternal love here… but if you feel like it can be arranged, I could definitely try" Zechs meant it as a joke, to lighten the mood and get over the awkwardness clearly filling Wufei. He had no definite response to Zechs's advance, Wufei could barely pinpoint what he was feeling at the moment. Zechs acknowledged that, and graciously gave him a way out. Wufei graciously took it.
"You do know Im a promised man. Family blessing and everything" Wufei joked, half setting some boundaries, half reminding himself of his carefully planned out life.
Zechs reacted as expected, his left hand going to his chest, looking all the world like he'd been shot.
"And you're sitting here with me, uninterrupted for hours on end, unattended and totally devoid of her or his attentions?" Then Zechs leaned on the table, resting his chin on his hand. There was a cunning curiosity in his eyes, like he was solving a puzzle Wufei couldn't even begin to visualize. "Pray tell, who would be stupid enough to do such a thing? Doesn't she know great things need to be treasured?" Wufei's heart skipped a beat. First, he was called extraordinary, now he was being called great and worthy of treasuring. What the hell do you do when you don't want to like something that makes you feel the best you've ever felt? "That anything could change at a moment's notice?"
Zechs began tapping his right index finger, smiling like he was part of a big conspiracy. That's when Wufei realized he had yet to pull his hand back from underneath the other male's. If anything, Wufei's fingers were as wrapped around Zechs's as the blond's was around his. Zechs's smile turned into a full, happy grin. Wufei was helpless when he smiled back, hoping his face didn't look half as red as he felt heated.
