I have an urge to write.
By the way, spot the references!

Nightlife

'A man gives Prince a deal he can't say no to.'

All characters belong to Yu Wo, CatMuto does not own 1/2 Prince

"You, 'scuse me!" a voiced called out to the elf.
Stopping and turning, Prince saw a man approaching and catching up with him. He caught his breath slightly, allowing for a closer inspection. The man, whoever he was, didn't look as young as he first looked. There were some slight lines under and on the side of his eyes, so he might be in his 30s. He had short, brown hair under a black fedora and a fitting, beige trench coat with a red tie as a little eyecatcher. When he straightened up, Prince noticed that he wore small, rectangular glasses.
"Would you like a job free of problems, flexible hours to your liking and easy activities?" he asked, smiling.
"...what?" Prince returned.
"A job. It's perfect, especially for someone like you. Oh, I haven't introduced myself yet." the guy held a business card towards him. Taking it, the elf looked at it. It was white with a purple, swirly border and it had written Dreamlike Fantasy on it in curly font, with Nessman a bit smaller below. "I am Nessman. I am such a busybee at scouting people, you may call me a busy Nessman." Prince snickered slightly at the pun. "But the job...! It pays really well, you could easily make dozens of hundred gold coins a week - even more quite easily. And the job is super relaxed! Even your colleagues are helpful. For most of their time, you won't even have to worry about them. It's a dream job!" he finished his explanation of this great job, whatever its activities actually were. Prince had to agree with his tangent, though.
Best of all was the sound of the large pay. It was always a problem with Yu Lian and the city's treasurey on keeping it filled. One of his ideas had been to farm loot from monsters, but that had the problem of the time it took to get it being too big and the pay-off not holding up if the loot didn't drop often enough.
But there was a bigger problem with this...
"It sounds good, but..." the elf started, looking apologetic. "I am not actually a resident on the Eastern Continent."
He was only on the Eastern Continent today because he had been told to get some ingredients that weren't obtainable on the Central one. And he had already gotten all his ordered ingredients and was actually on his way home.
"Oh, but that's the best part of it." the man continued. "The hours are perfectly flexible. You are entirely in charge of your hours. However many hours you want to work a week, it's up to you. You just want to work four hours a week? That's absolutely okay, it's your choice. You may have a boss, but he's only a figure head. You are your own boss. So? Are you interested yet?"
Prince frowned slightly. It really did sound amazing.
"It does sound good... and the boss?"
"A good friend of mine. We can see him right away, he would hire you in an instance!"
The elf wondered about that statement, exactly why the guy would hire him so fast.
"So... exactly what kind of work is this?"

And for the next few weeks, Prince began a peculiar schedule. There were days when he disappeared. It couldn't really be called a schedule, as those times were seemingly random. While it wasn't that terrible, since he didn't come back in any way injured, the OddSquad was a bit worried as his disappearances interferred with their schedule, though rarely, and they were concerned about their friend. However, there was one thing they knew for sure and that was that Sunshine somehow knew what Prince was doing.
The one who had the most to complain about that part, of course, was Fairsky.
Even if Sunshine was technically only gone a few hours, twice a day, it annoyed her. But trying to get Sunshine to spill what Prince was up to, what he was doing and where he was going brought them no result. Whether it was out of loyalty or because he really didn't know, Sunshine only answered the last part. Prince was going to the Eastern Continent.
But that was all they knew.
"Oh well." Yu Lian finally said with a shrug, thinking no more of it after some time, and the others eventually agreed. Prince was apparently not doing anything dangerous, whatever it was, and wasn't interferring with his duties after a short conversation to please keep his duties a bit higher than his whatever-on-the-side activity and he seemed to be holding himself to that.
So whatever it was, he could do it.
Sometimes, his behavior was strange, though.
One particular moment was when Prince entered the Meeting Hall and Gui was standing at the table, bent over some papers. The last phase of the city's latest refurbishment was about to start, with one last look over. The bard looked up when the elf entered.
"Your Highness, look at this." he said, beckoning the elf over. Heading toward the bard with some fluid movements, Prince ran a hand through his hair and stood next to Gui, bending slightly over the papers himself. Gui went over the paper with him, pointing out the various calculations that had been made and a cheap, but effective way was eventually figured out.
"Mh-mh." Prince mumbled in agreement, although he didn't seem to be listening all that intently. Gui was slightly distracted himself, because of the elf. While it wasn't uncommon for him to be influenced by Prince, but this time seemed more effective on him than before. Maybe he was imagining things a bit, but Prince was standing rather closely to him, almost leaning against him in a rather intimate fashion, like he was trying to get as close to his body with his own as he could. And perhaps he was wrong, but an enticing scent seemed to emanate from the elf, confusing the bard's mind.
"Great." Prince said when Gui finished his little lesson. "Thank you." he continued, a hand on the bard's shoulder and lifting himself slightly, giving Gui a peck on the cheek before sauntering off once more. The bard stood frozen in his place, wondering if that really had just happened now. The elf had kissed his cheek. It was a peck, but something behind it seemed like a bit more. More pressure and a sense of urgency behind it.
Or was Gui just imagining things?

A few hours later, most of the OddSquad was in the meeting hall and talking about Prince, of course. His flirtatious behavior wasn't exactly new, nor was it really unwelcome among the public, but this time he had apparently gone too far. He had actually flirted and apparently tried something more with Lolidragon and Yu Lian. The thief had found it hilarious, not taking him seriously and giving him a few, hopefully friendly, slaps on the back. It was only Yu Lian who had reacted a bit more seriously. The poor elf had shown up at the closest rebirth point within a minute. Although, spotting him later, it apparently had not phased him.
"You know..." Lolidragon broke the silence. "I'm pretty sure this behavior came from whatever's going on when he's at the Eastern Continent. I mean, the time seems to fit, right?"
"Definitely." Yu Lian agreed, still looking rather huffy. "We really need to figure out what he's doing..."
"Who knows what other problems he could cause. I mean, just look at what he did to Gui..." Lolidragon thrust her thumb to her side, pointing at the bard who was still standing at the table with the same perplexed expression on his face, having not moved an inch since the elf had pecked his cheek. Doll had already attempted to snap the bard out of his stupor by actually snapping her fingers in front of his face, to no avail. The thief and mage stared at Gui for a few more moments, then the redhead sneered.
"Maybe Prince's learning some things from a hot little affair!" she said loudly.
"What!?" Gui gasped, ripped from his statue-like state.
"Yes. Well, it's a possibility." Lolidragon admitted with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Hence you will go to the eastern continent and find out." Yu Lian nodded, then noticed he was about to complain. "Well why not? You want to find out about his behavior and whether he really is having a woman over there. Don't you?" Gui opened his mouth like he wanted to complain, but quickly closed it again. He couldn't deny that he wasn't just worried about whatever might be happening on the eastern continent but also incredibly curious.

Gui was walking around the eastern continent after having looked for Sunshine and found him, asking him for a ride over there. He had a picture of Prince along to show to people. While Prince was incredibly famous, it wasn't uncommon for people on other continents to have exaggerated views on what the blood elf looked like and not knowing the truth. If he simply asked if anyone had seen 'Prince' he was often subjected to strange descriptions of the elf and how he absolutely was called the blood elf because his hair was permanently dyed a deep red color by the blood of his victims and had extremely sharp teeth that were black.
"Well that's the plainest one I've heard..." Gui mumbled after the latest description he had heard.
Every other day, the bard headed over to the eastern continent and walked around, asking if anyone had seen the person in the picture he had. Now and then he got a response from women, but they never seemed capable of telling him exactly where they had seen him. He was first annoyed when a woman admitted to having seen the elf recently and looking extremely blushy and giggly, but the more often he got a response from other women, the more he figured whatever made them know him was something that wasn't somehow related to an affair.
"Oh, 'scuse me." a voice suddenly called out to the bard.
He stopped and turned, seeing someone a bit older than him smiling and holding his card out with a slight bow.
Gui took it, seeing the words Dreamlike Fantasy written on it.
"Care for a great job with flexible hours and great pay-off?" the guy said. "Yah, I'm having such luck lately. You're the second great looking guy I've found here. Almost as handsome as that guy a few weeks ago."
"Another guy?" Gui asked, showing him Prince's photo. "Was it this guy?"
"Mh? Oh yes, yes, that's the one. You know him?"
"I'm looking for him, actually. So, I assume you offered him a job, too?"
"Yup. Brought him to the boss, he saw the place and took the job. And 'ccording to the boss, he's happy there and making a mint for himself and the club." Nessman told him. "Speaking of, yeah, I'm offering you a job there, too. You want it? It's great-"
"Look," Gui stopped him, holding his hand up. "I'm more concerned about Prince than the job. ...but I won't find out more unless I take you up on the bait, will I?" The guy nodded with a sly grin. "...lead the way."
And Gui followed the man to 'the boss'.

At the club, Prince and his colleagues were getting ready for their shifts, putting on accessories or using hairgel to muss up their hairstyles. The door to the back hall of the club opened and their boss, a middle-aged man with the rugged manly looks that appealed to some women, entered the backroom with... Prince stared and felt his jaw drop. Gui!
The bard stood next to the boss.
"Sup, guys! Quick news." the boss told them, putting a fatherly arm around Gui's shoulders. "We got a new guy here. Just got him a few hours ago and he's doing his first shift today." The guys looked at Gui and nodded a greeting, returning to put the finishing touches on their looks. Prince was still staring, trying to figure out what was going on.
"I'm going by 'Ju'. Nice to meet you." Gui smiled slightly, although his eyes looked serious and searched the elf's. After Nessman had taken him to the boss, the bard had inquired about Prince and had found out that he was indeed working at the club.
As a host.
Thinking that he had to get Prince out of this job, Gui decided to infiltrate to make things easier, so he showed enthusiasm and got a job as a host himself at the club pretty fast. And had taken a short detour and bought himself a white suit with a blue shirt to fit more into the club atmosphere later on. Now he was in the club and ready to try to get Prince to quit this job as soon as possible.
"Prince, you're still a bit new yourself, but show him the ropes." the boss said. "He seems like a fast learner."
"Sure." Prince answered, giving Gui a look and the boss went back to his office. The other guys left the room to begin their work, while Prince approached the bard with a displeased look on his face. "...following me, huh?"
"We're concerned about your behavior and what is going on here." Gui retorted, crossing his arms across his chest. "And really, Prince, a host club? A host, of all things? I mean, it's better than flat out selling yourself-"
"We hosts do not sell our bodies or are in any way the same as prostitutes." the elf interrupted him. "We sell relationships."
Gui frowned. Obviously Prince had made sure about this difference, probably before he had taken the job, and was holding on fast to it as a good reason for why he was doing this job and not see himself as a sort of harlott for hire. Well, if he saw it like that and really didn't cross a line he was setting himself, he was probably okay, but... he still needed to get him out of this job.
"Anyway, this is the prep and private room for us workers. We can relax here before we're called in or greet customers, also prepare our accessories, hair or whatever as well." Prince began the tour, making a sweeping motion with his arm over the wooden floor and panelled walls, the couches and dressers, then pointed to the several doors to the right side of the room. "Over there are the bathrooms. Also showers, in case of, I dunno, a cloudburst hits you or whatever. Or you just wanna shower before work... dunno if the boss said it, but you're first only called out via customer request. You're quickly assigned to a special drink, depending on how happy the women seemed to be. You'll also be pretty much heavily advertised for the first few days, so you do get called out. Anyway, job of a host is-"
"I know what I have to do." Gui interrupted him.

Gui was sitting close to his latest customer, a very busty woman with reddish eyes and long black hair, her black miniskirt hitching up a bit as she crossed her legs and had him replenish her drink. They were talking in hushed voices, similar to all the other couples and groups in the large room. There was a constant buzzing noise from all the conversations, though Prince wasn't paying attention to any of it but Gui's. He was standing in the doorway of the employee-only area and watching Gui's antics with that woman. A week or two had passed since Gui began working here. Prince was ignoring Gui's attempts at making him quit the job and Gui, in turn, took a "well if I'm gonna work here, might as well do it properly" attitude to the entire thing.
And he was laping up the attention of some customers.
It infuriated the elf.
It wasn't exactly like Gui was 'on his turf', the customers were happily picking either Gui or Prince, sometimes switching up who they called to their table. But it still bothered him. Maybe it was jealousy, maybe it was that Gui had found him out... he had planned of not telling anyone, just surprising Yu Lian with the money he had earned. Unless she asked where the money came from... he hadn't thought that far ahead.
Sighing, Prince returned to the employee-only area and sat on one of the couches, resting, waiting to be called up.
"Prince!" the boss called, heading into the room barely a second later. "Table 3."
"Got it." he answered and got up, running his hand through his hair one last time, to make it appear wilder and sauntered off to Table 3. The oval, white table had two glasses and a square bottle filled with an amber liquid already on it. The customer was sitting on the squishy, black couch and patted the seat next to her. Following her invitation, the elf sat down. The customer had actually become a regular of his over the past few weeks. She had short, red hair and a voluptuous figure and was known by most as 'Cutey'. Filling the two glasses with alcohol, Prince offered her one and she took it.
"You look lovely as always," Prince said and lifted his own glass in toast. "I am happy to see you again tonight." She wagged a teasing finger at him, then the two clinked their glasses together and took sips.
"Charming as always, that's you." she replied and caught a drop of alcohol stuck on her lips with her tongue. "Though I have come here, not to simply be wooed by your words. I have... an offer to you, if you want to call it that. Which I hope you will take up."
"Pray tell." he said, leaning his head against his hand, looking at her with half-closed eyes. "You have yet to do anything that could possibly be bad. I do not think I will deny you my acceptance." It was practice alone that prevented him from bursting out laughing. His lines and overall speech had to be so cheesy in this place, he sometimes felt like giggling when just thinking about them. Thankfully, the speeches Yu Lian had written for his 'Charming Prince' appearances were generally cheesy themselves, so he was used to talking like that. Cutey put her glass on the table, then leaned back and crossed her long legs, leaning in almost beseechingly. Prince followed her movement, getting his ear close to her lips.
"I want you to meet me. Outside of the club."
Prince didn't answer right away. Without losing his charming mask, his brain was rattling on at high speed. Meeting her outside of the club? What exactly did she mean by meeting her? She had said it with a heavy note on it, like it was a secret codeword. Was meeting a customer off-premise even allowed? He wasn't sure. It had never come up during orientation or while working, so he had never asked the boss about this.
"Mmh," Prince went in a teasing way. "enticing as it sounds, I am unclear. May I have some time to think? This mustn't be rushed. Though I do not wish to keep you wondering too long... permit me to ask you to come again tomorrow?"
Cutey smirked slightly and winked at him. "Certainly. Take your time. I will come again tomorrow," she got up and threw a kiss at him. "hopefully, I'll get some good news."
"Prince." a PM distracted the elf for a second. He looked beyond Cutey and saw Gui nodding his head just barely at the door as he was heading into the employee-only area. Prince brought Cutey to the door, then gallantly walked across the full room to the back. Gui was already taking the tie out of his hair, a ritual of his that implied he was done playing the host for the evening, and the two left through the backdoor.
They walked up to the harbor, their usual meeting place with Sunshine, who would take them home.
"Gui," Prince said, looking at the bard. "are we allowed to meet customers outside of the club?"
Gui flinched and got a strange look on his face, like a mixture of shock, disgust and then jealousy, before calming himself. He took a bit to answer, wondering how he should word it. "Yes. Though it doesn't have a good... it's not exactly discouraged, but it's not encouraged, to put it one way."
Prince frowned, confused why he seemed to be struggling with explaining things, which he usually had no problem with.
"Metting on the 'outside' means advancing." the bard continued, likely noticing the confused look on the elf. "You say that you sell relationships in the club. Outside of the club, you will advance beyond that. ...Sex." Gui shrugged his shoulders in a slightly frustrated manner when he put it that bluntly.
"Oh." Prince went, blushing slightly. So that was what Cutey wanted. She wanted to sleep with him. He wasn't sure if the club would be okay with that, nor if he was okay with that himself. He hadn't done it yet, but he couldn't just say yes in the club and then not meet her outside. It wasn't just rude, she would probably come looking for him, too. "So... uh, did you meet anyone outside the club yet?"
"A few times."
Although he had expected a positive answer, Prince was still shocked by the news. Gui was very handsome and charming, so of course he would get offers. He just thought Gui would never agree to that. Gui looked over at the elf and sighed.
"Though things didn't go what one would call the 'conventional' way." he said. "I was the one who dictated how things went and what the limits were. And they were fine with that. But, as said, it's not really encouraged. Advancing the relationship to that state means breaking the relationship in the club, as you have gone over the line of what you give during work - and most customer don't go back to clubs where they have scored. So, the club loses business. Now, who's been offering themselves to you?"
"Eh? Uh, nobody." the elf stuttered. "Just curious."
Gui gave him a look, knowing he was lying, but didn't dig any deeper, since Sunshine arrived just then to take them home.

"Prince?" Gui asked, knocking on the slightly ajar door of one of the toilets. A heaving sound was heard and then a splatter into the toilet. The elf had walked quickly into the backroom, then the bathroom facilities the club offers its employees and was vomiting. He had been called to several tables, always in short spans, and repeatedly clinked glasses with customers, drinking alcohol; and that had been too much for his stomach, including the little food he had eaten earlier.
Prince had a reprieve and panted, trying to fill his lungs with air again, ignoring his pounding head.
"Prince!" Gui repeated and opened the door fully, seeing the elf sitting on the ground. "...done?"
The elf still breathed heavily, but gave a tiny nod and used the wall to straighten himself up, flushing the toilet with his other hand. Taking a deep breath, he tottered over to one of the sinks and began rinsing out his mouth, still coughing off and on. His stomach was burning, his head was pounding and he had a disgusting taste on his tongue that water couldn't get rid of.
Gui went over to him and, noticing that some of the elf's hair was a bit stained, took some paper towels, got them wet and began to wipe the dirty parts. The entire procedure, until Prince felt somewhat better, took several minutes.
"Come on. We're going home." Gui told the elf, a very definite no-talking-back note in his voice and Prince meekly followed on weak knees. Seeing how little energy he had, Gui grabbed the elf and put him into a fireman's carry.
"Gui, lemme down..." the elf complained in a low voice, moving his legs with barely any strength behind them. "I can walk... down... urgh, facing down may not be good..."
"If you puke on me, whatever. The clothes can be washed." he said and proceeded to the exit, seeing the boss pass him by. "Boss, we're quitting." And he left, carrying the elf towards the harbor.
But a few minutes later, Gui was sitting on a bench, one ankle propped on his knee and the elf using part of his lap as a pillow. It would still take some time for Sunshine to come pick them up, so they had nothing else to do than to wait. Prince's head was still aching like crazy, but his stomach had thankfully settled down somewhat.
"What the... what are you doing here?" a voice called and they both looked up, seeing Lolidragon approaching, dressed up to the nth degree. Gui remembered her almost pitching a fit when he told the rest of the OddSquad that Prince had taken on a job as a host and that the bard would join, to get the former to quit. Lolidragon had also insisted on going to their club, at least once, because she wanted to see what it was like. Though she only wanted to be served by Gui and Prince, which was clear to everyone.
"He got sick, so we quit."
"You what?!" she snapped.
"I know... Sucks, but..." Prince mumbled. "First time I threw up, geez... overreact much..." But he had to admit, that was not something he enjoyed doing, anyway, and he was feeling miserable enough to not protest too much. Then he rolled onto his side slightly and spit onto the ground, feeling that warning telltale sign of another wave of nausea coming on.
"I was going to get him out, anyway." Gui explained, then gave Prince a warning, but well-meant tap on the shoulder. "I will not let you work a job where you end up eventually selling yourself to customers and get stomach ulcers or a compromised liver from drinking so much."
Either the words were making Prince feel worse or he was simply agreeing, but he gave a weird moaning sound.
"Well, now what?" Lolidragon asked, sighing heavily. "I wanted to check your club out, but if neither of you are there, nor will you return... should I call Sunshine back?"
"Please." the bard said.

It's been over a year since I posted something for this? Seriously!?
The references: Nessman is basically Gregory Edgeworth from Gyakuten Kenji 2, with his little businessman pun. Dreamlike Fantasy was the originally suggested name for Second Life from Lolidragon. Gui's customer is Tifa Lockhart. Prince's customer is Cutey Honey. Less than I originally planned, but Cutey kind of forced her way into the chapter. I first thought of making Aerith the customer for Prince, but decided against it. Aerith already entered a host club for another story of mine and she wouldn't proposition Prince.