Sorry for such a late update, I have a terrible case of writer's block and even this chapter was excruciating to write. It's more of just a filler, it's leading up to way more.

Yuuri

The morning after a late shift is never pleasant. I usually don't necessarily have a hangover, but I always feel this weird, groggy feeling wash over me.

Not only that, but glitter seems to crust over every inch of my skin too, my sweat and hair gel pasting it over every inch of skin exposed (so basically glitter is everywhere). Although even with the morning-after pain and sparkle catastrophe, I can't even complain about working the pole— it's my own fault for getting into this business anyway.

It's easy to say I absolutely detest this regular groggy wakeup call every morning-after. Another dislike of mine being the fact that I hate sparkles in general, so it being everywhere is never a pleasant experience of the after-morning; the whole morning-after crap is even worse now too, especially since I'm working at the Inn part-time as is, it's pretty hard to sneak in and wash the glitter-sweat paste off without being spotted by coworkers or even residents and still have time to do normal night activities— like sleeping.

But here I am, feeling dead inside and just about ready to go into a year-long coma after an in-particularly busy night. And, oh look, I have to be up and about for work in no more than ten minutes.

Fun.

But as per usual, Mari comes pounding my door, jolting me out of my half-dead thoughts way sooner than expected.

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty!" Her sing song voice comes calling out, it's loud enough to wake up everyone residing in the inn, but that doesn't stop her from continuing to scream in my ear. "Rise and shine!"

I sit up from my position on the floor, having only collapsed there two minutes ago and can only hope that I don't look as tired as I feel, because even already dressed in my uniform and freshly washed with only a minimal— if any— amount of glitter left on me, I still already can tell that it looks like I got sucker-punched in both my eye sockets.

"Quiet, sister, no need to disturb all of Japan," I mumble in a dazzled state, still unable to comprehend her peppiness so early in the morning. Her melodic voice laughs in a kind-hearted manner and continues to ignore me as she pulls me up.

She's already pushing me out the door and down the hall before she starts talking again, though the quietness had been nice for the entire five seconds of silence.

About halfway to the dining hall, Mari starts complaining about how useless little brothers are who never do any work. Her complaints, however, go in one ear and out the other as I focus on putting one foot in front of the other. Though her annoyed tone does start to get on my nerves as a pounding headache starts beating inside my skull.

"Mari, you're literally complaining about me to me..." I mutter confused, blinking slowly as I take in the dining hall. (Apparently the walk here is faster when you're dragged by the human hulk.)

"Yes, well, maybe you should stop sleeping in and get start work on time!" She exclaims, looking about ready to chew my head off.

I blink blearily at her, her hands are on her hips and cigarette in mouth, this is a usual stance for her, though her annoyed expression is utterly new to me. "It's only 06:18? That's... early."

"No, that's eighteen minutes late! Where were you last night, the club?" Her mocking tone adds slight panic to my already confused head. Because honestly, if anyone knew I worked there...

"Hello? Earth to Yuuri, you okay?" She questions after thirty-seconds of no response, waving her hand in front of my face as if I had gone blind.

Eyebrows furrowed in concern, she turns to look at me seriously. "You okay?" She repeats again, this time her tone way softer.

No, I'm dead tired. If only I actually had time to sleep last night then maybe I wouldn't feel like death itself.

"I'm completely fine, but you're right, there's work to do," I manage to spit out, about ready to just spill the truth on how I was more tired than an insomniac. Unsatisfied with my response, her worried eyes don't seem to leave me as I continue to trudge on, tying a maroon apron around my slim waist. At least I didn't get fat again, that's another plus to the whole stripper thing.

"Yeah well," Mair says unconvinced, pausing mid-sentence to take a drag from the cigarette, "You know what to do." She gestures to the empty dining-tables and observes me as I start setting the tableware; her worries only increasing as she watches of me fumble around and be an overall klutz.

Mari sighs, and I know it must be disappointing to have such a fuck-up for a brother. What I don't know, however, is that Mari is already aware of my sleepless night, she just doesn't know the necessity or reason behind why I was up all night.

Victor

"There, there," Chris soothes empathetically, patting my back as I kneel hunched over the toilet bowl, "Next time try not to get so drunk off your ass! Most people settle over one glass of beer, not the entire keg..."

I gurgle and spit out foul-tasting chunks of last nights dinner, my head spinning from the aftermath of too many vodka shots. Annoyed and sick, I try and focus on Chris' honey-smooth mantra of odd pick-me-ups, only hoping that ignoring my pain would make it go away.

"This could happen to anyone, you know," Chris continues on, oblivious to the fact that Yurio had snuck in and was currently watching me make a fool of myself. "Anyone's ex-fiancé can go from an innocent ball of pureness to an erotic pole dancer..."

Yuri scoffs in the distance, the loud jeer making him known as present, and rolls his eyes in an over-dramatic manner, "That does not happen to anyone! What's this about katsudon being a pole dancer anyway? He's probably to fat to even fit on the stage!" His laugh is as loud as a jackhammer pounding away at concrete, hiding the fact that he's secretly hoping that what Chris had said was false. That Yuuri hadn't went pro-hornball...

"Shush, Yuri, we don't want to upset Victor anymore than he is already!" Chris hisses quietly to Yurio, though I still catch what he says quite audibly. "Though yes, Yuuri now dances erotically on the stage. He's quite sexy, if I do say so myself..."

I sit up fully, wiping the slimy muck from my chin and turn to the two blonds quietly, "Yes, so what if Yuuri let himself enter a world as slutty as that one? It's my job to get him back to reality." With finality, I manage to clean myself up and ignore Yurio's shocked outcries and Chris' perverted comments as I dress myself.

"C'mon, Victor! You should lie down, Lord knows what could happen with a hangover as bad as yours!"

"Maybe you shouldn't have gotten this wasted, your own fault really."

"Shush, Yuri. But go to bed, the other Yuuri probably isn't even awake yet, he was performing all night after all. No need to get dressed and make yourself more sick!"

"Don't need you jerking it to him either..."

"Yuri! Stop it!"

"Just saying..."

I spin to them and slap the two of them hard, leaving the bright-red outline of my hand on each of their cheeks. "Shut up, you're both only getting on my nerves!" They both look equally insulted, though Chris seems more understanding than anything. I storm away, dressing in the same clothes from yesterday. Glancing at the clock, I'm semi-shocked to see it's already eight in the morning, though I know even this is late for the usual start to my day.

I stomp downstairs, duly noting that most of Yurio's competitors have already started training for the day, and head straight for the lodging area.

Yuuri has to be around here somewhere, and boy if seeing him that first time hadn't been awkward (and vaguely insulting), now I have to actually talk to him.

Yikes.

Sorry for such a late update.

I originally had gone for a more angsty chapter, but this fanfic isn't meant to be sad, so naturally I went back to more pissy Yuuri and self-loathing Victor.

Anyway, thanks for sticking through with this!

Q: Have Mari find out about stripper!Yuuri before or after Phichit (he's making his cameo soon)?