SUUUUPPPPP, you buncha beauties?! Here's chapter two to Sunday Morning! In the next chapter, I'm guessing (idk I'm kinda writing this as I'm going along, haha) that you'll be able to see Dark finish up his training and maybe get a peek into his first night as well. Hopefully.
But HOLY CRAP, you guys are amazing already following AND faving this story? Get out of my face, do I really deserve you? -cries-
All the love, H.
Chapter 2 - We(a)k One
That night, Dark paid his landlord the rent with the cash from Mr. Dragmire so he could get the overhanging payment out of the way. Hopefully he would have enough money to get groceries for the next two weeks before his first real shift.
On Sundays, the strip club was closed.
It was the day after Dark had been hired. The men had the entire building to themselves. Dark and Mr. Minish were practicing the choreographed dances for at least four hours now and practice was going extremely well.
Mr. Minish was a good teacher.
Though he was tiny, his body language while dancing was expressive and it was easy for Dark to maintain similar direction. Even when he faced a little trouble, Mr. Minish would come to the rescue and just physically adjust Dark's hips, arms, or legs accordingly.
Dark knew he would soon remember Spirit Temple's two current and running dances for this month.
As the two of them took their first break, Mr. Minish took to lying in the centre of the stage floor while Dark moved to its edge, snatching up his water bottle from the ground. He brought a hand back through his dampened hair and tried to wipe away the strands stuck on his face; Dark took a big swig from his water.
He spun on the spot, placing a balled fist on his hip. "Sooo... what will my most common days look like here?"
"In the beginning, you're sadly going to be mostly working week days until you've proven you're a better contender at bringing in money for weekends. You're lucky that Mr. Dragmire is letting you do our evening show with us so soon! But you will most often be doing lap dances and sometimes strip teases. Lap dancing is considerably consisting of what you decide to bring to the table. You can choose your style of dance, your moves and perks, et cetera. This is similar to the strip tease, but there are rules on what you can take off while lap dancing. You can't remove your pants at all and your shirt must remain on at least one shoulder. Strip teases, on the other hand, your shirt can come off entirely as well as your pants."
"Okay, so I'm glad I'll never have to be completely naked in public," Dark laughed back, drinking again. "And what about private lap dances? What does all of that involve?"
"Well, my dear, there's not only private lap dances, but also private strip teases. They take place in any of those rooms up there." He pointed vaguely and dramatically above them. "I'll show you soon."
Dark gazed along the red doors tucked behind the black banister surrounding the upper floor. All the windows were blackened, not allowing Dark to feel any attraction to the idea of eventually giving private shows.
Mr. Minish giggled and Dark caught his vibrating body out of the corner of his eye.
"Dark, sweet boy, you are far too expressive for your own good."
Dark kissed his teeth and rolled his eyes, still glaring to the doors with disdain. It frustrated him even more to remember that it wasn't the first time someone told him that. "Yeah, so what?"
"It's absolutely charming," Vaati cooed, wiping a tear from his eye. "Hopefully that won't be a problematic thing for you while working here. You might want to work on that."
"Hmph." Dark crossed his arms and reluctantly took mental note of that.
"All right, all right," Mr. Minish ushered quietly, sitting up with defensively raised hands. "The rooms are much more welcoming than you think. The windows are opaque so that people passing by can't see who's in any of the rooms. Privacy is key, here. But don't worry! There is a panic button in every room in case anyone gets a little too frisky without your permission. I'll show you those sometime today as well."
Dark sent a brooding glare to Mr. Minish. "Yeah, that makes me feel safer."
"Well, I think it's better for first-time employees to be a little intimidated before they start so they aren't too full of themselves. It's convenient to be aware that it's easy to stay safe in a strip club if you're ever in trouble."
Dark felt his face heat a little and then he glanced out of the corner of his eye to his manager. "I didn't think of it that way. Thank you, Mr. Minish."
His elder released a queer, little giggle, and it was one that sounded inescapable, at that. "Oh, please, my dear, I can't stand being called that! You must call me Vaati."
Dark turned quickly, eyes wide and arms suddenly limp at his side. Mr. Minish even noticed Dark's arms swaying in shock.
"I-I can… call you Vaati?" Dark answered with question, head turning a little. His eyebrows had disappeared beneath his hair.
"Well, of course! Why wouldn't you be able to?" Vaati's smile was so very sincere.
"Y-you're… aren't you Mr. Dragmire's second-in-command? Like, a head manager? I don't—don't you think I should show you some more respect? You are my teacher and manager, a-aren't you? I feel like because I met you only yesterday—"
"Dark, we are going to be working together, doing all the same work… I mean, I suppose I am surveying the entire club when Mr. Dragmire is occupied and I help coordinating dance practices, yet those are the only different jobs I have from you. Also, if I recall correctly, you had already asked Mr. Dragmire to call you Dark."
Mr. Minish's matter-of-fact tone had Dark inhaling sharply. "You're right… Vaati."
Mr. Minish—or rather, Vaati—smiled in approval, resting his hands affirmatively on his hips. "Now, let's head to lunch! You're probably starving! It's on me… and when you start making a bang for your buck, you owe me!"
X X X
Later in the afternoon, Dark was introduced to the whole building.
Vaati first gave him a circling tour of the main room where they would spent most of their time working. Dark followed Vaati as his moved along the left bottom corner of the room beside the windows. He started off by explaining that the bar was on the same side of the room as the elevator to deter people from using the elevator in the first place. Dark squinted at the wall and sure enough, there was a red elevator right in front of them, doors flush with the wall. He gingerly moved around Vaati and pressed the tiny, barely noticeable black button to the right side of the door. Lo and behold, the doors rolled open and the elevator dinged lowly. It was big enough to maybe fit four people.
"Basically, it's kind of a fire hazard, anyway. And we always hate dealing with the drunk customers who jump in it or press the emergency button, stalling the elevator. We mainly just have it for any customers who cannot climb the stairs themselves."
Dark nodded. He followed after Vaati who was walking to the side of the bar. There was another door on the wall before the bar that looked as though it could be split in two, horizontally in the middle. Vaati quickly explained that it was the coat check room and he wouldn't have to be concerned about it. He also told him that the door on the other side of the bar was the storage room for the bar itself, another room he would never have to worry himself with.
"So there's exits on either sides of the bar. If you lean your hip hard enough at the crease between the two doors, it swings open," Vaati explained and leaned against the doors, sliding in behind the bar, the doors swinging after him. "And it opens the same from both ways." He pressed his hip against the doors again, joining Dark once more on the outside. "Ingo, he's the head manager for the bar, really prefers that dancers do not go back there. However, if we do get busy and you want to run any errands, like throwing out bottles or wiping up tables if you aren't occupied, that is usually okay. I just suggest trying to make friends with Ingo, but he's a tough one."
"All right, I understand," Dark murmured cautiously with several nods, arms in front of himself.
"So, now I'm gonna show you the basics of the stage. Follow me!"
Dark silently shuffled after Vaati who brusquely moved over to the stage.
"There are three poles that we have on the main stage where dancers do rotations, one in the centre point of the stage and one on each side of the left and right sides of the stage. Our stage manager deals with all the tech things, so he knows how to raise and lower them for when we have shows, but there is one thing you should know…!"
Vaati, although small, was easily able to project himself onto the stage, pulling himself up with ease.
Because of this, Dark asked, "Have you worked here long?"
He began crossing the stage and answered over his shoulder, "Five and a half years, since the delightful Mr. Dragmire hired me in two-thousand and four!"
"And you're head manager?" Dark whispered, stunned. He couldn't stop himself with that one.
Dark further furrowed his brow. Come to think of it, he already found it interesting how sincerely Vaati spoke of their boss as well. 'Delightful' wasn't the exact word of choice Dark would use when describing Mr. Dragmire. 'Intimidating' was more like it. Vaati, on the other hand, never seemed afraid of anything, so maybe his aloofness to Mr. Dragmire's engulfing presence just didn't let Vaati see Mr. Dragmire as something to be frightened of.
Dark was kind of in awe of Vaati.
"Yes, yes, I do know I'm amazing, my dear!" Vaati swished his delicate hand from side to side. "But you really need to pay attention to this one!"
"O-oh, I'm sorry," Dark muttered in embarrassment, shaking his head. "All right." He stood on his tippy toes at the side of the stage to view Vaati with more attentiveness.
"So there's this lovely button right behind the curtain here, you can feel the metal plate against the wall and there's just a singular button. Press it…" Vaati explained, tapping the hidden button and Dark heard several synchronized clicks coming from the stage below. "… and the stage allows for a little redesign."
Vaati swiftly moved back to the edge of the stage, and then onto his stomach, lowering himself carefully to the ground below. He was bending down now, hooking his fingers into something, a divot in the stage, so Dark moved closer to view what Vaati was doing. It was like watching magic—the stage allowed him to roll a piece of the front panelling back into the stage itself. He reached in and gave one quick tug, flipping out a black leather bench for customers to sit at while closely viewing the strippers at their poles. He hooked his fingers under the piece of the stage that rolled away in the beginning and tugged it back out, clicking as it locked in place behind the cushion.
"That's amazing," Dark shared breathlessly, astounded by what this stage could do.
"Yes, quite," Vaati did have to agree, and nodded as he looked down at the bench with his hands on his hips. "They all pull out like this and connect around the entire stage. You just press the buttons, which are behind the back of each piece of sofa, to release the wall from its locked position so you can put the couches away again."
He pushed his fingers behind the centre of the lip of the couch and the wall popped and rolled up a bit, waiting for Vaati to finish the rest. He pushed it up and tucked the couch away safely, the wall of the stage finally clicking in place once he rolled it back down.
"There's nothing else of real interest on the floor other than the bathrooms." Vaati gestured across the room, and past the stairs, to the other rooms. Dark could see the men's, unisex, and women's bathrooms under the shadow of the staircase. He nodded.
Vaati clapped his hands together, smiling widely. "So, my dear, allow me to show you down the back hallways too."
Off they went again, disappearing down the hallway on the left side of the stage.
As they walked, Vaati continued the tour, "It's prohibited for patrons to go down these hallways so usually there are bouncers stationed at the entrances on either side of the stage. They learn faces pretty fast, so I wouldn't worry about having a hard time getting back there. It's nice though because this area belongs to employees and Mr. Dragmire only."
"That's a relief," Dark joked with a little laugh. Vaati laughed, too, and nodded in amusement, so Dark was glad.
As they neared the corner of the hallway, a door lie close on Dark's left shoulder and he squinted out the door, barely seeing… outside, he guessed. That's what he thought he was looking at anyway.
"That's an exit for us after we're done our shifts. It leads to the back parking lot and it's locked on the outside so don't expect to come back in that way. We also get our own reserved parking, so if you ever need a spot, please let Mr. Dragmire or I know at any time."
Vaati took a sweeping turn to look down the back hallway and Dark followed his movement, seeing about five doors down this part of the corridor. There was a door on his immediate left along the back wall and two further down on the same wall. On the wall where the back of the stage would have been, there were also two doors lying dormant.
"In order from closest to furthest door, this one on your left belongs to the showers and bathroom. The next is our lounge entrance. The furthest door is Mr. Dragmire's office. He'll usually be here on most nights if you have any concerns that you need addressed immediately. Oh! And I almost forgot, if you couldn't tell, the doors along the right wall, you can just push on them and they swing open. They lead to the stage."
"Cool," Dark said generally, gazing along the doors to remember their exact locations.
"I'll give you a sweeping tour of these couple of rooms and then we'll head upstairs, all right, my dear?"
"Sure thing," Dark agreed.
They entered into the bathroom first. Dark initially saw a bench sitting in the centre of the room, lying parallel to the length of the room. Dark then viewed the showers that lined the left wall and soon moved his gaze around the room, noticing sinks with counters along the back wall, and finally a door on the right wall. He stopped his gaze there.
"That goes to the lounge too?" He removed his eyes finally to look to Vaati.
Vaati nodded with a soft smile. "Just so we don't have to walk through the hallway."
Dark's eyes slowed when he looked at the urinals on the right wall, then meeting his gaze with two stalls on their immediate right.
"Okay, let's see the lounge now," Vaati suggested, moving through the bathroom and tugging open the door on the right wall. He held it open and gestured for Dark to enter first.
Dark nodded and smiled gingerly, creeping forward into the lounge, eyes searching everywhere. There were two giant dark screens that started from each side of the wall, only then to meet close in the middle, a space to enter the lounge. Two long benches sat on either side of this entrance. Vaati asked him to turn around. Dark then viewed lockers which lined the wall except for the space of the bathroom door.
"You do get your own locker and key, I'll assign it today and I'll have you a key by tomorrow. You can bring whatever you wish to put in your own locker," Vaati suggested, but gestured out to the bathroom door in a second suggestion as well. "However, some dancers just leave their stuff on the benches in the bathroom anyway. Whatever you prefer."
"Sounds good."
Vaati then brought Dark beyond the private screens and into the heart of the lounge itself. It was much different than what the club itself looked like, the room filled with neutral colours rather than warm colours. The floor had white tiles and the walls were painted beige. A couple of brown couches faced a TV in the left corner of the room and along the wall where Mr. Dragmire's room would have been were two vending machines and then a foosball table in the right corner. On the right wall there was the door to the hallway and closer to them another couch with a short table in front of it.
"On most shifts you get a fifteen minute break, sometimes a half an hour depending on how you're feeling, so you can come back here and relax at any time. You're more than welcome to leave the club as well. You can also take the break whenever, just make sure there's a fair amount of dancers on the floor, and always ask if you need a half an hour, is that okay?"
"It sounds good," Dark said, nodding.
"Perfect," Vaati chided with a grin. "Okay, we're basically done on this floor, we'll walk by Mr. Dragmire's office and then make our way upstairs."
Dark nodded and once again trailed after Vaati. They moved down the hallway and passed Mr. Dragmire's door. While both men turned to head back to the central room of the club, Vaati pointed his thumb back over his shoulder.
"You can talk to Mr. Dragmire whenever, too. He can be on the floor occasionally, but he's mostly in his office. Just one warning—always knock."
Dark shivered a little, and nodded, but Vaati didn't notice as he walked ahead of him.
They walked out from the hallway and moved behind a couple of booths on the main floor, then turning around to walk up the stairs. When they reached the top, Vaati abruptly turned and gestured outwards.
"This is the upstairs," Vaati exclaimed, gesturing his arms out wide.
Dark spun around too and scanned his eyes over the second floor area. There was no floor in the middle of the room, allowing for the stripper poles to lower from the ceiling whenever they need be. It was actually pretty cool to see them from this height, stretching down to the stage and booths below. On either sides of the missing floor, there were narrow halls, and along the halls there were at least ten doors on each side, leading to the private rooms Vaati and Mr. Dragmire previously mentioned.
"Before I show you the rooms, I'll show you our outdoor patio."
"All right."
The two men moved to the left corner of the second floor, reaching a darkened glass door. Vaati pushed it opened and they arrived on a large square patio, a wooden bench surrounding all four sides of the patio where the door and the urns on either side of the door weren't.
"You can come and rest out here on your break as well, but I wouldn't suggest it," Vaati commented lowly as Dark moved across the patio.
Dark pulled himself up on the bench, resting on his knees while peering over the high protective railing. He mostly only saw the parking lot below, but had a nice view of taller buildings and the downtown life around them.
"Why?" he questioned when he turned back, one hand remaining on the railing.
"You'll most likely just be harassed by men the entire time you're out here."
Dark laughed and released the railing, standing from the bench and moving back over to Vaati in the middle of the patio. "That's true."
"But like I said, you're still more than welcome to be out here anyway. So, let us head back inside and I can finally show you the private rooms! That's all that's left of this place anyway."
They went back inside and manoeuvred into the closest private room, flicking on the light inside.
Vaati began, "The private rooms all are identical in size and can't be locked, just for safety reasons. Only the dancers are allowed to handle the doors, so simply, you open it and close it after each session. And if you see a light on in a room, you know that the room is in use. Each emergency button is always located right near the head of the bed, on the bed's metal frame. Here, come and feel for it, but don't press it."
Dark moved up to the head of the bed and ran his fingers along the lip of the metal frame until feeling a small, round button.
"They're always in the same spot?"
"Yes, always. So, this does basically end the tour, Dark. I can't think of anything else to mention at this time. Obviously there may be other things that come up within the next two weeks that I may think of or you can ask me about at any time. " Vaati rolled his wrist expectantly. "Oh! One more thing: if you are ever speaking to any co-worker on the floor while working, please use their stage name. We try our best to remain confidential at all times."
"So I get a stage name too?"
"Yes, of course! I notified all the other dancers that we just hired you so they're allowed to suggest names for you during the next couple of weeks and you're more than welcome to come up with names too. We can compile a list together and see what you like the most before your first show."
"All right! That's awesome! Thanks for showing me everything, Vaati," Dark ensured sincerely. "So would you mind… um, if we could practice a little more still?"
Vaati lit up and rested his hands on his hips, utterly impressed. "You haven't had enough from today?"
"Not yet!" Dark charged back, fists balled excitedly and eyes flaring.
Vaati laughed airily and swung the door back open, gesturing at Dark to leave first. The two men exited the room, returning to the first floor of Spirit Temple for another round of dance.
X X X
It was only a week since Dark had been hired and his training instilled great change in the young man that he himself didn't even expect. Dark felt much stronger and more resilient; he didn't exercise at all since high school so it was the most disciplined Dark had been in over a year.
Dark felt that he actually found a reason to be waking up in the morning, too. Almost every day he practiced for at least eight hours a day at the strip club whether Vaati had stayed the whole time or not. For a couple of dance practices during Dark's first week, Vaati called in other dancers from the club and Dark met some of his new coworkers, too. Practicing with a group also helped Dark better immerse himself within the choreography.
During this short period of time, Dark began to recognize some of the day-time regulars. He wondered if these men came in on any weekends as well.
A returning customer kept a watchful eye on Dark as he entered the strip club daily. It didn't take long for Dark to notice. He wanted to arrive earlier before the other dancers and customers so he could just stow himself safely away in the lounge, away from that man. However, Vaati said that it wasn't fair to have an off-duty dancer lazing around in the lounge before on-duty dancers began their shifts. He specifically asked Dark to come after the 12PM shift started.
The seedy, small regular was always on time and usually in the club before Dark had ever entered. He would wait at a booth closest to the stage, one of the ones with the cushions that faced the entrance. From there, he would watch Dark fly through the room and disappear into the lounge to never see Dark again until the following afternoon. The man was always gone by the time Dark would leave for the day.
It had been six days of coming in every day for practice. Dark arrived at five after twelve like he normally would. As always, the man with long, greasy brown hair and watchful eyes met Dark's gaze from all the way across the club. A large beam crossed the man's face. Many dancers were unoccupied at the moment, and he could have easily been tended to, but the creep man only ever had all eyes on Dark. Much too embarrassed to be the centre of this man's attention yet again, Dark flashed him a very, very weak smile.
He passed by the booth like he regularly did, the man spinning in his seat to view Dark from behind. He could still feel eyes hovering over him as he moved down the back hallway. When he reached the lounge, there was caution tape that hung over the door and a paper announcing that some company was coming in to make some small but needed renovations to the room today. The room would remain closed until tomorrow.
"Just fucking great…" Dark mumbled.
At this, he just realized that he had nowhere private to practice his dance lessons. He could go to the patio, but that would require removing his manager from the floor and getting keys to unlock the door, and as per Mr. Dragmire's rules, it was supposed to remain locked during the day anyway. Maybe he could fit in a private room… but, no… it was much too small.
He readjusted his duffle bag on his shoulder and heaved a huge sigh. At this point, he had learned from his fellow dancers that some day-time regulars didn't ever come in the evening. He could ask the current floor manager if he recognized any regulars that showed up at evening shows and if he didn't, maybe the dancers wouldn't mind if Dark practiced on stage.
The dancers had already done this choreography once this month right before Dark was hired so any returning customers would most likely know the routine anyway.
Dark trudged back down the hallway and he knew that the creep man's moustache was tingling to alert himself of Dark's presence. The man turned in his seat once more to watch Dark walk over to the other dancers at a busier table across from him. Four dancers, including the day-time floor manager, Mido Kokiri, had been chatting up three middle-aged men sitting at the booth. Dark noticed bills spread all over the table.
Maybe some day-shifts aren't so bad, Dark thought.
He then brought his attention back to Mido. The day manager, Mido, was a young, blond and brusque man who had a slight temper, but Dark only believed this because he wasn't good enough to fill Vaati's spot as the evening manager. Otherwise, he was a pretty fair manager.
"Um, M-Lost Woods," Dark started, catching himself before saying his manager's real name in front of the customers nearby. "I was just wondering if it would be okay to practice our choreography on stage. I just noticed the lounge is closed today."
"You know what I think of that idea?" Mido said rhetorically, raising his freckled nose to Dark. He then smirked a little. "Yeah, it's fine. I never see any of these guys here on weekends. Go for it."
Dark released a tiny breath of relief, making sure it wasn't too noticeable to Mido's ears. By the looks of the money on the table, it seemed as though Mido was having a good day already. Dark thanked his manager and skidded by the creep, tossing his bag up on stage before he hoisted his own body up there too.
He knew that the creep man would be watching his every move on stage, but Dark had to learn how to dance in the presence of any sort of customer anyway. Plus, this would be his first time dancing in front of others who weren't his coworkers; maybe this would help stabilize Dark with any worries he had of dancing in public before his opening night.
Dark was having troubles with the more intricate dancing in the ending of their second choreographed dance. The section Dark had issues with the included emphasis on detailed footwork, leading into the swift motion of spinning in a three hundred and sixty degree circle on one foot, then planting the other foot, followed by sliding forward on their knees with heads dropped and both hands cupped outwards.
Dark continuously got the steps wrong. He tried over and over again, and huffed in exhaustion, rubbing at his forehead with the back of his hand. It took at least fifteen more tries before Dark completed his footwork successfully; a grin passed his face as he spun in a circle to finish the remainder of the dance. As he fell to his knees, head dropped and hands outward, someone abruptly grasped hard onto his fingers.
Dark hissed in pain, biting his tongue. He squinted at the perpetrator before him and immediately recognized… the creep. Dark's anxiety roared to life and his breath couldn't help but running out of his body.
It was the closest Dark had been to the creep yet. The man was short, very short, and even that was an understatement. His arms reached up in full length to meet Dark's hands. The creep man's face was gaunt, feigning an extremely similar shape to that of a skull, and his emerald, snake-like eyes were bagged and sunken into his head. He had a small seedy smile and resting above it was his tiny pointed moustache, which absolutely freaked Dark out. His outfit was old and worn, but did look as though he could have been someone of importance at one point—maybe a famous merchant or ship captain. His woolen blue jacket was long and dirty, and the red handkerchief that hung around his neck looked as though it hadn't been washed in months. And the worst part of the customer was his smell. He was repugnant and vile and smelled heavily of old spiced rum.
"C-could you let me go?" Dark, the first of the two to speak, asked softly. He kept his voice only but a hush. "I-I don't want to cause a scene…"
"Well, you don't have to, y'know," the man slurred sullenly. His eyes continuously swept over Dark's face, and an odd smile crept up on the creep's face, causing the teen even more anxiety. "Hey, I've seen you a lot recently, beautiful. Care to ex'splain that one?"
"I-I'm new," Dark answered weakly. His knees were beginning to hurt from his heavy kneeling to match the man's small stature and a strong pain flashed through both of his palms as the man squeezed harder. "Ow! You're hurting me!"
"In all honesty, you've been hurting meeee. You come in here ev-every day and don't pay me a rupee of attention, kid. I see the eyes you make with me. You think you can get away with that jus' because your fresh meat?"
Dark shook his head profusely.
The man held a tight grasp on Dark's hands even as he removed one of his own to place it on Dark's face. The man's grimy and moist palm brushed along Dark's cheek and he quivered in fear, looking over the man's head to see that the other strippers were occupied with customers and hadn't even noticed Dark's predicament yet.
He could shout, but he know that wouldn't go over well with Mr. Dragmire and the prestigious name of his business.
Dark swallowed heavily; the creep's hand remained on one half of Dark's face while the man's cheek brushed along Dark's other cheek, bringing his mouth to the young man's ear.
"If you're so new, then someone's got to break y'in," the man muttered in his most seductive attempt. "How about my dick is the first one to rub against your pretty little ass?"
Dark tried his hardest to hold back his emotions, but tears pooled into his eyes without remorse. He felt the man's putrid mouth press more against the side of his face, kissing him. His face felt dirty and wet and his fingers kept throbbing.
As sudden as this pain was bestowed upon Dark, it was ripped from under him. Someone with strong, caring arms tugged Dark backward, his stomach dropping as his feet lifted off the ground. They rested him back down as safely as he had been before while dancing. His saviour then manoeuvred around Dark to protect him. Through bleary eyes and half-listening ears, he finally identified Vaati before him. Dark thanked every being that could have been watching over him.
This was the first time Dark had heard Vaati's authoritative tone, and boy, was he scary.
"You know, Linebeck, I thought last time was the last time," he shared hauntingly, bending down to better meet the vacant eyes of the drunkard. "I'm afraid our one month ban for private dances just… surely wasn't enough. Your name and picture will be up on Mr. Dragmire's rejection wall by the end of the night. And if you don't leave within the next thirty seconds, I probably won't even see you throughout the entirety of Hyrule… ever again. Unless we allow it. Now, isn't that so?"
"Uh, uh huh," the man shared vaguely, tearing away from the stage so fast.
The creep left as though he were running the last leg of a drunken marathon.
"Th-this happened before?" was the hoarse question that rose softly from behind Vaati.
Vaati spun on the spot to face Dark. The young man was barely standing, as Vaati could tell from his weakened body language and trembling legs. Dark had not made eye contact with Vaati yet; he still gazed with glossy eyes to the entrance of Spirit Temple where the creep just disappeared off through. Vaati saw the tear stains that marked Dark's pale face.
Vaati tutted in endearment, pulling a pink handkerchief from his white vest's pocket. Dark didn't move a single muscle, but began to involuntarily tremble while Vaati wiped off his tears. Vaati touched the side of Dark's face where the creep man placed his open mouth, removing the saliva from Dark's clenched jaw. Dark almost collapsed at this specific moment and Vaati knew it was time to escort the boy into the safety of the back hallway.
He stole closer to Dark, slouching under Dark's arm while he put his own arm along Dark's back. They spun around to head backstage, leaving Dark's duffle bag to manage by itself.
Dark let out a couple of choking sounds until finally releasing more tears. He pulled from Vaati and crashed against the wall beside their bathroom door. He sunk to the floor and covered his face as he cried harder.
Vaati lowered himself in front of Dark and touched lightly at both of his arms. Although he had known Vaati less than a week, Dark faltered in front of him and slowly lowered his arms from his face as he continued to choke on his sniffles. He was the only person that Dark truly trusted at Spirit Temple so far. His kept his eyes low, but weakly focused on Vaati's friendly face.
"There, there, little one," Vaati said quietly, tone reassuring. "May I see your hands?"
Dark nodded, albeit a little reluctantly. He offered his shaking hands to Vaati. Vaati thumbed carefully along Dark's palms and fingers, brushing gently over the areas already bruising.
Vaati sighed softly. "I'm sorry, Dark. I didn't think old Linebeck still had it in him."
"This happened before?" Dark had gently asked again, bringing his hand back to his chest, curling it defensively.
"Yeah, some of the regulars have favourites and get a little handsy with them." Vaati nodded solemnly, crossing his legs as he sat down in front of Dark. "That weirdo Linebeck got several warnings from Mr. Dragmire then resulting in his temporary suspension from private sessions. He just can't seem to obey the club's rules. But I've never seen him hurt someone like this before."
"I-I'm sorry," was all that Dark could manage to sniffle out.
"For what?! Silly boy, you have nothing to be ashamed of!"
"No, it's just that I don't know if I'm ready. For this. For all of this."
Vaati rolled his eyes playfully and quickly apologized for it. Despite that, Dark found Vaati's playfulness more comforting than anything else.
"I'm sorry, but that is just certainly not true, my dear. I know you are ready. You've been dedicated to practicing choreography at least eight hours a day for a week and you've barely been hired. I don't think I've once known a new employee to come in that often when they're first hired. By the by, I have never seen a situation like this handled with such… grace! The integrity you have, Dark, the way that I watched you protect this place and you haven't even had a shift yet, my word! I knew the second I saw Linebeck holding your hands that you were thinking of alerting the others on shift and you couldn't."
Dark's throat was sore from crying so he released a small, thankful grunt to Vaati's nice words.
"Damn it, Dark, that makes me feel an absolute fool!" Vaati abruptly shared, lowering a heavy fist to the cement floor.
"W-what does?"
"Just that I know you're going to be too good for this place."
Dark looked to Vaati's face at that sentiment and smiled a little at Vaati's twinkling eyes.