Chapter Text
A stripper bar.
That’s where Wise finds himself as he sits sandwiched between Nicole and his sister, sadly sober as the designated driver as he stares mulishly at the fifth shot all the girls around him take while he sips his lemon water.
“Woo hoo!” Nicole shouts, slamming the small glass back down. “That’ll put some hair on your chest!”
“Woo hoo!” Nekomata and Anby repeat, though the latter is more monotone.
“Woo hoo!” Belle repeats, a bit delayed as she lays her head on his shoulder and giggles. “What are we woo hoo-ing again?”
“Finishing that stupid client’s request!” Nicole cheers again, grabbing another shot glass. “I’m so happy I won’t have to see his stupid mug again!”
She blinks, looking accusingly down at the empty tray.
“Wise,” Nicole slurs, pointing crookedly towards the bar. “Get us some more shots.”
“Give me your wallet.”
Even drunk, Nicole gasps scandalously. “Are you stealing my money?”
“What? No, I just—” Wise cuts himself off with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose as he stands. As they cheer, he grits out, “I’ll make you pay later when you’re sober and add interest.”
The distance between where they sit and the bar is barely ten feet, but it feels like ten miles as drunken, interested parties grab at his jacket and wrist and purr at him to join them. He can only tug and give strained smiles as he pulls away, some ass backwards excuse tumbling from his lips he is sure they can’t hear over the pumping music. He manages to stumble up to the bar relatively unscathed, but his hair is mussed and his cheek marked with lipstick that he tries to stubbornly wipe off.
A napkin slides over the glossed bar top towards him.
“Use this,” a polite voice insists, and Wise looks up to smile at the wolf Thiren bartender that stands patiently waiting for him to take it.
“Ah, thanks.”
“Can I get anything for you to drink?”
Wise wipes at his cheek, nodding. “Yeah, my table wants another round of shots.” He jerks his head over to where his sister and the others sit, their glowstick necklaces making them easier to stick out. “Not sure what shots they were though.”
“Not a problem, I recall what the initial order was.” Before the bartender slides away, he plops a Shirley Temple in front of him.
Wise blinks at it.
“Designated drivers get unlimited virgin drinks,” the Thiren responds to his unspoken question, voice deepening over virgin. Or that just might be Wise’s imagination. “For you while I get your order ready.”
“Oh, thanks…”
“Lycaon.”
Wise smiles, raising the glass up in a silent cheer. “Thanks, Lycaon. I’m Wise.”
The drink is bright and filled with an obscene amount of cherries, which Wise takes delight in munching slowly or rolling around his mouth. Lycaon is quick with his movements as he makes the shots, an amount that grows alarmingly large as he continues to watch. Surely they hadn’t had that many in the beginning, he thinks as he counts past twenty. What was this even going to cost?
“Um,” he starts, seeing the Thiren’s ear twitch towards him, “we ordered that many?”
A red eye turns to look over a broad shoulder. “Don’t worry, some are harmless soda waters. It’ll help keep your group hydrated while making them think they are drinking.”
“Oh, okay. How much—”
“On the house, Master Wise.”
Wise blinks, looking up from his wallet. “What?”
“On the house,” Lycaon repeats, his arm bulging with muscle as he lifts the tray above his head, stepping out from behind the bar and to his side. “Allow me to walk you back so that you are not accosted again.”
“Oh, no, really that’s okay—!”
The words die in a squeak as Lycaon wraps his empty arm around his waist, large hand settled on his hip, and gently instructs him forward. With his tall stature and intimidating aura, the crowd parts as easily as the ocean had for Moses. There are catcalls, sure, but there are no hands that attempt to grab him as they make the short walk over to their table.
Wise looks away from the glinting eyes of his friends and sister, stepping away from Lycaon with a chuckle.
“Thanks for the assist,” he says.
Lycaon deposits the large tray of shots on the table. “It was my pleasure, Master Wise. Just call out for me if you need more assistance. I will be sure to hear you.”
Wise counts to three as Lycaon walks away, and hands grapple into his jacket to pull him back.
“What as that?” Nicole asks, cheeks flushed as she looks between him and the retreating back of the Thiren bartender. “Wise got a boyfriend!”
Wise sighs and puts his head down. “No, I didn’t, I got the shots.”
“Such big ears,” Nicole continues. “The better to hear you with!”
There’s no way Lycaon can’t hear her right now, and Wise is so very close to just putting his hands around her throat and—
“Such big teeth he has! The better to eat you with,” Nicole giggles under her breath.
And Wise wishes for death.
He wants to slide down to the floor or merge into the wall, to just hide away from the drunken intelligence that Nicole attempts to use.
“What a big coc—”
Wise clamps a hand over her mouth. “And that’s enough.”
And the gods must smile on him, because the lights dim even further as the stage lights up, fog filling the glittering area as the music picks up.
“Ladies and gentleman,” the announcer blares, and Wise winces as the girls around him jump up and start to scream. “Let’s give a warm welcome to our dancers for the night!”
In all the madness, Wise had quite forgotten it was a stripper bar. He can feel the oncoming headache grow as his sister grabs his shoulders and shakes him as the first of many dancers come on stage.
Were…all the dancers supposed to be this attractive?
There’s a feline Thiren who, despite the redness in his cheeks, has a body built to showcase, the odd scar here and there adding to his allure. Following him is a much more sedate man with dark hair and golden eyes, who blows kisses to the crowd that sends them into a riotous tizzy, but his movements are somewhat lazy compared to his coworkers as he comes off the stage and makes a beeline towards one of the private dance rooms.
The crowd laughs as he is chased down by a rather well-endowed woman while Wise is wondering how she could move that fast in heels that high.
Finally, a man saunters onto stage and Wise just…stops working. His brain goes offline, that annoying dialup sound echoing in his mouth as a leather clad god of sex and sin hooks his thumbs into his low waistline and juts his hips out.
Now that…was exactly he had in mind when he thought of a male stripper. Oozing confidence and grace, power in his body as he thrusts his hips and slowly slides off the scrap of cloth that might be called a vest, but to Wise it is just a barrier that hid the man’s dusky nipples and built pecs.
…but why was he wearing sunglasses inside a dark club?
The man is a showman at heart, flexing for the crowd, allowing them to slip money into the crease of his elbow or through the front of his tight pants that really did very little to hide what the man was packing.
Wise shuffles in his seat, pulling at the collar of his shirt to get some ventilation going on and taking a sip of his drink. His actions, however, are not missed by the drunken eagle eye of the young woman right beside him.
“You’re looking at that one mighty closely,” Nicole whispers into his ear, but in her drunken state, it comes out like grated shout. “Want me to get him to dance for you?”
“No—!”
But he’s too late.
Nicole, brazen in her drunkenness, puts one foot on the table as she stands, whistling like one would for a dog as she raises a fistful of bills above her head.
“Baby boy wants a lap dance!” she calls out, and somehow she is heard over the loudness of the bar, because it goes absolutely wild as the leather clad dancer glances their way.
And Wise just sinks down in his seat as the man steps off the stage, coming their way with a confident swagger that makes him dizzy.
“Someone wants a lap dance?” the man asks in a rolling burr as soon as he gets close enough, the dark lenses of his sunglasses hiding where his eyes look.
Before Wise can disappear into the floor, Nicole grabs him by the back of his collar and hoists him up like a limp rag doll. “He does!”
And even though he can see the man’s eyes, he can feel them rake over his body as he flushes. “Is that something ya want, darlin’?”
The nickname slides syrup thick and sweet down his back, gooseflesh erupting over his skin as he opens his mouth to say no—
“Yes.”
Wise blinks.
Had that been…his voice?
But the man gives him a sharp grin, reaching over to grasp his wrist to help him stumble over the gaggle of legs that block his path. “Well, what are ya waiting for, an engraved invitation? Let’s head over to a private room.”
A private room?
Wise doesn’t think Nicole had that many bills in her hand to cover a private dance!
“Wait,” he starts before he stops as the man’s arms drop under his knees and lift him up. “Wait!”
Over the delighted screeches of the ladies at his table, the man looks down at him as he starts to walk. “Name’s Lighter. What’s yours, doll?”
“Um, Wise, but that’s—!”
“Wise, huh?” Lighter turns towards the bar as he moves past, jerking his chin up. “Cute name.”
“Uh, thanks—”
“Never seen you around here before,” Lighter continues on conversationally, ducking through an open curtain. “From the lack of alcohol on your breath, I guess you’re the designated driver for your friends.”
Lighter deposits him gently in a chair that sits in the middle of the room, some gaudy thing that is overly padded and would glow under a blacklight if he had one on him. The room is circular and small, a padded couch that takes up the entirety of the rounded wall that surrounds him. A disco ball above his head reflects over Lighter’s skin, the fractured lights kissing over the wicked curve of his mouth as he surveys Wise.
And before Wise can ask if they can just pretend to have a private dance, the curtain opens with a quiet, “Pardon my intrusion.”
“Thought ya might want some double trouble,” Lighter husks out just as Lycaon shuts the curtain. “A good bartender, and a damn good dancer when the mood strikes him.”
He must be in Hell…or maybe Heaven.
Wise sits with his palms curled around the seat of the chair, feeling distinctly like prey as the two men prowl towards him.
“I don’t think the fistful of bills Nicole had covers this,” he manages to get out as his eyes dart between the two men.
“They don’t,” Lighter agrees, the leather vest falling from his body as he starts to sway. “Couldn’t pass up making you blush. I can spot a virgin at twenty paces.”
“I’m not—!”
The words die in his throat as he gets to see just what exactly Lycaon has under his tight shirt, and it’s a whole lot of nothing…and maybe a leather harness. Wise can’t really tell, because his mind is slowly cooking in his head.
A powerful body slides into his lap, all warm leather and scarred skin as Lighter undulates his hips. Wise is a tense ball of nerves and, he thinks with panic, arousal. How could he not be when surrounded by the scent of musk and the taste of sweat as Lighter grinds down, making him wince when his body starts to react.
“I thought you weren’t supposed to touch the clients and vice versa,” he asks, voice strained as a tight ass sits perfectly over where his erection pushes up through his jeans.
“Sure,” Lighter replies breezily, draping his powerful arms around his shoulders and leaning close. His glasses glide down his nose to give Wise a perfect view of his eyes. “But I wanna touch ya. And I think ya wanna touch us.”
“I—”
Large, clawed hands slide down over his shoulders and towards his stomach. Any words Wise attempts die in an embarrassing squeak.
Lycaon settles his hands down to his thighs as Lighter moves back, pulling his red scarf from his neck and watching through lowered lids as the Thiren’s hands swallow his thin thighs whole. Wise can only watch as they spread his legs apart, and even his baggy pants and long shirt can’t hide the bulge pressing up against his zipper.
“Like what ya see, darlin’?”
A bold finger travels down the distended bulge of the zipper, down to between his spread thighs where it presses against the seam of his ass.
Wise’s hips jump up.
A dark, delighted chuckle fills the room, filled with canine pleasure as Lycaon leans over to look. “It is our duty to make sure our patrons are satisfied with our performance.”
They pull away, dragging him up to his numb feet as Lighter kicks the chair away, leaving him to rely on their strength to keep him standing as they press against either side of his body and slowly grind.
“How does it feel to be sandwiched between two powerful men?” Lighter inquires, the darkness of his eyes matching his grin.
Wise is not considered small by the general standard of normalcy, but between the two hot bodies he has to strain his head up to keep them in his sight lest he be forced to have a conversation with their nipples. And as nice of nipples as they are, he feels he owes them the respect to speak to their face.
“Um, hot?” he tries, because it is the truth. It was sweltering. He was pretty sure he was dying from dehydration, because otherwise how could it explain this odd fever dream he had landed in?
“Need a drink?”
Fingers grip his chin lightly, tilting his head up as Lighter leans down—
Slow clapping makes the man stop in his descent.
From the doorway, there lounges a man with a lazy type of grace that Wise recognizes from earlier, who has escaped the stage after his set.
“Oh, don’t mind me,” the lazy male says with an easy smile, flapping his hand at them. “I’m enjoying the show.”
Lighter pulls away, the sensual swing of his hips falling away as he strides over to the man, stomping his feet angrily. “Harumasa—”
“Hmm, I wonder what Yanagi would say if I told her you were stepping past your bounds.” The man stretches deliciously, a whine in the back of his throat as something cracks. It drags up his sorry excuse for a shirt, and Wise can see the flash of a gem in his naval. “Not that I expect anything different from you, Lighter, but Lycaon,” and those lazy eyes sharpen, mouth curling into a weapon that slides between ribs and pierces the heart, “I’m surprised about.”
“If you open your fuckin’ mouth—”
“I promise I won’t if you take care of a few dances I got lined up,” Harumasa is quick to interject, smile wide and dishonest. “It’ll be our little secret.”
Harumasa tilts his dark head towards the door, gesturing serenely.
Jaw clenching, Lighter strides towards the door, picking up his discarded items. “You better keep your word, birdie, or I’ll pluck your feathers out.” His tone softens as he looks at Wise, a gentle smile on his face as he leans close one last time to slip a hand down his back pocket and pulling him close. “Call me, darlin’.”
And then he’s gone, taking the smell of leather and sweat with him.
Lycaon clears his throat, the picture of pure elegance as Wise turns to him. “It seems our time together is over for the time being. Please, enjoy the rest of your stay in our establishment.” And before Wise thinks that’s it, that this weird fever dream as come to an end, the wolf Thiren leans down to slide his own large hand down the same pocket. “My number, should you feel so inclined for company.”
Harumasa whistles as the Thiren smoothly exits, slapping his knee as he laughs. “Wow, what a show! Bet if we put you on the stage it would quickly become the lewdest show in the city!” Those cunning eyes rove over him, glowing when they alight on his groin. “I think the perfect outfit for you would be nothing at all.”
“What—”
“Why don’t we practice?”
Snake quick, a hand whips out to grab his wrist, dragging in down onto the overly plush couch. The world spins, his breath lost in the movement, and Wise blinks, he finds himself looking into a cheshire-like smile as a lithe body crawls on top of him.
“Should it start like this?” is the innocent question with a not so innocent answer as the man walks his fingers down his torso, starting from the sensitive dip of his throat. “A beautiful creature splayed underneath two beastly men, a sacrifice to their hungry desire?”
The nails are glossed and sharp as they make a detour to swirl around where his hard nipples press up against his shirt.
“Or maybe tied up?”
A soft, slender hand holds his wrists above his head. Despite the deceptively light hold, they hold tight as he tests the grip.
The other hand continues its idle quest downward, dipping into his naval before those daggered claws hook under the waistline of his pants and give a teasing tug.
“Maybe the audience would like something nice and sweet instead.” The smile that hovers above him turns knowing, eyes glinting with ideas as Harumasa starts to lower himself. “I can be sweet, if you ask nicely—”
“Senior!”
Wise and Harumasa flick their heads towards the door – Wise actually feels a crack in his neck at the action, while Harumasa is slower in his approach, sighing as he does it.
“Seth, what a surprise,” is the falsely joyful tone that Harumasa uses, letting go of Wise to sit up. “Let me guess, a certain wolf Thiren and red scarf sent you?”
The feline Thiren looks like he’s been put on the spot, eyes flicking between the two of them as his tail rapidly swishes back and forth in agitation. “The policy book says—”
Harumasa groans, rolling his eyes as he gracefully climbs to his feet. “I’ve been hit with policy enough times to know it by heart, my dear junior. I was just…giving a bit of extra service.” A sly wink is tossed at Wise from over a slender shoulder before Harumasa turns back to the newcomer. “Don’t worry, I’m done with him…for now. Check on him if you don’t believe me.”
Harumasa holds a hand out for Wise to take. Tentative, Wise reaches out.
He yelps as he’s shoved right at Seth, who catches him in time as Harumasa flutters past, fingers dipping into his back pocket and a breezy, “Snooze you later!” tossed behind him as he escapes back into the fray of the club.
“A-are you alright?”
The worried voice makes Wise look up. Up close, the Thiren looks young, closer to his age. He wears some bastardized attempt at a sexy PubSec outfit, which shows off the muscles in his arms, which are currently locked around his waist right now.
Wise nods, pulling away. “Uh, yeah, thanks.” A step on his right foot makes him pause as a slight twinge of pain echoes. “I think I just twisted my ankle a bit from the shove.”
“Ugh, that lazy…here, let me help you sit down.”
Seth is respectful of his personal boundaries, helping him hobble over to the couch and setting him down gently.
“Need me to get you some ice?”
“Ah, no, I think I just need to massage it for a moment and I’ll be fine.” Smiling at the Thiren, Wise gestures towards the door. “Sorry to keep you from your work.”
“Oh, it’s no problem! Lighter promised me half of what he makes for taking over for Harumasa’s clients tonight, so I’m fine.” Ears twitching, Seth looks down at where he rubs his ankle. “Here, let me help. I have some medical training under my belt.”
“You really don’t have to—!”
Wise quickly finds his shoe pulled off and sock peeled down as the foot is pulled into the muscular lap of the Thiren, leaving his tender ankle under the care of strong fingers that knead gently into the red skin. He hisses, back arching, but sighs as he feels a deep relief settle where the pain resides.
“Oh, you’re good with your hands,” he chuckles, a small exhalation of breath following that is just moments away from being a moan. “Keep going.”
The hands still. “Keep…going?”
Leaning back on the couch, Wise hums an agreement. “Yeah, it feels really good.”
A few seconds pass, but the fingers start to move again, leaving Wise to sigh and close his eyes as they work their magic. They press lightly into muscle and tendon, drifting over the bone in his ankle that makes him give a little sound of pleasure. Then further up, pushing up the leg of his pants to massage his calf, his knee, as a rough tongue licks over his ankle…!
Wise rears up, surprise rattling in the cage of his chest as he looks at where Seth licks over the delicate bones of his ankle, clawed nails scratching delightfully over the sensitive skin above his knee from where his pant leg has been rucked up. He bites his lip as sharp teeth nibble over the thin skin, biting back a moan that threatens to break free as the nails on his lower thigh scratch pleasurably into his skin—
“Here’s where you went, kitty,” is the lowered voice filled with amusement that makes Seth stop dead in his ministrations, a sheen of panic in his clear eyes. “I guess Asaba was right. How naughty~”
A beautiful Thiren woman stands at the door, her playful smile layered in secrets as she looks over the scene.
Seth drop his foot and holds his hands up in surrender. “Jane! Uh, I was just helping this patron here—”
“We are not an establishment that gives out happy endings,” Jane says as she walks over, hips swaying playfully. “You can do what you want on your own personal time, but on the clock and on these sacred ground, you belong to the club, kitty.” She winks down at Wise as Seth continues to stutter his excuses. “You have a patron in room seven. Head on over while I handle this darling customer here.”
That leaves Wise to face that wickedly amused smile as it is aimed his way.
“Would you like help putting your shoe back on, dear customer?”
“Oh, uh, no, I got it!”
Under the unwavering gaze, Wise manages to get his shoe on after a few failed attempts that only make him more panicked with each husk of gentle laughter.
“I do hope you had a good time with our little kitty. He’s brand new and so easy to fluster,” she explains as she holds the door open for him. “He has a lot to learn but he has a good heart. Oh, and here. His number.”
Blood red nails drop the small scrap of paper into his hands.
“It can join your collection that you’ve started tonight.”
Feeling his cheeks flush, Wise stammers out, “Uh, how—”
“You don’t think we take precautions with our dancers or customer’s safety?” She flicks a nail over her shoulder, where Wise follows it up to the small, discreet security camera nestled in the corner. “Even getting the stoic Lycaon to break? Oh, I can’t wait to see what you choose next.” Jane gestures towards his table in the corner, where he can see Nicole has acquired herself some neon light sticks and is drunkenly dancing on the table. “Please give our regards to Ms. Nicole. She’s a wonderful lawyer.”
Hunching his shoulders up, Wise crab walks around the imposing, smiling woman and shuffles through the crowd to get back to his table. Upon seeing him, Nicole starts cheering.
“Our baby is a man now!” she slurs, stumbling to get off the table. Wise is quick to offer a helping hand to get her down.
“So, how was it?” Nicole leers, tipping a little too closely into his personal space as she pokes at his chest.
“It was…fine,” he says, and doesn’t bring up the numbers that burn a hole in his back pocket.