Deicide

February 15 23xx

Lush was a large club, with multiple small circular stages with poles in the middle. Every stage was raised a foot off the ground, and the security guards were standing along different walls.

"Excuse me, are you a performer?" A cute girl with slightly frizzy hair, smudged pink lipstick and heavy eye makeup grabbed Eden's shoulder.

"Oh, yes, yeah I am." He looked her up and down. She had a few red spots on her legs and neck.

"You can't go on in those shoes. And a little hair and makeup wouldn't hurt. Go back there, tell them Rose sent you for a little extra and shoes." She pointed at a door at the back of the room.

"Oh, yeah, thanks." Eden was pushed towards that room, and with a final glance at Silas, he was gone.

In the backstage room, there were no other male performers. "Hey, what are you back here for?" Another girl grabbed his arm.

"Uh, Rose sent me for a little extra and shoes?"

The girl looked him up and down. "Oh, yeah. Sit over there." She pointed at a chair in front of a mirror.

Eden made his way over, and instantly had three girls working on him. He couldn't see what they were doing, but within five minutes he had punkish boots that added three inches to his height, light lipstick, and simulated sex hair. He also noticed that his skin seemed sparkly, he wasn't even sure what kind of makeup did that. "I'm a painted whore." He touched his face and looked at his arms.

"Come on, you gotta get out on a stage." The girl pushed him towards the door. "You look amazing." She smacked his ass and closed the door behind him.

Luckily, he didn't have to worry about trying to balance in his boots. But he hadn't practiced any moves with three extra inches added to his height. At least he'd probably be about as tall as Silas now.

He found an empty stage near the backstage exit, and hesitantly stepped up onto the platform. He took a few deep breaths, these were all bigger gray-haired middle aged men. And he was now willingly showing his body off to them. If something did happen, would it be his fault? For purposely trying to attract them? What if something happened at all? What if one of them went too far, or-

Silas waved his arms at Eden from across the club. Eden focused on Silas, he could make out his individual heartbeat. Silas gave him a smile and a thumbs up. Eden nodded and took a deep breath, he would be fine. Silas was here, and everything would be okay. He needed to focus on the task at hand.

Right now, all those sweaty men were waiting expectantly.

And Eden was going to give them a show.

He put his left hand up above his head on the pole, spun under it, and stood with his back against the pole. He put his other hand above his head, rolled his hips, and put his legs out so that he was almost in a squat. He moved to the balls of his feet and rolled his body. Looking out, he had at least fifteen people at his stage. He ripped off his pants, danced around with them a little, and tossed them out to the crowd. He did the same with the waistcoat, attracting more men, but he kept his tie on. He gripped the pole and swung himself upside down, squeezing his legs around the cold metal and running his hands down his body before reaching out towards the crows of men. He reached out towards the ground and released his legs, cartwheeling back off the pole. Eden spun around and did a few more moves on the ground, then climbed up a little higher on the pole. He moved his legs and held his body outwards, maneuvering into what one video had referred to as a superman pose.

Men were whooping and hollering.

Eden got down off the pole and strutted around the stage. Men were holding out green bills towards Eden. He walked around and approached a man offering a twenty. He stepped off the stage and stood in between the man's legs. He looked down at the man and froze up for a second, but he could still make out Silas' heartbeat. It calmed him down. He set his hands on the man's chest and massaged around the man's waist before hopping over his hips. The man stuck the twenty in Eden's waistband.