Ripped Tights and Late Nights → Muke

five;

Michael doesn't run to the bar. He just walks really fast once he got through the front door. He's still shocked at how busy the club is during daylight hours. It's nowhere near as packed as it is deep into the evening, but it's still popular.

Once he reaches the bar, he slams his palms down onto the wooden surface. There's two guys down the other end of the bar giving him distasteful looks over the brim of their pints. Michael's pretty sure they're tourists.

"Luke!" He calls, trying to get the blond's attention. He's cleaning a few glasses in the small sink in the bar. There's probably a bigger sink out back for when things got really busy in here.

"Michael," Luke says, surprised by his appearance. "What are you doing here at 11am? I wasn't expecting you for another few days, at least."

"I have an emergency," Michael says, quieter and calmer now that Luke's right in front of him. They're both in work uniforms, consisting of black pants, a white button up shirt and a tie, but Michael's also wearing his blazer. He's trying to look older and more official and totally not because he wanted to impress Luke.

"Oh?" Luke asks, raising an eyebrow. He leans down, resting his elbows on the bar and then his chin on his palms. "An emergency, hmm, Mr Clifford?"

Michael hums, has to physically stop himself from threading his fingers through Luke's hair. "Not that kind of emergency. I have a favour to ask of you."

"Anything," Luke replies, almost immediately.

"Please come to my daughter's showcase and pretend you're some super cool dancing dude and give her pointers and help her out."

Luke's taken aback. He blinks a few times and Michael regrets asking. "Oh. Is she a dancer?"

"Yeah," Michael breathes. He thinks that the fact that Luke hadn't said 'no' yet was reassuring. "And she's really, really good. But she's got a show tonight and she's freaking herself out. She does this sometimes when she's really nervous or stressed out, like for exams and stuff. She'll know all the material but she gets so nervous about it over a few days and psyches herself out of it. If you could like, go up to her before the show and make her think that she's got someone she needs to impress, she won't stumble."

Luke frowns. "Won't that make her more nervous?"

"No, it'll make her work harder. Last year, Leah told her we'd take her wherever she wanted to go over Summer if she got at least 3 A's. She got an A in every subject but one, which she got a B in. It works. We took her to France for like, a month."

Luke sighs, not liking the idea. "I'd love to, but I've got work."

"Please, Luke?" Michael purrs. "Please, for me, baby? Won't you do it for me?"

"This is blackmail," Luke points out, rolling his eyes at Michael's pout. "I'll be missing out on customers. You're paying me."

"How much?" Michael asks without hesitation.

"I'm in demand, Michael. It's $100 per person and I usually get between 2-6 people on any given night. Half it because it's you," Luke hums. He looks deep in thought as Michael stands there with his mouth wide open. He's never paid $100 for a night with Luke, not even the first time. After a few weeks Luke hadn't made him pay at all,

Luke grins like the cheshire cat. "Give me $75 and you've got a deal."

Which, like, okay, that's not how maths works.

Michael's not stupid. He's dense and a little thick sometimes, but he's not outright stupid. He knows Luke's giving him a bargain, and half of him is screaming to give him a million dollars. Maybe then he could get out of this shitty job and this even shittier town.

"I'm gonna give you $400, and you'll sit beside me the entire time." There, that seems fair. It's not going to put Michael out of pocket and he wants to spoil Luke a little. He wants to buy Luke everything he could ever ask for.

"Won't your wife be there?" Luke asks, cocking his head so half of his honey blond fringe falls over his eyes. Michael resists the urge to brush it back for him but he can't, so he reaches a tentative hand out and softly tucks Luke's hair back in place.

"That's what I'm counting on."

Michael had grown up in a family with a lot of money and, as a lawyer wih a wife who was a doctor, he still has a lot of money. $400 isn't extravagant, but it is a lot to spend just for Luke to sit in an audience and talk to Brittany before she dances. But Luke said that was what he got on most nights. If he was earning so much, why is he still here, shaking his ass for married men?

"Wait, you get given the full amount of what the customer pays, right? As tips? Plus, you're an employee, don't you get a fixed wage? Where's the money going?"

Luke looks around, not like he's nervous, more like he doesn't want the two tourists in the corner listening in. "Rent, I guess. Whatever bartender that's on shift. The bouncers. My manager. The other dancers. Even though I get paid double when I dance on stage, it gets spread pretty thin."

"Why are you paying them? Don't they earn their own money?" Although he knows what Luke looks like when he orgasms and what it takes to get him to that point, Michael has no idea about Luke's home life or where he even lives.

Luke shrugs, like it's not a big deal. "I tip the bartender so I can pretend to 'shout' customers their drinks without actually paying for them-"

"Isn't that the bartender's job, though?"

"Michael, shut up."

He does so, looking down at their intwined hands that sit on the bar.

"Where was I? Right, the bartender. The bouncers need to be paid so they look after me in case anything happens. Why would they risk their necks to pull a customer off of me if they don't get anything out of it? My manager gets 20% of whatever I make and I pay the other dancers because I earn the most and they need it more than I do. Nobody rich ends up a stripper, Michael. They all live in really shitty situations and an extra $20 a day makes everything so much better for them."

Michael was partly sick of asking questions, but he couldn't get enough of Luke talking, and he was so curious about the younger boy. He wants to know everything.

"Do you end up with enough to pay rent and buy food and stuff?"

"I do what I can with what I have."

"God, Luke, please let me give you the world."

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shorter update than usual, sorry ):

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