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The blonde sighed and took another drag from his cigarette. He leaned against the wall behind him and closed his eyes. How had it come so far? He just wanted to open his own business. He wanted to open his own restaurant and cook. He didn’t want to do this anymore. Of course it’s funny, the money isn’t bad either, he was just sick and tired of this all. Sighing softly he stood there and suddenly he felt less alone somehow. His hackles rising and he frowned. Slowly he opened one of his azure blue eyes.
“Izo wants you. The show is about to start, shitty-cook.”
Sanji exhaled the smoke and huffed in the others direction. Shortly he took the sight of the other man in. The green hair was short and the arms, which were folded over his chest, were muscled and also slightly scared, his skin was tanned. He just dropped the butt of his cigarette to the ground and put it out with shortly stepping on it. He shortly ruffled through his blond hair.
“Yeah, yeah… you already done, marimo?
Looking the man beside him up and down he couldn’t believe it, if it was true. He was still clad in his normal street clothes. The other shook his head and frowned even more.
“He said he want to have us both get ready at the same time, so… He send me to get you…. He shouldn’t make it a habit. I’m not your damn ….”
“Suck it in muscle brain…”
The green haired male looked at him in confusion, about to shout something right back at him, but Sanji just went inside the building, so the blond just the grumbling of the other man behind him. He went on without looking back, a moment later they both entered the room of the man with the geisha look.
“Oh you’re finally here yet? Good. Very good. Ram you get this outfit… and then to Iva… Tiger you stay here.”
Ram, the blonde male who normally goes by the name of Sanji, rolled his eyes shortly and took the outfit, the other had given him. Ram went right into the locker room, almost bumping face first into a pale and slightly scared chest.
“Watch out where you’re running, Ram.”
The deep baritone of the older sent shivers down his spine and he gulped, nodding quickly.
“Sorry Crimson…”
The other just huffed and shuffled past the blonde. He watched the redhead walking towards and up the stairs. He looked kind of tired himself. He had heard some rumors about the redhead from Pyro and was kind of curious if they were true or not. The bond blinked a few times, when he remembered, what his own job was right now.
When he unfolded the soft white and golden fabric he was a bit confused about it, but he put on the robe. When he looked in the full body mirror he had to admit that he looked like one of those roman dudes. What would Tiger wear? He knew that Izo and Iva loved to put them in dresses which had different classes. Mostly he was some sort of royal and Tiger, better known as Zoro outside this establishment, as some sort of slave or other ‘lower’ individual.
After that he went to Iva, so they could put on his make-up for the night. He was quiet. Too many thoughts were currently running through his mind and he just stared ahead.
“...it’s sad, don’t you think?”
Ram blinked in confusion and looked at the other.
“I beg your pardon? What had you said?”
“I said it’s sad.”
“What?”
“Pyro leaving us, of course! But I’m happy for him as well! His lover is such an handsome gentleman.”
“A handsome gentleman, who had paid for him.”
He couldn’t stop the slightly angry ring in his voice and Iva blinked a few times, but continued with his work.
“I just hope that Crimson won’t quite too, like Pyro had said… One leaving is sad, two leaving is a disaster.. But three?”
“Two? Who’s the other?”
His heart began pounding away. He since a few weeks he thought that something had changed in the behaviour of a certain someone. Tiger. He had been more aggressive, when they had their little squabbles. He had been less focused during their shows. He had been… strange.
“Well… when Pyro leaves… I’m sure Dragonboy will leave as well of course.”
Suddenly Ram exhaled deeply. His heart was still pounding loudly in his ears. Why had he been so afraid of that? Why had the thought of Tiger leaving this establishment scared him so much? Ram sighed softly and Iva smiled slightly.
“We are done here. You should go on stage now.”
Ram nodded slightly and walked straight ahead, his feet clad in those light coloured sandals, were almost making no sound at all. He loved it, when it was like this. The velvety curtains were still closed and he would enter the stage without the other, at the beginning of the music. It was always like this. The thrill of the unknown and what might happen was always putting him in the right mood, just like right now. He could hear Scratchman announce them like always.
“Welcome ladies and gentlemen at tonight's main event. Be prepared for the sinful and exotic trip Tiger and Ram will guide us on.”
With this he slowly and gracefully entered the stage, the first notes of the song already playing softly. He knew that tune and he was kind of confused because of it. The battle theme from Gladiator? Well now at least his costume makes sense but really? How should he strip to this? Goddamn!
Ram slowly moved his body along to the tune, while walking to one of the three poles of the mainstage and began to pull up some of his moves. Almost wrapping himself around the pole he slid along it, letting his head fall back. While he began to fall in that trance another presence filled the stage and moved up to him. Normally they didn’t really met during their little dance, just to mimic some kind of fights with slow turns. Right now Tiger was behind him, letting his hands glide along his sides, he automatically leaned into the touch and had his powerful thighs around the steel bar between his legs. When the music grew faster and more fight like they copied the actions into their dance, forgetting the audience.
They moved on the stage like two fighters. When they faced each other Ram was impressed. The green haired male was clad in a gladiator like outfit, just the leathery skirt a bit shorter, the chest armour a bit lighter and mostly just covering his muscled chest. They even gave him some kind of sheath. Ram turned around in those strong arms and they began with their dance. A fight looking like a dance. A dance looking like they were doing more than just moving with the music and against each other.
The music grew faster, gradually growing louder and more and more hectic. Slowly they lose more and more of their costumes till they both were just in their tongs. The music came to its climax and cascaded into softer and slower tunes again and when the last note faded Ram found himself lying in Tiger’s arms again, secure and sweetly safe. He got lost in those dark depths of the other. Dark, almost blackish and so deep he felt like being sucked into a black hole, with no chance of returning.
He didn’t know that Tiger was also lost in his clear blue eye, only one visible like always. He felt like drowning in the open sea, but he was okay with it. It was with the other. It was with the blonde in his arms. Nothing would be able to get between them, not right now. Slowly they came back out of their haze, both panting and still holding the other’s heated gaze. Their mouths only a few inches away from each other. The blond could almost taste the breath of the other, definitely feeling it on his own heated face. His mouth suddenly so dry. Ram was the first to break the eye contact and bit his bottom lip. He went down the aisle and got a lot of the bills stuffed into his panties. He was still so confused about everything tonight, the end of the night was like a blur. Even the bunch of lap dances and private dances couldn’t get him out of this state.
At the end he leaned against the wall of the establishment and lit up one of his cigarettes. He watched Crimson leaving, following a dark haired male? Or was it just an illusion? He exhaled the smoke and shook his head twice, he didn’t really care and would never say anything about it.
“Please don’t leave as well… I would be lost without you.”
The sudden voice beside him caused him to flinch away and he stared at the green haired man, standing there, glaring at him. Uncertainty and confusion coming off from him in waves, which tried to suffocate him.
“I can’t leave just now and you know that. I don’t have the money for the restaurant just now.”
The other exhaled relieved and bit his bottom lip. Sanji just grabbed Zoro’s hand tightly in his own and pulled him away. Away from their job and towards his car. When they had sat down he had leaned towards the other man.
“I can never leave you behind, idiot. You would get lost in our own apartment.”
With those words he softly captured the other’s in a soft and tender kiss.
He can’t be without his lover. He would be lost himself and he would miss the moody and grumpy man beside him, who held his hand in his own bigger and calloused one. He had found him in this strange establishment and slowly his life wrapped itself around him more and more and it was good like this. He felt safe and secure.
And they both knew how to move along the other, to make every step look like a choreography of life itself.
Tiger and Ram left the building for the early morning, so Sanji and Zoro could get some sleep.