"Wh-where are you guys taking me?" Vince piped up from the backseat of the car.
"You'll see..." Tommy cackled.
"You're kinda scaring me..." Vince whimpered.
Nikki was too lost in staring out the window, watching the buildings slip past through half-lidded eyes. It was nearly hypnotic.
"Nikki?" Vince asked, "You okay?"
"Huh?" Nikki stirred. He had been holding the same position for a while now, "Yeah, I'm fine." He said glumly.
He turned back to the fleeting view of the streets of Los Angeles under a sunset.
"Jeez dude, are you really that tired?" Tommy, the driver, muttered, "Mick must be rubbing off on you."
"It's not that." Nikki drawled with a sigh, "I'm just thinking."
"About what?"
"HOW FUCKING ANNOYING YOU ARE." He snarled, slamming his hand against the armrest on the car door's interior.
Eventually though, Nikki began to nod off, succumbing to the hypnotic effect. He was jolted awake by Tommy screeching to a halt at a stoplight, which caused him to bash his face into the dashboard, "OW TOMMY WHAT THE FUCK."
"Rise and shine, motherfucker." Tommy shot him a glare.
"Guys seriously! Where are you taking me?" Vince asked again.
"Have you ever been to a strip club, Vince?" Tommy adjusted the rear-view mirror to see Vince better in it.
"N-no."
"Well Vinnie, you're about to."
"Don't call me Vinnie." He huffed. That was an honor he reserved for Nikki only.
"It's the place where Dark Star works." Nikki sat back in the chair, trying to wake himself up. He shook his head.
Vince said nothing back.
The car turned into the parking lot. As soon as the car stopped, Tommy nearly leapt through the window, "I've got fifty bucks worth of singles that are all going straight into Dark Star's bra!"
"She doesn't like you, Tommy, just give up." Nikki slowly eased his way out of the car. He then moved to open the door for Vince.
"LET'S JUST GO!" Tommy began to physically drag Vince and Nikki to the front entrance. They slipped past the bouncer because Tommy had made arrangements.
Vince took hold of Nikki's arm while he slowly scanned the room. He clearly didn't want to be here.
Dark Star was just finishing up her show in the far corner with an audience smaller than the other girls. It could be that she was more covered up than the other dancers. The upper part of her costume didn't reveal much of her cleavage and it was paired with a basic garter belt and stockings that seemed oddly familiar to Nikki in a way that he couldn't express.
Tommy ran up to her with a huge smile. Vince and Nikki followed close behind.
"So...much...skin..." Vince cringed, looking at all the other girls as they danced.
By the time they got there, she was lounging on the side of the podium, talking to a few members of her audience, "What do you want, kid?" He huffed as Tommy approached her.
"Before you call security, lemme just say..." Tommy paused and grabbed her hand, "I really love you..."
She yanked her hand away, "God, you're fucking weird."
Vince was largely cowering behind Nikki. He peered around his side and the exotic dancer noticed him.
"What's this?" She slipped off the podium, "Fresh meat?"
"He's a virgin." Tommy pointed.
"Ooh, interesting..." She touched Vince's arm, then pulled him away from Nikki, nearly stabbing him with her long black fake nails, "You want me to...take it?"
"Uh..." Vince leaned back, reaching out for Nikki's hand.
"Hey, how come you never asked to take my virginity?" Tommy asked.
"Fuck off, kid." She paused, then turned back to Vince. Dark Star licked her lips, and took the blonde by his jacket, "So, do you wanna go to the back room with me?"
"Can I go?" Tommy raised his hand.
She ignored him, "It's a simple yes or a yes please."
"N-Nikki..." Vince tried to grab Nikki's hand, "H-help..."
"You don't need him, this is about me and you, my dear sweet whatever your name is."
She slowly slid her hand down his side and leaned in to attempt to seduce him, but Vince shoved her away. She staggered back.
"I can't handle this anymore!" He shouted, "I'm gay!"
"What?" Nikki said in unison with the stripper.
"I don't wanna have sex with you!" He blurted, "BECAUSE I'M GAY. I'M VERY FUCKING GAY. AND I'M SORRY FOR SHOUTING BUT I AM SICK OF HIDING IT."
"Holy shit, Vince, calm down!" She gesticulated to silence him.
"I never told you my name." He thought for a second, leaning forward a bit (while keeping as safe distance away) to examine her features that weren't hidden under her masquerade mask. Dark Star swallowed hard, "Are you someone I went to high school with?"
"Damn Vince, I didn't realize you were so dense." She laughed, putting her hands on her hips, "My legs don't look familiar to you?"
"MICK?!"
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Tommy shrieked in a voice that nearly made Nikki's ears bleed, "NUH-UH. PROVE IT!"
The dancer slipped off the mask for a split second.
The three of them collectively screamed.
Then Mick forcefully dragged all of them to the back room.
He threw Nikki, Tommy, and Vince into the room. All of them were all still relatively catatonic.
He flickered the lights on and locked the door to ensure privacy.
"What is real?" Nikki whispered, staring at his shaking hands.
"WHERE DID THE TITS COME FROM?!" Tommy demanded, "And the nails, and the voice, and the clothes, and the curves..."
"Calm down." Mick laughed, "You guys are so freaked out right now."
"YOU'RE A STRIPPER?!" Nikki added.
"Yes." Mick casually set his mask on the table.
"How? Why? Is this a new fetish?" Tommy rocked back and forth in a ball on the floor, "Do I cry? Do I moan? I DO NEITHER FOR I DO NOT KNOW."
"Money, darling. That's why."
"This is a prank, right?" Tommy begged for answers, "RIGHT?!"
"No. I've been stripping here for a year and a half."
"You have a lot of explaining to do." Vince sat down on the velvet chair in the corner of the room."
"I wouldn't sit there if I were you." Mick warned, "It's been uh, it's been covered in cum...several times..."
"Ew!" Vince leapt up, "Yeah, I don't wanna be here anymore."
"It's been thoroughly cleaned of course, but I wouldn't. That's where my customers sit."
"Still ew." Vince gagged.
"So, this is my dressing room!" Mick spun around with his arms out, nearly smacking the others in the face, "This is where I change clothes and suck dick. It's pretty much just a broom closet...built the table myself. I get my own room since, well, y'know, I'm a guy."
The room was claustrophobic with the four of them in there.
"You're still a dude, right?" Tommy asked.
"Yeah."
"Then were'd your dick go?"
Mick pulled the small swivel seat out from under the makeup table and sat down, crossing his legs, "Why would you ask that?"
"'Cause I wanna know what you're gonna shove up my ass tonight."
"Okay, I am this close to getting you blacklisted from all strip clubs in a fifty mile radius."
"Shut up Tommy," Nikki silenced him, "We really should let Mick explain all of this."
"Explain what?"
"So, you're a hooker, and a stripper?" Nikki counted on his fingers for some reason.
"Yeah, what's so complicated about that?"
"WHERE DID THE TITS COME FROM?!" Tommy asked again. This aspect seemed to be all he cared about.
"Tommy, I'm a drag queen, where do you think?"
"Is your ass real?"
"Yes Tommy, my ass is real."
"That's a relief."
"How did you even end up in this...profession?" Vince leaned against Nikki's side, trying to put distance between him and the cursed chair.
"I needed the money and I was young. Girls make more money doing things like that, so I started crossdressing. Then money started to roll in once I met the right people, I started making bank."
"MICK I PROMISE WE'RE ALL GONNA GET JOBS TOMORROW SO YOU CAN LEAVE YOUR LIFE OF PROSTITUTION AND STRIPPING BEHIND!" Tommy seized Mick's shoulders and shook him wildly, "I PROMISE!"
"Tommy, calm down."
"THIS IS DANGEROUS! YOU COULD GET SERIOUSLY HURT!"
"Tommy, just breathe."
"YOU KNOW WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE HIRE HOOKERS, RIGHT?! I DON'T WANT ANY OF THOSE PEOPLE TO HURT YOU!"
"TOMMY!" Mick shouted, "IT'S FINE! I actually like my job, okay. I like getting showered with cash and getting all dolled up. And I got a button in here that calls security if I'm ever in trouble. Us girls are pretty well taken care of here."
"Still though, prostitution is dangerous." Nikki spoke up. Him and Vince were both pressed up against the door.
"I don't really get solicited outside of here very often anymore."
"That makes me feel a little bit better." Tommy paused, "Still dangerous though."
"If you don't mind me asking, how do people react when they find out you're a guy?" Vince asked.
"I just stick to sucking dicks around here so they don't." He scoffed, "Also, my other customers are into it. Trust me."
"What does that mean?" Vince asked.
"They know who they're getting into when they solicit me."
"How?"
"Through connections."
"Vince, he has a pimp." Tommy explained.
"Hey, uh, Vinnie," Nikki prodded his shoulder for attention, "when you said you were gay, you meant it, right?"
"Yeah." He laughed, "I'm so glad you guys aren't mad. Everyone else I've told has gotten... really mad. That's why I left Rock Candy, a-and why my dad isn't letting me go to college."
"Aww, Vinnie, we wouldn't kick you out for that." Nikki hugged Vince from behind, "And we're not gonna kick Mick out for being a whore either."
"Well, you don't have to say it like that." Mick scoffed.
"Just so Vince doesn't have to be the only one coming out here," Tommy paused for dramatic purposes, "I put the bi in bitch."
"Well, we all knew that." Mick laughed, "As for me, I like whoever I like. Don't care what they are." He began to mumble under his breath. Nikki assumed he said something like, "And if that person just so happens to be Tommy..."
"What about you, Nikki?" Vince turned to him, a glimmer of hopefulness in his eyes.
"Uh...I-it's complicated."
"We can respect that." He patted Nikki's arm reassuringly, "You're questioning, and that's okay."
"So, does anyone have anymore secrets to reveal before I head back to work." Mick looked at himself in the mirror. He reapplied his black lipstick
Tommy pulled out his wallet and handed Mick a wad of cash, "HERE'S THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS. FUCK ME!"
"Tommy, that's fifteen single dollars."
"Oh." He looked at the money, disappointed as if it was to blame.
"But maybe I'll do it for free..." Mick purred, licking his lips.
"Wha-what?"
Mick ignored Tommy's shocked muttering, he slipped his mask back on, "I've gotta go now."
"You go and put on a great show." Tommy gave Mick a quick hug, "Good luck."
"It's so nice to finally have your support, Tommy." Mick giggled, looking up at him happily. He gave Tommy a kiss on his cheek before opening the door, leaving him with the imprint of Mick's black lips on his face. Mick ran down the hallway shooting glances back at Tommy, laughing. Then he tripped over a wet floor sign and fell.
"Mick!" Tommy darted to help him. He took his hand.
Mick pulled himself up using Tommy's outstretched hand, giggling so hard he accidentally snorted, "Seriously, I gotta go!"
The stripper bounced back into the crowds of the front area of the club.
"Best stripper encounter EVER." Tommy cheered, pumping his fists into the air.
"Can we please go now?" Vince asked, "I really don't belong here."
"I'm gonna stay and watch Mick. I'll just catch a ride home with him." Tommy said, waving at Vince and Nikki, "I still got fifty bucks to stuff in his bra."
"Have a nice time!" Vince waved back as Tommy tossed Nikki the car keys.
Vince and Nikki walked out the the car. Nikki opened the car door for him.
"Thank you." He slipped inside the vehicle.
In an attempt to be badass, Nikki tried to slide across the hood of the car. Though, his pants snagged on the hood ornament. This caused his pants to rip...badly...Vince could easily see half his ass.
Ashamed, Nikki slinked into the car. Vince was laughing so hard he was coughing, "D-do you want me to check it out? Maybe I could sew your pants back together."
"No, It's alright. I got a nice ass." Nikki sighed, still thoroughly embarrassed, too distracted said embarrassment to realize what Vince had insinuated.
They embarked for home.
"Hey, Nikki, sorry if this is a weird question for me to ask you but, do you think I'll ever get a boyfriend?"
"Sure you will, you'll find a great guy soon." Nikki already had a person in mind. Himself, obviously.
"Well, would you date me?" He asked.
"Are you asking me on a date, Vinnie?"
"N-no..." He went quiet for a second, "Unless..."
"Because we should totally hang out sometime!" Nikki blurted, knowing he just had to say it if he ever wanted to, "Y'know, with the explicit intent of going on a date. Geez, that was a really contrived way of saying that."
"Oh Sixxy, you're so adorable." He reached over and patted Nikki's arm again, "Here, I'll say it for you: Would you like to go on a date with me?"
"Of course, Vinnie." Nikki laughed, although he was sweating so much his hands were probably glued to the steering wheel by this point.
"You're probably gonna be my first actual boyfriend!" Vince gasped.
"You've never dated before?"
"Well, back when I was still in denial and in the closet, I did go on a few dates with girls. Nothing really exciting."
"Well, I'm honored to be your first." Nikki's heart fluttered, "You're my first too."
"I guess this is new to both of us." Vince shifted in his seat, jittering. Nikki briefly wondered what could be going through his head.
Holy shit I wrote this chapter in two days. That's a fucking record for this story since the editing process is so long. I try to get these out as fast as I can but, then again, I want these chapters to be the best for you guys. I want them to be entertaining, and have the plot development that I have planned be in them, and be long enough to be substantial.
Anyway's I'll spare you the process of editing...Here's a picture of Nikki that is fairly accurate to him in the story. Just because.