Hit the dance floor running

[Logan Go]

Hell yeah.

This was the reason that Logan ended up in this line of work--the loud music, the shrieking girls, the energy that spilled onto the stage, the way his body moved instinctively to the rhythm. All of it. He loved all of it.

Closing his eyes, he let it soak in. The lights danced in his face and he could see them through his eyelids. When he opened his eyes, he smiled at the nearest girl and she let out a squeak and let her much bolder friend slip him a few dollars. Logan winked at them and accepted the cash.

His parents still had no idea what he did for a living. They thought he had some job with a radio station or something. Logan sort of maybe a little bit bullshitted them because he loved them dearly but... he also loved his job. There was no shame in it but he could imagine the color his mom would turn if she knew. And his father would probably give him a good punch. Not that the guy was abusive but it might be a bit much to know what his son did for a living.

But his parents, they weren't here. Just a nice group of ladies who came to this club for the all male line of strippers. Some guys, too. Logan grinned at one of the guys, who had come in with a girlfriend. The discomfort on his face was palpable. Poor fella. When Logan passed the pair, he gave the guy a nice pat on the head before moving on.

When the song came to its end and he was in nothing but his fancy black skivvies, Logan took a bow with a flourish and then kissed his hand and waved it out at the crowd before heading toward the back. The guys who came in after him passed him on the way and Logan exchanged a high five with two of them.

After he was cleaned up and dressed, he left the dressing area and suppressed a yawn. There was a small line for the bathroom and he nodded as he passed the girls waiting in line. Then he rounded the corner and into the main club floor.

"Give me one of those neon drinks!" he called to the bartender as he approached the bar.

[Sean Yun]

"Sure you don't want a pretty pink parasol to go with that girly blue drink of yours?"

Sean waltzed up laughing, sliding easily onto the barstool next to Logan's. He braced an elbow on the bartop and rested his chin in his palm with the sort of shit-eating grin that everybody at the club knew pretty well by now. Nodding to the bartender, he ordered himself a beer and put it on his tab--to be deducted out of his paycheck at the end of the month.

"Guess who's coming to Club 9 with us on Saturday?" The beer slid his way on a coaster; he grabbed it and tilted his head back to take a long drink. It was hard work, dancing up on that stage, with all the lights on him! Physical demands aside, those lights had to rival the intensity of the sun with how much heat they put out. Sean had been on one of the other stages, dancing and gyrating and generally thrusting his hips in every woman's--and man's--direction. He was still a little warm, and a little sweaty, but a nice, cold beer was just the thing to help him cool down.

Got some nice tips out of the show, too--he had the wad of cash in his back pocket.

[Logan Go]

Turning his head as he drew his neon blue drink closer, he arched a brow and then stared Sean down for a moment. No, he didn't want a parasol. Personally, he didn't care if his drink DID count as girly because damn it, it was both refreshing and oh so tasty. It was a little tart, too, so he licked his lips and twiddled the straw for fun. He was trying Very Hard not to look over at Sean now because he was wearing That Grin and That Grin always meant trouble of some kind.

"...who?" he asked, despite himself. He had to look up. He was curious now and he was hoping to catch some kind of hint in the glimmer of Sean's eyes. Why was he smiling like that, though, seriously? Over a person who was coming with them out to the club?

Oh god. Was it an ex? Fuck. If it was an ex, he was ditching the whole thing! Abort! Abort!

[Sean Yun]

"It's somebody speciaaal~" Sean replied in sing-song, wiggling his shoulders forward and backward in a display of playful excitement. How long had it been since they'd hung out with Tori? Since forever ago! When Tori quit the strip club, Sean was personally devastated. He showed that by carrying on as usual, but a little part of him always missed Tori's gentle charm. There was just something about him that one couldn't help but like.

Of course... he liked Tori like a brother. In no way, shape or form did Sean ever harbor any other feelings for him. Purely platonic was the name of the game. He sipped his beer a little pensively, however, side-eyeing Logan and trying to keep his gaze from sliding down to where his lower back was. Did he really have a beauty mark there?

Why do I care?

Logan was right--it was a weird thing to get fixated on. Even Sean didn't know exactly why it lingered in his mind, it just did. He cleared his throat a little conspicuously and took another longer gulp of his drink. "It's Tori man! I finally got hold of him!"

[Logan Go]

"No, god," he said under his breath at the mention of somebody special. "Please not Sherry."

Crazy Sherry, as they liked to call her. Logan met her here but she was one of those people who misunderstood the whole stripper profession. Logan thought she was asking him on a date but she was literally propositioning him for sex. It was totally weird and totally awkward and Logan still managed to get tangled in a relationship with her for three months before taking a flying leap off the crazy train.

Logan nursed his drink, eyes skeptically roving over Sean. He was about to tell him to spit it out already when he finally came out with it. Tori! That took Logan aback and he sat up straighter in shock.

"Tori?" He couldn't even begin to disguise the surprise in his voice. Damn, Tori. It had been a while. He was one of their tight little group for a while. Hell, Logan remembered when he joined. He seemed so shy and reserved... until he got up on the stage. Then he was... whew. He was something else, that was for sure. He left, though, some time ago. After he graduated and paid off most of his school loans, he seemed to just disappear from their lives. He stopped hanging out, going out with them... He became super responsible.

"Really? He's really going out with us, then?" He lifted a fist for a bro-fist. "How the hell'd you manage that one?"

[Sean Yun]

Heh heh heh... Sherry.

That was what Logan got for putting his dick in crazy though.

Sean was not sympathetic in the least, possibly because he was way too amused by all of Logan's stories. The stalking was the best part. That or the lube and condoms that she threw all over his car when he broke up with her. That amused Sean for a whole damn week and he couldn't stop laughing for at least two or three days.

But no. It wasn't Crazy Sherry. It was far more pleasant company and Sean grinned in the face of Logan's delighted surprise. "Yeah man!" He bumped fists--couldn't let a bro hang, after all. "I have my ways," Sean continued in a mock-lofty tone of voice, sipping on his beer--which probably ruined that whole image.

"He's gonna meet up with us at my place for the... ahem." He twinkled. "Pre-drink."

[Logan Go]

"So we're really doing the ladies' pre-drink thing then?" He grinned at the thought of the group of them, sitting around with beers in hand while they prepped to go out to a club. Good thing it was a bunch of dudes or they'd just drink, get wasted, and have a good time at home. The thought of that sent a weird little... itch down Logan's spine. Ever since that weird conversation with Sean, he felt a tiny bit judged and self conscious about his confession. So what if he was competitive? Now he felt like all the dudes knew and they were uncomfortable around him.

He wasn't even gay but honestly, that probably just made it worse. After all, Tori was gay and nobody felt uncomfortable dancing and stripping in front of him. It was probably because he never once dated a fellow stripper. Also didn't hurt that most of them were straight as the poles they sometimes danced on.

"Is he bringing along that weird boyfriend of his?"

[Sean Yun]

Sean laughed out loud and reached over to playfully punch Logan on the arm. "Never! It's a manly get-together, sorta like a barbecue, just without the grilling!" Or however Logan put it last time that had him in stitches. Honestly, beers were pretty tame for them at this point. Sean didn't think he could even get drunk off them anymore, not without downing a whole 12-pack or something. It was just a way to kick back and relax with the guys, to have something to sip on while they talked about random shit.

"Nah. They broke up apparently."

Which totally wasn't even a bad thing because that guy was weird. He almost seemed emotionless out in public and any friendly attempts made by Sean went completely ignored. Yet, according to Tori, he 'wasn't as bad as he seemed,' which could be said of anybody, really. Tori might have had a knack for seeing the good in people but fuck if Sean was gonna sit there and be judged by some lawyer-wannabe.

Okay, he was kinda bitter about some guy hurting Tori. Even if the split was amicable, knowing Tori...

Clearing his throat--and his thoughts--he tilted the bottle toward his lips.

"I told him he should try to pick somebody up at the club." Which Sean and presumably Logan would also be doing, unless Logan was too busy competitively checking out other guys' asses.

[Logan Go]

"Okay then, call it that! Pre-drink is just so..."

He shuddered. So girly, even for a guy who was drinking a "girly" neon blue drink. Like, there was nothing wrong with being girly and all but he wasn't and he didn't really think Sean was either. They were like two of the manliest dudes he knew!

Logan downed the rest of his drink. Broke up, huh? Sean had always been closer to Tori than Logan was but he was still surprised he hadn't been informed of this development. When? How? Was that why he was inviting Tori out with them? Maybe it was recent. Tori sort of fell off Logan's radar when he left the strip club because they didn't stay in touch. They didn't really call or text each other and Tori seemed to have immersed himself in his new work. Logan had no reason to go to the pharmacy either, although he did see Tori in passing once or twice through the window.

So he was no longer with that robot guy, huh? Tori was too good for that guy anyway. Like Sean, Logan always had a hard time getting that guy to open up and have a good time. It always seemed like he was merely tolerating their presence and his silence made it look like he was sitting there, judging the shit out of them while the rest of them had a good time.

Good riddance. At least they could all loosen up and have a good time without Judgey McJudgerstein sitting there like a lump the whole time. Logan let out a snort.

"Good luck getting him to just hook up with somebody." He gave Sean a sidelong look. "He's Mr. Boyfriend Material. Hard to see him just having one night stands and shit."

[Sean Yun]

"Man, you got no faith in me," Sean sighed, slumping forward like he was genuinely upset by Logan's skepticism. It was true, though. Tori was the "in for the long haul" type. Then again, if he and that emotionless robot broke up, chances were good that he was open to a one-night stand just to... get some of the misery out. Nothing like a good fuck to get over somebody! Or something like that. Sean wouldn't know; he couldn't remember being devastated over a break-up. It helped that he wasn't that "in for the long haul" type though.

"He said he'd give it a shot though! And if anybody can get him to loosen up, it's gonna be me!" He tapped his chest proudly with a fist. Yeah, Sean was a great wing-man! Although... he generally went out with Logan and it was easier to wing-man for him with the chicks, but hey, how hard could it be to... wrangle in a couple of guys for Tori? The guy was handsome! He moved like liquid sex on stage and on the dance floor. Hell, Sean probably didn't even have to do anything; guys would be flocking to Tori all night.

Pausing to motion for another beer, he let a thoughtful silence fall. "Even if he doesn't..." He eyed the girly blue drink that Logan was holding. "We'll just get him super drunk and he'll end up having a good time anyway!"

[Logan Go]

"Good point. You always help me get laid by the end of the night." Logan grinned, smacking Sean on the arm for emphasis. Well, it was true. They played wingman for one another all the time. Logan was pretty sure the two of them had this whole getting a woman for the night business under lock by now. His gaze dropped to the remains of his drink as Sean eyed it. Ignoring the way he looked at it, Logan pointedly ordered a second one. He wasn't looking to get drunk tonight--just wanted a couple of night caps, that was all.

"Isn't he like a super light weight, though? Pump him up with a couple of those pre-drinks and he'll probably already be good to go!"

[Sean Yun]

"I thought you didn't need help, you're so smooth and handsome and tall, you big chick magnet, you," Sean said facetiously, with a wide amused grin. Half the time, they were boasting about their ability to pull chicks but Sean liked to think that there was a good system going. If he saw a couple of hot girls, he tried to maneuver them over to Logan and vice versa. They were thoughtful like that--not womanizing, like that one woman said when he didn't want to take her home at the end of the night.

"I'll definitely get Tori laid, you wait and see."

He did, though, raise his brows at a second order of the girly drink. While sipping on his second beer, Sean shook his head. "You're embarrassing me, man." Sean put up a hand to cover the side of his face, like he was trying to obscure it from the other people at the bar. Not that he really cared, though; his skin was so thick, not even ridicule and scorn could puncture it. ...most of the time, anyway.

[Logan Go]

"You don't need it, either," Logan said with a sweeping gaze over his bro-friend. Seriously, Sean didn't need the help. Any guy as good-looking as he was had his pick of women. They were just better at charming girls when they were together, cracking jokes to show their senses of humor and goading one another into dancing. Oh, that one drove a lot of the women absolutely wild. Technically, they shouldn't do it for free but it wasn't like a full blown routine. Just a little... strategic lower body thrusting and some bedroom eyes.

Got them every time.

Or most of the time.

"He probably needs it. You think him and that robot dude ever actually did anything together?" It was hard to imagine. Sure, he could see an impassioned Tori--he was basically sex on legs when he danced anyway. But the other guy... he was like stone. Maybe he wasn't, though. Behind closed doors, maybe even he succumbed to Tori's good looks. Who knew?

Logan looked over at Sean's hand and he pushed it against Sean's face.

"Oh shut up or next one I order is for you."

[Sean Yun]

Sean was delicately flattered but tried not to show it. It did matter to him, what Logan thought of him. They were best friends, after all, so Logan's opinion held more weight in serious matters like Sean's ability to attract women in his 'advanced age.' Hey, these were his glory days but he was rapidly headed towards Over-The-Hillsville. In a few years he'd hit the big 3-0 and that was a pretty frightening thought!

He made a disgusted face and swatted Logan on the shoulder. "I think I don't wanna talk about Tori gettin' it on with a robot!" Sean protested heatedly, shaking his head like a dog as though he thought it could also shake away the disturbing mental images. Don't get him wrong, Tori was a looker all right. It was just... No. Nope. Sean didn't even want to head down that path.

His palm slapped against his own cheek and Sean let out a squawk of surprise at the smack. "You're buying me drinks?? I'm so flattered~" He fluttered his lashes over at Logan in a gross parody of what women did. The come-hither look in his eyes as he attempted to be coy probably made him look stupid but he went with it anyway, leaning closer the way he saw chicks do and squeezing his arms together as though he was trying to show off his chest.

Hey, it worked for them--not so much for Sean. No breasts, for one thing.

"Oh Logan~ You're so generous~"

[Logan Go]

"Yeahhhhh..." Now that Sean put it that way, Logan didn't either. He shouldn't have blurted that out; it was weird and Sean had already been eyeballing him all weird since their last discussion via text. Logan hated it when people looked at him like that; he was just a normal dude, all right?!

"No." His voice was flat as Sean fluttered his eyelashes at him like some girl from one of those old westerns. Even worse was the way he squeezed his chest together. Logan screwed up his brows and looked down at the not-boobs. Definitely not boobs and they were a poor parody of them! (He still half wanted to reach out and give one a honk for the hell of it but damn it, he would not!)

"You look ridiculous. I'll only buy Sean a drink, not Seana!"