Hey guys! I don’t hang around much over here anymore, but I’ll be posting a new fic soon and thought I’d give a preview. It’s a tensemi prequel to Plumage, but you don’t have to know anything about that one for it to make sense. The first chapter will be out Saturday. This is kind of nsfw, so check under the cut at your own risk.
The DJ’s voice pumped through the speakers. “We have a special treat for you tonight! For the first time at Plumage, please welcome our newest dancer! He’s been on stages in Osaka, Kyoto, and Yokohoma, and now we’re proud to have him as a regular. Now to center stage, this is Phoenix!”
Semi was already at the stairs before the announcement was over, stripping off his jacket and tossing it aside as he mounted the stage. The floor was polished, reflecting the overhead lights that painted his skin in orange and yellow and purple. He took a breath and huffed it out as he stepped up to the middle pole. The crowd had thickened. The stage-side seats were almost full, a row of strangers staring up at him, waiting.
He remembered the first time he’d done this. He’d been a wreck, so clammy with nervous sweat that he couldn’t get a solid grip on the pole at all.
But that had been a long time ago, and Semi wasn’t the same person anymore.
The new song started, growing fresh from the last one, a riptide of gritty beats mixed with rough guitar.
At least Tendou had done something right.
Semi curled a hand around the pole, kicked into a slow spin to test it. It was smooth; stainless steel, like he preferred, like all of them should be. The last club he’d worked at had brass poles, for some rich man’s aesthetic, and they’d been a nightmare.
Semi ducked under his arm and twisted in a neat pirouette. He planted his boots and rolled himself in fluid waves, chest to hips, feeling the beat of the music. He swiveled, his back toward the audience, and bent over until his palms were on the floor. He trailed a hand up the inside of his leg, brushing dangerously close to the sliver of leather shorts that had already ridden up to reveal an indecent amount of skin. He stood slowly, looking back to make sure he had everyone’s attention.
Of course he did. Phoenix always did.
He gripped the pole and flipped himself upside down, as easy as breathing, legs kicked over his head and then hooking to pull himself up. He hit a pose, knees spread, hands traveling up his chest and briefly tugging at the harness before regripping as he swiveled. He pushed a hand through his hair, slowly, as he spiraled back toward the floor, landing on his knees, spreading them wide enough that no one could look anywhere else. He rocked his hips in rhythm with the music, head thrown back, lip caught between his teeth. He yanked at the harness again, harder, and curled his other hand between his legs.
Perfectly on cue, there was a shower of money, falling like feathers onto the stage. Semi crawled closer to the ledge, hands sliding through the bills. He rolled over his shoulder, onto his back, and spread his legs into a full split.
He didn’t have to look to know there was more money now. He felt some of it against his bare thighs, an eager flutter. His boots thumped together in midair and he flipped onto his stomach, rolling his hips against the floor in the most suggestive way. There was more money, a lot of it. It was all that Semi could see.
The DJ’s voice chimed in as the song wound down, announcing another dancer’s arrival on stage. Semi scooped up the money that had been thrown at him and collected it into a messy pile. He spared a half-smirk for the man who’d generously tossed in a 5000-yen note. Semi would track him down as soon as his rotation on the stage was over. He had a feeling he’d just found his first private dance.
Semi stood and moved toward his right, to begin the second dance of this set, but an onlooker in the audience caught his eye.
Tendou was standing in the middle of the floor, as if he’d been going somewhere and had abruptly lost his way. He was staring at the stage – at Semi, in particular – his wide eyes even wider. It was difficult to tell in the strange light of the stage, but it almost seemed that his face was beginning to turn a similar shade as his hair.