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Balfour left his latest customer sauntering back down the stairs, and clipped along the corridor in his dainty black heels to the spiralling staircase that would lead him to the rec room. He could hear various activities going on behind the closed doors, but the sounds were easy to zone out once he’d heard them a thousand times. Going down the steps in heels used to be a daily trial, but after he’d nicked a hole into his stocking once when carrying the shoes he’d learnt to get down without spraining an ankle. The stockings he wore today were sheer black until thigh height, where they ringed his lean muscle of his legs in tight lace to match the lacy briefs he wore. They also, not quite incidentally, matched Balfour’s gloves, his favourite part of the outfit that were also black lace, reaching from just below his elbow to the first knuckle of each of his fingers, deliciously soft on his skin.
He pulled off the gloves as he came into the room, a box-like space filled with tattered sofas and rugs where the workers could relax between shifts, and kept them in his hand as he adjusted the underwear that was riding low on his hips. Rook (naked, smoking) and Ace (also naked, not smoking) were lounging on the best sofa, and as Balfour entered he caught the end of their loud conversation from Rook, “And then she was surprised when I grabbed her arse!” the comment caused Ace to snort and roll his eyes, and Rook chuckled, taking a drag from his cigarette.
“Alright Balfour?”
“Mm-hm,” Balfour hummed, perching on an armchair to slip the heels off, “Who are you talking about now?”
“Rook’s latest attempts at romance.”
“It should be illegal to put ‘Rook’ and ‘romance’ in the same sentence,” Luvander commented from the side of the room where he was painting his nails, prompting Rook to defend himself instantly in outrage.
“Fuck you, I don’t need to be romantic!”
Pulling on his gloves Balfour tried to change the subject, padding over to the counter and asking “Does anyone want some coffee?” to the room at large.
Ace was not so easily dissuaded, and proceeded to tell Rook that, “Maybe if you were romantic you’d have a bit more success. Yeah, I will, Balfour.”
“Success? I get plenty of fucks.”
“You’re a whore, of course you get fucked regularly.”
“I usually do the fucking, actually.” Balfour could feel the whole room roll its eyes at Rook’s smug tone, as if he wasn’t continually assuring them of his sexual prowess (which was, frankly, mythical, as he refused to sleep with his co-workers). Still, as he finished stirring the coffee and moved back to the sofa to give Ace his mug, he joined the conversation, asking, “If you’re so satisfied with your sex life why are you still trying to pick up people?”
Ace took the proffered coffee and answered before Rook, “It’s because he’s a randy bastard–”
“And he wants to check that he can still get with people who aren’t paying him,” Luvander continued and Ace finished, “– Not likely.”
“Aw, go fuck yourselves,” Rook snarled, and kicked at Ace, knocking the drink from his hands. Ace gave a yell as the scalding liquid splashed onto his bare chest and Balfour jumped back to avoid the drops flying everywhere.
“Ow! Jesus Christ, Rook!”
“Could you lot keep it down?” Adamo yelled as he came into the room from the front. The brothel proprietor was looking sharp in light shirtsleeves and royal blue trousers, but he seemed ruffled as he snapped, “Ace, clean that shit off yourself. Balfour, re-do your makeup.”
Balfour nodded quickly, Ace got up and grabbed a towel from by the sink, but Rook sniggered and stubbed his fag out viciously on the table.
With that, Adamo rounded on him, growling, “Rook, next time you smoke inside I will castrate you.”
“Jeez, what’s got up your arse? Oh wait, nothing! Because no-one fucks Mr. High-and-Mighty-Adamo.”
Adamo ignored this. “There’s a guy out there, wants it vanilla, Magoughin and Merrit have arrangements, who’s up?”
“Well not me unless they want to lick coffee off my skin!” Ace spat from by the sink, and Rook harrumphed and stood up.
“Guess I’ll do it then. Is he cute?”
“Just your type,” Adamo muttered and stalked out. Balfour moved over to the mirror and, taking off his gloves, dabbed at his smudged eye-makeup with a wet wipe as Rook shrugged into his jeans and a thin, low cut top.
“How do I look?”
“Dashing,” Luvander replied dryly and with that, Rook marched from the room.
“Luvander, can you re-do my makeup?”
“Sure, come here sweetie.” Balfour chucked the wipe into the bin and went to sit in front of Luvander, slipping his gloves back on and wiggling his fingers against the lace. Luvander took up one of his pencils and was about to start when the sounds of a commotion came from outside, and the distinct sound of Rook shouting “What the fuck are you doing here?” reverberated into the room.
The three men looked at each other, and then in unison scurried over to the door to peer out into the reception area. Adamo was standing behind the counter at the front desk, and a few other boys were draped across various bits of furniture, showing themselves off for the customers, but the main focus of everyone’s attention were Rook, and a man Balfour recognised as Rook’s younger brother, Thom, from the few times he’d met Rook outside of work.
“I – I just – do you work here?!”
Rook straightened and thrust his chin out, “Yeah. Got a problem with that?”
Thom’s mouth worked silently, as his eye flicked around, apparently recognising some of Rook’s other co-workers and finally landing of Balfour in his lingerie. Balfour smiled nervously and shrugged.
Compangon giggled in the silence and Ghislain hit him.
“You – you’re all –“
“And you were gonna ask one of us to fuck you. Just get out – or pay up if you wanna stick around.”
Thom blanched and shook his head, then turned tail and hurried out of the door. Rook huffed as they all listened to his footsteps clatter down the stairs outside, and then he rounded on Adamo, “What did you mean he was ‘just my type’?!”
“He was,” Adamo replied calmly, “normally you like guys like that. Anyway, please stop scaring off customers.”
“That wasn’t a customer – that was my – my cindy brother! Fucking hell, my brother likes men!”
“You like men,” Niall drawled from where he was sat with Raphael.
“I am straight.”
“Tell that to the next guy you cum into!”
“If you just accepted your sexuality we’d all be much happier!” Luvander sing-songed from behind Balfour, and tugged him back into the room before Rook could reply, “Come on, let’s finish your eyes.” Luvander sat him down and started again as Balfour fiddled with his gloves and they listened to Rook trying to deny his preferences. Ace started getting dressed again, and Ivory came down the stairs, adjusting his black t-shirt and running a hand through his hair.
“I assume that was Rook I heard having a tantrum?”
Ace laughed and Luvander hummed in agreement, then patted Balfour on the cheek, “Ok off you go.”
“Thanks!” Balfour tugged his gloves tight and jumped up, slipping his heels on and moving out into the foyer. A lady had come in and was flirting Adamo who was politely rebutting her passes. Rook, looking stormy, was sat with Compangon and Magoughin, who had appeared from above, and Balfour quietly slipped into his place next to Niall and Raphael. Niall reached across and pinched his nipples, with a gloved hand, his, satiny and reaching to his elbows.
“Look lively, Adamo’s not feeling patient.”
“Our handsome captain has to disappoint the fair maiden once again,” Raphael whispered, running his fingers through Balfour’s hair and smoothing it down, “Alas.”
They all looked over to where the woman was stroking the proprietor’s face and he was telling her to pick one of the boys or leave. She appeared to sigh and turned around to lead Magoughin up the stairs. Adamo glared at the men watching him as she left, and they all quickly found other things to be doing.
Being a weekday it was a quiet afternoon, and Luvander brought them all coffee as they chatted while Ace beat Merritt at cards. And if, when a slender, brown haired, bookish man came in looking for a fuck, Rook was the first to approach him and take him upstairs, the boys were savvy enough to let it slide; Rook was the best at what he did so they let him have his kinks – even if he was a “Bloody weird-ass suppressed maniac” as Ace so eloquently put it, as he collected up the rest of Merritt’s cash.