Hide Your Secrets [I][M]

It is so early in the morning it constitutes as late at night, around three in the morning. The bathhouse is still and sleepy from the bustle of the day and only those who stir are either those who are hard at work or those who are hard at play.

Daruka is  surprisingly one of those who is playing hard. The young performer, lacking close friends of his own, has taken to hiring escorts who will humor his exotic tastes for life. On this night he has become intoxicated and has been chasing around his escort of the night throughout the halls of the bathhouse, making sure to avoid his superiors or those who would smear his relatively clean reputation as a dedicated and focused top performer.

In this moment the young man, clad in a short black robe that drapes loosely over his shoulders, but fits snugly around his waist. His ruby red hair is messy and falls carelessly over his shoulders and down his back, his white feet pale and bare. He has a wide grin on his face as he presses his fingertips to the wall to keep his balance as he dashes down the hallway, searching for his lover of the night.

Soft giggles and sweet nothings can be heard against the silence of the floor as Daruka looks around, his intoxicated eyes flickering with excitement.

Hakim had decided on a whim that he would leave the basement for a while and just wander around.

The man padded through the halls, leaving dirty footprints in his wake as he looked around idly, just looking for something interesting to do.

Or some empty place he could practise in.

The man's trousers hung loosely, covering the bare necessities but not much else.

He turned the corner in the hallway and arched a brow as he saw a mop of fiery red hair connected to someone leant against the wall. From his position behind Daruka, he couldn't see enough to identify him as male.

In fact, he was pretty sure he was looking at a woman.

Hakim padded forwards slowly.

The young performer chuckles as he stumbles forward slightly, leaning more against the wall as he stops walking for a moment. He pants quietly, drunk and mildly aroused, running his long right hand back through his brilliantly red hair, a sea of ruby waves.

"Don't think I d-don't know where you are~" he croons out in a whispering slur, chuckling sweetly as his hip pops out, his fingers caressing the wall beside him, "I want to feel you all over me~" Daruka runs his fingertips slowly up and down his sides as he begins to saunter forward again.

Even in his drunken state his footsteps seem to glide across the floor like dance steps, careful, graceful. His fingertips trail and trace along the wall, fluttering almost. His soft laughs are like flitting birdsong even if they're slurred. Everything about him radiates performance.

Hakim watched the man's back and listened to his words.

Man, this fucked was wasted. Someone had seen a little too much alcohol tonight.

The man passed the drunken man slumped against the wall, his backside in plain view as he padded past him, looking for somewhere he could practise.

He wanted to spend some time doing what he loved most.

Daruka's eyes widen to shimmering orbs as the young man passes by him, hips rolling, revealing a smooth, muscular, tanned rear. This... Wasn't his escort? Was it? He remembered hiring a man, a strong dark man, but no... No that wasn't him. And because it wasn't Daruka deduced that he should be very embarrassed right now...

But he wasn't.

Daruka Sitara is the top performer in this place! He should never be ashamed, no sir! In this moment of intoxicated confidence the drunken top performer reaches out and gives the ripe rear-end before him, almost as if trying to grasp something to steady himself with.

He then straightens up as much as he can, face flushed pink for more reasons than being drunk, and looks the other way, biting his full red lip to unsuccessfully stifle a grin.

Hakim's body went rigid when he felt the hand grip one firm cheek.

He relaxed, turning his gaze over his shoulder, arching a brow at the woman.

A little smirk curled his lips. "Can I help you?" he asked, tilting his head to the side a little. His dreads floated around him as he turned slowly so he was facing Daruka.

It wasn't for a long moment that Hakim realised that this person was male.

Wow, he had really feminine features.

"Yes, yes you can sir," he pipes out drunkenly, avoiding eye contact with Hakim though there is a naughty look on his face, "You can help me by taking those pants all the way off if they are going to be hanging so low in the first place~" Daruka laughs heartily at his own joke, his eyes scrunching up against his broad smile, his hands coming up to cover his blushing face.

The top performer wobbles a second before plopping on the ground, his eyes big with surprise before he starts laughing even harder. He looks up at Hakim with a grin and tucks a few locks of his bright red hair behind his pointed ear, his eyes big and shimmering.

Hakim let out a shocked laugh.

He hadn't been expecting anything so bold. "You're very drunk," Hak chuckled. The man was so wasted that he couldn't even stand, apparently.

With another soft chuckle, the man crouched, resting his forearms on either knee.

This man really was plastered. It was funny seeing someone so entertainingly pissed.

"Do you need any help getting anywhere?" He wasn't going to let someone this drunk just lay out. The least he could do was get him back to his bed so he could sleep it off and awake with a nasty hangover.

Daruka lets out a soft hum as he places his hands on his face once more, smiling bashfully,

"So polite~ Help me to the performance chambers and perhaps I can find my way from there." He chuckles again placing his hands needily on Hakim's shoulders. His fingertips press slightly to feel the muscles under his skin and Daruka purrs out a hum of approval.

"Dirty... Strong... Furnace feeder?" he questions, a content smile on his face, but his eyes are now hooded.

Hakim's arms slid under the man, pulling him up.

He pushed himself to his feet easily, carrying the man as he turned to head towards the performance chambers.

"For now," Hakim replied.

There were other things he wanted to do. Things that were completely different from furnace feeding.

The top performer wraps his arms around Hakim's shoulders and chuckles softly,

"Such bold statements," he purrs, "What is your goal then furnace feeder? Do you not like being dirty?" Once it connects in Daruka's mind how questionable his statement may have sounded he chuckles again, patting his own blushy cheek, as a faux punishment.

Daruka's toes curl and uncurl as he's carried, one of his idle hands toys with Hakim's long dreads.

"Hakim." His eyes flickered down to the man in his arms. "My name's Hakim." Not furnace feeder. He didn't want to be known as the furnace feeder.

The chuckled softly.

"Oh no, I very much like getting dirty."

Getting dirty was fun.

"I have bigger ambitions than feeding a huge metal box with coal." He didn't want to be doing this for the rest of his life.

"Well... Hakim... Continue on with your path and try not to become a performer. You can never get dirty as a performer," he huffs out, his lips pouting slightly, "It's all about appearances and the public's view of you! If you want to get dirty you have to do it behind closed curtains or else that's the end of it!"

Daruka seems to flop dramatically in Hakim's arms after he proclaims this, one arm raising to cover his eyes, his robe riding up slightly, exposing more white areas of his thighs. His toes curl tightly as he peeks at Hakim from under his arm and then goes quickly back into his dramatic pose.

Hakim gave a soft chuckle, shaking his head.

"Who's to say I can't do both?"

He could perform and get dirty. Hakim was just talented like that. He knew if he had the chance, he could do both.

The man chuckled softly as Daruka looked up at him before returning to his dramatic pose. That was almost cute.

"We're here. Where now?"

He wasn't going to leave the man until he knew he was in bed safe.

"I say you can't because I know it's impossible. I've tried everything to keep my position and have fun, but always in secret... I always have to have my fun in secret and I hate it," he chirps out sadly, snuggling back in close to Hakim.

"Go all the way down the hallway and then right. There will be," he pauses to let out a small hiccup, "A flight of stairs then... Then another flight of stairs... Then my room is there. It's the big doors, you can't miss them." The young performer seems to curl in closer to Hakim after he says all of this, his white skin getting a little dirty as his fingertips trace over Hak's sooty body.

The man shook his head, dreads flying out around him. "Then you haven't tried hard enough."

Hak's eyes flickered up as he made his way down the hall as instructed.

He made quick work of clearing both flights of stairs.

"This it?" he asked, his gaze on the door in front of him.

"Oh... I try hard Hakim... I really do," he yawns and squirms around a little in his arms, trying to stretch, but eventually gives up and just lays there still until the furnace feeder speaks to him.

The doors before the two a very large and decorated, a plaque beside them reads "Top Performer: Daruka Sitara's Chambers".

The man, curled up in Hakim's arms opens his eyes lazily and nods his head, waving his hand in a downward fashion at the doors so they open wide enough to let the two in. The room is large, covered in pillows with enormous bay windows that overlook Uptown Solor City all the way down to the blackwaters. Charms hang from the ceiling as well as lanterns of many colors, giving the room a soft, calm hue. There is also a cleared space that is large enough to practice performance routines and such.

Daruka sighs peacefully and reaches out to try and grab a pillow while still in Hakim's arms.

Top performer.

The man in his arms was the top performer of Soruna?

He...He really hadn't expected that. The man in his arms just didn't seem... like how he expected a top performer to be.

The man stepped into the room, looking around in wonder. The room was amazing. Huge, full of luxuries. Completely different from his own tiny room. The higher-ups really lived in luxury.

"Whoa," Hakim grunted, his arms tightening around Daruka's body when the man shifted to try and reach a pillow. "Careful."

Daruka lets out a little tired hum when Hakim tightens his grip and then looks up at him with big eyes.

"I...I can do it," he smiles big and looks back over at the pillows, pushing his hair back out of his face before letting out a soft breath through his lips. He looks sleepy, but somewhat alert, his toes curling once more.

"Uh-huh."

Hakim knelt down, laying Dakura down on the cushions so he couldn't try to writhe out of his arms again.

"Will you be okay now?" he asked.

It was still early enough for him to go find a place to practise for a while.

"Hmm I could use a nice pair of arms to perhaps lay with and hold me for awhile," he purrs out, curling up in his sea of pillows, his big red eyes looking up beckoningly at Hakim.

Daruka stretches out his body slightly, turning his face to the side so one side is hidden by pillows, the other looking up at Hakim. His toes curl and uncurl and his robe rides up slightly. His hair spills about him like a sea of red, engulfing the pillows around it.

Hakim's eyes trailed slowly over the man as he stretched out on the pillows.

He was a sight to behold.

"Just a pair of arms to hold you for a while?" That hardly seemed worth the waste of precious time he could be performing.

"Sweeten the pot and I may be convinced."

A little smirk curled the man's lips as he planted his hands on his bare hips. "Perhaps now's the time to get a little dirty."

Daruka's eyes seem to flicker in a catlike fashion, admiring bold statements from such a low-positioned employee of their workplace. Even with alcohol sloshing around in his stomach, swimming up into his brain like a salmon ready to mate, the performer knows how to play these games and play them well.

"Perhaps it is..." he murmurs out in a surly fashion dipping his long, elegant fingers down the crease of his black robe to part it slowly down the middle until he reaches his lower stomach, pale white, just like the rest of his flesh. But hanging, or more like resting since Daruka is laying on his back, upon his lower stomach are two gold coin Nōtes, reflecting the flickering lights of the lanterns above them.

"One for each arm of your's I want around me~" he whispers, offering his young companion a wink.

The young Eidolan's lips parted over straight white teeth as his golden eyes settled on the equally gold coins laid out on Daruka's stomach.

He'd never owned a gold note. He got paid in bronze. He always just had bronze coins hanging around when he didn't send them to his family.

Hakim lowered himself to one knee, his grin widening as he leaned over.

His warm, calloused hand stroked over the man's stomach as he picked up the two coins. His lips almost brushed Daruka's as his fist enclosed around the two coins.

He purred softly. "A rather convincing argument."

Daruka's eyes roll steadily into the back of his skull, soon shielded by his heavily made-up eyelids to take in this warm, lusty sensation of touch. He hums out a purr of approval and then reaches his hands up to cup Hakim's face, taking in the entirety of his presence.

"I drive a hard bargain~" he speaks as he traces his fingertips over Hakim's neck, down to his chest.