La Luna (BoyxBoy)

The Grand Opening

On the morning of La Luna's grand opening every staff member had awoken to find two black boxes wrapped with white ribbon and two freshly steamed suits waiting for them outside their doors. Cyl had recognised the suits from the group photo shoot, and figured the boxes were the correct size for a pair of shoes.

Upon opening the boxes, however, Cyl and Gear found that along with shoes the boxes also held staff name tags and an individual bottle of cologne.

As Cyl unpacked his own he discovered a small business card attached to a satin pouch. The card showed the company's simple logo on one side, and the word 'sorry' neatly written on the back. Inside the pouch was a soft velvet eye patch — a much better quality than his usual gauze one. A small smile had tugged at his features as he fingered the material. Sev must have talked to Satzki again. He needed to remember to thank him.

From what Cyl had read in the notice they'd received, the company's 'grand opening' would be more of a meet and greet rather than a conventional working night. Every employee, including Stars, would be in attendance, but only about a dozen of the company's best clients were invited. Mathematically, unless every client was planning on paying for multiple people, the odds were against him.

As he and Gear stepped out of the elevator it instantly became clear to Cyl exactly how many escorts there were working at La Luna. There had to be almost a hundred young men gathered in the foyer of their residential annex, and Cyl now understood why he only had a few shifts a week.

Gear's arm snaked around Cyl's waist as they headed toward the group of familiar faces from their floor and the one below, and Mika beamed at the sight of them approaching.

"Crazy, isn't it?" he gushed, waving at someone as they passed by. "It's so weird to see everyone all together like this!"

Cyl could only watch in stunned silence as Mika effortlessly picked up conversation with every person that approached him, only falling silent when Satzki's voice addressed the crowd.

"Evening, everyone!" he grinned with a small wave. He wore the same suit as everyone else, though in inverted white on black, and his trusty tablet was tucked safely under his arm. "We'll be joining our guests shortly, but I wanted to say a couple of things before we go in. First of all, La Luna's goal is to sell fantasies. If someone is looking for a genuine experience or simply to play, we do our best to provide that for them, however..."

Satzki paused to scan the faces of his employees, his expression growing serious.

"If, at any point, you feel uncomfortable or unsafe, please tell me; tell your partner, tell whoever you're scheduled with. The last thing I want is for you to feel as though you are in danger,"

Cyl swallowed heavily as a dark cloud fell over the room, though Satzki's expression quickly lightened.

"That being said," he chirped. "The guests we have today are our top clients. They know the ins and outs of being a customer here, and they know that this is your first day on the job. The majority of you will just need to relax and mingle."

With that, Satzki turned to make his way down the connecting hallway, gesturing for the crowd to follow him.

The plain foyer of the main building that Cyl was used to was now decorated in black, white and gold. Welcome banners hung from the ceiling, glittering under the lights, while carefully arranged balloons reminded Cyl of the corporate events his father used to drag him to when he was a kid. On the walls hung large poster-sized screens which cycled through photos of his fellow employees -- Cyl recognised a few of them from his time in the warehouse, including Chai's.

Ahead of the group, Satzki pushed open the double doors that led into the main hall, and a soft round of applause greeted the group as they moved inside.