Death's Middle Name {boyxboy}

Chapter Eight

~Wednesday 6th December 2017~

"How long is your shift?" Alwynn's father inquired, keeping his eyes on the road as he turned another corner.

"Until one," Alwynn replied briefly, barely looking up from his phone.

"What restaurant stays open until one?" Clark muttered under his breath, clearly not meant to be heard by Alwynn. Thankfully, the drive had been a short one, so Alwynn didn't have to endure any more of his father's awkward small talk.

"See you in a few hours," Alwynn slung his rucksack over his shoulder, walking toward the door of the restaurant, watching his father pull away and waiting until he had rounded the corner at the end of the street. Once out of sight, Alwynn turned, crossing the road instead and entering the building opposite.

"Hey, Al," a barely dressed boy grinned at Alwynn as he passed, rubbing oil on another boy's bare chest.

"Hey, Lars," Alwynn stopped for a moment, a smile appearing on his own face, "you seem to be having fun already," Alwynn teased, leaning against the wall.

"You always have the opportunity to join us, Al, you know the customers would want to see you on stage, you get enough comments about it as is," Lars' innocent grin morphed into a smirk that was far more sinister.

"Drunk men, drunk minds. I'd probably fall flat on my face, I don't have the grace you do. I'm perfectly happy serving drinks."

"You'd look good up on the stage, Al," the other boy, Ceylon, chimed in, "all lubed up and clad in leather or chains. I think it would suit you, and I think you'd enjoy it more than you expect," Alwynn chuckled, shaking his head.

"I have a feeling the customers would probably enjoy it more than me. I'll leave the dancing up to you guys," Alwynn left the two boys to continue with their preparations, putting his rucksack in his locker, catching Jethro just as he returned from the smoking area.

"You're not late for once," Alwynn feigned surprise, gasping dramatically.

"I know," Jethro chuckled, slipping his phone into his back pocket, "shocker, isn't it? Maybe next I'll go a whole night without pissing off a single customer."

"Baby steps," Alwynn walked with Jethro back to the bar, noticing a few customers had already entered and gotten seated around the stages, "early start tonight it looks like," Alwynn unbuttoned the top few buttons on his shirt, pulling it open slightly. The more skin he showed, the higher the tips.

"Are you OK?" Jethro asked all of a sudden, moving behind the bar, passing Alwynn a black tray and a white rag.

"What?"

"Wist told me about the shit you've been going through with that Vant guy, I just wanna make sure you're OK," Alwynn had informed Wisteria of the conflictions he was suffering on Monday, or rather she had pried them out of him after much pestering. They were bound to make their way to Jethro's ears at some point.

"I'm OK," Alwynn smiled, forcing it to be far more enthusiastic than he felt, "I guess," he added softly, averting his gaze elsewhere.

"You're a bad liar is what you are," at least Jethro kept his tone light-hearted, Alwynn wasn't sure he could have coped if he was being serious, "you talked to him about it? Wist was a little hazy on the details, you know how she can be."

"Haven't had the chance, I think he might be avoiding me. I asked Everest, one of his daughters, to tell him to call me but I've not got anything. Suppose I shouldn't dwell on it, probably wasn't meant to be anyway," Alwynn stared off into a dark corner of the room whilst Jethro stepped aside to serve a customer who had just sat at the opposite end of the bar.