Nightclub District, Limbo City, Tuesday Evening

[not_every_mage]

Anders wasn't always much of a dancer, but something about the stickiness of summer had him wanting to lose himself among strangers and move to the kind of music he could feel through his whole body. He dressed in a sleeveless shirt and dark fitted jeans after work, hair loose around his face, and collected Dante for a minor adventure.

"Where should we start?" he asked his companion. "I might be able to get on the guest list at the place across the street. The manager had this rash..."

[OOC: For the boy, please!]

Comments

[rebelseekspizza]

"Nah," Dante said, firing off a sunny grin as he took in Anders' outfit again. "Are you kidding me? I'm looking forward to watching you talk us into a club."

[not_every_mage]

"Good thing there's another place down the block if I fall on my face trying," Anders said amiably, and squared his shoulders as they approached the bouncer.

[rebelseekspizza]

"And there's always the bars a few blocks down," Dante said. He didn't let go of Anders' hand until they were close.

Then he shoved his hands in his pockets and gave the bouncer the bro-nod.

The bouncer looked bored. He wasn't as big as you might expect, but he looked pretty solid in front of that door.

[not_every_mage]

"Hello," Anders said, blase as he could manage. "I'm Anders. Louis said he'd put us on the list for tonight."

The bouncer looked them up and down, frowning. "Louis said that, huh?"

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante shrugged with his whole body, but his expression was casual. "No harm in checking, right?"

[not_every_mage]

"Guess not," the bouncer said, and seemed inclined to go back to staring at them for a long beat before pulling out a walkie-talkie and buzzing someone inside.

"Louis? Yeah, I have some kids here who say they're on the list under Anders. You add them? Oh ... right, clinic guy." He laughed. "How's the rash?"

A moment later, he smiled at Dante and Anders. It didn't look like smiling was a thing he did a lot of.

"He says you're cool. Go on in."

"Thanks," Anders said, and groped for Dante's hand again.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante took Anders' hand the moment he felt it brushing against his.

"Man," he said, tugging Anders towards the door. "I guess you really have become people who know people."

[not_every_mage]

"What can I say?" Anders said, though his heart was still beating fast. "I move. I shake. Occasionally I take care of embarrassing medical issues."

He glanced at Dante. "I think it's more settling in. This is feeling like home."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Good," Dante said, and flashed him a grin that had to be at least seventy-five percent pure affection. "It's good to see you puttin' down some roots around here. Living your own life..."

He gave Anders' hand a squeeze as they stepped inside.

[not_every_mage]

"Yeah, when I first came here," Anders said, and then realized the music was loud enough that he had to pitch his voice louder. "When I first came here, I was just hanging around you all the time and trying to stay out of trouble. It was fine, but it's not a way to live your life."

[rebelseekspizza]

"You should tell me about work more," Dante said, also raising his voice. "Like, have you been making more friends and shit?"

[not_every_mage]

"I think so," Anders nodded vigorously. "What I do is a little different from what they do, and for a while they didn't trust it. But it's all healing, isn't it? I still had plenty to learn, and they're willing to teach me."

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante tugged him towards the bar while they spoke. It was a cool-looking place, loads of fancy lighting. He liked it.

Woulda been nicer if the bass didn't pound so hard he had to strain to hear Anders, but they could always head somewhere quieter later.

"Man, you're gonna wind up a doctor at this rate."

[not_every_mage]

"Maybe?" Anders said, finding the idea slightly less ludicrous than it had been some months before. "I don't know. I'd be starting from zero on the academic side of it, but maybe if I got a tutor..."

He would have gone to the bar without being tugged, but it was nice to have Dante's hands on him.

"You think I could do it?"

[rebelseekspizza]

They were in a packed club. Close-quarters touch was like half the point of it.

"'Course you could," Dante said. "You're smart as fuck and you might not know the academics, but you sure as fuck know how to put people's insides back inside, right?"

He leaned over and put down a quick order for something sweet for both of them.

[not_every_mage]

"I can get the insides back inside," Anders agreed, leaning in to more or less shout at Dante's ear. "Sometimes even get things that don't belong inside on the outside, when I'm feeling fancy."

He rested a hand on Dante's back. "I like that you think it could happen, even if I don't end up doing it."

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante looked up - and maybe took advantage of the proximity of Anders' mouth to press a quick kiss against it. Shh.

"Man, I always assume you're gonna kick ass at whatever you decide to do," he yelled back. "But anything with healing people, definitely."

[not_every_mage]

Anders beamed before leaning in to steal another kiss.

"Thanks," he said. "Coming from someone who's going to kick ass at everything he does, too, that means a lot."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Eh, I have it easy," Dante said, grinning wildly as he scooped up one of the pink drinks and handed it to Anders. "All I wanna do is kick actual, physical ass."

[not_every_mage]

"But you still need to find the right asses to kick," Anders pointed out, and took a sip of his drink. His eyes fluttered closed in pleasure. "Mmmm. Tastes like berries."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Man, do they actually have someone who mixes a good one?" Was that glee?

Dante took a big sip of his, and-- "Fuck yeah, they do. Scoring points here, Anders."

[not_every_mage]

"That was the plan," Anders joked, after another sip. "Build the club, decorate it, hire a good bartender and get on the list, just so they can make the perfect pink whatchamacallit and I'd win the Dante's Best Boyfriend competition."

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante laughed. "Think you won that one years ago," he called. "So what do you wanna do?"

[not_every_mage]

"I want to finish this, because it's delicious," Anders said, swirling is drink a little. "And then I want to dance and make everybody jealous by being the hottest people here. Is that all right?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"I like those priorities," Dante said sunnily. "And then I'll take you home and fuck you till your legs stop working."