Coition: Chapter 1

In which Arthur's life sucks and is annoyed by the new Frenchman.

In his two-piece black and pink lingerie, Arthur turned back and forth to appraise himself against the long white mirror in his bedroom, and fiddled with the hanging ribbons nervously. He preferred the other colors to such a bright one as pink, however there was no helping it at this point, he thought as he glanced at the clock on the next wall. It was mid evening and if he didn't hurry along he would be late for work. With a sigh he stuffed everything back into his tiny closet, and had to climb over the bed to grab the belt and wallet he'd left on his nightstand before grabbing his other clothes. As he pulled on the green sweater vest over his dress shirt he thought it was ironic how he looked now; anybody on the street would never guess his profession, the fact he hadn't even finished high school, or that he lived in a cramped trailer along with his high school beau. 'Speaking of Charlie' he thought unhappily; that was another reason to hurry off.

With a sigh at his messy hair that he never could quite tame anyway, he tore his gaze from the mirror and hurried out his cramped bedroom through his cramped kitchen and to the front door.

As he locked the door behind him, he gave a wistful smile at the setting sun that crawled its way down the horizon, half lost behind the trees planted around the trailer park. At least it was still warm outside. He did not want to deal with the freezing cold he knew he was not prepared for. He was still a bit away from his goal to that new coat he wanted, and Charlie was not helping their situation either. Every time he was close to saving up for it, the other boy would have found some way to blow their cash; if he wasn't spending it, it would be for some stupid fee, and once it had been bail, which had taken a lot more than his coat money…

He bit a nail as he stood at the bus stop at the end of his lot.

But such was love he presumed. Even if Charlie had the habit of causing trouble for him, Charlie needed him, and as lovers they were supposed to support and care for each other. That was what they promised when they'd bought the trailer three years ago.

The bus had arrived while he'd been musing, and he laid the side of his head against the window to look out at the dark forms outside as he thought about where his life had gone skewed.

When he was a child his parents always held the assumption that although he was the exact opposite of his rough and tumble older brothers, preferring reading and sketching to sports and camping, and having taken up needling point as a hobby that his grandmother had taught him, he would grow up to be just as normal as the next boy. However around middle school when he figured out where his feelings aligned, they were not the most supportive of his choices to say the least. Instead they had completely uprooted their family all the way from Birmingham, England to the states in Salt Lake City, Utah. It had been very strange moving across an entire ocean and halfway over this country, but he and his brothers adapted well enough. But then Arthur's 'problem' resurfaced while in his sophomore year of high school. He'd fallen for Charlie then, and for an entire year he'd been able to hide the fact they were dating from his family, but they were still suspicious of him. It wasn't until the end of his junior year, the year after Charlie had graduated that the two decided to run away together. They were old enough, and they both had been working, and they had been so in love.

So they drove in the car that had been Charlie's graduation present, and skipped into Las Vegas. And that is where he'd found himself; a poor, under educated Brit, stuck in Las Vegas, with a deadbeat boyfriend. He sighed as the bus rolled to a halt at his destination, and when he got out he stared at his place of employment, waiting for the next crowd of pedestrians passed by. It was a three story shop with dark tinted windows and a pink neon sign of a beautiful woman's head and the word's "Pele's Hideaway" glowing in yellow. When the last person had past Arthur played with his collar one more time before building up enough energy to move forward and open the door.

"Welcome!" Was the shouted greeting as he walked in; the other ladies of the bar had looked up to greet what they thought was a guest, but then as they recognized Arthur they simply went back to their tasks with a bit of disappointment. They chatted with the few men in the lounge as they sat around on the large plush sofas or at the bar itself, or even in a small circle around a platform on the left where a very conspicuous pole presented itself. They were all scantily dressed; some of the girls didn't even have clothes over their underwear.

"Hello Arthur!" one of the girls said cheerfully.

He waved as he past her and headed past the wooden bar under the doorway decorated with plastic purple stringed curtains. He found his employer who everyone fondly called Madam, having a hearty smoke in the furnished back room with it's large sofa, washing machine and dryer. She was a large woman with long red almost violet hair, cloaked in her usual gypsy styled suit. She had a long cigarette holder in her mouth.

"Arthur honey!" she greeted, batting her heavy fake eyelashes under large splashes of black make up. Her voice was deep as she talked.

"Good Day Madam," he said as he walked past her, covering his nose a bit from the smell of her cigarette, to the little locker covered wall where he and the others kept their things. Technically she wasn't supposed to smoke back here, but it was her establishment. "How has it been today?"

When he opened his locker he found his work shoes at the bottom; a pair of tall black platform sandals. He'd gotten used to wearing them after a while, especially since he didn't have to walk much.

"Oh Arthur! It has been terrible!" She said dramatically waving a hand over her forehead, "It's been dead all day! And earlier, you know Angelica? Earlier some strange man groped her while she was working, and usually she wouldn't really mind, but that man said some terrible things to her and she was so upset! I had to send her home early, poor girl."

"Sounds like a normal evening then." He said with a grin.

Madame was a strange woman; she dressed gaudily, was very loud and vulgar, and the fact she not only ran a bar, but one with such encouragement for their type of work, she was not the most respectable of employers. However, she was very kind, and a huge pushover, and she always made sure 'her girls' and Arthur were well taken care of here. And that was more than he could ask for of her.

"Oh but you'll never guess what Arthur!"

"Hmm?" He grunted distractedly as he stripped himself of his slacks and undid the buttons of his shirt.

"We have a new guy coming in today! Isn't that exciting?"

He glanced at her. This news was rather interesting. Another guy coming to work at the "Hideaway". Previously Arthur had been the only male to work under Madam; but after a while Madam realized how good for business it was to have him around. Not only did Arthur bring in some guests who were into a different thing, whenever he wasn't busy he was helping to keep things around the store organized; written rules for the girls and their customers, helping the Madam budget things for the store, and he also acted as liaison for some of the girls and Madam; when another girl was getting out of hand with her business he was the one sent to handle it since Madam hated conflict.

"Really? What is his name?" He finally decided on asking as he folded his clothes neatly in his locker.

"His name is Francis, and oh! He is so very dreamy! He's French you know? And with such long shiny hair!" Madam clapped to herself happily, and Arthur gave her a fond smile. Honestly.

But he wasn't so sure how he felt about another guy around. Wouldn't that mean a bit more competition for work? And the guy was French after all, he thought with an eyeroll.

He checked over his outfit; playing one last time with the ribbons on the bodice, strapped on the black platform sandals, and grabbed a folder from the desk in the corner. He would worry about the Frenchman later on, he had a shift to cover. With a peck on Madam's cheek he headed up the stairs across from the back room and found his room towards the middle of the hallway. As he clicked on the light he inspected the room; all was where he'd left it last time. All the girls pretty much had their own room to use for their work; and they had to make sure they kept it clean for their guests. Each room had a queen sized bed, two nightstands on either side, a lamp on the left close to the curtained window, and a bathroom on the opposite wall. If he really wanted to, Madam was kind enough that she would let him stay here if needed, but he didn't like the idea of sleeping where he and other strangers did their business. It just didn't feel healthy. Speaking of which, he headed over to the drawer to the right and inspected his stock of contraceptives and lube. He was okay for the night, but in a few weeks he'd probably need to get more.

After making sure everything was presentable he headed down stairs. If he were lucky he wouldn't have too many guests tonight.

Arthur sighed and rolled over on the newly messy bed. Steam from the bathroom had wafted in the rest of the room. His second guest had taken a shower and had just left. Now it was his turn he thought, pushing himself up. He picked up his strewn clothes off the floor and started his third bath for the day. The last two had not been very good, he thought as water cascaded around him. They'd been much too eager and got finished much too fast. It unhappily almost reminded him of Charlie. The last guy hadn't even asked if it would be okay to finish inside of him; even with a condom on the act was no less dirty and disrespectful.

After he felt at least a little less like filth, he turned off the shower and dried his hair as he came back to the room. He needed to clean the sheets. He ripped off the old soiled ones and grabbed a new set to put on the bed, then changed back into his clothes and shoes. It was funny how quickly they always came off. Grabbing the bundle of sheets he listened at his door for a moment; some of the girls were obviously still at work, but he also herd something of a commotion outside; a couple of the girl's voices outside in the hall.

Frowning he opened the door and peered outside; there were a group of girls hanging in their door frames looking down the hall and chattering excitedly.

"-look at his hair!"

"Did you hear his voice?"

"He's so dreamy!"

His eyebrows furrowed together and he squinted and craned his neck to find out what they were talking about; being shorter than most of the other girls did not help, until he saw at the end of the hallway exactly what was causing the excitement. It was a man at the very end of the hallway; he had very long blonde hair, a rather long pointed nose and a goatee over the black leather outfit he was wearing. The shorts were very short and the top looked somewhat like a sleeveless jacket with a metal ring in the front collar.

'So that is Francis.' Arthur thought. He did have to agree that the man was handsome; he even had some well toned biceps, but there was also something in his face and the way he stood that said snobbish and egotistical. Already Arthur was wary of him. It was then that he noticed that Francis wasn't alone; he was talking to another man in front of him. He peered curiously at the man; he was tall with short blonde hair, glasses, and was wearing a plaid dress shirt folded up to the elbows, a blue tie and khaki slacks. With a shrug Arthur turned his gaze away, passing the girls in their doorways and heading down the stairs.

The other man was probably a customer, so it really wasn't any of Arthur's business.

As he entered the backroom he noted that Madam wasn't in the back room, so she may have been in the bar out front.

Some of the others had put their soiled sheets in the laundry basket already so he shoved them all in and was bending over to turn the dial and start it when he heard a cough from behind him. He spun his head at the male's voice and recognized the man from upstairs. Suddenly he also became aware that his rump was up in the air, and especially considering the underwear he had on and he straightened up, feeling his face heat up a little.

"Uh, hello!" The blonde man was saying, scratching at the back of his neck nervously "I- um wanted to know where Madam Hester is? Sorry. Uh, she wasn't up front or anything..."

Avoiding the man's gaze Arthur told the man he'd look for her for him. More than likely Madam was behind the building smoking again; whenever she got tired of staying in one room she liked to feel the breeze while the others were working.

"Ah, I see, thank you though, but I guess I won't bother her then, just wanted to tell her thanks for looking after Francis…"

So he wasn't just a customer then, Arthur thought, his brows moving together on their own as he nodded. He was just about to say something about getting back to work when the man stuck out his hand, giving him a sunny grin.

"Sorry, I'd almost forgotten; My name is Alfred Jones! Pleased to meet you, uh.."

"Arthur." he said as he placed his hand in the other man's and was given a firm handshake.

"Arthur," Jones repeated, flashing a blinding smile "so you really are a guy."

The brit's face turned a deep shade of red and he stepped back to frown angrily.

"Of course I'm a 'guy', you git! Excuse me if you're too slow to tell!"

Alfred put his hands up in defense, laughing happily at the brit.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to offend you! I mean I thought you were from your voice but, uh, I just wanted to make sure…"

Arthur's frown deepened. "Are you insinuating that you couldn't tell just from my looks?"

Alfred's blush, and the way he spluttered to find a good excuse said it all.

"But you can't really blame me can you? It's sorta hard to tell these days you know… everybody looks like something else!"

Arthur's hands went to his hips in a way that left Alfred in no doubt that this was a usual pose for the shorter blonde.

"Hmph! Well, maybe if you have so much trouble telling the difference, you should stop trying to make gender matter so much."

The taller man simply grinned. "I never did say it mattered! I'll have you know I really don't care what a person is, but you know some people do get offended if they get mistaken for something else, that's all."

Although this made a speck of sense to Arthur as he realized that he was being made an example of, the Brit crossed an arm over his chest and scratched at his messy hair as he turned his gaze to the floor.

He was about to say something else, but the sudden appearance of Francis in the doorway put the conversation to a halt.

"Ah Alfred, thank you for waiting! I've found Madam already and am all settled in. This place is fantastic, no?"

"It's no problem Francis. I'm just glad everything's alright." Alfred was saying although Arthur couldn't help but think it sounded forced, he glanced up at the other man's face and something in his expression made it quite less cheerful than before. Not that it was his business either way, Arthur thought, looking away as the French and American chatted. He shifted on his feet, ready to get back upstairs, but Francis was still blocking his way. Apparently though the Frenchman finally noticed Arthur there; "Ah, sorry Alfred," he looked up and down at the Brit and sneered "do you mind, I don't think you were in my friend's and mine conversation."

At first Arthur was shocked, but then just as quickly he was angry! The nerve of the guy!

"I'll have you know I'm not at all interested in your damned conversation! I was just waiting for you to get your slimy self out of the bloody way!"

Francis still sneered as stepped closer to get out the way of the door frame.

"All you needed to do was say so, my dear Englishman, who knew there'd be such rude people running around." he said with a grave face to Alfred who was frowning at Francis uncomfortably.

Arthur had already had enough of the new Frenchman; he stomped past the man in a huff, even as Alfred held out a hand to almost stop the Brit, and Arthur had just reached the stairs and could still hear the conversation as he made his way up;

"What in the world was that Francis,"

The Frenchman shrugged, "I don't like the way he looked at me."

"That doesn't mean piss off random people you don't know! That's what got you in trouble the last time!"

The Frenchman laughed a short long ahon ahon, before draping an arm over the other man's shoulder, "Ah but that is what you like about me, mon ami!"

Arthur was still red in the face when he made it to his room. Francis was a complete and utter douche! And Alfred may be just as bad, he thought as he realized that he'd just been insulted twice in the last 15 minutes! What if despite Alfred's smiling, he really had been making fun of Arthur too? He sighed as he fixed up the bed again; he was also mad at himself for letting it happen. If it had been any other day that stupid frog would have had a bloody nose! That would have taught him! But right now he didn't have much fight in him. His home life sucked, his work life sucked, and now he had another annoyance to get him down. He glanced at the bed morosely, and felt a little bit hollow. He didn't feel like taking anymore guests tonight, instead he decided he would go down and hang out in the bar for a bit. Alcohol would make him feel a bit better.