The night bloomed over Heaven yet when it touched Club Purgatory it exploded into a black stain - deeper and darker than in any other part of town.

Inside, the music raged. It was a desperate thunder in the ill-lit place. On the stage, a male dancer with a shock of mermaid hair of multiple shades of greens and blues rolled over a layer of bills. Below him, the drooling patrons hurled cash like broken ATMs.

In the dressing room, Sina slipped into his streetwear and grabbed his backpack.

"See you tomorrow?" Cookie arched over the vanity table. He touched his pinkie to a misbehaving eyelash before turning his attention from the mirror to his friend.

"No. I only got two days this week. That motherfucker's taken away all my gigs." Sina replied gesturing in the direction of the stage.

"You shake your ass like it's no one's business. I don't know why they give him so much work."

"He got all my weekends. I haven't worked a single Saturday for a month. Now he's getting my weekdays, too. It's totally bogus."

"Do you want me to kill him?" Cookie chuckled as he picked up a red lipstick.

"Yes," Sina sighed, "And when you do, put his heart in a box and give it to me."

Looking back to the mirror, Cookie touched the scarlet tip to his lips. "Alright, Maleficent. I'll do my best."

"You're good people."

"Wish you weren't the only one who thought so," Cookie uttered under his breath. He thought his words wouldn't reach Sina, but they did.

Frowning, Sina felt Cookie's confession flutter around him like a wasteland's ashes that didn't know where to go. He pretended he hadn't heard. It was for the best. For now anyway.

As Sina made his way out of the dressing area, he paused, looked back, and promised to bring Cookie a new pack of cigarettes the following evening.

If it wasn't for the smudged smokey and glitter rings of makeup around his eyes, and the glitter decorating whatever bit of flesh stuck out of his t-shirt, Sina would have appeared like another patron and not a dancer. He wasn't anything much to look at, not compared to the other strippers. He didn't have mermaid hair or a six-pack like the stripper getting ready to grace the stage shortly. And he certainly didn't have smooth chocolaty skin and an ass you could use as a pillow like Cookie. Sina Noir had simply been hired because he danced like he was born to do so and wasn't shy about taking it all off while the others kept that certain part of them hidden.

Sina's shift had ended half an hour ago. He headed to the bar in dire need of a drink or five. Plopping like a deadweight on one of the stools, he slouched down until his head touched the bar top.

"The usual, Sinful?" The barkeeper who barely looked old enough to be working in a club had a shaved head and was covered in arm and neck tattoos. Leaning against the counter he poked Sina in the arm.

Peering up through a lock of long hair at the mermaid stripper, Sina grumbled, "I hate that Ariel wannabe. I wish he'd go stick his head in a blender and turn it up to turbo speed. Ever since he came, the usual pevs have no money for Cookie or me."

Raising a brow, the bartender asked, "Why do you call him Ariel?"

"His hair," Sina twirled a lock of black around his finger. "He reminds me of a mermaid I once saw in a kid's book I had. Hated the damn thing because it was about the protagonist who betrayed her best friend."

"Let me guess. Her best friend was a stripper at Purgatory?"

"Not even close. A talking dolphin."

"Sounds kinda cliché."

"Were you waiting for something unique, Cody? That shit don't sell in books. People want easy crap they've read before...just...reinvented."

"Whatever. I don't read anyway."

Grabbing a rogue peanut, Sina hurled it at his friend. "And this is why you absolutely suck." Before he could see the other duck, Sina turned his gaze to the stage and curled his lip.

Cody laughed. "You wish I sucked."

"Like a Hoover." Shifting his gaze back to Cody, Sina huffed. "I need a drink. How about a shot of cyanide? Make it a double."

Chucking, Cody leaned closer. "You know I save the good stuff for myself." Without asking again, he poured Sina a shot glass full of tequila and one for himself. Passing it over, the tequila sloshed out and dribbled all over his hand.

Inching forward, Sina bowed into Cody's fingers and licked the liquor off before lifting his gaze and snickering.

"The day I begin to speak fag, I'm coming after you," Cody said in a this-is-for-your-ears-only tone.

Looking up, Sina raised a brow. "You've been saying that for three years now. You talk the talk but do not walk the walk."

"I'm not your type." Cody chuckled and reached for his own shot glass.

"What do you know about my type?" Lifting his glass, Sina waited until Cody clinked glasses before drinking.

"Ah," Cody set the glass down on a ring of moisture and began rolling it around in the nearly perfect circle. "I know you like guys with hair," he teased good-naturedly. "Dark hair." He paused in thought, then snapped his fingers. "Short dark hair. No blonds. No mermaid hair."

"No blonds. No mermaid hair," Sina agreed.

"I know you like them older."

Sina raised a brow. "True. And you're still a pipsqueak."

Halfway to lifting the shot glass to wipe away the ring, Cody stopped and sighed. "I'm twenty-four, old man."

"I'm twenty-five," Sina lied.

"And you've been twenty-five for how long?"

Sina lightly shrugged and reached out to mutilate the ring of moisture until it looked like a spiky star.

"Since I've known you, at least, Sinful."

"Whatever."

Poking Sina in the arm, Cody asked teasingly, "Why don't you age?"

"I've forgotten how."

Cody reached for a tea towel. He dabbed at the moisture before folding the towel and setting it neatly next to him. "Anyway. Your type. I know you never liked anyone who ever entered Purgatory." When Sina raised a brow, Cody continued, "Not really. I mean not like heart-thumping kinda love." He pumped his hand against his chest and mouthed thud thud. "Come on, I can see." He briefly pointed two fingers toward his eyes. "No one here's ever your type, right?"

Sina bit his lip and then rested his head on the counter. Around him, music played. It sounded angry as it bounced off the walls of the semi-empty club. "I hate this place... I hate glitter, too, and I always leave here with both stuck to my skin. And no matter how much I wash, I can't get rid of them."

"I know, pal. But it's all we've got. Anyway, where would people like us go to get better work? A bank? Can you imagine me showing up asking to work as a teller with this?" Cody looked serious as he pointed to a screaming eagle occupying most of the right side of his neck.

Sina let out a sound, something between a snort and a chuckle. "You want to go work in a bank?"

Pouring them another shot, Cody's lips curled in a smug smile. "Hell no." Passing Sina the tequila, he added, "I ain't working anyplace I can't get shit-faced in."

Sina raised his glass. "I'll drink to that." When his second shot of tequila was finished, he pointed to the bottle. "Another and keep them coming until I no longer remember what I look like."

Leaning towards his friend, Cody frowned. "What's eating ya?"

"I'm getting kicked out of my place at the end of the week. The fool is moving in her grandson and his wife so out I go," Sina said bitterly as he hooked his thumb over his shoulder.

"Kinda last minute, huh?"

Waggling his finger at the tequila bottle, Sina replied only after he'd downed his third shot. "Who's going to care? Not like I can do anything about it. So as of Sunday, I'm homeless."

"Damn..." Cody sighed. "I wish I could let you crash until you find a place," his tone was apologetic, "but we've got the baby now."

"Your house is tiny. Where would I sleep? The bathtub? Anyway, Joni hates me."

"She doesn't hate you," Cody lied. When Sina raised a brow, the barkeeper chuckled. "OK, Sinful, she hates you."

Slowly extending a glittery arm, Sina took hold of the tequila bottle by the neck and brought it to his chest. "Thanks anyway." Holding it close, he got up and tapped a black painted nail against the bottle.

"Yah, go ahead," Cody nodded. "Just slip it in your backpack so no one sees."

When his lips curved into a faint smile, Sina spoke, "You're good people." Giving Cody a twiddle of his fingers, Sina slipped out of Purgatory and into the dark, lonely streets of Heaven.

* Fun fact: I hate tequila.