been a busy week, but here's an update!

—-

louis follows niall around like a lost puppy until they reach a set of double doors. niall greets the front bouncer, liam, with a fist bump. liam's a little taller than niall with a buzz cut, an art gallery's amount of tattoos and puppy dog eyes that make him look really...really soft on the outside. niall introduces louis as a guest visitor via harry and liam gives him a handshake before letting them through.

"it's a little dead right now because we opened maybe an hour or two ago but it'll pick up," niall says, placing a hand on louis' shoulder as they squeeze through the line of people.

niall leads him to the main door and louis' lips part in shock. there's not only one stage in the center of the room but even smaller stages in different areas of the first floor. they're singular platforms, possibly used for side spotlight, each with their own poles and ample enough room to move and interact with customers. niall tells him they're called satellite stages. on top of each stage has a muticolored strobe light to add to their performances.

tables and chairs are in the middle of the floor, booths on each far end. the booths have a side entrance and are covered just about 80% of the way, from what louis can tell. there's a bar parallel to the main stage with a mirrored ceiling above it, rows and rows of alcohol brands stacked high up until it reaches the glass. the floor is carpeted, much similar to paralyzer, but this place is fucking huge compared to his home club. it's also two stories, but wow...

"welcome to paradise."

"holy shit," louis finally manages to say. he continued to gawk at the sight before him, unsure whether he liked the size of the venue more or the fact that he was personally invited to give this place a test run.

niall shows him the second floor which is more like a balcony than anything with tables and chairs and very few private booths. he explains to louis that most large groups reside up here instead of down below. louis gets a full tour of the place, including locker rooms and behind the bar and louis feels a wave of excitement ride through him. this is different, the club has a very nice vibe to it and he likes it already.

he's also shown some private lounges for longer sessions which are nice as well, each room has speakers built into the walls and are furnished with either a sofa or a small bed, plus a large chair almost similar to a throne. one private room has a black throne, the other has a red one. mirrors are behind either piece of furniture, there's tables with ashtrays for smokers and buckets of ice with champagne bottles sitting in them ready to be popped and consumed. niall calls them the 'boyfriend rooms'.

"before you ask," niall says as they pass a doorway. "this hallway leads to some offices. uh, employees aren't really supposed to go back there unless specifically asked by harry or mitch. sometimes liam. so don't go back there unless you wanna deal with the consequences."

louis nods and follows niall to a table that a few people are seated around. he's introduced to two dancers, cara and luke, plus mitch and the dj named ty. mitch and ty are dressed rather formally, wearing nice suits and each sporting a tie, compared to luke and cara who are dressed in stage attire. louis can tell that luke is eyeballing him in particular and it causes a blush to rise onto his face. is he really that big of a deal?

after about an hour of mingling with the table, louis follows niall to the bar because the irish lad said he was thirsty and promised louis a drink as well. the bartender, michael, gives louis a grin as he slides him a lemonade and welcomes him to inferno. he has dark red hair and an australian accent like luke.

louis watches a few people dance, taking notes of how everything works and he feels a nudge to his knee.

"you gonna go up there?"

he turns to face niall with a shrug. "maybe later. just wanna see how everything is around here."

"you might wanna see if ty can squeeze you in around one if you wanna get a good show in, then."

louis nods and checks the time. it's almost 12. harry said he would be here for his first day, where is he?

he's not necessarily tickled by the fact the owner would be there but it bubbled some curiosity, honestly. why did harry want him in particular to work at such a place like this? inferno really isn't that bad — it's a nice club and all, but it's no paralyzer. there aren't goofy coworkers and best mates. it's just him. he feels out of place a bit.

12:30 comes quick and louis' changing in the locker rooms into a harness like outfit but decides against the top, only wearing the black bottoms that come with the set. they fit like a snug pair of panties, but there are straps that go around his thighs to his knees that velcro onto the waistband. instead of the harness top, he opts for a sheer black tank to show off his torso.

he's always been the type to wear more feminine clothing at paralyzer, which was what got him the attention in the first place. he noticed some of the other men that worked at inferno had the same style as he did so luckily it wouldn't be too much of a hassle. niall assured him that he would be fine in any type of clothing because different customers have different tastes, but boy did they love them femboy dancers. niall started out as a femboy dancer, but grew into more "masculine" stripper attire after his first year.

louis checks himself out in the mirror and messes with his hair a bit to give it the ruffled look and fixes his boots, letting out a small breath. he's then following niall out to the dj booth where ty is seated searching through a laptop for music.

"you want me to play a random or you got one in mind, love?" ty asks, not looking up.

louis tilts his head down and picks at the trim of his bottoms. "give me some drake."

"nice choice."

louis smiles and thanks him, confident. he steps on the stage, eyes skimming the crowd for something to divert his attention to. he lands on luke and cara, who both send him encouraging nods. he then finds harry leaned against the back wall with his arms crossed, looking dead at him. there he is.

the stripper is quick to work his way around the pole and climb as high as he could, crossing his legs around the spinning metal and leaned his upper body back. his favorite part of his movements was always being able to slide down the pole upside down to give a jumpstart on his performance. he allows himself to adjust to the pole before sliding down, making eye contact with the crowd. there's whistles coming from luke's table and louis' flipping off the pole onto his feet, only taking minimal strides around the pole before he's leaning against it again to peel off his tank and toss it to the side.

not gonna lie, he feels awkward without having zayn there.

he bends to remove each strap off of his thighs slowly and leave himself in just the briefs. once the straps are gone he feels a bit more comfortable moving around, so he heads back to the pole to do a couple more spins before landing in a splits and that got their attention. niall's watching in amusement as louis does a small bounce with his legs spread and he leans over to nudge cara, who is just as intrigued.

louis' lost in his own little world on the stage, indulging in the moment. the money's flying at him like no other and he wants to scream. if every night at inferno is gonna be like this, count him in.

he crawls across the stage to a man sitting front in center and takes the black flatbilled hat off of his head, placing it backwards onto his own before winking at him and backing away. doing a few twirls around the pole and shaking his hips in the process, he leans against the pole, pulls the hat off to drag it slowly over his torso and between his legs before putting it back on the gentleman's head.

"don't tell your partner i did that, they might get mad," he jokes.

he squeezed in a small lap tease before the song ended and by the time his dance is over, he's thrilled to go again and again. he's always loved this career, if you could call it that. the adrenaline, the excitement, the leaving them begging for more was what made louis continue. he could do literally anything else in the world but he felt like he was meant to be in a club, the life of the party, living lavish doing god knows what.

he collects his tips and his clothes with a pep in his step and he's dragged away by niall, who continues to tell him he killed it on the stage as they walk to the locker room. louis puts his tank top back on and niall then hands louis a little red bag for him to keep his tips in. louis looks between niall and the bag suspiciously.

"you keep it, silly," niall chuckles. "keep it in your locker throughout your shift unless you feel more comfortable having someone else hold onto it. we're also allowed to decorate them if we want. i thought you knew the ways of a club?"

"i do, i'm just too used to mine. we only have little buckets then swap ones out at the end of the night," louis chuckles as he takes the bag from niall. he stuffs the bundle of cash in the bag and zips it shut, stuffing it in his backpack once niall opens the locker. "can i smoke in here?"

"yup, can i bum one by any chance?"

louis nods and grabs two cigarettes from his backpack before nudging the locker closed with his shoulder and they walk out to the main floor.

"you did good, mate," luke says once they sit at the table. "for a first timer."

"not a first timer," louis says as he lights his cigarette and hands the lighter back to mitch.

"no?"

"nope," louis hums and leans back in his seat he crosses one leg over the other, the heel of his boot nestled against the chair. "i work at paralyzer up in vegas. got invited by harry to come here, so i'm doing a trial."

luke purses his lips. "i see."

"lucas, don't."

louis sucks in the hit of his cig and blows it out, tapping the cigarette against the ashtray on the table. "hm?"

"nothing, ignore him," cara scoffs and reties her ponytail, shaking her head in disbelief. "he's a twat."

louis quirks an eyebrow at the two but remains silent nonetheless.

mitch engages in a small conversation with louis while the crowd continues to increase in population. louis notices some of the men are dressed like mitch, rather posh with suits and very expensive watches on their wrists. some are dressed more casual, and louis also notices a handful of them come by to group around harry. they're giving him handshakes and professional nods, one passes him an envelope of some sort and harry's facial expressions never change as he takes a peek inside. he only nods in response and leads the group out of the main room.

"we get it, he's pretty," cara calls louis out on his staring, which makes the small man hide his face. "it's okay, love. he knows it."

"i just don't understand how he thought i could fit in here," louis says as he finally finishes his cigarette. he was always a slow smoker. "this club is more...uppity, compared to mine."

"all clubs are different, you'll get used to it," niall shrugs. "what's paralyzer like?"

louis grins as he begins to ramble about his home. he tells them about marshall the bartender and his pretty face, mason, and then zayn. his best mate. speaking of, louis has yet to hear about his date with nathan so when he gets up in the morning he needs to call him and see how everything went. maybe zayn's hungover, maybe he's enjoying the empty house. he misses his person.

niall goes up for a dance, walking off the stage with quite a lump sum of cash as well and he walks up to louis to strike him across the face with it. "ever been slapped with a grand before?"

"no, do it again." louis laughs as he's hit on the other side of his face and he leans back with a smirk. "i feel powerful."

"oh yeah. i think you'll fit right in."

—-

so we got some nouis action in hereeee

how do you feel about the inferno clique so far?

what was harry doing?

what were cara & luke going on about?

what do you think will happen next?

question for you to add some flavor: what's your favorite genre of music? mine is alternative or classic rock!