Bonedust

sliding two tiny glasses and a half full bottle of Calixthe across the tabletop. Urban’s fingers wrapped around the neck of the bottle, watching the dark, thick liquid swirl behind frosted glass. He smiled. “Thanks, Mills. I owe you.”
    “Don’t get too smashed. And please, for the love of Halcion, keep the door shut. The entirety of Feylinn doesn’t need to hear Urban’s Happy Time.” She rolled quicksilver eyes and turned to the next customer. Urban clinked the glasses together and strode back through the crowd.
    Gabriel hovered near the stage where he’d left him, hands cupping his elbows, shifting his weight from side to side. There was something feral in the way his dark eyes flicked back and forth, scouring the crowd for any sign of danger, that made Urban want to grab him up and just…hold him. Shaking his head, he held out the bottle to Gabriel, who looked at him pointedly. “Seriously?”
    “Seriously.” Urban nodded sagely, handing him the bottle and using his free hand to grab the man’s elbow. He led him through a door in the back, which led to a long hallway with doors on either side of it. The carpet was a dingy pink, more like bubblegum rather than neon.
    Gabriel stiffened, but Urban drug him down to the third door on the left. The knob turned easily, opening into a small room with a full sized bed, a night stand, and a tiny bathroom with just a toilet and a sink. The toilet was ringed with rust and probably wasn’t sanitary. “Don’t use that, if you can help it,” Urban said, waving a hand towards the bathroom.
    Gabriel wrinkled his nose. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
    Urban’s eyes drifted to the metal pole secured into the ceiling and floor and he set the glasses down on the night stand. He looped an arm around the pole, doing an elaborate bow that made Gabriel’s eyebrow raise a fraction. Urban smirked. “Know how to use one of these things?”
    “Do I look like a stripper to you?”
    “Possibly…if you lost the pants.”
    “Not happening.”
    “Again with the no fun. I’ll lose my pants if you lose yours.”
    Gabriel’s gaze became pointy, like a dozen tiny little knives. Urban sashayed his hips, bumping himself against the pole and sliding down it slowly. He saw the way Gabe’s eyes followed him, though they never lost their nervous glimmer. Urban backed away, swinging himself onto the bed and reaching for the bottle of Calixthe. Unscrewing the top, he poured the thick liquid into both glasses and beckoned Gabriel over.
    Gabriel frowned. “I don’t drink.”
    “C’mon, you have to at least have one. You don’t know what you’re missing.”
    “I know exactly what I’m missing—being stupid and disoriented and puking my guts out the next morning just for a little ‘fun’ now.”
    “Just one. Loosen up a bit; you’re coiled as tight as a spring.” Urban pushed the little glass towards him. The alcohol sloshed over the side, leaving a dark trail on the wood. He slid a finger through it and licked it, savoring the buzz of warmth on his tongue before downing his glass in a shot. It burned like the flames of Oblivion all the way and the glass tinked down on the table.
    “Just one,” he promised. Gabriel hesitated. Urban smirked, “You chicken?” and Gabriel threw back the shot.
    As the other man sputtered, Urban bounced to his feet. “C’mon, lemme show you some moves and then you can have at it.” Gabriel wiped his mouth with the back of his arm and followed. Urban hooked his arm around the cool metal pole. “Just watch and learn, babe,” he murmured. “Watch the way my body moves—liquid sexuality, loose and flowing like water. Let loose, just relax. Let your body do the work.”
    He swung himself around with a laugh, the alcohol already giving him a slight buzz. He breathed in, then out again, closing his eyes. He felt himself swaying, felt his body move of its own accord. He just danced.
    When he opened his eyes, Gabriel was sitting on the bed, his feet crossed at the ankle and his weight on his arms. Watching Urban with those dark, soulful eyes. Urban felt his heart patter in his chest—he wanted the man now, naked and moving against the pole, writhing hot in his hands. He took a deep, shuddering breath, thought of dead kittens, and offered a smile. “Your turn.”
    Gabriel stood and approached the pole as if it were a monster readying to bite him. His fingers clasped around metal and he stood awkwardly for a moment. Slowly he began to