Tyed - Chapter 3: Chapter 3

It is dark, at first. There's a lot of light, but they're all spotlights, and they're soft, creating areas about as well lit as the street outside, with other areas in near darkness. When his eyes adjust somewhat, Tyler can make out the shape of the room; there's a central floor cut through by columns, and around the walls of the room are several different sections, some raised, some recessed, and some hidden by curtains. Along one wall is a bar with a few tables and barstools, and some chairs and benches sit around the room in out-of-the-way locations. Neon lights come from various shadows, casting strange colours across the people.
Tyler starts from the normal and works his way up. He'd estimate there to be about four dozen people here, maybe more hiding where he can't see. At the bar, people sit and chat like he'd expect anywhere else. Many people are in black suits or dresses or jeans. Some people are making out in corners.
There's a man being openly hit with a riding crop on one of the raised platforms; Tyler's eyes keep sliding that way, and he has to try and focus on anything else. Several people have collars around their throats, and several people are less dressed than Tyler would hope. At least four people are shirtless, both with and without breasts, and when Tyler catches the eye of a girl who's on the end of a leash, he feels oddly uncomfortable. It's like walking in on someone having sex, even though there's no sex happening here. The girl smiles at him like he met her eyes anywhere else, and that just makes it weird. Tyler looks away.
Tyler's eyes are glazed over, surveying the room, when he finds himself addressed. "Ah, hello, and welcome!" calls a confident, low voice. A man with slicked-back black hair and lightly tanned skin catches Tyler's eye; he's wearing a black collared shirt and black pants, nothing too strange. His ears and fingers are decorated with gold jewelry which catches Tyler's eye as the man flings his arms out wide in an exaggerated greeting. "You can call me Rye, or Lucifer, either suits me. Welcome to Pandora."
Tyler's been an atheist since he left Darkfilly Copse, but he can still hear the echoes of horrible church Sundays in his mind sometimes, and he can't bring himself to call anyone Lucifer. It pegs this place as both bad and a wonderful escape in Tyler's mind. "Nice to meet you, Rye," Tyler says, drawing easily on his learned charisma when the moment calls for it. He offers a hand and Rye happily takes it. "I'm Tyler."
Rye smiles, and even to someone like Tyler he comes across as trustworthy; it's not him that makes Tyler uncomfortable. It's that they're meeting here. Tyler's eyes quickly check Rye's wrist and see that he's wearing a black ribbon. He double-checks his own to be sure it's red, as though it could've changed when he wasn't paying attention.
"It's nice to meet you too, Tyler. Take things at your own pace and let me know if you need anything."
There's something that comforts that strange feeling when Tyler's told to take things at his own pace. He nods and Rye steps back, addressing Lachlen and giving Tyler a moment to just think.
He takes in some of the people here. There's a man surrounded by three blondes wearing various pastel colours, whispering in the ear of one of them and getting a laugh. There's a tall, curly-haired man with glasses who looks like he'd belong at the library, his arm around a short, androgynous punk who catches Lachlen's eye and waves. Someone with a shock of long pink hair chats up two nervous-looking people at the bar, but gets interrupted by the bartender, a man with tattoos on his cheeks that give the illusion of his face being a skull. There's a boy who Tyler could swear was fifteen talking to a redhead in a long purple dress, but if he got ID'd coming in here, surely that kid did too.
When Tyler looks up, he notices for the first time a balcony, a second level he didn't see before. There's a small area, backed by the different coloured lights shining onto the floor below, and on it he can see only one person. It's hard to make out with the lights behind them, but as those lights shift, Tyler gets a clear line of sight. A man leans against the railing, holding in one hand a cigarette or smoke of some kind. His hair is dark and straight, falling against his forehead, and he wears a dark collared shirt with the sleeves pushed all the way to his elbows. Tyler notices that he's not wearing any ribbons at all. He also notices that the man is staring directly at him.
For a long moment, Tyler holds eye contact. At first, it's because he's trying to work out why he's not wearing any ribbons, but when he gives up on figuring that out, he keeps staring just because he's been doing so for so long.
The lights make it difficult to see much of the man's face, but Tyler can see the sharp angles the shadows cast across his face, the straight lines of his nose and jaw. He takes a long drag of his cigarette, and doesn't break eye contact. Neither does Tyler; he feels no need to do so. Then Lachlen knocks him in the arm, and he looks instead to his ex on instinct.
"Are you listening?" Lachlen asks, and Tyler gives no pretense, shaking his head. Lachlen sighs. "I was just asking if you want to go over to the bar."
"Oh." Tyler nods. "Yeah, let's do that. Quick question, uh- who's..."
As he goes to point up at the balcony, he realizes that in the short few seconds he looked away, the man had moved, and there's nobody there. Lachlen looks up and furrows his brow as Tyler finishes his sentence. "...not there anymore."
"I don't know everyone here," Lachlen answers, ever helpful, "but let me know if you see them again and I can tell you. Why'd you wanna know?"
"Uh...." Tyler stumbles for the answer to that question. "He was staring at me?"
Lachlen looks at him skeptically, but says nothing about it. They head over to the bar, and although Tyler thinks it's obvious that it's his first time here, nobody really looks twice at him. He catches the guy surrounded by blondes checking his wrist and looking away as soon as he notices red.
When he thinks he's far enough away, Tyler whispers to Lachlen, "that guy was checking me out."
"Him?" Lachlen's careful to be subtle, briefly gazing in his direction. He scoffs lightly when Tyler nods. "That's Ash. I think you're his type."
"No?!" Tyler says sarcastically. "He's cute, but I'd rather not be part of a harem. Definitely not an Aryan harem."
As they sit at the bar, Lachlen nods to the man with the glasses and his punk friend. "What about Paige's partner? His name's Will. I know he's polyamorous, and he might like you."
"I wouldn't be able to resist calling him a nerd," Tyler laughs. He's also not sure how he feels about polyamory. He doesn't want his partner's attention to go to anyone but him. He keeps quiet, though, because saying to his ex that he cheated on seems a little hypocritical.
Lachlen senses that there's more to that rejection than Tyler lets on, but doesn't push him. "Alright. Well, what exactly are you looking for?"
Before Tyler can answer, they're interrupted by the bartender. His tattoos actually look pretty cool up close; they give him something of a permanent smile, and it sure is punk as hell. "I see you're new here, no?"
Tyler's taken a little aback by the bluntness, but he expected that, and doesn't find it too difficult to respond in kind. He was struggling before he got in here, but if he doesn't pay much attention, it's just like being at any bar. "Yeah. That obvious?"
The bartender gives him a little smile, and doesn't quite answer. "Your first drink's free. What'd you like?"
Tyler gives him an order, and Lachlen puts one in as well. Before he turns away to make the drinks, Tyler stops him. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Yeah?" the bartender says, raising a pierced eyebrow.
Tyler hesitates for a second, realizing he seems a little fixated now. But he's already got the bartender's attention, so he can't drop it. "I saw a guy on the balcony up there, smoking something? Do you know who that is?"
"I'm going to need more details than that," the bartender answers. "What colour ribbon was he wearing?"
"He wasn't," Tyler answers, and Lachlen makes a noise of understanding just as the bartender nods.
"Mid-30s, dark brown hair, kinda... bright hazel eyes? Almost yellow?" the bartender clarifies.
Tyler shrugs. "Didn't see his eyes, but yeah."
He nods as he goes to make the drinks. "That's Colby," he answers. "He's here a lot, but hardly speaks to anyone. He used to come with the black ribbon, as a dominant. I think he still comes as one, he just doesn't want to be approached."
"I do know him," Lachlen says. "I think the second time I came here, I talked to him. He seemed to like watching from the outside, but he approached me and asked me a few things. Nothing weird- he seems like a normal guy, as far as I can tell- and he told me I was 'strangely interesting', but then he disappeared again."
"Ah." Tyler has no idea what to do with this information; all he's aware of is that he really wanted to know. "Alright. Just wondering."
The bartender smirks a little as he hands Tyler and Lachlen their drinks. "Let me tell you, most people who come in for the first time seem a lot more lost than you do. A little advice-" the bartender gestures at Tyler's wrist- "if you want him to talk to you, you might want to change that."
"I never said I wanted him to talk to me..." Tyler answers without thinking, getting only a raised eyebrow in response. He squints at the bartender's nametag, and although he's at least eighty percent certain he misread it, chucks in his name for emphasis. "...Chappie. I just asked a question."
If Chappie isn't his name, he doesn't react, and instead just goes to serve another customer. "Well," Lachlen says once he has a moment, dragging the word out slightly longer than necessary, "I was going to ask what you think you want to look for. How long do you say you've got?"
"Fuck, it depends how kind Shouto's gonna be to me. Maybe a few weeks at most?" Tyler shrugs. "And they're gonna be agonizing weeks."
Lachlen takes a long sip of his drink. "And what're you hoping to find before then?"
Tyler throws his hands up in an over exaggerated shrug. "I don't know, a sugar daddy? What am I supposed to say?"
Lachlen is unfazed. "I'm asking about the kind of relationship you're expecting to have."
Tyler looks around, briefly glancing at the couples, groups, and individuals nearby. The blonde collector is eyeing him up. Tyler considers flipping him off, but his scowl turns the guy away before he can lift his hand. The pink-haired person also appears to be inching closer, but Chappie grabs their attention before they can get there. Tyler's unsure if that was deliberate, but silently thanks him anyway.
After a moment of thought, he answers. "I don't know. Nothing too serious, nothing too crazy. Maybe someone I can just go on a date or two with a week, I guess. As long as I actually like them and having sex with them isn't a horrifying experience."
"Right." Lachlen clicks his tongue against his teeth. "Well, I mean- Caden's like you but angrier, so I wouldn't talk to him." He gestures at the man who looks like a teenager. He then nods towards the pink-haired person. "Arlene over there is very difficult to talk to, so no. Hmm. There's Adria, and Logan?"
The two people he points out could not be more different. One is a man at least twice Tyler's age and must be made of snow or milk, with harsh, sharp features that belong in Russian trenches, not a club like this. The other is a twenty-something black woman with curls in a halo around her head, holding a drink and laughing with a girl who must be about Tyler's age.
"No to him," Tyler says immediately; Logan briefly looks over, and his icy eyes send a shiver through Tyler's spine. "Her, though, I could probably do."
"Do you wanna go talk to her, then?" Lachlen suggests, and Tyler considers it.
"I mean, I guess." He shrugs. "Maybe?"
"That sounds noncommittal."
"Okay, then yes." Tyler downs the last of his drink, stands and immediately sits back down. Adria just leaned forward and kissed the girl she was talking to. "Or not."
Lachlen sighs. "I'm running you through every option, dude. Maybe just put the green on and see who's interested? You never know."
Tyler turns to Chappie to order another drink, determined to do just that as soon as he gets a little drunker and a little braver. The heat of the alcohol is rising in his cheeks, but he doesn't have enough of it to feel up to the task. When Tyler gets Chappie's attention, he's got a sneaky smile as he hurriedly puts away his phone.
"Talking to your girlfriend?" Tyler smirks, unable to suppress the urge. Chappie doesn't respond in any discernible way, and for a moment Tyler stares, not knowing how to react. He decides to pretend it never happened; he'd probably be embarrassed, but he's too drunk to really care. "Can I get another drink?"
Chappie's stone face, fixed on that tiny smile, budges just a little as he nods and the smile gets ever so slightly bigger. He takes Tyler's empty cup and goes about making another drink as Tyler taps his fingers on the counter. Tyler goes to give him cash for the drink, but Chappie waves it away. Tyler's confused look asks the question for him.
"Just got word from Rye," Chappie says, revealing the reason for his almost-hidden smirk. "He says your drinks are covered for tonight."
"Rye's covering my drinks?"
"No, someone else is. I'm not sure I'm at liberty to say."
From the way he's trying not to show his amusement, Tyler has a guess. He takes the drink and turns around in his seat, searching the club, trying to find the face he now knows he should be looking for. He finally spots him, leaning in a doorway all the way at the other side of the club. Colby's looking straight at him again.
Tyler decides to make it clear he's not fucking around. Without breaking eye contact, he tilts his head back and downs the entire drink, careful not to fling the ice in his face, and slams the cup down on the counter behind him. Then, he unties the red ribbon from his wrist and switches it in his pocket for the green. He tries to tie it without looking, but that proves too difficult; he only looks down for a few brief moments, but when he looks back up to find Colby, he's gone.