put your money on me – nova

If now was the time to be alive, Taiga was living the most of it. His mind indulged on certain pleasures at certain times, and now he was in a clubbing streak. Even though he was a friendly guy, faces were beginning to blur and nights were intermingling. So when a guy grabbed his arm claiming to know him, Taiga's first thought was that he was high as a kite.

"Those love bites really hurt, you know. I thought I was a goner," the guy said, pulling the collar of his shirt to reveal multiple teeth marks and bruises. Taiga's brown eyes widened before he forced a smile. He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed the deep one on his neck earlier. Now he remembered him, or at least he can piece together what happened.

"Ah, bummer, sorry," he said, letting out a small laugh. Fuck I thought the sucker died, he thought. He couldn't even kill someone right—he was losing his touch. Apparently he was better than he thought because the guy's hand brushed up his arm until gripping his shoulder.

"How about I take you for another spin?" He said, leaning close to his ear. Taiga tilted his head away and held it that way as if considering it. In reality, he was thinking of how to deal with the situation. He could take him out and kill him properly, but the night was still so early. He deserved to have some fun before dealing with this weirdo, right? Decided, he grabbed the hand on his shoulder and held it for a moment before letting it drop.

"Oh, actually, I gotta meet my friends...but catch ya later? Peace!" He flashed a smile and two fingers before spinning around and booking it into the crowd.

"Hey wait!"

Taiga didn't turn around, so he wasn't sure if the brushing against his back was from the guy or the passersby. Nevertheless, he squeezed between the crowd and ducked between some of the taller ones. For once he was glad for his small height, hoping he would get further lost in the sea of bodies. As his pace quickened, he took some extra turns and bumped into more people in the process.

Taiga was determined to reach the other side of the club before he risked feeling that the coast was clear. However, before he could get there, he knocked straight into someone. He ricocheted a little bit, and was going to keep on going until some guy started talking to him. He paused and lifted his head to turn towards him, clicking his tongue.

"It's not?" He echoed. He didn't think he bumped into him that hard, and it was a club after all. Realizing how much time he's taken, he whipped his head behind him before turning back around, grabbing the guy's shoulder, and yanking him towards him. He took a couple steps and adjusted so the guy was blocking him from the way he came as much as possible. His eyes flickered towards the crowd behind the man until they settled back on who was in front of him.

His eyes did a brief once over, noting the shiny bell-bottoms. He was attracted to shiny things, what could he say. He should have worn sequins too, but he went for a softer baby blue pants and matching floral shirt this time. He dragged the hand on his shoulder to the guy's neck before dropping it to his chest, his palm on his sternum as if to feel for a heartbeat.

"What're you gonna do about it, chum-puh?" He said, letting out a breath of a laugh.

He was fighting fire with fire now, running away from one guy only to bump into another. He just needed to stay out of sight until the coast was clear anyway, so who said he couldn't have a little bit of fun with it?

Despite such bravado, it didn’t take long to ruffle Taiga’s feathers when the right words were said. His nose scrunched a little at the word “underage” and he wondered if he should actually fight him. He was in his 40’s now, and he wondered if if he was still human he would still have such a baby face. But that didn’t matter; he was plenty old enough to drink alcohol and have sex, thank you very much. He put his hands on his hips as he glared at him.

“I am allowed here. I’m more experienced than I look, you know,” he said. He pushed a finger against the guy’s chest, leaned in and added, “Wouldn’t you like to find out.”

He broke into a smile as he pushed back, but in doing so his eyes caught a flash of yellow from the corner of his eye. Ah shit, what was that guy from earlier wearing again? Was it yellow? He didn’t let his memory catch up as he grabbed the guy in front of him, his hands going to his shoulders to pull him closer.

“You should be the one buying me a drink, you’re already trippy,” he said, pursing his lips.

A human shield wasn’t a bad idea, despite it being an annoying one. Still, there was something about his offer that made Taiga feel like he was talking to someone on the same wavelength. It intrigued him to stay a little longer, crazy ex-fling or not.

Taiga rolled his eyes as he listened to him ramble on. He did not shut up, did he? Although Taiga wasn’t one to talk; he talked a little too much too, sober or not. He still pressed his lips together at all the questions thrown his way, wondering if he should even bother answering if he was just gonna move on to the next one like a puppy. He also didn’t want to get riled up (boring? Oh I’ll show him boring, and then he can kiss my boring ass).

Despite how annoying he was, the challenge was thrilling. An easy catch was amusing every now and then, but they got old fast. And clingy. On the other side of the spectrum, it was hard to find a guy who liked guys at all. The shoulder grabbing was probably a risk in itself; some guys seemed down one second then freak out the next, but that didn’t seem to be the case here. And Taiga liked being handsy, what could he say. His hands lazily roamed his arms and back, getting a feel.

“Well I got you now, don’t I?” He said. Now was probably not the right time to mention he had an ex-fling hunting him down. That guy didn’t matter anyway; Taiga was on his own hunt now.

“And you’re having so much fun, I want some too,” he said. Alongside draining blood from people, he was also a leech for free things. He was convinced things tasted better free, and he had an ego convinced he would get whatever he wanted.

As the other guy stepped away, Taiga couldn’t help but pout, and he dropped his hands to cross his arms. Okay maybe he was a little more childish than he thought, like a kid who got his toy taken away or one that got refused candy. But also a kid in a whole playroom or free candy shop. He could try for anyone else in the room, anyone easier, but he didn’t want to give up yet. Where was the fun in that?

So he smiled at the challenge and stuck his tongue out the corner of his mouth, biting it loosely. He raised his arms too and let the music wash over and consume him. It was his current fascination, to simply let go. His thoughts only being the music and the atmosphere. Although there was one thread still keeping him grounded. He kept his eyes on the guy in front of him and pushed closer, grinding his body against him.

“Do you wanna make me beg next? I’ll get on my knees,” he said, letting out a small laugh. It was too late to try to get him flustered at this point, no, now he was just egging him on.

Taiga laughed a little when he picked up the other man’s words and he gave a half shrug. He had a mouth for a reason didn’t he? It’d be a shame if he didn’t use it to its full potential. There were still the pressing bodies around them, especially when they moved deeper into the crowd, but he could still pretend they were the only ones on the dance floor...The fact that he was even entertaining that thought made him laugh again.

Society was edging closer to accepting what used to be bizarre, instead of destroying it, and Taiga couldn’t be more thrilled. It was funny how a couple decades ago he could barely hold a guy’s hand in private. Bor-ing. It was such a hassle, how’d he live like that? No, now he did what he wanted. And got what he wanted.

His eyes trailed the bag and how one was popped into the man's mouth. He licked his lips slowly, eyes flickering between the guy’s eyes and his tongue. His words didn’t go unnoticed, but he still slowed his movements. He pursed his lips and tilted his head, as if thinking hard on what to do.

“Mmm, yeah you have to teach me,” he said. Although now he began swaying again, and he threw his arms around the guy’s neck. He breathed another laugh as he added, “Teach me a lesson.”

He pulled him closer and swiped his tongue against his, feeling for the pill before losing it. Darn, he was really bad at this wasn’t he? What a shame. He supposed he had to keep trying then.

Taiga couldn’t help but frown a little as the pill landed in his mouth although he couldn’t stay upset for long while he waited for it to dissolve. He got what he wanted, but he was greedy, always needing a little more. He reluctantly dropped his arms and began moving again, hoping to get lost in the music again until he caught what he said. Oh, did he hear that correctly? What a kinky freak.

“Yeah right,” he said. He briefly laughed before he paused, pouting while he added, “I’ve been a good boy though, haven’t I?”

Nah he wasn’t any better. He wondered if there was anything left he hasn’t done although he’s forgotten most of what he has done, so he wasn’t sure where he’d even start. Though it didn’t matter to him—he did whatever felt good anyway. They all kinda blurred together in that way. Now his only focus was the present which was currently the guy in front of him. He pressed his palms to the guy’s chest and gave him a light push. He laughed a little again as he leaned in.

“Are you gonna keep talkin’ out of your ass or are you gonna use it?” He said. It was one thing for a guy to talk, another if he was actually going to do it.