Mainstream Deviation

MAINSTREAM DEVIATION

CHAPTER TWO:
THE MAINSTREAM BEAT

The neon lights of Mainstream City pulsed like red-hot lightening bugs in the steamy, velvet night. The fetid air burned with the searing hot pulse of Viral life as it bustled to and fo across the asphalt of blazing highways and crowded sidewalks. Carmine eyes of light poured like pinpricks from the yawning maws of clubs, music pounding out like a treble roar in the night. Scantily clad bodies both male and female sashayed down the walkways like serpentine humanoids, supple limbs stalking towards a beautiful oblivion in drugs and sex.

The clubs of the city ranged from the most hardcore of all sex establishments, dealing heavily in the valuable merchandise of the human body, to small little pubs where a man could wander in and lose himself in any manner of putrid beverages. The Ultraviolet sat neatly between the two ends of the spectrum, offering up sex, drugs, drinks, and the most alluring young creatures of the night. Music was crooned out live every evening by a visiting talent and tonight’s little flavor was Haru Kanzaki.

The vocalist was good and his dulcet, velveteen voice was only half of it. There was a level of enigmatic ambiance that drew people to the young man like sharks to fresh blood. No one knew if Haru was actually of japanese descent and his appearance would certainly suggest against it, no matter how alluring it was. His skin had the tone of mild vanilla mixed in fresh cream, full of flavor and smooth as satin. The eyes that surveyed the smoky room from under half-drooping lids were the color of summer lilacs in a fragrant field, their almost pastel color burrowing into a person’s psyche and never letting go. His fluffy, shaggy bangs tumbled silkily around his chin, the color of spun gold, the majority of the shoulderlength mass held up in a messy ponytail. He appeared sinfully underage and utterly delicious, his effeminate voice resonating against the backdrop of pounding techno-rock.

He sang like a mythical siren, his words more akin to a spell than an actual song as they slithered through the ears and minds of all who listened. Haru, the shabbily clad angel, held the entire room in his thrall with hardly an effort. The pretty Viral seemed no more than an ephemeral spirit where he stood wreathed in cigarette smoke and the vague ether that drunken minds tend to create within themselves. His hips swayed, encased in a pair of grungy jeans, his cat-slender torso wrapped in a tight fitting shirt with sleeves so long that they covered half his palms. Tantalizing horizontal slits ran up either sleeve to the shoulder, providing teasing glimpses of that creamy flesh beneath.

Music pounded to a crescendo inside the club, Haru’s voice soared to the heights, and it was over. The tune gave one last pulsing cry like an animal in its death throes before fading out altogether, leaving the audience too stunned to possibly cry out for more. Like some sort of gentlemanly devil, Haru did not simply fall from the stage to go into the backroom, but rather he sauntered vaguely downwards* before whisking away into the backstage area. His bandmates remained on stage to clean away their instruments and such, intending to leave no trace that they had even existed in the smoky miasma of the night.

Backstage, Haru tucked himself away in a small room that was designated as his in order to clean up from after the rigorous trials of the evening. His eyes had lost their seductive allure and simply looked tired now as he carefully wiped away the sheen of sweat that made his body shine, taking trace amounts of glitter with it. There was no masking the sheer fatigue in his face or the way that he held his slender body and certainly no masking the unhappiness he felt when he heard a hard knock on the door.

Sighing heavilly, the little diva called out in a decidedly hoarse voice, “It’s unlocked. Come in.”

The creaky door swung open slowly with quite a bit of protest, the old wood groaning against its hinges. It was a testament to how deteriorated the club was underneath its pretenses and masks. Through the open door walked a large, beefy man covered in curling black hair. There was something distinctly mediterranean about him or perhaps even phoenecian owing to the rippling, olive-toned muscles that shifted under his tight t-shirt. His dark almond eyes watched Haru move about as an eagle watches its prey, yet there was nothing truly predatory in his face, this man was merely distinctly observant.

Haru looked up to see him and actually smiled a small bit when he realized who it was, “What’s the matter, Raoul? Usually you never come backstage at all. I’m shocked that the best bouncer in Mainstream City has left his post!” The comment was teasing, pure and simple.

Raoul rolled his intoxicating eyes and leaned on the doorway, relaxing a bit in the company of a longtime friend, “Yeah yeah…well I wouldn’t have had to leave my post if you didn’t attract s’damn many admirers. Got some richy out there now who simply insists that he HAS to see you. Boss doesn’t want to lose business so he says you and your guys will get pay ONLY after you see this guy.”

The younger man grumped and groused, “That bastard…”

Heavy, muscled shoulders rolled up and then down in a shrug that threatened to bust the t-shirt, “It’s bitchy, but the sooner you talk to this guy the sooner your fellas get their cash.”

“Fine, fine…” Haru sighed and ran a hand through his messy hair, walking towards the door. When he got eye to eye with Raoul he studied him intensely, “Guy knows I’m not going to have sex with him, right?”

“Just give a call for me if he lays an unwarranted hand on you. I’ll explain myself to the boss later,” Raoul assured his tiny compatriot.

Haru’s eyes lit up just a little bit through the fog of weariness and he spared a smile for Raoul before steeling himself. The singer walked through the door and back out into the thronging hustle of the club, his tired body screaming at him for it. His eyes were still half lidded but now it was from the utter need to sleep rather than an attempt to create sex appeal. Haru hoped this guy didn’t want more than a few minutes of talk because he certainly wasn’t going to get much more than that.

Those lavender orbs scanned the still-crowded danceclub in a jaundiced sort of way, trying to pick out the one who was obviously the richy he was supposed to meet with. It took him several moments before he finally locked on his target, a tall man who looked like he could possibly be hindu from the dark tone of his skin. It was a rich, dark bronze that starkly contrasted his meticulously clipped platinum blonde locks. Oh that hair! It looked as though it were made of spun silk or fine satin. Haru became more than a little curious as he studied the tall man in his fine gentelman’s suit. Why would such a refined and obviously wealthy man spend his evening in a frantic hell hole such as this? The situation didn’t seem to add up in Haru’s mind and his internal warning bells were going off.

Cautiously, Haru approached the man and nearly grumped when he realized that he only reached the taller gentleman’s chin. That fact alone made it more than a little difficult to get his attention…although with a few frantic hand gestures and a little bit of cute squeaking he soon had those electifying blue eyes on him. The orbs of sky were enough to glue his feet to the spot and trap him within their depths. They studied him in a predatory way that stripped Haru bare without the man ever having to touch him. The two men stayed that way for a long time…silent and eyes locked, totally still amidst the raging chaos of the pulsing club.

The moment was broken when, at last, the gentleman spoke. His voice was like the purr of a jungle cat sweetened with thick honey, “The charming Haru Kanzaki, I presume?”

For a moment Haru was frozen by that voice before he regained his composure, his voice taking on its own lyrical quality, “You would be correct in your presumtion, Mr….?”

“Maksim. Rurik Maksim. I am extremely pleased to finally meet you, Mr. Kanzaki. Your father spoke very highly of you.”

Haru’s bright lavender eyes darkened and widened in pure shock, his mouth gaping in surprise. For a moment he tried to work his jaw into a response that ended up never coming, dying on his lips before it could even pass into the stuffy club air. Someone had known his father?? A father he hardly even knew? HOW?

After a moment he looked as though he were petrified that way until Rurik spoke again, a sort of cruel smirk on his dark lips, “You wonder how I knew your father, yes? I’ll tell you, but you must do something for me first. You will come to my hotel room tomorrow night for a bit of friendly conversation. While in my company I will divulge the truth of your father to you…truths that you may have never imagined.”

The young singer was shaking by the time the man finished speaking, the latter brushing unmentionable filth from his fine suit before sauntering towards the door, “Until tomorrow then, Mr. Kanzaki.”

Rurik tipped his fashionable black felt fedora in respect to the still-stunned youth before whisking out the door and leaving a wake of solid, freezing cold. In that trail of stunning cold Haru felt himself nearing the verge of collapse, his breath wheezing in and out, and his vision spinning. His hands were clenched so tight that his nails bit into the palms, causing him to bleed unmercifully in tiny scarlet drops on the shining floor. He might have even collapsed on the spot had it not been for a sudden angel of mercy taking him by the shoulders and steering him into the safety of the backrooms once more.

Relief was in Haru’s heart when he looked back to see that it was none other than Raoul who was calmly escorting him back to the room where they had first spoken, looking sternfaced as usual. His large olive hands were clamped firmly over Haru’s shaking shoulders as he slammed the solid door behind them with his foot and gently pushed the young singer down to the couch of the room. He did not even have to speak when he leaned down to look in the youth’s eyes for Haru to know that Raoul was questioning his wellness…asking if he was okay.

Raising up his chin, Haru answered that querying stare, “I’m fine Raoul. That man didn’t hurt me.”

“Oh didn’t he? You look plenty upset to me,” was Raoul’s accusatory reply. He had both muscled arms akimbo over his powerful chest, looking very close to wagging a finger at the smaller man in front of him.

Haru squirmed under that powerful almond gaze before defending his position, “We just talked okay?? He didn’t touch me or say anything mean!”

“Then why are your palms bleeding?”

The singer froze at that and tilted his head so that his flaxen hair fell into his eyes, the pinkish undertones catching in the light and making it look almost caramel. His shoulders hunched up and he bit his lower lip, crossing his feet at the ankles and looking very much like a child. He knew he was trapped and unless Raoul let him off the hook, he’d be quite trapped. Swallowing thickly, Haru let his lower lip out of his teeth before the thing was ripped clean off.

Raoul watched the younger man for a long time before sighing and laying one of those large hands on top of his hair, “Alright. You don’t have to tell me. You only have to make me a promise.”

Lavender eyes peered up in question so the larger, elder man continued, “Just promise me that whatever you’re keeping secret won’t end up destroying you.”

After a moment of trepidation Haru did indeed promise in a very small voice with a tiny smile on his lips. It was a smile that didn’t reach his eyes and it was a little bit of a subconscious gesture because he certainly wasn’t THINKING about smiling. All the young man could really think about was how on earth he was going to keep his promise when he had no idea what this man really wanted from him in the first place. Something deep and dark in Haru’s psyche told him that he had just made a very, very empty promise.


A/N: Okay okay I know…no sex yet. But you can just wait you little fiends! Roommate troubles are clearing up and college is going okay, so I should have chapters up fairly soon. PLEEEEEAAAAASSSEEE comment! Ugh! Why are my chapters so short?