[C] Zo(o)

"Fussy is good sometimes."

Fussy led way for high expectations. High expectations meant that Dick wouldn't deal with the load of shit that skulked around in the pits of the club, preying on anyone that had a wallet and stayed still long enough.

Like what he was doing, admittedly.

At least he had some class. If Dick decided that he didn't want his company, he'd step down and leave the boy alone.

"I think the sometimes should be stressed. I just come off as snobby."

Which he wasn't.

In the slightest.

Honestly.

"Do you normally work in here?"

"Being decisive with what you want and being snobby are different things."

If he could afford to, Dario would be selecctive with who he dealt with. Unfortunately, though, he didn't have that luxury. Any money was money he needed to live. He was paying for five people now.

A lot of people were living on his small wage.

Dario nodded, taking a sip of his cider.

"I'm here most days."

"Oh."

A little sarcastic quip on how 'nice' his work place is was at the tip of his tongue, but he held it. He did not want to come off as rude.

He took another sip, another few questions tugging at his lips.

"Must be hard work."

Dario wouldn't have taken offense to the sarcastic quip.

He felt much the same most of the time.

If he could get himself a better job than stripping for people and sucking the dick of whoever flashed a fiver at him then he definitely would.

"It can be hard at times," he admitted.

"But there are times I get to meet people that aren't drunk out of their minds and have decent conversations with them." The human raised his glass with a quirk of his lips, obviously indicating Dick. "Those sorts of people make the job a little more tolerable."

He wished he would stop blushing.

"I am glad you enjoy aspects of you job then."

Looking down at his beer, realised it was almost finished. Downing the rest, he congratulated himself on feeling nothing yet. His tolerance must be improving, he thought with glee.

Fishing out his wallet from his pocket, he grabbed a few more euros.

"Do you want another drink?"

He would feel a bit rude if he did not offer a drink back.

"There are some fun parts to it, definitely."

Dario grinned, winking down at the Vampire as he tipped his glass up and drained the rest of it.

"Many perks." Those perks were less than honourable, but Dario wasn't complaining about them.

The human noddedwith a little smile.

"Thank you."

He looked up at the drinks above the bar for a few second. The cocktails sound good. Really good. And different to the normal larger or beer he had.

No. He was going to stick to the safe option.

"Carling, please, and uh."

He turned from the bar tender to Dario, waiting for him to to order.

"My usual again, Jimmy."

Dick's company was pleasant. He was enjoying talking to the boy. And he had gotten a free cider out of it.

He liked Dick quite a bit.

"Next round's on me again if you want it."

He didn't quite want him and Dick to part company just yet.

The blond smiled again. His checks were going to hurt at this rate.

"Thanks."

He took the larger as it passed to him, now thanking the bartender.

What was suppose to be a one pint is now going to turn into three. He guessed it was a sign of a good night.

And the lack of clothing was being less bothering. That or his earlier assumption was wrong.

"Have you lived down here for a while?"

"All my life. Catania born and bred."

He'd never even left the city. Not for a holiday or a trip anywhere.

He'd always stayed within the limits of the city; for his entire thirty six years of life.

Sometimes he wanted to leave and go see the world; or at least a different part of Sicily. But he didn't have the funds to, so he lived in this city with few complaints.

"Where are you from?"

"Really? That must be nice, not having to travel around too much."

He liked the idea of staying in one place, spending a lot of his time moving about when he was younger.

"I was born in England. I came over here, what, ten or twelve years ago? I do like it here."

"I'd like to take a holiday some day."

The man hummed softly. "I'd like to see the mainland. Italy has a lot of history that I would love to see."

His gaze shifted to Dick. "England? Must have been nice." England was a place that everyone knew and most people wanted to go see.

"Catania is a nice place."

"I am sure you will visit it some way or another."

He was not sure how else how to answer it other then some optimism. He was not sure of his home circumstances. Though he was sure it is better then 'Yeah, it is nice'.

"I guess it was. Rained a lot though."

A flare of a memory of his homeland came and went. No point dwelling now.

"It is. I mean, it has it's moments. But it is a nice looking town."

"Perhaps in the distant future."

With Pina and Desi living with him and stealing from him at every point, he wasn't likely to ever gather the funds to get to the mainland.

Dario smiled at the thought of a lot of rain. Rain was something that he enjoyed. Though if he lived in England, the novelty would wear off pretty quickly.

Richard hummed, taking another sip of his beer.

"You must know a lot of the locals then?"

That was another thing he found nice about living somewhere for a while - and not in a big city too. Everyone kinda knew each other? Plus he probably liked being nosy a little too much.

Catania was quite a big city, with a population of almost 300,000 people.

"I know a few of the club regulars and the regulars to a little bar at the edge of the city."

He knew whoever he came in contact with a lot.

"Oh, right."

He took another glance behind him before quickly looking away. He really did not want to see the man's cock. And was he even a stripper?

It reminded him that he was not in an average bar.

"The little bar you mentioned, is it nice?"

Dario was indeed a stripper.

Right now, though, he wasn't on stage or floor duty, so his outfit was less stripper-y and more show-as-much-skin-as-possible-y. No one had complained yet.

The man nodded.

"Yeah, its nice. Called The Last Stand. Small place, though the crowd that gathers there can be a little odd at times."

"A little odd?"

The vampire frowned a little at that - curious. Odd can mean a lot of things.

"How so?"

"Most of us are a big group of friends."

Dario shook his head with a grin.

"Some of the things that we get up to when we're all gathered together are very...dubious, I suppose. We're quite a strange group. Strippers, artists, store workers, unemployed. Family and friends."

The man sipped at his cider.

"We're a fun group."

"It sounds like you have a good time with them."

He was a little jealous, he did not really have a group of friend's at the mansions. He he guessed he was not always the most approachable or sociable.

The blond took another little sip from his larger. His head was feeling a little fuzzy now. Maybe he should slow down.

He took his hand away from the pint to stop himself getting into the habit of bringing it to his mouth and playing with his rings.

"We do."

Dario took another sip of his cider. Unlike Dick, he was holding his alcohol just fine. Dario had quite a high alcohol tolerance.

"You should come along with us next time," he offered.

Perhaps that was a bad idea. His friends were a little...overbearing at times. But it would be a night out nonetheless. Something fun. Hopefully...

And, as a back up, he could invite Hayden along. He was sure Hayden would enjoy trying to get to know the Vampire.

Dick blinked in surprise.

"Thanks. But I don't want to intrude." He politely declined.

It was never much fun being the odd one out. Besides, Dario was probably just being polite.

"I am normally busy at home anyway."

Not that any of the rooms he normally cleaned needed another good scrub again this month.

Dario gave a little nod in response to the boy's polite denial.

"The invitation's open if you do ever want to come out with us."

Richard didn't strike him as the sort of person that went out and had a lot of friends. Perhaps introducing him to a few people would do him some good?

"Here, I'll give you my number just in case you want to get hold of me."

He whistled to Jimmy who produced a scrap of paper and a pen for him.

Dario scribbled down his number and held the scrap out for Dick to take.