A Club.

[Ariel Logan Callahan]

Ariel stepped close to Markise, pressing lightly against his legs, and fought with himself a moment before uncrossing his arms. "Damn right you pick me," he said, for Markise's ears only. His anger still showed in his eyes but he put his arms tightly around Markise anyway. It screamed that Markise was his and that the other guys could just back off, they weren't getting him tonight.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise loved the possessiveness in Ariel's voice, in the way those strong arms wrapped around him. Markise ignored any reaction the others might have had, dismissing them all. He slipped off the table, slowly, his body sliding against Ariel's until at last his feet touched the ground. His hands slid up the back of Ariel's neck to lodge in that marvelous hair, and he focused wide-pupiled eyes on Ariel's. "I'm hot, stud," he said, just for Ariel, though the words were a bit louder than he'd meant them. Ariel could take that however he wanted and it would be true.

[Ariel Logan Callahan]

Ariel sighed heavily through his nose and shifted his arms around Markise and raised an eyebrow, unable to stay completely angry with Markise leaning against him and looking up at him like that. "And what am I supposed to do about that?" he asked, ignoring the sighs from others as they started to leave since the show was over. Ariel still couldn't believe that Markise had done that, and even if he wasn't able to show the anger, it still bubbled underneath.

[Markise Sterling]

"Kiss me like you noticed how I dressed up for you," Markise said, his mental filter eradicated for the night. "Pretend you want just me." Markise had seen the way Ariel had responded to the freedom he'd given for the night, and though he wouldn't think about it, part of him knew that, for the night, Ariel had forgotten him. Markise began to shift his hips to the music again, and his hands toyed with the back of Ariel's hair. He was still feeling too nice to stay still, and now that he had Ariel back, he didn't have to behave anymore.

[Ariel Logan Callahan]

Ariel paused, considering for a moment just refusing and walking off just to prove a point. He knew he wouldn't, though, and so only let himself focus on the motions of Markise against him. "Why should I?" he asked, deciding that he could at least postpone it and show some of his displeasure, even if he didn't walk away.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise's dancing slowed to a stop, as did his hands, and his expression of playful lust faded into a hurt frown. Ariel didn't even want to pretend. Markise's brows knitted, and he dropped his gaze from Ariel's, his hands moving back to that firm chest. He pushed lightly, halfheartedly and ineffectually, not really wanting to go, but feeling completely unwanted. And his damn allergies were acting up! "If you don't want me, just tell me, Ariel!" Right now, he didn't want this emotional roller coaster. He wanted his boyfriend back, or he wanted to go back to the bar and get enough free drinks that he wouldn't care anymore.

[Ariel Logan Callahan]

Ariel glared, what was Markise's problem now? As far as Ariel was concerned, he really hadn't done much to piss him off tonight, Markise had given him permission to go off with those others, anyway. His arms tightened again around Markise. "You were the one dancing on a table, remember?" he asked, his eyes narrowing down into Markise's blue. His voice was slightly dangerous and low.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise stilled and stiffened in Ariel's arms, his heartbeat speeding uncomfortably with the tone of Ariel's voice. Markise managed to lift his gaze to Ariel's, confusion and a touch of fear mingling with the hurt in his eyes. "I kept my pants on," he said weakly. He'd kept his shirt on too, though it was so hot he'd considered taking it off several times. He couldn't understand why Ariel was upset.

[Ariel Logan Callahan]

"And what if one of those guys had gotten up there with you?" Ariel asked, his eyes dark. At least one of the men there had been over thirty. It was wrong, he thought, for Markise to do that, he didn't like it at all. And it was at least a little because he didn't know how far one of those guys would have gone, what if they hadn't planned on stopping? And Ariel couldn't imagine that they had intended to stop and let Markise choose for himself.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise blinked, the idea obviously foreign to him. "But they didn't," he said. "I was just dancing, anyway. We were having fun." Markise's mind had no chance of making the conclusions that Ariel had. All he could think about was that he'd been dancing, he'd been completely free up there and had guys who wanted him enough to stay. "Maybe I'd have danced with him?" Markise said, unsure. What was Ariel looking for? Markise lowered his eyes again, still tense and nervous. He didn't want to look at Ariel now, when he looked so mad.

[Ariel Logan Callahan]

Ariel breathed heavily through his nose and looked away from Markise, knowing that if he didn't take some distance he would end up worse than he was at that moment. If anything he needed to keep Markise happy long enough to get home. He wasn't about to admit that he wanted to keep Markise for more than just that. He sighed and closed his eyes to focus on not just turning around and leaving like he had wanted to since first seeing Markise on the table.

[Markise Sterling]

Some of the tension in Ariel's arms had, if not faded, then shifted slightly. Markise couldn't relax yet, but he stopped pushing against Ariel's chest and risked a look up at him from beneath his lashes. The look there was inscrutable, other than brooding, and Markise didn't know what to do. He didn't want to do anything wrong and risk turning Ariel's anger back onto him. Markise could only wait, tense and near breathless, for Ariel to decide whatever it was that he was thinking about.

[Ariel Logan Callahan]

Ariel opened his eyes after a minute and finally looked down at Markise, then bit his tongue hard to fight back the sudden urge to say something again. "Dance with me," he said instead, entirely ignoring the fact that just a few seconds before he had been so angry with Markise, and started moving slowly. He wasn't a dancer, not by any means, but he had said that he would come back and dance with Markise.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise blinked with obvious surprise, but started moving all the same. He tried to be cautious, tried to be suspicious, but his mind was fuzzy and far preferred to think about how nice if felt to move like this. He sneaked a look up, but Ariel was still unreadable, so Markise brushed it off and slid his arms around the back of Ariel's neck again. He didn't want to be angry. He wanted to feel good like he had before Ariel had come up being pissy.

[Ariel Logan Callahan]

Ariel was fighting with himself over whether or not to keep the image of Markise on the table out of his mind. It made his blood rush to remember and see the little image of him dancing like he had been, but it made it boil in anger when he remembered that there had been other people there with him, watching him. He wasn't able to even try to think about dancing, not with the mental fight going on in his head.