corduroy dreams

wes’ eye’s rolled so hard he felt it hurt a little. “maybe i should let the bartender know to keep an eye on his cash though, hm?” so he was a little angry about her stealing cash on their date a few months ago. and him getting shit for it the next day from his manager. she’d instantly disappeared and this was his chance to finally confront her, so he definitely wasn’t letting it get away from him. “just wondering when i might expect that cash back. you know, since you conveniently disappeared after that night. you’re a bit hard to track down, you know that?”

alice has a friend, and she has vibe to thank for that. it’s rare — only because of the fact that she hasn’t stayed in one place for so long before. she supposes if she counts brief flings lasting months here and there as friendships, then she’d be a very popular person. but that’s not the case, only one or two people from her past stand out - and by that logic she’s just as similarly unremarkable as the others.

usually she’d be at an event like this alone, ready to get fucked up without care or thought to what she looked like to others, but along came wes — one of the only people she’d genuinely gelled with on a vibe date, even if it was platonic, she was glad to have met him. she hears her name being called and thanks her lucky stars he’d shown up, “wes! hi!” her response is excited and expected, considering she’s interacting with someone for the first time in what, two days? “nope not ready, ten shots sounds good — even more would be better”

wes thanks whoever is up above. “ten shots coming right up,” he says as he steps into line with the crowd, ID ready for the routine check before they continue in. “you’re into dancing right? you aren’t one of those people who don’t dance in public?” he shimmies his shoulders in her direction, bumping her shoulder with his. “because i’m so ready to let loose. god, it’s been a week from hell.” work had been rough, the failed vibe date he’d been on the day before had been rougher. he needed to get out and have a good time.

she licked her hand, shaking salt onto it, then grabbed his and did the same. slowly, a cat-like smile spread across her face. “how do you think i’m getting these free drinks and the person who bought them is nowhere in sight?” she shrugged. “to be honest, i use the app often enough, but only when i’m bored. i’m not very good at talking online.”

wes isn’t going to lie. his mouth might have fallen open when she grabbed his hand to put the salt on, but he quickly shut it and cleared his throat. “smart. my friend gets a lot of free pizza from the guys on vibe.” he laughs. “it’s definitely a source of entertainment, that’s for sure. prefer the in person connection more, eh?” he grabs his next shot and looks at her. “alright, ready?” 

wes had lost his friends forever ago. omnia was crowded and hot and a really fucking good time. he downed his shot and thanked the bartender before moving back to the dance floor. he moved with the music, swaying his hips. letting it take over. his eyes wandered the crowd for someone to dance with when they landed on her. eva. his eyes narrowed and he instantly made his way through the crowd, pushing his way to where he’d spotted her. how fucking dare she still have the nerve to be on vibe after she stole from his place of work on their date. 

he walked up right beside her and leaned in close enough for his words to carry over the sound of the music. “and here i was thinking the crowd was good tonight. guess they’ll just let anyone in, eh?”

Niko nods, like he can hear anything Wes is saying over the din of the club. He keeps smiling, albeit for too long and without any appropriate response for Wes. In honesty, Niko couldn’t care less what this man’s name is, just that he’s willing to dance, and it feels like every cell in Niko’s body is screaming at him to move. Whether Niko doesn’t see Wes’ hand or chooses to ignore it remains unclear, but regardless he hoists himself upright and wastes little time in tugging them both towards the crowded dance floor.

“I’m a Niko,” he tries to say, still unaware he missed Wes’ first introduction. “Do you make it a habit of dancing with strangers at clubs?”

wes watches as the other man ignores his hand and hoists himself up on his own and tugs wes along with him. he allows himself to be dragged to the floor, swaying with the music already. this is what he needs. to let loose and not think.

he lets out a laugh at niko’s question. “i make a habit of dancing with the attractive ones, yeah. one of my better habits.” he moves a step close, body moving with the music. “do you ask strangers to dance often?” he retorts. “seems a little too trusting.”

he had met alice on one of this first vibe dates. it didn’t take long for them to realize they’d work really well as friends, which was why he was on his way to omnia to meet her. slipping on his coat, he quickly slipped out the door and into the night. he’d never been to a party for the company before. thought it was a bit weird that they were throwing a party for its users. did tinder do that? either way, he wasn’t about to pass up a club with no cover fee.

the club was busy when he approached. two bouncers guarded the door with a stream of people heading in. it took him a minute to spot alice. god, he was ready for a night out. “alice!” he shouted as he made his way over to her. “you ready to do this thing? i need a shot or ten.”

percy couldn’t hear most of what he was saying over the thumping bass, but he sure was easy on the eyes. she couldn’t believe her luck; the people in the omnia were usually the type of nouveau rich that never quite achieved supermodel status. the vibe event really had people vibing.

she grinned and did the shot, letting out a loud laugh. “i’d argue with you on ‘good,’ but it’s definitely music, that’s for sure.” she readied up the next set. “you here with vibe?”

“maybe if we cheers to good music enough it’ll happen,” wes said as he put the shot glass back on the counter, wiping a hand across his mouth as he watched her line up the next ones. silently, he thanked whatever idiot had bought these and left. “yeah. had a few connections here and there.” wes picked up the glass, ready to follow suit.  “i’m guessing you are too, eh? meet anyone tonight you vibe with?” 

hi!! i’m pen. i’ll be on later tonight with wes’ bio!! but in the meantime, like this if you’d like to plot or defs add me on discord (urfavging #9636) bc i’ll see it faster!! ily all already.