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Being friends with someone like Damian Oliver was a challenge. They had a friends with benefits set up that was mutually beneficial, obviously but Lena liked being personal with her friends. Damian did not. She understood where he was coming from of course. There wasn't supposed to be attachment.
For Lena, it was already hard for her to get attached so getting personal with someone for her wasn't the same. But unfortunately, Damian just wouldn't have any of it. Although he did let Lena in on his son, which was the only personal thing he had indulged her in.
Working at The Green Fairy was a personal thing she wanted to share with Damian and she knew for a fact that he would obviously enjoy the place. But she wasn't entirely certain whether he would enjoy having to watch her perform. As a friend.
So she had been dropping hints, just enticing him with little tidbits of the shows. She told him when they happened and all that and tonight was her night but she wasn't even sure he would actually show up.
Be that as it may, she gave her all that night and when the set was done, she went backstage and contemplated on texting him before shaking her head and cleaning up.
She walked out of the backstage to the front as the cleanup crew started their shift, tying her fiery red hair up in a messy ponytail and bumped into someone.
Damian had very few people he ever let get attached to him on an emotional level. With his history, he supposed he had trouble accepting that someone would want to. Add onto that his line of work where something could happen to him and the one close friend that he had having such a short lifespan with the exact power that he had, it left him very little chance to want to be close to someone. But he also didn't offer up an explanation to those he did keep at arms length. People like Lena.
He'd known her for a little while and he'd been immediately attracted to her on a physical level. It was hard not to be, she exuded confidence and knew that she had just as much control over the situation as he did. But it was dangerous to connect with her further than flings and hookups. It wasn't that he feared that he would fall in love with her, he'd made that mistake once before and wasn't about to make it again. It was just giving her the fuel to ruin his life more than he'd managed to do all on his own. Personal information led to emotional attachment and he refused to go through being bailed on again.
Letting her know about Jace and for her to meet him, that was something he hadn't quite planned, but he didn't regret it. Jace had adored her and she seemed to do pretty well with him. That was about as bad as it could get. Now if she left, it wouldn't affect him, but it would affect his son. She'd been hinting and nudging him about the newest club that had just opened on the first of the month. He'd shot down most of her attempts to get him to come, although he was intrigued by the idea of women dancing scantily clad.
After about an hour of arguing with himself, he decided he would just go. What was the worse that could happen? There was alcohol and a pretty girl dancing, life couldn't get much better than that. He sat through the show and applauded when the moment was allotted. Once she finished dancing, he stood up to try and go find her. As he was walking towards the backstage, she walked right into him and he held his hands out to catch her, "Whoa there, watch where you're throwing elbows, Lena."
Squeaking at the collision, she found herself looking at Damian and a wide smile appeared on her face. She punched him in the arm and crossed hers over her chest.
"You actually came! So smart, getting all the hints and whatnot." She teased before wriggling her eyebrows at him.
"So, what did you think?" She asked, spreading her arms in gesture of the set up. She actually did value opinions, even from people who only saw her as a warm body at night. And day for that matter.
His eyebrow arched at her teasing and he stuffed his hands in his pockets, giving her a once over in the outfit she'd chosen for the show. He supposed it was fitting to her, as was the music that she'd chosen to dance to. "Well, you did say there would be girls and booze, which happen to be my two favorite things, ya know." It didn't take much to please him.
Damian offered a shrug at her question, not really sure what answer she was looking for. Of course he enjoyed it, she was dressed in minimal clothing and was purposefully drawing attention to her assets. But was he supposed to say that out loud, or tell her that he'd thought her dancing was spot on and she hadn't missed a single step? He had to laugh at the thought and he tilted his head, "I mean, it was good. Seems like a cool place and all. I'm digging the absinthe vibes for sure."
He leaned forward a bit, "But more importantly, what do you think, Lena? All that matters is that you enjoy it."
Rolling her eyes at his response, Lena adjusted her hair so it didn't fall into her face as much. As he continued, Lena pumped her fist downwards in victory. Hopefully this meant he would frequent the place more often. They were always looking for new customers, they were a business after all.
Tilting her head slightly to the side, she regarded Damian with a curious look before responding. "I love it. You're being weird. You going soft on me, Damian?" The Aussie asked, placing her hands on her hips, transferring her weight from one stilleto heeled foot to the other.
When she pointed out that he was being weird, his defenses went up and he stepped back, folding his arms across his chest. Maybe he had given a little away that he wanted her to be happy. She may have just been his warm body at night, but she was close enough to know his kid and that made him look at her differently than most of the other conquests he had. He had to care about her in some regard, even if it gave way to the emotions he buried beneath alcohol and sarcasm.
"You're right, that was weird. Fuck if I care that you enjoy it. I'm just here for the skimpy outfits," He cocked an eyebrow and gave her a sleazy smirk. That was the childish thing about Damian, no one could point out his feelings without him closing them back up ten times tighter than before. Rarely did he make the mistake of leaving them out in the open for long. It didn't do him any good when he did that.
He looked around again, seeking out a distraction and finding one in one of the bartenders. "So since you work here, you can get me numbers of the other girls, yeah?" He turned back to her and smiled.
Lena could easily say she knew Damian a hell of a lot more than he knew her, and he was entirely predictable in his unpredictability. She could see the moment he retracted from his "feelings" and the words that came out of his mouth had the Aussie rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest. She didn't much like it when Damian got like this.
Even more so when he deflected by finding a distraction. She raised an eyebrow at him before shaking her head. "Nope. You're not gonna do any of these girls. I work with them and I do not need to have them either crying on me or stabbing me in the back for not warning them about you. Even though I will."
She licked her lips and smirked before pushing herself up to give him a kiss on the lips. "I love you, Damian. But you're definitely not going to be a dick at my workplace." She sidestepped him and threw a remark over her shoulder. "I wouldn't be opposed to it back home though. Just saying."
"Buzzkill," He didn't blame her. It wasn't as though he unleashed her on all of the guys that he worked with, although many of them made comments whenever they heard her name. Lena perhaps wasn't as brutal as he was, but she was harsh enough that he knew she wouldn't put up with the things the guys did. And he didn't want to have to kick anyone's ass for her either. "I thought that was the whole reason you brought me here, hooking your best friend up with some pretty girls." Even though he was already hooking up with the same pretty girl he was speaking to.
The way she dropped the 'L' word so freely made his nostrils flare and he could feel it in his stomach. He promptly ignored it and focused instead on the brief way her lips pressed to his. He was to be on his best behavior at her work place. Damian grimaced, when she started to move away from him. "You know, in some countries, being a tease is punishable by heavy spanking." His lips quirked up at the sides.
Before she could move further away, he grabbed her arms and pulled her back to him, "Does that mean you're coming over? I've got the place all to myself." Save for his dog, but Koda knew when to make himself scarce. "It's the least you could do after denying me action with the rest of the crew here," He shrugged, his hand tracing down her side to rest on her hip.
She chuckled at his remark, not keeling over on her resolve. Lena felt oddly protective over the girls here and wouldn't want any of them to fall victim for Damian's charms. She had an understanding with Damian which wasn't for everyone.
"My God...you are my best friend...kill me now." She patted her chest dramatically while the other hand fanned her face in mock distress.
"Is that a threat or a promise?" Lena asked when she was pulled back. She turned her head to the side so she could look at him in her peripheral vision. She chuckled and shrugged at his question and request.
"Hmm, it is the least I can do." She grabbed the hand on her hip and pushed it down. "You really need to learn not to grab people, D. You're just lucky I actually like it." She bumped back against him and twisted away from his hold, throwing a wink over her shoulder as she headed towards the exit.
"Hut hut, bunny. Time's a wastin'. This body ain't gonna rock itself tonight."
"Oh fuck off, you love that I'm your best friend," He shrugged and gave her a wink. "It could be worse, I could be ugly." And wouldn't that have just been a tragedy for the both of them? Damian never would have been able to touch her if he was ugly because his personality definitely didn't make up for anything. In turn, she'd miss out on the best sex of her life, pity really.
He let her slip through his fingers and towards the exit. Her teasing did nothing for him, although, to be fair, he was pretty sure he'd be bored if she wasn't witty or a tease. Rocking back on his heels, Damian shoved his hands in his pockets and followed after her. He kept a bit of distance between them, if only to give him a better view of her. It was sleazy, but she was someone he didn't have to worry about thinking poorly of him. She knew exactly what he was like.
Once they made it to the exit, he picked up the pace and slung his arm across her shoulder once he was beside her. "Does it make you feel better when you walk away from me, so that I have to chase you? I feel like that's such a girl thing to do."
Lena laughed loudly at his response and shrugged. "You're a horrible man, Damian. Although my being your best friend says more about me than it does about you so." She lifted her shoulders and palms upwards in a "What can you do" gesture.
"But how dare you say that? My pussy doesn't discriminate. You give me orgasms, I don't care how you look. That's the deal."
Lena leaned into his touch and wrapped her arm around his waist. Laughing, she shook her head. "You don't do chasing, Damian. And besides, am I really walking away if you know exactly where I'm going?" She raised an eyebrow, a smirk displayed on her very red lips.
"That's incredibly true, you're as fucked up as I am for being my friend," No judgment on his part though. Who could blame her for wanting to be best friends with him? He was a hoot and a half of fun ninety-nine percent of the time.
Damian snorted loudly, "Fucking liar. You wouldn't know if I was good at sex if I was ugly, silly." He rapped on her head and smirked. The truth was, if either of them had been less than pleasing to the eye, who was to say they'd ever crossed each other's paths? He prided himself in his taste of women, while they were all probably batshit crazy, they were hot. He was a terrible person, it was true, but at least he didn't pretend to be anything else.
He glanced down at her and shrugged in agreement. She wasn't wrong, chasing wasn't really is M.O. But he might have chased her if she wasn't easy enough to get to his house. She was worth the chase, easy to bone and lacking emotional connection. "That's a fair point. It's like I plucked you from my wildest fantasies," He rolled his eyes and gave her shoulders a squeeze.
Lena rolled her eyes at Damian. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." She responded flatly, though agreeing with his assessment one hundred percent. They only worked because they were both on the same level of fucked-upness.
"You are so crass. Can't a lady get one night of class?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, knowing the answer to the question already. Damian didn't do class. Hell, Lena didn't either. Their banter consisted of this constantly.
"You're damn right." She smirked, slapping his ass after his shoulder squeeze. "So, tell me what you're gonna do to me later and do we need a safe word tonight?"
Damian snorted loudly before bursting out into an overly dramatic laugh, "Class...me...you...lady...I can't even." He sputtered between his fit of giggles. If she thought either of them was capable of class, she was delusional. He could barely stomach the idea of it. He'd done his fair share of class when he was in the military, what with the military balls and such. That was as far as class went for him. "You're funny, Lena, I'll give you that."
His face contorted when she slapped his ass and he released her, "Oi, none of that. Not yet anyway." He bumped her with his hip and shoved his hands in his pockets, "When did my fantasy start getting so demanding? I always thought she was meant to be silent until given reason to make noise." He glanced at her sideways and smirked, "You'll just have to wait and see, babe. And seriously, we need a better word. Pineapple didn't really work last time."
