Make things a menage a trois

"Oh, go easy on him, Mel. Tony here's never been to one of these before. Let's not make it so he's got to choose who he likes better, alright?"

Melody rolls her eyes, smirk still in place. "Sorry, I know how dates can be sometimes with the people they walk in with."

Zach brings a hand over his head, closing his eyes, and feigns falling forward. "Coming down with a case of the vapors, Tony. You'll have to drag me back to the car yourself given how hot blooded it's making me feel here and all."

Tony looks down at one of his palms and considers just how badly he wants to smack his best friend. Still... just as he knew, Zach always managed to find the cutest girls in any given place and wrap them around his finger. If he's not going to give up seeing this 'Maria' character than at the very least getting to pick half the company to keep isn't such a bad trade off.

"I... guess it couldn't be too bad if you're vouching for her," Tony says, offering what he hopes is an earnest smile but judging by Mel's expression is more than likely painfully awkward. "You're way easier on the eyes than this idiot is."

"It's a date," Mel says, bridging the gap between herself and Tony before he can protest, linking his arm with hers and leaving Zach in their wake. As they begin to move through the throng, Tony look back over his shoulder as Mel drags him into the depths to make sure his rather jealous-looking best friend is following them, he takes a moment to marvel at how deceptively big the floor space is. The strobe floor lights do little to illuminate the area but the fact that they can duck and dive past dozens of people is quite impressive; indeed, in hindsight, the fact that there had to be more to the building than the club-like atmosphere is the fact that he hasn't seen a single pole in sight since walking through the Good Time Club's doors. Booths with both open and drawn shades are passed, their dark curtains occasionally rustling and the begging moans of the strip joint's clientele calling out a variety of names greets their ears as they walk by, barely audible above the sinful soundtrack of the place. A few of the men around Tony give him jealous looks almost as bad as Zach's as they move by.

Tony makes a mental note to apologize later to Zach for apparently stealing away his favorite girl here.

Eventually, though, towards the back of the Good Time Club they reach a stage, brightly lit by colorful tiles, its focal point the long metal pole stuck in its center. Mel turns to you, an excited expression lighting up her graceful features.

"Maria really is something. Zach's not lying when she says she's special, trust me."

"You sound like you're a big fan, Mel," says Zach, bringing up the rear as he meets the both of them at the base of the performance area. "You're a softie at heart. Something unrequited between the two of you? Star-crossed coworkers?"

It's something that Tony almost doesn't catch given that all the attention is focused on where the magic will occur, but a look of disappointment briefly crosses Melody's face before disappearing again.

"Try to think a little more with your head up here," Mel sighs, tapping the side of her head, "and not the one down here," she points to her crotch. "Even if I wanted to, she's way out of my league. Wouldn't be surprised if half the girls here haven't tried asking her out, though."

"Suit yourself. More for the rest of us, right, Tony?"

Tony can't help but note just how bitter Melody's voice sounded seconds ago.

"If she's in such high demand, I'm sure she's a lady who has some pretty high standards," Tony murmurs, eying Melody carefully.

"She's brought her boy toys around here once or twice before," Melody says, folding her arms. "Fancy suits and enough hair gel to feel the grease in their hair halfway across the room. They tend not to last long, though. She's a bit of a size queen and she expects a wallet just as big. Guess none made the grade."

"Fair's fair. When you're as hot as she is, you get to make the rules and everyone else bends to 'em," mentions Zach, nodding sagely.

Tony's about to try and steer the subject to something more comfortable, but he begins to notice the growing crowd around them, dozens of eyes watching the stage like moths to a flame. He can't really say he minds crowds but even still his patience is being put to the test as people begin to jostle and elbow their way past or in front of him.

"Dmitri should be announcing her soon," Mel mentions casually. "They don't really need to announce her since the guests she draws pretty much memorize her schedule, but I guess he likes being her hype man. Owner's privilege, I guess."

Sure enough, in only a few seconds, the increasing crowded room gains another occupant as a man clad in an open-chested pink polo and beige khakis walks out onto the stage. "Guy always dresses like a total dick wad," Zach snorts. "You'd think with some of the money he's gotta make owning this place he could afford to go buy something new."

There's some feedback as the fashion disaster blows into the mic he's holding, causing everyone present to wince. "Testing, testing," a voice of indeterminate eastern European origin says into the device. When no one distractedly goes back to talking with one another, the man smirks and waves a hand at the crowd.

"Hello, hello, my friends. I'm so glad all of you could make it tonight. Maria is too."

He waits for the hushed whispers of excitement to stop before he continues.

"You know, it's funny. She's our biggest draw here at the Good Time and I always ask her, 'Why do you stay here? Why not go back to Brazil?' She always tells me that while the crowds for Carnival are bigger, it doesn't matter to her. Do you know why that might be?"

No response. Tony is almost impressed at the silence.

"She loves being the center of attention too much. She'd tell you it's worst character flaw. I would too," he chuckles into his mic and much of the crowd does the same. "But I think you'd all agree that it's wonderful she's so sure of herself. It's what you've come here to see, after all."

The crowd, at the drop of a hat, immediately changes. All around the three of them, the chant of "Maria!" grows louder and louder as the mob pumps their fists in unison.

"To those of you who're here for the first time - and I do see some new faces - you're in for a treat. For the faithful who've come here time and again you'll all know that I'm a man of the people. I'll give them what they want. Without further ado... here's Maria Ribeiro."

Dmitri walks away from the center stage, making a hand gesture Tony can't quite see, and suddenly the silence he wasn't even aware of is broken by...

"Samba?" Tony asks and blinks in confusion.

"Part of her act," Mel mentions, nodding along to the foreign music.

The notes filter in and out of every crevice of the place before the steps on one side of the stage see human movement. Tony watches as a woman in an elaborate outfit makes her way onto the platform and he has to gawk at the effort. While Carnival outfits are usually pretty skimpy, the sheer effort put into the quality of it is shocking. Bright reds and oranges intermingle on the faux feathers of her elaborate gold headdress, each piece of plumage long enough to come down to her shoulders. Beads of varying shapes and sizes are sewn intricately into the effective flame-colored lingerie on her form, gems of many hues being strung together to complete her look, a loincloth hanging in place. But despite the fact that her get up already looks like some kind of ancient native goddess Tony gets another confirmation that Zach's preference for beautiful women is one he should trust.

Maria is that and then some.

Tony watches her exquisitely bronze form strut confidently forward, swaying her oh so perfect hips in time to the up beat energy of whatever band that the Good Time Club has found cheapest. Every part of her face - from her pouting lips, to high cheek bones, to bright almost almond eyes - is aesthetically pleasing to look at. Tony had heard somewhere once that Brazilians were consistently ranked as some of the best looking people on earth and, after witnessing Maria before him, he could understand why.

The strut became a gyration as she made her way to her destination, gyrating her hips this way and that as the crowd merely followed the motion, as fluid as water moving around in a glass. It was almost like belly dancing, Tony thought to himself, but far more frenetic. As she works her hands back and forth, Tony notes she doesn't even have to touch the loose-fitting straps on her shoulders for her top to fall just ever so tantalizingly down. It's an impressive feat considering that she's a C cup at minimum and he's sure that if even the slightest movement is off then the game is ruined early.

Moving her hands from her hands from the sides of her hips to her headdress, she gently lifts it off, a cascade of inky black tresses falling down as she tosses it aside effortlessly, continuing her journey to the metal pole. When she finally reaches it, rocking herself right up into it, Tony can't look away. She writhes against the cool object, Maria's perfect lips doing their best to imitate an orgasm, and eyes closed as she slowly slides up against it, a single hand supporting her. She claws at her top with the other hand, bringing it down ever so slightly to give a hint of aureola before covering it up again, massaging her breast through the costume.

When she opens her eyes again, it's not the easygoing nature of Mel in her expression and certainly not the gentleness of Katie that meets Tony's gaze. No, the blaze set inside of Maria is hungry, ready to devour the worshipful energy of everyone present to feed itself. Never breaking eye contact as she turns her gaze to those here and there around her, she slides down, her nearly bare bottom running up against the ground. It only takes her a moment to move back up a well-rehearsed grace, however, as she uses the hand on the pole to push herself off.

Maria smiles slyly at them all, thumbs at the corners of what is effectively a bikini top as she lowers the fabric down. Her girls swing gloriously free, brown skin made even exquisite in the dim light of their environment, and Tony feels his mouth begin to water at her hardened nipples. He'd always been a breast man and the thought of burying himself in her chest is a fantasy he'll definitely be taking home with him for later tonight. Maria gives a wink before ripping the material off for good, tossing it into crowd, and Tony barely makes it out of the way in time as several different hands next to him shoot out to catch it; Tony's even surprised to realize he knows one of them. Zach, shockingly, comes out on top, holding it triumphantly in his grasp like he took it off her himself.

But as she swings her hips around, Tony realizes at last the reason everyone has gathered here.

Her exquisite, shapely hips are little more than the appetizer than the main course that is her ass. It's so large, so firm, that Tony's dick is hard the moment she begins to shake it, turning around and flashing them all a smile as she shakes her way to the pole once more, her twerking itself a joy to watch as her cheeks ripple against one another.

"Should've been a carpenter instead," Zach mutters somewhere next to him. "I'd love to get to know a shelf like that."

It's an old trick, Tony knows, but an effective one. As she approaches the pole, Maria turns around once more, positioning her ass directly between the cheeks and the support, as she clenches them together, sliding up and down. Swinging her body as gently as she can, the whole audience is treated to her grinding back and forth against the center piece. Tony barely registers the fact that there hasn't been a single pathetic yell to ask her out or do something that isn't part of her routine. Even the whispers that come and go intermittently can be tuned out if Tony concentrates hard enough.

When she returns again to face their direction, Maria's fingers begin to play with the string attached to the loincloth, angling it side ways this way and that as Maria smiles brightly at the crowd. It's an admittedly clever way of giving the show a run time, Tony thinks to himself. Once every part of her has been bared then she's free to exit. The string is further stretched as she lowers the cover to her garden at such an agonizingly slow pace that Tony's breath catches in his throat without him realizing it at first. 'Shaved or, well, a Brazilian?' he wonders idly to himself. He's certainly not picky, whatever Maria has decided.

As the last article of clothing comes down, one foot at first, then the other, and Maria tosses it aside as she has everything else she stands there before all of them just like the day she was born. She's totally breathtaking - flat stomach, long hair, firm breasts, a gorgeous bubble butt, hips to die for - and...

Nothing prepares him for her finale. As he drinks in every part of her, Tony watches her arch a leg against the pole, leaping against it as she spins around it before landing with one leg angling against it and the rest of her body in a relaxing pose as Maria leans on her cheek. But the graceful movement isn't enough to distract from the fact that she has a dick. It looks about the same length as Tony's, perhaps with a little less girth, but there's no mistaking the appendage she shows off as her chest heaves and the crowd roars with applause around them.

Thoroughly confused, and perhaps more than a little clumsily, he claps along. Zach hadn't mentioned that this was going to be a club like that. Perhaps, if that had been the case, maybe Tony would've thought twice before heading in with him if he had. Yet, as Tony stared at the smoking hot Brazilian woman, her sweat shining, hair splayed about at random angles against her it was hard to dismiss her earlier thoughts of just how attractive she truly was. There was no shame in admitting that even with her extra equipment she was nothing to sneeze at.

"Didn't think you'd be into that," Tony says, leaning over to Zach. "I never knew you were bi."

"Uh, what?" Zach asks, arching an eyebrow. "What're you talking about?"

"Her," Tony gestures at the stage. "Hard not to notice."

"What about her?"

Tony looks at Zach incredulously. "I didn't peg you as the type to be into dick is all. I mean, it's alright. I'm not judging you, man."

"...What else would I be interested in?" Zach frowns. "Nothing?"

Tony fixes him with a hard look, trying to gauge him. Zach loves playing jokes on people and he's often been in on many schemes in the past but he's a terrible liar. His expression of confusion almost looks genuine to Tony.

"C'mon, don't be funny. Just tell me the truth; I'm your best friend."

"I've never slept with a dude," Zach says as he shakes his head. "Or thought about dating one either. Kinda makes me not bi, Tony."

He's about to respond, eyes searching for Mel to give him some kind of backup in this bizarre argument, when Tony finds her staring at Maria on stage and completely disconnected from the conversation. Though Tony almost decides not to out of respect for her privacy, his eyes make their down past her navel to the thong she's wearing and all the world can see that it's become completely wrinkled, the outline of rock solid womanhood straining its confines.

"Uh, Mel?"

She snaps out of reverie then, turning to look at Tony.

"Yeah?"

"A little help here?"

"About what?"

Tony sighs, shaking his head from side to side. "Never mind..."