You Pinned Me First

Traveling down the busy street at high speeds, he almost missed a familiar face in the crowd. He skid to stop, quickly turning back to catch up with the person who was currently walking in the opposite direction. The woman's long black hair was tied in a ponytail, using her own hair to pull it back. She had a youthful face, her olive colored skin practically glowing in the streetlight. She was wearing a green sweater and black skinny jeans.

He tapped her shoulder, making her quickly whip around to face him. "Xochitl~" he cooed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. The woman, Xochitl, rolled her deep brown eyes at him. "Chichi… to what do I owe this displeasure?" 

"Displeasure?" Malachi repeated in an exaggerated manner. "I'll have you know that I am quite the delight," Xochitl barked out a laugh. "Don't even lie, hun," she said as she folded her arms over her chest. Malachi simply grumbled under his breath with a pouty look on his face, eliciting a small smirk from the woman. 

"Anyways," he suddenly spoke up after clearing his throat. "Where're you headed on this fine evening," Malachi internally cringed at himself, but deciding making a fool of himself was worth it as long as he could embarrass his friend. Xochitl rolled her eyes, giving him an unimpressed look.

Her expression brightened after a moment. "Remember Zaiden? He owns a club now and I'm headin' there," she said. "Man, I should say hi to that asshole," Malachi muttered, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Xochitl playfully rolled her eyes. "Then you should come with me," she said, turning to face Malachi. He simply smirked in return, speeding the board up to match her speed. "Well, Miss Alvarez, I am broke as fuck right now, so you're gonna have to pay," he told her casually.

Xochitl shot him an irritated glance. "You're lucky it's the opening of a new location. Entry's free," she explained, punching Malachi's shoulder, making him snicker.

The two neared a large building lit by blinding neon lights, drawing attention to the large entrance. A large sign that read 'Euphorium' was mounted above the doors. Two tall bouncers were posted outside, flanking the doorway. The two would occasionally turn people away, opening the doors for others as they stood guard. Malachi walked up to them, letting them scan his wrist. Once his identity was confirmed, they let him and Xochitl inside.

When he stepped inside, Malachi was shocked. Within Euphorium, the atmosphere was a strange mix of extravagance and vibrancy, the neon light illuminating the club in cyan and pink. Loud music boomed through the venue, a curated playlist designed to further the guests immersion. The luxurious red and black furnishing practically glowed against the harsh lighting, the silhouettes of people barely visible surrounding the focal point of the building; the stage. 

There were other performers on the tables, surrounded by groups of people sitting on the plush, crushed velvet seating. Despite this, for a reason he couldn't explain, Malachi couldn't tear his eyes away from the performers on the main stage. The dancing combined with the erotic lighting made them even more magnetic and alluring. Xochitl had to punch Malachi's shoulder to get his attention. "Dude, the fuck're you doin?" She asked in a joking manner. "Can't I just take a second to appreciate the beautiful men?" He replied in a nonchalant manner. "How can you appreciate their 'beauty' if you can't see em?" Xochitl smirked. "Hush," he held a finger to her lips, interrupting her. 

Xochitl rolled her eyes before dragging Malachi over to the bar, taking their seats on the bar stools. Despite how much staff there was, they were still busy with other patrons, leaving Malachi and Xochitl to sit there in silence. 

Out of the corner of his eyes, Malachi noticed a maroon curtain flip open, a waiter walking out. In the split second that the curtain was open, Malachi noticed other performers back there. The room seemed even more extravagantly designed than the room he was in. 

Interest piqued, Malachi muttered a quick "Wait here," to Xochitl, getting up and peeking his head into that room. Upon first glance, he saw the room was large and filled with overly luxurious looking booths where several men and women in seemingly high fashion clothes were seated. They were speaking with people dressed in various outfits, some more revealing than others. The lights in this room were slightly more dim than those in the main room, creating a far more intimate atmosphere. There were several different hallways towards the back of the room that seemed to branch off into separate spaces, workers going from the main room to the side rooms repeatedly. 

Once Malachi's eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, he noticed a familiar face in the crowd, her eyes meeting his. Despite his clouded vision, he could never mistake that face. He felt a pit in his gut when he realized where he had seen the woman before. "Auryn…" 

He quickly turned to run out of the room, panicking. Xochitl noticed, confused as she watched Malachi run into the nearest room, trying to hide from her, hoping he had gotten away from her fast enough.

Once the door slammed shut behind him, Malachi let out a sigh of relief. Suddenly, a sharp scream filled the room, making Malachi reach to cover his ears. "Loud…" he let out a huff, wincing. Looking up, his eyes met with another man's. However, his eyes didn't settle for long as he noticed the wings protruding from his back. "Can't a guy catch a break?" Malachi muttered to himself.

 The man was wearing a revealing black outfit. The fabric barely covered any of the skin on his torso, crossing over his chest in an 'X' shape. Just below the fabric were two long, horizontal scars beneath his pectoral muscles, seemingly done by a scalpel. The bottom part of his outfit only covered what was necessary, leaving his legs bare. Simple diamond shapes were cut into the sides of the bottoms, showing his hips, and long black sleeves covered his arms, the same diamond shapes cut along the fabric. A black choker wrapped around his neck, and he wore tall black boots that reached his knees.

The man before him's expression quickly went from surprise to sheer rage. His golden irises violently contrasted with his black sclera, and Malachi would've thought him to be objectively beautiful, if it weren't for the fact that he had lunged at him. 

Surprised by the sudden move, Malachi allowed himself to be slammed into the wall. "The hell do you think you're doing, you perverted bastard?!" The man seethed, holding a blade up to Malachi. For a moment, he was caught off guard. The man's arm had looked completely normal before, but when he looked closer, he noticed a mechanism on the top of his forearm, holding the sickle that was now pressed against his throat.

Rolling his eyes, Malachi easily flipped their positions, pinning him to the wall by the wrists instead. Malachi reached for his interface, seeing the man's workplace name. A smirk spread across Malachi's face. "You're the one that pinned me first, mister Altair," he enunciated his name by pressing a hand to the man's throat

Altair's expression once again shifted, this time to one of panic as the blade retreated back into the skin. He swiftly brought his knee up, making an attempt to strike Malachi in the gut, simultaneously trying to pull his arms away.

Malachi simply responded by using the hand holding Altair's neck to press the man's leg back into the wall. "Get the fuck off me!" Altair snapped before managing to free one of his hands and swiftly reaching to the table beside them, grabbing one of the sharp hair pins and clutching it in his fist as he went to stab it into Malachi's neck. Malachi quickly dodged the attack, pressing his forehead to Altair's, staring down at him. Gritting his teeth, Altair opted to stab Malachi in the shoulder, making the Malachi slightly wince. 

Sighing, Malachi rolled his eyes, moving his hand to grab Altair's wrist and slam it into the wall, using his thigh to pin the other man's leg as well. "Just what were you trying to accomplish there, huh?" Malachi asked in a condescending tone. Altair didn't respond, simply glaring at Malachi as he struggled to free his wrist. When that achieved nothing, he cursed under his breath before turning his head to the door.

"Security!" Altair suddenly called. With a scoff Malachi let go of one of his wrists, clamping a hand over Altair's mouth. Surprised, he bit down on Malachi's hand, using the hand that had just been freed to elbow Malachi in the shoulder. However, Malachi's attention was drawn to the scythe sticking out of the man's elbow. The sound of metal clanging together filled the room, the sound making Malachi's ears ring.

Malachi simply coughed out a laugh, watching as the blade shattered. "You're surprisingly… dumb," he laughed out, pulling his hand out of Altair's mouth and wiping the saliva on the man's top. 

When Malachi wiped the saliva on his clothes, Altair gave the man a disgusted look. "You're such a perv," he muttered with a huff, staring at the stump of the now shattered blade. It quickly found its home back inside of his arm. Altair contemplated whether or not he should call for his guards. He eventually decided against it, realizing how dangerous Malachi probably is. 

After a few seconds of silence, Malachi finally spoke. "If this bothers you so much, then take this," he slid his coat off of him, wrapping it around Altair's shoulders. Giving him a strange look, he took the coat off and threw it at Malachi's face. "Oh, so you would rather be half naked around a stranger. Good to know," he muttered, rolling his eyes and pulling his jacket back on. "Well, unfortunately, I can't leave quite yet, so it's either wear the jacket or change in front of me. Which would you prefer?"

"I would prefer you get the fuck out of my dressing room," the man said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Well too bad," Malachi replied, plopping down onto a chair. "You want me to cover my eyes?" He continued in a joking manner. Altair just growled something under his breath before grabbing a hoodie from one of the drawers against the wall. 

Malachi rolled his eyes. "Here, I'll go see if she's gone," he said in an exasperated tone, walking over to the door and peaking out. The moment Malachi was looking away, Altair tucked his wings back into the folds along his spine, the skin covering the wings behind them. He then quickly pulled the hoodie over his head and torso.

Malachi saw Auryn wandering around the room. As she scanned the room, turning her head, her light blue hair flowed behind her, her white mermaid style dress dragging on the floor. 

He slammed the door shut, pressing his back to it as he stared at the floor in front of him. "Wow, there's someone who can actually intimidate you? Remind me to get their number," Altair snarked with a smirk, raising a brow as he rested his hand on his hip. "She's an old… partner of mine, I guess you could say," Malachi winced at how strange his voice sounded. "The hell happened to yer wings?" He asked when he looked back at Altair. "Tucked them in the locker," Altair replied simply. 

Malachi looked between him and the lockers on the other side of the dressing room. "...Alright then," he decided not to question it, as there were far more pressing matters.

He pushed his hair back, pacing around the room. "If you got any way I could get out of here that doesn't require me going out there, it would be very much appreciated."

Altair shook his head before walking over and pulling away a curtain to show another door. "Just get out," he scoffed, opening the door. "Shit. Why didn't you try runnin' out there earlier? Like while I was peaking my head out the door or something," Malachi asked plainly. "I'd rather not go out into public dressed like this," Altair shrugged. "So you'd rather save your public image and potentially die than go outside and alert the police? You just get dumber by the second." 

Altair simply stayed quiet, shooting the man a glare. "Oh, just get out already." Malachi abruptly snorted, cupping his hand over his mouth. "Yeah, yeah," he replied, rolling his eyes as he stepped out. "Nice meeting you!" He called over his shoulder, closing the door behind him.

Once Malachi was outside, he could hear the man mutter a soft "Weirdo," before walking away from the door. 

Opening his interface, Malachi saw thirty missed calls from Xochitl. He let out a huff as he opened his messages and started typing.

"Bitch, I'm fine" he sent, resting his hand on his hip as he awaited a reply.

"Dude, I watched you run into a random room and you haven't come out yet wtf are you doing" the reply came approximately three seconds later, eliciting a small smile from Malachi. "Saw Ryn. Found another way out. I'm heading to a hotel. Try not to get too drunk".

"No promises" she replied.

With that, Malachi closed the messages, pulling up a map to his hotel. Malachi didn't bother trying to get his board again, choosing to walk to the hotel. People, Malachi decided, were incredibly intrusive. Always in the way. 

The hotel wasn't a long walk away, but he was making sure to walk slower, reluctant to interact with anyone else. With a huff, he decided to bite the bullet and get it over with. 

When he arrived outside the hotel, he walked through the revolving door. Despite the seemingly fancy entrance, it was clear where this city put their money. He let out a sigh before walking over to the elevator, scanning in. Patiently waiting for the doors to close behind him, he pulled up his interface and started playing a random game, choosing to ignore the people that filed in. 

The elevator came to a halt on the second floor, the doors opening. Malachi stepped out and started walking towards his room. He scanned into the room, opening the door with a soft click. "Finally," he grumbled, kicking his shoes off. He hung his trench coat on the door and dropped his bag onto his bed, opening it and pulling out a change of clothes. He finally took his hair out of its ponytail. 

Walking into the bathroom, he took a quick shower and changed into a simple pair of black sweatpants and a gray tank top. After brushing his teeth, he went back into the room and collapsed onto the bed. 

After some time, the exhaustion finally set in. "Fuck people," he muttered, turning onto his side and finally falling asleep.

In the middle of the night, a blaring ringing noise played in his ear, making him shoot up. "I really have to change that notification sound," he grumbled, rubbing his eyes as he checked the new message. 

"Auntie said your time limit is being cut. You need to have this job done by tomorrow night,"

Malachi groaned at the message, glaring at the screen. "Guess I better get going then," he muttered, pushing himself up. "She better pay me back for the extra money I lost," he grumbled, walking out of his room and slamming the door behind him.