Beast even got Jake to take off the plastic cuff off Laurent’s ankle, as if to signify that he no longer cared where Laurent was, or if he was taken by someone. Laurent was on his own and he detested it with a passion.
No matter how many people enjoyed his company, Beast’s rejection stung like a slap to the face despite Laurent knowing that he’d deserved the violence unleashed on him. His attempt at thwarting Beast’s plans hadn’t been particularly skilful and must had seemed so out of character he was ashamed at hurting the feelings of the man who dedicated so much of his time and attention to make Laurent comfortable in the new place.
He tried to fill the void left by Beast with talking to new people and making himself as useful as humanly possible. Jordan quit some of the administrative tasks she’d been doing for the club, and since there was not much Laurent was good at other than clerical work, he stepped into the maze of information and documents in the office and worked out a system of filing for all the bills. At first it had been a task seemingly unattainable, but Laurent enjoyed the challenge the documents presented.
Nao became his most trusted friend and explained many new things to him, so when the roof of the party room was finally patched up, and the time came to celebrate Beast becoming vice president of the club, Laurent confessed to her that he hoped to attract a gentleman for the purpose of exploring desire. At first she laughed at him, but when he got upset with her mocking, she explained that it was only the way he had put it that was funny.
Yet another little disappointment. Laurent was trying so hard to frame things right, but he couldn’t get around all the odd expressions the people of the future used. Some of the words remained the same as in his own time, and yet they were used in different ways, and he feared making his way through the tangle of contemporary words would be no less difficult than learning a new language from the basics.
Nao took him to the same mall he’d visited with Beast weeks before. She chose the same steak restaurant Beast had originally wanted to take him to, and this time getting a table was no trouble at all. The beef indeed tasted great, and the easy availability of sugar for coffee and in desserts pushed Laurent into using more of it than necessary. But the food still left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth when he remembered how upset Beast had been when they were refused the privilege of eating there.
Nao decided that if he wanted to ‘get laid’, which he worked out meant general sexual activity, then he needed new sexy clothes. It confused him, since he thought the ones Beast helped him choose were very attractive, but he would go with what was required for the venture and put his trust in Nao since she had regular encounters with men.
So there he was, in front of a mirror, unsure if his clothes weren’t too obscene to show in public, while music already thudded under his feet. As the honorary guest, Beast was likely already at the party, and Laurent couldn’t help but wonder if Beast would like the way he looked tonight.
Nao straightened his hair with a hot iron, and everything Laurent wore clung to his body like second skin. The fabric of his black pants was a bit like thin, soft leather, yet stretched slightly, to accommodate every part of his body. Every part. He’d worn fitted breeches in the past, but none that would hug his prick so obscenely. The top-thing she bought for him was even stranger. He tried it on in a shop that sold a whole array of lewd objects, and where Nao herself purchased a short dress made out of rubber to wear at the party.
At first, Laurent wasn’t sure how to put the garment on, but then Nao helped him figure it out. It was two long, tight-fitting black sleeves, connected at the back with a strip of fabric with tiny holes in it. This meant his naked chest was on show and his arms hidden, which made no sense at all, but Nao said he looked ‘sexy’, which seemed to be her keyword for attracting men, so Laurent chose to follow her advice.
He needed to ask for Nao to prepare a dictionary of sorts for his use. Like with Latin, surely memorizing new expressions and words would help him learn them much faster than merely by speaking.
It was almost midnight by the time Nao applied some black face paint around Laurent’s eyes, insisting it needed to be smudged to look good on a man, and only then he was allowed to go with her and join the party. From the sound of it, the number of guests was far superior to anything Laurent had seen at the clubhouse so far. The music was louder. And even Nao seemed more excited for the night than she usually was.