Thread by @AderinAO3

Round 2 same trope. You'll have to pry my cold dead body from it. But more note form cause I don't have much to work with.

Person A
- manages the "merchandise"/employees
- his boss disappeared years ago and some asshole took his place and is very abusive; everyone hates him

Person B
- an underground elite in their world
- one day he graces the public with his presence, money, and power

Person B catches Person A one day at a gathering. Big ballroom kinda thing, it's like his debut into the public eye.

"500? 1000?" His smile is blinding.

Person A blinks at him before wrenching his arm away, "...I'm not for sale, sir." He doesn't recognize the man. No one would

"Nonsense, everyone has a price," Person B purrs, "I just have to figure out yours." He doesn't just mean money and Person A seems to understand, he still walks away though.

They meet again at the club. The host seems particularly attentive today and their "boss" actually came.

TW; mentions of physical/sexual/emotional abuse

He doesn't do shit for the club aside from taking their earnings and scaring the employees. Sometimes he does more than scare them.

The host and Person A manage the club and keep it running.

More often than not, when they know the "boss" is coming, you may find Person A ushering the others out of sight. Sometimes he isn't enough and the man storms the backroom to drag another in with him.

Person A always asks to be present because he can't stand to find another one of them battered and bruised, crying alone in the backroom while that asshole monopolizes the rest of the employees to entertain him and any other scumbags he brings with him.

So Person A seethes when he sees him show up unannounced. He sees the way the others tense up, flinching when the man laughs and greets the guest with his booming voice.

The same voice that drunkenly screams insults and threats at them in the dead of night.

Person B tries to offer him...something...again. He declines, again, albeit a bit more pissed off because he's the reason the "boss" is here.

"I wasn't wrong about your occupation, thankfully."

"I'm not selling. Finish up whatever business you came here for," a pause, "please."

Person B hasn't seen someone like him before. He looks ordinary, maybe a bit too delicate for this business. It's the way he holds himself. Given his position in the club, he seems to hold himself much higher than one would expect. He's protective for someone so fragile.

He's seen the way Person A interacts with the others and he might as well /be/ the co-owner of this establishment, along with the host. The employees look to them for support and guidance, they're respected. He sees the fear and hesitance of the workers around the supposed owner.

Person B has known of the club for a while. Ever since the disappearance of the previous owner, it hasn't quite met its previous expectations. There's not much the duo can do, not without a seat at the table with higher-ups, the incompetent man seems to be doing nothing with it.