Ezra swam to consciousness slowly, awareness coming in bits and pieces. Cotton mouth was first, followed by a pounding headache. Fantastic.

With a groan, he forced his eyes open. The room was blessedly dark and cool. Soft, dim light radiated around thick curtains, but was almost completely blacked out.

He sat up very slowly, careful to not move his head quickly, noting he didn’t recognize the room. Not an odd occurrence; he was on a winning streak. So far, he had managed to go three weeks without waking up in the same bed twice.

The bed he was on was comfortable, the sheets smelled a little musty and were anything but nicely pressed, but considering what probably went on the night before, that was no surprise. Pillows were thrown around the bed on the beige carpet. Four pale beige walls surrounded him, generic prints of some unheard of modern artist on them. There was a white desk in the corner and a stiff-backed arm chair. It took only a moment longer of looking around before he realized he was in a hotel.

He sighed and slipped out of the bed, glancing over to make sure his bed mate was still there. There was a lump and it was moving up and down slightly. Ezra strained his ears over the whir of the air-conditioning, and sure enough, he could hear very soft snoring.

He tiptoed around the room, collecting his tight jeans and t-shirt and sliding them on. He grabbed his shoes and wallet and hesitated for a moment before sighing and going for the other. He should probably know exactly who he had slept with.

He nearly dropped it when he found the id. Straight black hair, black skin, lavender eyes, and pointed ears. He had slept with a fae. He shoved the wallet back into the man’s leather pants and hurried to the door, shoes in hand. He really wished he could stay for a shower, or at least a quick wash-up in the sink, but the man might wake up and Ezra had no idea what he had said or done last night. If the hotel had been his idea, he was fucked. He barely had any money, certainly not enough to cover a hotel. Hell, he barely had enough for his next meal.

The fae would be fine. His wallet had been stuffed full of cash. For once, Ezra did not dip in. The fae were supposed to be an incredibly touchy bunch. And Ezra knew they were fully capable of hunting his little human self down and ripping him to shreds. Lunch was just not worth it.

He slowly turned the door knob and gently pushed. The door opened with a loud creak. He winced as the man in the bed groaned and quickly pushed the door open the rest of the way, stepping out and heading quickly down the hall, trusting the man’s hangover to slow any realization that his one night stand had run out on him and the bill.

He made it to the elevators and was pressing the button for the lobby when he saw his hand. There was a ring on his finger. A diamond ring.

His eyes widened, not noticing the hurried steps towards him and the ding of the elevator as the doors were stopped from closing. Panic was rising and he didn’t notice another was present until he said, "Ah, you saw."

Ezra’s head shot up and he gaped at the fae. His husband. His surprise disappeared for a moment as he stared. His really, really hot husband. The license picture did not do him justice. The dark skin was smooth and flawless; his dark hair was long, falling to his knees in tousled waves from sleep; and he was tall, nearly seven feet. And he had a fantastic body, shown off by the pair of tight jeans- all toned muscles under dark skin. He lacked a certain width of shoulder that Ezra usually liked but that just made him took taller.

The man crossed his arms, blocking the elevator doors, and glaring at Ezra. His piercing eyes cutting straight to Ezra’s groin. "We need to go down and get it annulled. Immediately."

Ezra quickly nodded. "Yeah."

The man raised an eyebrow. "You don’t mind?"

Ezra blinked at him. "Why the hell would I mind?"

The man shrugged. "If I remember right, you are broke, homeless, unemployed, and fond of the exotic."

Ezra winced, the weird mixture of panic and lust quickly receding under annoyance. "Doesn’t mean I want to get married. Anyway, we need to go to the City Clerk’s Office. They take smashed as a reason."

The man’s eyes widened. "You have done this before."

Ezra shrugged, ignoring the question. It was true he had gotten marriages annulled the morning after a wild night before - this was going to be his third - but he saw no reason to tell this man that. It wasn’t his business.

"There are going to be a few complications," the fae said when Ezra said nothing.

Ezra snorted. "Like what? I’m broke, but you can obviously pay for the damn thing."

The man glared, lavender eyes hardening. "I’m already married."

Ezra blinked, mouth gaping open, before he snapped it shut with an audible click. "That should make it easier. You can’t get married twice. It’s not legal."

"I am fae," the man said, as if that explained everything.

"No shit, Sherlock," Ezra snapped, shoving his heavily streaked hair out of his face. "What’s that got to do with anything?"

"I can get married multiple times- I am married multiple times- and we must go through different channels. We have different rules."

Ezra waved his hand dismissively. "Your marital status doesn’t matter. You’re married and I don’t do polygamy. Different channels shouldn’t be a problem, either. I mean, different species in charge, but same shit, right?"

"It can take years."

Ezra stiffened for a moment before forcing his shoulders to unknot. "Then it takes years. It’s not like we have to act married. What do I have to do for the annulment?"

The man passed a hand over his eyes, looking frustrated. Ezra sighed. Five minutes and the man was already getting tired of him. "I will take care of it. I just need to be able to contact you."

Ezra snorted. "Homeless and broke, remember? I can go check up on you every week or something."

The man sighed again. "Come live with me." He didn’t sound particularly happy about the proposition. But then, neither was Ezra.

"Fuck no. Not going to work."

"And you have a better alternative?" the man asked. "You are homeless."

Ezra shrugged. "I’ve been homeless for a year," he said, voice matter-of-fact although it was depressing having to say it aloud. "I’m fine."

The man sighed again. "Stay for a couple days. I need to acquire some facts about you and begin the divorce. Then you can make contact every couple of days, as you wish."

Ezra just shook his head again. He was not going to some random dude’s house to live with him and whatever other husbands he had. He didn’t care if they were technically married.

"Why not?"

Ezra snorted. "I don’t know you," he offered as an explanation.

"You are coming with me."

"Go fuck yourself."

"You must."

"I must do nothing."

"There is no convincing you?"

"No, you fucktard!"

The man sighed and reached forward, grabbing him around the collar of his t-shirt and picking him up.

"Hey! Let go of me!" Ezra struggled against the man’s vicelike grip, thrashing and attempting to hit the man. It did nothing against the dark fae and Ezra was hauled along, feet nearly a meter off the ground. This man was tall; he had to be nearly seven feet. His arms matched. Ezra wasn’t able to hit anything. So he swung out with his foot, catching the man hard in the stomach. The man grunted, but gave no sign he had felt it. When several more kicks to the stomach did nothing, he paused for a moment.

Then he aimed for the man’s groin.

The man caught his foot, inches away. "Do not even think about it," he hissed.

"Too late."

The man growled and swung Ezra up into his arms, holding him securely. "Hit my face and I will knock you out."

Ezra glared at him, but one look at the man convinced him he really would and Ezra wanted to be fully conscious. He crossed his arms. "You’ve made your point. I’ll go with you."

The man glanced at him before putting him down.

Ezra looked up at him. And up. Ezra was short for a guy but not that short. He was definitely nearly seven feet. He followed the man into the hotel, glancing around, eyes landing on the bathroom door. "Are we going to be here a bit?"

The man glanced at him. "Yes."

"I’m taking a shower then." He slid into the bathroom without waiting for a reply and shed his clothes before blasting the hot water and stepping in. Steam billowed around him and he nearly purred as the water hit him and cascaded over his pale skin. Oh, this was nice. The sweat and various other bodily fluids of the day before quickly sluiced off leaving him feeling almost human again.

Too soon, he was out of things to do and the knowledge that there was a man outside of the bathroom that he barely knew forced him out. He stared down at his trashed clothes and sighed, before pulling them back on. He didn’t have anything to change into. Maybe, if he was lucky, he would be able to find his missing bag. He had some clothes and money in there.

Unfortunately, it looked like he had lost it sometime in the madness of the night before. Oh well, he could find a part time job, collect a few pay checks. It wasn’t finding a job that was the problem for him, it was keeping them. Employers just didn’t like him.

He pushed open the door and found the man facing away, struggling to braid his long hair.

Ezra sighed and caught up the long strands, quickly and efficiently twisting them back into a severe tail. "What’s your name anyways?" he asked gruffly, tying the braid off and letting it fall against his back.

The man turned. "You do not remember?"

Ezra snorted. "I was drunk. I don’t even remember meeting you."

"Ah. You may call me Dimitri."

"Right, I’m Ezra, I dunno if you know that or not."

"You seem to be in a better mood."

Ezra shrugged. He had gotten a shower. He didn’t feel like he was covered in other people’s filth, although his head still hurt. And marriage was not the end of the world. "I’m staying with you for no more than three days. If you can’t figure out everything you need to know by then, you’re just fucked."

"Good enough." He stood and sighed, looking Ezra over, nose wrinkling. "Do you mind if we get you new clothes on the way? My husbands may be more welcoming if you do not look so…."

"Thoroughly fucked?" offered Ezra.

Dimitri nodded. "Yes."

"Fine," he said shrugging, pushing down embarrassment. He was a charity case for now. No use denying it. Besides, this was no different than his usual policy of dipping into "dates’" wallets the morning after. This one was just volunteering payment and in a practical form too.

The man turned on his heel and left. Ezra made a face at his back, but followed.

They stopped at a clothing shop in the hotel and Ezra managed to get a pair of looser, un-ripped jeans and a plain black t-shirt. Dimitri glanced at him and threw a zip-up sweatshirt on top of the check-out counter before hurrying Ezra back to the dressing room to change.

He settled the bill at the front and called for a taxi.

Ezra was getting uncomfortable. He was okay with making the man settle the hotel bill, but the clothes were making him uncomfortable, and as the taxi meter was racketing up, so was his discomfort. Maybe he should let the man fuck him again. It would make him feel better and was probably fun, considering he got hitched. His last two "marriages" had been to guys who were really good in bed, so it followed this one would be.

He frowned, considering. Fae men were supposedly really good in bed as well. They lived longer and all that jazz, so they would have more experience…. Ezra’s experience with fae - although admittedly limited - had followed the rumor fairly closely.

He stole a glance to the other side of the taxi and the stony face of the man beside him. Well, he didn’t look particularly passionate, but he was hot…

"Whatever you are thinking, stop it. I do not enjoy being stared at like a piece of meat."

Ezra snorted.

Dimitri ignored it. "Please be polite to everyone."

"Exactly how many husbands do you have?"

"Five. You will most likely be meeting only three."

"Where are the other two?"

"One stays in the attic most of the time and the other is out of town."

Ezra nodded, ignoring the pang to his head, and let silence reign for awhile before breaking it. "So how does it work?"

Dimitri turned, focusing the full force of his odd colored eyes on Ezra. "What do you mean?"

"Are they all like wives, like most humans do it, or are they married to each other?"

"We are all married," he said, giving Ezra an odd look. "The other way would be… barbaric."

Ezra held up his hands. "Preaching to the gospel, love. Not that I think your way is any better. Six of you in a house? Somebody has to not get along with somebody."

"We all get along just fine," Dimitri said, turning to the front again, obviously dismissing him.

Ezra rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Who started this happy family?"

"Leo and Giovanni."

Ezra waited but the fae man added nothing. "Sounds like a lion and an Italian," he said, hoping for more information.

"Leo is not a lion. He is phooka."

"Right, animal faerie. What about Giovanni?"

Dimitri shrugged. "He could be Italian. You will not be meeting him."

"Trip or attic?"

"Giovanni stays mostly in the attic."

Ezra mentally raised an eyebrow, deciding to leave Dimitri alone for now. Giovanni was probably human, just like him, and from the sound of things, rather unhappy with the state of things. Who stayed locked up in an attic all day and didn’t speak to his husbands enough for them to know his nationality? He shook it off. None of his business. He was going so he could get the marriage properly annulled.

The taxi pulled to a stop and Dimitri pulled out his wallet. Ezra happily slid out of the cab.

He looked up at the house they were in front of and felt his jaw drop. It was huge, a great stone monolith, ringed in a wrought iron fence. Ivy climbed up the sides, softening the hard edges and stern towers. Stained glass windows added color besides green and gray.

Dimitri grabbed his elbow and began to drag him into the house. "Please be polite to everyone," he repeated.

Ezra glanced up at him, taking in the tense shoulders and carefully neutral face. "You’re nervous!" he exclaimed. He started snickering.

Dimitri’s lips tightened, but he said nothing.

Ezra grinned happily, amused at this new bit of knowledge. "I should claim I have AIDS or something."

Dimitri turned at Ezra and glared. "I cannot catch anything. But I would appreciate if you made an effort to appear less of a slut than you are."

Ezra just grinned. He had no moral high ground to stand on and hadn‘t for awhile; he was getting used to name calling. No use denying the truth.

Dimitri slid open the heavy wooden doors and waved Ezra inside. Ezra looked around the room they entered. It was marble- the walls, the floor, everything- and there were two great staircases stretching from it. On either side of the curved staircases were areas that looked like something straight out of a magazine- all high backed armchairs, low wood coffee tables, and graceful vases.

"Cozy," he remarked wryly.

Dimitri shrugged and kept striding ahead, around the staircases, out of the entrance area.

The kitchen actually looked somewhat lived in. There were plates in the sink, a newspaper on the table, and a person sprawled in a chair. A full head of curly red hair coiled on the table. The man was bent over, hands folded under his head.

"Holly," Dimitri mumbled.

The young man’s head shot up, revealing bright blue eyes. He was surprisingly tan, skin a warm gold. His curls bounced against his bare shoulders and his eyes went straight to his husband. "Dimitri! Where were you? I’m really sorry- Who’s he?"

Ezra tilted his head to the side and studied the young man as closely as he was being studied. He had no way of knowing what Holly was making of him, but the guy reminded him of fire, like a flame captured in a human - well, fae - body. Bright coloring, and every movement he had made so far was fast, like the flickering of a candle flame.

Dimitri visibly squared his shoulders. "Holly, this is Ezra."

Holly stood, going forward to stare at Ezra closer. He looked him up and down and then began circling. "He’s okay, I guess. He looks like a party boy." His hand twined through Ezra’s hair.

Ezra ignored the petting and looked at Dimitri.

"Why’s he here?" the red-head asked. "You taking charity cases now? He’s nice enough looking for a hobo, I guess."

Dimitri looked down, lavender eyes a little worried. When he looked back up, his face was back onto neutral ground. "Holly, last night… I went to a bar after our fight."

Holly’s hand tightened, pulling Ezra’s hair a tiny bit. "You picked him up from a bar?" His voice was dangerously soft.

Dimitri nodded. "I was drunk."

"Well, he’s here, so… What, it was really good sex and you wanted to share?"

Ezra looked at Dimitri, but he was hunched into himself and looking down. Ezra snorted. "Whipped," he muttered. He held up his left hand, showing off the large diamond ring there. "He was really drunk. Really, really drunk."

All the color drained from Holly’s face and the hand in Ezra‘s hair tightened painfully. "What?!"

Dimitri tried to catch Holly’s hand, but the man yanked it from his grip. He let go of Ezra though.

"What the hell, Dimitri?!"

"I was drunk."

"We’re getting it annulled ASAP," said Ezra, leaning against the wall and tucking his hands into his pockets, watching the show.

Holly turned on him, glaring. "Shut up! You’re just some bar slut Dimitri picked up to piss me off!"

Ezra shrugged. "Yeah."

Holly blinked at him, silenced for a moment. He probably wasn’t used to people just agreeing with him when he insulted them.

"What’s with all the yelling?"

Ezra glanced at the doorway. It was a phooka - Leo, probably. He was a small brunette boy with floppy white rabbit ears and pale skin. His hair was tousled and he was dressed in nothing but a pair of pajama pants. His long ears were pierced dozens of times, lined with small baubles, hoops, and studs. His eyes were oversized, almond shaped and solid red, no pupil, no white. Ezra had to shove his hands deeper into his pockets to resist the urge to tug on the ears.

Holly whirled around to face the new arrival. "Dimitri got married!"

"What?!"

"We were drunk," Dimitri said, face and voice pleading.

The man’s eyes were wide.

"We’re going to get it annulled. Right, Ezra?" He turned, eyes narrowed.

Ezra shrugged and nodded. "Yep."

The phooka glanced between Holly and Dimitri, expression becoming calculating for a moment before it smoothed out. He walked towards Ezra. He stared at him before shrugging. "At least he’s cute." He went up on his tiptoes, leaning against Ezra’s chest. "We can have fun until the annulment, right?" He kissed Ezra.

Ezra stiffened at the contact.

"Leo!"

The phooka, Leo, one of the first husbands, if Ezra remembered correctly, pulled away. "Shut up, Holly. This is your fault. You‘re the one who got pissed off at him and drove him to the bar in the first place."

Holly snarled at him.

Leo stuck his tongue out. It was pierced as well, a small silver stud flashing in the light.

Ezra blinked at them and then looked at Dimitri, who looked away, embarrassed. Yeah, all of Dimitri’s husbands got along fantastically.

He cleared his throat pointedly. He got ignored by the brunette and redhead as the two glared at each other, ignoring both of the men in the room with them. Ezra sighed and tugged gently on Dimitri’s sleeve. "It might be easier to put me up in a hotel."

Dimitri nodded and began to back out of the room. Holly whirled on him. "Don’t you dare leave. You fucked this up! Fix it!"

"Holly, I’m going to! But it takes awhile!"

"Why’d you have to bring him back here?"

"I need information about him to make the annulment go through. I’ll put him up in a hotel."

Leo shook his head. "It’ll be faster if he stays here."

Ezra was getting the feeling Holly could say anything and the phooka would disagree, just to disagree.

Holly glared at the brunette bunny boy once again. "Oh no. He is not staying here."

Leo smirked at him. "Why not? The faster Dimitri gets his information, the faster Ezra here is no longer married."

Holly glared before throwing up his hands. "Fine!" He stomped off, yelling, "Rylan!"

Dimitri and Leo simultaneously winced.

Ezra sighed and leaned back against the wall. "Who’s Rylan?"

Leo turned to him and scowled, all good will towards Ezra evaporating now that Holly was out of the room.

"Another husband," Dimitri said softly.

"This one won’t be half as nice as me or Holly," Leo said, voice satisfied.

Ezra sighed. "We were drunk, we are getting it annulled, I don’t see a problem."

"You what?!"

Ezra rolled his eyes. Drama queens. The lot of them. This is why marriages didn’t last. He closed his eyes, wishing everyone would be quiet. He still had a headache.

His eyes shot open again when his arm was grabbed. He was left staring into icy blue eyes. He hadn’t heard the man enter the room.

"Who are you?"

Ezra blinked at the icy, low voice and stared up at the man. He was tall with long, wavy golden blonde hair, golden skin, and pale blue eyes. He was handsome, but it was a handsome that bordered on pretty. He was not scary looking at all. Couldn’t be Rylan right? But the look in his eyes was kind of frightening.

"Ezra," he snapped, pulling his arm back.

The man kept his grip tight. "What, you’re just some slut Dimitri picked up?" he hissed.

"Yeah, basically," Ezra snapped back, trying to yank his arm back. The man’s grip was unbreakable and it was starting to hurt. "He was drunk, I was drunk, we got hitched. Fuck off."

The man glared at him. "Look, you slut-"

Ezra yanked his arm again, finally reclaiming the limb. "Whatever man, I’m out," he snapped, cutting the man off halfway. He stormed out of the room, heading for the door. He just wouldn’t be able to get the marriage annulled. That was fine. He was never going to get married again anyway so it wasn’t like it was going to be a problem for him. The thought of Dimitri being screwed over paused him for a moment, but he could get married multiple times right? Theirs didn’t matter.

He stalked out of the house, but as soon as he cleared the gate, a hand grabbed his arm. He gasped as it tightened, bruising him. The hand spun him around. It was the blonde again- Rylan. He looked pissed off.

"Where are you going?"

"Away," snapped Ezra.

Rylan’s eyes narrowed. He picked Ezra up with his hold on his arm and threw him against the rod iron fence.

Ezra choked as the hand moved from his arm to his throat before he could hit the ground, dangling him several feet off the ground. This guy was nearly as tall as Dimitri.

"You’re staying. I am not remaining married to some drunken slut!"

Ezra would have usually taken offense to that, but he was busy clawing at the hand on his throat. He was gasping for breath, fingers unsuccessfully tearing at Rylan’s hand.

"So, are you going to stay?"

Ezra said nothing as his vision filled with spots and then went black.

--

"You killed him!"

"Excellent, the divorce problem is settled."

There was a snort.

Ezra groaned as the voice pierced his consciousness. It hurt. His throat burned and his head was once again killing him. He forced his eyes open. Huge red orbs met his black ones.

"Hi!"

He didn’t say anything, just stared at Leo for a moment as everything came back. Great, he had been strangled.

"Are you okay?"

Ezra just nodded. Talking would hurt. He had been choked a couple times before and talking had always hurt, so he would kept his mouth shut.

He sat up, wincing at the pain that shot up his spine. That would be from being tossed against the fence. He explained it, made a mental note to stay away from the crazy blonde, and dismissed it.

He glanced around, ignoring Leo who was still leaning over him, and Holly, who was perched on the counter, petting Dimitri’s hair and looking completely unconcerned, instead focusing on the dark fae man. "I think I should stay in a hotel," he whispered, voice firm.

Dimitri just nodded. "I’ll call another cab."

Leo jumped off the counter, shaking his head. "I’ll drive him."

Ezra shook his head. "A cab’s fine."

Leo put his hands on his hips, red eyes narrowing. It might have been scary if his rabbit ears didn’t twitch every few seconds. "I’ll drive."

Ezra just shook his head. "I don’t want to inconvenience anyone." His voice was icy and he could see Dimitri’s eyebrows going up, but ignored him.

Leo glared at him and stomped his foot.

Ezra just looked at him, face blank, until he threw up his arms. "Fine!"

Dimitri stepped away from the counter and Holly, who pouted for a moment when Dimitri’s black strands were pulled from his grip, but quickly moved to pulling his own curls and letting them spring back into place.

Ezra ignored both the redhead and the phooka and walked out of the kitchen with a carefully measure stride, shoulders stiff and back very, very straight.

 

Dimitri watched him go.

"Did I miss something?" Leo asking, head tilting to the side as Ezra disappeared around the corner, his curiosity overtaking his annoyance. "He seemed, like, really offended or something."

"Rylan did suffocate him," Dimitri pointed out softly.

Leo shrugged. "Then shouldn’t he be angry, not, like, offended?"

Dimitri just shrugged. "Maybe that’s how he shows anger," he said.

Holly just snorted. "Bar slut," he muttered.

Dimitri sighed and leaned towards him to kiss him chastely on the cheek.

Holly turned away so all he got was red curls. "I’m still mad at you."

"I am sorry." Dimitri turned away to find Leo very close with his face turned up expectantly. He chuckled softly and kissed him gently on the nose. "I will see you both later."

Leo waved and Holly stayed turned away as he left. Rylan’s hand shot out and caught Dimitri’s arm as soon as he cleared the door, spinning him around sharply.

Dimitri found himself pinned against the wall, but gave no reaction, instead glancing down mildly at Rylan. The man was glaring, as angry as ever, and for the second time, Ezra’s words came back to him. "Somebody has to not get along with somebody."

Ineloquently put, but nonetheless, very true. He had said they all got along but that had been a lie, as Ezra had no doubt already realized. It was more accurate to say that no one got along, even though that too was hardly true. Dimitri tried to get along with everybody, but him and Rylan had never been on good terms, not even when they met on the night of their marriage. That had been years ago, before Leo and Giovanni, before Holly, before Malachi, when Dimitri and Rylan still lived in the faerie hills. That night had been the first he had disliked his noble blood, as it had been the cause of the arranged, forced marriage. But he had gone along with it, nonetheless, and married the unknown man, hoping for the best.

And it had turned out for the best, eventually. Rylan was much less reserved than him and upon first meeting of Leo, had chased after him unabashedly. It was Rylan who had won himself a place in the phooka’s heart and that had allowed Dimitri the time to do the same.

Nonetheless, he did not like the man.

"What?" he finally asked when Rylan just glared at him in silence.

"What were you thinking?!" he hissed.

"I was intoxicated," Dimitri sai as mildly as possible.

Rylan’s hands tightened on his shoulders. "That’s not good enough. That was your excuse when you brought Holly home."

Dimitri couldn’t suppress the wince at the memory. The night he had met Holly had been a particularly bad night. Him and Rylan had been fighting as usual, and Leo had bunked with Rylan that night, not that unusual either. But Dimitri had ran into the shy, reclusive Giovanni in the hall and the man had basically bolted without Dimitri saying a word.

Depressed, more than a little lonely, Dimitri had gone to a popular fae club called Carthusian- the same he had been at last night- and gotten drunk. And woken up next to a temperamental, redheaded elemental. He hadn’t been married to the stranger that time though. He hadn’t told Holly about his three husbands and hadn’t told his husbands about Holly. For a year he had kept up the charade before he finally explained to Holly what was going on. Holly had been incredibly, incredibly angry for months.

He had refused to see Dimitri that entire time. Dimitri finally went to his apartment and demanded a chance. Three months later, Dimitri married Holly and brought him home, claiming he had been drunk and it had been an accident. Holly had won Rylan’s heart and Leo’s ire when he had punched both in the face within ten minutes of meeting them.

Giovanni had claimed to not care and avoided the entire thing. Dimitri was fairly sure Giovanni had spoken to Holly no more than a dozen times.

Neither had told anyone about their year and a half dating.

Malachi’s integration had been unanimous and much more smooth. He was the only of the six that could honestly say he was liked by, and liked, all the others, although Giovanni avoided him as well and his relationship with Dimitri was formal and could only be called friendly at best. But Dimitri did like him.

Rylan caught the wince that the memory brought and assumed what he always did - that it was caused by the drunken one night stand that Dimitri and Holly had fabricated.

"You drink too much."

Dimitri leveled a glare at him, lavender eyes icing over. "I drink once every couple of years."

"Yeah, and every time you bring home some slut!"

"Let go of me." Rylan’s hands were digging into his shoulders. It was starting to hurt. Rylan’s hands only tightened further at his words.

"Stop fucking up."

Dimitri tensed. "Let go," he repeated through gritted teeth.

Rylan glared.

Dimitri pulled away, using all the strength his fae heritage gave him. He managed to get a few inches away from the wall before Rylan slammed him back against it. He was probably stronger than Rylan in all actuality, but he was trying not to hurt the blonde when getting away while Rylan just wanted to keep him against the wall.

"Let go."

Rylan drew his hand back, curling into a fist. Dimitri flinched.

"What are you doing?"

Dimitri and Rylan turned simultaneously. Ezra was looking around the corner of the hall, streaked hair twisted back from his face, expression carefully neutral.

Rylan glared at him but let go of Dimitri who quickly pulled away from the wall and straightened his shirt. He walked away from Rylan, Ezra falling into step behind him silently.

They both stayed silent until they had caught a cab and were driving to the hotel.

Ezra leaned forward and tapped the cabby‘s shoulders. "Hey, pull over here."

Dimitri glanced at him, but when the cab pulled to a stop in front of the liquor store, he couldn’t object.

---

"Ya know, I ha’ a lover like tha’ once."

Dimitri glanced up from his drink. They were once again at the Carthusian, just drinking this time, not dancing. They had started with beer in the car and moved up. Ezra was drinking absinthe and Dimitri was downing spirits.

"Like what?" Dimitri was proud when his words came out clear and distinct.

"Like- like… what’s-his-face. The crazy blonde."

"Rylan," Dimitri said softly.

"Yeah, tha’ one. Anyhoo, I had a boyfriend jus’ like that. He would smack me around any time I did anything he didn’t li’."

"Rylan isn’t like that," Dimitri said softy, his hands tightening on the glass.

"Sure looked like it."

Dimitri stayed silent, staring into the depths of his glass. A pale hand caught his chin and forced him to turn and look into obsidian eyes.

"It didn’t end well. You shouldn’t put up with it."

Dimitri shook his head stubbornly, dislodging the hand. "It’s not like that. We don’t get along, but we generally just ignore each other."

Ezra snorted. "If you say so." Silence hung over the pair for a moment. Dimitri downed his drink. The naga bartender handed him another drink without asking.

"Hey, let’s dance."

Dimitri blinked at him and then took the hand.