Leo kicked open the door and tossed himself over the lumps on the bed. Malachi wiggled out from under the covers and grinned at him. "Hey."

Dimitri groaned and shifted. "Gerroff," he groaned.

Leo giggled a little. "You are not a morning person," he informed Dimitri.

"Am too," Dimitri mumbled. "I’m jus’ not a- not a wakin’ up person." He yawned widely.

Malachi sniggered and pulled Leo onto his lap so he wasn’t sprawled over anyone.

"Thank you," mumbled another voice.

Leo’s smile disappeared as he caught sight of Holly’s wild curls peeking out from under the blankets.

"Threesome?" he asked carefully, a little jealous. Malachi and Rylan were more than willing but this was Dimitri and Malachi.

Holly poked his head out, not bothering to open his eyes. "Naw," he said, burying his face into Dimitri’s t-shirt clad stomach. "They fuck and I watch."

Leo’s eyes widened, but Malachi reached a hand over and smacked his head. "You wish."

"I do," agreed Holly with another yawn.

Leo grinned as Dimitri ducked his head.

He poked the dark fae man. "We need to go visit again. We promised, remember?"

Dimitri sighed and nodded, slipping out of the bed over Malachi. As he was sliding over the human, Malachi caught him by the hips and tugged him down to kiss his lips. "I’ll go with."

"Grab Rylan and make it a group effort," Holly suggested.

The three men looked at him with wide eyes. Holly ignored them and slid out of bed, ignoring his general state of undress. It wasn’t like everyone here hadn’t seen him naked; he was a step away from a nudist at home.

He stretched as he wandered out of the room without another word.

"Is it just me or has he been a lot… nicer lately?"

Malachi blinked at Leo. "He was never particularly mean to anyone but you, but…"

"Yes," Dimitri said flatly. "He hasn’t been losing his temper as often."

"Cool," Malachi said finally. "Let’s get dressed and go en masse to visit the sl- Ezra."

Dimitri smiled at him and Leo giggled. "I am dressed," he declared, bouncing upright and showing off his outfit.

Malachi smirked and fingered the lacy hem of the short shorts. "Cute."

Dimitri just nodded his agreement.

Leo laughed and jumped off the bed. "I’ll put on a proper jacket so it doesn’t look so bad, but I have to go to work in a couple hours. You three have been sleeping late lately. Well, Holly always does, but you two… You know it’s like three in the afternoon, right?"

Dimitri shot upright and looked over Malachi at the clock, leaning on the human’s bare chest. He didn’t even seem to notice the intimacy, but Malachi did and smiled softly.

Leo grinned as well. "So what have you guys been doing all night if not having hot raunchy man sex?"

Malachi flushed lightly, just a pale dusting of cheek over his cheekbones. "Nothing," he said quickly.

"They taught me to play Go Fish last night," Dimitri said softly.

Leo blinked before grinning. "For real? That’s really random."

Malachi smirked. "And took a long time because he wanted to learn my mad shuffling techniques and Holly’s mad cheating skillz. With a z."

Leo giggled. "Can you even cheat at Go Fish?"

Malachi nodded wryly. "He ended up with twelve aces. We were playing with one deck."

Leo giggled. "We should teach you to play poker."

Dimitri blinked at him. "Okay."

Leo smirked at Malachi and mouthed the words, ‘strip poker,’ as soon as Dimitri began to get up.

Malachi smirked and nodded.

--

Holly wandered down the kitchen. Rylan was sitting at the table, Rave across from him. The young fae man spit out the coffee he was drinking when he caught sight of Holly who was still in nothing but a robe that was tied behind his back so it hung open. He began coughing and Rylan had to slap his back to get him to stop.

Holly just smirked as Rylan shot him an annoyed look. They all knew about Rave’s little crush on Rylan that seemed to be slowly extending to all of them, but Holly hadn’t known he was here. Besides, gave him some ammunition when he was taking some "private time," right? Plus, fae were notorious for being comfortable with nudity. Rave should get used to it.

"Hey, you, Malachi, Leo, and Dimitri are going to visit the slut at the hospital. Have fun." Get into Dimitri’s pants, Holly added mentally.

Rylan blinked after him as he left again. He patted Rave on the back again absently. "Are you okay manning the shop?"

Rave nodded. "Yeah." He carefully put his drink down. "Want me to go and open it now?"

"Yeah. And start handing out applications to people who ask. We always have a ton, right? I think I still have them. Er… somewhere. Raid my desk."

Rave blinked. "Why?"

Rylan shrugged. "It’s been busy lately."

"Okay."

And if they really did drag Ezra home and he really was as helpless as he claimed, he would need to stay home more, along with the rest of them.

"And if someone comes in who you think would do an amazing job, just hire him or her on the spot."

Rave blinked at him, but nodded.

"Okay. The slut… Er, you’re visiting this Ezra kid?"

Rylan nodded. "Yeah. We decided it would be a good idea."

Rave sighed and stood. "Well, good luck," he said with a lacklustre smile before hurrying away.

Rylan frowned. Rave was jealous, which was understandable if you looked at just the concrete facts- Ezra was married to them and they were all visiting him at the hospital while Rave was just Rylan’s employee- but none of them except Dimitri and maybe Leo even liked him. Rylan spent most of the time ranting about him and surely Rave could tell Rylan would far rather be married to him than Ezra. Not that he had a particular desire there either, but still…

On impulse, Rylan hurried after his employee and stopped him in the doorway of the house. He buried a kiss in his hair. "Thank you," he said with a sincere smile.

Rave flushed darkly and turned and hurried away.

Rylan shut the door and turned to come face to face with Leo’s smiling face.

"That was adorable," the phooka said with a wide smile.

Rylan scowled and tugged one of Leo’s ears. "I like star struck little kids."

Leo just smirked, knowing Rylan was referring to what he was like when he had first met him. He had been a lot younger and had the biggest crush. He had been slightly more proactive than Rave though, but that might be because he knew Rylan’s marriage wasn’t exactly a love match.

"I know you do," he said huskily before giggling and kissing Rylan’s cheek. "Now come on, the four of us are going to the hospital shortly. As in before I have to work.

Rylan smirked and wiggled his eyebrows. "So what did those three do last night that had then sleeping so late today?"

"I wish," Leo said with a giggle. "I mean, I don’t want Holly to be first, but Dimitri in a threesome would be hot." He giggled again. "But no dice, and dear lord, I love the randomness of that phrase. Anyway, apparently they were just playing card games."

"Strip poker?"

"Go Fish."

"Is that some new euphuism? Please tell me it is."

"It isn’t."

Rylan scowled. "Well that’s no fun."

"Nope," Leo agreed. "But he’ll get there. Anyway," he said louder, ears twitching.

A moment later, Rylan heard it too. Malachi and Dimitri were coming down the stairs.

"Off to the hospital," Rylan said cheerfully before grabbing the keys off the side table. "I’m driving."

"Shotgun!"

Malachi and Dimitri rounded the corner, holding hands. Rylan said nothing, but had to suppress a smirk. They had been doing that a lot lately and it was actually really cute. It was even cuter now that Rylan realized the two weren’t having sex. It was like a couple of virginal high school kids dating. Of course, neither were virgins and Dimitri, at least, hadn’t been for over a century. Rylan’s urge to smirk disappeared.

He slid into the driver’s seat and settled his hand on Leo’s thigh, much to the phooka’s delight. He ignored the mild snuggling going on in the back seat.

They were greeted by Cherie who instantly glowered at Rylan. "I thought I told you I didn’t want to see you for a week."

Rylan glared back. "Fuck off. I’m allowed to be here."

"You shouldn’t be," snapped Cherie.

Rylan ignored his husbands’ confused looks and the irritating nurse, instead crossing his arms and stalking to Ezra’s room, leading the way.

"Slut," he greeted sharply. But he couldn’t help but feel relief at Ezra’s appearance. He was awake and didn’t look near as fragile as he had. It looked like it would take more than a touch to break him. Maybe a stiff wind now. But he did look a lot better.

Leo pretty instantly settled on the chair right by the bed, taking the half breed’s hand. Ezra let him, and Rylan got the distinct impression this wasn’t the first time they had held hands. His eyebrows shot up and went up further when Dimitri perched on the edge of Ezra’s bed, tugging Malachi down next to him, leaving one more empty chair by the door.

Rylan sank down into it slowly, watching carefully. It was a surprisingly intimate scene and his three husbands- even Dimitri- looked relaxed. Ezra was the only one that looked even vaguely uncomfortable, but his hand was still around Leo’s. But Leo was crazy touchy feely and it was entirely possible Ezra had realized that and quickly gotten over it.

"Four of you. And what did I do to deserve this? It must have been pretty bad."

Leo giggled at him. "Nuh-uh. You must have done something awesome."

Ezra smirked. "Maybe in a past life."

Malachi sniggered.

Rylan snorted. "We must have done something awful in a past life."

Ezra didn’t look the least bit offended, just smirked at him.

Leo shot him a reproachful look though. "Be nice. He’s injured."

"Terribly," Ezra agreed cheerfully. "In fact, the doctor wants me to stay longer."

Rylan rolled his eyes. "Depends. How much trouble are you going to be?"

"Oh lots," Ezra said. "Can’t walk, can’t stand, am not supposed to do anything. I’m going to have trouble eating even."

Leo giggled again and leaned forward to kiss the half-breed’s cheek. "We would take care of you."

Ezra flushed and Rylan’s eyebrows shot up at both of their actions. Dimitri seemed unsurprised, but Malachi looked as surprised as Rylan felt. He looked less disturbed by it though.

The little slut was blushing just from getting kissed on the cheek. What the fuck?

And Leo had kissed him. A growl built deep in his chest.

Leo’s ear twitched and he giggled. He shot Rylan a heavily amused look and began to pet Ezra with his free arm, playing with the flimsy hospital gown, pulling it down slightly and managing to make it look like the pale flashes of skin he was revealing was a complete accident.

Rylan glared at him and Ezra flushed darker, weakly raising a hand to bat at Leo.

Leo’s smile dissipated and even the force of Rylan’s glare dissipated. That movement had been feeble, beyond feeble.

Dimitri reached a hand forward and the movement seemed almost unintentional. He settled a hand on Ezra’s thigh, thumb rubbing gentle circles.

Malachi snorted. "Yeah, no offense, you’re staying here for awhile.

Ezra looked away and said nothing. It was obvious he was not happy with his condition though.

Leo grabbed his hand again and squeezed it tightly. "’S’okay. You‘ll be fine."

Ezra snorted. "Of course I know that. This isn’t the first time I’ve gotten hurt. Idiot." He didn’t let go of Leo’s hand though.

Leo giggled and propped his feet up on the bed, legs sprawled over Ezra’s stomach. He tugged Ezra’s hand to the side so he could lean back properly. "So," he said, dragging the word out. After a few seconds of silence, he said, "I got nothing."

Ezra snorted. "Genius." He ignored Leo’s gentle swat at his head and glanced at the other men in the room. "I know Leo’s a waiter and Dimitri is an art dealer." He glanced at the dark fae and flashed a smile. "Which is awesome by the way. But what do you two do?"

Rylan and Malachi glanced at each other before shrugging.

"I’m an MMA fighter."

Ezra’s eyebrows shot up. "For real?" He didn’t bother waiting for an answer. "Like, you go and punch people for a living?"

Malachi rolled his eyes. "Basically."

"Unh-huh," Ezra said, face unreadable. "What weight class?"

"Heavyweight."

"Sexy. Wanna strip off the shirt for me?" he said with a wide grin.

Malachi snorted and crossed his arms over his chest.

Ezra ignored him and glanced at Rylan. "And you, Blondie?"

"I own a sex shop."

Ezra’s eyebrows shot up, before he grinned. "Cool. Which one?"

"Interrupted Sleep."

"That’s the one with the huge painting in the window, right?"

Rylan nodded. "It’s a copy of a painting by Boucher from the Rococo period."

Ezra smirked. "Tall, dark, and sexy over here find it for you?"

Rylan rolled his eyes. "Yes," he replied dryly. "He’s always kind of been obsessed with human art."

Dimitri made no response. Ezra gently bumped his back with his leg. "It’s a pretty cool hobby. And an even more awesome career. So…" He looked around at them deliberately. "You have a waiter, art dealer, sex shop owner, slutty shop manager, and MMA fighter." He ticked them off on his fingers. "That’s five. What’s number six do?"

Leo looked at him reproachfully. "Giovanni doesn’t work. His condition doesn’t allow him to."

Ezra thought for a long moment. "He’s a seer, right?"

Leo nodded.

"Powerful?"

He nodded again.

"So he’s sort of powerless over it right?"

Leo nodded again.

Ezra sighed. "Sucks to be him."

Leo shrugged. "I don’t think he minds not working."

Ezra snorted. "Well, whatever. It’s boring doing nothing all day."

Leo shrugged again. "Maybe." He checked his watch.

Ezra caught the look. "Work?"

Leo nodded, looking anxious. "Not for a little bit, but I will have to go soon."

Ezra rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine."

Leo grinned and leaned down again to peck Ezra on the lips, making the man blush. Leo giggled. "Dimitri will stay with you, won’t you, Darkness?"

Dimitri nodded. "I’ll catch a cab home," he said softly.

"We’ll stay," snapped Rylan, but Malachi shook his head quickly.

"Or not," he said, blinking.

Malachi pulled away from Dimitri and flopped down on Rylan’s lap, before bending his head to whisper into his ear.

Dimitri glanced at him for a moment before settling in and saying something softly to Ezra. Leo just ignored the movement.

"If I’m squishing you, tell me," Malachi said softly to Rylan.

Rylan rolled his eyes and ignored his words. "Why aren’t we staying?"

"Because Dimitri seems to really like Ezra and we need to talk without him so it’s as good an excuse as any."

Rylan blinked. "Why?"

"HRFC investigation and we’re all more… practical, I guess, than him. We’re going to have to convince him to do some things."

Rylan groaned softly. "Fine," he mumbled. "This isn’t going to be fun."

Malachi shrugged. "I think it’ll be."

Rylan tried to glare, but couldn’t help the smile that spread across his lips. "You just want into his pants."

"Oh, yes please," Malachi whispered. "Ooh, he’s sexy."

Rylan burst out laughing, ignoring the looks he got from the other three. "Fine, it isn’t going to be fun for me. Or him."

Malachi shrugged. "Bet it will be. I don’t think there’s a hell of a lot that can make sex not fun," he said softly.

One of Leo’s long ears twitched and he glanced back at them to smile widely.

He leaned down, grabbed Ezra’s slender shoulders and kissed him soundly on the lips again, leaving Ezra bright red. He then bounced up and out the door, shouting, "Bye!" as he charged out the door.

Malachi waved and led Rylan out.

Leo smirked at them. "Going to try and get into Dimitri’s pants?"

Rylan scowled, but Malachi just smirked.

Leo grinned. "Good for you." His smile slipped a little before coming back in full force. He said nothing though.

Rylan sighed. "Right. Everyone into the car. I’m driving again."

"Shotgun," Malachi said quickly.

Leo grinned at him, unperturbed. "Malachi’s lap," he said huskily.

Malachi smiled at him. "Only if you’re naked."

--

"Holly!" Malachi yelled as they entered the house.

Holly wandered into the living room a moment later, glancing at Rylan and Malachi. He perched on one of the seats around the coffee table, tugging his hair free of the bun it was in. He had popped by work for an hour to take care of a little shift emergency. "So… how about that HRFC investigation that I got a call for five minutes ago?" he said casually.

"Wha-" Rylan started before paling very suddenly. "What?!"

Holly looked at him neutrally. "I got a call from the HRFC. It looks like the paperwork finally made it through to them. The investigation starts in a week. I left a message at your shop for Rave," Holly said softly. "He probably knows somebody who’s been investigated, right?"

Rylan nodded. "Or knows someone who knows someone. That brat knows everybody," he groused halfheartedly. "He hasn’t called back yet?"

The phone rang right on cue.

Rylan and Holly just stared at it. It was Malachi who finally picked up. "Rave?"

"Yep, hole in one, sweetheart. Holly called. Is he there?"

"Yeah, right here. He’s a little… out of it right now."

Holly and Rylan snapped out of their stupor and glared.

Malachi ignored them. "Do you know the number of a couple or family or whatever that’s been investigated by the HRFC?"

There was a moment of silence. "You’re going to be investigated? For sure? Rylan isn’t just being paranoid?"

Malachi started to nod his head, realized Rave couldn’t see it, and said, "Yeah, I’m sure. Holly just got the call. Do you have numbers? Or just names, even?"

"I have numbers," Rave said quickly. "Hold on one moment, sweetie." There was a lot of shuffling on his end and a long minute of silence, but finally Rave’s voice came back on. "Okay, I have a few. Do you have a pen?"

"Yeah," Malachi said as he scrambled through a drawer holding miscellaneous items. He finally found the rarely used message book and attached pen.

"Okay, the first number is a couple, fae man, human woman. There was an investigation into domestic violence because the chick was always showing up to work bruised. It turned out it was just rough, consensual sex, but they still had to undergo the entire investigation." He read off the number and Malachi copied it carefully down along with their names and the words "couple" and "domestic violence accusation."

Rave gave him two more names and numbers, one of a fae couple that had wanted to adopt a late human friend’s baby, and another of a trio where the single human had a very long history of domestic violence, starting with parents and going to boyfriends and girlfriends, and even a boss who had smacked him around.

All three people had passed the tests.

Rave hesitated a long moment and then said softly. "I can give you the name of a fae woman who failed. If any of you can do mirror calls across the rift…"

"What about the human half?"

There was a long moment of silence and then, "He killed himself."

"Oh," Malachi said softly.

"Yeah, Rave said gently. "If you want to know what not want to do, I’d talk to him. If you don‘t want to, I can-"

"It’s fine. I’ll call," Malachi said. "Thank you, Rave,"

"Anytime, luv. Tell Rylan I found a guy and he can take as much time as he wants off."

"Thanks," Malachi said, real relief in his voice.

"Yep. Good luck. Bye."

Malachi pressed the end button and then took a deep breath and dialed the first number. Holly took his hand and Rylan began to gently rub his shoulder.

Three phone calls later, Malachi sighed and finally put the phone down, leaning his head against the cool tile wall. He had migrated to the soundproofed, upstairs restroom during the first call when Rylan and Holly had started to get pissed off at him and the person on the other end. They had no patience.

He stood and opened the door, raising his forearm and neatly blocking Rylan’s fist as it came forward to hit the door again.

"They all say the same thing. One gave me the number of a happy little foursome and I talked to them too. We’re fucked."

"What? Why?" Rylan demanded.

Malachi sighed. "There are several stages of the investigation. The first is just a basic questionnaire on your spouses about their histories, families, interests, likes, and the ilk. We wouldn’t even pass that. Then, there’s a little truth charm thingy where you have to answer that you’re all intimate with each other, not sex necessarily, but comfortable, consensual touching because that’s a healthy part of the relationship. You also have to answer questions about your current welfare and happiness and all that jazz. They ask about communication between all of you, how you feel together and alone, generosity… They get a shrink to interview all of you. They try and find out how honest you are with each other and how you compromise and work out arguments. How much time you spend with each other, how much you trust each other… everything."

"Ah, hell," Holly muttered. "The questionnaire is easy enough to cheat on. We just talk beforehand, but the rest…"

"Yeah. How long- how long is it going to be?"

"The girl said it was going to last three weeks."

Rylan winced. "Well, first thing first. Is there any way we can get a copy of this questionnaire?"

Malachi nodded. "Everyone’s e-mailing the questions they remember."

"And that’ll be done…"

"We’ll have them by tonight."

Rylan nodded.

Holly buried his hands in Rylan’s shoulders and began to try and massage the tension out of them. "We should all go drinking."

Rylan snorted. "Isn’t that what started the problem in the first place?"

Holly shrugged. "Maybe, but there’s nothing like a stiff one to fix all your problems."

Malachi and Rylan smirked at him.

"Yeah, yeah, double entendre, and trust me, I mean it in every way possible."

"Oh good," Malachi said cheerfully. He kissed Holly deeply and slowly backed him up against the wall.

"You know," Holly said dryly when Malachi pulled away from his lips to attack his neck. "There is a perfectly good couch right there."

"Walls are hotter," Rylan said cheerfully from said couch. He was lounging and watching, one hand down his pants.

"Well, maybe for you," Holly said breathily as Malachi tugged his shirt over his head and set to work on his pants. He lifted one leg and then the other, letting Malachi peel the skin tight leather off of him. "I always end up with some interesting scrapes."

He arched and groaned, casting his head back as Malachi licked a nipple and stroked his backside from shoulder to calf with a sure hand.

Rylan smirked. "You love it."

Holly smiled grudgingly.

Malachi grinned as he palmed Holly’s manhood.

Holly gasped. "Ooh, shit, Malachi, quit teasing," he moaned as he arched back wantonly, begging with every movement, every twist of the body.

Malachi smirked and pressed his fingers to Holly’s mouth. Holly sucked them in easily.

Malachi pulled his now slick fingers from Holly’s mouth and trailed them briefly down the man’s hip before sliding them around and gently pushing a finger against Holly’s entrance.

Holly took a stuttering gasp and in that brief moment between moans, a soft noise sounded.

All three men turned to find Giovanni, looking more than a little shocked in the doorway. He turned bright red when he saw their eyes on him and he fled.

"Oh shit," muttered Holly, pulling away from Malachi. He yanked on his pants and raced after the pale seer, leaving the two other men staring after him.

Malachi and Rylan exchanged glances. "I know Holly isn’t embarrassed about being caught."

Rylan snorted. "He wouldn’t have chased after Giovanni so soon if he had; he’d still be here, bright red, like that seer."

"So…"

Rylan shrugged. "Who knows what goes through the firebug’s head. We could follow."

Malachi groaned. "Nuh-uh. I tried talking to Giovanni once. I got shot down so bad. ‘Sides," he said, looking down at Rylan. "I just got interrupted in the middle of something. You did too," he pointed out.

Rylan smirked at him and waved him over to the couch.

--

Holly chased Giovanni back to the attic, the seer ahead of him the entire time. The man was fast for someone who pretty much stayed exclusively in only a few rooms.

He knocked once on the door and then marched in, glad for the complete lack of a lock. Usually, no one would dare burst in on the tiny seer. He was too shy and too reclusive for any of them to want to bother him that much. But this was a special case.

Holly cornered Giovanni against the bed and crossed his arms. "Sorry."

Giovanni blinked.

Holly uncrossed his arms and tried to look less hostile. "Sorry. We knew you were home. We shouldn’t have been doing that in there."

Giovanni just blinked at him again.

"Er…yeah," mumbled Holly. "Once again, sorry ‘bout that. We’ll avoid doing anything in common areas anymore."

Giovanni stared at him a moment longer. "It’s fine. You guys always…" he trailed off, looking mortified.

Holly flushed suddenly. "You’ve caught us?"

Giovanni nodded and Holly’s eyes widened, surprised more by his embarrassment at being caught than actually being caught. It wasn’t like it would be difficult. Holly had a tendency of attacking his boys wherever they happened to be.

"Well, sorry," Holly mumbled.

Giovanni shrugged. "It’s- uh, it’s fine," he mumbled, hands twisting his oversized t-shirt, still blushing.

He twisted his t-shirt up a little further, movements sharp and anxious.

Holly blinked at the bulge that Giovanni had just inadvertently revealed. He was… No, there was no way.. But…

Then Giovanni noticed where Holly’s eyes were and he flushed darker than Holly had ever seen anyone blush and yanked his shirt down, hiding the sweats he was wearing from waist to knee and hiding the bulge underneath. But it was too late. Holly had already seen and Giovanni’s embarrassment just cinched it.

The man was incredibly turned on.

And for the first time in his life, Holly had no idea what to do about it. It was Giovanni. The seer was shy, so incredibly shy. Holly couldn’t just attack him like he did everyone else. He would probably make him cry. But he certainly didn’t want to walk away.

Giovanni made the choice for him. "Please get out," he whispered.

"Giovanni…"

"Please," Giovanni said, tears gathering in his eyes.

Holly nodded, still floored, and stumbled out of the room, too surprised to do anything but what was asked of him.

--

Dimitri clasped Ezra’s hand and kissed him chastely on the cheek, the most Ezra could get out of him after wheedling him for over half an hour. "I’ll be back tomorrow."

Ezra sighed and nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Bring Leo with you again."

Dimitri nodded, smiling a tiny bit and left, leaving Ezra alone again.

Ezra sighed and leaned back against the pillows, turning his eyes to the ceiling. There was nothing to do in hospitals. He didn’t mind the smells, bright light, grumpy nurse, needles, tubes, blood, or even the lack of privacy but the boredom did him in every single time. It was horrible. He would do most anything to get any of his six husbands in here, even Rylan. Hell, he might even be happy to see Rick in an hour or two. But not right now.
Ezra winced, thinking of the man. That was why he really shouldn’t ever have consented to see him; he talked to him, they tumbled into bed, Ezra got beaten up. It was a vicious cycle that had been repeating itself for years now. And every time, Ezra ended up in the hospital. Hell, once he hadn’t even managed to leave the hospital between beatings.

But Rick was… well, he was Rick. Ezra still saw the man he had fallen in love with and married. It was that cocky lift of the jaw, that heavy sensual gaze, that wry twist of the lips… That was all still there, even when Rick was on drugs. It only disappeared when Ezra did something to make Rick angry.

Usually, that thing was announcing their relationship a bit too loudly. Rick had never hidden that he was married to a guy, but he had a tendency to overstate Ezra- his looks, his education, whatever job he had been holding at the time… And he had never, ever admitted to the fact that Ezra was part fae even though he obviously had to know. It was easy enough to pretend Ezra’s multi-unnatural-colored hair was a dye job, but the carpets matched the drapes and that was definitely not a dye job.

Ezra sighed and slid a hand through his hair. Leo and the other guys would probably be the same way. No one wanted to admit they knew Ezra much less was attached to him romantically or sexually. He had a hell of a reputation.

He sighed and shifted slightly. The worst part of staying in a hospital was the inability to jack off without getting interrupted. Heart rate went up significantly, a nurse came in. If only real life was like porn. Then, a sexy male nurse would come and do it for him. Damn reality.

--

Leo trudged through the front door, yawning widely. He paused midstep when a sheaf of papers was shoved into his face. "Wha-"

Holly put his hands on his hips. "I got a phone call. HRFC investigation starts next week. Malachi made a couple phone calls. The first part is a questionnaire. We got a copy of what it pretty much was. Fill it out."

Leo was pale when Holly finally managed to get him to take hold of the questionnaire.

Holly hesitated a moment and then said softly to Leo. "Cheer up, Bunny Boy. You can appeal your marriage to Giovanni, at least, because of how long you‘ve been together. It’s the rest of us who are totally fucked."

Leo couldn’t think of anything to say as Holly turned on his heel and walked away.