Mix'N'Match
Day 18
Rylan groaned and threw an arm over his eyes. "Shit," he mumbled. Way too much light. What had happened to his thick, beautiful, light canceling curtains? Goddamn.
He groped blindly to the side for a sheet- his arm was letting in irritating rays of light. Instead of a sheet, he came in contact with a warm, soft thing that he could only assume was a body part. Goddammit. Dimitri or Giovanni had gotten mad at Holly or Leo respectively and one of the needy little bastards had snuck into his bed. He didn’t snuggle. He didn’t like sleeping next to other people. Holly and Leo tossed and turned all night and Holly had this horrible, horrible habit of interrupting his sleep for a quickie. Which was absolutely not okay.
Which is why he felt perfectly not guilty about what he was about to do.
He grabbed whichever husband it was and hauled him on top of him, blocking out the evil sun neatly. Hopefully it would be a stomach or chest over his face because if anyone tried to shove a cock into his mouth right now he was going to beat the life out of him.
Instead, an elbow connected with his jaw and his hands were ripped away from whoever was in his bed’s hips and trapped over his head.
His eyes flew open and he winced away from the bright sunlight and stared up.
“Dimitri?” he gasped.
Dimitri blinked down at him, lavender eyes wide and bleary with sleep. “R-Rylan?”
Rylan stared up at him and the night before came flooding back to him. Shit. His eyes began to drop down without any conscious thought, following the elegant curve of Dimitri’s neck down to his bare chest and-
Dimitri scrambled off him and lunged for the previously missing sheet, yanking it up over him and drawing it all the way up to beneath his chin.
He stared at Rylan who suddenly had to repress an urge to laugh. He looked like a kid hiding under the covers from a monster. A seven foot tall, black skinned faerie kid. Who could probably beat Rylan in a game of arm wrestling.
Rylan shrugged it off and reached over to the blinds, yanking the chords to close it. He should move his own bed closer to the window for when he didn’t remember to close his amazing, wonderful curtains.
“Don’t you dare freak out,” he said, almost conversationally. “We did what we had to, we both enjoyed it and no one got hurt.”
Dimitri just continued to stare at him, although he was a little less tense.
“No one has to get hurt,” he said pointedly. He wasn’t going to tease Dimitri about this and hopefully Dimitri would stop freaking out so Rylan’s feelings didn’t get hurt. He liked things rough and he liked a little roleplaying sometimes, but someone looking at him like he had raped him and killed his puppy was a little insulting. And increasingly worrying.
“Are you hurt?” Rylan asked.
Dimitri shifted a tiny bit and winced, but shook his head. Rylan took that to mean no more than after a normal good pounding.
“Do you remember last night?”
Dimitri flushed darkly enough for it to be seen through his skin and nodded.
“Well, then did you enjoy it?”
He nodded and Rylan smirked.
“Good. So did I. Just look at it as… a necessary one night stand.” He slid to his feet out of the bed and stretched before grabbing his jeans off the floor and sliding them on. He sauntered towards the door, still very carefully not thinking of what happened last night, the repercussions, or his own confused feelings on the matter.
“Rylan?”
Rylan glanced back to find Dimitri out of the bed, although the pale sheet was still clutched to his body.
“Thank you.” And then he took a deep breath and quickly leaned forward to peck Rylan’s cheek before darting back again.
Rylan blinked and then smirked before grabbing Dimitri’s chin and hauling him down for a real kiss, teeth included. Dimitri didn’t pull away.
When they finally separated, Rylan smirked up at him. “I don’t really do wimpy kisses. If you want to kiss me, it has to be a real one.”
Dimitri nodded, his cheeks darker than usual again, and Rylan quickly ducked out. He waited until the door shut and he was down the hall, around the corner, in his room with the door shut before yanking at his hair and groaning, tumbling to the floor. Shit. That had been so damn awkward. And his show of bravado was probably going to cost him later but… Dimitri seemed willing to roll with it; pretend they were okay and closer than ever. Like they were actually married, although not necessarily in love.
He sighed and tugged on his hair again before groaning again. Man, this was getting weird.
He sighed and grabbed clothes so he could shower. He would go to work and try not to think for a couple hours. Concentrate on trying to kill Maximus with his mind and not thinking about Rave stretched out underneath him. It was the only thing that could distract him from his marriage problems lately.
Malachi groaned and shifted, trying to get comfortable while cuddling Holly closer. Holly nuzzled against his chest.
Malachi sighed and sat up, holding Holly firmly against him. “Holly, my back is killing me. We either need to get up or move to a bed.” They had ended up crashing on the floor, on a pile of towels, too exhausted to move. Holly had lain on top of him.
Holly sighed gustily. “Since you woke me up we might as well just stay up.”
Malachi grinned at his toned and kissed his head. “Off me then, love.”
Holly finally cracked open his eyes to glare at Malachi. “I refuse to move. If you want me to move, you are going to have to carry me.”
Malachi grinned and lurched to his feet, Holly held easily in his arms. Holly didn’t even bother wrapping an arm around Malachi’s shoulders. Malachi was strong enough carry anybody in this house and was the only one with the sheer length of arm to pull it off without it being the least bit awkward. Dimitri could do it with everyone but Malachi- he was a bit wide.
He strolled up the stairs and up to the kitchen to find Rylan already there, poking through the fridge.
He set Holly down in one of the chairs and hugged Rylan from behind. The man elbowed him, but it was half-hearted.
“D’you want waffles?”
Rylan gratefully pulled away from the fridge and dropped down on a seat next to Holly, pulling him over for a kiss.
Malachi shuffled around the kitchen, glancing up when the quiet sound of footsteps reached his ears. He grinned crookedly at Dimitri who smiled back tentatively.
He smirked and waved him over and kissed him. He didn’t ask about the night before although Holly had tensed as soon as both were in the same room.
Dimitri was tense, but the two were very carefully… being cordial. When Malachi pulled back from Dimitri, Dimitri turned and nodded at Rylan who waved back. Holly blew him a kiss.
There was more shuffling at the doorway. Leo stumbled in, looked at them, yawned, and tumbled into an empty chair. Ezra was behind him, hovering in the doorway and looking uncomfortable.
Rylan leaned forward and snatched a packet of papers off the table. He tossed it at Ezra. “Finish filling these out ASAP.”
Ezra caught the packet and retreated quickly, ducking his head. His cheeks were flushed.
Leo scowled at Rylan. “That wasn’t nice.”
He glanced at the other men, but Dimitri was very carefully not looking at him. Holly scowled back and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like slut. Malachi sighed. “It was mean,” he affirmed. And then added, “You sleep with him last night, Leo?”
“Yes,” Leo said flatly, scowling. “We did. And it was good. And Rylan, Dimitri, your magic spilled out like fucking everywhere.”
“So it was you two,” Malachi muttered.
Holly sniggered. “I thought maybe Ezra had gotten beaten up again and I was getting feedback.”
Rylan flushed a little.
“So how was it?” Leo asked.
Malachi elbowed him and Leo scowled. “What? It’s like an elephant.” He waved his arm, gesturing at the center of the room. “Right there! In your face. It would have squished you if I hadn’t said anything.”
Malachi couldn’t help but grin. “He has a point.”
Rylan scowled. “We’re both fine.”
“Was it fun?” Leo asked.
Dimitri’s hands curled into fists and Rylan took a long drink of his orange juice.
“Yes,” Dimitri finally said.
Rylan was very still and Dimitri was once again looking away.
Everyone’s eyes went gratefully to the door when someone cleared their throat.
The bowl of waffle batter slipped through Malachi’s suddenly nerveless fingers and a flush climbed up his cheeks.
“Giovanni!” Leo called happily before bouncing over and plopping a kiss on his cheek.
Giovanni smiled tremulously up at him before his eyes slid over to Malachi. “Can…” He paused to clear his throat. When he spoke again, his voice was smoother, although still soft. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”
Malachi nodded and hurried after him as he retreated into the living room, leaving the men in the kitchen confused.
One of Leo’s ears twitched and Holly caught it and scowled. “You shouldn’t spy. Go help Ezra.”
Leo scowled at him, but disappeared out of the kitchen and they heard, “Lalalala, not listening. Just passing through.”
Malachi smiled at him and fidgeted until the sound of Ezra’s closing door reached them. Then he looked down at Giovanni.
“I’m really sorry about yesterday,” he said softly. “I- Leo thinks it’s from Rylan and Dimitri finally sealing the deal.”
Giovanni flushed and looked away. “It- It was- I knew what was going to happen. I had a vision, right before you kissed me. I- I could have ran. I was going to, that’s what I saw in the vision. And you would have let me even as… Um, affected as you were.”
Malachi flushed. “Sorry. Um, you and Holly at least seemed less-“
“It was magic,” Giovanni said. “Me and Holly are more used to constant magic. Everyone is, to some extent, except you. That was why you were so… um… taken by it.”
Malachi flushed. “Sorry.”
Giovanni sighed. “I could have run,” he repeated softly.
“Yeah, but, the magic was affecting you too. I took advantage-“
“But you didn’t.”
Malachi frowned. “Yes, I-“
“If anything I took advantage.”
Malachi snorted. “Excuse me, but like hell.”
“I could have ran,” Giovanni repeated. “You would have let me. I chose to stay and I may have been affected but not as much as you.”
“Yeah but-“
“Malachi, stop it!” Giovanni slammed his foot down. “I’m not mad at you!”
Malachi blinked at him. “Uh…”
Giovanni flushed. “I’m sorry, okay?”
Malachi stared down at him. “I- Um, it’s fine?”
Giovanni flushed and nodded, retreating out of the room.
Malachi sighed and caught the sleeve of another one of Giovanni’s loose sweaters. “Please wait.”
Giovanni paused and looked back at him.
“Can we please talk? We never got to finish our conversation yesterday.”
Giovanni bit his lip, but nodded, perching on the corner of the couch.
Malachi beamed and flopped down next to him in his usual sprawl. He started to slip an arm around his shoulder, the move automatic from sitting on this couch next to his husbands pretty much exclusively.
He flushed and withdrew his arm. “Sorry.”
But Giovanni tugged his arm back around him. “It’s fine,” he said softly, leaning against Malachi. “We- We’re married.” His voice was a whisper by the end.
Malachi sighed and pulled away from Giovanni. “I don’t want you to force yourself. I mean, I know we all have to get along, but we all know you don’t exactly like us, and you’re scared of me, at least, and-“
Giovanni was turning steadily redder. “I’m sor-“
“It’s not- You can’t do anything about it,” Malachi snapped. “You’re scared of us and-“
Giovanni pressed his hand to Malachi’s mouth and held it closed. “I’m not- I’m not scared of you anymore.”
Malachi started to smile when Giovanni added, “Not much anyway.”
Malachi sighed gustily and took Giovanni’s hand from his mouth. “Well, I’m sorry for anything I ever did to scare you.”
Giovanni grabbed Malachi’s hand tightly. “You haven’t done anything.”
Malachi kept looking away until Giovanni grabbed a handful of his dreads and forced him to look at him.
“Malachi, I’ve been harassed by guys who look like you and Rylan, and Dimitri, and Holly all my life. Big guys or faeries or whatever that want to know something about the future and are willing to try and force the visions or force me to tell them! I was kidnapped three times before I was ten. One by was a pureblood, high court faerie and the other time was a bunch of pierced, tattooed guys who all had your body type! It’s irrational to be afraid of you guys but I am and I can’t help it and-“ he broke off, gasping for breath, half sobbing.
Malachi swept him up his arms and hugged him gently, resisting the urge to crush the tiny man to his chest. “Hey, hey now. No one in this house would ever hurt you, not on purpose.”
“I know that!” Giovanni gasped out, trembling like a leaf against Malachi’s chest. “It’s been years and no one’s ever done anything to me, but…”
Malachi sighed and petted his hair. “You’re a maglaphobe? Whatever. You’re scared of big guys. And you’re a faeriephobe,” he said softly. “Leo managed to avoid it-“
“He’s been with me since I was a kid,” Giovanni supplied softly, voice still shaky but evening out. “He’s protected me the entire time.”
“Which is a little creepy, but I know Leo isn’t a pedophile so I’m gonna let that go. For now.”
Giovanni giggled shakily, the sound half delirious.
Malachi smiled gently and kept stroking Giovanni’s hair. “Well, I swear none of us would hurt you. We kinda all think you’re adorable. Even Rylan. He’s extra nice to you, but even if he wasn’t, he wouldn’t hurt you. He’s all bark and no bite. And Dimitri is… Dimitri could probably bench press an elephant but he wouldn’t hurt a fly. Holly-“ Malachi paused, unsure what to say. Holly was incredibly protective and sweet, but he was also possessive and did have a habit of hurting people who pissed him off. Never seriously, but-
“Holly’s nice. I know he wouldn’t hurt me.”
“Well, that…” There was a delicate cough and both their heads flew up.
Holly smiled at him and there was a trace of smugness in it that made Malachi grin. Holly had done something then to convince Giovanni he wouldn’t hurt him. Malachi awarded him two points.
Holly crossed the room and settled beside Giovanni, hugging him as well, sandwiching him between them. Giovanni didn’t even flinch and Malachi doubled Holly’s accumulated points. From the entire time they had known each other.
Holly kissed the top of Giovanni’s head as Malachi moved his arms to encompass Holly as well. “Truly, none of us will ever hurt you,” he promised, echoing Malachi’s earlier sentiments. “We’re not all great, gentle people, but we want to be around you.” He chuckled. “I’ve never seen Rylan so…”
“Wimpy,” Malachi supplied.
“Screw you.”
Malachi grinned as Rylan magically appeared in the doorway. He had guessed he was listening, as soon as Holly showed up. That meant Dimitri was probably around the corner too… Next to Rylan. Right next to most likely. Damn, the night before had changed things.
Giovanni tensed, but he didn’t flee.
“I was gonna say gentle, but…”
Rylan shot Holly a look that the man ignored.
“Sweet,” Malachi added.
“Placid.”
“Tender.”
“Loving.”
“Both of you need to shut the fuck up.”
Giovanni giggled from between them, the sound muffled by Malachi’s shirt.
Rylan glanced at him and sighed gustily. “It’s true,” he muttered gruffly. “I’m such a fucking pussy around you. You’re just so… Cute.” He sounded annoyed, but Giovanni wasn’t even tense anymore. He sat curled between Holly and Malachi, talking to Rylan and he didn’t even seem scared.
Malachi smiled and rested his head on Giovanni’s, his arms tightening minutely.
Dimitri drifted up behind Rylan and Giovanni finally tensed. Malachi squeezed his eyes shut and repressed a sigh. Giovanni would be more scared of Dimitri than Rylan. Murphy’s law. Rylan would work to win the seer over and he was good at it when he wanted to be. Dimitri would tense and get that much more silent and formal around him if he found out.
Malachi sighed gustily and resumed petting Giovanni’s hair. Holly caught his eye and they shared a troubled look.
“So, um, how’s Leo gonna feel about what we did?” Malachi asked, wanting to distract everyone.
It worked.
“What did you guys do?” Holly asked, blue eyes narrowed suspiciously.
Malachi glanced down to find Giovanni hiding his face against his chest again.
“Uh, nothing much,” he mumbled. “Giovanni was just with me when… um, all of it started.”
Holly’s mouth made a little ‘o’ before he sniggered. “Nice.”
Malachi flushed and shifted Giovanni around so he could elbow Holly. “Shaddup.”
Holly grinned, but let it go. Malachi could tell from his mischievous expression that he was going to get pestered about it later though. But, at the moment, all Holly said, was, “Yes, how is bunny boy going to feel about you… branching out?”
Giovanni flushed but he shrugged. “He’s fine with it.”
Malachi blinked at him. “You already talked to him?”
“Not about you, but… um… about… H-H-“
“Me?” Holly asked, clearly delighted. “Awesome!”
“What have you two done?” Rylan asked, one eyebrow arching.
Dimitri remained silent, but Malachi could read the question in his eyes as well. No jealousy though. Malachi shot him a half smile that the tall dark man caught and smiled back at.
Holly answered with a wide grin. “Nothing much. Made out on this couch. It was hot.”
Malachi glanced down at Giovanni. His face was still buried in Malachi’s shirt and his ears were bright red and the flush was creeping down his neck.
Malachi grinned down at him and was about to say something when Leo flew into the room. “Guys, I think we have a problem.”
“It is not a problem!” Ezra shouted from behind him.
“Shut the fuck up!” Leo yelled back. “You, apparently, wouldn’t know a problem if it slammed you into a wall and broke three ribs!”
“I told you it was-“ Ezra broke off abruptly when he saw the accumulated men in the living room. His face flushed and he quickly turned on his heel and retreated back down the hall.
Leo glanced over them and the stress on his face eased for a moment when he looked at Giovanni snuggled between Malachi and Holly. It was short lived however.
“What’s wrong with the slut now?” Rylan growled, irritated.
Leo’s head swiveled to Rylan. “Don’t call him that. And the problem is that you remember the extra stuff for prior domestic abuse victims?”
Rylan groaned. “Don’t tell me his abusive ex boyfriend or whatever is on file!”
Leo shrugged. “It’s not.”
Rylan sighed in relief.
“His abusive ex-husband, however, is rather well documented.”
Holly tensed. “Rick was the one for sure?”
Leo sighed and nodded. “It went on for a couple years before they got a divorce and it seems like it hasn’t really stopped. Rick’s put him in the hospital more than once and they’ve had the cops called on them dozens of time.”
Dimitri winced. “Why would he keep seeing him?”
Leo shrugged.
Malachi sighed. “My aunt was a domestic abuse survivor. She stayed because she thought it was her fault. That she deserved to get smacked around.”
“Ezra doesn’t seem like he would put up with that…”
Dimitri twisted his hands together before saying softly, “He said he had an abusive boyfriend and that it didn’t end well.”
There was a moment of silence.
“Sounds like he put up with it for a while…” Malachi said, holding Giovanni tighter. It was only too easy to imagine the small man getting beaten up. Leo had told them how they had met- what if Giovanni’s family had hired a less kind fae? Or if he hadn’t found one?
“What does this mean for us?” Rylan snapped.
Leo glared at him. “You’re an asshole,” he snapped before whirling on his heel and stalking out of the room. Dimitri quickly followed after him.
Holly hesitated a moment, but stayed where he was, curled around Giovanni. “Let them work it out,” he said softly to Malachi who was staring after them.
Malachi turned back to him. “But…”
“It can’t be an easy subject to talk about. He likes Leo and Dimitri best.”
Malachi sighed and settled in again. “Man, this is all going to hell,” he muttered.
Holly smirked and kissed Giovanni’s head who had gone silent. “Not all bad,” he murmured. “I never would have pushed Giovanni and you wouldn’t be here either.”
Malachi grinned and kissed Giovanni’s head. “Agreed.”
Giovanni smiled shyly up at them.
Malachi glanced up to the door to find Rylan had disappeared. He frowned a tiny bit and hoped he hadn’t gone after Ezra and the others. That couldn’t end well.
Ezra glared at the door, wishing the knocking would stop and that they would go away. He shouldn’t have mentioned Rick’s prior abuse. It had been an offhand comment and Leo had jumped on it. Ezra had been surprised enough he had just answered and it had been so nice to talk to someone who wasn’t a cop or a lawyer or a doctor that he had just answered Leo’s questions without thinking about it too much. They were married and had slept together and Leo was nice to him. That last one was the rarest. And what had encouraged him to not shut his mouth.
He sighed and went to the door. Even if he didn’t want to talk to him he was being immature as hell. He took the chair from underneath the doorknob and opened the door, blinking in surprise as he came face to face with Dimitri. Or, rather, face to chest.
“Hi,” he murmured, staring up at Dimitri. Every time he was away from the man for more than a few moments, he forgot how damn pretty he was. His mind just couldn’t wrap around the idea that a seven foot tall black man could be pretty.
Leo popped out from behind Dimitri and scowled. “Don’t be immature.”
“Don’t be a bitch,” Ezra snapped back, automatically.
Leo gaped at him for a moment and then scowled again and shoved his way past Ezra. Ezra winced but he kept his feet. The healings had replenished him so much he was barely weak anymore although last night had given him a limp. But he wasn’t feeling any weaker despite the wealth of physical activity- he was almost starting to believe Holly, that his dad had been an incubus. It would explain a lot of stuff from over the years.
He stepped assigned, resigned, and let Dimitri in without prompting. The man smiled tentatively at him and stepped inside. He perched on the desk, but Leo tossed himself straight onto the bed, landing in a boneless, tangled pile of limbs. He seemed perfectly comfortable with it though. “Why the hell would you stay with someone who beat the shit out of you? You said you guys meet up and get back together every so often too.”
Ezra locked eyes with Leo defiantly and shrugged. “Once every of couple years and it only ever lasts a couple months.”
“What, you do something to piss him off and he punches you?”
Ezra turned a glare at Rylan as he slid into the room. Asshole. “No, he goes out and then I get pissed at him and then he puts me in the hospital.”
Leo frowned. “’Goes out?’”
Ezra sighed and ran a hand through his long hair, raking it out of his face. “He’s a permanently recovering or relapsed drug addict and alcoholic. Going out is relapsing. We get back together when he’s sober for any length of time.”
Leo scowled at him. “Why do you get back together with him then?”
Ezra frowned back. “He’s a good guy. When he’s sober, he’s still…” He shrugged again, searching for a word. “He’s still the same guy I married.”
“What, still in love with him?” Rylan said it derisively, snorting at the end.
Ezra turned a glare on him. “Yes,” he said flatly.
All the other men in the room tensed.
Ezra glared at him. “We’ve been together, on and off, for over twenty-three years.”
Leo and Rylan froze.
“How old are you?” Rylan demanded.
“God, is he like a pedophile?”
Ezra smiled, although it lacked any humor or good cheer. “How old you think I am, Dimitri? I’ve already asked everyone but Malachi.”
Dimitri looked at him for a long moment before saying, “Late thirties.”
Rylan snorted. “There’s no way. He’s a diseased half-breed not-“
Ezra cut him off. “I’m thirty-nine,” he said, smiling softly at Dimitri. “Me and Rick got together when I was sixteen. He’s actually a year younger than me. Not a pedophile,” he added for Leo’s sake.
“So, wait, when did you get married?”
Ezra grinned. “The day after he turned eighteen. We had to cross the border to here because no one would marry us because we were both guys.”
“When did you guys move over here?”
Ezra’s smile faded a tiny bit. “We didn’t. I did. A year and a half ago.”
Dimitri blinked at him. “Haven’t you been homeless for about a year?”
Ezra shrugged. “I didn’t graduate from high school.”
Rylan snorted and Ezra ignored him. This was a subject he had been harassed about for years. It had pissed Rick off too and then man had been constantly trying to make him get his GED and go to college. But he just never had.
“Any jobs you can get without a high school education are pretty much taken here. Too many half-breeds who couldn’t make it through school.”
Rylan rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you just mooch off Rick?”
Ezra glared at him. “Because he was sober for three weeks in the last year and a half.”
Rylan snorted again and opened his mouth to say something when Leo cut him off. “When did he hit you the first time?”
Ezra shrugged, uncomfortable. “Once when he was seventeen. But he was drunk and I kinda provoked him.”
There was a long moment of silence. Ezra recognized the heavy weight of it and rolled his eyes. “Seriously. That time it was a hundred percent my fault. He apologized about eight thousand times the next day.”
Leo rolled his eyes. “I’m going to pretend to believe there is something that justifies hitting your husband-“
“I was only a boyfriend at the time.”
“Whatever. When did he actually starting to abuse you?”
Ezra shrugged. “I mean…. It was pretty… I asked for a divorce as soon as it got really bad.” At the annoyed, questioning looks, he added, “That was seventeen years ago. When I was twenty-two. It didn’t clear until about a year later.”
“When did you leave him? Like, when did you stop living together?”
Ezra shrugged at Leo’s question. “I moved out right before I filed the papers.”
“When did you move back in, slut?”
Ezra tried to keep his shoulders square but it was a losing battle. “I moved back in a week later.”
Leo hissed.
“And stayed for another three years before moving out for six months and then going back for a year.”
“You stupid slut,” Rylan hissed. “What, did he promise to treat you nicely?”
Ezra shut his eyes, but nodded.
“After that year…”
Ezra sighed and answered Dimitri’s half-question. “I moved out for good. Pretty much. We try dating though every so often and I’ve moved back in with his twice, but only for a couple months at a time.”
“What happened that time to make you…”
“Give up?” Ezra laughed hollowly. “He was strung out on something. Put me in the hospital.”
“For how long? Was a night in the hospital enough to drive you away?”
Ezra scowled at Rylan. “Stop it. You aren’t going to get any more information out of me if you piss me off.”
Rylan smirked. “If you’re pissed off, you won’t cry.”
“Or you’ll make me cry,” Ezra spat.
Rylan snorted. “Don’t be a pussy.”
“He hit me over the head with a glass vase.” He pulled half his hair back and then up, fingers easily parting it to show off deep scars on his scalp. “I’m lucky it was delicate. And he broke fourteen bones. He kicked me in the stomach so many times that my ribs pierced my lungs. It brought on an attack and I was in the hospital for six months.” There was very little infliction in his voice. He had cried almost every night he had been in the hospital and for months afterwards. But time had dulled it. He had refused to speak to Rick for three years, but the man had convinced him eventually. Phone calls led to speaking in person with supervision or in public places, and then private conversations, and then dates. They had spent seven and a half years rebuilding what had been lost, but then a year and a half ago, Rick had gotten addicted to heroin again and everything had gone to hell which is when Ezra had moved here.
Rylan was gaping at the scars. He stepped forward and with surprisingly gentle fingers, he moved Ezra’s hair to inspect the scars. Leo stood to join him and traced the marks. Ezra shut his eyes and suppressed a shudder as Leo’s fingers trailed over his scalp and down to his neck. The deepest scar- and even that one was faded to almost nothing- didn’t stop until mid-back and Leo’s fingers had to stop at his collar.
“Shi-it,” Rylan muttered. “You dated him after this?”
Ezra shrugged. “It wasn’t him. It was the drugs.”
Rylan snorted. “Leo, if I got addicted to drugs and smacked you around, would you speak to me again?”
“I’d beat the living shit out of you,” he spat. “What the fuck, Ezra? He could have killed you!”
Ezra shrugged, uncomfortable.
“I don’t even like you,” Rylan muttered. “In fact, I rather dislike you. I thought you were a slut and now, I’ve added pussy, and I don’t even think you deserved this.”
Ezra shrugged, uncomfortable. He hadn’t exactly been the best husband to Rick. He had tried but… There were still lingering doubts. “I’ve had a fuckton of therapy,” he said matter-of-factly. “I know that. Which is why I won’t talk to him when he’s not sober.”
Rylan snorted. “Yet you still give him the chance to put you in the hospital on a regular basis.”
Ezra shrugged. “Have you ever been addicted to something?”
Rylan crossed his arms over his chest and glared. “No. It’s called willpower.”
Ezra snorted. “No. It’s called lucky genes and never trying anything, probably. I have been. It’s not easy to get over it.”
Rylan threw his hands up and turned to glare at Dimitri. “Fabulous. You married a drug addict!”
Ezra glared at him. “I haven’t touched anything harder than alcohol since I was seventeen.” He paused for a moment. “Pot doesn’t count.” He shook his head, sending his multicolored hair flying. “Anyway, Rick straightened me out.”
“What were you addicted to?”
Ezra stiffened. This was one thing he didn’t want to answer. But he kept his chin up. He had promised to help these men and he would. Leo and Dimitri didn’t deserve to get split up because he had issues. “Blaze. Rick never touched it because it fucked me up so badly, but I never had any problems with any human drugs. He wanted to experiment and I thought he would be okay,” he whispered, mind going back to Rick’s first experimentations. Pot, PCP, acid, cocaine, heroin. He had tried everything. At first it had been tiny amounts very occasionally. He had made sure Ezra would take care of him because Ezra had a ton of experience with all of it. But then he started using larger amounts more often. It had been a long process and Ezra had never once stepped in or said anything. Well, he had tried once but Rick had gently pointed out he still wasn’t as bad as Ezra had been. Rick had actually never hit that particular low. He got violent, but his life was never in danger of falling apart.
“Blaze?!” Leo shouted.
Ezra shut his eyes and nodded, wanting to block out everything. Blaze was a drug made from a plant from the faerie realm. Human technology and faerie plants had combined to create what was basically a super drug. It was incredibly potent and addicting.
“I tried it when I was fourteen. I was a stupid kid,” he muttered. “I had already tried, like, everything other drug and…. It wasn’t enough.”
Leo grabbed his wrists and shoved him down on the bed. He twisted his arm, barring the inside of his elbow.
Ezra glared up at him. “I haven’t shot up for over twenty-two years, Leo!”
Leo ignored him, checking the other elbow. Ezra supposed it was justified. Blaze fucked people for life. There weren’t a lot of people who kicked the habit.
“You don’t even have scars here,” Leo said suspiciously. Both of the other men were silent, watching.
Ezra sighed and yanked his arms out of Leo’s grasp. Without prompting, his hands went to his jeans. He yanked them down and spread his legs, pulling one of the legs of his boxers up, shifting everything around so he didn’t flash anyone, and baring his inner thigh and the tiny scars there. “Happy? It’s been twenty-two years,” he repeated.
He glanced up. Rylan was staring directly at him. He scowled at Ezra. Ezra rolled his eyes and glanced at Dimitri. He smiled a tiny bit at finding the dark man looking away, clearly uncomfortable. Cute. Even if he did want him to be comfortable around him.
Leo checked the other thigh and then the back of his knees, his neck, and every other vein that was close to the surface.
Ezra sighed and let him. He only stopped him when he was going for his boxer waistband. “You got a good look at that yesterday.”
Rylan snorted. “But he wasn’t looking for it,” he pointed out.
Ezra glared at him but yanked his boxers down, barring everything. He grabbed it and pulled it up, showing the underside. “No track marks, no cuts, holes, needle marks, or sores. Happy?”
Leo glared at him and grabbed it, inspecting it closer. It made Ezra gasp although he managed to keep it to that. The door opened just as Leo let him go.
Holly froze on the doorway. “I would say sexy time, but the atmosphere is way too tense for that. What did you do now, slut?”
Ezra just wanted all of them to go away suddenly. He was sick of being called slut and talking about this stuff. Most of his issues were long since gone. This rehashing wasn’t doing anything. Rick had saved him from blaze, from a lifetime of addiction and probably prostitution. Not that it really would have been a full-length lifetime. Ezra hadn’t kicked the habit until he woke up to Rick crying one day. The man thought he had overdosed and was dying. He was in a complete panic and Ezra’s muddled, high mind had made the decision that he couldn’t do this to him again. He had gone cold turkey, suffering the withdrawals as silently as possible, although even that had involved screaming. Rick had stayed by him the entire time.
Suddenly, Ezra was bone deep weary. He wanted those old days back, those few years between his addiction and Rick’s. They had been the happiest time of his life. And these guys would never understand that, never understand that some things were with striving for. It didn’t matter how many times Rick beat him up, Ezra would keep going back to him. He was never as happy as he was around Rick.
“I was addicted to blaze, Leo didn’t believe I wasn’t still shooting up, please leave, all of you.”
It took them a moment to realize what he had asked. “Ezra…” Leo started.
“Get out. Please,” he tacked on. He couldn’t make them leave.
But Rylan just shrugged and left. “Fill out the paperwork, slut,” he tossed over his shoulder.
Ezra flinched.
Dimitri glanced at him, concerned, but he stood and trailed out after Rylan.
Leo hesitated. “Ezra-“
“Just leave. Please.”
Leo sighed and left as well, leaving Ezra alone with Holly. Holly shoved his way into the room and stood over Ezra for a long moment. Ezra ignored him as best he could as he pulled back on his boxers and fished for his jeans.
“You stupid fucking idiot,” Holly finally growled. “Blaze? When were you going to tell us? When you next shot up?!”
“Get out!” Ezra yelled, lunging to his feet. He nearly fell over, his jeans hobbling him. “Just get the fuck out!”
Holly grabbed his arms and slammed him against the bed. The air around them was suddenly scorching, everything wavering slightly with the heat.
He yanked his arm up, checking the inside of one arm and then the next as he continued to yell. “Did you sell yourself to get more drugs? Is that why you’re homeless?! The investigation starts tomorrow. You still haven’t filled out the questionnaire, you haven’t done shit. You are going to make us fail.”
Ezra clawed at the hands holding him down. They were burning hot, searing his skin. But it was the words that really got to him. He hadn’t done shit? He had told more to these guys who were basically strangers than he had anyone else ever. Rick knew of course but they never talked about it.
And then the hands on his shoulders heated up even more and all thoughts of Rick were driven out of his head. He screamed and tried to pull away, but Holly hung on.
Ezra’s blood rushed in his ears as he clawed and kicked at Holly, trying to force him off. Ezra could see him shouting but couldn’t hear the words.
Ezra’s arms were on fire and then his legs as Holly moved to check them for needle marks. He screamed.
It took a moment to realize Holly was no longer touching him.
Ezra stared up at him blankly, mind numb. Holly stared back and then down at his arms where he had held on.
“Fuck,” he said softly. “I’ll go get the first aid kit.”
Ezra let him go without a word, still staring at the ceiling.
As soon as Holly cleared out of the room, Ezra went to the door and locked it, shoving the chair underneath the doorknob again before collapsing backwards onto the bed. He rubbed at his eyes. His arms hurt but it wasn’t worse than the things Rick had done to him.
Tears welled up. He angrily wiped at his eyes again, but it didn’t help- his vision remained blurry.
The first few tears spilled over, tracing hot trails down his face.
The sob caught him unprepared and it echoed loudly in the small room. He swallowed the rest down, but he couldn’t help the shaking or the tears.
-
Holly slammed his fist into the door again. “Ezra, open the motherfucking door!”
There was still no response from inside. He scowled. It would serve Ezra right if he just left in there with burnt arms to get infected and be in pain. But just the thought sent little niggles of guilt through him.
He sighed. He couldn’t burn down the door without risking hurting the slut so he sighed and went to find Malachi. But Malachi shook his head.
“Holly, just leave him alone for a while.”
“Malachi, I got pissed and burnt him.”
Malachi turned and glared at him. “Holly…” he growled.
“It was an accident!”
“He’s probably pissed at you. Pissed at all of us. Leave him alone for a while. He can take care of himself.”
“He could have passed out,” Holly pointed out.
Malachi paused and then sighed gustily as he stood. “Fine. But go get the toolbox, ‘kay? The bed in that room is pretty close to the door. I don’t want to hit him.”
Holly nodded and hurried away, meeting Malachi in front of Ezra’s room with a toolbox in one hand and the first aid kit in the other.
Malachi sighed and took the toolkit from him. He had the door off its hinges in a few minutes.
Holly kissed his head. “Mm, my manly man.”
Malachi frowned at him. “Give me the first aid kit. I’ll take care of his arms. He doesn’t need another blow-up.”
Holly scowled at him but Malachi just looked at him neutrally until Holly looked away and flushed. “I want to apologize,” he muttered.
Malachi sighed and hugged him briefly. “I get it, Holly, but you have a hell of a temper. The investigation starts tomorrow. He can’t be bruised or scraped up or burnt!”
Holly looked away. “Fine. I’ll tell him later. You know how to treat a burn?”
Malachi smiled at him. “You once got a little out of hand with Rylan, remember?”
Holly flushed darkly. “That was his fault.”
“So I’ve heard. Remind me never to tie you down and finger you for two hours.”
Holly stuck his tongue out. “Just… tell him I’m sorry, okay?”
Malachi nodded and slipped into the room. Holly stared at the door as Malachi set in an approximation of closed and finally turned and left. If Malachi thought Ezra wouldn’t want to see him, he would respect that.
--
Malachi glanced around the room. Ezra was sitting on the bed, staring at him. He held out his arms silently. Malachi winced at the reddened and blistered skin. “Shit,” he muttered, crouching in front of Ezra and digging quickly through the kit for the burn salve.
“Are you okay?”
“Vicodin,” Ezra muttered. “Lots and lots of vicodin.”
Malachi looked up sharply and sure enough, his pupils were constricted. And his eyes were red rimmed. Malachi stared at him. He looked like he had been crying.
“Are…. “ He took a deep breath and tried again. “I’m glad you’re not in pain, but that’s not what I asked.”
“I’m fine,” Ezra muttered.
Malachi reached up and cupped his face in one large hand, wiping away one lone tear gently. “Uh-huh.”
“My arms hurt.” The defense sounded half-hearted.
Malachi sighed, preparing to give up on Ezra opening up. And then hot wetness dripped onto his thumb and trailed down.
Malachi blinked at Ezra who was looking away. The tears had started again. Malachi hugged him and gently pulled him against his chest, but Ezra jerked away, and when Malachi sat beside him and tried to wrap an arm around his shoulders, he did the same thing.
Malachi sighed. “Want me to leave?”
“I’m fine!” Ezra snapped.
Malachi wiped away the hot tears again and Ezra let him. Hesitantly, Malachi ran the hand on his face through Ezra’s hair and this was allowed too. Malachi stifled a sigh. He wasn’t objecting to comfort, just being held. He stroked his hand down Ezra’s neck and let it rest on his upper back, rubbing slow circles until Ezra relaxed.
They sat in silence for long minutes before Ezra drew his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.
Malachi winced at the burns again and pulled away to get the burn salve out of first aid kit. “Holly says sorry,” he said tentatively.
“I heard. The door was gone and you guys were right there.”
Malachi sighed and began to rub the salve on.
Ezra flinched at the first touch of contact, but Malachi gently held onto an unburned part as he continued rubbing it in. “It’ll help,” he said gently. “I’ll call Ginger, if no one else already has, but you shouldn’t leave it untreated anyway.”
Ezra grunted in response but didn’t pull away this time.
Malachi was as gentle as he could be, but Ezra was still white by the time he was done. He didn’t bandage them. He had never gotten burnt this badly - just a few cooking accidents - but it had always made them hurt more.
“I’ll call Ginger.”
Ezra nodded and waited silently as Malachi pulled out his cell phone and called the healer. The conversation was short and terse and Malachi hung up quickly.
“Holly already called her. She’ll be over as soon as she can, but she’s with another patient right now.”
Ezra snorted. “I am right here. I heard all of that. I’m not deaf,” he muttered, looking away.
“Sorry, sorry,” Malachi said with a good-natured smile. “Leo’s just always teasing me about my human hearing and I guess the attitude rubbed off.”
Ezra frowned at him. “How do you deal with that?”
Malachi blinked at him. “The teasing? I take it like a man.” He shot him a grin.
Ezra continued to frown. “But, I mean…”
“I tease back. And none of it’s serious. Well,” he amended. “Sometimes when we get mad, we mean some of the cruel stuff we say, but the making up part is always worth it.”
Ezra smiled slightly, gently, eyes faraway and then he seemed to come back to himself and frowned.
“What?”
Ezra shook his head. “Nothing.”
“You were thinking of making up with Rick.”
Ezra tried to keep a frown on his face but a soft smile slipped through. “Yeah. When… I mean… how much do you already know?”
Malachi shrugged. “Leo filled me in on everything the second he left. And then he kidnapped Giovanni to thank him for talking to us.”
Ezra snorted. “Your marriage is fucked up.”
“Giovanni is shy. He seemed to be getting over it.”
“Yeah, only because he has to.”
“I’m happy whatever the reason. Back to you and Rick.”
“I’m only telling you because I have to.”
“I’m happy whatever the reason,” Malachi replied serenely.
Ezra looked away. When he spoke, it was slow and measured. “After I kicked my drug habit-“
“Congratulations, by the way. Most people don’t survive blaze addiction.”
“Thank you. Anyway, everything was amazing for a few years. We got in a few real fights, but we got in a lot more over nothing so we could make up.”
Malachi watched that soft, sweet smile creep over his face again. “And when he started hitting you?”
The smile faded. “The making up was still nice.”
“He still apologized and tried to make up?”
Ezra looked away. “Sometimes.”
“I don’t understand you,” Malachi said flatly. “I don’t understand why you stayed with him.”
“You guys aren’t doing much better.”
Malachi stiffened. “Holly burnt you once. That’s not exactly the same as years of abuse.”
“Leo ripped my nipple and Rylan tried to strangle me. I only met you guys two weeks ago. You’re actually doing significantly worse than Rick.”
Malachi tensed. “We aren’t abusive.”
“Not to each other, you aren’t.”
Malachi frowned. “Those were… It won’t happen again.”
Ezra rolled his eyes. “Don’t keep promises you can’t keep.”
Malachi wrapped an arm around his shoulders. This time Ezra didn’t shove him off. “I can guarantee this one. No one else is going to hurt you in this house.”
Ezra just rolled his eyes again. “Good luck with that.”
Malachi patted his back gently. “I can promise I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Promise?”
Malachi nodded, confused. Ezra’s voice was soft, husky. Why?
He turned to ask what was up and then soft, warm lips slanted over his.
Ezra pulled away before Malachi even realized what was happening.
Ezra smiled up at him, brushing a few strands of hair out of his eyes. “Sorry. Been wanting to do that for a while.”
Malachi gaped at him before flushing. “It’s fine,” he mumbled.
Ezra didn’t seem put off by his response. “Can I kiss you again?”
Still red, Malachi nodded, thinking of the investigation.
Ezra rested one hand on his bicep and leaned in. This time, Malachi had enough time to close his eyes and slide a hand around to cup Ezra’s head. The kiss was gentle at first but Ezra’s lips slowly got more and more demanding and his hand began to wander. It was just about to slide down to his crotch and Malachi was getting ready to tell Ezra to stop when the door opened- or rather fell in as it was still off its hinges.
They broke apart quickly, but it was Ginger and she was beaming. “That was cute. And uh, sorry ‘bout the door.”
Malachi flushed but kissed Ezra on the forehead. “It was already like that. And hello.”
She beamed at him before turning to Ezra. “You’re accident prone, aren’t you?”
Ezra blinked up at her and even Malachi had to wonder what Holly had told her.
But Ezra just nodded. “Help me out?” he asked, holding out his arms.
Ginger smiled and nodded.
Malachi stood. “I’ll leave you guys alone.” Ezra nodded, but Ginger was already distracted, sliding into a healing trance.
Dimitri caught his hand outside as soon as he had placed the door back in place.
Malachi smiled at him. “Hey!”
Dimitri grinned and kissed him. Malachi pulled back, surprised. “You smell like whiskey.”
Dimitri shrugged. “Just a little.”
When Malachi continued to frown, Dimitri’s smile slipped.
“Promise. I’m just a little a tipsy.”
Malachi kissed his cheek. “Fine. Wanna go watch a movie or something?”
Dimitri started to say something and then sighed, sliding his arm through Malachi’s. “Sure.”
Malachi smirked when he heard Dimitri mutter, “Fucking Chivalry,” very, very softly. He would wait until he was positive Dimitri was sober and then he would happily jump him.
When Ezra wandered to the kitchen again after a long nap, he found Holly, Leo, and Rylan gathered around the kitchen table.
All three stared at him, tense.
Ezra crossed his arms over his chest and scowled, the response automatic. “What?”
Holly stood hurriedly and headed towards him. “Are you okay?”
Leo snorted. “You’re the one who hurt him-“
“Just shut up, Leo!”
He whirled on Ezra who eyed him warily, but didn’t move back. But he surprised Ezra. “Are you okay?”
Ezra nodded. “Just remind me to stay on your good side.” He said it with a tiny smile, an invitation to forgive and forget. It was once. Ezra wasn’t going to be around long enough for it to happen again.
But Holly just continued to frown. He glanced back at the two men and then gestured for Ezra to retreat back to the hall. He kept waving until they were back in Ezra’s temporary room with the door shut.
“Leo’s nosy as fuck,” he said softly. “Look, I’m really, really sorry. Except for once with Rylan, I haven’t seriously hurt anyone since years before I met Dimitri and that one time with Rylan wasn’t because I was mad. But you…” He trailed off, leaving Ezra to pick up the slack.
“You know someone who ended up fucked up because of Blaze?”
Holly growled softly. “Not well, but everyone knows someone.”
Ezra sighed. “Well, I’m sorry, but it’s been twenty-three years since I shot up. I promise.”
Holly flopped down on the bed and tugged Ezra to sit down next to him. “Ezra, I…” He hesitated. “You’re not a complete fuck up.”
“Thanks,” he said dryly.
Holly scowled darkly at him. “Why would you do that to yourself? People have known about all the problems that come with Blaze since it was first created.”
Ezra blinked at him as he slumped down and got comfortable. “I told you, I was a stupid kid. I had tried tons of supposedly highly-addictive drugs before and nothin’ happened.”
Holly continued to scowl and Ezra continued to stare, confused. “Why does it matter?” He was bewildered. Holly was glaring at him like he wanted to rip his head off- although it wasn’t warmer than usual- for something that happened years ago.
“Why do you care so much?” Ezra finally asked.
“You could have seriously fucked yourself up!”
Ezra continued to stare. “Why does that matter to you?”
“You should be mad at me!” Holly shouted. “Pissed off as fuck. You should be mad at Rick and-”
“What does this have to do with anything?”
“You don’t take care of yourself.”
Ezra tensed. “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not!”
Ezra had heard this conversation before from concerned friends. It always ended in a stalemate. “Holly, why does it matter?”
“The-the investigation.”
“I’ll lie through my teeth.”
Holly scowled at him again. “You should be pissed.”
“For what? You trying to kill me? I am-“
“Yet you let me drag you off alone and have been talking perfectly reasonably with me. You haven’t tried to hit me, you haven’t shouted. Plus, I just told you the only reason I care about you is because of the investigation.”
Ezra blinked and disregarded the first part as well. He had heard that part as well when he was still with Rick, back before most of his friends had given up to him. “But that’s the only reason I’m here.”
Holly slapped a hand on his head and shook lightly, ignoring Ezra’s slight wince. “You’re a moron,” he said gruffly.
Ezra just blinked.
Holly used his hand on top of Ezra’s head to drag him back to an upright position.
“What-“
Holly covered Ezra’s lips with his own, cutting him off. He softly, but insistently, deepened it until Ezra got past his shock and kissed him back. Holly pulled back when he started to melt against him, leaving Ezra blinking as his mind raced for an explanation. He came up blank.
“We’re going to a night class, as soon as the investigation is over. I’m going to get a refresher on how to control my fire and you’re going to get a crash course on your incubus powers.”
“I’m leaving as soon as the investigation is over.” That, at least, he knew for sure.
Holly kissed him gently on the forehead, before standing up. “Consider it a thank you.”
Ezra stared at the fire elemental’s softly swaying ass as he left before shaking his head. If lessons could curb his preoccupation with sex... Well, that could only be a good thing. Maybe it would help with the Selicitus as well, to get a grasp of his powers. He started as a thought crossed his mind. Maybe he could shut his incubus side down all together.
He fingered his hair absently. A quick dye-job and maybe he could go back to the human world, blend in. It would be harder for Rick to hunt him down if the occasional flares of magic that he couldn’t detect, couldn’t control, went away. He could get away from Rick long enough to get his own shit together and then he could help Rick.
He smiled softly, blissfully, and followed Holly back to the kitchen, hoping to find the questionnaire and fill it out.
But, when he reached the kitchen and found Holly and Leo arguing, he felt a surprising twinge in his chest at the thought of never seeing these two again.
He quickly shoved it away. He would see Holly in those classes, however long those lasted and he was pretty sure Leo would insist on meeting up. A tiny smile crossed his lips at the thought.
Rylan handed him the questionnaire and a pen silently and Ezra filled out everything he could quickly, trying to ignore the squick of sharing this much with these people. Surprisingly, the thought of Rylan’s brutal mockery was less bothersome than the thought of the other guys freaking out. So he was able to hand it back to Rylan without his hand shaking. “I don’t know the rest,” he mumbled.
Rylan nodded shortly. “The stupid birthstone on the higher fae calendar, right?”
At Ezra’s shocked nod, he snorted. “It’s the dumbest question…” He trailed off, muttering to himself about stupid specists.
Ezra actually had to cover a tiny smile. It was nice to see Rylan’s anger directed at someone else. And then Rylan turned his sharp eyes to Ezra and the smile fled. “Are all the other questions you didn’t answer like that? Something that can be looked up online with the information already here?”
Ezra nodded quickly. He knew his own personal information; it was only the stupid obscure shit that he couldn’t answer.
Rylan nodded at him and handed him a pile of paper. Ezra blinked down at it and found an exact copy of the questionnaire he had just filled out, except all the answers were filled in a swirling looping writing. Under ‘Full Name’, was ‘Leopold Ailin Mastro Zyniph’. Ezra’s lips twitched. “Leo’s full name is Leopold?”
Rylan nodded. “I hope you’re good at memorization.”
Ezra nodded. Route memorization had never been a problem with him. It had helped immensely with all the crappy jobs he had- he could memorize smoothie recipes, coffee concoctions, store rules and huge food orders for parties….
Rylan raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.
Ezra went back to his room quietly, thumbing through the pack of papers. It looked like he had everyone’s. Leo was the only one with a funny full name.
Speaking of Leo, the man appeared as soon as Ezra was halfway through his questionnaire, pressing a gentle kiss to his neck.
Ezra jumped and whipped his head around to look at him. “Jesus shit, Leo! How did you do that?!”
Leo grinned at him. “The door’s still off its hinges.”
“Oh.”
Leo grinned. “Whatcha doing?”
Ezra waved the paper at him. “Memorizing.”
Surprisingly, Leo’s cheeks reddened a little. “Oh.”
“What’s the matter?”
Leo looked away. “It’s just that… there’s a lot of personal information on that.”
“Oh.” Ezra mumbled. He had to stop a frown from rising and he was suddenly remembering all those one-night stands from over the years. Some of them didn’t even give him real names. “Sorry, I can’t help it.” But he was getting pissed. He had been open about telling Leo and all the rest of them this shit and more. He had opened up about his past with Rick, admitted he still loved the man… He hardly ever even admitted that to himself. He had told them about his prior drug use… Hell, that probably wouldn’t even come up.
But he forced it down and tried to start reading again. He couldn’t focus on the words though, mulling over all the reasons Leo being uncomfortable was wrong.
So when Leo pressed his lips gently against his neck, Ezra could only hold out for about ten seconds before jerking away. He never slept with those guys who gave him fake names again. He frequently avoided those who actively tried to avoid him in public after the fact.
Leo brushed a hand through Ezra’s hair and Ezra couldn’t help himself; he jerked away again.
Leo frowned down at him. “What’s the matter?”
Ezra tried not to frown but he couldn’t help it. “Leo, we slept together. I know that I’ve slept with a lot of people, but I’m also living with you and, for fuck’s sake, we’re married, and I’ve told you a ton of shit and I should know most of this stuff anyway! Anyone normal would!”
Leo stared down at him with wide red eyes. Ezra flushed and ducked his head. “Sorry,” he muttered. Some stupid rebellious side made him add, “I thought you wouldn’t mind me knowing this stuff.”
Leo wrapped his arms around Ezra and pulled him into a ferocious kiss suddenly that took his breath away.
He pulled Ezra out of the chair and pressed him against the bed. Ezra gasped as he moved from his mouth, down to his neck, his anger all but shocked out of him. “Wha-“
Leo pulled away after leaving one more gentle kiss on the corner of his mouth. “Aw, sweetie, I’m so proud of you.”
Ezra stared up at him.
Leo giggled and hugged him before gently pushing the packet back up so Ezra could read it again. He wrapped himself around Ezra and rested his head on his shoulder. “Anything else you want to know just ask.”
Ezra frowned, confused and still a little hurt, but started reading again.
Ezra was still leaning against Leo, head resting against one of Leo’s soft ears when he finished Leo’s questionnaire and put it down. Leo was once again tense against him and the silence felt charged, although Ezra had no idea why.
“What?” he finally asked.
“What do you think?” Leo asked softly, after a pause.
“Of what?”
Leo made a gesture at the questionnaire. “That.”
Ezra just blinked. “The questionnaire? What about it?”
Leo tapped his head lightly, growling softly.
Ezra’s lips twitched at the sound.
“Do you still like me?”
Ezra turned to frown at him. “Why wouldn’t I?”
Leo yanked a hand through his hair, spiking the short locks almost straight up in places. “I don’t know! I don’t know you well enough to know what would bother you! I mean, we haven’t even, like, gone on a date! We only met each other two weeks ago!”
Ezra frowned at him, trying to work it out. “You…. That’s why you were nervous?”
Leo blinked and then nodded, forcing a smile. “I like you, Ezra. I joke and flirt a lot, but you… you’re sweet.” He kissed Ezra on the head. “And usually you try and pretend to be normal for a couple months and then start dumping the crazy.”
Ezra couldn’t help the wide, dopey smile spreading across his face. And here he had been worried about Leo just wanting to dump him as soon as the investigation was done. He buried his face into Leo’s shoulder. “I still like you,” he said softly, voice muffled further by the soft cotton shirt.
But it was apparently loud enough for Leo’s sharp ears because Leo relaxed finally and hugged him tight, kissing him on the forehead.
--
Leo slid away with another soft kiss to Ezra’s forehead when he was halfway through Dimitri’s packet. The man was adorable. Most of them wore.
He ignored Rylan’s until he had finished the other five. Then finally he had to pick it up and read it through. Leo joined him just as he was finishing. Leo quickly kissed him on the forehead. “So…” But Ezra was frowning.
“Has Rylan ever hit any of you?”
Leo tensed. “No!”
“So what I saw with him and Dimitri was the closest he’s ever gotten to violence?”
“Well, he’s spanked me. And probably Holly.”
That made Ezra grin. “Were you being a naughty boy?”
Leo giggled and snuggled against Ezra’s back. “Maybe.”
Ezra smiled slightly but it quickly faded. “But that was in a sexual situation, right?”
“Of course,” Leo said with a snort. “He wouldn’t spank us otherwise.”
Ezra didn’t reply and it took Leo a long moment to realize what he had said and what it implied about Rick. He didn’t add anything though, not sure whether he was hoping Ezra wouldn’t make the connection or he would and realize his ex-husband was a dick.
Leo wasn’t sure what Ezra was thinking but the man didn’t respond either way.
He gave him a hug and kissed his cheek. “Want a snack? You’ve been reading for hours.”
Ezra flushed and nodded. “I haven’t eaten yet today,” he admitted.
Leo tensed. “Shi-it, that’s right. Up, boy, it’s food time.”
Ezra stood and stumbled a tiny bit as he took his first step. He flushed as Leo caught him around the waist with a grin. “The healing wore me out.”
Leo’s frown appeared again. “How are your arms?”
Ezra held them up. They were red in places, but there were no blisters or charred skin anymore. “Ginger fixed me right up. Just feels like sunburn now.”
Leo pulled one of his arms up to kiss it. “Good. I’m glad.”
The short walk down the hallway was interspersed with much giggling and kisses that were as soft and quick as a touch of a fluttering butterfly wing.
They had the kitchen to themselves- for once- and Leo quickly set about finding something decent for Ezra to eat.
Leo was red when he turned around. “Want to order Chinese food?”
Ezra grinned at him and slid up behind him to look through the cupboards. There wasn’t a whole lot there.
“We’ve been too busy to shop,” Leo mumbled.
Ezra smiled. “We should go.”
Leo paused and then brightened. “And we can take you shopping too!”
Ezra winced, thinking of Holly. “Uh…”
Leo grinned at him. “I promise I’ll take you to stores where you can get jeans and t-shirts.”
He smiled back, relieved. He really didn’t want to wear the leather pants all the time. “Okay.”
“And we can stop by… um, what’s a good place for you?”
Ezra blinked. “Anything’s fine. I don’t really mind my food touching meat so I usually just get something and then pick around anything I won’t eat.”
Leo frowned at him. “If you could eat anywhere in the world, where would you eat?”
Ezra smirked. “Τρόφιμα.”
Leo blinked at him, trying to place the name. “That itty bitty Greek place?”
“Itty bitty vegan Greek place. They’re awesome.”
Leo wrinkled his nose. “Isn’t Greek food all feta cheese and lamb? And grape leaves which are gross by the way.”
Ezra groaned. “Oh my god. No. Now we have to go. Yemista tis Kaliroi, Leo!”
“What now?” But Leo couldn’t keep up his scepticism. He giggled instead. “Sounds unpronounceable.”
Ezra nodded. “Yes. Unpronounceable and delicious.”
“Are you a foodie, Streaks?”
“Mmmmmmmm. Maybe.”
Leo giggled and patted Ezra’s head. “So that’s a yes.”
“Yep.” He hugged Leo around the neck and looked up at him through his eyelashes. “Please?”
Leo flushed and nodded and Ezra grinned up at him. He felt a little bad about taking advantage, but Leo had said anywhere and who didn’t like Greek food? He obviously hadn’t tried enough.
Leo giggled. “Okay, stay here. Lemme see who else wants to come.”
Ezra lost an edge of his smile but quickly forced it back on. It was Leo’s prerogative to bring the others and it was probably a good idea anyway.
They ended up all going. Malachi apparently loved Greek food and the rest were not against it. Rylan was glaring at him pretty much the entire time. In the car- a large Escalade that fit all of them and left a single empty seat to boot- the reason was finally revealed.
Rylan's voice was tense when he spoke, the barely restrained anger evident. "Did you memorize all the forms, slut?" His voice was a hiss. "You should be memorizing, not shopping."
Ezra shifted uncomfortably and then took a deep breath, steeling himself.. "Rylan Zyniph, formerly Rylan de la Boise. Your birthday is January 24th, your birthstone in the higher fae calender is amethyst. You married Dimitri about a century ago and have been living here for eleven years. You met Leo ten years ago and were married to him in one year and nine months. You have had several short-term relationships in your life, no one night stands, and all the ones that lasted are in this car. Your favorite color is dark red and you like classical music. I can keep going."
Rylan turned around to glare at him. "Are you trying to say you memorized everything on those forms that quickly?"
Ezra shrugged. "No. I didn't memorize everything, but, I mean, we got married two weeks ago. Should I really know as much as you guys as the rest of you do? They're gonna truth spell us, right?" He crossed his arms, wishing he dared to lean against Leo. He wanted a hug right now. Moral support and all that. And he just wanted to touch him.
As if he heard his thoughts, Leo wrapped an arm around him and Dimitri set a comforting hand on his shoulder from behind. He was in the back, next to Giovanni. Neither had made a move or a sound yet.
Ezra smiled a tiny bit. "What are you going to tell them about me?" he asked softly. "They aren't going to like that I was a drunken one-night stand."
Rylan sighed and pulled his ponytail over his shoulder on his ponytail. Ezra was startled to find he looked tired, not angry. “I don’t know.”
Malachi reached a comforting hand over and set it on Rylan’s thigh, rubbing gentle circles.
Rylan caught it and held it between both of his own. He stared at their entwined hands as he said, “Lie. Or omit, actually. Put a positive spin on it. You and Dimitri had a brief, passionate courtship and were married quickly. We have to include while intoxicated, but it doesn’t sound so bad, right? The rest of us have gotten closer to you since, especially Leo. And Holly.”
Holly scowled and glared at Ezra. “Slut.”
Ezra stuck his tongue out, making Holly stare at it. “Do you have a rainbow stud in your tongue?”
Ezra pulled his tongue back into his mouth, then shrugged and nodded.
“Did you always?”
Ezra shook his head. “Nope.”
Holly stared at him for a moment longer and then smacked his arm lightly. “Weirdo.”
“Ow!”
Leo leaned around to flick Holly’s forehead. Holly retorted with a quick jab to his stomach. Ezra leaned back and tried not to get in their way as they poked, flicked, pinched, slapped, and kicked each other.
Dimitri was trying to talk them down and being completely ignored. Malachi was watching them in the rear view mirror and grinning widely. Giovanni was watching with wide eyes. From the front, Rylan was smirking at them. “How are you two going to fuck if you can’t sit in the same car?”
Both turned to scowl at him. Malachi snorted in amusement. “You two did promise,” he pointed out.
“Woah!”
Ezra pressed himself further into the seat as Holly lunged forward and grabbed Leo, shoving their lips together.
Ezra just stared with wide eyes as Holly kissed the stunned phookah thoroughly. He let go, long fingers catching Leo’s hair as Leo fell back onto the seat, shocked into silence. Holly smirked at Rylan, lips wet and swollen. “We’ll be just fine.”
Rylan unsnapped his seatbelt and spilled himself into the backseat to straddle Holly and kiss him hard.
Ezra gaped and Malachi swore and swerved to the side of the road, pulling over. “Rylan! If I get another ticket this year, my license will be revoked!”
Ezra rolled his eyes and unbuckled his own seatbelt, climbing to the front and buckling himself in.
Leo pouted at him, but Rylan just took Ezra’s former seat, still holding Holly tight.
Malachi sighed and started driving again. He kept stealing glances at Ezra. Ezra ignored it as best he could and fidgeted for a moment before finally slumping and drawing his knees up to his chest. He had started doing it to annoy Rick and it was just sooo comfortable. “What?”
Malachi just shook his head silently. “Soooooooooooo.”
“That small talk issue again,” Ezra said wryly. “Music?”
“Ooh.” Malachi grinned. “Excellent question. Classic Rock. You suck if you don’t like it.”
“Your music sucks!” Rylan called from the back.
“Yours is boring!”
Ezra grinned. “I like classic rock. But metal’s better.”
Malachi turned to stare on him. “Like heavy drums, no musicality, and screaming.”
Ezra made a face. “You suck. Rammstein, man. Although the folk music here is pretty bad ass.”
“You have terrible taste in music.”
“Your mom has terrible taste in music.”
Malachi gaped at him for a moment. “Dick.”
Ezra stuck his tongue out.
Leo called from the back. “Hey, your mom’s still around, isn’t she? Just across the border?”
Ezra glanced back to make sure he was talking to him before nodding. “Yeah. We still talk and everything. Sometimes.”
“Why only sometimes?”
Ezra shrugged, uncomfortable. “She really, really likes Rick. She’s not happy we’re not still together.”
Malachi was very carefully looking forward at the road. Rylan was the one who asked. “You never told her? That he was beating the shit outta you?”
Ezra shrugged. “She knew he hit me. It’s impossible to hide the bruises, but she’s old-fashioned. She doesn’t believe in divorce.”
Rylan snorted. “You have no idea who your dad was, right? She can’t be that old-fashioned.”
Ezra frowned at him. “She got hammered on her twenty-first birthday- it was her first time drinking- and ended up pregnant. She always said she would have had to be be-spelled to sleep with a faerie, and if I’m part incubus she probably was. And even if she wasn’t, she’s still old-school enough- or… um, moral enough, I guess, to not be pro-choice. So she kept me and doesn’t like the fact that I divorced Rick. It was bad enough that I came out as gay, but at least I quickly settled down with a nice guy. This is all on that little packet I filled out, you know.”
“No one’s gotten it yet but me and Dimitri,” Holly piped up from the back. “By the way, you’re a dumb slut.”
Ezra scowled and looked out the window. He smiled slightly when Leo jumped to his defence.
Malachi gently reached a hand over and grabbed one of his. “You okay?” he asked gently.
Ezra glanced at him, surprised, and quickly nodded. “Yeah. Fine.”
But Holly yelled out from behind, “Shit! Lay off, Leo! I was calling him out on his bullshit.”
Ezra’s hands curled into fists. Bullshit? What bullshit? He had been nothing but honest-
Malachi laid one large hand over his. “Holly, shut up.”
Holly shut up for under a minute. In the resulting silence, he muttered, “I just meant his mom is a raging bitch and he needs to stop feeling so fucking depressed all the damn time and realize the two people who he grew up closest to were bigoted assholes!”
Ezra froze. “What?” his voice was loud in the sudden silence. There was no reply. “What did you just say?”
Holly glared at his back. “Your mom is a bitch and so is Rick.”
Ezra unbuckled his seatbelt and threw himself over the middle console. He tackled Holly, shoving him against the back of the seat. He managed one good hit and was deeply satisfied by the feeling of hard knuckles digging into the soft flesh of Holly’s face.
Malachi jerked the car to the side of the road again and Ezra went flying, landing on Rylan’s lap. The blonde wrapped him in arms like steel, trapping his arms against his sides.
“I’m done,” he said as calmly as he could. Holly had crossed a line- Ezra didn’t have many of those but when someone crossed one, he made sure they damn well knew. One hit was enough.
Rylan kept holding on anyway.
“Are you gonna strangle me again?”
“Just making sure you don’t hit Holly. Again.”
Ezra wiggled so he could turn around and stare at him, mildly surprised. “You’re not going to hurt me?”
Rylan snorted and met his eyes, pale blue orbs cold.
Ezra half expected him to say something nice or caring. The others had been surprising him so much lately… Well, Leo had and Holly had been all weird for a bit earlier. And Malachi had just held his hand. Ezra froze for a second, realization just kicking in. Shit.
But then Rylan answered and he was knocked free of his reverie. “The investigation starts tomorrow.”
Ezra snorted and shoved away from Rylan climbing back into the front seat.
Holly snatched the waistband of his jeans and yanked him back. Ezra was pulled into his lap and held there by warm, strong arms. “Your mom fucked with your head. Rick was bad for you and left you no choice but to get divorced. That was the smart thing to do. You trying over and over to get it right was a bad idea. He beat you all the time. You didn’t do anything to deserve it.”
“It was the drugs,” Ezra muttered, trying to struggle out of Holly’s arms.
“You didn’t do anything to deserve getting hit, Ezra! We’ve put you under a ton of stress and been horrible and you still haven’t done anything to deserve getting hit! We’ve been way meaner than you deserved.”
Ezra didn’t reply, stunned.
“Having fae blood is nothing to be ashamed of and neither is being an incubus. And you can’t help anything your dad did to your mother. It’s not your fault!”
Ezra stayed frozen against him for another long moment. “Let go, Holly,” he said finally.
Holly relaxed his arms and Ezra scrambled free of him to the front. He sat silently for the rest of the ride, staring forward.
He didn’t notice Malachi giving him sidelong looks and ignored Leo stroking his shoulder until they got to the restaurant. Then he pressed himself to Leo’s side and held his hand tight, holding on like he would float away otherwise.
--
Leo threw another pair of jeans over the door. He had overestimated the length of Ezra’s legs and underestimated how much a year of homelessness and a Selicitus attack could take out of a person. The pants he had just thrown to his newest husband were “tall” jeans, but about three sizes smaller than the last pair.
“These are perfect,” Ezra called.
Leo grinned and threw open the door. Ezra tilted his head to the side and spun slowly. “What do you think?”
Leo looked at those long, slender legs encased in black denim and nodded happily. “They look good.” Not too tight but not loose at all. “I’ll grab more.”
He bounced out, ignoring Ezra muttering about not needing much. It was half hearted by now. He needed stuff for the investigation, and not only that, Leo wanted to spoil him rotten. Leo got the impression Rick was rich now, but was also pretty sure Ezra hadn’t had much for most of his life, even before the last year of homelessness.
Leo threw a pile of clothes over - different styles, trusting Ezra to pick the ones that looked best - and darted to the neighbouring stores, charming sales people into letting him take clothes for Ezra to try on.
He tossed dress slacks, khakis, shorts, two utility kilts, t-shirts, sweaters, jackets, and clubbing clothes to him. Ezra kept making protesting noises every time Leo gave him more but he finally just started laughing.
When Leo was throwing over another armload of clothes, Ezra finally darted out of the dressing room and caught and trapped Leo’s arms to his side. “Leo,” he said, giggling. “That’s enough!”
Leo smiled sheepishly, peeking around Ezra’s body to see the pile of clothes that had grown. “I guess,” he teased.
“What fits?”
Ezra indicated a comparatively small pile. “But I haven’t gotten a chance to try everything on yet.” He smiled wryly. “You keep giving me more and more.”
Leo grinned and pushed Ezra back into the dressing room, following him inside and shutting the door behind them. “Fashion show time!”
Ezra gave him a sweet half-smile. “You want me naked?”
Leo giggled. “Yes. But clothes right now! We’re getting you clothes!”
Ezra smiled. “What do you want me to try on?”
A pair of faux-snakeskin pants and a skin tight tank top were quickly shoved into his hands.
Ezra grinned again. “You and Holly, man. You two just want me looking like a whore.”
Leo scowled suddenly and tugged the pants away. Ezra pulled them back.
“Difference is I’ll try them on for you.”
Leo grinned at him. “You wouldn’t even try on the clothes Holly gave you?”
Ezra rolled his eyes. “One outfit, while pissed, to prove a point.”
Leo grinned and turned around. “Change.”
“You’re not going to watch?”
Leo gulped at the note of teasing in his voice. “We will never leave this room otherwise.”
Ezra pressed a gentle kiss to his neck. “Thank you.”
Leo gulped and reached down to readjust his khaki shorts in the crotch area. He tried his best to ignore the sound of cloth sliding over skin. It got harder when the snakeskin pants started making their way up Ezra’s legs. They made a lot more noise and Ezra was obviously having trouble getting them on and Leo couldn’t help but imagine him wiggling and writhing to try and get them on.
He snuck a peek in the mirror. Ezra caught him at it and grinned, holding his eyes and he laced up the tight pants. Leo stared unabashedly as he stripped off his shirt. He gulped as he saw Ezra’s piercings. He hadn’t noticed under the heavy material of the t-shirt, but his nipples had small silver hoops through them with a slender chain connecting them.
“Shit,” Leo murmured.
Ezra smirked at him and took a step forward, pressing himself against Leo’s back. “I kind of like them.”
Leo nodded. “We- we need to…” He couldn’t think. There was a reason he shouldn’t have sex with Ezra right now, but he couldn’t remember it, especially as Ezra pressed soft, warm lips against his neck and trailed his hand along Leo’s side.
--
Several minutes later, Leo remembered why. The investigation. Time constraints and all that. But looking at Ezra leaning against the mirror, out of breath and smiling, he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. He hoped this meant Ezra was giving in to them.
He pressed himself against Ezra, wrapping his arms around him and leaning against him. “We should do this again.”
Ezra nodded and languidly ran a hand through Leo’s hair. “’Kay.”
Leo giggled. “Clothes now.”
“Right,” Ezra muttered, kicking the snakeskin pants the rest of the way off. “Yes or no to these?”
Leo giggled. “Definitely yes. And you never tried on the tank.”
Ezra nodded and reached for the black cloth obediently.
--
When they got back, they found the other five men curled up in the living room watching a movie. Giovanni was on the couch, curled against Holly. Rylan was on his other side. Malachi and Dimitri were sitting very decorously on the same armchair.
Ezra grinned when he realized Malachi’s hand was on Dimitri’s ass. He tugged Leo over to the other armchair and pulled him down so they were in a twisted up heap of limbs.
Leo giggled and rearranged Ezra so his head was on his chest and their hips were pressed together.
Rylan looked between Holly and Leo and smirked, pale eyes glinting in the dim, otherworldly light cast from the TV. “You two have a promise to keep,” he purred. Ezra froze but he quickly realized he wasn’t either of the two.
Unbidden, erotic images of the two rose to mind. "Can I watch?"
Leo grinned at him, Holly sneered and Malachi chocked back a snort and quickly echoed the sentiment, making Ezra grin.
Rylan stuck his tongue out at Malachi. "Not sharing. Get your own show." He didn't even bother answering Ezra. Not that Ezra was particularly serious about it anyway. He wasn't very into voyeurism at the best of times and Rylan scared the shit out of him.
The three left, Leo pouting.
He stayed on the chair and pretended to watch the movie, but his eyes kept drifting to Dimitri and Malachi. They were slowly getting more and more intimate, hands sliding over each other's skin, dipping shallowly into clothes, teasing sensitive flesh through thick cloth.
Ezra glanced over at Giovanni. The see either didn't notice or was ignoring it. Ezra was betting on not noticing. He seemed the type to blush.
As soon as the movie ended, Dimitri and Malachi stood, trailing weak excuses as they quickly left. Now Giovanni was blushing. Ezra tried to restrain his grin and failed. The seer was cute.
But as the silence stretched on, Ezra had to admit that wasn't a good thing. Not for him at least. He had never been good at toning himself down or behaving. Rick had hated that about him as had his mother. It was part of the reason why everyone believed the rumors about him so often and why he was never brought home to meet parents even on the rare occasion he was in a relationship. He hadn’t met Rick's parents until a few weeks before the wedding.
Shy and easily embarrassed people hated him. Or at least they never got along with him. Never wanted to be around him? Whatever. Him and shy people didn't mix. He had a mouth on his and flirted like he breathed. He enjoyed crass humor and being loud. The chance of him ever connecting with Giovanni over anything was slim to none.
He stifled a sigh and nodded and Giovanni. He was frankly surprised Giovanni didn't squeak like a mouse and bury his head in a pillow. Or run. He flinched though, only slightly, but obviously enough to Ezra's eyes. He sighed this time, unable to hold it back. He had no idea what to do now. He had never really had to deal with anyone scared of him before. He ignored the few phaeriephobes who guessed what he was and while he had gotten in a few fights, he had lost every single one. He wasn't some big tough guy. Most people just weren't scared of him despite his blood.
Ezra muttered some lame excuse and stood, planning on heading back when Giovanni spoke up, voice uncertain and barely there.
"Why are you helping us?"
Ezra paused. "With the investigation?"
Giovanni nodded.
Ezra shrugged. "There's no particular reason not to," he murmured. "I don't really have anything better to do and I certainly don't have anywhere I need to be. Hell, he barely had anywhere he could be. It was hard to admit, but he was enjoying having a home again.
Giovanni frowned at him. :That's still not a reason to help us so... completely."
Ezra shrugged again. "Go big or go home. No point in doing anything half-assed."
Giovanni continued to stare at him with large blue-grey eyes, prompting Ezra to sigh and flop back onto the plush chair, burying his face in his hands. "I like Dimitri. Like a lot. He was insanely sweet those couple of days. I didn't think he deserved to have his life ruined because I'm stupid when drink. And Leo's awesome too and Holly, when he’s not being a jerk, and you and Malachi don't seem to be bad people and even if Rylan's an asshole to me, he seems to be mostly nice to you guys..." He trailed off, realizing he was rambling. But honestly he didn't really have a good reason to help them other than the fact that he really believed in love and the sanctity of marriage: but who wanted to admit either of those?
Giovanni didn't seem to mind. In fact, he ignored most of it. "Dimitri decided you?"
Ezra nodded, suppressing a sappy smile. “Yeah. Adorable isn’t something I usually apply to seven-foot, black purebloods, but it definitely applies to Dimitri, especially once you get past all the formal bullshit. He’s like crazy shy and sweet.” He blushed, suddenly feeling like a school girl with a crush. “But, I’m sure you know that.”
The silence stretched, Ezra feeling more and more awkward again. This was this man’s husband he was gushing about. He stood again. “I should go, uh… put clothes away.”
But Giovanni made him pause again with another question. “You are half incubus?”
Ezra flushed. Giovanni shouldn’t mind considering whom he was married to, but old habits die hard. “Half something. Holly seems pretty sure it’s incubus.”
“What can you, um, do?”
Ezra snorted. “Jack shit. Apparently, I can make guy’s libidos go higher, but I can do that without supernatural abilities just fine.” And then he remembered who he was talking to and tried to think of a good way to apologize.
But Giovanni surprised him by giggling. He was tinted a bit red but it wasn’t bad. He didn’t look scandalized or anything. He patted the seat next to him. “Stay for a while?”
Ezra nodded self-consciously. Giovanni seemed a lot less frightened than any other time they had run into each other. He wondered if it was because it was just him? Well, he had just been thinking he wasn’t exactly scary. Hell, even his faerie blood wasn’t exactly scary if really all he could do was make guys go an extra round or two. And Giovanni just found out that was all he could do.
He perched on the edge and turned to Giovanni, trying to recall all his favorite movies and music and stuff from the questionnaire. That thing was dumb. It ascertained you knew shit about your partner, but not if you knew them. He and Rick couldn’t have filled each other’s out, but they could finish each other’s sentences, anticipate each other’s needs, and read each other as easily as children books. At least, when he wasn’t drinking or doing drugs. Which was all the time. He shoved the familiar depression away and tried to focus on Giovanni. It wasn’t hard; he had a lot of practice ignoring his feelings on Rick.
--
Dimitri giggled as he was pulled upstairs.
Malachi smirked back at him and tugged him into his room, pushing him gently down on the bed. Their legs tangled as Malachi half-fell on top of him and kissed him. Dimitri smirked against his lips and ran a foot up Malachi’s thigh. He was stone cold sober, but he was still feeling drunk, Malachi’s sweet lips, the warmth of his chest, the strength of his body above him intoxicating him.
Malachi trailed one hot, large hand down Dimitri’s stomach, teasing and tickling through the cloth of the dress shirt. “You need to wear silk more,” he purred.
Dimitri hooked a leg over Malachi tugging him down. “And you need to wear nothing more often. Like right now.”
Malachi exhaled sharply and pulled away far enough to look him. “Are you still drunk?”
Dimitri groaned. “No! I wasn’t that drunk to begin with and I’m certainly not still drunk.”
Malachi just kept staring at him. “You’re acting really differently than normal…”
Dimitri took a deep breath and tried to calm down, but after a few long minutes and a lot of deep breathing, he was still feeling more drunk than sober.
“I can’t help it,” he breathed, running a hand lightly along Malachi’s jaw, light as the caress of a butterfly. “I want you.” His face burned in embarrassment at the stark words, but he couldn’t help it. Him and Malachi still hadn’t sealed the deal. It hadn’t been that long since they first kissed but they had been married for a really long time. And worse, for the last few days Holly and Leo had been busy with Ezra and Giovanni and that thing with Rylan… It didn’t count as a fun, sexy time, even though it was both at the time. Now, his mind was still in turmoil over it, so he shoved it away and concentrated on Malachi and how much he wanted the man.
Malachi beamed up at him and suddenly Dimitri didn’t regret his words even a little bit. He raised himself up on his elbows and kissed Malachi again. His lips were gentler this time and the kiss was slow and sensual as it should be.
Malachi unbuttoned his shirt, one small, ivory button at a time, fingers touching warm skin, blunt fingernails scraping gently.
Dimitri trailed his foot up and down Malachi's bare calf. He toyed with the waistband of the shorts with one hand, gently snapping it and tugging at it.
Malachi snorted, grinning. “Want me to take them off?”
“Yes please.”
Malachi grinned and shucked the shorts. “I think I like you when you want me.”
Dimitri tangled a hand in Malachi’s dreads and tugged him down. “I always want you,” he whispered into his ear.
-
Holly leaned into Rylan’s side and tried to get himself excited. He liked sex. A lot. But he just couldn’t look forward to sex with Leo. The man was cute but was such a pain in the ass. And he hated Holly. Actively. And loudly.
Holly sighed and tried to concentrate on Rylan. He had kissed Leo earlier, but it had been in the heat of the moment and to prove he could. He just needed to concentrate on Rylan and pleasing the man. Maybe he could pretend Leo was a giant love doll or something. Although, with his mouth, that might be difficult.
Holly glanced up at Rylan as they were pulled into the man’s room. “Give us five minutes?”
Rylan shrugged and settled onto his bed, crossing his arms behind his head. “Take your time. I want a proper show.”
Holly blew him a kiss and tugged Leo out the door before shutting it. He hovered in the door and kept his voice down, trusting that was enough to keep Rylan from hearing. “How do you want to do this?”
Leo glared at him, bright red eyes narrowed. The first time Holly had seen that expression on the bunny’s face, it had seemed comical. It was directed at him so often now that it had lost its humor. “I’m not bottoming to you.”
Holly closed his eyes and tried to keep calm. “Fine,” he said, voice strained. “You can fuck me. What position?” He needed to get this figured out and then he could concentrate on enjoying himself. For Rylan.
Leo blinked at him, thrown a little by his easy acquiescence. “I-“ He trailed off. Apparently Leo hadn’t though that far ahead. It didn’t surprise Holly. Usually he didn’t plan sex out either, but Leo was a special case.
“Doggy style then.” It wasn’t exactly dignified, but Holly didn’t want to have to see Leo’s face. The phookah never bothered hiding his dislike and honestly, Holly would be surprised enough if he managed to hold onto his erection, much less look like he wanted to be there. Holly didn't want to deal with seeing that dislike during sex.
There was a long moment of silence and then Leo quietly gave his assent. “And what else?”
Holly raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“Me turning you over and doing you is hardly what Rylan considers a show.”
Holly blew out a sigh. “Dunno,” he muttered. That was the hard part. He was pretty sure he could sleep with Leo, but be intimate? And that’s what show meant. Goddamnit, this was all Leo’s fault!
Leo stared at him quizzically, head tilted to the side as he nibbled on his lower lip. “I’ll blow you. It’s only fair.”
“Sixty-nine. Rylan likes watching those more.”
Leo nodded in agreement. “Strip dance?”
Holly shrugged and nodded. “Wear one of your playboy costumes, bunny boy.” He ignored the look that was shot at him. “Complete with lingerie.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I can probably find something too.”
“Borrow something from me.”
Holly blinked at him, before his eyes trailed down Leo’s body. Well, they around the same size and height wouldn’t be an issue with the articles of clothing they were talking about. He nodded. “Anything I should know?”
Leo started to shake his head but stopped halfway through the motion. “The base of my ears and tail are sensitive.” The slightest bit of malice entered his voice since the negotiating began. “So if my interest in you starts waning…”
Holly just nodded. He had been expecting at least one comment of that kind. “On my back between my shoulder blades?” Leo nodded as Holly waved to the area. “Don’t touch there. At all.”
Leo was staring at him quizzically again. “Why?”
“Because I’m an elemental and it hurts.”
Leo’s eyes widened a tad bit. “Can I see your wings?”
Holly gave him an exasperated look. “No.”
“Please?”
“No. It’s uncomfortable.” In truth, it hurt to summon his wings. He wasn’t a full elemental so unless he called all his power and went into full fiery flames of hell mode, it burned to summon them.
Leo pouted at him. Holly stuck his tongue out and then thought of an idea. “Wanna make it a bondage show?”
Leo’s eyes widened a little and Holly saw the first spark of genuine interest before it dimmed quickly. “No offense, I don’t want to be tied down by you.”
Holly rolled his eyes and waved his hands flippantly, but in truth the comment hurt a little. He and Leo didn’t get along, but he wouldn’t hurt him on purpose. His mind flashed back to a couple days ago when this fiasco started. He had burnt Leo. Well, not actually, but he had gotten perilously close. He had wanted to scare him, stop him from saying more, but he had just been so mad. “Sorry for hurting you the other day, but that’s not what I had in-“
“You didn’t hurt me,” Leo cut him off. “You were close, but I didn’t get burned.”
Holly stared at him, but nodded. “I’m sorry anyway.”
“I still don’t trust you enough to enjoy being tied up and whipped by you.”
Holly started to say something but stopped to stare at Leo. “How kinky are you?”
Leo giggled. “You haven’t gotten my questionnaire?”
“I just did. I haven’t gotten to the sex questions yet. They’re near the back.”
Leo giggled again. “Really kinky. But only with some people.”
Holly nodded. He knew how that was. He liked it when Rylan or Malachi tied him up, but anyone else would make him panic. “You tie me up.” Rylan would be watching and besides, he trusted Leo not to take advantage of the situation anyway. Leo could act like a jerk and say some things that made Holly want to cry when he was angry enough, but he never physically attacked anyone.
“Wait, what?”
Holly gave him a patient look. “I know you like being submissive in bed, but have you ever tried to be dominant?”
Leo shook his head slowly.
“Do you want to?”
Leo stared at him. “I- I didn’t think you liked that kind of stuff.”
Holly shrugged. “You’ve gotten my packet?” At Leo’s nod, he continued. “Then you know I like a little bondage sometimes. I’m nowhere near as kinky as you are,” Leo grinned, triggering a tiny smile from Holly. “But I like a little rope play and a little candle wax and a lot of spanking.” And from Rylan and Malachi, he enjoyed naughty boy talk but his relationship with Leo was strained enough that he was pretty sure he would punch him for that.
Leo giggled suddenly, the sound surprisingly. The silence had dragged on long enough Holly had assumed the answer would be no. “Okay. I can try.”
Holly nodded and poked his head into Rylan’s room. “Five more minutes.”
Rylan grinned and gave him a thumbs up. He had already stripped down to his boxers and was lounging on the bed like a lord waiting for his concubines. The pose sparked another idea in Holly and he grinned at Rylan. “Close your eyes,” he purred.
Rylan did so and Holly quickly hurried across the room to dig into one of his many dresser drawers until he found what he wanted. He grinned at the gold colored chains and bright blue silk bundled there. It was a slave boy costume for a role-play Rylan had unsuccessfully tried to get Holly to star in, but he hadn’t been in a particularly subservient mood that day. Better late than never. He grinned and gathered up everything before darting back out the door. “Stay where you are,” he called back to Rylan. “Or you’ll spoil the surprise.”
“I hate surprises!”
“Liar!”
Holly smirked at Leo as he kicked the door shut again. “Do you have something that’s just silver chains?
--
Holly collapsed, panting, and Leo collapsed on top of him, chest heaving as well.
The sound of a shutter snapping made Holly crack his eyes. Rylan smirked at him, holding a camera. “Proof,” he said smugly.
Holly hauled himself out from under Leo and kissed Rylan, sliding up to straddle his hips and wrap his arms around his neck.
Rylan snickered and accepted the kiss. He pulled back first and pushed a strand of hair out of Holly’s face. “Did you enjoy that, firebug?”
Holly nodded, not willing to not admit it aloud, even when Leo giggled behind him.
“Kinky, kinky firebug,” Leo mumbled.
Holly glanced back to find him looking lethargic and pleased. His eyes weren’t even open.
Holly had to smile a little too, but Leo was on his back and that damn fluffy, white tail was sticking out into the air. Leo didn’t open his eyes at the bed shifting again, too relaxed and sated, and Holly was able to stroke gentle fingers along the velvety soft tail. He had grabbed Leo’s ears a few times, gentler than he would any other part of the man’s body. Even when angry he knew a phookah’s extras were sensitive. But he had never gotten the chance to just touch and he found he liked how soft they were and how Leo almost purred and the gentle petting.
Rylan snickered and another picture was taken. “You two are staying here for the night.”
Holly glanced at him, surprised; Rylan hated sleeping with other people. But as Leo grunted his assent, he admitted he didn’t really want to stop touching the phookah’s tail and he rather liked the proprietary, pleased attitudes of both men. He nodded.
Leo giggled and the bed shifted again as he sat up, pulling his tail away from Holly’s fingers. “I need a shower,” he proclaimed. He poked Holly’s hip and then stroked a hand along his back, fingers picking up cum and oil. “You need one more.”
Rylan snickered and was going back to lying against his pile of pillows. “You two have fun,” he said smugly, stretching his arms behind his head and closing his eyes.
Holly rolled his eyes. Rylan rarely stayed awake long after sex, not unless there was a second round coming.
He kissed his stomach and Rylan cracked his eyes open to frown at him and wipe away some of the oil it left. “Shower, now.”
Holly grinned at him. “You do realize we’re going to have to change the sheets, right?”
“I’ll move then.”
Holly laughed and slid off the bed, Leo following.
“Take a long one!”
Holly shook his head, amused, but not in disagreement. A long shower sounded nice. He glanced back at Leo. But the temperatures he liked would sort of fry the phookah. Maybe a short shower and then a longer bath.
Leo followed him into the large bathroom and shut the door with a click.
“You set the temperature for the…” he trailed off as he looked back and was confronted with Leo’s concerned eyes. “What?”
“Are you okay?”
Holly stared for a moment, confused, and then nodded. “Fine. You?”
Leo blinked. “I didn’t- I mean… I was the one doing everything to you.”
It took Holly for a moment to remember Leo had never dommed before. He grinned a tiny bit when he realized what the issue was. “Leo, you didn’t hurt me, I wanted to be screwed, and I’m not mad at being called a naughty, dirty, kinky, slutty firebug. Most of its true although if you call me any of the previous outside of sex, I will beat your ass down.”
Leo smiled back tentatively. “Are you sure? I mean-“
Holly shrugged, opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it, and pressed himself to Leo’s front. He kissed the shorter man with everything he had and after a moment of tense shock, Leo gave in, melting and moaning softly into the kiss. When Holly pulled away, he looked floored. “If you ever, ever want to do that again,” Holly purred. “Just ask.”
Leo nodded, still looking stunned and Holly smirked and turned the shower on, leaving it at the setting Rylan had left it on- Leo would probably be okay with that. Leo joined him after a moment and jumped out of the way, before reaching forward to turn it down, just a little.
When the water had cooled off a little, Leo pressed himself to Holly’s back, interrupting his scrubbing down. He kissed him on the cheek and hugged him briefly. “Thank you.”
Holly nodded, a tiny smile playing at his lips. Maybe he would skip the hotter, more comfortable bath and just stay in here with Leo.
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