When Ezra woke up, it was to an empty living room and a backache. He groaned as he stood, wondering when Giovanni had left. The man had fallen asleep before he had, so he knew he had been there for at least while.

He sighed and arched his back, groaning again as it cracked. He wished the smaller man had woken him up. The couch was comfortable but it was still a couch and he ached now.

He padded his way to the hallway that led to his room, but was paused by a bell ringing through the house. It took him several seconds to realize that it had to be the doorbell. He paused, staring back towards the door, debating for a moment whether to answer. It ended up being taken out of his hands. Dimitri and Malachi tumbled down the stairs, both fully dressed, and flew past him. “Get dressed,” Malachi tossed over his shoulder. “Everyone else is in the kitchen.”

Ezra nodded, hands already tugging his loose t-shirt over his head as he hurried to his room. He could only assume it was the HRFC. Or something.

He changed quickly into a new pair of jeans and a new button-up long sleeved shirt. He glanced in the mirror and tied his hair back into a ponytail. He almost looked like a regular, respectable person. Except for the color of his hair.

He pulled on socks, realized he wasn’t wearing boxers and that ruined his respectable feeling. He ignored it and hurried out of his room and to the kitchen.

Leo pulled him into a hug. “Hi. That’ll be breakfast at the door. We’re gonna eat and then we’re gonna head over to the HRFC headquarters downtown to do the written part of the test. ‘Kay?”

Ezra nodded, a little relieved. He hadn’t liked the idea of the men being questioned and studied in here, in their home. It seemed wrong somehow, like an invasion.

Leo gently pushed him into a seat, one between Giovanni and Holly before hurrying to the cabinets to continue to set the table.

Giovanni gave him a tiny, weak smile. His face was paler than usual and his hands, where they were wrapped around a teacup, were trembling slightly.

Holly looked miserable rather than frightened. He was curled into a small ball, knees tucked to his chest, head resting on them. His eyes were downcast.

Tentatively, fairly sure he would be shot down, Ezra rested a hand on Holly’s shoulder and began rubbing gentle, soothing circles.

Holly shook him off, making Ezra sigh despite the lack of surprise. Before he could even think about being sad about it though, Holly unfolded and then refolded around Ezra, hugging the man tightly to his chest and wrapping his legs around him.

The new weight tipped the chair and Ezra barely managed grab the table and steady them in time.

Ezra wanted to pet his head and tell him everything was going to be okay, but his arms were trapped. He settled for leaning his forehead against Holly’s and whispering the platitudes. Ensconced in heat, he felt, for once, they might actually be true.

--

The HRFC were headquartered in a squat concrete building. It was square and sat between the tall, graceful buildings of downtown like a gnome among elves.

Holly’s hand stayed wrapped around Ezra’s as they made their way to the entrance. His other side was plastered to Rylan. Leo was sandwiched between Giovanni and Ezra, holding both their hands.

All of them were silent as they clung to each other and went through the front door.

The lobby was powder blue - blue walls, slightly darker carpet and furniture. A desk, placed behind a thick piece of safety glass, faced them, a petite human woman almost as round as she was tall behind it. A mass of springy gold curls surrounded her head like a halo.

She smiled perkily at them as they wobbled towards her desk.

“Hello,” she said, her voice coming through in a crackle through the small speaker set in the glass. “I’m Amber. How may I help you?”

Rylan stepped forward, letting go of Malachi. “We’re the Zyniph family. We have an appointment at nine?”

She smiled brightly. “Oh yes!” She slipped a clipboard under the slot. “Please go through the door to the left and fill this out. Someone will be with you shortly.”

Rylan took the clipboard and they filed through the wooden door to a room as pale yellow as the lobby was blue. This one just had small, wooden backed chairs lining a large central table. There was barely enough room to sidle between the chair backs and the walls.

They all sat around the table, taking over three sides of the rectangular table, leaving three seats empty.

Rylan started flipping through the papers and snorted. “It’s just names, birthdays, address… Shit like that. Fuck, they already have this shit,” he grumbled.

He continued to grumble as he filled out the papers in a messy scrawl. The sound of the pen scratching and Rylan’s mumbling seemed loud in the silence.

Holly’s grip tightened again and Ezra started rubbing soothing circles with his thumb.

And they waited.

Rylan finished the paperwork and tossed it onto the table with a clatter that made everyone jump.

He leaned back in his chair, finally subsiding his grumbling, and put his feet on the table.

Silence reigned as they waited. Holly leaned against Rylan, still holding Ezra’s hands and Leo curled against Malachi, pulling Giovanni with him. Dimitri leaned against Malachi’s other side, resting his head on his broad shoulder.

Tentatively, Ezra rested a hand on Giovanni’s knee, trying to soothe the worry in those blue-gray eyes.

Giovanni grabbed his hand as well, squeezing. He was flushing lightly and not meeting Ezra’s eyes but he was holding on, hand warm.

They waited in silence, broken only by the sound of their fidgeting and shifting. The door swung open, making Giovanni and Holly start. Everyone else was too tense.

A balding, middle-aged man with sharp hazel eyes set deep above a hooked nose entered. He had the look of a football player gone to seed- wide shoulders and heavily muscular arms, but a paunch was forming at his midsection. He filled the doorway. The man and woman following seemed small in comparison and it took several moments to even notice them.

The second man was considerably older than the first with watery blue eyes and silvery hair. The woman was rail thin, dressed in a flowing, loose dress of a clingy material that just seemed to emphasize her thinness.

“You are the Zyniph family?”

Rylan nodded, holding onto his role of spokesperson. He stood, straightening his blazer with a jerk. He offered his hand to the man, much to Ezra’s surprise. The man in the lead stared at it for a second before shaking it. Ezra could tell by the way his muscles bunched under his suit jacket that he was squeezing way harder than he needed to. But Rylan just smile dazzlingly. “I’m Rylan Zyniph. And you are?”

“Roger Cresby. I’m in charge of the investigation into your marriage. These are my associates, Leon Richardson and Sarah Bennett.”

Rylan nodded at both of them graciously. He rested a hand on Dimitri’s shoulder. “This is Dimitri, my first husband and head of our house.” Dimitri nodded at them. “Leopold –Leo - and Giovanni, Holly, Malachi, and our latest husband, Ezra.” He indicated each one and ended up with a hand cupping the back of Ezra’s neck. Ezra leaned into the touch, forcing himself to stay relaxed.

The man nodded, wearing a smile that didn’t reach his cold eyes. “Today, you will just be filling out a packet of questions about each other. You will be put into separate rooms while the test is administered. Lunch will be served to you and when you have all completed the questions, you will be released. Tomorrow, another portion of the test will begin. Any questions?”

Rylan kept his hand on Ezra. “Ezra’s a vegan.”

Roger nodded sharply. “Any other special dietary needs?”

“Leo is allergic to strawberries and anything with MSG gives Holly migraines.”

Roger stared at Holly. The fire elemental gave him an angelic smile. “Debilitating migraines.”

Roger nodded. “Fine. Mr. Zyniph,” he looked at Dimitri, making it clear who he was talking to, “will stay here. Rylan, you will be in the room to the right, Holly to the left. If the rest of you could follow us? And please be aware that these rooms are monitored. Cell phone use is prohibited.”

Ezra was the last one to be placed. His room was more of a closet, tiny and painted a sickly mustard yellow color. He settled in and Sarah- Mrs. Bennett, she corrected icily when Ezra thanked her- handed him the packet.

The door shut and he was left alone with a fluorescent overhead light and two ballpoint pens.

He flipped through, forcibly reminded of high school exams. He had hated high school. Rick had been the only thing that kept him in there his freshman and sophomore year and then the man had been invited to a private academy. That’s when Ezra had dropped out. He had made it two months on his own and then just couldn’t take it anymore, snide remarks about his parentage and rather public drug use destroying his confidence and any interest he had in learning.

He sighed and pushed the memories away, sorting through the seven neatly stapled packets. One had his name at the top. He assumed he was supposed to put his own information on that one. It was mostly questions that had been on the packet his husbands had given him but there were a few that hadn’t been.

He sighed and started, filling out ‘Leopold Ailin Mastro Zyniph’ on the first one in the slot for full name. He filled out the carefully memorized answers, leaning on his hand. He came across one that hadn’t been on the practice one.

(19.) Does your (husband/wife) play any instruments?

Ezra stared at it, biting the end of the pen. Then he remembered. Tuba. Leo had told him he played tuba.

A tiny, surprised smile crossed his lips as he filled in the answer. It widened as he thought of Leo hauling the huge instrument around, being swamped under its weight. The thought was adorable.

--

Lunch was a small, limp, sad looking salad brought in by the taciturn Mrs. Bennett that he barely touched. By the time he finished filling in the packet about himself- he had left it for last- he was starving. He put the pen down and stared at the pile for a moment and then at the door, and then up at the camera, wondering what he should do. Before he could actually do anything though, the door opened onto Mrs. Bennett who led him down the hall and back to the lobby with barely word.

Holly was the only one there, sprawled over three chairs, blue eyes closed. He cracked an eye open as Ezra was led in and then lurched to his feet, crossing the room to hug Ezra tightly. Mrs. Bennett left and Holly pulled Ezra down onto his row of chairs, groaning. “Did that suck as hard for you as it did for me?”

Ezra laughed slightly and shifted so he wasn’t twisted quite so sharply. He rested his head in the crook of Holly’s neck, reminding himself this was for the benefit of Amber and the security cameras, no matter how nice it felt. “Probably.” His stomach grumbled.

“Maybe more,” Holly said, eyebrows dipping. “They served me a turkey sandwich with a retarded looking salad.”

“They just gave me a salad,” Ezra said softly, answering the unasked question.

Holly frowned. “There’s a Japanese place next door. Will that work?”

Ezra shook his head hurriedly. “I’m fine.”

“Shush,” Holly said, flicking a finger against Ezra’s forehead. “Stupid.” He stood, displacing Ezra, and sauntered over to Amber’s desk. “Hey, do you think you’ll recognize the other five of our group?”

The blonde smiled and nodded. “Yes, of course. Not that many people came in today. Do you want me to send them next door?”

Holly nodded.

Amber smiled widely, turning so it fell over Ezra to. “Ishizaki’s is really good. They have a great vegan selection too,” she added with a wink.

Holly beamed at her. “Thank you!”

She nodded and Holly grabbed Ezra’s hand and tugged him out and then to the small Japanese place that ended up actually being two buildings down.

He kept up the perky attitude until they got a table and ordered a drink. As soon as the waiter slid out of the small, private room, and closed the rice paper door behind him, Holly groaned and let his upper body fall over the low table. “That sucked so fucking much,” he groused. “I suck so much at memorization. Is your birthday the eighteenth or nineteenth?”

“Nineteenth,” Ezra said, a little worried.

Holly let out a whoop. “Yeeeeees!” he crowed. “That’s totally what I put. And what about Leo? What instrument did he play when he was a prepubescent band geek?”

Ezra giggled. “Are you one of those people who go over the entire test afterwards?” he asked, remembering back to high school. Rick had always been like that, going through his textbooks the night of the test, checking if he got the answers right. Ezra had always thought it was cute- if pointless- and was having similar warm feelings now.

Holly stuck his tongue out at him. “Shut it.” He picked up the menu. “I’m thinking sake shots.”

Ezra laughed. “Only if we get Dimitri drunk too.”

Holly shot him a surprised look, and Ezra tensed, remembering suddenly that Dimitri was Holly’s husband first and the man was crazy protective of him and- but Holly smiled devilishly. “We are going to get Dimitri hammered,” he said with a smirk. “And then get him to seduce Rylan.”

Ezra giggled. He was pretty sure it was the stress of the day and that it really wasn’t that funny, but at the moment the idea sounded awesome. “We should take him dancing. I think I remember him being a sexy dancer.”

He squinted his eyes, trying to remember more clearly. It took him a moment to feel Holly’s gaze on him and when he did, he looked up to find the fire elemental looking serious again.
Ezra tensed. Shit. What was wrong with him today? Reminding Holly he was a drunk slut was not a good idea. He was actually starting to like Holly. He needed to stop speaking.

But Holly didn’t look angry. He patted Ezra’s head. “We should go dancing. All of us. It’ll be fun.”

Ezra perked up and nodded, but then he remembered his Selicitus. “I shouldn’t drink,” he said regretfully.

At Holly’s questioning look, he shrugged. “I may be a lot better, but I’m still sick. Thank you. For Ginger. She helped a lot. I just shouldn’t drink still for another week or two.”

“Ah.”  Holly gave him a considering look. “I’ll drink enough for both of us,” he proclaimed. A tentative tapping came at the door.

Holly slid it open and smiled brightly at Dimitri, bounding up to hug the man tightly. “Hiya! How’d it go?”

“Better than expected.”

Holly pushed Dimitri down next to Ezra and plopped down next to him. “But you expected to panic, forget everything, and fail miserably.”

Ezra laughed. “Did you really?”

Dimitri shrugged, straightening his shoulders.

Both men groaned and Holly leaned against him.

“Relax,” he ordered.

Ezra crawled behind him and started massaging his shoulders, tense, but hoping, praying, he wouldn’t be told to fuck off.

Dimitri started, but didn’t shove him off. He leaned into the touch, actually groaning a tiny bit.

“It went well,” he finally answered.

Holly grinned at him. “I’m glad. I think I did okay. Ezra…” He frowned a tiny bit. “How did you do?”

Ezra shrugged. “I did fine. Good even. Although I didn’t know everything.” He kept rubbing Dimitri’s shoulders, digging his fingers in, massaging out knots until they loosened and gave. He fingered the collar of the suit jacket. “This would be easier if this was off.”

Dimitri pulled away and let the dark suit jacket pool to the floor with no resistance. He folded it and set it aside.

Ezra smiled at the easy acquiescence and dug his hands back into Dimitri’s shoulders, the soft lavender shirt silky under his hands

Holly was frowning at them, but didn’t voice his complaints for which Ezra was glad. He was pushing it, he knew, but he wanted to get his hands onto Dimitri and this was definitely the best way to do so in a way that Dimitri wouldn’t object to and his husbands couldn’t. But he didn’t press his luck, not sliding his hands underneath the cloth or dipping lower than his shoulder blades.

He stayed behind Dimitri as Leo trailed in and shot them a grin and through when Malachi came in and gave them a neutral look. But then Rylan came in and gave them a scalding look.

Ezra slid away to his own seat meekly and Dimitri finally straightened up. He ignored the glare Rylan was leveling on both of them still and smiled gently at Ezra. “Thank you,” he said softly, rolling his shoulders. “That was nice.”

Ezra flushed, but smiled. He had used to give Rick massages, but as soon as the man had enough money he had started to pay for professionals. Ezra didn’t know if it was a status thing or if he just sucked at giving massages and he had never asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

“You blush. A lot,” Rylan snapped suddenly.

Ezra blinked at him and promptly reddened again, as if on cue. “Pale skin,” he said as flatly as he could. “Can’t help it.” Rick had teased him about it mercilessly the few times he had done something to evoke a blush. Ezra could fuck and flirt blatantly, strip naked and pole dance, dirty talk like a professional, buy bondage gear and toys fit more for a horse than a person without a flinch, but a kiss on the cheek, a hug or a compliment could still make his face flame.

Rylan snorted. “Leo’s pale and he doesn’t blush. Hell, I’m not that much darker than you are and I don’t blush that often.”

Ezra looked down and shrugged, keeping his eyes fixed on the plate, hoping Rylan would drop it. And when Giovanni stumbled in, looking exhausted and had a vision as soon as he entered, it looked like it would be left alone.

But Leo simply tucked Giovanni into his lap and held his hands, waving everyone else off and explaining what was going on.

Giovanni snapped out of it and explained in his quiet, barely there voice that it was just a little one about someone he didn’t even know and it was just a flash that didn’t even show anything important and when pressed revealed it was just an image of a date going badly.

Leo wrapped him up and kept him in his lap and Holly ordered drinks and Ezra relaxed, thinking that was the end of it. And during the entire jubilant, loud meal which Holly and Leo forcibly kept relaxed and happy, it wasn’t brought up again.

There was an awkward moment when Malachi looked up at Ezra in the middle of his meal. “Hey, when did you first sleep with someone besides Rick?”

Ezra froze.

Leo glanced up. “Oh yeah! I was wondering that too.”

“It wasn’t one of the questions,” Ezra muttered half-heartedly.

Holly snickered. “That was day one of twenty-one baby,” he purred. “Or fifteen I guess. They don’t do weekends, so there’s that.”

Leo shrugged. “And you never slept with anyone else when you were married…”

Ezra sighed and gave up. “We had a few threesomes, but there was never any actual sexual intercourse. Well, Rick fucked one of the guys, but I never did. I didn’t sleep with anyone else until I was twenty-eight.” He stabbed a fork into a mushroom moodily and kept his eyes down, not wanting to see the reactions. It didn’t make much of difference.

Holly whistled lowly. “You didn’t sleep with anyone else even after you got divorced.”

“I was still sleeping with him,” Ezra snapped. “Even after we got divorced, I only moved out for longer than a week once until then.”

Leo blinked. “Oh yeah. So you were still with Rick until you were twenty-eight?”

Ezra shrugged. “I guess,” he muttered.

Dimitri set a gentle hand on his shoulder. “It’s sweet.”

“How the fuck did you manage that with your incubus blood?”

Ezra shrugged and then actually thought about it. “I got sick a lot, I guess,” he muttered. “When we weren’t together,” he added. And when Rick was mad at him, one of his tactics was to cut off sex. It had always annoyed Ezra he could go so easily without because Ezra got incredibly horny and spent all his time jacking off if he went for too long without sex. Ezra had always been the first to fold whenever they got in an argument. He guessed he had gotten sick a lot whenever they argued. He had kind of seen it as cosmic assurance that was Rick was right.

“And what, you never connected the two?”

Ezra shrugged. “I get sick all the time.”

Dimitri’s hand tightened on his shoulder and Ezra grabbed it and tugged it down, squeezing it gently.

Holly straightened up and slapped Ezra’s other shoulder. “Who wants dessert?”

Ezra smiled a little bit at the abrupt change in conversation, but he was grateful for it. Holly kept the conversation light throughout the rest of the meal.

When they all returned to their own rooms to change, Leo with Giovanni, and Holly, Dimitri, and Malachi to dress Dimitri up, Ezra padded to his own, but Rylan caught him before he could enter the hallway.

“How do you blush so easily?” he asked, icy blue eyes narrowed.

Ezra brushed a strand of hair that had escaped from his ponytail. “I told you. Pale skin.”

Rylan snorted and advanced on him, Ezra backing up until he hit the wall.

Rylan put a hand on either side of Ezra’s head and Ezra flinched. He was very aware that this was the second time they had been alone since Rylan had strangled him and the only other time was when Rylan given him the divorce papers at the hotel and slammed him against the wall a couple of times.

Ezra gulped and dropped his gaze, focusing on the folds of Rylan’s white dress shirt.

A hand stretched towards him and Ezra flinched again and ducked his head, hoping to protect his neck. The hand kept stretching, but it didn’t wrap around his neck.

Rylan bumped his chin gently and Ezra’s eyes flew up, shocked enough to meet Rylan’s icy blue eyes. But they weren’t icy. They were confused and surprisingly gentle.

“You’re a slut.”

Ezra flinched, but Rylan didn’t seem angry. He was just stating a fact.

“I’ve seen your estimate of how many people you’ve slept with. It’s more than everyone else in this house combined. Way more. And you were addicted to drugs as a fucking prepubescent boy. But you were a virgin until you had sex with your future husband and then didn’t sleep with anyone else until you were twenty-eight. As a half incubus you didn’t fuck anyone else even when you two were separated until you were fucking twenty-eight.”

Ezra couldn’t quite meet Rylan’s eyes. “That’s when…”

“That’s when he put you in a hospital, did this to you-“ He ran a hand through Ezra’s hair, touching the scars on his scalp. “When you gave up on him.”

Ezra started and glared at him. “I never gave up-“

“Yes, you did. You didn’t really expect him to get clean and stay clean for long after that. You still don’t.”

Ezra dropped his eyes. “I do,” he whispered. “Eventually. If I help and don’t give up on him and-“

Rylan tapped his mouth, cutting him off. “Rick is never going to get clean.”

“You don’t know that.”
“Ezra,” Rylan said in a voice that was shockingly gentle. “You have loved him with everything you’ve had for years. Decades. He loves drugs more than you.”

Ezra jerked away from him. “Fuck off!” he hissed, stalking down the hall.

Rylan caught his arm and tossed him against the wall, trapping him with his arms again and no amount of thrashing on Ezra’s side was getting him loose. “Look, you little shit,” Rylan snapped. “Your ex-husband is a drug addict who is never going to get clean.”

The tears gathering in Ezra’s eyes spilled over and he collapsed.



Rylan tensed and stared, as Ezra fell to the floor and curled in on himself, shaking hard. It took him a moment to realize Ezra was sobbing silently.

Slowly, because this was not what he had expected, he gathered the half-breed up into his arms and shifted him so he was leaning against his shoulder. The silent sobs pulled at his heart, something he hadn’t really expected to happen. He had just wanted Ezra to get the fuck over Rick or at least admit he was a lost cause. He had expected Ezra to get angry, maybe enough to hit him, but not to cry. And he was sobbing silently. How did someone learn to do that?

It made him remember Ezra’s scars, his mostly neutral accounts of years of abuse. Ezra had cried during that. A lot. Enough to learn to do it silently. He hadn’t cried when Rylan had strangled him. He hadn’t gotten mad either. More annoyed than anything.

Rylan held onto Ezra even when he tried to jerk away although his struggling was weak. He gathered Ezra up, looping an arm under his legs and picking him up. He carried the shaking, sobbing man down the hall and to the guestroom, tucking him into the bed and wrapping him up in the blankets.

“Fuck off,” Ezra gasped out, wiping at his eyes. A sob escaped and he curled back up.

Rylan patted his back, uncomfortable. “You’re fine,” he muttered.

Ezra swatted his hand away and didn’t answer.

Rylan perched next to him on the bed and gingerly patted his back. A misguided spousal instinct told him he should stay. Maybe Ezra wasn’t his husband in anything but name, but he was technically his husband and Rylan figured he owed him at least that much.

Ezra finally got himself under control, sniffing and wiping at his eyes. “Why are you still here?” he muttered.

Rylan snorted. “Leo would kill me if I left you in a crying heap on the floor.”

Ezra snorted. “I’m fine now.”

Rylan patted his back again, making Ezra jerk.

He sighed and caught Ezra’s face in his hands, cupping it tightly and staring at his husband.

Ezra sniffed but stared resolutely back into Rylan’s eyes through his own red-rimmed black ones.

Rylan mused that he had surprisingly nice eyes. The black irises made his eyes look huge and they were a nice almond shape with long thick lashes. They were straight so they didn’t frame his eyes as nicely as Dimitri but when he slanted his eyes down, they covered his eyes slightly, creating a tantalizing fringe. It was really the most noticeable when he looked upwards.

Rylan sighed and wiped the tear tracks away. Ezra’s nose and eyes were puffy and red and his cheeks were white and wet but Rylan could see the attraction. He was good looking.

Rylan sighed and let go. “Get cleaned up and changed. We’re leaving in twenty minutes,” he reminded Ezra.

He stood and walked out, leaving Ezra staring after him.

Ezra wiped at his eyes and slumped over to the bathroom, no longer in the mood for clubbing. He shoved the thoughts out of his head and decided to ignore his state of mind and at least act like he was having fun.

He changed quickly, into tight jeans, knee high boots, and a simple bright colored t-shirt. At the last moment, he switched the t-shirt for the black one with ‘slut’ in mesh across the front that Holly had gotten him.

Leo was already waiting in the living room, shifting from foot to foot.
Ezra froze in the entrance to the hallway and simply stared, mind shut down, all thoughts of Rick forgotten.

The phookah was in tiny short shorts that showed off every inch of his long legs. Fishnet stockings encased most of the light golden limbs and were held up by lacy white garters. A lacy corseted halter-top and three inch strappy, black, patent-leather heels completed the outfit.

Leo caught sight of him and turned to grin at him, bouncing across the room in the high heels like he was born in them. He pecked Ezra on the cheek and spun in a circle, showing that the short shorts had a hole in the back that his tail was poking out of. “What do you think?”

Ezra managed to find his voice after clearing his throat a few times. “You’re adorable. And sexy,” he added. “Very sexy.”

Leo grinned at him. “I like the shirt,” he teased. “But I wish you were wearing less,” he said, pouting. Gloss and sparkles added to the pout.

Ezra grinned back. “Maybe another time.”

Leo smiled. “I’m holding you to that.”

The rest of the men came trailing down, ending their light conversation. Holly and Malachi were first and while Holly looked good, it was only a little more than usual, swapping jeans for leather pants and a t-shirt for a tank. Malachi stole Ezra’s breath and his ability to think.

The big man had changed into skin tight pants and while they were denim, they were white and clingy and ripped to shreds, showing off large expanses of tan skin. He had replaced his usual tank with a mesh t-shirt that showed off his tats and nipple ring. His dreads were loose around his shoulder.

Holly grinned and flicked Ezra’s more recently pierced nipple. “He has that effect on me too,” he whispered.

Ezra turned bright red, but elbowed Holly and smiled at Malachi. “You look good.”

Leo giggled. “You do.” He molded himself to his human husband and kissed him like he would crawl into his mouth.

Ezra was too turned on to look away.

Holly grinned. “Malachi always looks amazing for the clubs. Your look, however, is rather underwhelming.”

Ezra shrugged. This was actually sexier than he usually dressed to go out.

Holly sighed and tugged him back to his room. “Change,” he ordered, sitting on the bed and crossing his arms.

Ezra snorted and rolled his eyes. “I’d rather not.”

Holly sighed and bounced up. He shoved past Ezra to dig through his closet. “Go do something with your hair!” Holly shouted over his shoulder.

Ezra sighed. He had just left his hair up in a ponytail but he supposed that was pretty lazy.

He went to the bathroom, grabbing his old backpack on the way. He yanked down his hair and brushed it out before weaving in the slender silver chains he always wore to go dancing. He switched out his tiny study for hoops and dangly numbers and then went back to the bedroom.

Holly looked at him and then did a double take. “Spin,” he ordered.

Ezra knew he wasn’t just telling him to turn and he spun quickly, his hair and earrings flying out and catching the light.

He stilled to find Holly wearing a pleased smile. “Good. Strip.”

Ezra scowled at him, but Holly just looked at him with an eyebrow cocked until Ezra sighed and unbuttoned the tight jeans. He shoved them down his hips, enjoying Holly’s wide eyes when he revealed everything- the jeans were too tight for boxers.

The shirt was next and Ezra didn’t even need to be watching to see him start this time. “Shit,” Holly breathed out. He stepped forward to tug on the chains crisscrossing his chest.

Ezra gasped, even thought he was expecting it. The chains were the slender ones Holly had gotten him from the piercing shop- a slender silver choker that had hung just below the collar of the t-shirt, a chain around his hips that had barely been hidden by the hem of the same t-shirt, and a thin chain down the center of his torso that connect the two and went through a bellybutton ring. A chain hung between his nipples and connected to the center one as well. Holly tugging it pulled on all those points and sent a shock of pleasure through his system.

Holly grinned. “Damn. Who was this for? Leo?”

“Or you,” Ezra admitted softly.

Holly’s eyes rose to meet his, surprise in them, before he smiled. He tugged Ezra forward by the chain and kissed him softly on the lips. Ezra leaned into it and kissed him back gently.

But before they could move further, or one of them ruined the tender moment, the door swung open. “You two need to- Holy shit.”

They jumped apart and turned to the door to find Rylan gaping at them.

Ezra ducked behind Holly, feeling himself turn red again and cursed himself. He hadn’t blushed this much since he was a teenager. And even then Rick had usually been the one who blushed.

But Ezra couldn’t quite hide himself behind Holly especially when the man moved forward to kiss the side of Rylan’s gaping mouth. “Hi baby,” he purred. “I was just making Ezra change into something sluttier.”

Rylan looked back to find Ezra shielding himself as best he could. “He looks plenty slutty to me,” Rylan said. But he didn’t look angry. He was smirking widely.

Ezra flushed and hurriedly ducked into the bathroom, slamming the door shut.

He heard Holly snigger as he yanked his pants back on. The elemental knocked on the door. “Hey, come on Ezra, Rylan’s walked in on worse.”

Ezra flushed. He doubted it. He had just walked in on a man he considered a slut making out with his husband ten minutes after he broke down in tears and sobbed over his ex-husband. This was just great for improving the blonde’s estimation of him.

But Rylan’s laughter actually made him feel a little better. He couldn’t be too angry if he was laughing. Of course, it was entirely possible he was still tipsy from dinner although he was certainly acting sober enough when he told Ezra his ex-husband was a hopeless drug addict.

Ezra pressed his forehead to the door. This house was an emotional rollercoaster.  Up and down, happy to depressed to horny in twenty minutes… He sighed. He didn’t really want to go dancing, even a little bit now. Curling up and going to sleep sounded like just the right speed.

But one of them knocked on the door again. “Come out. I have proper clubbing clothes for you!”

Ezra sighed and made sure his pants were buttoned securely up before yanking the door open again. “Fine,” he muttered before looking up. Only to find his room was filled. He blinked, stunned, and then remembered he still had the kinky piercing set on and almost slammed the door shut again, but Leo grinned at him and darted forward, pressing himself into the bathroom. Holly followed and slammed the door shut behind him.

Ezra saw Holly grin as Leo did almost the same exact thing with the piercings he had, tugging on the middle and watching as Ezra squirmed. He shoved a bundle of clothing at the half-breed. “Clothes. Proper clubbing ones.”
Ezra sighed and took them. He glanced at them, sighed again and then started stripping. Leo made a happy noise in the back of his throat at the lack of boxers.

“Happy to see me?” he asked, cupping Ezra’s half-hard dick and tugging on the piercing set again.

Ezra disentangled Leo’s hand and pulled away sharply. “Shut it,” he muttered.

Holly snickered and Ezra busied himself with the clothes to distract himself.

He stared at them and then up to the two unrepentant men. “No.”

Leo grinned at him. “Yes.”

“No!”

Holly jerked away Ezra’s pants and opened the door a crack to throw them out when he made a grab for them. The towels followed a moment later and then he shut the door securely. “Oh yes.”

Ezra looked at them hopelessly, but they just grinned at him. He sighed and gave in. “Fuckers,” he muttered. He yanked on the clothes and ran a hand through his hair, glad at least that they had let him keep his boots. He didn’t think he could walk in heels.

Holly opened the door and shoved him out of the room.

Ezra hunched over and crossed his arms over his chest. He glanced up to see the assorted men staring at him and looked down again, letting his hair hang in front of his face. He felt exposed and naked and- and like a whore. It wasn’t the first time he had felt like a whore, but it was the first time he felt like he looked like one.

Holly had dug up the skirt he had fucked him in in the dressing room and transparent black stockings. They were thigh high, almost all the way up his legs but the lacy tops peeked out from under the hem of the pleated schoolgirl style skirt anyways. The shirt they had given him was a sheer white button up with three quarter sleeves. The piercing set was visible, but just barely. He felt like a whore. The fact that the skirt was a little stiff in one spot wasn’t helping matters. The only saving grace was that Leo had included a pair of black briefs.

“Slut,” Rylan muttered.

Better than whore.

Leo giggled. “I’m wearing less than he is. I think Malachi might be too.”

Neither was wearing skirts though and while Leo was actually dressed sluttier than him, it looked cute on him. He didn’t look sleazy. Ezra felt sleazy.

Rylan didn’t reply and they trooped off to the car, Leo and Holly dragging Ezra between them. He wanted to change.

Not even the sight of Dimitri in tight jeans distracted him for more than a moment.

Leo and Holly continued to sandwich Ezra in the car. When he got out, he was fiddling with his skirt, trying to pull it lower, at least hide the tops of the stupid stockings. Luckily, Leo had moved to hang off Dimitri’s arm and was giggling. Holly was giving Malachi the same attention Leo had earlier. Rylan was standing near Giovanni and was glaring menacingly at anyone who so much as looked at the seer. He looked like a bodyguard and Giovanni didn’t seem to mind that at all.

Ezra was able to hold the skirt down on either side without any of the others calling him on it or even noticing. He stayed as in the middle of the group as much as he could although Rylan and Giovanni seeing his ass wasn’t much better than complete strangers seeing it. At least they had already seen him in the skirt.

He glanced around to find they were at Sin. It was a club that catered mostly to fae. Ezra had never been inside. And he had never been interested in going. He had very little interest in going now. But he went with the flow of the men and let himself be pulled- not to the back of the line- but to the front, to the entrance. Holly and Malachi, who were in the front, didn’t even pause. Leo waved at the bouncer as they were let in.

Ezra blinked, but didn’t want to interrupt any of the pairs to ask. He followed the men into the club. The music hit, his pulse speeding to match the heavy base beat. He had to close his eyes and concentrate to keep his hips still. He didn’t know the song, but the beat was excellent.

He followed them past the overfilled, writhing dance floor. He was pleased to note that it was just as colorful and overtly sexual as every other dance floor he had edged his way past over the years.

Leo and Dimitri led them to a small, round booth in a back corner. Leo snatched the reserved sign off and happily pulled Dimitri off onto the dance floor without a word. Holly quickly slid in and reattached his lips to Malachi’s. Ezra scooted in on the other side and quickly moved to the middle when Giovanni and Rylan followed. They seemed to be having a conversation- or at least trying to- over the pounding music.

Ezra sat fidgeting, ordering only water from the waitress who came over in less than a minute. The rest ordered alcohol, even Giovanni, although he stuck with wine. He stayed silent and fiddled with his glass of water when it came, wishing for pants. Then, at least, he might feel comfortable slipping off to the bathroom to get away from how awkward he felt for a few minutes. Hell, he might even be up for dancing then, but there was no way now- not when a too sharp swing of his hips or too fast turn might make the skirt fly up.

Eventually, Holly pulled his lips away from Malachi’s and pulled him to go dance as well. Ezra shifted a tiny bit closer to where they had been, away from Giovanni and Rylan whose heads were pressed together.

Eventually, Leo came back, pouting, Dimitri leading. The tall fae sat down and looked adamant. It was obvious he was done dancing, at least for a while. Leo stuck his tongue out at him and pulled up both Rylan and Giovanni. Giovanni blushed, but Ezra kept his eyes on the men this time and was able to catch sight of Leo pulling the tiny seer against his front while he ground his ass against Rylan before the dancing throng moved and swallowed back up the path they had made.

Ezra shot a smile at Dimitri. The man had kept his usual dress shirt, but this one was dark and he had left it unbuttoned over a white t-shirt that glowed against his dark skin. He looked good, but still managed to look vaguely formal. Surprisingly, Ezra found it comforting. When Rick had tried to look even a little business like out to clubs, it had pissed Ezra off. It was only when he was in a full on suit that Ezra melted and didn’t complain about it.

He remembered his own attire and ducked his head again, thinking of how Rick would react to him wearing it in public. A freak out would be an understatement. He would have loved it in the bedroom though.

“Are you okay?”

Ezra jumped as Dimitri’s shout came from right by his ear. He quickly forced a laugh and nodded. Dimitri’s breath still smelled of alcohol from the restaurant- Holly had plied him liberally with drinks, more so than anyone else.

Ezra offered him his water and Dimitri took it, sniffed suspiciously, and then brightened. He downed several thirsty swallows before setting it down and leaning in towards Ezra again.

“Thank you!”

Ezra shivered a little at the warm breath tickling his cheek and nodded stiffly.

Dimitri sat next to him in companionable silence, playing with his own drink and taking sips occasionally. He seemed content watching the dance floor. The couple times Ezra looked and actually searched them out, he could catch glances of the men. They looked good. And Rylan could actually dance. Which didn’t surprise him as much as he felt it should.

Dimitri was pulled back to dancing by Malachi and Giovanni and Leo replaced him at the table for a while. Rylan and Holly finally came back. Holly didn’t even grab a drink before leaning over Giovanni, yelling something at him, and then tugging him to the dance floor.

Rylan settled next to Leo and threw an arm over his shoulder. He said something that made him laugh.

Ezra sank down into the booth and tried to not look as awkward as he felt.

Rylan got up and walked away.

Leo scooted around the booth and leaned against Ezra’s side. “Want to dance?”

Ezra quickly shook his head. “I’m okay.”

Leo pouted at him. “Please?” he shouted back.

Ezra shook his head again and then stared down as a hand wrapped around his arm. Leo rested his head on Ezra’s shoulder. “Please?” he mouthed. His breath was hot against Ezra’s lips. Ezra’s frowned and shook his head again.

Leo’s pout got more pronounced before his lips connected with Ezra’s. Ezra froze under the assault, but quickly melted, wrapping his arms around the phookah. He didn’t really pay attention when Leo pulled him out of the booth.

Ezra froze when Leo stopped on the edge of the writhing mass of bodies rather than pulling him all the way to the bathroom for a quickie in one of the stalls. He flushed and pulled away, trying to tug the skirt down. He felt like his ass was hanging out.

Leo drew his arms up and away from the skirt and pulled them around himself, wrapping his own arms around Ezra’s hips and pulling him close. He started swaying, grinding their hips together.

Ezra sighed and relaxed into his arms. This was okay. No one was really paying any attention to them. Ezra swayed with him, wrapping his arms around him. He tilted his face up and caught Leo’s lips in a gentle kiss.

Leo kissed him back, hard, and the dancing took a distinctively sexual turn. Leo’s hands dropped to play with the top of his stockings, pressing the cloth of his skirt up a little higher and then his hands slid across the black material of the briefs to cup his ass.

Ezra moaned a little into the kiss and shook his hips invitingly, hoping to get that quickie in the bathroom stall.

Leo groaned, the sound vibrating across Ezra’s lips who smiled, feeling like the cat that got the cream. The phookah’s grip tightened and he forced Ezra’s hips to grind against his. Ezra’s skirt hiked up, getting caught over the bulge in Leo’s pants, and he couldn’t bring himself to care much. He kept up the grinding, Leo’s erection pressing against his.

Leo groaned, louder this time, and his hands slid up to the waistband of the briefs and then down inside before grabbing his ass again.

Ezra froze. Too much. He pulled away, straightening the skirt as best he could, holding it down when it wouldn’t lie flat over his own straining erection.

Leo stared at him, looking a little confused and a little put out and a lot horny.

Ezra grabbed Leo’s hands and pulled him off the dance floor and towards the men’s room. Leo looked confused before brightened again, understanding dawning on. He squeezed Ezra’s hands and caught up so they were walking side by side.

--

Leo deposited him back in the booth afterwards and tugged Dimitri off to dance. Malachi, Rylan, and Giovanni were nowhere to be seen, but Holly took one look at Ezra’s disheveled state and grinned, yanking him so he sprawled over his lap. Ezra flushed and struggled upright, yanking the skirt down from where it had flown up.

Holly waited patiently until Ezra was settled next to him, rather than on his lap before grinning widely at him. “Slu-ut,” he shouted over the music.

Ezra stuck his tongue out at him. Holly caught the appendage and sucked it into his mouth. He pulled away, grinning, after a moment or two and pulled on Ezra’s nipple chain through the shirt, making him gasp. Then he was out of the booth and pulling Giovanni back towards the dancers before the man could even sit down. Leaving Ezra alone with Rylan.

Ezra stared up at the man as blood warmed his cheeks. Now he felt trashy again.

But Rylan just shook his head and settled into the booth. He tapped Ezra’s almost empty glass and raised his eyebrows. Ezra nodded. “Water!”

Rylan’s eyebrows went higher and he moved over in the booth until he was actually next to Ezra. “You aren’t drinking?” He pitched his voice just loud enough to carry over the music.

Ezra shook his head. “Not a good idea still.”

“What?”

Ezra rolled his eyes. This yelling shit was annoying. He leaned over so he could talk into Rylan’s ear without shouting. “I said it’s not a good idea for another couple of weeks!”

Rylan’s eyebrows drew together in confusion and he turned to cock his head at Ezra. Ezra’s breath caught and he moved back a little bit. Too close.

“I’m still sick,” he shouted.

Rylan’s mouth formed a little ‘o’. “I thought you were better?” he said, drawing close again.

Ezra shrugged, trying to force a rising blush down. Goddammit. Rylan mentioning it just made him blush more.

He risked a glance to the side and found Rylan frowning. He quickly looked forward again.

“Are you okay? Do you need Ginger again?”

Ezra quickly shook his head.

They lapsed into silence and Ezra fiddled with his water glass and then when the waitress came by with a new one without anyone asking, fiddled with that.

A slower, softer song came on and Ezra shifted. The clubs he was used to never slowed down. But he glanced to the dance floor and found the mass of bodies had decreased in size only a little.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” he finally asked. Rylan wouldn’t hit him or strangle him, not in public, not when the investigation had officially started.

He kept his eyes forward, not wanting to look at the blonde, but as the silence stretched on, he broke. Rylan was staring down at his glass of bright colored liquor, frowning again.

Finally, he looked up and caught Ezra’s eyes. “You cried,” he said, his voice barely audible over even the softer music.

Ezra turned red and Rylan snickered. “And you blush. I can’t just write you off as a slut when you turn red at a kiss on the cheek or a compliment. Which is why it annoyed me so much.” He went back to poking ice cubes with his straw.

“And Leo already really cares for you and even though Holly’s still being an ass, he likes you too. Giovanni’s barely even nervous around you and Dimitri isn’t as formal with you as he is around most people.”

Ezra couldn’t help the tiny smile that crossed his lips. It wasn’t even hard to admit the men were growing on him too anymore.

“And it’s starting to seem like you might be around after the investigation.”

Ezra froze. After? He liked the men, but Rick… He winced. Rick was high. Rick was always high. But he loved him. He had for most of his life. But… when was the last time the man had been sober? A few days was beginning to seem like an accomplishment.

Rylan nudged him and snorted. If Ezra hadn’t spun around to stare at him, he would have missed it as the music got louder again. Rylan leaned in to yell, “Stop looking so freaked out. I mean Leo’s getting attached and if you completely sever ties, you’ll make him sad. You really want to do that?”

Ezra relaxed. He knew that already. No way could he ditch Leo. Maybe he could stay casual lovers even after the divorce? Until Ezra got Rick back on his feet? He would miss the phookah if he didn’t. He would miss him afterwards. No way would Rick let him even be friends with someone he had slept with. The thought sent a pang through him. He would find a way.

He shook his head. The thought of Leo sad was devastating.

Rylan nodded. “That’s what I thought. So if you are going to be hanging around my husband, I need to get used to you.”
Ezra grinned a tiny bit.

Rylan rested a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay to dance?”

Ezra started and stared at him suspiciously. “I danced with Leo earlier.”

“No, he dry humped you while you both swayed.”

Ezra snickered. Okay, so there hadn’t been any dancing involved. He nodded. “But I don’t really want to,” he added.

Rylan stared at him for a moment, eyes a little wide and Ezra realized what that must have sounded like. “Because of this skirt,” he was quick to add. Although Rylan would care if he didn’t want to dance with him was beyond him.

“Can you dance other than as an introduction to fucking?”

Ezra flipped him off even though the dryness came through even when Rylan was shouting, making it clear he wasn’t all that serious.

Rylan laughed and slid out of the booth. Ezra watched him leave, confused. His eyes dropped down without any conscious decision on his part. Rylan’s sinfully tight latex pants were not fair. But then Rylan disappeared and he started fiddling with his drink and then searched the dance floor for the other men for lack of anything better to do.

Malachi was easiest to find, the man towering above even most of the fae. It helped he was pressed against Dimitri who towered above all the fae. They were more swaying than dancing, but they were grinning and looked like they were having fun. Giovanni and Leo were close by although Ezra could only catch glances of them. They were much shorter, but they were actually dancing and well from what he could see.

Rylan was suddenly blocking his view. He blinked down as a pair of jeans was thrust at him. He grinned a tiny bit and took them. He looked up at Rylan and grinned. “Thank you.”

Rylan smirked. “Go change and then we’ll see if you can actually dance.”

Ezra glanced to the bathroom. It was too far away and there were too many people. He pulled them on under the table, his boots soft enough that he didn’t have to kick them off to get the jeans up his legs. He unzipped the skirt and left it in a heap on the seat, before shooting a grin at Rylan. “Thank you.”

Rylan shook his head, but smiled and offered him a hand.

Ezra took it and let himself be led to the dance floor. Rylan rested his hands loosely on Ezra’s hips and started swaying. Ezra rolled his eyes and wrapped an arm around Rylan’s neck before swinging his hips to the beat. He rolled his body and shut his eyes, letting the beat take over his body and his mind turn off.

Time seemed to crumple in on itself and do weird things. The beat was a steady driving force even as the melodies changed and swayed into each other as the DJ mixed songs. Ezra wasn’t sure if he had been dancing for a minute or an hour when Rylan’s hands tightened on his hips and yanked him closer, grinding their hips together.

Ezra cracked his eyes open to find Rylan’s intense stare on him. But he didn’t seem to be doing anything but pressing them together so Ezra let his eyes slip shut and he kept dancing.

It was kind of nice dancing with one person, he mused a while later. Rylan’s arm around him, and possibly the fact that he could glare down anyone, kept other guys from making a move on him. When he hadn’t wanted to go home with anyone, it had been a real buzz kill to have to shake guys off and turn them down. It was nice to be able to just dance.

He had no idea how long they danced, but they didn’t stop until Ezra felt arms twist around his back.

He started and spun around, but it was just Holly and he was grinning from ear to ear. He giggled as he leaned into Ezra. His breath smelled of alcohol and something sweeter. “You dance good!” he shouted.

Ezra giggled. “You’re really drunk.”

Holly nodded. “And so is everyone else. Leo can’t actually stand up straight so we decided we should probably leave.”

Ezra nodded and tried to edge out of the two’s arms. They held on. Ezra glanced back at Holly and then up at Rylan, eyes a touch wide.

Holly giggled and pressed a kiss to his cheek before letting go. “You’re driving.”

Ezra nodded obediently and Holly’s heat left him. Ezra turned his eyes back up to Rylan. Rylan stared back down at him and then bent down and pressed a gentle, chaste kiss to Ezra’s cheek. “You do dance well. Let’s go.”

Ezra couldn’t resist grinning as Rylan wrapped an arm around his waist and guided him to the door. It wasn’t sexual, but it was at least friendly.

They went to the car and Leo struggled upright from where he was sprawled in the backseat and pouted at him and held up the tiny skirt. “You changed. And those are my pants.”

Ezra grinned at him and put a knee up between Leo’s legs and hefted himself up so he could kiss the very drunk phookah on the cheek. “I couldn’t do this if I was in that skirt.”

Leo grabbed his ass. “I would be closer to your skin if you were,” he slurred.

Ezra grinned and kissed him again on the other cheek. “I’ll wear it just for you some other time.”

Leo brightened and turned, actually sitting in the chair properly and buckling up. “Fine. I guess that’s okay,” he said. “Plus, I already got to fuck you in it.”

Ezra tensed, but Holly and Rylan snickered behind him. “Classy,” Rylan said.

Ezra flushed and quickly slid into the front seat and faced forward.

Dimitri and Malachi stumbled towards the car and lurched inside, taking over the rest of the middle seat.

Rylan gallantly offered Giovanni a hand and helped him into the backseat. The seer was swaying a tiny bit and definitely needed the help.

Holly lurched into the front passenger seat and handed Ezra the keys. “Thanks for driving,” he slurred.

Ezra giggled and nodded at Holly. “You’re welcome.”

The drive home was mostly quiet although there were soft strains of Giovanni and Rylan talking, and sloppy kissing sounds that a glance in the rear-view mirror revealed were Malachi and Dimitri and Leo. Malachi was in the middle and both were leaning on him. Holly didn’t seem to mind. He was leaning against the window and dozing.

Ezra nudged him awake for a few directions, but was surprised to find that for the most part, he could find his way back to their house.

They all trooped out of the car and to the house, Leo, Dimitri, and Malachi in their weird little tangle of limbs, Rylan saying goodnight to Giovanni and very gallantly kissing one of his hands before going up the stairs.

Holly took his place by Giovanni’s side and threw an arm over his shoulders, leading him up the stairs. Ezra blinked in surprise, but Giovanni didn’t seem to mind, actually giggling and winding an arm around Holly’s waist as they followed the rest of their husbands up the stairs.

Ezra smiled slightly. These guys were seriously cute. He padded to the kitchen, not bothering to change yet although he pulled off the boots and set them aside. Without the mini skirt, he was comfortable enough, although the stockings were a little scratchy on his inner thighs.

He dug through the fridge for a while and ended up just getting a glass of tap water before settling into one of the kitchen chairs, drawing his knees up and slumping a little while sipping at the water. He wouldn’t be able to sleep for a  while yet. He was still wound up from dancing, adrenalin still coursing through his veins. He could have gone for hours yet and was a little wistful his night got cut short. He usually didn’t drink that much before going out. Or rather, he hadn’t used to. He only felt the need to get drunk when he would be going home with a stranger. When he was just going out to dance, he had a few, but just enough to get buzzed. In the last few years, he reflected, that had become rare.

He sighed and took another sip of his water. He had to admit going home with someone would have been nice tonight. Well, going home and sleeping with them. He missed being able to party all night and then go home, make love, and sleep in someone’s arms. It had been years- over a decade- since Rick had been sober long enough for Ezra to even want to risk taking him out to a club.

He sighed and set the water down, wrapping his arms around himself. It was nights like these when he really remembered being addicted to blaze, when he remembered using. The rush of warmth and joy had made him feel less alone. He felt sexy and loved and wanted when using even when he was alone.

He stood up suddenly and grabbed his water. He may have felt good for the first few minutes, but then he had inevitably crashed hard and felt even more desolate and alone than before. That was the real danger of blaze- it was amazing for only a little while and you just had to keep shooting up and shooting up to hold onto that feeling. As corny as it sounded, Rick had been his antidrug for those few years in their late teens between their addictions. He had made him feel just as happy as blaze did, but unlike the high of the drug, that high had lasted for hours, days, weeks.

He padded back to his room, grabbing his boots on the way, and shuffled into the sanctuary the guest room had become.

He closed the door gently and set the boots down again. He got ready for bed and then hit the light switch, leaving him in moonlit darkness before climbing onto the bed. He was still fully dressed. He sighed and shifted a little, before sliding a hand into his jeans. He felt a little pathetic. It had been so long since he had done this, but he was currently lacking a partner and he needed to relax, wind down.

He peeled the jeans down. They slid over the stockings smoothly and he was able to kick them off and onto the floor. He cupped his dick through the material of the black briefs and thought of Rick, the blonde man pushing him down on the bed, stroking him to hardness, making love to him. But the memories of the pain of getting slammed into the concrete ground, punched, kicked, slapped, thrown into walls, getting a glass vase slammed over his head kept invading.

He groaned and curled up around a pillow. “Damn it,” he muttered, burying his face in the silky fabric and squeezing his eyes shut.

His eyes flew open again as a thought occurred to him. Rick wasn’t… He wasn’t the only man out there.

Ezra’s hand inched back towards his crotch and he tentatively slid the briefs off, being careful to not catch the stockings and pull them down. He thought of slanted gray eyes and thickly corded arms. A strong chest, covered in tattoos and only a mesh shirt.

Ezra gasped as he imagined kissing his way down that chest. The mesh would be silky smooth against his lips, the warmth of Malachi’s chest coming through. It was enough. He hardened and fell into the fantasy. Malachi would be gentle, the man didn’t seem to ever be anything else, but so strong. He would dominate Ezra gently, pushing him onto the soft bed, stroking him with large, warm hands…

He let out a soft moan, unable to be quiet even when his hand was his only partner. Malachi would keep stroking him while a hand slid behind him…

It took a moment to register that the movement of the bed wasn’t caused by him. He jerked around and spun, one hand still cupping himself. Holly grinned at him, bright blue eyes decidedly amused. “Hey, sexy.”

Ezra flinched and groped for the briefs but Holly grinned and climbed on top of him, pinning his arms.

“Who were you thinking about?” Holly whispered huskily. “Leo? Me? Rylan” He paused for a moment between every name, gauging Ezra’s reaction. “Malachi?”

Ezra couldn’t help the flush that climbed up his neck and Holly laughed triumphantly. “He did look sexy tonight,” he mused.

He dropped down onto Ezra and ground their hips together, making Ezra gasp. “I’m not Malachi,” he whispered huskily. “But will I do?”

Ezra groaned in reply.

Holly laughed. “I’ll take that as a yes,” he husked, before dropping his head to suckle at Ezra’s neck. He let go of Ezra’s wrists and a sneaky hand snaked below his waist.

When they were finished, Holly pulled up Ezra for a kiss. "Sexy,” he murmured.

Ezra smiled and relaxed into it.

Holly pulled back, kissed him on the cheek and collapsed backwards, pulling Ezra with him.

Ezra shifted so he was comfortable and turned his head a little so he could kiss Holly’s chest. “I like you,” he murmured.

Holly laughed. “I like you too.”

They lay in a panting pile for a while as their breaths evened out.

Ezra tapped his tongue piercing to the back of his teeth as he debated whether to ask Holly to stay the night. He definitely wanted the elemental to, but Holly would probably just laugh at him. “Holly?” Ezra finally muttered tentatively.

But Holly didn’t reply. It took Ezra a moment to realize the man was already asleep. A smile stretched across his lips and Ezra had to resist the urge to hug Holly tightly and swing him around. The redhead might not stay if he woke.

Ezra shifted again, carefully, so as not to jostle his bed partner, and then closed his eyes, listening to the beat of Holly’s steadily beating heart.