Ezra woke to movement under his head. He moaned and pulled at the body until it stilled. Long, slender fingers stroked through his hair. “Ezra, kitten, I have to get up.”

Ezra started awake and blinked up at Dimitri. “Oh,” he murmured. “Hi.”

Dimitri smiled at him. “Hello.”

Ezra flushed and got off him. “Good morning.”

Dimitri caught him by the back of his head and pulled him in for a gentle kiss. “Go back to sleep,” he said softly when he pulled back.

Ezra yawned and shook his head. “Do you want breakfast or something?”

Dimitri blinked, surprised, and then smiled. “No, just go back to sleep. Holly will wake up if you leave him alone.”

Ezra yawned and nodded. He kissed Dimitri on the cheek. “Have a good day.”

“You too.”

Dimitri crawled out of the bed and Ezra turned around and snuggled up to Holly.

Holly murmured sleepy and cuddled closer to him, engulfing Ezra in heat. Ezra quickly fell back asleep.

He woke up feeling warm and comfortable with no idea how much time had passed and only vague memories of kissing Dimitri goodbye.

Holly was still breathing deeply and evenly beside him. Ezra yawned, but he was awake and feeling well rested. He struggled to sit up. Holly murmured a little in his sleep, but didn’t wake up.

Ezra shifted until Holly’s head was resting in his lap. He cast his eyes around and they fell on the book Dimitri had been reading. He picked it up cautiously and studied it. It was thick and large and a quick glance inside showed that the type was not large. But the summary was interesting and it wasn’t like he had anything better to do.

He cracked it open, slumping so he could rest it on his stomach and flip the pages with one hand while playing with Holly’s curls with the other. He was quickly engrossed.

He didn’t notice his surroundings again until fingers dug into his sides. Ezra yelped and squirmed away, dropping the book.

Holly waited until he was still before resting his head back on Ezra’s stomach. “Good morning,” the fire elemental said serenely.

Ezra laughed softly, a little exasperated. “Are you going to do that all the time now?”

“I’m thinking so,” Holly returned cheerfully.

Ezra groaned, making Holly chuckle. “Only sometimes then,” he amended. He kissed Ezra’s stomach before hefting himself up with a groan. “We should get food.”

Ezra padded after him to the kitchen. Giovanni was there, curled against Leo’s side. He still looked exhausted.

Ezra dropped back, but Holly grabbed him and hauled him forward into the kitchen. The elemental grabbed the throw blanket from around Giovanni’s shoulders, ignoring Leo’s objecting squawk, and slung it around his own hips, providing some measure of decency. He draped himself over Giovanni’s shoulders.

The seer blushed but kissed Holly’s cheek and leaned into the embrace.

Holly stayed where he was and looked generally smug. Ezra rolled his eyes but smiled a little bit as he opened the fridge and looked through it. Holly was turning out to be sweet, and the thing he had going with Giovanni was adorable. He was so over sexed most of the time…

He found stuff for a salad and pulled it out. “Do you guys want anything?”

Leo pressed himself to Ezra’s side and pouted at him.

“What?”

Leo’s pout intensified. “I want a kiss.”

Ezra blinked, but leaned over and pecked him on the cheek. Leo kept pouting. He tried the lips. Leo continued to pout. Ezra sighed, cupped his chin and kissed him thoroughly.

Leo was grinning when he pulled away this time. “Thank you.”

Ezra glanced to the table to find Holly gently kissing Giovanni.

Leo giggled at the sight and hip checked Ezra. “Can you flip pancakes?”

At his nod, Leo gave him puppy dog eyes. “Teach me?”

Ezra flushed and nodded. “But stop doing that. You look twelve.”

“But not when I pout?”

“You’re cute when you pout. It makes me want to bite your lip and kiss it away.”

Leo promptly started pouting again. Ezra leaned forward and sank his teeth into that protruding lower lip.

“Great, now he’s never going to stop pouting.”

Ezra ignored Holly and just kept kissing Leo until he remembered Giovanni was watching and then hurriedly pulled away. But Holly was kissing Giovanni again, effectively distracting the man.

Leo laughed. “Pancakes,” he declared. Ezra wrapped his arms around him and held on contentedly as Leo turned around and stood on his tiptoes to get the pancake mix from the upper cupboards.

He wiggled his hips against Ezra and his shirt rode up as he stretched, baring large amounts of skin for Ezra to touch.

Happy with Holly and Giovanni distracting each other, Ezra took the invitation and then curled around Leo as they got the pancakes into the man. He rested his chin on his shoulder and supported Leo’s arm as he taught him to flip pancakes. The first ended up on the floor and the second landed on their heads but the rest they managed to get into the pan although a few were a little misshapen.

Holly scooted them over at one point and made room so he could make bacon and hash browns, making it a proper breakfast. Somehow, between Holly and Leo, they managed to convince Giovanni to get in on the action. He stood in front of Holly and obediently flipped the hash browns. He kept skittering away from the splatter of the bacon, which Holly seemed to think was the cutest thing ever. The elemental didn’t seem to have any trouble with the hot grease. When Ezra asked about it, he grinned and put his hand against the burner. He pulled it back quickly but not before Ezra jumped about a foot.

He let Ezra grab it and inspect the extremity. It was unmarked. “I’m a fire elemental. I don’t get burnt.”

Ezra frowned at him. “That didn’t even hurt?”

Holly smirked and shook his head. “Nuh-uh.”

“Huh,” Ezra muttered. He mostly just held onto Leo as the phookah flipped the last pancake onto a plate. He was a fast learner.

They bustled back to the table with far more food than the four of them could eat and settled around it, all snuggled into a crooked line, Giovanni and Leo in the middle. Surprisingly, Holly was next to Leo, leaving Ezra next to Giovanni. But he didn’t seem to mind Ezra’s arm pressed against his and even talked to him. He seemed to gain some color back in his face with the meal.

Leo had his arm wrapped around him and every so often would reach his hand past and stroke Ezra’s hip.

All the extra food turned out to be a good thing. Malachi, Dimitri, and Rylan all descended on the kitchen at once, Rylan grilling Dimitri on the one on one.

They quickly greeted their other husbands, the men situating themselves where they wanted to be. Rylan squished between Leo and Holly and both ended up on his lap. Dimitri perched across the table and one look from Malachi had Ezra moving to join him, freeing up a spot next to Giovanni.

Malachi looked surprised for a moment and caught Ezra by the shoulder as he went past. “You didn’t have to,” he murmured.

Ezra blinked once and then smiled at Malachi. “He’s your husband.” He sat down next to Dimitri and mused this might be a better spot anyways when Dimitri’s hand slipped under the table to tangle with his. He smiled up at the dark fae. “How was it?” he asked softly.

Dimitri sighed and rubbed at his eyes. He looked tired. “Terrible,” he muttered.

“He’s very thorough,” Giovanni added.

“He started by making sure I told the truth on the packet I filled out about myself.”

“Me as well.”

Dimitri nodded. “And then he started going over everything he asked all of us. Again. He insisted I go into more detail. Especially about you, Ezra.”

Ezra flinched.
“I think I managed to keep the ruse up.”

“Me too,” Giovanni said. “But it was difficult. I said I saw you for the first time months before the marriage.”

Ezra blinked at him, stunned. “What?”

He waved his hand vaguely towards his eyes. “I saw you. In a vision.”

“Um…”

“Dancing with Dimitri.”

Ezra’s eyes widened. “Cool.”

Leo gave Giovanni a sharp look. “Is he the one you told me about? The one with the hips like- Ow!”

“Yes,” Giovanni said.

“Hips like what?” Ezra demanded, a small smile tugging at his lips.

“Oh shush,” Holly grumbled. “You already know you dance well. Stop fishing for compliments.”

Ezra shot him a grin and settled more comfortably next to Dimitri. “What else happened?”

“He just tried to weasel out if we were having problems he hadn’t already unearthed. I don’t think I let anything slip.”

“I know Gio didn’t,” Leo said proudly.

“I barely spoke,” Giovanni said softly.

“Me as well,” Dimitri said softly. “I believe it helped significantly.”

“Great,” Rylan grumbled. “You two are obviously shy so he could let you get away with it.”

“He pushed me quite a bit to speak more,” Dimitri said softly. “I think he was suspicious when I didn’t.”

“He didn’t push me,” Giovanni said.

“Not even a little bit,” Leo added. “He was positively gentle.”

Ezra sighed. “It could be because you were to the point where you couldn’t even be questioned when it began.”

“And Dimitri is fae and doesn’t look shy.”

“Oh,” Dimitri said softly.

“Yeah. Racist bastard,” Rylan grumbled. He glanced at Ezra. “If you were honest, we wouldn’t have to do this at all,” he grumbled. The glare was a bit more than half-hearted.

“What?” Ezra muttered. “Honest about what?”

Holly groaned, leaning heavily on Rylan. “Why don’t you know anything?”

Ezra tensed. “Because no one tells me anything,” he snapped.

Holly blinked. “That’s what I meant. Look at you growing a backbone,” he purred with a grin.

Ezra flushed.

Malachi took pity on him. “One of the catalysts of the investigation is three humans entering into an interspecies marriage. You were a third.”

“Oh. Can’t I just say I’m not fully human and stop this?” Ezra muttered. It would have to be official and it would suck to have to go through all the paperwork and put his mother through that, but he would.

Holly snorted. “No. I tried. On the phone when they first called. You can still do it anytime but it isn’t going to help you any and if we fail and the divorce goes through, you’ll just end up stuck in the faerie realm if you go through the paperwork.”

Ezra winced. “Oh.”

“Hmph,” Rylan muttered. “You should have just been honest.”

“Well, sorry,” Ezra snapped. “Didn’t exactly expect to get married when I just went out to get drunk and laid!”

He shoved away his plate, suddenly not hungry anymore. He was really sick of this. At least now he knew why he was being blamed. He stood, leaving the plate alone, and retreated back to the guest room.

Ezra scowled. He kept forgetting he didn’t belong here. It was so easy to forget as he got more comfortable in the house and with the men. And the men… his heart panged. They were getting sweeter. He loved sleeping next to someone every night. It was what he missed most from actually being married with Rick. It was his little punishment to himself now, whenever he fell off the bandwagon and slept with Rick when he was less than sober, to not stay the night. Just fuck and leave. It made him feel cheap and like a whore. It hadn’t seemed to change Rick’s behavior at all, but Ezra was screwing him less now. He managed to go longer between going found, longer before he slept with him… He had been doing better.

He sighed and shut himself back into his room to take another shower. There was pancake batter in his hair.

He was just getting out when slender hands wrapped around his hips. He jumped nearly a foot and his still wet feet flew out from under.

They steadied him when he would have fallen on the slick tile, supported him and pulled him against a strong, slender chest. Silk rubbed against his shoulder blades, as well as long hair. But the belt digging into his lower back wasn’t high enough to be Dimitri and besides, the loose hair was odd for the dark man and not near long enough. Leo and Holly were both too short.

He craned his neck around. Cool blue eyes met his.

“I would wait until you were more clothed, but I have a meeting that I would be late to. I apologize for saying what I did. There’s really no reason you should have come clean at any point. It’s a ton of paperwork.”

Ezra nodded, still craning his neck so he could stare at the man who was holding him against his chest. “’Kay,” he mumbled.

Rylan smirked. “I’m going to kiss you now, okay?”

Ezra froze. “Ah. Okay,” he muttered.

Rylan smirked and leaned down. He caught Ezra’s lips and kissed him thoroughly.

Ezra leaned into it, still a little confused, but willing to go along with it.

He was a little out of breath when Rylan pulled away and watched silently as Rylan walked out of the bathroom. The door shut and he was left staring at that. “What the hell?” he muttered.

It swung open and he jumped again, but it wasn’t Rylan- it was Leo. “Hot tub,” the phookah demanded. “I have to work tonight and I want to relax.”

Ezra blinked at him. “I just showered.”

“You can shower again afterwards.”

“How ‘bout I sit on the edge and pet you why you soak?”

Leo blinked up. “Really?”

Ezra smiled and nodded. “I’m not the biggest fan of hot tubs, but I like you.” He patted Leo’s ears

Leo giggled. “’Kay. But you actually have to pet me.”

 “Do you like being petted?”

Leo nodded, pouting a little. “And no one does it very much.”

Ezra laughed. “Well, get in the hot tub. I’ll pet you all you can stand.”

--

Leo relaxed into the tub, leaning against Ezra’s legs as he played with his ears. “Mm,” the phookah purred. “I need to get in here more.”

Ezra laughed. “Any time, bunny boy.”

Leo giggled. “I feel kind of bad invading your room though.”

“I would appreciate the company. Any time.”

“You should come visit me in my room.”

“Hm?”

“Come visit me in my room,” Leo repeated. “I have toys,” he added, bouncing his eyebrows up and down.

Ezra started and then coughed. “Uh, like stuffed animals?” he asked a little breathily.

“No, like dildos, silly.”

Ezra squeaked something unintelligible.

Leo laughed and turned around before climbing up and depositing himself in Ezra’s lap. “And cock rings and nipple clamps and paddles and vibrators and prostate massagers and- and- and ropes and handcuffs and blindfolds and all kinds of gags and-“

“Jesus Leo! Stop it!” He was blushing darkly from the tips of his ears down past his neck.

Leo giggled and kissed him. “Just an offer.”

“That was a blatant invitation.”

“Yep. Same thing.”

Ezra laughed a little. He kissed Leo. “If you want to.”

Leo pouted. “What do you want to do?”

“Whatever you want to do.”

“Ezraaaaa,” Leo whined.

“We talked about his already. I’m vanilla, but I don’t mind being cherry if my partner wants to be.”

Leo giggled. “I’m cherry?”

“Or chocolate. Or strawberry. Or chili, if that’s you style.”

Leo giggled. “I like cherry. It’s still sweet.”

Ezra kissed his forehead. “You are sweet.”

“So… Toys?”

Ezra laughed. “Sure. I haven’t seen your room yet. I’m curious.”

Leo paused. “You haven’t?”

“I don’t think I’ve even been upstairs, bunny boy,” Ezra said, trying to wiggle out from under Leo.

“Why not?”

Ezra frowned at Leo’s frown. “I just haven’t been. It’s not a big deal. If you don’t want me up there-“

“Of course I do!” Leo squirmed off of him and bounced to his feet. He tossed a towel around his waist and then bounded across the room, pulling Ezra with him.

Ezra tightened the towel around his own waist “Clothes?”

“You don’t need them, silly!”

Ezra snickered as he was pulled upstairs.

Leo blew a kiss at Malachi as they passed him on the stairs.

Ezra fumbled for something to say, but Leo blew past Malachi quickly and pulled Ezra on to his room, shutting the door behind him. He backed Ezra up until he hit the bed and then followed him down onto it.

--

Afterwards, Ezra lay curled against Leo, head resting on his stomach. Leo was running his hands through his hair gently. “We should get you settled in up here.”

“Hm?” Ezra muttered. “Why? I’m good where I am.”

Leo frowned. “Because that’s a guest room.”

Ezra tensed, dazed brain catching up a little. “You want me to move up out of the guest rooms?” he asked softly.

Leo frowned at him. “Yes,” he said petulantly. “That room is bland.”

Ezra frowned as well and rolled over so he could stare at Leo in the eyes. “Leo, I’m not going to stay after the investigation.”

Leo pouted at him.

“Leo, you already knew that. I can’t hang around here when two of your husbands can’t stand me-“ Actually he wasn’t sure about Rylan anymore; the blonde was an enigma. “And a third is neutral, at most.”

Leo counted on his fingers for a second. “Giovanni likes you,” he said finally. “He likes you a lot. He thought you were hot in that first vision and hasn’t changed his mind.”

Ezra flushed a little. “He’s adorable.”

“He is. He’s not scared of you.”

“I’m harmless.”

“You do come off that way.”

Ezra grinned at him but Leo wasn’t smiling back. “What?”

“You need to stand up for yourself.”

Ezra crooked an eyebrow. “I do.”

“You do not. You get annoyed, irritated, whatever, and you leave or snap. You don’t get angry, you don’t punch anyone in the face, you don’t scream. And then you forgive people like that.” He snapped his fingers. “You kissed Rylan like fifteen minutes after you get angry at him for blaming you for something that wasn’t your fault. You know, it’s almost impossible to change your species on anything official?”
“Well, yes. I looked into it once.”

“So why- wait, what?”

“I wasn’t serious about it especially when I saw on the stuff I would have to do. I was just trying to piss off Rick.”

Leo frowned at him. “Why?”

Ezra shrugged. “Because he had gone out on another bender and it pissed me off.”

“So you wanted to piss him off?”

Ezra nodded.

“That’s really passive aggressive.”
Ezra laughed softly. “I know. It was years ago. I’ve gone through therapy since then.”

“You still are kind of passive aggressive,” Leo said tentatively.

“Eh, I usually go for one or the other,” Ezra replied lightly.

Leo laughed softly. “You’re silly.”

“Mmm,” Ezra muttered and dropped back down to snuggle with Leo. “I like you.”
Leo huffed, blowing his hair out of his eyes. “You keep saying that.”

Ezra smiled a little. “I know. But it’s true.” He kissed Leo’s bellybutton making the brunette squirm. “You’re a sweetheart.”

“You too,” Leo said, brushing a hand through Ezra’s hair. “Which isn’t actually something I expected when I first met you.”

Ezra smiled wryly. “Well, yeah. You thought I was just a slut taking advantage of your husband. I am a slut, but I’m not taking advantage of anyone.” He paused for a moment thoughtfully. “Well, I totally am, but you all are making me.”

Leo laughed softly. “We don’t mind.”

Ezra smiled gently. “Thank you.” He had a feeling Malachi did though. Well, maybe not Ezra living with them, but definitely the getting closer to the husbands. And Rylan… he was just confusing.

Leo kept petting him gently until Ezra fell asleep again.

He woke up alone. It took him a moment to realize where he was and he finally took the opportunity to look around Leo’s room. It had white walls, beige carpet- that was pretty typical. But the bed he was laying in was a four-poster king sized bed with cross beams at the foot and a very sturdy headboard. There was more than one D-ring worked into it, although none had anything attached at the moment.

There was no desk, just a wardrobe and an entertainment system shoved against one wall. The entertainment system had a pile of DVDs in front of it- equal parts television shows and porn, it looked like. The closet door was open, showing lace and leather and silk. Necklaces hung from the doorknob. There were wire sculptures decorating the walls, bits of metal and mirrors worked into it.

The down comforter on the bed was a deep red and soft as sin.

Ezra shifted until he was under it, not really feeling like moving. He rolled onto the remote and flicked the TV on cautiously. It was on a porn channel.

Ezra laughed quietly and flipped the channels, quickly discovering Leo had some fancy shmancy eight-gazillion channels type of thing going on. He fiddled around a little bit and found that, in addition to more porn, Leo also had some television show about advertisers in the fifties recorded. He started it up, snuggling into the Leo scented pillows.

Several episodes in, the door swung open and Holly’s head appeared in the door. “Yo dawg, I was wondering where you were.”

Ezra blinked up at him, tearing his eyes from him. “Well, I’ve been in here. Hello.”

Holly grinned at him and sauntered into the room, leaving the door gaping open. He plopped down next to Ezra, resting a hand on his hip. “Madmen? This show rocks.”

“Leo has all four seasons or whatever recorded.”

Holly laughed. “We’ve had family nights where we all just watch it.”

Ezra’s smile dipped a tiny bit. “Sounds nice,” he said wistfully. He hadn’t had a movie night with Rick for years- since before Rick turned twenty. The man had already been so busy with work.

Holly’s hand slid to cup his cheek and stroke him with his thumb. “We could have another one soon.”

“It’s fine,” Ezra said, forcing a smile. They sat in silence for a few minutes; Ezra relaxing again, bathed in the heat of Holly’s body.

“You should move up here,” Holly said suddenly.

Ezra sighed. “Leo said the same thing.” He pulled away from Holly so he could meet those bright blue eyes. “Holly, I’m not staying here after the investigation.”

Holly snorted. “There’s no reason for you not to. Everyone likes you-“

“Malachi and Rylan don’t. And I don’t like charity. It’s already bad enough I’m staying here and you guys are feeding me and got me all those clothes.”

Holly sighed. “Think of it as payment for helping us out then,” he snapped. “Or better yet, remember it’s required so we don’t look like we’re abusing you. And by the way, we’re going shopping again.”

“Why?” Ezra demanded.

“Because you’re still using little hotel toiletries and staying in a fucking beige guest room. You’re moving up here and we’re getting you everything to outfit a room. We’re fucking filthy rich, we can afford it.”

Holly spoke over Ezra’s protest. “We need to. They’re going to fucking look over the house at one point.”

Ezra tensed. “They are?”

“Yeah. So suck it up.”

Ezra sighed and nodded. “But just, um, can you explain everything? I keep getting surprised.”

He missed Holly’s wince, his head resting against his stomach again. “Of course. I looked it all up. You got this week down right?”

Ezra nodded.

“Okay, well next week they search the house- look at all our rooms, our stuff, etc. They also contact friends, relatives, neighbors, whatever.”

“Rick?” Ezra asked.

“Yeah. Sorry, E.”

Ezra sighed. He had been expecting that. Rick would be so pissed off next time they ran into each other. “It’s fine,” he said softly. He would just have to be prepared and try and roll with the punches. He didn’t want to end up in the hospital again.

“And after that?”

“That’ll probably take all week and we’ll have to do very little. The week after is more of this again. More talking, following up any inconsistencies, etc. etc. And at the end of the week we all go in together and talk with the psychologist and the three in charge of our investigation. And then they decree whether we have to get a divorce and are exiled to our respective realms- human or faerie depending- or if we get to continue on how we’ve been going.”

“Ah,” Ezra said softly. “I’m sorry.”

Holly cuffed him lightly. “You’ll be stuck in the human realm too and you won’t be able to marry a fae again.”

Ezra sighed. “That’s not exactly a huge deal for me, Holly. I don’t like the idea of marriage much anymore.”

Holly sighed. “So you’re really just going to leave afterwards, no matter what happens?”

“Yeah. I can’t just… stick around.”

“What if I said I’ll miss you?”

Ezra started and looked up at Holly but the fire elemental was determinedly looking away. “You will?”

Holly nodded, still not looking at him. “Yeah. And I know Leo will too and, well, Dimitri’s hard to read, but he doesn’t sleep with people he’s not attached too. Sober anyway.”

Ezra picked himself up onto his elbows and kissed Holly softly. “Thank you,” he whispered. Then he flopped back down. “I’m not planning on disappearing. I’d miss you guys too.” He poked Holly’s stomach which resulted in a quick tussle that ended when Holly started tickling him.

Breathless, Ezra added, “Although I won’t miss the tickle attacks.”

Holly grinned cheekily at him. “You love it.”

Ezra’s smile dipped a little because, yeah, he loved it. Rick hadn’t done it to him in ages, not since before they were married even. Although… Holly would probably stop it soon too. It was fun and nostalgic and light and happy and everything Ezra’s life wasn’t.

Instead of answering, he kissed Holly again. “I’ll get a job and a phone and you guys will be the only ones with my number, ‘kay?”

“What about your fucks?”

Ezra rolled his eyes at the petulance in his voice. “I don’t want them to have my number. Only you. And maybe my mom. And Rave.”

Holly snorted with laughter. “You like him?”

“Rave? I love the shit outta the ankle biter. He was always sweet as sugar.”

“He was your neighbor? When you were with Rick?”

Ezra sighed, wilting a little. “Yeah. And I don’t think we set a very good example of married life. And his parents weren’t exactly great role models, although they were better than me and Rick. The abuse wasn’t exactly… subtle. He never tried to hide the fact that he smacked me around.”

“Ezra, he didn’t smack you around. He beat the shit out of you and tried to murder you.”

Ezra dropped his eyes to the sheets. “He never wanted to kill me and he never got particularly close.”

“He broke a vase over your head. He made your brain bleed and made you have a stroke. He came fucking close.”

Ezra wilted further. “He didn’t mean to.” It had been the drugs. It had always been the drugs. “He never hit me when sober.”

Holly was frowning at him. “Never? He never hurt you when sober?”

Ezra sat up, the sheets pooling in his lap. “He hit me once when I was eighteen, but that was my fault. Otherwise, he never hit me.”

“Hurt you? Not even mentally, just physically. He never hurt you, never hurts you, except when drunk or high or whatever?”

“I- we got in one, physical fight when he was still in high school, like I said, and he hit me-“

“A fight? Did you hit him back?”

“I hit him first. Or, well, tried to. And the only other times were, um, when he was trying something new and kinky.”

“Oh, he hurt you on accident? That can happen sometimes with noobs, I guess.” Holly wrinkled his nose. “I can’t really condone trying shit without doing enough research but I can see getting a little overeager to tie you up.”

Ezra laughed, flushing a little. “Thanks, I think.”

“You’re welcome, I think.”

Ezra smiled and leaned against him, hoping the subject was being dropped. No such luck.

“But that’s it? One fight and accidents when sober?”

“He- It wasn’t always accidents. He liked to experiment. I think I’ve mentioned that. And I usually enjoyed it, but sometimes it went further than I liked.”

“How often is sometimes? And how far?”

Ezra sighed and shrugged. “He liked BDSM a lot and I went along with it. It was fun enough most of the time and even when he was doing something that I wasn’t particularly interested in, I usually didn’t mind. Just sometimes, when I was gagged and couldn’t tell him to stop, it went further than I liked.”

Holly looked at him sharply. “And he hurt you during this?”

Ezra ran a hand through his hair and tried to think of this as less about his private life and more about… he couldn’t think of something else to file this away under. This wasn’t like therapy. He was stark naked, curled up on the bed with a man he really, really liked. He sighed and kissed Holly. “Look, it wasn’t really that bad.  It was just like a few more hits with a riding crop than I liked or whatever.”
“Ezra, that’s what safe words are for!”
“I was gagged. Stop worked well enough when I wasn’t.”

“That’s when it’s most dangerous! You need a fucking hand gesture or something when you want it to stop. If you can’t say stop, it’s ra-“

“Don’t even say it,” he snapped. “I said yes when we started and I probably wouldn’t have told him to stop. He really enjoyed doing it and I liked watching him enjoy it.”

“So you’re one of those guys.”

Ezra quirked an eyebrow at Holly’s statement. “What guys?”

“The type that likes to see a man enjoy himself more than he likes to enjoy himself.”

“I, well, yeah. It’s no fun if your partner isn’t enjoying himself.”

“Well, yeah, but you can enjoy yourself too.”

“I do!”

“Yeah, but you can… you can- you should indulge sometimes.”

Ezra blinked at Holly. “I do. All the time. You called me a slut for it.”

“Getting drunk and fucking the nearest man doesn’t count.”
“Yes, it-“

“Even if you came every single time, it doesn’t necessarily count. I mean, what do you like most doing in bed? I know you’re super vanilla on your own.”

“Why does it matter?” Ezra asked blankly.

There was a snort from the door. Ezra glanced at it and Holly grumbled something. “Fuck off, whoever’s out there. Now’s not the time.”

Malachi poked his head in and Ezra felt his face heat up. It was a struggle not to pull the sheets up and cover his body although he didn’t know why. All the important parts of his body were covered. And it wasn’t like he hadn’t seen the piercings. Hell, Malachi had his own. But he was just shy around the big man in a way that he normally wasn’t. Dimitri evoked the same shyness sometimes too, but that was more comfortable.

“Just wanted to say that it matters a lot and not only should you know that, but most of your partners should too. Just FYI.” He pulled his door back but Holly frowned for a moment and then yelled, “Malachi, get your ass back in here.”

Malachi popped back in. “Yeah?”

“Come, sit. I don’t think I can explain.”

“And I’ll do any better?”

“Just get in here. You guys speak the same language. Zombies and Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

“That has nothing to do with this.”

“Just come in here.”
Malachi sighed and pushed the door open further so he could get all the way inside. He walked across the room, slouching heavily, and then settled on the bed, crossing his legs and slumping. “So, um… yeah.”

Holly snorted. “We are talking about the fact that I don’t even think he knows how to answer the question of what he likes in bed.”

Ezra ran a hand through his hair, heavily agitated. “I like what everyone likes.”

Holly snorted, but Malachi shushed him. “Well, obviously everyone likes certain things. Oral, sex, cumming are pretty basic. But, for example, I like my hair being pulled on during sex and having men cum on me rather than in me. I used to hate condoms because I couldn’t get that. Holly,” he poked his husband’s nose. “Likes being the center of attention. And being called names- Don’t give me that look. Not bad ones. Like kinky, naughty firebug. We’re not even talking about kinks here. Just things you like.”

“I don’t-“ Ezra sighed and gave in, flopping down so he could stare at the ceiling and the two men couldn’t stare at him so. “When guys come inside me.”

“Okay, that’s a start,” Holly said. “I already know you like making guys come though.”

“I mean I physically like the feeling,” Ezra muttered. “And I hate condoms too, with like, the passion of a thousand suns. And I haven’t been able to go without for… shit, like twenty years and I didn’t realize how much I missed it until you guys and…” He grasped a handful of the soft sheet and just tried to concentrate on it, feeling out every fold, mapping every crease. He took a deep breath. “So that. And…” He searched his mind for something else, trying to think of something. Most of it involved the guy coming. He enjoyed it. He liked making the guy feel like that. It made him feel good.

He sighed. “I don’t know what else.”

“Do you like guys talking to you? Not just dirty talk, but…”
“Well I never shut up, so yeah.”

Holly started laughing. “You really don’t. And you are incredibly blasphemous.”

Ezra smiled wryly. “Yeah. It makes sex in public places awkward.”

Holly lost it, collapsing next to Ezra and laughing hard. Even Malachi was snickering.

“And you have a serious exhibitionist streak, right?” Malachi asked after he had calmed down.

Ezra flushed. “Not really.”

Holly snickered. “Public places, but not in public, right?”

“Yeah,” Ezra said softly, some of the levity falling away. “I guess that’s another thing although it’s not really sexual so maybe-“
“Spit it out,” Holly said, ruffling his hair.

“I like being…shown off, I guess. Rick was always really embarrassed unless I was all dressed up and on my best behavior and now…”

Holly hugged him suddenly. “You shouldn’t… No one should be ashamed of you.”

“Thanks,” Ezra said softly. “But I know, I mean, I’m not-“

“You’re fine,” two voices chorused.

“Ezra,” Malachi said. “If a guy won’t bring you out and date you publically and introduce you to his friends and family, there’s something wrong with him not you.”

Ezra didn’t reply and Malachi tugged on a strand of hair. “I had a guy who wouldn’t introduce me to any of his family or friends. When we went out, it was to bars or clubs far from where he worked. I’m sure part of the reason was that I was jailbait at the time, but honestly, he made sure we were never seen together. He knew my parents didn’t really have an issue with him, so he wasn’t scared of being arrested, just what his family would think of me.”

Ezra snorted. “He was a moron. You’re hot.”

“So are you,” Malachi replied, unperturbed. “The issue was that I was mixed race. It was fine- he liked it, but his parents were racist and he seemed convinced everyone he knew lived in the Stone Age.”

Ezra snorted. “That’s bullshit.”

“Yeah. So are people’s issues with faerie blood.”
Ezra snorted. “That wasn’t the issue. I have hair dye. He had the same issues that you guys do. I’m a slut.”

Malachi frowned. “One, we really don’t have an issue with you. We took you out, remember? No one’s pretending you don’t exist. Two, you didn’t sleep with anyone until you were twenty-eight. That makes you not really a slut.”

“Yeah but…”

“Look, are you more worried about the one-night stands or Rick?”

Holly winced and Ezra looked down at the sheets. “Rick,” he mumbled. “I don’t really expect anything from one night stands.”

“Well, he’s a jag.”

Ezra didn’t object, just continued to concentrate on the feel of the sheet in his hand.

He could see the two exchanging glances out of his peripheral vision but he didn’t say anything, didn’t paste a smile on. He… he was fishing for compliments. Damn. “I’m fine,” he muttered. “Can we talk about something else?”

Holly frowned at him. “No. Your ex was retarded. Ezra, what did he have a problem with?”
“Because you’re not bad looking and you don’t suck at conversation,” Malachi said.

Ezra shrugged. “Thanks,” he muttered. “And it’s fine,” he repeated.

Malachi snorted and laid down next to him, crossing his arms behind his head. “I’m going to assume it’s the piercings and shit, in which case he’d have an issue with me too.”
“Well, yeah, but that’s retarded,” he muttered.

“Exactly.”

Ezra sighed and pushed the thoughts away. Rick had been ashamed of him- all of him. It hadn’t just been the piercings or the mixed blood, it was everything.

Holly rolled his eyes. “We should go out again tonight.”

“No skirts.”

“No, on like an actual date. To a restaurant. A nice one. You have a suit, right?”

Ezra nodded cautiously. Leo had made sure he had pretty much everything.

Holly smirked. “Good. We’re going out. Malachi, baby, will you call Luciana’s and see if you can still make a reservation at eight?”

“Yeah, sure. Just you and him?”

Holly smirked at him. “I was actually thinking you and Rylan and him. Rylan will appreciate the nice meal after his interview-“

“He will not. He’ll want to chow down on Chinese and then screw.”

Holly snorted. “But you guys have a terrible relationship with him and you should go out on a date.”

Ezra flushed. “It’s fine.”

But Malachi was frowning thoughtfully. “It’s really not. But not tonight. You and whoever else take him out tonight. I’ll make the reservations for me and Rylan to take him out tomorrow.” He put a large hand on Ezra’s shoulder. “We can try and get to know him under more normal circumstances.”

He squeezed Ezra’s shoulder gently and let go. “And really, you should know what you like and not be afraid to ask for it. And whomever you’re with should indulge you a lot of the time. That’s how relationships should work.”

He got up and left, leaving Ezra with a grinning Holly. “Well, excellent. If Malachi is going to take you out somewhere nice, that leaves me to take you out somewhere fun.” He laughed when Ezra flinched. “Where’s that skirt?”