Dimitri woke up, feeling unusually warm. There was also a pair of arms wrapped around him. He tensed and shot awake. He had slept with another random guy. He was going to get killed.

He turned, praying to find the hand and find it empty of any kind of ring. He froze. He knew the man curled around him. It was Malachi. And he was fully clothed.

Dimitri blinked and glanced down at himself. He was fully clothed. Well, his silk shirt was unbuttoned and it wasn’t tucked into his slacks and he had lost his belt and shoes, but even his socks were still in place.

Malachi was blinking groggily at him. "Go back to sleep," he ordered, voice slurred only slightly. "I’s early. An‘ we didn‘t do nothing‘ anyway." He tugged at Dimitri, childlike-serious while half-asleep.

Dimitri couldn’t help the smile that jumped to his face. "Okay," he agreed softly.

He laid back down and burrowed into Malachi’s chest. The man tensed, obviously surprised enough to wake up a little, but Dimitri shut his eyes stubbornly. It was unlike him, but he was miserable and it seemed like everyone was mad at him. Besides, it had been ages since someone held him.

Malachi gradually relaxed against him and Dimitri slipped back into sleep surprisingly quickly.

--

"Dimitri isn’t in his room!"

Rylan yawned and took another sip of his coffee. "Did you try Malachi’s?"

Holly paused to blink. "What?"

Rylan sighed. "Check Malachi’s. He went to get him drunk last night."

Holly stared at him, before his eyes narrowed. Suddenly, the heat in the room was near unbearable. "That’s taking advantage!"

Rylan rolled his eyes. "It’s Malachi. Dimitri could beg and Malachi wouldn’t sleep with him if he was drunk."

Holly still frowned. "You sure about that?"

Rylan laughed. "Of course." He paused. "Would Dimitri beg?"

Holly frowned harder. "If he was drunk enough."

Rylan’s eyes widened in shock, before he started laughing. "Really? God, what’s he like when he’s drunk?"

Holly answered hesitantly. "He’s… more aggressive."

"Hot."

Holly scowled at him.

Rylan rolled his ice-blue eyes. "See? If I slept with him you’d lose your mind."

Holly snorted. "I think that would be hot. I think the fact that you think a drunk, slutty Dimitri is hot is just wrong."

"Slutty?"’

"No, he is not slutty."

"You just said-"

"I said he was more aggressive. Like you when you want someone."

"Ouch."

"What?"

"You just called me a slut."

"For fuck's sake, he's not a slut! Why do you two have issues with each other anyway?"

"Ask him. Now don’t deflect. Go find Dimitri."

"If you know he’s with Malachi, I don’t care where he is. I was just worried he had hooked up with another random guy and gotten married."

Rylan sighed. "He really that much of a slut?"

"Fuck off, Rylan. He’s not a slut."

"Apparently he is when he’s drunk."

"Drop it!"

"Fine, fine," Rylan said, grinning. He would for now. First meeting with Dimitri when Holly was absent and he was going to be at it like a dog with a bone.

--

Ezra blinked open his eyes, light smacking him like a board to the face. This was an interesting dream. Usually his dreams were darker. And quieter. There was a lot of beeping going on in this dream and a sudden "Ezra!

Ezra blinked and turned his head. The movement made stars explode in his head and he moaned ad shut his eyes, wishing he could do the same with his ears.

"Ezra."

Ezra kept his eyes shut. That was Rick. This wasn’t a dream. Maybe a nightmare, but even his subconscious usually had better taste than to have Rick acting sane.

"I know you’re awake."

"My head hurts, asshole," Ezra snapped, squeezing his eyes shut tighter. His throat hurt too, his mouth parched.

There was a low chuckle. It affected him as much now as it had when they had first met.

"I can up the morphine."

"I’m not an addict like you," Ezra snapped.

"Ouch," was the returning drawl.

Ezra rolled his eyes, desperately suppressing the smile that wanted to rise unbidden to his lips. "What are you doing here, Rick?"

"Oh, the usual," was the dry reply.

"To make empty promises, prostrate yourself at my feet, and beg for forgiveness?" Rick definitely brought out the best in him.

Someone snorted.

Ezra cracked his eyes open cautiously and glanced to the side. It was Cherie.

Rick glanced over too. "Can we lose the extras?"

Cherie answered for him. "Nope, you aren’t allowed to be alone with Ezra."

Rick glanced at her. "Come on. We were married for five years. And it was only once and I was strung out on coke. I’m clean now."

Cherie shrugged. "Sorry, hun. No dice. Hospital rules. If you beat up a patient and said patient is too stupid to press charges against your druggie ass, you aren’t allowed to be alone with said idiot."

There was a moment of silence. Then both said, "Ouch," in identical dry tones.

Cherie rolled his eyes. "Your sarcasm compatibility as a couple astounds me. Why in the seven hells did you two get married the first place?"

Rick grinned and Ezra opened his mouth to answer.

Cherie stopped him. "I have a better idea. Remember the irreconcilable differences you cited on your divorce papers. What were they?"

Both fell silent, Ezra’s smirk fading and his eyes found the ceiling. Physical and mental abuse and severe drug addiction.

"Right," he muttered. "Thank you for that. Rick-"

Cherie’s beeper rang, cutting him off. She glanced at it and frowned. "Both of you hold up." She called on her cell phone and listened to the other person for a couple minutes. Her expression went from curious, sceptical to delighted. "Hell, yeah! Let ‘em in!" She hung up the phone. "Ezra, dear, your current husbands are waiting outside."

Ezra blinked. "What?"

"What?" Rick repeated, face darkening.

Cherie smirked. "Ezra’s current husbands are-" The door opened. "-Here."

Dimitri walked in, looking worried. "Ezra."

Ezra flinched and huddled into the blankets. This was not going to end well.

Rick stood suddenly, blocking Dimitri’s entrance. The dark fae blinked and looked down at him, towering a foot over the brunette man.

Rick glared. "Who are you?"

Rylan suddenly shot forward, yanking Dimitri back and taking his place, standing face to face to Rick. They were the same height. He was less intimidating physically, but Ezra saw why he had done it. Dimitri, despite looks, was significantly softer than Rylan. Rylan was a hell of a lot scarier.

But he didn’t look that and unsurprisingly, Rick saw just the physical. He glared and repeated his question. "Who are you?"

Rylan just glared at him. "Who are you?"

"His husband."

"Ex," Ezra called.

Both turned and glared, the expressions on their faces nearly identical.

Ezra shrank into the pillows, hearing his heart monitor speed up.

Rylan smirked and turned back to Ezra. "So the little slut’s been married before. Were you another one night stand that he wouldn’t leave alone?"

Ezra winced.

Cherie stood, glaring. "That’s it! Everyone out!"

Rylan and Rick turned to glare at her, but Cherie wasn’t cowed, despite the fact that she was actually under five foot. She glared right back and crossed her arms under her breasts. "Both of you!"

Neither moved. "Security!" she yelled.

A tall, muscular man with the beginnings of a beer gut in a rent-a-cop uniform came into the room. "Come on, boys."

"I had him waiting outside in case Rick got out of hand," Cherie whispered smugly to Ezra. Ezra mustered up a smile as Rick was dragged out. Rylan got half-tackled by Holly and then tugged out gently.

"They were cute. Hooked up with the blonde, didn’t you?"

Ezra sniffed, listening as his heart rate slowly decreased after the door swung shut. "No," he said. "He’s scary."

"Well, so is Rick. And every other guy who’s shows up here. I mean, not physically, usually they look like nice upstanding gentlemen, but they’re all assholes."

Ezra rolled his eyes. "They are not."

"Yes, they are. Remember that guy with the tattoo of Mickey on his ass? Well, he-"

"How do you even know that?"

"You told me. Anyway, he called you a slut, same as that blonde and-"

"I hooked up with the black one, you moron."

"Oh. With the long hair? The one that actually seemed sort of concerned?"

"Yes. That one."

"Oh. He was cute."

"More like drop dead gorgeous."

Cherie laughed. "Okay. Should I let him back in?"

Ezra nodded. "I’d like that," he said softly.

Cherie giggled. She skipped to the door and opened it. There was shouting being done outside, but Cherie ignored it and gestured to someone, presumably Dimitri. A moment later, the dark fae came in. Cherie slipped out, shutting the door behind herself and leaving the two of them alone.

Ezra’s jaw dropped. Well, that was the first time she had done that. Ever. He shut his mouth with a snap as Dimitri stepped up to his bed.

"Are you well?"

Ezra laughed softly. "So formal. I’m fine. Just a little crack to the head. The ambulance got there pretty quickly though. Apparently someone had talked to one of the guys at the club and was looking for some guy who was going to have a seizure and die. He described him to Cherie and she described him to me and he sounded sort of like Holly."

Dimitri frowned. "Giovanni is a seer. He had a vision of you. Dying."

Ezra winced, but quickly covered it up. "Well, thank you. And thank Giovanni too. I didn’t meet him, did I?"

Dimitri shook his head. "No. He avoids all of us."

"Oh. Attic guy, right?"

"Yes."

"That must suck."

"A little," Dimitri admitted.

Ezra smiled. "Get drunk, go up to his attic, and jump him."

"He is shy."

"Like you shy?"

Dimitri frowned at him. "I am not shy."

"Save it," Ezra said with a smirk. "You talk when you’re drunk. And you were drunk almost the entire time you were with me. You’re shy. Deal."

Dimitri sighed. "More than me shy."

Ezra whistled. "Does he even talk in front of other people?"

"No, not really."

Ezra laughed. He took Dimitri’s hand and kissed it. "I like you."

Dimitri blinked at him, lavender eyes widening.

Ezra grinned. "Relax. I say that to all the cute guys."

Dimitri smiled. "Thank you."

"Uh-huh. So, have you made up with Holly?"

Dimitri sighed. "Sort of."

"Still angry?"

"He always seems to be angry at me."

Ezra smirked. "Fun."

Dimitri sighed. "Not always," he amended. "There are times when he’s the sweetest things in the world, others when he’s incredibly sexy…"

Ezra laughed. "Tell him that! That you think he’s sweet and sexy and… any other nice adjective you can think of."

Dimitri smiled slightly. "I do not know how he would take that."

Ezra shrugged. "He should be honored to be complimented by you." He was caught by a yawn suddenly. "Sorry, apparently being out for…. However long I was out-"

"Two days," Dimitri said softly, eyes a touch wide.

Ezra’s eyes widened. "No shit? So it’s…" He tried to figure out what day it was, but found he had no idea. He had no idea what day it had been when he had passed out.

"The fourteenth."

Ezra blinked. "But fourteenth of what?"

Dimitri gave him wide eyes. "May," he said slowly. "Are you okay?"

Ezra laughed. "Relax, I just don’t keep track of dates. No point to it. Okay, May," he said, more to himself than Dimitri.

Dimitri just continued to stare at him, wide-eyed

He started to laugh again, but broke off with a moan and clutched at his head. "I hate to stop the fun, but can you get Cherie back in here?"

Dimitri nodded quickly and crossed to the door.

A moment later, Cherie hurried in, looking worried. She quickly waved Dimitri out. "He do anything?" she demanded as soon as the door shut.

"No, no. Dimitri really is sweetie. My head hurts. Help me?"

She sighed. "Fine, fine. You know, that group…"

"-Is sadistic and crazy and weird, I know. Stop warning me away from guys. I know, I just don’t care. Personality doesn’t matter for one night stands, just size and how they use it."

"One, I cannot believe you just said that. Gross. Two, I’m not disagreeing with crazy and weird, but they seemed nice. Even the crazy blonde, once Rick got thrown out."

"Rick got thrown out?"

Cherie laughed. "On his ass. The bastard punched security. He was aiming for the crazy blonde, but he still hit security. So he’s officially banned."

Ezra’s eyes widened. "For how long?"

Cherie shrugged, still looking smug. "Indefinitely. He can still wait outside though," she warned.

Ezra shrugged. "Don’t give a shit. That’s what back doors are for. Amongst other things."

Cherie groaned. "Right. Anyway… what are you going to do about… them?" She waved her hand vaguely at the door.

Ezra shrugged. "Get a divorce and never see them again? I don’t do commitment, especially to like six men, and they’re not interested."

Cherie grinned. "Polygamy. No commitment needed. Anytime you get bored, bring home a new guy."

Ezra laughed. "Sure. Now, morphine? Or something?"

"Coming right up."

--

Rylan sighed and crossed his arms tugging Holly onto his lap and running a hand through the curly hair absently. "You should have said something."

Dimitri sighed. "How was I to know he would not? Besides, last I heard you were going to make him complete the paperwork. I would have thought you would have kept him locked in that hotel room until he finished. That is more in line with your usual behavior."

Rylan glared. "He seemed as eager to get out of this marriage as I was to get him out. And he seems the type to stall if pissed off."

Dimitri sighed. "Well, this is not a large problem. He seems fine and perfectly capable of filling out the paperwork he needs to."

Leo frowned. "It might be a bad idea to get a divorce at this point."

Malachi frowned at the small phooka, but it was Holly who spoke up. "Shove it, Bunny Boy. I’m not staying married to a slut."

"You’re just jealous because Dimitri hooked up with another guy."

Holly glared at him murderously, but Malachi took his hand and squeezed it. "I think we’re all jealous, no need for violence."

Leo stuck his tongue out and bounced over to settle onto Dimitri’s lap, mirroring Holly’s position on Rylan’s lap. "I mean we’re probably going to have the HFRC start an investigation really, really soon."

Dimitri, Rylan, Holly, and Malachi all turned to stare at him. "What?" Malachi finally asked.

Leo blinked at him. "Giovanni told me last night. We looked it up. Ten people or three humans and the HFRC can launch an official investigation."

"But Ezra’s a half-breed."

Leo shrugged. "Malachi and Giovanni aren’t and apparently Ezra’s birth certificate says he’s human."

Rylan actually paled. "Fuck."

"Why is that so bad?" Malachi demanded.

Dimitri answered. "The marriage is dissolved if we do not pass, you and Giovanni are no longer allowed in border lands, and we are deported to the land of faerie and are stuck there for at least a century and cannot marry another human ever, just as you two can never enter another marriage with a fae."

Malachi paled as well now, grip tightening on Holly’s hand. "That’s bad. But we’ll- we’ll pass, right?"

Rylan snorted. "Giovanni avoids everyone other than Leo. Just on that, we’d fail. Add in Dimitri’s issues with me and you, my issues with Dimitri, and Holly and Leo’s issues with each other, we would no longer be married within an hour."

"Fuck."

"When is the investigation going to begin?" Dimitri asked softly.

Leo shrugged. "I dunno. He couldn’t tell. Soon though, he thinks."

"Fu-uck," Rylan said, dragging the word out.

"Fuck pretty much covers it," Holly muttered, letting his head fall back onto Rylan’s shoulder.

The blonde nurse that had been in Ezra’s room slid out into the waiting room. "He’s asleep and will probably be out for awhile. You can stay the night, if you want, but you‘ll have to stay in his room. Or you can go home and come back tomorrow."

Holly fidgeted under the stare she directed at all of them. "What?" he snapped.

The nurse shrugged. "Nothing."

"I’ll stay," Dimitri said softly.

Holly glared at him. "Don’t you dare," he hissed.

Dimitri looked away.

"I’ll stay," Leo said cheerfully, tugging on one of his ears.

Cherie smiled at him. "Are those real?"

Leo tilted his head to the side. "Yes."

"Can I touch them?"

Leo grinned at her and nodded.

She ruffled a hand over the ears. "So-oft," she said grinning. "Okay, you can stay. Come on."

He bounced up and kissed Rylan on the nose and Dimitri on the cheek. "I’m not mad at you anymore." He turned and nearly skipped down the hallway.

Dimitri blinked after him, one hand going to his cheek.

Holly glared. "Well, I’m still mad at you."

Dimitri looked away.

--

Leo settled down on the chair next to Ezra’s bed and propped his feet up on it. He looked down at the man. He was asleep, probably very deeply, judging by the even, slow beep of the heart monitor.

His eyes were closed, no movement at all, not even his pupils moving underneath his eyelids. Leo reached a hand out, half-believing he was dead, he was so still. But his skin was warm and soft to the touch.

When Leo’s fingers brushed against Ezra’s face, the man turned his face into the soft touch, lips parting slightly.

Leo quickly withdrew his hand. "Slut," he mumbled half-heartedly.

Ezra didn’t respond, not that Leo had expected him too. He certainly hadn’t responded to it much on first meeting.

Gazing down at him, Leo could tell why Dimitri had gone home with him. He was pretty in a way and he was probably pretty sexy when dancing. Men who spent all their times clubbing usually were.

The piercing seemed to emphasize the soft contours of his face rather than making it harsher as it should have. His long, colorful hair seemed to exist just to make his skin look so pale it nearly glowed and his eyes and the long lashes around them look darker.

Leo bit down hard on his lip. "Still a slut," he muttered, disgruntled.