Holly started awake. It took him a moment to realize why. He was alone in his bed, a rare occasion. He slept nearly every night with Dimitri. Sure, he sometimes stayed a couple hours in the others’ rooms, but he almost always slept with Dimitri. Leo was almost always in Giovanni’s room, Rylan didn’t like to sleep with other people, and Malachi had a habit of passing out in random places so it worked out. But he was mad at Dimitri and he couldn’t put that on hold just so he could spend the night with the man. He did try not to send mixed signals, especially with Dimitri who would always assume the worst. No, if he wasn’t mad, he wanted Dimitri to know that, just as he wanted him to know when he really was angry.

He sighed. He really wasn’t angry right now. Mostly hurt and jealous. He could ignore the little one night stand with Ezra, and he would be able to deal with Dimitri sleeping with Rylan and Malachi, but Leo. Holly didn’t like him. He was too happy-go-lucky and he hated Holly. Holly didn’t like it when people hated him. He made a point of hating them back, in fact. Rylan could get away with fucking him; they had been doing that when Holly met them. And Malachi was relaxed, probably the most go-with-the-flow of the group and Holly pretty much expected him to be with everyone in time; he was just that type of person who liked everyone. But Leo was an annoying bitch.

He growled and sat up from bed, yanking on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. But Dimitri loved him. As did Rylan and even Malachi. Not to mention the little untouchable seer. Rylan could be blinded by a pretty face and pair of cute ears, as Malachi could. Dimitri was kind of clueless when it came to intimate matters. That left the seer.

He stalked across the house and up the stairs but as he reached the attic door, he took a deep breath and dampened the heat around him before tapping twice on the door and attempting to smooth his wild curls.

Giovanni opened the door, looking through and frowning slightly. "Can I help you?"

Holly nodded, trying to look non-threatening. "I want to talk to you about Leo."

"Oh." Giovanni said, blinking. "Why?"

Holly shifted from foot to foot. "You’re sure we’re going to get investigated?"

Giovanni nodded. "I don’t know when though," he warned.

Holly shrugged. "He said soon."

"Within a year," Giovanni said softly.

Holly took a deep breath. "I don’t like Leo," he said bluntly. "You do."

"So?"

"Could you… explain? I don’t want to fail an investigation."

"Oh," Giovanni said softly. "Come in." He opened the door wider.

--

Ezra blinked at Leo. The man was curled up in one of the uncomfortable hospital chairs, legs on top of Ezra’s, asleep. It looked really uncomfortable. His neck was at an odd angle and the arm was digging into his back.

"Leo," he said, warily drawing his legs away from the man, remembering his first and only meeting with the man. Mercurial was an understatement.

The phooka mumbled something and shifted his weight. He fell out of the chair.

Ezra stifled a laugh as the man shot back up, red eyes huge.

"Wha?"

"You fell."

Leo blinked at him before rubbing his eyes and yawning widely. "’Kay." He dropped back down on the chair, trying to get comfortable. "Are you better now?"

Ezra grinned. "Peachy keen," he said cheerfully, sitting up in the bed. "In fact, I want to go." He hit the button next to his bed and a moment later, a nurse showed up. It wasn’t Cherie, but Ezra recognized her vaguely; he spent a lot of time here. "Hey, Rose, right? Can I get my bag?"

She nodded and grinned at him. "Cherie took your clothes home and washed them and apparently your ex decided you weren’t living right because he left an envelope full of cash for you on the condition you actually read the note he left with it."

Ezra rolled his eyes. "I always do."

She disappeared.

Leo eyed him curiously. "Why is he leaving you money?"

"Who, Rick?" He didn’t wait for an answer. "Our divorce wasn’t exactly completely consensual."

"What?"

"He didn’t want to get a divorce."

"Why did you?"

"I don’t want to talk to about it," he said flatly.

Leo leaned forward. "Please tell me."

"It’s none of your business."

"Please?"

"No."

The nurse came back in. Leo quickly shut his mouth, but as soon as she handed Ezra his bag, she disappeared out the door and Leo started talking again.

"You can’t just tell me?"

"No."

"Please? I want to know. I promise I won‘t tell anyone."

"I’m going to change now." Ezra pulled off the hospital gown, keeping his lower body under the covers.

Leo didn’t turn away. "Nice piercings."

Ezra brushed a finger along the blue belly button ring. One of his nipples had a matching ring through it. "Thanks," he mumbled, pulling on a shirt and tugging his pants under the covers.

Leo looked at his lap with interest. "Have any more piercings?"

Ezra stared at him for a moment before grinning. "Are you asking if I got my dick pierced?"

Leo nodded. "You have a lot of others…"

Ezra grinned and shook his head. "Nuh-uh. Too painful. Although this one time," he started, wiggling his jeans on. "I hooked up with this guy from this club called… Well, I don’t remember. Anyways, he was this huge guy, covered in tattoos and piercing. He had pierced his cock twice. God." He shuddered.

Leo giggled and leaned forward, fascinated. "What’d it feel like?"

Ezra grinned and got up from the bed, ignoring the way the world spun. When Leo bounced up, he took his arm. "Well…"

--

Ezra followed Leo back into the giant house, back very tense. They had gone out of the hospital through the back, Leo humming the Mission Impossible song the entire way. They had taken a cab back to the family’s mansion; Ezra keeping silent, happy Leo just assumed he would be welcome. It seemed unlikely he would get slammed into a wall again, but even if he was, he had a place to say where it seemed likely Rick would also get slammed into a wall if he visited. And there were showers. Good stuff.

"Hi! We’re home!" Leo shouted as soon as the door swung open under his hands.

Ezra smiled wryly. It had been quite awhile since he had a home. Too bad this was temporary. And with two or more people who seriously disliked him.

"You’re supposed to stay at the hospital with the slut!" Someone called back. Ezra guessed Rylan.

Leo glanced at him, looking a little anxious. "Sorry, Rylan’s still…"

Ezra rolled his eyes. "An ass? No worries."

Said man appeared at the top of the stairs. Ezra’s mind blanked and in the back of his mind, he felt his jaw drop, but he couldn’t seem to do anything about it. Rylan was shirtless. And the temper and strength hidden by his pretty face was definitely present in his body. He wasn’t bulky, but every muscle was toned to perfection.

And his stomach. Ezra was hit hard with a sudden urge to kneel in front of the man and lick his stomach. He shuddered at the thought of his tongue dipping into every ridge and chasm of his cobblestone abs. He always had a fetish for them.

He shook his head, but the urge stuck with him.

He firmly turned his gaze, and his focus, from Rylan’s body to his eyes. They were vaguely surprised rather than angry for once.

"Why’s he here?"

Ezra rolled his eyes, but allowed Leo to answer.

"He’s feeling better."

Rylan eyed him. "Haven’t you been to the hospital twice in less than a week, unconscious for about two days, and heavily medicated since you woke up?"

Ezra shrugged. "I’ll be fine. You want the divorce finished quickly, don’t you? Just get me a pen and I’ll finish the paperwork today."

Leo glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes, teeth nibbling at his lower lip. "About that…"

"We decided a divorce would be a bad idea right now," Rylan cut in, voice sharp. "We’re just all going to have to deal with you for awhile. I’ll try not to strangle you again." The glare that accompanied his words made the statement a threat.

"You can’t stop me from the completing the paperwork," Ezra said, glaring. "And you can’t keep me here, either," he tacked on for good measure, in case that came up next.

"Actually, yes, we can," Rylan said, looking satisfied. His voice was nearly a purr as he continued. "Fae marriages are different than human marriages."

Ezra scoffed. "No shit, Sherlock. Polygamy isn’t allowed among humans."

Rylan nodded, still looking smug. "And there are other differences as well. Did you know, among the high court fae, that marriage is usually more of an alliance or business transaction?"

Ezra rolled his eyes. "Like you and Dimitri. Arranged, got it. But we’ve already established I can get divorced even if you two can’t without dissolving the little treaty between your families."

"Oh, that’s not the only consequence of our kind of marriage. One is also superior, dominant, more of an owner than a partner. Guess who took the submissive status in your little marriage?"

Ezra paled. "There’s no way I-"

"Oh yes. There’s no doubt. Dimitri can’t sign off in that role because of his bloodlines and prior marriage to me. If you didn’t sign off, no chapel would have married you to him no matter how uncouth."

"We probably just used a different ceremony," Ezra said desperately. "I mean, I’ve never even heard-"

"All places that marry people in this lovely border town of ours know of the rule. And Dimitri is impossible to pass off as anything other than exactly what he is. He owns you. And by extension, so do the rest of us. You can’t disobey any of us."

Ezra glared, vision beginning to go in and out again. "Even if that is true, which I still doubt, that’s legality. You may be able to stop a divorce, but you can’t keep me here."

Rylan smirked. "Oh, I think I- we- can," he purred. "I can chain you to the kitchen table if I want and no one can stop me."

"Kinky," Ezra spat weakly. "Go to hell." He whirled around, yanking his arm out of Leo’s grip and storming out of the house, hands twisting the strap of his messenger bag angrily. He was tugging open the front door when he collapsed, blacking out when he hit the floor.

He awoke to a cool hand on his face. He forced his eyes open, glaring when Dimitri’s face finally focused in front of him. "I want to go back to the hospital," he spat. He could sneak around this group as easily as he did Rick. Cherie wouldn’t leave him alone with any of them if he told her about Rylan strangling him.

Dimitri sighed. "You’ll be safe here," he said softly. "And comfortable. You just need to stay here a couple months…"

"No!" Ezra said, shooting up and glaring at Dimitri, ignoring the rest of the men gathered in the room. "I don’t want to and you can’t make me." He winced a little at how childish that sounded but forged on. "I need to go to the hospital."

"You’re fine."

Ezra turned his glare on Rylan. "I just fainted," he pointed out. "And as you said I’ve been pretty sick lately. I left too soon."

"I agree. He’s sick."

Ezra curbed a snort. Holly just didn’t want him here.

"You just said you were fine ten minutes ago. And you only passed out for five minutes."

Ezra crossed his arms. "And when was the last time you passed out?"

"I never have, but it seems like it is pretty normal for you," Rylan drawled.

Ezra rose quickly, shooting out of his bed. "I want my bag. I’m going to the hospital." He glanced down at himself. "My shirt would be nice too."

Holly grinned. "If you’ll just come with me."

Rylan grabbed Holly’s arm. "Don’t you dare. He needs to stay here."

Holly rolled his eyes. "Better the HRFC sees him safe in the hospital. It’s not like it’s our fault."

Rylan rolled his eyes. "And when they see he came home with Leo and then went back?"

As they continued to argue, Dimitri gently pushed him back down and perched next to him. "I would prefer you to stay, but if you want me to take you back to the hospital, I will."

Ezra blinked. "Can you do that? I mean, is what Rylan said true?"

Dimitri sighed. "About what? I imagine he said quite a bit."

"About fae marriage being ownership."

Leo grinned at him, turning away from Rylan and Holly‘s shouting match. "It is, legally, but we don’t do it."

"Don’t roll like ‘dat?" Ezra said with a wry grin. It vanished quickly though. "Rylan does."

Dimitri sighed heavily. "He can’t keep you here."

Rylan whirled around, glaring at Dimitri. "Don’t you dare," he hissed.

Dimitri’s shoulders hunched, lips tightening, but it was barely perceptible and Ezra was fairly sure he was the only one who noticed. He turned towards the blonde. "We can’t make him stay here," he said softly. "It’s not right."

Rylan glowered at him, before whirling on his heel. "I need to talk to you," he hissed. "In private."

Dimitri rose slowly and followed him out of the room sedately.

The four men remaining watched them leave, looking confused.

It was Ezra who broke the silence. "So who’s the boss with those two?"

Holly and Malachi glanced at each other. Leo answered.

"Dunno. It never really came up. Until now."

Ezra snorted. "Fun stuff." He sat up, slower this time, before sliding his legs off the bed and standing slowly, keeping one hand on the headboard. "Where is my bag?"

Leo looked at him, once again nibbling on his lower lip. "You really shouldn’t be moving around."

Ezra grinned without humor. "Probably not," he agreed easily. "Now where’s my bag?"

Malachi sighed. "Lay back down."

"I’m gonna go with ‘no.’ Where’s my bag?"

Holly smirked at him and turned around, heading out of the room. "I’ll show you where they are."

Ezra grinned widely and followed, easily catching up to the sauntering elemental. It was nice having someone who hated him and wanted him to go away. So much easier.

Holly led him through a long twisting hallway to a small room. He bent down and scooped up Ezra’s bag before tossing it to him. "Your shirt’s downstairs. You were overheated and Dimitri was worried." His jaw was clenched.

"Ooh, your honeybun’s worried about a random slut. That must have been hard to admit."

Holly glowered at him, the temperature in the room rising. His hands clenched, curling into fists.

Ezra just grinned and left it that. Frankly, he was a little surprised the guy hadn’t smacked him; he seemed like he had no self-control. He turned and left, leaving the elemental alone. He ambled down the hallway, sneaking past the room where he hear Rylan’s raised voice emanating from, ignoring the words, and walked out the front door.

Unfortunately, Rick was waiting for him. He was lounging against the outside wall, off their property so no one could call the cops on anything but loitering, but in a position where Ezra couldn’t get past him- he was blocking the gate.

Ezra sighed and slumped a little. Current husbands or ex-husband? Equal chance of getting beat up, but there was only one of Rick and six of the others and he was human as well. He wasn’t as strong so couldn’t do as much damage as Rylan or Holly.

"Hi, Rick. Please move."

Rick smiled at him, dimples flashing. "Did you read my note?"

Ezra sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Haven’t had time, luv."

Rick frowned.

"Oh, relax. I was planning on reading it eventually."

Rick just continued to frown. Ezra rolled his eyes and tugged on Rick’s cheek, forcing his mouth to stretch into a semblance of a smile. "Smile, I could have said ‘no, never, fuck off.’"

Rick glared at him. "Why do you have to be like that?"

"Why do you have to sound like a chick from a reality show?" Ezra countered easily, shoving past Rick. For a moment, they were chest to chest and eye to eye. Close enough to kiss. But Ezra kept moving and the moment passed. He shouldered his bag and began heading down the street, towards downtown and the hospital, past Rick‘s waiting car.

Rick grabbed his arm. "Come on, kitten. Lunch, that’s all I want."

Ezra’s stomach growled on cue. "Lunch, that’s all," he acquiesced.

Rick smiled at him and opened the door of his car for Ezra.

--

Holly smirked at the sound of the front door. Free of the slut. Thank God.

He happily considered waiting, just so he could see Rylan and Dimitri’s reactions and the aftermath of their argument- one of the first he had ever witnessed the two having. But, he decided it would probably be a better idea to make himself scarce for awhile. And what better place than the attic with the seer? Rylan never terrorized the man and Dimitri and Malachi both left him alone as well. Only Leo ever went up there and he would probably help Rylan look for Holly so he could see him get yelled at. Brat.

He happily smoothed his wild curls before running up to the attic, taking the winding staircase two at a time. He knocked twice on the door, waiting for the soft, "Come in," before entering. Giovanni had to be the only one in the house that he didn’t just barge in on.

The slender human was curled up on his bed around a cup of tea and a book. When he glanced up and saw Holly for the second time that day, he put his tea down and hurriedly sat up, one hand going to his mussed hair.

Holly grinned and perched on one of the overstuffed armchairs. "Relax, I think it’s cute."

Giovanni flushed, but his hands dropped to pick at the comforter. "I thought we were done?" A slight lilt at the end made it a question.

Holly grinned. "Naw, I still can’t see what y’all see in Leo. I just got distracted by the yelling."

"What happened?"

"Leo brought Ezra back, but then Rylan pissed him off and he stormed off again." He knew he sounded smug and far happier about that then he should, but he didn’t care.

Giovanni sighed. "Isn’t it better for him to be around? For the Human-Fae.. Uh…."

"Relations Committee," Holly finished. "And not if he doesn’t want to be here. Chaining him to a table is a bad idea. I actually looked at the website. Everyone should be happy and together, but it’s better to have discord than shows of force’. And I quote."

Giovanni smiled consciously. "You looked at their website?"

Holly rolled his eyes and nodded. "Ninety-nine percent useless balderdash, but some of it looked like it would be helpful. Probably should have mentioned that."

Giovanni covered is mouth to hide a grin. "Probably," he agreed. "But Ezra was a one night stand. How does the HRFC look upon that?"

Holly once again rolled his eyes. "You know the HRFC is basically a bunch of racist- actually specist maybe? Fae aren’t considered a race…" He shook his head. "Sorry. Humans who hate fae. That’s what the HRFC is. They have to allow us our culture and part of that is homosexual marriage and polygamy, but they don’t like it."

"I know that. I was asking about one night stands."

"Cheating or adultery, I imagine. They mention things like that. If how me and Dimitri met comes up- and how I met everyone else for that matter, that’s a problem too, although we’re both fae so it doesn’t matter too much to them. The effect on you will probably come up and how you felt about… well, everything."

Giovanni stayed silent.

Holly glanced at him. "How do you feel about everything that happened? I mean, it couldn’t have pleasant for you when you’re husband of.. However many years started dating another guy."

Giovanni looked down.

Holly sighed. "Look, I nearly killed Dimitri when I found he was already married. And to three guys no less." He blinked. "Huh, don’t know if you knew that, but everyone else does. Me and Dimitri dated for a year and a half before we got married and he took me home," he said matter-of-factly, his intense stare belying the flippant tone.

Giovanni just nodded. "I knew."

"Vision or Leo?"

Giovanni smiled slightly. "Both. Vision was first though. Before you even met."

Holly raised his eyebrows. "Cool. But really, when Leo showed up with Rylan, what did you think?"

Giovanni sighed. "You’re not going to let that go, are you?"

"Nope," Holly said.

Giovanni sighed. "Just like Leo." He didn’t wait for Holly’s sharp retort. "He talked to me first, told me about a fae man he had met in the subway that had demanded his phone number. He said he wouldn’t do anything if I didn’t want him to."

"You okayed it?"

Giovanni sighed. "Yes. I wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t?"

Holly reached a hand out and rested it on Giovanni’s knee companionably. "You would have never met me and your existence would be a black hole of misery."

Giovanni smiled at him and opened his mouth to say more when the sound of feet on the stairs sounded. Giovanni froze and Holly quickly withdrew his hand feeling inexplicably guilty. "I’ll come back later."

Giovanni nodded and paused for a moment before leaning forward and pecking him on the cheek. "Thank you," he said softly.

Holly froze for a second, but quickly recovered, smiling widely at Giovanni. "I don’t want to lose my boys any more than you want to lose Leo."

He left quickly, sticking his tongue out at Leo as they passed on the stairway.

Leo just stared at him, red eyes wide.

When he opened the door to Giovanni’s room, he instantly asked, "What was he doing here?"

"Nothing," Giovanni said. When Leo kept looking at him, he tacked on, "Double checking the HRFC investigation thing."

Leo snorted. "He can’t just trust me," he muttered.

Giovanni ignored it and scooted over on the bed, giving Leo room to snuggle up with him.

--

Ezra looked at Rick from under his eyelashes, eyeing the man. He hadn’t seen him for awhile, but he hadn’t changed. He looked the same as he had for years. Ezra knew he had changed, especially in the last year and could feel Rick‘s eyes on him taking in the new lip piercing and longer hair, the scruff that was starting to shadow his jaw, and his now too-sharp bones.

But Rick was the same. His face was still square and sharp edged, his hair cut short and styled in a typical young exec cut. There were the beginnings of crow’s feet at the corner of his eyes, but they were barely there and just made him look experienced. He was still hot. It didn’t matter what he did to him, Ezra knew he would always be attracted.

Rick smiled at him and leaned forward. "You have rice on your chin." He kept leaning forward.

Ezra sighed and let his eyes slip shut. This was easier. They wouldn’t stay married to him, not when he was fucking other guys and Rick… was comfortable. When Rick kissed him, he parted his lips and leaned towards the stocky man.