(This is the second update for this weekend. Make sure to read the previous one first.) 

Ru unconsciously reached to the side as he awoke, his hand evidently expecting to find something beneath the blankets. When it returned without having touched a thing, he slowly opened his eyes. 

"Ash...?" 

It took him a minute to process the situation before him, but not because of anything bad. Ash was actually not beside him, or even in the room at all. 

What was beside him, however, was pretty freaking cute.  

"Hey there, big guy," Ru said as he reached his arms up out from beneath four blankets and grabbed the big stuffed pink dragon. 

It looked a bit worn from age, but it was still clearly very well taken care of. Grinning, Ru checked the little dog tag that was fastened around its neck with a collar. 

"Ashy, huh? Is your daddy a big dragon just like you?" he asked with a light chuckle to his words as he hugged the soft animal to his chest. 

He was just about to drift back off to sleep for a little longer when his nose caught the scent of something. 

Oh? 

Pushing himself up slowly, he realized that it was only a tiny bit cool in the room as the blankets fell away from his body. 

Oh, he'd gotten the fireplace going. 

He paused for a moment, then felt his face warm. 

He must have started it the other night while I was asleep, too. 

Pushing those thoughts to the side for the moment, Ru looked toward an item he hadn't noticed previously. 

Is that...?

Scooting closer with his new dragon friend firmly held against his chest with one arm, Ru moved until he was at the edge of the bed. 

"You stay here for a moment and be good, okay?" he told the big stuffed animal as he settled it on one of the many pillows, then turned his attention toward the large metal item sitting on the nightstand. 

Reaching over, he picked up the warm tray and brought it over to settle atop his lap. 

He did not...

Of course, he knew that he, in fact, had, but it felt so surreal as he grabbed the little knob on top of the lid and lifted it up to reveal a freshly made, piping hot, breakfast. 

He was completely speechless. 

Oh?

A little white card that must have fallen from the tray caught his attention next to his thigh, making Ru quickly pick it up and read the front. 

Everything is completely gluten free, babe. Even the pancakes! Enjoy :) 

I... I think I might cry. 

He'd never had breakfast waiting for him when he'd woken up before. Not even when he'd been dating or living with other people. And definitely not in bed. 

Ash had also outdone himself on the food, too. There wasn't just an omelet and some bacon, but also pancakes, potatoes, fruit, and even biscuits!

He really made all of this without regular flour? 

He had to have done it all from scratch, then. 

Damn. 

With a shaky hand Ru picked up the fork on the side of the tray and after adding a little packet of syrup Ash had left for him, he carefully cut a piece off from the pancake, then lifted it to his mouth. 

Oh my gosh. 

Not only did it taste amazing, but it didn't have the gritty texture he'd come to associate with gluten free bread products. 

God, I'm totally drooling. 

He quickly grabbed one of the napkins on the tray to tap at his mouth, then got busy on his meal. The entire time he ate he couldn't help but smile. Every single thing was absolutely amazing, and even though he got full pretty quickly, he refused to let a single bite go to waste. 

Ending the meal with the little glass of orange juice left for him, Ru groaned and set the tray aside, then flopped back down onto the blankets and grabbed dragon-Ash for a snuggle. 

"Your daddy is amazing, you know that, right?" 

The stuffed animal, of course, didn't respond, but that was fine. With a full belly he was more than happy to go back to sleep, and, in fact, he even grabbed his phone and put it on silent. 

My vacation, my rules. 

"Yo, Ash! Where were you Monday night? We always drink together. You went back to your room to change, but then didn't show up." 

Ah, about that. 

Wiping off some flour that had gotten onto his face, Ash looked over his shoulder at one of his line cooks he usually hung out with. 

"Sorry Uri, I got distracted," he said as he walked over to the sink to wash off the rest of the flour, not wanting to contaminate anything. 

"Distracted, huh? Does that new guy I saw you sniffing around have anything to do with it? He's pretty easy on the eyes, and I'm not even gay," Uri replied, making Ash scoff slightly. 

"So what if he does?" he replied as he turned around and walked over to a cutting station they had set up. 

They were running low on vegetables for their stir-fry brunch dish so he got busy cutting up a bunch as they continued their conversation. 

"It must be serious, hmm? You actually woke up an hour before prep was even scheduled to make him breakfast, and you even made him pancakes and biscuits from scratch. What was that, anyways? The buckwheat or something flour you bought a bit ago to try out?" 

Ash nodded. It had been a mixture, but the main ingredient had actually been chickpeas. It had taken him a couple of tries to get it right, but he was pretty comfortable with the final outcome. Heck, he'd even made two of the pancakes for himself for breakfast. 

"What question was that nod for, hmm? You got a new boyfriend finally? We've only been bugging you about it for two years now," Uri said with a light laugh.  

It wasn't that he hadn't wanted a boyfriend before, but his dragon was so picky with who entered its den that he'd just run out of stamina trying to get things to work. 

"It's difficult," he eventually said as he finished cutting the vegetables and moved the cutting board to the scrubbing sink. 

Their dishwasher grabbed it right away, leaving Ash free to go handle a few other things that needed done. 

"Is he in your room right now?" Uri asked after he finished making a large pan of scrambled eggs to refill the buffet. 

Ash nodded, though he wasn't one-hundred percent sure if Ru was still asleep. 

Maybe he's in the dining room with his friends right now, or even going out to the town. 

He paused as he was working on cooking more hash browns. 

I want to take him out on the town. 

It was a little ways away, but he had a car and could hold his hand if he got too cold. 

"Hey there, head chef? You're about to burn your potatoes," Uri said, snapping him back to attention and making him hurry to get the potatoes out of the pan before he ruined them!

Of course, the guys working around him just laughed at his slip-up, since the potatoes would only set them back a whole dollar, but he still disliked making mistakes. 

"Why don't you let us finish up? You already came in early and got everything ready while you were pampering your man. The rest is pretty easy." 

Ash was about to argue, since he was still scheduled for another three hours, but his entire kitchen staff didn't seem to mind. 

"I-I guess I can. There's really nothing else you guys need me for?" he asked, a little nervous about leaving early. 

"Nah, get outta here, boy. You clearly have something else on your mind," another, older worker said as he waved a spatula at him. 

Ash felt his face warming and quickly dismissed himself. To his surprise, Ru's friends were already eating breakfast, but his crow was nowhere to be seen. 

With an extra little excited skip to his steps, Ash hurried out of the dining hall, a smile quickly grow on his face. He stopped only long enough to greet his mother at the front desk before finally stepping into his room. 

Warm. 

The fire was doing a very good job. 

Quietly, since the lights were still dimmed, Ash slid off his shoes, then walked farther inside. What he saw when he approached the bed had to have been the most adorable thing he'd ever laid eyes on. 

My baby is snuggled up with my Ashy. 

It was a pretty well made stuffed animal that his mother had gotten him when he was around ten years old. It was also one of his most prized treasures and rarely came out of his horde room. 

I knew you'd like him. 

He'd found out that Ru was a big cuddler last night, as the man had woken him up twice just to try and get closer to him. It had been hard not to slip beneath the blankets and pull him into his arms, but he understood that Ru wanted some boundaries... and he would have overheated again if he'd done that. 

His dragon was also on the fence still, so he didn't want to push the situation too far too fast. 

He's so darn cute, though!

He might have stood there staring at his Ruru sleeping for a bit longer than he should have, but the man looked so adorable he couldn't manage to look away for nearly ten minutes!

What did finally catch his attention was the man's phone screen lighting up, drawing his eyes over to read the message even though he knew that it was rude. 

Ah, they want to take you into town, too. 

He wasn't surprised, but he was a tiny bit upset. 

I wanted to take you out...

Shaking off his frustration, because there really wasn't anything he could do about it at that moment, Ash turned and pulled a little set of keys from his back pocket. 

Walking up to the door on the far side of the room, he quietly unlocked it and stepped inside. 

The rush of adrenaline he always got when seeing his horde immediately had his one eye glowing bright red as his dragon peered through it. 

Not wanting to get too distracted, he simply checked the massive pile of jewelry, shiny rocks, and colored bits of glass, then quickly grabbed himself a change of clothing and stepped out, then locked the door again. 

Ru was still sleeping peacefully, making Ash smile as he took his things to the bathroom and gently closed the door most of the way. 

Time for a nice cold shower. 

It was his favorite thing to do each day, especially after spending most of his time in the hot kitchen. 

As soon as the cold water hit his body he sighed contently and turned his face into the spray. 

So nice. 

He got busy after a few moments of relaxing and easily cleaned his body and hair with an all-in-one soap. He was a very simple dragon and as long as it worked well enough, he was content with such a simple product. 

He was just about to turn off the water when his situation was made even better when he heard the sound of the door being nudged open. 

"Ash? Is it alright if I pee real quick? I really have to go..." 

Ash quickly turned to face the shower wall. 

"Of course. Go ahead." 

Ru hurried inside and quickly relieved himself with a content sigh, making Ash grin but stifle any kind of laughter. 

Hmm. I know his friends want to take him into town, but he also mentioned that they were just coworkers, too...

"Hey Ruru?"

He heard the guy turn the water on to wash his hands before he responded. 

"Yeah?"  

Okay, just say it. The worst he could say is no. 

"Wanna go into town with me today? It's pretty nice..." 

The water was turned off at the sink, but Ru didn't move or respond right away. 

Please. Please go out with me!

"My coworkers asked me to go with them..." 

Ash's heart sank in his chest. 

"But you know what? This is my vacation. The only deal was that I had to come. The rest is up to me." 

Ash swallowed down the lump of nerves that had grown in his throat as he turned to look at the shadowed outline that was standing just beyond the curtain. 

"If you don't mind switching me spots when you're done, I'd be glad to go out with you today." 

Ash immediately turned the water off and yanked the curtain back before jumping out!

"I'm done!" he exclaimed, beaming... and naked. 

Ru had the appropriate shocked expression on his face, but there was another emotion fighting for control as the man's eyes lowered to something that had clearly caught his attention. 

Oh... oops. 

Grabbing the towel hanging to his left, Ash quickly wrapped it around his waist, but the damage had clearly already been done... Ru was absolutely fixated on the diamond piercing he was now hiding beneath his towel!

Err...

"Ruru? I'm sorry I didn't mean to just jump out at you like that. I was just so surprised and excited," he said, trying to coax the man's attention back up to his face. 

It was obvious that he was trying to lift his gaze, but the feathers appearing in his hair proved that his bird was clearly fighting him on it. 

"Do you need to check it for your bird? I don't mind, if you're comfortable with it." 

He was already getting a bit hard, but there wasn't much he could do about that with Ru staring straight at it! 

He was just about to say something else to coax the man out of his daze when Ru suddenly dropped to his knees!

"R-Ruru?!" 

Ash had gotten so startled by the sudden action that he nearly swallowed his own tongue!

He watched in shocked silence as Ru lifted one hand straight toward his crotch, still seemingly in a daze. 

This... this isn't fair to Ruru. His bird is controlling him. 

And as much as he loved the view, and desperately wanted to be touched, he didn't want it to be like this. 

Being a responsible adult sucks sometimes. 

In a blur, he darted around Ru and grabbed the keys he'd left sitting on the sink before running out of the room! 

He had the door to his horde unlocked in two seconds and was grabbing for one of his favorite items. 

This should work as a distraction. 

 As soon as he turned around and stepped out of the room, Ru was there. Ash just-barely managed to close the door before the man could look inside, but thankfully Ru didn't seem interested in exploring the other area. His attention was now completely focused on what Ash was holding. 

"It's a pretty cool piece, right?" he said as he held it up for Ru to examine. 

The man gladly took the bait, and as he checked over the gorgeous black and white gems embedded within it his expression began to calm and the feathers in his hair receded. 

There we go. 

Since Ru was so engrossed in the little feather necklace, Ash took the opportunity to get dressed. By the time he was done and stepping back out of the bathroom, Ru had wandered over to sit on the bed. 

At his approach the man looked up, relief in his eyes and a cautious smile on his face. 

"Thank you for distracting him."

Ash grinned and leaned over to take the feather Ru was now offering back to him. Instead of returning it to his horde room, however, he simply took it, then reached up and leaned forward a bit in order to clasp the jewelry around his Ruru's neck. 

Once done he leaned back and examined the man, surprised expression and all. 

"I've never actually worn that, and since you're a pretty crow, I think I'll let you borrow it, hmm?" 

Ru looked like he wanted to decline, but he also couldn't stop himself from continuously looking back and forth between the necklace and Ash. 

"I... u-um, thank you. I'll just borrow it for today," he stuttered out before standing up. 

He's blushing. 

He didn't know how Ru hadn't been eaten up by someone else yet. The guy was absolutely adorable, even for a top. 

I wanna kiss him so bad. 

But he didn't. Because it wasn't appropriate yet. 

Instead, he lifted one hand and settled it atop Ru's hair. 

"Will my Ruru dress up again today? You looked really handsome last night..." 

That seemed to allow the man to brush away his remaining nerves, because he immediately straightened and gave him a too-serious nod. 

"Of course! I always take pride in my appearance," he said before hurrying off to the bathroom. 

A minute later and the shower was back on. 

And another minute after that, Ash was quietly setting the man's suitcase in the bathroom... since he'd completely forgotten to grab himself some clothing. 

 He then walked over to the bed and promptly fell into it before grabbing his Ashy dragon and hugging it to his chest. 

You smell like Ruru's light citrus cologne... I want to smell like it, too.