How... how can someone live like this? 

Ru's hand was shaking as he stared down at the bottle of all-in-one shampoo, conditioner, and body wash! 

His feathers were ruffled. No, not just ruffled, actually, but literally sprouting from his shoulders and hair! His crow couldn't comprehend how Ash could look so good with such a simple, basic product!

It immediately began filling his head with images of all of the things he needed to buy for their man. The scent, at least, could stay, but there were quite a few great paraben and sulfate free hair products that would work really well. 

As far as body wash went, he liked the ones that had a less oily base but still cleaned well. There were plenty of those on the market, so there was really no need to have it added to your hair care product!

Oli's would work for body wash... or Blue Leaf. 

He thought about the man's skin and how soft it had been when he'd touched him. 

He probably doesn't need anything special. Just something with good ingredients. 

As he considered that topic for a bit longer as he stood beneath the spray of water, his mind began to imagine the man using the products he wanted to suggest.    

He watched intently as his mind created image after image, first of the hair care products, then the body wash. Unfortunately for his willpower, he'd already seen the guy completely naked. At least from the front. So it wasn't hard to image his body sopping wet and covered in suds. 

O-oh... oops.

His own body had evidently not minded the images, either, because his hand was already holding his aroused self. 

This really isn't the time. 

He was also uncomfortably loud when taking care of himself, and that was one embarrassment he'd rather not live through again. Thankfully he didn't squawk or anything like that, but he sure as hell made enough noise to have the neighbors questioning his actions. 

He was extremely glad that he'd managed to find a place on his own after finishing his master's degree. 

I can't jerk off right now, though. Not with him on the other side of the door!

His crow didn't seem to understand that bit of information, though. Or, more than likely, didn't care. 

In fact, it immediately brought up the most interesting piece of jewelry it had seen recently... along with the item it was attached to! 

 Damn bird!

He was supposed to be washing himself, not getting more dirty!

"Everything okay in there, Ruru?" 

Ru quickly lifted his arm to muffle the moan that was about to come out of it! He then hurriedly force himself to calm down enough to think straight, then released his arm in order to clear his voice. 

"Y-yeah, I'm good," he replied as steadily as he could. 

As he spoke, Ru reached up and grabbed one of the shower knobs, intent on turning it to cold. 

"I'm going to go make us some snacks for our trip. I'll be back in about twenty minutes," Ash said. 

Twenty minutes, Jesus. 

"Okay, take your time," was Ru's response. 

He counted down a full minute after that before redirecting his hand back down between his legs. It didn't take him long before the images that had previously flowed freely through his mind returned... and easily got him off. Hell, just thinking about that gorgeous man beneath him had been nearly enough on its own. 

Within ten minutes he had relieved his body's need, then scrubbed up again and rinsed off. By the time he heard the door to their room open and close again he was standing in front of the mirror with his toothbrush in his hand a mouth full of minty paste. 

He turned to look as the bathroom door was gently nudged open a bit more. 

"I just made some honey pecan granola and bagged up some of the dehydrated fruit and jerky I made earlier this week to bring with us," Ash said as he looked straight at him with a wide smile and two small bags in his arms. 

Having fun staring at me while I'm half naked? 

He knew that the answer to his question was an obvious yes, but he wasn't going to bother calling Ash out on it. Especially since he'd just used thoughts of the guy to jerk off in his shower. 

"What happened here?" Ash asked as he suddenly appeared beside him and gently grasped his arm in order to lift it slightly. 

Oh crap, I forgot I bit it earlier when trying to keep quiet. 

He tried to tug it away, but Ash's fingers tightened just the slightest amount. He could still break free if he really wanted to, but decided not to bother yet. 

"Did you bite yourself, Ru?" 

The moment Ash's worried eyes lifted back up to his Ru felt his face burn with embarrassment. Before he could figure out a response that didn't sound terrible, Ash was reaching up into the medicine cabinet behind the mirror and taking down a few things. 

And just like that, the guy was cleaning his slightly-bleeding wound, then adding an antiseptic, before finally wrapping a small bandage around it. 

"I left as soon as I realized you wanted me to," Ash said as he finally looked back up at him, but didn't release his hold on his arm yet. 

I... what? 

"If you want to jerk off, just tell me and I'll go find something to do for a bit. Or..." 

Or? 

Ash looked down for a moment as he rubbed his thumb over the soft bandage he'd applied before looking back up. 

"Or if you would like my assistance in any way, I would be more than happy to help."

Ru couldn't speak. It felt like there was a lump in his throat, refusing to let any kind of sound through. And the only thing he could really hear after the man finished speaking was his own heartbeat thumping between his ears!

"Mm, hey Ru?" 

His mind quickly snapped back to itself as he heard those few words. 

"U-um, yeah?" he asked as his heart hammered against his ribs. 

Ash licked his lips and took a tiny step back, giving him some much-needed space. 

"If I kiss you... is it okay?" 

A thousand things suddenly all burst into Ru's mind at once, and a good chunk of them were quite perverted and unprofessional! There was one thing that seemed to push itself to the top of his thought process, though, so that was what his mind focused on right then. And those words were...? 

Damn this guy moves fast!

But then again, he had just jerked off in his shower...

And he was on vacation to have a good time...

Fuck it. 

Closing the miniscule distance between their bodies, Ru reached up and pressed his right hand against the back of Ash's. The man needed no other signal. He immediately moved forward, meeting Ru's body as his arm wrapped around his waist, holding him comfortably close. 

The man's mouth tasted surprisingly-sweet, but also quite minty. 

Wait a second...

He'd forgotten to rinse all of the toothpaste out of his mouth! 

With a gentle nudge to his bare chest, Ru easily managed to relay that he needed the kiss to stop. 

Ash seemed hesitant, but he retreated after a few more moments. He looked utterly confused and a little worried, like he'd possibly messed something up already, but Ru didn't leave him too long to stress. 

Quickly turning back to face the sink, he turned the water on and leaned over, rinsing his mouth a few times before straightening back up and turning the spigot off again. 

The second the water stopped he was being tugged back into Ash's arms. This time their kiss was much more pleasant, and Ru didn't wait long before his tongue was seeking out that gorgeous orb pierced into Ash's. 

The man seemed to be reading his mind, and wanting to tease him, however, because he did everything possible to keep that little jewel out of his tongue's reach!

He was just getting Ash backed up against the sink, having maneuvered him a bit as he tried to fight for his tongue, but everything immediately came to a holt when he felt Ash's fingers sift into his hair, then yank... hard. 

He didn't mean to, but the sudden pain of his feathers being pulled out had Ru biting both their tongues as he fumbled backwards out of Ash's arms. 

Ow. Ow ow ow...!

Tears quickly began to slide down his cheeks as he sniffled and gently rubbed at his aching head. 

"R-Ru? What happened? Did I hurt you?"

Ash sounded like he was panicking, and he honestly couldn't blame him. 

I should have told him about my hair before we started. 

He knew that a lot of people loved to tug on hair, and he was no exception. Well, except that his was off limits. 

Sniffling, Ru quickly tried to wipe at the tears staining his face as he looked back up at the other man. 

"It's not your fault. I'm sorry I forgot to tell you," he said, trying to keep his voice steady as his head continued to pound, a migraine likely on the way. 

Ash took his free hand after a moment and led him over to sit on the bed, then dropped down beside him. 

"Babe, is your hair extremely sensitive? Is that what hurt you?" he asked, clearly wanting to figure out his mistake so that it didn't happen again. 

Ru sniffled again and gave a small nod. 

"It's something that was caused by some mean kids when I was younger. They caught my bird one day during recess and plucked most of his feathers out before the teacher had noticed..." 

Ash's eyes widened with a mixture of anger and understanding. 

"Is that why you often have feathers in your hair?" he asked, putting together the puzzle pieces now that he had the whole picture. 

Ru nodded again, then finally straightened up a bit. 

"Yeah. They never grew back in correctly since I couldn't stay as a bird until they healed, so now my human form sometimes has feathers show up on my shoulders or in my hair."

Ash began to look intrigued as he carefully reached up and brushed his fingers over Ru's shoulder. 

"I'm sorry that happened to you, but I can't say that they aren't really pretty. Even on your human form." 

Ru glanced down to where the man was touching and blushed. There were little black feathers covering a small portion of his left shoulder. 

He was normally embarrassed about the ones that sprouted on his human skin, but the way Ash was looking at him with his calm, interested smile made his nervous heart relax a little. 

"You... really like them?" 

He'd had a few partners who didn't mind his feathers, but none had actually liked them or intentionally reached out to touch them. 

Heck, quite a few people he'd tried to date had been rather put off by their simple inability to pull his hair. 

"I love them! The feathers in your hair I've noticed before, but the ones on your shoulder are really cute, too!" 

...cute. 

That hadn't exactly been a description he'd wanted to hear, but he decided to brush it off with a smile, because he'd been called much worse when it came to his oddly placed feathers. 

"Oh right, you gave me this really pretty feather necklace to hold onto. Let me give you something, too," he said as he lifted his left hand and gently slid off his spare diamond ring. 

While it was his spare one, it definitely wasn't cheap. He took care of every single item of jewelry he decided to purchase. 

Before Ash could respond Ru had grabbed hold of his left hand and gently spread his fingers with his thumb. 

He'd first intended to slip it onto his middle one, but after seeing a Band-Aid wrapped around part of it from a likely cut in the kitchen, he automatically switched to sliding his ring onto his fourth finger. 

"There. Now we have something from each other," he said with a grin. 

He thought that Ash would be happy to receive such a pretty ring, and the man did seem excited, but he also looked completely taken-aback, too. 

Is he blushing? 

Grinning, Ru leaned in a little closer as he gripped the man's fingers softly in his own. 

"Ashy, are you blushing for m—?!" His words were cut off abruptly with a kiss! 

It started out soft, but quickly grew in intensity until Ru found himself on his back with the towel that had been securely fastened around his waist just-barely covering his bits and a tiny portion of his left leg. 

Ash was leaning over him, panting just as hard with a feral look in his one brown and one red eye. 

His breath is so hot...

His mouth had also tasted unbelievably sweet, just like when they'd first kissed in the bathroom. 

I bet he was tasting that granola quite a bit as he made it. 

"What are you looking at?" he eventually asked as he poked at the man's bare chest lightly. 

It was a silent signal that he wasn't interested in being in the position he was in, but he wouldn't throw a fit about it just yet since the guy was leaning over him on his hands and knees instead of resting his body on top of him. 

Ash didn't seem to get the message as he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Ru's neck, then whispered against his warm skin. 

"A gorgeous crow I found sleeping in my bed one night that I can't seem to get out of my mind." 

Smooth brat. 

Hang on a second...

Reaching up, Ru gently nudged Ash's cheek until the man leaned away enough to meet his eyes. 

"You know my shift, but what is yours?" 

The man quickly looked away, appearing nervous as he opened his mouth, then closed it again without saying anything. 

"I'm just curious... and I won't ask you to shift. I just really like your cool eye color and was wondering what could possibly contribute it," Ru said, unsure if he should back away from the subject or not. 

Ash returned his full attention to him after a few more moments and actually appeared to blushing even harder now. 

"U-um, it's fine. I can tell you, uh..." Glancing around abruptly, Ash seemed to find what he was looking for and quickly grabbed Ashy from where Ru had left it settled on one of their pillows. 

The man then sat down, straddling Ru's lower abdomen and hugged the big stuffed dragon to his chest as he snuggled his nose into its soft pink fur. 

"This is what I am," he eventually said quietly, looking a little nervous as he partially hid behind the big stuffed animal. 

He's... so fucking cute.

Ru was just about to nod his head in acknowledgement that the guy sitting on top of him was, in fact, a dragon, but then he repeated the man's words in his head and hesitated. 

Dragon. 

Are there even such things as dragon shifters? 

He'd never heard of a single one!

"So... you're a... dragon?" he eventually managed to force out as he stared up at the still-shy man. 

Ash quickly nodded, making the stuffed animal's too-big head bob with the action, too. 

Okay, let's see...

"Can you breathe fire?" 

He couldn't not ask such a thing first! 

Ash nodded again, but then replied, "I can do it, but it hurts my throat if I'm in my human form." 

Ah, well that makes sense. 

Unlike their conversation. 

"Okay... is that why you're so hot all the time?" 

Ash lifted his head from behind his stuffed animal, a smirk on his face. 

"I'm just that hot naturally!" 

Dork. 

He was such a damn cute dork, though. 

"Alright, fine. So you're a dragon. That's actually pretty cool," Ru said as he pushed himself up until Ash was sitting in his lap, his stuffed animal squished between them a bit. 

"So then, my dragon. Were you still wanting to take this gorgeous crow out today, or are we planning to stay in now?" 

The light in Ash's eyes grew as dark as he figured his own were, but his mind was evidently a little less in the gutter than his own. Or, at least, he had better control over it. 

With the goofy smile Ru was beginning to grow quite attached to, Ash leaned forward and gave his lips one final quick peck, then leaned back and hopped off his lap as he said enthusiastically, "let's go out!" 

 My dragon... can't read a situation. At all. 

With an internal groan, Ru got himself up and got dressed, not even bothering to try and hide from Ash's eagerly-watching eyes. 

He could already tell that Ash was regretting his decision from the way he was staring, but oh well. He wasn't going to strip now that he was properly dressed and pulling on his shoes. 

In fact, he felt like having a bit of fun, himself. 

Straightening back up, Ru looked over at Ash, who hadn't moved a single muscle since Ru had started getting dressed. 

"Still wanting to come with me? Martin did ask if I wanted to go with them, and you don't seem quite rea—!" before he could finish his sentence Ash had tugged on a tank top and grabbed his hand, then tugged him right out the door after grabbing a set of keys hanging beside it! 

To his surprise, and slight humor, Martin and their other coworkers were standing outside their room, clearly ready to go, themselves. 

"Ah, hey Ruru!" Elijah called out as he waved them over... except, instead of even letting him walk over to greet them, Ash tightened his hold on Ru's hand a little and tugged him right past them with a bit of a grumbled growl. 

Ru didn't bother to fight him on it since he didn't really have much to say to the group. So instead, he simply lifted his free hand and waved to them before being tugged around the corner and out of sight.  

(Okay, I really need to go update something else XD)