(This book is going to be labeled Mature because of language and possible future scenes or jokes. Just a heads up.) 

He totally wasn't embarrassed, in the least, but judging from the fact that he now held a length of a rattlesnake in his hand instead of Fen's ass, the guy was. 

"Snaky, that was a hard block, man," he said as he nonchalantly draped the venomous reptile around his shoulders like a scarf. 

The sound of muffled laughter brought his attention back to Gin as he gave the guy a wink he couldn't quite hold back, then turned and leaned over to pick up Fen's clothing. He found the key card beneath it all, clearly having fallen out of his pocket. 

To get out of here or to stay...

"I have fish sticks and french fries in the oven if you'd like to stay for dinner...?" 

Why do you sound so fucking adorable when you're nervous? 

Turning, he hesitated for only one more moment before stepping off the elevator. It closed a few seconds later, leaving him feeling like a mouse trapped in a maze. 

"I promise I won't eat you," Gin said as he slid back from the table and walked around a long length of gray granite countertop to go check on the cooking food. 

Can you please? 

Pyre watched him move but was hesitant to really walk away from the elevator. 

I feel something cold feeling me down, and for once, I don't think it's a good thing. 

Looking down, Pyre let Fen's clothing fall from his hands as he watched the guy's massive snake begin making its way beneath his new hoodie. 

"Do you need me to get him? He doesn't do well with the cold... his heating vest probably ran its charge out a bit ago," Gin said as he hurried over, an over mitt with little cartoon snakes on it still settled on his left hand. 

Pyre lifted an eyebrow as he let the snake continue vanishing into his sweater. 

"You mean he didn't just shift because I grabbed his ass?" he asked, sounding a little disappointed. 

Gin tilted his head, clearly a bit surprised by the comment, but he seemed to remember who he was talking to and simply shook his head with a smile.

"I've missed you, Sparky." 

Pyre held back what he wanted to say, knowing that flirting with the guy wasn't going to change anything. He could mess with Fen... a little, but he didn't want to make Gin sad when he realizes that one day, he won't ever be coming back. 

"Enjoying yourself in there, Snaky?" he asked Fen instead of replying to Gin's words. 

He felt the snake's tail rattle where it was tucked against his lower back. 

"Oh yeah, he has several heated blankets around the house, if you would like to get him situated in one of them," Gin said as he turned and looked toward the blanket folded on the edge of the couch.

Pyre patted the thick lengths of snake wrapped around his middle and shrugged one shoulder. 

"I kind of like this look," he said as he walked forward anyway. 

He was enjoying messing with Fen, but if the guy truly was stuck in his snake form and had had no choice but to curl up beneath his sweatshirt to keep warm, he didn't think it was right to just keep him. 

Instead of reaching beneath his hoodie, he calmly tugged it up and over his head. He felt warm eyes on him immediately but fought himself not to turn around and tackle the man he always dreamed would be a fantastic teddy bear. 

Instead, he took a deep breath, then sighed it out as he turned on the large electric blanket, then partially unwrapped it before reaching for Fen. 

Uh, why aren't you letting me move you? 

"He can be a bit stubborn, especially if he's found something really warm," Gin said, stepping up next to him. 

I was really stubborn when I found you... you were really warm and I didn't want to let you go, either. 

But he'd been stubborn in a bad way, too. They could have found a way to communicate once Gin had moved, but he was hot-headed and refused to see anything beyond simple moments of pleasure or pain. And at that time, Gin had been too nervous to argue, if he'd even thought about it. 

"Here, let me help," Gin said after setting aside his oven mitt, drawing Pyre out of his thoughts as his large, warm fingers began carefully untangling Fen's snake from around his thin frame. 

Each time Gin's fingers brushed his skin Pyre considered holding back a shiver, but soon gave up. Who cared if he let the guy know he affected him still? He'd let Gin screw his brains brains out before, of course he'd still affect him. 

"You're still an adorable spitfire," Gin said, surprising Pyre into an awkward blush. 

He didn't get embarrassed often, but he did get self-conscious around Gin. When they had first met, he had fallen for him hard, but he'd actually been worried that Gin wouldn't see him as anything but a young thug who happened to have done a charity case for him. 

When he snapped back to himself, Gin had already completely removed Fen and was tucking him gently into the warm blanket. 

Maybe I'll let him do that for me before I go...

He quickly shook his head and scowled to the side, angry that he'd let his mind continuously wander to what should never happen. 

Don't get attached. You need to leave. 

Coming there had been a mistake. He shouldn't have chased after Fen for some stupid dark, blurry picture, and he shouldn't have gotten into the elevator with him. And the key card... 

Too many mistakes. 

"Hey Sparky?" 

Blinking, Pyre looked up at the man now standing before him. 

I want to kiss that face. Bite his neck and suck on a lot more than that...

"Can we talk, my sweet fire?" 

Sweet? Who are you looking at?

He  opened his mouth to say no, that he was going to grab the keycard he'd set on the counter and get his backside right on out of the trap he'd let himself be dragged into, but the only words that came out were, "I guess." 

After checking on Fen's curled-up, dozing snake, Gin took Pyre's hand and gently lead him to another room that appeared to be a large den area. 

Two living rooms... because why not? 

This one had several of those huge, expensive bean bag chairs dotting the area and game consoles were stacked beneath a massive television hanging on the wall. 

There was also a very long black couch stretched along a slightly raised portion of floor a few inches above where the beanbags rested, but who the hell would choose the couch over them? 

He was right in the process of doing a running leap into a jet blue one when he noticed Gin dropping down into a black one a few feet away. 

Without permission from his brain, Pyre redirected and leaped right onto the guy. He was careful not to land his knee on the most important no-no area, but the rest of his descent was up to Gin. 

And that's when he realized that he really was underweight. 

Gin caught him easily, holding him up like a toddler waiting for an airplane ride. 

"You can let me go any time now..." he mumbled in a whisper, almost too embarrassed to make his words audible. 

Gin stared up at him for a few moments before tilting his head on the beanbag and smiling softly. 

"Do you want me to?" 

Fuck no. Well, the airplane pose can go, but I'll take like, ten years worth of cuddles in the next fifteen minutes... and maybe another forty years worth of sex. I'm sure my ass will recover from it one day. 

"I remember that look," Gin said as he finally lowered Pyre to settle against him. 

Fucking teddy bear. 

Pyre didn't hesitate to snuggle right into the guy, loving that he wasn't hard anywhere. Well, he definitely wouldn't have minded him hard in one place, but he just fucking loved that while he had some nice muscles, he had plenty of softness covering them that was so fucking nice to snuggle into. 

"I'm glad that I remembered that you love to snuggle, too," Gin said as he gave Pyre such a tight hug that he felt his back crack in several places. 

Feels so fucking good, but also so fucking bad. Need to get the heck out of here. 

"...after sex," Pyre mumbled as he turned his head to rest against Gin's chest instead of getting his arse up and running like he knew he should. 

When Gin didn't respond right away, Pyre reached down between them, but unfortunately his hand was stopped, then warm fingers wrapped around it. 

"I'm sorry, Sparky, but there won't be any of that," he said, making Pyre's heart both sing and sink. 

"Then what did you want to talk about?" he grumbled, no longer interested in messing with the guy. 

"I'm going to skip past the basic questions and save us both some frustration," Gin said, making Pyre tense slightly in his arms. 

"Are you homeless, Pyre?" 

Oh no, he used my real name. He's serious.

"Depends what you consider a home. I'm actually quite happy exactly where I am."

He paused for a moment, then realized what he'd said and quickly backtracked. 

"I mean, living in a house doesn't make it a home. I'm perfectly fine on the streets right now. I can take care of myself." 

Gin began gently rubbing his back, making Pyre fidget for a moment before settling down and accepting the extra attention. 

"You're right. A home isn't just four walls and a roof. I left mine as soon as I turned eighteen thanks to Fen's help," Gin said, surprising him a bit. 

"You left?" he asked, looking up at the other man for the first time as he got himself situated a little higher. 

Gin turned his head and smiled at him, his eyes shining with the same soft spirit he'd fallen in love with when they'd first met. 

"My house wasn't terrible, but it just didn't feel like a home to me anymore. Here, though? Fen is such a sweet guy. He has a lot of health issues due to his shift and often needs help, but he's also cool as hell and will give you the shirt off his back if you'd let him."

So he's not superman...

"Will you stay here with us... at least just for tonight? There are fish sticks... and I might have left a small pint of peanut butter chocolate ice cream in the freezer," Gin said, making Pyre perk up and push himself up on the guy's chest. 

"See, you can't just say peanut butter and chocolate. That's bribery and unfair," Pyre said as he half-heartedly glared down at Gin, who was grinning sheepishly up at him. 

When he saw the guy lift a hand toward his face, Pyre wanted to jerk away out of habit since he hadn't exactly had great physical interactions lately, but he bit back his nerves and allowed Gin to make contact. 

Surprisingly, he seemed to read him somehow, even though he swore he'd managed to keep his worry inside, and quickly withdrew his hand after a quick poke to his nose. 

"There's also fish sticks. Don't forget them. I remember you swore that you didn't want my lunch money as payment for helping me that one time, but when I did finally buy lunch that day, you just had to have two of my fish sticks." 

How does this guy remember such things? 

"I know it might not make sense, but you're the person who made the biggest impact on my life next to Fen. You made me realize that I wasn't just some fat kid that should accept the beatings I'm given from bullies because of the way I look and lock all the pain up inside." 

Pyre blinked, feeling like things were getting a little too sentimental for his tastes. There was not enough sex woven into this situation already...

"Don't give me that look, Sparky," Gin said as he reached up, tugging on Pyre's nose gently for a moment before slowly sitting up, making him slide down to straddle his lap. 

"I can tell that you're already ready to vomit over this sappy stuff, so we'll pause the story to finish another time and switch our activity to dinner?" Gin asked with a one-sided grin. 

There are other activities that involve eating, but I guess I can roll with dinner, too. 

"Sure, I guess," Pyre said as he carefully got back to his feet, then held out a hand for Gin. 

Instead of allowing him to help him up, Gin gave him a wide, white-toothed smile before yanking him back down into a much more aggressive hug that had him being rolled back and forth in the guy's arms like a ragdoll. 

"I freaking missed you so much." 

While he was partially being suffocated and felt a few more muscles pop in his back, Pyre couldn't find it in himself to argue. Because honestly, he'd missed the guy so fucking much the moment he'd moved away when they were kids. 

I think I will stay, just for the night. Besides, what difference could a few hours make, anyways?