Death, Drag Queens, Defenestration, and the Damned

"So I have to kill people."

Alex glanced up from his slice of blueberry cheesecake. Next to it, blueberry cheesecake ice cream was scooped beside it. On both items, caramel had been swirled on top and dripped down the edges. It was as elaborate and indulgent as everything the man ate. Just before the pair had left for Zack’s house Alex had insisted they have lunch together. Alex ordered steak for both of them with some French sauce that Ross couldn’t even pronounce. And, as usual, Alex had insisted on buying.

Not that Ross had a problem with this, of course. He figured it evened out, especially since the man was always at his house. When Alex wasn’t raiding his refrigerator, he was stretched asleep out in front of the blaring television with the heat or air turned up.

Not to mention that Alex had several changes of clothes in Ross’ closet that he had washed at Ross’ house but never quite gotten around to taking home. The best explanation for the pink skirts Ross had thought of was that he had a sister who visited quite frequently.

A portion of the residents in Ross’ apartment wondered if Ross was having incestual relationships with his brother who had had a sex change.

"You have to try some of this," Alex said licking his lips. The motion was drug out, Alex’s eyes closed and lips parted in ecstasy as he slide his tongue fully around his mouth to make sure he got the tinniest crumb that might have escaped his fork. If the motion didn't take off all of his lipstick and lip-gloss, the dabbing with a napkin that followed did.

Ross felt his eye twitch.

Alex scooped up some of the cheesecake and ice cream. Twisting his fork down into the ice cream just so that it grazed the top, he scraped off some of the caramel poured over the top. “Here,” he said lifting the spoon up to Ross’ lips. "Try it. It’s amazing.”

Ross wrinkled his nose, pulling back and turning his head. "No thanks.” Ross’ voice was surprisingly calm. He had mellowed since before. Pulling out a pack of cigarettes, he brought one to his lips and offered the pack to Alex. “You’re avoiding my question.”

"Then maybe that means you should stop asking it. Ross, come on. At least wait until we’re out of here to start smoking… or until you’ve tried some of this. That cigarette is going to ruin the taste. Now, here, have a bite before you light that. It's delicious. I can't believe you only got a hamburger – and without cheese and a chocolate milkshake. Really. Chocolate. So plain. There's nothing exciting about that, no explosion of flavor in your mouth. No experimentation. I could understand a hamburger with all the works – lettuce, tomatoes, cheese or maybe one of the Philly steaks. The ones they have here are delicious. And instead of a plain milkshake, a double chocolate milkshake with the melted fudge mixed in or cookie crumbs… and if you were actually drinking it instead of moving it back and forth – but…”

Remembering his milkshake that he had pushed aside a few moments before, Ross pulled it towards him once more and took a long sip to show the other man was he was enjoying it just fine. Then, to spite the other, lit his cigarette.

"Alex,” Ross said glancing up and exhaling, “Come on, just tell me."

"Fine. I'll tell you. But only if you have a bite of this."

"No, what I have is fine." That and there was no telling what sort of diseases Alex had probably picked up over the years. The man wasn't wholly unattractive – at least in pants – and in a handsome way that any male would admire in another male… which was totally normal, Ross assured himself. After all, Alex did get hit on by a ridiculous number of men and women. That many people couldn’t be wrong.

"You’re so mean to me. Well, you're going to be working with Zack." Alex drew patterns into the top of his cheesecake with his fork as he spoke. "I agreed to show you the ropes. Zack doesn't, well, he doesn't think you can handle it, but I know you'll do fine. First you need to see that what your doing is a good thing, though. People need to die. What you do is make sure they do. Do you understand?”

“I suppose.”

“Imagine for a moment a world where Hitler was still alive. No one – well, at least not many people – want that, right? Don't get me wrong when I say this, but he was a genius. Sooner or later, he'd find a way around every nation's best defenses – especially if death couldn't stop him. And he'd use unending torture."

"But what about Einstein and…”

"People change, especially if they’re ambitious. If they had all the time in the world, they wouldn't waste it doing the same thing over and over again. And what if they decided to use those powers for typically bad ideals rather than good ones?"

“You’re assuming things. Plenty of people are like me, though. They’re not trying to do anything. They’re just living out their lives and—”

"I know, Ross, but stop thinking about death as a bad thing. You'll see… Let’s not talk about that now. Instead I want you to tell me why exactly you want to stay here."

Ross shrugged, slumping forward with his cigarette and taking a long drag of his cigarette. "You stayed. You should know." Pulling his milkshake forward again, he took a small sip. Then pushed it aside.

Alex rolled his eyes at the motion. "I stayed because I had to. I made an agreement a while ago – for personal reasons – and now this is my job. Unlike you, I didn't exactly have much choice in the matter." With that, the Alex picked up his sundae and rose from his chair, pulling the other man after him by the arm. ”Let’s go, we’re going to miss our bus.”

“Also, unlike you..." he said as Ross pulled away to dump his chocolate milkshake unceremoniously into the trashcan near the front. "I'm making the most out of it. Why do you even want to stay here, Ross? It's not like you're taking time to actually enjoy it. So, why do you want to stay? Are you really that afraid of dying or…?"

"It’s like you said, people have to die, right?”

“Sure, but—“

“Shh. I’m not done yet.” Ross lazily lifted a hand to silence the other, walking backwards out the door and down the sidewalk. “I'm not afraid of dying, Alex. I just… It's not fair. I have almost forty years left. And…” As soon as they were out of the door, Ross cursed, pulling his jacket around himself. “God. It’s cold out here, isn’t it? How the hell can you eat that outside? It’s freezing.”

“I’m almost done with it… It’s been forever since I’ve had blueberry cheesecake.” Alex scraped the spoon around the bottom of the plastic container to get the last of the caramel. “There. You missed out, you know. It’s what could have been your last month alive and is your last month as a mortal and you celebrate by what? Having a chocolate milkshake? Shouldn’t you be out getting laid? Partying? Something like that?” Reaching forward Alex turned the other man around before he could walk into a mailbox.

“I’m not dying, so why worry about it? I have plenty of time to party and get laid and whatever now.”

“You have to change your identity, you know. You just can’t be Ross Rowe for 2,000 years.”

“Fair enough. So long as I get my forty years.”

“It’s fair this, fair that with you, have you noticed that? During what event in your life has life ever been fair, Ross? And what makes you so entitled to those 40 years? Especially if you're not going to use them. Do you have any hobbies? Tell me something you do outside of work—besides spending your free time around me, of course. Because God knows you don't enjoy it. You drag yourself in. Sit down at the front of the bar, make idle chatter with me and then try to pick up women – if even that. Most days you just get drunk off your ass and then drag yourself home – or rather, I drag your ass home. You’re lucky I haven’t raped you – it’s not like you’d remember it.” Alex paused, crossing his arms to fight off the cold. “I don't see any reason why you should want those extra years. Or what you’d do if you weren't psychic. You'd be screwed."

" You raped me in my sleep? Wait! No. No, don’t even start. If you did, I don’t want to know.”

“You’re avoiding my question,” Alex said, smirk surfacing. “What do you do other than what I just said?”

“I… I … read."

"The same books over and over again. Come on, Ross. What are you really staying for? What's so damned important that you need those forty years? What? Do you have some secret girlfriend you're not telling me about? Because there isn't much else. You don't even have a dog or a cat or something to feel obligated to besides that damned job of yours."

"I… I have plenty of things to stay here for.” It wasn’t exactly a question he was asked often – just at Thanksgiving – or something he devoted time to thinking about. “I have my family, friends—"

"Family that you rarely keep in touch with. And, so far as I know, I’m the only friend you have – what, Ross, are you in love with me or something? Is that why you’re staying?” Alex grinned, nudging the other man’s side. “I’m touched. But really, Ross. You should have told me sooner so that we could start planning out our wedding."

"Shut up. There’s also my house… I have a nice house—“

“Apartment.”

“Fine, Apartment. It’s still nice, though – better than what most people have… and I just got my refrigerator paid off, too."

"Yeah, there's something to risk your mortality for right there."

"If you think I'm wasting life, then why did you even bother telling Zack about … that?"

"Because. I was curious.” Alex reaching for one of Ross’ hands and gave it a small pat before it was snatched away. “I mean, think about it. You're hopeless. You have absolutely no plans for your life. You barely make an effort to come to work – the only reason you go is because you get a ride there. When you’re at work you pull out this fake Miss Cleo crap that people pay so much to be inspired by and involved in. Then you waste all your money on beer. You get a hangover, whine to me that you need to – want to – change. But do you? No. You repeat. It’s all this big cycle you with, Ross. No wonder He picked you to die, huh? You have the most useless life and meaningless ambitions of anyone I have ever seen in my entire life."

"I… have plenty to live for, Alex. Just… lay off – that’s why I’m doing this. Now, what do I need to do.”

"You have to kill people – I’ve already told you that. Thing is, most of them aren't exactly… going to be so eager to go – I'm sure you can relate. After your years on earth have been used up, I think you have… thirty-seven left? I don’t know. It’s on that sheet Zack gave you. Either way, when you’d normally die you're going to have to change your identity and move. Big mess – believe me. But Zack always takes care of that."

"And what all does Zack do?"

"Zack does some of everything. He creates programs like the one you saw earlier out of programs sent to him – those are new lives, mixtures of old ones. You know all those stacks of papers he said he was going to mail off? That’s what those are – just information on people who have died. Basically lives get recycled and adjusted with new technology and society’s changes. Zack’s responsible for the changes. Zack also handles taking lives when people are difficult. Zack is … He’s amazing,” Alex said with a sigh. “We’ve been friends since I got into this whole thing. And he’s been the main guy over all this since… forever.”

“You’re friends? He seemed…well… distant.”

“Really? No! Not at all. He’s just not touchy-feely – a lot like you. Personally, I just think he needs to get laid. He’s always shutting himself in that apartment in front of his computer and… it’s just not healthy. He needs a social life, too. I try to stop by every so often, but lately I’ve just been busy and he’s been busy and it hasn’t worked out that way. I think I might start going by every day again. He’ll want to see how you’re adjusting.”

Ross sat down on the bench by the bus stop flicking the butt of his cigarette into the trashcan. Gazing at Alex, who was trying in vain to pull his skirt down a little more over his thighs, he extended his arm, and jacket, to him. “I told you not to wear a skirt.”

“I know, but…”

“Don’t worry about it. Does this job include a car? Because I could use a car.”

“Sort of. I’m afraid you can only use it on the job though.”

“Figures.”

“Yeah…” Alex sighed, resting his head on the other man’s shoulder. Noting that the bus still wasn’t there, he pulled Alex’s arm over to check the time. “What time is it? God. The bus should have been here by now… Oh, well. I suppose we’ll just have to entertain each other, won’t we, Rossy?”

“I donno… Alex. Stop that. Come on. Just because I let you borrow my jacket doesn’t mean you’re entitled to making me look gay… Come on, get off.” Ross shoved Alex aside and stood, walking around the bench to warm himself.

“Waiting on the bus, Ally?” asked a woman, resting her arms on the back of the bench beside Alex’s head and running her blood soaked fingers through the man’s hair. “It’s going to be a while, I’m afraid. There was an accident – terribly accident. They had to close down the road temporarily.” She gazed over at Ross from beneath her black hood that dipped down past her blonde bangs and just to her eyebrows. “Look at this,” she said pulling out three globes from the little bag around her wrist, the same arm where she held a scythe in hand. “Fifteen in all, Ally – eight injured. They don’t think three will survive. But fifteen! And so quickly! That doesn’t happen very often at all. And none of them got away like last time. Has Zack caught him yet – that boy that got away from me?”

“He didn’t mention it… I don’t think so. But he will eventually. Zack always does.”

The woman pulled off the hood of her cloak, sitting down on the bench beside Alex. “Who’s your friend?”

Ross’ mouth hung open and he had begun backing away before Alex snatched his arm and tugged him forward. “Ross, relax. This is Anna. I introduced you at the club’s bar forever ago, remember? From Cincinnati – visiting on business?”

“I think I would have remembered the black cloak, scythe, blood…” he grumbled.

“She’s working, Ross…” Alex muttered, pulling Anna to him to whisper in her ear that Alex had probably been drunk when he introduced them. “He usually is.”

“Is what?” Ross asked, glaring at the pair, from as much of a distance as Alex’s hold would allow. They ignored him.

“What happened?” Alex asked, turning towards her, like a girl gossiping about her latest crush. In his hand, he still had a firm hold on Ross’.

“Oh, it was huge, you should have seen it. This truck smacked into this little car, right? And I don’t know what the hell happened to the engine, but it smacked into the side of a building and BAM. Right in the middle of a city.” She smacked her fist against the palm of her hand, sending droplets of blood out over both men.

Alex squealed, releasing Ross’ hand to wipe off his face. “Eww.” Ross cringed, turning his head and making a small, disgusted sound.

“Oh, my gosh!” Anna used her to sleeve to dabbing at Alex’s shirt before moving on to Ross’ cheeks. “And you, too! I’m sorry.” She licked the fabric, much to Ross’ distaste, and slid the material around the other’s month to scrub off the blood. The action only resulted in spreading the rest of the blood around Ross’ mouth, though it had already began to dry, caking into little clumps and breaking into bits of dust before it reached the ground. On Anna’s hands it did not and instead dripped down passed her hands and into her sleeves.

“And it’s in your hair, too, dear.” She said licking her sleeve again and reaching up for a strain of Ross’ hair. “Let me help you… Oh, my gosh! It just fell ou—”

“Don’t worry, love, it’s already coming out,” Alex said pulling her away from Ross and down to sit beside him on one side. On the other side, he pulled Ross down, clutching the man’s hand again so that Ross would stay there. “What else?”

“Oh, oh!” Excited, she clapped her hands, sending the blood out again onto both men, who grimaced, but pretended not to notice it. “There was this miniature explosion. They couldn’t get in the truck – the fire department – and you could just smell the flesh burning. It was perfect, gave me plenty of time to collect them all with the shock. Good thing it’s so late, too. There would have been a lot more otherwise. I probably would have needed someone else to help me…”

Ross looked like he was going to be sick. Alex swallowed and clutched Ross’ hand a little tighter, for his own sake. “And the two in the car?”

“Died in the crash. Very quick deaths – died on impact.”

“You were in the car with them?”

“Uh huh. They were so stunned it only took a minute to get them both. Some old couple.” Anna smiled, tossing one of the balls up and juggling it between her hands. “By the time the were able to get to the body of the guy in the truck – I just had to stay around and watch – there was only a skeleton left, clinging to steering wheel with bits of charred flesh hanging off and—“

“That’s enough, Anna, love.” Alex squeezed her hand. “You’re… Ross doesn’t look very well.”

In short, Ross looked horrified, eyes wide and mouth open and gaping. Trying to tug way from Alex, he pried at the man’s hand. “I… I can’t do this, Alex. I’m sorry. Just ask Zack to give me a nice quick death? In my sleep, preferably?”

Alex held on firmly to the man’s wrist, digging his nails into it. “Ross. Really, Ross. Sit down. Deaths rarely happen that way… and Zack won’t give you one like that knowing that you’re new and uncomfortable with death in general. Most deaths just happen with old people at home or in nursing homes. Those dying either stop breathing in their sleep or have a heart attack.”

Anna nodded eagerly. “Yeah… but old people are so boring. There are never any interesting deaths. Oh, oh! Except when they decide to kill themselves. Or their nurses kill them.”

“But Zack won’t give Ross any of those,” Alex said stroking Ross’ hand. “He’ll start him off with easy assignments. Ross won’t be able to get out of it once he agrees, and Zack doesn’t really think that Ross will be able to handle it, so…”

“Oh, I understand,” she said gazing over at Ross and lifting an eyebrow. “He was afraid of dying, wasn’t he? So just because he’s psychic, you’ve made some sort of deal with Zack to get him out of it… Awfully generous of you, Ally. You know Zack isn’t going to be able to train him now, right? Who’s doing it? It’s not Macey, is it?”

“Macey? No! Of course not. I wouldn’t trust him with… god, anything. No telling where he’d drag Ross. He’s so fond of those massive deaths.”

“I know… Gosh, he brings back almost fifty at a time now… Doesn’t give the other Deaths a chance.” She twisted a strain of hair around her finger. “I hope he gets replaced soon. I really don’t like him.”

“I agree. But Zack does. He does his job well…”

Ross decided to ignore their conversation, standing to walk around the spot and attempt to create some illusion of warmth by pacing back and forth and lighting a cigarette. God knew he needed one.

“Oh, can I have one?” Anna asked, pausing mid-sentence and wrapping an arm around Alex’s shoulder.

“Oh, yeah, sure. Here.” He held one out to her, and she took it, placing it between her lips.

Once the cigarette was in her month, she leaned forward to press the end of her cigarette to Ross’. “No sense in wasting your lighter fluid, huh? Thanks.” She smiled at the man, kissing Alex on the cheek and sliding a bloody hand up to the man’s neck as she spoke. “Is that his coat? How cute! Is he your boyfriend now?”

“Yes, it’s his coat.” Anna held her breath, clutching the other’s shoulder. Ross cleared his throat loudly, crossing his arms and glaring in Alex’s general direction. “But us… together? Oh, God, no. He’d kill me.”

Anna sighed. “Pity. You’d be so cute together.” Ross rolled his eyes as Alex leaned over to whisper something to Anna. She giggled, biting the nail of her thumb. Then, she pulled Alex closer. Alex let Ross’ hand go, waving him away a little.

“Oh, he’s adorable! I hope he changes his mind,” he mumbled.

“He’s not. We’re friends – really.”

“Really, really?”

“Really.”

Ross turned away before his curiosity got the better of him and soon found himself wandering around the bus stop pondering the woman. She was vaguely familiar. He could sort of recall seeing her when Alex told him that was it, Ross had had enough and it was time to go home. Then Alex had pulled the other out by his ear in front of a snickering crowd.

Still able to experience pain and conscious, Ross had readily disagreed. Outside, he batted the other off, turning his head to avoid the man’s hand snaking out to take a hold of his ear, and there was a blur in front of his vision. That was it, probably a trick of light. He had assumed the girl was his subconscious mind alerting his groin that, yeah, it had been a while. But, no…

Watching Anna settle back against Alex as she spoke, giggling and running a finger down his cheek, Ross’ lips thinned in annoyance. After a moment, Ross seemed to realize he was staring and forced his eyes away. What they were doing was perfectly platonic. Alex was touchy-feely in that sort of way.

The self-assurance didn’t stop Ross from glaring at Anna as she kissed Alex’s forehead and stood, though.

At first Ross thought that, well, it was perfectly normal to be jealous of his best friend making a move on a girl that he had developed an interest in. But it wasn’t Anna he was looking at when the woman stood. Alex caught the other man’s eyes and grinned, nodding at Anna. Then, he gazed and her himself and Ross could have sworn he saw a blush or… something.

“I should go, your bus is going to arrive soon – Oh, gosh! I’m still bloody. I know Zack’s said not to do it, but I have such a hard time keeping clean. I’ve never quite gotten the hang of melting it off. It always turns to liquid…”

She snapped her fingers once and nothing happened. Then, flustered, she moved her scythe to get a grip on it with both hands.

Ross ducked behind Alex, clutching the man’s shoulders. “Hey! Don’t point that at us!”

“Relax! You just use it to transfer energy, that’s all.” She grinned at Alex. “You haven’t taught him anything yet, have you?”

“He hasn’t agreed. I’m not allowed to until – wait. He’s still mortal. He shouldn’t be able to see you – at least not unless he was dead. And he’s not dead…” Alex said trying to pull the other man out from behind him. “You can see her?”

“Well, yeah. She’s a little blurry when she moves, but I can see her.” Ross refused to get out from behind Alex, clutching on to the other’s shoulders still.

Alex bit his lower lip. “Do you think it’s a glitch?”

“I hope not…” Anna said moving the cloak’s hood back over her head. “I don’t think it’s me. No one has seemed to notice me. And they can’t see us now, either. I’ve cloaked us… You should call Zack. I really have to go, though.” She glanced down at a watch, tapped it, and then blew a kiss before vanishing.

“Shit…” Alex said, crossing his arms.

“What’s wrong?” Ross asked. Alex didn’t respond. “Zack’s going to kill me now, isn’t he? H-he can’t-- He agreed to a month, right… right?”

Alex opened his mouth to speak, then bit his lower lip. “I really don’t know. I’ll have to call Zack – but he won’t kill you. He agreed to a month, so he’ll give you a month. God, finally. There’s our bus.” Alex took the other man’s hand, pulling him up the steps of the bus before he could comment.

"Do you want your coat back?" Alex asked, holding it out for the other man as Ross paused to put out his cigarette.

"No, no, don't worry about it. Just keep it, I insist." Ross watched the other man make his way to the two seats near the back, following behind him. Usually, he made it a point not to let his eyes wonder to the other and stare, as he was so bluntly doing now. Tonight he didn’t seem to be able to avoid it. There wasn’t very much attractive about the man like this, that Ross would readily admit, but he was sort of enduring – in his own way. But how Anna liked him…

Ross supposed the other was enough girl talk and not-half-bad looks underneath the layers and layers of make-up, mini-skirts that tried to cut off the circulation in the man’s legs, and lisp that Alex assumed to be feminine to make up for it. When Alex was out of drag, at home or Ross’ apartment, he sat around in a pair of old jeans and black t-shirt, usually a size too big since the other man insisted on wearing Ross’ clothes. This usually set Ross more at ease around him. They were both just two guys then – one of which plucked his eyebrows and put on chapstick a bit too much.

Ross didn’t even mind Alex wearing his clothes. It was certainly an improvement. Not to mention that coming from a family with a brother, Ross was used to it. So long as Alex kept on underwear and washed the clothes, he didn’t care. It was, Ross found, a great arrangement as Alex broke in new clothes and even went so far as to use fabric softener when washing.

When Ross sat down beside the other man that had the coat draped over his lap even though the heater on the bus was pounding out long spews of hot air next to them. "Thanks." Alex smiled at him – really smiled, instead of giving him that fake magazine smile that exposed teeth, but didn't quite bring up all the wrinkles in a person's face, Alex used when Ross was explaining how his team had just won against whatever other team.

After Alex sat down, and the stares and low whispers faded, the bus went back to their conversation about the wreck they had just avoided seeing and been detoured around. The large group of whispers eventually faded into small, whispered conversations, and Ross began to drift off. Every so often, Ross' head would nod, swinging back and forth before eventually the collision with the window on his side jolted him awake.

“Oh, hell, are you all right?” Alex reached over, idly stroking the other's arm as he pulled out his cellphone, mumbling something to Zack on the other side before pulling off Ross’ hat to check for an injury.

“I’m fine, stop that! Stop!” Ross batted the other away, pulling his hat back down over the balding spot.

Eventually Ross fell asleep sitting up, a solution to his earlier dilemma, but soon the inevitably twists and jerks of the bus sent him awake again and again before his head landed against Alex's shoulder. Alex gazed over at the man, annoyed, and brought a hand over to shove Ross to his own side. His hand stopped over the other’s face, though, dropping instead to the other's shoulder and tracing patterns in it. On the other end, there was a muffled sound. Alex quickly responded that he hadn't heard the question and for Zack to repeat it.

"Do you think it's a glitch? No? Well… he can't stay home. He has to work tomorrow. I suppose that might work…he'll be angry, though. All right, I’ll call back later. Yeah, you, too. Bye."

Alex closed the phone, pressing his lips together before bringing the hand that had been holding the cellphone up to bite the nail of his thumb.

Ross had begun to snore. Alex rolled his eyes, smiling though, and pulled off the other's hat to slide his fingers through his hair. The man was definitely going to be bald soon. There was probably a way, Alex figured, to fix that by sneaking something into the other's drink. Potions, after all, were his strong point. There was also a great small shop nearby that specialized in fresh herbs so ingredients wouldn't be a problem…

It was their stop.

Alex nudged Ross, giving him a firm smack upside the head with the hat he held. "Hey, get off."

"What?" Ross sat up, blinking at the sudden intrusion of the streetlight into his vision and snatched back his hat. "What the fuck was that all abou—"

"We have to get off, it's our stop. Come on." Alex tugged the other up, passed the other passengers, who went quiet and adverted their eyes at the man's attire, from the pink stockings on up to the fake diamond studded edges of his faux fur lined shirt.

Alex tugged the other up the stairs, regardless of his stumbling, and towards the door of the apartment, just one floor up and two doors to the left. There was mail left there from that morning, all junk except for one lone letter in a pink envelope with a handwritten address in tidal cursive letters to Rosselyn Rowe. It had to be from his mother. Alex leaned over to scoop it up, along with all the bills and catalogs, as he dug out his keys from his pockets.

Ross rubbed his eyes with the back of a hand. After a moment, he groaned and muttered what sounded like, “Tired.”

Inserting the key, Alex turned back to the other. "Is it okay if I stay here tonight?”

"You always do," Ross grumbled, taking his mail from the other man and setting it on the television inside. "You practically live here."

"I know… And I could use a change of clothing, too. These heels are killing me,” Alex said throwing them into a pile by the couch along with the rest of his outer clothing. Ross rolled his eyes, ignoring the other and heading straight to his bedroom to get into bed, with the covers over his head.

Alex followed the other in, clad only in a pair of pink, lacey panties that Ross had come to expect and avoided like the plague. Ross groaned. When the man was done dressing in the other’s closet, he sat down on the bed beside Ross and reached to uncover the other’s head. “Ross. I’m going to talk to Zack and see what he’s decided, all right?”

Ross didn’t respond, at first. Then, with a small nudge, a light snore greeted Alex. The younger man rolled his eyes, pulling Ross’ hat off and setting it aside. “Night, Ross.” Leaning down, he kissed the other’s forehead, then stood and pulled his phone out as he left.

To Be Continued...