We didn’t make it out of bed that day. We just stayed there, the doors to the small balcony open, sending in a cooling breeze smelling of salt. And we didn’t get dressed either. We just sat and watched TV. Kissed. Moved on from kissing and then back to watching TV.

“What do you do to your horns to make them so shiny?” I asked and carefully ran my hand through his hair, not touching the horns.

“Oils,” he murmured and smiled from his position on my chest. “It keeps them from chipping too.”

“It looks pretty.”

His smile widened and he sat up. “You can touch them. If you want. Y-you can touch them.”

I sat up too. Dion was very sensitive about his horns and I didn’t wanna screw this up.

“Show me how,” I said barely louder than a whisper.

He wrapped his fingers around my wrists and guided my hands up to his horns, very gently running my fingers over the very base of them.

He inhaled sharply and closed his eyes as he let go of my hands. “Gentle. And don’t grab them.”

“I promise.” I very gently ran the tips of my fingers over the blank surface. I followed the curve around his ears and then returned to the base where skin was stretched over the horn, fading into the bone-like texture. “How does it feel?”

“Good,” he breathed.

I moved my hands down, cupping his cheeks. I tipped his head up and kissed him. It was so nice. Such a pure moment.

He moved up, standing on his knees and looked down at me. He kissed me again and I just revelled in it. The softness of his lips was to die for. His body was too. Everything about him. His smile. His voice.

“I-I know this is a dumb question,” I murmured against his lips.

He pulled back and snorted. “What’s up?”

“I…” I had to swallow hard. “I want us to be exclusive. Like… Don’t sleep with anyone else outside of work.”

He widened his eyes and then he smiled. “Alright, Arlo. I’ll be exclusive with you. Outside of work. No sleeping around for pleasure. Only for money.”

I laughed and pulled him into my lap, leaning back against the wall. “I know how it sounds but there’s a difference. To me.”

“There is to me too,” he murmured and kissed my forehead. “I actually enjoy it with you.”

“I’m very happy to hear that,” I laughed and leaned in, kissing his cheek.

“I just didn’t expect you to actually… Feel that way too. You know? Sex is supposed to be so intimate and I get people thinking that. I think so too, but at the same time, you can literally just buy me and do almost whatever. It’s all so muddled and I don’t know what to make of it all anymore.” He looked down at his hands, splayed over the bottom on my chest. “Am I even a real person at this point?”

“Of course, you are,” I said softly and circled my arms around him. “Dion, you’re real.”

A sob fought its way all way from his chest and out through his mouth, making his body shudder. He rested his forehead on my shoulder, and I felt tears hitting my skin.

I just let him. He seemed like he needed it and I’d hold him until he didn’t need it anymore. Even if that meant forever.

“I see you,” I whispered and kissed his hair. “And I’m here for you.”

“Yeah,” he whispered and pulled back, drying his eyes. “Sorry.”

“No, don’t apologise. It’s okay. I don’t mind at all.” I took his face in my hands and smiled.

“It’s just…” He bit down on his lip and tucked his hair behind his ear. “I haven’t felt like a person for so long. No one ever treated me like one. Except you.” He looked up and met my gaze. He looked at me for so long, I didn’t know if I had to say something or not. I was just kind of holding my breath, waiting for him to continue.

But he didn’t. He kissed my cheek and hugged me again.

I moved down so we were back to lying in bed, him on top of me. He relaxed his sparse weight on me, and it felt nice. I was getting pushed into the bed in the most comfortable way.

And it was okay. He didn’t have to say anything. I think I got the message.

 ***

It was hard having to leave the island and go back to normal day-to-day life. Working the club seemed bleak. Especially the first night.

Oliver kept chuckling every time he passed Dion and me, hanging at the bar. We hadn’t been able to turn our sleeping pattern back to being awake at night, so we were very much supposed to be asleep right now, according to our bodies.

“I still can’t believe you guys went to Mykonos without me. I feel so offended,” he said as he handed us our third cup of coffee.

“We were tourists. You would’ve hated it,” I muttered and took a big sip of my very black coffee.

“Did you go to the caves?”

“Yeah,” Dion said and then dumped his head down on the bar with a bump. “They were nice.”

“I could’ve shown you more. And not just the big one they take all the tourists to. My dad has a boat too. Seriously, tell me next time.” He looked so eager to go with us.

“Yeah, I promise. It was kind of just super spontaneous. Next time we’ll plan it better.”

“Awesome.” He smiled very widely and then grimaced at Dion. “Is he… Alive?”

“No,” Dion groaned and picked his head back up.

“Are you alive?” Oliver turned to me.

“Barely. I’m just dead tired,” I groaned.

“That saddens me to hear.”

My eyes widened and I felt a lot more awake all of a sudden. I turned around and smiled very widely. “Dad!”

“Hey son,” he said and smiled back.

I jumped down from the stool and wrapped my arms around him. He slapped my back and pulled back, chuckling. He was a large man, my father. Even larger than me. But he was as gentle as he was tall. He had always loved all of his children dearly and he made it a point to come topside to visit us from time to time. As a single parent with about thirty kids, you’d expect him to be a little distant to at least some of us. But no one had ever felt like they didn’t fit in. Not to my knowledge anyways.

“Where is your brother?” Dad looked around as if Nicosh could be hiding somewhere.

“He’s off tonight, I think.” I shrugged a shoulder.

“Ah, that’s too bad. Well, it’ll just be us then.” He smiled. “I’ve bought a room for tonight and I’ll need someone to keep me company.” He winked at me.

“Actually, I’m working as personal guard for Dion here.” I motioned to Dion, who was staring wide-eyed at my dad.

“Oh, how rude. I haven’t introduced myself. Hello, I’m Cerberus. Arlo’s father.” He held his hand out and Dion stared down at it, before grabbing it, hesitantly looking up, meeting my father’s gaze.

“D-Dion.”

“You must join us. A friend of Arlo’s is a friend of mine.”

“Dad, Dion needs to be paid for his time.”

“Sure!” Dad pulled a wad of bills out of his pocket and handed it to Dion. Dion’s eyes widened even more.

“It’s too much,” he muttered.

“Looks about just enough for me. Now, boys, keep an old dog company.” He put his arm around my shoulders and motioned Dion to follow us. He had ordered one of the smaller and nicer rooms. One that didn’t look so… Porno. It was usually used for business meetings that were a little more casual.

“So,” my dad said as we were getting some drinks served. “You work closely with my son? I take it he’s doing a good job?”

Dion swallowed and glanced up at me. “Y-yes. He’s very good.”

“Good. Wouldn’t want him to be a slacker.” He laughed and patted my shoulder. “Don’t worry, Dion. I know Arlo is great. He always has been so dedicated to protecting others.”

I felt heat increase in my face and took a sip of my drink. Dion smiled a little at me.

“I feel safer with him around. He also took me in when I had nowhere else to go.”

Dad smiled too. “I’m proud to hear that. Very proud.”