-Orion

Squeezing Zachary's hand gently, Orion gave his boy a smile before they both slipped out of their respective doors and into the crisp, morning air. After grabbing the suitcase, he followed Zach inside. Xena was already helping David with prep when they walked into the kitchen. Orion had originally intended to complain about losing part of his only vacation in over a year, but when Zachary ran over and hugged Xena, thanking her for the promotion, he couldn't help but bite back his upset and smile when his boss glanced over at him with a smirk.

"Couldn't help myself." He said with a shrug. When Zachary ran back over to him, Orion happily scooped him up in a tight hug. "You deserve it, Sweetheart."

"Yeah, he does. Now he needs to get his cute butt to work. Come with me, I'll go over the basics before your shift starts tonight."

Seeing Zach pale with the knowledge that he would be training for manager immediately, Orion gently rubbed his back for a moment and kissed his forehead. "It's okay. You'll do great. Get goin'." He said cheerfully, giving his boyfriend a tap on the butt as he hurried to follow after Xena.

"Someone's smitten as a kitten." David purred, drawing Orion's attention and earning a glare. The guy looked much better after everything he had gone through, and he was smiling like he was the one that was smitten.

"Says the kitten to the tiger." Orion returned as he walked over to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.

"Meow," David said. Orion thought it was a response to him and turned to retort, but then he noticed George standing awkwardly in the doorway. His large size took up almost both doors and... "What are you wearing?"

It looked like one of his own leather 'shirts', and by shirt, he meant leather wraps. The poor guy had visible red marks from previous ones David had obviously made him squeeze into, but they just didn't seem to suit him in Orion's opinion. Not that he'd let that dissuade him from poking fun at the giant guy.

Sauntering over, he slid his finger between one of the bands of leather and tugged. "I must say, you look quite... interesting, in leather."

Noticing that he was pushing George a bit too far already, Orion quickly backed up, letting David slip in between them. The guy diffused the situation with a chaste kiss, immediately quieting George's growing grumbles. When it began to look like he was doing a bit more than just trying to tamp down George's anger, Orion hastily ducked around them and slipped out of the kitchen. He didn't have anything planned in between right then and his shift. Xena had taken his Zachary away, leaving him oddly out of place. Eventually he decided to go work on some of their homework. Since Zach would be much busier, he figured he'd appreciate having the work done so he didn't have to stay up late just to get it turned in on time.

Of course, he won't copy it until he makes sure that he understands the material. Which was one of the reasons why Orion gladly got to work on it back in their room. He worked for hours, especially focused on the math equations. He was so focused that he actually didn't hear the door open or realize Zachary was there until he literally climbed into his lap, shoving the laptop aside with a mischievous grin. 

"Mm, hello there, Sweetheart." Orion purred as he accepted the kiss Zach offered and hugged him to his chest. "It's almost time for work," Zach said, making Orion glance over at the small clock he kept on his night stand.

"Oh. I must have lost track of time." He mumbled, returning his gaze to Zachary as he grinned, proud. "But I got our homework done."

Relief flickered in Zachary's eyes even though he was scowling a little. "Oh don't tell me I shouldn't have done it all. You have responsibilities and today, at least until right now, I had none." He paused for a moment, then amended his statement as his grin grew wider. "Well, besides you."

Zach rolled his eyes and scooted off his lap, then turned to offer him a hand up. Orion took it, standing and stretching with a quick yawn. "Guess I'll go make sure my room is clean." He mumbled as he followed Zachary out of the room after grabbing a few lengths of leather. "By the way, how was your first go at training?"

Zachary gave an excited hop as he looked over his shoulder, smiling. "Great! I can't wait to start! I know if I try my hardest, even if I make a few mistakes, I'll still be helpful to Xena."

That's my boyfriend. Orion thought as they parted with one final kiss. He headed upstairs as Zachary went to the kitchen to steal a quick bite before people were going to be let in. Hurrying up the stairs, Orion quickly ran a vacuum over the floor of his room, then checked the bar before tugging off his shirt and fastening the leather he'd brought up around his upper torso. Normally he would wear one of the preconstructed "Shirts" he had in his closet, but he wanted to make his own that night. By the time he was finished and set up at the bar, people began walking in.

Time to get to work.

And work he did. Orion had never been so busy! He almost felt like calling in a server from downstairs to help, but then realized that if his own room was swamped, it was more than likely to be hell in the dining room. On my own then. No problem. He steeled himself and pushed through wave after wave of patrons. Thankfully, most just came to drink that night, giving him a break from his normal entertaining. It was nice, considering the only person he wanted climbing on him was working his little butt off downstairs.

I wanna see him...

He knew he would later, but considering he'd been working for at least five hours straight without a single second to breathe, he decided to excuse himself for a moment. His patrons looked frustrated, but after a smile and a wink, they all settled down and he hurried out the door and down the stairs after looking the cabinet doors to the alcohol. He expected to find Zachary easily among those working the floor, and he did, but when he saw who he was speaking to...

She looks just like him.

Worry welled in the pit of his stomach as he strode over, wrapping an arm gently around Zach's middle, tugging him backwards for a quick hug. It was a possessive gesture. One that he knew wasn't appropriate in front of a customer, and likely, a relative, but Orion wasn't feeling very friendly. He had taken Zachary out of a dirty alleyway, so surely this woman, whoever she was to him, was up to no good.

"Hey Orion," Zach said after giving an awkward laugh and looking over his shoulder, unable to turn in Orion's grasp. "Um." He looked back at the woman, his face visibly changing to an embarrassed red. "Mom, this is my friend, Orion."

Mom? Friend? Friend!

He rarely got angry, but Orion wasn't happy about just being called a friend.

"Nice to meet you, Ma'am." He mumbled, not offering a hand to shake. From the look on the woman's face, she wasn't interested in shaking, or touching him, at all. Instead, she just nodded, then turned her attention back to Zachary.

"Baby, will you please come home? I can pick you up right after your shift is over."

Orion felt his breath being forced out of him. Home? This is his home! With me!

He wanted to scream his thoughts aloud. Then to tell the woman to get the hell away from his boy, but then Zachary smiled slightly and his eyes began to water. Hope. That's what Orion saw there. An emotion he thought only he could bring out in the guy.

"Okay, mum."

What?

The woman beamed and leaned forward, ignoring him as he kept Zach close against him and hugged her son. "Wonderful! I will see you in a few hours, Sweetheart!"

The second the woman left Orion grabbed Zach's elbow and pulled him off the floor and down the hall, not stopping until they were in his bedroom. He really wanted to blow up at him. Scream like a damned jealous asshole, because that's exactly what he was, but he forced himself to take several deep breaths and release his tight hold on Zach's elbow.

"I am very confused, Zachary. What just happened?"

Zach gave a nervous shrug as he moved to sit down on the edge of the bed. Orion couldn't stop pacing, no doubt making Zachary more nervous as he began to talk.

"Well, um... Mom came to invite me back home."

Orion bit back his response, which consisted of something along the lines of Hell no, you're mine! Instead, he stopped pacing and stood still, crossing his arms over his chest as he waited for Zachary to continue. There had to be more than that. When Zach seemed to understand that he wanted something else, he hesitantly licked his lips.

"Well, my father is um, in the hospital. She said that I-I could come home if I helped her with the bills."

Bull shit!

They were exploiting him! Orion would bet money that his dad told his mom that he had a job just to get money from him!

"Zach, please. You need to consider this. They threw you out when you were telling the truth about your dad. Now your mom wants you back, but just to pay for bills?"

He could tell that his words stung. Zachary was no fool, but Orion could tell that he might very well accept the ridiculous offer his mother gave him just to be home again. This is your home. He wanted to say, but for some reason, didn't. Instead, he watched Zachary fidget nervously on the edge of the bed, twisting his hands together.

"I'm not going to let you go back there. As soon as your father is out of the hospital, they'll get rid of you. Then where do you think you'll be, Zachary?"

Zach looked up then, his eyes wide with fear.

"Here...?" He whispered, blinking as he tried to keep tears at bay. Orion forced down an angry growl at Zach's nonchalant words. He expected him to just let him go home, then come back when they threw him out again?

"No. Zachary, I know they are your parents, but you need to think this through! You know they are going to use you, and I don't want to let that happen."

Zach narrowed his eyes, then slowly stood from the bed. "So what? You think I should just leave her to pay for everything when she obviously can't?"

He hadn't meant to make Zach upset, but now that he was, Orion couldn't help but meet him with his own frustrated glare. "Yes, I should. You have a decent job here, but you can't think that it would make much of a difference with bills of someone staying in a hospital."

Zachary ground his teeth together, fists balling at his sides. "I am homeless, Orion. Not helpless!"

With a huff, he started for the door to return to work, but Orion quickly grabbed his arm and swung him around. "Zachary, please, you need to realize that you're walking into a very painful situation. A very fake situation. I know you're not helpless, but you need to think about this!"

"I don't care! I won't turn my back on my family, even if they eventually kick me out again."

Orion's blood boiled with frustration.

"You would take the risk of being homeless again to help a family that threw you away for being a good son?"

Zachary swallowed, his eyes rising to meet Orion's after a quick glance away.

"You mean that I... I won't be able to come back...?"

Hearing Zachary's voice crack at the end of his sentence made Orion's heart want to do the same thing. He knew that he would never shut his door on his Sweetheart. He would never push him away, no matter how many illogical things he did. But for some reason his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth, keeping him silent as Zach slowly, silently, walked out of the room.