Trever slowly blinked open his tired eyes as his cell phone chimed from within his coat pocket. He managed to retrieve it fast enough to keep it from going to voicemail, but immediately regretted it as he heard one of his previous client's voices begin to speak on the other end. 

"Trever! I'm so glad that you picked up. I have a huge project that I need to get through and our previous two new hires just up and left! Could you come out and give us a hand again?" 

Give you a hand, huh? 

He really hadn't intended to work for Mark again. Especially since he'd tried to pay him lower than their agreed-upon price the last time he'd flown out there for a job, but... 

I could use a short trip right now. 

Walking into that mess that his brother had created had definitely not been expected, and after actually meeting with Ravi, he just couldn't stop stressing about how much of an asshole his brother must have been for all those years. It honestly made him angry. Which was definitely not an emotion he felt very often. He was a guy that made sure that he, himself, and no one else, was in charge of his life. Every single thing he did, every job he accepted and contract he signed, were all on his terms.  

He was generally hired when there were issues with employees and a company couldn't get to the bottom of the problem without causing irreparable damage to their projects or foundation. With Mark's company, keeping his employees was the biggest issue he has. He knew what the real problem was, but what boss wanted to be told that they absolutely sucked at running their company? Exactly, so while he definitely wouldn't be able to fix it in the long run, again, it would be a nice paycheck to at least get things back on track so that things could be toppled again by the tyrant boss a few months later. 

You know what? Why the hell not. 

"Same price as last time. I'll stay out there for a month for twenty-thousand," he said, not bothering to play nice. He knew what he was worth. 

He was honestly surprised when Mark quickly agreed to the price, then said that he'd send him over the details for the job they were currently working on, as well as a plane ticket for later that evening. 

A little faster than I'd planned, but I can do it. 

Looking down as he felt a faint tug on his coat lapel, Trever raised an eyebrow at the same time Ravi glanced up at him... but refused to release the fabric from between his grinning teeth. 

"Excuse me, good sir, but I have a plane to catch," he said as he reached up with his free hand and poked the little pup's cheek. 

It gave out a stubborn grunt, but still refused to let go. He was just about to try and pry his jaws open, because he really did need to get home and pack, as well as drop off what little food he'd bought since the time he'd come back from his previous job, at his cousin's home so that it didn't go to waste. He then had to get his suitcase packed again and get to the airport. 

"I really do need to go, bud. How about this? I promise that I'll bring you something cool back from my trip?" he said, hoping that the bribe might work. 

Of course, he had no idea what the little wild dog even liked, but he figured that some sort of meat would definitely not go to waste. More of those jerky sticks, perhaps? Just the thought of giving the pup a full box of them made his lips tilt up slightly as he moved his hand to pat Ravi's head gently. 

"How about a big box of those jerky sticks like the one I gave you last time?" he said, curious as to what reaction he would get in response. 

Well, the pup definitely didn't disappoint. He quickly stood up with his paws on Trever's right leg, wiggling so much that he thought he might just fall over. Not wanting that to happen, Trever reached out and carefully made sure that Ravi remained upright. 

"I'll take that as a winner," he said as he carefully helped the pup from his lap, then stood up and stretched his arms over his head. 

My back is killing me. 

Of course, he hadn't intended to sleep hunched against the sofa, but for the whole minute that Ravi had woken up earlier, he'd been persistent about staying in his lap, so he'd only really been allowed to scoot over toward the couch for some back support before the pup had jumped right back onto him. 

Rolling his shoulders and tilting his head here and there managed to get out at least a few of the kinks that had settled there overnight, making moving manageable again. 

"Alright, I'm gonna head out. You behave for your new master, alright?" he said. 

He knew that Wyatt wasn't really Ravi's master, but since the guy was looking after him, it was the same thing, right? 

I have no idea how that kind of stuff even works. 

"Just uh, be a good boy," he said awkwardly before walking over to the door and tugging his shoes back on. 

When he straightened back up, he was surprised to see Ravi sitting right next to the door, his little pink tongue settled between his lips so that only a tiny bit was showing. His breathing seemed a bit labored, though. 

"If you need to pant, you might want to open your mouth," Trever said, unsure if his words might seem rude or not. 

He just... it seemed like Ravi just wasn't all there right then. 

He watched as the pup slowly withdrew its tongue back into its mouth, tilted its head, then gave another, more-whiny grunt... before promptly sneezing so hard that Trever had to jump back to avoid the spray-zone. 

"I think you need a few more days taking it easy," he said as he reached for the door and carefully opened it, making sure to not accidentally bump Ravi as he did so. 

To his surprise, the little dog hurried outside and into the chilly, overcast day. He seemed to wake up a bit more as the cold weather hit him, because soon he was bouncing on his front paws over by the stairs, clearly waiting for him to catch up. 

Trever glanced back inside, but he knew better than to wake up Wyatt. Ravi was an adult, even though he didn't always act like one.  

To each their own. 

Mentally shrugging, he headed towards the stairs, then down them to begin his short walk back home. He could hear Ravi running about behind him, sniffing at snow and, likely, just making a fool of himself, but he let the guy be. He wasn't a babysitter, and he was too old to be babysit, anyways. 

They were just passing his brother's house when he heard the pup's footsteps suddenly pause. He paid them no mind, at first, because honestly, he didn't want the guy following him all the way back home to begin with, but after he was all the way to the next home, he slowly turned partially around to look. 

Oh... he really did stop back there. 

When Ravi noticed him looking, he gave a nervous whine and pawed at the ground. 

"Go back to Wyatt. You don't want to follow this grouch anymore," he said, his patience running thin. 

He really wasn't a people person. Yes, he was fantastic at fixing employee-employer problems, and he could work pretty damn well with others when needed, but that didn't mean that he liked it. 

Ravi spun in a quick circle, then sneezed again before taking a few steps backward. 

Good, go back now.

The pup's ears perked up and he tilted his head, almost as if he'd heard him. Except, he couldn't have, because instead of doing what he was freaking told, he gave a slightly louder grunting whine, then bolted forward, running as fast as he possibly could until he got to the other side of his ex's yard. There, he tried to stop abruptly, but just ended up skidding right into a certain someone's legs!

Trever hissed as he took the hit. It nearly dropped him then and there, but he managed to fight through the pain as he leaned against his brother's neighbor's privacy fence so that he could steady his breathing. 

In all honesty, he wanted to yell at the darn dog for doing such a foolish thing to begin with, but he knew that he couldn't. He could yell at anyone else, and especially while doing a particularly hard job, but when he looked down at the disoriented idiot-of-a-pup at his feet, he couldn't find the willpower to grumble at him. 

Instead, he pinched the bridge of his nose for a solid minute, then sighed out a stressed breath before squatting down in front of a recovering Ravi. 

He wanted to just sit the guy down and have a real conversation with him so that he could finally figure out that he was the absolutely wrong person to try and get attention from, but as he stared at the dizzy pup, he knew that he wasn't going to get anywhere right then. 

He's also clearly going to keep following me. 

Of course, he could just run off, since it was highly unlikely that the pup would be able to keep up, but he would feel like crap if he got hurt or stuck outside while still sick. 

Resigned to his travel partner, for the moment, Trever began walking again. He listened for Ravi's footsteps, and when he heard them hurry to catch up, he knew that the guy would be fine from their collision. 

They walked in silence for the remainder of the mile to his little mobile home, but when he finally got the door open and held it for the pup, Ravi hesitated coming in. 

"You can come inside," he said, biting back the remaining you know, bit of sarcasm he wanted to add. 

Ravi licked his lips a few times before hobbling up the steps. He expected the guy to go right to sleep, since he was still nursing a bad cold and had also smacked his head pretty good against his legs earlier, but when he simply stepped to the side once past the door, then sat down and looked up at him, Trever felt his left eye twitch. 

Trying not to go crazy, he quietly shut and locked the door, then turned to immediately get to work. He had his suitcase packed in less than an hour, then got busy cleaning up his small home. 

It was just a simple two bedroom one bath mobile home, but he kept it up well and since he owned the land it was on, and a decent amount of the forest surrounding it, too, it was pretty much just a quiet place to come back to while also being an investment. 

He kept an eye on Ravi as he moved from room to room, but the guy never budged from his spot by the door. After nearly three hours of cleaning, Trever finally took a small container out of the fridge and walked over to Ravi with it. 

"Are you hungry?" he asked as he knelt down next to a suddenly-revitalized pup. 

Ravi sniffed at the container for only a moment before his tail thumped against the floor a few times and he whined. 

"I'll take that as a yes. I'm no chef, but this didn't taste too bad to me. I just don't have anymore time to eat everything I bought, so if you'd like it..." he said as he took the lid off of the beef pot pie he'd put together a few nights ago. 

Ravi had no trouble at all diving into the tasty bowl of food. Trever even had to set it down or risk it being shoved right out of his hands and onto the carpet. 

Thankfully, while Ravi ate like a freight train, he wasn't sloppy and didn't spill much of anything. The glass bowl was cleaned out in less than a minute, making Trever chuckle as he took it to the sink to hand wash. Sure, he had a dishwasher, but he was leaving pretty soon and running it seemed like a waste since he didn't have a full load to bother with. 

"If you come over here, I'll give you more stuff I need to get rid of," he said over his shoulder. 

He saw Ravi immediately perk up more, and even begin to dance on his paws, but for some reason, the guy didn't move any closer to him. 

"Do you not want anymore?" he asked, confused. 

The dog immediately let out a stressed whine as it spun in a circle, then dropped to the floor with another longer whine. 

I don't get it. He clearly wants more food, but he won't come over here. 

He stood there thinking for a moment, trying to figure out exactly how to communicate better with the odd dog. 

Well, he was in a BDSM relationship with my brother. That means, maybe he's into rules? Or, at least, he's used to following very strict ones? 

Of course, he also knew that there were other things in such relationships, too, but he didn't want to think about a single one. 

We're going to go with rules. 

"Ravi?" he said, needing the pup's complete attention. 

He was given it immediately.

"Ravi, do you respond well to rules and orders?"  

Just asking these things makes my skin itch. 

When the pup gave a stern nod, its huge ears flopping forward slightly with the abrupt action, Trever couldn't help but fidget a little. 

"Okay, that's good. So let's try something out, shall we?" he asked, saying each word a little slower than necessary. 

When Ravi gave two more nods and leaned forward slightly, he knew that he'd guessed correctly. The guy hadn't been sitting by the door because he was afraid, or worried, or even nervous. He'd just been waiting for his orders. 

Travis, I love you to death, but the more I learn about your relationship with Ravi, the more disappointed I'm becoming. 

"Ravi, come here." 

He honestly expected the pup to do exactly as he said, and it seemed like it really wanted to this time, but instead of moving forward, it just rolled over with another whine. 

Okay, he still seems to want to come to me, but I'm missing something. 

Going through his thoughts, he rewound their small trip to his home, then considered what he had done after entering. 

Oh... maybe? 

Licking his lips a little nervously, Trever slowly sat down against the freezer door, then patted the ground next to him. 

"Ravi, you are allowed to go wherever you'd like within my home, and if you are alright with it, would you come here, please?" 

To his surprise, Ravi immediately bolted forward the second he'd finished speaking. Trever had to reach forward and to the side in order to catch the pup as it tried to skid to a stop near where he'd patted the tile in his tiny kitchen that was built similarly like Wyatt's. He would have crashed again, too, if he hadn't managed to snag him in time. Since he still had a bit of momentum left, Trever quickly but carefully used it to roll him into his lap. 

Dear god, this guy is vibrating with energy now. 

He really was. Ravi flipped himself back over in a blur, then sat up right between Trever's legs as his paws lifted up and down on the tile and his jaw hurriedly chewed something that didn't exist. 

I can't handle this kind of crazy. 

"Lie down," Trever said without really thinking. 

He just needed Ravi to turn down his energy level a bit or he was going to start stressing him out by just being nuts. 

Thankfully, the pup did as told immediately. Its tail began to thump since it couldn't shift its weight on its paws anymore, but that was definitely better than its former version of fidgeting. 

"Okay, that works. I still have a few more hours before I have to get on my plane, so if you'd like, want to help me clean out most of my fridge?" he asked as he carefully scooted to the side, then turned around on his knees to open the refrigerator door back up. 

He expected Ravi to immediately shove his head inside, but when he realized that he wasn't, he glanced over his shoulder at him. 

Oh right, I told him to lie down. 

Orders really did work well on the guy. He would have honestly left him right where he was, but at the same time, he seemed to be feeling a bit better because his energy level had definitely recovered some. 

"Come over here and help me out," he eventually said, making Ravi immediately scurry forward. 

Trever returned his attention to the inside of his fridge, but when something caught his attention to his left again, he glanced sideways... then nearly choked on his own spit. 

That's not a dog!

Not only was there no longer a dog beside him, but that not-dog was very naked. Being someone who really disliked physical contact from other people most of the time, as well as any kind of relationships in general, Trever immediately jumped to his feet, drawing Ravi's soft caramel eyes upward. 

He's a human. Of course he is. But he's naked. Well, he still has the scarf but that's not going to help now. Wait, he's going to be cold near my fridge. Especially because he's naked. The naked needs to go away. 

Turning toward his room, he ran to the hallway, then pivoted as he pointed at Ravi. 

"Stay," he ordered, then felt like smacking himself for giving a command to another literal human being. 

This is going to mess me up so badly. 

He returned a few moments later with an oversized sweatshirt. Well, it would be oversized for Ravi. It fit its owner just fine, though. 

He quickly tugged it over the guy's insanely curly afro-like hair after awkwardly pulling the scarf free from around him, then awkwardly settled it over his body, without, touching, anywhere. 

Okay, crisis averted. 

He gave a huge sigh of relief before finally looking back down at Ravi. The guy was still staring up at him with those soft, beautiful eyes. The sweatshirt had tilted a tiny bit to reveal a little bit of his left shoulder, but there was really no helping that. It was going to be too big either way.  

Swallowing down the rest of his remaining nerves, Trever slowly knelt back down in front of his fridge and began to take out some containers. He opened the lid to one that he thought Ravi might like, then turned and offered it to him. It was still a bit odd seeing him in his human form, but as his little hands nervously reached out to take the container, Trever found that he didn't really mind. 

If he hadn't already been told his age, he would have thought that he was a bit younger, but even at twenty, Ravi was definitely a very submissive person.  

He watched for a moment as the guy got the lid open, then smiled a little before reaching in and taking out a small chicken drumstick. He wasted no time at all devouring the bit of meat, then gladly handed the container back to Trever when he held his hand out for it. 

He hadn't really intended to have a buddy help him with cleaning out his fridge, and especially not one in human form, but since Ravi wasn't trying to touch him at all, and didn't dare scoot closer or do anything without being told, he was actually, kind of, slightly, entertained. 

Either way, they would just finish dealing with the remaining stuff in his fridge, then he'd give Ravi a quick ride home before dropping his frozen stuff off at Dr. Greens, then heading to the airport. 

It was a simple, foolproof plan. He'd done it plenty of times and never had a single issue. Sure, there might have been a slightly fuzzy wrench thrown into his normal preparations this time, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. He was, after all, the master of his own life... and no one else's!