"Don't push yourself, Nick," Tsuna ordered gently, looking down at where the man was having trouble with a bolt at the base of a chair. "If you can't break it loose, just go on to the next one. I'll have Ore get it when he gets home." The man nodded silently and went on to the next one, working quickly and efficiently in the desire to get his 'wages' all that much faster. Their wages weren't much, but it was cash and food that Tsuna was more than happy to give to people that would truly appreciate it. He'd went to the store with Ore to prepare for this, buying cans of food in bulk to get a discount. Each person that he accepted as a worker was given six cans and twenty dollars in cash a day. With winter being in full bloom, the food and cash was appreciated since they got to work in warmth and Tsuna had plenty of hot tea to go around. He fed them all on top of it, so that none of them had to worry about not having enough strength to do the small tasks that he asked of them.
Nick was one of the smaller that had answered the call that he'd put out for helpers. He'd been nearly frozen through and half-dead when he'd first walked in. Tsuna had forced him to sit on the stage with blankets to warm up while he ate before allowing the man to do a single task. Nick hadn't been the first or the last person that he'd been forced to do that for, either. Half of the people that came in had been either starved or nearly frozen. The city's weather had fluctuated in the past week and a cold front had moved in with hardly any warning. There had been a couple instances of snow even, although the hot streets had melted it all as soon as it'd landed.
For the homeless, it was the worst part of the year. People were gearing up for the holidays and thinking about all the last-minute shopping that they had to do. Money stayed in people's pockets instead of getting thrown toward those that could use it. It was the time of year when excuses got more pointed and defined. "Sorry, I don't have anything to spare." Tsuna knew that the depression on the streets were skyrocketing. While people with Families and Homes were walking to and fro with thoughts of turkey and tables full of gluttony, the homeless ones on the street corners were reminded constantly of what they didn't have for themselves.
It was a sad fact that even Tsuna could spread his help only so far. For those that clamored for one of his three helper positions each day, he was forced to turn away so many. All of them got a sandwich and a cup of hot tea for showing up. He allowed all of them to come inside and warm themselves, too, while he chose which ones to accept. He tried his damndest to care for them all and he made sure to never pick the same person twice. They knew and they understood, though. He wasn't a miracle worker and what he had to spare could only stretch so far.
They all also noticed the other thing that had made everyone but Snicker scratch their heads over Tsuna's apparent waste of manpower. They saw it and he could see that they appreciated what he was doing. In all honesty, he knew that he could have just hired them all at once to get the whole building cleared out in one day. Instead, he'd chosen to keep it to three to slow the process down some. It gave him a reason to give a small, helping hand to those that continued to come. It gave hope to those people that they'd be lucky enough to have a job in warmth for just one day. Ore, Eric, and Gigi had seen and understood after the third day when they'd actually been present for his selection of helpers, but none of them had truly understood until then. He wasn't drawing out the process for his own sake. He was doing it for the sake of the people that came to answer the call that there were jobs to be had for homeless guys at the Orange Dragon Dojo.
He found it saddening that they all came to the alley door to knock. Not a single one had come through the front. There had been several that he'd recognized, including the few that he'd asked to pass the word around. Those in particular had been full of praise for how far he and Snicker had risen in the past few months. It hadn't been bitter praise, either. He could see it in their eyes. The fact that he and Snicker had such a nice place to call their own gave them hope that they could rise up off the streets themselves. Snicker had been one of them for ten years before finally catching a break. Tsuna himself had been beside them for untold months. It gave them hope that if they simply kept surviving and trying, their own break would eventually come, too.
Although, there was bitterness to their meeting, too. Daren had brought word that Bridgette had died of starvation without telling anyone. Phoebe had lost her baby and was back on the street, as well. Carl had gotten in an argument with another man over who'd seen a particular fallen quarter first and had been punched. He'd simply been too weak to live after even such a light blow and had never gotten back up. On top of that, Kaleb, the can-collector, had went missing. The police said that they were looking for him, but everyone knew that he was just another face on a pin-up board now. There was also the fact that the city's clean up committees had cleared out six blocks worth of bum-holes. People had been falling over at a dizzying rate once their only small claim for shelter had been cleared away.
Despite the load of bad news, Daren had brought good news, too. Colonel, the man who'd punched Carl, had waited for the police and had admitted guilt. He was in prison now, where he got three square meals a day, clean clothes, showers, and a warm cot to sleep on. He'd already been talking about getting a degree when they'd carted him off with a smile on his face. The police had thought that he was insane, but he'd played off well enough in front of the judge to get sentenced to ten years, saying that he'd wanted to kill Carl instead of telling the truth about the incident. In addition, the work crews had stopped for the holidays and the word on the street was that they wouldn't pick back up until after Christmas. That was a huge relief since it meant that no one had to fear leaving their home and coming back to an empty alley until then.
Daren himself had seemed to be doing good. He'd managed to get a large windfall while dumpster diving. He was now the proud owner of a two-man tent that he could pack up and carry with him every day. It had a couple of holes in the sides, but they were just tiny moth holes. He was perfectly content with it since it kept the worst of the weather out and got nice and cozy when he shared it with two of his friends. They even had a nice agreement with the owner of a restaurant so that they could pitch it in the alley behind it with no trouble. As long as they ran out anyone else trying to pop a squat back there, the man was perfectly fine with their presence as long as they packed up and left when the morning crew started arriving. One of the cooks was even nice enough to walk out and wake them up each morning.
All of it made Tsuna very glad that he'd kept touch with those that he knew on the streets. He'd not seen any of them since his attack, but there were still decent people that were slowly finding a way to keep surviving in the gutters. He'd helped Daren out a bit in appreciation for bringing him the news, too. He'd told him to take his three friends and to go talk to Georgie. Basically, he'd given them the opportunity to take up the job that Georgie had given him and Snicker. Daren had been beside himself in thanks when Tsuna had told him the simple trade of moving Georgie's cart in exchange for some hot dogs. Tsuna knew that Georgie wouldn't have any problems with it as long as Daren told him that Tsuna had sent him. Georgie had been asking about whether he'd known anyone trustworthy enough to help him since Tsuna's arm was broken and Tsuna couldn't think of anyone better than Daren and his two friends.
There was also a nice fellow by the name of Tracer that had come by on the second day. Tsuna had been amazed to find that the guy knew three languages. Tracer thought that it was a completely pointless skill, but Tsuna had set him straight. Tracer knew English by necessity, but he'd grown up around a Spanish speaking family. In addition, he'd learned a smattering of French while in high school. It wasn't much, but it was enough to clue him in on a possible way to use his skill. Tsuna had given him everything that he needed to know about taking over his job at the airport, since Tsuna knew that he wouldn't be comfortable returning to it. Not with how uneasy he still was in crowds. Tracer had been dumbfounded and had been doubtful, but Tsuna had once more told the man to drop his name to the red cab drivers at the airport and he knew that everything would work out just fine. Tracer had a face that made people want to trust him, which made him perfect in helping out tourists.
It was actually a relief to find people to take over his jobs, he noticed. It meant that he could focus all of his attention on the theater and Snicker. Gigi had even told him that another Excaliber impersonator had shown up at Kink's. This one wasn't quite as good as 'Xander' had been, but he was enticing enough that he'd garnered a lot of attention in Tsuna's absence. Gigi had taken him under her wing so that the man didn't short-change himself without realizing that he could ask more for himself. He was now asking quadruple the fees that he'd started out with and, unlike Tsuna, he was more than happy to have a 'tea party' for an extra consideration. He even gave Gigi a small cut in exchange for the same deal that Tsuna had made. He never had to worry about roofies and he never had to worry that he drank himself out of an extra few hours of work.
All in all, everything was moving along smoothly. Almost too smoothly for Tsuna's liking, but he wasn't going to look a gift-horse in the mouth. If some problem arose, he'd deal with the problem then. Until then, he was more than happy with how things were going. Everyone was happy and everyone was completely content. It was enough. It was enough to keep those around him smiling.
And that was enough to make him smile.
"Get away from him!" Tsuna shouted, fearlessly propelling himself off of Ore's shoulder in order to charge down the alley that they'd been about to bypass. The teenage boys scattered, running away in fear when they saw Ore more than any fear that they had of Tsuna himself. Tsuna could care less for their reason for running, wanting nothing more than to knock a few heads together for what he'd caught them doing. It was winter. Didn't they realize that shaving a dog was paramount to a death sentence?!
Not that the bastards cared. He could tell from their clothes that they lived in decent homes with decent families. They were nothing more than spoiled brats out looking for something to entertain themselves. It made Tsuna want to chase them down and see how they liked having all their hair shaved off! He had other problems to think about, though. The first one was a little piece of shock over himself for having charged in so recklessly. He'd barely been going to kickboxing class for two weeks. He was a complete idiot for throwing himself in harm's way for a silly dog. If Ore hadn't been there, he had no clue what might have happened! He could have gotten beaten up again!
"Poor fellow," Ore commented before Tsuna could get too shaken over what he'd thoughtlessly did. Looking down, he found Ore kneeling down next to the mongrel German Shepard. The dog hadn't moved an inch from where he'd been surrounded. He simply continued to stare at the people around him while wagging his tail, obviously hoping that someone would throw him a bone. There were four large swaths of hair missing from his side from where the boys had shaved him already, making Tsuna grimace at the sight of skin and bone. "No collar," Ore added, patting the dog gently on the head.
"No," Tsuna blurted at the note that he heard in Ore's voice. Both Ore and the dog looked up at him with matching expressions, making him hold his breathe unintentionally for a moment. Then he got control of himself. "No, no, and no!" He blurted again, crossing his arms in denial. "I hate dogs!"
"But look at him, Little Guy," Ore said with a very large lip sticking out. "He has to be a stray. He looks like he hasn't had a good meal in his little life and he'll just get picked on again if we leave him here."
"No, no, and no!" Tsuna repeated with a red face. "We can't afford him and he's probably someone's pet!"
"There's no collar," Ore replied reasonably. "And you know that dog food doesn't cost that much."
"I know," Tsuna groaned, remembering the few times that he and Snicker had been forced to buy it since it was cheaper than real food. "But...But he probably has fleas," he threw out, hoping to come up with some excuse not to keep the beast.
"I'll give him a flea bath and brush him so that he doesn't shed," Ore promised, scratching the dog's ear while the dog continued to wag its tail in pleasure. The large beast looked to be in heaven with how his eyes were nearly rolling back in his head in joy. "We got that barrel that you and Snicker have been using as a tub until the bathroom is finished. I'll make him outrageously flea-free, assuming he's even got any. With how cold it is out here, all the fleas have probably already died."
"Fine," Tsuna grumbled, unable to think of any other reason not to take him in.
"Hop back up on my shoulder and I'll carry him," Ore offered with a joyous smile, holding out a hand for Tsuna to step up with. Tsuna took the boost, retaining his secure place on Ore's shoulder before the man reached out to pick up the dog himself. The dog let out a small bark over being picked up, but didn't look to be the type to bite. He was probably really well behaved, considering that it'd simply stood still while those boys had been removing its one protection from the winter cold.
"At least this time when Snicker teases me, it'll actually be a real stray," Tsuna commented with a quirky smile. Ore laughed at the quip before setting off, returning on his path home from their kickboxing training.
"P-Pocky...?"
Tsuna looked up from where he'd silently been watching everyone fawn over their new pet, finding himself struck speechless at the sight of his visitor. The others saw it as well, standing up slowly with their questions plain on their faces.
"What happened to you?!" Tsuna finally gasped, running forward to inspect Summer's black eye and split lip.
"It was Mike," she answered tearfully. "I told him that we wanted to stop working for him. I.. I didn't know that Cassandra and Dedra had already told him the same thing together, so he was pissed when I came and told him, too. I had went alone and he got really mad over it and took it out on me. H-He said that I wasn't allowed to quit and... and..."
"I'll take care of it," Tsuna promised, feeling a rage boil up inside him while Summer started weeping into his shoulder. Looking around, he saw the same dark looks on his friend's faces too. It was too soon. It was still too soon after having seen Tsuna with a black eye to find someone else in the same position of being hurt. It was only made worse since Summer was even smaller in size than Tsuna himself. Her being a girl on top of it was just too much to bear. Even Eric looked to be on the edge of wanting to tear someone's head off, which was surprising since he hadn't known that Eric was even capable of getting mad.
"You can't," Summer sobbed. "Mike owns my apartment. He'll throw me out just like he did Cassandra and Dedra! He said he won't let me stay if I won't work for him!"
"He threw them out?" Tsuna asked quietly.
"Yes," she whined. "He wouldn't even let them get their stuff! He's standing in the door with a baseball bat and told them that he'd--"
"Stay here," Tsuna growled, seeing red from the rage boiling up inside of him. Prying her off of him, he tossed her into Eric's arms to console her and started heading for the door. "Me and Mike are going to have a talk." Ignoring Summer's sobbing pleas, he didn't even pause to grab his jacket. Five feet out the door, he found himself running in the direction of Summer's apartment building with only one thought in mind.
Bastard.
He didn't pause for anything. He barely noticed the fact that he was fearlessly running down the alley roads again, completely alone since he'd left before anyone could realize that he was leaving. At the moment, he didn't care. He had a strange feeling that, had anyone tried to attack him in that moment, they would have ended up the loser in the struggle. As it was, he exited out next to the apartment building after only a three minute run, making both Dedra and Cassandra squeak in surprise over his sudden appearance. They both tried to stop him when he started heading up the stairs, yelling out warnings about how Mike was waiting inside. He ignored them. He didn't care if Mike had a bat. Tsuna had something far scarier. He had his rage.
Without even thinking about it, he raised his broken arm up to protect his head when the bat came crashing down at him once he was inside. The blow sent a spasm through his arm for its ferocity, but he felt strangely detached from the pain that he knew he should be feeling. Mike froze, seeing instantly the it was Tsuna instead of one of the girls. He stared and Tsuna stared back while a cracking sound filled the area. When he finally pulled his bat back in shock, Tsuna grinned almost insanely at the free movement he could feel in his previously encased hand. His cast was shattered and his arm was healed enough to be usable. It hurt some to use it, but pain was the last thing that Tsuna was paying attention to.
Pulling his arm out of his sling, he tossed the sling itself aside and shook off the remains of his cast. Once more, he was moving by pure instinct while he pulled out the pins in his arm which had been holding the bone in place while it healed. Mike stared at the blood that welled up, paling beneath Tsuna's cold, rage-filled stare.
"What are you doing, Mike?" Tsuna asked quietly, once more ignoring the girls that started peeking out of their doors to watch. "Were you planning on using that bat on one of the girls?"
"I.. uh.." Mike mumbled, taking two steps backward when Tsuna began to advance.
"Answer me!" Tsuna yelled, throwing a punch into Mike's cheek in repayment of the one he'd hit Summer with. It was quick and fast but under the level of lethality, just like Coach Renolds had been teaching him. It sent Mike reeling in a fashion that Tsuna found was quite satisfactory. "Why the fuck did you hit Summer, Mike?! Why won't you let Cassandra and Dedra get what is rightfully theirs?!"
"Fuck off!" Mike finally roared, regaining his balance enough to throw his own punch in return that made Tsuna feel like his jaw was going to break. Tsuna roared in his own rage, sending Mike to the ground with a second blow. Tsuna jumped on top of him, pinning him down in order to grab his collars and shake some sense into the man.
"They're not your toys, Mike! They work for you, but you don't fucking own them! Why the hell are you hitting them?! Do you think you have some right to fucking hit them?! If they say that they don't want to play your sleazy games anymore, then they don't have to!"
"Says who?!" He shouted back, sending another fist upward at Tsuna's chin. Tsuna started to fall backward in a daze, but was able to shake off the blow quickly enough to reassert himself over the larger pimp. He sent blow after blow downward into his face and chest, pouring out his anger over seeing one of his friends in the same position of victim that he'd been forced into. After the third blow, all he could see was red. All he could see was red and the memory of himself in a dark alley. He continued to punch, taking occasional blows in return without even noticing, until someone finally, forcefully yanked him off.
"Stop, Little Guy!" Ore shouted in worry, making Tsuna freeze in place where Ore was holding him up three feet off of the ground. Looking down, he paled at the sight of Mike. His face was already starting to swell and bruise. He was coughing blood from a blow to his chest combined with the tooth that Tsuna had knocked out. He was still conscious, though, and he was indeed still alive where he might possibly have not been if Tsuna had continued. From the look on his face when he tried to roll over, he was in a lot of pain, though.
"Put me down," Tsuna mumbled, bowing his head in guilt for having hurt someone. Several of the girls poured out of their rooms to help Mike when they heard his calm and quiet tone, sensing easily that the fight was over despite how Ore carefully set him back down. "I owe you a lot, Mike," he said quietly when Mike sat up enough to glare at him despite his defeat. "You took me and Snicker in when no one else would. But... But I can't stand by when your hurting people. What would have happened if someone other than me had walked through that door? You could have killed someone, Mike. You could have killed them and then where would you be? You would have been in jail and then everything you'd worked for would have been gone."
"Am I supposed to thank you?" Mike snarled with a lip twitching in rage.
"No," Tsuna replied. "But you can't treat people like you own them. I'm not going to say that I'm sorry for hitting you, because you were asking for it, Mike. You hit Summer and you're trying to control Dedra and Cassandra. You can't do that anymore. I... I won't let you." Tsuna finally looked up, staring at Mike with a determination that he couldn't explain. It felt right, though. He had to protect his friends. Every fiber of his being demanded it.
"Tell them to get their shit and get out," Mike growled, letting the girls help him up to retreat to his own apartment in defeat. He paused once he was on his feet, sending one last glare at Tsuna. "I won't forget this, Suoh."
"I know," Tsuna mumbled sadly. It couldn't be changed, though. He wasn't sure if he wanted to change it, either. Mike would probably hate him forever, but Tsuna doubted that he'd ever lay a hand on one of his girls again. His friendship with Mike was a price that Tsuna had to pay to keep the girls safe and he was wiling to pay that price. He was willing to pay it because the alternative was a lot harsher for those that lived under Mike's rule. "Ore," he said quietly, looking up at the construction worker solemnly. "Would you mind staying here and helping Dedra and Cassandra get their stuff? I don't think Mike will try to interfere anymore, but it'd probably make the girls feel better if you stay."
"Sure thing, Little Guy," Ore nodded with a gleam of concern in his eyes.
"Tell them that they can stay with us if they don't have anywhere else to go," he added, walking toward the door while trying to ignore the growing throb in his arm. "You all don't mind, do you?"
"Of course not, Suoh," Gigi murmured, steadying him when his footsteps started to weave. He could feel exhaustion and the aftermath of what he'd done begin to crash into him all at once, leaving him bone-tired and emotionally drained. His knees felt like gelatin and he felt slightly dizzy from more than just the blows that he'd taken to the head. "Let's go get some ice on your face," Gigi suggested, guiding him out the door gently instead of with his usual pushiness. "We need to get that arm wrapped up, too. You're bleeding like a stuck pig."
"Oh," Tsuna mumbled, lifting his arm up to see that it was indeed covered in blood. The leak was slow, but there was enough holes in his arms from his rash and violent removal of the pins that it was still bleeding. He considered himself lucky that he could even still feel his arm. He still had several weeks before he was supposed to take the cast off, after all. "Did I do the right thing, Gigi?" He asked as he was led back in the direction of the theater.
"I think so," Gigi answered promptly. "And I bet that everyone else does, too. Mike will come around once he's not mad about you punching him. You really did save him from making a big mistake, Suoh."
"Thanks," Tsuna replied, knowing that Gigi was trying to comfort him over the lost friendship. He just wished that he could believe those words.
"It's a lot quieter than normal," Snicker commented, kicking his boots off after tossing Tsuna the bag of hamburgers that he'd picked up for their dinner. "Everyone is usually still enjoying themselves when I get here."
"No one was in a mood to party today," Tsuna mumbled, setting the bag aside without taking anything. Eating was the last thing that he felt like doing. After Gigi had patched him up, he'd paid off the work crews and had spent the rest of the day curled up on his mattress where it was currently residing on the stage. "I got in a fight."
"I can tell," Snicker replied, reaching out to grab Tsuna's chin and inspect the bruises on his face. "From the looks of it, you lost."
"I won," he corrected sadly, putting his head on his knees. "Summer came over and told me that Mike hit her because she wanted to stop turning tricks. He was threatening Dedra and Cassandra with a bat, too, for the same thing. I... I don't know what I was thinking. I ran off and confronted him over it."
"And?" Snicker prompted, pulling off his jacket and sweaty shirt like he normally did upon reaching home if no one else was present but Tsuna.
"And I beat him up," Tsuna answered with his face still buried in his knees. "Big Guy came by a little while ago. All three of them are staying at his place until we get this one fixed up since they'll need a shower while they're job-hunting. They got their stuff out, but Mike said that he didn't want to see any of us again."
"Big Guy is going to have his hands full," he chuckled. "So, why are you moping? You should be proud of yourself. You stood up for what you thought was right and you didn't take any of Mike's shit. Don't give me that look," he added when Tsuna popped his head up to look at Snicker in surprise. "That's how me and Mike met. All of his girls were walking out on him left and right. He started smacking them around because he thought he could force them to stay. I set him straight when I caught him doing it in an alley. It saved him from losing the rest of his girls, too, because they all came to pity him. He ended up losing half of them anyway, but what I did helped him get on his feet again. He'll thank you once he sees some sense. He ended up thanking me, after all."
"That makes me feel a little better," Tsuna smiled softly.
"How's your arm?" Snicker asked, reaching over to grab the bag of burgers for himself. Pulling one out, he tossed it at Tsuna with a look that said he didn't have any choice but to eat. Tsuna smiled in return, feeling his appetite being to return due to Snicker's confidence that everything would work out.
"It aches, but I can use it again," he answered. "Mike broke the cast off with his bat, but I think I'll be okay without a new one. Gigi put a splint on it while he was wrapping it up for me. I just got to be careful not to overuse it for a few weeks."
"Keep it in the sling," he ordered firmly. "There's no sense in taking chances."
"Whatever you say, old man," Tsuna grumbled, getting a glare in return for the nickname.
"And the stray?" He prompted, pointing to the dog laying down at Tsuna's feet who was silently begging for one of them to toss him a burger, too.
"My first failed attempt at saying no," he laughed. "If you think a puppy can make a cute puppy-dog face, you should see Ore's. I had both of them staring at me with the fat lip and eyes together. I couldn't say no."
"What am I going to do with you?" Snicker asked with a long-suffering sigh. "At this rate, the place is going to be cram-full of people."
"That's not such a bad thing, is it?" Tsuna asked with a wide smile. "You said that you always dreamed of a big home with lots of people."
"That I did," he agreed in contentment, falling back to lay on the mattress with his stomach full and his work behind him for the day. "You've really made all my dreams come true, Suoh. All we need now is a pretty little thing to keep our bed warm and we'll be set."
"That'd be nice," Tsuna agreed, lounging back beside him with a grin. "We share everything else. I wouldn't have any problems with sharing that, too. If it were someone else, I couldn't see it happening but--" Tsuna froze and blushed, realizing what he was saying. Snicker rolled over and propped himself up on his arm, also getting the mental image that had popped into Tsuna's head. Him and a girl and Snicker. Him... and Snicker. It felt wrong somehow, yet so very right at the same time. "I.. uh..."
"The paperwork might say I'm your dad, but... but you know that it was just put there to make things look legitimate," Snicker commented, staring down at the sheets with a blush lighting up on his face. Tsuna bolted up, feeling his whole body turn red at the insinuation.
"W-What are you saying?!" Tsuna gasped, feeling like his whole world was being turned upside down.
"Ah, forget it," Snicker grumbled, turning over to lay back down in a rush. "Pretend that I didn't say anything."
"No," he replied firmly, feeling his eyes get wider by the moment. "I want to know what you meant by that, Snicker."
"Just forget it," he repeated, reaching back to pull the covers up over himself.
"Joshua D. Timberson!" Tsuna snapped, making Snicker bolt upright again in surprise over hearing his own name come out of Tsuna's mouth. Tsuna smiled at the look of shock on his face, feeling strangely happy that he'd been able to create such a reaction. Then his face softened and he asked once more, "What did you mean?"
"I'm an old fool," Snicker replied slowly, covering his face with his hands in shame. When he put his hands back down, he continued to stare at them in the open inability to look at Tsuna. "I can't see you as a son anymore, Suoh. It hit me back when I found out that you'd went and sold yourself. I... I got jealous. I've been jealous for a long time, but I just wasn't noticing it. I... I kept thinking 'someone else is sleeping with my Suoh' and other thoughts that I didn't have any right thinking. Then you got hurt and I tried to make myself think of you as my son again while you've been healing, but it's been hard. You ain't helpless, Suoh. You ain't helpless and you've got lots and lots of people showing up that want to be around you. It's been making me jealous all over again and..."
"You're afraid that you're going to lose me," Tsuna finished in heart-wrenching understanding. "But that could never happen, Snicker," he said firmly, reaching out to hug himself up against Snicker's chest. "I would be nothing without you. Even if we have more people around us, you're the only one that really matters. I could keep going if Eric or Gigi or any of the others left, but I'd die if I lost you. You're my whole reason to keep going. You couldn't get rid of me anymore, even if you tried."
"You make it sound like I want to get rid of you," Snicker chuckled while rubbing Tsuna's back soothingly.
"Do you?" Tsuna mock-pouted, looking up at Snicker with a small grin.
"Hell no," he laughed. "You keep me on my toes. I feel twenty just by trying to keep up with you and all your craziness."
"I'm not crazy," he countered. "I'm just unique."
"A unique, crazy bum," Snicker said, looking down at him with a wide grin. Then his grin faltered, finding himself far too close to Tsuna's face for either of them to react. Neither of them moved, unable to move backward in rejection of the feelings that they saw in each other's eyes. They couldn't move forward, either. They were both too scared of destroying the comfortable relationship that they had. Pretending to be father and son gave them both peace and a stability that they took great comfort in. If they were to break that by becoming intimate, everything would change and they'd never be able to return from it. Even knowing that, Tsuna could feel his heart pounding in his chest until finally the stalemate was broken.
"I'll get it," they both said in unison. Tsuna stayed put since Snicker was able to scramble up faster to answer the banging knock at the door. Neither of them laughed over the matching desire to grasp for the interruption. They were too busy trying to control their blushes.
With a groan, Tsuna threw himself forward on the bed and covered his head with his favorite gold pillow. What had he been about to do? He knew that he loved Snicker, but he'd never considered him like that before. Well, he mentally amended with an internal flinch, there had been a few times. There'd been once or twice while they were on the street. A few of the nights had grown very cold and he'd ended up crawling in Snicker's barrel to sleep on top of him for warmth. Snicker hadn't cared, taking open pleasure in how cozy things had gotten, but Tsuna had been forced to apologize numerous times for poking. There'd been that one time that Tsuna had come home drunk, too. Although he'd seen his own actions as harmless, Snicker had given him a black eye over it. Looking back, it might have been more out of frustration than anything. If Tsuna's clinging that night had made feelings well up in Snicker that he'd not wanted to admit to, it was understandable that his reaction had been so abrupt.
He was going to hell, he told himself with another internal groan. He was definitely, undeniably going to hell. He--
"Pocky?" Summer asked, making Tsuna groan verbally again.
"Don't mind him, lass," Snicker said with a grin that Tsuna knew was spread across his face. "We were just having a bit of a conversation and he's a little... um..."
"Horny," he blurted from under his pillow, taking cruel revenge for Snicker's amusement. He heard Snicker cough sheepishly, obviously having been trying to decide on a very different adjective. Something like 'confused' or 'worse for wear'.
"Can I help?" Summer inquired with laughter laced through her voice. "I never got to thank you for helping us. I talked to Dedra and Cassandra before they, um, started showing their thanks to Ore. You got Mike to back off and you've even offered this place for all of us to stay in. That was really nice of you."
"Don't mention it," Tsuna replied with a squeak in his voice, throwing a thumbs up at her without pulling his head out from where he was hiding his furious blushes. "No problem at all."
"You'll have to forgive him," Snicker laughed loudly. "We were just talking before you came in. I was telling him that we got everything we need except for a pretty thing like yourself to keep both of us warm at night."
Damn you, Snicker, Tsuna mentally cursed while his blushes grew deeper. He understood, though. He understood what Snicker was doing and he couldn't find fault in it. If Summer offered herself up in answer to his comment, he and Snicker could share more than just sleeping space. They could share more without destroying the nice and comfortable relationship that they had going. It would allow them to become intimate without them actually becoming intimate with each other. They'd be just be intimate with the same person at the same time. He had to admit, there was a very large part of himself that he couldn't deny his desire for that. He'd slept with Summer lots of times and so had Snicker. It'd just be a little matter of timing.
"Someone like me to keep you both warm at night...?" Summer repeated with a curious note in her voice.
"She's not interested, Snicker," Tsuna growled, waving the comment away.
"I wouldn't say that," she interjected in thought, making Tsuna freeze in his tracks. "I kind of like the idea. I'd get my two favorite candies at once and I actually like sleeping with you two. I was tempted to suggest it a few times in the past, but I know that neither of you are gay."
"We're not," Snicker said firmly, "But we're used to sharing a lot. There's no sense in wasting bed-space with two pretty little things when one will do."
"Then, can I be the one?" Summer asked, making Tsuna's eyes clench in a embarrassed confusion. Part of him was screaming 'Yes!' while the other part was screaming 'I'm going to hell!'
"Sounds good to me," Snicker said slowly. "Suoh...?" Tsuna froze at the prompt, unsure of how he should reply. He wanted it. He couldn't deny that he wanted it. Yet, there was a little nagging voice inside him that was questioning the morals of doing so. That voice was immediately silenced by the loud throb that resulted when he felt Summer's hand on his side, prompting him to turn over. He did, rolling over onto his back with his pillow still firmly covering his face.
"How about it, Suoh?" She asked in a voice that made both Snicker and Tsuna groan low in the back of their throats. "Would you like me to make you and Snicker nice and warm?"
"Un hun," he finally answered in a bit of a whine, feeling Summer's lips already teasingly playing with the nipple rings that he'd let Gigi talk him into getting. He'd yet to regret getting them and he was once again reminded to thank the drag queen for the increased sensitivity that they caused. He'd cursed endlessly when they'd been pierced, but he'd not cursed since.
Throwing the pillow aside for air, he reached down to bury his hands in Summer's hair when she pulled his boxers out of the way in order to wrap her lips around something even more sensitive. He was flush and panting, but he stopped caring if it could be seen. It was worth it, too, when he found his eyes locked with Snicker's while the man greedily rubbed his hands down Summer's sides and hips.
"You know that we're going to hell. Don't you?" Tsuna panted, his eyes nearly rolling back in his head while Summer continued her ministrations.
"That's fine," Snicker laughed as he began sliding down Summer's pants. "We can rent a timeshare together."
Tsuna could only laugh in return before his attentions were consumed by something far more interesting.