ZEDD

I sigh as I stretch and head for the kitchen - and dinner. Attempting to get in contact with the informant I needed was trying indeed. I frown as I recall his reluctance to do the job. Something seems off about it and I think I'm going to have to get Dar involved. One of those contracts I think I'm going to have to refuse outright. I would need both Dar and Pina on that job and, with the short deadline, I don't think that Thomas and I are quite ready for a separation of that distance and I wouldn't dare take him to that planet.

Shuddering as I recall the state of the few humans I've seen there, I reach the dining area. Just as I'm about to push open the kitchen door, I hear Dar's aggravated tones. "Tommy, I swear by all the hells, if you touch one more thing-"

"It's your fault," Thomas protests.

"Excuse me? How exactly is it my fault?"

"If you weren't such a good cook, then I wouldn't want to be stealing bits while you're trying to make dinner."

I hear a soft snort of amusement behind me and share a grin with Pina as the pair in the kitchen continue to bicker.

"I'm warning you, human, you're about to have the imprint of this spoon across your ass."

"I'll tell Pina" comes the rather smart retort.

"I'll tell Zedd." Well on the plus side Goldar threatening him with tattling to me is a step up from attempting to murder him I suppose.

A few more threats and warnings are exchanged as Pina and I both roll our eyes. Finally, we hear Dar snap, "That's it!"

"Oh shit!" There is a scrambling sound and Pina and I step aside swiftly as Thomas comes barreling through the door, Dar right behind him. A quick glance, combined with the feel of the bond, shows me that Thomas isn't actually distressed. A second quick glance, this time at Pina, tells me that he isn't in any real danger, either.

Pina and I enter the kitchen and get drinks before we move to set the table. We engage in small talk until Dar returns. Calmly, I ask, "Did you catch him?"

"No. For a human, he's quick, I'll give him that." He returns to finishing up the last bits of the meal. I close my eyes and trace the bond in my mind, trying to figure out where Thomas is. I bite my lip to stifle my laughter as I realize where he's hiding - and for sure, Dar would never think to look for him there.

The meal is finished and moved to the table before Thomas cautiously sidles into the room. Without a word, he slides into his seat next to me just as I set a plate in front of him giving him a slight look. "Dar's office, really?"

"Seemed the least likely place he'd check."

Shaking my head and letting it be, I turn and address Dar. "So, I went over the contracts and I think we're going to have to refuse the one."

He nods. "I pretty well expected as much. Did you get in contact with your informant?"

I frown again. "Yes, but something seems - off."

"I was afraid of that. I got a message myself just before I came to start dinner that the customer has been - in that area."

I'm surprised by this information. I've done work for them before and they've never interfered. Hell, they rarely leave their house, never mind their planet. Unless- "The customer or his flunkies?"

"Him." This is not good as I still have a month on the contract before I'm in default - and I'm known for never missing a deadline. So why is he poking around? The lack of information on this is making me uneasy. Dar speaks again. "I assumed I'd have to do some asking around, depending on what you found out."

"Tomorrow will be soon enough."

He nods and we finish our meal, talk turning to other things. Once the meal is over and cleared, Dar returns with dessert. I'm puzzled when he sets plates in front of everyone but Thomas and then hands coffee around to everyone, including Thomas. Thomas doesn't seem bothered in the least, but Pina and I exchange confused looks. As Dar sits down, he addresses Thomas seeming to ignore our curious looks. "Tommy, you did say a whole week, right?"

"Uh huh." I turn to him and catch the sparkle in his eyes and the smirk that he's doing a very poor job of hiding. "What?"

"What's going on?"

"But if I ever find out that it was deliberate, Thomas, you will have no dessert for a whole week," he says. He's quoting me, and in a slightly mocking way, I know, as I'm the only one who calls him Thomas, but when- Abruptly, I remember the morning after I told him about the bond and his little act of self-pleasuring revenge against me. He did finally admit that it was on purpose, but I had forgotten about the punishment I had threatened him with at the time.

I can feel my face redden as Dar says, "So do you want to tell me now exactly why you're being punished like a child?"

"Nope," the human says cheerfully. "That's between me and Zedd." Okay and that just made it sound worse - and somehow I suspect that it's deliberate. This isn't quite the giddy behavior that he exhibited the last time he was out alone, but I'm still a little concerned. Shaking his head as he sees me studying him carefully, he's quick to reassure me in a rather put upon manner. "Relax, Zedd. I'm fine."

"Have you been into the liquor again?" I can't help but ask.

He rolls his eyes. "Zedd, you've never seen me drunk so I can't imagine what your basis for comparison would be." Hmm, good point. Might have to try that at some point in the near future. "So I was thinking about the schedule and I had some ideas, but I'm used to functioning on a seven day week. I don't know if you guys do or not."

"More or less," I tell him. "Like Earth, there are societies that have sacred days and that sort of thing. So do we, but we're flexible around our customers' needs - within reason."

He nods that he understands. "Well, I was thinking that, based on a seven day week, that in the mornings I could work out and spar with Zedd, after breakfast Pina could take me out and after lunch I could do my language work with Dar. Then, either before or after dinner each of you take two days a week and work out with me with weapons. The seventh day-"

Pina interrupts with, "The seventh day is a day off unless something comes up."

Thomas nods. "Exactly."

"Well, that would certainly balance things out," Dar muses. "It gets all his lessons and practices in and allows us to do our work as well. Assuming Zedd stops slacking off on said work." The jab is teasing, but he does fix me with a slight look that lets me know my lack of focus lately has been noticed.

"Yes, yes." Making a dismissive gesture at Dar, I return focus to my mate. "Well done, Thomas" I praise him. "The only potential hitches in that are if and when any of us have to go off planet."

Pina waves this away. "So either he gets some extra time off or the others pick up the slack. It's workable and we'll deal with that when we must. Besides I doubt we have any long runs to go on anytime soon." Maybe, maybe not. At my hesitant look, she continues curiously. "Do we?"

"No, just planning ahead for once, that's all."

Shaking his head, Dar seems less concerned, "I don't think you need to worry. I looked over what we have on the table right now and if you're going to refuse the one contract outright, there's no reason for all of us to be gone at the same time as that was the only one that would require all three of us. Anything else that comes up that requires us to leave the planet we can handle individually or in pairs."

Heaving a rather annoyed sigh, Thomas looks at us in a less than pleased manner. "Geez, I'm not five. I don't need a babysitter to keep me from flooding the house or getting my head stuck in the banister if you guys have to leave for day or two. Besides it's not like I couldn't call Jason or Andros if something came up."

"You got your head stuck in a banister, didn't you?" Dar questions around his coffee, making Thomas blush slightly.

"That's not the point, and I said I'm not five anymore so there's no need to think I would do so - again."

"Either way, it's really a moot point as we said, there's no reason for the three of us to all leave at the same time" Pina states calmly effectively ending another bit of bickering between our two mates before it can start and I nod in agreement.

With the meal finished, we quickly clear the table once more. "Thomas, why don't you go ahead upstairs and I'll follow you shortly." He shoots me a questioning look before he heads out the door. Once I'm sure he can no longer hear us, I turn to the others who are both waiting curiously to see what's up. "With all that happened in the last day and a half, I forgot to tell you. I found out that today is his birthday."

"Oh, dear" Pina says. "And we didn't acknowledge it in any way."

"Apparently, he hasn't celebrated it since he left Angel Grove due to having nobody to celebrate it with" I inform her.

"So what are you two suggesting?" Dar asks. "Hell, I haven't done anything for mine in so long, I'm not even sure when it is anymore."

"I usually take you out to a bar," I remind him, knowing full well when both of their birthdays are. "But then again, that's what we do for mine and Pina's too."

Looking thoughtful for a minute, Dar suddenly smirks in amusement. "Is that why you actually bought the drinks last time instead of causing a bar fight and simply taking the liquor like normal once everyone was cleared out or unconscious?"

"More or less" I agree.

"I don't think we should do that until his recovery is complete," Pina objects. "However, given that is normally how we do celebrate, I don't know what else to do for him."

Dar sighs. "Well, it's too late today to do much of anything. Let's all give it some thought and we'll see what we can come up with."

Not happy with this but unable to come up with another solution, I agree and I head up to join Thomas. I reach the bedroom and find it empty, but I can hear the shower running. I gather my own necessities as I continue pondering what to do for his birthday that won't result in him getting injured or being put in a less than safe environment. Perhaps I should have asked Jason what the custom is on Earth for such things before he left. I hear the shower turn off and a few minutes later he comes out, drying his hair.

He sees me and smiles. "All done talking about me?"

I roll my eyes. "And you think I have a big ego?"

He shrugs. "It was the only thing I could think of that you had to send me away for. After all, it's not like I could do anything to mess up your business."

I pick up my things, pointedly ignoring his statement. "I'm going to go get my shower."

I hurry through my shower and return to the bedroom. Once more, he's in the drawer of movies. Thomas looks up at me. "I was thinking that we could start with the movies tonight if you want to."

"If you're ready, Thomas, that's fine."

"Well, there's something that I wanted to talk to you about first." This is never good.

I sit down on the bed steeling myself for what he might want to discuss now. "Something good or something bad?"

"Sort of both I guess."

"Okay, go ahead."

He returns his gaze to the cases before him. "So, um, I did a lot of thinking today - particularly about my issues and my nightmares."

"And what did you come up with? Anything interesting?"

"I think I might know why I'm so terrified by the idea of you having me. I realized that I - unintentionally - wasn't clear about some of what happened in rehab." I can feel my hands curl into fists as I wait for him to continue. "I told you that Big John touched me, but he didn't just - grope me. He started to- I mean, just with his finger, but still…"

"How far?" I growl.

"Not far," he hastens to assure me. "Not even to the first knuckle I think. I freaked out and got away from him - for a minute anyway." Looking concerned, but still not meeting my gaze, he's tensed up in worry. "Are you mad? I didn't mean to leave that part out, it's just I guess I maybe kind of pushed it to the back of my mind until now."

"Of course I'm mad, Thomas." At his flinch, I mentally curse myself. "Not at you. I'm mostly now mad at myself that I didn't kill him when I had the chance."

"Again I think that would have only helped to give me a panic attack at the time."

How in the nine hells are we going to get him past that? I know that there has to be a solution, but what is it? If we can't - no, I won't think about that. One day, he'll be curious enough, want it enough I just have to be patient. "What else?"

I'm surprised to see him smirk. "I'd rather not say - your ego is big enough."

And right now, my curiosity is bigger. "Now you're just taunting me."

"Well, I, um, compared you to my past girlfriends."

"You did what now?"

"If it helps, you won every match."

Well, I would hope so. "It would make it difficult for us to be proper mates, Thomas, if you were pining for someone else."

He stands up and moves over to the cabinet. As he opens it and sets up the movie, he says, "Well duh, Zedd. That's not what I meant, though. I mean more like - one of them was way too serious, but you know how to have fun. Another one only wanted to have fun, but you can be serious when you have to. You have the right balance for me."

Now I understand what he means and it pleases me to no end. "That's good. I remember how you compared us to yin and yang. How well did I beat out Katherine and Kimberly?"

He starts the video and climbs onto the bed with me and an all too amused look on his face. "Let's leave the rest of that discussion for another night." I'm about to say something else but he speaks first. "If I'm going to be experimenting on you, you're wearing too much."

The playful words are punctuated with a kiss. When he draws back, I swiftly divest myself of my nightwear, body already eager for his touch. I prop myself up slightly against the headboard so that I can watch both him and the movie. Thomas curls up against my side, hand quickly finding my chest and stroking it lightly as he turns his attention to the screen.

It's not long before his hand slides down my body and starts stroking me slowly. I allow my eyes to drift shut, focusing on the sensations. The quick swipe of his tongue across my nipple makes me suck in a breath and then moan softly. His hand tightens on me slightly. "Oh Thomas, yes."

He continues at this maddening pace for some time, his attention divided between the screen and me. When he stops moving entirely, I open my eyes to see what has gotten his attention so completely. He watches intently as one of the males is being prepared to be taken. The moans on the screen increase in volume as he's penetrated slowly. I want to touch him badly, but I did promise. However if he doesn't return some focus back to me soon I may be tempted to actually put the damn video on pause for a minute.

Suddenly, he thankfully returns his attention to me before it comes to that. He kisses me hungrily as his hand moves once more. Abruptly, he releases my mouth and runs his tongue over me. Reflexively, I thrust up at him, locking my hands in the covers. "Thomas, please more pet."

He increases the speed and pressure while his hands are busy stroking and fondling me. He moans around me earning him a moan in return. I know that at this pace it won't be much longer and my hands tighten into fists. "So close, Thomas." He takes me all the way in and he sucks just that little bit harder. I cry out my release, still fighting the urge to touch him.

He releases me and moves back up to my side. I keep my hands twisted in the blankets, waiting for word from him on what he wants to do next. I can see just how aroused he is and it's a very enticing picture indeed. As I watch, he shifts his hips slightly in time to the action on the screen, face flushed and breathing shallow.

His hands return to me, however, while the spirit is willing, the body needs more recovery time. It doesn't deter him though, almost as if he can't get enough of touching me - not that I'm complaining. On the other hand - "Thomas, you need to take care of your needs too."

"Not yet."

"You're trying to kill me" I accuse in a desperate plea for just a minute more to recover.

Chuckling in a far too amused manner his hands move lower, once more caressing me until he slides a finger into me, which quickly become two. I almost don't hear his breathless, "God, Zedd I want you."

"Whatever you need, Thomas." He turns quickly and kisses me hard.

"I need you," he breathes. Quickly, he moves between my legs and in a moment he's in and moving fast and hard, making me cry out in pure pleasure when he hits that spot. He leans over and kisses me again, almost desperately. "God, Zedd!"

Words fail me as the sensations build. They are all there in my head, but I am unable to give voice to them. I shift myself slightly allowing him to get even deeper in me, drawing deep groans from both of us. Thomas moves even faster and harder and I know he can't last much longer - can he?

Unless - he got himself off in the shower in preparation for this - to make this last. The mere idea excites me to a point where I'm racing for the finish once again. "Thomas-"

"Yes." The low, breathless growl assures me that he's right with me. It's not long before we both shout out, one right after the other. Once he catches his breath somewhat, he begins to clean me up with long swipes of his tongue. When he's done, we curl up together and fall asleep, movie still running in the background.