=Normal POV=
(Sunday, 12/8/2019; 8:00 pm)
(Barbarchi City, Archipelago)
(Hunter's House)

Hunter joined in some conversations, if it was a group talk about things, but he mostly stayed focused on his work with Trayden's car and clearly not allowing himself to get too into the drinking. Trayden was mainly watching Hunter work, subtly, while Alyssa, Shane, the Thorston twins, and Fisher were mostly quiet and still in shock about finding Hunter after nine years, then learning the truth that he didn't runaway at fifteen, he was disowned and kicked out by his parents who didn't accept that he was gay. Hunter's friends were just drinking, laughing, dancing and singing to the music that played off Hunter's phone. When there was a break in music, Hunter rolled out from under the car and got up to inspect a few more things, then finally shut the hood and lowered the lift all the way down before wiping his face and hands with a black rag and approaching Trayden.

"I take it you found a lot wrong with it for two hours of work?" Trayden asked.

"Indeed, but you're all set now. It shouldn't give you any more trouble," Hunter informed with a smile. "I was right, your battery was way past dead," He added gently.

"Guess I need to replace that then," Trayden mumbled.

"Nah, already changed it out. I keep a few new ones here," Hunter chuckled. "Your car also was overdue for an oil change, the alignment was off, and two of your tires were low on air. Fixed your wheel-speed sensor, it came up when I had your dash lights read. I repaired your alarm system too, I remember you mentioning that it would lock, but not alarm. Also that when you were using the alarm, it would go off at random, so that's set too," He revealed. "Other small issues were due to fuck ups from other shops in the past,"

"Now, I need to go yell at people…" Trayden sighed.

"It's a common trick most small autobody shops pull with customers. People choose them because they're cheap, but they do shit work. Temporarily fixing an issue, or fixing it fully, but making something else break in order to keep you coming back to spend more money," Hunter explained. "Not to worry, hot stuff. I fixed it all for you,"

"Thanks…What do I-," Trayden started, but Hunter shook his head.

"Don't bother asking what you owe him for it all," Devon chuckled.

"He won't charge you," Eli smiled.

"Yeah, but…He just did two hours' worth of work and fixed enough that would run me my next four months of rent…" Trayden argued calmly.

"Don't matter. Hunter won't charge his friends, ever," Thaxter mentioned.

"Hunter only charges for parts he has to order, and even then…He gets a discount from the place he buys it from due to be a licensed mechanic. Hunter will never charge for stuff he fixes here in the garage, or labor," Bryan shrugged. "Believe me, we've all tried to pay him for work he's done on our vehicles, and he refuses to take it. If we send it , he just sends it back to us," He added.

"He calls it friend discounting," Chelsea giggled.

Trayden looked at Hunter. "You're really not going to let me pay you for all that?"

Hunter laughed a bit before he brought Trayden to his feet off the couch, then led him over to his car and gave him back his keys. "Would it make you feel better if you gave me something in return?" Hunter inquired. Trayden nodded as Hunter leaned closer and Trayden blushed a bit. Hunter moved to his ear with a smile. "Well, I don't take cash, credit, or checks…But I will take hugs and kisses as payment from friends if you feel you absolutely need to pay me for my services," He whispered as Trayden blushed intensely as Hunter pulled back slightly and smiled at Trayden, staring into his eyes gently. "Or you can just accept and deal with the fact I'm not gonna let you pay me with actual money," He winked and went to pull away.

What Hunter didn't expect was Trayden to grab his wrist, so he couldn't walk off, then use the other hand to grab his shirt and pull him in until their lips met. Hunter smiled into it and kissed back, making it just a little bit deeper before breaking the action. Trayden let go of his shirt, as Hunter pulled back, both looking into each other's eyes. "Is it bad that I already planned on offering a kiss if you wouldn't take money?" Trayden asked.

"Nope. I've been wanting to kiss you since I saw you sitting front row to my show last night," Hunter admitted. "If you want honesty, I was gonna come off stage and lap dance the hell out of you, but figured that might make dinner tonight a bit awkward. I didn't want to scare you off," Trayden blushed hard. "Maybe next time if you're up for it," Hunter winked before moving away to open the garage up so Trayden could drive it out. Trayden got into the driver's seat and started it up, noticing how easy it was and quiet. Hunter really had fixed a lot of problems with it. Trayden drove the car out and stopped where Hunter led him to, then turned it off and came out to walk back into the garage with Hunter, who closed the garage door again. "Sticking around for a bit? I know you have work tomorrow, I don't want to be the reason you're overtired,"

"No, no. It's okay. I'll be fine for work, I don't even go in until 4 pm, so as long as I get at least six hours of sleep, I'll be good," Trayden reassured, absolutely not wanting to leave yet. Hunter nodded and walked with Trayden back to everyone else.

"Heading inside now?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, come on," Hunter stated. Everyone got up and followed Hunter, still leading Trayden beside him, into the house from the garage. Soon they were in the living room/kitchen.

"Hi, kids," Greeted a portly male with a long, dirty blonde mustache and blue eyes.

"Hey, Uncle Greg," Hunter smiled. "You remember Alyssa, Fisher, the twins, and Shane, don't you?" He asked.

"Well, it's been a while, but I know they were your best friends in school. Can't forget Shane, or Fisher. Their fathers are your uncles," Greg stated calmly.

"Wait…Fisher is my cousin too?" Hunter blinked.

"Well, third cousin, but yes. Shawn and Aaron are your uncles, father's side of the family going back to Gordon Haddock, who had three sons. Tyson, Hunter the Second, and Cooper. Hunter the Second passed from some illness I can't remember while Tyson moved away to Outcast and married Sabrina, and they had one son, Austin, who married Eliza and had Aaron. Then Aaron married Trinity and had Fisher," Glenn reminded.

"Oh, right! And then Gordon's other son, Cooper, stayed on Berk and married Bethany and had two sons. One of them was Scott, who married Brenda the Sixth and had my dad, Uncle Shawn, and five sisters…Ellie, Brenda the Seventh, Gabby, Brooke, and Barbara. My dad married my mom and had me, then Uncle Shawn married Faye and had Shane and Addilyn," Hunter nodded. "I remember now, it's a pain to remember that far back into my family history…" He grumbled.

"But you do, and that's a good thing to know your history. Never hurts to know where you came-," Gregory seemed to stop as Hunter folded his arms over his chest. "I'll shut up," He mentioned.

"I support that idea," Hunter remarked. "You staying down for the party, or up to your cave?"

"Cave, after we have a work meeting," Gregory sat up as Hunter and the other employees present from Wild Fantasies groaned. "Oh, don't even start. It'll take ten minutes,"

"Fine, what now do I have to incorporate into the shows?" Hunter asked.

"New year, new show. You gotta come up with new performances with the guys and girls, it's being highly requested to see group dancing. And that you come out more too," Gregory informed.

"I only do a few throughout the week," Hunter countered.

"Well, it's being asked that you do more, including hot seats because you rarely do it. You're Alpha Fury, you started it all, kiddo. And you're the only one who takes everything off and sings live. What do you want me to do? You're sought after by males and females of all sexual orientations. You're not in a relationship, so you got no excuse why you can't go out with the others," Gregory stated.

Hunter rolled his eyes. "Fine…I'll revise the routines for next year with some old and new. Is that acceptable?"

"And making yourself more available on stage. I can find someone else to run the stage stuff, or I'll do it," Gregory added.

"Offers the guy who can't even use a touch screen cell phone," Hunter sarcastically reminded.

"I could! I just prefer…Simple," Gregory defended.

"Whatever you say, Uncle Greg…" Hunter waved it off. "But you better adjust showtimes then because I need time to find music, remix, plan a routine, and practice it with the rest," He demanded calmly.

"Well, you'll be overjoyed to know that we're shutting down next week and until after the new year for renovations and upgrades. It'll be about a month, so you'll have plenty of time to do all that stuff," Gregory informed.

"What upgrades we getting?" Olivia wondered curiously.

"Lighting, stage…Oh, and stripper poles too!" Gregory beamed.

"Greg, none of us have ever used those…" Devon said quickly.

"Hunter can teach you," Gregory pointed out.

"Don't you think I have enough to do already?" Hunter retorted, folding his arms and then noticing everyone was looking at him with surprise, except Gregory. "What?"

"You can pole dance?" Jason blinked.

"Well, yeah. I thought you guys knew that," Hunter replied as they shook their heads.

"I didn't know until a couple years ago," Gregory chuckled. "I came home on one of his off nights and saw him working at it. When people were suggesting ideas that I considered, adding poles was one and then I remembered Hunter knows how,"

"Great," Hunter rolled his eyes.

"Where is it anyway? The pole. You had it right here in the living room, it was hard to miss," Gregory wondered. Hunter sighed as he moved to a switch on the wall near the rear patio windows and flipped the last one closest to the fireplace. A beam on the ceiling opened and slowly dropped down a long silver pole until it stopped on a slight angle and Hunter shifted one of the floorboards to reveal the bottom connection for the pole. Hunter attached it in place, and made sure it was locked before resetting the board my moving a piece to make it fit around the pole. The ceiling beam fixed itself and Hunter motioned to the pole. "Well, that's a fancy way of concealing it…"

"Be kind of awkward to have a holiday dinner, or casual hang out with friends with a stripper pole in the main room…So I found a way to keep it hidden when not in use," Hunter shrugged.

"And it's sturdy?" Trayden wondered.

"Like steel," Hunter nodded. "I had it professionally installed, so I hope you, Uncle Greg, didn't just buy stripper dance poles and will be having casino maintenance putting them up…You fuck these up and someone is gonna end up hurt," He warned.

"I…Haven't bought them yet…And while we're on the subject…Where did you get yours from?" Gregory hoped with a nervous smile as Hunter shot him a bored and unamused look.

"I'll check my office for the invoice tomorrow," Hunter muttered.

"Thank you, lad. Okay, now I'll leave ya be," Gregory ruffled his hair and headed off.

"Guess we're gonna have a busy month," Nicole sighed.

"Pfft…All you gotta do is copy me. I'm the one who has all the work," Hunter retorted.

"Your uncle lives here?" Tyler wondered.

"Who was that guy?" Rylee asked.

Hunter arched a brow at them. "You don't remember Greg?" He inquired as they shook their heads. "Seriously? You don't remember my Godfather and unofficial uncle?" Hunter pushed. "He was my father's best friend? Gregory Forger?" Hunter saw then still looking confused.

Gregory poked his head back in the room. "They don't remember me as Greg, laddie. You never called me Uncle Gregory, or Greg," Greg chuckled some. "It was Uncle Gobber back then,"

"OH!" Alyssa, Fisher, Shane, Rylee, and Tyler stated quickly. Gregory smiled and headed out again.

"Did he take you in?" Shane questioned as Hunter glanced at him. "After your parents kicked you out?"

"Was sure I said I didn't want to talk about it," Hunter remarked.

"Hunter, come on…I know you're mad at your parents for what they did…But we didn't abandon you and we were the best of friends. Hell, you're mine and Fisher's family…" Shane sighed.

"We're not gonna tell anyone we ran into you," Fisher frowned. "Not even our parents, but tell us what happened, Hunter. You went from ninth-grader to mechanic and male stripper in nine years…Fill in the blanks, please? We don't know when we're gonna have this free time again with all our jobs and lives,"

"Well, I'm gonna tell Addi, at least. But I'll have her promise not to say anything," Shane informed. "She's our cousin and she loves you like another brother…She was miserable when we got told you got sick and then ran away…"

"Fine, but not tonight. It's our off night and I'm not killing a pre-planned party to get all serious about nine years ago," Hunter said. "You guys let me know your schedules, and I'll work around them with mine," He added. "Fair?"

"Okay," The five agreed.

"Thank you," Hunter stated. "Now, that's settled…Alexa, activate house party mode,"

"Party mode, activated,"

With a few quick shifts in lighting and music kicking on, it was easy to see what party mode was. Pre-programmed to set music, lights, volume, and more. Trayden was blown away by it. The volume was good for dancing, but talking too. Gods, this was fun. Hunter must have enough parties to need a party mode setting. Trayden never imagined a thank you dinner would turn into a party, or his car getting fixed, and enjoying a genuinely nice kiss with said man who repaired the car and took him to dinner. Trayden could only watch with amazement of Hunter partying beside his friends. All of them had drinks in their hands and were smiling, laughing, and dancing with each other. Incredibly provocative and erotic dancing, but Trayden knew they all worked together and this was probably normal for them with no awkwardness. Trayden's seven friends had no idea what to make of it, especially the five who knew Hunter years ago. Trayden believed they were just shocked and wanted to know the truth, but Hunter made his stance clear twice tonight that he didn't want to talk about it.

The time flew and soon it was about 9:30 pm. Trayden didn't really have anything alcoholic, but he knew he was safe if he did because Hunter made it obvious that all other establishments that sold drinks, if he found someone was too drunk to get home; he would take their keys and they would spend the night at his place. Trayden mainly didn't want to get messed up because he was enjoying seeing Hunter have so much fun, but Trayden wasn't sure how to exactly join in because he'd never been part of things like this before. At some point, Hunter had gone to change into something comfortable, but still good-looking. It looked like sweatpants, but they were actually well-fitted jeans to hug curves, but still be movable.

"Okay, I get your old friends not having any idea how to mingle in this because they're still surprised from hours ago when they realized who you were…But what's up with your hot guy?" Devon asked curiously while he and Hunter with their friends were standing around the living room, and moving to the music.

"He's new to it all," Hunter replied.

"Being bisexual?" Eli inquired.

"He's gay, but only just accepted it within the last year. That is if I recall what he said at dinner correctly. He said situation last year settled on only being attracted to men," Hunter replied. "I don't think he has a problem with being gay, just not entirely sure how to handle the environment of a party. He mentioned his friends were nosey and pushy in getting him to hook up with someone or just put himself out there,"

"You're good at getting people into things, Hunter. Why not bring him in more?" Nicole suggested.

"I don't want to push him like the others were doing. That's what makes anyone in this community nervous and hesitant to put themselves out more," Hunter reminded.

"We're not saying push him to hook up or anything, just like…See if he wants a drink, maybe dance? That would loosen him up to see how things are in a controlled setting, wouldn't it?" Jason offered. "Or you could dance for him, like if we were putting on a show. Get his attention?"

"That might be too overwhelming," Bryan rolled his eyes. "Why don't you just go talk to him, get him more comfortable. I mean, even his friends aren't saying anything to him, so he's just sitting by himself,"

"I like that idea better," Hunter nodded as he shifted away from his group, then grabbed two beer bottles as he approached Trayden and opened both with his belt buckle before sitting down next to him and offering the cute male one. "Parties at my house require that you have, at least, one beer, shot, and mixed drink with the host," Hunter winked. "You don't gotta worry here," He added. "You're safe with me, Tray…I promise,"

Trayden smiled softly, nodding his head once and accepting the beer offered. Hunter tilted his towards Trayden, and then Trayden copied the motion as they tapped the bottle necks and both took a sip. "This is amazing,"

"What is? The party?" Hunter questioned calmly as Trayden nodded in reply. "It's hardly a party, just a get together with friends," He shrugged. "Now, the parties are when I have all the staff here from Wild Fantasies, then they each invite a couple close friends, and add that to people from the neighborhood too. It's even better when it's warm enough that I can make it a pool party out back," He laughed a little.

"That does sound crazy," Trayden giggled a little. "I bet it's wild, though. And fun," He added.

"You know it," Hunter replied. "Maybe you'll come to a few? I swear I'll keep everyone off you by saying you're mine," He winked as Trayden blushed. "I won't leave your side,"

"Well, knowing that…Maybe I just might join some of them," Trayden responded softly.

"I hope you do," Hunter smiled. Trayden nodded to him.

"Let me know when they happen and I'll see if I can get it off?" Trayden asked.

"You got it," Hunter agreed. The two looked ahead at the rest having fun in the middle of the living room.