"Guess not, then," Stephen grinned, "Come with me."
Nick blinked again and followed Stephen out of the room, making sure to close the door behind him. He looked down at himself and noticed blood on his shirt, so, sighing, he pulled it off, padding along behind Stephen with the shirt balled up in one hand. He tossed it into the laundry as they left the main area of Anomaly and went into the back rooms, the private quarters. He followed Stephen into the communal kitchen, raising an eyebrow when Stephen dragged a chair over to the middle of the room, stood on it and began knocking on the ceiling with his fist.
"There we go!" he said, hearing a hollow knock under his fist.
Nick blinked in shock as Stephen pushed aside the panel leading into the crawlspace. The crawlspace Helen had insisted that he have filled and boarded ten years ago. He watched as Stephen reached inside and pulled out a lockbox. Then he slid the panel back across and jumped nimbly down from the chair. Stephen fished through his pockets, finding his keys, and unlocking the box.
"Christ in Heaven, Stephen!" he stared, "There's gotta be five grand in there at least!"
"Six thousand four hundred and twenty five," Stephen told him.
Nick frowned, looking a little hurt, "And… this is what?"
"Emergency fund, like I said," Stephen sighed, "Look Nick, when Helen was running this place, we never knew where we stood or whether we had a job or a roof over our heads tomorrow."
Nick looked horrified as Stephen continued, "And there isn't exactly a Hooker's Trade Union, so we created the emergency fund. All the high rollers would put in 20 of what they earned per job. Everyone else would put in 50 pounds a week. Then if Helen did turf one of us out, we'd give 'em half the emergency fund money to keep 'em on their feet. Then we'd start again for the next time she got rid of someone."
"Shit…" Nick breathed, "Stephen… I... I swear I didn't… I had no idea… If I'd known…" he looked almost about to cry, so Stephen slipped an arm around his waist.
"Shut up," he told him affectionately.
Nick wrinkled his nose at him, frowning, "But… you and the others…"
"Old news…" Stephen said airily, "No need for the emergency fund now that Helen is gone, right? So…" he pushed the box towards Nick, "Fix the room up proper."
"I can't take that," Nick shook his head.
"Sure you can," Stephen nodded.
"I can't…" Nick shook his head again, "You guys raised that money to protect yourselves from my bloody wife," he looked ill at the thought.
"Ex-wife."
"Right, right… ex-wife."
"Who is gone…" Stephen prompted, seeing Nick's eyes look longingly at the money.
"Yeah…"
"So we don't need to protect ourselves anymore…"
"No…" Nick blinked, frowning at Stephen, "Don't make it harder!"
"Why not?" Stephen shot him a positively evil grin.
"Because…" Nick slumped, "That's lookin' awful tempting, right now."
"Take it, you bloody idiot," Stephen rolled his eyes at him, "Use it to fix up the room, then use the rest to get somethin' nice for the communal breakroom downstairs. If you don't want the others to know we're in debt, this is the best way to do it."
"You're a bad influence on me," Nick pulled the box towards him.
"I know," Stephen responded sagely.
Nick's face turned serious, "Thank you," he appeared to steel himself, before leaning in and placing a quick, soft kiss against the corner of Stephen's mouth.
As Stephen stared up at Nick with wide blue-green eyes, Connor was fidgeting uneasily outside Ryan's hospital room. He frowned worriedly as the police questioned Ryan, taking notes, watching as Ryan's grey eyes grew more and more troubled. Connor craned his neck as he looked into the room, as though that would help him… do something. He didn't actually know what.
Finally… finally… the policemen nodded to Ryan and left, nodding to Connor on their way out. Connor all but ran into the room, sliding into the chair next to Ryan's bed. He hesitantly placed a hand over Ryan's, noting with some happiness that the older man didn't have an IV in either of his hands. This was good. Ryan couldn't have been hurt too bad if there was no IV, right?
Connor spoke quietly, dark eyes wide and troubled, "Hey… Did the police hassle you too much?"
Ryan shrugged, "Not really. Took my statement. Looked down their noses at me coz I'm a whore. Same old, same old," his eyes told a different story.
Connor bowed his head, hair falling into his eyes, "They aren't going to do anything, are they?" he said mournfully.
Ryan answered in a small voice, "No."
Connor rubbed his thumb over Ryan's knuckles, "Talk to me," he pleaded, "Tell me what happened," he sighed a little, thinking of the police, "I'll listen, even if they won't."
Ryan shuddered, "Conn… don't…"
But the sympathetic look and the soft pleading in Connor's dark eyes broke him, "He never actually fucked me," Ryan ground out, then laughed bitterly, "I don't think he actually wanted to."
Connor looked confused, "What? He just…?"
"Walked in, stripped to the waist, then started kicking shit outta me," Ryan said quietly.
Connor squeezed his hand gently, prompting Ryan to continue, "He was carryin' on. Yelling things like 'How'd you like it now, bitch? Am I still not good enough?' I tried to get him talking beyond that… He was…" Ryan took a breath, "He'd been knocked back by the army. He didn't want company for the night. He wanted to beat the crap outta his recruiting officer, knew he couldn't, so he found the next best thing."
Ryan sighed, grip tightening on Connor's hand, "Think I'll just stick to my regulars from now on, yeah?" he shot Connor a wan smile.
"Yeah… Good idea," he got an equally wan smile in return.
Connor sighed softly, leaning his head against Ryan's shoulder. Ryan looked down at him in slight surprise. He frowned a little, squeezing the hand that was holding his. He waited until Connor raised his eyes up to meet his own, then lifted a questioning eyebrow.
"Conn…" his voice was concerned, "You look like you've been crying."
Connor stared at him, then blinked, then stared some more, "I found you, Ryan. I went to see if I needed to fix the room up… And you were all… And…" fresh tears filled Connor's eyes, making him bite his lip and swipe at them with a muttered curse, "I thought you were bloody dead, for Christ's sake!"
Ryan looked a little confused, "But… I'm fine… Just a bump on the head and a bruised rib."
Connor sighed, shaking his head in exasperation, "Are you honestly that unobservant?"
Ryan looked even more confused, so Connor took the situation out of his hands by leaning in and gently pressing his lips to the soft, unbruised skin of Ryan's bottom lip. He felt Ryan suck in his breath sharply, then relax. Connor pressed a soft kiss to the other man's forehead, then leaned back in his chair, all the training in the world unable to hide the blush creeping up his neck.
"Conn?" Ryan said, still sounding inexplicably confused, "The hell was that?"
Connor blinked at him, blush turning into a sudden paling, "Well… I thought I kissed you. But obviously…" he didn't continue.
Ryan shook his head and looked away, "I ain't one of your virgins, Connor, you don't have to comfort me like that."
"You think that's what it was?" Connor's face darkened, "You think that because I have 'whore' on my resume I'll throw myself at anyone?" his hair flopped into his face, making him look darkly dangerous as he glared at Ryan, "You… You of all people should know better than that."
"Then what was it, Connor?" Ryan snapped back, taking refuge in anger, "Coz you've confused the fuck outta me!"
Connor let out an incredulous bark of laughter, "You stupid, stupid bastard! Have all those muscles dragged much needed cells away from your brain?" Ryan opened his mouth to reply, but Connor barrelled over him, "I love you, numbnuts!"
Any reply that Ryan was going to make ground to a halt inside his mouth until the only thing that came out was an almost squeaked, "You what?"
Connor let his head flop down onto his and Ryan's still joined hands, "I love you," then he raised his eyes, looking at the other man through a curtain of hair, "What? Aren't whores capable of fallin' in love?"
Ryan blinked down at him for a few moments, utterly gobsmacked, "You sound like a daytime movie," he finally got out, still blinking at Connor.
Connor scowled at him, prompting him to continue, "Come here," he tugged on Connor's hand, waiting til Connor had sat up and rested his head on Ryan's shoulder again, "Love you too," he said, adding in a mumble, "Bloody sappy git."
But while the newfound relationship between Connor and Ryan went off fairly well without a hitch, the kiss between Nick and Stephen had started a row that some of the cleaning ladies would be talking about, and having fantasies about potential outcomes, for many nights to come.
"What the fuck was that?!" Stephen yelped, taking a step back.
Nick's own eyes widened, "What… I… Stephen?"
The blue-green eyes narrowed, "Yeah, that's right, Stephen."
Nick's own eyes narrowed, accent thickening, "And just what in the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing…" a dismissive hand was waved as Stephen turned away, "Just take the damn money and start making calls. We're gonna need someone in that room sooner rather than later."
Nick grabbed the hand, pulling Stephen around to face, "What? That's it. Just run along with your money, little home companion? I don't bloody think so, Stephen. I own this place."
"You don't own me!"
"I never said I did!"
"You implied it!" Stephen dropped his voice an octave, mimicking Nick's accent, "'I own this place, Stephen.' Christ, Nick, you may as well have added 'And I own your arse too!'"
"What?!" Nick stared at him, "You know I'd never say somethin' like that!"
"Helen would have!" Stephen shot back, eyes blazing.
"Yeah?" Nick waited for a short, sharp nod, then added, "Well, I'm not Helen!"
"Neither am I!"
That stunned Nick into silence. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, then opened it again and finally closed it when he realised that he just didn't know how to respond to that. He just stared at Stephen. Stephen glared up at him, panting harshly.
"Stephen…" that was all Nick managed to get out.
Stephen continued to look up at him, so Nick tried to continue, "You… You think… I… Stephen…" but he was just too shocked.
"What? Am I wrong?" Stephen snapped defiantly, "Are you not trying to replace me with Helen?"