As soon as he entered Craterside Supplies, he felt the hit of a very heated stare on him. He knew the owner of that steel gaze and he stopped in his tracks to return it.

"Took you long enough, smoothskin." Knox saluted the doctor. His movements were hesitant. He knew his bodyguard noticed. He knew Doc and Moira didn't. The doctor eyed him. "Did you have a good trip?" Knox nodded as he stepped further into the room. "Never seen you come back not covered in red before." Knox snickered as he bared an arm to Doc. Doc Barrows took the blood sample. "I'm ready to get back to Underworld."

"Yeah? That means you got ways to fuck up that brick wall. Let's get back tomorrow."

Back in the house, Charon closed the door behind them and Knox walked to the locker beside the kitchen.

"You came back…" At the awed tone of the voice, Knox faced his bodyguard. Charon did look awed and it was strange to see such openness in his usually passive face. Awed and tensed. Knox felt something in his system jerk at the sight.

"I told you, didn't I?" Did everyone expect him to leave and never come back? Briefly he wondered if there was anyone who didn't come back to Charon and claim him. "I have something to tell you. Take a seat, man." Charon obeyed, sitting down on the couch. Knox winced as he pulled out the contract which scratched his still healing wounds. He saw the pale eyes flit to it. "I'm going to keep the contract here in Megaton. So, some dumbass can't take you from me easy. Like Burke. Or some jackass with no balls." He cleared his throat. "Point is. I'm keeping it here so you'll be safe. Cause Tin Can is a great watchdog." Charon grunted. Knox took a deep breath. "According to the contract, you need someone to hold it." Like a lifeline. "So, I made sure that while the paper is here, we can still travel and you still have the contract." Knox put the contract into the locker then pulled off the duster as he walked over to his bodyguard who never took the pale eyes off him.

"Boss…?"

"See. I got this scarification thing. Supposed to be permanent scarring if I let it heal without meds. So I got the contract on my skin. So I can have you till I die. Shit. I mean…fuck… not like I own you or something. You belong to no one, right." Knox coughed as he gestured to the small raised bumps of letters on his skin. Terms and clauses stared up at him. "It's so that you'd be safer…that you'd have a choice, somewhat. I mean, you can't guard me forever. But for now, you're my bodyguard." Knox coughed then looked at his bodyguard who actually seemed to have this… 'horrified' expression. Which was strange cause nothing surprised Charon ever. His pale eyes roamed over Knox's body… in an almost feral look, the one ferals had when they were going to pounce. Like he was hungry. Knox took a step back, opting to put his duster into the locker. Okay. He was intimidated. Fuck, it was as if he had never spent every waking moment with his bodyguard.

He stilled. There were fingers on his marks. He felt them travel over the grooves of the words, in jagged, jerky trails. It… hurt beautifully, shooting aches up his spine like flame trails. They mapped his skin, the sore flesh and numb smoothness. In the back of his mind, it occurred to him that his bodyguard was the owner of those hands and he couldn't help the tremor of …lust, that's what it was, wasn't it? that coursed through his body. Knox hissed.

"Charon?..." His voice sounded hoarse and breathy, like he had been running for miles. The pads of rough thumbs brushed over the top of his hipbones; that was where Troy had carved the signature that signified the acceptance of the terms and conditions. On the contract, Charon had signed his name, transferring his rights to the owner of his contract. On his body, he added his own signature next to Charon's carved signature. Knox licked his already dry lips.

"You are in pain." The coarse touch went up his abdomen.

"No, shit." Knox swallowed. "It…feels good, though…I don't know...if," he said in broken gasps because the sensations made him heady. I just have a thing for things that can fuck me up really bad… Yeah. Those hands could fuck him up very bad. Like really fucking bad. He knew from first-hand experience. "I… ain't gonna…. take advantage of ya. No fucking way." He shook himself then and pulled away from the maddening, curious caresses. His ghoul radiated a mixture of things that were familiar yet very unfamiliar in this context…whatever context this was. Knox's body was on fire. He placed a palm over the back of one of those hands, stilling Charon's motions.

The feral look was still in Charon's eyes and he stared at his employer through the curtain of red hair. That floored Knox…that fucking look. Pale eyes roamed downwards over his bare torso in a heated stare…like the way he did when he was about to pull the trigger with the gun pointed at Knox's navel. Then those hands resumed tracing letters into his flesh. Knox bit down on his lower lip. He still hadn't asked why Charon was …touching him like this. Okay, maybe cause the contract wasn't that easy to read yet. A couple more days and the contract would be more legible. He still hadn't asked Charon to stop. His flesh trembled as swirls of longing curled in his lower body. Knox swallowed a moan. Smooth touches wouldn't feel this good. The calloused roughness…this was compelling. They tugged at the broken scars. He let slip a low moan when Charon's fingers grazed over the gunshot scar. The pale gaze rose to meet his. There was a silent apology in those eyes.

"You…weren't in my… employment when you did that."

"I am still in your employment now. You hold my… You are my contract." Knox hissed when the fingers gave way to palms now, obviously touching, obviously coaxing. "You have the right to command me and I will obey without question." Knox was aware that this was very quickly getting out of hand. On one hand, he knew that this should stop…and it would stop easily with a simple 'Get your hands off me, Charon.' On the other hand…did he want this to stop? He worried his lower lip with sharp teeth, catching Charon's focus moving to his mouth. Charon was openly smirking now. No. This wasn't one of those things that showed only in his aura. This was showing, for real. He even had the glint of a fang showing. For some reason, that made Knox chuckle. Knox matched that smirk as he watched his bodyguard watch him.

Then the door opened and Doc Barrows entered, exclaiming that he needed help with some stuff. With tainted agility, Knox fumbled with the locker to pull out a shirt of some sort.

"Moira wants me to – smoothskin, your body…what did you fucking do, Knox?" Doc Barrows cussing was never good. Doc Barrows calling him by name was worse.