Breaths coming in pants, Alfred slid his hands up pale thighs to hold slender hips as his mouth wandered over a soft, sensitive throat. Knees pressed gently against his hips, a constant reminder that he was between the smaller man's legs while his fingers explored to confirm that he was naked. Alfred grinned and squeezed the body under his hands, heard small sounds and looked up to find slits of green watching him.

"Good?" he asked, not at all worried that he wasn't pleasing the blond sitting naked on the countertop before him, fingers wrapped tightly around the edge of the counter.

Arthur's cheeks were tinged pink, his neck marred with small bruises left by Alfred's mouth. "Yeah."

The breathlessness of the Brit's reply made Alfred grin and he quickly captured the smaller blond's lips with his own, hands drawing delicate hips forward to press against each other.

"Alfred…"

"Wake up, Incubutt!"

Startled out of his sleep by the shout, Alfred sat bolt upright in bed just in time to be pounced on by Feliks. The nymph hit him with enough force to flatten him back on the bed and was up an instant later, bouncing on his hands and knees as his blond hair swung wildly with the movement.

"Get up get up get up!"

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Al growled, squinting up at the smaller mythical because the lights had been turned on and his eyes weren't adjusted yet.

"Nothing!" With a wide smile, Feliks stopped bouncing and dropped onto Alfred's chest, making the incubus grimace when some of the air was forced out of his lungs. "You're slow!"

"You're laying on me," the larger blond pointed out, and Feliks rolled his eyes as if that made absolutely no difference.

"Whatever, Incubutt. Just get your fine ass out of bed so we can, like, go!"

Go? Go where? "What? What time is it?"

"Six!"

"In the morning? Are you insane?" Disgusted to have been woken from such a nice dream at such an ungodly hour, Alfred turned onto his side, dislodging Feliks, and pulled the blankets up over his head. "We're on vacation—no way am I getting up before ten."

"Alfred!" The nymph pouted, his arms folded over his chest. "Alfred, come on!"

"No."

"Toris!" Feliks shouted, stressing the vowels so that his mate's name was stretched out into a long whine. "Alfred won't get up!"

Despite having his eyes closed and the blankets pulled up as Feliks moved to sit on him, Alfred heard the hotel room's third inhabitant enter his bedroom.

"Did you tell him?" Toris asked, and the weight on Alfred's side shifted as Feliks shook his head.

"Not yet."

"Tell me what?" The blankets muffled his voice but the other two mythicals easily understood what Alfred said.

Feliks grinned and shook the incubus happily. "We have a photoshoot today!"

It took a moment for Alfred to understand and accept what had just been said to him, but as soon as he registered what that meant, he turned onto his stomach and pulled the blankets even tighter around himself. "No."

Instantly, the blond nymph's face morphed into a pout again. "But, Alfred," he whined, pushing at the larger male's shoulders and tugging at the blankets, "I have to see what sort of competition I'm up against! It's totally a compliment to be asked to do a shoot while we're here!"

"I don't care. I'm on vacation. Find a different model."

"I don't want a different model." Lying against the American's back, Feliks hugged the blanket-covered form and nuzzled at the lump of Alfred's shoulder. "I want you to dress all sexy in my designs."

Sometimes, he really wasn't sure why he stuck around the nymph so much. He worked for Feliks, sure, but it wasn't exactly common for employer and employee to live together. Or have sex, let alone threesomes with the employer's faerie boyfriend. Who was he kidding—nothing about his friendship with Feliks and Toris was what someone would call common.

As he lay there, willing himself to go back to sleep despite Feliks' insisting he get up, Al had to admit that a typical employer-employee relationship would never work out with Feliks. The nymph was too…he couldn't think of the word. It was right there, but he was tired and it refused to step into the light, so he settled for thinking the nymph had too much personality. And that was why he knew Feliks wasn't going to give up until he got his ass out of bed and went to the photoshoot with him and Toris.

Resigned, the incubus sighed and pushed against the mattress so that he was on his hands and knees, Feliks now sitting astride his back. "You're so annoying."

"Am not!" Despite the minor insult, Feliks was smiling and quickly hugged the large blond as he rested on top of him. "Morning," he cooed before placing a kiss on Alfred's cheek.

"I want a reward for putting up with this."

"Of course. Anything our handsome sex demon wants."

"You sure about that?" One eyebrow lifted, Alfred looked over his shoulder at the nymph.

"Yep! Now get dressed. We gotta go soon." Pleased, the nymph climbed off his friend and left the room with a bounce in his step. Alfred waited until he heard the door click shut before he moved, and all he did was collapse back onto his bed.

6am. Feliks thought he'd want to be up at six in the fucking morning to do a photoshoot. He was supposed to be on vacation. Did Feliks even realize what that word meant?

He thinks his life is a vacation.

Reluctant but resigned, the incubus sat up and stretched his arms above his head. He'd stayed up too late last night to be up this early, but there was no help for it. Feliks wasn't going to let him back out of this.

"Bastard." He mumbled it, too tired to really put any hostility into his voice, then forced himself to his feet. Wow, he felt heavy, and sluggish, and totally not ready to get dressed and let Feliks drag him to some studio.

"I don't hear you moving in there!"

The nymph was worse than a mom.

"I'm going," Alfred called, the words running together slightly. Dragging his feet, he crossed to the wardrobe and began fumbling through his clothes. It didn't matter what he ended up with—they would just dress him again once he was there. It was lucky for him that Feliks had somehow conned Toris into doing the packing, though. The faerie had provided him with several pairs of comfortable jeans and even more t-shirts, which Feliks would not have done, so he at least got to change into something he liked. That made this whole getting up early while on vacation thing a little easier. Still, when he finally ventured out of his room and into the kitchen, he opened the fridge and stood there for several moments before it dawned on him that he'd meant to get the milk so he could have a bowl of cereal.

I am not meant to be up this early.

X

Everything about you pains my envying

Your soul can't hate anything

Everything about you is so easy to love

They're watching you from above

With a small gasp, Arthur woke and started to push himself up off the bed, only to stop just as suddenly as he'd started. He listened uncomprehendingly, eyes unfocused and hair mussed, until it finally registered just what had woken him, and then he wasn't sure if he was annoyed or happy.

What time is it? What's he want?

Green eyes barely open, he reached over to the nightstand and clumsily grasped his still-ringing phone. His thumb almost missed the Answer Call button, and then he was on the verge of sleep by the time he got the device to his ear. "Hullo?"

"Morning, sleeping beauty," Alfred's familiar voice sounded through the phone, sighed slightly with sleepiness and a little lower than normal for the same reason. It would have been cute if Arthur had been awake enough to deal with it. As things were, he was too tired to deal with teasing, so he rolled onto his back and let his eyes slide shut, phone resting against the side of his head.

"Morning."

"How'd ya sleep?"

"Fine, until some git woke me up way too early." Maybe he wasn't too tired for teasing.

"Oh, I see. What if that git has an invitation for you?"

Invitation? "What sort of invitation? To what?"

"Feliks accepted an offer to do a photoshoot this morning and I was wondering if you wanted to come along."

A photoshoot? With Alfred? That's right, he was a model. Photoshoots were a normal thing for him, but why so bloody early?

"Um…maybe…when…?"

"We'd be there to pick you up in about fifteen minutes. You can ride with us and get lunch afterwards."

"It'd be like a double date!" a second voice shouted in the background of the call.

A double date with Alfred and…what was his boss' name? Feliks? Yes, that was it. That must mean that Feliks had a date, as well.

"Fifteen minutes….I can do that."

"Really?" There was clear relief in the American's tone.

"Yes."

"Great! We'll be there in fifteen—and if you're really sleepy, I'll let you snuggle with me on the way there."

Arthur blushed through his sleepiness and pouted even though there was no one there to see it. "Shut it, wanker. I'll see you in a bit."

The other man's chuckle sounded. "See ya." The line went dead a moment later and Arthur let out a sigh. It was dark in his room and so comfortable in his bed. Falling back asleep would have been so easy, would only have taken a moment or two, but he'd said he would go. They were coming to pick him up.

In fifteen minutes.

His eyes flew open and he launched himself out of bed, blankets flying. "I need to shower!" Hastily, the golden blond stripped out of his pajamas and started the water in his bathtub. How was he supposed to get ready on such short notice?! He needed to bathe and get dressed—he needed at least half an hour! And it was to see Alfred! At a photoshoot! Everyone there would be models or photographers or clothing designers—they would all be awake and well-dressed and then he would be some half-asleep frump! No one would ever believe that Alfred was actually interested in him!

"Hell hell hell!"

The water wasn't warm enough yet but he climbed into the tub anyway, cursing and shivering at the cold, and washed himself as quickly as he could without splashing water all over the floor. His hair was hurriedly shampooed and he hoped it wouldn't be too tangled afterwards so a quick comb would be good enough. A rinse with more cold water had him gritting his teeth and he was out of the tub after only a few minutes. Trembling fingers snatched his towel off the shelf and he wrapped himself up in search of warmth.

"Ohhhh cold. Cold. Very cold." But he didn't have time to genuinely warm up so he surrendered the warmth of his towel only a moment later and quickly rubbed the thick cloth over his hair and the rest of his body. Even when he was dry he was cold, so he abandoned the towel and half-sprinted back into his room to get dressed. Pants were the only thing he had the patience for, though he located one of his few pairs of jeans, a plain grey t-shirt and his favorite blazer and tossed them onto the bed to be donned as soon as he was ready.

Still mostly naked, the Brit went back into his bathroom and found his toothbrush, adding a blob of the minty white paste to it before sticking it in his mouth. With one hand, he scrubbed at his teeth, and with the other picked up his comb so he could start on his hair. A few knots slowed him down but for the most part the blond locks separated and smoothed out without trouble. By the time he set his comb down again, he was ready to spit out the foamy bubbles that had filled his mouth during his brushing. This time, the cold water was welcome when he rinsed his mouth out three or four times to make sure he didn't miss any of the toothpaste.

"Arthur? You in here?" Alfred's voice called from the front of the apartment.

Shit!

"Be with you in a minute!" the blond called, hoping his door was shut so no one would see him running around in just his pants. Water was splashed against his face to clean the toothpaste from the corners of his mouth, then he left the bathroom and began donning the clothes he'd tossed onto his bed.

"Artie?" The American was right outside his door now, and Arthur quickly yanked his shirt down over his stomach just in time for the door to open.

"Hi," he greeted, breathless, and smiled at Alfred.

The ash blond pushed the door open all the way and moved to stand in the doorway. "Morning. You ready?"

"Yes." Relieved and now able to relax a little, Arthur picked up his blazer and chose a pair of socks to slip on as he followed Alfred back through his apartment to the front door. His shoes were waiting for him and took only a moment to put on, during with Alfred waited with the door held open.

"What's, like, taking so long?" a voice asked from outside, and Arthur peered curiously around the taller blond as the two emerged from the apartment into a grey-skied, humid morning. There was a car waiting by the curb, shiny and black and looking brand new, the driver's window rolled down so a fine-featured blond could stick his head out and look up at the apartment's front door. "Oh, hi!" he greeted with a smile when he noticed Arthur.

"Hello," the Englishman replied somewhat quietly, glancing up at Alfred before turning and locking his door.

"That's Feliks," the bespectacled model whispered.

"Okay."

Together, they moved down the stairs to the car, and Alfred opened the door so Arthur could get in first.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Alfred slid in beside him and pulled the door shut. "Go, Fe."

"Kay!" Feliks put the car in drive and pulled away from the curb, heading off down the street a little faster than was probably legal. It seemed Alfred wasn't the only one who liked to drive fast, but Arthur was really too relieved that he'd made it to worry. He was bathed and dressed and in the car on the way to Alfred's photoshoot—now he could relax.

Sighing and smiling, the blond let his shoulders droop as he leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes. Gentle hands touched his shoulders a moment later, and he looked long enough to find Alfred turning slightly.

"I told you I'd let you snuggle with me, didn't I?" There was that charming smile.

"Mm…yeah." Happy, Arthur shifted and settled against the American as Feliks continued to take them towards their destination. He kept his eyes open just a little, idly examining the luxurious interior of the car he was riding in. It was all black leather and sharp edges, elegant and fierce. It was the sort of car a model like Alfred should ride in, when he wasn't on that motorcycle at least.

When he was bored with the car, he turned his attention to the blond in the driver's seat. Even though he couldn't see Feliks' face from this angle, he could picture the man easily enough from those few moments of seeing him through the driver's window. His hair was straight and blond, pulled back into a short ponytail that bounced slightly as he nodded in time to the soft music Arthur only just now noticed was coming from the car's radio. In the front passenger seat was another man, a brunet with slightly shaggy, shoulder-length hair. His right arm was extended slightly, his hand gripping Feliks', their fingers intertwined. Arthur decided the brunet must be the fourth member of their lunch double-date.

"How much farther, Fe?" Alfred asked once they'd been driving for several minutes.

"Like, keep your shirt on, Al," the driver responded, glancing over his shoulder with dark, angular green eyes. "We'll be there soon." He had very distinct features, a small nose and sharp eyebrows, defined jaw and cheekbones. They were rather effeminate features for a man, but Arthur thought he was attractive. It was little wonder he had the brunet to hold hands with. "This is Toris, by the way," Feliks continued, lifting the hand that was holding onto the brunet's.

Toris turned and smiled in a friendly way. "Hello."

Making an effort to sit up, Arthur returned the other man's smile. "It's nice to meet you, Toris."

"You, too."

"Al's told us all about you." Feliks flashed a smile at the two blonds in the back seat via his rearview mirror.

He did? "Ah, really?" A little nervous, Arthur glanced at the blue-eyed model sitting beside him. "What did he say?"

"Only good things," Alfred murmured reassuringly, his arm slipping around the smaller male's waist and pulling him back to rest against him again. While Arthur relaxed once more, Toris turned back to the front and the four rode in near silence for a while.

Tic…tic, tic…tic….tictictic….

"Rain." Leaning forward, Feliks peered at the sky through the windshield as more and more drops spattered against the glass. Within minutes it was pouring, Feliks' music drowned out by the sound of the rain and that of the car moving. "Why does it always have to rain?"

"It's England," Toris pointed out, and Arthur felt himself smile a little.

"I like the rain," he added in quietly. "It's peaceful." Lips pressed into his hair and he looked up to find Alfred smiling at him.

"Me, too."

Neither of them noticed the look that Toris and Feliks exchanged in the front seats.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Through final exams, through moving myself, my sister, and several of my friends, through vicious cleaning sprees and a severe lightning storm and tornado warning during which I rescued my laptop above all else, I bring you one of the lamest chapters in the entire story. I'm very sorry. I meant for so much more to happen, but I'm so behind that I have to stop here and work on something else. I PROMISE that the next chapter will be absolutely beautiful. See you next time!