Homeless (mxm)

Storming Thoughts

They didn't stop walking until they were facing a light brown door in the alley beside the club. The man slowly released his hand and fished a small key from his pocket. While the storm drowned out any noise from the club with the door shut, as soon as the man opened it and stepped inside, a loud booming bass reverberated into Zachary's body. It made him step back, unsure and more than a bit worried. He'd never wanted to go inside the building, not even out of curiosity. After another step backward the other man stepped back out, his lips turned down into a frown, no doubt a bit frustrated that Zach wasn't making this easier on him. The man stopped about two feet away, wisely deciding not to crowd him.

"Zachary?"

Zach chewed his lower lip nervously as he let his eyes lift to just-barely meet the man's.

"Stay here. I will be right back."

When the man disappeared Zachary knew that was his chance. Yet his feet wouldn't move. He'd never had trouble doing what was better for himself, but now his mind was just refusing to listen... to anyone besides the man he didn't even know!

Come on. You can't just do what he tells you!

It was pitch black inside the open doorway and the cold air from the air conditioner didn't feel any kind of good to his already-frozen body. After about five minutes he looked up to see that the man had returned. He was holding several things in his arms but set them down to the side when he saw Zachary. Being watched again made him take another step back. The poor guy felt like a starving alley cat that wasn't sure if the niceties of a human it had never met meant that it would get a meal and a warm place to sleep, or be trapped and carted off to animal control. When the rain began to turn into hail, however, Zachary knew he would be in real trouble if he stayed outside too much longer. The temperature was dropping fast, too, and the hail was already beginning to hurt his raw skin.

"Come inside, Zachary. I locked the other door leading into here, so no one else is going to bother you. You just have to deal with my annoying self." The man said, then chuckled as he knelt down and began sifting through what he'd brought. With his eyes away from him, Zachary hesitantly let himself move a step closer. When the man just kept messing with his stuff, he chanced another step. Soon he was close enough to the building so that the hail and rain were blocked by the large structure. It was a relief to be free of the storm, but the air conditioning that now hit him in the face wasn't making his decision on whether to stay or go easy.

"I had George run ahead of us as we walked to throw this blanket in the dryer and heat it up." The man said, finally looking up at him with a warm smile. Zachary tried to return it, not wanting to seem rude, but he couldn't stop his teeth from chattering as a new gust from the air conditioner blew against his chilled skin.

"I know this is definitely not something you'd normally hear, and I tend not to ask people to do it on a first meeting..." he smirked, silently telling Zachary that he likely did sometimes ask people what he was about to ask him. "Anyways. George warmed up a blanket for you and I brought a bunch of towels, but your clothing is completely soaked and will make those things much less effective unless you remove them."

Heart suddenly hammering against his ribs, Zachary jerked away, taking several steps back out into the storm. He heard the man split a curse of frustration but being asked to undress by some random person he'd never met before was a bit much. The man set aside the blanket he'd been tugging at and stood, making Zachary stumble back until he was leaning against the far wall of the alley.

"Hun."

The man shook his head, pressing his fingers to his forehead and sighing before returning his attention to him.