An entire night came and went, or so it felt. However, only a small series of hours passed from the time their bodies hit the sheets and exhaustion set in. Gale didn’t know what time it was when he woke, but the warm light coming from Chaz’s living room made it feel like early morning. His body, sore in all the right places stretched lightly beside the man who slept so soundly around him, protecting him like a shield, and snored lightly. It was precious, or so he thought, in the way Chaz still used his shoulder as a pillow, and his breath tickled the bare skin beneath. Somehow he managed to slip from beneath the artist, pull the covers up around his shoulders, and admire the other man’s sleeping form until he got his fill. Gale worried he’d never have enough, but unfortunately the pain in his stomach pushed him from the bed.

Quietly, he showered. Careful not to make too much noise, and padded his way out into the living room once dry. In his bag he carried a pair of sleep pants, and borrowed a blanket over the back of Chaz’s couch to cover his cold shoulders. His damp hair glistened in the light, and Chaz’s cat circled his feet who promptly started to bat at the wet ends.

“Hey now,” He purred over the little ball of fluff, and started to scrounge around the kitchen in search of things to prepare. “No wonder Daddy is so skinny, hmm? He doesn’t cook does he?” Talking to a cat now, he figured his colleagues would think him even more so insane, but that hardly mattered now.

The hour wasn’t as late as he thought, not even seven yet, and Gale opted to simply wait for his hair to dry before he would wake Chaz and force him out to dinner. But just as the quiet settled in, Gale pushed past his hunger pains, and rest his back against counter of the kitchen. He couldn’t fight the grin that forced it’s way up, or the warm feeling that melted the ice around his heart. He touched his face still feeling the little bit of a burn that Chaz’s facial hair left, and lived in the moment realizing how happy he was.

That really just happened... There was really someone on the other side of that door who wanted him just as badly, and in coming to this realization Gale felt weak in the knees. He lives here. He mused to himself looking around the room, over stuffed with things--Chaz’s things-- and very much lived in. Boots by the door, books in the floor, dishes that didn’t match in the cabinets. They were perfect. It was all perfect, even in the little space between. Chaz was such a happy person, that he wondered if there would ever come a time when he’d wake up and realize Gale wasn’t worth it. However, even those thoughts couldn’t take what just happened away from him, and Gale moved to study the room a little more.

It didn’t feel like snooping, though he supposed it as, but the drafting table that was against the wall was begging to be looked over. Gale turned the fire up with a flick of his wand, and settled there on the bench before the desk to look over the ‘Dream that Chaz built.’ It looked like a map of some sort, but he could hardly make out what it all meant. Gale simply enjoyed imagining all the hard work Chaz put in, and how handsome it must be to witness him sketching.

Chaz breathed deep and buried his face into pillow to get more of the scent that lingered there.  As the fog slowly cleared from his mind, Chaz realized that this was not the pillow he'd fallen asleep on.  In fact, he hadn't fallen asleep on a pillow at all.  He'd fallen asleep with his head cushioned on Gale's chest, drooping fingers carding through his hair.  But now he was alone.  One eye peeked open to investigate his immediate surroundings, only to confirm that Gale wasn't in the room.  With a heavy groan, Chaz pushed his face back into his pillow and didn't pull away until he had to breathe.

When he finally needed to pull back, he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees.  There was a meow and soft response coming from the other room.  Chaz grinned because, hey, Gale had stuck around. They'd made arrangements for Gale to stay the weekend, of course, but the morning after always held a tremor of fear and anxiety.  How would things look in the light of day?  Or... later on that night.  A glance at his bedside clock confirmed that it wasn't even morning.  Just a quick nap then, and the night was still young. 

He slunk to the bathroom naked and relieved himself, brushing his teeth and wrapping a towel around his waist before exiting again.  Aphrodite was sitting on the counter in the kitchen, licking her paw delicately but Gale wasn't with her.  He was actually standing over Chaz's drawing board, leaning over it and inspecting the lines there.  He'd last left it on an edit of the floor plan so doubtless it looked like nothing but a mess of light lines to someone who didn't know what they were looking at. 

He padded  up behind Gale and wrapped his arms around his waist.  He kissed the parts of the neck and shoulder he could reach as the blanket sagged down from inattention.  "It's an indoor garden, for produce and such, designed to fit in an old building just off of Diagon Alley."  The building he'd chosen as inspiration was an empty, narrow, and condemned property that was practically falling apart.  He'd broken inside to do some drawings but was hit with a little bit of design inspiration.  He'd tried to combine some elements of the old stonework with a highly new and clean hydroponic system.  A mixture of magic and technology.   But looking down at the drawing on top, he confirmed that Gale probably didn't know what he was looking at.  He flipped a few pages up, revealing a version of the sketch he'd done for his idea.  It was a rough pencil drawing but it got the idea across.

"Now if I could just get paid for all my work, I'll be in good shape," he murmured.

Just like at the bookstore, Gale was so into the drawing that the world around him registered in his mind, but he cared very little. It wasn't that he didn't want to see Chaz, or be near him--he just didn't want to let go of the drawing just yet. He should have asked, and somewhere in the back of his mind worried Chaz would be upset if he looked. However, upon feeling the other man's arms go around him, and his kiss to his neck Gale grinned.

"Is that so?" He relaxed against Chaz, letting him explain, and enjoying following his train of thought. It was beautiful, and Gale wanted to know more. His smile didn't let go, but his fingers moved to start to braid his hair as he listened. "So this isn't a house?" He asked looking at the board again, and pressed his back into his lover's chest. It was easy enough to keep the blanket like a wrap, and Gale was so used to wearing them.

"It's a very good idea. A great way to make sure the market stays stocked with fresh vegetables. Even in the winter." It was brilliant really, and he smiled at the thought. His gaze was distant and thoughtful, and even when he spoke again it seemed he was talking his way through a dream.

"I have a window box in my office. I really like to garden. We never had the chance to really grow anything other than a few...adult things in the Caravans, and even that was very rare. The constant temperature change and poor light patterns never kept my flowers alive very long." He laughed lightly, reaching out to brush his fingers along the edges of the paper, "I did have a fern once." He didn't face Chaz at all, but did sit to lift the paper a little.

"Do you have any more? A dream house maybe?"

Gale braided his hair and Chaz was sad to see it wrapped up like that.  He wanted to keep playing with it, but alas, if it was easier for Gale to wear it like that then he would just have to play with it later.  He grinned and patted Gale's half-exposed shoulder.  "Don't you live at a school now?" he inquired.  "You could probably grow anything you want now, I've heard that the Hogwarts Herbology program is pretty impressive."  To be perfectly honest, the only things Chaz knew about growing plants, regular or magical, came from the starter books he'd bought out of idle curiosity to make sure his project wasn't completely off base. 

He meandered into the kitchen from there.  With a flash of a grin over his shoulder he said, "Remind me to show you my sketchbook some time.  There aren't any houses in there yet but I could always give it a try.  Maybe i could design you a world-famous house when you retire."  He winked and then turned to his cupboards.

His face fell into a puzzled frown as he opened on and then another.  It was disappointingly empty.  Finally, though, he saw a few cans of beef stew in the corner cabinet.  Pulling one out he showed it to his companion with an apologetic grimace.  "Sorry, I'm afraid this might be all I have, aside from a few stale pieces of bread and some rather questionable jelly."  He shrugged.  "I can heat this up though, if you're hungry."

Gale didn't want to leave the sketch, nor really comment on Chaz as he spoke about the school. He didn't want to talk about the school at all, and stiffened when he brought it up. His heart hurt, and his chest closed around it to brace for the conversation.

"Oh I suppose I could." He spoke as Chaz left him, and settled his attention on the detail of the garden in Chaz's sketch, "But that would require talking to more of the staff." Gale didn't mean to mutter, "I'm not very good at talking to the staff." His interest left the pages before him, and he turned to follow Chaz like a puppy on his heels.

Don't leave, don't leave, don't leave.

"I'd like to see you design me a house. I feel like I live only in my office, and my classroom. It would be nice to have somewhere of my own. I used to live on the upper end of this street, but when I got the job at Hogwarts I let that flat go. Nothing big, and somewhere with a tree." The pains of his hunger swelled up again when Chaz mentioned the bread and the jam, but when the stew was displayed Gale made a face of another sort of pain.

"I can't have the meat," He admitted rather quickly, "Get dressed? Let's go out." As much as he didn't want to leave Chaz's warm little flat, the thought of the iron content in the stew made him weak all over.

"Oh," Chaz said with dismay.  He looked down at the can he still held idly in his hand and then jumped and pushed it away across the counter.  He swallowed nervously and rubbed his hands on the towel slung around his waist like there might be meat juices left on them, contaminated by the can.  "I'm sorry," he rushed to say, "I didn't know you were a vegetarian."

He looked down at his bare feet, suddenly realizing that they were kind of chilly but he didn't know if that was because they were bare or if it was because he was feeling nervous now.  Chaz rubbed his arm as he moved off towards his bedroom to get dressed.  He stopped and covered his nervousness by reaching out and taking Gale by the hand.  He led Gale back into his bedroom and spared a moment to look longingly at the rumpled bed where they'd fallen asleep earlier.  He wished that they could just go back to bed but he was feeling hungry now that he was up and moving.

Pulling Gale in close, Chaz brushed his fingers over the pale cheekbones and murmured, "You'll have to get dressed too, I'm afraid."  He placed a playful kiss on Gale's nose.  "I would hate for half of London to see you like this.  I rather enjoy the thought of keeping you all to myself for a while."

"I'm not." He answered the vegetarian comment, "At least not meaning to be. It just makes me really sick. Especially red meat. Sometimes I can do fish. I actually really like sushi." He grinned as Chaz pulled him along, and wondered if he would ever grow tired of his insecurity of being alone.

Gale put a hand up to steady himself against the other man's chest and looked up at him with a big smile, "I'd actually...like to go out? Maybe somewhere were we can play a few games of pool? Catch a movie? Pick up a bottle of wine. Come h---" He stopped himself, realizing how forward that sounded. "To your flat, and you can start my house?" His free hand ran down the other man's side to clasp him gently.

"I rather enjoy the thought of you keeping me too," He pushed forward a little to place a kiss to Chaz's cheek, but quickly pulled away to get dressed. "I have somewhere we can go." He hummed as he buzzed around the room to get his clothes. "Boy....did my sweater even make it in here?" Touching his ears he realized he had one of his earrings, and laughed.

"Watch where you step."  He suggested to a spot on the floor where something shiny looked familiar, but without his glasses he couldn't see that tiny object that far away. For now he would simply take out the other one.

"It's not on the best side of town, where I want to take you. If I were you I'd wear boots, and a heavy coat." Gale had managed to somewhere put on his own trousers and came back in with a knife holster over his bare chest that carried a set of daggers with dark black handles. The blades went along his spine, and covered by the soft cashmere of his pale blue sweater.

Chaz could think of several other things he'd rather do when they got back than start designing a house.  He couldn't help but eye Gale while the man flitted about his bedroom gathering his clothing.  The way those lithe muscles moved beneath pale skin was incredibly enticing.  So much so that he was once again tempted to just skip going out all together.  His stomach chose that moment to rumble and remind him of why they were going out so he forced himself to look away and put on his clothes.

Following Gale's advice, Chaz pulled on a pair of jeans and a black button-up shirt.  He had a long wool coat he could wear that would keep him nice and warm and hopefully unobtrusive.  He was buttoning up his jeans when he saw Gale fasten a holster over his chest with knife sheaths lined up along the back.  Chaz's mouth fell open.

"How dangerous is this place?" he blurted out, without thinking.  He moved over slowly and stood behind Gale.  He traced the line where dark leather met pale skin then fingered the hilt of one of the knives before dropping his hand and stepping away.  "Can you really use those things?  Why do you wear them?"

“Do you have an extra coat I could wear?” Gale asked with a small smile as he waved his wand over his hair a few times to help aid it along with it’s drying. He wouldn’t care to go out with it damp, but wasn’t about to leave without a coat too. He’d forgotten his, and cursed his way the entire time last year. Finally, finding his other earring he started to put them back in when he heard Chaz’s questions.

“It’s not so dangerous really as the walk there. Though I will warn you, I hang with a pretty rough crowd, Mira Alazas[1]” Gale’s accent slipped from his very practiced Picardy sound to a very wild almost condemning voice as the words slipped from his lips like the seven deadly sins—confessions of his past.

“I may come off as a pretty little bird, Raklo[2].” He looked up at Chaz through the man’s bedroom mirror where he stood still clasping his earrings. “I am anything but.”

’Can you use those things? Why do you wear them?’

From his little bag he produced one of the last of his weapons, a dagger longer than the rest, and rolled it by its blade over each knuckle. A fluid motion, a quick flick of his wrist, and a heartbeat later the dagger landed between Chaz’s feet in a heavy strike only to peel back the wood in an aggressive strike. The blade went in nearly two inches deep, and only missed his toes by less.

The smirk left on his face was an amused one, and he hoped Chaz would understand he meant to miss. In a slow silent motion he slipped to stand before Chaz, looking up at him as he bent to retrieve the knife, and slipped it in his boot before standing again. This close he could smell the other man's skin again, the salty sweet smell of their afterglow, and could almost hear his heart beating wildly.

"I wouldn't take you anywhere I couldn't handle, Pretty Boy." His whispered and ran his hand over the other man's chest, "I was a gypsy Chester, long before an innocent school teacher." With that he tipped on his toes to kiss Chaz's cheek.

1.	My Flame
2.	Non-Rom Boy

The change in demeanor was electrifying and intense.  He could hear it in his voice and see it in his eye when he looked at him through the mirror.  But the final indication of just out of his depth Chaz really was, was the deadly sharp blade that embedded itself in the wooden floorboards between his feet.  Chaz could only stare disbelievingly at it, and then at Gale as he knelt to pry it loose.

Chaz was incredibly shaken by the moment that passed between them.  He'd only asked a simple question and the sweet, kitten-like behavior his lover displayed before vanished completely and Chaz couldn't be sure whether he missed it or not.  One thing remained true, though, from one moment to the next.  Chaz had never had the privilege of knowing someone like Gale.  Ever.

His heart fluttered in his chest and seemingly in his stomach as well.  His pupils dilated with that same, confusing mix of fear and arousal.  Unable to help himself, he surrendered to the primal urge welling up inside of him.  One hand splayed across Gale's back, feeling the flat blades under his palm.  The other took hold of his hips and pushed him back against the wall.  Chaz kissed him fiercely, gripping that glorious hair with no concern for the way it would look after.  He forced himself to pull away, only when he was in desperate need for air but even then he didn't go far.  His body seemed to be pinning Gale's against the wall but his posture was weak and trembling, like he was going to shake himself apart. 

"Fire," he panted.  "I feel like I'm playing with fire."  Chaz lowered his head and rested it on Gale's shoulder.  He definitely didn't want to go out anymore and would only go now if Gale insisted.  But Chaz was so far gone that he'd go without question or argument.

Chester seemed to breathe life into him with his kiss, but at the same time the wall stole it. Rushed against it Gale was happy to find his place again against Chaz, and even moaned into the other man’s lips. His face was forced back, his neck strained, and his feet almost left the ground to meet the man’s kiss. However, all he could think about was how much he wanted to prove to Chaz that he would always protect him.

“Feed me, Chaz.” He smiled against his lips, “May angle sar te merel kadi yag.[1]” With a small laugh he pressed on the other man’s chest gently of course, and closed his eyes a moment.

“I feel weak, Rook. I have only had breakfast this day. I was too excited to see you.” He opened his eyes again to look up at Chaz, and ran his fingers along the lapels of his coat.

“I forget to eat often, and then I get like this.” He almost felt as though he would have to sway on his feet, “Soon I will start rambling and making confessions. Ones you will not want to hear.” A small little bit of laughter fell from his lips in a quiet manner, and he pulled from his new lover.

“Meet me by the door.”

1.	Before this fire burns out

Chaz sighed heavily when Gale pulled away from him, insisting that they go out.  He didn't really want to go anywhere right now.  There'd be time for going place later when their relationship wasn't as new and exciting... enticing.  But then Gale admitted to feeling weak and his fuzzy thoughts clarified immediately.  He peered down at Gale's face with concern, looking for any sign that Gale was unwell but saw nothing that stood out in particular. 

"Ok," he mumbled sadly.  He let Gale slip from his arms and left his bedroom for Gale to get finished dressing.  By the door, he put on his shoes and slung on his heavy wool coat.  Then he just stood there, holding a second, less bulky coat, for Gale to wear since he'd managed to forget his own.  It was the middle of December and Chaz couldn't fathom how anyone could forget to wear their coat but he couldn't complain if it meant seeing Gale in his clothing.

Gale couldn't believe he forgot his coat either, but half of his excitement was to see Chaz's flat and all of his things again. For a gypsy it was part of the thrill. 'Borrowing' little things here and there, and only returning them when asked. Gale touched every little object he could just because they belonged to Chester. He cared very little of value, for all of the little nicknacks and even dirty socks were priceless. Gale wouldn't steal from Chaz, but he certainly would happily borrow.

His heart skipped a few beats when Chaz was waiting at him at the door with a coat, and he let the other man put it on him. However, when the thick fabric circled his shoulders and engulfed him Gale closed it around him, and buried his face behind the closing at the collar.

"Mmmm," He purred behind the fabric, happy and warm. "Smells like you." Gale quickly blushed at the comment and looked up at Chaz with a bit of laughter. "That sounded creepy hmm?" With a hand on the door knob he turned to look at Chaz one more time--to kiss him just once more before they faced that outside world he wasn't ready to come out to.

To the tips of his toes he went to reach Chaz's lips, his hand came to rest over the coin that lay upon his heart, and he kissed his lover tenderly.