“You look like trash,” Oliver said and slid a drink towards me.

“Didn’t sleep well.”

“I can imagine. Dion sleeping at your place and all.” He sent me a pointed look.

One I didn’t return. How he could even be in my head like that, was a mystery to me.

“Nothing happened. I’m not that dumb. He just doesn’t have a place to live, so I’m letting him borrow my sofa for a while.”
“Uh huh. That sure sounds like a grand idea.”

I nodded tiredly and rose from the bar, tipping my glass at him. Both Dion and I were working at the club tonight and I had been transferred to be his personal guard.

Working with him was very drama free. People never did anything when I was hovering nearby, and I hoped he liked that.

The following week went well. We fell into a comfortable rhythm. I drove him to jobs around the town on some days, others I quietly walked around after him in the club.

It was a very comfortable job and I enjoyed it. Dion was… Nice. Yeah, he was nice. He didn’t say much, and we didn’t get too personal. We kept each other at a distance too. It was gonna be okay. It was all gonna be okay.

 ***

To say I wasn’t nervous at home would be the biggest lie in the history. Dion was obviously always occupying the living room and I didn’t wanna bother him but… I also really liked my living room. That’s where the TV was. It didn’t feel like he minded it though. Sometimes I’d nap on the sofa and wake up with a blanket over me that wasn’t there when I had fallen asleep. And Dion would come into the living room from the kitchen with either tea or beers, asking if I had a good nap.

I did this sometimes. Especially when I was anxious. I’d just pass out whenever the TV was on. Apparently, it didn’t bother Dion though. He didn’t say anything about it bothering him anyways. He just put the blanket over me, ordered food and then woke me up when the food was there.

It was oddly comfortable, and the more he did it, the less anxious I became about being in the living room.

I woke up to him placing the blanket over me and smiled up at him. “Sorry, I passed out,” I said with a gruff voice.

“Hey, it’s your home. You can nap whenever you want. Just don’t want you to be cold while you do it.”

“Thanks.” I didn’t know what else to say. It felt weird thanking him for allowing me to sleep in my own home, but it was also his bedroom. And I wanted him to feel home here. I really should stop napping in here and just go to my bedroom to do that.

“You don’t have to thank me for that, Arlo,” Dion said and tipped his head to the side, the side of his mouth curling upwards. “I should thank you. For letting me stay here.”

“You don’t have to thank me for that,” I muttered and rubbed my eye.

“I kind of do, though. So,” he said and rose to his feet. “I’m going to buy us pizza. To thank you.” He smiled brightly and it was infectious.

I did like pizza.

 ***

I reached down and picked up a lost bill from the floor. I sometimes did a final sweep of the club before locking it up. And all the money I found I could keep. I didn’t get tips, so these were my tips. Which was fair. This was a hundred. I happily stuffed it in my pocket and continued my hunt.

“Scavenging?” Dion asked.

I almost jumped from the fright he gave me. I looked up to find him seated on the bar.

“Uh, yeah. I get to keep everything I find.”

He waved a bill around and smirked. “Found this behind the bar. Yours too?”

I joined him and he handed me the bill. “Yeah, it’s mine.”

Just before I took the bill from between his fingers, he snatched it back out of my reach. “What do I get in return for finding it?”

“I could make you a drink?”

“Alright, dog boy. I’ll take a drink.”

I pulled myself up on the bar and swung my legs over it. I looked for some rum and found some of the not too expensive kind.

I quickly mixed him a rum and coke and handed him the glass. “Here.”

He took a sip and smiled. “Well, you certainly know how to mix two drinks together.” He smiled at me and I couldn’t help but snort.

“It’s about the only drink I make well.” I shrugged a shoulder and pulled myself back up on the bar, after retrieving a beer from the little fridge hiding under it.

“We can’t all be gifted with everything, I guess.”

“Did you think I was?”

“You have many gifts, I’m sure.” He sent me a weird look before he downed his drink. “Are we going home now?”

“Yeah, let’s. You want some food on the way?”

“No, that’s alright. One of the patrons bought me some from the kitchens here. You hungry?”

“Not really. Just not tired either.”

“We can go home and watch a movie?”

I smiled and nodded. That honestly sounded like the best idea right now.

 ***

I pushed play and handed Dion the popcorn. He crossed his legs and kept the bowl in his lap, shoving a whole fist of popcorn in his mouth. I couldn’t help but smile and leaned back against the backrest of the couch.

Every time we came home, he’d change into this big t-shirt and a pair of shorts as if long trousers just ruined the home-feel for him.

Personally, I was more of a sweats and slippers kind of guy. And no shirt. In the beginning I’d keep my shirt on, but it got annoying after a while. I got too hot and I just wanted to be comfortable in my own home, so it had to go.

“You know, I always found these kinds of films super cheesy, right? But like, at the same time, I can’t get over them. I love natural disaster films. All the cliches and the tropes. I’m trash for them.”

I chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, me too.”

“Actually, can I ask you something?” He turned his big brown eyes on me.

“Sure.”

“Is it true your dad has three heads?”

I snorted and nodded. “Yeah, he does.”

“How… How come you’re not like… A three-headed dog?”

“Persephone grants us the power to become human. Or wear a human form. Some of us grow very comfortable with being human. Some of us don’t. The ones who don’t, stay below and help out our dad. The ones who do come up here and help the different establishments. There’s always a need for good guards, after all. Even in my hound form I don’t have three heads.” I shrugged a little. “What about you? Don’t fauns usually have goat’s legs?”

“I’m only half. My father was a faun and my mother a nymph. So, I get to keep the horns.” He ran his fingers over them and looked back at the telly.

“Where are your parents now?”

“Somewhere. I don’t know. They left me in the city. I am not a nymph so I couldn’t live with my mother on her island. And I’m not a faun, so I couldn’t live with my father and his flock.”

“So… They just left you here?”

“It’s not uncommon. Lots of half-breeds roam the streets. We have nowhere to go.”

“I’m really sorry about that. It doesn’t seem right.”

“Who’s going to care?” He glanced back up at me.

“I care. About you.”

He smiled and leaned against me. “You’re not like anyone else, are you?”

I didn’t know what to reply to that, so I stayed silent. Dion didn’t press the issue either.