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.

"Zachary, come here."

It was extremely frustrating. He couldn't even think the word no, let alone get it out of his mouth. He did manage to fight the man's order for nearly a full minute before his determination buckled and he walked over, stepping inside before he lost his nerve.

"Tha--," the man paused, then licked his lips in thought. Zachary could tell that he had meant to say thank you, but when the man decided on something else, it actually felt more... right?

"Good boy."

Shifting awkwardly from foot to foot, Zach looked down at his old shoes and noticed that they were making large puddles of water on the clean floor.

It's just shoes. There's nothing weird about taking my shoes off.

Telling himself that made it easier for him to lean over and carefully untie his treasured, worn-out sneakers. The right one was removed first, then the left. Dark red marks marred his bare feet from years of wearing the too-small shoes, but even though they hurt, they'd still saved him from walking around barefoot for three years. Sneaking a peak up at the man, Zachary felt a small odd niggle in his belly at the sight of the man's approving smile.

Biting his lip, he carefully began trying to tug his old shirt over his head. Except, the wet fabric, being too small to begin with, got stuck around his arms and head. He squirmed for a moment, trying his best to get the darn shredded fabric over his head. When he stopped to refocus, gentle, warm hands suddenly grasped his sides, thumbs pressing against his visible ribs.

"Shh. Let me help. Lift your arms straight up."

He was having trouble breathing all of a sudden, yet he did exactly as told. The man's hands left his chilled skin and grasped the bottom of his shirt, then easily lifted the fabric up and off.

"There we go."

Zachary looked back up, frowning when he noticed the upset look on the man's face. He looked down at himself, then back up, confused and worried that he'd done something wrong.

"Oh hey, hey no. It's okay, I was just surprised." The man said as he knelt down, making Zachary look down. His warm hands returned to his chest, thumbs slowly outlining the visible ribs there.

"I don't like this," the man said before he looked up to meet Zachary's eyes.

"What have you eaten this week, Zachary?"

Embarrassment swamped his senses as Zachary tried to remember. He almost didn't want to answer, but when the man stood and lifted his right hand, gently moving a strand of wet hair from in front of his eyes, he couldn't stop the words from coming out.

"I-I think I had a-a peach on Monday, and um, bread on Tuesday. Yellow squash o-on Wednesday, and um, some chicken yesterday."

Zachary could tell that the man wanted to shake his head but held back the gesture in favor of a smile.

"And today? Was the broccoli that you dropped your food for today?"

He nodded quickly, then smiled when he remembered what else he'd had. "I had an apple too. My friend works at the grocery store, she bought me the broccoli."

"I see. Well, George picked up your broccoli and told the chef to get it washed."

Zachary's eyes widened with hope. "It wasn't thrown away?"

The man chuckled and shook his head before leaning over slightly and beginning to work on Zachary's pants. It took everything he had to keep still until his torn jeans were around his ankles. His cheeks burned, suddenly remembering a very obvious thing he shouldn't have been able to forget... his lack of underwear. Before he could run out of the door behind him and back into the welcoming rain, a huge, soft, warm, white blanket encircled his icy cold body.

It felt like heaven. He didn't notice at all when the man moved them into a sitting position against the doorjamb, or that he was being hugged tightly. That is until a soft towel began to slowly run through his damp hair. Instead of worrying about being naked, wrapped in a blanket, in another man's arms, Zachary enjoyed the warmth and comfort, unable to even think about leaving again. He was, however, curious about something. Looking up, he waited for the man to move the towel so that he could see his face.

"Um..."

The towel slipped down to rest around his neck atop the blanket as he got the man's attention.

"Yes, Zachary?"

Having the man's eyes suddenly on his face made Zachary shrink back into the blanket before mumbling out his question. "U-um, what is your name?"

For some reason, the question seemed to surprise the man.

"Hmm. Well, I don't usually give out my name at my place of work, but I suppose since you're not a customer..."

Zachary waited, confused as to why he couldn't even give out his name in a simple club.

"My name is Orion, but my friends just call me Ryan."

Curious, Zachary replied. "I like Orion better, but what do people call you here?"

That had Orion grinning.

"Well, while this isn't a BDSM club, we do often get some people interested in that lifestyle."

Having been on the streets and worried about much different things, Zachary had no idea what the man was talking about. Orion seemed to pick up on his confusion when he didn't reply, so he instead continued. "While I'm not very interested in harming anyone like some who practice the lifestyle, I am a dominant. I enjoy control, so I've become known as Master here."

Ah, no wonder I found it hard not to listen to the man's orders even though I didn't know him. He's used to having control and probably knows how to get people to do as he wants.

"I see." Zachary said.

"Well, the other part of that type of relationship would be a submissive person, but we can talk about that another time if you're still curious. For now..." He shifted Zachary's weight in his arms, then stood, easily lifting the smaller male and beginning to carry him away from the open door.

"While I'm sure you'd like a nice hot shower and a bed, I'm more worried about filling your stomach than cleaning off whatever dirt the storm didn't get to." Orion said as they ducked into another room, this one far more brightly lit than the last, which had appeared to just be a basic type of storeroom. The one they were now in resembled something much more... intimate.

Zachary found himself back on his feet, wide eyes staring up Orion's.

"The only problem with feeding you right now, would be me losing my job."

He was confused at first, but when Orion actually laughed a little it dawned on him and he pulled the blanket tighter around himself with a blush.

"How about this. Come." Orion said as he turned and opened a door. Zachary followed immediately, surprised when they stepped into a bathroom. It looked normal at first, with two sinks, a toilet, and a large shower that had a door of frosted glass instead of a curtain. When Orion pulled the door open, however, Zachary couldn't help but stair at the four leather straps in the back, two fastened a few inches above his head while two others were around near where his ankles would likely come to.

"Ignore them. Like I said, it's just something from my lifestyle, but they are only for willing participants. You wash and warm up, and I'll go get you some dinner."

Zachary hesitated, not sure if he was comfortable, but after he felt a gentle nudge against his back through the blanket, he decided that a shower was a rare opportunity that he couldn't afford to waste.

"Okay. Th-thank you, Orion."

Orion nodded and squeezed his shoulder once before turning and walking out of the bathroom. Once he heard another door close Zachary let the blanket around him drop and quickly hopped into the shower, shutting the glass door to it before beginning to work with the temperature knobs. When he got them just right he began to scrub himself to the bone, which sadly didn't take much pressure to do.

You're getting a real dinner tonight though, so you're definitely going to put on some weight.

The thought made him excited. A real dinner. He hadn't had one of those in so long. Even cooked food was rare. With a hopeful smile he lathered shampoo into his hair that smelled strongly of mint... and Orion. He was so focused on removing weeks of built-up dirt and grime in his hair that he didn't notice someone else was there until the shower was suddenly turned off, leaving him standing naked in it with soap covering his eyes, daring him to open them and get burned.

"H-hello?" He asked, blindly searching for the knobs to turn the shower back on so that he could wash the soap away.

"Hello, gorgeous. I didn't know Orion had found himself a new twink. You must be really obedient to have caught his interest, especially with that skeleton of a body."

What? Twink?

"I-I'm not a twink. I-I don't even know what that is." Zachary replied, worry slipping into his normally-calm voice.

"Really? You're showering in his personal room, using his stuff, and you don't think he's your master?"

My what!

"No!" Zach shouted back in response, only to get shoved back against the tile wall.

"Yeah right. He obviously hasn't begun training you yet, so I'll give you a little sneak peak of what you're in for."

There was a sadistic sound to the man's voice as he kept Zachary pinned against the wall with one arm and wrapped his wrists with his free hand. Once those were bound above his head, the man went for his ankles. Zachary tried his best to kick him, but without being able to see him, he couldn't land any of the hits.

"Excuse me, Brendon. What the hell are you doing?"

The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees in the few seconds it took Orion to ask his question. The other man, Brendon, tried to stutter out a coherent response, but when he failed for the third time Orion took over, yanking him away judging from how fast his arm disappeared from Zachary's back.

"Get out, now. And if I find you bothering him again, you will not be welcome at this club again."

The sound of someone running met his ears, then silence. His stomach twisted, worry and nerves warring with something he didn't understand as a gentle hand settled atop his shoulder. "I've got you, Zachary. It's okay. Just give me a minute and I'll have you free."

Nodding rigidly, Zachary held as still as he could as he felt Orion lean over him and work on the leather. When he got the clasps undone Zachary quickly rubbed at his eyes, trying to blink them open even through the burning the shampoo was causing. He was getting frantic, needing to see.

"Hey, hey. Calm down, It's okay."

When he didn't listen, and instead started panicking further, Orion carefully reached around and pressed his hand gently over Zachary's eyes. The sudden action had Zachary freezing, his breath hitched in his throat. Orion very slowly added pressure to make Zachary lean back until his head and back rested against his chest.

"Shh. It's okay. No one's going to hurt you. Brendon is an ass, but he wouldn't have gone much further and if he dared, I would have likely lost my job by putting him in the hospital."

That had Zachary slowly calming his breathing. Orion noticed and leaned down, pressing his lips to the top of his hair.

"I do not put up with anyone trying to take advantage of another. There is either consent, or there isn't. Black and white."

Zachary gave a jerky nod and sighed out a shaky breath.

"I'm proud of you for calming down so quickly. Just keep taking deep, slow breaths and I'll get your ankles free, okay?"

Orion waited until Zach answered before moving his hand and kneeling behind him. He was adept with the buckles and had them undone in seconds. "There we go. I'm going to get the water on so that you can wash that soap off, okay?"

He gave another stressed nod before the water was turned on. It was luke-warm and hit him from the waist down, but try as he might, he just couldn't force himself to turn around. All Zach wanted to do was huddle against the wall and try to regain his composure. Sure he'd caught his breath, but his mind was still going a mile a minute.

"Zachary?"

Orion's familiar strong hand settled on his shoulder, very gently guiding him to turn until he was facing the water. He didn't dare open his eyes, but after a quiet moment he was carefully moved into the spray and Orion sifted his fingers through it, removing the soap before his deft fingers rubbed softly at his eyes. When their comforting pressure finally disappeared Zachary chanced opening them.

He had to blink several times to clear his vision, but as soon as Orion's worried face appeared from the cloud of blurry figures, Zach couldn't help but step forward and press himself to the man's solid chest.