"Wake up," George grumbled as he shook David's shoulder roughly. The guy slept like a rock even without his pain meds, which had run out two days ago. He hadn't asked for anymore, so hopefully he was getting close to the end of his healing. Unfortunately, he had an appointment coming up in an hour or so and he was still in bed!

"Get up you lazy bastard or I'll shove the last piece of my cake up your ass."

Yes, he'd eaten almost an entire cake in a week... but it was a damn good cake. Almost too good to waste on David's ass, but he was seriously losing his patience. It had been in the fridge since it was made, too, so it would definitely wake him up nicely.

"...I'd rather have a different kind of frosting in there."

Knowing that he was about to lose his shit, George grabbed David and tossed him over his shoulder, ignoring the guy's pained yelp before he put him down in the shower and turned on the cold water. He then slapped a fresh washcloth in his hand and grumbled out "You have eight minutes," then turned and stomped back into his room.

If David hadn't been able to stand on his own by now George might have just put him in the dish washing sink and dump a bottle of Dawn on his head. Luckily for David, his leg was healed just enough to support a bit of his weight with a limp. He still used the crutches for nearly everything, but in the kitchen and shower he managed without. While the guy cleaned up George got himself dressed. He'd worked a double the night prior so Xena gave him the day off, though he had a feeling it was so that he could take David to his check-up over anything else. That was fine with him. After he brought him back he was going to catch up on the sleep he'd missed yesterday.

Once he was dressed George walked back into the bathroom and held out a towel next to the glass door he'd left partially open in case David accidentally fell. The guy knew exactly what to do when he heard him coming, too, which was nice. He rinsed his hair one last time, then got the water off and carefully hopped into George's arms. After he got the guy over the small raised threshold of the shower George set David down, then quickly began scrubbing his hair before doing a once-over to dry his body. He ignored the slight rise he got from a certain item between the guy's legs, already used to his reaction as he dried him. Once he was done he dropped the towel on David's head and turned to walk over to the bed.

When David hobbled over after setting the towel down on the counter George knelt down, allowing him to grasp his shoulders for balance as he helped him into his boxers, then shorts. When George stood to help him with his shirt David couldn't seem to help but speak. "Why don't you date?"

George paused with the shirt hovering over David's head for a second, then jerked the fabric down with a grunt. "Because people are annoying."

Struggling to pull the shirt down correctly, David shook his head, waiting to speak until the fabric was comfortably over his chest. "You can't think that everyone is annoying. You had a girlfriend or boyfriend before, right? Surely you didn't think they were annoying when you first figured out you liked them?"

When George remained silent and only held out David's crutches, he knew the guy was catching onto him. Unfortunately, he had to walk with him and that gave the guy plenty of time to fire off questions at him.

"Who was your first significant other?"

"Mary."

"How old was she?"

"Old enough."

He sped up, hoping to at least make it clear that he wasn't interested in talking. No such luck.

"How many times did you guys have sex before you broke up?"

Personal much?

George ignored the question but was once again forced to wait for David when he held the door open for the guy. Thankfully he didn't stop in the middle of the entryway, but when they got to the car and headed on their way after the crutches were tossed in the back, David turned in his seat and grinned.

"How many of those answers you were telling me were lies?"

The drive to the walk-in clinic was thankfully quick, but George knew the guy wouldn't get out without him answering. Even so, he walked around to his door and opened it, threatening him with a glare if he didn't get out. It didn't work, of course.

"I lied about everything. I'm a damn virgin because I hate people, now get your damn ass out of the car, David!"

Suddenly much wiser, David scrambled from the car and got his crutches as George slammed his door shut and locked the car. They stepped inside the doctor's office and were in a room within ten minutes since the place was empty of waiting patients. They sat down after George took David's crutches and leaning them against the wall. The doctor came in a moment later, the same one they'd seen previously. It was nice to see him since they wouldn't have to waste time explaining what had happened again.

He was quick to check David's leg thoroughly, then smile up at him. "This looks great. You've taken really good care of it. I don't see any hint of infection and it all seems to be healing really well. Do you need a refill of pain meds?"

David shook his head and the doctor nodded, then took his temperature, checked his blood pressure, and wrote down a few things on the paper on his clipboard. "Alright, I think you're good to go. If you have any issues with the burn please come back, but for now I think you're set to heal up well. There will be a good amount of scarring, but you can take care of that at a later date if you want to do surgery."

"Okay, thanks doctor." George said as he got up and shook the man's hand, then helped David with his crutches and held the door open. After paying he got back in the car, waiting silently as David got his crutches in the back, then settled in the front. The moment he closed the door they were off, George nearly gunning the car to get them back faster. David was surprisingly silent and didn't even say something the whole walk back to the room they were currently sharing.

Something's up.

He wasn't wrong, but he sure as hell wasn't expecting what David did. While he used the restroom the little imp limped off to his small closet and took a belt, of which he only had two left, and promptly got busy butchering it considering what he could hear from where he sat on his toilet-throne.

"I'm going to skin you in two seconds!" He shouted to David as he quickly cleaned up and flushed, then tugged up his pants and stepped out of the bathroom... and right into a collar?

"What the hell?"

Why the heck would David even consider putting a collar on him? He wasn't a sub! Or a dom, for that matter! Hell, he wasn't anything to anyone! Unfortunately, when he reached back to try and remove it he realized that the idiot had used the quick-drying super glue he kept in his nightstand to fix a piece of his boot that had been nicked off last week.

Scissors.

"Give me the scissors you used to cut this and I might not turn you inside out."

David licked his lips, visibly nervous as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

You should be you bastard!

"Hear me out..."

He couldn't be serious!

"I'm serious. It's just a collar. You can cut it off in a minute so just listen to me for once!"

Crossing his arms over his wide chest, George forced his temper down temporarily and ground out. "Talk. Fast."

"I have another proposition for you. Give me one day, in private only."

When he didn't speak again, George stepped forward, silently prompting him.

"Let me be your master for one day!"

David squinted and jerked his arms up to shield him from the hit he knew was coming. He wasn't hit, but he was shoved onto his back against the blankets with a very angry George seething over him.

"You think I need someone else to tell me what to do? To run my fucking life?"

Shaking, David jerked his head from side to side, being sure to keep his arms up in case George decided to swing. When he didn't David hesitantly lowered his arms just enough to see George's furious eyes narrowed on him.

"Th-that's not what I-I said."

"Oh? Well that's exactly what it sounds like you said!"

Swallowing stiffly, David forced himself to sit up. He couldn't stop his arms from shaking as he used them to support himself on either side, but he didn't focus on them. Instead, he squared his shoulders and stared straight up at George.

"A master isn't someone who dictates your life. Every one is different, just like Orion isn't Domino, and my old ex Marco isn't someone else. First and foremost, a master should support his sub. There are some that do so aggressively depending on what their sub wants, or sometimes doesn't want..." He mumbled the last part, looking down for a moment before glancing back up.

"I-I think that you don't like to trust people unless your job depends on it."

George rolled his eyes, making it clear that he did, in fact, hate trusting people he wasn't forced to.

"Well, I think that maybe if you let yourself listen to someone else, and really take their words seriously for even a day, that maybe you might want to trust people a little more. Or at least a few people more..."

George didn't want to even consider it. He'd seen how people into that stuff acted. Orion was the most normal of them all, and even what he did was uncomfortable in his eyes.

"I'll make you something else if you make it through the whole day without strangling me. Anything you want me to cook."

The idea of telling him to go to hell sounded amazing, but as George opened his mouth to speak those exact words, the only thing that came out was, "Double chocolate mousse cake."

Fuck.