Thunder booms, the sound much more audible closer to the front of the training center than when I was showering after martial arts, probably because I was showering down here on the first floor and the shower room I use is closer to the center of the place than the outside.

The storm started up while Todd and I were in the trampoline room, and it was pretty loud up on the top floor, where Lucas was teaching me martial arts. That was probably partly because of the rain pounding the roof above us, so we were hearing more than just the thunder.

Hoping for the storm to finish before I left was probably a bit too much to ask for. I don't have rain gear, and I'm pretty sure there's a decent wind right now judging by the rolling sound of the rain against the roof before my shower.

With a walk of forty minutes – more since I'll have to fight the wind and the rain – to get home, I'm going to be soaked through and freezing. An immediate hot shower will be a must, as will bundling up well in warm clothes and my blankets. With luck, I won't be sick when I wake up tomorrow.

Upon reaching the front foyer, I find Lucas and Zane in an intense battle of rock-paper-scissors, Tabitha and… I can't remember her name, actually. But she and Tabitha are both looking rather amused by the game, so I'm going to guess they're arguing over who's walking me home.

Neither are wearing rain gear, either, which suggests that they're both willing to risk getting sick or frostbite or something just to see me home safe. While I'm touched, they should probably just head home.

For about a minute, I watch as they continue to either draw or alternate between wins, neither one managing to get more than a single point ahead of the other. It's really nice to know they both care about me that much.

"Guys," I say. "Are you seriously trying to play rock-paper-scissors to see who gets to walk me home? You do know you can both do it, right? It doesn't have to be only one of you like it has been."

I know the reason they're alternating who walks me home is because Lucas can't stand Zane in anything more than small doses, but if they're walking me home in a storm of freezing rain, there won't be much talking or goofing off.

As soon as I ask this, both of them turn wonderful shades of crimson and give each other uncomfortable looks.

"They weren't debating over who was walking you home," Tabitha informs me.

"Oh?" I ask. "It certainly seems like it judging by their reaction."

Though they're both turning even redder, now.

"They were both wanting to invite you to spend the night at their apartment," she tells me with a grin. "Since it's a much shorter walk than to yours. They got into an argument over it a few minutes before you showed up and decided to do rock-paper-scissors to pick who gets to invite you first."

That hadn't even occurred to me. What's more, they both have heated apartments. Lucas mentioned to me that he's got decent heating in his and keeps it on, and that he's glad that he makes enough to cover the electricity bill caused by that. The Korriska Building has two floors of apartments above the conference halls, and Zane, his brother, and their parents live in them.

"You live about twenty minutes from here, right?" I ask Lucas.

"Maybe thirty, in this weather," he mutters.

"Zane lives in the Korriska Building," I say. "That's only about fifteen minutes when walking slow and chatting. So maybe twenty minutes, maybe a few more than that, in this weather. You can light-walk yourself home, which is probably safer, and Zane and I can head to his place."

Lucas opens his mouth to protest, probably because he just doesn't want me spending the night with Zane. It has nothing to do with him worrying about Zane getting sexual with me, he just wants to minimize the risk of Zane getting an advantage over him when it comes to who I'll end up dating between them once they sort through their issues.

"Or," I continue before Lucas can speak. "All three of us can head to Zane's and spend the night there. If Zane's willing."

"Sure!" Zane answers. "So you'll probably blow over in this wind, Kieran."

I look through the glass doors making up the entrance of the building and find the wind blowing strong enough that the rain's coming down at a severe enough angle it's almost horizontal. He's right, I'm much too light for this to be safe.

"So why not," he says. "Give Lucas your bag, and you can ride on my back? I can turn to stone, weighing myself down. The walk will only take me eighteen minutes. Can you match that, or should I go slower so you can stay with us?"

Zane directs that last part at Lucas, and I can tell it's not meant to be a jab at Lucas. He wants to make sure the speed he can go in this rain isn't faster than the other person who might be coming with us.

"I can match it," Lucas huffs. "Fine. We'll do that."

I hand Lucas my bag, then watch Zane as he transforms. This is my first time seeing his power in action and I don't want to miss it.

Over the course of about three seconds, Zane turns to grey stone, his features just as defined as when in his human form, but every part of his body made up of the stone. Even his eyes, teeth, tongue, and hair are made of it. That's pretty amazing. So is the size of the bulge down low, and I quickly turn my gaze back up to his. He gives me a big grin.

"Told ya!" He says, then turns around. "Hop on!"

I climb onto Zane's back, wrapping my arms and legs around him, and he reaches back and grabs my legs to help support me. Then, he and Lucas leave the center, and I can feel the wind ripping at me immediately, trying to pull me off of my mount. I hug him tighter, doing my best to resist the wind's force.

The walk feels like it takes hours, and by the time we arrive in the Korriska Building, I'm freezing and my body is numb. Moving my limbs to release from Zane isn't easy, and it takes until we reach his apartment for me to have thawed enough for that. Lucas, meanwhile, looks rather jealous, even if soaking wet.

All three of us have ice in our hair, our clothes frozen in some spots. With the lower temperatures here, I'm surprised the rain wasn't frozen by the time it reached us. That probably would have been painful, though, so at least there's that? But the wind was so strong that it managed to get the rain between Zane and me, soaking us all the way through, including the areas that were touching most of the walk.

Lucas doesn't look as affected by the cold as I do. Zane doesn't feel the cold in his stone form, and he hasn't switched back yet. Lucas, on the other hand, still feels the cold.

"Kieran needs a hot bath," Zane tells Lucas as they help me off of stoneboy. "Otherwise, he'll catch cold. You, too. The tub's big enough for both."

Lucas's cheeks flush for a moment, and to my surprise, he declines.

"You get in with him," Lucas tells him. "Make sure he doesn't fall asleep, and if I find that you forced yourself on him-"

"I wouldn't do that," Zane holds his hands up in defense. "Consent is my thing, Luke. Have more faith in me."

A tic works in Lucas's jaw, and I know it's from the nickname. He's too concerned about me right now to bicker with Zane, though. At least there's that.

"I'll be back."

"Back?" Zane asks as Lucas pulls off my bag and drops it on the ground. "Where are you going?"

"To buy food," Lucas answers. "Some shops are definitely still open despite this weather, and all three of us need to eat. Kieran especially. Get in the bath with him and make sure he stays awake. Help him out of those clothes, he's obviously still too stiff to do it himself."

As much as I hate to admit it, he's right. My body's too stiff and numb for me to undress. Getting off of Zane's back was already pushing the limits of what I can do until I thaw out some.

Please don't let this sort of weather be a recurring thing where we're going.

Lucas flashes out of here, then Zane picks me up and carries me to his bathroom. Much like me, he has a studio apartment, though it's much larger and comfier looking. His bathroom's bigger, too, and even has a tub rather than just a shower. With how naturally Lucas was talking about it, does he have a tub, too?

"Come on," Zane starts helping me undress, his fingers cold where they brush my skin. "Let me do most of the work. How Lucas managed to not be frozen is beyond me."

Perhaps he has some spell that helps him? Nothing like turning to stone, but Lucas might have something else he can do.

It takes a good few minutes for me to finish getting undressed, my thawing clothes wet enough to stick against me. The warmer air of the apartment actually feels nice, and I can feel myself starting to thaw some.

"And into the tub," Zane tells me as he turns on the hot water. "Let me help you."

Normally, I'd be uncomfortable with someone touching me while I'm naked, but I'm too cold and wet to care. I really do need to warm up, and soaking in hot water will help with that. Is Zane going to listen to all of what Lucas said and join me? Once I'm warmed up, I'm definitely going to be uncomfortable with that.

Once I'm in the tub, Zane stops it up to let the hot water start filling. He probably had to wait for it to heat up a bit. Then, he starts pulling off his clothes, still in stone form.

"I can really just wipe myself down," Zane says as he undresses, letting me see his toned body bare for the first time. "And I'll be fine. Once the cold water's off, I can shift back to my human form and it'll be like I was never wet. However, Lucas is right. Someone needs to make sure you don't fall asleep, as well as ensure the water stays warm. With how cold you got, it's going to take awhile."

He's asking if I'm okay with him joining me in the tub. It is big enough, as long as we're beside each other. If he just stays outside of the tub, he can still make sure I'm okay and defrosting well. I know that's why they want to make sure I stay awake – to ensure they can tell if I need medical attention for some reason. My parents did the same thing, back when I was younger and we had a bad cold storm.

Whoa. No wonder he's incredibly uncomfortable when wearing something over his crotch while hard.

"Zane," I say as I stare at the very hard tool staring at me now that he's standing again, the foreskin stopping halfway up the head of the dick. "What are your measurements?"

Unsurprisingly, he snorts.

"I'm ten-point-three inches long," he tells me. "And three-point-one thick."

"And guys let you put that in them?"

Immediately, I know that was the wrong thing to say. Zane seems to deflate, no longer looking proud of that weapon. It wasn't meant to be offensive, I'm just… really surprised. Wouldn't that break a guy? It would probably break me. But I know he tops, so I guess not?

His deflation probably comes from someone he actually wants to be with asking that and seeming to not want something that big inside of him. I should try to fix this because I'm still interested in him, just… confused.

"How does it fit?" I ask. "And. Um. You can join me in here if you want. Just… don't touch."

"I won't," Zane climbs into the bath, moving me over so that I'm pressed against one side. He sits so that he's facing me, his back against the other end of the tub and his feet beside me, mine against him. "You can fit surprisingly long things in one's ass, Kieran."

"I guess," I say as he returns to human form, cheeks slightly red. Is he feeling a little shy, despite his experience and openness? "But, uh… that's so much thicker. H…how?"

"The human ass can stretch more than twice as wide as this thing is thick," he flicks his dick, giving me a grin. "It's a matter of getting used to it and stretching your ass out to accommodate it more easily."

"O-oh."

"Yeah," he sighs. "The only downside is that it's almost impossible to find a power user to give a proper blowjob to. A male one, anyway."

"Why?" I ask.

"Because the mouth of an adult human," he says. "Can open up to about two inches high or so. Some more, some less. Since male power users have this growth, and our thickness ends up over two inches by the end of it…"

"Most are too thick to ever get a blowjob again."

"Yup," he answers. "Well, one where more than part of the head makes it in. Though mine's not really possible for that."

This seems to depress him. Bigger isn't always better, and all that, I guess. I can see his point. He probably wants to be able to experience someone deep-throating him again, but can't because of how thick he is. The fact that he's managed to find so many hookups despite his size is impressive, though.

I should probably change the subject to one that doesn't sadden my friend.

"Since I'm spending the night," I say. "I guess there's no need to wait until ten tomorrow morning for our hangout. Are we going to start once we wake up? Or still wait a couple of hours to do whatever it is you wanted?"

"Depends on if the storm's still going," he answers. "Which will probably affect if your friend joins us or not, since I doubt he'd be walking here in the rain."

Danny would never make it.

"Yeah, I don't think he would," I say. "Oh! We were talking earlier, before you showed up at the center. Apparently, Danny came here on Saturdays until he turned twelve."

"Really?" Zane asks. "Guess I shouldn't be too surprised you've met someone who did. You said he likes vigilantes?"

"Yeah," I answer.

"Neat," he grins. "Growing up, I always wanted to be one. The last few months, I actually thought about trying to be one. It's why I started saving up money to try and train my powers. I'd always wondered if there was more to it than just becoming stone, you know. And then the job offer happened… how are you warming up?"

Such a change in subject. He's wanting to avoid talking about that too much? It's just an offer for a security job. Is it something a bit more illegal or unofficial than becoming a Sivalshi Guardian, then? If it weren't for the fact that he's not got some super rare and powerful ability, I'd think that was his offer.

While my power is weak, I can teleport. Isaac mentioned there are only four of us in Sivalshi City who can. Becoming stronger and tougher? That's a pretty common ability, even if his form of it is different.

Maybe he was offered a chance to become an official vigilante? That would actually make sense, considering his shift to the security job before the sudden change in topic. Lumilxal was made the offer no doubt because he was already doing stuff, but Zane? He was wanting to, and planning on training to do it, but hadn't found anywhere good for that.

After he received the offer, he met me. Someone who introduced him to a place to do that. That seems extremely coincidental. Did the Patron somehow nudge Melody into offering me the job first despite us having not met and gone over my limitations and skills yet? If he can prevent people from observing or realizing things, then he could surely do that.

Don't worry, Zane – your secret's safe with me.

"I'm still stiff and feeling frozen inside," I tell him, playing to his topic change. "Thanks for keeping me company, I probably would fall asleep if I were alone."

"Yeah," he says. "So who's your favorite vigilante?"

I guess it wasn't a full shift away from the topic.

Zane and I discuss the various vigilantes we know for about twenty minutes with him occasionally draining some of the water and adding more hot water to the tub to keep us warm, then Lucas flashes into the bathroom and grabs our clothes before flashing out. He's still in clothes that are soaking wet, so I'm guessing he only just returned, and he probably put the food he bought away before doing that. Or left it on the counter.

"Uh…" I say. "What was that about?"

"Dunno," Zane says. "I guess he's back, though."

"Yeah," I say. "What do you think he bought for food?"

"Dunno," he shrugs. "I'm hungry, though. Should've brought snacks or something before getting in the tub. Something with protein, since we're supposed to eat that within two hours."

"It's not been an hour yet," I say. "Though I do feel a little warmed up."

I stretch my arms and back a little, leaning forward to touch my toes, my legs stretching with this movement, too. Yeah, I've thawed well, now. Since Lucas didn't say anything, I'm guessing he's fine with us staying like this until he has food ready.

Realizing that my hands are near Zane's torso, my face leaned in close to a certain part of him, I quickly sit back up.

"Yeah, I'm warmed up," I tell him. "Thanks, Zane. This felt nice."

"Yeah," he smiles. "It was nice. I just wish I felt comfortable asking you out again, maybe some fun could have happened. But I sure as hell don't want to do that right now, because I still feel like you'd be pressured into things, despite you saying otherwise."

"I know," I tell him. "Just don't take longer than Lucas takes to deal with his problems, because while I want to date both of you, Zane, I really don't want to date two guys at once."

He nods, then we both continue to rest in the tub. Zane drains some of the water and adds more hot water to it, and a few minutes later, a naked Lucas appears in here, just as hard as Zane is. He's not as massive as Zane, but I know that Zane's a bit on the absurd side. His dick is straight, just like Zane's, but instead of sticking straight out, there's a slight upward angle to it.

I kind of want to find out his measurements, but now that I've thawed out and am doing better than my frozen self, I have enough control not to and enough mentality to be shy with that.

"How big are you are?" Zane, on the other hand, has no such qualms.

"Nine-point-four inches long and two-point-three inches thick," Lucas answers. "Not all of us are as ridiculous as you."

So still above-average in length for a power user.

"My turn to warm up," Lucas says. "I'll make something to eat after thawing out. I put our clothes out to dry and did my best to rescue our phones, they're drying now. Hopefully, they're still usable."

"Thanks," I say.

"You're welcome," he says. "I want a hot bath to warm up. Either by myself or with Kieran is fine, but not with you, Zane."

"That's fine," Zane grins, standing up and stepping out of the tub. "I understand you don't want to spend too much time being around the competition when seeing how small you are in comparison."

Lucas opens his mouth to retort in irritation.

"Boys, can we not around me?"

"Sorry," they both apologize, averting their gazes from me and each other.

"I'll get myself a snack," Zane grabs a towel and starts drying himself off as Lucas takes his place in the tub. "Don't worry, Lucas – I won't eat what you brought. You probably have specific stuff in mind, and I'm not an asshole. Not that kind of asshole, anyway. Don't take too long, though. Kieran needs food, too."

Zane leaves the room, and I look at Lucas, whose face seems a little red. Are things really that different with me than with other guys he's been with, both in and out of relationships? He's mentioned before that he feels differently with me.

"So," I try to find something to talk about. "What's for dinner?"