Marcus had been too quiet at work for a few days. I wasn't really sure what I could do to help him though. We texted now when we were not at work, just simple things like 'hey' and what we were doing at the time.

When you don't really know a person, their problems don't usually affect you in any way, but once you get to know a person a little better... well, it can become part of your peripheral and distract you too.

Now that I knew Marcus a little better, I guess I could excuse how he was an asshole to me before. I mean, he had his reasons. It didn't make it right, per se, but it made it understandable. I could live with understandable.

That dude that came by our table on the weekend was a real douchebag. I wouldn't have guessed he was by just looking at the guy. He seemed clean cut and well off, had a pleasant smile on his face, and then spewed such bullshit!

I could tell it shook Marcus up. I was sitting at the desk closer to him this week and tried to help out when he would space or make a mistake. It was wearing off slowly the longer it went without anything else happening. Like, the guy didn't show up at our work or anything, fortunately.

Who did show up though... was Demyan. The guy came in once with drinks for us early in the morning. He even remembered to get Marcus a dark roast with no sugar. Gag me that sounded awful, but it made him smile in a cute awkward way.

This morning he came in with a dog, wearing matching jackets like a weirdo. Marcus' face was priceless when he looked up and saw them like that. I should have taken a picture. Even sour lemons can't make that shit happen.

"Hey Marcus, our little one is here to get his stitches repaired. He has been chewing on the edge of the bandages." Demyan tapped the nose of the dog in his arms and the thing sneezed and pawed at him.

Marcus nodded and brought up the screen to page the on-call vet technician. He keyed in the basic details and the owner information was called up to attach to the message. He was doing really well not to stare at the two of them.

I wasn't doing so well. The guy was wearing a pink leather jacket for heaven's sake! It was so horrifying. Even the black zippers and satin lining couldn't save it. Plus, he matched the dog... I just wanted to barf.

How in god's name did Sasha get mixed up with this guy. No wait, how did I get mixed up with this guy? I think we should pretend we don't know him on the basis of worst taste in clothes, ever.

How the hell does a guy even get a leather jacket like that? I was gay and I didn't have a clue. Though, I wasn't a queen or anything. Maybe he ordered it online from some specialty mega-gay store. Wait, wasn't he bisexual or something though? I was confused.

"Did you want to go out for ice cream after work with me?" Demyan asked Marcus with a wink in my direction. I raised my brows. Whaaa? Was he asking Marcus out?

"There aren't any ice cream shops open at this time in the morning Demyan." Marcus replied with a deadpan look.

"No? Then you will have to follow me to a special place where we can get fantastic ice cream. If you are nervous, we can wait and take Lukas as well, okay?" He glanced over at me and I scrunched my nose at being a third wheel.

"I... I am not really an ice cream person." Marcus hesitated and looked at me.

"It's really good stuff! They have gelato that is not too sweet there. You will really like it. Even Aleksandr will eat it. Actually, I should invite him too or he will be angry with me. What do you say?" Demyan was leaning on the partition a bit and the dog was staring over at Marcus pitifully too.

"I... guess? If Lukas isn't busy later." Marcus looked at me and I wasn't sure if he wanted me to say I was busy or show up. I shrugged internally. I wanted some of that interesting frozen shit.

"I'm not busy. I'll text Sasha and let him know." I pulled out my phone and Demyan waved me off as a rolling cart came out for his dog.

"It's fine, I will tell him at work." He placed the dog on the cart and followed the technician into the treatment room. I shook my head and texted my man anyways. Sasha would want to hear it from me too.

That's a good idea. Marcus will feel safer in a group for a while. You should ask him to hang out with you after work so he doesn't sit around his apartment alone so much. I read Sasha's text back with a smile.

My man was so thoughtful, and considerate of others. I had such a gentleman. My parents were insane for not liking this guy. They were so caught up with superficial labels that they had no clue about the actual person.

"Did he text you back? Are you allowed to go?" Marcus asked me with a nervous glance. I looked at him with furrowed brows.

"Yeah of course. Why wouldn't I be allowed to go? Actually, he also suggested we hang out sometime after work, and I totally agree. It would be fun." I replied with a blithe smile.

"You... He said you should hang out? With another guy?" Marcus seemed shocked and stared at me. I nodded happily.

"Sure! He knows we are friends now. Why wouldn't we hang out? I mean, if you want to." I didn't want to pressure him too much to be friends with me, or hang out at our place if he wasn't comfortable.

"I... I guess? That would be cool." Marcus was pretending to be aloof, but I could see he was happy. I nodded and smiled wider.

"Great. You will like our place. The building has cool balconies, and we have a big television. Like 70 inches or something? I dunno. I'll show you." I put my arms out wide when I told him about the size and almost knocked over my files, so I tucked them back in and made an oops face.

Marcus laughed and nodded. "Sure."

*

"Did you already have breakfast?" I was shoving my buttons into the holes in my jacket as I came outside. Marcus watched me with a blank face.

"I thought ice cream was breakfast?" He stated with a slight twinkle in his eyes. I smirked.

"Not ice cream, gelato. Sasha is going to pick us up in a minute and drive over. That okay?" I blew on my hands to warm them a little before shoving them into my pockets. He nodded hesitantly.

"There he is." Marcus commented in a low voice. He took a deep breath, and I patted his arm reassuringly.

"Are you sure you are up for this? You don't have to come if you don't want to. I can have them bring some to the office tomorrow for you." I offered. He seemed to snap out of his nerves and shook his head with a smile.

"I'm okay. Thanks Lukas." He watched as I opened the back door of the car and slid inside. Then waved for him to come in, while I buckled into the small backseat. He got in and greeted the two Doms in the front seat respectfully.

I pulled out my phone and played on a puzzle app with him to distract him from the conversation in the front. They were talking about work and Sasha and I had exchanged a glance. He wanted me to make Marcus more comfortable.

I could do that. He seemed to need some 'normal' in his life. Word puzzles were normal-ish. We worked on them together, but I sucked at it because I was braindead from work. He laughed at the words I came up with.

"Here we are. Everybody out so I can park." Sasha said with a flick of his hand. Demyan gave him a mock glare but slid out of the front seat onto the sidewalk. He opened Marcus' door and offered him a hand.

Marcus looked a little confused but took it with a blush. I grinned at the little bit of interactions between them. Demmy held his hand a little longer than necessary and didn't bother to help me.

I might've rolled my eyes, but neither were paying attention to me. Waste of a good eyeroll. We waited outside for Sasha to come back to the door. My back was to his approach and he wrapped his arms around me for a warm hug before we went inside.

Marcus watched us carefully the whole time. He didn't let Demyan get too close but engaged in conversation and seemed to be more relaxed than I had seen him before. The gelato was fantastic, and I had to steal a bite from Sasha's just to try it.

Marcus watched me do it with an alarmed face. I smiled and glanced at Sasha. He was frowning at me, and I felt him give me a pinch under the table. I jumped and chuckled, which made his serious face crack in exasperation.

"Bad." Sasha said before he rolled his eyes and stole a bite of my flavour back. He made a face at how sweet it was and shook his head. I saw Marcus flinch at the word out of the corner of my eye, and Demyan took his hand.

"You know you don't like super sweet stuff. That's your own fault." I reasoned with a pert smile.

"Shall I punish you later then instead?" Sasha's seductive voice carried only slightly as he leaned into my ear. Marcus was tense and confused, and I saw Demyan lean over to whisper to him.

"Relax. They are playing. Lukas is his boyfriend, remember? This is normal for couples." He soothed the somewhat nervous man.

"Won't Lukas be in trouble later? Will he hurt him?" He asked with a glance at the strange flamboyant man next to him.

"Not really. They are having fun. Lukas likes to provoke him. Sasha understands he is playing. They will discuss it if Sasha feels it crosses a line." Demyan whispered back as we teased each other at the table.

I took another scoop of gelato and sucked on the spoon instead of eating it properly. Sasha glared at me, and his hand slipped below the table after a quick glance around. I nearly choked on my spoon when his firm hand fondled my package roughly.

"Careful baby, you might not be able to walk out of here without some embarrassment if you keep it up." His low words were emphasized with a flick of his fingers that made me jump.

"Yes Sir." I felt my ears get hot at the thought of trying to leave with a hard on. It kind of sucked that he could get me so hot with just a few flippant words. I didn't realise that I could get bothered with just the thought of public humiliation.

The reality might be different though, so I behaved... for now. Marcus was here. Demyan was also watching. I couldn't take it too far. The rest could wait until Sasha wanted to have some fun.

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