Ranger really needed to head home. It was already getting close to ten and he had quite a few chores to do come morning. Dinner had been phenomenal, and if food could completely silence his nerves, he would have found a ring to put on Heian's finger the second he'd finished his third helping.

Unfortunately, he was much too fidgety once there was nothing left to eat and all the small talk had been said. Nia had been an absolute sweetheart and had braided a small portion of his hair on the left side, even tying it off with a few pretty pink sparkly beads before she had Heian help her upstairs to bed.

Closing his eyes with a deep breath, he focused on trying to calm his nerves for the hundredth time. Heian had gotten up to do the dishes, and he could hear him walk over several times to remove what remained so that they could be loaded, too. He wanted to help. Had even intended to do it all himself as thanks for the meal, but as he finally pealed his eyes open again, the same nervousness hit him as he watched the man who was currently pursuing him work in the kitchen.

"Ranger?"

Blinking, Ranger stiffened when he realized that he'd zoned out while staring.

Heian was now right next to him, a worried look on his face that made him feel a little ashamed.

"It's okay if you'd like to go home, Ranger. I only invited you for dinner and to spend some time together with you and Nia. I don't want you to stress about anything else," he said as he reached forward and gently sifted his fingers through his hair.

His cat surfaced at the sensation, as it was always one to love getting pets... from Heian only. He could tell that it was visible in his eyes, too, because Heian couldn't hold back his grin after a few minutes and chuckled.

"I see you, Kit. I hope you enjoyed the food, too," he said, earning a grumble from Ranger's mouth that was definitely more feline than human.

"Your shift is adorable, by the way. Ferocious teeth, claws, and all. He has a pretty good attitude for such a predator, too," Heian said, making Ranger's cat preen itself beneath his skin.

It had a terrible attitude, but it seemed to worship Heian and always behaved for him.

Rolling his eyes, Ranger stood up from the table, feeling his stomach ache slightly with the weight it now carried. "You're going to make him shift again just for some more compliments."

He didn't want to shift again so soon, but he also wasn't sure that he'd even make it back home before curling up somewhere and falling asleep for the night. He might need his cat's coat.

Heian took a step back to give Ranger room to move away from the table, while at the same time responding to the hint he'd clearly caught in his thoughts.

"I will gladly give you a ride home, and I mean in my car this time," he said with a small wink. And I'll try not to instigate your cat too much. I like him, but I do prefer to be around your human self a tad more.

He was about to head for the door when he remember something important. When he turned around, Heian was standing by the stairs, nonchalantly smiling with his hands in his pockets.

"I'll be taking my lasso home," Ranger grumbled as he walked past the other man and headed up the stairs.

Surprisingly, he didn't hear Heian follow after him, making him pause at the top of the steps to look down at the man watching him.

"I'll wait here. It's was a nice view, anyways," he said, though Ranger could hear his thoughts for the first time in a bit. They added and I don't want to stress you out more.

Holding back a sigh, he turned and headed for Heian's room. He would just grab his rope and be on his way... or that had been the plan until he stepped into the doorway and noticed Nia curled up in her father's bed.

Um, hey dad. I thought you put Nia to bed?

He couldn't, in his right mind, wake her up just retrieve his lasso.

"I did," came a whisper from close behind, making Ranger jump slightly as he turned to see Heian approaching.

He quickly stepped to the side, allowing Heian in just as Ranger noticed one of Nia's eyes peek open.

"Alright Nia, you need to stay in bed. I know that you like Ranger, but he's not sleeping over tonight," he said, drawing a bit of heat to Ranger's cheeks.

The girl slowly sat up, looking a little upset, but more-so tired over anything else. She looked past her dad and gave Ranger puppy dog eyes, but before he could be guilted into saying that he would stay, Heian carefully collected his daughter into his arms and took her to her room.

Ranger waited for a while against the doorjamb until Heian finally came out of the room and closed the door. He had one new small braid on the right side of his head, matching opposite with the one she'd given Ranger. Heian's beads were purple, however, where Ranger's were pink.

"Sorry about that. She likes you a bit more than I thought," Heian said as he stepped into his room, flicking his new braid with a proud smile. "Had to trade sleep for a new braid."

Ranger chuckled and followed, suddenly aware that he had to have waited quite a bit, because it was inching closer to eleven, judging from the alarm clock on Heian's nightstand.

Just get your lasso.

He kept telling himself that, but when Heian walked over to the left side of the bed and looked back at him, expecting Ranger to do exactly as he had planned, he just stood there, staring awkwardly.

It would be so easy to just walk over and take his rope, then head home... but he'd said that he would give Heian a chance.

I don't feel like I really have, though.

Licking his lips, he looked down at his bare feet, then back up to Heian, who tilted his head slightly in silent question. He really didn't have a question, or an answer for the man, though.

He did, however, feel a nudge from his cat.

I'm not getting naked in front of him, you stupid cat.

It grumbled in his mind, then nudged him again.

Sighing, Ranger looked toward where it seemed to want to point him, then raised an eyebrow.

The shower? You aren't a huge fan of water.

He walked that way anyways, then realized what his cat meant when he stepped into the huge bathroom.

The hot tub. Right.

His cat wasn't a fan of being sprayed, but it loved a warm soak once in a while. Not quite to the level of feeling like you're being cooked, but it definitely didn't mind a hot bath... and one with jets sounded nice to its human self.

He looked back over his shoulder at Heian again, noting that the guy was still watching, and clearly enjoying it. His eyes rose up to his own, making Ranger bite back a scowl. Heian had clearly been staring at his butt again... and didn't even try to hide it. Instead of grumbling at him, he got back at him a different way, and did finally give into his cat... at least a tiny bit.

Reaching up slightly, he returned his attention to the currently-empty hot tub bath and tugged his borrowed shirt up and over his head, then let it fall to the floor. He might not have been able to hear many of Heian's thoughts, but he could definitely feel his stare and the flare of interest from their growing bond.

He then proceeded to start filling the bathtub. It had quite a few gadgets on its panel that could turn on different things, but he wasn't too interested in anything special. His catlike curiosity would just make him press all the buttons, anyways.

"There are bubbles under the sink," came Heian's voice from behind him, drawing his attention back into the room.

The man had moved to sit on the bed, his feet propped up as he tucked one hand behind his head and held a book with the other. He looked completely relaxed... and not interested in all at joining him in the bath.

"Oh, believe me. The second you send the invitation, I'll be in there, but you seem to want to relax, and I don't think I'd be able to behave myself as well wet as I would dry. So I'll just enjoy the view from here for now."

Ranger was about to call him a pervert and shut the door, but he suddenly realized that that would be calling the kettle black. After all of the years he'd chased girls just to get laid?

Okay, we're both perverts.

But it hadn't been girls that had been messing up his mind recently...

Shaking his head, he grabbed the bottle of honey and lavender bubble bath from beneath the sink and poured in a decent amount. Once that was done, he sat on the edge and watched the water fill, contemplating shutting the door or leaving it open.

By the time the huge tub was full he still hadn't made up his mind, but his cat had no more patience to wait and quickly made him yank his pants down and climb in. It burned a little once he was settled, but that heat quickly began to sooth his muscles and warm his body.

This feels so good.

It took him little time to find a setting on the jets that was comfortable and lean his head back against one of the soft headrests. He then allowed his eyes to close on a content sigh.

I could totally fall asleep in this.

There was a muffled quiet from Heian in response, then that static in his mind turned into fleeting words.

If he falls asleep, would he get mad if I took him out and partially accidentally touched his butt at the same time?

Ranger blinked one eye open and scowled at the back wall of the large bathroom. He was about to say something negative again, but changed his mind. Instead, he shrugged off his constantly-dismissive attitude as of recently and took a few deep breaths before turning his head to the side on the pillow and closing his eyes again.

"You can touch it."

He couldn't hear Heian's reaction to his words over the jets, but he could feel his excitement through their connection.

"What can I touch?" he heard the man ask, clearly having gotten up so that he could walk closer and be heard over the hot tub without having to yell.

"My butt," Ranger mumbled back, not bothering to open his eyes again.

Before he could even think his words through Ranger jumped and his eyes shot open. Thankfully he didn't fall out of the tub, because Heian was easily holding him with an arm around his middle... and a firm hand squarely under his bare backside.

The look on the man's face told Ranger that he was confused about the reaction, but how could he just walk up and stick his hand in the water and grab his butt like that?

I thought I said that he could grab my butt if I accidentally fell asleep in the water...

Heian's face tinted pink in the dim light coming from his room.

"Oh, crap. Sorry, I misinterpreted the context there. I thought you were just giving me general permission, instead of just for when you might have f—" Ranger silenced him with his mouth after grabbing a fistful of silky hair and yanking his head down to his own.

The hand against his backside squeezed harder, but he'd kind of egged him on this time, so he didn't mind. Heian's mouth tasted like fresh peppermint, making him realize that he must have brushed his teeth at some point. Perhaps after helping Nia to bed the first time.

I wanted to make sure that my breath wasn't bad just in case you'd let me have a goodnight kiss after I brought you home.

Ranger felt a toothache coming on at that statement... and then felt his stomach sink a little at the thought that his mouth might taste bad. He considered breaking the kiss, which was getting quite heated, but Heian had clearly thought he might because he carefully placed a hand at the back of his head. It didn't stop him from moving, at all, and he could still pull away, but since Heian was the one wanting him to stay, he figured that he probably didn't taste too bad.

You are absolutely delicious, love.

Ranger tried to figure out a response to that, but the heat of the water and the heat of their current activity was frying his brain.

Instead of trying to think any further, Ranger reached up with his free hand and grabbed Heian's shirt. With a sharp tug on that and his hair, he had the guy fumbling over the edge of the tub and into the water.

To his surprise, Heian didn't struggle to regain himself at all. He actually simply slowly rotated his body around, then pushed himself up on his hands and feet, then moved forward to straddle his lap.

Ranger had nowhere to go as the man settled one hand on his shoulder and the other eagerly sought out, and found, his backside to grip again. Heian didn't seem to even notice the warm water running down his face or the bubbles in his super long, wet hair. His eyes were glued to Ranger's, and as he closed the distance between their mouths again, he whispered one simple, yet extremely important, sentence.

"I'll stop any single second you want me to... but until that moment, I am going to take your breath away over and over again."