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Bake frowned down at him. "Damn it, Dev, you're really sick. You need the hospital?"
"No. No, I want Dare."
"He's not home from work yet, boy. You know he works 'til six most days."
"I want Dare." He needed his twin.
"He'll be home soon." Bake put him in the bed, started stripping him down. He groaned, arm thrown
over his eyes. He was sweaty, uncomfortable. Bake got him down to skin, wiping away the sweat with
his T-shirt. "How about a shower, huh?"
"Uh-huh." He started shuddering, shaking.
Bake picked him up again, headed for the bathroom. "If this doesn't work, I'm taking you to the
hospital."
"No hospitals." No. He didn't have the money.
"We'll see. You get better and it won't be an issue."
He nodded, eyes closing as he held on. "When's Dare coming home?"
"In an hour, boy. In the meantime you have me." Bake turned the shower on and put him in it.
"You feel good. I'm glad you're here. I just... I want you both."
"Of course you do. And your twin'll be here soon."
"Okay. I'd been feeling so good..."
"I know. What happened?" Bake stripped off and joined him and they let the water run over them.
"I went to work. I had lunch. I came home. Just like yesterday."
"You were fine yesterday."
"Uh-huh." Maybe he was just lazy.
"And you were really good the days before that. Your days off." Bake frowned, hands moving over him.
"Uh-huh." He shivered, head just pounding.
Bake made the water hotter. The water felt good, Bake felt good, and all the stress seemed to ease
back a little bit.
"Maybe you're allergic to work." Bake soaped him up, rinsed him off.
"I'm not lazy!"
Bake chuckled. "Just teasing, sweet boy."
"I know, but I'm not. I'mnot lazy!" He was just tired, and Mike, the manager, was being so patient with
him.
"I know that." Bake stroked him. "You know, though, maybe something at work is affecting you."
"The flowers? You're around plants all day."
"Yeah, we both are. You've got exotic stuff at the flower shop, though, don't you? Maybe one of them is
affecting you. I mean, you were fine on your days off. In fact you got better and better every day."
He shook his head. That didn't make sense, did it? "Doesn't make sense."
"Why not? You were fine after a few days off and then you went to work and now you look like death
warmed over."
He rested his head on Bake's shoulder, cried.
"Sweet boy, don't cry." Bake held him and stroked him. "We're going to get to the bottom of this, I
promise."
"Swear? For real?" He held on tight.
"For real, Dev. Your health is very important."
"You believe me?" No one but Dare ever believed in him. Dare did, though. Dare cared.
"Of course I believe you -- I have eyes, I can see you're sick."
He nodded, leaned hard. "Can we go snuggle?"
"Dev? Devvy? You didn't answer your phone. I was worried and I sped home. I..." Dare's face
appeared in the bathtub, pale and worried. "You are sick. I knew it."
Bake nodded. "He is. It's where he works. It's making him sick." Bake turned off the water.
"The florist's shop?" Dare's eyes narrowed. "It's that creepy bastard. He's doing something to you."
"He is not. You're unnaturally suspicious of him." Dare always had been.
Bake began to dry him off. "Creepy bastard? What are you talking about, Dare?"
"I don't like that mean fucker Dev works for. I never have."
Devin rolled his eyes. "Only because he can't tell us apart."
"I'm the only one who can, and Dare doesn't hate everyone. There's got to be a reason."
"Dare's just being silly about it."
Dare shook his head. "I don't think so. Do you want soup? I can make soup?"
"I want to hear more about this creepy bastard you think is making Dev sick!" Bake said before he
could answer.
"I want soup!" Dev shook his head at Dare. Dare was weird about Mike. He always had been.
"You can talk and make soup at the same time, right?" Bake wrapped the towel around his waist and
then put one arm around him and one around Dare, leading them out of the bathroom.
Dare headed into the kitchen and Dev tried to change the subject. "How was your day, Dare?"
"Okay. Just a long day. You know." Darius pulled out chicken, carrots, celery.
"Tell me about this creepy bastard, damn it." Bake was like a dog with a bone.
"I don't like how he looks at Dev, or me, when he thinks I'm Dev. Like he's... hungry."
"I think it's about time that I picked Dev up, then. Let people see this ismy sweet boy." Bake kissed him.
"You think he'd hurt Dev?"
"I think it wouldn't surprise me."
Devin glared. "Stop it, Dare. You're jealous and you don't like him, but it's my job!"
"Relax, sweet boy. He's just worried about you, and you can't deny that something at work is making
you sick."
"But... It's my job. He just is weird."
"Sure, it's your job, but if you're allergic to one of the fertilizers or something, then you have to find a
new job."
He shook his head. "Then I'd be allergic to you, you work with that even more than I do."
"Something in the building? Some exotic flower?"
"I don't know! Do we have to talk about it?"
Dare sighed. "You could just quit. I'll take more hours."
Bake shook his head. "That's not fair, either, but we can look for another job for Dev so hecan quit."
"Ilike my job." Kind of.
"Then we need to find out what it is that's making you sick!" Definitely a dog with a bone.
Dev dropped his head in his hands. "I'm tired."
"I know, boy. I'm going to take you to bed until Dare's soup is ready."
"Okay." He lifted up his arms, begging for Bake.
Bake picked him up and carried him off down the hall. "I've got you, boy."
"Thank you. My head hurts."
"It'll be nice and quiet and gentle in the bedroom."
"Promise?"
"I promise, sweet boy. You just need someone to take care of you."
He wrapped his arms around Bake's neck, close to tears, so exhausted. Bake laid him down on the bed
and came down with him, the big body warm and sheltering him. Bake felt good, smelled good, and he
found himself dozing.
Soft kisses woke him up, the smell of chicken soup strong on the air. "Dare brought you soup, sweet
boy."
"I put an apple crisp in the oven, too."
He grinned at Dare, touched his twin's wrist. "Thanks."
"You're welcome. I'm going to shower and stuff."
Bake pulled Dare down and gave him a hard, thorough kiss. "Good job, Dare. Don't be too long -- we
could share crisp and ice cream together when Dev's finished his soup."
"You need supper, too." Dare caressed Bake's cheek. "You want a sandwich and soup, Sir?"
Bake nuzzled Dare's hand. "I'll be good with just the soup. It smells amazing."
"Okay, I'll grab you a bowl."
"Thanks, boy." Bake rubbed Dare's ass.
Devvy sat up, digging into the soup with a soft moan. Dare's soup was magical. Magical.
Bake grinned at him. "Now I can't wait for my own."
"It's great. Spicy, warm -- perfect."
"You look better already."
"I feel better. Tired, but better."
Dare brought in Bake's soup, some toast. "Here you go. I'll be back."
"Thank you, Dare. Enjoy your shower." Bake waved his spoon at Dare's retreating back and then dug
in. The man made a little moany sound around his first mouthful.
"See? Magic." He heard the water start, heard Dare's distant groan a few minutes later. He'd bet that
Dare was jacking off.
"It is magic. Sounds like my shower is magic, too."
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