Under Covers

A turn to the right sent a wave of nausea through Matt causing him to clutch his hand to his head firmly as he balled upwards, trying to calm the sounds weaving through his mind. The sensation passed after a moment and he lowered his hand slowly then, anger burning through him when the motion put the dull uneven current into motion again, more wild than before. His eyes watered from the pain it was offering his head and stomach to have so many different sensations overwhelming him.

Finally, he sat up enraged and leaned against the cool wooden headboard of the bed.

Exactly ten minutes on the second had passed since he had suggested Wolverine go occupy himself while he was allowed his four hours of sleep. Now, he was standing up and finding his watch on the bedside table to go locate the mutant. He hadn’t changed his clothing before he lay down, not really, so he slid his shoes on and tied them with a quick frustrated yank at the very end.

He pulled his cane up from the bedside table and descended the staircase with it raised, following the beat of his partner’s heart to the outside patio. When he pulled open the glass door, the previously beautiful scent of the floral garden waft around him though it now came off as aggravating given his lack of rest.

“Don’t light that,” he growled to Logan as he snapped his cane into its full length. They could go shopping, Logan had won out. Sleep was pointless now.

Logan looked up at the frustrated man with no little amusement as he chewed on the cigar once more before slipping it into his pocket. “I’m so sorry baby; I didn’t know it was my health you were worried about,” he said condescendingly as he stood and grabbed his wallet from the table. He had just finished replacing all of his ids and credit cards with the ones that SHIELD had provided and had managed to hide his in a watertight container halfway up the drainpipe.

Moving forward he crooked his arm and gently nudged the other man’s arm with it to offer his assistance as he looked up into the red glasses the unseeing man wore and smiled a bit with the pout that was spreading over his face.

“Don’t push it Chris,” Matt snapped, his mood having obviously degenerated with every minute he had wasted trying to fall asleep. He nudged Wolverine away from him with the handle of the white fiber-glass pole. “I may be blind but I’m far from helpless, despite what you may like to think. I can walk on my own thanks, babe.”

With the callous words and abrupt gestures Logan could feel his temper rising to meet the arrogance of his partner pivoting to face Matt and grabbing his arm roughly he growled softly and decided to assert his dominance with the other man here and now. “Look Lor, I don’t know about you but I’d rather do my job and go home with the least amount of headache possible, so let’s get this out now so we aren’t having reruns of this soap opera the entire time we’re here. I don’t think you’re weak, I don’t think you’re helpless and I don’t think you need a babysitter, What I do think is that you’re pissed off, in a new city and not focusing right and I figured I might lend a hand to help you out until you cool down. That being said, if you’re so damn sure you can do it yourself then have the fuck at it. But don’t come crying to me when your shins are black and blue from your stubbornness!”

Huffing to himself in annoyance, and not allowing the younger man to make a rebuttal, Logan strode off without a backward glance and locked the front door, leaving it open and ready for Matt to pull shut as he stormed down the stairs and got into the Prius.

Matt started at the harsh scolding Logan had thrown at him, his face crumbling in embarrassment. Suddenly, he didn’t feel so much different than he had the last time he had tried to get used to a move with Natasha. It was never an easy arrangement for him to relocate himself and his temper tended to be easily triggered; but remembering that fact only produced and irrational need to keep arguing with Wolverine.

In all honesty, Matt didn’t want to feel like a well chastened child and so he followed after him with a renewed fury. Thirty seconds later, however, he was sitting on the ground clutching his shin with both hands and cursing Nick Fury and Logan and the Chinese workers who had made the God forsaken decorative table.

If he had been ten he probably would have cried for five minutes after the blow but instead he pulled himself back up, smoothed his clothing down and followed the other man outside.

Logan watched as Matt came down the stairs smirking as he saw the red tint to the other man’s face and the mostly masked pain as he walked down the steps. Leaning over to open the door for the taller man he waited until he was sitting, buckled in and the door was closed before turning the car on and finding the nearest grocer. “Do you have any allergies I should be aware of?” he asked absently as he checked for oncoming traffic and pulled out into the road to follow the GPS’ directions.

A hundred cocky rebuttals died on Matt’s tongue and he grumbled out a negative response to the question. He wasn’t particularly good at apologizing for his behavior and he didn’t terribly feel like making light conversation so he just crossed his arms and sighed. “We need new sheets,” he said his tone softer by far than it had been moments ago. “And I want a new bed that doesn’t make a raft on the ocean seem stable.”

Logan snickered at the imagery for a moment before agreeing, “Yeah I think we can do that, and we should go around the house and redecorate it, Fury gave us an unlimited credit card, and I figure he owes us some furniture we don’t hate,” he offered as he pulled into the local green grocer and got out, “So what kind of cuisine do you favor?” he asked as he got out from the car and waited for Matt to emerge before locking it with the remote and walking beside the older man, snagging a cart from the parking lot to roll into the air conditioned building.

“I don’t really care; it just can’t come out of a box. If you can’t pronounce an ingredient in something don’t buy it,” Matt replied. He was hoping that Logan would realize that his attitude, which might appear to be fairly ‘stuck up’, was actually now a requirement thanks to his heightened senses. The last thing he wanted to do was come up with a lengthy and believable explanation for the public that didn’t sound like he was holding stock in an Organic farm. Then again, it might not have sounded so crazy to people in California. If anywhere was going to be entirely accepting of the idea, this was probably the place.

His head throbbed at him in protest for sleep once more and he rested his hand on the side of the cart to guide him, his cane looped around his wrist by the top strap. He would dare Logan to mention it, as this was the closest to an admission of being arrogant as he would get. “We don’t have to get it, but I’d like a Braille labeler also,” he mentioned with a cautious smile. “It will make it easier for us leave coded sexual messages under coffee cups.”

Logan forced a chuckle at the suggestion but was really trying not to growl. “So this is all just a conspiracy to finally teach me Braille?” he teased as he patted Matt’s hand twice and pushed the cart towards the fresh produce. “Well I agree with the boxed thing, I prefer to make my own meals myself, and we’ll try to find a Braille labeler, where do you think we’ll find one?” he asked as he started picking up fruit and thumping them with his finger. “You like melons right?” he prompted, grinning as his mind caught up with his mouth, “You know cantaloupe, honeydew?” He reiterated quietly.

“We had one but…I broke it last night,” Matt mumbled dryly, recalling his argument with the guards about the exact intended definition of a ‘visual aide’. It had been interoperated as ‘blind-stick’ by the end of the debate and he had felt lucky to keep his shaded glasses. “We can pick up raised stickers for now if you don’t feel like contacting an Aide Supply.” Not quite catching Logan’s sudden stumble in regards to the fruit, Matt nodded. “Yeah, that’s fine,” He agreed. “But not that one, it smells too ripe.”

Logan put it down and picked up two others before placing them in the cart, “It’s alright, babe we can get one today. So what kind of bed do you want?” he asked as he moved down the aisle and picked up a couple pieces of each fruit until he got to the mangos. “How does Mexican or Indian sound tonight?” he asked as he picked up and tested the fruit until he had eight he liked.

“It sounds fine,” Matt groused, following his partner with unhidden frustration. He knew he really needed to work on keeping the illusion of their love going so he tried to push it back again and give his best faked reasons keeping it within the truth. “I’m just really, tired, Chris. You know, I don’t care what type of bed we get so long as it isn’t too hard. I don't want any springs poking me in the back like the one we had in Canada. What a mess.”

Logan smiled and hesitated for a moment until he saw a gay couple walk by talking animatedly with each other. Acting as if he would pull Matt close he changed his mind and awkwardly patted the other man’s shoulder while pulling him away from the cart. “Come on Lor, we’re going to get you a new bed and sheets then I’ll come do the shopping myself,” He muttered as he offered the other man his hand and gently pulled him towards the exit.

Matt accepted Logan’s hand with surprise at the suggestion, feeling his work toughened fingers gently under his own. They reminded him of his father’s in that way and he smiled sincerely at that, appreciating the brief touch of familiarity it had offered.

“Thanks, Chris,” He said then, forcing himself to give the man a very brief embrace, just the slide of his arm around the other’s waist. It felt awkward but he tried to relax into the touch, pulling back quickly as not to prolong the contact. “I’d be lost without you,” He threw out to him with that motion. God, he’d be sick before he ever thought that about him.

Logan wanted to laugh… or maybe it was cry, whatever he wanted he had to concentrate desperately not to let it happen. “Well we can’t have that now, can we babe?” he teased as he led him out into the balmy weather and back to their faggy-assed little car. “So I guess the nearest department store would be the best place to find a bed, or we can really make Fury cry and go to one of the showrooms.” He said lightly as he opened the door for Matt and then quickly jogged around to the driver’s side.

“I want separate mattresses and separate beds,” Matt muttered firmly on the subject. He hoped that they cost a lot and it made Fury cringe but he doubted it. “I don’t care about anything else about them. We can push them together in the morning and have them apart when we actually use them.”

Logan snorted at the suggestion and tried to ignore the quick stab of hurt about the other man’s attitude. “Yeah, we’ll see kid,” He offered as he opened his window and pulled out his cigar to chew on again in silence.

“It’s not that strange,” Matt insisted to his partner, letting his fingers run quickly over the arm of the car door until he found the controls. He pushed down the window button and crossed his arms against his chest then as the warm air rushed in past them.

Logan laughed heartily then as he put the cigar in the ashtray and patted Matt’s arm. “Look we’ll work on the beds but you have to stop worrying before you give yourself an ulcer,” He insisted before tousling his partner’s hair. He pulled into a furniture store, parking them in the handicapped spot as he threw the placard he had found in their identity envelope on the mirror and rolled the windows up. “Come on Lor, the best we can do is try to get through this then you can sleep and I’ll try to leave you alone the entire day. Look, let’s go find you a bed you can live with.” He said indifferently as he got out of the car and offered his hand to Matt.

Matt slid his hand into Logan’s after a moment’s hesitation and accepted his help out of the car. Once out of it, he slid his hand away however and snapped the cane into its full length to use. He had never used the Black Widow as his guide. So frankly, their drug dealing friend would have to understand when he met them.

“I don’t intend to give the impression that I want you gone,” Matt mentioned as he tried to keep it sounding as casual as the statement was capable of. It was hard to make friends with someone you were supposed to pretend to love.

Logan laughed as he shoved his hands into his pocket, not angry at the seeming dismissal. “Yeah well, who knows how these lunatics will act when we meet them, I suppose a bit of distance now will be a lifesaver when they are expecting us to kiss in public,” He admitted as he quickened his pace to open the door for Matt and readied himself for the show. “Now remember Lor, we have to act like we’re in love even when we’re explaining that we want the separate beds, we don’t want them to check up on our dealings and suspect its anything other than because of your beliefs, babe.” He reminded before smiling for the clerk who came up.

“Hello folks, how can we help you today?” Thomas asked helpfully as he saw the two men coming in and hoped for a sale.

Matt put on his best smiling look of confidence in a split-second, perfected after years of learning a ‘moral vacuum’. “We’re looking for a matching set of twin-beds, but nothing too fancy.” He explained, “Nothing too fancy and, if you have it, no side rails would be preferable.” He’d bumped his shins against those enough times when he was still sighted; they were simply an assault on humanity.

Logan smiled at the Clerk and wrapped his arm around Matt’s waist as he tried to explain to the clerk, “My Lor here wanted to be a priest and kept his beliefs even after our marriage and our beds were destroyed in the move so we need to replace them. We need a set that can be pushed flush together to make a king for every day but can be easily separated when required.” He explained charmingly as he tried to resist the urge to give Matt a warning squeeze of the ribs with his metal reinforced skeleton.

Thomas didn’t question the couple and gave them a cheerful glance before motioning in the right direction. “Right this way,” he declared with what couldn’t have been anything but false joy at the prospect of showing them the beds.

Matt tried not to pull away from Logan’s embrace too quickly and forced himself to let his hand slide down and take his ‘lover’s’ elbow. He smelled musky but from trees instead of cologne and his heartbeat too fast for the masquerade of trying to pretend this was his Father to continue past this. No, he was Wolverine, Weapon X, a Mutant and those were only his good points. Priest, indeed, he thought to himself behind his forced smile, what a bastard his partner was.

Logan could feel the other man seething as he decided to take a chance and whispered to the other man soft enough that only he could have the slightest chance of hearing, “Stop frowning and looking like you want to kill me before I spank you over one of these dressers.” He growled before smiling as the clerk began tolling on about the virtues of two selections of beds.

Spank; the word itself was as much a word to trigger mixed feelings for Matt as ‘cunnilingus’ was to a lonely Sunday school teacher. He paused momentarily in his shock for the other’s audacity as his cheeks flushed red when he heard Logan’s quick jab. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to smile at all now that he was burning with embarrassment. He forced it as best as he could, squeezing the other man’s elbow with all of his strength to mark his displeasure. He hoped it bruised him black and blue. “Crawl in a hole and die,” he hissed under his breath. “Your age doesn’t have anything to do with your intellect.”

Logan snorted and decided to do something against his much better judgment, “Love you too, sweetie.” He said brightly and much louder in reply before standing on his toes, a fact which irked him to no little extreme and kissed Matt on the cheek.

Turning quickly to the sales associate before Matthew killed him he smiled crookedly interrupted the other’s speech on the virtues of the selection available. “Actually Thomas; can my husband and I just browse around ourselves for a bit? We’ll make sure to find you when we’ve made our selection,” He asked in a feasibly pleasant manner while patting the other man on the arm and led the blushing Matt to find a bed. “Here hunny what do you think of this one?” he asked, effectively ignoring the salesman and hoping he got the hint.

Matt let his hand run up and down the display; hiding his flustered feelings fairly well now that he could better ignore them. For the sake of trying to find a good sleeping arrangement, their differences could be set aside and he grasped the top of the headboard in mock contemplation. “I don’t know, Casanova.” He whispered loud enough that Wolverine could hear but no one else was able. “You know how wild we can get. Really, I don’t care how it looks so long as it’s sturdy and the mattress is soft.”

Logan chuckled as another set in heavy oak caught his eye. “Oh so now I’m Casanova huh? I guess I better start sweeping you off your feet and having my wicked way with you.” He teased dryly as he read the display on the beds, “Hey Darlin’ check this one out, says here it actually has hooks to keep them together when we do decide to have them together so no one falls in the crack, and they pull apart, they’re actually real nice and they’ll cost Fury a pretty penny, whatcha think?” he asked as he let his hands run over the butter soft dark wood.

Moving forward, Matt swept his hand across the suggested beds and nodded. He wasn’t keen on the idea of ever joining the beds together but he’d have to make do. “It feels fine.” He replied, sweeping his palm over it to try to place any sharp edges. It had none and so he nodded once more. “It’s better than fine, Chris. I like it.” He added.

Logan grinned and patted Matt’s hand before taking a step away, “Alright now lets go chose our mattresses and we’ll get you home for that nap you’ve been whining for all day.” He said in a clearly teasing tone. He waited until Matt had pulled away with him before making his way to the mattress section. “So you said you didn’t want a hard bed… I take it you want some kind of pillow top, or do you want a memory foam or do you want to go even further and get like a goose down?” He asked softly as he led them to the displays and past all of the colorful signs, reaching out to pull Matt out of the way of a low pallet left by an employee. “Careful they’ve got shit on the floors that you can trip on.” He said before deciding that he wanted to take his temper out on someone. “Actually… Hey Kid! I want to speak to your manager!” He barked at a freckled teenager in the store uniform.

“Don’t you dare start this!” Matt snarled to his friend, grabbing his arm tightly and shaking his head at him. The last thing he wanted to happen was for a huge scene to start over his disability. It would be one of those humiliations that was easily avoidable if people didn’t feel the need to ‘stand up for you’ and make the whole thing worse. “I’m just fine and I would have found that with my cane. I’m blind, not dumb!”

Logan blushed for a moment, letting some of his outrage cool as the manager approached them warily. “Hello Sir, I just wanted to let you know that your employee’s are very helpful and the store is quite excellent but may I make the suggestion that you guys move the pallets off the floors after you’re done unloading them, it can be quite dangerous and most likely costly to you if someone tripped over them and OW…”

Matt was squeezing Logan’s hand in his own now, having let his palm slide down and take it. Really, for any complaint that the Canadian was making, Matt decided his hand had to have hurt fourteen times as much. Gripping a metal skeleton was painful but he didn’t desist in the motions; bringing up things like this couldn’t happen over and over. “I’m sure you were aware of this problem.” He smiled to the manager, eternally cursing every member of SHIELD he could name before moving on to the X-men. “My…husband is just too protective. We’re sorry to have bothered you.”

Logan gritted his teeth but then smiled at the manager in a sheepish manner, “I do get a little overboard with the protection. So do you have any high quality sheets?” He asked pleasantly as he gripped the other man’s hand and refused to let go to the gentle tugging he was receiving. “We’re looking for mattresses, I’ll let Lor here pick them out, and three sets of your most luxurious bedding sets.” He said as he saw the greed light up in the manager’s eyes. “Oh and we want Thomas to get the commission because he was so helpful with picking out the bed frames.” He added grudgingly as he remembered the helpful if annoying sales’ assistant.

Matt forced himself to relax the painful grip on his partner’s hand. This was honestly, the worst job he had ever been given. At very least, Wolverine had gotten the message however, so he did his best to try to play along again. He hoped he didn’t have to talk too much because the words ‘my husband’ still left a bad taste in his mouth.

The manager motioned for Thomas who came up eager for the sale. The manager, whose name they learned was Larry patted Thomas on the back, explained that they needed the best bedding and they were quickly ushered around to purchase the expensive bamboo sheets in two colors and a set of Egyptian cotton both in single and king size. After selecting two Twin comforter sets and a King set, they were then rushed over to the mattress section where Logan surveyed the options. “Lor, babe which kind of mattress did you want to get sweetie?” He asked, gaining them a smile from Thom.

“Nothing too hard,” Matt replied, pushing his hand into one of the displays with disguised displeasure. It smelled like this display hadn’t been changed in a long enough time and so he moved slowly over to a different one. He pressed his hand into it and nodded his head when it didn’t bounce back at him. “It doesn’t have springs, I like this one.” He suggested.

Thom grinned at the other man and began to extol on the virtues of the bed he was testing. “That’s out patented sleep number bed, you’re right there aren’t any coils it is all air and you can make them firm or soft depending on your preference. “The only other non coil bed we have is the memory foam mattress. “Why don’t you try that one and then make your decision?” He offered as he walked over to the other bed and smiled as the gruff man led his husband to the one he was standing in front of. He couldn’t wait to tell William about this adorable couple. There was this air of danger that was mostly concealed around them, something he’d come to recognize after hanging out with his lover as much as he did.

Logan led Matt to the foam mattress and pushed down on it as well as Matt while considering it. “I don’t know if it would hold me up, what do you think?” He asked quietly as he saw how it gave under the weight of his arm and torso.

“You know that I’ll be happy with whatever you pick.” Matt replied, aware that his sugar-sweet tone wouldn’t fool his ‘friend’. He was pretty good at controlling the emotional sounds in his voice, first from being able to pick up minor details in others’ and second from law-school. This mock-adoration was on purpose though, because he couldn’t help but be a little bit sarcastic when he was picking out a bed with Wolverine. “I’m just happy to be with you.”

Logan snorted, chuckling when he heard the salesman coo at them. “Well baby the thing that will make me happiest is knowing you’re getting the best sleep you can have, when I let you sleep that is… so pick which one you like and lets get Thom here to ring us up so you can go home and nap ok?” He said as he hesitated then gingerly placed a kiss on Matt’s cheek. “Just pick one so we can get out of here please?” he begged in a whisper against Matt’s cheek before pulling back.

Moving forward, Matt pushed his hand into one of the mattresses again. “This one is fine.” He declared, trying to hurry things up as fast as he could. It wasn’t that Logan’s words had moved him, in fact, if he could have forced him to hate this more he would have. It was that he didn’t want another kiss anywhere near his mouth.

Logan nodded and motioned for Thom. “So let’s ring up two of these in twin sizes and all of the bedding and two of those joining oak twin beds and get on with our day yeah? I’m sure you’ve got other commissions to cash in on as well.” He said charmingly as he pushed the cart with the bedding and walked beside Matt to the register and let the sale’s clerk attend to the beds and mattresses. After everything was rung up he snickered as the Clerk gave them a wide eyed stare. “Um do you even want me to tell you how much you’re spending today?” Thom asked hesitantly as he stared at the figure. “I’m pretty sure you’re going to cry.” He offered hesitantly as he glanced at Matt.

“I don’t cry.” Matt replied without much cheer, though he remembered to throw in a smile after a moment. Maybe that wasn’t the most honest statement that ever slipped out of his lips but the sentiment remained. Prices of furniture weren’t something that brought tears to his eyes and it had been a long time since he’d been strapped for cash. Besides, Nick Fury was paying.

Logan grinned and gave a beckoning gesture to Thom, “We can take it, what’s the damage?” He asked as he fished his wallet from very tight jeans.

Thom winced and read the figure aloud, “16,598.67.” He said hesitantly then grinned when Logan started laughing and handed him titanium American Express. “I think we’ll survive,” the gruff man said happily as he accepted the bags from Thom and signed his receipt. “So we want the frames delivered tonight around five and someone to help us get the mattresses on our car.” He said as he added a hefty tip for their clerk.

Thom accepted the receipt, letting his shock show at the 300 dollar tip and grinned, “Sure thing Mr. Clark. We’ll set them up for you and get the delivery men on those frames. They’ll install them for you too, gratis of course!” he offered happily as he escorted the men from the store. “If there is anything else you need?” He asked, hoping to find a way to get back in contact with them.

Logan watched Thom for a moment before smiling, “Yeah, first call me Chris, and second… well, we’re brand new to the area, you know of any events happening in the community soon?” He asked easily, trying to make their research less difficult.

Thom patted Logan on the shoulder and pulled a flyer from his wallet. “Sure there is a parade and festival this weekend, you should come check it out and make some new friends. I personally run the Human Rights Campaign table every day from 12 – 5, you should come check it out, sign up if you aren’t already members and I’ll see if I can get you any introductions!”

The Human Rights Campaign, Matt personally hung up on the charity every time he ended up with them on the phone and he wondered if Thom wasn’t going to be just as persistent as any of their volunteers. If they were going to be at this ‘parade’ he had a sinking feeling about the subject of the festivities. It seemed their best bet for finding their subject however and so he smiled.

“We’ll make it.” He agreed. “We don’t have anything better to do,” he really wished that he was lying to Thomas at this moment but knew he wasn’t so fortunate. Although he hadn’t read enough of the files that Fury had sent to be certain he knew he wasn’t able to let Logan take this blow alone. Why couldn’t he have a job that he needed to be at on the weekends? He wanted something better to occupy his time with than writing for a Newsletter over the computer; something that would keep him away from home all of the time.

Logan really didn’t want to go but knew that the faster they got into the organization and busted them up, the faster he could go home. “Yeah, that sounds great Thom, We’ll see you there!” He offered happily as he shook the other man’s hand, “Thanks so much for all of your help!” He managed in a fairly pleasant manner before tugging on Matt’s hand. “Come on baby, lets go test out our new mattresses,” he teased causing Thomas to give them a thumbs up and Matt to squeeze his hand again warningly. “See you later Thom, gotta get my man home.” He said with a smirk before dragging Matt outside and quickly towards the car.

The car ride home was entirely silent, mostly due to Matt’s displeasure with the day’s events. He had never once in his life so much as kissed another man and now he was here, stuck calling this hairy brute his lover and acting like it didn’t bother him in the least. It did though, it bothered him a lot, and he was doing his best to sort his situation in the little time he had left.

When they finally arrived, Matt sighed as he exited the car and broke the silence grudgingly. “Do you need my help?” He inquired as he found the key to their home in his jacket pocket. He was only asking for appearance’s sake as he walked up the steps without waiting for a reply and ran his finger across the lock on the door, turning the lock with a loud snap and storming inside.

Logan grinned at the other man and called out negatively before picking up the heavy mattress and carrying it up the stairs. Climbing the spiral staircase to the loft where their bedroom was he grunted as he was finally able to set it down, ignoring the other man as he undressed for his sleep. “I’ll set them up then let you be, do you want me to wake you or let you wake on your own?” He asked gruffly as he quickly set up the mattress for Matt and stood; his knee popping loudly as it always did when straightening.

Matt tossed his tie onto the nightstand and finished working off his cufflinks, throwing them down beside it with a sigh. He rubbed his hands against now sore eyes and shook his head. “Don’t bother; I’ll be up in a bit.” He replied to the question, before nodding at the bed in annoyance. “I could have put this together, also. Fury didn’t send you to be my babysitter or my father or whatever you think.”

Logan smirked at the other man “Well the mattress is ready, so try to get some sleep and maybe you won’t be so grumpy when you wake up huh?” he offered with his annoyance at the other man’s words feeding his tone. Walking downstairs he was almost at the door before smirking and calling back upstairs while he opened it, “And you know; if you want to call me Daddy, I’m game.” He offered before quickly exiting the house, closing the door behind him and laughing at hearing the other man’s shout of annoyance.