& TALED HUB !

some places needed to shut down if they weren't going to be able to handle the volume. cruellius wasn't the type to give out free business advice however, so he remained shut on that aspect. waking up from the curse had a lot of them bouncing back from what they once knew as reality. struggling to merge their two lives together.   ❝ guess that's better for you in a way. you don't have to split any of the tips you get at the end of the night. ❞   he wasn't completely heartless. he'd leave a sizable amount if the service was deemed worthy of that.   ❝ would company be too much to ask for ? i have a business proposal i want to run by you. ❞   he was always a man that was seeking more. never satisfied with all of the luxuries that he already had. so he tried his best to put on a soft smile, but cruellius was never good at the charming aspect of his job.

Rory shrugs. "Gives me extra spending money. And my regulars are definitely not gonna let me stop."

Rory rolls his eyes. He hears that all the time, especially from his grandpa. "You can't just jump in bed with every guy to looks at you." All he heard was a challenge and so far, he's winning.

"I'm a big boy and can handle myself. You can certainly try leashing me. Seems to me you'd enjoy the challenge."

He moans quietly at the squeeze on his ass. He loves the attention for sure. He pulls his own hand away, satisfied when he felt the man's cock react.

"So is there something I can help with you right now, sir? Your car does look awful roomy."

He leans against the classic car, the details on and in it scream luxury and wealth.

a young man with an actual purpose in life? shocking. "who am i to get in the middle of a business man and his deals then?"

now that the challenge is out in the air between the two of them, cruellius definitely looks intrigued. he leans in even closer to make sure that there's not too much space in between them. this just became a game.

"i like making sure that i can still catch young guys. all that pent of energy can become useful if it's at the end of my leash."

he shakes his head slowly, looking back at his car and then over to rory. while it does have enough room, he won't subject that to his carnal desires.

"i'm very particular about my car. one thing you should know about me. no fluids are going to get on those seats or on my furs."

so it's not necessarily a no, just not in that exact location.

after they had all woken up from their cursed lives, cruellius was one of the first ones to quickly embrace his old life. he didn't much care for the new one. he was a designer in both worlds, so that didn't change much. had a fascination of furs and cars. yet he was more powerful in the fairytale realms. had were-shifter that he kept as toys and soldiers. that's what he wanted to get back. he wanted the power that an army gave him. the best way to a man's heart was to his stomach, so he had stopped by to grab a couple of things to eat or tempt someone. having little to no patience, he rang the waiter's bell again. the excuse mattered little to him.   ❝   some businesses close down if they can't handle the volume.   ❞   it was stated as a matter of fact.   ❝   this looks good though, so i'm sure it was worth the wait. where's the rest of the staff?   ❞   slackers should have been punished.

zeke  let  out  a  low  rumble,  more  a  vibration  in  his  chest  than  words.  “noise  machine,”  he  muttered,  shaking  his  head,  claws  flexing  inside  his  boots.  “trees,  wind,  creek.  that’s  all  i  need.  hummin’  won’t  help  me  think.”

he  shifted  closer,  shoulder  brushing  lightly  against  heinrich’s  as  he  moved,  tail  twitching  under  the  calm  exterior.  “and  yeah…  i  feel  wanted,”  he  said,  voice  rough,  eyes  flicking  up  to  meet  heinrich’s.  “just…  wanted  you  to...”

his  fingers  flexed  along  the  edge  of  the  stone  wall,  brushing  against  heinrich’s  when  the  breeze  shifted.  low,  fond  growl  escaping  him.  “you’d  send  me  after  a  beast  just  to  see  me  run.”  a  flash  of  teeth,  not  a  threat,  more  a  tease.  “and  i’d  go.  you  know  i  would.”

he  leaned  in  a  little,  curls  brushing  against  his  forehead,  nose  catching  the  faint  scent  of  apples  and  something  sharper.  “walls  make  the  air  weird,”  he  murmured.  “can’t  breathe  right  when  hearts  are  too  close.  but  you?  you  call  me,  i  come.  always  gonna.”

zeke's  eyes  softened  a  fraction,  amber  catching  the  sunlight,  tail  flicking  in  satisfaction  at  that  unspoken  bond.  “don’t  mean  i  hate  the  indoors,”  he  added,  rough  rumble  in  his  chest,  “just  means…  i  like  it  better  when  you’re  the  one  callin’  me  in.”

even  in  his  gruff,  bad-with-words  way,  he  made  it  clear…  here,  with  heinrich,  he  was  exactly  where  he  wanted  to  be.  at  least  right  now.

with  their  magic  getting  stronger  and  stronger,  he  wondered  if  he  could  conjure  that  machine  for  his  guard.  “i'll  see  what  i  can  do  for  you.”  a  short  nod  and  didn't  spend  too  much  time  on  the  topic.

the  closeness  between  them  was  welcomed,  but  that  was  pretty  much  it.  if  it  were  anyone  else,  he  would  have  been  on  the  offense.  “i  know.  i  know  you  better  than  most.”  aside  from  that  old  man,  pup,  and  those  pigs.

a  pleased  smirk  formed  on  his  face  as  he  moved  his  left  hand  up  to  brush  his  fingers  through  the  wolf's  hair.  “my  good  little  wolf.  you  wouldn't  stop  running  until  you  caught  them,  would  you?” 

good  to  know  that  he  would  always  have  him  if  he  wanted.  “i  want  you  to  be  comfortable  while  you're  here  too.  take  off  your  clothes  if  you  want.  feel  as  free  as  if  you  were  in  your  own  home.”  he  wouldn't  mind  the  view  either.

he  moved  his  hand  down  to  scratch  the  man's  facial  hair  right  under  his  chin,  then  back  up  to  scratch  the  spot  behind  his  ear.  “maybe  i  should  get  a  specially  made  dog  whistle  from  cruellius  in  that  case.” 

the  evil  king  wanted  to  keep  his  control  around  the  people  that  made  him  feel  like  home.  that  reminded  him  he  didn't  have  to  be  the  once  monarch,  reduced  to  someone  that  was  weak.

Rory shrugs, tucking his hands in his jean jacket.

"Small enough town that it's not a big deal. Plus I'm cheaper than the apps. And better looking."

He chuckles, giving the man another appreciative look.

"Strangest thing? I think it was a cooling coil for a fridge? I think that's what it's called? I don't know. I just remember having to strap it like a backpack to take it on my bike."

He shakes his head. He'd definitely got weird looks going through town with it.

At the second question he steps closer.

"My most personal touch is for the men that just need someone to make them feel good when they're alone or their wives are just not putting out like they used to. They just need a cute mouth, a piece of ass, or a big cock to help them feel better. You interested in the personal package, sir?"

He cups the man's crotch, deciding being forward now would either earn him a good lay or scare the man away from him. Rory couldn't care less which ended up happening.

the cost benefit alone makes sense, so cruellius just nods his head.

"the supply and demand must not be that high, but still enough that you can survive on this if you wanted to i'm assuming?"

he takes another drag from his cigarette before putting his hand down.

"if it wasn't for a business, then i'm growingly confused on how someone was seemingly repairing a fridge alone. good to know that you can handle any requests that come your way. even on your bike."

then he shrugs his shoulders. he'll never deliver anything that strange anyway.

the closeness seems to intrigue him though.

"i would first know who you're getting into bed with before offering yourself up like that. i used to have boys like you up for breakfast and then walk them on leashes for lunch. down the line, i'm sure that this business relationship can be mutually beneficial. you have a cute mouth and i'm sure an even sweeter ass."

with his free hand, the one not holding to the cigarette, he moves it back around to give rory's rear a quick squeeze. his own cock seems to like the touch as well, but he doesn't push himself any further. just takes his own hand back.

Rory's unlocking his bike, finishing up a delivery for the nice Miss Underwood, her regular delivery of beignets every Wednesday. He always walks away with a smile and smelling like the delicious fry-bread and powder sugar.

He looks up and is taken aback by the handsome man approaching him. Very put together and stylish. Definitely well off.

"Hi," Rory greets with a smile. "Well usually I do deliveries for the businesses around town so that's one way. I do a few personal deliveries but I don't have like a website or anything. This is just fine."

He chuckles then turns back to the carrier on his bike. He finds some scrap paper and a pen and starts to write his number and name.

"I usually do food deliveries between 10-2 then 5-9. Whatever they give me I handle."

He offers the paper to the man. He lets his gaze wander up and down the man, biting his lip.

"Some of my clients really appreciate the personal touch I give them."

far be it from him to tell someone how to run their business. no matter how much he likes getting involved in other people's lives. some judging can be spotted from his side of the street as he looked at the younger man, head to toe.

if he were to make things more legit, then he could have gotten more business. did he even want that though?

cruellius didn't know and didn't care that much either. "if you expanded, even with a couple of professional business cards, then i'm sure you could do more than just the businesses around here. people are always looking for someone to make their lives easier."

still, he accepts the torn up piece of paper with his left hand as he continues to bring the cigarette up to his lips with his right.

"what's the strangest thing that you've ever had to deliver?"

not that he thinks he's going to top it any time soon, but curious minds need to know.

"and what's been your most personal of touches?"

zeke was—after all—not man, but beast instead, so of course he favored the outside to being caged in. the air felt cleaner out here, the light softer. it moved through his fur, or what would’ve been fur, if the world still allowed him that form. but he couldn’t deny the perks of leaning into the thin thread of humanity he called his own. sometimes.

it was the whistle that did it. that small, careless sound that slipped past heinrich’s lips and caught him right in the chest. his heart stuttered, traitorous thing that it was. he turned his head, ears twitching to a sound that didn’t exist anymore, but memory filled in the blanks well enough.

his eyes tracked the apple tree before finding heinrich again, the corner of his mouth pulling into a faint smile. “indoors gets too quiet,” he said, shifting his weight, rolling his shoulders like he could shake off the stiffness of walls and ceilings. “out here, things breathe back.”

he tilted his head at the question, pretending to think. bucket list. the words tasted strange on his tongue. “hmm,” he hummed, gaze dragging over the garden, then back to him, softer now. “not much of a list kind of guy. i just wanna—” he stopped, searching for the right word, one that didn’t sound too human. “run. maybe bite into something that bites back. and… maybe,” his voice dropped, a faint smirk curling there, “stay where i’m wanted.” maybe more than …stay.

he didn’t say by who. didn’t need to.

the answer was not surprising, but it still did warrant a little leaning in from the mayor. the wolf fascinated him. he wanted to study him inside and out, but he knew that he couldn't get to all of those parts without magic. or a really good interrogation. he turned the red apple around in his hand, needing something to distract himself with.

the indoors was never quiet enough for him, but maybe that was because he tormented more lives than he could count. “have you ever tried one of those noise machines? modern inventions have gotten quite enhanced.” 

although he didn't seem pleased with that fact. if one were to closely pay attention, they'd see the beginnings of a scowl form on his features. “sometimes the memory of other living creatures can get in the way of your own thoughts.” 

not that he thought that was the case for his guard dog. zeke seemed to like when things were busy. “i could conjure up a beast and send you chasing after it in the woods.” if not, he had a couple of people on speed dial that probably could. hell, maleficent could even turn into one. “do you not feel wanted here?” he could have meant the town, but the former king was talking about his own home.