"No, it's not. Your name's not actually Adonis." Will shook his head as he stated at the other, grinning all the way. Not for a second did he tear his gaze away. Teeth sank into his bottom lip as he seemed to consider. "I'd say you more a.. Hunk-ules."

Drunk Will made terrible jokes, some even stolen from Disney movies.

"No, wait!" He'd thought of something better. "A-damn-nis." Yes. That must've been it.

Adonis was used to people accusing him of making up his own name. His parents should have thought of that before deciding to name their son after a figure from Greek mythology, but oh well. Adonis was too desensitized to it to complain. So, just as he was about to insist that it is actually his name--

“Wh-What?” His face caught fire at the man’s pun. Hunk-ules. Christ, that was bad. That was so bad, he had to cover his mouth to avoid laughing. Thankfully, William tried again and came up with a slightly less ridiculous name that was based in Adonis’ actual name.

And Adonis...gave in. He just laughed -- a quick but loud chuckle -- and shook his head at the man. “God..I’ve had people say I’m truly an Adonis, but I’ve never heard that one before.” William gets bonus points for creativity. A lot of bonus points. Adonis may or may not already be imagining what he looks like naked.

Adonis only left his seat at the dining table for a moment. It couldn’t have taken him longer than three minutes to leave the room, go to the bathroom, and come back. Yet, upon his return, he found none other than Major Hewlett sifting through his mass of papers and stationary. Of course, Adonis should have been studying in the study. It was called a s t u d y! But he needed a change of scenery, and it was just his luck that the single time he decided to take his books to the dining room was the time Major Hewlett’s curiosity would beat his manner.

Most of the medical jargon must be nonsense to the Major, but that wasn’t what Adonis was worried about. He wasn’t concerned with the detailed drawings of the human skeleton and organs, either. What stirred panic in his chest was the fact that he’d spent the past half-hour writing a poem in that notebook. And now, Major Hewlett could be reading it!

God, Adonis was so embarrassed he wished that the ground would swallow him whole. Or even that rebel forces would show up and destroy his house. Yes, he was that desperate to prevent anyone from reading his poetry.

Adonis never thought he would want to keep up with new research until he started actually working with patients. Sure, as a student, it seemed as though he couldn’t sever himself from scientific papers quickly enough. But when it came to actually being responsible for all those sick people...how could he not keep up with anything that might save a patient’s life?

Last night, he had come across such material. And so, when he came in early this morning, Adonis didn’t even bother to stop by his office or put on his lab coat before marching towards the ICU. A few words with the nurses pointed him towards their youngest dementia patient.

Of course, Adonis couldn’t try anything without consulting her neurologist, but the nurses confirmed that the patient’s son was already present. It would be a waste of time not to talk to him while he was here, right?

A doctor's office? God, the very notion itself was unfathomable. The last thing he needed was another stranger poking about through his business.

Shaking his head (and then immediately regretting it due to the nauseating waves of dizziness), Ben muttered, "No, no, that's out of the question...but thank you. I've sustained far worse than this."

A musket ball wound arguably was worse than this head injury, yet the continuous tunnel vision was beginning to become a problem. The man was suddenly at his flank, and despite his bruised pride, Ben finally slumped into the stranger's hold and allowed the man to guide him toward the door.

"I can't leave my horse," he said more stubbornly. "Unless you can tether her to your carriage, I will not abandon her here."

Cannot be more urgent? Oh, this man didn't know the half of it...

Nearly snorting at the assumption, Ben gripped the man's coat between his fingers, swaying along as they stumbled outdoors. "I have a meeting to attend," he said. "I'm scheduled to visit with someone in town, and if I don't make my appointment...well..." He nearly tripped, causing the two of them to stagger to the left. Placing a hand over his eyes, he slurred, "I'll make a terrible first impression. Please...just help me get there. Then I'll be someone else's problem."

This man was so stubborn! So stubborn and thankless and even stupid — but Adonis couldn’t leave him to his own devices. He could only stop arguing…and take the gentleman to a doctor’s office instead of whoever he was supposed to meet. Deception was a last resort, one he wouldn’t fall back on unless he deemed it urgent. And just the fact that this man had lost consciousness and was now unable to walk was enough to justify a lie. A lie to save a life; small price to pay.

“Very well, sir. I’ll take you to your appointment.” Only, Adonis had come on foot. There was no carriage to tether the horse to. His family’s carriage couldn’t be seen in this part of town, and his father didn’t even know he had gone for a ‘stroll’.

It would be hard — really hard — to ride a horse with a half-conscious man. Especially one who kept stumbling. But what other choice did Adonis have?

Adonis needed to branch out and stop reading the same 3 classics over and over. Actually, he needed to branch out and read something other than classics altogether. But there were so many options! He knew for a fact that he wouldn’t be touching the sci-fi section, and things like Lord of the Rings honestly seemed too complicated for his dumb brain to keep up with. So maybe a romance novel-- But he’s tried those before, and they were kind of silly and rather weird and very much straight. Maybe he should-- oh! There’s LGBTQ+ sections in bookstores now! That was grand! But-- after Adonis gravitated towards said section, he noticed all the covers seemed...middle-grade. Most of these books were YA. Would he be able to relate to them? Enjoy them? It was hard to sympathize with a teenager’s woes when you had already hit your 30s...but maybe not? Maybe Adonis should give one of these a shot.

God, picking something to read was hard work.

He left the LGBTQ+ section, telling himself he’d come back if he found nothing else that seemed compelling. The moment he turned his back to the colorful sign, though, he spotted a familiar face just feet away, observing the history section. Where had Adonis seen that man? It should be impossible to forget that...perfect face, and those big eyes-- and dammit, Adonis, get your shit together.

The man must have felt eyes on him because a moment later, he looked up and caught Adonis staring. Adonis would have died of embarrassment right then and there if the full view of the stranger’s face didn’t jog his memory, and-- “Oh! Hello.” That’s right! It was the guy from the club...last week. The poor man Adonis had spilled two drinks all over. Alright, maybe he should die of embarrassment.

“You’re... We’ve met? Last week, right? Did the dry-cleaners manage to get that stain out of your shirt? I’m-- so sorry, again! Please, you can send me the bill. If the stain didn’t come out, I’m really sorry--”

When Leon didn’t answer Adonis’ knocking at his door Adonis should have left. Instead, he carefully turned the knob -- the bedroom was unlocked -- and peaked inside. Just to make sure Leon was doing well, he told himself. Just to make sure Leon didn’t need anything.

He leaned back, shifting a little on his seat. Lips pursed slightly, the thief shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, totally innocent. He didn’t know about a ring, and this time he was even honest - because hell, what was he supposed to do with some mother’s boring ring? “Haven’t seen a ring. Maybe it fell down?”

“Maybe...” It could have fallen. That was plausible enough, considering the size of the trays on this airplane. Even business class wasn’t roomy enough, which Adonis made peace with. He leaned down and turned on the flashlight on his phone to look, waiting to spot a gleam of the authentic diamond on the ring. Dammit, why had he taken it out? He just wanted to find a proper spot for it in his messenger bag; it’s been in his pocket since his mother gave it to him last-minute at the airport. He couldn’t lose it. “Shit...” he mumbled. “I was supposed to give that to my daughter.”

Yes, he knew Adonis' parents were away. Yes, he knew they had class the next morning. No, he did not stop climbing the wall in order to reach Adonis' window. He didn't even bother answering him until he had finally made it all the way up and sneaked in, leaning against the frame and giving the other a gentle look.

"Good evenin'," he greeted, as if he hadn't just come in through the window. "My Adonis senses were tingling'. They said ya needed to be kissed."

Adonis all but covered his mouth to keep himself from yelling that Max looked like he was about to fall. He genuinely had no idea how Max managed to scale a wall -- or pull himself in through the window, for that matter. That must have required a lot of upper-body strength. But good God, Adonis should be thinking of Max’s safety, not his biceps--

“Max, please. You could have fallen.” Did his face take on a red tinge as Max mentioned kissing? Of course, it did. But Adonis had a lot more concerns than the affection he would be receiving in a minute. For instance-- “Are you alright? Let me see--” He grabbed Max’s hands, turned them over to observe the palms. There were not cuts on them, not even scratches. Adonis didn’t know what he expected wall-climbing would do to them, but Max’s apparent unharmed-ness didn’t brush off Adonis’ concern.