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"Don't be coy, Melvin. It doesn't work when your wound up tighter than a watch spring." That sudden tightening through his shoulders had not gone unnoticed, and thick fingers tightened where they rested, just a bit, fingertips dimpling against pale skin.

"I'm not going to continue to repeat myself, it gets boring." It was a last chance to continue their conversation. What happened next was up to Melvin.

It wasn't the question he'd wanted answered, and there was just a fraction of a moment, the flicker of something puzzled in hazel eyes, before it gave way to something altogether devious.

"Ah." It was amused, but more than that, it'd tickle across the other man's neck in a warm breath. "So it's one of your bigger things, gets you hot and bothered?" Zeke and, but he knew what the tension was now, that fluctuating tightness running under his hands. His thumbs slid in a slow drag down along scarred and untouched skin.

He wondered how long he'd been out there, longer than his break should have allotted, but knowing that didn't make him draw back. Yet.

Zeke wasn't entirely surprised by the had that closed around his wrist, and as Melvin turned to face him, fingers tightening against tanned skin, he grinned back at him, slow and smug.

"Well see, now we're heading into subjective territory." He pulled on his wrist, drawing it out of Melvin's grip, but instead of stepping back, he stepped forward. Invading the hell out of the blonde's personal space, or making him back up, but there was a wall behind them, and only so far he could go. "Because I can be a sadistic b*****d. I like the little helpless sounds of pain, and the sight of bruises and bite marks." A hand came up, fingers moving to catch the other man's chin, if he'd let him. "But I only leave those marks on people that ask me to." It was an important distinction that he wouldn't have bothered with if Melvin hadn't had Lawrence to compare it to.

*As for where I'm hoping this goes? That would depend entirely on whether or not you want to be ********, or want to do the ********. Because one of those things is plausible."

There was a flicker of something tired and disappointed, maybe even bored in hazel eyes before the taller man sighed. "Do you always have to over analyze everything?" His grip on Melvin's chin loosened, but he didn't let go just yet. "Haven't you ever just gone with the flow, without asking a million questions?"

His lips twitched, almost a frown. "Taking requires a level of trust that isn't easy to get to with me, so yes, by that logic I'm pretty selfish, but I'm alright with that. My sex life works just fine."

Zeke didn't retreat as Melvin stepped into him. "Pain is one thing, maiming or leaving scars, any sort of scars, isn't my thing." Not his thing. But the other him, the horseman... He shook his head to clear it, chasing back the memories.

Zeke listened thorough all of it more or less patiently, though there was a certain amount of irritation tightening tanned features by the end of it, and even if Melvin hadn't pulled his chin back, the hand holding it would have dropped back to Zeke's side, sliding into his pocket along with the other. He took a breath, then let it out slowly, letting the most of the tension go with it. Most, but not all.

"Have you ever considered that it's you, that you're just as much work as you're accusing me of being?" He was annoyed now, but it was a genuine question. "You take every little thing I've said and picked it apart and in some cases misinterpreted the point to a considerable degree, then take that information and turn it back around."

He chuckled humorlessly, shrugging. "I don't think I've ever had to tiptoe around or over explain my self or my motives to this degree with anyone I've ever been with." Lips pulled is a half exasperated smile. "Frankly, it's exhausting." And ironic, given what Melvin proposed he wanted.

"I like ********. I'd ******** with you, but you're more complicated than every partner I've had on this island combined."

Zeke shrugged again. "I dunno Melvin, but whatever I'm doing is getting me laid on a regular basis. Whatever Ever is doing is getting him laid on a regular basis. What we're doing works just fine for what we're looking for. Can the same be said for you?"

He shook his head, glancing out into the rain. "Change, don't change. I don't really care. But you were the one looking for advice. It's not anyone else's fault that the answers you're getting aren't what you were hoping for."

"Again, misconstrueding points. What I personally like in bed wasn't offered up in any way as advice. You asked questions, I answered them. I'm sorry my answers aren't satisfactory." He turned pale eyes on Melvin, the frustration creeping back in. He should have just walked away, but he didn't want to burn this bridge.

"You've been pick pick picking, and fairly critical through most of this conversation. I doubt that was your intention, but regardless." Like he was being compared, weighed against a certain standard, and not measuring up. It was prickling, irritatting.

"You don't like the the advice, and you don't care for my preferences, so what do you want from me?"