Cut and Run 1 - Cut and Run

door, raising an eyebrow. Leave it to Ty to snap him out of a funk with five simple words. “Fuck you, Grady,” he answered, amusement clear in his voice. He pushed himself up and turned on the water at the sink to fill up a glass.
    "I won't tell anyone,” Ty continued in a mockingly sincere voice, plastered against the door like a parody of an overeager psychologist, trying to talk someone off a ledge. “You can cry if you need to!"
    Zane swallowed the water and rolled his eyes. “You're an ass, you know that?” But he had to admit; it was breaking the shitty mood and distracting him from the curl of arousal in his gut. Sort of.
    "It won't make you any less of a man!” Ty insisted as he called through the door. “Much ... well, it will, but...."
    Snorting, Zane set down the glass. “Well, I guess I should feel honored you consider me a man to start with,” he said wryly as he looked at himself in the mirror.
    "You're definitely more like one now than you were in Burns’ office,” Ty offered, his voice serious once more as he leaned against the door. “I'll take credit for that."
    Zane raised a brow. Typical Grady ego. He looked in the mirror again. It had been a while since he'd had two days of beard. He looked slightly rakish, with the dark clothes and the whiskers ... and the growing bruise. “Don't go for the clean-cut professional look, do you?” he asked as he grabbed a washcloth.
    "Doesn't suit you,” Ty responded carefully as he realized the territory he'd stumbled into again. He didn't want to think about what did or didn't suit Zane. Ty had already crossed a mental line where his partner was concerned.
    Turning on the water long enough to wet down the cloth, Zane sighed and ran it carefully over the back of his neck as he shut off the faucet, then wiped carefully on his upper lip to get the dried blood off. “Yeah, I know,” he said, a hint of resignation in his voice.
    "I could help, you know,” Ty offered, hearing the water and guessing that Zane was probably messing with his wounds again. He leaned more against the door, forcibly relaxing himself. He desperately needed to change the subject, for his own sanity if nothing else.
    It took Zane a long moment to decide what Ty was talking about. With a sigh, he decided Ty probably wasn't offering to help him with his “manhood.” Tossing down the rag, he pulled his T-shirt over his head and turned to look at his back. Parts of it didn't look great. There were new scrapes and his wrist and chin were both killing him. He could certainly blame his crankiness on that; it was Ty's fault, after all. He leaned over and pulled the door open.
    Ty nearly fell into the bathroom as the door collapsed beneath his shoulder without warning. Reacting instinctively, Zane slid his arms around Ty and caught him up against his chest, stopping his potential sideways pitch. Ty tried not to grab him, knowing Zane's entire back was sore and tender, but it was either that or hit the marble floor. And he really didn't want to hit the floor again tonight. Considering he'd been ready to kick the living shit out of the other man earlier, he didn't feel all too guilty about it.
    He offered a grunted curse as he wrapped an arm around Zane's neck and flailed to try to stay upright. He thought he would have been able to keep his feet if Zane hadn't grabbed him and tried to help. As it was, he was pulled off balance and practically cuddled as he struggled to get away.
    "I've got you,” Zane said as he pulled Ty against him, one arm encircling his waist and holding tight, easily supporting the other man's weight until Ty could find his feet.
    Ty's only response was stunned silence. He looked up and met Zane's eyes as they stayed locked in the clumsy embrace. “Shit,” he finally muttered.
    Zane's eyes widened as his gut reacted to the proximity, and he stopped breathing when Ty didn't immediately pull back. It registered how Ty felt against him, somehow fitting perfectly against his slightly taller and broader frame—just like before. And his body reacted again. Seconds passed, and he couldn't look away. Oh, he was so going to get the shit beat out of him for this. Again.
    Ty's thoughts were running along a remarkably similar line. Beating the shit out of Zane sounded like the ticket. He could feel Zane's physical reaction to the close proximity and he cleared his throat and straightened, pushing gently against Zane's chest to back him away. “Uhh...."
    Slowly