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Description
Lessons Learned
JTHM
EdgarXJimmy
Prostitute!Jimmy challenge
[]
Sex is and always will be a purely physical thing.

Skin and sweat, hot mouths pressing and nails digging painfully with intent to mark-to own for the briefest moments the other body. It's desperate. It's so so good.

And then it's over.

City lights sparkle like some kind of dance hall for devils with spotlights and music drifting out from windows and open doorways. The streets are their cat walks. The girls have to have that something that men seem to want. They smile a certain way, swing their hips and promise a different kind of romance. They coo and call out like pretty little kittens and purr their way into pocket books and marriages.

Everyone plays to their strengths, dressing to show bare skin in all the right places. Jimmy was lucky the men in the area had such hard-ons for Scene kids as he was usually the closest they could find in the area for one. Not that he was happy when they suggested he dye blue and green streaks into his hair. No, that little interaction hadn't turned out pretty.

He blew smoke rings at a familiar face when it reared its ugly head and tugged at his sweater.

"I wanna go around the world tonight." The man's other hand came up to wave away Jimmy's bad habit making him smile slow and sweet.

"We can go as many times as you're willing to give for." Red lights from nearby toy shops and neon signs reflected in his soon-to-be patron's eyes for a moment, "As usual." The teen added as an afterthought.

His current spot wasn't the most well lit area but it was his and no one encroached on his territory unless they wanted serious trouble from him. A decorative ledge jutted out of the wall as part of a concrete square that went all the way up to the roof where the small apartment he lived in perched close to the edge. The building's previous owner had installed an ornate ladder to the side of the large structure in the hopes that workers called in to fix frequent leaks would stop looking in open windows when using fire escapes. That was back in the day when the city had high hopes for the area.

Now Jimmy used it to avoid having to explain to the new owner why he had sex to pay rent. Not that he should've had to, plenty of the other tenants did it.

The man tugged on his sweater again and Jimmy frowned at the money being shoved in his lap. No fucking way he was gonna do all that the work for such a small amount.

"Nuh uh, you know how it works."

"Come on, it's my birthday." He whined back.

"It was your birthday six months ago too, answers the same fucking number it's always been. That shit'll get you Taylor down the street." Jimmy nearly laughed at the look of disgust on the man's face. Taylor the forever happy to please until you fucked him, and then he turned into a lifeless doll incapable of movement until you were done. He said it had to do with trauma or something. Taylor was what most would call the Last Resort.

Didn't take the frequent shopper long to fork out the cash and whisk his favorite person-next to his wife of six years-towards the usual room in the usual charge by the hour hotel a few blocks away.

Before Jimmy the man's marriage had been on the brink of failure, but now his life and livelihood was safe as long as no one realized he'd never really enjoyed being with women in the first place. The nineteen-year-old had been smug once he'd found out.

[]

"By the hour. What kind of hotel charges by the hour?"

Jimmy was practically being carried in once they arrived at their sleazy destination. Insanely enough the first thing he noticed was the obviously confused man arguing with the clerk. Juan smirked at the taller and older man, using a mangled form of Spanglish to try to send him away. Frustration and exhaustion dripped from every pore of his weary body as the man broke through the clerks round-about and half-hearted clarifications that he was in the wrong area at the wrong time of night.

"Listen to me, I have been driving for two days straight. Your sign tells me that not only are you a rest stop but you have vacant rooms available. How is it possible that you don't a room rate for overnight stays?"

Secret smiles were exchanged between three of the four people in the lobby. Jimmy's fare allowed him to stand again before briskly walking up to the two men and dropping the appropriate count of cash on the counter. The exchange was fast and soon enough he had a cheap plastic key card in his hand and was already walking towards a rickety elevator, motioning for Jimmy to follow.  The young prostitute knew a fun opportunity when he saw one and decided to play around before heading up to do what he did best.

"What the hell was that? How is it he can get a room here and I can't?" The man seemed out of his mind with fatigue and exasperation. Jimmy glanced over and grinned at the loyal customer holding the door for him.

"I'll meet you in a sec." His patron shrugged and the elevator doors closed.

"UGHHHH!" The man slammed his head on the counter, not noticing when Jimmy moved to lean against it next to him. "I just want to go to sleep."

"This isn't exactly the kind of place you want to sleep in, especially not overnight." That dark head of hair snapped up and stared at him, taking in the revealing attire and spiky black hair with all the speed and grace of a dying slug. His head jerked back slightly once the words and raunchy clothing had sunk in.

"Why not?"

"Shall I take this lost soul away from your humble establishment and send him off into the night for you?" he crooned. Juan gave a tiny nod, his heavy-lidded eyes barely lingering on Jimmy's near naked shoulders as they left.

He led the stuttering man back out the front door and towards the parking lot, slipping his arm into the crook of the other's elbow. After a moment of silence as they walked Jimmy decided it was the right moment to drop the bomb on the unknowing outsider.

"If you slept in one of those rooms upstairs you'd probably wake up a lot dirtier than when you went to sleep. I can't remember if there were ever clean sheets on those beds. Juan doesn't do it and no cleaning service would ever work for the hotels in this area." He suddenly stopped and pointed to the brightly lit area across the street. The man next to him, a warm body in the chilly night air, was forced to stop and look. "You see those girls over there? Who do you think they are?"

"Am I supposed to know them? I don't live here." Jimmy let the spiked heels and catcalls from men driving by sink in for a moment. A light suddenly dawned in the man's eyes and he went stiff in the prostitute's arms. Black fingernails traced the metal frame of his glasses and the cool skin of his jaw.

"Now you understand." He took in the other's shocked silence and used the pause as an excuse to slip away, leaving the man alone to revel in the embarrassment like a teenager getting a sex talk from his parents. He slinked back inside and headed towards the elevator knowing he'd wasted a good five minutes messing around when he was supposed to be tending to someone who didn't like to wait for very long. He was most definitely going to pay for that later.

[]

Sun rising and body aching Jimmy made his way into the building knowing the owner would still be sleeping since it was only  7 o'clock in the morning. He could take the elevator instead of making the long and painful-looking journey up the semi-hidden ladder that lead straight to his apartment. He passed the darkened window of the main office and joined the small group of people waiting in the tiny lobby for a chance to go upstairs. Most of them looked like they'd been "working" all night. A woman by the door seemed to be the only one with a normal waitressing job, though if the logo on her work shirt were anything to go by she waited tables at a local strip joint. The work was only marginally better but paid shit compared to other occupations.

She was probably either too new to the area or she was one of those preachy perfect marriage endorsers. A few close calls with eviction would change that real quick.

Unless it was her body she was worried about. Most started out as waiters and waitresses until they got over the inane self consciousness instilled in them by 'normal' society.

Now that he thought about it, he couldn't ever remember seeing her in the building before . . .

The elevator doors opened and he squeezed into the tiny space with six other people like him hoping to get at least a few hours sleep before heading out again to ready the local shops and hot spots for another night of entertaining city tourists. That's where a bulk of the area's funding came from, people with heavy pockets just passing through.

Nearby businesses consisted of staff that usually worked the nights like prowling monsters but held regular shit-paying day jobs.

The only way someone could survive the area without whoring themselves out was to have roommates who worked hours just as long as you did. Problem with that is most apartments aren't that big, limited space means you get real sick of seeing the bastards you live with day in and out. Your stuff goes missing, people start screaming and the next thing you know you're taking up that offer for paid sex someone gave you while dancing in a club if it means you can have your own place.

Fucking memories.

Two floors later and only he and the waitress were left, heading all the way up to the more isolated apartments on the top floor. They weren't any more attractive or any cleaner than the ones downstairs, but with twenty dollars extra a month you could go to sleep without listening to the annoying kid above, below and right beside you practice the tuba until three in the morning. On the few nights he actually stayed home and slept in it was a godsend.

The elevator came to a shaking halt and he looked over at the woman sharing the cramped space with him. She smiled tiredly back and seemed to brace herself for the walk back to her room. Ah yes, she had roommates.

The sound of some horrible singing pop star drifted towards them as they exited and the woman practically stomped towards her door and wrenched it open, the music intensifying drastically before she slammed the door shut behind her. Raised voices and yelling were muffled through the walls but not completely blocked and Jimmy knew they'd either be moving out soon or starting shiny new jobs to compensate for the extra apartment they would need.

He offered no silent wishes of luck on the off chance it might affect his own.

Thankfully, and as promised by their landlord, he lived far enough from the others to no longer hear the angry fighting by the time he closed his own door. Sleep called him, post-coital bliss no longer all that blissful once it becomes a profession.

He sank into his couch, tossing his pocket's worth of cash to the floor glad he'd be able to make the rent early this month.  He had a shift at the toy shop at three. Closing his heavy eyes he blurrily tried to calculate how much time that gave him to sleep.

Head jerking in an attempt to fight off the need to pass out, Jimmy counted the hours he had before having to leave again.

Let's see, it's what? Seven ten or so . . . that gives me one two three . . . four five six . . .

[]

The owner of Beads and Needs sex shop tapped his shoe impatiently, his wristwatch hanging from his bony wrist even at the smallest setting. He picked at some scratches on the register screen as he counted down the minutes until his help arrived.

Just as he was about to blow a gasket Jimmy slipped through the door with all the grace and sense of a ferret looking for a place to hide.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Sick or somethin'?" Jimmy caught a glimpse of himself in the shiny reflection of a glass case behind the counter and groaned, shit he looked like a zombie. He poked at the dark, puffy bags under his sore eyes and silently damned everyone he thought might deserve damning. He also damned Starbucks just for good measure. Fucking coffee.

"Starbucks? You have a fight with your latté on the way here?" Jimmy heaved a sigh, his irritation almost tangible. He hadn't realized he'd said that last part out loud.

"When the hell have I ever been able to afford fucking lattés?" Slouching over the younger man pitifully whimpered to himself, "I want more sleep." He dropped to the floor and tossed his bag off into a desolate corner out of their way. When he stood up again the owner was watching some seedy characters hovering around the lubricants like a hawk watching a cat trying to make off with its mouse.

"I've got the front, head to the back and start packaging the online orders for delivery. We need to get those ready before tomorrow. Get yourself something to drink from the vending machine if you can . . . 're probably dehydrated." He trailed off as he kept an eye on a giggly couple near the door manhandling his merchandise.

The 'vending machine' was a personal joke between him and the owner. The closest to drinks that they had in the back were packaged Styrofoam cups near a tap they never really used. Back in the day, before his scarecrow of a manager had bought the place, Jimmy was sure there had been a completely innocent plan for the small building. Funny how the city in general had such high hopes for the area and yet it eventually turned into the worst part of it. The small population of people who actually lived there survived by evolving into their very own Red Light District, complete with everything your carnal heart could desire. Drugs, women, men, it was a playground of wannabe singers and b-movie actors strutting their stuff in the hopes someone, anyone would rescue them. They were failures of society for the most part, actual harlots and manipulators were few and far in between but definitely existent.

Jimmy downed a cup of tap water and rested his head on the cool metal of the sink. He wondered where he fit into the generalized map of sex sellers he'd drawn up for himself. He enjoyed sex and really liked the money that came with his job. He couldn't remember ever really trying hard enough at anything to be a failure at it. Selling his body had been the first thing he'd ever put any sort of real effort into and so far he was doing pretty well.

He looked over at the stack of printed papers near the blinking screen of their backroom computer and crushed the cup in his hand. Work work work . . .

Digging around the back room for the ordered merchandise was easy enough, about thirty and counting. It was a varied mix of vibrators, dildos, 'specialty' condoms, and gag gifts. In fact he learned a lot of things by working at a sex shop, like that most who purchased blowup dolls didn't actually need to use them for sex. Most of the time they were used to humiliate college dorm mates and set up pranks for rival fraternities. Yeah, college students were a huge corner of the shops customer base.

"FUCKING SHIT. Where the HELL are the boxes?"

[]
"Well go to the fucking dollar store and get some, shit Jimmy it ain't that hard to figure out."

"What a piece of shit mother fucking-!" Jimmy paused mid rant when a familiar face caught his eye.

A tall, dark haired man with thick-rimmed, geeky glasses glanced by him and disappeared down the aisle for office supplies. The young prostitute stood stock still for a moment, not sure he'd really seen who he thought he had. No way it was a coincidence.

He approached the corner slowly, sure when he came around that that man would not be in the same store he was after only having met him the previous night. He needed to get boxes and envelopes and to get them he'd have to go down that aisle.

Jimmy peeked around carefully and saw that sure enough it was who he thought it was.

He walked over, surprised at how quiet his own footsteps were. Despite how loose his arms were swinging and how casual his walk might have looked he was tensing up inside.

The light from the store was coming in from a window behind and to the left of the man, setting a slight glow to the whole area he was standing in. He seemed to be examining a generic guest sign-in book, comparing  it to a different much pricier looking version.

He didn't look up when Jimmy made it over to him but he did move back when the younger man leaned over to grab some of the bubble mailers conveniently placed on a shelf directly below the receipt and guest books.  He took his time gathering the shipping items he needed, carefully counting the number of boxes and dropping to his knees to get some packaging stickers and tape. He knew the other was watching him, perhaps trying to remember who and what he was. Inside Jimmy was giggling.

". . . um . . ." Jimmy stood up, making sure he hadn't forgotten something before actually acknowledging him. Eye contact was made and he delighted in the uncertain shadow in the other's eyes. He did remember.

He walked past him, up to a register to purchase what he needed. In the reflection of a display he saw the other man come into the line behind him and he reveled in the confused and troubled look on his face.

Once he'd paid Jimmy walked out of the store and ducked along the wall next to the door to wait.

"Did you find a place to sleep last night?" To say the man jumped would have been a slight understatement, he'd jumped and landed on the hood of his car. For a few tense seconds they only stared at one another.

"Wha-?" But Jimmy was already walking away, bags in his arms crinkling merrily as he made his way out of the normal side of town and back to reality. He'd had his fun, granted at the expense of the other man again but still . . .

[]

"Homosexuality is an abomination!"

"Yeah, well so is eating shrimp." Jimmy grumbled under his breath as he passed the church that was actually very close to the entry way of the city's dirty-little-secret. He could hear the sermon very clearly thanks to what he assumed was an amazing speaker system they'd installed. They were probably hoping the people on his street could hear their preaching.

"To lose one's flesh to the temptation of an unholy union is a sin in the eyes of the Lord!"

Ironically enough the sound seemed to die down instantly once he crossed the threshold back into the surprisingly busy entry way. Huh, tourist season must be starting early.

The area he lived and worked in was by no means ugly, it had an Old Town sort of feel to it since the mayor had no interest in paying money to update any of the buildings or roads. It was even pretty if you came early enough in the morning when only a few were up and about.

People liked wandering around the cracked sidewalks and sloping alley ways. They liked peeking in the sex shop windows and slipping into the liquor stores, pointing out the funny looking intersection lights and laughing at the broken water fountain at the end of the cul-de-sac way down at the end of the street.

By the time he made it back it was almost time for him to go home and change into his other work clothes. His boss hadn't been happy.

[]

The sun hadn't set yet but there was a warm lazy glow. The tourists had already started heading back to their hotel rooms, leaving the streets near lifeless. Strangely enough it got Jimmy thinking about that fountain. He'd never seen it running before and wondered if it had ever been a working attraction. He adjusted the bag on his shoulder and started walking towards the dead-end of the street. It was up a little ways, the highest point in the surrounding neighborhood. A loud Click behind him however made him stop.

He turned and grinned, for some reason not surprised at who he saw.

"I charge for a lot of things, if you're going to take pictures it'll cost you." The sheepish and apologetic look on the man's face made him look, once again, like a lectured teenager. He started walking up towards Jimmy, the entire time looking over his shoulder at the broken fountain still quite a ways away.

"My boss is writing an article about this part of the city. He wanted me to take a few photos." The man stopped and took a sweeping look around. "It's hard to believe when you look at it like this, just how different it is at night, everyone is so friendly."

"They're nice because they want your money." He reached out despite the other's flinch, finger just hooking on a wrinkle of the brown, casual jacket. "So I can only imagine the kind of article that would be written." He tugged, motioning towards the monstrous structure behind them. "You'll get some amazing shots up there. Allow this infidel and wanton creature of the night to show you." He said, voice mimicking the taunts thrown at him and others by preachy clerics.

Jimmy once again led the protesting and confused outsider away, knowing he should have been heading home to get ready if he was going to get any money later that night. They walked and the closer they got the more enchanted the obvious Christian became at the beautiful fountain. Yes the plans the city used to have for the neighborhood were apparent in how homely and innocent it could appear at certain times of the day, with religious structures and open lots that might have once been for children and families, for all the churches and community centers only a few streets away . . .

Jimmy watched as the other man looked around in circles once they got to the top, trying to take in the abrupt and religious influence of the area. Stone angels reached into the sky despite broken fingers, rain-water damage had caused what looked like tear tracks to drip from their eyes, mineral and salt deposits tracking swirling lines down their faces. It was oddly beautiful.

"May I?" He suddenly motioned to the camera in his hands and to the fountain before them. Jimmy was a little surprised but figured since it was probably for some Christian magazine nobody read it couldn't hurt.

"Sure, why the hell not." He walked over and sat on the ledge, "This okay?" He saw the older man fiddle with the digital camera settings before nodding.

"Probably a silly question but do you mind if I know your name?"

"The way things work around here, nothing's free." Click

"So, how far behind am I?" Click

Jimmy stood up and ambled over, face tilted away as if in thought. Click

"Four pictures, a name and a friendly hand in the right direction when you were obviously lost the first time we met. I'd say you owe me quite a bit."

"Heh," He seemed to visibly open up when he smiled, "yeah. I'm actually very glad for your help earlier this morning. I had no idea where I was, I was so tired." His hand came up to nervously adjust his glasses. "I'm not sure I know a decent way to pay you back for that." The emphasis he seemed to stress on the word decent was expected but for some reason grated on Jimmy's nerves just a little.

"Lunch." This startled him, comically so. His eyes got big and a strange and anxious sputtering of nonsense came out of him that made the young prostitute laugh. "Calm down, I'm not asking for a date. You'd be buying me lunch as thanks for all the help I've given you."

"I-uh-um-I mean that sounds okay. I can do that."  Jimmy saw a few lights down the street turn on and realized just how much time he'd wasted jerking the guy around. He knew he had to go if he was going to be at all ready for the rest of the night.

"Meet me down at the far end tomorrow at around 2." And just to see that look on the man's face he reached out and quickly ran his thumb along his lower lip, delighting in the flush of red it caused. He took off down the hill right after that, his insides singing. He couldn't wait for tomorrow.

[]

The first three lunch meetings had been very awkward. They hadn't the faintest idea how to deal with the other and it showed, Jimmy's jokes and sexual puns seemed to only make it harder for the other man to openly talk about anything and they seemed to have so little in common that most of their time together was spent in silence. The only things that he'd managed to get out of the shy man was that he worked for a Christian charity organization in town for a big benefit, funds were needed for something along the lines of a new church.

Before they parted, on that third afternoon they'd finally introduced themselves. He found out the man's name was Edgar. Thinking about him, and his name made him smile for the rest of the day. His boss was sure he was doing some kind of hard drugs.

The fourth lunch however went very differently, Jimmy got the distinct impression that Edgar had somewhere else to be. It irritated him that the other man seemed to want to be anywhere but with him.

Why push it then? Jimmy decided thirty minutes in to call it quits, he'd haggled the man enough.

Edgar was walking back to the edge of both of their worlds, a habit he'd acquired since he believed it only polite to escort the prostitute at least part of the way back when he suddenly asked Jimmy a question that would haunt the younger man's mind for the rest of the day.

"If you had a chance to go anywhere, where would you go?" They looked at each other for a long moment, one curious and the other perplexed. They hadn't really said much on this their last get together and Jimmy had assumed that they'd say bye and then they'd go their separate ways.

"I don't know, anywhere but here."

"Is there a place? A memory you'd like to revisit?" Where the hell was this coming from all of the sudden? "How about a town or city you haven't been to in awhile?"

"Whoa, why the sudden interest?" He watched the other man shrug, looking too calm to be talking to someone like Jimmy about something so personal. The first question was repeated and for some reason he couldn't think of an answer. Edgar heaved a sigh, reached out and hooked their arms, pulling him away from where he needed to go and leading him down a different street of shops and clothing stores. Perplexing how easy it was for the otherwise nervous and awkward man to touch him so casually.

"Do you like being here?"

"I don't see how it's any of your fucking business but no I don't. I can't think of a single person who does." He motioned in the general direction of the church behind them, "Nobody likes it here. The economy sucks, rent is expensive as hell and gas prices are insane. Problem is where the hell are we gonna go?"

Right there Jimmy pulled them to a stop, moving around to look the other man in the face. "You couldn't wait to get away a few seconds ago, why the sudden interest?"

"I'm not sure," Edgar's voice dropped to a near whisper and Jimmy had to lean in to hear what he said next, "I'm not going to be around much longer and so I'm wondering where to go next." The way the words had been spoken sent a strange chill down Jimmy's spine. A long fingered hand grabbed his wrist and kept him within whispering distance. "If I told you I'd give you the opportunity to get away would you take it?"

Where was the fidgeting and anxious man who'd near ignored him only a while ago? Who the fuck was this creepy dude? Edgar maintained a steady stream of eye contact as if the question where so important he needed to see it on Jimmy's face before the words were even spoken. Cautiously, the younger man pulled away.

"I don't even know you." But this didn't seem enough. "You're asking someone you met less than a fucking week ago to take off with you. Tell me that doesn't sound like something some God damn psycho killer would do." He took off back the way they'd came and didn't look back.

[]

He kept an eye out for a few weeks after that, made sure he locked his door at night and avoided being within viewing distance of the church like his life depended on it. Edgar would be working there, helping the congregation prepare for their big charity event and what not. Eventually he filed it as a just a weird interaction with a crazy religious person, he had plenty of those, and put it behind him.

It was late, almost morning when his apartment building burned down. He was home surprisingly early that evening just laying out on his couch when he started drifting off. He figured since he had the time he'd get a full night's sleep and just relax. Screaming woke him up. Someone was banging on his door, screaming for him to open the door.

His eyes were burning and the air felt hot. When he did manage to sit up and look around everything was distorted and his lungs were so dry that he could barely breathe.

Fire? Burning, what's that horrible smell?

Who's at the door?

He forced his body to stand and answer the door. A couple of tear stricken women pushed past him and blathered on about the elevator not working. Drifting, his head was foggy and they were yelling and yelling about dying and how to get out . . .

Air, they needed air. He stumbled over to his window and pushed it open. The girls were right behind him, calling for help from the people gathered down below. In the distance he could hear fire trucks.

Cool wind and a few stray splatters of rain woke him up and allowed his muddled mind to compute only one thing. The building was on fire.

Oh fuck.

But his throat was still dry. His only neighbors on the top floor were still screaming and begging for help. Heat poured in and when Jimmy looked back into his smoke filled apartment he saw a faint glow as though the flames were finally catching up to them.

He coughed, spit coming out black before pointing out to one of the girls that there was a ladder nearby. They climbed out one by one. About halfway down Jimmy's head swam, he passed out before he hit the ground.

Lights flickered in and out of his head, voices asked his name and age but he couldn't answer them. Waking up in a hospital room startled him. Feeling a thick bandage around his head downright scared the shit out of him. Alerted to the change in his heart rate a nurse came in and it was at that moment that everything came back to him. By the next day he learned that the horrible smell in his apartment were the sixteen dead bodies roasting in the building below him. Only a small fraction of the people living there got out alive.

Everything was happening so fast, when he wasn't awake listening to nurses talk about the fire he was sleeping thanks to the amazing painkillers they'd given him for his head injury.

[]

"Is he okay?"

No. I'm not okay.

"He should be up and about today. He checked out fine and is ready to leave."

"He's going to stay with me. Is there anything he'll need to take for his head?"

"I'm going to prescribe him some painkillers, but I doubt he'd be able to afford anything from the pharmacy. Just have him take whatever painkillers usually work for him. When he bumped his head Jimmy only just barely broke the skin.  He won't even have a scar."

"I'm just so glad it's not serious."

Fuck Edgar, stop hiding behind that shitty doctor. I know you're there. I can hear you . . .

"He'll have headaches, migraines and possibly dizziness. Give the hospital a call of they get too frequent or you notice any drastic changes of behavior or mood. They'll let you know if you need to bring him in, depending on the severity."

"Thank you so much, Doctor."

I know you had something to do with this.

"No problem Mr. Vargas. Did the nurse have you fill out the forms for his release?"

"Yes, she did. I'll be sure to call if we have any problems." The doctor turned to leave, then paused and went back to face Edgar again.

"Just be patient with him Mr. Vargas. He's going to have a hard time adjusting at first but I'm sure he'll bounce back."

The two men standing shook hands and suddenly he and Jimmy were alone in the room.

It was mindboggling. Beyond comprehension.

The man was crazy, he had to be. Oh God he'd caught the attention of a psychopath.

"How are you feeling?" And then those pale blue eyes caught his and for a moment he wondered if he'd imagined the strange encounter with the other man. This was the guy who'd taken impromptu pictures of him near the fountain, who'd talked briefly and nervously about his charity work and who told Jimmy that he didn't agree with everything  in the bible, just most of it.

He liked this Edgar.

"Are you okay? Should I call your doctor back?" He moved closer, sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. The palm that touched Jimmy's forehead was warm and the fingers cool. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. "They said you should be able to talk after awhile, the heat and smoke really messed your throat up."

Oh, that explains why it hurts to breath . . . er-!

He was being hugged. WHAT the fuck?!

"I was working when I heard. We could see the fire from the Church." He pulled back and stared a shell-shocked Jimmy in the face. "You've lost everything haven't you?"

Oh FUCK! Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck-!

This really didn't feel right.

"Don't worry. I've gotten everything taken care of. You're going to stay with me at my hotel. You can rest there without having to worry." Jimmy scrambled to get off the bed and away from the other man but a hand over his mouth and a forceful shove pushed him so he was pressed flat into his pillows.

"I guess there's really no point in trying to keep you quiet is there?"

SHITTY fucking asshole! Get off of me you JERK!

"Where are you going to go? Who's going to help you? You've been locked up here so you haven't heard the news. This morning another fire started, nobody died this time but it was a close call. Word is that whole block is going up in smoke really soon. A lot of people are investing their time in getting rid of the whole lot of you." He moved his hand away from Jimmy's face and slowly pulled away from him. "I'm just trying to keep you safe."

Oh fuckshitballs, my head.

His brain was hurting. Edgar's voice split in his ears and it felt so sudden and strange. Arms reached out, pulling him up off the bed and settling him down into what he soon realized was a wheelchair.

Why are you doing this?

He was being kidnapped and nobody tried to stop his kidnapper. Edgar's face seemed to open when he smiled, they liked him and looked glad to be rid of Jimmy. He must have looked like such a fucking good person too, offering out of the kindness of his heart to take care of the lowly male prostitute.

[]

The room was big at least. After carefully placing Jimmy on the queen sized bed, Edgar set about to getting ready for that shitty charity event he'd been helping with. No glances where shared between them, the younger man purposely avoided looking at Edgar when he was changing and preparing himself. He stared at a distant corner, curled up in a near fetal position in the covers.

The hairs on the back of his neck raised and he knew he was being watched.

"I know you probably hate me right now and I'm sorry for springing this on you. But everything will be so much better in the morning." A glass of water and a couple of Aleve were placed on the bedside table.  "I promise."

He'd sold his body to both beautiful and ugly people, he'd done things he'd thought he'd have the neither guts nor willpower to do, he'd been pushed to the brink of pain during sex and experienced pure euphoria and yet nothing could have prepared him for what was happening to him. None of the sex fiends and downright freaks could have prepared him for this man.

Edgar had never once asked him for sex, he'd never made passes or shitty comments. In fact, during their three, count 'em, three decent lunch dates any mention of risqué things had been quickly dismissed or ignored by the Christian.

So what did he want?

Oh God, what does he want?

Jimmy tormented himself with these questions after Edgar left. He tried standing up to leave but that only made him feel like he was going to black out. On the rough carpet now with his back pressed up against the edge of the bed he reached up and grabbed the two pills on the desk.

[]

For the second time Jimmy woke up and had no idea where he was.

After all, normal people don't drug prostitutes.

The first thing he saw was Edgar in the driver's seat of a car.

The first thing he felt was a gentle rocking motion.

The first thing he heard was Edgar's voice.

"You know, it says in the bible that a true Christian should give all of his or her money to the poor." A warm cozy light was shining in from the windshield and Jimmy distantly realized he was wrapped in a blanket. "They were going to give all of that money to a shiny new church instead of doing something useful with it.

"You get told your whole life to devote yourself to the less fortunate only to grow up and see the hypocrisy and they expect you to act the same way. Like what they do makes any sense." They must have been driving awhile, looking past him Jimmy could see country roads and fields of yellow grass. Dizzy in the brain.

He couldn't get his arms to move.

"All of them, so disgusting." Edgar continued. "How can they call themselves Christians?" He gave Jimmy a sly glance. "I know you and I can come up with a much better way to use that money. It's only what they deserve after being so selfish."

[]

End

Description
Lessons Learned
JTHM
EdgarXJimmy
Prostitute!Jimmy challenge
[]
Sex is and always will be a purely physical thing.

Skin and sweat, hot mouths pressing and nails digging painfully with intent to mark-to own for the briefest moments the other body. It's desperate. It's so so good.

And then it's over.

City lights sparkle like some kind of dance hall for devils with spotlights and music drifting out from windows and open doorways. The streets are their cat walks. The girls have to have that something that men seem to want. They smile a certain way, swing their hips and promise a different kind of romance. They coo and call out like pretty little kittens and purr their way into pocket books and marriages.

Everyone plays to their strengths, dressing to show bare skin in all the right places. Jimmy was lucky the men in the area had such hard-ons for Scene kids as he was usually the closest they could find in the area for one. Not that he was happy when they suggested he dye blue and green streaks into his hair. No, that little interaction hadn't turned out pretty.

He blew smoke rings at a familiar face when it reared its ugly head and tugged at his sweater.

"I wanna go around the world tonight." The man's other hand came up to wave away Jimmy's bad habit making him smile slow and sweet.

"We can go as many times as you're willing to give for." Red lights from nearby toy shops and neon signs reflected in his soon-to-be patron's eyes for a moment, "As usual." The teen added as an afterthought.

His current spot wasn't the most well lit area but it was his and no one encroached on his territory unless they wanted serious trouble from him. A decorative ledge jutted out of the wall as part of a concrete square that went all the way up to the roof where the small apartment he lived in perched close to the edge. The building's previous owner had installed an ornate ladder to the side of the large structure in the hopes that workers called in to fix frequent leaks would stop looking in open windows when using fire escapes. That was back in the day when the city had high hopes for the area.

Now Jimmy used it to avoid having to explain to the new owner why he had sex to pay rent. Not that he should've had to, plenty of the other tenants did it.

The man tugged on his sweater again and Jimmy frowned at the money being shoved in his lap. No fucking way he was gonna do all that the work for such a small amount.

"Nuh uh, you know how it works."

"Come on, it's my birthday." He whined back.

"It was your birthday six months ago too, answers the same fucking number it's always been. That shit'll get you Taylor down the street." Jimmy nearly laughed at the look of disgust on the man's face. Taylor the forever happy to please until you fucked him, and then he turned into a lifeless doll incapable of movement until you were done. He said it had to do with trauma or something. Taylor was what most would call the Last Resort.

Didn't take the frequent shopper long to fork out the cash and whisk his favorite person-next to his wife of six years-towards the usual room in the usual charge by the hour hotel a few blocks away.

Before Jimmy the man's marriage had been on the brink of failure, but now his life and livelihood was safe as long as no one realized he'd never really enjoyed being with women in the first place. The nineteen-year-old had been smug once he'd found out.

[]

"By the hour. What kind of hotel charges by the hour?"

Jimmy was practically being carried in once they arrived at their sleazy destination. Insanely enough the first thing he noticed was the obviously confused man arguing with the clerk. Juan smirked at the taller and older man, using a mangled form of Spanglish to try to send him away. Frustration and exhaustion dripped from every pore of his weary body as the man broke through the clerks round-about and half-hearted clarifications that he was in the wrong area at the wrong time of night.

"Listen to me, I have been driving for two days straight. Your sign tells me that not only are you a rest stop but you have vacant rooms available. How is it possible that you don't a room rate for overnight stays?"

Secret smiles were exchanged between three of the four people in the lobby. Jimmy's fare allowed him to stand again before briskly walking up to the two men and dropping the appropriate count of cash on the counter. The exchange was fast and soon enough he had a cheap plastic key card in his hand and was already walking towards a rickety elevator, motioning for Jimmy to follow.  The young prostitute knew a fun opportunity when he saw one and decided to play around before heading up to do what he did best.

"What the hell was that? How is it he can get a room here and I can't?" The man seemed out of his mind with fatigue and exasperation. Jimmy glanced over and grinned at the loyal customer holding the door for him.

"I'll meet you in a sec." His patron shrugged and the elevator doors closed.

"UGHHHH!" The man slammed his head on the counter, not noticing when Jimmy moved to lean against it next to him. "I just want to go to sleep."

"This isn't exactly the kind of place you want to sleep in, especially not overnight." That dark head of hair snapped up and stared at him, taking in the revealing attire and spiky black hair with all the speed and grace of a dying slug. His head jerked back slightly once the words and raunchy clothing had sunk in.

"Why not?"

"Shall I take this lost soul away from your humble establishment and send him off into the night for you?" he crooned. Juan gave a tiny nod, his heavy-lidded eyes barely lingering on Jimmy's near naked shoulders as they left.

He led the stuttering man back out the front door and towards the parking lot, slipping his arm into the crook of the other's elbow. After a moment of silence as they walked Jimmy decided it was the right moment to drop the bomb on the unknowing outsider.

"If you slept in one of those rooms upstairs you'd probably wake up a lot dirtier than when you went to sleep. I can't remember if there were ever clean sheets on those beds. Juan doesn't do it and no cleaning service would ever work for the hotels in this area." He suddenly stopped and pointed to the brightly lit area across the street. The man next to him, a warm body in the chilly night air, was forced to stop and look. "You see those girls over there? Who do you think they are?"

"Am I supposed to know them? I don't live here." Jimmy let the spiked heels and catcalls from men driving by sink in for a moment. A light suddenly dawned in the man's eyes and he went stiff in the prostitute's arms. Black fingernails traced the metal frame of his glasses and the cool skin of his jaw.

"Now you understand." He took in the other's shocked silence and used the pause as an excuse to slip away, leaving the man alone to revel in the embarrassment like a teenager getting a sex talk from his parents. He slinked back inside and headed towards the elevator knowing he'd wasted a good five minutes messing around when he was supposed to be tending to someone who didn't like to wait for very long. He was most definitely going to pay for that later.

[]

Sun rising and body aching Jimmy made his way into the building knowing the owner would still be sleeping since it was only  7 o'clock in the morning. He could take the elevator instead of making the long and painful-looking journey up the semi-hidden ladder that lead straight to his apartment. He passed the darkened window of the main office and joined the small group of people waiting in the tiny lobby for a chance to go upstairs. Most of them looked like they'd been "working" all night. A woman by the door seemed to be the only one with a normal waitressing job, though if the logo on her work shirt were anything to go by she waited tables at a local strip joint. The work was only marginally better but paid shit compared to other occupations.

She was probably either too new to the area or she was one of those preachy perfect marriage endorsers. A few close calls with eviction would change that real quick.

Unless it was her body she was worried about. Most started out as waiters and waitresses until they got over the inane self consciousness instilled in them by 'normal' society.

Now that he thought about it, he couldn't ever remember seeing her in the building before . . .

The elevator doors opened and he squeezed into the tiny space with six other people like him hoping to get at least a few hours sleep before heading out again to ready the local shops and hot spots for another night of entertaining city tourists. That's where a bulk of the area's funding came from, people with heavy pockets just passing through.

Nearby businesses consisted of staff that usually worked the nights like prowling monsters but held regular shit-paying day jobs.

The only way someone could survive the area without whoring themselves out was to have roommates who worked hours just as long as you did. Problem with that is most apartments aren't that big, limited space means you get real sick of seeing the bastards you live with day in and out. Your stuff goes missing, people start screaming and the next thing you know you're taking up that offer for paid sex someone gave you while dancing in a club if it means you can have your own place.

Fucking memories.

Two floors later and only he and the waitress were left, heading all the way up to the more isolated apartments on the top floor. They weren't any more attractive or any cleaner than the ones downstairs, but with twenty dollars extra a month you could go to sleep without listening to the annoying kid above, below and right beside you practice the tuba until three in the morning. On the few nights he actually stayed home and slept in it was a godsend.

The elevator came to a shaking halt and he looked over at the woman sharing the cramped space with him. She smiled tiredly back and seemed to brace herself for the walk back to her room. Ah yes, she had roommates.

The sound of some horrible singing pop star drifted towards them as they exited and the woman practically stomped towards her door and wrenched it open, the music intensifying drastically before she slammed the door shut behind her. Raised voices and yelling were muffled through the walls but not completely blocked and Jimmy knew they'd either be moving out soon or starting shiny new jobs to compensate for the extra apartment they would need.

He offered no silent wishes of luck on the off chance it might affect his own.

Thankfully, and as promised by their landlord, he lived far enough from the others to no longer hear the angry fighting by the time he closed his own door. Sleep called him, post-coital bliss no longer all that blissful once it becomes a profession.

He sank into his couch, tossing his pocket's worth of cash to the floor glad he'd be able to make the rent early this month.  He had a shift at the toy shop at three. Closing his heavy eyes he blurrily tried to calculate how much time that gave him to sleep.

Head jerking in an attempt to fight off the need to pass out, Jimmy counted the hours he had before having to leave again.

Let's see, it's what? Seven ten or so . . . that gives me one two three . . . four five six . . .

[]

The owner of Beads and Needs sex shop tapped his shoe impatiently, his wristwatch hanging from his bony wrist even at the smallest setting. He picked at some scratches on the register screen as he counted down the minutes until his help arrived.

Just as he was about to blow a gasket Jimmy slipped through the door with all the grace and sense of a ferret looking for a place to hide.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Sick or somethin'?" Jimmy caught a glimpse of himself in the shiny reflection of a glass case behind the counter and groaned, shit he looked like a zombie. He poked at the dark, puffy bags under his sore eyes and silently damned everyone he thought might deserve damning. He also damned Starbucks just for good measure. Fucking coffee.

"Starbucks? You have a fight with your latté on the way here?" Jimmy heaved a sigh, his irritation almost tangible. He hadn't realized he'd said that last part out loud.

"When the hell have I ever been able to afford fucking lattés?" Slouching over the younger man pitifully whimpered to himself, "I want more sleep." He dropped to the floor and tossed his bag off into a desolate corner out of their way. When he stood up again the owner was watching some seedy characters hovering around the lubricants like a hawk watching a cat trying to make off with its mouse.

"I've got the front, head to the back and start packaging the online orders for delivery. We need to get those ready before tomorrow. Get yourself something to drink from the vending machine if you can . . . 're probably dehydrated." He trailed off as he kept an eye on a giggly couple near the door manhandling his merchandise.

The 'vending machine' was a personal joke between him and the owner. The closest to drinks that they had in the back were packaged Styrofoam cups near a tap they never really used. Back in the day, before his scarecrow of a manager had bought the place, Jimmy was sure there had been a completely innocent plan for the small building. Funny how the city in general had such high hopes for the area and yet it eventually turned into the worst part of it. The small population of people who actually lived there survived by evolving into their very own Red Light District, complete with everything your carnal heart could desire. Drugs, women, men, it was a playground of wannabe singers and b-movie actors strutting their stuff in the hopes someone, anyone would rescue them. They were failures of society for the most part, actual harlots and manipulators were few and far in between but definitely existent.

Jimmy downed a cup of tap water and rested his head on the cool metal of the sink. He wondered where he fit into the generalized map of sex sellers he'd drawn up for himself. He enjoyed sex and really liked the money that came with his job. He couldn't remember ever really trying hard enough at anything to be a failure at it. Selling his body had been the first thing he'd ever put any sort of real effort into and so far he was doing pretty well.

He looked over at the stack of printed papers near the blinking screen of their backroom computer and crushed the cup in his hand. Work work work . . .

Digging around the back room for the ordered merchandise was easy enough, about thirty and counting. It was a varied mix of vibrators, dildos, 'specialty' condoms, and gag gifts. In fact he learned a lot of things by working at a sex shop, like that most who purchased blowup dolls didn't actually need to use them for sex. Most of the time they were used to humiliate college dorm mates and set up pranks for rival fraternities. Yeah, college students were a huge corner of the shops customer base.

"FUCKING SHIT. Where the HELL are the boxes?"

[]
"Well go to the fucking dollar store and get some, shit Jimmy it ain't that hard to figure out."

"What a piece of shit mother fucking-!" Jimmy paused mid rant when a familiar face caught his eye.

A tall, dark haired man with thick-rimmed, geeky glasses glanced by him and disappeared down the aisle for office supplies. The young prostitute stood stock still for a moment, not sure he'd really seen who he thought he had. No way it was a coincidence.

He approached the corner slowly, sure when he came around that that man would not be in the same store he was after only having met him the previous night. He needed to get boxes and envelopes and to get them he'd have to go down that aisle.

Jimmy peeked around carefully and saw that sure enough it was who he thought it was.

He walked over, surprised at how quiet his own footsteps were. Despite how loose his arms were swinging and how casual his walk might have looked he was tensing up inside.

The light from the store was coming in from a window behind and to the left of the man, setting a slight glow to the whole area he was standing in. He seemed to be examining a generic guest sign-in book, comparing  it to a different much pricier looking version.

He didn't look up when Jimmy made it over to him but he did move back when the younger man leaned over to grab some of the bubble mailers conveniently placed on a shelf directly below the receipt and guest books.  He took his time gathering the shipping items he needed, carefully counting the number of boxes and dropping to his knees to get some packaging stickers and tape. He knew the other was watching him, perhaps trying to remember who and what he was. Inside Jimmy was giggling.

". . . um . . ." Jimmy stood up, making sure he hadn't forgotten something before actually acknowledging him. Eye contact was made and he delighted in the uncertain shadow in the other's eyes. He did remember.

He walked past him, up to a register to purchase what he needed. In the reflection of a display he saw the other man come into the line behind him and he reveled in the confused and troubled look on his face.

Once he'd paid Jimmy walked out of the store and ducked along the wall next to the door to wait.

"Did you find a place to sleep last night?" To say the man jumped would have been a slight understatement, he'd jumped and landed on the hood of his car. For a few tense seconds they only stared at one another.

"Wha-?" But Jimmy was already walking away, bags in his arms crinkling merrily as he made his way out of the normal side of town and back to reality. He'd had his fun, granted at the expense of the other man again but still . . .

[]

"Homosexuality is an abomination!"

"Yeah, well so is eating shrimp." Jimmy grumbled under his breath as he passed the church that was actually very close to the entry way of the city's dirty-little-secret. He could hear the sermon very clearly thanks to what he assumed was an amazing speaker system they'd installed. They were probably hoping the people on his street could hear their preaching.

"To lose one's flesh to the temptation of an unholy union is a sin in the eyes of the Lord!"

Ironically enough the sound seemed to die down instantly once he crossed the threshold back into the surprisingly busy entry way. Huh, tourist season must be starting early.

The area he lived and worked in was by no means ugly, it had an Old Town sort of feel to it since the mayor had no interest in paying money to update any of the buildings or roads. It was even pretty if you came early enough in the morning when only a few were up and about.

People liked wandering around the cracked sidewalks and sloping alley ways. They liked peeking in the sex shop windows and slipping into the liquor stores, pointing out the funny looking intersection lights and laughing at the broken water fountain at the end of the cul-de-sac way down at the end of the street.

By the time he made it back it was almost time for him to go home and change into his other work clothes. His boss hadn't been happy.

[]

The sun hadn't set yet but there was a warm lazy glow. The tourists had already started heading back to their hotel rooms, leaving the streets near lifeless. Strangely enough it got Jimmy thinking about that fountain. He'd never seen it running before and wondered if it had ever been a working attraction. He adjusted the bag on his shoulder and started walking towards the dead-end of the street. It was up a little ways, the highest point in the surrounding neighborhood. A loud Click behind him however made him stop.

He turned and grinned, for some reason not surprised at who he saw.

"I charge for a lot of things, if you're going to take pictures it'll cost you." The sheepish and apologetic look on the man's face made him look, once again, like a lectured teenager. He started walking up towards Jimmy, the entire time looking over his shoulder at the broken fountain still quite a ways away.

"My boss is writing an article about this part of the city. He wanted me to take a few photos." The man stopped and took a sweeping look around. "It's hard to believe when you look at it like this, just how different it is at night, everyone is so friendly."

"They're nice because they want your money." He reached out despite the other's flinch, finger just hooking on a wrinkle of the brown, casual jacket. "So I can only imagine the kind of article that would be written." He tugged, motioning towards the monstrous structure behind them. "You'll get some amazing shots up there. Allow this infidel and wanton creature of the night to show you." He said, voice mimicking the taunts thrown at him and others by preachy clerics.

Jimmy once again led the protesting and confused outsider away, knowing he should have been heading home to get ready if he was going to get any money later that night. They walked and the closer they got the more enchanted the obvious Christian became at the beautiful fountain. Yes the plans the city used to have for the neighborhood were apparent in how homely and innocent it could appear at certain times of the day, with religious structures and open lots that might have once been for children and families, for all the churches and community centers only a few streets away . . .

Jimmy watched as the other man looked around in circles once they got to the top, trying to take in the abrupt and religious influence of the area. Stone angels reached into the sky despite broken fingers, rain-water damage had caused what looked like tear tracks to drip from their eyes, mineral and salt deposits tracking swirling lines down their faces. It was oddly beautiful.

"May I?" He suddenly motioned to the camera in his hands and to the fountain before them. Jimmy was a little surprised but figured since it was probably for some Christian magazine nobody read it couldn't hurt.

"Sure, why the hell not." He walked over and sat on the ledge, "This okay?" He saw the older man fiddle with the digital camera settings before nodding.

"Probably a silly question but do you mind if I know your name?"

"The way things work around here, nothing's free." Click

"So, how far behind am I?" Click

Jimmy stood up and ambled over, face tilted away as if in thought. Click

"Four pictures, a name and a friendly hand in the right direction when you were obviously lost the first time we met. I'd say you owe me quite a bit."

"Heh," He seemed to visibly open up when he smiled, "yeah. I'm actually very glad for your help earlier this morning. I had no idea where I was, I was so tired." His hand came up to nervously adjust his glasses. "I'm not sure I know a decent way to pay you back for that." The emphasis he seemed to stress on the word decent was expected but for some reason grated on Jimmy's nerves just a little.

"Lunch." This startled him, comically so. His eyes got big and a strange and anxious sputtering of nonsense came out of him that made the young prostitute laugh. "Calm down, I'm not asking for a date. You'd be buying me lunch as thanks for all the help I've given you."

"I-uh-um-I mean that sounds okay. I can do that."  Jimmy saw a few lights down the street turn on and realized just how much time he'd wasted jerking the guy around. He knew he had to go if he was going to be at all ready for the rest of the night.

"Meet me down at the far end tomorrow at around 2." And just to see that look on the man's face he reached out and quickly ran his thumb along his lower lip, delighting in the flush of red it caused. He took off down the hill right after that, his insides singing. He couldn't wait for tomorrow.

[]

The first three lunch meetings had been very awkward. They hadn't the faintest idea how to deal with the other and it showed, Jimmy's jokes and sexual puns seemed to only make it harder for the other man to openly talk about anything and they seemed to have so little in common that most of their time together was spent in silence. The only things that he'd managed to get out of the shy man was that he worked for a Christian charity organization in town for a big benefit, funds were needed for something along the lines of a new church.

Before they parted, on that third afternoon they'd finally introduced themselves. He found out the man's name was Edgar. Thinking about him, and his name made him smile for the rest of the day. His boss was sure he was doing some kind of hard drugs.

The fourth lunch however went very differently, Jimmy got the distinct impression that Edgar had somewhere else to be. It irritated him that the other man seemed to want to be anywhere but with him.

Why push it then? Jimmy decided thirty minutes in to call it quits, he'd haggled the man enough.

Edgar was walking back to the edge of both of their worlds, a habit he'd acquired since he believed it only polite to escort the prostitute at least part of the way back when he suddenly asked Jimmy a question that would haunt the younger man's mind for the rest of the day.

"If you had a chance to go anywhere, where would you go?" They looked at each other for a long moment, one curious and the other perplexed. They hadn't really said much on this their last get together and Jimmy had assumed that they'd say bye and then they'd go their separate ways.

"I don't know, anywhere but here."

"Is there a place? A memory you'd like to revisit?" Where the hell was this coming from all of the sudden? "How about a town or city you haven't been to in awhile?"

"Whoa, why the sudden interest?" He watched the other man shrug, looking too calm to be talking to someone like Jimmy about something so personal. The first question was repeated and for some reason he couldn't think of an answer. Edgar heaved a sigh, reached out and hooked their arms, pulling him away from where he needed to go and leading him down a different street of shops and clothing stores. Perplexing how easy it was for the otherwise nervous and awkward man to touch him so casually.

"Do you like being here?"

"I don't see how it's any of your fucking business but no I don't. I can't think of a single person who does." He motioned in the general direction of the church behind them, "Nobody likes it here. The economy sucks, rent is expensive as hell and gas prices are insane. Problem is where the hell are we gonna go?"

Right there Jimmy pulled them to a stop, moving around to look the other man in the face. "You couldn't wait to get away a few seconds ago, why the sudden interest?"

"I'm not sure," Edgar's voice dropped to a near whisper and Jimmy had to lean in to hear what he said next, "I'm not going to be around much longer and so I'm wondering where to go next." The way the words had been spoken sent a strange chill down Jimmy's spine. A long fingered hand grabbed his wrist and kept him within whispering distance. "If I told you I'd give you the opportunity to get away would you take it?"

Where was the fidgeting and anxious man who'd near ignored him only a while ago? Who the fuck was this creepy dude? Edgar maintained a steady stream of eye contact as if the question where so important he needed to see it on Jimmy's face before the words were even spoken. Cautiously, the younger man pulled away.

"I don't even know you." But this didn't seem enough. "You're asking someone you met less than a fucking week ago to take off with you. Tell me that doesn't sound like something some God damn psycho killer would do." He took off back the way they'd came and didn't look back.

[]

He kept an eye out for a few weeks after that, made sure he locked his door at night and avoided being within viewing distance of the church like his life depended on it. Edgar would be working there, helping the congregation prepare for their big charity event and what not. Eventually he filed it as a just a weird interaction with a crazy religious person, he had plenty of those, and put it behind him.

It was late, almost morning when his apartment building burned down. He was home surprisingly early that evening just laying out on his couch when he started drifting off. He figured since he had the time he'd get a full night's sleep and just relax. Screaming woke him up. Someone was banging on his door, screaming for him to open the door.

His eyes were burning and the air felt hot. When he did manage to sit up and look around everything was distorted and his lungs were so dry that he could barely breathe.

Fire? Burning, what's that horrible smell?

Who's at the door?

He forced his body to stand and answer the door. A couple of tear stricken women pushed past him and blathered on about the elevator not working. Drifting, his head was foggy and they were yelling and yelling about dying and how to get out . . .

Air, they needed air. He stumbled over to his window and pushed it open. The girls were right behind him, calling for help from the people gathered down below. In the distance he could hear fire trucks.

Cool wind and a few stray splatters of rain woke him up and allowed his muddled mind to compute only one thing. The building was on fire.

Oh fuck.

But his throat was still dry. His only neighbors on the top floor were still screaming and begging for help. Heat poured in and when Jimmy looked back into his smoke filled apartment he saw a faint glow as though the flames were finally catching up to them.

He coughed, spit coming out black before pointing out to one of the girls that there was a ladder nearby. They climbed out one by one. About halfway down Jimmy's head swam, he passed out before he hit the ground.

Lights flickered in and out of his head, voices asked his name and age but he couldn't answer them. Waking up in a hospital room startled him. Feeling a thick bandage around his head downright scared the shit out of him. Alerted to the change in his heart rate a nurse came in and it was at that moment that everything came back to him. By the next day he learned that the horrible smell in his apartment were the sixteen dead bodies roasting in the building below him. Only a small fraction of the people living there got out alive.

Everything was happening so fast, when he wasn't awake listening to nurses talk about the fire he was sleeping thanks to the amazing painkillers they'd given him for his head injury.

[]

"Is he okay?"

No. I'm not okay.

"He should be up and about today. He checked out fine and is ready to leave."

"He's going to stay with me. Is there anything he'll need to take for his head?"

"I'm going to prescribe him some painkillers, but I doubt he'd be able to afford anything from the pharmacy. Just have him take whatever painkillers usually work for him. When he bumped his head Jimmy only just barely broke the skin.  He won't even have a scar."

"I'm just so glad it's not serious."

Fuck Edgar, stop hiding behind that shitty doctor. I know you're there. I can hear you . . .

"He'll have headaches, migraines and possibly dizziness. Give the hospital a call of they get too frequent or you notice any drastic changes of behavior or mood. They'll let you know if you need to bring him in, depending on the severity."

"Thank you so much, Doctor."

I know you had something to do with this.

"No problem Mr. Vargas. Did the nurse have you fill out the forms for his release?"

"Yes, she did. I'll be sure to call if we have any problems." The doctor turned to leave, then paused and went back to face Edgar again.

"Just be patient with him Mr. Vargas. He's going to have a hard time adjusting at first but I'm sure he'll bounce back."

The two men standing shook hands and suddenly he and Jimmy were alone in the room.

It was mindboggling. Beyond comprehension.

The man was crazy, he had to be. Oh God he'd caught the attention of a psychopath.

"How are you feeling?" And then those pale blue eyes caught his and for a moment he wondered if he'd imagined the strange encounter with the other man. This was the guy who'd taken impromptu pictures of him near the fountain, who'd talked briefly and nervously about his charity work and who told Jimmy that he didn't agree with everything  in the bible, just most of it.

He liked this Edgar.

"Are you okay? Should I call your doctor back?" He moved closer, sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. The palm that touched Jimmy's forehead was warm and the fingers cool. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. "They said you should be able to talk after awhile, the heat and smoke really messed your throat up."

Oh, that explains why it hurts to breath . . . er-!

He was being hugged. WHAT the fuck?!

"I was working when I heard. We could see the fire from the Church." He pulled back and stared a shell-shocked Jimmy in the face. "You've lost everything haven't you?"

Oh FUCK! Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck-!

This really didn't feel right.

"Don't worry. I've gotten everything taken care of. You're going to stay with me at my hotel. You can rest there without having to worry." Jimmy scrambled to get off the bed and away from the other man but a hand over his mouth and a forceful shove pushed him so he was pressed flat into his pillows.

"I guess there's really no point in trying to keep you quiet is there?"

SHITTY fucking asshole! Get off of me you JERK!

"Where are you going to go? Who's going to help you? You've been locked up here so you haven't heard the news. This morning another fire started, nobody died this time but it was a close call. Word is that whole block is going up in smoke really soon. A lot of people are investing their time in getting rid of the whole lot of you." He moved his hand away from Jimmy's face and slowly pulled away from him. "I'm just trying to keep you safe."

Oh fuckshitballs, my head.

His brain was hurting. Edgar's voice split in his ears and it felt so sudden and strange. Arms reached out, pulling him up off the bed and settling him down into what he soon realized was a wheelchair.

Why are you doing this?

He was being kidnapped and nobody tried to stop his kidnapper. Edgar's face seemed to open when he smiled, they liked him and looked glad to be rid of Jimmy. He must have looked like such a fucking good person too, offering out of the kindness of his heart to take care of the lowly male prostitute.

[]

The room was big at least. After carefully placing Jimmy on the queen sized bed, Edgar set about to getting ready for that shitty charity event he'd been helping with. No glances where shared between them, the younger man purposely avoided looking at Edgar when he was changing and preparing himself. He stared at a distant corner, curled up in a near fetal position in the covers.

The hairs on the back of his neck raised and he knew he was being watched.

"I know you probably hate me right now and I'm sorry for springing this on you. But everything will be so much better in the morning." A glass of water and a couple of Aleve were placed on the bedside table.  "I promise."

He'd sold his body to both beautiful and ugly people, he'd done things he'd thought he'd have the neither guts nor willpower to do, he'd been pushed to the brink of pain during sex and experienced pure euphoria and yet nothing could have prepared him for what was happening to him. None of the sex fiends and downright freaks could have prepared him for this man.

Edgar had never once asked him for sex, he'd never made passes or shitty comments. In fact, during their three, count 'em, three decent lunch dates any mention of risqué things had been quickly dismissed or ignored by the Christian.

So what did he want?

Oh God, what does he want?

Jimmy tormented himself with these questions after Edgar left. He tried standing up to leave but that only made him feel like he was going to black out. On the rough carpet now with his back pressed up against the edge of the bed he reached up and grabbed the two pills on the desk.

[]

For the second time Jimmy woke up and had no idea where he was.

After all, normal people don't drug prostitutes.

The first thing he saw was Edgar in the driver's seat of a car.

The first thing he felt was a gentle rocking motion.

The first thing he heard was Edgar's voice.

"You know, it says in the bible that a true Christian should give all of his or her money to the poor." A warm cozy light was shining in from the windshield and Jimmy distantly realized he was wrapped in a blanket. "They were going to give all of that money to a shiny new church instead of doing something useful with it.

"You get told your whole life to devote yourself to the less fortunate only to grow up and see the hypocrisy and they expect you to act the same way. Like what they do makes any sense." They must have been driving awhile, looking past him Jimmy could see country roads and fields of yellow grass. Dizzy in the brain.

He couldn't get his arms to move.

"All of them, so disgusting." Edgar continued. "How can they call themselves Christians?" He gave Jimmy a sly glance. "I know you and I can come up with a much better way to use that money. It's only what they deserve after being so selfish."

[]

End