Sarcasm Is the Lowest Form of Wit; Not.

Masimo sat on the damp sidewalk, just under the streetlight, sobbing into his knees. He’d lied to Jake about liking his job, in fact, there was nothing he hated more. He wish he’d told the company he was straight so he only had to have sex with women, they tend to be less kinky and they obviously can’t ride him up the ass. It wouldn’t hurt him with women, but it was always excruciating with men as they loved having him tight, so he was never prepped.
And he had to go along with it.
If he didn’t, then he wouldn’t get paid, and he wouldn’t be able to eat. His last client had made him feel more violated than ever before. The man had more toys that Masimo thought possible, and half of them he didn’t even knew existed. Masimo had never been the masochist and longed for someone to make love to him, rather than the sweaty, flustered fucking he had to go through every night. No man would ever love him, and he’d grown to accept that. It pained him to do so but he’d accepted it.
He cried out again as the stinging seemed to get worse; he’d never been a fan of anal beads and those were some of the biggest fucking things he’d ever seen. When did it ever seem plausible to shove a tennis ball up someone? And how could this give the other man pleasure, watching his partner/whore writhe around in agony?
He tried to calm himself down, pushing up his sleeves and blowing cold air upwards into his eyes. He gulped as the red whip marks on his arms had become more apparent, he’d have to wait at least three days before he could go out on another call. He needed time for his body to repair itself.
His shaking hand delved into his pocket, fishing out the money he’d made. It was three hundred and fifty dollars tonight, that’d last him the three days until he was fucked again. Masimo prayed that just once, someone wanted to be fucked, rather than them wanting to fuck him. Just the once.

“Are you still working?” asked a tall man in front of him. All he could see was the brown eyes of the man, which resembled ones of a wolf.
“That depends on what you’re willing to pay me.” he replied smoothly, tugging at his sleeves so they fell back around his arms.
“Oh, I didn’t mean that. I’m offering you a place for the night.”

Masimo stood up rapidly and his eyes widened when he saw who it was. “Jake?”
“Yes… who did you think it was?”
“I thought it was some pervert who wanted to fuck me.” he said honestly, then hugged Jake tightly. “Man, I’m so glad it’s you. And yes I would love to stay the night, I think I’m starting to get hypothermia.”
“In that case, stay many nights. Until you’re better of course. And on a positive note, I was upgraded at one of the many places I work, so now I can pay for heating!”
Masimo smiled, closing his eyes and holding the other man tightly to him. It felt so wonderful to hold someone who had no intention of near raping him. The comfort of another is absolutely priceless.
“That’s awesome, Jake. Fantastic, even.”
“Can you let go of me please? I’m starting to get cold.”
“Oh, sorry!” he said, jumping away quickly, highly embarrassed. Jake picked up on his embarrassment and smiled.
“We can hug again once we’re inside, if you want.”
Masimo blushed lightly and smiled, throwing his right arm around the other man’s shoulders. “Perhaps. Are you always this kind to strangers?”
“You’re not a stranger.” he said simply. “I would classify you as one of my friends.”

They began walking back to Jake’s apartment.

“Really? Thank you, Jake. I would classify you as one of mine, too.”

Masimo struggled a little on the walk back as he was still in an immense amount of pain. He’d thrown his arm around the man as a sign of affection, but also as a form of helping him steady himself. Jake didn’t need to know the latter reason.
They soon arrived back home. Masimo felt he could call the apartment home, as it felt more of a home than anywhere else he’d ever been, even if it wasn’t his permanent residence. He took his arm away from Jake and smiled widely as he realized the temperature of the apartment. It was warm and homely, and if he wasn’t mistaken it looked in a better condition than last time.
“How did all this happen?” asked Masimo. “You get heating and a whole collection of new furnishings?”
Jake lifted up his arm and waved it around in the air; a bright yellow cast on it. Masimo had been completely oblivious to it before.
“I tripped at work and broke my arm, so got a lot of compensation because I threatened that I would report them. If they had one more bad report then they were to be shut down, so I got a decent pay out. I got a new couch, well, it’s still second hand but in a lot better condition, an actual fridge even though it’s a miniature one and my front door repaired so I can lock it now.” he beamed.
“Wow, someone’s raking it in.” he smiled back.
“I still have a little left for when times get hard again, but for now I can sleep without living in fear of being robbed, sleeping badly on an old couch or having to drink warm milk again.”
Masimo chuckled and sat down on the ‘new’ couch, which was indeed a great deal more comfortable than the other one, and even more than that in comparison to the sidewalk.
“So you’re a hundred and ten percent positive it’s alright for me to stay here?”
“Not a hundred and ten percent, no, because that percentage does not exist.” said Jake, rolling his eyes at his companion’s awful mathematical skills.
Masimo smiled a little. “A hundred percent?”
“A hundred percent.” he smiled back and nodded. “Oh, and I bought some decent food for once, so you can feast ‘till you physically can’t eat anymore.”
The blond haired man got up and hugged Jake again, not as tightly as before to make sure not to hurt his broken arm. He’d never felt compassion for someone before, then again, no one had shown any compassion towards him either. Everything said or directed to him would be shouts, orders or beatings. Sometimes all three, yet somehow he managed to keep above the emotional line of depression and suicide. If it wasn’t for his positivity he would have died many moons ago.

They broke away.

“Seeing as I’m staying here for a little while, where do you keep your stash of money?”
“In the baked bean can on the top shelf of the middle cupboard.” he said.
Masimo nodded but frowned a little, worried that someone could so easily take advantage of his friend as he was oblivious to the fact that if he wanted to, Masimo could now take his money and run.
But instead, he got out the money from his pocket and put it in the can as a way to help pay for his expenses, no matter how little he would make sure they be.
“There’s three hundred and fifty dollars. That should help keep you living a little while longer.”
“That’s very kind of you.” grinned Jake. “How did you make so much money?”
“The more kinky they are, the more money you make.”
“Did they… hurt you?”
He nodded solemnly and rolled up his sleeves. “That’s not the worst of it. But it’s fine, I’m making money, so I shouldn’t really care, right?”
“Masimo, I’m making money and I’m not getting hurt for it.”
“You broke your arm for money.” he scoffed.
“That was not on purpose!” he squealed in defence.
He sighed. “That’s true. Look, I’m not comfortable talking about this, so please stop.”

Jake nodded and walked in to the bathroom, where he found some cream to help soothe Masimo’s burns and gashes. To most people in his state the cream would be a luxury, but he was constantly hurting himself as he was a clumsy fellow, and felt that it was more of a necessity than anything else.
He walked back into the main room and took out two pairs of pajamas from the old dresser, a rag to clean his face and a toothbrush, which he’d taken last time he was unpacking goods. Jake passed the items to Masimo, who thanked him.
“You’re too nice.” he smiled. “But I really appreciate it.”
“I know you do, that’s why I’m doing it. Bathroom is the only other room, so that’s not difficult to find. If you go in there first, I’ll get changed in here and fix us something to eat. Sound good?”
“Sounds fantastic.” he grinned and walked into the bathroom, carefully shutting the door behind him. Jake stripped off as quickly as possible and slipped on the pajamas over his pale, skinny body. He ran a hand through his hair, making a note to himself that he needed to wash it tomorrow.
He rifled through his food supplies, after putting his clothes in the hamper, settling on some good old fashioned grilled cheeses, getting out what he needed to make them and turning on the gas hob.
Not too soon after, Masimo came out of the bathroom, a large, true smile plastered across his face. It had been several years since someone had taken care of him like this, and he really couldn’t thank the kind stranger enough. He slowly walked towards Jake and wrapped his arms around Jake’s waist from behind, resting his head on his shoulder, and taking in the comforting smell of cooking.
“What are you doing?” asked Jake, tensing up at the unknown contact.
“Is it so wrong to hug you?”
“No, I didn’t say that. It’s more of the fact you’re hugging me in a romantically inclined way.”
“And if that were to be true?”
“I don’t.” he paused, trying to think of exactly how he would react. “I don’t really know.”
“Okay.” smiled Masimo, letting go of him and skipping towards the couch, collapsing on it and sighing with content; he didn’t think he’d ever get used to having a friend.