It was that realization that the young man still didn’t realize that he wasn’t just going to be<i>rolling out of there </i>that brought Milo’s attention back around to Ian Callaghan. The tension that crackled beneath the crisp confines of his outfit rolled through the muscles that rippled underneath until he dropped back down flat on his feet and rolled his shoulders back, followed by a slow gyration of his head on his neck. The golden glow that had been radiating from his eyes faded back into their normal warm chocolate stare and the bright white of his teeth flashed white in his face as he grinned with shock at Daxon as he clambered out of the bed spitting rebellion. Milo barked out a quick laugh and clapped the tense doctor on the shoulder.<br/><br/><br/>“You’ve got yourself a feisty fuckboy, Callaghan. Only judging by how shitty his mood is so far, you haven’t gotten around to tapping that ass yet...” He trailed off long enough for his attention to drop down low to the retreating backside of the younger man, a predator’s gleam tracking him followed by a low hum of approval. “At least it’s a nice ass,” he added, pitching the comment over to Dax. “You don’t know what the fuck is wrong with you yet, do you, snake boy?”<br/><br/><br/>The darker man’s hysterics were caught off abruptly as Ian clapped a hand hard over Milo’s mouth, his open palm stretching across the other’s lower jaw as he dragged him down to meet his cool stare. For now, he let Daxon disappear into the confines of the bathroom. He needed to get rid of another growing pain before he followed the kid in there. Pressing his mouth up close to Milo’s ear, the lion’s Alpha murmured his threat softly – a sweet promise that caressed the cavity of the other’s ear like icy fingers. “You’re stirring up more trouble than is welcome, Beta. Thank you for bringing the emergency supply, but I think I need to handle things from here, don’t you? If you can’t make yourself useful, I’m going to need you to leave so I can figure out what to do about this.”<br/><br/>Milo’s grin only faded briefly as Ian spoke like he did, but turned his head over so that his own lips brushed the rough growth along the other man’s jaw. His lips caressed, teasing, hinting at an intimacy that might have once been between the two. But judging by the way Ian stiffened from the kiss, his own mouth hardening, it was no longer a welcome thing. Instead, the doctor released his hold on his jaw and pushed him away with a grunt. There other were spoke just the same, his voice edged with a bemused warning. “Just be careful with the baby snake, doc. He’s going to have to go home to his real parents soon. Reptiles and mammals don’t make good partners. I’ll get out of your hair for now, but I know that look on your face – there’s something more to what’s going on here than you rescuing some little fuck toy from a snake attack. Just be careful, man.<i>Please</i>,” he concluded. The please resonated the most, a plea underneath the snark, then he was backing out of the room, his dark eyes on the door that Daxon had disappeared inside. “Let me know if his ass is as delicious as it looks,” he said loudly enough for his last comment to be heard behind the closed door before he had backed completely out of the bedroom, shutting the door behind him. Only he had no intention of leaving. Not yet.<br/><br/><br/>Ian watched Milo leave the room with a hooded stare. Then, with a silent groan, he knifed both sets of fingers through his hair and stepped up to the door. He knew before his hand closed over the door knob that it was locked but tried to twist it just the same. It didn’t budge. Feeling the tension in his shoulders bunch, Ian gritted his teeth and lifted his knuckles to rap on the closed door. Hard. “Daxon, it’s Ian. Milo’s gone. I need you to open the door now, please.” When he didn’t receive a response, he knocked a few more times, this time harder. “Daxon, I’m serious. We have<i>got </i>to talk about this. You can’t just lock yourself in my bathroom and expect anything to be any different. You can’t just<i>ignore </i>the changes that I’m sure you’ve noticed by now. Open the door.”<br/><br/>When he still didn’t get a response, he leaned his forehead against the wood frame and closed his eyes, hand still around the knob. The last thing he wanted to do right then was call on one of the beasts that made itself at home inside of him to force the door open, but the kid was making his choice for him. Ian knew he could just walk away, wait until Daxon had a chance to process under the stream of a shower, but there was another drive that pushed him forward now. Gritting his teeth and clenching his jaw, the muscles of his arm bunched and grew as he twisted the knob again. That supernatural strength flowed down his arm, making his hand spasm around the handle. Grunting with the strain, he felt more than heard the lock screech as it was ground into submission by the force behind his sudden twist. It snapped inside the door, causing it to swing forward listlessly.<br/><br/>Head lifting, the man didn’t hesitate as he stepped into the master bathroom that had begun to fill with the steam from the floor to ceiling shower that harbored the silhouette of Daxon Ripley. The room was large with a full walk in closet on one side and a giant garden tub complete with jets on the other with the shower stall filling a corner of the room. Large enough to fit at least three grown men comfortably, the shower was a rainfall of pressurized heat that fell directly above. The vanity had a smoke and mirror effect with the condensation that poured from the cracks.<br/><br/><br/>He still wore a determined expression on his face with the way his jaw had locked rigidly and his strong brow had dragged down. Unhappy, but calm and keeping the beast at bay, the doctor stalked right up to the shower and wrenched the door open. He allowed enough time for himself to slip inside, shirt and boxers still on, before shutting the shower’s door behind him. Energy thrummed through his body as he threw his arms out, planting his palms flat against the tiled wall on either side of Daxon. It forced him to step closer, to loom just a few inches over the younger man, until his shirt covered chest pressed up against his back and pushed him forward. Though the cotton was quickly soaking through from the gentle, hot fall of water above to mold against every ridge of musculature underneath it. His firm torso pressed forward forcibly until the other was practically pressed against the shower’s wall. His arms tightened to trap him in and in place as his mouth shot down to touch his ear. His breath was as heated as his voice when he spoke down low. “I don’t need you getting pissed off right now. I need you to listen to me. Think you can keep your mouth shut long enough to do that for me?”<br/><br/><br/>One arm moved from where it was outstretched, unbudging, against the wall to coil around Daxon’s naked torso and haul him more fully against him to hold him into place in case he struggled. It gave his other arm the freedom to maneuver between them so that he could peel his sodden shirt from his body and drag it up and over his head. It landed in a wet heap in the corner of the stall. His boxers were the next things to go, pushed down past his hips so that they fell to his ankles. These he kicked out of the way and pressed forward, his free hand looping around to catch Dax’s jaw and drag his head back to look him in the eyes.<br/><br/>“Don’t try to fight me right now,” he murmured calmly. Though he held the other in an iron grip, his expression had softened as the sepia lined champagne of his stare flicked over his face to gauge his reaction to the sudden intrusion inside the shower. “And don’t try to fight what’s happening to you. You can control it, I promise. Right now, let’s just focus on getting you clean. You’re going to have to learn to trust me, Daxon, because you’re not going to just be able to walk away from this now.” His nostrils flared to take in the scent of a snake’s musk underneath the cleaner smell of the water; the potent, sharp tinge of his own body wash and the cleansing soap smell of shampoo. The acrid stench of fear. The heat of anger. “You’ve changed into something more than human. Everything is heightened..<i>everything. </i>But it will get better.”