If Daya could blush, he'd probably be beet red. He was on his way back home with Theo right behind him, hand resting on the small of his back as they walked down the cobbled path. He was mildy embarassed by his minor beach breakdown, his homesickness had gotten to him, but he was also very glad they met. "Thanks again for walking me home."

"You seem a little dizzy." Theo smiles, revealing a dimple in his right cheek. His smiles were just as intoxicating as the wine they'd shared. One thing Daya noticed about Porthaven was that all of its inhabitants were beautiful, almost unnaturally so. Theo was no exception; He was stunning. Probably in his early twenties like Daya, give or take a few years. He has dark brown hair that falls in his eyes and a faint five o'clock shadow. He's clearly been sunkissed from spending time at the beach. His eyes are deep-set, narrow and a bright sapphire blue that Daya could get lost in.

The cottage came into view. "This is your place?" Theo asks.

"Yeah," Daya says, fumbling for his keys. Drinking was probably a mistake, he was always such a jittery drunk.

"Do you need help with that?" Theo askes, leaning over Daya's shoulder. Daya could feel his breath on his neck.

"No... I'm fine, just woozy," Daya mutters as he finally slid the key into the keyhole. He turns around, his face coming inches away from Theo's.

"Good night Daya."

"Good night Theodore."

"I like it when you say that," Theo whispers, leaning forward, eyes darting across Daya's face. He paused for a moment then pulled back. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Daya is still in a daze when he walks into the house. The house is oddly empty without Jay here. It's quiet, too quiet for Daya's liking. Jay would have teased him about Theo tomorrow morning. She was back in New York, fast asleep by now. At least the silence wouldn't be permanent, his pets should arrive here tommorow.

Daya heads upstairs to bed, his mind and body still on Theo. Especially his body. It's definately been a while since he'd been with anyone, work and moving were far to distracting but now he was free and already had a date with a man who seemed like he was ripped right out of the cheesy romance novels he loved to read. Daya quickly changed into his PJ's and drunkenly flopped into bed.

Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the long period of celibacy, maybe it was just because Theo was so fucking hot but Daya found his hand slowly migrating under the band of his boxer briefs. He was already half-hard, and the thought of Theo only made it easier to get all the way quickly. Soon, Daya comes all over his hand and wipes the fluid off with a fistful of tissues, finally able to doze of to sleep.

...

Daya wakes the next day to his door bell ringing insistently. Daya jolts upright, barely taking in the mellow light of mid-morning before he's stumbling out of bed and downstairs. He fumbles for the door handle, barely managing to open the door before a black and white blur barrels into his stomach. His border collie, Rue, bowls him over, knocking the wind out of him before scrambeling ontop to lick at his face. "I'm happy to see you too Rue, but it's only been two days."

Another of his pets, a grumpy old ragdoll named Lady walces her way in, staring disdainfuly at her new home. Lasly, his rainbow parakeet, Petey, is brought in in his cage, held up by an amused pet mover.

"Are you Daya?" The man asks, after setting the cage down on the ground. "These are your pets?"

"Yup, that's me and their mine." Daya signed for his pets and brought them all in as the courier left. Rue was already making herself at home, running around and sniffing everything while Lady found a quiet elevated place to sleep. Once he closed the door and made sure all his windows and doors were open, he opened Petey's cage. The little bird chirped happily as he flew out and started to explore.

After making some breakfast for himself and his pets, he settled down with Rue on the couch to go work. He needed to go through a few documents handling his aunt's estate and the building of his brand new vet's clinic.

Aunt Priya was his mother's sister, an eccentiric divorcee who'd settled down in this very cottage to escape the bustly of the city. Daya had so may small, pleasant memories of his time here with her and his siblings over the summer. They'd been close, very close, so while it wasn't a suprise that Daya was mentioned in her will, he never expected tto get her seaside cottage and now abandoned pottery store. Especially, when Priya had a son of her own, estranged though they may be. The willl had caused quite the stirr when it was read, which kept her assets tangled up for an extra year.

Reading the documents is boring work, which is thankfully interrupted by Rue whining and scratching at the front door. Daya sighed, put his unsorted documenst aside as fished Rue's collar and leash out of one of his half-packed boxes.

"Thanks fo the distraction," Daya says as he attaches Rue's leash. "I think we both need some fresh air."

Daya didn't know that many places in town, it's been a while since he visited regularly, so his memory carried him to the constroction sight were his Aunt's store was being converted to a vet clinic. There aren't to many builders there at the moment, just a small handful, but he is quickly approached by a construction worker, presumably the foreman.

"Hello Miss. Can I help you?" He asks.

Like everyone else in town, the foreman is gorgeus, which is particularly noticable through his vest. He looks like a model from a sexy calender shoot: tall, well built and short messy dishwater blonde hair.

"Miss?" The foreman is grinning, amused. Is he that obvious?

"Um, right. My name is Mr Davawalla. I was just walking Rue here," He gestures to his dog who is currently darting restlessly around their feet. "And since I was passing by I just wanted to check the place out."

"Ah, sorry for the mistake," The foreman apologises, seemingly unfazed. "You're welcome to explore the site as much as you want if you wear a hard hat." He scoops a hat and tosses it to Daya, who just barely catches it.

Daya ties Rue's leash to the fence outside, in clear view of a bunch of other workers and wears the hard hat, which barely fits on his waves, sitting lop-sidded on his head, much to the foreman's amusement.

"Perfect." He winks, turns about and hefts up a heavy payload onehanded. "I'll give you a tour of the place. Name's Luis by the way."

Luis guides Daya through his soon to be completed vet clinic. It's going to be a small but cozy place with two examination rooms, a waiting area and a small office in the back. He's keeping the light yellow painted walls and some of the displayed art.

"What brings you to PortHaven of all places?" Luis asks as they step back outside. "PortHaven isn't exactly a bustling place."

"Exactly, I wanted to escape the crowds and I've got a lot of nostalgia for this place."

"We've needed a vet for a while, most people in town have a ton of fa-pets." Luis clears his throat. "I'm sure you'll be a great addition to the town."

"I hope so," Daya answers as he passes the gate and unties Rue. "Are you going to Sophia's?"

Luis leans over the gate, getting in Daya's space. "Are you going to be there?" Daya nodds. "Then I'll be there."