“He couldn’t even jerk himself off: there was no one to give him permission to come. ”

“He couldn’t just come right out with it, could he? No, that would scare her off. He had to be subtle, build up to it. Explain himself. “I love you.” Of course, straight to the point was also an effective strategy.”

“The message, which one fall or another of the coin would eventually give him, was how to get himself out of his chamber and into Nepenthe's, so that he could tell her why he had not come to tell her why he had not come.”

“He heard himself crying out: Never, never! Or was it: Verily I come, I come to you? He could not tell. Then as a flash from some other point of power there came to his mind another thought: Take it off! Take it off! Fool, take it off! Take off the Ring! The two powers strove in him. For a moment, perfectly balanced between their piercing points, he writhed, tormented. Suddenly he was aware of himself again. Frodo, neither the Voice nor the Eye: free to choose, and with one remaining instant in which to do so. He took the Ring off his finger.”

“He wanted Ty with him, wanted him badly. Needed him as a partner, and not just at work. Craved him as a lover more than he’d ever jonesed over heroin. Connected with him in so many ways that Zane couldn’t see a way to untangle himself and didn’t even want to try”

“So," Simon said. "Looks like you and Derek are getting along again. What happened? Did he give you the look?""Look?""You know. The one that makes him look like a whipped puppy, and makes you feel like a jerk for doing the whipping.""Ah, that one. So it works on you, too?"He snorted. "It even works on Dad. We give in, we tell him it's okay, and the next thing you know, he's chewing up slippers again."I laughed.”