Turnabout is Fair Play

[Existentially Odd]

(Continued from \'Bragging Rights\')

Kerr left work early that night.  Truthfully, he wasn\'t getting anything done in amongst arguing with Bralik to see if he was sure he\'d made the right choice and the buzz of other Oligarch employees bursting into the room to see if the change of leadership rumour (that must have been spread by the two demons shadowing Bralik as they left the boardroom to ensure Lazarus was packing, as he\'d said he would) was true.

All appointments had been postponed until the next night and Kerr managed to dissuade the staff from having a spontaneous party instead - he told them it wouldn\'t be right, with Lazarus still in the building.  Most of them had no particular feelings about Lazarus one way or the other, since he\'d barely interacted with any of them, but they all knew Kerr and the idea of him being in charge seemed to excite them.  The feeling was contagious and, by the time he left a couple of hours later, his cheeks were beginning to feel fixed in a smiling position.

In the car, he did his best to focus on Ben and stop the endless litany of I\'m the Luminary, I\'m the new Luminary, fuck me, I\'m the Luminary! going through his head.  He still felt... uncomfortable with the story Lazarus had bragged about, but he\'d also come to the conclusion that it had been none of his business at the time and still wasn\'t.  They weren\'t together, he\'d been seeing Jenna, Ben had been free to see and do whomever he wanted.  It was just... Lazarus? Ugh!

He parked his car and walked with a jaunty stride to the elevator, wondering if he really should move into the penthouse at the Oligarchy.  Would it be as convenient as the Capital?  Would he get too caught up in work and just never come back upstairs?  With Ben up there, he doubted it!  Also, Bralik had already begun hinting at the fact that he would need to hire some Oligarchs who were as passionate about their job as he had been - implying he wouldn\'t be doing it any more.  That was a strange thought.  He couldn\'t imagine himself being anywhere as detached as Lazarus had been, but getting the Oligarchy to a point where it was being run by enthusiastic and intelligent beings - rather than lazy and self-indulgent ones - seemed an excellent idea.  It would benefit the city and give him a lot more free time.

Kerr let himself into the apartment with the smile back on his face, feeling a little tingly throughout his body with the anticipation of telling Ben everything that had happened.  He spied his love sitting across the room and on the lounge farthest from the door as soon as he walked in, and greeted him jovially.  "Hey there!  Boy, what a night!"  As he stepped over to place his keys on the hook above the kitchen bench, he expected to hear a comment about him being home early or a question about what he said, but there was nothing immediately.

Looking back at Ben, he saw that he hadn\'t even garnered his fledgling\'s attention, for he was staring at something else entirely.  Just sitting there, motionless, staring.  Following his gaze, Kerr\'s smile dissipated entirely and was replaced with a frown as he spied a fairly large cardboard box and a suitcase sitting tidily together in the middle of the carpet, like orphaned children not wanting to lose one another in a busy train station.  The pair were covered with express post stickers and address labels.  They hadn\'t been opened but Kerr recognised the suitcase; it was the one Ben had packed with his clothes to take with him when he\'d left.  For New York.  And now it - along with a box of other stuff - was back.

With a sinking feeling in his gut, he looked back at Ben, moving towards the objects in question.  "These arrived just now?" he asked briskly, thinking that it was after midnight and awfully late for packages to be brought up by the reception staff downstairs, but he supposed they knew he and Ben kept nocturnal hours.  One o\'clock in the morning wasn\'t too late for them.  He crouched down and began tilting the suitcase and then the box, expecting to see the sender\'s address somewhere on them to confirm his suspicion, but there were none.  If they\'d got lost in the mail, it was obvious that Themba or Anu wouldn\'t have cared.  They\'d just wanted them gone, it seemed.

[Trillian]

It was only when Kerr talked that he noticed his sire in the room, and then Kerr was touching the box and the suitcase to inspect them in a way Ben had been frozen from doing.

"They came at nine," he said tonelessly.

He\'d come in at eight after finding someone to drink from a couple of blocks down, not game to go back to Risk now that he and Kerr were together because he wasn\'t sure how he was going to feel about the place after everything he\'d done in the back rooms with strangers.

After planting a small dominant seed into the mortals that he\'d drunk from, he\'d had his willing donors and sent them on their way after he\'d had his fill.  For an hour he\'d flipped channels mindlessly, about to consider reading a book instead, when he heard the elevator doors chime outside the penthouse.  He paused to listen, expecting footsteps to head to the other apartment but they came to Kerr\'s place instead.  He was up and heading for the door before the knock even came, and opened it not too long after, surprising the Capital Building staffmember, who had a small platform trolley behind him.

Ben had been asked his name even though the staffmember knew him (and he supposed it was policy) and then made to sign for the items delivered.  He\'d barely looked at them - a glance had been enough for him to know what they were - and the staffmember wheeled them in and set them down in the middle of the living area under Ben\'s instructions.  They hadn\'t been so much instructions as an agreeable grunt sounding at a suggestion for where they could be left.

With a strange look thrown his way, the staffmember left with Ben closing and locking the door behind him, and turned around with his back to the door to stare at the objects in the living area space as though they were alien visitors.  It had taken him close to an hour before he approached them, but as he drew nearer he\'d lost his courage and veered away in order to sit down on an armchair facing them.

It wasn\'t like he expected Themba to be packed up in the carton ready to yell \'surprise!\', but it certainly gave him enough of a shock that he could feel a dull throbbing all over his body while his mind blanked.  His fingers were tingly, and he thought about inane things until Kerr woke him from his subdued state.

"Will you open them?" he asked, still in the same dead-tone voice he\'d used when declaring the time they\'d come in.  He hadn\'t dared open them without Kerr present.  It was like New York was reaching icy fingers out to Ben in order to try and claim him.  It left him feeling cold.

[Existentially Odd]

"Of course," Kerr agreed, glancing over at Ben and realising his fledgling had been sitting there for hours, simply staring at his packages.  His heart went out to him and he set about tearing off all the stickers and labels that were stopping the two containers from coming apart.

When it was done, Kerr found himself kneeling before an open suitcase filled with clothes, and a pile of other belongings that he\'d pulled from the box.  He recognised all of Ben\'s journals and stacked them neatly beside even more clothes and a few knickknacks.  One of them was the credit card Kerr had given Ben long ago and he picked it up in order to take it to sit by his love.

"I\'m glad they sent this back," he said, waggling the card before sliding it into his pants pocket.  "The last thing I would want is them getting access to our money."  Sitting forward, he placed his hands over Ben\'s giving them a squeeze and looking into his beautiful eyes.  "I haven\'t seen a message of any sort, but I suppose it\'s clear in the fact that everything\'s here; they\'re free of you, as you are from them.  Are you alright?" he asked quietly.

[Trillian]

"Yes," he said immediately, but then frowned as he focussed on Kerr.  "I think so.  I\'m glad my things came without a message."

He meant that he was glad his things came without having to see any of them - especially Themba.  He supposed it meant that he was truly free now, if Themba had allowed all his belongings to be returned.  The women had managed to collect him back into their nest.  Perhaps Themba had found out that Ben had cheated on him.  Whatever the case, he was relieved (yet still paranoid and suspicious) that he\'d been released.

[Existentially Odd]

"Do you want to find somewhere to put your things?" he hinted, believing Ben needed to get over the speedbump and shock of having everything sent back to him - well, him care of Kerr, according to the labels - and that that might help him.  Of course, the possibility that Ben could yet be packing up everything to move to the Chambers was coming back to the forefront of his thoughts, but he couldn\'t rush his fledgling at this precarious time.

[Trillian]

Ben nodded and stood up, but his gaze was fixed on Kerr moreso than his own belongings.  Funny, he\'d thought he was less complete without them, but seeing them now didn\'t make him feel more complete.  It helped him to disassociate further from his previous life, in fact - the one he\'d led before he\'d lost his memory.

"I didn\'t want to open them without you," he confessed now, hoping his sire wouldn\'t think he was weak.  "It was more what they represented than anything else.  That I\'m free," he added, though there was a niggle of doubt still inside of him, most of him believed that he was out of Themba\'s clutches.

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr stood as well, pausing to listen to Ben\'s confession and compelled to wrap his arms around him in comfort, kissing his cheek and pulling back to smile reassuringly at him.

"You are," he agreed huskily, letting his love go in order to move with him towards the belongings.  "You may not want to unpack all these clothes just yet, come to think of it," he said airily as he came to a stop before the open suitcase.  "I have news," he confessed, his face lighting up automatically, as soon as he allowed himself to think about it.

He wasn\'t sure it was the right time or even a good time to tell him everything, but he couldn\'t contain it any longer.  "If you want, we can move into the penthouse at the Chambers.  The demons ousted Lazarus tonight and nominated me as Luminary!" he crowed, laughing giddily.

[Trillian]

Ben, who\'d spent time with Lazarus at the penthouse in the Chambers, stared at Kerr for a moment while the news sunk in.  Lazarus had lost his position as Luminary?  Even though Kerr seemed happy and he wanted to be happy for his sire, he couldn\'t help but feel bad for the Ancient blonde, who\'d done nothing but help him feel more empowered.

"So he went quietly?" Ben asked, figuring Lazarus probably would\'ve because for all of his confidence and boasting, his actions were all on the cowardly side.  Of course Ben hadn\'t said as much, but that had been partially why he\'d felt safer with the blonde Ancient than he ever had with the African Ancient.  The way Lazarus had told his story about ruling the city beforehand and letting it go, and about how he\'d watched his sire die on the cross - both of them told in a way that was supposed to make Ben feel inspired by him, he supposed - had Ben reading between the lines.  Lazarus was self-serving, and seemed to slink out of the spotlight when things went bad.

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr\'s expression shifted and became slightly more troubled by Ben\'s response - he was also a little disappointed that Ben still seemed unable to reflect his buoyant mood, but emotions were still difficult for his fledgling to come by and he understood... it didn\'t stop the little kernel of disappointment flowering, though.

"Well... sort of.  You see... he interrupted me when I was on a break, to tell me, uh," Kerr found it difficult to say it, and he broke eye contact briefly with Ben while he gathered his courage, then looked back, "that you and he had taken two mortals to the penthouse and uh, partied with them.  I got upset - mainly because you hadn\'t told me and I\'d thought Ash was the only one, you see and it\'s really none of my business, I know that, but I was surprised you see, so I got up to leave and he decided he\'d give me more details so I shouted at him and Bralik - head of security and the Mimics - came in and asked if everything was alright so Lazarus ordered Bralik to whip me and he refused and told Lazarus to leave.  More or less.  With three demons standing over him, he didn\'t have a lot of choice but to go quietly."

Kerr swallowed, watching Ben closely and hoping he\'d kept up with his rapidly-stated tale.

[Trillian]

Ben listened quietly, lifting his eyebrows only slightly in surprise with Kerr\'s admission that he\'d thought Ash was the only one Ben had slept with when he\'d admitted to Kerr the same night upon being discovered (and promising an exclusive relationship) that he\'d also had sex at Risk - which was how he\'d met Lazarus in the first place.

He could sense that Kerr was happy about his new position, and Ben wanted to be happy for him, but he didn\'t really understand the political arena of the Oligarchy (though he knew in civilian terms, Kerr was more or less the \'mayor\' of the city when he was the Luminary).  It likely meant his attention would stray from Ben to his new responsibilities, so Ben couldn\'t really be too thrilled about it.  It was selfish, he knew, and he felt guilty about such a selfish outlook, but he couldn\'t stop feeling that way either.

"I\'m sorry he threw what we did in your face," Ben said, "but I told you I had random sex at Risk.  I didn\'t know you wanted to know it all."  Ben looked at Kerr quizzically.  "Do you?"

He wondered if Kerr would want him to spill the details, and if so, he would start with Sotiris and finish with Ash.

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr\'s expression shifted indecisively.  "I know you said random people at Risk, I just didn\'t think that meant other vampires - and not anyone you knew.  Not Lazarus, I guess.  Not after your history with him."  He\'d warned Ben about his time with Lazarus specifically so he\'d be wary of him, but apparently that had just been a red flag to a bull.

He shook his head.  "I don\'t know how much I want to know - and I know how it goes, because I went a bit stupid at Risk myself after you left and Jack was killed.  I\'ve been there so I know it\'s none of my business I just... I dunno, I was shocked to have it thrown at me like that.  Lazarus\' parting words were that if my \'party-boy\' came back to him for more, he wouldn\'t turn you away and fuck me if I tried to punish him for it, because you will go back to him," he finished, biting his lower lip somewhat nervously as he finished.

His eyes were large and worried as he waited for Ben to reassure him.

[Trillian]

Ben stared at Kerr for a moment while he digested this new information.  Lazarus had certainly made an interesting claim, considering how they\'d left things at the end of their second night together.

"I only went with him a second time because he didn\'t treat me like I expected an Ancient to," he said, remembering the way he\'d ordered mortals to take care of Ben both sexually and nutritionally.  He\'d offered himself up to Lazarus when the other had been interested in him thanks to his age, but the second time was to investigate the dominance Lazarus had given him.  Using the mortals like they had, had encouraged Ben to feel a little less numb and a great deal superior.  "We talked a bit afterward, but other than that it was just another random night of sex."  He shrugged to indicate Lazarus didn\'t matter to him in the grand scheme of things.  "He was nice to me, so I didn\'t understand your warning, but now I get it.  He just picked me up to offend you.  He\'s not so good in bed that I can\'t stay away from him," he added thoughtfully, for Lazarus was rather a selfish lover.

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr blinked and very suddenly all his insecurities melted away as he burst out laughing.  He gathered Ben into his arms once more, still chuckling and kissing him as he squeezed him lovingly.  "God, I adore you," he giggled, nuzzling him before pulling back.  His hands remained wrapped around his fledgling\'s waist as he leaned back to look consideringly down at him.

"So what do you say?  Was the place so good we should live there or should we just stay here and I\'ll continue to commute?" he asked, feeling bemused about asking Ben\'s opinion on the penthouse, since he\'d seen more of it than Kerr had.

[Trillian]

Ben grinned as he was embraced and held Kerr back tightly, glad that his candid response had gone down well.  After he\'d admitted that Lazarus had been speaking the truth about their activities together, he\'d been concerned that Kerr would take it badly.

"The penthouse at the Chambers is a nice place," he replied after a brief pause.  "I think you\'ll want to change the furniture though.  Except for the library the place is a bit... stark."

He didn\'t realise he was commenting on Halen\'s desire for minimilist style, which Lazarus hadn\'t bothered to change during his stay there.

[Existentially Odd]

"The library?" Kerr queried, unable to imagine why or how Ben had got to the library on a night of unbridled passion.  Only Ben could leave a foursome to explore a library!  He shook his head and chuckled at his love, not continuing that line of conversation any further.  Perhaps once they were in the penthouse, but not yet.

"Come on then; we should start packing!" he enthused, reaching down to gather Ben\'s suitcase and pack the rest in the box.  Who knew that Themba could send them such a useful, well-timed gift?  He then strode off, pondering where they would get a whole lot more boxes from.