Re-Introduction

[Trillian]

THE BEAT WAS ALMOST AS erotic as the smells.  As soon as Ben and Kerr entered the club, the younger of the two was assaulted and then hypnotised by them.  The first thing to hit him was the smell of mortals; of sweat and cologne, energy and life.  Next was the alcohol because it was too early for the blood to dominate - that came later.  Then the undercurrent was sex, for even though they were only walking in, there were already those mortals releasing pheromones such as any animal in heat.  It made him want to find the first willing mortal around and take full advantage of everything on offer.  This was why he hadn\'t been here on his own since taking the full relationship step with Kerr.  It was easy to lose himself in here, to get carried away and receive offered blood, offered mouths, offered bodies.

Holding Kerr\'s hand, he led him to a booth in the corner - the one he\'d sat in for five minutes before a mortal named Dom approached him and did the most wonderful things to him with his tongue.  This time he didn\'t anticipate the same thing would happen - but he still intended on them being approached.  The furthest booth offered the most privacy, and it seemed to draw those mortals who had the loosest of morals.

He slid into the booth and drew Kerr after him, though he slid a fair way around, following the U-shape of the booth so that the cushioned seats weren\'t blocked from any mortals wanting to join them.  He released Kerr\'s hand in order to do so, using his hands to push on the seat even as he slid across it, then kept his hands below the booth, his wrists on his thighs and his fingers touching each other a little.  Leaning forward, even though Kerr didn\'t need him to do so in order to hear, he grinned at his sire while he spoke.

"It shouldn\'t take long to fill up," he said, for even though it was a little earlier than usual, it was at the start of the peak period.  "It shouldn\'t take long for us to be approached," he added thoughtfully, scanning the club floor to see if anyone was eyeing them off already.

[Existentially Odd]

"No," Kerr agreed, watching Ben and musing to himself.  He\'d followed his fledgling into the booth, though had chosen not to sit right against him, stopping with his body a small person space away but his legs angled towards - and touching - Ben.  He didn\'t need to be right against him to feel the awareness in his fledge, though; it was permeating the air between them, thrumming happily along their blood connection, evidenced in the flare of his youthful nostrils.

Kerr felt it also, of course, his own senses aroused by the scents and the sights of a familiar indulgence, but he was unused to getting that reaction from Ben.  When last they\'d come to Risk, Ben was prudish and disapproving, looking down on the \'groupies\' he had nothing but a sneer of disdain for - and never any time or attention.  Now, it seemed that he didn\'t care who approached them, just as long as they did, and soon... it was a paradigm shift that Kerr was doing his best to digest and come to terms with as quickly and quietly as he was able.

He could\'ve understood a blood arousal, a knowledge that a drink was so close and relief for his beast was just about tangible in here, but it was more than that and Kerr had to acknowledge it, for it was feeding him, too.  His sexual lust, as well as his blood lust.  He watched Ben and had an overwhelming desire to touch him, to kiss and fondle him, to play all sorts of wicked games with his body while his fledge drank and he drank and... it made his head swim with the undefined horniness of it all.

Kerr looked away, deciding that sitting here and staring at Ben wasn\'t going to calm him down, astounded by how rapidly just the smells and the awareness in Ben had affected him.  He ran his hand along his thighs, yanking against his jeans because they suddenly seemed constricting (and even if he wasn\'t hard, there was an energised pulse down there that only added to the intrigue of following Ben\'s lead), shuffling around a little on the seat as he searched for a distraction.

He hadn\'t deliberately worn a dressy shirt - a grey one with eye-catching streaks of silver squiggles woven into the fabric all over it, open at his throat to reveal a tight silver chain about his muscular neck and sleeves rolled up to his elbows - that begged it\'s tails not be tucked in because it was quite short; well, not for the purpose of leaving it out so that it might cover any tell-tale swelling in his crotch, anyway, but it seemed fortuitous now that he had.  He looked down into the shadows beneath the table somewhat self-consciously, angling on the heel of his left black boot as if he was checking that he hadn\'t trod in gum or something.

When he looked back up again, he found that a distraction had appeared after all, but it was not a comforting one.  In fact, it was one he found rather appealing, even if it was dressed in tight leather pants, boots similar to his and wore a tacky mesh shirt that blatantly advertised the chocolatey skin and bulging muscles beneath.  The distraction had a fleeting smile - more of curiosity than anything else - for him, but a very broad and cocky come-on grin for Ben as it slouched very obviously against the end of the booth seat, its hips angled forward and its head dipped so that a smooth brown neck was highlighted by the flashing lights of the club.  This distraction obviously knew what it was doing.

"Hi there," Dominic smiled at Ben, trying to play coy when really, inside he was crowing.  He\'d been back to Risk only twice since his night with Ben - both furtive attempts and sneak-outs when Michael was already asleep - and had given up on seeing the demanding blonde again.

It seemed fate was smiling on him, though, for tonight was not just a sneak-out night, Michael was out of town and Dom had got dressed up and come early to Risk to play.  Perhaps that was where he\'d gone wrong before?  Maybe the other two times, he\'d arrived at the club too late for Ben, he\'d already come and gone.  Cum and gone, even.  The thought made him giggle as he hooked his thumbs into his studded leather belt - as if his cock needed some more advertising than it was already getting in his tight pants and thrust-forward position.

"I\'m so glad to see you again," he told Ben sincerely, "I\'d just about given up \'cos I\'ve been here a couple of times since last time and... no you.  Hope I wasn\'t too slow getting here to you - I came as soon as I saw you walk in," he confessed, his tone intimate yet somehow appropriately subservient and deferential - every time he said the word you, there was a worshipful undercurrent to it that somehow made it sound like bedroom talk already... something he\'d worked on.  He glanced at the brunette in the booth with Ben, but his gaze was held by the blonde, his smile unwavering.

Dominic\'s entire manner was one that had Kerr blinking at him and shifting around in his seat again, though less obviously.  Ben would feel his sire\'s gaze upon him after that little speech.

[Trillian]

Ben looked up and across at Dom at the greeting, an answering smile on his face at seeing the mortal and a soft \'hey\' in return that was likely more seen on his lips than heard.  There was a small pang of disappointment that he wouldn\'t be able to investigate Dom further, or have another repeat of what they\'d done (or rather, what Dom had done for him) in the back rooms, but it passed as he glanced at Kerr when Dom did.  His sire was looking the mortal over, noting the obvious sexual element that Dom displayed without qualm, and looked back at him again when the mortal spoke some more.

He listened as Dom gave away the fact they\'d been intimate enough for him to want to seek Ben out again, without expressly saying it.  The way he was dressed and the way he was standing would tell all Kerr needed to know however.  This wasn\'t the kind of guy who did things in halves, and Ben had allowed him to do much more than he\'d intended - which was fine, because it had turned out to be quite the pleasure.

"Dom," Ben said warmly, showing that he remembered his name because he usually couldn\'t recall the names of those he\'d romped about with in this club.  Dominic certainly had left an impression on Ben.  He turned to look at Kerr now, making eye-contact with him and still smiling because there was no reason to drop it.  "This is Kerr.  He\'s my sire," he said before turning back to look up at Dom, who was presenting himself very sexually, with Ben peripherally noticing the stance, "and my lover."  He turned back to look at Kerr now, to finish the introduction.  "Dom\'s someone I\'ve hooked up with previously," he said bluntly, and now the smile faded a little, to see what Kerr would do with this information.

[Existentially Odd]

"Ah," Kerr said with a flick of his eyebrows, looking back at Ben and beginning to feel somewhat awkward.  He could\'ve guessed that Dom was someone with whom his lover had \'hooked up with\' simply from the way the islander was drooling all over Ben.  He was also somewhat resentful of the fact that he always got to be identified first as a sire and second as a lover - why not the other way \'round?  He thought it said a lot about Ben\'s feelings towards him still but it wasn\'t worth having an argument over; he looked forward to the day he was introduced as a boyfriend or partner or lover first and possibly not a sire at all.

"Pleased to meet you, Kerr, is it?" Dom said, stepping over and reaching a hand across the table in a very humble and \'ordinary bloke\' manner, his shining white teeth flashing at the Irishman.

Despite himself, Kerr was impressed by the mortal\'s manner and half lifted himself into a standing position in order to shake his warm hand; it was a very firm shake indeed, declaring Dom\'s confidence yet also sending a message because his thumb didn\'t wrestle for dominance, he merely squeezed and released slowly - like he wasn\'t dissuaded by the fact that he\'d just come upon a couple and he was genuinely interested in both of them.

"Yes, Dom," he agreed with a succinct smile and a nod, confirming the pronunciation of his name and reinforcing that he knew the mortal\'s by repeating it.  He sat once his hand was released, coming down unconsciously closer to Ben in the booth, though they still weren\'t touching.

For his part, Dominic was curious as to whether this sire person had been on the scene when he\'d spent some time with Ben last.  He could only assume, by the way Ben boldly told Kerr that Dom was someone he\'d hooked up with, that the brunette was aware of his lover\'s frisky ways and approved.  He could further conclude that he was here tonight to join in, in fact.

"So," he began, his blue eyes twinkling mischievously as his thumbs reclaimed their perch on the belt over his groin, "s\'there room for me in the middle there," he nodded at the minor space between Ben and Kerr before eyeing the blonde meaningfully, "or you two want to go someplace else for some fun - your place, maybe?" he hinted, grinning cockily.

Kerr made a very obvious coughing noise, drawing Dominic\'s gaze.  "You don\'t beat around the bush, do you?" he asked incredulously.

Dom shrugged at him.  "Why bother?  We\'re all here for some action, why pretend we\'re not?"

"Just what sort of action do you think we\'re here for?" Kerr asked highly, sounding like he had the choice of being offended or intrigued... and he was leaning towards taking the former path.

"I... well, drinking," Dominic answered, but faltered before he could add \'and fucking\' because he suddenly got the sense that perhaps it wasn\'t quite the scenario these two had in mind.  His deep blue gaze shifted to Ben, the confusion and appeal clear.  "Maybe something a little more satisfying?" he hazarded.

"You mean something a little more sexual," Kerr cut in dryly, quite astounded by the mortal\'s audacity.  He was now looking at the brown-skinned Adonis with genuine wonder, finding his physique as appealing as he found his brazenness shocking, and wondering what Ben\'s opinion on the matter was.  Would he try to talk Kerr into it or had he known that this Dom was going to be here, and had been prepared to rely on him doing it for him?  it was all feeling a little too convenient, really.

"Well, sure," Dom agreed innocently, summoning as convincing a smile as he was able and angling his body now towards Kerr (who he\'d picked as the hard sell).  "I mean, I like that there are two of you - I can take you both at once, that\'d be hot," he smirked, looking Kerr over as if to let him know he found him attractive too, and really didn\'t mind servicing him as well.

In fact, some very forthright images of Dominic crawling into the darkness beneath the table right here and sucking off both Ben and Kerr at the same time flew into the consciousness of the elder vampire unbidden and he turned a startled look towards his fledgling, feeling suddenly uncomfortable about picking up such things projected from the mortal\'s mind - not because he\'d never imagined such a thing happening, but simply because it excited him.  He hadn\'t been prepared for such an eventuality and was now looking to Ben to bring some reason into the situation and tell his hot little friend to back off, his blood would be enough.

[Trillian]

He was picking up on Kerr\'s excitement through their connection but so far everything Kerr had said had been negative, along with his expressions.  Ben didn\'t understand the mixed signals - did Kerr want to take up Dom\'s offer or not?  He looked at his sire now, concentrating on whatever he could sense off him; the smile was gone and replaced by seriousness.  As their gazes locked, Ben decided it was likely better to err on the side of caution, and faced Dom, so he could project his voice so that the mortal could hear above the pounding music.

"Kerr and I have agreed to be exclusive, which means we\'re unable to take advantage of your offer, as good as it sounds," he offered a sympathetic (and disappointed) smile to the mortal along with a shrug, to let him know \'what can I do?\' before continuing.  "I get it if you don\'t want to give us your blood.  You\'ll want to give that to someone else who\'ll return you more satisfaction than we can."

He ignored Kerr for this part mostly because he didn\'t want to drop eye contact with the mortal, who\'d given him the gift of knowing one of his most favourite sexual things.  Dom would always be remembered for that, if nothing else.  He expected the confidant mortal to show his disappointment and leave, and half-hoped that he would continue to try talking them into it.

Kerr\'s mixed emotions meant he had a chance, after all.

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr was impressed by Ben\'s forthright speech - he detected no genuine regret, no overarching desire that the situation could be different.  The fact that he was happy to be with Kerr alone and turned down the mortal\'s offer point-blank impressed his lover so much, in fact, that he felt almost bad for being so... prudish?  Was that what he was being, now that Ben had shed the mantle?

It felt wrong, but so did blatantly telling the mortal not to leave because he wanted more of a chance to think things through.  Ben would be open to indulging with Dom, that much was obvious, but he had yet to figure where he stood on the seeing Ben indulge aspect of things.  he had an awful feeling it was going to have to be something he just tried, in order to know, and only then would he be able to understand the limits of his feelings about their relationship.

Frankly, just a few nights ago, Ben had been having sex with random people - not to mention Ash.  Now they\'d promised their feelings to one another, but could men preparing to face a life as long as forever really monopolise one another\'s bodies?  but wasn\'t this too soon to be inviting variances to spice things up?  They\'d hardly got into a rut in bed, yet... they\'d hardly been in bed yet!

"Hey," Dom said bluntly, his two hands coming up in a \'Stop!\' gesture before him - almost as if Ben had suggested the mortal not only come with them but pick out his own china pattern before the wedding.  "I\'m not into coming between you all and breaking up a couple or anything," he promised earnestly, one of his hands folding back upon his chest to indicate his sincere heart.  "I have a boyfriend too, remember?  I\'m not interested in anything deep and meaningful, I just want to have some fun.  With both of you," he said, looking at Kerr as he stressed some of his words.

Kerr - although somewhat disbelieving that the mortal was either too stupid or too arrogant to take a fairly firm no for an answer - was marginally relieved that he was hanging around and still talking.  It was almost like he needed to be talked into the situation, to see for himself (though the idea of Ben and this guy made him feel as jealous as it did horny... goddamned mixed signals, alright).

"You have a boyfriend," Kerr repeated, uncertain about how that bit of information affected he and Ben directly.

Dominic took this statement as a signal to launch into his life story.  "Yes!  Michael!" he enthused, stepping closer to Kerr once more.

"Is he... here?"

"Oh hell no!  He\'s completely ignorant, as well as being out of town for a couple of nights."

This had Kerr\'s eyebrows lifting.  "So... he has no idea about vampires?"

"Exactly," Dom enthused, punctuating the air with a finger for emphasis.  "As much as I\'d love to have a partner to share all this with, he\'d freak out if i talked about it - plus, I don\'t wanna\' get into trouble from the you-know-who," he finished in a stage whisper, thumbing over his shoulder like the Oligarchy - as a collective - were standing right behind him.

Kerr played dumb, just for a little bit of fun.  "You know who?" he repeated in apparent confusion and then, just as Dom opened his mouth to elaborate, he seemed to understand.  "Oh!  The Oligarchy!"  Dom nodded solemnly, his hands dropping back to his belt.  "Yeah," Kerr continued, "I hear you don\'t want to mess with them."

"Exactly.  So I don\'t tell Michael about this place but just because I come here and get... well, a fix, y\'know?  Doesn\'t mean I don\'t care about him, because I do!  It\'s the same with you two," the mortal insisted, getting back to his point and glancing over to Ben and back again.  "It wouldn\'t matter what you do to me, it won\'t stop you both caring about each other."

It seemed the first really sensible thing Dom had said since he started speaking and Kerr took a moment to gnaw on his tongue stud as he mulled the words over.  "I don\'t... know how I\'d feel... about seeing Ben with someone else," he admitted slowly, trying to anticipate what that would be like and failing miserably beyond identifying a clutch of fear and jealousy inside himself - it didn\'t bode well.  "What happens if I freak out?  Our relationship\'s still new again and if I see him getting pleasure from you and it makes me feel like shit, then... what do I do?"

"Then I back off," Dominic cut in quickly.  "Like I said, I\'m not here to cause trouble, I just want to have some fun with you guys; you\'re both fucking hot and I bet it would be sweet," he described, leering at Kerr.  As he finished speaking, the brunette looked skeptically at his fledgling, so Dom hastily tried to sweeten the deal, looking now at Ben.  "I could warm you both up here, if you like," he appealed, licking his lips very obviously and then glancing around himself, as if he wanted to be sure that no-one would see him duck under the table - and he was about to do it.

[Trillian]

Ben was looking between Dom and Kerr as they conversed, his gaze fixing on Kerr as he played dumb about the Oligarchy for a moment and then his eyebrows lifting slightly in surprise as Kerr pretended not to know more - not to be more.  He understood it was a joke, but he sensed there was something else there.  Still, there was the tattoo on the side of his neck to consider, and no more long hair to cover it.  Dom was bound to see it, and the warning letter from the Oligarchy pinned up in the Risk corridor had the same symbol on the bottom, as did all their notices.  Dom would know what it was and what it meant.

When the topic moved on a little, and Kerr admitted to Dom about not knowing what it would be like to have the mortal sexually attending to Ben - speaking about him in front of him, no less - he looked back at the mortal until they made eye contact again and Ben got the strong image of Dom crawling under the table to suck them both off just like Kerr had earlier, though he was much closer now to the intention.

He looked at Kerr again, before Dom could get into that space, and shot him a mental message.

This is about sex, not about blood, we don\'t have to go through with this if you don\'t want to.  I\'m getting mixed emotions from you about it so I don\'t know what you want.  I can take it or leave it - it\'s not like whatever he gives us we can\'t do for each other anyway.  I don\'t want you upset.

His gaze was intent on Kerr.  Sex was a playground he\'d indulged in many a time, but so far it hadn\'t had consequences, and this scene was potent with the possibility of them.

[Existentially Odd]

"Wait," Kerr told Dom sternly and the imperative that went with the command was undeniable for a mortal such as he.  The youth\'s shoulders slumped into a relaxed position and he held a placid expression, staring at nothing in particular as Kerr swivelled in his seat somewhat, to look at Ben earnestly.

He focussed on his fledgling, doing his best to sense the younger vampire\'s motives and found nothing untoward about them; Ben genuinely didn\'t want to upset Kerr for the sake of a little romp with an insignificant mortal.  That was reassuring.  Still, Ben was right when he said he could sense Kerr\'s indecision.  He really didn\'t know if he could handle seeing Ben with someone else.

"I think... I might be okay if we... take it slowly," he said hesitantly, speaking aloud because it was easier to concentrate only on dampening Dom with his mind.  "Should we take him back to the penthouse?" he queried, reaching over to take Ben\'s closest hand and sparing a glance for the mortal he was subjugating.  That plan didn\'t sit well with him - it seemed so much more important, who he took upstairs with him, now, and what if he kicked Dom out and Dom objected despite his promises? - ... but nor did getting exceptionally intimate at this booth.  He was open to Ben\'s opinion on the matter.

[Trillian]

Ben stared intently at Kerr, focussing on his words and understanding (sort of) where Kerr was coming from.  He felt like his sire was wanting to please him, to make it so that they were both happy, yet this wasn\'t the way to do it.  He got the sense that Kerr wasn\'t exactly sacrificing himself or his morals here, but there was also an undercurrent of dissatisfaction, and if it wasn\'t about wanting everything on offer, then Ben didn\'t want it either.

"He\'s... not about taking things slowly," Ben explained, surprised that Kerr was willing to take this step with him with someone who wasn\'t appropriate to what Kerr was really wanting.  It would probably have been easier with Ash, since Kerr had mentioned he\'d played around with him already.  "I don\'t think he\'s right for us - if that\'s the way you want to go."  Again, he was wary of Kerr\'s motives and what he really wanted.  "I thought you wanted to be exclusive."  He mirrored Kerr\'s own thoughts next.  "We haven\'t done everything to each other in bed yet, so... are you worried I\'ll be bored?"

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr frowned when Ben mentioned exclusivity again, in a manner that had him immediately resentful, but he tried not to get his back up.  Ben was likely just wanting absolute clarification on his feelings, to be sure that nothing would go wrong - there was nothing wrong with that.

"I do," he answered thoughtfully, slowly nodding along with his words.  "I just... well, I guess the idea of playing around with you intrigues me.  And having a warm mortal in bed is always nice.  There\'s also the fact that... well, I wonder if it will stop you getting bored, yes, but not in the immediate sense, more in the longevity of the long relationship I\'d like to have with you sense," he smiled bashfully, feeling a little silly confessing his innermost thoughts while a mortal robot looked on.

"There\'s also the fact that now is the best time to do it, when we\'re still new and I\'m not completely dependent on you; I love you but I\'m still cautious about surrendering myself to you entirely, and with the buffer of you not feeling overly much for me... well, it\'s tempting to see if we might establish a different dynamic from the outset, that will see us sustained longer.  I don\'t want to jeopardise you, though, and if fucking around with other guys is going to keep you detached, then I want nothing whatsoever to do with it!" he asserted with a sudden, very obvious hand gesture slicing the air between them.

He looked to Ben for his response to his absolute frankness, beginning to feel that he was talking himself out of doing anything with Dom right now - especially since Ben had experience enough with him to tell Kerr that he wasn\'t the right way for them to begin anyway.

[Trillian]

Ben stared at Kerr for a very long moment after the confessions had been made.  He realised what Kerr was wanting now, but wasn\'t sure if he had his own interests at heart over Ben\'s.  He was protecting himself, and had said so, in so many words.  Yes, he wanted a long lasting relationship with him, and that sounded nice, but the rest of it sounded like he didn\'t want to invest his heart into it, just in case it didn\'t work out again.  Ben might feel emotionally retarded right now but even he knew that a loving relationship wouldn\'t work if either of them didn\'t jump in completely.

He could feel his blocks going up, even as he glanced at Dom, to make sure he was still dazed by Kerr, before facing his sire again.  By what Kerr was saying, he was locking in the fact he would always be a sire first and a lover second, not that Ben had known that particular thought.

It\'s not my fault, he wanted to say.  It\'s not my fault I don\'t remember falling in love with you.  It\'s not my fault I need time that you\'re not prepared to give.  I don\'t know how to play by rules that seem to be constantly changing.

Inside himself he was numb, thinking about this potential speech and mulling over to what benefit saying such a thing would give him.  It hadn\'t been so long ago that Kerr had told him he wanted to try giving them a go, and now because he was here at Risk seeing Ben excited by it, he was already backing off.  Maybe Kerr was right, maybe they were destined to fail unless they included others in their sphere.

"Then pick someone else," he said to Kerr, gesturing at Dom while he stared at his sire.  "He\'ll do whatever we want, but he\'ll also push us for more.  If you and I are going to go this way, then you should pick who it\'s with rather than just going along with it.  Someone you already know, maybe.  Or someone you can control without turning them into a zombie."

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr pulled a face and turned to look at Dom, the words pushing him even farther away from trialling something that might be fun.  The consequences really worried him - everything with Ben really worried him.  He was afraid of saying no, he was afraid of saying yes, he was afraid of investing his whole heart, he was afraid of holding back.  Nothing felt right still, and that was the problem, he figured; when it felt right, he wouldn\'t have to think about it.

When it felt right, he\'d be able to trust... like he wasn\'t now.  The realisation was like a door opening, light spilling into dark places suddenly.  He didn\'t trust Ben.  It shamed him and he could explain it away if he were having a conversation with someone about it, stating all the reasons he had not to trust - and they were fucking good reasons - but the fact was, he was saying and doing entirely different things here.  He was lying to Ben, in a sense, and had only just understood that when pushed to make a decision he wasn\'t ready for.

He didn\'t bother releasing Dom from his dazed submission - he doubted it would be worth it, if he was as persistent as Ben said he was, and Kerr wanted to hold onto this moment of clarity and explain himself without disturbance.  Ben was speaking normally but he was no longer sending excited, interested vibes to Kerr; he was sending an all-too-familiar nothing.  As much as he hated that brick wall feeling, Kerr recognised that he\'d instigated it by more or less just telling his fledgling he didn\'t trust in their relationship and he needed to apologise for that.  He planted the notion that Dom was rejected for now and that they parted on friendly terms - he could feel the mortal\'s angst over being sent away as he planted these understandings, and knew the depths of his disappointment (coupled with a hope that it would be rectified in future, which Kerr left alone) as the youth walked away silently.

Kerr turned to look at Ben, his expression earnest.  "I don\'t want to pick anyone else - not just now and maybe not ever.  As much as it might keep interest between the two of us high and perhaps see us content for longer... I don\'t want that.  I don\'t want just contentment," the Irishman told the man he wanted to love, squeezing his hands.  "I want to be at a stage where I know it won\'t matter what one of us does with other people because we have a depth and breadth of feeling and trust that negates anything else - and I know I\'m not there yet.  If we do this - if - it will be when I\'m not being talked into it, it will be because it\'s going to be a bit of fun and that\'s all.  I\'m sorry for fucking you around but I only just figured it out; it\'d be stupid to focus on anyone else and introduce other shit when I\'m still easing my way into us.  I\'m not ready for anyone else, I only want to focus on you.  Is that... okay?" he finished hopefully.

[Trillian]

He noticed Dom go silently, out of his peripheral, because he didn\'t remove his gaze from Kerr, knowing that there was going to be a talk.

The truth was, he\'d been hoping Dom or one of his previous partners would approach them, that the offer of blood would also contain the offer of sex, and that Kerr would be eager to explore that world with him. Perhaps Kerr had felt that desire in him, had known that Ben\'s excitement meant such things.  Had he caused this deliberation in his sire on purpose?  He hadn\'t meant for it to reach this point - had he known the result, he wouldn\'t have bothered.  In fact, he\'d seen the negative effect the offer had early on and refused it.  Surely Kerr would remember that?

What Kerr said made sense; it was an affirmation of the things he\'d said to Ben the night they\'d moved into the Oligarchy penthouse, in fact, with a more direct reference to being with others.

"Yes," Ben said simply, and could feel his mental blocks melting away, not having to shield himself.  There was still no longer the excitement and eagerness he\'d had upon arrival, but there wasn\'t nothing either.  Kerr would feel the light hum of relief, mostly that Ben felt he hadn\'t screwed up by hoping for sex as well as blood.

He took a moment\'s pause, his lips pressing together as though he was holding in what he wanted to request, before licking them and coming out with it.

"I still want to drink from someone," he admitted, wondering if Kerr would allow him this because it often included a hot, writhing body once the bite was taken.

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr chuckled and relaxed back into the booth seat once more, letting go of Ben in order to make a sweeping gesture towards the club in general.  "Of course, that\'s why we\'re here.  As many someones as you wish, in fact," he invited magnanimously, watching his fledgling with twinkling eyes.  "As I said, slowly is good and I\'ve always enjoyed watching you drink," he confided with a smile.
 
The feelings from Ben during such circumstances were always arousing and satisfying in their own way; he was still curious to test his limits in a marginal sense.  Perhaps, if Ben desired the connection of blood and sex very obviously, he could provide the latter while a willing mortal gave the former.

[Malkavian Riddler]

He\'d ridden here on his bike this time, and had given his helmet to the bartender to keep behind the bar for him, as well as his worn leather jacket.  Underneath it he had a tight black t-shirt on, not wearing his black mesh shirt tonight only because it was too cool to ride around with this time of year in spite of the leather jacket over it.  His black leather pants made up for the lack of a mesh shirt, he thought, and his black motorcycle boots weren\'t really suitable for walking but they finished the effect.  With heavy black liner around his mismatched blue eyes, and his straight dark brown red-tipped hair was starting to get a little longer now, not quite reaching his shoulders but not far from them either.  He\'d get his neighbour to cut it for him, because she would do his hair for free, eager to practise on him because she was studying to be a hairdresser.  She\'d put the red tips in his hair in the first place, and she was pretty good at it.

He\'d come earlier than usual, because he\'d been unable to work for the past couple of days, thanks to the rain.  The weather report heralded heavy rain tomorrow, so he\'d been called up and told not to bother coming into work then, which meant he had fuck all to do.  He hadn\'t been at RISK in a while, because of his time with Romain.  That had ended none too well, and Cain had actually considered getting out of the hostile relationship he was in before he found himself \'no longer required\'.  It had taken him a little while to recover, because he\'d been drunk from too much and had caught the flu from being weak.  He was at full-strength now, and ready to party.

He\'d noticed a mortal standing at a corner out-of-the-way booth and talking to two vamps.  He hadn\'t sat down and stayed there for a while as the pair of them chatted.  He didn\'t really know what they were discussing, and was surprised when the standing guy walked away without joining them.  Huh.  Maybe they were picky, or maybe they requested a lot and that guy hadn\'t been willing.

He had a glass of water in his hand, because it was free and because he couldn\'t afford anything different or he\'d be limiting himself to only those vamps who liked a bit of blood alcohol.  If they wanted it, they could always buy it for the mortal they would drink from, but it wasn\'t possibly to un-drink.

Setting the water down on the closest flat surface he could find, he strolled over to where the two vamps were - one fair, one dark (and the dark-haired guy was the more appealing because he looked older and taller and Cain preferred more of a man look than a boy look).  When he got close enough to the table, he remained standing - in the same spot the other guy had stood, in fact - and introduced himself.

"Hi, I\'m Cain.  I\'m clean," he said, and because his gaze darted from one to the other, he saw the slight raise of eyebrows and clarified.  "No drugs, no alcohol, no smoking."

He figured they\'d proposition him now, tell him what they wanted that the other guy wouldn\'t do for them.  Cain was willing to do it all.  He\'d done it all before.