Tarriance

[Existentially Odd]

After leaving Oligarch McCloud\'s office, Samuel was unsettled and restless for the rest of the evening.  He tried returning to work, but found he couldn\'t concentrate and went back to his quarters instead.  Television held his attention for all of ten minutes before he clicked that off and simply slouched lower on his sofa, elbow resting on the arm of it and a hand tangled in his hair, thinking.

He couldn\'t decide if he\'d done the right thing or not.  Perhaps it had been stupid to want to protect his and Vomas\' project - there were funds open to him, after all, it was hardly a secret.  It was simply the fact that it was his and Vomas\' that had inspired such secrecy - and look where that had got him, confessing to something entirely different and, by Jake\'s reaction, far more important.

Gene.  His gut twisted at the thought that he might also have made more trouble for the beautiful human he\'d grown attached to (in such a short amount of time, admittedly, but attached he was, anyway) and he didn\'t know how to deal with that... beyond requesting Vomas\' help.  But he\'d asked Jake not to say anything to Vomas, so he\'d be a fool to go and admit it himself... wouldn\'t he?

Except the longer he sat there, the later it got, the more twisted his thinking became and it moved on to Vomas, to contemplating the man behind the work exterior.  Was there a man behind there?  Samuel didn\'t know, but parts other than his gut certainly ached to know.  For a while, he was further distracted by daydreaming about what Vomas would be like in bed, what his touch would be like, whether he\'d always be gruff or whether there would be tenderness there...

When he felt his body responding, Samuel knew he needed to stop thinking along those lines and he shifted around on his couch, attempting to relieve the rather pleasant pressure in his groin.  It faded, in time.

It made him realise how futile and pathetic all this was.  He was holed up in his suite, daydreaming about his boss in a completely irrational way, quivering like a schoolgirl afraid that someone would pass a note to him that explained his crush.  Meanwhile, he was also afraid of what he\'d done to affect another completely innocent man\'s life, and wanting to go to his crush for reassurance... and where would that get him?  How the hell could he even start the conversation about Gene?  He\'d stutter and stammer like a fool for sure, embarrassed because he was admitting to liking another boy, like he\'d been cheating on Vomas or something, when the the man barely knew he was alive.  Ugh!

Eventually, just over an hour before dawn, Samuel\'s sitting and thinking came to a point.  He decided that all roads led to Vomas, that none of this would settle if he didn\'t say something (stupid and pathetic as he may be).  He wouldn\'t sleep if he didn\'t get it off his chest; non-confrontational he might be, but when something was worrying him this much, he needed the peace of resolution much more than he needed his solitude.  Or dignity.  Unfortunately.

Believing it was never too late for Vomas to be working, Samuel went to his oligarch\'s office, quite surprised to find that he was gone for the night.  In fact, the whole office area was deserted and Sam was faced with a new dilemma; to pursue his boss in his quarters, or wait for the next evening?  He shuffled his feet on the sport for a minute or so, then trudged back to the elevator, deciding that if he was in for a penny, he was in for a pound.  This matter was more personal than business, anyway; he would go to Vomas\' quarters.

This time, as he approached a door he knew of but had never actually sighted before now, he was glad of his casual attire.  Cream-coloured chinos and a tucked-in brown polo shirt with matching Colorado shoes were just the thing to wear to go visiting.  Of course, it was no guarantee his appearance so close to daylight wouldn\'t annoy his boss, but he was feeling marginally confident as he raised his hand and knocked quietly on the portal.  He shoved his hands into his pants pockets then, because he was already regretting the nervous sound of that knock and wanted to rectify it with one that sounded more confident, more worldly, more assured.  It was better he just waited a bit to see what would come of it, though.

[Saccharin]

With as close to sunrise as it was, Vomas had been in his quarters preparing for bed, reading one last chapter of the book he held in one hand while removing his shoes and untucking then unbuttoning his shirt with the other. That was as far as he\'d made it in the process of undressing, because he\'d hit a particularly interesting section and without fully registering what he\'d done, he\'d settled down on the couch in the living area to read.

 That\'d been three chapters ago, and he was absorbed enough in the text that he might\'ve stayed there until he\'d finished the book but for the knock that interrupted him.

He immediately rose, leaving his book open on the coffee table in front of him, and worked on buttoning his shirt as he approached the door. His phone hadn\'t buzzed, alerting him to a call or text, so why he had a visitor at this hour was beyond him. Reaching out with his mental self only let him know who was there, not why they were, so when he opened the door, his face was lined with confusion and a touch of concern.
 
"Samuel?" he asked, running his hand through his hair and thinking it a tidying motion, but he only succeeded in mussing the dark strands. "Is everything alright?"

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel\'s gaze dropped and then ran up along Vomas\' length, taking in his lack of shoes and untucked shirt, knowing he was disturbing the usually very together oligarch and quailing internally yet again, uncertain of his actions.

"I... " was as far as he got before his anxiety locked up his tongue for good and nothing else would come out.  He simply couldn\'t speak, all of a sudden, and was left with no other option but to revert to mental communication.

Although he was aware that his boss was more adept than he at such things, Samuel wasn\'t unskilled so he wasn\'t reluctant to use the talent in that sense; it was just... it could be considered rude.  The last thing he wanted to do was intrude on Vomas\' private time

oh God but he looked so sexy all ruffled and casual like that

and then intrude on his mind without warning, but he couldn\'t help it.  His stutter was going to do him no favours and he had to get these concerns off his chest.  If he made certain to follow the etiquette all vampires who didn\'t really know each other observed - where they formed a foyer of conversation (for want of a better term) in a place in their minds, an entry point that didn\'t encourage unwarranted exploration of thoughts but allowed a free exchange of conversational communication alone (without images, usually, just words and sometimes nuances of feelings) - he should be alright.  Vomas shouldn\'t object too much.  He hoped.

I\'m sorry to intrude.  I just... I really needed to speak with you, I... couldn\'t sleep.  Couldn\'t do much of anything, really.  I think... I may have caused some problems.  With Oligarch McCloud and for... a friend of mine.  I may need your help and I know it\'s late and inappropriate but... do you think you might be able to help me?  I... need you.

He didn\'t notice his hands wringing as he spoke mentally, nor manage to stem the flood of desperate worry that he sent with his words.  His gaze was rivetted to Vomas\', raw with need and hope.

[Saccharin]

His immediate inclination was to send Sam away with instructions to come find him in his office at an appropriate hour, but his desire to be dressed suitably for a meeting fell by the wayside in the face of Samual\'s earnest pleading.

He\'d come to like Samuel in the short amount of time they\'d spent together. He was bright, efficient and didn\'t require micromanaging like some of his employees did. Vomas could assign him a task and Samuel would complete it after asking for parameters and expectations, coming to him only if he absolutely needed something additional signed off on. Because the younger vampire had never made a habit of begging frivolous favors of him, he couldn\'t think of a reason to deny him entry other than the fact his armor wasn\'t fully equipped.

Come inside. Primarily because McCloud was involved with whatever Samuel had come to him with, he\'d continued communicating with Samuel via their newly forged mental link, rather than speaking out loud and risking being overheard. It was paranoid, perhaps, but safest.

Once Samuel complied, he closed the door behind the other vampire and then lead the way to his living room. Covering the farthest wall from ceiling to carpet were shelves made of warm cherry wood, and not a fraction of space wasn\'t holding a book. Facing the bookshelves like it would a TV in any other living room was a brown leather sofa, and in front of it a coffee table with his open book lying spine down on its surface, open to a page written in an archaic form of English. On either end of the coffee table were two sitting chairs upholstered with an emerald green fabric, one of which Vomas sat down in after gesturing for Samuel to take a seat of his choosing.

Tell me what is going on with your friend and Jake, he prompted after Samuel had settled himself, wondering if one had something to do with the other.

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel sat on the sofa at the end closest to Vomas (though not so close they\'d be rubbing knees), too tense to lean back, his body held rigidly and hands rubbing nervously along his thighs.  He swallowed far more than was necessary, considering, but it was all nerves.

Tonight, I got a message to meet him in his office - Oligarch McCloud, that is.  I was worried, nervous, because of... um, some things that happened on a night out I had recently.  I thought perhaps I was in trouble from that, because the wording in his message was so formal!

Even in his mind, the words he projected had his southern accent, though Samuel wouldn\'t know that, nor understand the added drama it gave some of his vocabulary choices.

That wasn\'t what he wanted.  He wanted to know about our project.  But because I was acting so nervously, he then also wanted to know about what I\'d thought I was there for and I told him, but I\'m regretting that now, because he said he wants me to come back at some other point anyway, and tell him what I\'m up to in the library - he makes it sound like I\'m some sort of criminal, doing something wrong with the books! It makes me not want to tell him anything about our ideas! Do you think I should do that?  I probably have to tell him everything, don\'t I?

In his anxiety, Samuel knew his thoughts were speeding up, his words jumbling and likely not making a lot of sense.  He halted mental communication in order to calm himself down and review what he\'d said and what he might still need to explain.  It was a chance for Vomas to ask questions, if he wished, for Sam realised that the main unexplained part was about the \'friend\' bit.  Looking at Vomas sitting there so regally - even half dressed the man was still regal, curse him - made it hard for him to admit that want of him had driven Samuel to do something bold and a little reckless.

It had been out of character, yet meeting Gene had felt so good, too.  If he didn\'t end up getting burned by the consequences here, Sam knew he\'d do it again some night.  Some night when his head needed to think about anything but Vomas and his cool stare and kissable lips.  With a start, Sam blinked, realising his mind was getting off-track and if he wasn\'t careful, some of his silent passion for his boss would spill over into their communication channel just as easily as his thoughts of Jake did.

[Saccharin]

Vomas dropped his right elbow onto the armrest of his chair and with his thumb resting lightly on the edge of his jaw, ran the side of his pointer finger over his mouth as he thought. He hadn\'t believed it necessary to alert Jake to his doings in the library primarily because he hadn\'t thought it would interest him. Apparently, he\'d been wrong. Jake was interested, and because his fellow oligarch had utilized underhanded methods to obtain information about the project rather than approaching him directly, Vomas had to assume that he\'d created a situation where Jake felt like he was purposefully hiding something from him.

He hadn\'t make the project secret and was somewhat surprised Jake hadn\'t found out exactly what was going on through the extensive grapevine that wound its way through the chambers. Still. Unintentional as it\'d been, he\'d enshrouded the project in secrecy, and it was because of him that Sam had been cornered and interrogated. He lowered his hand and looked at Samuel, his eyebrows drawn and his lips pressed together thinly.

Kerr is the only one I needed permission from, but I believe in not mentioning what was going on... even in passing... to Jake, he\'s probably convinced I\'m lobbying against him. Politics. I must admit, I\'m not very good with them. I only thought of the project, not how those excluded from it might be made to feel.

He heaved a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose between the pads of his pointer finger and thumb like he was fending off a tension headache. Feelings were also something he struggled with, but he couldn\'t deny that most (if not all) the people he worked with did possess them. Even he - though he tried his best to mask them - had feelings. Like frustration. Yes, that was certainly frustration he was feeling.

You don\'t have to tell him everything. If he does approach you before I have an opportunity to speak with him, you can explain the framework we\'ve set up thus far and how it stores the books your team scans. If he has questions beyond that, direct him to me.

That dealt with, the only thing remaining was the friend Samuel had mentioned but had neglected to give him much information on. He couldn\'t avoid talking to Jake entirely, but he could limit the number of times he had to meet with the younger vampire if he was equipped with a large enough stone so he could hit two birds instead of one.

Now, what problem do you think you caused for your friend?

[Existentially Odd]

For the first time (though he knew, fatalistically, it certainly wouldn\'t be the last), Samuel was disappointed with something Vomas instructed him to do.  He locked the sensation away as he was told to freely share the basics of their project with outsiders, because it wasn\'t nearly as special as Sam had built it up to be in his head.

On many levels, he knew that - just as he knew how futile it was to get territorial over the Oligarchy\'s library in the first place, because it wasn\'t his personal collection - but that didn\'t stop him doing it.  He had little enough in this world that he wished to claim ownership of, it didn\'t feel fair that that which he covetted couldn\'t be his, either.  Of course, the rational part of him recognised that what he covetted wasn\'t exactly insignificant, so he shouldn\'t be so surprised.

The good thing about feeling a spark of resentment towards Vomas was that it was much easier to discuss Gene with him.  Suddenly now it didn\'t seem so bad that he\'d attempted to have a little bit of a life, when it felt like the one he\'d been clinging to was more shadowy than substantial after all.

Well, he was a guy I met at the pool hall.  I didn\'t know him, but he looked friendly enough so we got to talking and it turned out he was from the south.  I flirted with him and bought him drinks but he has a vampire boyfriend - he\'s mortal, his name\'s Gene - so it didn\'t go anywhere beyond a lot of talking.  We had a lot in common, growing up in the south and it went on for a few hours so I drove him home in his truck.  He was pretty drunk.  His boyfriend\'s name is Orias and he asked me to knock Gene out so we could \'talk\' in his studio - he\'s some sort of vampire artist - but he really just wanted to check everything was above board.  I told him Gene and I had just talked, and we had, except I didn\'t tell him that I\'d offered to sober Gene up by giving him some blood and Gene had rejected my... advances.  All of them.

Samuel found that the story of Gene was easy enough to tell and he was happy to give details to Vomas... but not all of them.  He shied away from admitting everything that had transpired, and hoped that it was enough he hinted.  If Vomas didn\'t pick up on that, all the better.

Anyway, we went back out to the living room and I said goodbye to Gene and Orias kept watching me, really intently, and it made me nervous.  When he invited me to meet him and Gene at the pool hall again some time, I panicked, told him I was too busy and literally ran out the door.  The thing is, Orias had no mental abilities - not even enough to make Gene sleep and he was so drunk he was practically there already.  But when I scanned his mind at the pool hall, I\'d found a weird... well, I think it was a spell, but I didn\'t look real hard, in his head.  I don\'t know what it was for, but I know Orias couldn\'t have done it, and I told Jake about that.  Now he\'s going to investigate Gene and... I\'m really worried I might\'ve brought trouble down on him.

His tale concluded, Samuel sat there looking anxiously at Vomas.  Funnily enough, it hadn\'t been as hard to tell his boss about Gene as he\'d anticipated it would be.  By the end of it, it really was all about him protecting the lovely mortal he\'d inflicted himself upon.  Circumstances hadn\'t been auspicious but Gene had never invited him in, he\'d pushed his way into his life and the thought that his intervention was going to ruin things for the mortal worried Sam immensely.  Not the relationship with Orias part, of course - that part was pretty screwed anyway, from the way he saw Orias acting - but the rest of his life.  He didn\'t want Gene thrown into the cells downstairs, or worse yet killed because of him and his discovery of that spell.  He couldn\'t even be sure Gene knew it was there; getting arrested would be a hell of a horrible way to find out.

[Saccharin]

For someone who had such high standards and expected so much of everyone he interacted with, Vomas was never surprised when someone let him down. He just hadn\'t expected it to be Samuel that did so. Naively, he\'d thought... What? That Samuel was as intensely devoted to his job as he was? As a matter of fact, he had. But it appeared his employee had an appalling weakness for humans. He hadn\'t even seemed to think it odd that a vampire would take a human as a companion - labeling them a boyfriend. The human was a pet, a temporary amusement at best. Yet Samuel considered him a friend, and by extension, Vomas felt some responsibility to at least look into the situation so he might alleviate the other vampire\'s fears.

Excuse me a moment. His words had been carefully professional and as he stood, he maintained a slight smile meant to be reassuring, but it didn\'t quite reach his eyes. He\'d reverted to the stance he most commonly assumed when dealing with Oligarchy business. And that\'s what it would remain. He didn\'t want to delve any deeper into Samuel\'s personal life for fear of turning up more things that would make him think less of him. His smile faded entirely as soon as he turned to walk into the room that housed his office.

When Vomas returned, he had a slim black laptop that he opened after carefully placing it on the coffee table. Although it pained him to do so in front of Samuel, he slowly typed in the human\'s name and found the one belonging to an Orias. His computer skills had improved vastly since he\'d first started using them, but he was nowhere near as comfortable with their use as he would\'ve liked to have been. Even a human teenager could type faster than he could hunting and pecking as he had to.

Here we are. No, everything looks fine. He hasn\'t been flagged for review.

No mention of a spell, just the same information they logged on all other pets: where he lived, with whom and where he worked. If vampires and their pets offered more, it was added, but the bare minimum had been supplied in this case.

If it allows you to focus on your work again, I am glad to find out for sure whether Jake will be investigating this human of yours. It is possible he just hasn\'t updated this file to reflect his plans.

[Existentially Odd]

The moment Vomas turned away, Samuel put his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands, quietly worried by the business-like manner with which he was being treated.  He sensed disapproval, although he was also sure he could be imagining it, in his concern.  When his boss came back in, Sam quickly removed his hands and tried not to look so embarrassed.

He was relieved to hear that Gene\'s case hadn\'t been flagged for review but... he blinked when that acerbic little statement opened Vomas\' offer of further help, his insides bristling.  It was one thing for him to feel he was insignificant in his boss\' world, quite another to have it pointed out bluntly to him.  Tiredness, an accumulation of stress and an overload of embarrassment saw his temper flare and quite suddenly, he found his tongue in working order.

"If it allows me to focus on my work again?" he echoed incredulously.  "What, because the pursuit of a pretty feed and perhaps some sex is a bit too much to ask for a drone like me?  I\'m only good to service the hive, not someone\'s bed?  Is that what you\'re saying?"

[Saccharin]

Samuel\'s sudden change in tone triggered the flare of his nostrils and the tightening of his mouth. "That is not what I meant," he said stiffly, not liking that what he\'d said had been misinterpreted.

Not bothering to shut down the program he\'d utilized to access their database first, he reached out to close the lid of his laptop. "What you do in your free time is none of my business. Until, of course, it alters your work performance. I thought to prevent that from happening by making absolutely certain an investigation isn\'t pending."

He looked at Sam questioningly. "Unless that is unnecessary now? Are you satisfied with the file alone?"

[Existentially Odd]

"I don\'t know.  Probably not, I don\'t trust Jake," Samuel admitted sullenly, falling back into his chair in a slouch.  He eyed Vomas speculatively, emotions still swirling in him and his boss\' words ringing in his head.

Yes, he really would like it if he pursued this thing, just to be sure Gene wasn\'t going to get into any trouble, but he was done asking.  The offer had been made and he\'d more or less agreed to it now... the rest of his comments were mostly what Sam was focussed on, however.

"What do you do in your free time?" he asked stubbornly, wanting to know why he was feeling like a peasant to Vomas\' lordship.  Was the older vampire that much better than him?

[Saccharin]

He didn\'t trust him either, but he let Samuel\'s admission hang in the air on its own - mainly because he didn\'t want to expose his differences with Jake to an employee answerable to both of them. Vomas might not think he was politically savvy, but he knew that as soon as he gave voice to his misgivings, they gained the potential to bite him in the ass. For now, it was best that Jake not find out what he thought of him.

When Samuel posed his question, his eyes flickered briefly to the book resting on the table. Quite intentionally, he didn\'t have much free time to fill, but when he did have hours to burn away, he did so with a book in his hand.

"I read," he answered. "Before I could order texts online and have them delivered to my door, I would acquire them myself, but now..." He shrugged. "I rarely encounter sellers that do not have access to a computer."

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel tilted his head to look Vomas over, annoyed when hair fell in his eyes so he straightened up out of his slouch, running his fingers through it in order to get it away from his face.  His gaze on his boss was speculative and uncharacteristically challenging, the feeling that he was being treated like a weak-willed imbecile driving him onward.

"Reading?  That\'s it?" he scoffed rhetorically, continuing before Vomas even needed to confirm what they both knew.  "And you never feel the need for companionship?  Not for a warm, living drink or a bit of toe-curling sex, none of it?  It\'s a pity, you know," he continued, his head tilting once more and his gaze becoming more aloof as he looked over his cheekbone at his boss, "because I\'d very much enjoy spending my free time with you in one of those pursuits."

Given that he wasn\'t mortal, it would be obvious exactly which pursuit he was speaking about, his haughty demeanour allowing him the luxury of feeling unaffected by delivering such an obvious proposition.  Later, he might regret it but he doubted it.  There was something satisfying about telling someone who had no clue that you wanted them in such a calm, forthright manner.  As much as he\'d fretted over it and done his best to insinuate himself into Vomas\' presence unobserved - as often as he could - he no longer felt perturbed by the fact that he desired his boss sexually.

Probably, it was because he\'d seen how hopeless his cause was.  Coming to Vomas and admitting he had a weakness and a want for company every now and then had only drawn derision from the man who spent all his existence working or reading.  Sam almost pitied him.  As pitiable as it was to have a crush on one\'s boss, at least he still had passion and lust left inside him, enough to want.  He didn\'t want to end up like Vomas in another two hundred years, secluded away in his apartments, thinking only of work or losing himself in fantastical tales inside a book... instead of living the adventure immortality had granted him.

[Saccharin]

If Samuel had decided at that very moment to don a chicken costume, climb atop his coffee table and cluck The Star-Spangled Banner, then Vomas would\'ve only been a smidgen more surprised than he\'d been by the younger vampire\'s confession. Of course he\'d noted that Samuel was an attractive man - he\'d have to be blind not to - but he\'d been more focused on his capabilities as an employee, not wondering if he was capable of curling toes.

His priorities, unlike Samuel\'s, were in proper order.

"I see," he said, meeting Samuel\'s gaze unblinkingly. "While I appreciate your desire to make certain I\'m properly entertained, I assure you it is entirely unnecessary." He seemed to reconsider his statement, because he sighed and shook his head, choosing not to end the conversation on such a harsh note. "I like for things to remain uncomplicated. Live feedings and sex are anything but."

[Existentially Odd]

"We could have uncomplicated sex," Samuel asserted unblinkingly, raising his eyebrows slightly at Vomas as if he\'d just asked him the time.  There was a pause, during which he felt compelled to expand on his oddly-emotionless case (though there was a quiver inside him now, beginning to shy from his sudden extroversion and asking for what he wanted, rather than just pining away hopefully, which was so much more comfortable).

"Occasionally.  If you wanted.  It wouldn\'t affect our work relationship."