PARALLEL: Hunter

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr was immersed in touching and fondling Ben as they kissed; he barely registered the conditions of Lazarus’ little game until Ben’s lips were pulled away from his. His jaw was aching from all the kissing but he couldn’t resist sucking on Ben’s tongue or shoving his own into the vampire’s mouth to be sucked on when those ruby lips came back in kissing proximity.

When Ben crawled away from him, Kerr rolled up onto his knees, watching him go with an expression like a lovesick teenager. It was only at that point that he realised what was at stake; fuck Ben or suck Ben while Lazarus fucked him again. No. He’d be damned if had to lay under that show.

He searched around the bed with his eyes, desiring the slippery feel of lube as he stroked himself with his dominant hand; it would make it go faster and time was of the essence just then. Spying the discarded tube, he pounced on it and squeezed it on his fattening dick. He barely got a drop. Realising it wasn’t enough, Kerr looked around, wondering if there was any more...

Ben’s glistening ass winked at him. His mouth watered as he walked over to it on his knees, abandoning his cock in order to squeeze the tight, pale globes beckoning to him. Cum and lube were everywhere and his first instinct was to withdraw but then he got an idea. His breath quickened and his cheeks flushed with desire as he smeared his cock all over Ben’s ass and thighs. He closed his eyes and moaned as he did it, his hands caressing Ben as much as his own dick, sliding between Ben’s legs to massage his balls and stroke his cock in time with the strokes on his own.

It worked wonders in greasing his cock up - he was awfully glad they were vampires and couldn’t get diseases in that moment - and Kerr opened his eyes as his body quickened with renewed desire. He pressed his groin close to Ben’s ass, bumping balls with him while he rested his large cock on top of his ass and back. He was right handed but, holding Lazarus’ gaze defiantly, he rubbed his cock with his left this time.

Lazarus wouldn’t understand, he knew that, but, while he pulled his cum-smeared dick with his left hand, he put the fingers of his right into his mouth. They didn’t taste great but sucking on them just as Ben had gave him a boost of lust so powerful he whimpered and shuddered against Ben’s ass, memories of Ben wanking in front of him in his cage, sucking on his fingers and then his dick earlier on overwhelming him. He wanted more. He stroked his erection faster, grinding the fronts of his thighs and his balls on Ben, slapping his ass with his now-hard cock and relishing the loud smack noise it made.

Sucking so hard on his own fingers they were almost down his throat, Kerr opened his eyes and looked down, preparing to guide himself into Ben’s ass. In his horny haze, he’d forgotten there were rules to this manoeuvre and that he had to check with Lazarus first.

[Trillian]

Lazarus got more of an eyeful of what Kerr was up to than Ben, who felt rather than saw Kerr's ministrations. He continued to lick with gusto for Lazarus was nowhere near hard enough and was unlikely to spring into action before Kerr did. Ben could still feel the ghost of his sire inside him and he was keen to experience Kerr now. Just as Lazarus had wanted, he'd loosened Ben up.

Ben still groaned as Kerr pushed into him, forgetting to lick and suck as he was stretched. "Yeah... yesss," he panted and pushed back, forcing more of Kerr into him when the mortal took care not to penetrate too quickly. It felt amazing; he felt full and pain mixed with pleasure, just the way he liked it. Ben often wanted to go to the edge of what his body would take, and Kerr didn't need anything else to do it with, unlike his sire who would use toys on him. This... was so much more satisfying, even though Kerr wasn't fucking him hard enough. No mortal had that kind of strength - but in its newness and with the sparks it brought, Ben though Kerr was perfect.

Lazarus gripped Ben's hair and pulled his mouth off his cock so he could spread his legs wider and force Ben's face into but mostly under his balls. He watched as Kerr inserted himself even as he felt Ben's tongue lick soundly, punished for his failure to get Lazarus hard. He would use his hand on his half-erect cock instead and if the urge struck him, would order Ben to turn onto his back so Lazarus could sit on his face for Ben to tongue his hole. Then Kerr would have to look at Lazarus while he fucked his love.

He would forgive the hostility for now. It might even be fun to toy with it - to get this hunter bastard jealous because he did seem very possessive over Lazarus' belonging. But it would get old fast if he couldn't play with Kerr as well - or at least treat him as badly as Ben didn't seem to want.

After some more grunting strokes, Lazarus gave his order. "Flip him over so you can see his face," he told Kerr. "He's so pretty when he cums," he enthused, wanting to sell the idea before he took it away.

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr paid very little attention to Lazarus once he was inside Ben - his eyes just about rolled back in his head when Ben exclaimed his pleasure and pushed back into him. Kerr couldn't believe it was happening; he'd never been in so deep, never been encouraged to display such abandon. He moved slowly, relishing every tiny, explosive little sensation as he slid in and out... in and out of the vampire.

His fingers were out of his mouth now and he gripped Ben's hips to keep him in place, teasing himself as well as Ben with his moderate, savouring pace. He stared at Ben's back in rapture, occasionally running his hands over his skin and reaching around to stroke his cock as he pumped faster. He was being careful not to speed up too much both because he didn't want to hurt Ben and because he wanted it to last. Forever would've been fine by him.

Lazarus' voice advising him to flip Ben over finally drew Kerr's attention and he looked up into the taller blonde's guileless eyes. He noted that Lazarus was stroking himself but didn't think beyond it. He leant forward, pressing kisses along Ben's spine as he draped himself along him, trying to get closer to his face. Flipping him over to be able to kiss him while they fucked would be very nice indeed but he couldn't make it happen without cooperation. "Ben?" he enquired huskily. "You wanna' turn over?" It was pointless to speak quietly because they could all hear everything but the urge to speak solely to Ben was too much to fight.

[Trillian]

"Yeah," Ben breathed back but he doubted Kerr would hear with his face buried in Lazarus' ballsac. He ended up answering by wriggling around, finding Kerr keen enough to help him so they could look at one another. For a brief moment he thought it was good of Lazarus to give him this... and then he realised that this was Lazarus he was dealing with and he hated not being the centre of attention. He glanced up, technically behind himself just as Lazarus shifted and sat down firmly on his face.

Ben grunted his disapproval but he didn't want his sire pissed at him so he went along with it, shifting so that his mouth and tongue were in the right place to poke into Lazarus' puckered hole and using his hands to get his ass cheeks apart so Ben could get better access. His tongue had pretty good reach and it wasn't long before he felt his sire quivering beneath his touch. Ben reached a hand around to grab Lazarus' cock and take over pumping it. If Kerr slowed down at all or stopped, Ben would abandon the ancient's staff to do a come-on gesture for Kerr to continue. He couldn't send mental messages unfortunately and his mouth was a bit full.

"Fuck him hard," Lazarus instructed, his hands massaging Ben's sides and raised hips before he returned Ben's touch and gripped his cock while Kerr decided whether or not to continue. From here he had a good view of the mortal entering and exiting Ben's body. "I fucking kid you not, he likes it when you do him so hard he can't walk. Speaking from experience," Lazarus added, bristling.

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr felt offended and frightened when Lazarus sat on Ben's face - not just because they couldn't kiss but also because he instinctively thought Ben would suffocate. Then it occurred to him that they didn't breathe, which filled him with awe. They didn't have to breathe. They could do anything they wanted. It was an enlightening revelation broken by an impatient wriggle and gesture from Ben. He'd slowed down, following a rainbow trail of fascinating thoughts.

Grinning, he returned to pushing in and out of Ben, intimidated by Lazarus' sprawl along his fledgeling's body. He looked every bit the predator in that moment, dominating his kill and a shiver ran down Kerr's spine as he realised... he was. When told he should fuck Ben hard, he wasn't sure whether to believe it or not. But then he remembered the loud sounds of slapping when Ben was in the middle and he believed Lazarus was telling the truth because Kerr had heard it done to Ben. Ben had certainly not complained.

With a tiny shrug that was aimed more at himself than anyone else, Kerr looked down at all the bits of Ben he could see. It wasn't much but he could control what he was doing and Ben's legs... so he did. Grasping the younger vampire's ankles, he pulled them together and rested his legs along the front of his body, a foot either side of his chin. Hugging the legs tightly, Kerr adjusted his kneeling position for better traction and began pumping faster.

Ben's ass squeezed him encouragingly and it was all the signal Kerr needed. Turning and burying his face against a foot, Kerr sucked toes and nipped arches as he increased the pace, licking Ben's heel and his ankle in place of his face. It was insane to bestow such passion on a foot and it made him want to laugh but he didn't because the power of it, combined with the fucking, swept him away anyway.

Kerr had never pounded into anyone as hard as he did to Ben. Sweat beaded on his upper lip and forehead as his hips pistoned, the sound of flesh slapping almost deafening as his fingers dug into Ben's thighs, holding him in place while he fucked him as hard as he could. If Lazarus wasn't doing anything to Ben's cock, he would certainly stroke it but it would be brief because he needed both hands to brace himself. He hadn't thought he'd cum again but the frenetic pace and the boggling sensation of fucking Ben's tight, deep well of an ass made him realise he was wrong.

With a cry so deep and loud it sounded like it came from his feet, Kerr came in Ben's ass, the deposit minimal but the orgasm shatteringly good. "FUUUUUCK!" he screamed, gasping for air as his chest heaved and every muscle in his body quivered with exhausted satisfaction. He hung onto Ben's legs a little longer, unsure if he was going to collapse on the bed or fall backwards off the end of it. He opened his eyes to see what Ben and Lazarus were doing, ready to topple down beside Ben... as long as Lazarus was going to be on the other side.

[Trillian]

As Lazarus felt himself twitch and twerk at the rising pressure, he was aware that Ben's tongue started rolling around inside his hole with gusto. Nobody could tongue fuck as good as his fledge - it was one of Lazarus' favourite things about him. He took over from Ben's hand on his cock, and with a few more tugs he gushed the remainder of his seed down Ben's chest and stomach. He liked the look of it there, at the smell of it. The bed was still rocking as Kerr began to frenzy fuck Ben's body. Lazarus smeared his cum, covering every inch of Ben's torso that he could, still enjoying the feel of Ben's tongue inside his ass.

When Kerr finally came, Lazarus eyed Ben's hard-on. He swung his leg over and dismounted Ben's face, pausing to look back at him and receiving a dreamy smile. Good. He shifted around as Kerr fell on Ben's other side in a heap, panting hard. In the meantime, Lazarus arranged Ben to be his little spoon and stroked his cock for it had been mostly ignored. He kept his strokes slow and deliberate until Ben was whimpering and pleading for more, then he sped up until Ben spurted through his fingers and onto Kerr. Lazarus pressed his hand against Ben's mouth, watching his fledge clean his own cum off Lazarus' hand and relishing how Ben never said no and just did whatever Lazarus wanted.

Kerr better not mess with that.

[Existentially Odd]

Ben's blood was finally working its way out of Kerr's system because he was experiencing a definite sense of sobering up as he was covered with Ben's emission. Watching Lazarus service Ben (after himself, of course) roused the final remnants of his enhanced emotions. He resented the ancient's interference; he'd wanted to be the one to help Ben achieve his peak but he hadn't been lucid when his chance was available and then suddenly the two vampires were hugging one another and excluding him.

He was tired, emotional and possibly coming down from a drug he'd never experienced. He didn't feel like himself and he also wasn't the type to feel this possessive. Not over someone he'd known a couple of nights! He needed space, a night of sleep and, hopefully, perspective. Deciding he'd start with space, Kerr got up off the bed (shakily) and went into the bathroom to shower. He veered towards the bath on the way, pulling the plug to let the water out and picking up the soap to take into the shower with him.

The sight and smell of his vomit-infused clothes got him thinking as he stepped under the warm spray. He had no gear, no clothes and no idea where he was. He was sexually replete but emotionally bemused and didn’t even know where he’d be sleeping. In between a couple of vampires on a cum-stained mattress? Was there even any food nearby (he doubted they’d care about his needs in that level of detail but he was fucking starving after all the sex)? What were the conditions of his release? What had he got himself into?

It was so much easier to think when he wasn’t staring at Ben’s beautiful face or touching him but he didn’t like the empty feeling that accompanied those thoughts. At all.

[Trillian]

When Kerr left for the bathroom, Lazarus encouraged Ben onto his back on the bed and kissed him passionately, tasting his seed and not minding it one bit. Ben was his, and it was evident in the passionate return of his kisses.

"Sunrise is almost on us," Lazarus whispered and left the bed. He wasn't as shaky as the mortal had been but he'd certainly been affected. He pulled Ben up, who was unusually light-hearted and giggly. Hmn, interesting. "Come on, let's find another bed. This one's used up."

Ben could hear Kerr in the shower and headed for it, but Lazarus pulled him back. "I need to tell Kerr not to leave," he said.

"You think he'll come back with more hunters?" Lazarus said, not keen on trusting him. "I can stay awake the day."

"He won't do that, but he might leave if he thinks I used him."

"Write a message, then," Lazarus said, moving to the bedside drawer and checking it. He was lucky that whoever had the house liked being prepared. There was a box of tissues, a large pump-action lube bottle, a sleep mask and a notebook and pencil. Lazarus pulled the whole drawer out and carried it with him to Ben, who looked at it, then inside it, then smirked at his sire before reaching in and taking the writing implements out.

Lazarus left the room with his drawer of items, searching for somewhere else to sleep. Ben quickly wrote out a note and put it on the foot of the bed.

Kerr,

We are sleeping
in another room
for the day.

Please don't leave.

Ben.

He found Lazarus in a room a little further down the hall. This one didn't have a bathroom attached but they didn't need it. The bedside table had Lazarus' extra drawer on top. The queen-sized bed looked comfortable and the window had thick drapes upon it. Lazarus made sure the window was shut and that the curtains properly covered every crack in the window but he still decided to drape the bedspread over it, completely covering the square.

"There's a bathroom across the hall," Ben said, having spotted it before stepping into the room Lazarus had chosen for them. His sire joined him and they showered next, functionally. The house was opulent enough that their water temperature didn't interfere with Kerr's. They were done much faster and towelled dry in a piecemeal fashion. Ben was dry but Lazarus was dripping when they returned to the bedroom. After Lazarus placed the tallboy in front of the door so nobody could get in without pushing the furniture over, he commanded Ben to properly dry him, which his fledge did without complaint. They stole secret, happy glances at one another and Lazarus was grateful to Kerr for this companionable, agreeable youth. Ben's mood was uplifting.

He would've fucked him again if he'd had the energy or motivation. Right now he was just spent. The two lay side by side beneath the sheet and blanket in the darkness of the room. After a few minutes, Lazarus sidled over for more kissing, and they kissed and pecked each other's lips until Ben fell asleep.

[Existentially Odd]

By the time Kerr was done with his shower, his vision was back to normal, which meant that he couldn't see much at all when searching for his earlier-discarded towel. The realisation only made him grumpier. He turned on the light, dried himself off and secured the towel around his hips before he headed back into the bedroom, filled with trepidation. The note on the end of the bed left him feeling hollow and abandoned. He embraced the anger that swiftly followed and stomped out of the room, intent on figuring out where the fuck he was so that he actually could leave. Why the fuck would he hang around to be a third wheel if he could help it?

Ben's haunting eyes and the memory of his addictive touch all over his body followed Kerr along hallways and down stairs that he quickly realised were familiar. When he got to the kitchen, he stopped and looked around in disbelief. "Fuck off," he told the air crankily, thumping down to the basement where all his stuff was. He made a beeline for his fridge, downing a Coke in about two swallows and eating a fistful of ham straight out of the packet while he buttered most of the rest of his loaf of bread. He grabbed another drink and sat with his sandwiches in front of his computer once they were made, eating and drinking and typing once he'd begun to fill the empty pit of hunger inside of him.

He journalled his experiences with Ben and Lazarus while he ate - not the sex, but everything that had led up to it. The near-death, the telekinesis, the failed trap disarm and the after effects, the consumption of vampire blood and its effects. He could only manage impressions, hasty notes and feelings that he didn't want to forget, because exhaustion was lurking at the periphery of his senses, ready to take over as soon as his body gave up on lucidity and turned its remaining energy to digesting the belly full of food he'd just given it. His eyes drooped repeatedly and he tried to shake himself awake every time he nodded off, in order to finish the sentence, the note, the thought.

Deciding he needed more caffeine, he got up and went to the fridge, standing beside it while he drank yet another Coke. He looked around while he did, marvelling at just how different the basement looked without Ben in the cage. It was cold and ominous, sending a shiver down his spine. He didn't want to sleep here alone but nor did he want to go upstairs and find somewhere nearby like an obedient little junkie.

Please don't leave.

Fuck him. Why shouldn't he leave? There was nothing here for him. The vampires were reunited, Lazarus was either looking at him like he was a tasty snack or an offence whose neck he wanted to snap, Ben just seemed to want him for fucking and then there was the threat of the Oligarchy. He'd have to own up to them that he'd failed and he couldn't predict the consequences. If he was in his right mind, he'd call them right now and get someone else to finish the job he couldn't, while the vampires were vulnera--

He couldn't even finish the thought. Contemplating ending Ben filled him with the same hollow clench that'd attacked him when he read the note. The 'WE' note. The note that made his place in the food chain clear, even while instructing him that he had no options. No, fuck that. He did have options. He'd fulfilled his side of the bargain; he'd let Ben and Lazarus go and he wouldn't turn them in to the Oligarchy. Why could Ben possibly want him to stay, when he had his sire and they were completely coupled up? It was just a power trip, it had to be. Or he'd enjoyed the fucking, maybe. It wasn't anything real and Kerr knew he was a fucking idiot for even letting a sliver of hope enter his heart.

Decided, Kerr got dressed, packed up all his gear and put it in his car. It took him multiple trips and lots of Tetris channelling to get everything in but he did it, eventually. He gathered up all the magic stuff, too, planning to drop it off at the Oligarchy the next night (once he knew Ben and Lazarus had had ample time to escape) when he owned up to his failure. He was dismayed that he couldn't find the knife but when he made a final trip back upstairs to write his phone number on the bottom of Ben's note, he searched the room on a hunch and found it under the bed. Shoving it in his jeans, he walked out of the house and drove into the city. It was mid-morning and the sun was hurting his eyes worse than usual, so he stopped at the first semi-decent motel he came to.

Securing a room for the day and a night, he parked outside it with relief, barely able to keep his eyes open any longer. He brought his clothes, food and the box of magic trinkets in to keep beside his bed, undressed and flopped onto the bed. He managed to put his phone on to charge on the bedside table and drop the mind-blocking ring inside the magic box before he fell into a deep, dreamless asleep.

[Trillian]

Lazarus woke first. He looked at his sleeping fledge and stroked his brow before kissing it. While it was nice that Ben had shifted gears when it came to sex, he didn't like having to share his progeny with Kerr. It would've been fine if the other man had been into it, paying Lazarus his dues, but all he'd received were filthy looks and competitive touches on Ben.

The sun had still not finished its travel below the horizon and the sky was a blaze of angry reds and oranges but Lazarus was restless. He shifted the dresser out of the way of the door and moved naked into the corridor. Squinting against the light momentarily, his eyes adjusted quickly and he sensed no heartbeats in the house. Good. He'd fucked off then, but he might be getting the Oligarchy or other hunters to help him finish Lazarus and Ben, so they had to get moving. Lazarus went into their old room (that stank of sex, still) and pulled on his jeans. He found the note and the scribbled mobile number on it.

He took the note into the bathroom and ripped it up into little pieces before flinging them into the bowl, making sure they all went in there before flushing the toilet. There. Gone. If the fucker had wanted to stay with Ben he would've stayed in the house, not expect Ben to call on him like they were courting. The courting bit was over. They'd had a sound fucking. The deed was done. No more.

He lifted up the bed to bring the knife back to Ben, who'd been quite taken with it, it seemed. It wasn't there. He definitely remembered tossing it under there. Kerr must have claimed it before leaving. Ugh. How annoying.

Lazarus dropped the bed and returned to Ben. Not wanting to be bested by that mortal gimp, he started stroking his sleeping fledge, playing with his limp penis until after some time it started twitching. It alerted Lazarus to the fact Ben was coming to. He began to stroke with more enthusiasm, until Ben was making small grunts and sighs in his sleep. Lazarus reached for his drawer for the giant lube bottle and pumped some of it into his hand and fingers, so he could stroke and finger Ben at the same time. Sleep still had a hold of him, Lazarus could tell Ben was trying to come out of it but couldn't yet because the sun was too strong, but the delightful part was he still showed his eagerness with his whimpering and his hard-on. After a reasonable amount of prep where he could slide two fingers and a thumb into Ben's hole, he thrust himself into it and started pumping away. He only hesitated when Ben mumbled Kerr's name, then renewed his motions with rage, shoving Ben face down on the mattress so he could lay atop him and get some proper hard thrusts in there. He would fuck that name out of Ben's mind.

Ben's eyes fluttered open about halfway through the sex, the position awkward and Lazarus' thrusts not quite hitting the right part of his body for him to get full enjoyment from it. He pulled his knees up, changing the angle and pushing himself back into his sire, who grunted his pleasure and kept going for a lot longer than Ben was wanting. He'd been dreaming of Kerr, of waking up with him, and initially he'd thought that had happened but no, it was his sire and he shouldn't have been surprised. The ancient vampire was sex-crazed and insatiable. While he was being fucked so mercilessly, Ben's mind drifted through the house, searching for Kerr and failing to make a connection. At first he quailed and tensed, causing Lazarus to compliment the constriction of muscles, and then, to spite Kerr for leaving, he responded to Lazarus' sex with gusto until he was sore all over again.

Disgusted with himself, his sire and with Kerr, Ben got out of bed and showered before dressing and searching the house. Gone. Everything was gone. Kerr had taken himself and his things and left. His note was gone, too. Perhaps the mortal had torn it up or maybe he'd kept it as a memento. It was hard to know what Kerr had been thinking. The ring had been a buffer for all sorts of things.

"You charmed him enough to save my life," Lazarus said from the doorway of the basement. He didn't want to go back down there and Ben was dawdling. "You thanked him with your body, like he wanted. Anything else you thought would happen is sentimental nonsense. Let's go before your influence on him lessens and he sends other hunters to finish us off."

Ben knew Lazarus' words were sensible. Ben had romanticised the impact he'd had on the mortal, and even though the sex had been magnificent, it was just sex. The attraction between them had been palpable but not enough to keep Kerr here. He was disappointed but not so much that he would risk himself further by staying here.

Ben joined Lazarus upstairs and together they left the house, intending on moving north and then towards Europe. Ben had a good grasp of French and Lazarus had been fluent in it once before and could be so again.

[Existentially Odd]

When Kerr awoke, he was initially convinced that the cold bed beside him was Ben. His questing hand roved up and down it, a groggy smile forming on his lips even as his body quickened at the thought of the vampire. It turned into a frown as lucidity surfaced and he realised the truth. It was dark and he was alone. He'd walked away and made it to safety. He rolled over and checked his phone, his heart sinking when he saw there were no new messages. Best to get on with it.

Sighing heavily, he took a wake-up shower and got dressed a little more nicely than usual, wearing black trousers and a pastel blue dress shirt. He didn't bother with a tie, preferring to leave the top two buttons undone and rolled the sleeves up to his elbows. Black boots completed the look. Because he wasn't in any rush, he took his time using up more of his food and watched some TV while he waited for the time to pass, checking his phone for a message every minute or so and trying not to think about Ben too much.

It was almost midnight when he arrived at the Oligarchy with his box of souvenirs. He parked in their underground carpark, wondering if they'd demand back the items he'd purchased on their dime, and went upstairs to the foyer. At the front desk, he tried to pull a swift exit by placing the ornate wooden box holding all the return items (including the ring and the knife, unfortunately) in front of himself and talking quickly.

"Hi there, I'm Kerr Galvin and I need to return these items. They're Oligarchy property. I was commissioned to do a job and I'm afraid I failed. My targets escaped and I have it on good authority they're going to leave the country. Since I know I won't be able to fulfil my obligations, could you just get this back to, uh, whoever's in charge - I don't remember the name, sorry - and give them my sincerest apologies? Thanks!" he finished brightly. When he turned to leave, he had a face-full of chest to contend with. His upper arm was grabbed in a vice-like grip and he was forced to march alongside the man mountain towards the elevators.

Kerr did his best to talk to his puppeteer, begging, coaxing and commanding him to let him go, to no avail. They got into the lift and he could feel it going downwards. His heart rate picked up as he anticipated he was just being forcibly removed from the premises and marched to his car but that hope faded when they didn't go down enough floors. The doors opened on a hallway lined with doors. His handler walked him to the right and opened a door at random.

He was deposited unceremoniously into a small space he could only describe as an interrogation room; two chairs facing each other on either side of a table that had metal bars set into it for handcuffs. It was bolted into the floor, the chairs weren't, he soon found out. There was a camera high in the corner but nothing else save the furniture. Kerr inspected everything (realising the door was locked and the table fixed to the floor straight away) before slouching into one of the uncomfortable chairs with a sigh. He was thirsty and hoped he wouldn't have to wait long but there was a sense of trepidation in the pit of his stomach that whispered all sorts of scary things to him.

Could he be killed for failing at his job?

[Trillian]

The door opened. Two men entered the room. The door closed and clicked locked behind them.

One was young looking, late teens or early twenties. Muscular, brown hair and eyes so dark they looked black, long eyelashes and a strong jaw. Skin like white marble. He moved to the corner of the room closest to the door and stood facing the table, arms folded against his chest, wearing a bespoke navy suit over a pinstriped white shirt.

The second man Kerr recognised though they'd never spoken to one another. Halen. Warm brown hair, golden eyes and copper skin. Dressed in an immaculate woollen dark grey suit, the jacket unbuttoned to reveal a black silk shirt beneath with black satin swirls that caught the harsh light and reveal their gloss. The dragon tattoo on the side of Halen's neck was breathing fire - the point of difference that separated the Luminary from his Oligarchs. He carried a glass of water with him and he set it on the table in front of Kerr before sitting on the chair opposite.

Halen gave Kerr an intense look, gesturing for him to drink from the glass of water if he hadn't already.

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr sat rigidly when they entered the room, a string of curses running through his mind as he saw who it was. He watched the vampire take up his point position then stared at the Luminary. He hastened to drink the water so quickly he misjudged the distance, bumped it, spilt it, grabbed it. He didn’t drink from it, merely put it closer to his side of the table while he rolled his sleeve down to his wrist and used it to wipe the water up. They stared at him the whole time.

fuckshitfuckshitjesuschristfuckshitjesuschristfuck
I’m going to die. They’re here to kill me. Will they let me call my mother to say goodbye?
HOW DID THEY EVEN KNOW I WAS THIRSTY. COME ON!!
fuckshitfuckshitfuckshit...

Finally, the water had all seeped into his sleeve and Kerr pulled that arm back, dropping it to his lap while he used the other to drink the water. He almost gulped it and choked, his heart hammering in his throat interfering with the process. He put the glass down and stared some more at the Luminary. “Thank you,” he croaked, fear constricting his voice so much that it sounded like he hadn’t drunk at all.

[Trillian]

There was a pause, a gravitas as Halen watched this display before him. Kerr's guilt was obvious. It was the specifics he didn't yet know.

"You're supposed to give us a briefing," Halen said. The briefing should've happened in an office or meeting room, and Kerr's briefing was supposed to have occurred after a success. His record had been immaculate, that's why he'd been hired. However, his failure wasn't the reason he'd been brought in here. Returning all of his items after failure was. Not requesting more time or assistance after failure was. Looking nervous and acting suspiciously after failure was. No explanation of why he'd failed was.

[Existentially Odd]

Kerr licked his lips, looking at the water because staring into the coppery eyes of the golden-hued man was too intense. He was doing his best to lock down his nervous tics; his left leg wanted to bounce, his fingers wanted to run and dance, he wanted to slouch and wriggle. He did none of it, holding himself still. But he could not look into those eyes easily. And he’d thought Ben’s eyes were amazing.

“You’re right. I deliberately didn’t follow protocol because I’m ashamed. I’m not used to failing,” Kerr offered quietly, shrugging one shoulder. “Even with all the preparation, I made a stupid mistake. I let the younger one get hold of me. The intel you had wasn’t great; Ben’s a hundred and seventy-five and Lazarus? He’s two thousand. Anyway, it all unravelled after Ben grabbed me. It was my fault. I just wanted to return your stuff and go.”

It was all true enough but the devil was in the details and he began thinking through everything else that happened after Ben sucked on his hand, despite realising he should lock his thoughts down, too. Startled, he looked at the vampire in the corner.  The cursing started up in his head again and he tried his best to concentrate on that.