Trick's Family

[Existentially Odd]

Harm found himself mildly disappointed and realised it was because he'd been suspecting Trick's modesty when it came to sexual stuff was because he was inexperienced. Fat chance of that, with him offering himself to vampires.

Trick was a complicated guy and only becoming more complicated as Harm learnt more about him, which didn't make a whole lot of sense. He sighed, mildly frustrated.

"Often? Or, I guess I mean more than once?"

Was it a competition? Trick had done more bad things than him so he could... what? Be forgiven for liking being with Ben? He didn't understand his own motivation for asking what he did and frowned as he awaited an answer.

[Pocky]

Trick went quiet for a long moment, changing lanes when he needed to and then getting on the highway which would take them to Chinatown in the next ten minutes. Once they were cruising at speed, Trick replied.

"I got myself a vampire boyfriend. He treated the relationship in a very specific negative way that only vampires can. Then I got myself another vampire boyfriend. Exactly the same thing ended up happening, so I don't have anything to do with vampires any more."

Trick didn't look happy talking about it but there was no emotion creeping into his voice.

[Existentially Odd]

Harm nodded thoughtfully, digesting the news of Trick's two vampire boyfriends. He had good reason to be distrustful of the species beyond the recent attacks, then. Harm could understand.

Ben had been lovely and accommodating and sweet to him but that would never change the power dynamic between a predator and their prey. He wouldn't trust a vampire with his heart and he wasn't sure he'd ever trust any with his body again, either. Any relationship between a vampire and another species, no matter what it could gain either of them, was bound to be fundamentally unequal due to the fact that one snacked on the other.

"Understandable. I've had one boyfriend. He beat me up and, when I ended it, attempted to rape me so I haven't had anything to do with relationships at all for a year or so," he said with a humourless laugh, his response offhanded because he was mostly thinking about Trick's situation. "So what happens to them when they drink your blood? You said it makes them high?"

[Pocky]

"Sorry to hear that happened to you," Trick said between Harm telling about his ex-boyfriend and the questions that were fired after him soon after.

"Yeah. Something about Fae blood affects the vampire system, but Nymph in particular," he replied. "I already knew about it. I thought it was general knowledge but an article about it made it suddenly dangerous for me to wander around at night. It's shit because I used to jog at night."

Now Harm would hear emotion as Trick spoke about his exercise routine being messed up.

[Existentially Odd]

Harm tried to imagine what it would be like. The vampire high from drinking Trick's blood, Trick horny and wanting (which caused an instantaneous reaction in his belly that was unexpectedly lovely)... would they both be working at cross-purposes?

"So a high vampire is... helpless? Or still capable of, uh, following through?" he queried, cautious about Trick's sensibilities enough not to swear.

[Pocky]

Trick didn't say anything for a very long moment, his eyes fixed on the road in front of him. His thumb continued to worry at the stitches on the inside of the steering wheel, rubbing and rubbing.

"What do you mean by 'following through'?" he prompted.

[Existentially Odd]

"Like, having sex with you," he clarified, paused a moment then added his hypothesis. The medical practitioner in him needed details.

"I'm just wondering whether a high vampire is as incapable as a high human of functioning normally or whether their species abilities negate the effects at all. Are they giggly? Aggressive? Capable of walking straight? The addicts I come into contact with are generally incapable of tying their own shoes when they're high, let alone manage to fuck anyone," he muttered waspishly.

[Pocky]

Once again Trick lapsed into a long silence. The off-ramp to Chinatown would be coming up in the next minute and directions would soon be required. Before that, Trick replied.

"I don't believe that biting has a 'follow through' to sex," he said finally.

[Existentially Odd]

Harm had been glancing out the windscreen, knowing he'd have to start directing Trick soon but now frowned at Trick rather obviously. Not only had he avoided giving answers regarding vampire reactions to his blood (because it was too personal? Offensive, even though it wasn't about him? He had no idea), now he was denying that the bite led to sex at all. Yet he'd admitted he felt a sexual reaction to the bite.

"So you didn't have sex with them when they bit you?" he asked, doing his best to keep his tone casual. His earlier theory about Trick's inexperience recurred to him. It was the only theory that made Trick's hesitance about all of it make sense but he didn't want to go accusing the guy of it. It didn't worry him either way - though it would have changed the way he approached... things. "Have you, uh, ever? Take this exit."

The timing was awful and Harm wished they weren't driving while having a conversation like this.

[Pocky]

Trick didn't wait long at all to reply this time around. "Have I ever what?" he asked, frowning out the windshield. He glanced in the rear-view and side mirrors before indicating and driving up the ramp which would take them over the highway and then down between the tall buildings of the metropolis. "Had sex or had sex after being bitten?" he asked, then shook his head. "Both."

Trick sigh-grunted, the same exasperated sound that Harm had heard Trick using on his dad.

[Existentially Odd]

Harm was disconcerted by the shaking of Trick's head, yet his answer seemed affirmative. The sigh he gave was a very clear signal, however, one for Harm to drop this line of questioning. He felt somewhat defeated and anxious, unsure if he'd ruined things irreparably and also rebellious enough about not getting straight answers that part of him didn't care.

He had to remind himself that this was their first date, everything wasn't meant to be clear straight away... but he was disheartened by how difficult it seemed, now that they'd got past the jokes and the kissing and progressed to the getting to know each other part. He suspected that Trick didn't like what he'd discovered and he wanted to fix it but... it was easier not to care. The temptation was strong. Why take the hard road when the slide was available? Slide on out...

Thoughts stewed and broiled but he dropped the conversation in favour of giving Trick directions. After the almost sour tone his queries had created in the car, Harm assumed Trick would be dropping him and leaving immediately, so he didn't bother directing him to drive into the parking garage nearby but to the street outside his complex. "Just up there past the bus stop, that's my place," he said quietly, gesturing once they were driving down his actual street.

[Pocky]

By the time they entered into Chinatown proper, Trick was having a harder time navigating the streets--they were narrow with cars parked on both sides of the road. Flashing neon characters in Mandarin and colourfully dressed people grabbed his attention so that he drove much more slowly, gawking at everything and bringing a smile back to Trick's face.

"This is so cool," he said, peering up through the windshield at the dragons atop pillars in the main Chinatown pedestrian thoroughfare.

He followed Harm's directions to his street which was much quieter but not great for parking. He ended up going a little way past because he spied a space up ahead. With great care--and with some impatient drivers honking him from behind--Trick reverse-parked into the space and was yelled at in Mandarin for his trouble. He grinned at Harm.

"I bet I know what he said."

[Existentially Odd]

Harm was thrown anew. Although he hadn't exactly expected to have to execute a commando roll from the moving vehicle, he definitely hadn't expected Trick to park. It was night time and they were in the city, where Trick didn't want to be - in Harm's opinion, these streets were much more of a potential hazard to his health than the carnival because the carnival had security to the eyeballs. Those black-uniformed security guards were pretty busy elsewhere, so he doubted he'd see the usual amount patrolling as he did when navigating his way through the city or the Quarter.

Unclipping his seatbelt, Harm gave a wary laugh. "Yeah, I think it was, 'Great job parking! You are a very safe driver!'," he interpreted, switching out of an initial soft tone to a game-style victory announcer type voice for the second part and raising a shaking fist for emphasis. He lowered it and leant down to regather his bag, holding it between his legs as he looked at Trick. His expression was flirting with both a frown and a smile and neither was winning as he fought his way back from defensive numbness to cautious excitement again. "Are you interested in coming in for a bit?" Even he could hear the surprise and hope in his voice.

[Pocky]

Trick laughed at Harm’s version of what might have been shouted his way. Then, when he was invited, Trick switched off the car and unclipped his seatbelt.

“Only for a bit,” Trick replied, and got out of the car. He locked it and followed Harm to his apartment, looking at the architecture and his gaze travelling over the courtyard. Two Chinese women were chatting near the door opposite Harm's place. Neither paid him much attention.

(continued in Home Is Where The Harm Is)