Chapter 13 Peter
Peter
Peter didn’t like Bernard. At all.
In fact, Peter wanted to go and find Bernard and explain to the other vampire why it was such a shame the blood eagle had fallen out of fashion, and wasn’t it just the most wondrous thing if done right? Peter knew how to do the damn blood eagle right. He had an urge to show Bernard.
Bernard, through lack of spine, failed to get within striking distance the week following his first appearance outside of Peter’s house, but Peter could tell Bernard was stalking them.
Firstly, the smell of vampire on the air became an all-too-common occurrence whenever Peter stepped out of the house, taking Theo shopping or to work, and secondly, Peter knew that prickling feeling at the back of his neck, which meant someone was watching him with evil intent.
But Bernard just wouldn’t show.
The nightly trips to the Boudoir, along with having Theo in the house with him before and after, should have been ample distraction from the building grumpiness inside of Peter, and yet…
He was beginning to get very, very annoyed about being made to wait.
Worst of all, his normal way of venting annoyance—glaring at his employees—was impossible while working from home to keep an eye on Theo. The bother.
To get at least some minor venting done, on the second night at the Boudoir, Peter had allowed himself to get into an argument with Theo that roughly ran along the lines of:
“Theo, I enjoy talking as a general concept, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy talking to you specifically.”
They had been in the same room as before, likely Celeste’s way of making them comfortable. Theo had crossed his arms over the crop top he’d picked that night, leveling a glare Peter could only admire.
“Look, vampire, we’re not doing this. I told you I’ll work, so I’ll work, and if you want to go chat, ask Celeste for a refund, and I’ll see whether there’s a client who actually wants to fuck.”
“You are aware that clients pay for all manner of things?” Peter had picked at imagined lint on his pants.
“Well, Peter, do you want me to gag you and tie you up with nylons while I lick peanut butter off your chest or something? Happy to oblige.”
“Disturbingly specific, but no.”
“Then take your fucking pants off, Peter.”
At which point Peter had taken those fucking pants off, seeing as how there was very little else to do.
Much to Peter’s chagrin, there had been small variations of that argument each night that followed, and it always ended the same way, specifically with the fucking Theo was demanding they do.
It added a certain spicy flavor to Peter’s general annoyance, given it meant he got to figure out what Theo liked in bed, and how to get him exactly the way Peter wanted him, which was soft as melting butter.
And Theo was quite perfect in the way he was so responsive to gentleness but equally receptive to a rough finish; a rough interlude, even.
And that, more or less, was the sort of routine they settled into over the next few days.
Of course, each morning while Theo still slept, Peter would walk downstairs to his study, open Photoshop, discover he just couldn’t come up with any artificial image that soothed him, then get to work for a few hours until Theo woke. It was frustrating in the extreme.
Peter had gotten decent at walking noisily too, even though Theo still sometimes got a deer-in-headlights expression when Peter simply walked into a room.
It wasn’t until Theo’s eighth day at the house, on their way back from the Boudoir, that they had an actual conversation. Theo still smelled like sex, heady and sweet. He was looking out of the passenger side window in that way he often did, staring at the nighttime view of New Elvenswood.
“Do you have a TV setup with a DVD player?” he asked.
Peter stopped at a red light and looked over. “Well, they’re no longer hooked up, because everyone streams everything these days, but I have the hardware. Why are you asking?”
Theo looked over. “I need to watch the 1956 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers for my paper on horror and the fear of the other, and the university only has the DVD, which they can mail to your address.”
Peter accelerated as the light changed, grinning. “No need. I have that movie.”
Theo sat up straighter, and the streetlights licked over his surprised features and made his jade eyes shimmer. “You do?”
“Mm-hmm. I’m a bit of a horror film aficionado, but do not tell anyone. In fact, if you want to, we can watch it tonight while you have dinner.”
“Uhm, I should be taking notes during, but…I’ll have to watch it several times anyway, so why not?”
There was no reason not to, Peter absolutely agreed, and the fact that Theo didn’t flinch at all at the suggestion of them watching it together made newly hatched butterflies wriggle in Peter’s stomach. Or possibly moths. Peter decided the feeling resembled moths more closely than butterflies.
“I’ll set everything up while you get your food ready,” Peter told Theo once they got to the house and closed the front door behind them. “Just join me in the basement.”
Theo shrugged his jacket off. “Say what?”
Peter tilted his head. “Get your food, join me in the basement. To watch Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the communist scare edition.”
Theo’s lips actually twitched up. “Dude, do you know how wrong it is to lure me into your basement with the promise of a horror movie?”
Peter shrugged. “What would you rather I use as a lure on you, Theodore?”
It got the desired reaction from Theo, who’d been less and less closed off over the past few days.
“You don’t have anything weird down there, do you?”
“Weird like what?”
“Just weird, you know.” He made a fanning hand gesture as if to paint all unusual things with an imaginary brush. “Weird.”
Peter licked his lips. “Nothing terribly weird, to the best of my knowledge.”
Theo nodded and walked off toward the kitchen.
Before he headed downstairs, Peter had the foresight to run upstairs and grab a spare blanket.
The basement was kept cold to keep his tech setup happy, and he’d never even thought to install heating.
I never thought I’d have…people down there.
Not that he’s just people. On account of vampiric night vision, the basement also had only one bare lightbulb.
It was the old, less environmentally friendly incandescent kind, and the only reason Peter kept it around at all was that it still functioned.
As he switched it on, the glow threw eerie shadows where it hit the sharp corners of the metal storage shelves that held old computers and other tech. There was even a fax machine tucked in behind an old Video 2000.
Peter was a practical man first and foremost, and going with progress was something he prided himself on.
Keeping old technology around—he still had a slide projector, cassette tapes, and a VHS, among other things—made sense for those occasions when he ran across something dated that he needed access to for his job.
It also makes sense when one is trying to impress a film student, apparently.
Peter dug out the DVD player and rummaged through his cable collection until he found the SCART cable and power cord he needed.
Behind the storage shelves, Peter had created a cozy workspace. The L-shaped desk could handle all the modern sleuthing and recreational things Peter liked to spend his time on—Photoshop, saving Theo’s hard drive, a bit of hacking here and there, and some coding on the side.
In front of the desk was an old but comfortable couch that faced a wall-mounted TV. Peter also had a projector and a screen he could pull down, and he opted for that instead since the DVD wasn’t HD.
It took a bit of extra fiddling to make the old DVD player work with the sound system, but Peter was done by the time he heard Theo walk down the steps.
“Why is it so fucking dark down here? Shit, this isn’t a sex dungeon or something, is it? I’m not watching Invasion in your sex dungeon, Peter.”
Peter rounded his storage shelves. “Sadly, not a sex dungeon.” He crooked a finger at Theo, who was carrying a tray with a large bowl of salad and a roasted sweet potato slathered in hummus. “Right this way.”
Theo cautiously followed, his eyes catching on every odd thing Peter had collected down here. “Is that an original movie poster?”
Peter looked at the framed Dracula poster that was leaning against a wall. “Yes. And signed by Lugosi, in case that impresses you.”
“Wow.” Theo did sound impressed. “How weird is it for a real vampire to ask a fake vampire for an autograph?”
Peter reached for the tray in Theo’s hands, their fingers brushing as he took it. “Not weird at all if you keep it to yourself, Theodore. Come. I’d like to show you something.” He put the tray on the couch.
Theo hesitated. It could have been the physical contact, or the fact that it was dark and possibly even spooky down here.
His pupils were blown, but again, Peter couldn’t really be sure why, not with the scent of Theo’s earlier arousal and their lovemaking at the Boudoir still clinging to them both.
Yet, Theo still followed Peter into another storage room. This one came with a number code lock, and when he saw that, Theo hesitated.
“Not going in there,” he said, crossing his arms.
Peter punched in the code and opened the door.
“Fair enough. Just take a look then.” He pulled out his cell phone to provide some light.
He’d not had any installed here. “The lock is really only here because I keep some drives and discs related to old case files here. For the record, you can open the door from the inside. Most of it is just for my own personal pleasure.” Peter illuminated the rows of DVDs and VHS tapes.
The room was cool and dry—the best environment for extending the lifespan of these digital delicacies.
“Wow,” Peter heard Theo say from the door. He took a step inside the room despite his earlier hesitation. “You’re a collector.”