The week went surprisingly quickly, despite all that had happened. It had been moderately normal, too. He and Seth failed to connect most days because of their alternate schedules. He spent his mornings lurking on the internet and Seth spent his evenings running, grading labs and analyzing data.

Anri was lonely. It was weird, as he hadn’t been lonely in all the time he had spent with Simone after his escape from Angelina. But now, being by himself felt lonesome. He missed Seth.

Part of it was that he was always in Seth’s house now. He spent all day hanging around the house while Seth was gone at school, and by the time he got home from work, Seth was typically already asleep. It still felt weird coming home to Seth’s house, getting ready and climbing into his huge bed while Seth slept.

He’d told Seth that it made him feel like a real vampire and Seth had laughed, pointing out that he was a real vampire. He’d clarified that he meant that he felt more like a ‘monster movie’ vampire. Seth responded to him in a very ‘transylvanian vampire’ accent, asking if Anri wanted to ‘zuck hees blud’. Anri threw a pillow at him and Seth burst out laughing, jumping out of the way of the plush projectile.

It was strange having to drive all the time, too. He’d gotten so used to walking to work that he was feeling a little lazy. Seth offered to star gate him, and he’d considered it, but it made him feel wrong, like he was abusing Seth’s gift for something so mundane.

Meanwhile, Simone and Raum continued to avoid each other like the plague. They were never in the same room at the same time, like parents in the middle of a divorce. They fought silently, tormenting each other in a million tiny ways. By Thursday morning, Simone had thrown her hands up in the air, taking offense at a coffee pot with only half a cup left in it. She stomped into her room, slammed some things around so that everyone knew she was angry. When she emerged again, she had a full backpack and a tupperware case full of odds and ends work materials.

She stormed out dramatically, slamming the door behind her. Only a moment after the door slammed shut did Raum poke his head out. He snuck up to the door stealthily, placing his hand tentatively on the doorknob. Just as he touched the metal it flew open in his face. He jumped back, and the door swooshed open forcibly, missing him only by centimeters.

Simone stood there, her foot still in the air from her kick. She put it down, frowning at Raum’s surprised face. “Don’t you dare follow me. No ghosts, either. I mean it, Raum. Leave me alone!” she snarled.

Raum’s face was stormy. “Since when do you have the right to tell me what I actions I may or may not perform, Simone Rousseau?”

She scowled at him intimidatingly. “Since you won’t leave me alone, demon. Go back whence you came and all that. Anri, can’t you unsummon him or something?”

He’d been sitting on the couch, trying really hard to mind his own business and read alternate Dr. Who historical timelines. They both looked at him expectantly, like he had the answer they were looking for. When he didn’t say anything, Simone glared at him until his shoulders drooped. Finally he said, “Not until he helps us heal Seth’s spirit.”

Simone harumped. “So, Saturday? Good. I’ll be home Saturday. I’m going to Maggie’s. Anri, if you tell this demon where Maggie lives, so help me God, I’ll send you back to hell with him.”

“It is not referred to as hell.” Raum added.

She looked like she wanted to slam the door, but Raum held it in his hand, so she glared at him instead. Cold air swirled into the house as she turned and walked away. Anri could feel the tension as Raum shut the door.

He tried to look busy. Raum shifted in the anteroom for a moment, then came and sat down on the ugly couch adjacent to him. He tried hard to ignore the larger man, but he sat there, hovering and saying nothing, Anri couldn’t stand it.

“What?” he demanded, closing his laptop roughly.

Raum sighed dramatically.

“Seriously, what?”

“She, ah…” he trailed off. Anri waited. Seconds ticked into minutes.

“You aren’t really good at talking about anything, are you?”

“I am not,” Raum agreed. “I was never taught to express myself, this presents weakness on the battlefield. Simone left. This is for the best. I have things to prepare for Saturday.”

Anri scoffed. “Prepare? Like what? What to say to your ex-girlfriend after a messy breakup?”

“It was not messy, it was mutual. Mostly mutual,” Raum hedged.

He narrowed his eyes at the demon. He was looking particularly un-demonic today, slumped on the couch more like a petulant teenager than a demon general. “What does that mean, exactly? Mostly mutual?”

“Hmm…we, ah, well, it was for the best,” Raum hedged. “Let us say that if we had stayed together, Gremory had seen that one of us would not have lived through it. Truly til death do us part. Did I mention she does not… appreciate men? Or that her general sensibilities were possibly unstable?”

He shifted, putting his laptop down on the offensively uncomfortable couch. “You might have mentioned that, yes. Tell me, Raum, did she hate men before or after your betrothal?”

Raum’s lip curled up, revealing his sharp shark teeth. “Shall we talk about something else? Perhaps your relationship? How about tending bar and preparing libations?”

Anri snorted. “Did I touch a sore spot, Raum? Is Saturday night going to be a horrible mess? Should I prepare for another fight? I thought we were going to see her and ask her to tell us how to get Seth’s soul back? Or were you planning on trying to kiss and make-up?”

“You facetious ingrate,” Raum snapped, rolling his eyes. “I would never kiss that creature. You forget with whom you deal. Gremory is Daeva, she is legion as much as I. You should always prepare for battle when dealing with any commander of Legion, even if this one may only be a battle of words. Generals of Legion rarely give anything for free.”

Anri considered Raum for a moment. He rarely spoke this freely. “So, should I prepare for battle with you on the daily?”

Raum cocked his head, staring appraisingly at him. “I have told you time and again, you and yours are safe from me. I am honour bound to you, by both blood and oath. I will protect you and your kin, as well as I am able.”

He fidgeted, pulling his legs up underneath him on the couch. For looking big and cushy, these couches were strangely hard and uncomfortable. “Yes, you may have mentioned that a few times, too. If demons are so tricky, why should I trust you?”

Raum laughed out loud. “You should never trust any Daeva!”

“You just insinuated that I should trust you,” he snapped.

“I did no such thing. I just said I was honour bound from harming you and yours. I never said to trust me,” Raum said, a cocky smile on those too-thin lips.

“You know, Raum, you’re an ass. If you were wondering why Simone left, it’s because you’re a total fucking asshole.” He shifted again, unable to find an even mildly tolerable position on Seth’s couch. “I think you want us to believe you’re all big and bad and horrible, but I think that’s just a shield you’re hiding behind. Yes, you’re an ass, but you seem to care for Simone, if no one else.”

An unreadable look crossed Raum’s face, then his face was blank. “I do not care in excess for your sister, vampire. My concern for her is only that which I have committed to protect you and your kin. If I seem excessive in my attentions regarding Simone, it is only due to my concern for her regarding her consumption of my blood. That is all.” He said , devoid of emotion, rigid and tight. Too tight, and too rigid. He was lying.

Anri watched him for a moment. He sat as still as a statue, staring out of the window into the sky behind Anri.

“Of course,” he agreed, feeling smug that he’d figured out this demon, even if it was only a tiny bit. “Of course, I’m sorry if I implied otherwise, oh mighty Raum of Legion, the heartless Daeva general.” He bowed from the couch, a half smile on his face.

“Your sarcasm is not lost to me, Anri. You do not want me to care in that manner for your sister. As you just mentioned, I am Daeva. I could never-”

He cut Raum off with a snort. “Oh, so now my sister isn’t good enough for you because you’re a demon and she’s vampire?”

Raum’s face turned red. “That is not what I intended to say. Do not deem to speak words from my mouth, Anri Rousseau. Think about your statement for a moment. Who would choose to be bound to a mate trained from birth to fight in an eternal war? Who would choose to be with a general of Legion if they were not Daeva themselves, and had no political gain to acquire? What person would want to subject any children which may be conceived from a union with a general like me? To bring them into the world knowing that they would be subjected to the life that I have had, to be raised as the next scion Raum of Legion? I wish that on no child, and no mate. Gremory saw it, I think, and she would rather kill me than have my child.” Raum looked wistful for a moment.

Anri was speechless. Raum continued to watch the skies. Eventually, apologized. “Sorry. I didn’t…”

“Why would you?” Raum sounded defeated. “It is not a fate I would subjugate Simone to withstand.”

He stared at Raum suspiciously. “You really do like her,” he mused.

Raum looked at him sharply. “Did you not hear all of the reasons I stated that I did not ‘like’ your sister?”

Anri smiled wryly. “I heard all of the excuses you made to keep me from thinking you might like her. And maybe yourself, too?” He watched Raum carefully for emotio, but his face was a mask. “Yeah, I think you know it already. I think…I think you goaded her into drinking from you the other day, to tie her to you even more.”

Raum said nothing. His posture was so rigid it was making him ancy. “You did!”

“I said no such thing,” Raum growled. “I did so to prevent her from feeding on others in her condition. She would have jumped the first human she came across.”

“I didn’t say you prevented. I said you goaded her. You must have cornered her. I know my sister, Raum. You like her,” he insisted. “Admit it, you wanted her to drink from you.”

Raum looked like he was going to pop, then he sighed again and relaxed back into the couch. “What does it matter, Anri Rousseau? It can never be.” His eyes went back up to the overcast skies behind his back.

They sat in silence for a while. The air was heavy with Raum’s unspoken emotions. The silence lingered on until he broke it again, feeling the need to change the subject. “So…with Gremory…what’s the plan? What do we do to prepare?”

“I am not sure we can do anything to prepare. We will be travelling to Gremory’s territory, so we will be on her terms. We should come with an appropriate offering, though,” Raum said. He watched Anri with his creepy, too-black irised eyes and Anri squirmed more.

“What kind of offering? How do we get to her territory?” he inquired.

Raum sat back up. “A gift. She likes horses. I will find something appropriate tomorrow. And, she sent us directions. No one goes to see Gremory without her permission.”

Anri sat thoughtfully for a moment. “Is that normal? That you have territory and that it’s magically protected or something?”

Raum looked at him again, a look of mild amusement on his face. “You are incredibly perceptive, more so than you appear. Yes, it is normal for Daeva generals to have territory, and to protect it with magic, but not in the way Gremory does. Normally, we should not be able to travel to a territory within another realm, but Gremory knows all realms as she knows all time. Her magic is slippery and different, even in the Daeva realm.” Raum sighed again.

“You really aren’t looking forward to visiting her, are you?” he asked.

Raum snorted. “Would you look forward to visiting your witch Angelina?”

“That’s not the same, she tortured me!” he exclaimed, too loud.

“How do you know it is not the same? I mentioned she did not like men. I was no exception,” Raum said. Anri wrinkled his nose up in frustration at his vagueness.

Both men stared at one another for a tense moment, then Raum looked to the skies again. He eyed Raum with suspicion. “You’re spying on Simone with crows, aren’t you!” he accused. “Admit it!”

Raum’s head jerked back to him again. “I choose not to acknowledge your presumptions, vampire.”

“For a demon,” he said, mildly amused, “you’re a horrible fucking liar. Simone will drain you if she catches.”

“Daeva cannot lie.” A small smile lifted the corner of Raum’s mouth before disappearing back into his neutral face. “That is why she will never know. Is not that so, Anri Rousseau?”

“Oh, I’ve always been told to never make a deal with the devil, Raum,” Anri teased with a slight chuckle.

“Wise words. Your deal has already been struck, though, whether you desired it or not.” Raum leaned back against the couch, staring out at the sky.

“Still, why would I keep it a secret that you’re spying on her with your pet birds?” he needled, half wondering if he was playing with fire. He wouldn’t tell Simone, not unless Raum really pissed him off, but he enjoyed having leverage.

Raum narrowed his eyes. “Because I would be displeased should be reason enough.”

He laughed. “I’m not a soldier in your Legion, oh great general. I could care less if you are ‘displeased’. Maybe I don’t want you to be spying on my sister?”

Anger flashed through Raum’s eyes before he caught himself. “I watch her because she may garner unwanted attention, as she smells strongly of a Raum. She possibly courts danger from our mutual enemies.”

His temper flared. “Our mutual enemies? Seriously, Raum, nothing was this bad before you. I can’t wait to have you gone from our fucking lives. None of us fucking asked for this, any of this shit.” He was getting too riled up, talking with his hands now. “If you ask me, all of this is your fault. So, I won’t tell Simone you’re spying on her, and you’ll get Seth’s soul shoes or whatever back, and then you’ll go back to fucking hell or wherever the fuck you came from.”

Anri could feel he was close to vamping out, as Simone called it when their temper flared their eyes turned red. He took a deep breath. He wasn’t usually this close to his temper, but all the stress had him on pins and needles lately. When he felt like he had his temper in hand, he opened his eyes, looking at Raum.

Raum said nothing, avoiding eye contact with him.

Tense, they both sat in silence, neither really looking at the other until Anri’s phone chirped from the kitchen.

It was Seth. He just knew it. Anri could feel the big doofy smile he wore, and he couldn’t care if it was embarrassing. He jumped up and was in the kitchen in a heartbeat, then grabbed his phone, and ran down the steps, slamming both doors behind him. He sat down on Seth’s bed before he turned on his screen.

Sup?

Anri couldn’t help it as butterflies rose up in his stomach. Seth did this to him every time. Picking on Raum. How’s school?

He sent the text then watched the phone, waiting for Seth’s response. A whole minute passed before he responded, and Anri was beginning to feel stupid.

You shouldn’t pick on him. Have you seen his teeth? School’s OK. Bored. Miss you.

Anri sighed. He thought of about ten different texts to send back and hated them all. Instead he sent, do you have time to talk? I hate texting.

Anri’s face fell when he got Seth’s response. No, can’t talk. Wake me when you’re home from work.

Anri frowned and texted back a quick response. He considered going back upstairs for his laptop but didn’t want to talk to Raum again, so he stayed put in Seth’s basement, amusing himself by snooping through Seth’s stuff. He only felt half-guilty as he pawed through his mate’s belongings.

 

—

When Anri got home from work that night Seth was already asleep. Despite what Seth had said about waking him up, he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. Seth was sleeping in his normal t-shirt and sleep pants, the blankets thrown off of his body with the exception of one leg still tucked beneath them. A small sliver of his sexy stomach peeked out from under his Fear Factory shirt.

He creeped around Seth’s room, still feeling a bit like an intruder, quietly removing his work clothes, sneaking into the bathroom feeling guiltily. He didn’t feel like he had a right to be here, with Seth. He showered, using Seth’s soap, which made him feel even more out of place. He really needed to at least get his own soap. Even if it was a little silly, he’d grown fond of the strawberry shampoo and conditioner that Simone preferred.

He missed the old familiarity of daily life. It l’d been a while since his days weren’t filled with one dramatic, life threatening event after another. Would it ever feel normal again? Would he ever feel at home with Seth, in his room, in his bed?

He toweled off and then realized he’d forgotten to grab some clean clothes from the box of clothes he was living out of since their flight from Simone’s apartment. He sighed. How long had it been since he was able to say somewhere was his home? He’d run straight from Angelina to Simone, and now to Seth.

He sighed again, feeling bad for himself. Wrapping a towel around his torso, he cracked the door, careful not to let too much light into the dark room, knowing he’d ruined his night vision during his shower. He snuck out of the door, trying hard to only open it as much as necessary for him to pass before closing it to just a crack. A long sliver of light cut across the room, barely illuminating his surroundings.

He tried to find underwear by feel alone. The rustle of cloth seemed to echo loudly in the dark room and he cringed with each sound. He bumped into something and something else fell in a loud clattering noise to the floor. He froze, as if not moving would prevent the noise from waking Seth.

After a moment passed, Anri let out the breath he was holding. He rustled around, finally finding a pair of underwear and settling for just those to wear to bed.

“You would make a terrible thief,” Seth slurred. He jumped back, startled, knocking something else off of something else. The thump of books falling to floor made Seth laugh.

Embarrassed, he pulled on his boxers. He could hear Seth shifting in bed, the rustle of the blanket and Seth’s body moving over the sheets. A moment later there was a click and the side lamp next to Seth’s bed turned on, illuminating the room in a dim yellow light.

He’d knocked over a portable speaker and a stack of graphic novels. He bent over and picked them up, blushing, and returned them to the shelf he had knocked them from.

Seth watched him, tired and amused. “I told you to wake me up. You didn’t have to creep around.”

Anri pursed his lips guiltily. “I did wake you up.”

Seth laughed again. “Yes, you did. For being a prince of darkness, you really are pretty clumsy in your element.” He scooted back to the center of the bed, leaving the light on. Seth watched him, those hazel eyes making him squirm.

He turned to the bathroom to shut the light off more as an excuse to hide from Seth’s gaze, but it didn’t work, he could still feel them, and he could feel Seth through their bond, too. He sat down on the edge of the bed. “I ruined my night vision in the bathroom,” he explained, feeling stupid.

“Don’t pout,” Seth said, climbing across the bed. He was wrapped Seth’s arms, his body naturally pressing back into his lover. A fleeting thought, socicietial conditioning reminded him that men weren’t intimate, and that he should be ashamed. The thought passed as Seth’s weight and heat was comforted him, making him feel more whole than he had before. As much as he wanted to pout, he found himself relaxing in those comforting arms. Seth nuzzled his face into his neck despite his hair still being wet and stringy.

“Aren’t you supposed to dry long hair before you go to bed?” Seth asked, leaning heavily on him.

Anri leaned back into his weight. “Maybe. I dunno. I always just let it air dry.”

They sat like that for a few seconds saying nothing. He felt Seth trying to hold back a yawn. “You’re tired,” he said. He leaned more heavily against Seth, pushing him back. “You should get some sleep. Don’t you have school tomorrow? It’s late.”

Seth bit his lip ring, a tired smile on his face. He pulled Anri back with him, half dragging him onto the bed. “I don’t have to go in tomorrow until later. I missed you. I wanna talk to you. Everything is so crazy lately. I just wanted to have a normal couple of minutes with you, you know? I wanted to just have a few minutes where I didn’t feel like everything was just a few seconds from falling apart.”

The comments really hit home. Anri longed for something to feel normal, even if it was just for a few minutes. That those minutes could be with Seth… He smiled, feeling happy that he and Seth felt the same.

Seth released him and settled back into bed, his head on a big fluffy pillow. Anri crawled over to him, grabbing a pillow and one of the several blankets spread haphazardly on the bed. He settled down next to Seth so that they were facing each other.

“What part of you inviting a vampire, a male vampire, into your bed strikes you as particularly ‘normal’?” he asked. He depressed himself with the question, even though it was meant to be light-hearted. “You know, I still can’t figure out why you stuck around. You don’t deserve this shit. If you’d left-”

Seth cut him off with a finger over his lips. “Hush. Why do you feel that way about yourself? That you aren’t good enough, or that I’d be better off with someone else? You forget, it was me who pursued you. If I hadn’t, well, you’d never’ve…let’s just say that this was all my doing, and no, I wouldn’t change it. I won’t!”

“Seth,” he whined.

“No, Anri, I love you. I know you don’t believe it for some reason, even though I know you can feel it, because I can feel how much you love me. I do. You don’t get to decide how I feel. And, I don’t care if it started because you’re, a vampire and I’m a Wren, I don’t. That doesn’t define my feelings for you.” Seth pulled his hand and placed it on his chest, over their bond mark. “I love you, Anri Rousseau. Man, vampire, I don’t care. I love you.”

He blushed. He didn’t know what to say, so he looked away. He squirmed and Seth moved closer, pulling him into his arms.

“Listen, Anri, I know you don’t feel comfortable here. It’s too new, there’s too much going on. But…I hope you can feel comfortable with me someday.” Seth smiled sadly, resting his forehead on his before placing a light kiss on his nose.

“You know,” Seth continued after a minute, “I was really worried for a bit that my feelings were the results of some weird vampire magic. Lance said it over and over again that I was enthralled by you, cause you’re vampire. But…after I thought about it, I realized that even if I was enthralled, it wasn’t your work. You’ve been running from me from the moment I met you.”

“Sorry,” he apologized.

“Why do you always apologize for everything?” Seth asked.

He almost apologized again, then stopped himself with a snort. “I’m not running now.”

Seth smiled a sexy, wicked smile. “Good. I finally caught you. Anri, I’ll chase you as many times as I have to, you won’t get away from me now, never again.”

He studied the bed between them, blushing furiously. Seth’s possessiveness was sexy. Seth leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.

“Tell me about yourself,” he asked, still too embarrassed to look up.

Seth smiled and his heart throbbed. “Sure,” he agreed.

They just talked. Seth told stories about his life as a middle child surrounded by siblings, an older sister and younger identical twin brothers, growing up in suburban Indiana. Anri was surprised to find that Seth had such a big family.

“That’s kind of how it goes in Indiana, I suppose,” Seth said. “Big families and all that. Farm life.”

“You said you grew up in the suburbs,” he reminded.

“Yeah, well we had a garden. And we lived in a big old farmhouse. So, it counts. Pretty much everywhere in Indiana is the country, even the cities,” Seth joked.

“Your younger brothers are identical twins? What was that like?” he wondered.

“Chaos, mostly. They’re a lot younger than me and my older sister, who’s only older than me by two years. My brothers are six years younger than me. You know, the ‘accident’,” he put air quotes around his statement. “Or ‘accidents’, whatever. My sister still calls them that, by the way. Lovingly, of course, but, yeah. They’re my mom’s babies. One of them is okay, but the other one’s an ass. What about you? You have any other siblings? You said your dad is a Wren like me?”

He shifted so that he was laying with his head resting on his arm, watching Seth in the comfortable lighting. “Yeah, my dad was a Wren. He’s dead now, been dead for a while. It was really hard on us all.”

“I’m sorry,” Seth said in sympathy. “Can I ask how…”

“Sure, it was a while ago. I still miss him, though I didn’t appreciate him like I should have at the time. He died when I was sixteen. Car accident. He was a truck driver,” he explained. “He was out on the road and the rain had just turned to snow. A car on the highway lost control in front of him and he slammed on the breaks. He didn’t hit the car. He rolled down the side of a hill into a ravine. Cops said that it was a clean death, that he didn’t suffer.”

Seth’s hand covered his. “I’m sorry, Anri,” he said, pain in his voice.

Anri shook his head to clear it. “It was a while ago, Seth. I miss him, but it doesn’t hurt like it used to. I have his wedding ring. I can’t wear it at the bar because any rings would just get messed up. Simone made it into a necklace for me to wear, but I just can’t. I keep in in a box. My mother couldn’t stand to have it around. She got rid of all of his stuff, as if the sight of it hurt her. It probably did. Simone was already gone from the house, and I was…well I was sixteen and selfish and hurting in my own way. My mother, she’s strong. And, well, she had Cammi, and Cammi was little, so she devoted herself to caring for her.”

“Cammi?” Seth asked, his fingers tracing comforting circles onto his hand.

“My younger half-sister. I guess we have a big family, too, but Cammi is so much younger than Simone and I that it almost feels like she’s a niece or something and not a younger sister. She just turned nineteen in November.”

“Half-sister?”

Anri blushed, he couldn’t help it. “Ah, my mom was, ah… Well, Cammi’s dad lived with us, for nearly as long as I can remember. I turned out that all three of them were, ah… It’s complicated. My mom had two Wrens, let’s just leave it at that.”

The look on Seth’s face was priceless, making him blush further. Thankfully, Seth changed the topic. “How old are you?”

“Oh, old enough. Too old for you, honestly.”

“Anri!” Seth chided, slapping at his hand gently.

He rolled and placed a kiss on Seth’s lips, then darted away just as quickly. “I’ll turn thirty one this year. Older than dirt, you know.”

“I’m only five years younger than you! That’s not a big deal at all!” Seth argued. “More like four and a half! That’s nothing!”

“Yeah, yeah,” he agreed affably. Seth pulled him into his arms and kissed him, a smile on his lips.

Anri told stories about growing up as a vampire in the city. He told Seth about his time in college, and Seth told him stories of a few of his misadventures with Lance growing up.

Anri felt peaceful for the first time in a while. These moments were his and Seth’s, and even though he knew they wouldn’t linger, he wished they could go on forever. He relaxed and tried to burn this into his memory, the calm and peace he felt in Seth’s arms, the feeling of love and acceptance and comfort. He knew it wouldn’t last.

He didn’t want to complicate the moment with doubts and worries for tomorrow. He let them drift away from him as he listened to Seth tell a particularly funny story about Lance’s thirteenth birthday party.

They talked until they fell asleep, with the light still on.