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 ofInvasion of the Body Snatchersfor 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 watchInvasion 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?”
