“I appreciate it,” Quin said. It was probably the sweetest, if most erratic, gesture someone had made for him in as long as he could remember.
“So which one?”
“How about you choose?”
Kit turned back to the cupboard, bringing down a green box. “I was curious about this one.” He flashed the box to Quin. Liquorice.
He tried not to make a face. “Whatever you want.”
Kit filled the kettle and stuck it on. “I’ve not made a cup of tea for around forty years,” he said. It reminded Quin that although Kit looked young, he’d been a vampire for longer than Quin had been alive.
“I can do it if you’d rather,” Quin offered.
“A bet’s a bet,” Kit said, crouching to pull a mug out of a lower cabinet. He brandished it at Quin. “I got this for you, too.”
Quin’s cactus was inadequate compared to the lengths Kit had gone. The mug was comically large—the size of Kit’s face. It faded from midnight blue to seafoam green, and it looked almost like a soup bowl. As Quin studied it some more, he thought it might truly be a soup bowl.
“That’s enormous,” he said. “Where did you pick that up?”
“I ordered it from one of the pottery shops,” Kit said as he popped a teabag into the mug. Kit looked between the box of tea and the mug. “Do you think it might need two teabags?”
Again, Quin fought to keep a straight face. “I’m sure one will be fine.”
Kit ignored him and put an extra teabag into the mug, and then after another moment of contemplation, added a third. “This way, you’ll definitely taste the liquorice,” he explained.
Quin couldn’t imagine anything worse. But he didn’t stop Kit as he poured the now-boiled water into the mug, anise filling the room. Quin struggled not to gag as he breathed it in.
“It might be a bit strong,” he ventured, hoping Kit would take the hint.
Kit sniffed at the air, his nose turning up delicately. “Wow. That’s pungent.”
That was one word for it. “What would happen if you tried to drink it?” Quin asked, curious.
“Nothing good. I attempted a burger once. Won’teverbe making that mistake again.” Kit brought the mug over and set it on the coffee table. “There. Bet satisfied.”
“Don’t suppose you have any biscuits?” Quin asked, desperate to avoid tasting the tea for as long as possible. “Kinda goes hand in hand, you know?”
Kit rolled his eyes. “You’re a demanding guest.” Even as he complained, he went back to another cupboard and, with a sheepish expression, threw open the door. If Quin had been impressed by the amount of tea Kit had, it had nothing on his biscuit stash. He really did wonder this time if Kit had cleared out the local shop.
“Which biscuit?” Kit asked.
Quin was already screwed with the tea flavour, so he figured he might as well continue down the path he was on. “Dealer’s choice.”
Kit gnawed on his lip with a fang as he looked up at the overfilled cupboard. A bead of blood welled where he broke the skin, and he sucked his lip into his mouth. Quin had a fleeting thought about being the one to suck on Kit’s lip instead, before being brought back to reality when Kit spoke.
“How about a Hobnob?” Kit pulled the pack down before waiting for Quin’s answer.
He breathed a sigh of relief. Hobnobs, he could do. “Sounds perfect.”
Kit pottered around, laying half a dozen biscuits down in a circular pattern on a large plate, before bringing it over and placing it beside the mug on the table. He then finally sat down, perching on the armchair opposite Quin. Just like he had when he was at Quin’s place, Kit sat on the arm of the chair and put his feet on the seat. It looked somewhat precarious in termsof balance, but Kit seemed comfortable enough with his go-to position. The grey sweatshirt he wore was so oversized that it kept slipping down his neck and revealing a tantalising hint of shoulder.
Instead of imagining sinking his teeth into Kit’s bare flesh, Quin took a Hobnob and tried to nibble it without getting crumbs in his beard. He wasn’t successful on either count.
It was then that he noticed Kit was staring at him.
“What?” Quin asked, then coughed as a bit of dry biscuit stuck in his throat.
“Thetea,” Kit said over the sound of Quin choking half to death.
