“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.” Wes cleared his throat. “Moving forward with this issue, I think it would be best that you work on it together. That way, you, Foxx, can make sure he is progressing, and that you, Harlow, get the instruction and knowledge you need to finally adjust to your new strength.”
“Okay.” Foxx nodded.
“Fine,” Harlow grunted. With the threat of Foxx neutralized, the man seemed to just transform back into his normal self.
“With that…crisis averted, let’s pick up where we last left off, shall we?”
“Do we have to?” Foxx groaned as he stood up and slowly took his seat next to Harlow.
“Yes.” Wes smiled.
Ah…the trouble couple were back together again… May the world survive…
Foxx sniffed and settled in against Harlow, whose arm came around him. He met the man’s eyes. On seeing the apology in them, the remaining bit of anger loosened and floated away.
“Sorry, brat.” The dhampir kissed his forehead before pulling him closer.
He grunted in response, but snuggled, his eyes moving to Wes. The new target of his irritation, simply because of the topic at hand. “Well, ask your questions.”
“We left off talking about your father last time. About his response to you being gay, and how it clashed with his obsession, I believe you called it, for his faith.”
Foxx sighed. “Yes. Clash is one word for it. I said last time that he figured out I liked men, but really, it was more that he outed me to myself. It wasn’t as if it was something people talked about back then, not openly at least. I had no clue what I was feeling, and I didn’t understand what it meant. But one accusation was enough for me to connect the dots.”
“Was he…abusive?”
Foxx snorted. “It was the 1300s, Wes. If one didn’t beat their children, was one really parenting? Making us behave was a must when a crime as simple as stealing a loaf of bread could mean losing a hand or worse, depending on who you stole from.”
Harlow’s arm tightened around him.
“The ethics of it, and it being a common method of child rearing at that time, aside, you know there’s a difference between punishing someone out of fear of them going down the wrong path, and beating someone for not being who you wanted them to be.”
“There was no difference in his mind. I was already on the wrong path. And anyone back then would have agreed. Not that he would have dared tell anyone,” Foxx said softly. He frowned, eyeing Wes. “I’m not sure if you are trying to get me to admit I was abused, or to admit that I didn’t consider it abuse. Believe me when I say, I am well aware that what he did to me wasn’t okay. Was it okay in the eyes of the world I grew up in? Yes. Was it okay in any sense of right or wrong? No. It wasn’t okay. And with each hit, I hated him with my entire being. Him and my mother, who never dared to say a word, not because she was fearful but because she didn’t care. Not to forget, or forgive, my siblings, who stood back, looked away, and sometimes, simply stared in disdain.
“Don’t worry, Wes, my mind has always firmly held the belief that I have done no wrong simply by existing. Because as confused as I was, I couldn’t imagine that feelings, which I had no choice in, ones that felt as normal as the sun rising and setting, were somehow against God’s will.” He chuckled. “You see, back then, as much as I hated the God my father spoke of, I believed the actual God was loving, without reproach, without vengeance in his heart. As a vampire, I learned with each and every interaction I had with God’s followers, just how silly and ironic those thoughts were. Because every fucking one of themshowed me just how vengeful and full of hatred that Being really is.” Foxx took a deep shuddered breath. “I’m done talking now.”
Wes’ brows pulled together, but instead of asking him another question like he feared, he just nodded. “Understood. Thank you for being honest.”
When Harlow’s hand came up and threaded through his hair, he glanced up.
“I’d kill him for you, but unfortunately, I can’t go after the dead,” Harlow said, before pressing a kiss to his forehead.
Foxx smiled. “I don’t think even Daydric could create a zombie out of him for you to beat up at this point. Nothing can be done once they are just dust.”
Harlow smiled and pressed another kiss to the top of his head this time, before saying, “That’s too bad, I would have enjoyed beating him up.”
He chuckled, before sighing, his head tilting back down as he eyed Wes. “What? No questions about zombies?”
“I’ve been friends with Tony for thirty years. The things that man has told me…” Wes snorted. “Zombies would hardly shock me.”
Foxx frowned. “Thirty years…?”
The human’s brow rose. “Yes?”
Harlow staredat the lines in the corner of Wes’ eyes and mouth, trying to see if maybe he’d had work done or something. As they were there, but they weren’t…super deep or anything. The math...wasn’t adding up.
“You knew him when you were what? Fifteen years old? What thirty-year-old is telling a teenager shit?”
Wes’ head tilted, the human starting to look confused before he chuckled. “Oh, you two look genuinely shocked. I’m afraid, while I will thank you both for the compliment, you have, in fact, mis-aged me. I’m not in my forties. Far past, in fact. My birthday was just last month, I turned fifty?—”
