“SLAY!”the rest of the table roared.
Ross inclined his head to them like a knight ready to go off and slay the dragon.It was the hardest thing in the world to keep the laugh in check.He bit the inside of his cheek to manage it.Laughing now would entirely give the game away.Okay, drunken dwarves were rather adorable.Even while calling out for blood.He smiled at his boss, ready to move on.
A bemused smile graced Glenn’s face as he led Ross further off.Leaning in, he whispered, “I know I hired you for your interpersonal skills, but I must ask.How do you know what to say?”
“I was a bartender for two years,” Ross informed him dryly.“Drunk people I can handle.It’s like daycare, but for adults.”
Glenn’s head canted to the side, the beginnings of delight tugging at his mouth.“Do tell.I’m fascinated by the reasoning.”
Ross lifted a finger and started counting.“You give them sippy juice and snacks and supervise them while they play and practice their social skills.Usually badly.”
The vampire snorted on a laugh, bobbing forward under the force of it.
Encouraged by that laugh, Ross continued in a deadpan delivery, ticking off on his second finger, “Sometimes they’re mean to the other kids, so they lose sippy juice privileges and have to sit in time out.Or go home early.They talk but don’t always make sense, and you have to nod and pretend to listen anyway.Sometimes they cry unintelligibly for no reason.”Ross indicated someone in the far corner doing that very thing.
Glenn laughed outright now, not even trying to hold it in.
“Spills.Lots and lots of spills.And hopefully someone eventually comes to pick them up.”Ross spread his hands in the best impersonation of ‘see what I mean’ he’d ever done before, satisfied when Glenn kept laughing, unable to get a single word out.
He liked seeing the man laugh like this.So many times when he’d seen Glenn, the man was stressed out and tired.But for a moment, this moment, he was carefree and relaxed.The stress lines around his eyes and mouth were erased under the force of his smile, only the barest hint of crow’s feet crinkling around his eyes.The bonfire and lighting threw golden strands into his hair, lighting up his eyes in a mesmerizing way.He was, in a word, captivating.Ross strangely found himself invested in keeping this moment for as long as possible.
Then again, that was in his job description, wasn’t it?Lightening Glenn’s load so he could have more moments of carefree enjoyment like this one.
Glenn finally regained control of himself, but the laughter remained in his face.“Your argument is too well-founded.I find I cannot counter it.”
“See?Everyone I’ve explained this to eventually agrees with me.”
“Ye two stop having fun o’er there and come here,” Dunham called over the noise of the party, “and settle this for us!”
Ross shrugged at Glenn and turned that direction.The werewolves seemed to dominate this corner (the already shifted wolf lying nearby with one leg still in a pants leg gave him that impression, at least), although he did see Annabella had joined them, all of them a little the worse for wear.And oh dear, was that Dwarven mead he saw on the table?
For the first time, Ross began to be truly worried.For himself.
Annabella gave him no chance to ask as she immediately launched into introductions.“Ross, this is Gretta, Chloe, and Auden.Dunham you know.Everyone, the incredible Ross.”
He felt strangely like a superhero with that title.All he was missing was the cape and the tragic backstory.“Nice to meet you all.”
“Ross, we have a serious debate going on here.We need a tie-breaker.”
“Wait, wait,” Chloe protested.She had a very fair complexion, seemingly even more pale next to her ash grey hair, and Ross didn’t think it was dyed.A grey wolf, perhaps?The smile she shot at him was certainly wolfish.“Let’s see if he’s got enough experience to truly weigh in.Ross, have you ever been handcuffed?”
Ross startled for a half-second.What kind of debate was going on over here, anyway?“Sexually or by law enforcement?”
Chloe’s smile turned a little toothy around the edges.“Sexually.”
“Well, he didn’t use handcuffs, per se.”Ross arched an eyebrow and let silence speak volumes.
They hooted or slapped the table, enjoying his answer.Ross was hyper aware of the keen study Glenn gave him.He had phrased his response deliberately to see how people would take the idea of him being gay.Apparently, they didn’t give a rat’s ass.Well, not true.Some of the men in ear shot were giving him an entirely different—and interested—appraisal.
It would be nice if something other than life wanted to fuck him.
Clearing his throat, Ross kept his smirk and drew them back on point.“What are we debating over here?”
“Dunham” —Annabella gave the massive werewolf in question an annoyed look, wrinkling her nose at him— “seems to think there is a sight hotter than disheveled and bloody.”
Dunham lifted his chin, accepting the challenge once again.“There be.I submit t’ye, disheveled and bloody and bound.”
The other three at the table went ‘ooooh’in unison, heads bobbing in agreement.
