"Been a long time since anyone's lived in it," Sean pointed out, coming around the corner and wiping dirt off his well-worn jeans. His t-shirt was a light green that matched his expressive eyes and his shaggy blond hair was pulled off his nape by a loose ponytail. He shrugged when Harry looked at him. "Back looks just as bad." Josh let out a sigh and put his hands in his back pockets, rocking on his heels as he studied the house. "Guess I'll be staying at my place a little longer." Honestly, for a mortal that knew so much about their culture, it was astounding that Josh could be so unobservant over the simplest of things, Harry thought. "You do know we have a fuck of a lot of guestrooms, right?" "Well, yeah, but I don't want to put anyone out." "It's your home now, too." Harry ignored Sean's snort of laughter. "You can have the south wing until we get this place up to standards." //The south wing?// This time, Sean glanced at him in sympathy. //Are you sure, Harry?// //It's time someone else stayed there. Lauren wouldn't have wanted the rooms to go to waste. Besides, she'd have liked Josh.// Karl had been right, Harry thought. He couldn't keep his memories of Lauren to himself. She needed to be shared. //Hell, she might've even fought Karl for him. Josh is exactly her type.// Sean grinned. //Might've won him, too. Your girl was a lot like you when she wanted something.// Harry returned the grin. //I did my best to raise her right.// Josh waved a finger between Harry and Sean. "You two are totally doing that vamp thing." "That vamp thing?" Josh nodded, looking pleased with himself. "The mental convos, man, I can always tell." "I like him," Sean stated. "He can stay." Harry just shook his head. Upon formally meeting, Sean and Josh had taken to each other like ducks to water, making jokes and conversation like they'd been friends for centuries. It was almost like Sean had gained a little brother. "Speaking of staying...?" Sean looked around, then looked at Harry. "Why isn't Karl around tending to his pet's living arrangements?" "He took Orlando up the coast for some time," Harry replied and started up the creaking steps into the house. Might as well see just how bad the inside looked. "Just the two of them?" "Unless they've picked up a hot hitchhiker, yes." Josh followed Harry into the foyer and headed for the staircase. "The little diva needed some alone time. I'm sure you know how he gets." "Yes, I do," Sean replied, and raised an eyebrow at Harry. "Josh and Orlando had a fight on the way home from Turkey," Harry replied. He was still slightly annoyed himself that he hadn't had a chance to hear Orlando's side of things before Karl'd whisked him off. He looked around at the crumbling wallpaper, scarred floors and dust motes dancing on every surface of the interior of the main foyer. Christ, the place was going to need a thorough cleaning before they even thought about repairs. "Ah, well, Orlando's good at fights, but shit at holding grudges. You two kids'll kiss and make up in no time," Sean said with a cheeky grin, as he disappeared into the kitchen, voice still carrying. "Besides, Karl's much better at it." "Karl's had more practice," Harry called back, opening doors and peering into empty rooms and closets. "It's hardly a valid comparison." "Wait, what?" Josh came back down the creaking stairs and looked at Harry in confusion. "What're you talking about?" "Karl's a bruiser, no doubt, but he hasn't got that ice-cold thing down the way Orlando does when he doesn't get his way," Sean said cheerfully, when he came back into view. "Kitchen's in fucking shambles." "That's alright, I would have wanted to put in a new one anyway," Josh said, then turned back to Harry. "There's a new gas range and stove on the market that I've been dying to get my hands on." Sean perked up. "You cook?" "Spent a lot of time supporting myself between gigs by working the kitchens at some of the 5-stars in the area. Line cook, mostly, but I did some time as a sous at the Bel-Air. The head chef there loved me." "I can see that," Sean agreed. "You don't look like you'd panic in a crisis, which is a boon for any sous chef." "I have no idea what either of you are talking about," Harry admitted, feeling a little lost. What the hell was the difference between a line cook and a sous chef? "That's because you're an uncultured barbarian warrior who'd rather spend all of his time with the engine block of a Harley or on a battlefield with a sword in your hand than learning about the finer things in life, like great cooking," Sean replied, with a wide, fuck-you grin that made Josh laugh. "Remind me why I asked you over again," Harry grumbled. "Because I'm your best friend. And I know just as much about construction as you do." Harry really hated it when Sean had a point. Josh made a time-out motion with his hands. "Alright, ladies, no fighting in my new place." "Your new place is a disaster area," Sean replied, sounding far too cheerful about it. "How's the upstairs?" Harry asked Josh. "Just as bad," Josh told them. "I think the stairs are gonna have to come out, too. I'm thinking it might be easier to gut the place and start over with a new floor plan." "Probably a good idea. And it means spending more of Karl's money, which I always enjoy doing," Sean stated, and clapped Harry on the back before heading out the door. "He's not gonna freak or anything, is he?" Josh asked, once they were all back outside. "I mean, at what all this is going to run?" Harry shook his head. "He'll be mad at himself for letting the house go like this, that's all." "You should play that up, too. His whole guilt thing, I mean," Sean offered, voice drifting from behind the bushes. What the hell was he doing back there? "It always works on me when Dom does it." "Your pet's ability to play you like a flute is one of his more endearing qualities," Harry said, dryly, and grinned at Sean's head as it appeared above the azaleas. "You've got leaves in your hair." "You like it when I'm messy," Sean pertly replied. "And the roses are fine, but the azaleas are dying." "I've been meaning to rip them out anyway." Josh put his hands on his hips and studied both of them. "I swear to God, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you two were totally a couple." "Known him since he was an infant fledgling," Harry replied, and beckoned Sean over. "Seriously, you look like a dog that's been rolling around in the mud." Sean stood still as Harry brushed him off. "Karl was my mentor," Sean told Josh. "The, uh...my Sire..." "The idiot that gave him the Gift wouldn't have been able to train a cat to use the litterbox, let alone be able to groom a fledgling to one day take a seat on the Council. So, Karl was appointed to be his stand-in Sire, which meant we both had a hand in his upbringing, so to speak," Harry stated, and finally stepped back. "I've always wanted to call you Dad," Sean mused. "Dick," Harry chuckled, shaking his head. "And you need a shower." Sean just raised an eyebrow. "You offering to scrub my back?" Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Go on with you," he said, swatting Sean on the ass and pushing him towards the house. "And go in the back way. You're filthy, and if you track dirt all over the rugs, I'll beat you myself." "You know how I love it when you talk dirty," Sean retorted, with a leer that had Josh laughing. "Maybe the two of you should have gotten together," Josh said, following them up the hill to the back door of the main house. He stopped at the bottom of the steps and gave them a suspicious look. "Or did you?" Sean jerked a thumb at Harry before patting his chest. "I tried my best when we first met, but the big lug wouldn't have me." "That's not true," Harry protested, with a frown. "I just wasn't there for frolicking..." "You were there for Karl." Sean ran his thumb along Harry's cheek, the touch lingering, friendly. "I was there, I remember." "Why am I sensing there's a story?" Josh asked. "There's not much of one. I was, uh..." Inwardly, Harry shook himself. It was over 600 years ago. The hell with it. It was long since passed time he got over his youthful folly, and his own guilt. "Karl'd been gone a few months, training Sean, and I came after him." "He was jealous," Sean said, with a soft smile. "Of Karl spending so much time with me." "Do you blame me?" Harry raked his gaze over Sean. Even disheveled and covered in dirt, Sean was still one of the most beautiful people Harry had ever seen. "All he could speak of in his letters to me was how intelligent and cunning you were. Then I saw you, and I was convinced there'd be no way Karl could have kept his hands to himself." "But I did have a hand, however small, of getting you two back on even footing, so I think I deserve some credit." "That you did," Harry conceded. "So, that explains what happened the first time you met," Josh said, raising an eyebrow. "And since then? Nothing's happened between you two in all of the centuries you've known each other?" "There wasn't anyone else until Orlando," Harry replied quietly. "Not male, at any rate." "Although that was one helluva kiss," Sean reminisced, with a lusty sigh. "You remember it?" Harry didn't know why, but he was surprised. Not that he'd ever forgotten it, but so much had happened in the time since that long ago night. "Man doesn't forget a kiss like that." Josh blinked, clearly trying to absorb everything. "You remember just a kiss that happened six centuries ago clearly? You sure it wasn't more?" "Positive," Harry said. He pulled open the back door and headed for the kitchen. "And, um, Karl was really the only man you were ever with until...?" "Until Orlando." Tossing bottles of water at them, Harry leaned against the counter. "I wasn't interested in any man except Karl." "Until Orlando," Josh said, echoing him. The suspicion in his eyes gave Harry the urge to throttle him. He watched Sean attempt to wipe the dirt from his hands. The only problem was Sean was trying to wipe it on his shirt, which was equally dirty. "Yes," Harry finally said. "And even then, I tried to ignore the pull of the bond between us until it was impossible to do anything other than claim him." "Besides, he's a good lad," Sean added, finally giving up on his hands in favor of opening his water. "Very bright, loyal, entertaining. Frankly, I'm surprised the two of you don't like each other." "He's a pain in the ass." "You two were getting along just fine until the plane ride home," Harry pointed out. "Whatever, man, maybe he was just being polite to the new guy until I got settled in." "Or maybe he's just going through a lot at the moment and reacted badly to what you were asking," Harry countered, pinning Josh with his gaze until Josh broke it off. "Maybe," he mumbled, and scuffed a toe across the floor. Harry's smile was soft as looked at Josh. He really did like the kid. Karl had chosen well. "And while I'm on the subject of explaining the obvious, you also need a shower. And since I know Karl would appreciate it if you were around to personally oversee any repairs to the house, take the south wing. They were Lauren's rooms, so I promise they're in perfect condition." "Thanks. I know how much that means coming from you," Josh said, and shoved his hands deep in his pockets. It was ironic how much he was like Orlando in certain ways. Or like Orlando used to be, Harry silently amended. "I, um, I'll need to go home at some point. Get my things." "Harry's probably got something that'll fit you in the meantime. Pants might be a bit big on you, though. You're skinnier than him, Sean said, on his way out of the room. Harry hoped he was heading towards the guest bathroom and not the living room. "Alex can drive you to your place after you've cleaned up," Harry added. "You might want to get a contractor out sometime tomorrow, too, to get them started on the repairs." "I, um. Alright." Josh let out a shaky breath. "More money than God, I get it." "May as well put it to good use," Harry replied, and left Josh to climb up the stairs to his rooms. Josh and Sean weren't the only ones who needed to clean up in the worst way. When he shut the bedroom door behind him, already stripping off his filthy shirt, he could hear the water running. What the...? Shirtless, jeans half unbuttoned, he stalked over to the bathroom. He didn't bother to open the shower door. "Did you forget where the guest rooms were?" Onto Part Twenty-Seven
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