Sean looked like a naughty schoolboy. "If we're going to keep tabs on you while Dave's off with Orlando, we should get to know you better." "Sean still lives in hope that he'll find someone who can out drink Karl," Harry said. "Wishful thinking," Karl replied. Lawrence raised an eyebrow. "That sounded like a challenge, bra." Karl reached out, unruffled, and distributed the glasses. "Mere confidence." "Oh, this is going to be good," Sean laughed. He reached over and set his credit card on the counter, motioning for the bartender. "Keep 'em coming." Everyone raised their glasses in a toast. "To new friends," Karl said. The words were mild enough, but Lawrence recognized this night for the test it was. While Karl and Harry had both taken his role in Dave's life as well as could be expected, they still hadn't determined for themselves if he was good enough for Dave. He respected both of them for wanting to be sure of Dave's well-being. "To new friends," he repeated, and down his shot. The tequila went down as smooth as silk. "That's some good shit. Reposado?" "A man who knows his tequila." Sean clapped him on the back, nodded at Harry and Karl as they made their way to a nearby booth to set up camp. "I dunno about you two, but I'm sold." "You're easy," Harry pointed out. Lawrence noted that Sean didn't bother to deny it. The bartender walked to the table and set a full bottle in front of them. Sean refilled their glasses, eyes twinkling as he glanced at Lawrence. "So tell me, mate, since I never got the whole story. How was it you came to steal young Dave from these two?" "Don't know if I'd call it stealing, exactly. Met him at a party and he looked plain miserable." "So you were just being a friendly sort, then?" "Wouldn't say it was as innocent as that, either." "What I figured. From the looks of you, I doubt you have an altruistic bone in your body when it comes to something you want." Definitely a smart man. Lawrence made a mental note to keep his wits about him when dealing with Sean on matters of business. "No, it wasn't altruistic." "So what was it?" Sean twisted in his seat, still relaxed, but Lawrence could see the strength coiling in his body. "We've all indulged and had companions and lovers over the years, with other vampires and with mortals. But I can't think of anyone who's ever tried to go after another vampire's pet." Lawrence mulled over his next words carefully. He liked Harry and Karl, what little he knew of them, and he had a feeling he and Sean were going to get on just fine when all was said and done, so he didn't want to start off on the wrong foot. But he also wasn't about to lie, either. "I didn't know Dave was a pet when I first noticed him. He was a vampire. He didn't have that aura of claim about him that all pets have." "And after you found out he was one?" "We talked. Did quite a bit of talking, actually, but there was a connection there, and I wasn't going to turn my back on it." "And after it became apparent that he had prior claims?" Lawrence turned his head to Harry and Karl, even though his reply was to Sean. "He didn't wear their bonds easily. If he had, then there's no way our connection could have happened." Harry nodded his head in acknowledgement. "I suspected as much." "I'm not a thief and I told him that the first night," Lawrence continued, quietly. "The pet/vampire bond is inviolate." "If it's a true one." Karl's lips quirked into a self-deprecating smile. "Neither of us blames you for what happened between you and Dave." "The fault lies with us in trying to claim what was never ours." Lawrence breathed an inward sigh of relief that there was no resentment, and that they were willing to admit their mistake in the situation. Then again, he shouldn't have been surprised. Dave had made it clear that Karl and Harry had a healthy sense of responsibility. "It would've been better for all of you if you'd just fucked him and let him go." "We're vampires," Karl said, simply. "You of all people should know how possessive we can be." Lawrence couldn't help laughing. He wondered when 'vampire' had become synonymous with 'magpie'. "Well, that definitely explains the way you and Harry act around each other." "Harry and I will always come back to each other." It was stated as the simplest of facts. For a moment, Lawrence just looked at them – how seamlessly they seemed to flow together, how perfectly they complemented each other. Christ, no wonder Dave had been such a mess when they'd first met. How did anyone go about competing with what the two of them had? "You get used to it," Sean said. When Lawrence looked at him, startled, Sean just nodded his head towards the other two. "Them." "Ah," was all Lawrence could think to say. "You love us," Karl stated. "We're the only ones who put up with his cranky ass," Harry added. "And a fine ass it is, but that's not true," Sean said, waving a hand as he poured another round of shots. "Dom puts up with me." "Dom has kicked your fine ass out of his bed upon more than one occasion," Harry remarked. "Yes, but the last time was years ago," Sean said, with a wave of his hand. "Anyway, stories about me and Dom are boring. We're an old married couple." He poked Lawrence in the chest. "And what you should be asking us about is our stories of Dave." "I take it you have some," Lawrence said, striving for nonchalance. The identical grins turned on him let him know that he'd failed. "Think we can tell 'em all?" Harry asked. Sean shook his head. "Hell no. Did Dave tell you that he hated Karl for decades?" "Yeah, he...wait, what?" He couldn't have heard that correctly. "Loudly, publicly, and as often as possible," Karl said, still grinning. "See, I had Harry." "Not that any of us had a clue that was why Dave hated Karl, of course, since he never even hinted that he'd been in love with Harry for almost a century," Sean added. "A century?" Certain clues Dave had dropped over the years were starting to make a lot more sense. "Dave didn't tell you any of this?" Lawrence shook his head. "He didn't like talking about you or Karl or Orlando. And I'll admit I didn't much want to think about your claim on him." "Fair enough," Harry replied, with a salute of his shot glass. "I doubt I would have asked many questions about us either, had I been in your place." "You'd've asked more than Karl," Sean said, with a sly grin, ducking the lazy slap Karl aimed at his head. "Quiet, you," Karl mock-growled, and Lawrence sat back for a moment to watch them before he leaned forward again, tapping his empty glass on the table. "So tell me how you figured out he was in love with you?" "He kissed me," Harry said and, for the first time, looked a little uncomfortable. "Right in the middle of the Council chamber, with everyone watching," Karl added. "Word is Orlando'd figured it out and confronted Dave about it, and after they had a pretty blazing row, Dave pretty much decided to hell with it, nothing ventured and all that," Sean continued, clearly taking pity on Harry, who still looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. "We don't have to talk about this," Lawrence said, directing his words to Harry. "It's fine." Harry's smile was fleeting. "You need to hear it, and it's good for me to retrace my mistakes so I don't make them again." "I take it you know what your mistake was, then?" Lawrence was honestly curious and hoped he didn't come across as snide. The last thing he wanted was an argument over it. When Harry simply nodded, Lawrence breathed a sigh of relief. "Should've slept with him before the ceremony," was all Harry said, but Karl frowned a little and shot him a glance. Lawrence still studied Harry. "There's something else, isn't there?" he asked, gently. Not that it was his business, but he could tell something was still weighing on Harry's mind. To his credit, he met Lawrence's gaze squarely. "I've had some time to think about it since Viggo broke our bonds, and I think part of the reason I did it was that Dave was in love with me. Having him – the idea of having him – balanced the scales a little." "Between you and Karl and Orlando?" Lawrence guessed. "So what you're saying," he continued, carefully weighing each word, "is that part of the reason you claimed Dave was because Karl had Orlando." "In not so many words, yes." Lawrence shook his head, still turning the whole thing over in his head and trying to make sense of it. "So you didn't see then that Orlando should have been yours? Or was it something else, because I have to admit, I saw it within ten minutes of seeing the two of you together." "There were some mitigating circumstances." "Harry..." "It's alright, Karl." Harry patted Karl's hand. "Lawrence is family now." Onto Part Forty-One
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