Chapter 30: Love and other things

Jack was up early. He had already showered, trimmed his beard, and was now searching for the new vampire.

The pretty thing was already planting seeds in the cabin's back garden. His hands and work clothing were covered in dust.

He wore that lovely smile again. The one which made Jack think about wedding bells.

The ghoul made a stop before him, then looked at the seeds, and decided that if he gave this man flowers, then they might as well be something that could be planted.

Something told him that dead plants were simply not going to work.

"Good morning," Jack said, after fine minutes of planting without a reaction from the man.

The man didn't say anything.

Jack furrowed his brows.

"I said: Good morning!" He repeated, this time louder.

The boy blinked at him. He had air pods in his ears. Jack relaxed. There was hope for him yet.

"Do you mind if we speak later? I don't want to get the pods dirty," the vampire said. Jack nodded, smiling. Little did he know that smile was putting the fear of God into the young vampire.

****

Jean sprinted towards the cabin.

That strange ghoul had been around him for the better part of the morning. Planting seeds into the soil.

But Jean remembered how he had killed the water horses without a mercy. How he had eaten a heart raw!

The young blonde vampire knocked on the cabin's door.

Something had to be done!

Nikola was the one who answered. His hair was a bird's nest, and he looked one more degree of raised temperature from melting.

"Hello, Jean," Nikola greeted, as he eyed the young man. "What brings you here? Do come in! We still have ice. Even if most of it went in the bathtub!"

Jean nodded. Nikola had his own sense of humor. He couldn't hold it against the man.

As they walked into the kitchen, Nikola took some lemonade he had made and was good to eat by vampires, placed about three cubes of ice inside, and handed it to Jean together with a straw.

The vampire sat by the kitchen table, his hands going to his air pods.

They had not been playing music for the better part of the hour, but Jean had kept them on just so he wouldn't have to speak to Jack.

"The ghoul wants something from me," Jean began. "And I don't know what."

Nikola nodded.

"Jack is the good sort," Nikola told him, as he began to pour some lemonade for himself as well. "And you do good work. Maybe he just wanted to help you?"

"He trimmed his beard. I remember how he looked yesterday!" Jean insisted.

Nikola chuckled.

"I think Jack's in love, Jean," which didn't do anything to put the young vampire at ease.

"With me? Me?" Jean said so, as if he didn't believe a word of what Nikola was saying.

"Yeah, who else? I am taken, so is Dimitri," Nikola sat by the table, then he took a sip from his lemonade. He was happy for Jack, really, he was.

But he doubted that this young vampire would want to get it up with a ghoul.

After all, Jean was all smiles and animal rights, and Jack was all smirks and dead animals.

Not that Nikola had a right to complain. After all, that talent of Jack kept him supplied and his business running smoothly.

"If it bothers you so much, I will speak with him," Nikola suggested.

The only thing he was going to do is tell Jack that he had scared Jean, and not to be as obvious.

Unless…

"Is the problem that he is a man?" Nikola asked. He had gotten used to people seeing him with Dimitri, and most days he didn't think it was so out of the natural order to be with a man.

"No," Jean said, as he took another sip from his lemonade. "It is just… what if he eats me?"

Nikola could have made the joke that if the ghoul ate Jean, then Jean was going to enjoy it, but thought it was too crass. After all, Jean was just twenty. Jack was at least in his late thirties.

"I will speak with him. No one is eating anyone," Nikola vowed.

Jean was a competent worker.

The last thing he wanted was to lose him. But he didn't want to lose Jack, either.

Something had to be done.

Nikola had just the idea of what. But he was ready to put it in action.

****

Nikola found Jack by his tent. There was a dead Selkie next to him. He was eating a heart.

"Jack, buddy!" Nikola greeted him, as he sat down by him. "With Jean, eh?"

Jack didn't pay him any attention.

"Look, it would be for the best if you tuned it down. The boy is scared that you will eat him," Nikola continued.

"Am I really such a monster," Jack began, as he set the bloody heart on a plate. "That the man I have fallen in love with is scared of me?"

Nikola had no answer to that. The only thing he knew was that Jack had pushed, and Jean had gotten scared.

"He came to the cabin," Nikola continued. "He is scared, Jack. Why don't you try to befriend him first?"

"Did Dimitri try to befriend you first?" Jack bit back.

"Hey, that's not fair," Nikola said. "Dimitri gave me little choice. That doesn't mean that you have to go down the same route," Nikola told him, as he smiled at him. "Prove that you are better."

Jack sighed.

"And if I'm not?" It was the million-dollar question. Nikola pondered on it for a second.

"Well," he said, as he patted his friend on the back. "You really should ask yourself what brought about this crush. Because if it is just something as trivial as hair color or how sweet his voice is, then, maybe, you shouldn't pursue."

"If Dimitri hears that you think Jean's voice is sweet, he is going to let you have it," Jack teased.

Nikola shrugged.

"If the bed breaks, then it breaks," he said solemnly.

 Jack burst out laughing.