Nothing is sweeter than following a story and its characters through all the ups and downs, the trials, the pains, and seeing them finally reach that moment, that day, that place they worked so hard to gain. Be it by way of murder, magic, misunderstanding, mischief, or mayhem, we like to see them suffer. We want the struggle, the grief, the fight. We want to see them angry, confused, hurt, battered, and on the verge of giving up.
But most of all we want to see all that toil and strife worth something. We want to see the characters we love finally reach that famous happy end.
That Famous Happy End
Edited by Samantha M. Derr
Published by Less Than Three Press
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission of the publisher, except for the purpose of reviews.
Contributing Editors:
Looking for More edited by Samantha M. Derr
Perfect Angel edited by Samantha M. Derr
Pas Comme Ca edited by Michelle McDonough
More than a Hero edited by Michelle McDonough, Sharleen Alard
Simple Method edited by Michelle McDonough
Quality Control edited by London Burden
Thief, Prince, Shadow Emperor edited by Brandie Derr
The Games edited by Samantha M. Derr
Cover designed by Megan Derr
This book is a work of fiction and as such all characters and situations are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is coincidental.
First Edition May 2011
Quality Assurance Copyright Sasha L. Miller 2011
Perfect Angel Copyright Rachelle Cochran 2011
The Prince, the Thief, and the Shadow Emperor Copyright M.J. Willow 2011
Pas Comme Ca Copyright Sophie Hung 2011
More Than A Hero Copyright May Ridge 2011
The Simple Method Copyright Remington Ward 2011
The Games Copyright Ashley Shaw 2011
Looking for More Copyright Megan Derr 2011
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN 978-1-936202-26-3
Trademarks Acknowledgement
The
author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of
the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:
World
of Warcraft: Blizzard Entertainment INC
Table of Contents
Quality Assurance
Josh groaned, covering his face with one hand as he rolled away from the invasive, far too bright sunlight streaming through his bedroom windows. Oh, yeah, he thought fuzzily as he came face-to-face with a head of dark, tousled hair and a pretty face slack with sleep.
Blinking a few times, he tried in vain to remember the man's name—to no avail. All he remembered was the girls' dragging him out for their weekly night of bowling, too much beer because his birthday had been Wednesday, and pretty green eyes and a shy smile.
He'd picked up his mystery man at the bowling alley, he remembered that much. That didn't mean anything though, just that his coworkers were going to give him hell on Monday. The rest of the night was a blur, but it wasn't hard to extrapolate, given the aches he felt every time he moved and the complete lack of clothing between the two of them.
Josh stayed where he was for another few minutes before deciding he needed to get up, if only to use the bathroom. A shower would probably do him wonders, as well as brushing his teeth and popping some aspirin for what little relief it would give his throbbing head.
Hesitating, he frowned at his guest, before deciding it was too early to deal with waking a stranger who he'd managed to sleep with but never managed to learn the name of. Sliding out of bed slowly, Josh winced when the movement caused his head to throb even more insistently. Scratching idly at his hip, Josh padded across the bedroom, grabbing a mostly dry towel from where it was draped over his closet door.
Padding across the room, he shook his head at the clothing he and Mr. Mystery had left scattered across the floor. Jeans, boxers—and was that a plaid shirt? Really, plaid?
Snorting in quiet amusement, Josh glanced back at the bed, feeling rather like he was sneaking out. Only, it was his apartment. He couldn't sneak out. Still, he'd be lying if he didn't hope that his half-remembered guest woke up and left while Josh was showering. He wasn't a fan of his infrequent one-night stands hanging around the next morning.
Slipping into the bathroom, he shut and locked the door behind him, then started the hot water running. Digging through his medicine cabinet, he quickly found and swallowed three aspirin with the help of a handful of tepid water from the sink tap.
He didn't begin to feel more awake until halfway through his admittedly longer than usual shower. Coffee next, definitely, Josh decided as he ducked under the stingingly hot water to rinse the soap off. Coffee, and then he'd roust his mystery man and show him out. After which he'd make a wonderfully greasy breakfast with sausage, bacon, eggs—
Josh winced, snapping his hand away from his neck as the dull ache he'd been feeling there blossomed into a sharp, painful twinge. That hurt, that hurt a lot. Damn it, he hated when he got stuck with biters who bit too hard. Second only to guys who couldn't keep their fingernails trimmed and liked to dig in during sex.
Making a face, Josh forced himself back under the water; he really didn't want to end up at the doctor's office because he hadn't properly cleaned out the bite wound. Dismissing it—he'd worry about that possibility if it came to be reality—Josh finished his shower slowly, enjoying the hot water until the need for coffee finally drove him out.
Toweling his hair quickly, Josh ran a hand over his chin, gauging the amount of stubble. He could wait and shave Monday, he decided. It was Saturday, and he determined to be lazy today. Drying off, he winced when the pain in his neck flared again when he ran the tower over the spot roughly.
Jesus, mystery man must have taken a nice chunk out of his neck. Josh scowled, moving to the bathroom sink and wiping the mirror above it clean—or, well, streaky. Lifting his chin, he peered at his neck curiously.
The hell? Josh stared at the twin puncture marks on his neck, both red and raw and far too small and innocuous looking to be causing as much pain as they were. They looked infected, which probably shouldn't be a surprise considering how much bacteria was in the human mouth.
It had to be some sort of sick joke, Josh decided, scowling at his reflection in the mirror. He'd brought home someone who thought they were one of the heroes in that sparkly vampire series or something. He should be lucky his bed wasn't covered in glitter.
Oddly, he didn't remember seeing fangs on mystery man—but he hadn't really been looking.
Shaking his head, Josh finished drying off quickly and wrapped the towel around his waist. Maybe Mr. Mystery was still passed out and could answer the question of what the hell was wrong with him.
Josh wasn't that lucky. His bed was empty, and the stranger's clothes—less a sock half-hidden behind a corner of his dresser—were gone. Mystery Man had actually made Josh's bed, something he only did when his mother visited.
It was probably better this way, Josh thought, throwing his towel at the closet door and padding naked to his dresser. No awkward questions and he didn't have to deal with the weirdo again.
Coffee, he needed coffee and breakfast, and then he could do nothing but watch movies or play games all day.
*~*~*
Josh resisted the urge to tug at the hem of his turtleneck sweater as he headed to the back of the second-floor cubes. He waved to Elena, but she didn't look much more awake than he felt as she slowly went about booting up her PC and taking the call-forwarding off her phone.
She did give him a quick smirk; she knew what the turtleneck meant, though in this case it was slightly different than what she thought.
The bite mark wasn't healing very quickly, and though the swelling and redness had gone down, it still hurt whenever Josh touched it. Or whenever he turned his head too quickly, or if he shrugged too carelessly, and it really was a giant pain in his ass. He had it bandaged now, but having gauze pressed against it just made Josh want to scratch at it.
Dropping into his desk chair, Josh put his cup of coffee down and hit the start button on his computer. While it was booting, he stared blankly at the calendar pinned to his wall. L'Arc de Triomphe was displayed in black and white, the days of October laid out beneath it.
His computer chimed at him as it started, and he switched his attention back to it, clicking the email icon and mentally reviewing the few tasks he needed to finish from Friday. Not much—a few computer reformats from employees who'd just left, including one of the senior IT specialists who'd quit unexpectedly on Thursday, poached by a larger firm downtown.
His email had only just opened when his boss stuck his head into Josh's cube.
"Morning, Josh," Steve said, flashing him a smile beneath his close-cropped mustache. "Listen, I've got a job for you. Perry was going to take care of it, but that's not happening now."
"Right," Josh said, used to the way that Steve didn't really bother with pleasantries. Perry had left a lot of unfinished tasks when he'd left last week; the general consensus in the IT department was good riddance. "What is it?"
"Guy's starting today," Steve said, shrugging dismissively. "He was working out in Connecticut, but moved back here. You'll have to reset his server connections and that sort of thing, so he can access things again."
"Oh, right, that quality control guy," Josh said, vaguely remembering it being mentioned at the last department meeting.
"His name is Quinn," Steve said, gesturing up towards the third floor. "He's sitting where Diana used to sit. Should be pie, but let me know if you have any issues."
"Will do," Josh said, pulling out his notepad. "I'll head up in a minute."
"Good," Steve said, then disappeared again, presumably back to his office.
Josh jotted down a few notes—Quinn, Diana's old cube, server resets—and then quickly browsed through his email. Six messages, two which he could take care of quickly and one from Elena saying she was having printer problems again—her code for saying she wanted to gossip with him. Josh added her to the bottom of his list and locked his computer.
He much preferred his Monday mornings with fewer get-up-and-go tasks, but at least none of the things he had to do would be too difficult. Grabbing his cup of coffee, Josh headed for the nearest stairwell, climbing slowly and wishing he owned high-necked shirts that weren't so thick and warm. Usually he was set with his long-sleeved button-up shirts in the office; wearing a thick sweater was going to make him over-warm and drive him crazy all day.
Diana's old cube was two rows over and three down, and the new guy—new old guy, since he'd been working for Finach Tech Unlimited for longer than Josh—was already there, if the rustling of papers was anything to go by.
Josh tapped on the hard plastic edge of the cube wall as he reached the "doorway," belatedly registering the dark hair and faded, stripped button-up shirt tucked into dark slacks that didn't quite match. The man turned, and Josh could only stare, dumbfounded, as he came face-to-face with his mystery man.
Quinn was obviously just as surprised to see him—his eyes went wide and the stack of books and papers in his arms slipped from his grasp, toppling to the floor and spreading across the carpet haphazardly.
Quinn swore quietly—either from dropping the papers or running into Josh—and dropped awkwardly to his knees to gather the papers together while Josh gawked.
He'd been planning to chew his mystery man out if he ever ran into him again—but he'd never considered the possibility that he'd be working with the man. He couldn't fight with Quinn, not here. He'd have to explain it afterwards, and Steve had said more than once in Josh's hearing that personal matters stayed at home—and he had room to talk, since his wife worked on the first floor.
Probably the best thing to do would be to pretend that Friday night had never happened, no matter how much he'd rather yell at Quinn for chomping on him like he was a well-cooked steak. Or a raw steak, Josh supposed, then decided that thought meant he needed to drink his coffee more quickly.
Setting down his coffee and notepad on the nearby table top, Josh dropped down and helped collect the spilled papers, ignoring the nervous glances Quinn kept shooting him. He set his batch of papers on the counter top instead of handing them to Quinn, not sure he trusted Quinn to keep hold of them a second time.
"I'm Josh, down from IT," Josh said, sticking out a hand. "I'm here to fix up your computer."
"Oh, um." Quinn juggled the papers to his left arm, shaking Josh's hand quickly. "Thanks? Um, I'm Quinn."
"Good to meet you," Josh said, trying a smile. It seemed to work reasonably well, though Quinn still looked rather unsettled. "Have you booted up?"
"Yes," Quinn said, gesturing to the PC tucked into the corner of the cube. The star-field screensaver was displayed, shooting little white stars across the edges of the monitor. "Go ahead? I was just putting stuff away."
"What servers do you usually access?" Josh asked, dragging his coffee and notepad over to the computer. He took a seat in front of the keyboard, nudging the mouse to make it wake up. The desktop was completely blank—no icons or wallpaper, just the start bar.
"I'm not sure?" Quinn said hesitantly, inching closer but still keeping a fair distance between them. "I mean, the ones I have—there are a few I have mapped network drives to, but I'm not sure the ones my programs run on."
"Alright, well, I'll reset your mapped drives and then we can test your programs to make sure they all work," Josh said, cursing Perry for leaving. If he'd stayed, Josh wouldn't have gotten the nasty shock of running into Friday's fling first thing Monday morning.
"Okay," Quinn said, and Josh glanced over to see him running a hand through his dark hair, tousling it further. "I'm just—I'll be right back."
Josh nodded, breathing a quick sigh of relief when Quinn disappeared behind the cubical wall. He took a deep draw off his cup of coffee and got to work.
Quinn didn't reappear for nearly fifteen minutes and Josh was only as far as fighting with the server for recognition, so he couldn't even make a clean getaway. Not that he'd have been able to get that anyway, since he had to stay while Quinn tested his programs. Monday was really laughing at him today, probably getting back at him for all the fun he'd had Friday.
Quinn didn't say anything, just quietly started to sort out the papers he'd dropped. He had a mug with him, so he'd probably taken the time to go get a fresh cup of coffee. Josh didn't try to strike up a conversation like he usually did—the only conversation starters he could think up involved Friday night and he wasn't going there.
Instead, he focused on doing his work as quickly as he could. He double-checked everything, making sure Quinn's computer could access all the drives he'd saved as well as the web server where the intranet was hosted.
"Okay, can you show me the programs you need to check?" Josh finally asked, making Quinn startle again. Was he usually that jumpy, Josh wondered as he stood to give Quinn back his chair, or was it just Josh's proximity?
"There are only a few," Quinn said quietly, perching on the edge of the chair. Josh casually put a bit more space between them, grabbing his coffee and fiddling with the cup as Quinn opened a series of programs with quick, sure mouse clicks. A few of them he immediately closed, apparently satisfied with a cursory look.
"These two don't connect," Quinn finally said, glancing back at him uncertainly.
"Can I—" Josh gestured with his fee hand towards the computer.
"Oh, right!" Quinn scrambled up, nearly knocking over the chair in his haste. Josh covered an inappropriate smile by taking another drink of coffee. Unfortunately, that finished the cup, and he regretfully tossed the empty cardboard cup in the trash can under the desk.
It didn't take him long to fix the first program—the server settings were very transparent—but the second baffled him; the server settings were nowhere obvious and he'd never seen the program for more than a few seconds on some of the other quality assurance associates' computers. Clicking through random menus didn't help, and neither did the vague and useless help documents attached to the application.
Quinn was back to sorting papers, and Josh almost felt bad about that except he hadn't made Quinn drop them. Quinn glanced up, meeting Josh's eyes when Josh swiveled the desk chair around to face him.
"Do you know where the server settings are hidden for this program? I haven't worked with this one much and I can't find it," Josh said, smiling sheepishly. Quinn stared at him oddly for a moment but shook his head slowly.
"I don't know," Quinn said, frowning a little at the computer monitor. "I wasn't there when it was first set up and I've had no reason to change them until now."
"Okay," Josh said agreeably, pondering his next move. Ask Steve, probably, and after that, Mike, the senior quality analyst.
"I'll be back," Josh said, standing up. "I'm going to consult with a few people. If you find anything else that won't connect before I get back, just write it down and I'll take care of it then."
"Okay," Quinn said, nodding a little in emphasis. He gave Josh a hesitant smile that Josh returned despite the way standing made the stupid bite on his neck throb dully. That would go away in a day or two, and then he could give up on the stupid high-collared shirts.
Snagging his notepad, Josh jotted down a few notes about the program, including the version number and license key, before ducking out of the cube and into the cube-lined hallway. He made his way to the stairwell slowly, absently greeting a few of his coworkers as went. Taking the stairs, Josh decided to stop by Elena's desk first—that might actually brighten his day a little.
"Hey, Elli," Josh greeted Elena, leaning on her desk. Elena slanted him a glare over the top of her monitor.
"Don't call me that, Joshie," Elena said, jabbing one immaculately polished fingernail at him. "Or you can't come to lunch with us today."
"Who's us?" Josh asked, frowning at her. Carrie didn't work Mondays and Ashley started three hours later than they did on every day except Friday.
"I'm going to get the new guy to come with. He's about our age, and he seems like a good guy, even if he's quiet," Elena said confidently. No doubt she'd be able to convince Quinn; few people told Elena no. Josh's theory was that it was out of a healthy respect for the length of her manicure that swayed people into agreeing to her demands.
"Okay," Josh agreed, not willing to tell her no—both because of her deadly-looking fingernails but also because objecting would make Elena suspicious.
"Good," Elena said decisively. "I'll email you the particulars once he's agree."
"Sounds good," Josh said, snagging a peppermint out of the crystal dish on the edge of her desk. "How was your weekend?"
"Boring," Elena said, rolling her eyes and sitting back in her chair. She was wearing a dark blue pencil skirt with her ruffled white blouse and a pair of heels that rivaled her fingernails for deadly-looking. "Brad was out of town on law firm business and the girls were all busy with their houses or husbands or children. I swear I'm going to live in an apartment my entire life, Josh, and never get married or have children, it makes you boring."
"You could've called me," Josh said, though he'd thought Elena would be busy with Brad all weekend. For as much as she complained about Carrie's investment in her husband and son and Ashley's investment in her house, she was just as invested in her boyfriend. "I cleaned out my fridge, that's how bored I was."
"Really," Elena said, a slow smirk curving her lips. She reached out and plucked at the sleeve of his sweater. "You sure look like you had a boring weekend."
"I did," Josh said, shrugging. "This is Friday's aftermath—my weekend was boring after that."
"You went out after the bowling alley?" Elena asked, her eyebrows rising in surprise. "You were trashed when we left."
"I don't remember very clearly, but I thought I pulled someone there?" Josh said, shrugging dismissively. Though that begged the question—how had Quinn ended up at their weekly bowling night, when he'd only started working today?
Elena shook her head at him but didn't comment, waving him off when her phone started to ring. Josh took that to mean she'd grill him later—though hopefully not in front of Quinn at lunch; that would be awkward beyond belief.
*~*~*
Quinn was elbow-deep in still more papers when Josh returned nearly an hour later. He looked up, obviously completely distracted by whatever he was working on.
"Can I borrow your computer for a minute?" Josh asked cheerfully, much more awake with a second cup of coffee in his bloodstream.
"Right," Quinn half-mumbled around the pen in his mouth, before focusing on Josh. His eyes widened a little and he grabbed the pen, looking somewhat horrified with himself. "I mean, yes, sorry."
"You're fine," Josh said easily, noting again how pale Quinn was. Did the man never go out in the sun? Well, maybe not, if he was trying to be a vampire. "This should only take a few minutes. Mike thinks you're missing a patch, so I have to install that, but then you should be all set."
"Thank you," Quinn said, glancing around the cubical with a slight frown before leaning against the cube's counter top. He bent his head to study his papers and Josh took the hint, sitting at Quinn's computer and getting to work.
"So has Elena come to talk to you yet?" Josh asked as he breezed through the patch installer's steps.
"I don't think so?" Quinn said, and when Josh glanced over, he was frowning in confusion. "I think—the woman I talked to last week was named Carrie."
"On Friday?" Josh hazarded, because that would make a lot of sense. Carrie was the one who'd started and organized the Friday night post-work bowling trips. If she'd run into Quinn and made him come…well that still didn't explain why no one had seen him leave with Quinn.
Quinn nodded, looking away briefly before giving Josh a small, rueful smile. Josh grinned back, amused despite himself. Quinn was his type, shy and sweet, with dark hair and bright eyes—even if Josh mistakenly kept remembering them as green instead of blue. That was probably actually why Carrie dragged him along; that woman had an amazing talent for sussing out the guys who swung Josh's way.
"Anyway, Elena's going to ask you to join us for lunch," Josh said easily. "I figured I'd warn you beforehand, since she doesn't take no for an answer."
"Oh, but—" Quinn started, frowning worriedly. He looked torn, and Josh took pity on him.
"I don't mind, if that's what you're worried about," Josh said, clicking Next on the installer. "And I’m pretty sure that no one realized that you and I…" Josh paused, well aware of how easy it was to eavesdrop on conversations from other cubes.
"Met previously?" Quinn suggested, that small, rueful smile back.
"Right," Josh said, leaning back in Quinn's chair. "As far as I’m concerned, that was hardly a meeting, and we're staring fresh today. If that's okay with you."
"It's—good," Quinn said, obviously relaxing as he smiled shyly at Josh.
Josh wondered briefly at the chances of getting Quinn into his bed again—he'd love to see if Quinn lost his shyness in bed when he could actually remember it later. He dismissed the thought almost immediately—Quinn was a biter for one, possibly with some sort of vampire complex, and he was a coworker for two, a poor idea as Ashley had proven quite painfully with her fling with the head of accounts receivable.
Turning back to Quinn's computer, Josh finished installing the patch, asking curiously as he set the computer to restarting, "So where did you move here from?"
"Tamaskey Bay," Quinn said absently, not even looking up as he flipped over a page to read the other side of it. "I moved to be closer to work and away from my family. I like it here okay so far, even though I've spent most of my time unpacking boxes."
Josh laughed sheepishly. "Been asked that a few times, I guess."
"A few," Quinn said, smiling wryly at Josh over the top of his papers. "But everyone's been really nice so far, even if most of them think I'm a brand new employee."
"You're new to the building," Josh said, pointing out the obvious as the Windows start screen appeared on Quinn's monitor. "That's rare enough you'll be pestered for weeks and referred to as the new guy until someone else gets hired."
"Yay," Quinn said deadpan. Josh grinned, distracted by the window that popped up on the monitor. It didn't take him long to finish making the changes to Quinn's computer, and he closed out of the programs he'd fixed as he stood.
"You should be set," Josh said, gesturing to the computer briefly. "But if you have any problems, just give me a call or send me an email."
"Okay, thanks," Quinn said quietly, giving him a small smile before turning back to his papers.
Josh headed back to his cube, smiling more than really was necessary for a Monday, let alone a Monday before noon. Still, for all the ways for "accidentally sleeping with a coworker" to turn out, this wasn't half-bad and was more realistic than his better ideas.
*~*~*
The lobby was mostly empty when Josh reached it at lunch time. He was the first to show, which didn't surprise him. He'd heard Elena's department was getting slammed and he didn't doubt that Quinn was the type to linger over his work.
Digging out his cell, Josh sent a quick text to Elena demanding her whereabouts. Less than a minute later, his phone buzzed in return, and Josh frowned at the message that read, "swamped. have to take a late lunch. have fun with Q. <3"
"Something wrong?"
"Hmm?" Josh asked, flipping his phone shut and sliding it back into his pocket as he glanced up at Quinn. "Oh, no, just Elena can't get away from work. It's just you and me, unless you'd prefer to just go our separate ways for lunch."
Quinn hesitated, and it was probably stupid, but Josh kind of hoped Quinn didn't say no to lunch. He wouldn't mind getting to know Quinn a little bit better, and maybe he could bring up the bite casually, since it had started bothering him a little more since he'd left Quinn's cube earlier.
"It's fine," Quinn finally said, shrugging. "Where are we going?"
"Elena suggested The Corner Deli. It's close and you're not wearing heels, so we can walk if you like," Josh said, glancing outside as he spoke. It was bright and sunny, and brilliantly colored leaves littered the sidewalk leading from the building.
"Okay," Quinn said, but hesitated until Josh gestured for him to lead the way from the building. The day was everything his glimpses through the windows had promised it would be—on the warm side of cool with a nice breeze to kick the fallen leaves around their feet as they walked.
"So where did you end up getting a place?" Josh asked as they walked. Quinn's eyes were even brighter out here, he noticed, then berated himself for noticing.
"Riverside apartments?" Quinn offered, making it half a question.
"You're pretty close to downtown, then, if I'm thinking of the right place," Josh aid thoughtfully, tucking his hands into his pants pockets and smiling hello to the businessman they passed. "Have you had a chance to do any exploring? You're near the docks, I think. They have events down there most weekends."
"I haven't really," Quinn said, a little defensively. "I've barely left my apartment."
"Too busy unpacking?" Josh suggested lightly, biting back the offer to show Quinn around. Maybe he should've bailed on Quinn, too—obviously he needed to keep some distance if he was going to behave.
"Yeah," Quinn smiled a little, shrugging awkwardly. "I have a lot more stuff than I thought I did before I moved. It took ages to pack and it's taking even longer to unpack."
"I haven't moved since I graduated—some three years ago—but I still don't want to do it again for a very long time," Josh said with a grimace.
"Me either," Quinn said, making a face.
"Well, if you get a chance, check out the dock's events. They're always fun," Josh said, wondering if Quinn would take that advice even as he spoke. Quinn seemed more the type to play hermit than to go out and party it up. Except, he'd gone out and presumably gotten drunk enough to go home with Josh, so maybe appearances were deceiving in Quinn's case.
"There's also a lot of good restaurants in your area," Josh said, when Quinn's only reply was a hum of agreement. "You should try the pizza from Mama Luciana's—it's good, and their garlic sauce is to kill for."
Quinn made a funny noise, then quickly covered his mouth with a hand. Josh blinked, frowning worriedly when he glanced at Quinn—it looked like he was about to throw up, but in the end he only made a strange face as he dropped his hand.
"I'm allergic to garlic," Quinn said, sounding apologetic. "I usually avoid Italian and pizza places since they put it in everything."
"That sucks," Josh said on auto-pilot, wondering if Quinn was just fucking with him. Allergic to garlic, pale enough to be dead, and he'd left two puncture marks on Josh's throat. Why did Josh always seem to attract the nutcases? At least Quinn was more low-key about it than some of his past lovers had been. The one guy—George—had been convinced that Josh was magic, and had tried for a few weeks to collect bits and pieces of Josh to cast spells with.
"Here we are," Josh said unnecessarily as they reached the busy deli. He held the door open for Quinn, then followed him inside. Quinn hesitated, but then headed for the short queue at the ordering area.
Josh followed him, wondering as they ordered whether or not he should mention Quinn's vampiric habits. He was curious despite himself—and that was always how he got into trouble, so no asking questions. He didn't need another George-type stalker, but this time after his blood instead of his hair.
Still, he really was curious as to whether Quinn thought of himself as a vampire or was just turned on by it.
…which really wasn't a good thing to be thinking about on lunch with Quinn, when he was supposed to be grabbing his sandwich. Josh snagged the tray that held his sandwich, chips, and bottle of soda, and waited for Quinn before heading towards an empty table by the window. Halfway there, a woman with a hairstyle that should've been left in the '80s accidentally knocked his arm, jostling his shoulder up and giving him a fresh throb of pain from the bite.
Gritting his teeth, Josh barely kept from spilling the contents of his tray as the woman muttered a halfhearted apology and moved around him. The pain subsided slowly as he walked the rest of the way to the empty table, and he really was going to have to get the damn thing looked at. It couldn't be normal for such a small wound to cause so much pain.
"Are you okay?" Quinn asked, looking concerned as he slowly sat down across the table from Josh.
"Yeah, I’m fine," Josh said, rolling his shoulder carefully. It didn't hurt when he moved it on purpose, which was really weird. "Just a sore neck. I'll probably get it checked out tomorrow if it still hurts like this then."
"Oh," Quinn said, his frown deepening for some reason. Maybe he'd realized what the cause of Josh's discomfort was and was feeling guilty?
"It really is fine," Josh said, trying to reassure Quinn a bit. Stupid, because it was Quinn's fault his neck hurt in the first place, but it was just a bite, albeit an annoying, painful, and probably infected one.
"Okay," Quinn said, then lapsed into silence to focus on his meal. Josh followed suit, letting his mind wander. He could call the doctor first thing in the morning if the bite was still bothering him. He didn't relish explaining it, but hopefully he could spin it that it had been his mysterious partner who'd been into the biting and the doctor wouldn't laugh at him too much.
"So is your computer still working fine?" Josh asked after he'd inhaled half his sandwich. Pastrami on rye, hold the vegetables, was a great way to spend Monday lunch.
"Mmhmm," Quinn managed with his mouth full of sandwich. His looked to be more lettuce than anything else, even though he'd clearly heard Quinn order roast beef.
"Have you worked in a cube before?" Josh asked, wondering what it'd be like to work from home. Probably pretty boring, not that his job was suited for it.
"No, only from home," Quinn said, shrugging a bit. "This has been my only job so far."
"Fun, isn't it? At least you're not seated by Chester. He's on the phone all day, and he's the type who believes the people on the other end can only hear him if he shouts," Josh said easily, trying to remember who was in the cubes around Quinn.
"I sneezed earlier and someone on the other side said bless you," Quinn said, his lips quirking into a smile. "But it's not so different. I have to dress nicer, but that's about it."
"Pajamas all the time?" Josh teased, then crushed down a few more chips.
"Jeans, mostly," Quinn said, and Josh did his best to not think about Quinn wearing old, worn-in jeans that fit just right, because that was not the sort of thing he needed to be thinking about a coworker.
"Still better than slacks," Josh said, making a face. He hated business casual, but at least the dress code was business casual and not stricter.
Quinn nodded in agreement, then stood and picked up his tray, murmuring, "I'll be right back."
Josh nodded, then watched as Quinn walked over to the trash receptacle and emptied his tray. He headed to the restrooms next, turning back as he reached the bathroom door, his green eyes visible across the restaurant as he smiled at Josh enticingly.
Josh stood, barely remembering to grab his tray and drop it off before following Quinn's tracks to the restroom. It was empty except for Quinn and himself, and Josh put up no resistance when Quinn pushed him into the handicap stall and latched the door behind them.
"Show me your neck?" Quinn requested softly, his green eyes glowing faintly, and it should be wrong, something was wrong, but Josh just tugged down the collar of his sweater.
Quinn leaned close, smelling faintly of some spicy deodorant, and carefully peeled off the bandage Josh had taped over the bite.
"Hey," Josh objected half-heartedly. He was all but tripping over the toilet and Quinn was behaving strangely.
"It's okay," Quinn said, running a soothing touch along Josh's jaw. His green eyes really did suite him better than the blue, Josh thought hazily as Quinn bent his head, his teeth brushing against the bite mark. Josh tensed, prepared for pain—but instead he just felt a soft wash of warmth across the area. It made his skin tingle all the way down to his toes, and Josh wondered if they'd be late or if they'd have time for a quickie—
Quinn pulled away, covering his mouth with his hand, so Josh took the initiative, casually knocking Quinn's hand aside and kissing him. Quinn gasped, obviously startled even though he really shouldn't be, and he tasted of the syrupy sweet of his drink and something sharp and bitter that Josh couldn't place.
Quinn tensed when his back hit the bathroom stall's door, making it rattle, but Josh paid it no mind, hooking his fingers in one of the belt loops on Quinn's pants and tugging him closer as he deepened the kiss. Quinn was kissing back, and Josh tugged again—
"Not here," Quinn said breathlessly, his head turned to break the kiss. Josh made a disappointed noise, wondering if he could push it—
"I'm sorry," Quinn said, and his eyes were still green, and Josh should really be more worried about being dragged into the men's room for some arcane purpose, literally arcane, and his neck should still hurt but it didn't, and he wasn't worried about it.
"I like you anyway," Josh confided solemnly, even though he wasn't sure what Quinn was apologizing for. Maybe for biting him? Quinn smiled, sad and sweet, and Josh really wanted to kiss him again.
"Good," Quinn said softly. "Hold still for me, please?"
Josh nodded and Quinn reached out, touching his forehead lightly and staring at him with those green, green eyes—and Josh blinked, startled to find himself alone in the bathroom stall, the door securely latched from the inside.
Blinking a few times, Josh frowned, staring at the plastic door of the bathroom stall. Had he imagined that? He had to have. There was no way Quinn would drag him into the men's bathroom, bite him again, and then let Josh kiss him as a follow-up.
But he didn't remember how he'd gotten in here otherwise. He couldn't account for how he'd crossed the restaurant or even entered the stall.
Moving slowly, Josh let himself out of the bathroom stall and walked over to the sinks. He looked ruffled, too, as though he'd been involved in a make-out session just moments ago.
Frowning, Josh flattened his hair, wincing reflexively when he accidentally brushed the bite on the side of his neck—except it didn't hurt. Completely confused, Josh leaned closer to the dirty mirror, tugging down the collar of his shirt to expose the bite.
Nothing. Josh stared. There was nothing—no bite, no scar, no bruise, nothing.
He let the turtleneck fall back into place automatically when someone else entered the bathroom, turning the knobs on the sink to wash his hands because that was more normal than staring at himself in the mirror like he didn't recognize himself or something.
There had to be a logical explanation for it. Unfortunately, the only logical explanation was that he was going crazy. Either the bite had never been there or Quinn had magically removed it.
Drying his hands slowly, Josh headed out of the restroom with some reluctance, not wanting to seem too weird to the other man using the facilities. Quinn was waiting outside the bathroom, looking tense and conspicuous, and Josh stared at him for a moment.
He was going crazy. He really, really was—Quinn's eyes were blue, a nice blue, but nowhere near the brilliant green he'd imagined them to be. He needed to stop drinking so much he blacked out—but that still didn't explain the weird memories in the bathroom.
"Are you okay?" Quinn asked, frowning at him, and his tone sounded odd, but maybe Josh was still hallucinating.
"Um, yes?" Josh said, but shook his head. The deli was even busier now and the commotion was distracting him. "I'm not sure how I got here from there."
Relief flickered across Quinn's face, so briefly Josh thought he must have imagined it—but what if he hadn't? What did that mean?
"You look like you're going to throw up," Quinn said helpfully, his expression nothing but concerned now.
"No, my stomach's fine," Josh muttered. "My head on the other hand—" Josh shook his head again, moving towards the exit as the noise in the little deli seemed to swell.
What if he wasn't imagining things? What if he'd been bitten, been magically healed, and Quinn really was some sort of…vampire who could change the color of his eyes and sway people into making fools of themselves in public bathrooms.?
What if he was crazy and hallucinating in the middle of the day? Which was worse?
Josh stopped a few buildings away from the deli, about halfway back to the office building, and rounded on Quinn.
Quinn stumbled back a few steps, his eyes flying wide in alarm. He nearly tripped, and Josh almost felt bad but he was more concerned that he was going crazy.
"Why don't I have your bite on my neck anymore? What the hell was that?" Josh demanded, gesturing back towards the deli but purposely keeping his voice down. He didn't want to advertise it if he was going insane.
"What? I—you—" Quinn stammered out, looking horrified and maybe Josh was raving but he wasn't crazy because Quinn knew what he was talking about.
"I don't make out with near-strangers in public restrooms! Especially when they're coworkers!" Josh hissed, glancing around furtively—they weren't far from work, after all, and the last thing he needed was gossip at work about him and Quinn.
"I—that's what you're worried about?" Quinn asked, looking completely bewildered, and Josh groaned, because that was admittance as far as he was concerned and so the crazy parts were true, too.
"You bit me," Josh accused, and Quinn looked away guiltily, his eyes widening again—and Josh turned to see what had plastered the incredibly fake smile on Quinn's face, only to find Steve strolling towards them, apparently taking as much pleasure in the nice day as Josh had on the way to the deli.
"Hello, Josh," Steve greeted pleasantly. "Quinn. Did Josh get you all set up?"
"Yes, sir," Quinn said, somehow managing to sound mostly normal, if somewhat subdued.
"Good, good," Steve said with an easy smile. "Josh, there are a few projects I need you to take care of when you get back to your desk. Nothing important, but the server patch might be a little tricky, so leave that for last."
"No problem," Josh said, briefly distracted from his fantastical "Quinn the real life fucking vampire" problem by the real problems of his job.
"I should—" Quinn said, gesturing towards the office building awkwardly. "I was a little late this morning, I need to make up the time."
"Sure, sure," Steve said, waving Quinn off. "You run into any problems with your computer, just give us a call."
"Thanks," Quinn said, managing a brief smile before walking away. He didn't look at Josh and Josh silently fumed. He'd find Quinn later—he knew where Quinn worked, after all.
Steve started up again, detailing all the tasks he'd emailed Josh with—it would be simpler for Josh to check his email, but Steve liked to talk tech and Josh usually didn't mind. Glancing down the street after Quinn, Josh resolved to corner him at the end of the day, when neither of them had the excuse of work cropping up.
*~*~*
"Hey Elena," Josh said, sitting down heavily in the visitor's chair next to her desk. "I need a favor."
"A favor? What kind of favor?" Elena asked suspicious, her fingers stilling on her keyboard. She was dressed in a severe black pantsuit today, which likely meant she'd argued with Brad again, which meant she probably wasn't in a favor-granting mood.
"I need an address," Josh said meekly, dropping his voice. "It's important?"
"Whose address?" Elena asked, her suspicious look clearing in favor of a far more dangerous expression—curiosity.
"Quinn's," Josh admitted, half to see her reaction and half because it would hopefully goad her into giving him Quinn's address. There were three "Riverside" apartment complexes in the city, as he'd unfortunately found out when he'd googled it.
Quinn was avoiding him, and Josh was more than willing to push the issue. He'd gone home "sick" on Monday, and today was the second consecutive day he'd called off. Josh was already tired of it, but he couldn't let it go. The whole thing was weird and it was probably safer to just forget it and move on with his life, but Josh wasn't smart and he hated being ignored.
Probably all the drinking had killed his smart brain cells.
"Quinn?" Elena smiled wickedly. "Going to play doctor?"
"Something like that. He had lunch with me, and then he got sick. I wanted to send him a care package or something," Josh lied easily. "Or something" was more likely.
"Delivering in person?" Elena asked slyly, turning back to her computer.
"Maybe," Josh said teasingly as Elena scrawled something on a bright yellow sticky note. She handed it off to him, smirking, and Josh was glad that he'd managed to at least brighten her day a little. "Thanks."
"Anyone asks, you didn't get that from me," Elena said dismissively. "You owe me. We'll discuss terms later."
"Yes, ma'am," Josh said, glancing down at the address. Lovely—it was for the most upscale of the three complexes. Though that begged the question of why Quinn wore plaid shirts if he lived in such a ritzy area. Josh added it to the list of things he wanted to ask Quinn.
"So lunch went that well?" Elena asked, obviously thrilled. Josh resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Elena and the other girls had been trying to set him up for months to no avail; everyone they found had been weird—like George; Carrie wasn't allowed to pick after him—or boring. They'd all been hot, at least, and Josh had been pretty happy with the sex.
He wasn't sure who he could blame Quinn on—probably no one but himself, since he'd taken Quinn home before Elena's Monday shenanigans.
"I'm not sure. He got sick," Josh said, grinning cheerfully when that answer made Elena make a face. Before she could pester him further, however, his cell phone buzzed. Flipping it open, he read the short message quickly.
"Boss calls. Talk to you tomorrow, Elena," Josh said, standing up and sliding the phone back into his pocket.
"You better have something interesting to report," Elena said, swiveling her chair to face her computer again. Josh left, heading upstairs and wishing that the last two hours of work would pass quickly so he could go confront Quinn.
It really wasn't the smartest course of action—what if Quinn decided to kill him to keep his secret safe? But if Quinn would do that, why hadn't he done it yet? Why was he simply avoiding Josh instead?
The last two hours of the day passed as slowly as pouring molasses. Work was slow, so he had a lot of idle time to fritter away. When the clock finally ticked over to five, he grabbed his jacket and was out the door with Elena's sticky note tucked into his front pocket.
The drive over to Quinn's apartment was almost worse than waiting at work. Traffic was terrible and Josh turned down the wrong street twice before finally finding the sprawling townhouses of the Riverside apartment complex. Built less than ten years ago, they were gorgeous and sprawling and on the right part of the river for clean(ish) water and a wonderful view. Quinn's unit—6B—was halfway down the row of identical blue houses. Josh parked in the space with the sign that said "Guest Parking," shut off his car, and reconsidered whether or not he was being stupid to demand answers from a vampire.
Except Quinn hadn't ever seemed threatening or scary—hot when he'd gotten all pushy in a quiet sort of way in the deli's restroom, but not really scary. And Josh couldn't stop remembering the look on Quinn's face when Josh had confronted him—like he'd been sucker-punched or had his lunch money stolen by the school bullies.
Sighing, Josh opened the car door and slid out, pocketing his keys as he observed the building in front of him. It really was posh in a horribly ostentatious way, he thought as he observed the sculpted bush next to the front walk. They were shaped into the unit's number—6—and it looked incredibly stupid.
Walking up the sidewalk slowly, Josh studied the door to unit 6B as he approached it. It was next to the door to 6A, but on the outside edge of the building. So Quinn's apartment was probably upstairs—which would add an obstacle if Josh needed to make a break for it.
Josh shook his head at himself. Quinn was very probably harmless, since he'd chosen calling out sick three days in a row over confronting Josh head-on about it. Josh hesitated one last second, but then made himself hit the doorbell. He could hear the chimes through the door, a high-pitched ding-ding that was probably more obnoxious on the other side of the door.
Josh waited impatiently, fidgeting a little. What if he'd psyched himself up and Quinn wasn't even home? Glancing back at the parking lot, Josh frowned. He didn't know what Quinn drove—
But it didn't matter; he could hear footsteps taking the stairs at an unhealthily fast pace—Quinn was home.
Then the door opened and Quinn was standing right there and Josh couldn't think of a single opening line. Quinn was wearing another ugly plaid shirt in some combination of blue and green that should never have been put together, and a pair of old, loose jeans that had no shape and were probably soft as butter by the look of them. He was also looking at Josh like Josh had just arrived from Jupiter.
"You don't look sick," Josh finally said, and Quinn shook himself visibly.
"I'm not," Quinn said, quietly. He looked worried and miserable and Josh sighed, because it was stupid, but he really just wanted to reassure Quinn instead of demanding answers from him.
"That's good," Josh said, shoving his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels slightly. "Then you can answer a few questions for me."
"I—" Quinn started, his eyebrows knitting together in consternation. Josh raised his eyebrows, prepared to force the issue if need be. "You should come in."
"Okay," Josh said easily, though part of him would really rather stay on the porch, out in public, where Quinn would at least hesitate before trying to eat him.
Quinn stepped back, holding the door open for him. Josh entered the house slowly, trying to ignore the ominous sound of the door clicking shut behind him.
"Ignore the boxes. I'm still working on unpacking," Quinn said, sounding mostly normal. He slipped around Josh to lead the way up the thickly carpeted stairs and Josh followed, marveling that he could actually feel the cushion of the carpet despite still wearing his work shoes.
The upstairs was a mess. It was a nice unit, with a wide-open floor plan and plenty of space, but there wasn't much in the way of furniture and there were half-empty boxes everywhere—on the floor, the mantle of the fireplace, and stacked on chairs. The only place that was free of boxes was the couch, and it looked only recently vacated. There was a steaming mug set on the box next to it, and a knitted afghan throw crumpled in the corner.
"Have a seat?" Quinn suggested, gesturing to the couch. He made a halfhearted effort to move a box out of the way, but almost immediately abandoned the effort. "Can I get you something to drink?"
"I'm fine, thanks," Josh said politely, feeling no small part surreal as he picked his way over to the couch and sat down.
"Um," Quinn said, but didn't say anything more. He made no move to join Josh on the couch, just stood there in the center of his sea of boxes, looking lost.
"So, uh, you're a vampire?" Josh asked, wincing a little at how stupid and awkward that sounded. He really needed to work on his opening lines.
Quinn winced too, fidgeting with the cuffs of his shirt for a moment. Josh sighed impatiently—what did Quinn think he was going to do, attack him for it?
Maybe, Josh thought reluctantly. Quinn was keeping his distance, staying almost halfway across the room. And he'd avoided Josh for two days—obviously he was afraid of something.
"Does anyone else know?" Josh asked, not really sure what to do to put Quinn more at ease At least he was relatively sure Quinn wasn't going to hurt him—Quinn would barely look at him.
"Not here," Quinn said quietly. "Not—not unless you've told anyone."
"Yeah, that would go over well," Josh said, snorting. He relaxed a little, slumping more comfortably against the back of the couch. "I'd probably just get myself speedily committed to the psych ward if I tried to tell anyone my hot new coworker drank my blood in the public restroom of a deli."
"I didn't," Quinn said immediately, not looking any less anxious as when he finally looked up. "I mean, not then. I just—I needed to heal it."
"Yeah, why didn't you do that before?" Josh asked lightly, touching his neck gingerly where the bite had been. "If you'd done it Friday, I probably would never have noticed anything was wrong."
"I don't—I didn't realize I hadn't," Quinn mumbled, and if Josh's hazy memories of Friday were anything to go by, Quinn had been at least as intoxicated as he'd been.
"So what messed up Monday? I wasn't supposed to remember, was I? What did you do anyway? 'Cause I don't normally maul guys in public restrooms," Josh rambled out, wishing he could figure out how to get Quinn to relax and still get answers. "I'm not going to tell, by the way. Even if I had someone who'd believe me, it's not right to spill your secret, right?"
"I guess," Quinn muttered, but he didn't really look convinced of Josh's sincerity. "And no, you weren't supposed to remember it. I don't—I'm not sure what went wrong, but I must have screwed something up the first time."
"The first time? Is that why Friday was such a blur? I thought that was the alcohol," Josh said flippantly. The attempt at levity fell flat—Quinn just shrugged, not meeting his eyes.
"The normal procedure for feeding is to lure the person somewhere remote, bite, heal the bite, and then make them forget," Quinn recited, as if by rote. He sighed, running his hands through his hair and messing it up spectacularly. "I'm horrible at it. I'm sorry."
"Can I ask more questions?" Josh asked, and he was incredibly curious but not really willing to push it since it appeared to be upsetting Quinn so much.
"Yeah—yes," Quinn said, frowning at him in puzzlement. "I bit you."
"I was aware," Josh said dryly. "And?"
"I don't understand," Quinn said slowly. "Why aren't you upset?"
"I probably should be," Josh admitting, shrugging and trying to appear casual. "But you don't seem like you're about to bite me or kill me for knowing, so I'm mostly just curious. I didn't think vampires were real until I met you."
"I'm not going to kill you or bite you again," Quinn said solemnly, shifting in place nervously. "You just want answers?"
"And your first born," Josh said deadpan, pleased when Quinn cracked a reluctant smile. "Well, if vampires can have kids, that is."
"They can. My mother is," Quinn offered hesitantly. "That's why I am."
"It's hereditary? Can it be spread through bites?" Josh asked, then for good measure added, "And how come you don't die in sunlight?"
"If you're bitten wrong, or enough times," Quinn said, and he was back to fidgeting with his shirt sleeves again. "It's like…there's a venom to it. If I don't moderate it properly, you get too much and that's biting wrong."
"And if you bite too often, I get too much anyway," Josh completed the thought himself. "So—sunlight?"
"Myth," Quinn said, shrugging dismissively. "Probably from when it was easier to get—to feed at night."
"Garlic?" Josh asked cheerfully, wondering if he should invest in extra garlic salt.
"Allergy, really," Quinn said, but he was an obvious, terrible liar and Josh raised his eyebrows in question.
"It's…drugging," Quinn said stiltedly, looking horribly awkward and embarrassed. "Like too much alcohol, except it makes me want to bite."
"So Friday, did you have garlic? Or was that too many beers, like me?" Josh asked, wondering what the chances of getting Quinn to actually sit down were. He looked so stiff and uncomfortable, standing halfway across the room. Unfortunately, the chances were probably slim.
"It was in the bar's party mix. I thought it was just pretzels," Quinn muttered, sighing. He frowned at Josh for a moment, but then crossed the room slowly to the other side of the couch where his no-longer-steaming mug sat.
"How much blood do you need? Do you have to uh, eat every day?" Josh asked, then smiled impishly. "Tell me you sparkle, that would be awesome."
Quinn laughed, finally giving him a real smile. Josh grinned back, pleased he'd managed to relax Quinn that much at least.
"I only sparkle if someone douses me in glitter, sorry," Quinn said, sipping at his drink. It was in a coffee mug, so probably coffee.
"My dreams are crushed," Josh said, making Quinn smile again. He really did have a nice smile—and no real fangs, which was odd.
"I don't need much blood, actually," Quinn said, turning shy and pensive again. "Usually a few mouthfuls every couple days is good enough. My brother needs more—he's full-blooded; I'm only half."
"Different parents or does it just show up in different strengths?" Josh asked, shifting how he was sitting so he could face Quinn more squarely without killing his neck.
"Different parents," Quinn said, shrugging. "His father wasn't human, but mine was. I had half a chance of being born fully human, but I wasn't."
"Can you drink from other vampires?" Josh asked next, wondering how Quinn managed to get blood every few days. Probably by using his green-eyed tricks.
"No," Quinn said immediately. "I mean, you can, but it doesn't do anything. It's missing the protein, enzyme, whatever it is that we get from it."
"So what do you do when you're little, lure kids off the playground and into the woods?" Josh asked, envisioning a young Quinn luring some hapless idiot into the playground woods for snack time.