Once the feeling of helplessness passed, Jack looked between Lindsey and Kieran. They were possibly the only people he could talk to about his problems without looking crazy. He gave in to his curiosity and hoped he didn't come across as pathetic. "What were we talking about?"

"Rabbit stew. I have a recipe, if you'd like to try it," Kieran replied.

There was a hint of mischief in Kieran's voice, and Jack felt like he was missing something. "You're making fun of me," he said slowly, narrowing his eyes.

"You're not fragile, so I'm permitted to tease, correct?" There was an edge of uncertainty to Kieran's voice.

The reply only made the feeling worse. He let his eyes drift down to the small stack of paper that lay between them, recognizing his handwriting. He shot Kieran a glare as he scooped up the papers. "I'm taking my notes and…"

He flipped through the papers, vaguely recognizing the tax forms and his need to fill them out. He glanced at Lindsey, who gave him a sad frown before slowly wavering into non-existence. He didn't want to deal with his issues, either. He tossed them back down with an annoyed sigh. So much for not looking pathetic. "This is what you're getting into."

Kieran moved around the counter and pulled Jack into a hug. "I'm aware," he quietly said. "It would take a lot more than this to push me away."

"No whips and chains. Got it," Jack said with a small laugh, leaning into Kieran's chest. He looked up when he felt Kieran's hold loosen minutely, barely catching the nervous lip biting. "Do I wanna know?"

"As long as I get a moment to collect myself, I can usually put up with more than you would think," Kieran admitted, dropping his arms.

It only confirmed what Jack had overheard before. He was the winner of Kieran's affections by default. The thought didn't make him feel that great. "That's not healthy."

"I'm aware. I've been doing rather well with resisting Augustin's renewed advances," Kieran said with an underlying tone of pride.

Jack should mention he'd witnessed one such occasion. He should also suggest that they work on themselves before continuing their relationship. That would be the mature and healthy thing to do.

So Jack's best choice would be to poke the bear while mentioning he'd invaded Kieran's privacy. He briefly wondered if Kieran would take such a revelation as badly as he had, but past evidence would say otherwise.

He steeled himself with a quick breath. "So Lindsey kinda let me in through the back one time, and I saw Augie trying to kiss you, and, uh, yeah. Good job." He awkwardly patted Kieran's shoulder.

Kieran covered his mouth and stared at the floor. "You saw that."

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Jack's chest felt tight as he watched the mortification overtake Kieran. He knew the feeling well and felt awful for causing it. He rubbed at his elbow and looked away. He'd been trying to be reassuring and utterly failed. "Yeah, saw and heard. Things got weird, you took a breather, and Augie took it wrong. Right?" he said, briefly looking up for confirmation. "You woulda taken him back if he came crawling back in an hour, not a century."

A whole century and then some. It was a disturbing thought. The time, the life, the fact that Kieran had multiple lifetimes under his belt that Jack had no hope of truly comprehending.

Kieran nodded, looking away. "It took him…a while. By then, I'd worked myself into a frightful state and managed to burn the house down." His laugh was brittle as he shook his head. "I heard he'd come looking for me through an acquaintance. I almost sought him out, but the prospect of traveling dissuaded me. Cairo also had the benefit of being warm."

It was a lot for Jack to take in. "What the fuck?"

"Like you, I'm a creature of habit."

Not any sort of creature that Jack was. Not that he knew of. "You burn down your house after bad breakups?" he asked, hoping he wasn't about to wake up on fire if Kieran had a bad day.

"Accidentally," Kieran stressed.

Jack couldn't tell if Kieran was trying to be reassuring or if he was just embarrassed. Either way, it wasn't much of a reassurance. "Still! What the hell, man?"

"There is a reason I lasted as long as I did with my sire. I bend over backwards for those I'm close to in an effort to maintain the status quo and please others, and I'm rather good at moping." Kieran leaned back against the register counter with a sigh. "How often I have wished that vampires and coffins were a thing."

"Oh, yeah?" And here Jack thought he was pretty fucked up. Kieran definitely needed a therapist.

"I would gladly crawl in one, shut out the rest of the world, and sleep for a century. But, alas, my sleep schedule remains the same, and I do not wish to endure bedsores once more."

Jack was all too familiar with the feeling. He even had a nice little prescription that made him foggy and was a temptation all its own. Given the longevity of vampires, it was no wonder Augie was so obsessive for Kieran's attention. Jack could relate to seeking out any form of comfort to ease the pain. His just happened to take the form of a bottle or two.

"I think that's called depression," Jack said after a moment. He didn't think the observation would be thrown back at him.

"And this is called avoidance." Kieran turned away and picked up the tax forms. "Wouldja like me to fill this out for you?" he asked, his smile bright and open as if nothing had happened.

Jack melted a little and nodded. "I'll take the help, but I think you need help, too."

"I'm doing better?"

"You're dating me," said Jack. It was a valid concern. He knew he wasn't healthy relationship material.

"See? Better already." Kieran narrowed his eyes as Jack opened his mouth to protest. He pointed at Jack with the papers. "Don't argue."

Lindsey giggled from behind the register, and Jack blushed as he flinched away from the sudden sound. "You've been here the whole time?!"

"I'm always here. Duh." A hint of bitterness leaked into Lindsey's tone.

Jack was reminded that he had somewhat promised to take Lindsey to a movie. A ghost in his pocket. Instead of sneaking in food, he'd be sneaking in a whole person. He chose not to think about it and focused his attention back to the forms in Kieran's hand.

Paperwork had to be better than the complexities of ghostly and vampiric life. Or unlife.

image [https://i.imgur.com/eZY0YUq.png]