For once, Jack could think of his experience without panic scratching at his chest. He wasn't looking forward to the feeling when it did return. The next time he got high off vampiric mind magic, he should write up some journal entries. He fumbled for his phone and made a note to himself.

"When we come across one such as yourself, we are to catch and release," Kieran said with a nod. "We're permitted to entice your kind to stay, but never by force."

"Like mind fucking?" Jack asked. He raised his brow in challenge.

"You were keen to brush me off, and your previous experiences tainted what a thrall should be like. It would start well. You were agreeable, almost eager, but then…" Kieran broke off with a frustrated sigh. "I had initially given up. But you followed me out of the metaphysical shop, and, well, I decided a different approach was in order."

A defensive streak against the callout slowly rolled up Jack's spine. Of course he was eager. He was a touched-starve freak that wanted all of the attention without the attention. "So you went with persistence and being way too available."

Kieran grinned and propped his arm on the back of the couch. "Exactly. I went with the same approach that initially worked on a dairy maid I once knew. I learned to milk a cow when I was ten because I was so enamored with her." His cocky grin faltered and he looked away. "She let me down rather bluntly when my interest failed to move on."

"Yeah, I just give up before I even start. It's easier. Yeah." Easier, sadder, and more pathetic. Instead of dwelling on his failure as a functioning human in the dating scene, he wanted to dwell on Kieran's farm boy past. "So… Did you go into sheep shearing to impress someone? 'Cuz you seem kinda proud about it. Or was it just part of the family business, and you're just good at it." He shrugged as Kieran's smile turned into amusement. "I don't understand farms."

"My father wasn't fond of waiting on the traveling shearers to come 'round, so I took up an apprenticeship," Kieran explained. He let out an exasperated sigh and shook his head. "He was torn between his eldest son lowering himself and the convenience I provided. I also managed to gather a few admirers during my apprenticeship. By the time I was twenty, my family did not want for help."

"Working someplace with eye candy? I get it. I once thought about working a shift or two at a café 'cuz of a waiter, but…" Jack tailed off with a frown. It would have been an easy enough job with a little extra income, so why the hell didn't he take it? What had stopped him? He'd been to enough coffee shops to see a handful of shy workers take an order and stutter out a name. He wouldn't have stood out.

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"I think I was told not to get a job," he said slowly, going with the first explanation that stood out to him. "So I just pick up gigs to work around the wording? What the fuck. Wow, I am so beyond fucked up. Not gonna focus on that right now," he said, determined to not let his past ruin his mood. "So you had your pick of wives or something?"

"Unfortunately, no matter how lovely they were, they were all beneath my father's expectations. I settled on Oilen." Kieran's soft smile turned sad as he spoke. "She died of smallpox. Pneumonia took our son the next year."

"Shit."

How the hell was Jack supposed to comfort someone who lost a wife and child so close to each other? And what was he supposed to do with the information that Kieran was a widower and a father? He knew it was a possibility, but now there was no ignoring it. Should he get Kieran a Father's Day card? Or would that be tasteless? It was probably up there with "sorry your whole family's dead."

"It's in the past, from a time when death was common. We mourned, and we moved on, doing our best to survive," Kieran said dismissively.

It sounded like a lie.

"Sorry I brought it up," Jack said, just above a whisper. He needed to change the subject, and quick.

He swallowed and faced Kieran. "Um, yeah. Yeah, I'll sleep in your bed. But not 'cuz you're sad. Because I want to. But not in an eager sense. I don't really come off as desperate, do I?"

Kieran laughed and shook his head. He reached up and gently stroked Jack's cheek. "No more than myself, my sweet."

"At least you hide it better," Jack mumbled.

Kieran pulled Jack against him, kissing him soundly. "I would be thrilled to not hide how much I adore you, sweet thing. How desperate I am for you to stay with me. I…" Kieran sighed and shook his head ruefully. "I've been told I can be a bit much."

Jack couldn't stop the nervous laugh from bubbling up. He tugged on the bottom of his shirt, fisting his fingers into the fabric. He wanted what Kieran was offering, but could he handle it? Could he handle the attention?

He stared down at his partially covered hands and licked his lips. "You don't gotta hide it," he said quietly, "but, uh, no intense PDA stuff. Please."

"I can be as discreet as needed," Kieran replied.

Jack looked up and met Kieran's soft smile. It seemed a lot more open than normal.

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