"I think I love you." There was a subtle shift in Kieran's eyes. A tiny frown followed by worried brows. "You look sad."

"I… I have to be careful with my words, my sweet. I do not wish to cause you doubt," Kieran said as he lightly stroked Jack's cheek with a reassuring smile. "So, instead, we can speak more of this when you are no longer under my influence."

Jack stared at Kieran a moment longer before his eyes dropped to the side in thought. Right, he was under the influence of magical drugs. If what Kieran was doing even counted as substance abuse. It was sweet that Kieran was willing to wait until he was sober, but that probably meant he said something important and not stupid.

Unless he said something so stupid that it warranted a serious discussion.

"I keep wondering if I'm saying stupid shit out loud. Am I? I don't think I am. You're not looking at me weird. Or weirder than normal. Not that you look at me weird, but I say some really stupid shit. So I think I'm okay," he said, struggling to come up with his own solid answer.

"You needn't worry about that, my sweet siren," Kieran said softly, letting his light touches continue along Jack's cheek and down to his shoulder.

"Great." There really was no point in worrying about saying something stupid when everyone else did the same in similar circumstances. Jack could recall some of the stuff Candace said when she had made her special brownies. Once he'd gotten over his initial panic to realize what was happening, he'd ended up in an argument over waffles and cheesecake and which was a better breakfast. "I wonder if they make cheesecake waffles," he said as he picked at his fingernails. He really needed to get more gloves. If he had so many that he couldn't forget them, then they might help deter him from doing more damage.

"And gloves you can wear at breakfast," he added, happily going along his train of thought. "Or with sandwiches. Food gloves, but gloves-gloves."

There was a strange confusion that floated through the background of Jack's thoughts. "I feel confused."

"That's me," Kieran said. He kissed Jack's temple. "Nothing to worry over."

"Yeah, I gots lotsa other stuff to worry about." So much that focusing on random feelings was pointless. Jack had a body count that might end up getting added to. He twisted and leaned back against Kieran, propping his legs up on the couch arm. "If Benoit kills Augie, it's my fault. I don't want him dead. Again."

Kieran scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I highly doubt she'll put an end to him. Sires rarely dispose of their favorites."

That caught Jack's attention. It was said in such a distasteful and bitter tone. He tilted his head to stare up at Kieran's chin. Kieran had a nice jawline. It would be very kissable if Jack were in a better position. Or Kieran.

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He reached up and tugged on Kieran's collar, pulling him closer. He barely managed a light scrape of a kiss to Kieran's chin. "Did yours ever have a favorite?" he asked after letting go.

Kieran patted Jack's chest and looked away. "I would rather not answer that."

It was a good enough answer for Jack, but certainly not enough to keep his curiosity from picking at a potential scab. And he was beyond keeping his mouth shut. "It was you, wasn't it?"

"Until I wasn't," Kieran whispered.

"You're lying." There was another flicker of an emotion that wasn't Jack's - a slight panic with no rapid heartbeat, no tightness, no need to escape and hide. He hadn't meant to cause it, but he was finding it hard to keep his thoughts to himself. "Sorry. You can make me forget. If you wanna talk about it. Or not. Sorry. At least he didn't threaten to chop your legs off, right? That's my experience with being someone's favorite."

There was a foreign streak of anger. There and gone before he could linger on it, but enough for him to know he was oversharing. "Sorry. I'll shut up. Maybe. I can't. Not that I don't like this," he said, motioning circles around his head. He awkwardly reached up to knock his knuckles against Kieran's shoulder. "I'm not a therapist, but I can offer you a shoulder to cry on."

Kieran shook his head. "Thank you for the offer. I…" He sighed and looked up at the ceiling before looking back down at Jack. "I got away with a lot after my return. I would steal his thralls and seduce those he had his eye on," he said as he loosely ran his fingers through Jack's hair. "I was a thorn in his side for much longer than I care to admit."

"So being a vampire is like being in high school." Eternal High School for the Undead. It sounded like a bad series for teens on a kids' network. Were there school rivalries between vampires and river ladies? Did his own high school have a rival? Apparently, he had a boyfriend in high school. Who cheated on him. Maybe high school wasn't worth remembering. "I don't remember much of high school, so I'm just guessing."

"I wouldn't know as I never attended."

"You never got to go to prom," Jack whined as he solemnly stroked Kieran's chest. No party streamers, no shitty DJ playing the same songs from the radio and refusing to take a request for even one ska song, no leaving early to find fucking Kyle making out with that one chick from biology. He should have skipped prom. Why the hell did he choose that asshole's name as his cover? He blamed Tara for bringing it up. And introducing them. "We can have a fake prom to make up for it," he said, mostly to himself.

"I believe I've been subjected to enough parties to more than make up for it." Kieran's distaste was palpable.

Jack had to agree. Large parties only led to disappointment. He tried to avoid smaller ones, too. Just in case. "No parties. You're gonna be my new excuse. Staying in is good? And reading me the phone book?" He gave Kieran a hopeful grin.

"I'm certain I have much more entertaining literature than a phone book, my sweet siren."

"Like a Western," Jack eagerly added. "I wanna hear cowboy shit with that accent."

Kieran gave Jack an amused grimace. "Alright, I'm going to let up now. You should be able to remember everything and still feel relaxed. I do believe you'll sleep well tonight."

"I miss sleeping without help. Nightmares suck ass."

"No nightmares tonight, my sweet," Kieran said softly as he placed a kiss on Jack's cheek.

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