A meandering circuit around the neighborhood had yielded a successful shopping trip. Jack had found something for Kieran, and a few small things for his friends. He'd also found a chew toy that was going to earn him a painful bruise, but it would be worth it. He turned the corner, and slowed down at the sight of red hair.

Wearing a long and heavy winter coat, Thomas looked every bit the Chicago gangster that Jack envisioned him as. However, there was none of the confidence Jack had witnessed before as Thomas stared up at Kieran's building. Just slumped shoulders and misery. The Louis Vuitton suitcase sitting at Thomas's feet didn't quite match the vibe.

Jack drew closer and cleared his throat. "Uh, hi?"

Thomas flinched away with a gasp. He looked at Jack with wide eyes before he regained his composure with a smile. "Kiddo!"

Jack closed the distance between them and kept a wary eye on Thomas. He tensed up as an arm was wrapped tightly around his shoulders, and his nose was assaulted by heavy cologne.

"Be my shield," Thomas said lowly, looking back at the building in uncertainty.

"What?"

"I think he might be mad at me. Saw a thrall get sent out. If he's not up to dealing with high maintenance customers, what's he gonna do to me?" Thomas asked, pointing from the building to himself.

"A thrall?" A chill went up Jack's spine at the reminder of how easily vampires could mess with someone's memories. Just a little eye contact, and it was all over. And then he willingly let it happen without the memory wipe. It had been nice. More than nice. Was once a month too little time between sessions? Could he treat it like an oil change for his brain and schedule it for every three months?

He pulled out his phone and made a note to check on how often oil changes were supposed to be. It could be another mark in his possible knowledge of how to drive. He still wasn't about to ask Kieran to take him to an empty parking lot just to be disappointed.

"Yeah, we'd do it all the time when we was moonshinin'. Don't wanna deal with someone?" Thomas patted Jack's shoulder. "So sorry you forgot your wallet. You better go get that, and maybe go somewhere else when you do find it. Also great for turning away nosy cops."

An easy solution that Kieran claimed he hadn't used with Sam. And with how gleefully Sam would recount the story, Jack was inclined to believe him. He shifted his hold on his bags as he awkwardly tucked his phone away. Thomas's weight against his shoulder wasn't helping, and it was starting to ache. He really shouldn't be letting a weird, shifty vampire use him as a support.

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"Whatcha got there?" Thomas asked, looking down and pointing.

"Nothing for you." Jack clutched the bags tightly to his chest.

Thomas sighed and looked back at the shop's windows. "Did Kieran ask you to get groceries? I guess it's the least you could do," he said, ending with a mutter.

"No. Christmas presents." Someone who had known Kieran longer than himself might have an idea of whether or not Jack fucked up with his gift. "Do you think an e-reader and gift card are a bad idea? He's, like, always reading. So I figured… Yeah."

Thomas turned his attention to Jack in surprise and smiled. "Trust me, anything you get him would make him happy," he said. He rolled his eyes. "Anything. He was way too ecstatic when I gave him a Christmas present the first year we knew each other. I didn't even try." He leaned more on Jack as he stared up at the building in thought. "Gives me an idea for a good apology gift. So disgustingly sentimental. He'll love it."

"Okay."

"You want anything? Whatcha into, kiddo?" he asked, shifting his hold on Jack's shoulders to ruffle his hair.

The nickname was a little disconcerting coming from someone who looked younger than Jack. It was still a step up from Augie's noncommittal endearments. "I'm fine, thank you." He tried to move his head away from Thomas's hand.

Thomas pulled away and gave Jack's back a light slap. "You first. You can soften him up for me. Give him a little kiss and tell him he looks nice, but not in a way that says that's all he's good for. I don't want the fallout from that on my hands."

"Sure, but, uh… Are you sober?" Jack figured he was allowed to be blunt, considering his own bad habits.

"Unfortunately," Thomas said with a sigh. He sniffed at his hand and turned it back and forth, eyeing it critically. "Low population here, so it's not too big of a risk. Not seeing much overlap in territories. But I still ain't chancing it without the disgusting cologne."

"It, uh… It's a lot." Overwhelming and possibly migraine-inducing. But he could hardly blame Thomas. There didn't seem to be a lot of options out there for people like them.

Thomas leaned back in and took a deep whiff of Jack's hair and nodded to himself. "Yeah, citrus might be the way to go. Or cherries. I like cherries. I could snort cherry chapstick and die happy. Kinda did once. Chapstick don't taste as good as it smells."

"Well, uh, my spray's meant for kids or something," Jack said quietly, ducking his head. "I think they had other flavors, er, scents." He remembered seeing something pink with a cat, but it might have been a cow.

"Of course kids would have the good shit," Thomas whined. "Shoulda guessed, but since cherry chapstick's for everyone, why would I think that?" He grabbed the handle of his luggage and waved for Jack to lead the way.

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