→ John and Gabe, hunters of the supernatural. The vampires were next on the list, and after that, John supposed they could explore different versions of themselves. Not that John wanted to find any of these creatures, but it seemed to distract Gabe from his moping--or at least it had for the few moments they'd managed not to piss that Hunter guy off. Lying in bed and flipping through the staticky channels of the black and white TV, John wondered where the fuck Gabe had gotten off to.

→ Gabe had gone to Mabel's again and he'd gotten his usual for himself and for John. But on top of that he'd also poked his nose around a little and listened in on a few conversations until he was pretty sure he knew where to find the vampires. When he came back to the apartment he went into the bedroom and dropped down on the end of the bed. Shoving the styrofoam container into John's hands he flopped back. "I found the vampires. Eat up, we can get there by dark."

→ John rolled his eyes, putting the container on the floor next to the bed as he continued to flick through the channels. "By dark? We're going tonight?" Clearly annoyed by this whole thing, John sighed heavily before landing on a fuzzy episode of The Simpsons. He left the TV there and scooted up on the bed.

→ "Well I am going tonight, if you dont' want to go home then you can stay here and jerk off or do whatever is that you want." he started to eat his sandwich, trying not to get angry that John was ignoring the food that he'd brought him home.

→ Rolling onto his side so that his back was to Gabe, John shrugged. "You couldn't handle yourself alone with a bunch of vampires. I'm not having you go by yourself and getting eaten or some shit." He made it sound like he had to protect Gabe. John had made dinner for them, but he knew Gabe wasn't going to eat it and that pissed him off. It was as if all of the food he made was tainted or something.

→ When he rolled over onto his back it made Gabe roll his eyes and he just dropped his sandwich back into the container. Getting up from the end of the bed he went to shove the box into the fridge so that he didn't have to finish it now. John always made him lose his appetite. "Well I'm going, if you are coming then you can come but i'm not going to sit in here all night."

→ "We weren't going to sit in here all night, unless you count you sitting on my cock." John spoke with mock sweetness that was dripping with the acid of resentment. Nothing about either one of them was soft anymore, and everything was barb after barb.

→ There were nights when he honestly tried, but he was so easily irritated with John that he wasn't even sure what to do with himself half the time. But the thought of being without him made his chest heavy and he always got dizzy thinking about being alone. Because there wasn't anyone that would ever fill the space that John left behind. Leaning over, he pressed a kiss to John's mouth, though he pulled away before John could smack him or turn it into anything more.

→ The honest desire to do both rose up within John, and it upset him that Gabe didn't give the battle the chance to play out. "Just lie here for a second." He asked, though the tone was more of a demanding plea than an honest request. For Gabe to just slow the fuck down for five seconds would be a miracle instead of always trying to stay in motion because he couldn't stand to be next to John.

→ Gabe was sitting on the bed but John's demand soaked into his bones and his arms loosened up at the elbow and he lowered himself back onto his back. Putting his hands onto his stomach he just folded them there and he laid still. The only time he ever laid down was when they were sleeping and he never slept long. Turning his head to the side he just looked at John, trying to figure out what he wanted out of him.

→ After a couple seconds, John realized whatever he wanted out of Gabe, it wasn't this. Not reaching for him, or making any move to say that he wanted him there, John finally got up. "All right, all right. Let's just go and get this over with."

→ For a long second after John sat up and started to move, Gabe just laid there. He tipped his head back and looked up at the ceiling, wondering what he could do to fix whatever had driven itself between them. Probably nothing. In fact he was probably just pushing it farther between them but it was too late to take it back now. Licking his lips, he brought his hands up to rub at his eyes and then he sat up and stood, brushing the wrinkles out of his clothes as he did so.

→ At least they weren't leaving Coldwater now, and John could have someplace to call home base. He'd deny up and down that he needed a place like that, but when push came to shove, he was better off with solid footing beneath him. Getting his coat, he put it on, wondering how annoyed these vampire folk would be when they just walked up to their door. The wolves had been nice until John started throwing flame around.

→ Gabe took his time putting his scarf on around his neck and then he pulled the jacket on over his shoulders. It was a peacoat though it wasn't lined as heavily as a winter coat, which was something he'd need to invest in soon. He buttoned it and slid his hands into the pockets, ready to go as soon as John was ready.

→ Without talking to him, John led the way out. But as he stood on the landing of their apartment, he realized he didn't have any idea where the hell these things lived. Turning to Gabe, he shoved his hands in his pockets. "Why do you want to find them?"

→ "I don't know." Gabe said honestly. There was some sort of need inside of him to seek these creatures out and find them and he honestly couldn't tell John what it was. Maybe if he thought long enough or hard enough he'd figure it out but right now he just didn't want to put that much effort into it.

→ "Whatever." John said and gestured with his hand for Gabe to lead the way. "You're the one with the directions." He was extra annoyed now because his stomach gave an audible gurgle since he was hungry. It was clear he'd refused the food out of plain stubborness.

→ Ignoring the growl was probably the best thing he could do because if he pointed out that John's stomach knew when it needed to eat he was just going to pick another fight and they didn't need to have another one. Instead of saying anything he just pulled his hand out of his pocket and reached for John's, trying to lace their fingers together.

→ Contemplating putting his hands back in his pockets, John finally took Gabe's hand, heart jumping a little when their skin connected. Fine, fine, it felt good and he could admit that, and want that. But he could still be annoyed by it. Why Gabe hadn't just wanted to fuck and sleep, John didn't know, but maybe this was more meaningful than just that.

→ When he didn't pull away Gabe felt a little relieve and he picked up his pace a little. The walk from where they were staying to the vampires house wasn't that long of a one and when they got there he slowed to a stop outside of the large wrought iron fence that closed the house in. "Do you think they will be as unfriendly as the werewolves?"

→ "I'm afraid they're going to be too fucking friendly." If the movies had anything to say about them, anyway. The plantation style home loomed back across an unmanicured lawn. It felt like a bayou, overgrowth and all. The bars were big enough for them to slip through and John started forward, turning his body to the side and squeezing past the thick fence.

→ Gabe kept a hold of his hand and he slipped through with ease. He had to wonder if they were set that far apart just so kids would slip through them and make their way up to the house. "If any of them ask you if they can bite you just say no." he said. "Only I'm allowed to bite you." he squeezed John's hand, actually a little nervous.

→ They were. Bernie had been amused greatly by the fence that kept no one out, when really they didn't mind guests of the blood-filled variety. Gabe's nervousness travelled down his arm and up John's. "I don't think they're going to ask." Not that they couldn't defend themselves, but what if there were so many that--John didn't want to think about being overpowered somehow.

→ When they got to the porch he just stood there a second, looking at the door before he was brave enough to lean in and knock. Two sharp raps against the door and if no one answered then they could turn around and go back to where they had come from. He'd be satisfied, he thought, but he knew better. If no one answered he'd knock again.

→ The woman who answered was tall, painfully thin, and dressed like a boy with nice slacks, suspenders, and a bright red tie tied around her too-long neck. Bernie had been walking toward the door when the knock came and she'd had to stop and stare at it with slight disbelief for a few seconds before opening it to find two boys on the other side. "Please tell me you're selling cookies."

→ "We are out of cookies." Gabe said, not entirely amused by the comment but immediately intrigued by the woman on the other side of the door. His hair was in his eyes but he tilted his head to the side just a little to sweep it aside.

→ John kept a tight hold of Gabe's hand and Bernadette looked down to their connection. "No cookies. Are you here to see someone?" Sometimes the other vampires called regulars to the manor, but Bernie had never seen these two around. Adventurers, perhaps. There was something about their auras though, black lines injecting through them that told her something was different about the boys.

→ Looking up at Bernie, Gabe just studied her face and he tried to see if he could see her fangs. What did they really want? He wasn't even sure. "We were just going for a walk and we thought we'd see if someone was home. Are there really vampires here?"

→ She raised her perfect eyebrows and the pink of her lips stretched downward into a comical little frown. John didn't want to admit it, but he was afraid and Bernadette could smell it. They were living, she knew that much. He wanted to kick Gabe for just coming right out with it, but he hadn't thought of a better way, and they were looking for vampires after all. Bernie offered an elegant shrug. "Rumors."

→ "Too bad." Gabe said, feeling like he couldn't turn his back on this woman. Squeezing John's hand he started to back up so that he could head down off of the porch. "Well we'll just be on our way then. Have a nice night."

→ "You don't have to go." She said, and even though there was no urgency apparent in her voice, it was clear this was as insistent as she got. "Come inside. It's too late to walk all the way home." John resisted, not wanting to go inside, but eventually the curiosity overwhelmed him and moved forward, tugging Gabe with him.

→ Gabe was beginning to regret having made him come along because now John was pulling him into the house and he was pretty sure they were going to get killed or something horrible. "John..." he tried to pull him back but he was already in the house.

→ John could be resistent, but once he was in the moment, he had no sense of self-preservation at all, assuming he'd be able to handle himself if the shit hit the fan. Bernie's movements were impossibly beautiful, each stepped placed in careless perfection.

→ Fuck. The door shut behind them and Gabe just looked around, quickly trying to survey all the exits that were possible in the house in case they needed to make a quick get away. "Lovely home you have." He said as casuallly as he could manage it.

→ "You're not normal boys." Bernie said, and although the words themselves were accusatory, her voice was honied. John walked very close to her, tugging Gabe along behind him as he stared up at her. The house seemed to close in on them as they walked through it. She was taking them toward her bedroom.

→ Gabe was looking all around, focusing in on any small details he could see. When they got to her bedroom he felt like they would never see the outside of it again. "What is your name?" he asked finally, no longer able to keep quiet. "How many of you are there?"

→ Bernadette spun around with a laugh. "There's only one of me, kiddo." She put her thumbs beneath her suspenders and tugged at them comically. "Don't be silly." John blinked and then laughed, not expecting that. He looked at Gabe, feeling better about this whole thing as he nudged his lover. "Don't be scared. I've got this." He whispered, stupidly thinking Bernie wouldn't be able to hear.

→ Whatever John thought, Gabe wasn't quite as confident. Shaking his head, he gave Bernie a once over. "I meant vampires in the house... you didn't tell me your name." He squeezed John's hand and just stared at her. He was nervous, he couldn't hide that.

→ She went to sit on the bed, lying back and enveloping herself in the pure white of the bedding. "I'm Bernadette. You may call me Bernie, if you'd like. What are your names?" She rolled her head to the side, looking at them.

→ "Gabe." He kept it short, not wanting to give her any sway over him by knowing his name. He wasn't sure if that was a vampire myth or something else. "You have a nice home, Bernie. Do you often invite strangers into it?"

→ "All the time." She patted the bed for them to sit down. John wanted to and he pulled Gabe to sit next to her. "I'm John. And we're not regular boys." He wanted to show off for her and he pulled out his lighter, flicking it open and tugging at the flame. Bernie sat up, instantly curious. "Oh, I see."

→ Once Gabe was settled between them on the bed he leaned back so that Bernie could see John's flame trick without him getting in the way. Gabriel could have smacked him for throwing their trump card out so early in the game but he said nothing.

→ Her eyes flicked to Gabe. "And what do you do?" She leaned closer to him, knowing she was making him uncomfortable and enjoying that sensation coming off of him.

→ "Not that." He said, not specifying further. Gabe didn't lean away but he wanted to and he was sure that showed on his face as he looked at her.

→ Raising her brows for a second, Bernie finally nodded. "Well, John, since you showed me what you can do, do you want to see what I can do?" Her lips parted and her canines were visible. It made the cold beauty of her face even sharper.