Chessmaster

Nathan Henrys. There's a reason we haven't met. [[closed: mementomori--rp]]

[kingofthelibrary]

Small Talk || Vincent & Nathan

[kingofthelibrary]

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu–

He wanted to bury his face against Nate’s shoulder. He restrained himself because then Vincent would just turn his attention to Nate’s neck and…

Naughty thoughts, go away. There’s a child here.

Vincent had ducked his head and rubbed the back of his neck. He must’ve looked like a right hot mess. Looking back at the young man and Nate, Vincent watched their exchanged. He couldn’t help rolling his eyes at Nathan’s dismissal. To be fair, Vincent would like to go back to what they were doing, but at least he had manners.

Clearing his throat, Vincent bit his bottom lip nervously. “Y-You don’t have to worry about me.” 

Wanting to make this less awkward, Vincent walked up to the young man and held out his hand to shake. “Hi, my name’s Vincent,” he said with a bashful smile.

[willcookforrent]

Declan nods toward Nathan, unfazed by the glare. “I don’t get paid if he shares a single meal. If someone’s gonna eat my food, I want to be paid for it.” Double the portions, double the pay. “He’s cheap like that.”

He shakes Vincent’s hands firmly. “I guess you’re the reason why he stress eats.” he says. His tone borders on serious and teasing. “He’s got high cholesterol.”

[loansnark]

“You’re not gonna get paid at all if you keep going,” Nathan threatened, his hands going immediately for his pockets, subconsciously thumbing the pack of cigarettes he now wanted.

Rolling his eyes at Vincent, because of course he introduced himself, Nathan kept glaring at Declan for overstaying his welcome.

“Get out, Declan,” Nathan repeated, stepping up to him and drawing his wallet, “and learn some tact while you’re at it.”

[loansnark]

Small Favors || Nathan & Muse (Flashback)

[theoneandonlymuse]

TIMESKIP

Muse prepares the paste. Over the past few days, Cosmas had stayed with him while the injury healed enough to withstand even more marking. Cosmas didn’t talk much, which was fine with him. If he wanted to mention something, he would have. 

“Do you have any idea for another tattoo?” he asks. 

[loansnark]

Cosmas shook his head, looking down at his healing forearm, “no.”

Where he lived, tattoos were a mark of ownership, of punishment, and humiliation. If he had the choice, Cosmas would do away with the mark altogether. As it was, he was trading one permanent brand with another. 

“If tattoos are not a shame,” he began, raising his gaze to Muse, “what do they mean for you?”

[kapno-pais]

Bad Advice // Vaughn and Nathan

[kapno-pais]

     Vaughn’s knees rose up to rest under his chin, his eyes drifting off to view some unseen landscape of beauty as the most lovesick smile blossomed across the boy’s face.

     ‘It’s Tristan,’ Vaughn sighed.  He bit his bottom lip and held back a giggle, smoke starting to curl from his form.

[loansnark]

Nathan didn’t know much about romance (if he even knew anything) but that puppy-eyed, lovesick, ridiculous smile on Vaughn’s face said it all. Nathan restrained a chortle and nodded.

“So does Tristan feel the same way?” Nathan knew first hand how it felt to be unsure of that. It was unpleasant. Even more unpleasant than talking about feelings in the first place.

[kingofthelibrary]

Small Talk || Vincent & Nathan

[kingofthelibrary]

Was that his heart trying to burst through his chest, because it felt like it. In the past he wanted moments were the two of them could just talk about their feelings. He found out that neither of them were particularly good at it. Their actions were the only way they could convey what they wanted. 

So he responded eagerly when Nathan made his move.

Vincent closed his eyes and sighed against Nathan’s lips. He brought his hands up to rest on Nathan’s face. He didn’t know if it was possible to press himself more into Nathan, but he gave a valiant effort. 

Gosh, it’s been a year, but kissing Nathan was so familiar. He didn’t want to run away from this– from him.

[willcookforrent]

Delivery wasn’t specified in the job details but he’s getting paid for gas so he guesses he can’t complain. 

He clambers up the stairs, humming along to the music. He’s never been to Nathan’s office (all his dealings were over the phone) and he isn’t particularly excited to see it either. 

Nathan had told him to go right on in.

So that’s why he didn’t knock. 

He pulled off his headphones and reaches into his bag. “One hearty chicken parmesan with the works.” he says as he pulls out the tupperware. “Tips are heavily-” he looks up. 

His boss and some random guy were making out in front of him. Or they were, considering Nathan is glaring at him. 

“Unfortunately, I only brought enough for one.” he says, slightly fazed. “But now the tip’s required.”

[loansnark]

Nathan was going to kill him. 

A small growl at the back of his throat repurposed itself to one of annoyance at being interrupted, before it died off. Even though logically Nathan knew that he was the one that told Declan to deliver him his food and let himself in, Nathan didn’t care. Logic was thrown out the window. All he had was a very large desire to rip Declan’s pinky fingers off for interrupting them.

“Here’s a tip: get out.”

Nathan crossed his arms in front of his chest, looking at a flustered Vincent out of the corner of his eye. Despite his irritation, Nathan managed to be briefly smug about Vince’ state.

It was gone again by the time he trained his glare back on Declan.

[kingofthelibrary]

Small Talk || Vincent & Nathan

[kingofthelibrary]

‘Pretty close’ was an understatement. All those years they grew from strangers to almost enemies to acquaintances to friends to…what they are now. The problem was that he didn’t know what they were. They kissed, twice, but they ended up running away from each other. 

Vincent listened carefully to Nate’s words. He knew that Nate had a hard time opening up and when he did, Vincent doesn’t dismiss him. Nate was worth listening.

“I wasn’t hiding it,” Vincent assured Nate softly, “It never came up because I wasn’t thinking about Jael when I was with you.” Being with Nathan was like being in a different world– somewhere natural and intimate. 

[loansnark]

Nathan’s breath caught behind his slightly parted lips for a moment. It didn’t last very long, but it felt like a century. Maybe such a measure of time was still nothing compared to the millennia of years some immortals have already lived, but Nathan was only 1,520 years old. A hundred years was still a long time. That’s how long it felt between the moment Vincent finished his sentence and right now.

Nathan didn’t know what to say. He was concerned about everything he had already said. He didn’t want to keep talking because he didn’t want to say the wrong thing. 

Instead, Nathan closed the little remaining distance between them and kissed him. 

[kingofthelibrary]

Small Talk || Vincent & Nathan

[kingofthelibrary]

Vincent copied Nathan and crossed his arms together. Raising both eyebrows, Vincent nodded humorlessly along Nate’s excuse. “Uh huh,” Vincent muttered. It made sense now. Why Nate brought up, questioning him and pushing for answers. 

“I know,” Vincent answered calmly, “and she’s a really good friend of mine.” He was happy that Skylar and Jael are together. They both needed something good in their lives. 

He stepped closer to Nate, looking at him right in the eye, “Nate, why does it bother you so much?”

[loansnark]

Nathan didn’t miss that Vincent had responded in much a similar way that Nathan himself had earlier. Guess the shoe was on the other foot now.

“Oh.” Is all Nathan responded at first, shrugging his shoulders as he tried to pass of as the perfect picture of apathy. He was failing. 

“Vince, I already said it didn’t,” Nathan exhaled, shifting his weight from foot to foot, “I was just surprised. We...well, we got pretty close the past twenty years and you never mentioned it once. I thought you might be hiding it for a reason.”

[kingofthelibrary]

Small Talk || Vincent & Nathan

[kingofthelibrary]

“Oh my– It doesn’t matter now. We broke up; we moved on.” Vincent said in a exasperated tone. He was about tear his own hair out. 

Why was Nate getting so worked up? It was a past relationship. It didn’t affect what was happening now? Was he threatened? But there was nothing to be threaten of! Gosh, it was like Nate was– Wait a minute…

“Nate…Are– Are you jealous?” Vincent asked. The switched in his brain finally clicked and it made so much sense. He let out a small exhale and repeated, “you’re totally jealous.”

[loansnark]

“Jealous? You think I’m jealous-” Nathan scoffed, shook his head and passed a hand over his mouth. He could almost laugh! He even managed a chuckle.

“Me, jealous of Jael? Don’t be ridiculous, Vincent,” Nathan crossed his arms over his chest. 

“I just didn’t want you to make a fool of yourself because Jael’s dating someone else, so.”

[kingofthelibrary]

Small Talk || Vincent & Nathan

[kingofthelibrary]

Vincent felt a flash of an old hurt. What happened between him and Jael was a long time ago. Yeah, it sucked, but he got over it. “He left me,” Vincent corrected, “Right when him and Jial left for twenty years with little explanation. Probably trying to cut loose ends because I was human at the time.”

Even if he was growing more confuse by Nathan’s question, he felt a little touched that Nate showed that he cared. Not in the normal way, of course, but it was more than he usual got.

Eyes growing wide, Vincent spluttered out, “No, I don’t! Nate, why does it matter?!”

[loansnark]

“So you didn’t get the closure you were looking for, or whatever, is that what you’re trying to say? If you were immortal then would you still be together?” Leslie the kitten was completely forgotten at this point. Which was probably for the best otherwise Nathan would have noticed him scratching up his desk.

“I...it doesn’t,” Nathan shook his head once he realized how out of his mind he was acting right now, “forget it. You interrupted me at work and I’ve been busy and..” he trailed off.

[kingofthelibrary]

Small Talk || Vincent & Nathan

[kingofthelibrary]

Vincent’s eyebrows knitted together. He knew that Alma and Nate are not in good terms. Alma voiced her opinion very clearly. But why would she bring it to Nathan?

Vincent noticed that Nathan was practically scourging his desk. If he didn’t know any better, Nate looked like he was trying to ignore him. Something was up.

“Because it never came up,” Vincent answered defensively, “It wasn’t like I could go up to you one day and say “Hey Nate, lovely day is it? By the way, I used to date Jael.’”

[loansnark]

Nathan finally turned around to face Vincent, a flicker of exasperation on his face that he was hoping would be masked by his annoyance.

“Well, Alma said he hurt you.” Alright, she didn’t exactly say that but it’s what she implied and what Nathan inferred.

“That things between you two didn’t end very well. But apparently well enough that you’re comfortable having drinks. So, what, do you still have feelings for him?”

[kingofthelibrary]

Small Talk || Vincent & Nathan

[kingofthelibrary]

Ugh, could he be anymore awkward? Scratch that, he was born that way. Vincent was doomed for a life of embarrassment. Vincent sent a small glare at Nate, but he was already turning his back at him. Nate was enjoying this.

Normally Vincent would be feeling proud for turning Nate’s frown upside down. Considering that the cause of Nate’s amusement was his own dismay, Vincent would really like to fly into the sun.  

Nate’s question threw him off. His hand stopped stroking Leslie and stared at stared at the back of Nate’s head. Where did this came from– wait. “It’s just Jael,” Vincent started tentatively, “who was my boyfriend twenty years ago. It’s not…” Weird? Ironic? Coincidental?

Maybe? Why was Nate bringing it up?

[loansnark]

Nathan frowned, his lips pursed together. He hadn’t realized he had been hoping that, somehow, that it wasn’t true that Vincent and Jael used to go out. It was a small part of him, but nevertheless it was troubling. Logically, he knew it was the truth. Even if he didn’t hold the original source as trustworthy, there was no reason to believe it was a lie. Despite logic, he’d been hoping otherwise. Nathan didn’t like that.

Having put the files away already, Nathan didn’t have an excuse to keep facing away, so he pretended to rummage through another drawer to find something.

“You never mentioned it,” Nathan spoke over his shoulder but still faced away, “I had to find out from Alma, mid-screaming match actually.” With a sour taste in his tongue as he remembered the entire altercation, Nathan closed a drawer with a little more force than he needed to.

He opened another one and continued to his charade, “so how come you never mentioned it?”

[kingofthelibrary]

Small Talk || Vincent & Nathan

[kingofthelibrary]

“It wasn’t all about you,” Vincent pouted slightly. He was lying. The ninety-five percent of the conversation indeed revolved around Nate.    

Where was Alma when he needed the earth to swallow him whole? Stupid twins– it was their fault! They knew that he would blabber in his drunken state, they knew. 

“Y-You know,” That Nate was Adonis reborn. That Vincent really wanted to kiss Nathan again. That for the past twenty years Vincent ended up really caring for the older immortal. That the year he was away was the worst mistake because ran away from his feelings. “…this and that.”

[loansnark]

“Uh huh.”

Nathan wasn’t sure whether he thought Vincent was lying or whether he was hoping Vincent was lying. The latter was not a comfortable fact to acknowledge. Why did he want for Vincent to have talked about him? After all, this would only give Nathan more grief from the twins. 

“Sure,” Nathan allowed a small smirk on his face as he uncrossed his arms again and turned away from Vince to put away some of the files on his desk in cabinets. 

Now that he was facing away, Nathan felt more comfortable bringing up the one irritating thing that’s been on his mind lately. And he would bring it up in a way that was relevant to the conversation.

“You don’t think it’s odd to discuss me with your ex-boyfriend?”

[kingofthelibrary]

Small Talk || Vincent & Nathan

[kingofthelibrary]

Vincent let out a small laugh and stroked Leslie back. “There’s a difference between tending to someone’s needs and taking care of them. Emphasis on care.” Speaking as a cat owner, Socrates grew on Vincent– even if it took him years.

“O-oh,” Vincent stuttered out, feeling his face growing hot. Biting his lip nervously, Vincent ducked his head down. Well, duh, now he understood.“Er…I may have said a few things. The twins and I were drinking a couple weeks ago… You know how much of a lightweight I am.”

Let him die. Let whatever was controlling the universe smite him from where he was standing. 

[loansnark]

The emphasis on care made Nathan wrinkle his nose as he looked at Leslie with distaste. He ended up caring about Julian and what did that get him? Julian died. Why care for an animal when they live even shorter lives than humans? Nathan was certain the twins only included a cat in the contract as a way to punish him.

“They got you drunk and you talked about me?” Nathan crossed his arms, lips pursing together. He was halfway between being annoyed (mostly with the twins) and being...very amused. Even a little smug. 

“So...what did you tell them?” Nathan tried for casual.

[kingofthelibrary]

Small Talk || Vincent & Nathan

[kingofthelibrary]

“Oh sure,” Vincent said sarcastically. “I bet you haven’t stopped working until I got here.” He knew he was right about that. “Hence, distraction. My work is done.”

“Right, the contract,” Vincent said like he knew every thing.He gave up on it a while ago. “I’m sure Leslie would behave better if you didn’t treat him like a contract.” With a finger, Vincent rubbed under Leslie’s jaw gently.

A small frown appeared and Vincent cocked his head to the side. “About what?” he asked, genuinely confused.

[loansnark]

Nathan snorted and shook his head, looking down at his desktop in a need to spite and prove wrong. No matter his instinct, it didn’t last for very long. Vincent was quite distracting. He had to be, otherwise why else would Nathan find it hard to concentrate?

“I’m providing him shelter, food, and entertainment. I’m already treating him better than most people.” Nathan shot a glare at Leslie when Vince petted him. Stupid cat.

Nathan’s eyebrows rose and he exhaled. Was Vince really this oblivious? That was rhetorical because Nathan already knew the answer. Of course he was. 

He cleared his throat, “about us. He kept making comments...about us. And I certainly didn’t tell him.”

[kingofthelibrary]

Small Talk || Vincent & Nathan

[kingofthelibrary]

Vincent rubbed the back of his neck unconsciously. He stepped forward, shrugging nonchalantly, “Just dropping by. Thought I could distract you from whatever boring thing you were doing,” He said jokingly.

He eyed Leslie and smiled at the orange kitten. He didn’t think Nate would get another cat after Julian. Julian was the best and Nate… really liked her. “So, how’s the little fellow been doing?” he asked with jutting his chin towards the kitten in Nate’s lap.

[loansnark]

Nathan interrupted himself mid-chuckle with an eyeroll and a scoff lest he seem too...well, eager. That was an odd statement to consider. 

“Work is not boring,” Nathan said for what must have been the hundredth time. Vince interrupting him from boredom was something that had grown to be almost routine over the past twenty years. Nathan...had actually kind of missed it.

Attention drawn back to the kitten, Nathan scoffed again and picked Leslie up before placing him on top of the desk and stood up.

“A pain in my ass. The contract I have with the twins requires me to get a new cat with each renewal.” 

Nathan glared at Leslie who only meowed and tried to get Nate to pet him again. He was clingy. At least Julian explored and caused trouble elsewhere.

“Speaking of the twins-- how did Jial find out about...you know.”

[kingofthelibrary]

Small Talk || Vincent & Nathan

Vincent doesn’t visit Nathan’s office all too often. There wasn’t reason to, except for checking up on him or when Nate personally asked to come. Besides, every time he came there, he was reminded of when he first visited Nate twenty years ago. Punching Nate and almost dying at his hand—it wasn’t a fond memory.

He should be able to catch him at this time. He thought about calling ahead and letting Nate know, but it was time to make an impromptu visit. Nate should’ve expected this by now. Vincent popped in and out, much to the older immortal’s grievance.

Vincent knocked on the door and let himself in. He briefly scanned the room and saw that it was just the two of them. Well, them and Leslie, Nate’s new pet. He still had some questions about that.

He smiled and halfhearted wave, “Hey, Nate. Bad time?”

[loansnark]

Stupid cat. Surely, Julian wasn’t this annoying when Nate first acquired her. Sure, Julian had wanted to sit on his shoulder and Nathan had made the mistake of allowing her once, leading to Julian hanging on his shoulders almost right up until she died. But Leslie, he was just annoying.

“You’re not even that cute,” Nathan noted with some disdain as the orange kitten stared at him and meowed, bumping Nathan’s hand with his head. The immortal begrudgingly petted Leslie, and tried to get back to work.

He was interrupted.

His face went from visibly annoyed to surprised when he noticed it was Vincent. He swallowed the immediate reaction to dismiss in favor of a more polite response.

“Vincent...what are you doing here?”

[loansnark]

There’s Always A Cat(ch) // Nathan & Jial

[inpoisonandinblood-blog]

Jial looks in the general direction of Nathan. He raises an eyebrow. “He’s not here, obviously. It doesn’t take two of us to negotiate, usually. I can handle you.”

[loansnark]

“Blind and with your hand tied behind your back, yeah, yeah,” Nathan rolled his eyes and cleared his throat. It was for the best. Jael was a pain in the ass. He didn’t see what Vincent ever saw in him. Not that he was thinking about that at all.

“I just don’t want any shit about how if he’s not here to sign then being a problem. If it’s not, then good,” Nate walked forward and stood in front of Jial. 

“I’ve made some changes to our terms. Obviously you can’t look them over in your condition. I’ll read them out, I suppose. Are you more comfortable on the couch for this?”

[loansnark]

There’s Always A Cat(ch) // Nathan & Jial

[inpoisonandinblood-blog]

“I bet you look like shit too.” Jial retorts even though he can’t see Nathan. “Still have that neck beard?”

“It’s a an undiscovered snake in Uzbekistan.” he never really questions how he knows which plant or animal the toxin or poison belongs to. “I’ve already funded a research expedition to get the damn thing.” he hates it when its undiscovered simply because it’s more time consuming. 

[loansnark]

“Yep and I still have the same sense of humor that finds all of your comments quite unamusing.”

Nathan looked around for a few seconds but quickly became disinterested. Jael wasn’t around far as he could tell. Nathan only cared if it meant there would be even more delays with signing this contract.

“The miracle of evolution. Where’s your good-for-nothing brother? I don’t want to be held up.”