Page 20 of How to Bite Your Neighbor and Win a Wager
Wesley had to admit that the man’s signoff quote made him a little uncomfortable, though he was probably just referencing a popular deployment line from War Call. The gamewascurrently one of the most played first-person shooters in the world—Babcock’s inclusion of it could have nothing to do with vampires being an enemy in its massive lineup. Either way, Wes had already known that these people weren’t that morally commendable going in. He was here to ruin their company and destroy their jobs, after all.
Matthew,
Thanks for reaching out! First contact has been made. He’s actually been breaking into my house for weeks now to feed on me while I sleep! (So ironic, but I’m making the best of it.) I think I’ve managed to convince him we’re friends now though; I got him to game with me on Thursday. But I doubt he trusts me enough to walk straight into the lab. He’s pretty skittish. What are your recommendations here?
Wesley
Wesley erased and retypedconvince him we’re friendsa few times, biting the inside of his cheek so hard he could taste his own blood in his mouth. That made him finally commit. Matthew responded almost immediately.
Wesley,
What a creep! I wouldn’t have the balls to fake niceties to a vamp after they’ve been violating me like that; I’m impressed. He sounds like a good target, though. I can’t vouch for all of Vitalis-Barron’s recruiters but I only go in for the vampires that need to be off the streets in the first place. Lucky for us, that’s a never-ending list these days.
You probably don’t want to get physical with him, since it’s your first time and you’re alone. Vampires are a combination of stronger, faster, and more agile than people, so unless you know exactly where yours fits on that spectrum, it’ll be hard to take him in a direct confrontation. For now, I suggest something more indirect. Can you find out where he keeps his blood bags and slip something in one?
Matthew
P.S. You game? What’s your poison?
A knot in Wesley’s gut unwound. At least Babcock wasn’t trying to forcibly volunteer the vampires who were harmlessly living their lives, just those like Vincent, breaking into homes, committing assault, or other violence probably. It still didn’t make it right; Vitalis-Barron wasn’t the law, and Babcock wasn’t a jury. But Wes did feel a little better working with him for the moment. He almost wanted to say so, but he wasn’t sure how to writethank god you’re not one of those people who thinks all vampires are evilwithout sounding entirely too on the nose. And he was intending to leave the man without a job at best, so it felt slightly hypocritical.
Wes moved on to the relevant information: strength, speed, agility. From what he’d seen of Vincent, Wesley was pretty sure his vampiric abilities were on the fast and furious end of things. But that certainly didn’t mean Wes felt comfortable battling him with pure strength either. The more he lingered on that thought, the more pieces of it appealed, the idea of him trying to wrestle Vincent off, only to lose. Only to be bitten, Vincent’s body pressing him down and his mouth moving along Wesley’s neck and—fuck it all the vampire was a home-invader and serial assaulter whose demise he was supposed to be setting up. He could not be thinking like this. At least not until after he was done making his preparations.
No blood bags. He feeds straight from humans.
I thought vamps were immune to poison and viruses and all that kind of stuff?
Yeah, I go for a mix. Just finished an Over the Edge: Skyline play-through last month, and I’ve probably logged about a thousand hours on Ancients Return, but I’ll take a good puzzle or sim too. Can never go wrong with War Call though! “You were dead the moment I got here.”
Wes
He debated the inclusion ofWar Calland the kill line he’d added in after it. He didn’t particularly want to game with this man, but if the connection could tip Babcock into putting in more effort on his behalf then he’d happily take advantage of it.
Not when we make the drugs especially for the vamps. I have something that will knock him out for a solid hour or two.
He’s that feral then, is he? Be careful with him. In my experience, they can be very good actors and display genuine-appearing sweet sides when they think they can get something out of you, but when a human gets turned by force or accident, it’s usually one of them to blame. You push them a little too hard and they’ll go from kind to deadly in an instant.
So long as you’re cautious though, you should be able to handle this one. You sound like you’ve been doing great so far. And as a fellow War Call fan, you’re in the right place joining subject recruitment ;) All the best of us play.
Let me think on what to do about your bloodsucker. I’ll get you some more ideas tomorrow.
Matthew
While Wes’sWar Callreference had certainly worked as intended, he wasn’t entirely comfortable having his enjoyment of the game equated to the real life equivalent of hunting vampires, even if they were only luring in the morally dubious ones. That unease was eclipsed by the fear Babcock’s earlier statements induced, though. Wes hadn’t been able to justify the difference between the vampire he’d caught trespassing onto his bed and sinking fangs into his neck with the one who laughed and joked and blushed in his living room. But here was the explanation he should have realized all along. Of course Vincent was being cute and sweet and funny now that he’d been offered a willing neck on a platter. How long would that last, if he kept being unable to feed from Wesley? At what point would he decide that just taking what he wanted was better than humoring the weird little human who’d let him through the front door?
Wesley shuddered, caught half by the terror of the imagined situation and half by the way he pictured Vincent’s fangs gleaming in the darkness, his hands gripping into Wes’s flesh, his voice thick with need as he demanded—
That was a very different situation after all. But it was a much less painful one to focus on, and after the bout of emotions he’d already been through, he needed something to take his mind off all the things he couldn’t change yet. Despite how wrapped up in those things Vincent was, he was still an easy distraction.
And he was supposed to be there soon.
As Wesley flipped over to Vincent’s messages, his stomach knotted. He stared at his phone, trying to read them in any other way than what it very clearly said.
HotMouth
Hey, sorry to bail, but I still have spicy fangs apparently.
I promise we’ll get your fetishist dreams sated soon.
