Page 15 of Lore and Lust
A moment later, Haruka speaks. “Why are you unbonded, Nino?”
He meets his gaze. Nino thinks for a moment, because in truth, he never really has. Not in any sincere depth, anyway. In his mind, bonding feels like something far away… like squinting across the turquoise expanse of the ocean to catch the spout of a whale or the tail of a dolphin. He recognizes it as something incredibly special, but well beyond his scope.
“I’m not ready,” he says honestly. Nino doesn’t know why he always makes these naked, awkward confessions to this vampire he hardly knows. It’s probably a sign that he’s lacking in something: friends, proper social skills. A hobby. “And I haven’t met anyone that I would want to be with like that, and that would want to be with me.”
Haruka is watching him with his deep brown eyes, nodding quietly. Finally having diverted his attention from his books and papers, Nino meets his eyes, playful. “But at least I’ll be armed with lots of information when the time comes?”
“Indeed.” Haruka mirrors his grin. “Valuable research.”
“Lots of sex positions.”
“Some may inevitably yield a higher success rate than others,” Haruka notes thoughtfully. “I’ll leave the analysis and research to you.”
“Wow, thanks a lot.” Nino chuckles, and Haruka’s deep, throaty laugh soon echoes within the space as well.
Eight
It’s windy on the third day. Nino turns, absently looking out the window above the padded sill. The breeze is so strong that he can hear the whistling howl of it rattle the glass. Gray, hefty clouds stretch endlessly across the sky—a promise that some form of precipitation is coming.
He glances back down at the oversized book resting in the hollow of his folded legs. It’s been a lot to take in, but Nino is especially intrigued by this particular section of the book.
Article III. Intrinsic Compatibility
The third and least scientifically discernible component of forming a vampiric bond is the natural compatibility of a couple’s conjoined natures. While compatibility cannot be outwardly measured to any quantifiable extent, this section examines the specific number of attempts made before successfully activating a bond. Thus, fewer attempts presupposes that a couple is “highly compatible.”
“There’s a couple here that bonded after three tries,” Nino says, scanning the entries. “That seems pretty good compared with the rest. Looks like the average number of attempts for higher-ranked couples ranges from five to ten?”
“Correct,” Haruka confirms from his desk. “Cases lower than five are exceptionally rare. The lowest documented is twice. In section eight thousand twenty-four, a couple in France attempted twenty-seven times over the course of six months.”
Nino’s mouth gapes open, his eyes wide. “Twenty-seven?God, I hope we don’t have to watch that many times.”
Haruka laughs in his deep, throaty way as he writes, not stopping to look up.
“Well…” Nino continues. “I guess… it’s not as if they weren’t enjoying themselves?”
“It was quite literally a labor of love.”
Nino runs his palm down his face. After three days of reading through the reference book, he understands its fundamental value. To have research that uniquely details, tracks and analyzes bonding is unprecedented within their culture. Pioneering. It’s shocking that Haruka has kept something so valuable to himself.
But the manuscript is also pretty invasive.Our ancestors were perverts.
“If it takes twenty-seven times to activate a bond,” Nino says, flipping through multiple pages to view the final sections of the book, “maybe that’s their intrinsic natures telling themno, this isn’t a good idea?”
Haruka rests his chin in his palm as he leans with his elbow on the desk. “On the contrary, perhaps it shows their genuine conviction to each other?”
“Maybe. I can respect sheer will and determination, but I think things like this should happen naturally, you know?”
“You are a romantic,” Haruka declares, standing from his desk and moving toward the door. “Some of these vampires were mating for economic gain and social status. My grandfather and father did not thoroughly document the surrounding circumstances of each couple’s mating.”
“That’s ahugegap in the research, Haruka. Who was mating for love and who was mating for business? The rate of activation might be vastly impacted based on the couple’s intent.”
“Says the obvious romantic,” Haruka teases in his roguish way. “Lunch should be ready. Shall we gratuitously indulge in table food?”
“Sure—” Nino pauses when he comes to the final heading in the book. He frowns, reading the oxymoronic title. When he turns the pages within the section, they’re completely blank. “Haruka, why do you have a section here calledBroken Bonds? Bonds between vampires can’t be broken once they’ve been established.”
It is fact. Nino might be ignorant about the deeper mechanisms of forming vampiric bonds, but everyone knows they can’t be broken.
Haruka shrugs, his eyes emotionless as he returns Nino’s gaze. “Or so they say. I believe curry is on today’s menu. Chicken katsu, to be precise.”
