Page 48 of Thomas
The older vampire waved his hand, ignoring Cameron. “Is he going to keep wearing your clothes? Or shall we begin the process of establishing hisownwardrobe?”
Cameron rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re a real thorn in my side, you know that?”
“You’re an absent-minded and stubborn man who needs prompting from time to time. Everyone is a thorn in your side.” He smiled at Thomas and winked.
“Yes to the wardrobe, and we’ll need to set up a monthly stipend for Thomas as well. The two of you can have a discussion and establish your needs.” The latter part was directed at Thomas.
“I—Yes, thank you,” Thomas stammered. “All of this is very kind of you.”
“Do you have time available this evening?” Lennon asked him. There was no surprise nor judgment in his tone from the mention of the stipend, for which Thomas felt grateful. “After dinner, perhaps?”
Thomas nodded, amazed. “Yes.” This was all happening so quickly.
“Perfect. I’ll send Mira to let you both know when lunch is ready.” He bowed, then left them alone once more.
“Petulant man,” Cameron spat. He shook his head, but there was fondness in his expression. “Cantankerous old coot.”
“I think you’re lucky to have him,” Thomas said quietly.
Cameron’s smile broadened. “Oh, IknowI am. He’s still a pain in the arse, though.”
“Surely not more than me?” Thomas quipped, moving closer. “You had no idea you were taking on such a pathetic and impoverished wretch when you sought this arrangement. I am sorry that?—”
“You have nothing to apologize for. I… I am happy to provide and care for you, Thomas. If anything, it is increasingly evident that I made therightchoice in removing you from whatever questionable environment you were previously existing within. I have no regrets about this arrangement, so please, can we carry on?”
Cameron’s pretty eyes were so filled with conviction that Thomas simply nodded. “Yes, we can. Thank you.” Cameron nodded in turn, then lifted to grab one of the mugs on the table, which was just a smidge out of his reach. Thomas stepped within the gap, seized the tray and gently set it on the floor at Cameron’s side, where he joined him.
“What are these files?” Thomas asked, cradling his warm cup between his palms. The snow began falling even heavier beyond the window. A pure white-out.
“Income and tax reports for one of our farmers on the eastern side of the territory,” Cameron explained while flipping through papers set in his lap. He held his cappuccino in his free hand—the fragrant steam swirled hypnotically above the rim. “These are from the 1950s and theystilldo everything with paper. They haven’t transitioned to electronic files, and I don’t have the patience to walk them through it.”
Thomas absently flicked through the files that Cameron had already reviewed and set aside. “I could meet with them and assist, if you wanted? If you’re willing to teach me more about the accounting for the realm, of course.”
Cameron met his gaze. “If you have a sincere interest?”
“I do. I’d like to help you where I can. I do not wish to sit around and, I don’t know… be your pampered roommate.”
He chuckled. “Alright, I’ll start walking you through the accounts tomorrow then? Since you have your sartorial appointment with Lennon today.”
“Sounds perfect. I’d also like to have a craft of my own at some point? Before I was… What I mean to say is that when I was in university, I had hopes of cultivating some sort of profession for myself. Even though I’m the eldest son, there was no way in hell my elder father would ever relinquish the reins to our decaying estate and realm, so I knew I’d have to makemy own way in the world. Would you mind terribly if I pursued something, someday?”
Thomas realized it was getting harder to talk to Cameron openly without explicitly disclosing what had happened to him. The failed elopement and subsequent imprisonment had been a metamorphic event. It marked a clear before and after in the course and quality of Thomas’s life.
It was also a heavy thing, and Thomas wasn’t sure if Cameron needed or wanted to bear the burden of knowing. It would be like asking yet another thing of him. To take on not only Thomas’s financial and physical shortcomings but his emotional ones as well.
“I would support you in this, of course,” Cameron said, then paused. Something in his expression closed a little. “As long as… I would hope that by the time you’ve decided on your craft, you’d be contented enough here that you’d wish to stay. If you… if you truly wanted to leave and annul the arrangement, I suppose we could?—”
“I have no plans to leave,” Thomas said, understanding clearly. “I don’t want to leave you, Cameron. That is not my aim, I promise.”
Still somewhat guarded, Cameron nodded. “Alright.”
Thomas felt the odd sense that Cameron didn’t believe him. That his intent in pursuing his own career was so that he could someday flee from the Ashford estate and strike out on his own.
The thought was so bizarre and outlandish that Thomas didn’t feel the need to draw the conversation out further. Instead, he asked Cameron how he could help for the day, and then was handed half the pile of tax and income forms and given instructions.
By the time Mira came up to let them know lunch was ready, both Thomas and Cameron had fallen into a studious silence over the files. Within the records, Thomas could see the farm’s financial ups and downs. On the whole, their prosperity was stable, and there were no missing reports or payments. The recordkeeping was diligent.
This felt remarkable to Thomas because his eldest father was constantly complaining about lapsed payments or misreporting from their realm’s subjects. Thomas speculated that this issue was more a reflection of his father’s poor leadership than any conceived irresponsibility on behalf of their realm’s denizens.
