A M Remington

Mitch quickly makes himself a salad with a side of fruit and goes back into the living room, glaring at Alec’s legs until they move out of his way.

“If looks could kill,” Alec snorts, curling his legs up to his chest. Once Mitch is sat, Alec stretches them back out, tucking his toes under Mitch’s thigh.

Mitch doesn’t respond, but he stabs at his salad a little more aggressively than he normally would, which just makes Alec laugh. That’s all Alec does: laugh at Mitch. Again, it would be so much easier if Alec was a normal hunter.

But he isn’t. Instead, Mitch is stuck with a roommate hellbent on torturing him for the rest of his life because that’s the kind of hunter Alec is.

If only he hadn’t decided on that university. Honestly, Mitch could have picked any university in the world and gone there, but no. He decided that sunny, sunny California was the best idea since Claudia casted a spell on him so he could go out in daylight for the first time in three centuries. He was a little anxious to try it out and see how long it could last.

Five years later, it’s still going strong surprisingly. He does see Claudia every so often to charge the spell and also to visit because she is a delight. She often makes Mitch tea and gives him gossip on her coven that he never has and never will meet. If anyone found out she was helping him... it wouldn’t be good. Not even Alec knows.

Mitch shivers at the thought of Alec finding out. He wonders if Alec would finally have to report him to his family.

“Hey,” Alec says softly, nudging Mitch’s thigh with his big toe. “You got all rain cloud dark and gloomy over there.”

Mitch rolls his eyes because Alec is severely exaggerating it. “No, I didn’t.”

“Are you thinking about him again?” Alec asks, knowingly.

Mitch shakes his head and takes a huge bite of his food so he doesn’t have to answer the next question.

“Oh, is it one of your...,” he stops before he finishes the sentence.

“Victims?” Mitch supplies helpfully around the food in his mouth. “Surprisingly no. It’s nothing.”

“Is it about how you can walk in the sun?” Alec continues his questioning. He has always wanted to know how Mitch can walk in the sun, and Mitch will never tell him. It would be dangerous for both of them, but mostly it would be dangerous for Alec.

“Yes,” Mitch answers truthfully.

“Not that you’ll tell me how you can do that,” Alec grumbles, not even bothering to hide how upset he is by Mitch refusing to tell him.

Mitch doesn’t say anything in response. Instead, he keeps eating and asks if they can continue watching their current show. Alec leans over to grab the TV remote and turns on their show. He’s uncharacteristically quiet for a while, but his toes are still wedged under Mitch’s thigh, so Mitch puts his hand on Alec’s ankle, who flinches at the cold touch, but he relaxes immediately.

It took a while for them to get this comfortable with each other, and it definitely has been a while since Mitch had someone he was this comfortable with who he hasn’t known for centuries. Even the people he has known for centuries aren’t exactly... open-minded. Claudia is distrusting of everyone, especially humans. Frederic is overly cautious and never comes out of hiding. In fact, Mitch isn’t even sure where Frederic is right now or where his new hiding spot is. He does know it changes every ten years, and it’s never in the same place.

But Mitch? He’s always wanted a companion, but he knows Alec can’t be that. Alec is human and will die sooner than Mitch is prepared for. Still. Alec has vowed to be Mitch’s “pain in the ass” for as long as he lives, so at least Mitch will have a good friend for that long.

The show is paused, so Mitch looks over at Alec with a raised eyebrow.

“Dude, your vibe is bringing me down,” Alec explains. “It’s ruining the show. You either need to suck it up or we’re going to go do something fun.”

Mitch grimaces. “You think it’s so easy to just suck up the guilt of what I’ve done, what I’ve put people through?”

Alec groans. “Mitch, seriously. You made horrific mistakes in the past. You are an evil creature of the night, but you’re not still the monster you were.”

Mitch thinks through that for a moment. While Alec is right, it’s not easy to accept every wrong act Mitch has committed. It’s been almost a century since he last killed someone, but there isn’t enough good he can do to right the wrong he has done.

“Are you really going to spend the rest of your immortal life feeling guilty about succumbing to your instincts?” Alec asks.

“Yes,” Mitch immediately answers.

“How is that going to make up for anything you’ve done?” Alec looks genuinely interested in the answer, but also doubtful that Mitch even has an answer.

Because he doesn’t have an answer, Mitch asks, “Do you have a better suggestion?”

“Keep doing what you’re doing.” Alec waves his hand at the empty salad bowl. “Keep figuring out ways to cut down on the amount of blood you consume. Keep leaving people’s lives better than when you found them. You’re doing good now, so keep doing that.”

Mitch takes a deep breath and rubs his forehead. Really. Life would be so much easier if Alec was normal and followed in his family’s footsteps. 

“So interested in?” Alec prompts.

“I don’t understand the question,” Mitch admits.

Alec is quiet for a moment, and Mitch recognizes it as him trying to think through what he’s going to say next. Alec is really good about making sure he says exactly what he means. “Who you are interested in dating: men or women? Facebook is ignorant and doesn’t recognize all the genders quite yet. In some places they do, but not on this question.”

“Both,” Mitch answers with a shrug. “All. It doesn’t matter.”

“’It’?” 

“Gender. Gender doesn’t matter.”

Alec is quiet again, so Mitch focuses on dusting off each DVD that he insists on keeping because he’s bad at letting go of the past. That is, according to Alec.

“I didn’t know that,” Alec finally says after almost ten minutes of silence.

“Well, it’s a hard habit to break, hiding that I’m attracted to men,” Mitch tells the DVDs. “I watched a lot of good people over the centuries be killed or tortured or both for who they prefer in their bed or to love.”

“Self preservation.”

“Yes,” Mitch agrees. “Self preservation because what kind of trouble would I be in if the humans found out I could not die by the creative means in which they tortured my friends?”

“Damn,” Alec sighs. “This got real dark. You’re so good at that.”

Mitch doesn’t reply. He goes into the kitchen to grab the wood cleaner that’s under the sink. When he gets back into the living room, Alec is standing up almost like he is waiting for Mitch.

“I didn’t make you a Facebook,” he admits. “I wouldn’t because of how much you have objected, and I respect you, dude. Also, you don’t have to hide who you are anymore. At least, not around me, okay?”