i'm not giving it up.

Lucian simply smirked at the male red eyes looking down at him “It’s just me being a bother. Thought I’d see if you were overly busy.”

“Your eyes always this red, Fangs?” He gave the other the general vampire nickname, as calling  him ‘L.L.’ would be tedious. “I was just checkin’ on some boys at their new club position. You can come if ya think you can deal with them shamelessly flirting with you.”

Lucian simply smirked at the male red eyes looking down at him “It’s just me being a bother. Thought I’d see if you were overly busy.”

“Your eyes always this red, Fangs?” He gave the other the general vampire nickname, as calling  him ‘L.L.’ would be tedious. “I was just checkin’ on some boys at their new club position. You can come if ya think you can deal with them shamelessly flirting with you.”

“Jeez. Sorry, wolfie.” Avery threw his hands up in surrender nonchalantly, brow furrowed as he tried to figure what was wrong. “Was it somethin’ I said? What’s goin’ on?”

Gowdie gave Avery a little scowl for a moment before it returned to a smirk. “Giving you a headache is a completely different matter.” He chuckled as they walked out to the familiar vehicle of Avery’s. As he unlocked the doors Gowdie opened the passenger door, sitting inside comfortably. “You have before, but that’s usually when it’s mutually affecting us both.” He replied as he put on his seat belt. As the other spoke of Shandor and his father working together he nodded in agreement before offering some words of concern it seemed. “I won’t, plus the fortunate thing about being a witch, is we get more benefit of the doubt than other species.” He remarked smiling slightly.

“Man that’s just innate, you give me headaches on a daily basis,” He spoke, starting the car once the other was in and heading off to his place. It wasn’t too far, same district and everything, so it wasn’t going to take long to get there. “And even then I’m sure if I should really tell you or not.” Avery quipped. The witch got a lot of gossip from his boys, and half the time the rumors were outlandish. At his words of caution the young witch seemed fairly unfazed, but Avery knew this was because he was still so green to being a supernatural being. He’d never really had to face a group of hunters, and hopefully he wouldn’t have to. “Sometimes they can track ya, even if you don’t got fangs or turn into some kinda dog or cat or somethin’.”

Lukas chuckled and hummed. “Well…What do I get out of it?” Lukas was pretty well staffed on escorts, so he figured he could spare one of them if they’d be willing to transfer. “And are you looking for one of my newbies or someone who’s been here a bit longer? My elite are out of the question.” Lukas grinned. “Gotta make sure I bring home more money than you, after all,” Lukas joked.

“To be honest, I really didn’t think about that.  Uh.... what you want? I can make you dinner er somethin’. Pay your next dry cleanin’ bill.” He shrugged. “You figure somethin’ out.” He hopped off the desk and found an actually seat to sit in, reclining in it and pulling out his phone to check on work he actually  still has to get done. “I’ll take newbies if they’re gonna cause you think they’re gonna be a problem for you, but I mean anyone who knows how things work is more ideal.” He looked over to Lukas with an eye roll, still grinning, “You’re at a hefty disadvantage if that’s your goal, wolfie.”

Lukas pouted when the other said that was exactly what he came here to do. “Of course. Cause I can’t have a good day, right?” Lukas joked before grinned when the other said he was kidding. “I’m doing great so far. And it depends on what that something is.” Lukas chuckled as he looked at the other, waiting to hear his question.

“You’re probably havin’ a better day than I am, trust.” He spoke with a slight laugh. Already he had to deal with a client trying to drain one of his prostitues, buying food for the house, the wild range of life problems of the boys that vented to him, and trying to get security in the clubs he was sending boys to, which was partly why he was here. Avery peeked, trying to get a look at what was on Lukas’ laptop. “Well.... for one, I’d like to see which one of your escorts you’d like to send over to me, since I need more boys myself.”

“I wouldn’t think so but you never know honestly, you might be a great great great great great cousin or something.” It wasn’t completely farfetched. As a vampire he was sure members of his family continued on with their lives even if he never had contact with them since being turned. 

Avery’s brow furrowed, thinking back to relatives that were older that he maybe visited at any point, but there was no way he would’ve known. Did anyone have an ‘L’ in their maiden name? Avery simply scrunched up his face, “God, I hope not.” Then being attracted to you would be weird. Well, weirder. Avery wasn’t usually a big vampire fan. But he supposed he could be swayed.

Lukas grinned as he closed his laptop, happy to see that he had finished all of the work he had planned for himself today. He managed to get a few new clients for the escorts, since he was the head leader of the south gang’s escort services. Lukas was in such a good mood, until he heard footsteps coming his way. “Please tell me you’re not here to ruin my good mood.” The omega wolf whined.

“ ‘S exactly what I came here to do, wolfie.” Avery’s sarcasm was evident in his response to the whining wolf as he found a corner of his desk to sit on. “Kiddin’. I’m just curious how you’re doin’ on boys, an’ if you possibly want to be a dear an’ help me out with somethin’.” The two had similar roles within the south gang, though a prostitute and an escort were two different things. Still, they both had people to look over, so Avery sort of understood Lukas.

“Good point,” Avery responded, brow furrowing in realization. That was also something unique about L.L, he was certainly unashamed of being in a whore house. Most clients were in and out silently if they came at all, taking one boy that was usually recommended to them and ending it there. The vampire was there a while, and had what could almost be considered a party. Still, Avery could figure him out he was sure. The witch had a thing for patterns. (but not for names and faces, apparently.)

There was no reason for him to be ashamed of going to the whore house. Perhaps a couple hundred years ago when he was new to them he was but not any longer. It was known throughout the city he was a bit of a man whore, Lucian rocked the label. Man whores never looked so good. 

Avery’s brow furrowed, “We ain’t related, right?” he joked. His mom was very much the same way as well as the women on his mother and father’s side. Nothing like the etiquette training of a southern woman. It was almost as if he was royalty or something, the way he was told the proper way to eat, sit, greet others. He honestly appreciated it more now. It made his childhood feel a little more normal than it was.

Living the life of a defense attorney wasn’t an easy one. Even with his law degree, Zach couldn’t handle some of the things thrown his way. The current case that he was dealing with had a lot of problems. There were witnesses, evidence and even pictures involved. He had to find any way to make a strong case. Zach was looking over some paperwork when he heard his assistant inform him that someone was coming in. As he heard the door open, he didn’t look up. “You better have a good reasoning on why you are interrupting me.”

Busy days like this reminded Avery most of his New Orleans life. His father would have him along in every business meeting, even the seedier, less legal encounters. His father’s busy days were, in a way, his. And now, the witch had errands all on his own. Zach was one, and despite the stress of a full day, he stepped into the other’s office nonchalantly, hands in his pockets. “Yeah, I do. Boredom. I got cards, wanna play a couple rounds o’ hold ‘em?” he asked, finding himself awall to lean against. “Kiddin’.” 

“Young vampires,” Nero stated simply, unable to stop himself from sighing. Baby vampires weren’t his favorite thing, and he only dealt with them when he had to - like with his progenies - but he made sure that they knew how to keep from getting out of control before he left them alone. And with a thousand years under his belt, he was a vampire that had honed control and knew how to read a pulse to tell how weak a donor was getting. He knew he wouldn’t drain the other, especially now that he knew who he was - he certainly wasn’t going to kill a member of the South gang, not right now when it wouldn’t have been wise.

Vampires. Avery wanted to responded with. Young vampires only came around because of crazy old ones, that for whatever reason wanted to bring another vampire into the world, then leave it for everyone else to deal with, or just generally mess shit up because of it. Avery simply nodded and didn’t let anything on about his true thoughts. Manners and all that.