[C] The Worst Idea to Date

"You worry about worrying."

He nudged Dick good naturedly and squeezed his hand back.

"In a suit? I wear them all the time. Mama makes up all wear the good clothes when we go and watch Chrys." They were all dressed up in their best when competition time came around.

And they all felt ridiculous.

He began leading Fleck again.

"Really?"

As much as he tried to imagine it, he couldn't. He has always seen Fleck in casual clothes. Fleck's ever so slightly alternative look about him didn't help either.

"I will need to see this with my own eyes."

"U-huh, really. Tie and all."

And he'd like t think he looked pretty good, too.

Usually Chai tried to do something with his hair to dress him up that little bit more.

"I'm sure you'll see it at some point."

"I look forward to it."

They arrived at a large set of double doors.

Dick listened for a moment. Focus shifting from Fleck to inside the room. Silence.

He knew it was normally never used. But it was always good to check. 

"Come on."

With little effort at all, he pulled open the heavy doors.

"Maybe I'll be mean and not tell you when I do dress up."

He dropped Dick a little wink, letting him know that he was just playing around. Men dressed up in good suits was some kind of beautiful porn. He couldn't deprive his boyfriend of that.

"Wow."

Fleck followed his boyfriend into the room, looking around in awe. it was beautiful.

He grinned at his boyfriends awed expression. 

"It's gorgeous, isn't it?" His fingers grasped Flecks. "Even more so when it was in use."

As anti-social as he was - there is nothing he loved more than the glitz and glamor of balls and parties.

"Yeah, I bet." he could just imagine this place bustling with life. High classed, well dressed men and women chatting idly about their third holiday homes and drinking champagne that was far more expensive than anything he'd ever be able to afford.

The sort of people that Chrys and his benefactors socialised with.

Though he supposed he should have guessed that. Chrys' benefactor owned this place.

"Do you have classy live music and hors d'oeuvres passed around by servants and stuff?"

"Depends on the party."

He pulled Fleck to the center of the room. It was the best place to take it all in. Just under the large chandelier that twinkled in in the late afternoon sun that shone through the large arched windows.

"We have had parties that involved karaoke and a lack of hors d'oeuvres."

"Karaoke is always fun."

Fleck pulled Dick to stand in front of him, and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend. He rested his chin on Dick's shoulder and grinned, pressing his lips to Dick's ear in a little kiss before speaking.

"Did you join in the musical festivities?"

"Karaoke is never fun."

It was horribly embarrassing singing up on stage sober - but worst sober. The amount of times he has been teased relentlessly by getting pissed and going on karaoke... he didn't want to think about it. What was worst is there is evidence that certain people haven't destroyed.

Dick let Fleckpull him and wrap his arm around him. His shoulder lifted as Fleck pressed a kiss against his ear.

"No, did you?

"You've not been doing it with the right people."

Karaoke was as fun as the company you were with was.

"Always. I'll never miss a karaoke night." Even if he wasn't an amazing singer, he could still have his fun singing along to the classics and laughing with friends and family.

"Will have to tag along next time then. Don't want to miss out on you embarrassing yourself," he teased.

As much as he hated karaoke, they idea of doing something with Fleck that doesn't involve a cafe, the beach or Fleck's house sounded nice.

"What's your favourite song to sing?"

"You see plenty of that already."

Fleck didn't put up any airs with Dick. Dick had seen him at his finest, scratching his ass as he walked and tripping over his own feet because he couldn't multitask worth a damn. He'd sat on the floor, staring up at Dick for a long stunned moment before laughing himself silly.

You couldn't get more embarrassing than that.

"It's a little bit funny, this feeling inside,
I'm not one of those who can easily hide, I
I don't have much money, but boy if I did,
I'd buy a big house where we both could live"

He sang softly in Dick's ear. Surprisingly, the song was English. Fleck notoriously struggled with understanding songs in English, but this was one of his favourite songs. He could sing this song backwards, he knew it so well.

Dick didn't expect Fleck to actually sing the song.

The song of choice took him by surprise, too. First of all, he expected it in Italian, not English. It also took him by surprise how sweet, slow and well known it was.

He stared at the floor and he listened. Cheeks dusted pink at the lyrics - even if they weren't meant for him. It was just simply Fleck's favourite song to sing.

He didn't interrupt Fleck's soft singing. He just wrapped his arms around himself, holding Fleck's arms.

"If I was a sculptor, but then again no,
Or a man who makes potions in a travelling show
Oh, I know it's not much but it's the best I can do
My gift is my song
And this one's for you."

He pressed a quick kiss to Dick's neck

"And you can tell everybody that this is your song
It may be quite simple-"

Fleck cut off mid line, cheeks flaring up, as a tart comment of "sweet" sounded behind them.

"Are all you boys obsessed with that song?" Giacinto asked as she approached them, carrying a mug in one hand and a tall glass in the other.

"O-positive for you, and orange juice for you. We wouldn't want feeding to affect your boy too much, would we, Dickie?" She held out the two cups with a smile on her face.

He leaned into Fleck embrace, the corners of his lips turned up as he smiled to himself.

Honestly, he could stand here and listen to Fleck all day. He may not have been the best of singers, but there was something so sweet the way he sang.

His plans were quickly thrown out of the window.

Pulling himself out of Fleck's embrace he turned to Giacinto. Cheeks bright red and the corners of his lips turned down.

"Can you just go away?"

"Show a little concern and this is the thanks I get?"

She lifted the mug of warm blood. "Your cheeks are pale. Clearly, you're still not feeding enough. Drink."

Fleck glanced back and forth between the two of them, not quite sure how to react to the situation.

He refused to look down at the mug, but straight at Giacinto. It still smelt good. Too good.

On any other occasion, he would have accepted. He has gone past the stage where he flat out refused to feed until he couldn't stand it anymore. Nowadays it was more not willing to and needing a little bit of prompting.

But he wasn't going to drink it right now, here. Not in front of Fleck.

"No."

"The stubbornness stopped being cute a century ago."

Really, she had thought he'd made progress. Usually he drank when she ordered him to nowadays. His distaste for what he was had been slowly diminishing.

So why now?

"Does he not like the taste when you kiss him? Does he think it's gross? Does he-" It hit her like a freight train. Does he not know?

The expression her face dropped into was something akin to pity. "Oh, Dick, that's cruel for the both of you." Her eyes flickered to Fleck, who was still stood warily watching her, then settled back on Dick. "What if he gets too attached and can't accept it?"

That was enough to prompt a reaction from Fleck. "Can't accept what? You two have been talking around each other all day. What about you is apparently too horrifying to tell me?"

As Giacinto assumed that Fleck knew, Dick made the assumption that Giacinto knew that Fleck didn't know.

Seeing her face click with realisation only made him feel slightly guilty over how aggressive he was with her.

Why couldn't she of realised earlier?

His frown deepened at her words. They were issues that he has been ignoring for the past few months. Hearing her voice them hurt.

Blue eyes snapped back to Fleck.

Shit.

He played around with ideas of what he could say to smooth things over. Fingers intertwined with each other as he toyed with his ring.

He came up with nothing but silence.

"His brother knows, Dick. Keeping this from him just isn't fair."

Chrysanthemum had known for almost thirty years that they weren't human. She was a little surprised that he hadn't told his brother, quite honestly.

"My brother knows what? I'm in the damned room." He was getting frustrated with the clear blanking he was getting from both parties.

"I don't know how he brushed it off, but we're addressing this now." She held out both cups pointedly. She wasn't going to be having this conversation holding two cups. No how, no way.

That took him by surprise. He didn't expect anyone in Fleck's family to know. So the line between his life and Fleck's life were already slightly blurry from the start.

Fuck. If Chry knows then chances are he may ask him. All he had to do was bring up Giacinto's name. And Dick didn't know Fleck's brother enough to believe he won't tell the truth.

He ignored the cup held in Giacinto's hand.

"I don't think it is your decision to make." He spoke less aggressively, eyes downcast.

From being with living with her all these centuries he has learned that she could even more stubborn than him. If she said they were going to address it now, they were going to address it now.

Her eyes turned to Fleck, who was fuming at still being ignored while they had their cryptic conversation.

"I don't think you're getting the option not to." If Fleck was anything like his brother then he wasnt going to let this conversation die.

"We're vampires." Short and sweet.

And Fleck didnt believe it for a second. "Look, the vampire fetish thing is just weird."

His shoulders sagged when Giacinto spoke. There was no turning back now, even with Fleck's instant disbelief.

"It isn't a fetish."

He always had difficulty telling people he was a vampire... without the obvious. It was even worst telling someone he deeply cared about.

"If it isn't a fetish then what is it?"

He was losing his patience with this whole situation. Couldn't one of them just speak frankly?

"A simple statement of fact. We are vampires. The supernatural drink peoples blood to survive kind of vampires." And with a dramatic flair she let her fangs drop.

And Flecks body went stiff.