[AU][C] Wine and Dine

"Ah. Yes, it can be quite scandalous to most."

He patted his bicep, squeezing it lightly on the second pat before holding his hand there.

"But you don't seem to be like most. You're very sturdy."

He liked muscle. Something sorely missed throughout the nobles and something he missed about living on a ship.

It was scandalous to him.

A nobleman openly wanting to bed him, just moments after meeting him at a party. He'd never heard the likes of it before.

He settled back to holding the man's arm, and his other hand gestured.

"I am a man of work. I craft. Wood."

He didn't know what the word was in English, but he hoped he had gotten the message across.

It took a great deal of strength to haul around the sheer amount of wood that he worked with on a daily basis.

"A carpenter," he supplied. "I like that, a man good with wood."

If it wasn't for his connection to the Pierce family, he would have been confused as to why he was here even in the first place. It explained to his more rugged looks compared to the other pretty boys and men brought here.

They often held parties where only the beautiful were invited, from all classes. But this was specifically full of handsome nobles and the wealthy, for fussy vampires.

He took a sat on a love seat, gesturing for Hank to sit next to him.

"Do you smoke?"

He produced a pre-rolled cigarette from his pocket and offered it to Hank.

Hank's eyes lit up. "Carpentiere. It is the same." It wasn't often that the English and Italian translations coincided. It was nice to know that his craft had the same name.

The innuendo went over his head. His knowledge of English wasn't good enough to be privy to many jokes or wordplays. His knowledge of slang was abysmal.

He sat when bid to, and when the cigarette was offered, he nodded. "Si."

He took it, adjusting it between his fingers and holding it up for Richard to light it.

The joke went over his head. All well.

Dick produced a box of matches from the same pocket.

"Inhale."

He struck the match and held it up to Hank's cigarette, eyes on his eyes. Then on his lips.

He lifted the cigarette to his lips when the matches were produced.

Hank inhaled as the small flame was held to the end of the cigarette, drawing the heat inwards, and setting the tobacco smouldering.

He held the first dregs of smoke in his lungs for a moment before he pulled the cigarette away and pursed his lips to let the smoke escape.

His lips, just like the rest of him, were void of any form of cosmetic. They weren't lightened with powder or darkened with rouge. They were naturally rather plump for a man's and a deep hue of pink.

"Grazie."

He drew the cigarette to his lips again.

Dick licked his own lips, lightly pink instead of dark but also plump. Like Fleck, he was void of any cosmetics on his face. Only because he was vain enough to believe he could turn heads without it and flaunted a fair complexion that most women would kill for.

"That means thank you, doesn't it? You are welcome."

He took a cigarette between his own lips and lit it with another match. He took a long drag. The smoke curled over his lips and he turned to Hank. His body language open and directed towards the other man.

The party was beginning to relax, with the alcohol taking effect.

"So tell me, Hank, what brings a carpenter here?"

"Si."

Hank himself was beginning to relax. One luxury he'd always been able to afford was good tobacco. His father had kept him hidden away from most noble interaction until recently, but hadn't kept him completely sheltered.

The familiar taste on his tongue and feel of the hot smoke escaping parted lips had him relaxing well.

"Mio padre. He wishes for me to learn the way of the noble man, despite the... condizioni of my birth." His dark eyes met Dick's. "He wishes for me to find a woman with money who will marry a bastard."

The slight downward turn of his lips let on just how much he liked that idea.

Dick made a small noise of understanding.

He was open about his bastard status. That caught his attention. Most tried to hide it or sweep it under the carper.

"I see. I can't sympathise. I don't have to worry about such things, dead parents and all."

He didn't look for sympathy. He didn't care. He had found a family and one that would accept him for who he was in a way he expected his birth family would never have.

Besides, he also liked the exchange of honesty. It gained trust.

"Have you gained any luck so far? Finding a rich woman who would accept a bastard?"

Even if he found one, it was the fathers he would have to deal with. Unless he looked for a much older woman.

Hank inclined his head, not quite a 'sorry for their death' but the intention was clear.

The question bought a short chuckle from him, that manifested in sporadic bursts of smoke creating jagged patterns in the air.

"I do not look. Woman is not my taste, even just for union."

He was a man that preferred men, and that wasn't something that he could compromise, no matter how much his father wanted to marry him off so he didn't have to worry about an unwed bastard son causing trouble for him.

A smile was drawn to his lips. The human was getting more comfortable, admitting thigs so openly in public. Even if this setting wasn't exactly the norm.

He leaned his elbow on the low back of the seat and rested his jaw on his knuckles.

"What is your type then, Hank?"

He took a drag as he waited, his eyes roaming slowly over Fleck with intent once more.

His eyes met Dick's when the question was asked, holding his gaze firmly for a long moment before his own eyes ran slowly over Richard's relaxed body.

Then he looked away, cheeks flushing red.

That was all the answer he was getting.

He busied himself with another drag from his quickly dying cigarette.

Dick relished being looked at, his relaxed pose unchanging except for the slight pink in his cheeks. The hot blush that followed he also enjoyed.

But it wasn't enough of an answer.

"You haven't answered me."

Dick turned his eyes turned to Hank's cigarette. It was going to burn him if he didn't put it out at this rate.

"Do I need to?"

His eyes flickered back to Richard before returning to scene right in front of him; the ballroom and its inhabitants.

He'd given enough clear hints as to his preferences. He didn't want to put it into words. He'd said enough. If he spoke the actual words, and someone else overheard? That would cause trouble for his father. He didn't want that.

As he was lifting the cigarette to his lips, he hissed, hand jerking, and the cigarette dropping into his lap, bouncing off his knee and hitting the ground.

He tutted, bringing his burned finger to his mouth and enveloping it, sucking the burned flesh.

"I'm curious," he simply said.

He also would like the satisfaction of hearing him say it out loud; that he has a taste for men.

As he was expecting, the cigarette burned his fingers. It was a domino effect for a delicious response.

Bright blue eyes watched as he brought his fingers to his lips, sliding them in. His own fingers twitched. He pulled his bottom lip unconsciously between his lips as he watched.

He wasn't secretive about his enjoyment of the little display in front of him.

His eyes turned up to Dick, sharp and ready to throw a comment about forgetting himself. Again.

But he stopped, watching the attractive draw of his lip between white teeth. How were they so white, and clean?

Fleck paused, hanging there dumbfounded for a moment. His pupils dilated. His cheeks flared again.

Those teeth looked strong. How would it feel, to have those teeth bite his lip, to feel his soft lips brush his own with a gentleness that belied the sharp sting of teeth?

Hesitantly, he drew his fingers away. The burn was still smart on his skin, but he didn't want to draw any more lewd reactions from the man beside him.

Dick relished the look in Hank's eyes as they notably dipped down.

He made a little show of dragging his lip until it pulled free, red.

"Allow me."

He gently took Hank's burned fingers between his own cool hands, skimming his fingers over an open palm before pressed the pads of his thumbs over the worst of the burns.

With the slightest amount of concentration, the tips of his fingers cooled further to numb the pain.

His hand, rough from a life of labour, twitched as cool fingers stroked over his skin.

Too cool. Hed felt that sort of cold on-

His eyes snapped upwards, regarding the man before him with a whole new light. "You're a-" He cut himself off before he could say it.

A quiet noise came from him as Richard pressed doen on the burn, but the sliggt tenseness to him faded as the pain did.

He couldn't help the grin with Hank's realisation.

So, he knew.

Or, at least, only so much. He didn't understand the true intent of the party.

"What am I, Hank?" He asked, sweetly and with practised innocence.

He regarded Richard for a long moment, then let his eyes sweep across the room.

Some people were watching them, but there werent any people close enougb to hear. Humans at least.

His dark eyes caught Richards again.

"Vampiro." His voice was quiet, a low deep rumble. There was little fear in his voice. He wasnt scared of the fact, despute the great fear of vsmpires that was sweeping thr continent.

Wasn't he perceptive?

Dick's smile stretched further to reveal two white points.

They were nowhere near as long as Giacinto's or Ignicio's - being created instead of born. But they were long enough to be noticeable when he wished them to be.

"You are correct, Mr Masin."

The nerves and the hushed tone was enduring.

"Have you been in the company of one before?"

His eyes dropped to the Vampires mouth and his breath caugbt.

Hed been right. And thise fangs were beautiful. A small flash of danger.

His tongue ran over his lips slowly and he nodded, eyes turning back up to meet Richards. "Si."

Hed been in the company of a couple before.

"Oh?"

There was a sudden but subtle shift in his demeanour. He let go of Hank's hands a recline back again. His jaw rested on his knuckles and he reached out to grab another glass of champagne.

"Tell me about it. I'm intrigued."

Dick had assumed Hank hadn't been with vampires before, even if he guessed what he was. Now knowing that he had, in fact, met them, it was a little disappointing. It took away the initial awe and spectacle.

His cheeks flushed again, and gaze turned to the floor.

"You forget yourself again," he muttered.

He wasnt going to talk about something so intimate with another person; not in public, and not to someone he wasnt close with.

Hank's reaction elicited a small amused laugh from Dick.

"I apologise. I didn't realise your last meeting would be so... scandalous. I only meant my words in an innocent way."

It was a lie. Dick doubted that his last - possibly first - meeting with a vampire was anything but innocent.