The forbidden (Private for me and ~The-Darkest-Heart~)
 

Joshua sat on the swings of the dilapidated playground of the apartment building. He frowned, and scanned the surrounding area, flicking his long blonde hair out of his eyes.

Lourette had found and silenced his target for the evening. The Hunter's Association was running him ragged these last few months. He sighed as he headed towards his apartment building. Maxwell had already gone home for the night. Max was Lourette's werewolf companion. Each hunter had one. Lourette froze, feeling a sensation he was all to familiar with. There was a vampire in the area. His green eyes fell upon the form within the sorry-looking playground. The male he was looking at was quite good-looking but he couldn't quite tell if he was a vampire from this distance. The only thing he could do is approach him. This was something he was used to. He had no fear of vampires and it showed in his eyes. They were brave eyes, eyes that would laugh at danger and snark at death. "Hello," he softly greeted. Lourette was a sickly being and everyone at the Hunter's Association was surprised that he hadn't yet dropped dead because of it.

Joshua looked up, and nodded at the other male. He fished a pack of cigarettes and a zippo lighter out of the bag he had sitting on the swing next to him and offered one to Lourette.

Lourette took the offered cigarette and pulled out his own lighter to light it with. He studied this male for a long moment, trying to sense if he was a vampire. There was a faint trace. However, that could mean that he was a vampire that was trying to hide his presence, a vampire that hasn't drank blood in a while, of even a human that had a run-in with a vampire lately. So many possibilities. "Are you always out this late?" he asked Joshua, looking the male over. He was even better-looking up close.

"Yeah. Still, better than being at home. Anyway, I'm Joshua. Joshua Stevens. And you?" He replied, offering his hand.

Lourette nodded, understanding why it would be better than being home. He then froze when the other offered him his hand. He didn't know whether to go by an alias or to give his real name. His family name, Langrave, wasn't a very well known hunter family but there was still the chance that the vampire had heard of it. Oh well, maybe he could find out if this male was a vampire by gauging his reaction to his last name? "Lourette Langrave," he replied, taking the offered hand and giving it a small, and rather weak shake. Lourette was exhausted from hunting vampires all night. If this male turned out to be a vampire then Lourette doubted that he would even have the strength to fight back.

"Langrave... sounds familiar.... Don't know where from, though. Say, you look kind of tired. I've got just the thing!" Joshua said, fishing a small flask from his bag. "Irish Coffee. It's coffee, with a bit of whiskey added."

He listened when Joshua said that the name 'Langrave' sounded familiar. Perhaps this guy really was a vampire? "Oh. Um. I don't really drink coffee. I've never really liked the taste of it," he replied. Lourette fished around in his head, trying to think of someway to get proof of whether this guy was a vampire, or not. Would the smell of blood bring it out of him? He wasn't sure. However, that would also put himself in more danger, considering he had almost no strength to defend himself right now.

"So, do you live in the building?"

Lourette nodded in reply. "Yes, I do," he stated. "How about you? Do you live there, as well?" he asked. He took a seat on one of the swings, feeling to tired to stand for very long. It confused him, though. If Joshua was a vampire then wouldn't he have attacked him by now? His senses and instincts hadn't been wrong in the past. Perhaps he was more exhausted than he had originally thought and it was affecting his mind and body?

"Yeah, i do." Replied Joshua. Suddenly, his phone rang. He answered it. "Hello? Stevens speaking. What? Who the hell... Maxwell! That bastard!" He hung up. "Listen, i have to go. It was nice meeting you."

"Wait. You said 'Maxwell'. I have a friend called that. I'd like to go with you just to make sure it's not him," he told the other. He had thought that Maxwell had went home but there's always a chance that it was and he just wanted to make sure that it wasn't, just to be safe. "Please? Maxwell is a very dear friend to me," he begged Joshua. He hoped, prayed, that it wasn't his companion.

"No, but i've got a test for you to see if it is: Is your friend Maxwell a thoughtless, murderous sociopath who doesn't care about the loved ones of the innocents he murders, just because of their race?" Joshua retorted, tears welling up in his eyes.

Lourette was surprised by the other's reaction, noticing the tears. He shook his head. "No. However, Max isn't very fond of Vampires," he replied. "That's understandable, considering he's a werewolf," he added. "And you're a vampire, aren't you?" he asked, deciding just to ask up front. If Joshua was an evil vampire that he would have attacked him already.

Joshua nodded. "He is the Maxwell i was thinking about. A racist, sociopathic bastard who murders innocent vampires."

"It can't be. Max doesn't kill vampires without my orders. I'm a hunter and, therefor, I am his master," he stated, realizing what he had said a little to late. He had just revealed that he was a vampire hunter. "He told me he was going home and he hates to tell lies," he added, knowing that there was nothing he could do now that he had revealed his occupation.

"You? You made him do it? Do you have any idea who you killed tonight?" Joshua said, rage flaring up in his eyes.

"No. I have no idea who it was. Don't blame Maxwell, though. Besides, it's my job to hunt vampires," he told Joshua. Lourette hoped this didn't become a fight. He would be at a disadvantage, being as exhausted and tired as he was right now. "I was given orders and I gave those orders to Maxwell. There's nothing that can be done about it," he stated.

Joshua picked Lourette up by the neck, and lifted him a foot off the ground. "Who ordered you? Tell me!"

Lourette didn't even flinch. He just didn't have the strength to fight back against a vampire at the moment. "I wont tell you. I took a blood oath. That's something I cannot reveal at any cost," he told Joshua. The hunter didn't want to think that this could possibly be the end for him. However, there was nothing he could do.

"Listen, Witcher, i'm gunna find out, even if i have to rip out your carotid and strangle you with it." Joshua snarled.

"Then you wouldn't be able to find out. I'm not quite human but I'm close enough. Doing something like that would cause me to bleed out. I'd die and you would never get the information you seek," he stated. He wasn't meaning to make the vampire angry. Lourette was just stating a fact of nature. He closed his eyes. This proved that he was resigned to his fate, should the vampire kill him.

Joshua's grip weakened, and he dropped the hunter. "I may be a monster... but killing? Not me. I'm... I'm sorry. The vampire killed tonight... We were..."

Lourette remained standing but covered his mouth as he coughed slightly. "Were you friends? Family? Lovers, perhaps?" he questioned. He just decided to name all of the possible relationships the two could have had. However, both vampires are males so 'lovers' was still possible but not as common a possibility as the other two options.

"Yes, lovers! In fact, i was the only thing stopping him from murdering every last pathetic human in the world!"

"You're gay, then?" he asked, slightly surprised. "Maxwell's that way too. I believe that he has a crush on me but I'm not completely certain. I just don't really feel the same for him. My own sexuality is kind of a mystery to me. I've never really had the time to explore it," he replied.

"I know this is inapropriate, but would you like to?"

"Would I like to what?" he asked, slightly confused by the question. Part of him already knew what the vampire was asking but it was so sudden that part of him still had to catch up. That's why he asked the question, just to clarify what he was being asked to do.

"Explore your sexuality? This might sound wierd, but you're kind of cute."

This brought a blush to the hunter's face. Cute? The vampire thought he was cute? "Well...um...I'm not sure if I should. Such acts with a vampire is forbidden. I could be killed if my superiors were to find out. Then they'd kill you, as well. Normally, I would have probably said 'yes' but...right now...I'm not sure that I should," he replied.

"Christ, is there anything the Witchers won't kill you for?"

"Interactions with vampires is against the law and sexual interactions with vampires is considered a taboo," he stated. "There's not much I can do about it," he added, watching Joshua's reactions to what he was saying. The vampire was actually very good-looking and he found that he really did want to do such things with him. However, he was worried that the Hunter's Association would find out. This was causing a conflict within him.

Joshua shrugged, and stomped his cigarette out with his cowboy boot. "Thats fine. But, when you think about it, you'd already get killed for talking to me, so you don't really have much to lose, do you?"

Lourette smiled slightly and nodded. He had forgotten about his cigarette and stomped it out as well. "That's true. Then, I will accept your offer," he told Joshua. He showed no fear of Joshua. This vampire could possibly kill him and yet he wasn't even the least bit afraid of him. "My apartment? Or yours?" he asked, knowing that it wouldn't really be wise to do such a thing out in the open.

"Mine." Joshua simply replied.

Lourette nodded, not really minding that he would be going into a vampire's apartment. "Lead the way," he told the other male, smiling slightly. His still had a faint blush on his cheeks at the thought of what he would be doing with this vampire male he had just met. It was an interesting, but kind of embarrassing train of thought.

Joshua lead the other into apartment 101, kicking open the door. "Dad! I'm home. Have you gone out drinking again? Good. Alkie bastard." He shouted.

Lourette followed after the vampire, watching as he kicked in the door and shouted. "No one's home, then?" he asked. That was probably a good thing. He didn't want to have to deal with more than one vampire, especially if the father knew him from somewhere. Plus, that means that they wouldn't be disturbed. "Are you sure about this?" he asked.

"I think the real question is are you?"

Lourette hesitated, thinking about the question. However, he eventually nodded. "Yes," he replied. He looked at Joshua with determination in his eyes. He wasn't the type to back down from anything and it showed in those eyes of his. This was going to be an entirely new experience for him and it both intrigued, and worried him a bit. However, he didn't plan on backing down at all.