Preparations for the White Court party

The day of the White Court gathering was drawing ever closer, and Thomas realized that if there was a chance Lara would feed from Robin (and there was, a good chance), he needed to keep his own demon's hands off of him. He knew Robin could withstand a lot more than a typical human, but Lara wasn't careful with her feedings like he was. If she killed Thomas' thrall she wouldn't lose any sleep over it, would probably even enjoy reminding him what his family was like.

So he wanted Robin to be as prepared as possible, which meant giving him at least few feeding-free days to build up his aura so there was more of it for Lara to take without hurting him. It wasn't going to be easy, living with Robin and keeping his dick and his Hunger to himself, but for Robin's sake it was necessary. The fact that the puck would probably get it somewhere else instead was one he was doing his best not to dwell on. He'd do what he had to do, and Robin would do whatever the fuck he wanted to do, and there was nothing he could do to change that, even if he'd wanted to, which he didn't, entirely.

He got home from work before Robin did thanks to a cancellation, and immediately poured himself a drink before settling onto the couch to watch TV, some action movie with fast cars and lots of explosions. Distractions were always good.

Robin arrived home late, having had a long and annoying day at work. He had already decided that he was taking the next day off, which meant that he was looking forward to a long night with a generous amount of alcohol and the kind of not-quite-hangover that he could only get from a particularly enthusiastic time with Thomas in bed.

"Honey, I'm home," he said with a touch of mocking humor as he slung his coat off, threw down his bag, and promptly walked over to straddle Thomas' lap, blocking his view of the television.

Oh, this was off to a good start. "Welcome home," Thomas answered, leaning around him to bring the TV back into his line of sight, his hands curled into fists at his sides the only sign that he was at all affected by Robin's proximity.

Robin took advantage of Thomas' lean to go in the other way, lips close to Thomas' ear. "I decided on the way here that the most agreeable way I can think of to spend the evening is with your cock in my mouth."

Thomas let out a heavy sigh and leaned further away, turning to look at Robin. "Flattering as that is, I'd suggest you pick a runner-up," he said, and it was actually almost physically painful to say it, knowing what sort of things Robin would choose as a runner-up. "And please get off of me." He could only keep his own desire and his demon's at bay with an effort, and Robin straddling him was straining that limit, his eyes a light grey that made it clear 'not in the mood' wasn't the problem.

Robin actually looked surprised for a split second, before looking pissed. He climbed off of Thomas and looked down at him, scowling. "Flattering as that is? What is that supposed to mean?"

Thomas sat up, folding his legs beneath him. "It means as much as I love that you want me, it's not happening. Not tonight. Not until after the party."

Robin didn't look in the least bit comforted by that. If anything, he looked more annoyed. "You love that I want you," he repeated. "Well, glad to be of service."

"Dammit, Robin," Thomas growled, running a hand through his hair. "If you want to go to this thing, I want you as ready as possible. If I feed from you, you won't be." And there was no way to have sex without it.

Robin lifted a brow. "Oh, please. It's not as if you don't feed from me practically every day anyway." Though he had relaxed visibly. Clearly glad that Thomas actually had a reason.

"Exactly. It...leaves its mark. Even on you. You recover faster than a human, granted, but..." Thomas got to his feet, taking his drink with him as he put a few paces worth of distance between them. "Lara won't try to keep her Hunger in check. She won't hold back like I do. I want you as ready for that as I can get you, which means I need to keep my demon to myself until after this is over."

Robin narrowed his eyes a little, looking more curious than anything else. "Why did you agree to this anyway? Because you really think I can figure out something useful? Or just to sate my curiosity? You seem awfully worried about what your sister's going to do to me."

Thomas folded his arms and looked away, out the windows lining one wall of the room. "I am worried. But you want to go. You want to meet her." And because of that, Thomas was willing to let it happen, and better at a gathering like this where Robin would be one of many thralls, rather than the focus of every White Court vampire present, if he just stopped by the Raith estate at random.

"I do," Robin admitted. "I'm just surprised you gave into my whim so easily."

Thomas didn't really want to talk about this, about why he was willing to take Robin despite his obvious and strong misgivings. "Do you want me to change my mind?" he challenged with a faint smile, arms still folded over his chest.

"No," said Robin. "I'm just trying to work out in what way I have manipulated your good judgment so that I know how to do it in the future."

Thomas rolled his eyes at that. "Let's just say I want to control how and when you meet them, if you're determined to do it."

"All right," sighed Robin. "Fine. No hanky panky if you insist. But I hope you know just how good it would have been."

"Of course I do," Thomas grumbled, draining his drink and heading to the kitchen to refill it, images of Robin on his knees sucking his cock rising to torment him. He really wished there was a way to talk Robin out of all of this, and the wish only grew more fervent with each passing day.

Robin followed him into the kitchen, though kept his distance. "You know, I could go find someone to bring home."

"So I can watch you fuck someone else?" Thomas asked with a smirk. "As gorgeous as that sight would be, I think I'll pass. Though if you want to find someone...I can find somewhere else to be for a while." Like a bar. A bar with a lot of alcohol.

"I was thinking more along the lines of us fucking someone together," Robin said with a roll of his eyes. "Don't get me wrong, it's not like it's a huge hardship for me to go one night without sex, but it's been a seriously annoying day and I was looking forward to it." He moved just a little closer. "I mean, the issue is just that you don't want to touch me, right? There's ways around that."

"Fucking someone together would still probably result in feeding off of you, at least a little," Thomas pointed out. "Unless I spent the whole damn time being careful not to touch you, which makes the whole idea less fun." Which had kind of been what Thomas was trying to illustrate with his initial comment. In the end it would come down to watching Robin with someone else, or Robin watching him with someone else, and what was the point?

"Our definitions of fun are clearly different," Robin said with a snort. He held up his hands. "All right, fine. I can just go elsewhere with my fine puck self. And here I was trying to be creative."

Thomas poured a finger of whiskey into his glass and tossed it back. "I appreciate the effort," he said quietly as he poured another drink. The thought of Robin going out and finding someone else after he said he'd been looking forward to being with him...it was like a knife in his gut. One that he pretended he didn't feel. "As for going out, you don't need to. I'll go. Give you the place to yourself."

Robin looked at him for a second, then let out a long-suffering sigh and grabbed the bottle himself, pouring a drink. "Nevermind. I hope you were watching something good on TV."

Thomas blinked, staring at Robin as he tried to make sense of what just happened. Had Robin decided to spend a night watching TV with him over going out and satisfying his puckish libido? "Some movie about car thieves or something. You can change it if you want to." He drained his glass of whiskey and then went to the fridge for a beer instead, still watching Robin almost warily, trying to figure out what was going on. "Or there's always video games," he added with a note of amusement."

Robin rolled his eyes. "I don't do video games," he said. "If I want to kill something I'll go kill something." Actually he didn't really do TV either. But for some reason beyond his comprehension at the moment he didn't mind just being here with Thomas. He padded off into the bedroom, and returned a moment later out of his expensive suit, instead wearing a pair of Thomas' track pants and a tight black tshirt.

Thomas looked up as he heard Robin come back, licking his lips as he looked him over. That ensemble should not look that appealing, but somehow on Robin it did. He set his beer down and walked over to the shelves of movies he owned, back to Robin so he couldn't see Thomas' eyes. "What do you want to watch? And we should probably order dinner, any thoughts?" Any thoughts that didn't involve Thomas crossing the room and running his hands over the black fabric hugging Robin's body, that was.

Robin thought he caught a flash of pale light in Thomas' eyes before he turned away, but he steadfastly ignored it. "I suppose suggesting that we watch porn is out of the question," Robin said, sounding bored. "Though isn't that what one does when they're not having sex?" He paused by the table to pick up the phone. "And if this is the mood of the evening we're ordering pizza."

"Pizza works. I want jalapenos and sausage." Thomas moved to the porn section with a quiet snort; he should have known. "You really want to watch porn?" he asked, pulling a disc off of the shelf. Porn with his sister in it. That would at least keep him from getting too turned on.

"I do if you're not veto-ing the suggestion," said Robin. "But I cannot be held responsible for my inevitable biological reaction." He dialed the number for a pizza place and ordered an extra large pizza with jalapenos, sausage, and onions.

"Noted." Thomas smiled to himself and popped the disc into the player, then sprawled at one end of the couch and picked up his beer and the remote to start the movie once Robin was finished ordering dinner.

Robin finished ordering and then went to the fridge to get a beer himself before settling at the other end of the couch.

Thomas glanced at Robin with an enigmatic smile. "Ready?"

Robin rolled his eyes. "It's porn, Thomas, not the goddamn Mona Lisa."

"Hey, this porn was made by a family friend," Thomas replied as he hit play and settled back to watch, sipping his beer. "I've known Arturo for years."

It was not the worst porn setup that Robin had ever seen, and at least the first girl showing up, a cute little blond number, was not bad. And neither was the rather beefy guy joining her. Robin took a sip of his beer and tried not to squirm.

Thomas wore a fond smile as he watched, waiting for Lara's entrance. He didn't have to wait long, and as soon as his sister appeared on the screen, his gaze shifted to Robin to watch his reaction, to see if he caught the family resemblance. The odds were about even, depending on how much attention to the details Robin was paying at this point.

Robin had seen a lot of porn in his day, and the woman that suddenly walked onto the screen was ten miles above any actress he'd ever seen. "Aphrodite's tits, who the fuck is that?" As if Thomas might have the casting credits for all of his pornography memorized.

Ah, but that question was easy for Thomas to answer. "That...is Lara Romany," he remarked with an amused smirk, watching his sister undress without any discomfort whatsoever. It wasn't like he'd never seen it, and he could even admit that Lara was incredibly beautiful.

Robin didn't react at all until she was done taking off her clothes (some things should not be interrupted), but then his gaze snapped to Thomas. She was perfect. Too perfect. And her name was Lara. "Please tell me you're not showing me pornography starring your sister." He paused. "No, why am I saying that. Please tell me you're showing me pornography starring your sister. I knew I liked you."

Thomas inclined his head. "That's her," he answered, smiling wryly. "In the flesh. All of it." He glanced at the screen briefly, then went back to watching Robin.

Robin's eyes were glued to the screen. "Jesus fuck. What a way to go."

Thomas snorted quietly and took a healthy swallow from his bottle of beer. "Yeah, yeah. I know," he murmured. "She's gorgeous. It runs in the family." And while the sight of Lara writhing against another woman didn't do much of anything for him, the desire coming off of Robin did. He pulled his knees up to his chest and kept nursing his beer, forcing his gaze to stay on the screen instead of the puck.

Robin had told Thomas that he couldn't be held responsible for any natural biological reactions, and the erection tenting the track pants was proof enough of that. "Please," said Robin, his voice a little low, "Tell me this is a family business."

And that was why Thomas was doing his best not to keep looking at Robin, but he could feel his arousal, taste it. He didn't answer Robin's pseudo-question beyond a glance toward his video collection and a tight-lipped smirk, but he had a feeling that some day soon, Robin would insist on watching the porno he was in. Ego boost or not, the thought was a little embarrassing.

On the television, Lara began to perform oral sex on the blonde girl, who was moaning and writhing like she'd never felt anything so good in her entire life. And Robin, again having seen his fair share of pornography, was pretty sure it wasn't an act. And the way that Lara's body moved - it was like a work of art in motion. No wonder the well-hung man who'd been hanging around earlier decided to come join them. He got instantly hard when he touched Lara, and Robin groaned.

Thomas inhaled softly, getting pretty damn hard himself as Robin's arousal seemed to fill the air around him. He closed his eyes to hide the silvery giveaway and pinched his nose, sighing. "She's going to eat you alive," he muttered. "And you're going to let her."

"Don't worry, kitten," Robin murmured, "you're hotter than she is. She's just dirtier."

Thomas stretched out a leg to kick Robin gently in the thigh. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked with a smile, his eyes still light grey, but without the silvery shimmer.

"I can tell she actually wants to eat me," Robin said, still watching the screen. The man had just started fucking her, an expression of utter ecstasy on his face.

"...Ah." Fair enough. That was certainly one area where Thomas couldn't compete with Lara, nor did he want to. He tucked his legs up against his body again, toying with the beer bottle absently as he watched his sister get fucked, knowing that her eyes wouldn't open during the scene, not at this point. Nothing to give away her non-human status beyond the sheer flawlessness of her beauty, her pale skin--and the reaction of her costars to her, but that was hard to tell from this side. The Raiths were /made/ for pornography, really. One take was all that was needed, and the sex and the lust looked amazing and real--because it was.

"Jesus I can't believe it's Harry that you have all the sexual tension with when you've got her on the other side of your family," Robin said absently. Hell, he barely even noticed when he slid a hand down to cover his cock through the pants.

"Oh, shut up," Thomas grumbled, kicking him a little harder for that one. "I grew up with Lara. Besides..." He trailed off as his eyes were drawn to Robin touching himself, and he swallowed and adjusted his own quickly-becoming-too-tight pants a little before continuing, "I could never trust her like that." And what did it matter who he had sexual tension with? It wasn't like he was any more likely to sleep with Harry than with Lara.

"Mmm," agreed Robin, clearly not paying much attention to what he was saying. His hand slid inside the pants. "So on a scale of one to ten, how dead would I be if I were in bed with both of you at once?"

Thomas scowled and picked up the remote, bouncing it off of Robin's shoulder. "How the hell did I end up with someone even more depraved than my family?" he muttered under his breath.

If Robin hadn't been in his rather distracted state he might have taken note of the troubling phrase 'end up with' but as it was, he barely even registered the remote hitting him. "If this is wrong I don't want to be right," he sighed as he watched the man fucking Lara shudder and come on her perfectly arched back.

Thomas sighed and adjusted himself again, teeth clenched as he resisted the urge to close the distance between him and Robin. "I'm starting to think the porn was a really bad idea," he remarked in a strained voice, watching Robin's hand moving inside his pants, aching to do the same.

"Oh, I knew all along it was," Robin said. "I was pretty surprised you suggested it, given how understanding and compromising I was being." He sighed again and started moving his hand a little more surely. "Jesus."

"You suggested it. I just didn't veto it." Thomas groaned softly and licked his lips, paying far more attention to Robin than the screen. "Ah, fuck," he whispered finally, undoing his pants and letting his legs fall open as he slipped his hand inside.

Robin's gaze slipped from the television to Thomas. His tongue darted out to lick his lips. "And just think, if you were a little less concerned about my well being, you could have my lips wrapped around your cock right now."

"Ohhh, don't do that," Thomas whispered, breathless, his eyes drifting closed as he wrapped his fingers around his cock and began to stroke. "Please..."

"What? Make you hard?" Robin's voice was low and a little rough. "Tell me this, Thomas. Is it because you're hungry, or because you're horny?"

Thomas meant more don't make him want to pounce Robin, but he didn't bother clarifying. "You have to ask?" he groaned, arching into his hand a little. "You keep me pretty well-fed."

"But I'm not feeding you now... am I." Robin watched him, and reached into pants and pulled out his own cock, now swollen and already carrying a bead of moisture at the tip. "Right now I'm just making you hot."

Thomas licked his lips, his gaze fixed on Robin's cock. "You do that a lot," he answered, voice thick with arousal. He dragged his eyes from Robin's cock to meet his eyes. "It's not usually about the Hunger."

"It's not?" Robins hand slid over his cock and he let his legs fall farther apart, eyes dropping closed as well. He wasn't interested in the television anymore. Just the sound of Thomas' voice saying he wanted him. "Tell me what you would do to me if you could."

Okay, they were coming back to the other topic in a minute, but right now Thomas just concentrated on the slow slide of his fingers on his cock, the sight of Robin, and fulfilling his request. "I would straddle you, kiss you until you were breathless, replace your hand with mine, tease you until you begged for my mouth..." His breathing sped up along with his hand, his eyes drifting closed again for a few moments, then opening. He couldn't not look at Robin like that, after all. It was just too hot to miss.

Robin groaned softly, and his hand too sped up. "Beg you? Yes. Suck me, Thomas. God, please suck me. I want to fuck your mouth..." Then his eyes flew open and his lips parted. "Fuck. You don't have to be that far away." If Thomas was jerking off too, he wanted to see it. He wanted to feel it.

Thomas stifled a moan. "...'Against my better judgement' is one of your favorite phrases, isn't it?" he growled, but he stretched, pulling his pants off, and scooted closer to Robin--but not close enough that his skin was touching Robin's. His hand faltered for a moment as he repositioned, then resumed stroking, his eyes heavy-lidded as he watched Robin's hand, adjusting his pace to match.

Robin licked his lips again, watching Thomas. "God you're a gorgeous sight." His breath turned a touch shallow and he added, "I don't think I'm really living up to my reputation of depraved. Shall I go go get a dildo? Or... ugh... one of us should be on our knees. Your choice." He was honestly ambivalent, imagining the splash of come against his skin, or Thomas' pretty face... shudder.

It all sounded good to Thomas, but-- "Well, you were the one that wanted to suck me off, so..." He smiled, a salacious, seductive smile, and said in a commanding voice, "On your knees, puck."

If there was any question of how Robin felt about that suggestion, his cock twitched visibly at the words - fuck, more the tone than the words. He stood and stripped off the shirt, stepped out of the pants, and slid to his knees in front of Thomas, looking up at him with hungry eyes and parted lips.

Thomas sucked in a sharp breath as he looked down at Robin. His free hand moved toward him of its own volition, though he managed to pull back with only a light brush of fingertips over Robin's cheek. He unbuttoned his shirt but left it on, hanging open as he spread his legs wide, his thumb rubbing over the head of his cock, spreading the pre-come that had gathered there before he resumed stroking, slowly licking his lips. "Yeah...just like that," he breathed, his eyes blazing silver as he watched Robin, though the hunger on his face was stronger than the Hunger.

Robin slid a hand down and kept stroking his own cock as well as he watched Thomas. "Fuck yes," he whispered. "Fuck yes, Thomas. I love the way you want me." That sounded familiar. "I love the way you look at me. I want to watch you come."

"I love to watch you," Thomas murmured in answer, speeding his hand up as he scooted lower, bringing his cock closer to Robin. "You want to watch me come? Then make me." He gritted his teeth, aiming his cock at Robin's face. "Make me so hot I can't not come." Not that Robin wasn't doing a pretty damn good job of that already.

Robin's hungry gaze focused on the perfect, gorgeous cock so close to him. "Do you want me to tell you how much I wish you were fucking me right now?" he said, his voice low and rough. "How much I love your cock. How much I love the way you feel inside me. How I love it when you look at me like you want to devour me. How I love the way your hands feel on my skin. How I love your tongue in my ass, your lips around my cock. How much I'm going to love the feeling of your come soaking into my skin."

"Yesss...." Thomas groaned, rocking his hips into his hand, the sound of Robin saying all of that like a caress all of its own. "F-fuck. Robin..." he panted, his body tensing as he got close, closer, and then came with a hoarse cry, keeping his cock aimed at Robin and his eyes open so he could watch this as he kept pumping his fist along his length through his orgasm, watching it spatter on Robin's face. He wanted dirty, after all.

Robin closed his eyes just in time, even though he would have liked to have seen the look on Thomas' face. He felt the warm splatter and heard the groan, and a little whimper escaped him as well before his tongue darted out to lick at some of the saltiness near his lips.

Thomas slumped against the couch, catching his breath and watching Robin. "I love how insane you make me," he panted, and then he sat forward and kissed Robin hungrily, tasting himself on Robin's lips, on his tongue, groaning into the kiss.

The kiss felt amazing. Robin wrapped his arms around Thomas' neck and kissed him so hungrily. His cock was still throbbing with need, and desire flashed through him, desire for Thomas to touch him, to make him come.

Thomas whimpered as he saw what Robin wanted, and even though he knew he shouldn't, he couldn't deny him. He slid to the edge of the couch, straddling Robin's legs as his hand found Robin's cock and stroked, hard and fast, never breaking the kiss as his other hand buried itself in Robin's hair, clenching a fistful of curls to keep Robin's mouth pressed tight to his.

Robin made a keening sound as he bucked into Thomas' hand, white hot pleasure pouring over him, the kiss the only thing keeping him from screaming when he came.

Thomas squeezed his eyes tightly closed, clamping down on his demon as much as he could, though of course he couldn't keep it from feeding altogether. Not with waves of ecstasy like that pouring into him. He gentled his mouth against Robin's and let his hand slow to a stop before releasing his cock, a little giddy.

Robin damn near sank into a puddle, leaning against Thomas' knees, resting his head in his lap. He felt dirty and sated and amazing.

Thomas stroked his hand lightly over Robin's hair, closing his eyes as his breathing returned to normal. He'd feel weak and stupid and guilty later; right now, he was just going to enjoy the moment, despite the soundtrack of the porno still running as background noise.

Robin had actually completely forgotten about the porno. He kissed Thomas' knee.

"I knew you couldn't resist me," he murmured.

Thomas sighed, continuing to stroke Robin's hair. "I should have," he said quietly. But Robin was right; he found the puck impossible to resist most of the time.

"That was so hot," Robin continued, ignoring him. "God I love it when you get all dommy."

Thomas chuckled softly and sank back against the couch, his hand stilling, just resting on Robin's hair. "So do I," he murmured dreamily, and as he said it he realized it was true. Dominating Robin gave him a thrill that had nothing to do with his demon, nothing to do with feeding Robin's fantasies. It was something he enjoyed.

"I should probably take a shower," Robin sighed, making it clear he didn't really want to.

"And I really shouldn't join you," Thomas murmured. Especially since the pizza guy would be here soon. Oh, and also because he was supposed to be NOT feeding on Robin.

"Mmmmm..." It sounded like Robin liked that idea more. "My tongue in your ass while you get all clean?"

Thomas shuddered, groaning softly. "Go take your shower," he said, swatting Robin lightly on the shoulder. "This doesn't change anything. I still need to stop feeding on you until after the party." For real, this time.

Robin rolled his eyes but didn't complain, pulling himself to his feet. He wiped at a spot on his face and then slid his finger into his mouth, smiling suggestively at Thomas before going back to the bedroom.

Thomas grumbled under his breath about damn irresistible pucks as he found his pants and pulled them on, leaving them undone as he slumped on the couch to wait for the doorman to let him know the delivery was here. It gave him time to try to figure out how in the hell he was supposed to resist Robin for the rest of the week.

It was a long shower as far as they went, and when Robin finally emerged he was wearing Thomas' robe and drying his hair with a towel. He could smell pizza. "Oh, thank Zeus. I'm starving."

"Of course you are. You're a creature of many appetites, just like me," Thomas observed wryly after he swallowed the bite of pizza he'd just taken. He was back in the corner of the couch, the porn was turned off, and he had a fresh beer. He also needed a shower, but food first.

Robin picked up a piece of pizza and eyed the dripping oil suspiciously. "Maybe I should have waited to shower until after dinner."

Thomas rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "It's good. Eat it while it's still hot." He looked at Robin for a moment and then added, "Did you really think I only wanted to fuck you to feed?"

Robin looked back at him. "Did you think I only wanted to fuck you to feel the demon?"

Thomas hadn't expected Robin to turn the tables on him like that. "...Nooo," he answered slowly, but he wasn't sure how true the answer was. It was hard to say how much his sexual partners wanted him for him and how much of it was because sex with a White Court vampire was amazing, beyond belief.

Robin snorted. "I'm just saying, it goes both ways on the using and not-using, sugar." He took a huge bite of the pizza.

Thomas shrugged. "You just seemed surprised when I said it's usually not about the Hunger," he explained, going back to his food.

"So is that why you want to switch it off?" Robin asked, and it was actually a serious question, for once. "Is that why you tried out that bracelet? And by the way, your brother is a dick." He couldn't help that last part, not after Harry's little tantrum at his dealership, even though he'd never mentioned it to Thomas.

Thomas picked a piece of sausage off of his pizza and ate it, sighing a little. "I want to be able to have sex that really is just about sex." He looked up and added, "If it had worked, I wouldn't have to worry about keeping my hands off of you until this weekend. And what did he do now?" The last was asked in a resigned tone.

"If you were able to have sex that's just sex you'd be cuddling up with what's-her-name and I'd be out on my ass," Robin muttered before he could help himself.

Thomas frowned. "I wouldn't kick you out," he said quietly. Though he didn't comment on the other part, because if he could touch Justine? Yeah, that's probably where he'd be.

Robin rolled his eyes, clearly not believing him. "Well we can get twin beds."

"Don't be ridiculous. Anyway, it didn't work, so it's a moot point." Thomas reached for his beer and took a drink.

"Right," said Robin, and mirrored Thomas' movement in reaching for his own beer. He still hadn't said anything about Harry, for some reason he didn't really want to talk about it. Maybe because he'd defended himself in a way that hadn't made him entirely comfortable.

Oh, but Thomas hadn't forgotten Robin's comment, and when the discussion about Justine seemed to be finished he asked again. "What did Harry do to be a dick?"

Robin sighed. "He showed up at my workplace to grill me about you, and didn't like the answers he got, so he was a dick, and left. All there is to it."

Thomas sat up straight at that, frowning. "About me? What the hell was he asking you about me?"

Robin groaned. "I don't want to talk about Harry, Thomas. I don't know. He's trying to fix the bracelet I guess. He wanted to know what happened when you tried the other one."

Thomas scowled and slumped again. "I told him not to bother, damn him," he grumbled.

"Yeah, and clearly he likes to, you know, listen. Anyway, like I said, he's a dick. And it takes one to know one."

Thomas pinched the bridge of his nose, frustrated by the way Harry and Robin continued to butt heads over everything and nothing, and less than thrilled by Harry continuing to meddle after he'd been told not to. "Fine. We'll drop it," he muttered, tossing the paper plate with the last third of his pizza slice remaining onto the coffee table in favor of drinking more beer.

"Also he's fucking ungrateful," Robin muttered before taking another bite of pizza.

Thomas shot him a glare. "Good job of dropping it," he murmured before falling silent, musing as he stared at the brown beer bottle dangling from his fingers.

This time Robin really did drop it. He shoved another bite of pizza in his mouth to ensure it.

Thomas took a swig from the bottle and then said quietly, "So. Any suggestions on how to get through the next few days without me feeding on you?"

Robin shrugged. "I could always go home."

"But then how could I be your bodyguard?" Thomas asked with a wry smile, hiding the stab of panic those words had caused.

"I'm sure I could survive a couple of days," Robin said, trying to sound confident about that. "It's not as if you've been with me every second."

Thomas shook his head faintly. "I don't like it," he replied in a low voice. "I'll just have to keep my hands off of you, that's all. Even you're not irresistible," he finished with a smirk.

Robin snorted. "If I didn't know how much it would upset you, I'd take that as a challenge."

Thomas smiled at him, taking a deep breath as he fought off the urge to close the distance between them and kiss Robin--just that, nothing more. He gave a small shake of his head at such a...romantic notion. "Please don't," he answered, still smiling as he leaned over to pick up his pizza again.

Robin hadn't stopped to think how that might have seemed, that he cared so much about Thomas' feelings, apparently. He still didn't stop to think about it. He didn't answer either, just picked up the beer again and chugged a good bit of it before sinking onto the couch. "Let's watch a real movie this time," he said. "Something with explosions."

"Sounds good," Thomas replied, setting his beer aside and continuing to eat his pizza as he wandered to the DVD collection to pick out something suitably explosive, tucking a particular DVD back behind the others while he was there. He popped a disc into the player and came back to the couch, choosing to sit near Robin this time rather than on the opposite end of the couch.

The day of the White Court Party arrives

When the Raiths threw parties, they were usually quite elaborate. As Thomas led the way up the stairs and into his family home, there was little evidence of this in the main hall, but he knew what would wait for them in the ballroom and on the back lawn: champagne, hors d'oeuvres, and thralls in embroidered silk kimonos, waiting passively to be chosen as an appetizer of a different sort.

He waited for the pair of security guards posted at the front door to clear him to enter and followed the red carpet toward the ballroom, not even looking back to see if Robin was following. His expression had become remote, cool and calm, though inside he was wound so tight he almost ached.

Robin wasn't wound tightly at all; on the contrary, he felt delightfully loose. Maybe it was the black silk pajamas Thomas had laid out for him to wear, or the pleasant buzz of sexuality surrounding the entire place. It was a wonder he didn't go half mast just from walking inside. He did remember at least that he was acting, so he made an effort to play the thrall as he walked behind Thomas.

Only Robin was close enough to see Thomas twitch as a melodic feminine voice called his name and Lara drifted toward them, looking even more beautiful in person than she had been on screen. She wore a long, white dress that flowed over her curves, hugging tightly in the right places and flaring gracefully in others. Thomas plastered a smile on his face and gave her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Lara. So good of you to invite me," he drawled, stepping back.

Lara laughed, a throaty, erotic sound. "Why, dear brother, whyever would I not? I hardly ever get to see you these days." Her eyes flicked to Robin, then back to Thomas. "And you've brought me a gift! How thoughtful." She looked Robin over more thoroughly this time. "Why, all he's missing is a bow."

Okay, now it was really miraculous that Robin didn't go half mast. Jesus. He remembered when he'd first met Thomas, how drawn to him he was. But this was stronger... and also more artificial. As if Lara had something turned on that Thomas didn't bother with. He did not, however, say anything. He kept his eyes on Thomas.

"He's not for you," Thomas said quietly, but Lara ignored him, stepping close and cupping Robin's chin in her fingers, just taking a taste. She inhaled, her eyes lightening, fingertips caressing Robin's cheek. "...He's not human," she murmured, looking toward Thomas, then back to Robin. "What are you, sweet little buck?"

"Thomas'," said Robin, and managed to keep his voice level despite the spark of arousal through him at her touch.

Thomas knew it was just part of the act, but that answer sent an electric thrill through him nonetheless. He smiled faintly as Lara's eyebrows rose and she took a step back. "Your tastes have changed, little brother," she remarked, licking her lips. "For the better, I must say."

Thomas smiled tightly at her and reached out to absently stroke Robin's hair. "I'm not surprised you think so."

Robin made a point of leaning into Thomas' touch, again, keeping all of his attention on Thomas rather than Lara. He was, after all, supposed to be addicted to him.

Another pair of guests appeared in the doorway and Lara shot Robin a disappointed look. "Enjoy the party, Tommy. I'll find you later," she promised, waggling her perfectly manicured fingers at him with a smirk before drifting away to greet the new arrivals. Thomas relaxed almost imperceptibly, grabbing a pair of champagne flutes from a passing tray and offering one to Robin.

Robin relaxed visibly after Lara was out of sight. "Fuck me on the pantheon but that woman is strong stuff," he muttered under his breath.

"I tried to tell you," Thomas murmured, taking a sip of champagne. "And she's fascinated by you. I knew she would be." Who wouldn't be, really?

"Who wouldn't be?" said Robin, and drank.

Thomas made a soft, exasperated sound as Robin echoed his own thoughts. "Well. I suppose we should...mingle," he said reluctantly, looking around at his relatives, the roomful of monsters. "Try not to get eaten," he added under his breath, and started into the room, on his guard as he always was around his family.

Robin followed after Thomas, keeping close to him, which made it easy to speak soft enough so only he could hear. "I don't think I've ever seen this many beautiful people in one place. Why is there not an orgy happening right now?"

"The night is young," Thomas muttered, hating the thought of Robin in an orgy of Raiths more than he could even express.

"Should we be making out or something as part of the act?" Robin asked hopefully.

They certainly wouldn't be the only ones if they did, but Thomas gave a faint shake of his head. "Maybe later," he murmured, grabbing some little toast-point thing as it was offered to him.

Robin tried not to look disappointed. He just nodded, and downed the rest of the champagne.

Thomas wandered among the party, eventually finding himself outside where there was less talking and more making out going on. His eyes were noticably lighter as he breathed in the heightened arousal on the summer air. Before he could turn around and lead Robin inside, though, one of his other sisters accosted him, drawing him into a discussion that had so many layers and veiled barbs he had to give her his complete focus.

Which was why Lara was able to slip up behind them without Thomas noticing, wrapping her arm around Robin's bicep and tugging gently. "Come with me, my lovely buck," she purred in his ear. "Thomas won't miss you much, with all of the tasty kine he can choose from here."

Robin took a little breath, feeling his cock twitch just from the contact. It took him a second to think of how he should respond, and finally settled on, his voice soft, "Thomas won't mind?"

Lara chuckled and slipped her arm around Robin's waist, leading him toward the house. "Of course not, sweet. My darling brother would surely be willing to share with me." And even if Thomas didn't want to, well--she was going to taste this one anyway.

"You do seem to be a sharing lot," Robin said. He allowed her to lead him. After all, wasn't this why he'd wanted to come? Though in the moment, even more now, he couldn't help but wonder why the hell Thomas was letting him.

Lara smiled at him and pulled ahead, letting her grip slide down his arm to grasp his wrist firmly as she led him to a sumptuous bedroom--one of many. She locked the door behind them and turned to face Robin, looking him over. "Mmm...he does have good taste," she murmured, reaching out to untie the sash holding Robin's top closed. "Now I'll ask you again, sweet. What are you?" The last was said with more steel in her voice.

"You didn't like my answer before?" The top fell open, revealing Robin's smooth, muscled chest. And the way his breath came a touch quicker.

"It was clever, but not what I asked." Lara eyed him, running her fingers lightly over his newly-revealed chest, tasting him again. "You're not human, but you don't taste all that different from them," she mused. "Brighter. Deeper, but very similar."

"It wasn't clever, it was true." Robin figured that when it came to survival in this situation, emphasizing how pissed Thomas would be if she hurt him wasn't a bad strategy. But fuck if the danger wasn't turning him on. He licked his lips. "Do you like the way I taste?"

"Mmm, I've hardly sampled enough to say," Lara remarked absently, slipping the top off of his shoulders so it slid from him and fell to the floor. She cupped his face in her hand, firmly this time, fingernails digging into his cheek, and said in a calm, chilly voice. "I'll not ask you again, buck. What are you?"

"I'm a puck," Robin gasped out, and his cock swelled.

"A puck," Lara repeated, looking at him thoughtfully. "And tell me, puck. How did my baby brother manage that one?" Not that she expected an answer to that, which was clear as she leaned in, lips moving over his neck as her hand released his face, moving down to untie the drawstring pants he was wearing.

"The same way you would, I imagine," said Robin, closing his eyes.

"Oh, but Tommy doesn't have my style," Lara purred, pushing his pants down as her mouth moved to his in a searing kiss, hot and cold all at once, imbued with the full power of one of the most powerful White Court vampires in existence.

Jesus fucking fuck.

Robin's body seemed to go into autopilot, his hands reaching up to slide his fingers through her hair, his cock achingly hard, his body arching towards hers as he kissed her back.

Lara let out a pleased whimper, reaching one arm back to unzip her dress without moving away from Robin, pressing against him tightly as the kiss continued, as she took a nice, big taste of Thomas' plaything. "Oh, you do taste good," she breathed, eyes silvery discs as she finally pulled back just enough to slip free of her dress.

Okay, now Robin definitely remembered why he'd wanted to come here. He couldn't even describe how it felt to kiss Lara Raith. And then suddenly she was naked and he was pretty sure it was the most flawless female form he'd ever seen, and that included Aphrodite. "There's more where that came from," he said, sliding his hands onto her breasts.

Lara arched into his hands with a lazy moan, closing the distance between them again to press against him from knee to waist, hooking a leg around his as she rocked temptingly against him. "Show me," she purred, and then with a speed and strength one wouldn't expect from her, she pushed him back onto the impressive four-poster bed and straddled him, smiling down at him like she was eyeing a decadent chocolate dessert.

Robin fell back on the bed with a little whoosh of air, and slid his hands back onto her breasts as soon as she was straddling him. "Tell me what I taste like," he said, his breathing going rapid.

"Aren't you demanding?" Lara commented, scratching a fingernail over his nipple. "You taste like dessert, sweet buck." And then she was bending forward, her hair falling in a blue-black wave around them as she kissed Robin again, rubbing against him, hot and wet, eager to drink deeper of his lust but delaying it for the sheer enjoyment of doing so. It would be all the sweeter for it.

Robin groaned at even that light taste of pain, and the feeling of her moving on him, and the smell of sex gathering around them. He wanted... god, what did he want. He wanted everything. He wanted her to fuck him within an inch of his life. He wanted to feel the danger of it.

As she tasted him her fingernail scratched again, harder, then her nails grated down his chest as she reached down to position his cock against her entrance with her other hand, pressing back onto his impressive length without hesitation, without even a sign of discomfort. "Ohhh...surely Tommy doesn't keep you satisfied, little puck. Not with hungers such as you have."

As soon as she sank onto him, Robin let out a loud keening sound, his hands sliding down to her waist and digging into her skin. "I..." It took him a moment to even be able to speak. "I have a lot of hungers."

"Mmm...such delightful ones, too," Lara purred, rocking maddeningly slowly on him, her breath hitching as she fed, filling herself with his sweet, bright, ages old aura. She leaned down and nipped at his ear, then her teeth bit firmly onto his neck, tongue sliding over skin. "Stay with me, pet. I can satisfy you like my brother never will." She snapped her hips back and down, hard, taking him deep inside with a soft cry.

Robin believed her, too. He could feel it in this, the power sweeping over him, intoxicating. It had not been until the time at the salon, after Molly, that Robin had realized that Thomas was holding back for him. It struck him even more now, because unlike Thomas, Lara was not. Fuck he hoped he didn't pass out again.

He said nothing, just thrust hard up into her.

Lara took that as a good sign and went to work convincing him further, moving with him, hard and fast, groaning as she kissed him again, raking her nails over his skin harshly. She still couldn't see how Thomas could ever manage to subdue a puck on his own, not with the crippled way he forced himself to feed, but she was sure she could convince him how much more he would enjoy himself with her.

Another thing Robin realized at this moment was how little time relatively he'd been spending with women lately. God he loved the way she felt. And this mixture of power and surrender was absolutely intoxicating. He slid his hand down from her waist to where they were joined, fingers diving into her wet heat, amazed that he could even think straight enough to find her clit.

Lara inhaled sharply, arching her back as his fingers found her, her pace quickening at the additional stimulation. She marveled at how much he had to feed upon, even as she felt her body moving toward climax, her demon greedily taking what the puck was giving and more. "Oh yes, my sweet, how marvelous you are," she gasped, bucking her hips eagerly.

When Robin came, it was like nothing he'd ever felt. Because the truth was, this was different than it had been with Thomas in the salon. He didn't like to think about why, but it was. Okay, he did know why. It was because, in the end, he trusted Thomas. There was therefore an edge of danger here that would never be present with Thomas. And Robin, for better or worse, got off on it. Which was evident by the way he practically screamed when he came.

Lara shuddered as his climax washed through her, the taste and feel of it enough to push her that last little bit of the way. Her scream echoed his, her fingernails digging into his shoulders deep enough to leave marks, and then she was panting, leaning over him as she tried to catch her breath, as the eerie silver of her eyes slowly, slowly faded back to grey. "Mmmm...delicious," she murmured.

Robin tried to focus his eyes on her, but found that he was seeing double. His body was, amazingly enough, screaming for more. He wanted to keep touching her, wanted to feel this again, but... he didn't really have the chance, because his eyes rolled into the back of his head and the world went black.

"...Oh dear. I seem to have broken Tommy's toy," Lara murmured, not sounding too bothered by the revelation. She slipped away, feeling invigorated as she stepped into the attached bathroom to clean up a bit before redressing. She had a party to hostess, after all.

Twitching her skirt into place, she moved to the door and unlocked it, but didn't get a chance to leave before she was stopped by another vampire with a strong family resemblance. "Lara. There you are, I've been looking for you," she said in Etruscan, glancing around before slipping into the open door and sparing only the most cursory of glances toward the bed. "House Malvora is stirring up trouble, just as you suspected," she reported.

Unlike the last time this had happened, Robin was out for maybe five minutes, coming around as Lara finished up in the bathroom. He wondered what might have happened if he was human, though. Clearly she hadn't been holding back; he wondered if she was trying to make some sort of point.

He did purposely keep his eyes closed though, especially when he heard someone else enter the room. And listened.

Lara sighed softly. "House Malvora is full of fools," she responded haughtily. "However, it would be unwise of father to ignore the threat they pose." She glanced back at the bed, at the still unconscious puck. "If they intend to seriously make a move for the throne, we should begin gathering our allies." Lara stood utterly still for a minute, thinking. "Go. Find out what you can. Enlist Justine to assist you, I'm sure you know where you can find her." The two sisters shared a wry laugh at that comment, and then Lara and Robin were once again alone in the bedroom. She stepped over to the bed, looking down at him, and said, "I'll let my brother know how appreciative I am of his gift, unintentional though it may have been." She smiled and left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

Robin almost couldn't believe that he actually had managed to stumble on some interesting information, even if he was having to scramble to remember it in his lust-addled mind. He heard Lara's final comment and waited for her to leave before groaning and rolling over onto his side just to keep from falling asleep. He wondered if she just thought he was passed out. But he wasn't, so he forced himself to climb out of bed, and then went into the bathroom and took a fast shower before putting the pajamas back on and wandering out to find Thomas.
-----

Thomas had noticed Robin was gone not long after it happened, just in time to look around and see Lara leading him away. Well, shit, he thought, sagging a little. He'd known it was likely, it was one of the main reasons he hadn't wanted to bring Robin, but...the puck could be very persistent, and it just seemed wiser to get that particular meeting over with on his terms. So he watched as Robin and Lara disappeared into the house, frowning, then went in search of something harder than champagne, unable to keep his eyes from the back door, waiting for Robin to reappear though he knew it was far too soon.

Justine had been waiting for Thomas. She knew he would be here, but... could barely contain her surprise when he bought Robin with him. What was he thinking?

She forced herself to stay away for a time, unwilling both to seem to eager and to interrupt him with anyone else, and so she wanted until Robin was gone and he was alone to approach.

Thomas didn't notice Justine approaching until she was nearly at his side, so preoccupied was he with watching for Robin. He turned and gave her a carefully controlled smile, because you never knew who was watching at these things. "Hello, darling," he murmured, reaching out to touch her shoulder lightly, taking care not to touch skin.

"Hello, Thomas," she said, and she had the same kind of smile, though there was obvious strain in it. The strain that came from the way it felt like a knife in her chest just from seeing him and not being able to touch him. "I see you brought a plus one."

Thomas winced just a little. "Yeah. He was...curious. He wanted to come, so...he's playing thrall," he admitted in a low voice.

"Mmmmm," said Justine, noncommitally. She was clearly skeptical. "Played well enough to catch Lara's attention. You're not..." She hesitated. "Concerned about that?"

"Fucking terrified," Thomas admitted under his breath, glancing toward the door again. "But Robin is his own person. At least tonight Lara is the only one that's shown any interest in him."

"That may be because she barely gave him the chance to get in the door," Justine pointed out, and studied Thomas' face for a moment. Her voice got even lower. "You are terrified. Thomas, why did you bring him here?"

"I don't know," Thomas admitted, rubbing his forehead. "Because he wanted to come. He wanted to meet Lara. I didn't know how to tell him no," he finished in a near-whisper, taking a long swallow of his drink.

"Does he have a death wish?" Justine's words were a little sharper than she intended, but she'd gotten the impression that maybe Robin cared about Thomas at least a little, and she couldn't imagine why he would put him through this.

"He likes the danger, I think," Thomas answered dryly. "And it's Lara. I mean...who wouldn't want her?" he pointed out with a helpless little shrug, and maybe a trace of bitterness.

"You're jealous," said Justine simply. And tried very, very hard to ignore the reflection of that in herself.

Thomas sighed. "I wish people would stop saying that," he muttered, but he didn't deny it.

She should be happy for him, she thought. That he cared about someone. Anyone. But she just looked away.

Thomas knew Justine well enough to recognize that she was hurt, upset. "Sweetheart," he murmured, reaching for her, hating that he had hurt her. "You know how I feel about you."

"Thomas." Justine said his name a little sharply. "You can't... do that here. Look at me like that." Her voice softened. "But I know. I do." But it didn't matter, did it?

Thomas let his hand fall away, glancing around to make sure they'd gone unnoticed, looking away. "I should get you out of here. I should have gotten you out of here ages ago. You need to move on, find someone who can touch you. You can't do that if you're so embroiled in my family's life," he said in a low, urgent voice, still not looking at her.

Justine felt that familiar tightening in her chest. And even though he wasn't looking at her, she shook her head. "It's not that easy."

The words weren't easy for him to say, the thought of letting her go made a hollow ache in his chest, but he thought it was time this happened. There wasn't going to be a cure, not for them, no matter what Harry thought. "I can find another way to get intel. I've never liked the idea of you spying on Lara, anyway," he murmured. "I can set you up somewhere, you can have your own little place. You're doing much better these days, I think you'd be all right."

Justine looked at him for a moment, and then slowly shook her head. "It hasn't been dangerous for me, Thomas. Lara appreciates me, and it's... not bad here. Better than it would be elsewhere, I think." And she didn't say it, but she wasn't ready to move on from him yet, even if she couldn't bring herself to hate the fact that he apparently was thinking otherwise.

Thomas gave her a long look. "If you're sure..." he murmured. "If you ever change your mind, say the word and I'll get you out of here."

Justine hated it, she did, but she had to ask.

"Do you love him?"

Thomas didn't answer for a long moment, looking into the distance. "I can't," he whispered, but it wasn't a denial.

That was answer enough for Justine. She sighed softly, honestly not knowing if she should be happy for him or terrified for him. "You can, you know," she said softly. "You just have to make sure he doesn't love you back." Of course, in her mind, such a thing would be near impossible.

Ah, but that was the very reason why he couldn't, why he shouldn't love Robin. "Not a lot of danger of that," he murmured with a wry little smile. He looked back at her, solemn and pained. "I still love you. I think I always will." He wanted to reassure her, even though there was nothing either of them could do about it. His feelings for her hadn't changed and weren't likely to, no matter who else came into his life.

"Oh darling, of course you do." She put her hand on his arm, carefully over his shirt. Then pulled it away, but it wasn't to be seen, them being too close. "I just want you to be happy."

"That's all I want for you," Thomas replied, taking a sip of his drink as he looked around again, always on his guard among these people. "If you're happy here, then...that's all I ask."

Justine thought happy was a pretty strong word, but she wasn't unhappy. So she just nodded. Then she frowned. "Thomas, I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't say anything, but... making you bring him here? When you'd obviously worry about him?" She didn't finish the thought, just let her disapproval hang out there.

Thomas sighed a little. "He'll be fine. He's strong, he recovers quickly..." But that didn't keep a line from appearing between his eyebrows as he frowned back toward the house, then slipped his phone from his pocket to check the time. How long had they been gone? It felt like ages, even though he knew it hadn't been. "He didn't make me bring him. He wanted to come, so I said yes." He snorted softly. "Besides. Saying no would have only made him all the more determined."

"He's not addicted to you," Justine said, reading between the lines of everything he'd said. "That must be... reassuring."

Thomas gave a little nod, his expression not changing. Yes, it was nice to know that Robin was able to leave whenever he wanted. Really. It was. Of course, once they figured out who was trying to kill him...he would. Thomas tried to keep reminding himself of that, but it was a thought he didn't really like dwelling on. "He's staying with me for protection," he murmured, glancing at Justine.

"And that's all," said Justine skeptically. Finally, she just said, "Look, if he's really... I mean, if you care about him, then obviously there's something about the guy, something worth holding onto. So promise me you'll at least try to do what makes you happy, okay?"

Thomas smiled a little bitterly. "I don't think there's much I can do. He's not..." He sighed and rubbed at his temple. "He's not interested in anything long-term. So I'm just enjoying the ride while it lasts."

Justine's eyes flicked in the direction of Lara's bedroom. "Thomas, why are you standing here talking to me. You need to make sure he's okay. Go."

Thomas made a frustrated sound and nodded faintly. He wasn't going to go interrupt or anything, but he knew this house as well as anyone else, and he could find somewhere to wait and watch for Lara to emerge where he wouldn't be noticed. "Love you," he whispered, and then he was moving among the party guests, quick and graceful as he made his way to the back door.

When Robin emerged from what he assumed was Lara's bedroom (or just a bedroom, the whole house was probably full of them), he didn't have to stumble very far to spot Thomas. Which was impressive since it was the back of his head and all the Raiths had pretty similar hair. "Thomas!"

Thomas whirled at the sound of his name, moving quickly to Robin's side and slipping an arm around his waist. "Are you all right?" he asked in a low, worried voice.

"Mmhmm," said Robin, and slid up beside him, steadying himself a little on Thomas' arm. "I'm still supposed to act all thrally, right?"

"Until I can get you out of here, yes," Thomas muttered, glancing toward the front of the house and wondering if they could manage to just leave without being stopped. He'd had more than enough of this party, and Robin--Robin had gotten what he came for, hadn't he?

"That might be kind of tricky," said Robin. "I think your sister wants to kidnap me from you." He felt kind of lightheaded, almost as if he was drunk. Probably because he was still close to passing out.

Thomas stiffened. "What?" He looked around for Lara, eyes wide and a little wild, and started edging toward the front hall, swearing under his breath. "I never should have brought you, I was out of my mind..."

Robin snorted. "I'm not going to let her." He sounded a little offended, actually. "Though she certainly doesn't have much faith in your ability to satisfy my needs, kitten."

Thomas let the last part pass. He didn't really want to know what Lara had had to say on that front, or Robin's opinion on it, for that matter. "You don't get it. If she wants to stop us leaving, she will," he murmured, eyes darting around, watching for any sign that anyone was moving to intercept them as he tried to look casual about heading for the door.

Robin suddenly grabbed Thomas' wrist, jerking him a little, forcing him to look at him. "She underestimates me," he said, green eyes flashing. "And so do you if you think that there is even the slightest possibility that she could turn me into some drooling puppet."

Thomas stared at Robin, a million thoughts flying through his mind. "Not. Now," he muttered through clenched teeth, then added, "Please." Robin may not have been worried about what Lara could do, but Thomas knew what she could do. And was clearly terrified by the knowledge.

Robin dropped Thomas' wrist, and rolled his eyes. He did know, at least, that there was no one near them. "Fine, I'll play your drooling puppet for a few more minutes then," he muttered. "Don't worry, I made sure that if you both call my name and offer me a treat she won't be surprised if I trot over to you."

Thomas gave a terse nod, not even acknowledging Robin's sarcastic comment. This had been a mistake, and he was feeling worse about it by the second. By some miracle they made it to the door without being stopped and Thomas sent the valet for his car, tapping his foot and glancing back toward the house every few seconds, expecting Lara or one of the others to pursue them at any moment.

Thomas' obvious tension had apparently jolted Robin out of his stupor a bit, and as he watched Thomas' nervous glances, he said quietly, "She thinks I'm still passed out on her bed. And besides, she had more important things to attend to. Relax."

Thomas took a deep breath, trying to do so. "You don't know her," he said quietly, still warily watching the entrance until the car was pulled up and the valet got out. He relaxed a little and moved around to get in the driver's seat.

Robin sighed and slid into the car on the passenger's side. "If you're going to be all pissy I'm not even going to tell you what I learned."

Thomas started the car rolling forward, visibly relaxing as it became clear that they really, truly managed to escape. "I'm not being pissy," he protested, pressing back into his seat as he tried to ease the tension in his neck and shoulders. He glanced at Robin, then, frowning a little. "What did you learn?"

"House Malvora is making a bid for the throne," said Robin. And then frowned, only now thinking of the context in which he'd heard it. "Wait, why the hell was she speaking in Etruscan?"

Thomas looked straight ahead again, considering that information. "That's the language the White Court conducts its business in," he admitted.

Somehow Robin found this fascinating piece of information less interesting than - "You speak Etruscan then? What the fuck, Thomas. When I start babbling in other languages I don't expect to be understood." Particularly the dead ones that he'd filed away in his head now as perfectly safe to say whatever the hell he wanted.

Thomas grinned a little at that, feeling somewhat euphoric as the tension of the party fell away. "You never asked if I understood," he pointed out.

Robin honestly had no idea what he might have said. He tended to blurt out ridiculous things during sex.

"You've been holding out on me," he panted, and pushed his hair behind his ear. It was still damp from the shower. "If you can talk dirty to me in dead languages, this is information I should have."

"You didn't ask," Thomas repeated, grinning wider. But then he added, "It's just the one. And French, of course, but Etruscan is the only dead one."

"First the family porn business, now this," Robin sighed. "Anything else new and wonderful I might find out about you?"

"I don't know, nothing comes to mind," Thomas answered with a little shrug. There was the fact that Lara was only one of many sisters, but Thomas didn't think that was particularly new or wonderful, personally.

"Too bad," said Robin, and yawned a little, leaning his head against the window. There was no denying that Lara had taken a lot out of him, even if he talked a big game.

Thomas looked over at him and smiled faintly. "How are you feeling?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Well fucked," said Robin bluntly, and turned his head, still leaning lazily against the back of the seat, to look at Thomas. "But quite like myself. I'm not clamoring to go back if that's what you mean. Or about to pass out."

"I was more concerned with the latter," Thomas muttered, though it was good to know that he wasn't tempted by Lara. "So is your curiosity satisfied, now?"

"I guess so," Robin said. "Though you're lucky I can appreciate my fondness for things that aren't good for me as occasionally a bad idea. Because you're right, she'd probably eat me alive if she could. Though what a way to go."

Thomas rolled his eyes and didn't reply, watching the road ahead as he sped back into town. He really didn't need to be reminded how much Robin had probably enjoyed himself, really he didn't.

Robin let his head loll back against the seat, and closed his eyes. "Don't worry, sunshine," he murmured. "Still better with you."

Thomas glanced over, remembering Justine's words. He wasn't sure he knew how to be happy, but he knew he liked what he had with Robin. Too bad Robin didn't feel the same way, but he'd just have to live with that. For as long as Robin was still interested, anyway. He shook his head and focused on getting them home, remaining quiet so Robin could sleep if he wanted to.

Robin didn't fall asleep, but he did for once stop running his mouth. Mostly because he was tempted to ask Thomas if he'd seen Justine, but then couldn't bring himself to really want to hear about it.

And Thomas wasn't likely to volunteer the information, since Robin had basically told him not to. He remained silent for the rest of the drive, pulling into the parking garage next to his building and killing the engine. "We're home," he announced, in case Robin had fallen asleep.

Robin's eyes opened immediately, so it was clear he hadn't been asleep at all. He opened the door and climbed out of the car without a word.

Thomas got out and locked it up, walking around the car to Robin's side. "You're quiet," he remarked with a faint smile, touching Robin's back briefly before his hand fell away.

"The more I think about your sister the less I like her," Robin muttered.

"Oh?" Thomas started toward the apartment building, watching Robin curiously.

Robin was actually walking a little faster than usual, keeping pace ahead of Thomas. "I am not food."

Thomas smiled wryly at that. "You let me feed off of you," he pointed out, though he probably wouldn't have if he'd taken a moment to think about it.

"That's different." Robin ignored the glance from the security guard at his pajamas as he breezed past him and into the open elevator. "I should amend my statement. "I am food. We're all food. Whatever is actually at the top of the food chain, I sure as hell hope I never meet it. But I do not want to feel like food."

Thomas followed him into the elevator with a nod at the guard and hit the button for the top floor. "...Fair enough," he commented simply. "And to Lara, that's pretty much all you were. That, and a way to remind me who has the power in the family."

"I think you have more power than you know," said Robin. "Otherwise she wouldn't care so much about reminding you anything." The elevator dinged.

Thomas gave Robin a considering look before striding out of the elevator toward the apartment. "Maybe," he said with a little shrug. "Knowledge is power. And I know something most of them don't. Or at least they don't know for sure."

"Oh? What's that?" Once Thomas opened the door, Robin stepped into the apartment, immediately pulling the pajama top off and slipping out of the pants, walking stark naked into the kitchen and opening a bottle of wine.

Thomas paused as he turned away from locking the door, looking Robin over from head to toe both to make sure he was really okay after Lara's attention--and because it was naked Robin. "My father is the White King. Leader of the three primary houses of the White Court." He wandered over to lean against the counter and watch Robin. "Except he isn't, anymore. Or at least he isn't the one making all of the decisions."

Robin poured a glass of wine and downed half of it. "Let me guess. Lara's pulling the strings." He felt better out of the pajamas. Wolf in sheep's clothing and all that.

"Has been for years," Thomas agreed. "Ever since she and her demon gained control of him," he added pointedly, because Robin being cocky about Lara not being able to do anything to them was a dangerous thing. Ohhh, she certainly could.

"How very Greek of her," Robin said. They did know how to do tragic incest properly.

"Yes, well. At any rate, officially he's still king. If it got out that he was so weak his own daughter had managed to take over, the other houses would pounce." Thomas took a deep breath, rubbing his cheek as he came around to get his own glass of wine. "Malvora, you said? I would have expected Skavis before them. I wonder if they have anything."

"You'll have to explain the difference to me, darling," Robin said, and leaned back against the counter as he sipped his wine. He managed somehow to make being naked both completely natural and completely sexual at the same time.

And Thomas noticed both, but kept his distance, moving away with his wine to hop up onto the opposite counter as he started to explain. "Well...the big difference is that Malvora feeds on fear primarily, while House Skavis prefers despair. Also, Malvora lost the head of their house a while back in an...unfortunate incident. I wouldn't expect them to be making a bid for the entire court just yet, but maybe they're desperate."

"Fear and despair. Well, not as fun as you folks now are they?" Robin reached for the bottle and refilled his glass. They went through a lot of wine around here. "Seems like Lara has it well in hand. Her reaction was about like yours. Cautious skepticism."

Thomas shrugged. "To each their own. They enjoy it." He nodded at the comment about Lara. "I'm sure she does. She knows what she's doing." Still, if there was an inter-house struggle warming up, he'd be expected to do his part. He really didn't want to.

At the reminder of Lara and how she knew what she was doing, Robin's mind flashed to her bedroom again. And then, inexplicably, to an earlier exchange.

What are you?

Thomas'.

He suppressed a shudder, downed the rest of the wine, and walked out of the kitchen.

Thomas frowned in confusion as Robin walked away without a word. "..Robin?" He hopped off of the counter to follow when his phone started ringing. He sighed and yanked it out of his pocket, swearing as he saw who was calling. "What?" he demanded into the phone, voice cool and a lot calmer than he felt.

When Robin heard Thomas' phone ring, he paused in the hallway, leaning back against the wall and listening.

Thomas' answers were brief and mostly monotone, but he was tense and on edge as he mostly listened to Lara. She finally got some emotion out of him, though, because he set the wineglass on the counter before he gave into the temptation to throw it against the wall and hissed into the phone, "He's mine, Lara. Stay the hell away from him, you can't have him." Her laughter was audible even through the phone, but Thomas cut that off after only a moment. "I'm serious. Don't push me on this one."

He's mine. Something twisted in Robin's gut at the way Thomas said it. It harkened back to the way that he'd felt earlier that night, with Lara. It gnawed horribly at both his sense of self preservation and his instinct to not be tied down. It made him want to flee. And yet somehow he was just rooted there against the wall, deer in headlights.

There were a few more exchanges and then Thomas ended the call, letting his phone clatter onto the counter and leaning against it, head down. Then he straightened and drained his wine before pouring another glass, trying not to think about just how much they didn't need another complication like this right now. Not with Robin's would-be killer still out there somewhere.

Robin took a deep breath, steeled his resolve, and marched back into the kitchen. Still naked.

He looked at Thomas with much the same expression he had when he'd grabbed his wrist earlier at the manor, green eyes flashing. "Yours, am I? Afraid she's going to poach your food source?"

Thomas jerked, turning to face him with a surprised expression. "What? No! I was just putting it in terms she would understand," he explained.

Robin didn't look convinced. He was still fighting his flight instinct. "Why am I here, Thomas? You've got us... playing house, and when's the last time you even needed to feed from someone else? Is that why Harry suggested I come here? Because he knew it would keep you from snacking from the clueless?"

Thomas shook his head, stunned that all of this was coming at him. "No, not at all! You're here so I can keep you safe!" he reminded him, setting the wine down and taking a step toward Robin, looking pained. "You're not food to me. It's not even about feeding."

Robin couldn't even say why, but he felt like he had to argue. That it was imperative he be right on this, because if he wasn't food, then it meant he was something else. But he couldn't even seem to find words anymore, just set his mouth into a straight line, and eventually blurted out, "What is it about then? I'm not like her."

"Not like her," Thomas agreed with a small shake of his head. "It's about...how you make me feel," he answered, reaching out to run his fingers over Robin's arm.

Immediately at Thomas' touch, Robin felt a familiar buzz of pure pleasure. And at the same time a cold wash of panic at the words. Feelings. No. He didn't do feelings. And it was very important now that he tell himself that wanting to throw himself into Thomas' arms and kiss him was only because of the way the demon made him feel.

It was addiction, it had to be. What else could possibly explain Robin wanting to be with Thomas after so long?

He actually looked stricken, as if he'd just come to some awful realization, but schooled his face into neutrality almost right away, and said, "I have to go." He turned and walked quickly back into the bedroom, pulling out clothes to put on.

Thomas followed him quietly into the bedroom, staying near the doorway. "Go where?" he asked quietly.

"Just... go. I need some air." Robin yanked on some pants, hopping a little to pull them up, and fastening them quickly. He didn't say he'd be back. He also didn't say he wouldn't be back. Because he honestly didn't know. He just knew that he needed to not be here.

Before Thomas could respond, Robin had yanked on a shirt. It was one of Thomas'.

He walked over to him, put his hands on his face, kissed him. Pleasure sparked through him again. And something else, something that made him want to stay. "God I love the way you make me feel," he said, but it didn't sound like a good thing. He pulled away and started toward the door.

Thomas watched him go without another word, one arm wrapped around his waist. He'd be back. He had to come back. It wasn't safe for him out there alone. Thomas could understand needing to get out for a bit, it had been an intense night. So he let him go.

But oh, it hurt to watch him walk away.

To Kill a Puck--On the Trail

When Robin didn’t come home the first night, Thomas really wasn’t surprised. He assumed the puck had just gone out, found someone to hook up with, and gone to their place--or back to his own, even. He didn’t like it, but he didn’t worry, either.

But when Robin didn’t come home the next night, and wasn’t answering his phone, and hadn’t been in contact since he’d walked out...then Thomas began to worry. He rationalized that it was a perfectly legitimate cause for concern; there was someone trying to kill him, after all.

He tried not to let the worry get the best of him, though. There might be a perfectly logical explanation. He thought for a while about who else Robin might have gone to. There had been dozens of tales, old and new, of Robin’s exploits, but the ones that came to mind first were Dick and Tereus. And Tereus was with the police force, that much he remembered. It would be a good place to start. If that didn’t work, he’d break out the heavier guns.

He drove to the PD and checked himself in the mirror before getting out of the car, trying to look as respectable as possible. He strode inside and went directly to the desk sergeant, asking if Tereus was in. It was all he could do; he didn’t have any other names, no addresses, phone numbers, nothing. If this didn’t work he’d try to figure out another way to get in touch, but if it did work it would be much easier than trying to track either of them down somewhere else.

Tereus was in a briefing and a sergeant came to deliver the message that someone up front needed to talk with him. The briefing wasn’t anything he really needed to hear, he just went a) to keep up appearances; and b) in the event there was something he needed to know when he was at the academy.

Slipping out and checking his watch, he headed to the front to see a face that was familiar to him in the waiting area. It took a few moments to call up the name and he was smiling when he went to greet his ‘shopping advisor’. “Thomas,” he said, genuinely pleased to see the man.

Thomas blinked at being addressed by name, but the man was familiar. “...Tereus?” He vaguely remembered the encounter, but it had been ages ago, and it was a miracle he was remembered.

But that wasn’t important. “Look, do you have a minute? I’m sorry to bother you at work, but it might be urgent.” And it might not. He really hoped it wasn’t.

That wasn’t a good way to start a conversation and his face dropped into ‘business-mode’. He motioned for Thomas to follow him to one of the small rooms off to the side and shut the door. “Have a seat,” he said, gesturing to a chair and taking a seat across the meeting room table. “What’s up?”

Thomas sank into the indicated chair, looking tense. “You know Robin, right?”

Perhaps the only thing that saved Tereus was that he was trained to be a cop and by extension, to show as little emotion as possible in a high stress situation. Coupled with his being a bioroid and not prone to high emotion to begin with, he was able to keep his face neutral at the mention of Robin’s name, one of Tereus’ high stress triggers. “I do.”

It started to whir in his thoughts and he inclined his head. “Does this have to do with his taking to wearing police fashion accessories?”

Thomas pursed his lips, knowing immediately what Tereus was referring to. “I don’t know,” he said quietly. “I hope not. Have you seen or heard from him at all since last night?”

That definitely wasn’t good. “I haven’t. Haven’t heard from him in over a week as a matter of fact.” Tereus pulled out his cell phone. Not that Robin would call him but he was thumbing through his directory to pull up Dick’s phone number. “I’ll check with Dick,” he said as he hit the call button.

Thomas nodded and sat back a little, though he didn’t relax. If the situation were different he wouldn’t be this worried quite so soon, but with someone or someones out there trying to kill Robin, not to mention the possibility that his own sister might be involved in his disappearance, Thomas really didn’t think there was anything wrong with jumping the gun. Not when it might mean the difference between a live puck and a dead one.

“Hey baby!” Dick said brightly into the phone as he pushed into the front doors of the police department. “I was just coming to you. You good to go?” They’d made movie plans for after Tereus got off work, since it was the night Dick was taking off from patrol. “You better be,” he said without giving his boyfriend time to answer, “because I’m right around the corner.”

“Dick, I have Thomas here and he’s asking about Robin,” and his gaze flicked up to look at the man. “When you come in the door, hang a right, we’re in the conference room.”

“Thomas?” Dick vaguely remembered Robin mentioning the man he was staying with, but he’d never met him. He was immediately concerned, though, and sped up. “I’ll be there in thirty seconds.”

Tereus killed the connection and tucked his phone away. “Dick’s on his way. Have you met him?”

Thomas frowned and shook his head. “I don’t think so...but then, I didn’t realize I’d met you,” he admitted with a faint smile that just as quickly faded.

“Hi,” Dick said as he came into the conference room without knocking, “oh, good, right room. Thought maybe I’d barge in on an interrogation.” He came around the table to drop a kiss on Tereus’ cheek before sitting.

“Thomas, I’m Dick.” He extended a hand, “what’s up with Robin?”

Tereus reached out for Dick, letting his hand slide along Dick’s body until he sat down. “Glad you were already close by.”

Thomas reached across the table to take Dick’s hand, shaking it briefly, his demon stirring automatically at the touch. He leaned back, letting his hands drop into his lap as he answered. “I don’t know. Maybe nothing. Hopefully nothing. He left last night, and I haven’t been able to get ahold of him since then.” He sighed, not wanting to get into the why of Robin’s departure. It was none of their damn business, and not relevant.

Dick blinked when his skin flushed just barely. The brief touch seem to make his stomach flutter and he was distracted for a moment, shifting a little in his chair.

“Uh...” he shook his head slightly, trying to clear it, and belatedly hearing what Thomas had said. “right. Well, I haven’t seen him.” He glanced at Tereus, figuring Tereus hadn’t either. “You said he’s been missing since last night? So it’s been twenty four hours?”

Tereus was interested in the answer to that. They could file a report about Robin if that were the case. “Did he mention where he was going? Family? Friends? Business trip?”

Thomas nodded at Dick. “Twenty-four hours. He said he was going out for some air. When he didn’t come back last night, I figured...it’s Robin.” If they knew him at all, that was all the explanation that they should need. “But with what’s going on, the fact that I can’t track him down at all...concerns me.”

Dick was rubbing his open palm against his jeans, still distracted, but nodded once. “Is it usually easy for you to find him? Does he have places he likes to go - bars, clubs, other friends?” God, was it hot in here? Dick plucked at his jacket.

He watched Dick, brow drawing low. Dick seemed distracted, which was unlike him but thought maybe it was due to the subject. Namely, Robin. “Thomas,” Tereus said slowly, dragging his attention from Dick back to the other man. “Do you think this has to do with whoever isn’t trying to kill Robin?”

Thomas snorted at that phrasing, immediately understanding the meaning behind it. Of course Robin had minimized his danger. That was how this whole damn thing had gone all along, despite the fact that the puck had been willing to live with him for added safety. “I don’t know. I don’t know who it is. I think he does, but if I’m right he’s not talking.” And it was maddening, really it was. Just like so many other things about him.

“No he hasn’t been very forthcoming,” Dick said with a nod, “despite best efforts.” He glanced at Tereus and sat back, running a hand through already mussed hair. God it was hot.

“If you can think of anywhere else he might retreat to,” he said, shrugging his jacket off, “I’m sure we can put something together...” He would add it to his list of things that needed looking into, anyway.

“Did you want to file a report?” Tereus glanced at Dick and got up to turn the air down in the room. He was comfortable but clearly Dick was not. “I can help handle the paperwork and get you to talk to someone I trust.” Kate would most likely still be at her desk.

“No, no...I’m probably just overreacting,” Thomas replied, getting to his feet. “It’s Robin, after all. He’s probably shacked up somewhere. I just wanted to know if you’d heard from him. Thanks for your time.” He started moving around the table toward the door.

“Wait, Thomas...” Dick pushed to his feet, watching the man carefully. Obviously something else was going on and Dick got the sense it was a matter of whatever it was that existed between Robin and Thomas - acknowledged or not. “Would...he have left and not wanted to be found by you?” He wasn’t expecting Thomas to react well to the question, but he always followed hunches.

Tereus stood as well, turning to follow Thomas as he headed for the door. “Thomas, please,” he said right on the heels of Dick’s words. “We just want to help, either officially or unofficially.”

Thomas stiffened at the question, but he stopped moving toward an escape. “He doesn’t have to come back,” he growled. “All I want is him to answer his fucking phone so I know he’s okay.”

Dick nodded once, figuring as much. “If he’s looking to not be found, then he won’t be.” He braced his hands on the table, unperturbed by Thomas’ growl. “If you two had a fight then it’s probably best to just wait.”

“Does he frequently not answer his phone?” Tereus asked.

“He always answers when I call,” Thomas retorted, not looking at Dick, pretty much completely ignoring everything he said. They were the ones that were pushing it, after all. He’d been ready to walk out and do this on his own. And it looked like he would be anyway.

Dick couldn’t help his snort at that. He put his hands up, shaking his head. “Right, sorry. I was just looking for a full picture. Tends to make finding people easier, but if you’ve got this, you’ve got it.” He sat back down with a roll of his eyes.

“So, forgive me, Thomas, for being so slow,” Tereus said, leaning against the table. “But if there isn’t a problem, then why are you here? If he answers your calls, and he’s not answering now, wouldn’t that suggest that either there’s trouble or that he’s ignoring you?” He lifted a shoulder. “You’re a very attractive man, so I find it hard to believe he’s ignoring you, even if you did have a disagreement. You’ve verified someone’s trying to kill him and for whatever reason both you and he aren’t willing to let those who considered him a friend help. I’m not really sure at this point what is to be done. We are trying our best with no information except what we aren’t being told.”

“Honestly? I don’t know why I’m here,” Thomas snapped, grey eyes flashing. “By all means, help all you want. You know as much as I do, now.” He shook his head and headed for the door again. “I’m sure I can find my way out.”

“He doesn’t make it easy, does he,” Dick said cryptically, still sitting with his arms crossed over his chest. He didn’t expect Thomas to accept their help, or to even turn around, but he knew what this was about.

Tereus shrugged. He was done offering to help. He’d do what was required in the course of his duty but he wasn’t about to go chasing Robin around begging him to actually trust them. “Still want to make that movie?”

Thomas paused with his hand on the doorknob. “No,” he agreed quietly, and let himself out.

Dick sighed and rubbed at the back of his head, amused annoyance turning to sympathy. “Yeah,” he said, glancing up at his boyfriend, reaching out to catch his hand to give it a squeeze, “yeah, whenever you’re ready, baby.” He gave him a half smile. “Poor Thomas.”