Ch 34. Follow-ups III
John adjusted the lights in his office, dimming them a bit. While most of his nocturnal clientele could handle artificial light, that didn’t mean the brightness couldn’t be uncomfortable for them. He took another sip of his coffee to perk up a bit. He already hadn’t been getting enough sleep, adjusting to a bed after sleeping in a hammock for so long wasn’t as easy as he’d expected, and he’d also been getting far more evening exercise than he was used to. Still, he had a responsibility to his clients, even those that had only shown up to a single session in the past.
There was a tap on the window and John looked to see a bat knocking against it. He put down his mug and walked over to it, unlatching it and stepping to the side. Radu flew through the window on a misty cloud and changed into his usual humanoid self, ethereally beautiful, and impeccably dressed. John did notice however that he was now wearing a knitted scarf that he hadn’t had before and he was holding in his arms a covered tray.
“Welcome Radu,” said John. “Would you like some tea?”
“No. My thirst was well quenched this afternoon by a particularly burly sailor.”
“Uh-huh,” responded John, taking his place back behind his desk. He normally sat at the small chair next to the couch, but with certain clients he preferred to have a bit of extra distance. Radu was one of them. “I was surprised that you scheduled another appointment. Glad of it, of course, but surprised.”
“Unfortunately, it is because of you that I actually found a shred of satisfaction. The first shred in quite some time. So I felt that maybe I should give it another try.”
“Oh, can I ask what happened?”
“I… well I took up some hobbies. Knitting and baking to be exact.”
“Well that’s wonderful! And you’re enjoying them?”
“I am, though I much prefer knitting to baking so far. I can’t taste things the same way that mortals can, but I can admire a fine piece of fabric in an elaborate weave better than most.” He took the container he was holding and stood, placing it on John’s desk. “That said, I did happen to bake some fresh croissants before I came.”
John's mouth began watering the second the scent of the freshly baked croissants hit his nostrils. He reached forward and took one, enjoying a savory bite before washing it down with some coffee. A perfect combination.
“This is fantastic,” he said to Radu.
The vampire gave him a fanged smile. “Yes. The thralls have been quite enjoying them as well.”
“And the scarf you’re wearing? Is that something you’ve made as well.”
Radu nodded, sliding the scarf luxuriously between his fingers. “It is. I was making one for you as well, as a thank you, but the brides kept wanting new things for themselves and had all manner of ways to get what they wanted and so… let's just say I was finding myself frequently distracted, but not in an unpleasant way.”
“So you’d say that these hobbies gave you something to do, but also allowed you to strengthen connections with those you work with and care about?”
Radu frowned. “Just that first part actually.”
“Oh, of course,” said John with a subtle smile. “In that case, why don’t you describe to me how you got started?” He could start on the surface. With a person like Radu, he had plenty of time to help him.
…
The next morning John was awoken on the couch of his office by a soft kiss from Andressa who stood holding a bag from Hilda’s and balanced his coffee mug carefully in the air with her tail.
“Your next client gets here in five minutes,” she whispered softly in his ear.
He shot up immediately from the couch,doing his best to straighten his hair with one hand even as he grabbed his white button-down shirt and began to sling it over his arms. He was halfway through frantically buttoning it when he frowned and looked at the window. It was still dark out, and there wasn’t going to be another all-day eclipse for at least a month. He looked at Andressa who was smiling with lips a shade darker than they’d been when he’d woken up to them only a few moments before.
“And how long do I actually have until my first client of the day?” he asked.
“About an hour and a half. Thought you may want to be able to enjoy a bit of the morning before young master Li-Zhenhai of the Heavenly Tyrant Sword Sect arrives.”
“I do want that, yes,” he finished buttoning his shirt and then took his time to straighten his hair properly in a small mirror on the office wall and sprinkled just a bit of brownie dust to clean himself from a long night of wearing the same clothes. Once he was done with that he took his filled coffee mug, made just the way he liked it, from Andressa’s tail which, once freed brushed gently beneath his chin for a moment as she walked to his desk to unload his daily bagel as well as some scones she’d gotten for herself.
He sat down and took a long sip of his coffee before letting out a little exhale of satisfaction. “Thank you,” he said.
“You’re welcome,” said Andressa, biting into her scone with a sharp toothed smile. “Mia was asking after you.”
“Oh?”
“She’s wondering if you’ve decided whether or not you can take an apprentice.”
“Oh,” replied John, a bit more subdued. He’d been giving it a lot of thought. Mia deserved the consideration. It was more his own discomfort at trying to teach someone in an apprentice based system what he’d learned in highschool, college, gradschool, and two internships. He wanted to say yes, but his anxiety kept him from saying it yet. He really never thought about teaching before and wasn't sure that he would be as good as a lifetime of schooling. He’d already explained this to Mia, her mother Hilda, Andressa, Rene, and even Gnost. It had made his morning baked good retrieval a bit awkward, but Mia and Hilda had been more than kind about it… perhaps too kind. Made things a bit harder for him to parse.
“You’ve got to give the poor girl an answer soon,” said Andressa before sipping some tea.
“You’re right. I’ll sleep on it for one more night and then give her an answer in the morning.”
“You assume I’m going to let you sleep?” asked Andressa with a smile.
He blushed a bit, the redness in his cheeks a few shades lighter than the redness that covered Andressa.
“I didn’t say I’d be getting good sleep, but you’ll have to let me nod off sometime.”
She smiled as she looked him in the eye, taking another sip of her scalding tea while smiling with the calm comfort of a predator whose prey is cornered.
He drank his coffee, meeting her gaze without flinching. He’d lost this particular back and forth, but it wasn’t really losing if everyone got what they wanted in the end.
An hour later young master Li-Zhenhai arrived with the same fanfare which he’d appeared months ago. Flower petals were spread so thickly on the ground in front of him that his feet would never touch the ground, and the smells of gunpowder and flame preceded him as before, but things were a bit different this time. Instead of heading straight back to John’s office, the young cultivator stopped at Andressa’s desk.
“I am here for my appointment,” he announced.
“He’s ready for you,” replied Andressa.
John finished readying the formal tea set the moment that he walked through the door. Li-Zhenhai sat and this time when one of his servants moved to be his footrest, he held up a hand.
“Wait outside,” he paused as if searching for another word. “Please.”
The servant looked sadly at the young master’s feet as he bowed and closed the door behind him.
“Li-Zhenhai of the Heavenly Tyrant Sword Sect, I welcome you to my office,” said John,
He just nodded.
John poured tea for each of them and sat in his chair. He waited for the young man to have a sip of his tea before he could take his own.
“I was surprised that you asked for another appointment,” said John.
“The last one saved my life,” he replied.
“Oh?”
“I went to confront my father about the stupidity of sending me to this filthy hovel,” he paused. “Sorry, this place of business.”
“Please continue.”
“Well, he took many of my privileges and confined me to my quarters to contemplate the role of a patriarch such as him. I slipped out, as no such confinement can hold a son of the Heavenly Tyrant Sword Sect.”
“Of course.”
“I sought out the man who had disrespected me, and when I found him…” He paused for several seconds. “I saw flames in the distance and was worried that someone else had stolen my quarry from me. I saw him moments later, standing in the ruins of the Heavenly Spear’s manor. Hundreds of their best dead at his feet.”
John nodded. “Seems like your dad had the right of it.”
“Don’t interrupt me worm I-” He shook his head. “I’m sorry. He did, yes. Had he not sent me to you, I may have been just another charred corpse.”
John nodded, having another sip of tea, quietly enjoying being right while resisting the urge to tell the young man he’d told him so. It was tough, but he didn’t particularly want to draw the young man’s ire, or say something that might taint his change of heart.
“I’m assuming you’re not just here to thank me?”
He shook his head. “No. I wish to…to be more patient,” he said the word like it made him nauseous.
John nodded and grabbed one of his notebooks, flipping it to a blank page. “I can do that. Hopefully we can make some good progress before I die of old age.”