Chapter 11

Chapter 11

“Jesus Christ,” Rafi said, taking a swig of his ginger ale. The pair were in Joseph’s kitchen, drinking while they talked.

Joseph had caught him up on the highlights of the last few days, which had taken a good while. He started with Alexander’s appearance right after dinner to the date with David and the attack the following evening. Finally, he’d described tracking the vampires to their temporary lair by following Alexander’s trail of blood. Joseph leaned against the counter next to the refrigerator, and Rafaél sat on a stool next to the island.

“Mmhmm,” Joseph replied. He paused to take a sip of his own beverage, one of the blood sacks, which had cooled slightly during the long recap of events.

Rafaél set his bottle down gently, the glass clinking softly on the granite countertop of the kitchen island. “You’re really going to give them half the company?” he asked incredulously.

“Oh God no, of course not,” Joseph replied, waiving his hand dismissively. “There’s no way they know every part of the company or the extent of the corporation’s reach. Hell, I barely know it all.” He grinned, letting the plan realize itself for Rafi. “That’s what I have you around for.”

“Ah,” Rafi said after a moment. “I see.” He took another sip of the soda and contemplated the problem. “It’s a bit of a gamble, don’t you think?”

“A bit, maybe. But we have a week to work it out. What I need you to do is a bit of inventory. Figure out what we can part with that will still be profitable enough with minimal oversight. Something that will keep them pacified. It needs to be small enough not to harm us irreparably and big enough it could conceivably be half of what I own.”

“Riiiiight.” He finished the last of the sweet-and-spicy carbonated beverage in one swig, then eyed the empty bottle. “I’m going to need something stronger than this, I think.”

“Sorry, all I have is soup. I thought David might want some when…” Joseph said, a touch of sadness creeping into his demeanor. “You’re welcome to it.”

Rafaél sighed. “I told you to take it slow, didn’t I?”

Joseph held up a hand defensively. “I didn’t take it anywhere! I was just along for the ride, and it went as fast as it wanted to go.”

Rafaél decided it wasn’t the time for I-told-you-sos, and took a more sympathetic tack. “Do you think he’ll call?”

“I really don’t know,” Joseph admitted. “I’m conflicted about it, to be honest. On one hand, I really, really want him to, and on the other…”

“On the other, you know what a relationship with him would mean for both of you,” Rafaél pressed. He was trying to be consoling, but the facts of the matter were too obvious. “Do you need me to spell it out for you?”

“No, I get it.”

“Do you, J?” Rafaél kept his voice kind and soft. “Best case scenario is a long life together, where you end up heartbroken for decades after his death. But before that, while you stay, well, you, he becomes increasingly frustrated at growing old and feeble.”

“You don’t know that,” Joseph insisted.

“I do,” Rafi said quietly. “I really do.”

The moment hung in the air between them, so thick it could be cut with a blade. Joseph felt a well of sorrow in his heart for this man, who just a blink of an eye ago had been a boy, learning how to live without his parents in a new world with a completely new person. The years had flown by and now he was greying, slightly paunchy but in respectable shape for a man of… fuck, sixty-seven? Could that even be right?

“Rafi…” he started but didn’t know what to say.

“No, listen, that wasn’t fair of me. You gave me a life I could never dream of. If I ever make it seem like I’m not grateful beyond words, I apologize for it.” The elder-looking of the two of them paused, then looked his adopted vampire father in the eye.

“That being said, no matter how much I know you love me, and I do know you love me, it is often frustrating being a regular old human living in the shadow of an immortal.” Rafaél turned his hands in a shrugging gesture.

Joseph set the half-full bag on the counter behind him and moved to the opposite side of the island from where Rafaél was sitting. He pulled out a stool and sat down. “I wish I could give you that gift, Rafi. I really do. You are a much better man than I was when I was turned. If anyone deserved it…”

“I know why you can’t. And hey, we’re still working on the cure for death down at Tetractys, you never know.” He smiled, half-joking, but turned somber again. “J, the advances your company has made in medicine and related fields have saved the lives of millions of people and improved billions more. Whatever kind of man you were, you are a great man now. And an amazing father.” Rafaél reached out and grasped his former guardian’s hand and squeezed it.

“But?” Joseph prompted, addressing the unfinished topic of David.

Now it was Rafi who put up his hands, signaling surrender on the topic. “No. Dammit, I’m sorry. David knows who you really are now, all of it. It’s his decision to call or not, and if he does, I hope you both have all the happiness in the world for whatever time you have together. No one deserves it more. The end.”

Joseph tried in vain to contain the grin of pride blossoming on his face. How he ever managed to raise such a smart, capable, and good man was quite beyond him. Especially considering his previous experience with Alexander.

“Rafi, you are an incredible son.” Joseph and Rafi rarely got sentimental but realizing suddenly how old his boy had become made the vampire want to grab every single moment and never let go. “You are my heart. From the moment I saw you, that first instance in the alleyway when you looked at me with defiant determination in your eyes. I love you, kiddo.”

“Oh, okay, Dad,” Rafaél chided, before adding, “I love you, too.”

The moment grew to bursting between them. Before it got too weird, Joseph threw up his hands. “That’s it! I’m making you soup.”

Rafaél laughed. “Okay, sure, that sounds great. What have you got?”

“Oh, several, but I know you want the split pea with ham,” Joseph said, already getting a can out of the cupboard and a pot to warm it. “The question is, do you want a grilled cheese to go with it?”

Rafaél raised an eyebrow. “The question is, do you still remember how to make those? What has it been, forty years?”

Joseph scoffed. “Psh, it’s like riding a bike!”

“Have you ever actually ridden a bike?”

Joseph pointed a slotted wooden spoon at him. “Not the point. I said it’s like riding a bike. In that, you never forget.”

Rafaél chuckled while he watched a vampire make him comfort food. Who he was trying to comfort wasn’t a hundred percent clear, but it didn’t matter.

After the soup was in the pot and the induction burner turned on, Joseph worked on the sandwich. Pre-shredded cheese packet in hand, a thought occurred to him. “Hey, Rafi, how come I’ve never had to counsel you in affairs of the heart?”

“Never needed it, I suppose.”

Joseph turned to look at him. “I’m honestly embarrassed to have to ask this, but have you ever been in love? I mean, I know you’ve had girlfriends, much to my disappointment, but…”

Rafaél replied, “To be completely frank, I don’t think so. I think I know what it is, from seeing you and Robert, and of course other friends and acquaintances, but it never was something I felt I needed.”

Joseph pondered the answer for a moment, then with a “Hm,” turned back to the slices of bread he’d set out.

Rafaél continued, “I’ve only recently begun to understand that side of myself, to tell you the truth. When I was young, I never really felt attracted to anyone of either gender. Dating women felt more right, but it didn’t do for me what I knew it did for my friends and classmates. Just a few years ago I learned about asexuality and realized that’s probably what I am.”

Joseph put down the knife he was using to butter the outsides of the ungrilled sandwich and looked at his protege. “You are remarkable, you know that?”

Rafaél smiled. “I’m aware.”

Joseph shook his head and turned back to the food. “Christ, what a pair we are.”

“Right?” Rafaél agreed. “A gay vampire and a mixed-race asexual orphan. Someone should make a sitcom.”

Joseph laughed. “You know, I very nearly started a movie studio back in the early nineteen hundreds. Deciding not to was the biggest mistake of my life. I thought moving pictures were a fad!”