29. If Only Just Today

W es eyed Foxx, frowning as the vampire seemed to scrunch up under his gaze.

"I mean…" Foxx started slowly…but then never said more.

"Foxx…" Harlow nudged the man.

The vampire sighed and began blurting everything out, without taking a single breath. "I maybe have some deep-seated issues involving priests in my past, which resurfaced recently, due to me being kidnapped by a group of psycho priests who tried to torture me—along with a group of innocent vampires—to death on a platform surrounded by holy water. But like, it's not like it's a big deal or anything. I've dealt with it in the past, and I'm sure the issues will go away in time, just as they did before."

Wes' brow raised, his eyes widening slightly at how fast the words seemed to come out of Foxx's mouth. "Your kidnapping has come up… Harlow didn't go into detail about how that was affecting you though."

"When he says issues, he means the persistent nightmares where he wakes up scared and crying in a chaotic daze, not really aware of his surroundings. Though, sometimes he just wakes up screaming."

"Harlow!" Foxx huffed, glaring at the other man.

"You were too slow getting to the point. I'm just helping."

"Stuff your help, old man!"

"I'd rather stuff you, brat."

Foxx sputtered.

Wes remained quiet, just eyeing the two as they continued to bicker. He couldn't say he was surprised by this dynamic of theirs. It fit the picture he'd built in his head over the sessions he'd had with Harlow. Though…Foxx…was different from how he imagined. He had to say, the vampire was a lot cuter than the picture he'd created in his head.

It was clear though…that Foxx wasn't here fully of his own accord… Or rather, he was not fully onboard with the idea of seeing him. But, at the same time, this might be the only way the vampire would agree to see anyone at all.

Though Foxx thinking his trauma would just go away on its own, told him enough. Enough to know that the man would likely ignore the problem, to his own detriment, if allowed to—just as he had in the past. The vampire didn't seem to realize that him shoving it aside had compounded the trauma, leading to the very issues he was currently dealing with.

Wes…however, wasn't sure Harlow being there while he spoke to Foxx would be the best idea. At least, not for every session.

The two liked fighting each other, and fed off each other's words a bit too much. He could see Harlow hindering what Foxx would be willing to admit. And likely the conversation would derail constantly.

While that happening when the focus was on Harlow may…be a benefit, considering it would give him a chance to see Harlow's natural reaction to the man who had caused an avalanche of changes inside him… It would be detrimental when the conversation was focused on Foxx's trauma.

Wes did have to say…the sexual tension was, frankly…interesting. Though, if this was the norm for them…

He smirked—just imagining how Tony would react to the two love birds. The man wasn't a prude… Well, he was a bit of a prude, not prejudiced, mind you, but he didn't really like conversations about sex. It didn't matter the sexuality of the person talking to him, Tony outright preferred for private conversations to stay private, and away from him. Foxx and Harlow were probably driving his friend up the wall.

His gaze slipped to Harlow… Hmm…a real dhampir. Most of what Foxx had told him had only confirmed what he'd learned in his research. The chance to actually have a patient with such a complex biological predisposition that affected most of his species… He'd studied psychopathy in humans, but… The statistics on dhampirs…he wondered how right or wrong they were. With the vampire council's quest to wipe them from existence, perhaps those numbers were just conjecture… Maybe there was little to no true empirical data to warrant the belief of…

Well, he'd assumed their thoughts were along the lines of dhampirs being too dangerous to allow them to live. Wes wondered what evidence they had seen to end up taking such drastic steps. Not that it would justify the actions.

Wes glanced at his watch. Tsking, he loudly cleared his throat. The argument came to an abrupt stop, the two men turning to face him again. He smiled. "Harlow, Foxx, it's unfortunately time for me to leave. If you'll both agree to it, we can have some sessions together here at your home, but I think having separate one on one's will be important for both of you. For those, I would like some privacy. Is that possible here with either of your enhanced hearing?"

He held back on singling out Foxx. The vampire had already started to tense, seeming to bristle at just the mention of being alone with him. There was no point in risking him raising his guard further.

"Works for me," Harlow said with very little emotion. "There is soundproofing here… One of us can always put in headphones… Unless that wouldn't work?" The man looked at the vampire.

"I…" Foxx grimaced. "I guess that would be fine." Sighing, the vampire slowly said, "Headphones won't be necessary. The rooms themselves have soundproofing too, so if we go in and close the door, as long as we aren't screaming, whoever is not in the session shouldn't be able to hear us."

Wes' smile widened. "Perfect. I'll get back to you on scheduling the next joint appointment, and after a few of those, we can follow up with the individual ones." He stood. "Now, I have to go. It was great meeting you in person, Foxx. Thank you again for the cookie."

They nodded and said their goodbyes, but as Wes turned to leave, his foot caught on the leg of the small and surprisingly heavy end table. While it shook, and the lamp on top wobbled, he, on the other hand, went down, landing hard on his bad knee. Eyes closing on a wince, his cheeks began to heat. Embarrassment washing over him, Wes' eyes snapped back open when someone touched his shoulder.

He found Foxx standing beside him, looking concerned. "Are you alright?"

"Having…balance issues today, Wes?" Harlow asked, sounding slightly curious.

If only it was just today…

He let out a startle gasp when Foxx, a man who was at most half his size, lifted him to his feet without any assistance from Wes. Paranormal strength…really was something.

He cleared his throat. "No… No new balance issues… I'm just clumsy…on the normal." Wes chuckled awkwardly as he rubbed at his abused right knee.

And it was the truth. Wes was fine in his office, and other highly familiar spaces…but everywhere else he was constantly bumping into things, or people… Or…knocking things…and people over. His spatial awareness was…lacking.

"You are…?" Harlow asked slowly.

Wes cleared his throat again. "Right… I need to go." Giving them a hesitant smile, he hurried away. Thankfully, this time he didn't trip or kick anything.

Harlow eyed the hallway, even after he heard the door open and close. He hadn't…pegged Wes as clumsy at all… The man, in fact, had always seemed pretty put together any time he'd seen him…

Though…maybe this explained the lack of furniture and other things in the man's office. Now that he thought about it, even the seating in the waiting room…was pretty well spread out, with nice sized walkways…

"Being clumsy doesn't fit his looks," Foxx mused beside him.

At the comment, he glanced at the vampire. "His looks?"

The man blinked, way too innocently. "Well…I mean…he is a handsome, posh, older man…"

Harlow stared in disgust. "SO, it's not bad boys you like, it's old men?"

Foxx giggled. "I mean, I have eyes. Did you expect me to not notice he was hot?"

He rolled his eyes. "Brat."

The vampire stuck his tongue out.

Harlow shook his head, before eyeing the man as he said, "Want to go on that date we never had?"

"Harlow, we…really shouldn't. Besides, you agreed to fake being human first."

"Yeah, but we have no clue how long that will take. And do you really think we are going to run into strong and powerful vampires at fucking laser tag?"

"I mean…I'm going to be there, so maybe?"

"You are uniquely you. I doubt many grown-ass vampires are running around playing laser tag with children."

"And why not?! Can't grown people do fun shit?!" Foxx hissed, sounding offended.

He snickered. "Then let us grown people go do fun shit. Besides, I really…should go and try to get my phone fixed…or get a new one. Either way, I can't just keep using yours."

"I mean, Tony said he'd get us secure lines, so why not just wait?"

"He also said it would take a while. I'm not waiting awhile to have a phone again."

Foxx huffed… "Well…I suppose we can go out…for some laser tag, and then to get you a new phone." The vampire's freckled nose wrinkled. "Maybe we shouldn't though?—"

"Foxx," Harlow growled.

"Let me finish!" Foxx snapped. "I was going to say, laser tag may be too overwhelming for you right now. Like, have you actually ever played a game of laser tag? Cause I have… It's loud, noisy, sometimes with random bright lights… I could see it easily triggering your senses to go haywire.

"This one also happens to be alien themed. I looked it up after you left that day, and well, you are fighting a team, but at the same time, you have to hide from staff members that are dressed as aliens. Aliens that use automated noises which seemed overly loud, even in the videos I watched."

Loud noises and bright lights… Joy… "Well…that just means it'll be a good opportunity for me to attempt to reel shit back, right?"

Foxx eyed him for a moment before slowly saying, "If you say so."