There he was, standing in front of the room in which he knew the party to take place. One last time, he adjusted his shirt, checked that it was all in place; the little knots that Yoven had done were holding well.

He opened the tall door and came into a hall.

It was a nice looking hall, not too tall, broken up by columns and arches in regular intervals. It was lit by the same blue-ish torches that lit the rest of the underground, only those gave a more natural light. There were a few others that were lit with fire, and the mix between the two rested the eyes. The place had galleries on the side, that were separated with walls and arches that were a little lower than the rest. From the door that Barmond had used to enter to a platform at the far end of the room was a wider, open space, that would have allowed two men on horseback to walk the length of that room, not that many knights would be allowed down here, under Gardel, among the monsters.

There were couches and sofas spread about, arranged so that people might gather by groups around low tables. They spoke pleasantly, the party having started already; in a corner was a flute player and some that listened to them. It seemed all very spontaneous and candid.

Save for the couple fucking over a table.

Barmond's eyes landed on them by accident. And, to their credit, they were not making a show of it, not for anyone that was outside of their own circle of seating by screaming. He could not tear his eyes off them, not fast enough, at least, to realise that what he was looking at were two humans - or some creature that looked like humans - surrounded by succubus. They seemed delighted. In fact, everyone seemed delighted to be there.

Barmond looked away quickly and darted in the opposite direction, towards the blissful shadow of a gallery, to observe the rest of the people without running the risk of being observed in return.

He did not know that he was already being watched, that he had been spotted. A petite lady, her hair black as ravens, got up from her seat and followed him, but because he was no longer looking in her direction he did not spot her.

Barmond spotted Ranphoros - it should have been the first thing he saw, but his eye had been caught by other things - sitting at the far end of the room, in front of the door. There was a sort of sofa on the top of a few steps, the sort of furniture one could lay on at their leisure and even invite a partner, but not sleep. It seemed to have been given some matter of privacy with a few curtains. For now, the incubus lord was alone, entirely clad, seemingly surveying the party with a poker face. When his eyes met the ones of Barmond, Barmond gave him a respectful bow of the head and Ranphoros deign to nod back at him.

Maggie, black hair curly hair, suggestive dress, and twinkle in the eye, appeared seemingly out of thin air next to Barmond, startling him.

"Hello," she purred.

"Oh-- Good evening, Lady Maggel."

"Maggie."

"Ah-- my bad."

"Welcome to the party," she said, fluttering her little demon wings at the base of her spine. "I hope that you have fun here. Don't forget to have fun!"

"I... will try my best."

"Hugo says that your smile is special but that you don't share it with many people. Do you have your fangs out at all time?"

"I-- No, no, my fangs look like normal teeth, otherwise I wouldn't be capable of passing as a human."

"Can I see?"

Ranphoros, that was still watching, had yet to strike him with lighting from across the room, so Barmond guessed that it was fine if they were just standing around and talking. He had yet to spot Rosa but he was sure that, wherever she might be, she was already glaring at him. But he opened his mouth for Maggie anyway, showing her his teeth for a moment.

"Ah, you're right," she said.

"Of course I am." As if he would be lying, or would have forgotten about how his teeth looked.

She looked around and smile at her father, that smiled back and nodded at her. Then she turned to Barmond with a mischievous smile.

"I wanted to thank you for the letter," Maggie said.

Barmond did not answer to that, but he did nod as a way to show that he was accepting her thanks. Was that why she had yet to tell him about how he was better off fucking her? Because she had been sated by the words of Vanja? He thanked the incubus, wherever he was, for that. He hoped that it would last.

He wondered if now was the time to talk to her about what he had learned.

"Maggie?" he asked.

"Yes?"

"I heard, about your mother. I did not know. You have my sincere condolences."

It only occurred to him, once the words had come out of his mouth, that a party where everyone was supposed to have fun was probably not the best moment for those sort of things. Maggie's smile vanished, but she seemed thoughtful rather than sad.

"You did not know before?"

"I did not."

She nodded. Then it was her turn to hesitate, obviously pondering if she should ask about something on her mind - or at least that is how Barmond interpreted it.

"What is it?" he asked.

"How does it feel for you? When you, like... drink from people?"

Barmond paused. He did not really know what to answer to that, especially when the person that asked had that sort of past. But she was looking at him expectantly. He could see that she wanted to know. It was... morbid. But he knew a thing or two about how dark things could fascinate someone. He had hunted vampires.

"It is... That's such a vast question," he said. "There is so much about it. You can ask, but you are going to have to tell me what it is about it you want to hear, otherwise we can stay here all night talking about it."

"Did you ever lose control?" she asked.

"Ah. Well... It's embarrassing to admit it, but yes. I did. Once. I did not kill anyone, but that was because I was stopped. It was a frantic moment, where things were hectic and I was in danger, so I was a bit beside myself. It's always a good idea for a vampire to take things slowly and not be too hungry when they are feeding, especially when they are a bit younger."

"So it can depend on age?"

"And experience."

"What happened when you did lose control? Were you young?"

"No, actually. Well, I don't think that I am considered a young vampire today, and it was quite recently." He paused. "It was while I was trying to escape from Gardel. Not when... you let me escape. The time before. What really got me was that I did not have enough blood. While I was running away, I ran out. So I attacked a homeless... man, I think it was. Everything was very confused and blurry. I was torn off that poor soul by Orwen."

"Owren?" She chuckled.

"Yes. Or I suppose that it was his Clawers that did it."

"Oh! I thought so. He's a bit of a coward, so I was surprised to hear that he would approach you at all when you were... you know. Is there a term for vampires that have lost control?"

"I don't think that I know it. I think that, erm... feral fit them well. That's how I would describe them when I was a vampire hunter. I dealt with feral kills often, it was one of the most common times we would intervene."

"Oh!"

"I'm very careful, personally, about losing control. I've dealt with the other side often enough to know that it never ends well. Not even for the vampire involved."

"You were like that hunter."

"That... hunter?"

"Actually, you still are, a bit, because you're a vampire that hunted other vampires. With that lady you caught. Aurora?"

"Oh! That hunter." The one that had tracked down the killer of Coralia. "You know of him."

"Yes. I saw him when he came, even if Rara didn't want to."

"Rara?"

"My dad. Ranphoros. I just..." she chuckled. "I've always called him that since I was a baby. So."

"Ah, I see."

"You could be a vampire hunter like this one," she added. "Taking down evil vampires."

Barmond chuckled, a little embarrassed. He did not know if he wanted to be a hunter anymore. He felt like it was something from the past, something that had been nothing but a hassle when he had had to deal with it.

"Is there anything you wish to ask me?" Barmond said.

"Oh, I'm sure that..." She looked around, and her eyes met the ones of another succubus, that beckoned her. "Oh, she wants me to come. We can talk some more later, all right?"

"All right," Barmond said. "I hope you spend a pleasant evening."

"Yeah, you have fun too!"

She escaped and was gone in an instant.

As she was leaving, his eye caught sight of Hugo, that had been there since the start. He was, of course, among his own, with the other werewolves from his pack around him. There were a few succubus as well, that seemed part of whatever conversation they were having. So far, Barmond had not been spotted by their leader.

He wondered if he should approach them, if he was welcome among them. He even came out of the gallery, slowly, to see if he would be invited nearer. Little did he know that he would be stopped again, by someone else that wanted to talk to him - he seemed to be a bit more popular than he thought he would be on that night.

He saw a shadow move from the corner of his eye before he heard Owren speak, and so he was not startled.

"Barmond?"

He turned his head to the other, listening to him. Owren came out of the wall, moulding himself into his human form. When he was done, Barmond gave him a small nod, acknowledging his presence.

"It's done," he said.

"Maggie just told me," Barmond answered. "Don't mention it. Is there something you want from me?"

Owren seemed a bit taken aback from the curt answer, clearly not having expected it in the last. But he seemed to think about it a second time, thoughtful, and Barmond waited for him to reply at his own pace.

"I was thinking about that time where you got captures too," Owren said. "Recently."

"The one I mentioned to Maggie?"

"I might have... listened in on that conversation."

"What about it?"

"It's the only time you lost control? Really?"

Barmond nodded.

"I..." Owren hesitated. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"If it's safe here for you to say?"

"I'm the only one listening from the shadows, around here, it's fine. It's that... you really scared me then. The reason I was thinking about it so much is that it did really show me that maybe... Maybe I'm not ready, you know?"

Barmond was confused. "Not ready for what?"

"For... doing stuff for the nest. For helping out. I don't think I was ready, but you were the one that showed me. In a way."

"I..."

That was a lot for Barmond. He understood a little better why Owren had been so insistent on trying to see him drink blood. In a way, it was the same reason Maggie turned to him for sex: because they were scared. Because Barmond, for some reason, represented something in their lives to be conquered. Or tamed. Or discovered.

Barmond did not know what to make of this.

He was not cut to be any sort of role model, good or bad. He just existed, seemingly to spite all the people that wanted him to die. And there it was, this... young man was coming to him. And telling him all that. Did he have someone else to confide to like that? Anyone?

Anyone else but the monster that had scared him into doubting himself?

"I still don't understand what you mean by ready."

"For anything."

"But... it's impossible to be ready for anything. That's just not something that happens."

"Well, how come Hugo is always ready?"

Barmond snorted. "He's not."

"He is."

"He is not. When I first met him, I tricked him into looking the wrong way, just in time for me to throw silver powder at him. That threw him off my trail because he could not track my scent. He was not ready for me to be awake during the day. Not many do."

"Oh."

"If you want my advice - for what it's worth - being ready is a question of practice. Don't be scared. Get yourself out there, again and again, until you get it." Pause. "Just... don't do anything too stupid. Can't learn anything if you're dead."

"I... I know that," Owren said. "But..."

"But?"

"What if I make another mistake? I don't want to deceive them."

"Then that sounds like their problem. If it's a really big mistake, you'll be punished. So be it. So don't fuck up."

"That's not helping."

"What do you want from me? You're certainly not going to learn anything by sitting around and wondering if you can do it. Got to get out there."

"Yeah." Pause. "Could you..."

"Could I?"

"Erm..."

"Just ask, Owren."

"Well, since we're on the same side and all... I was wondering if you could like, train me."

"In what?"

"In terrain experience."

Barmond sighed. He had a thought for the time he still had to spend with Yoven, teaching him magic. And there were the other things that Ranphoros had asked him to do, which was figuring out the limit of his powers. He still did not know how he was going to do that, to be honest.

"We'll see," Barmond said. "If we are sent on a mission together, as I did with the imps, I'll keep an eye on what you do and see if there is anything that you can do better or that you are missing. But terrain experience, as you call it, can't really be trained. The whole point of being ready for anything is that anything can happen. Can't really do that during training."

Owren nodded. Despite that, a weight seemed to have been taken off his shoulders. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Owren seemed like a nice enough kid. A bit lonely, that he would ask the newcomer vampire of all people for help. Certainly nothing like the bloodthirsty monster that Stalkers were usually depicted as but, well, vampires were often discriminated against for the same reasons.

"Are you going to join the others, now?" Barmond asked.

"The others?"

He looked towards the circle of succubus. They were now three on the table, having fun. Barmond looked back fast enough to see Owren break into a deep blush and quickly look away.

"I usually don't join in on those things," said Owren. "It's not... my style."

"Same," Barmond said. "It's fine if you want to leave now, I don't think that I am going to stay long either."

Barmond and Owren shared a look and nodded, in a common understanding that public sex was not for them, and that it was fine. It was the others that were wrong. Even if this place was the domain of succubus.

"Good evening," Owren said.

"A good evening to you as well," Barmond answered.

He watched Owren disappear in the wall and slink away. For a guy that had stabbed him with a bolt, he was a good enough kid.

That was when, by complete coincidence, Barmond's eye landed on Hugo again, seated among his kin. He watched him. He flattered himself that it was not... too longingly. But he was deluding himself and even he knew it. He wanted to be with Hugo but he did not feel as if he would be welcomed by the others around, as if he was still a stranger.

Hugo's eyes landed on Barmond, and he stood up from his spot among his peers. It was not a small thing. When a man like Hugo stands up to his full height in a middle of a conversation everyone looks at him, then looks at what he is looking at.

In short, everyone stopped talking and looked at Barmond, that froze.

His first instinct was to flee, and in those moments where his brain froze, that was what he did. He turned right around and went through the first doorway he found, passing some low-hanging curtains so that he would escape to the gallery around the room. He kept walking away swiftly, ignoring that one couple that seemed... fairly busy as he passed them to look over his shoulder, inside the room through another arch. Hugo was most certainly zeroing on him, waling around couches to get to in him a somewhat straight line.

Barmond looked in front of him and there was a wall. And that was when he realised that, in his panic, he had gone the wrong way, and that the exit was actually on the other side.

He turned around and there stood Hugo.

Ignoring the fact that he had been fleeing just a second ago, Barmond tried to forcefully relax and look as if he had the situation (and his boiling emotions) under control.

"Good evening, Hugo," he said.

Hugo smiled at him, slowly. And, as the corner of his lips moved further apart, revealing a mouth full of teeth, heat pooled in Barmond's stomach.

"Good evening, Barmond," he purred.