Brynjolf had taken advantage of him, and he was angry about that. That had become clear immediately, when he was weak from being half drained, when Andante had helped him to bed, mortified by what he\u2019d done, and Brynjolf had laughed again and refused to take a cure potion. It was clear. He wanted to be turned.\u00a0 Andante did not like the way he\u2019d been led into helping that happen. And yet he found it impossible to maintain that anger long enough to say anything about it \u2013 because Brynjolf made that impossible.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome on, Bryn,\u201d he\u2019d said the next morning, as the fever had started to come on. \u201cPlease. Reconsider this. I have plenty of cure potions right upstairs.\u00a0 You need to take one. You\u2019ll be right as rain in no time at all. You don\u2019t want to do this to yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHeh,\u201d Brynjolf had said, grabbing Andante in a grip that was startlingly strong, especially for a sick man. \u201cI don\u2019t? You don\u2019t think so?\u201d And then he\u2019d started nuzzling Andante\u2019s neck.\u00a0 Oh dear gods, Andante had thought, struggling to maintain any sort of control over himself and losing the struggle. Saying no to Brynjolf was not something he seemed able to do, and he didn\u2019t know whether it was Brynjolf\u2019s special abilities at work or something else.<\/p>\n
No, it\u2019s not him, it\u2019s me. If all I wanted was to sleep with him I could get up and walk away and he\u2019d never be able to stop me. I\u2019m stronger than he is. I\u2019m in such trouble. I\u2019ve always wanted to be with him but this is something else and I don\u2019t like not knowing what it is.<\/em><\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t as though becoming a vampire was the only thing Brynjolf had wanted.\u00a0 That was also clear, and Andante was mystified by it. Brynjolf had never given any signal before that he was in any way interested but now he was like a randy teenager. He had barely let Andante out of his sight, just long enough for him to dart over to the Guild and tell Delvin that Bryn wasn\u2019t feeling well, he was at Honeyside, Andante would make sure he stayed down until he was better, please keep an eye on things here, and then he\u2019d run back to Honeyside only to have Brynjolf start exploring with his hands yet again. He hadn\u2019t even had a chance to hunt.<\/p>\n Andante was delighted with that part and was doing his very best to meet the challenge.\u00a0 But he was horrified about the other thing.<\/p>\n I wasn\u2019t ever intending to turn him. It was just a fantasy, the two of us wreaking havoc across Tamriel and establishing our own clan in Castle Volkihar.\u00a0 Just a fantasy.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n But we could really do it.<\/em><\/p>\n How did I let myself get led into this? I let myself think with my body and my emotions instead of my brain, that\u2019s how.<\/em><\/p>\n But Brynjolf has to run the Guild.\u00a0 And I\u2019m an assassin. So maybe we don\u2019t take Volkihar. Maybe we do it from here.<\/em><\/p>\n What am I thinking?\u00a0 I want that castle.<\/em><\/p>\n Not a single part of it made sense, particularly not the very basic question of why Brynjolf had decided to take him on in the first place. Some men would no sooner have considered that than they would consider slitting their own wrists, no matter how much they wanted to be turned. He\u2019d been curled up beside Brynjolf, watching him deal with the initial stages of the disease, when he\u2019d asked him about it.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t think you were interested in men, Bryn. I mean sure, I heard talk. Supposedly you\u2019ve slept with everyone in the Guild.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf chuckled.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t take any of it seriously. And besides that, there were other people who warned me that I was fighting a losing battle trying to get your attention. Delvin, for example. He was pretty definite about it.\u00a0 Unless\u2026 you really have slept with Hofgrir? Was I right about that after all?\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf laughed, one of his hearty, happy laughs.<\/p>\n \u201cI like to keep people guessing.\u201d He grinned. \u201cNo, I haven\u2019t been with Hofgrir; I was just pulling your leg, lad. And I haven\u2019t slept with everyone in the Guild. That would be a stupid way to run a business, wouldn\u2019t it.\u201d\u00a0 He smiled, a soft smile, and turned to look at Andante as if he was making up his mind about something.\u00a0 He nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, would you like to hear a story?\u201d<\/p>\n A story, is it?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cOf course, tell away.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat kind of talk always starts with a kernel of truth, you know that.\u00a0 And here\u2019s my kernel. It\u2019s an old one.\u00a0 Back a very long time ago, when I was a skinny young thing, I did a whole lot of things that were, well how do I put it. Adventurous? Foolhardy? Stupid?\u201d He grinned again. \u201cI tended to overestimate my abilities back then. Did some things I probably shouldn’t have done. So life was truly interesting. For a lot of years.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou, skinny? I can hardly picture it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSkinny for me, anyway, with longer hair.\u00a0 Maybe a bit like your red-haired girl but not as well built on the top I\u2019d wager.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante guffawed.\u00a0 \u201cFew are.\u201d<\/p>\n He laughed.\u00a0 \u201cAnd I had no beard.\u00a0 So here I am, this sweet-faced redheaded boy who liked to get into trouble, and not quite as good at this business then as I am now in spite of being raised up and trained by some of the best. Oh, I was good, very good indeed, even back then, but they didn\u2019t send me on the most difficult jobs. I did tend to attract attention when I shouldn\u2019t have, and not all of it from places you might expect.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante couldn\u2019t help feeling a bit warm at the mental image of a younger Brynjolf, beardless and unscarred, with long hair.\u00a0 He reached over and brushed a stray strand of hair off Brynjolf\u2019s face and cringed.\u00a0 He\u2019s burning up. Even though I have cold hands I can tell. I wish he would just take the cure.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cSo I had a mark, this wealthy woman.\u00a0 I was supposed to steal one of her necklaces. An amazing piece, too, multiple sapphires, silver braided chain.\u00a0 She and her husband were throwing a party at the Blue Palace, and I worked my way into it by, uh\u2026 sweet-talking one of the serving girls, if you catch my drift.\u201d\u00a0 Brynjolf cleared his throat and winked at Andante. \u201cThat was always one of my better talents, especially when I was a young lad. In fact, I wasn\u2019t exactly sure how I was going to get to that necklace, but I figured I might be able to work a little charm on the mark as well.\u00a0 She was a handsome woman, and it wouldn\u2019t have been a hardship.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo we have something else in common, I see.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf laughed. \u201cSo it would seem. Well I got into the party and started looking around, and the most amazing fellow came over and started chatting me up.\u201d His voice grew soft, and his eyes sparkled. \u201cWhen I say amazing, I mean\u2026 he had eyes I couldn\u2019t look away from. They were so blue, and just intense.\u00a0 Short black hair and mustache, and\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Andante listened in amazement to the edge in Brynjolf\u2019s voice.\u00a0 It was hard to disguise, though Brynjolf was trying to make light of it.\u00a0 This is real. He was really attracted to this man. <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cHe was gorgeous, lad,\u201d Brynjolf continued. \u201cOr at least I thought so.\u201d\u00a0 He grinned. \u201cYou look a lot like him, truth be told. It\u2019s one of the reasons I noticed you right away.\u201d<\/p>\n Well, well.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure how to feel about that. <\/em><\/p>\n I can\u2019t believe he\u2019s telling me this.\u00a0 It must be the fever.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cApparently he thought the same thing about me. It was pretty clear to me what he was interested in and that was just fine with me. \u00a0He could have told me to take my clothes off right there in front of the party and I\u2019d have done it and turned myself inside out to boot, that\u2019s how far gone I was. \u00a0I was just caught. I don\u2019t know how to describe it, Andante.\u00a0 I looked at him, and he looked at me, and it was like we knew each other and had always known each other, and we were supposed to be together.\u201d<\/p>\n You don\u2019t have to describe it to me.\u00a0 I know that feeling. Fish on a hook, Brynjolf.<\/em><\/p>\n He looked at Andante and smiled, his eyes twinkling.<\/p>\n \u201cIt didn\u2019t take me more than a couple of seconds to agree to meet him upstairs when he suggested it. Never been with a man before that and never since \u2013 well, until now of course — but let me tell you, lad, it was worth every single moment that followed.\u201d<\/p>\n He reached for the tankard of water Andante had put next to the bed and paused to take a drink.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, there we were, well and truly taking full advantage and enjoyment of each other when in walked this woman, bold as you please, and started screaming at the man I was\u2026 engaged with.\u00a0 I turned around to look, and there was the mark herself, red as a forge and angry as a wasp\u2019s nest, and the man I was with turned out to be her husband.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante roared with laughter.\u00a0 \u201cNo!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, lad.\u00a0 \u2018What are you doing with my husband\u2019 was the phrase she used, as I recall. Very loudly. I would have thought it was pretty obvious, actually, given what was going on at that particular instant.\u201d\u00a0 He snickered. \u201cYou know, I would have been more than happy to invite her to join the festivities except for this one thing.\u00a0 She had a knife in her hand.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t a very sharp knife, mind you, but I was more or less tangled up for just long enough that she had a good swipe or two at me.\u201d\u00a0 He reached up to his left cheek.\u00a0 \u201cAnd so it didn\u2019t leave a nice clean scar.\u201d<\/p>\n He stretched under the blanket.\u00a0 \u201cI suppose I could have visited the face-changer a long time ago and gotten this taken care of, but every time I start to feel a little too cocky I reach up and remind myself of what happens when I get too distracted. And I also remember Dynjyl.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh so you got his name, then?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI got his name, and I got the necklace, and I got a lot more than that, every chance I could sneak back into his house, for a long while afterward.\u00a0 Scar and all. \u00a0He didn\u2019t mind. We had\u2026 a great deal of fun, the two of us.\u201d<\/p>\n Then he looked at Andante and gave him a small smile.\u00a0 \u201cSo what it comes down to, in the end, is that I\u2019m interested in the person<\/em> I\u2019m with, lad. \u00a0Who they are.\u00a0 Not what <\/em>they are. And Dynny,\u201d he said softly, \u201che was special.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante smiled.\u00a0 \u201cSo are you telling me that I\u2019m special?\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf smiled back. \u201cThe gods know you\u2019ve<\/em> told me that often enough since I\u2019ve known you.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante chuckled, and lifted his hand to Brynjolf\u2019s feverish cheek, tracing the scar that he had never realized carried so much meaning. He had a thought, and before he could stop himself he had blurted it out.<\/p>\n \u201cYou loved him.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf smiled again, a smile that went up to his eyes and warmed them.\u00a0 Andante caught his breath.\u00a0 He wouldn\u2019t have imagined this weathered, hardened man could make such a beautiful expression, but he did, and it reached into Andante and took him by the heart.<\/p>\n \u201cYes I did.\u201d\u00a0 He smiled again. \u201cI surely did,\u201d he said, very quietly. \u201cBut that was a very long time ago and life has been very different since then.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell then, where is he now? What happened?\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf\u2019s smile turned sad.<\/p>\n \u201cAh, well.\u00a0 That.\u00a0 He was a regular businessman, working for his wife\u2019s family, but he was bored. Fancied himself a thief like me, and he really wasn\u2019t. He had some modest skills, and I tried to teach him more, but\u2026 He had a talent for not being very careful. He tended to rush into things without doing a proper job of scouting first.\u00a0 He\u2019s\u2026 been gone for a long time now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh dear. I\u2019m sorry, Brynjolf, I didn\u2019t mean to\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf turned to look directly at him and smiled, a soft smile.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you lad.\u00a0 But there\u2019s no need. \u00a0It\u2019s been many years. Half a lifetime.\u00a0 And I\u2019ve managed to keep myself occupied since then.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWith women.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, they are, generally speaking, my type, and always have been,\u201d he said, grinning. \u201cYou\u2019re a bit outside the norm, in a lot of ways.\u201d<\/p>\n It surprised Andante, and not just because he was surprised that Brynjolf had had such a love affair as a young man. It may have been a very long time ago but it had left its mark on him in more ways than one; and however it had ended, Brynjolf clearly carried it with him as a precious gift, a jewel of his life that could never be taken from him.<\/p>\n I wish I knew whether I ever had something like that happen to me. <\/em>His throat constricted for just a moment.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t know, and I\u2019ll never know.<\/em><\/p>\n Well I certainly can\u2019t live up to that, Bryn. And I know you don\u2019t love me, and you probably never will.\u00a0 But I\u2019ll give you a run for your money if you\u2019ll have me.<\/em><\/p>\n Then he laughed to himself.\u00a0 He certainly will have me. Repeatedly.\u00a0 By the gods when the man makes up his mind he is all about that decision.\u00a0 I may never sleep again.<\/em><\/p>\n Brynjolf chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ve actually met her, lad.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante blinked.\u00a0 \u201cWhat? Met who?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe wife.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI, uh\u2026 I\u2019ve met Dynjyl\u2019s wife?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMmm-hmm.\u00a0 Do you remember the job you did just before I gave you the keys to Honeyside?\u201d<\/p>\n Andante\u2019s mouth fell open.\u00a0 \u201cThe woman in Solitude?\u00a0 With the rings?\u00a0 The one I had to\u2026 um\u2026 Bryn, really?\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf stared at him for a moment and then broke into a fit of laughter.\u00a0 \u201cYou really did? With her?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell I had to get into the bedroom somehow, dearest.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t the easiest assignment I\u2019ve ever had but I managed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, well,\u201d Brynjolf giggled.\u00a0 \u201cShe was a handsome woman back when I knew her but it\u2019s been twenty years. More than that. Yes, that was Dynny\u2019s wife.\u00a0 The one who gave me this.\u201d\u00a0 He reached up to touch his face.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u00a0 I don\u2019t mean to make fun of you.\u00a0 I hope it wasn\u2019t too much of a trial.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante laughed.\u00a0 \u201cNo, not really.\u00a0 Older women tend to be rather enthusiastic, in my experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf laughed more.<\/p>\n \u201cSo why now, Bryn? Why take me up on my rather obvious offer after all this time?\u00a0 Was it just so that you could get my fangs into your bloodstream?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf it had been just that, lad, I\u2019d have been out the door already,\u201d he said, grinning. \u201cBut I\u2019m still here, and so are you. Don\u2019t think this all hadn\u2019t crossed my mind before now, although something tells me you knew that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Andante smiled.\u00a0 \u201cI was pretty sure something was going on a few nights ago.\u00a0 I can hear your heartbeat, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d been thinking about it. You haven\u2019t exactly made it a secret that you were interested, and I\u2019ve been, well, at loose ends for awhile. A bit of a long dry spell. And I like you. Always have. That\u2019s why. It was just\u2026 time. And you are,\u201d he said, pulling Andante close and brushing a quick kiss across his mouth, \u201crather\u2026\u201d and another, \u201cappealing.\u201d<\/p>\n I give up.\u00a0 I\u2019m just lost.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n That had been the first day. But on this day, the third day, he sat at the side of the bed watching Brynjolf toss and turn.\u00a0 Nope, no restful sleep for you my friend.\u00a0 Not for a while yet. Not unless somehow I can force the cure down your throat.<\/p>\n He could do that, he knew.\u00a0 He was strong enough to snap Brynjolf in two; holding him down to force-feed the cure potion would be easy enough \u2013 but he had been hoping Brynjolf would make the decision on his own.<\/p>\n Worst of all, his own discomfort was growing.\u00a0 I need to go hunting soon or I\u2019m not going to be able to hide things from the rabble. He looked at himself in the glass and frowned.\u00a0 Cheeks sunken, harder and harder to maintain any semblance of nice plump human Andante from times past.\u00a0 And the eyes were definitely not blue. It was worse than he’d thought. He was starving to death.<\/p>\n \u201cBrynjolf,\u201d he said, nudging Bryn\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is it, lad?\u201d He blinked and tried to sit up, then fell back into the bed.\u00a0 The poor man was so sick.\u00a0 Well at least it\u2019s almost over.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to go hunting, Bryn.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to die if I don’t. Really die, I mean.\u00a0 Will you be alright for a little bit?\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf looked\u2026 almost afraid.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know lad.\u00a0 I won\u2019t lie, this is hard and it\u2019s scaring me a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor the love of Mara, take a healing potion.\u00a0 You still have time.\u201d<\/p>\n He shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNo, I can\u2019t.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s too late now, lad.\u00a0 I feel something happening, like it won\u2019t be long.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante sighed, considering his options.\u00a0 He looked closely at Brynjolf.\u00a0 Maybe he was right.\u00a0 His eyes did look different, the green maybe a bit paler.\u00a0 Maybe it really wouldn\u2019t be long now, although he really should<\/em> have more time; it had been evening when the bite had happened.\u00a0 But Andante had to eat, now<\/em>, or he was going to turn into an ash pile just as Brynjolf needed him most.<\/p>\n \u201cLet me check something.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be right back.\u201d<\/p>\n He darted up the stairs and opened the door a bit, to be hit in the face by the full force of a bright, sunny day, a rarity in Riften. His armor helped ward the worst effects of the sun, most of the time, but when he was starving there was no help for it. His face started to burn instantly.\u00a0 \u201cArrgh!\u201d he cried, slamming the door shut.<\/p>\n \u201cIs everything all right?\u201d he heard from the bedroom.<\/p>\n \u201cUh, no, full day and bright sun makes Andante a sad boy.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be all right in a moment or two.\u201d<\/p>\n This is the worst timing I\u2019ve ever had.<\/em>\u00a0 He sighed.\u00a0 Well, I guess I\u2019ll just be hungry for awhile longer.\u00a0 Maybe I can last.\u00a0 No I can\u2019t. I can\u2019t very well feed on Bryn, what am I going to do?<\/em><\/p>\n Then it dawned on him.<\/p>\n Many months earlier he\u2019d been on his way from Riften to Whiterun when a screaming Vigilant of Stendarr had come flying out of the woods, attacking him with everything he had.\u00a0 The man had been a tough fight, much tougher than Andante had ever expected to face from a Vigilant.\u00a0 When he\u2019d finally taken the Vigilant down and knelt to drain the blood from his body he\u2019d discovered that he couldn\u2019t; the man was a vampire. A much-weakened vampire, but a vampire nonetheless and Andante was not yet strong enough to feed on his own kind then as he could now.\u00a0 On the man\u2019s corpse was a journal bemoaning his state, and promising to destroy as many others as he could.\u00a0 He\u2019d also carried two blood potions with him.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t nearly as good sustenance as the real thing but they would do in a pinch, and Andante had slipped them into his pack for a rainy day. He ran to his potions chest and rummaged around in it.\u00a0 Sure enough.<\/p>\n The mixture tasted stale and horrible, but it definitely helped.\u00a0 Within a few moments he felt the twitchiness and urge to hunt subside, and he breathed a sigh of relief.\u00a0 He also grabbed a healing potion.\u00a0 Damn it all, it would be so good to have a companion but Brynjolf didn\u2019t really know what he was letting himself in for, smart as he thought he was. He ran back down the stairs.<\/p>\n Brynjolf cast him a quick look and reached out for his hand.\u00a0 Gave it a squeeze.\u00a0 Then closed his eyes and stopped moving. He was still as a stone, and not breathing.<\/p>\n \u201cAw damn, Brynjolf.\u00a0 I thought I had more time.\u00a0 I was going to force this down your throat.\u00a0 I\u2019m so sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n He sighed. It shouldn\u2019t be long now.<\/p>\n A few minutes later Brynjolf gasped for breath and sat bolt upright, then leapt off the bed, clutching at himself as though he wasn’t certain of his own body.\u00a0 \u201cAndante! Am I alive?\u201d<\/p>\n Andante took Brynjolf\u2019s chin and turned his face toward the light.\u00a0 His eyes were just as stunning as they had ever been, but they were no longer green.\u00a0 They were a vibrant gold.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, Brynjolf,\u201d he said sadly.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re not. You\u2019re undead, just like me.\u00a0 Here, you need to eat. And get back on the bed. You\u2019re going to be weak for a little while.\u201d He guided Brynjolf back to the bed and handed him the second blood potion.\u00a0 \u201cThis will taste awful but it\u2019s sustenance. We\u2019ll go hunting later.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf looked confused, but he drank the liquid and then grimaced.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s disgusting.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah it is. I know.\u00a0 I had one just before you woke up. Stale and tasteless. I prefer my meals warm.\u201d He grinned.\u00a0 \u201cBut it was that or be dead from lack of food.\u00a0 I wonder\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI wonder how much of my abilities you may have inherited.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n He grinned at Brynjolf.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m your sire, dear.\u00a0 You should be able to do many of the things I can do.\u00a0 Now, one of the things I can do is feed on my own kind.\u00a0 Our \u2026own kind.\u00a0 Most new vampires can\u2019t. I couldn\u2019t at first. But if you can do that\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n He guided Brynjolf\u2019s hand to his neck, to feel his pulse.\u00a0 His blood was not warm human blood but it would do.<\/p>\n Brynjolf stared at him.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you saying?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m saying that you\u2019re too weak to go hunting right now and it\u2019s far too bright outside for me, much less for a newly-fledged vampire. My armor helps with sun but you\u2019d burn to ash in moments.\u00a0 Now do what I tell you just for once and eat.\u00a0 Or at least see whether you can.\u201d<\/p>\n Brynjolf muttered to himself. \u201cWhy do I always end up with people telling me I need to eat?\u201d<\/p>\n He moved closer and nuzzled Andante\u2019s neck, the way he had so many times in the past few days.\u00a0 Andante closed his eyes and drank it in, the lovely sensations of Brynjolf\u2019s beard whispering across his skin, hearing his heartbeat speed up as the instinct to feed built, and then gasped with pleasure as Brynjolf\u2019s new fangs sank into his neck.<\/p>\n \u201cOh wonderful. Wonderful. Don\u2019t drain me dry, dear,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cBut help yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019s so strong. I can\u2019t believe it.<\/em><\/p>\n Brynjolf moaned, and fed, then fell back onto the bed.\u00a0 He was still weak, and would be for a while yet. He lay there looking at Andante, not quite confused but clearly just a little overwhelmed by the implications of what had just happened to him. It was to be expected. People thought it would be fun, or glamorous, Andante thought.\u00a0 And then it turned out to be hard, and you were sick, and then when it was finished you were hungry, so very hungry, for such a long time. At least Brynjolf hadn\u2019t been alone.<\/p>\n And then Andante grinned at his newly-fledged prot\u00e9g\u00e9, a perfectly evil idea dancing around in his head.\u00a0 I can\u2019t help myself, he thought, this has to happen. He slipped out of his clothing entirely, watching Brynjolf watching him with an increasingly devilish smile. He reached across Brynjolf to the bedside stand, pulled out two of the small bottles, and gave one of them to Brynjolf.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, my dear,\u201d he said. \u201cOriginally I was going to tell you to sleep, rest until nighttime, and then we\u2019ll go hunting.\u00a0 But I have a better idea to pass our time until nightfall.\u00a0 You were looking for another one of these the other night. It\u2019s quite safe now that you\u2019re a vampire, and you\u2019re not going anywhere right away. I\u2019ll join you.\u201d If it was good enough for Dynjyl, it\u2019s good enough for me.<\/em><\/p>\n Brynjolf\u2019s yellow eyes flashed, and the corner of his mouth twitched up into a smile. \u201cYou\u2019re a bad influence, Andante,\u201d he responded, then drained his bottle, never looking away from Andante\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n Oh there it is. I knew it was in you, that dark place, that need, the one that consumes everything and is never satisfied. The one that wants power. You\u2019ve been fighting yours all your life. I have one of my own. We match. The difference is that I don\u2019t fight it.<\/em><\/p>\n You looked at Dynjyl all those years ago and whatever outward form you each had meant nothing because the two of you recognized each other, and you had to have each other. Just the way we are looking at each other now.\u00a0 So yes, Bryn.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be your Dynny if that\u2019s what you want.\u00a0 I\u2019ll help you become more powerful, if that\u2019s what you want.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know where that dark place in your eyes leads but as long as you take me with you where you go, I will go too. I don\u2019t know what kind of man I was before, but I know who I am now, and the only thing I want is you. I am yours. Whatever you want. Just ask.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cYes. Yes I am. And so are you.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante tossed his back, waited for the familiar soaring rush of the skooma to begin blurring his vision.\u00a0 He sighed happily, then knelt over Brynjolf.\u00a0 Gods, I really am such<\/em> a bad influence, he thought. It\u2019s my defining quality. I wonder if it always has been.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t have to do a thing, Bryn.\u00a0 Just enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n A few minutes later, Brynjolf moaned and said \u201cShor\u2019s beard, lad.\u201d<\/p>\n Andante lifted his head and grinned at Brynjolf. \u201cYes indeed.\u201d<\/p>\n Previous<\/a> \/ Next<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It had been a long couple of days, and the first had been both the most exciting and the most trying. He was confused, and angry with himself. I was an idiot. He practically taunted me to do it and I knew better, and it happened anyway. 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