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After a few days working in the Orb wing, I felt like I was getting the hang of it. A lot of them just wanted to do their consumption time in peace and be left alone. None of them had asked me to keep them company like Kroven had.

Which made me think. I'd tended to several of his kind at this point and I hadn't felt suddenly attracted to them or like I didn't know what to say or do when I was around them. It was just Kroven. He hadn’t been back since that first day I tended to him, and I was starting to wonder if I'd put him off with how weird I'd been acting around him. I couldn't blame him. Maybe he’d noticed the prominent boner I was sporting throughout most of his last appointment. Maybe he just really didn't like my nervous energy when he was trying to relax and absorb the nutrients that kept him alive.

All of that went out the window when one of the girls who worked with me in the Orb wing came up to me in a cloud of huffed annoyance. I thought her name was Ronnie but I didn't know if I was supposed to know that. It sounded like a nickname and I hadn't bonded with anyone enough to use one while being assigned to the Orb wing yet .

“What's your name?”

I blinked back at Ronnie from behind the main desk of the Orb wing. I was going over my list of appointments for the day, glad that I'd be having yet another day without embarrassing myself in front of Kroven.

“Bas.” I said back with a nod.

“You're being requested by my ten o'clock. Can we switch?”

Requested? I didn't even know that the Orbs could make requests. That little kernel of information must have escaped Babs. “But my ten o'clock hasn't arrived yet.”

“It's cool. This guy said he only wants you.”

It had to be Kroven, right? I took the chart from her but didn't bother looking while I made my way to the waiting area. Why would Kroven request me? Maybe he really did just enjoy having me there.

A beautiful name for a beautiful man.

Kroven had said that to me. I blushed at the thought of Kroven wanting to see my face again.

Sure enough, I looked down at the chart in my hands right before I breached the double doors of the lobby and saw his name. I burst through the doors, feeling giddy as I spotted him, this time close by instead of in the corner like he had been during his first visit with me here. When I called his name and smiled, he just nodded and let me take him back to one of the consumption rooms. It was a different room than the last time he was here, but the contents within were identical.

He took his seat on the couch and I didn’t even bother closing the door this time. Kroven opened his mouth to speak, but I spoke first.

“AB Negative again?”

Kroven’s naturally too-red lips curled in amusement. “You remembered.” He laughed to himself and feigned a hand over his chest. “You flatter me.”

“How could I forget my first?” As soon as I said it, I knew that it sounded way flirtier than I’d intended and I only hoped that Kroven didn’t read into things way more than they needed to be like I did. I made sure the next words out of my mouth were totally even and lacked any underlying sexual charm. “I heard you requested me specifically.”

“That’s right, I was your first.” He cooed, completely ignoring me as he focused on the part of the conversation he was seeking to tease me with and I could already feel myself straining not to blush. “Lucky me.”

“Um, so the AB Negative? Or do you want to switch it up today?”

Something flitted across Kroven’s face just then, something I couldn’t quite make out. It looked as if he wanted to say more but thought better of it. This dude was really making it hard to do my job, in multiple ways. I shifted on my feet to avoid another embarrassing boner moment.

“Yes, more AB Negative, please.”

“Right away.”

I left in a hurry, because I was coming around to the fact that there was something about this handsome ass Orb that turned me into a teenager again. Was it my limited exposure to Orbs that had accumulated over the years and latched onto Kroven because he was the first one that I’d been able to interact with? My tendency to stay in was known but had it stunted me into being ready for Orb interaction?

Kroven made me curious, made me want to ask questions when I was so used to keeping quiet. I’m sure it was a fluke, all my fascinations taking form in an exaggerated attraction to him. Yeah, that was it. It had to be.

I returned to Kroven’s room with a tray containing two pouches of AB Negative and handed them to him with a subdued smile. Once again, he set the tray on the coffee table and looked up at me with his grey eyes. I wondered how long he kept his sight once he drank and added it to my growing list of questions I wanted to ask him.

“Would you indulge me again?” Kroven asked, gesturing a sweeping hand next to him on the couch. “I’d love more time to satiate our mutual interest in one another.”

Why did he have to say things in a way that made me hard? Because that’s exactly what was happening. I took his chart with me this time as I nodded and sat on the couch, having at least something to cover up with if it kept happening.

He said mutual interest. So he had his own questions about humans that he’d love to be answered. That made me feel better, like we were both getting something out of it. I didn’t want him to think I was using him like an Orb search engine.

“Sure.” I finally said. “You didn’t really get to ask me anything last time, so why don’t you start?”

“Perfection,” He smiled, letting me see those fangs as he poked his straw in the first of his blood pouches. “What’s it like living with such a short life span?”

Wow, he was getting pretty existential to start. The vitality of humans wasn’t what I had been expecting Kroven to ask me about first thing. I smiled wide.

“I can’t speak for other humans, but for me, I don’t really think about it too much. I try my best to always live in the now, so I have as little regrets as possible.”

“Hmm, intriguing.” Kroven said, slurping his pouch while he mulled over my answer. “You’re turn, Sebastian.”

Ugh, the way he said my full name. He really needed to cut that out. And if I wasn’t already fighting the growing hardness beneath the chart in my hands, I would have chastised him for not using my preferred name. But that was a battle to engage over at another time.

“What species are you?” When I thought about how ignorant I sounded, I clarified. “I mean, what’s the name of your kind? I’d never met a blood-dependent beings until I met you the other day, and I’m just curious what makes you…you.”

Kroven looked very pleased, smiling again behind his pouch. “My kind are called sangamar.” Song-uh-mar . Even his species name sounded interesting. “We are born with the need to consume blood every day or our hearts stop beating. And feasting on blood is the only thing that gives us our sight.”

“How long can you see for after you drink?”

“A few hours, if we drink a decent amount.” He finished the first pouch and placed it on the tray before prepping the second one. “This will enable me to see through the rest of the evening.”

“And is there a reason you have to consume blood to stay alive? Like a curse or something?”

That hearty laugh fell out of him at that and I smiled feebly. “Is that what humans think?”

“I don’t know,” I chuckled. “People think your kind sound a lot like vampires, which is—”

“I know what vampires are, Sebastian.”

He sounded cold in that response and I hoped I hadn’t offended him. “I’m sorry, I—”

“You said nothing wrong, human.” He added a smile and I tried to take that as a sign that everything was okay. Even if there was a shift in energy hanging between us. “I just don’t appreciate the comparison. To be honest with you, I think humans have encountered many creatures before our inaugural announcement and then used said encounters to indulge things for the sake of entertainment.”

Most Orbs were different versions of what movies and other media told us went bump in the night. Vampires, werewolves, fairies, etc. They all seemed to have an origin with an Orb as the inspiration, but the idea that a human had discovered an Orb that long ago and didn’t tell anyone baffled me. Of course it could still be true. There had to be somewhere for the monster movie craze of early Hollywood to have originated. Maybe that’s where it all had stemmed from.

“So,” I hope what I wanted to ask him next wasn’t too personal. “What made you come here?” When his brow furrowed, I clarified with, “I mean, here . Why specifically Piper, Virginia?”

He seemed to teeter with how to answer this question, alternating between looking at me and continuing to sip on his pouch as he watched the contents empty from the see-through plastic. Once he was finished with the second pouch, he set it down with the other discarded one and I was able to look into those striking red eyes as they swirled to life.

“As for why here in Piper, it’s too long a story for me to tell here. But in general, I suppose the adventurous side of me wanted to know what it was like.” Kroven stated. “The places my kind had to linger before we came out of the shadows was a lot of things, but kind was not one of them. I understand that some beings made trouble for you humans at the start, but this?” He gestured to the room. “A blood center that not only helps sangamar with their cravings but encourages them to visit instead of enacting violence on other creatures? I suppose I enjoy the kindness I’ve found here.”

My heart lurched. The fact that Kroven was such an outsider but was choosing to see the kindness of humanity rather than the still thriving hatred and anti-Orb organizations that had risen over the years felt good to hear. Kroven really was an optimistic guy.

I flushed with the thought of time. We’d probably been talking long enough that I could get in trouble. Slowly, I rose from the couch. Kroven followed my action with ease.

“I’ve kept you too long, Sebastian.” He nodded. “I apologize.”

“No, it’s all good.” I gathered the tray from the table and eyed him sternly. “But please, call me Bas.”

“If you insist.” Kroven grinned .

“I do.” I chuckled. “If you want, I can schedule your next appointment and put in on my schedule instead of you requesting me every time. I mean, assuming you’d prefer me to handle your appointments.” I didn’t want him to think that he had to ask for me, but I really enjoyed being able to talk to him. It suddenly struck me that he hadn’t been able to ask me anything else, and selfishness poured through me. “I just realized you didn’t get to ask me more than your first question. I kept asking about you. I’m sorry. Ask me whatever you want before I go.”

Kroven rolled his freshly red eyes. “Are all humans this neurotic?” When I opened my mouth to answer honestly, he waved me off and started laughing lightly. “That was rhetorical.”

“Sorry.” I could feel the heat in my cheeks and I scratched my face to hide it as I calmed myself from blushing even more. “You can still ask me something, then I’ll go.”

“Okay.” Kroven suddenly stood, stepping forward and then locking his eyes with an intensity that made my stomach lurch forward. “Are you afraid of me?”

“No.” I answered automatically and I knew it was true. There was nothing terrifying about Kroven in my eyes. He was just…a guy. I mean, he was a creature that wasn’t human, but he was sweet. He thought kindly of humans. He appreciated what they were doing with the blood centers for his kind, for the sangamar. How could I be afraid of someone who was so themself?

He tilted his head, really examining me, making me feel like he was looking through me to see if I was lying or not. When he straightened his posture, he smiled. “I suppose there are some of my kind who would think me less than for liking that answer.”

“Why?”

“Sangamar are feared around the world,” Kroven explained. “We’re the only species that have to consume the blood of another in order to survive. Of course, some creatures devour others to defend themselves or simply because they want to, but only sangamar will die without doing so. We have a bit of a terrifying reputation.”

“You don’t scare me, Kroven.” I said, shaking my head. “I don’t think anything about you is scary.”

This caused another grin to bloom on his face. “And for that, I think you are my new favorite human I have happened upon, Bas.”

He dropped his voice when he said my name and I was going to be done for if I didn’t get out of that room. “Well, um, about scheduling. Did you want me to add you to my appointments going forward?”

Kroven smiled wide, showing me his fangs which retracted until they looked just like human teeth. I managed to keep the shock from my face as I spotted the hint of his purple tongue hiding behind them, and I gulped with want. “That would be wonderful.”