10. Sigh

Waking up to morning breath and wolf breath together, was not pleasant. Forcing down a gag, Warden pushed himself up and looked toward the living room, only to see Cerat curled up at the bottom of the bed.

Feeling something move beside him, Warden turned his attention to Drake just in time to see the man finish shifting back to his human form, then sit himself up. He didn't seem quite awake yet, though, as he just kind of leaned over against his shoulder.

"You don't look nearly as ferocious or annoying as you normally do when you're half asleep and naked in my bed." Warden mumbled sarcastically. It was true, though. Drake actually looked pretty calm with his eyes closed and features relaxed.

"Start fantasizing about me... n' I'll bite yer dick off." Drake whispered as he slowly slid his weight from Warden's shoulder until he was resting the upper half of his body in his lap, which was thankfully covered by the blanket.

Rolling his eyes, Warden grinned and set his right hand on top of Drake's soft hair. "Good morning to you, too." He said before moving his hand to poke Drake's cheek.

The gesture got a growl out of the werewolf, but it was clear that he wasn't going to respond with anything physical.

"I have to get to work, Drake. Need my lap back, if you don't mind." Warden finally said. He knew that Drake usually went in later than him, so he couldn't care less if he slept for a bit longer, but he really needed to get a shower and possibly feed Cerat.

Glancing back over to the vampire, he noticed that Cerat was awake but hadn't moved yet. Perhaps he won't be hungry until later. Warden thought as he decided to just shove Drake off his lap, then stand. Of course, he knew that Cerat was starving but likely wouldn't ask for food. I'll think of something.

Stepping into the bathroom, Warden let his boxers drop to the floor, then started the shower. While it warmed up, since it took a minute, he brushed his teeth. When he turned back to the shower after rinsing out his mouth, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped open.

"Told you he was your boy-toy. You're practically drooling and I haven't even stripped him yet." Drake said as he set Cerat down on his feet and began removing his clothing, even though it was clear that the vampire wasn't happy about it.

"There. You sure you don't wanna do him before I wash him? Stuff can be a pain to get off if it's left to sit for awhile..." Drake said with a wolfish grin.

Groaning, Warden shook his head and walked past Drake. Grabbing Cerat's hand, he was about to turn back toward the room, where he should be waiting, but he then realized that he probably could use a shower. Dammit. Whirling back around, he tugged the guy into the shower and slid the door shut behind them before Drake could come in.

"You can shower after or go use the one at my penthouse." He said as he turned and grabbed the shampoo.

Handing the bottle to Cerat, he started washing his own body with a light citrus-smelling soap. He wasn't a fan of most scents, but it was just strong enough to clean well and leave a reasonably fresh smell. At that moment, it was actually quite relaxing just to stand partially under the water and clean himself up.

He might have also been glancing over at Cerat every few seconds out of curiosity, though of what, he likely couldn't say. The guy was too thin and far too pale.

When he noticed Cerat waiting to rinse out his hair, he stepped to the back of the shower. Since the soap would just rinse off his body when he did his hair, Warden grabbed the shampoo and began to lather it in his own hair.

"You perverted miscreant!"

Oh come on. Warden thought as he let his wings unfurl and cover his front right as he heard the shower door being shoved to the side.

"I wasn't doing anything but showering, ma'am." He growled out as he tried to swipe at the soap around his eyes so that he could open them. "What are you doing in here again, anyways?" Not to mention that it couldn't be later than seven in the morning, too.

There was silence for a moment, so Warden hurried to rinse his hair, then wipe his eyes so that he could see the woman glaring at him just beyond the shower doors. She was wearing her name tag on her shirt, so Warden figured she had come up right before she intended to start work.

"Ma'am, I have to get to work soon and was just letting Cerat wash. Drake shoved him in here and I didn't think it would matter, but I didn't touch him or anything." He said, feeling more and more uncomfortable as the woman stared, even with his wings covering his middle.

She held up a small packet of stapled papers, a smirk growing on her face as Warden leaned forward to read the bold print near the top. The vampire, Cerat, is permitted to continue working at Flora's Pet Shop under the contract he had previously signed with the owner of the store for six months of employment. Once those months have passed, the employment will be terminated.

What. The. Hell?

"This is an official document from the supernatural counsel." Warden said to himself as he hurried to step out of the shower and wrap a towel around his waist.

Instead of replying, the woman reached forward and grabbed Cerat's wrist, then tugged him from the shower and headed for the door to Warden's room. "I'm taking him, since he clearly belongs to me between the hours of seven A.M. and six P.M." She stated after passing through the bedroom door and heading for the front one.

"Wait! You can't just take him!" And definitely not while he was naked!

The woman turned around, slowing Warden's steps as he approached. When he got close enough she handed him the stapled papers. "Those say I can. And I will drag him out of here in his birthday suit if you don't get him some clothing right now. I have a business to run, and I need my employee."

Rubbing a hand down his face, Warden sighed and turned, making his way back into the bedroom. It took him a minute to find some clothes, including a large sweatshirt to hide the electric collar, that would fit Cerat. He handed them to the vampire to change while he turned his attention back to the woman.

"Do these papers say anything about him being watched? You aren't going to be able to control a vampire, even one who's weakened, if he gets triggered by blood." He said, confused about the whole situation and what it would mean for him.

Flora just laughed and shook her head. "He still needs to be watched twenty-four hours a day. That's why I've taken the liberty of converting the break room into an office. Well, actually, I just added wifi, since my other employees were asking for it, but you can just use that and work on your laptop."

That's not how my job works! Why does everyone think it's that simple? Warden growled in his mind as he turned around and blew out a frustrated breath, trying to keep his cool.

"Grandma!" Drake yelled as he came barreling past him in a pair of black dress pants, his hair damp and a shirt in hand. Evidently, he'd stepped into the shower after they had gotten out. Fastest shower I think he's even taken. "Come to throw another wrench at our soggy chicken here?" Drake asked, making Warden frown as he remembered his soaked feathers dripping water all over the floor.

"Hello, sweetheart. Yes, I'm just taking back what's mine." She stated simply, then looked back to Warden. "Hurry up and get dressed. I don't appreciate tardiness."

Unable to think of anything to say in response, Warden stomped away and pulled on a pair of boxers and pants, socks and shoes, then grabbed several towels and a shirt. Since he wasn't going into the office, thanks to grandma, he got a casual shirt. Tossing the towels and shirt over his left shoulder, he then grabbed his laptop bag he'd left near the bed and walked back out to see that the old woman was munching on a waffle and Cerat had some spinach he was hungrily shoving into his mouth.

"Oh, he's finally ready. Well, I'll see you later, sweetheart. Thank you for the breakfast." She called to Drake as she turned and headed out the door.

"Stop eating my food!" Warden yelled back at Drake as he ran out the door, knowing full-well that the werewolf would likely have half of the small fridge cleared out and in his stomach just for saying that by the time he got back.

Where did I go wrong? I'm so confused. He thought as they headed down the stairs to the first floor shop.

As soon as the woman got the door open he stalked to the back and went into the break room. Of course. There was a sign in the corner written in Sharpie and held up with duct tape that read POULTRY OFFICE, DO NOT DISTURB. DISTURBED ENOUGH ALREADY, with an arrow pointing to the corner beside the vending machine.

Fuck my life. He thought angrily as he got his laptop set up after wrapping the towels around his wet wings and setting down his shirt, glad that she at least put a small stained coffee table in the corner so that he had somewhere to set it down that wasn't the floor.

"The employee bathroom is in the back left corner."

Hearing the woman's voice, Warden looked up, grunting in response before sitting down in the small metal folding chair he'd need to replace later.

"Lunch is taken around one, though it depends on how busy we are."

Warden nodded, already pulling up the work he was behind in. When he heard the door to the room shut, he relaxed slightly and decided to just make do with what he had at that moment.

At least Cerat gets to be out of that apartment for awhile.

The thought brought a small smile to his face. Perhaps the situation could work. At least until the contract ended. Or he'd get fired for getting too far behind, though, it was much more likely that the pet shop owner would drive him insane long before then.

Wonderful.