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Guillermo felt a tiny tinge of guilt as he ushered the camera crew out of the theater door.
But they had been content to watch the vampires die, so they might as well do something useful and act as bait.
He watched until they all had piled into the van parked at the end of the alley, unaccosted by any stray council affiliates.
Some must have gotten away, but for now it looked like any survivors had done the smart thing and fled. One by one the vampires did as told and got into the van, Nadja, Laszlo, Collin Robinson and-
"Guillermo?"
Guillermo spun around, stake halfway raised, expecting to see the next deadly threat, but it was just Nandor. He was still standing a few feet away, eyes fixed on the stake.
Guillermo lowered it slowly. Nandor wouldn't kill him unceremoniously like this. Besides, a small voice in the back of his mind told him, he still had the cross necklace wrapped around his left hand. He told the voice to fuck off and pushed the stake through a beltloop.
Nandor for his part had raised both hands in a placating gesture and a look of cautious calm on his face, like how one might approach a potentially rabid animal. It was an odd look on Nandor who usually approached all animals with nothing but gleeful curiosity.
Despite that lack of practice, he managed to slowly inch close enough to rest his hands on Guillermo's shoulders.
"You did something very brave today," he said with gravity.
"Thanks," Guillermo replied, weary from years of experience.
"But also very stupid."
Ah, thought Guillermo. There it was. Leave it to Nandor to complain about being rescued from certain doom.
Nandor continued:"Even the most ferocious warrior should be careful when fighting against greater numbers. All it takes is a single moment of bad luck. And we both know you have terrible luck all the time."
"Well, I managed just fine, so if you could wait with the feedback until we're all safe back home-"
That's all he got out before Nandor pulled him closer, so fast that Guillermo only processed that he was being hugged as it was well in progress.
It wasn't comfortable, the grip on his back was just a little too tight, and his face was pressed into Nandor's shoulder at an awkward angle. If he tried to speak he'd probably get a mouthful of hair.
But it also wasn't bad. After the adrenaline rush of the fight, not to mention the emotional rollercoaster of the night so far, a tight hug was the opposite of bad actually.
They were so close, he could feel Nandor's beard scratch at his temple. If not for that, he probably would have missed the next, barely whispered, words.
"Don't do something so stupid again. Please."
The raw emotion on the last word made Guillermo gasp, the first strategic mistake of the night he'd admit to. Between the gore covering him, the heavy scent of mothballs that no amount of dry Cleaning would ever remove from Nandors clothes, and yes, several strands of long hair, the assault on his lungs was enough to send him into a coughing fit.
Nandor immediately released him and stepped back, concern close to tripping into panic on his face.
"I'm fine, I just need some water." He waved his hand to signal that there was no reason to worry, and only realised his hand was still holding the cross when Nandor recoiled.
Guillermo cursed and stuffed the necklace in his pocket.
They stared at each other in silence, until they both got startled by the car horn.
"We have water at home?" Nandor said tentatively, asking several questions at once.
"Yeah," Guillermo replied, answering them all. "We do."