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Guillermo was awoken by screaming.
To be more specific: Nandor screaming.
It took him less than a second to jump out of his closet bed and grab the nearest thing that was closest to him, which happened to be a lamp, and rush out into the foyer of the vampiric mansion. Despite being in service to Nandor for 11 years now, it wasn’t common for him to be awoken by the vampire. He had a system: do the chores, buy the essentials, find victims, sleep a few hours, awaken Nandor and spend the day with the vampires before taking him to coffin and doing it all again. It was… repetitive, and very tiring, but he was used to it by now.
Guillermo quickly realised the screaming was coming from Nandor’s room and rushed up the stairs two at a time. Colin Robinson stood at the bottom, looking up at the commotion but making no attempt to intervene. Clearly, he was enjoying this if his glowing blue eyes were anything to go by.
“Master!” The familiar burst through the door to the vampire’s room and his eyes immediately locked onto his master, who had taken residence in the corner, holding out one of the many swords that usually would be decorating the walls. His gaze was locked onto the opposite side of the room, his eyes narrowed as he hissed out a warning towards the threat.
The familiar took a second to make sure his master was still in one piece and not injured before turning his attention towards what Nandor was staring at. He couldn’t help but jolt and back away slightly at the figure who stood there, dressed in a long, beige trench coat that looked to be completely covered in blood. His hair sat dripping slightly over his face as he faced Nandor, stake in hand as if ready to attack at any moment. Guillermo couldn’t see him fully; the room was still dark except for the shine of moonlight peaking out from the curtains. The two continued to stare each other down for a second more, a thick tension taking over the room, before the figure sighed and dropped his position, rubbing the back of his neck and groaning.
“Okay, that’s enough for tonight – I don’t have the energy for this right now, I have to go-“ The stranger’s complaints were quickly cut off as soon as he noticed Guillermo in the room, his whole body tensing up. “…Who are you?”
“M-My name is-“
“Don’t answer him, Guillermo!” Nandor hissed, sword still raised and stance remaining low and nimble. “This creature has taken your form and made a mockery of it, it’s not even close to resembling you. If you were trying to trick me, foul beast, you have failed!”
“Wha- Nandor what are you taking about?” The stranger spoke again, though his attention remained mainly on Guillermo as he tilted his head in confusion. “I haven’t-“
“You shall address me as Nandor the Relentless!” His master exclaimed, standing up tall as if to prove his point. The stranger didn’t look impressed, instead he just continued to act confused.
“…Something’s wrong.” He finally said, turning to look at Guillermo properly. He wiped the blood from his face, brushing his hair aside as he did so and stepped out of the shadows. The moon shone through the gap in the curtains, illuminating the face of this invader fully to the human. Guillermo froze, his grip on the lamp slipping and wincing as it dropped to the floor with a loud thud. Not even Nandor’s click of the tongue at his disappointment could distract the human from the stranger’s face as it stared at him.
Because stood there, still dripping with what the familiar really hoped wasn’t blood, was Guillermo De La Cruz.
“So… this isn’t ideal.” Said the new Guillermo, looking around the room as if trying to find a hidden camera to stare into. The familiar didn’t have much time to consider how weird this was as he collapsed to the floor and fainted.
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“You broke my familiar!”
“I didn’t break him! I’m sure you wouldn’t react well either if your doubleganger just showed up here, covered in blood!”
“That is where you are wrong, imposter Guillermo, I would celebrate my ‘double gang ger’s’ safe return from what I would assume was a victorious battle!”
Guillermo rolled his eyes and turned away from Nandor, who sounded downright offended at the action. He had abandoned the bloody coat and weapon after dragging the other Guillermo into the fancy room and letting him rest on the couch. Nandor had insisted that if he was going to stay until the human woke back up that he at least had to not have a stake in his hand. That was fine by him, he had more hidden away anyway.
The slayer didn’t remember much. That morning, Guillermo had returned home from a shopping trip to Nandor screaming bloody murder, the type of murder that the human knew by now was his master just being dramatic. He had sighed, dropping the groceries off in the kitchen before grabbing a stake and making his way to his friend’s room, where he found the vampire biting into his latest victim of the night. Unfortunately, he seemed to have fucked up the feeding process and blood was squirting out of the now very much dead victim like a fountain. Nandor and Guillermo had tried to stop it the best they could, but he had ended up getting way more all over himself than he had planned.
Once they finally managed to control the blood flow, it was only then that they noticed the victim had written something in blood on the wooden floors. Guillermo has paused and bent over to touch the writing, which in retrospect was a horrible idea, and had glanced back up to see Nandor staring at him like he’d seen a ghost. When he had asked Nandor what was wrong, the vampire had screamed and ran over to his wall of swords. The rest was history.
It didn’t take a slayer too long to realise the blood writing had been a spell of some kind, written just before the victim’s death as some form of punishment for Nandor. They were probably associated with the witches, that was a logical explanation.
The younger Guillermo groaned in his sleep, rolling over on the sofa and smushing him face in the cushion. The slayer sighed as this Nandor rolled his eyes at the doubleganger, muttering something about lazy familiars. Guillermo narrowed his eyes and glanced between the two quickly before examining the room. It looked… different to what he was used to. Not just in the fact that it wasn’t falling apart, there were little decorations that had moved or furniture that was facing the wrong way. It was giving him a serious case of déjà vu.
“Will you shut up for just one second,” he complained at the vampire, who stared at him in return like he’d just slapped him. Guillermo ignored it, being used to the vampire’s dramatics by now, and started to pace around the place, examining everything he could. The solution was on the tip of his tongue, he could feel it in his blood, he just needed a little push towards the answer.
“How dare you speak to me like that, imposter, I will drain you of every little drop of tainted blood you have stolen from my familiar-“
“Bodyguard.”
Nandor looked taken aback, both at being interrupted and also at what Guillermo had said.
“…What?”
“I’m your bodyguard, not your familiar, we’ve been over this,” Guillermo responded, turning himself back towards the vampire. Instead of being greeted with Nandor’s usual reluctant expectance, the vampire just continued to look confused, offended and weirdly in awe. “You… you know this, Nandor, what is with you tonight?” Guillermo asked, taking a step towards the vampire and tilting his head with a small smile.
The vampire had nothing to add to the conversation it seemed, he simply sat on the chair opposite the sleeping second Guillermo and kept his eye on the slayer.
“…Nandor…” Guillermo muttered, suddenly very concerned for his master. He walked over to the vampire and leaned down, placing the back of his hand on his forehead as if checking for a fever. It was a stupid gesture, considering vampires couldn’t get sick, but it seemed to garner a reaction from the man as he froze under his touch, eyes locking with the slayer in panic. “Do you remember anything from tonight? Did you hit your head with that feeding?”
The vampire still didn’t seem to have a response, gulping down a breath he didn’t need to take. Guillermo sighed and took his head away, ignoring how Nandor seemed to subtly chase it forward. Weird…
“Clearly that spell did something to your brain and made a second me. I don’t know why though; it seems like a weird punishment to choose for you just before they were about to die.” He tried to rationalize, ignoring the blaring obvious that was right in front of him. As the other Guillermo continued to stir in his sleep, the slayer’s ‘small push’ came in the from of Colin Robinson, walking into the fancy room unannounced. It made the human completely freeze up on his feet, his mouth gaping open in a manner very similar to Nandor’s earlier. No… No way…
“Well, hey there friendos, that’s a nice outfit you’ve got on Guillermo. Are you sure its ‘safe for work’ as one might say?” Colin commented, starting himself on a small rant about workplace attire. Guillermo didn’t even care that he was probably being drained right now, far too focused on the very much dead energy vampire last time he checked that was stood in front of him. This wasn’t the child Colin Robinson he had come to know at all, this was… normal Colin Robinson. Had he grown up completely in the span on a night? No, that didn’t make any sense. Did the spell have anything to do with- wait
Oh. Of course.
He was in the past.
“… Hey, is that another Guillermo on the couch?”
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When the familiar finally woke, it took him a few seconds to recognise that he wasn’t in his small closet of a room, but instead draped out onto the fancy room’s sofa with a blanket. His head throbbed as he sat up, wincing slightly at the sudden rush of blood to his brain.
“Oh- be careful! You hit your head pretty bad back there,” he heard from somewhere to his left, turning his head to find the ‘imposter’ Guillermo standing there with a glass of water in his hand. He was no longer dripping in blood, instead having abandoned his coat for his shirt and waistcoat combo and had a small smile on his face. He seemed… nervous? “Here, drink up.”
Guillermo reluctantly took the glass of water and sipped at it, glad to find it was indeed just water. The other human (?) sat on the couch opposite to him, hands in his lap as he waited for the right moment to speak his mind, clearly he had something to say. Hopefully it was an explanation.
The younger Guillermo got to it first.
“Where’s Na- my master?” He asked, looking around for the vampire.
“He left, I think two Guillermos was too much for him,” the other human chuckled, relaxing slightly as he folded his arms. “So uh, I figured out what happened. I think…”
The familiar stayed quiet, sipping at his drink as he waited for the other to speak.
“…I’m Guillermo, just like you, expect I’m… from the future. At least a couple years I think.”
“…okay…”
The older Guillermo smirked, leaning back as he spoke. “Yeah… Nandor messed with the wrong witch familiar or something and it caused me to just pop back in time. So, I guess I’m stuck here now until he can figure out how to fix it. I guess I could fix it myself, but he got me into this mess in the first place and I doubt he’s in the mood to get another bodyguard.”
The younger Guillermo tilted his head in confusion and sat up a little more, taking a moment to really comprehend what he was being told. “… so, you’re me?”
“So it seems, yeah.”
“Right.” He nodded and took another sip of the water. He felt sick trying to come to terms that he was speaking with a version of himself from a couple of years into the future. Yes, he’d been living with vampires for the past 11 years, but he’d never heard or seen something like this happen. Nadja always spoke badly about witches, so he guessed she wasn’t far off her accusations if getting involved with them in any way ended up with situations like this. “…This is weird.”
Older Guillermo laughed and nodded. “Yeah, it is.”
The two men fell into an uncomfortable silence as they lost themselves in thought over what to say, the slayer doing that thing he did earlier when he looked around the room, like he was trying to find something to eye awkwardly like in The Office.
“Wait so, how many years in the future did you say?”
“A couple, I don’t know for sure really. From what I can tell from the house and… you, it can’t be more than two or three.”
A sudden thought came to younger Guillermo and his stomach dropped. The other clearly noticed, immediately catching on to what he was thinking, Of course he did, they were practically the same person.
“…No, he hasn’t turned me yet.”
“I mean, I can’t say I’m surprised…” Younger Guillermo laughed, trying not to let his clear disappointment show through. It probably did anyway, was there any point in hiding his emotions from someone who could literally read him like a book? “I just thought that maybe… it’s the anniversary of me becoming a familiar in a month. I thought maybe…”
“Yeah… I remember,” the other said, glancing at the door to the fancy room which he had closed in the hopes they wouldn’t get interrupted. He concluded either Nandor had gone for a late-night walk to cool off or was listening to every word they were saying just outside the door. Either way, there wasn’t much Guillermo could do about it, so he pushed on. “You know, he actually did offer once.”
This got the younger human’s attention, sitting up straight almost spilling the water in the process. “He offered to turn you?”
“Yep. He was planning to go on this journey to see his homeland and we got into an argument. It ended with him asking me to come with, to turn me on the banks of the place he grew up in.” Guillermo explained, feeling weirdly proud of finally being able to tell Nandor’s promise to someone who truly could understand its significance. Younger Guillermo looked shellshocked, like he could faint again at any moment.
“That’s- wow that’s- that’s a lot to take in… what happened?”
“…It’s a long story. It just never worked out.” He left it at that, too tired to explain the whole situation with baby colin, Laszlo and that dreadful wooden crate.
Younger Guillermo stayed silent, nodding a little like he understood the other didn’t want to explain further. “Do you think he’ll offer again?”
“I-… I don’t know.” Guillermo hadn’t really wanted to think about it. Yes, he still wanted to become a vampire, but there was more in the way now. There was Marwa, his job as a bodyguard and an accountant to the nightclub, his family… “Nandor’s got a lot on his-“
“You call him Nandor.” The slayer looked up at the younger familiar, who locked eyes with him with a stare full of awe and curiosity. “He’s Nandor to you, not Master.”
“Yeah, I guess he is. I mean, I still call him Master sometimes, mainly out of habit,” Guillermo explains, again weirdly proud of being able to admit this. “But, I’m not technically his familiar anymore. I’m his bodyguard.”
“Bodyguard?!” The younger Guillermo stood up with a start, placing the water on the side table before turning back to the slayer. “What do you mean, ‘bodyguard’?”
The older human smiled and stood back up, taking out a stake from behind his back. The younger jumped at the sight, reversing back until he bumped up against the couch in fright. Guillermo simply smirked and pointed to the portrait of Nandor that stood proudly on the wall. “See that?”
“…yeah?” The younger replied with apprehension. In a flash, the picture of the vampire had been impaled perfectly with a wooden stake sticking out of its chest, causing the familiar to gasp and cover his mouth. He turned back to his doubleganger, who stood there proudly with now empty hands.
“How did you…” The slayer suddenly took a step forward and held out his own hand, waiting for the other to take it. Nothing was said for a few moments before the familiar finally gave in and clasped it with this own.
“Close your eyes.” The older requested and the younger followed without question. He yelped as something solid was placed into his palm and upon spoken instruction, he reopened his eyes to see a stake being held tightly in this grasp. The other recoiled at this, wanting to immediately drop it and run out of instinct, but was stopped by the hand on his shoulder.
“Trust me. Throw it.” Said the slayer, smiling encouragingly at the other.
“Throw it?!”
“Yes, throw it.” He repeated, taking a step back to give the familiar his space. Guillermo stared at the piece of wood in his hand, his other placed over his chest as he started to lightly hyperventilate. It felt so wrong to be holding such a dangerous weapon in his hand, especially in a vampiric house, but at the same time Guillermo could feel a part of him ease at the feeling of the wood against his skin. Thank god Laszlo wasn’t here right now, the innuendos were practically writing themselves.
The younger human looked back at his counterpart, who seemed to be knowingly smiling. He nodded, pointing to the portrait of his master on the wall. The older seemed to know what he was doing and it was enough to get Guillermo to close his eyes again. He squeezed his fist around the stake, taking in slow, deep breaths. For a split second, he felt his blood light up with a fire he didn’t know he possessed and his body moved on its own. His arm twisted around and forward, letting the stake fly into the air until he heard a thud from the opposite wall.
Slowly, he opened one eye and then the other. A small laugh of disbelief escaped him at what sight greeted him. Two stakes perfectly next to each other, both impaling Nandor the Relentless’s portrait that stood proudly on the wall of the fancy room.
“How did I do that?” The younger asked in disbelief, turning his attention back to the other. The older Guillermo smirked, sitting back onto the armrest of the sofa.
“Van Helsing blood on our mother’s side. I took a DNA test and after that, it all just sort of fell into place.”
“Van Helsing… The vampire slayer?” The familiar exclaimed, even though he knew his counterpart would have no reason to lie to him. He’d felt the evidence himself just a few moments ago. Guillermo let out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding, collapsing back into the couch with a laugh. “Mierda…"
“Yeah. Took me a while to come to terms with it really. Took a couple of vampire corpses too.”
Younger Guillermo chose not to unpack that, instead choosing to focus on something else before his mind exploded. “So, you protect Nandor?”
“All the vampires really. Some stuff went down and it turns out they need us more than they realise.” The familiar laughed at this, even though he practically knew that already.
“Does Mama know?” The slayer seemed to freeze at this, taking a moment to compose himself before answering.
“Not really. It’s complicated. I brought them to the mansion one night- they almost killed Nadja.”
“No!” The younger said in shock, covering his laugh with his hand. “Mama nearly killed Nadja!”
“Yeah! She almost returned the favour really, until I-…” Guillermo trailed off, a small bittersweet smile on his face. “They don’t remember that night much. Only the important parts.”
The younger of the two noticed the sudden change in body language as the elder spoke, how he fiddled with his collar and messed with the cross over his neck. Huh…
Guillermo cleared his throat, bringing the other back to reality. Quick, change the subject!
“So uh- how is Nandor in the future then? Can’t imagine he went through many improvements in only a couple of years unlike us.” The other human seemed to laugh at that, his face melting into a warm expression the younger knew all too well. Oh…
“You’d be surprised… he’s improved a lot; he respects me as a person more now and I don’t feel so conflicted about standing up for myself. He got married not too long ago,” Guillermo didn’t miss how the other’s lip quivered slightly at this admission, despite doing his best to hide it with a smile. “I was his best man.”
“He got married…” The familiar sighed, nodding along. Of course he got married, Nandor was always talking about finding someone to spend the rest of his life with. He was always talking about Nadja and Laszlo’s relationship in great detail and Guillermo didn’t need to be a therapist to tell he was projecting. It made sense that Nandor had married in the future, it was just, there was always a part of him that thought… “…and you? You still…?”
The slayer looked up at his counterpart as he trailed off, though it didn’t really need to be said. Guillermo knew how much he was hung up on Nandor this early on, before he had found his confidence and self-respect, he knew this version of himself was like a puppy trailing his master everywhere. Guillermo wanted to tell his younger self that no, he didn’t feel that way anymore, that he’d actually moved on and found someone else. That he was happy for Nandor and Marwa, that he’d finally respected himself to move on from a man who could never love him like that.
“…yeah,” he said instead, knowing there was no point trying to convince himself otherwise. “It gets better, hurts less. But… yeah. I’m still.” The younger Guillermo nodded in understanding, making himself smaller as he sunk into the cushions. The sight broke the slayer’s heart, knowing that his counterpart was probably feeling all that heartbreak from when he heard that his master was getting married. Probably even worse.
“I mean it. It gets better, it really does,” Guillermo leaned forward, smiling as he waited for the other to look back up at him. “You told your family.”
This definitely got the other’s attention. Guillermo choked on nothing he sat up so fast, eyes full of disbelief and fear. “You- We told them?”
“Yeah…” Guillermo nodded, tears forming in his eyes at seeing how terrified he looked right now. He remembered that feeling so strongly it still haunted him to this day, seeing it in person in the form of his former self was a completely different ball game though. Slowly, he stood up and made his way next to his double. “We told them everything. They don’t remember it all of course-“
“-Only the important parts.” The familiar finished, having put the two pieces together in his head. He was on the verge of crying now and laughed at how ridiculous it was. “Did… did they…?”
“They always knew,” the older admitted, wiping the tears that were spilling from his own eyes. He laughed as well, joining his younger self in the pure absurdity of the situation. Soon, the pair were both crying and giggling together, overwhelmed by all the emotions they shared between them. It was too much for the both of them.
“I can’t believe we told them…” Said the familiar, hiccupping slightly as he wiped his vision clear of tears. His older counterpart laughed and nodded, shaking his head in disbelief like he didn’t believe it either despite having experienced it himself. “And it’s okay?”
“It’s okay.” The slayer confirmed.
That’s all Guillermo needed to know.
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Outside the fancy room, Nandor had begun to pace back and forth. The two Guillermos had been in there for hours now, sharing stories between them and laughing like they were having a girls’ night. He was clearly getting impatient, waiting for his familiar to re-emerge and continue with his duties.
Suddenly, a flash of light interrupted the vampire’s thoughts, filling the foyer of the mansion until Nandor was forced to avert his eyes. The door to the fancy room was thrown open and the two humans ran out to see that was going on, shielding their own eyes as a result. The older Guillermo had a stake in his hand, ready to attack even though he knew no assassins would be out to get the vampires at his point in time.
“Guillermo?” A familiar shout came through the light, causing all three to look up. If the clear accent wasn’t enough, the sight of another Nandor the Relentless stepping through the sudden ball of light in the foyer was enough to connect the dots as to who the voice belonged to. The ball of light seemed to dim slightly enough for everyone to look around normally without having to shield their eyes, though remained in the centre of the room like a beacon. This new vampire was not too different to the current one, although this one was covered in much more blood. “Guillermo, why are there two of you?”
The slayer dropped his stake back into his belt as he released a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding. This was his Nandor without a doubt, he’d come to find him.
“I’m here Master,” he called out, wincing slightly at the out-of-habit nickname. The vampire didn’t seem to mind however, leaping forward to his friend with a grin.
“Guillermo! You sacred me you little rascal, disappearing like that! It’s rude!” He exclaimed, acting annoyed with his friend despite them both knowing all he felt was relief. Guillermo couldn’t help but share the sentiment and smiled up at the vampire.
“How did you get here?” He questioned, tilting his head to look at the ball of light that still stood in the centre of the foyer. It was unlike anything he had seen before.
“I… may have talked to a few witches. Friends of yours, they were happy to help reverse the spell so I could come and get you,” Nandor explained sheepishly, twisting the rings on his fingers out of habit. “It was very awkward; I was worried they would try and steal my semen again.”
The slayer smirked and rolled his eyes, turning back to the younger familiar who had been silent this entire time. He stood there, staring up at the older vampire with a slightly ajar mouth. It was honestly embarrassing for the oldest, did he always used to react like that when Nandor entered a room?
“Close your mouth, other Guillermo. You will catch bugs and they do not taste good.” Said the vampire, tapping the younger Guillermo’s chin to encourage him to close it. The familiar did as he was instructed, albeit it with a small gulp of air and a very red face. The vampire didn’t seem to notice and turned his attention back to his friend. “We must hurry, the witches told me they could not hold the portal for long. Something about time and space of the continuum.”
Guillermo nodded and walked over to his younger counterpart, who smiled with understanding. The two shared a quick hug, something that made theM chuckle.
“I’m hugging myself…” the familiar muttered as they separated, smiling at the other. “That’s something I never thought I’d say.”
“Me neither,” The slayer admitted. He snuck a glance towards the two Nandors, who seemed to be having a small discussion of their own. With the grace of a snake, Guillermo snuck a stake from his belt and handed it to the younger human, who almost flinched and held it like he wanted to return it.
“Keep it. For his sake as well as yours.” Guillermo assured him, finishing it off with a wink before he stood back. He didn’t know what this interaction with his younger self meant for the future, maybe it would mean nothing or maybe he’d return with Nandor and the whole house will have exploded. In the back of his head, he made himself a reminder to ask the witches how this whole time-travelling thing worked.
“Hey,” The slayer felt a hand circle around his wrist before he could turn away and found his counterpart reaching out. Quickly, he dragged him back into another hug, this one much more emotional than the last. He felt his younger self squeeze him tightly, burying his face into his shoulder. “Thank you.” He whispered, just loud enough for Guillermo to barely pick it up. He understood the weight that it held regardless.
As he pulled apart for the last time, Guillermo turned back to see his Nandor walk away from his own counterpart. He looked almost smug as he left, something Guillermo couldn’t say for the other vampire. The younger Nandor looked horribly embarrassed and shameful, huffing as he looked away from his older self. He also seemed to be sneaking glances at not only him, but younger Guillermo at the same time, making him even more embarrassed.
“What did you say to him?” Guillermo asked when Nandor met him in the middle. Nandor simply shrugged, smiling proudly.
“I only told him what I should have told myself years ago.” The vampire replied, holding out a hand towards his friend with a small smile. It caught Guillermo horribly off guard, who needed a second to reboot his brain before taking the hand in his own. This gesture made the other vampire puff up with pride, guiding Guillermo towards the ball of light with the grace of a suitor leading his lady to a dance. Before they reached it, the human snuck one last look at his counterpart who was still blushing from ear to ear, but held up a small hand to wave him goodbye.
And then he was back.
The sudden teleport into Nandor’s room left Guillermo feeling queasy and he stumbled upon landing. He grabbed onto Nandor’s coffin and held his stomach, holding back a retch.
“That was not pleasant.” The vampire commented, adjusting his hair which had been slightly pushed out of place in the travel. Guillermo chuckled and straightened himself up, rubbing the back of his neck as he got refamiliarized with his surroundings.
“Never thought I’d miss this run-down version of the house,” he commented, locking eyes with Nandor as he took a step forward. “Hey, what did you mean by that?”
“By what, Guillermo?”
“That comment you made before we left, about what you said to younger Nandor. What did you tell him really?”
The vampire looked down at the floor, he continued to turn the rings on his fingers round and round to distract himself. Guillermo remained silent, happy to be patient as he awaited the vampire to speak.
“I… have not been honest with myself recently Guillermo.”
“Not honest how?” He asked, probably pushing his luck at this point but he’d had one hell of a day, in for a penny, in for a pound.
“…My life, my marriage, my happiness- it has not been formed of truth. It is built on a lie. I realise that now, when you left,” the vampire refused to meet Guillermo’s gaze as he continued, clearly not wanting to be having this conversation so soon after returning. “When you left, I thought for a few moments that you were dead.”
That caught the slayer off guard, not expecting such a confession from his friend. He continued to stare of the vampire, searching for any hint of this just being a joke, yet being unable to find one.
“I thought that maybe you were dead and that you would not be returning to me. That… scared me. More than I realised it would have.” Nandor confessed, taking an intense interest in a stained wooden plank on the floor.
“You… it scared you?” Guillermo questioned, taking a moment to really consider what Nandor was trying to say. His eyes threatened to start tearing up as his mind raced with possibilities. “…You went to the witches to save me, even though you thought I could already be dead. Nandor that’s… I don’t know what that’s meant to mea-“
Guillermo squeaked as his lips were suddenly captured by Nandor’s own, a cold hand moving to grasp the back of his neck and pull him closer. He shut his eyes suddenly, savouring the moment as much as he could whilst his brain was struggling to reboot. Nandor’s lips moved against his, trying to coax him into returning the kiss in kind. It took Guillermo only a couple of seconds before he got with the program, cupping Nandor’s jaw with his hands as he melted into the kiss.
His brain was screaming at him, for multiple reasons, this was so wrong and right at the same time. Guillermo didn’t care, caught up in what had only been a dream for years. 13 years he’d wanted this, he was not about to waste it.
Nandor finally broke the kiss before it could get anymore heated, but left his hand against Guillermo’s neck. The two stared up at each other in awe for a few moments, Guillermo’s breathing trying to catch up with his racing heart. He tried to speak, tried to ask Nandor if this meant what he thought it meant, but nothing left his mouth other than a small sigh.
The sudden call of Nandor’s name from downstairs broke the pair out of their trance, bringing them back into the reality of the house. Marwa was yelling for her husband’s attention, Nandor’s wife. It hit Guillermo like a ton of bricks and he was the first to step away, eyes still locked onto his master’s. Nandor seemed to be going through the same realisation of what they had just done and nodded.
He left without another word, but nothing more needed to be said. The pair both knew that they had just changed their relationship forever, for better or for worst, but Guillermo couldn’t help but smile as he brought a finger to his lips. He let his heart slowly calm itself before he returned to the world of vampires downstairs waiting for him. He thought back to his younger self, stuck in that bubble of self-doubt, in a job he never thought he’d ever leave happy.
God what he would have done to see the reaction on his face if he had told him he had just kissed Nandor the Relentless.
“Guillermo!” Speak of the devil, the former familiar’s head tilted up at the call of his name. Nandor was waiting for him downstairs it would seem, probably needing his help with something. Guillermo smirked and took a deep breath before leaving the room. Despite what came next, he knew he would be okay.
And if it wasn’t, well, he still had his stakes.