"Why do we have to do this?!" Julius complained while throwing the paintbrush into a bucket of light blue wall paint. 

After they had come back from the island ten months ago, Sam and Julius had initially stayed in the blond’s large modern mansion in Los Angeles, but apparently that wasn't good enough for the human. Because, for weeks, the human complained about literally everything in regards to the house. It's too big. I got lost on my way to the bathroom! Why do we even need ten bedrooms if it's just us?! Why do you have three kitchens if you don't even know how to cook?! And on and on, driving the vampire so mad he eventually just threw his checkbook at the gray-eyed man, telling him that if he really hated it so much, he could just buy a new home for them.

I definitely shouldn't have let him choose our new home without taking a look at it myself, too. Julius thought as he looked around the rundown lakeside cabin, that they were in the process of renovating. Sure, the view was absolutely stunning, and the house had a nice large basement that Julius was planning on turning into his bedroom, but it just needed so much work to turn it into an actual home.

"Why can't I just hire people to do this shit?! Or at least use my powers?!" The blond grumpily questioned, making Sam realize that he had stopped painting his part of the living room wall. 

The young man knew that his partner was rather lazy when it came to actual work by then, but it still frustrated him a bit how low his working morale was. After all, it was their future home that they were working on, and not just some random house. "I already told you that I actually enjoy fixing stuff with my own hands." Sam explained for the thousandth time and then added with a tired sigh that he actually thought this was a good opportunity for the vampire to learn some goddamn patience.

"Just stop bitching around and just help me finish this." Sam demanded, and turned his attention back to painting around the fireplace mantle.

At first, Julius tried to argue and bickered a bit more. But after getting a stern look from the human, he gave up and did as he was told. Half an hour later, they were finally done and Julius thought he could relax. However, his human apparently had other plans. 

"There. Now we have to let it dry. In the meantime, we could fix the flooring in my bedroom." Sam exclaimed as he put down the paint roller and went over to the cooler, which temporarily functioned as their fridge. He quickly grabbed himself a well-earned beer and a blood bag for the little gremlin before sitting down next to the vampire on one of the many moving boxes.

"You know, we could just leave that room empty if you would just share the bedroom downstairs with me." Julius argued in-between gulps of the red liquid, obviously trying to find any way possible to get around doing the work that needed to be done. 

If he would put this much effort into actually doing shit, we would have been done weeks ago. Sam thought with a smile, as he downed the last bit of his drink. Though the idea of sharing a bedroom didn't sound so bad, especially considering the fun they had in the last few months, Sam still felt like he just needed his own space to relax and unwind. "True, but I don't really feel like sleeping in the basement or having your 'toys' constantly around me." He admitted to the older being, earning himself a skeptical look from the other man.

"Oh? But I thought you enjoyed my toys, especially the whips." Julius teased, hoping that the mentioning of the human's favorite toys would be able to rile him up enough to forget all about the annoying work he was so steadfast on doing. And seeing how red the checks of the human got, he knew it had worked, though what came next he definitely hadn't expected.

"I do, though… I was thinking, maybe we could do it the other way around for once, with you on the receiving end, you know?" The human asked while nervously fumbling around with the empty bottle in his hand. His question wasn't outrageous or even really out of character for the daring young man, but it still caught Julius a bit off guard. After all, the only times he had been chained up and whipped were with his old master over two-thousand years ago, when he was still human. And to say that it was unpleasant would have been quite the understatement. 

If he overdoes it or doesn't listen, I can easily rip those restraints apart. I'm stronger now, I don't need to fear some weak little human, who I easily could… What the hell am I thinking?! Sam is nothing like that monster! He would never hurt me like that, even if he could. He loves me… he does, right? Julius contemplated as he drank the last bit of blood from the bag and looked towards the moonlit lake with a hundred yard stare plastered all over his face.

"Hey, we don't have to, it was just-" Sam tried to tell the obviously uncomfortable vampire but before he could even finish the sentence he already got shot down, "No! No, if you really want to try it, we can do that. I trust you." Julius reassured and got up to his feet.

 "Are you sure?"

"Yes, of course I'm sure. Now, how about we go downstairs, unpack the toys, and test if the rings you installed  in the ceiling yesterday can really hold enough weight?" Julius offered, and helped the human up. 

Even though Sam was still not entirely convinced, he knew better than to pressure the vampire further about something that probably had to do with his past. "Sounds good, but afterwards we are still going to fix the flooring." He said with a smirk, making it clear to the blond that he hadn't forgotten about the work they had to do and that he couldn't just weasel his way out of it.

"Ugh, fine. You are so fucking lucky I actually love you."

"I know." Sam replied and leaned down to kiss the smaller man. "I love you too, you little gremlin."