“Get off him!”

The hiss was the only warning Rupert or I received before Rupert found himself pulled off me. I squeaked as he inadvertently pulled on my braid- not a manly sound. I rolled up until I was sitting on my ass, staring up at the annoyed Elder holding the Black by the scruff of his neck, like a cat that had just peed on the carpet.

I could only make a sort of strangled noise before instinct kicked in and I exhaled all the air in my lungs, letting the stillness of death take me.

I was surprised; that was the only reason I had even made a sound.

The Spider was standing over us, looking only vaguely annoyed as he glanced at me and then back to the Black.

No strain showed in his arm as he lifted Rupert off his feet. Apparently the Elders had finished talking while I was gossiping with the Musician and Black.

“Spider, please, they were just playing. The Black was not attacking the Jester,” This from Andre.

“Is this true?” I realized the question was directed at me and I swallowed, nodding hurriedly.

To my relief, the Spider set the Black down.

Rupert’s hands shook and I watched as the creeping darkness in his fingertips slowly receded. He would have gotten himself killed if he had not controlled his power. It was just a simple matter of logic; the Spider was faster than him, and he had the advantage of age.

“It seems I have misinterpreted your ‘play,’ Black.”

“No harm done, Spider,” Rupert adjusted his shirt, his eyes locked on the elder like he was going to challenge him. No man likes to be manhandled, especially not predators like our kind.

The tension in the room felt like it was not easing—in fact, I wondered if it was getting worse.

What the hell? Why were they both standing there like macho men, testing each other’s will? Neither of them were babies, they should have known better.

“Rupert, do you have any idea how expensive this outfit is?” I flipped to my hands, raising my feet high above me into the air, holding myself in a handstand. At least the tension was harder to feel this way.

“It’s also almost as old as you are,” The Musician added.

He had a gay fashion sense and memory for these things.

The tension eased as The Black glanced at me, “Is it ripped?”

“No, but I’d hate to get it dry-cleaned. I had one of my most fantastic outfits from the summer of 1612 sent to dry-cleaners. Do you have any idea how much it was worth? Little Taiwanese lady behind the counter said to me,” I adjusted my voice for an almost perfect replica and pitch, “You have old clothing full of mothball. It dead now,’ and I said, ‘What do you mean, full of mothball?’ she said, “It don’t matter, we kill it bad. Ten dollars for disposal.’”

Andre laughed, but the Elder and the Black were back in a staring competition with each other, apparently my transparent attempt to bring the tension levels down was not working.

Fantastic. What was the advantage of being a Jester when people refused to laugh?

“Rupert, what is your problem, anyway?” I gracefully righted myself, crossing my arms and glaring at him. I did not understand his hostility tonight; the Spider had apologized, it was better than most got from an Elder.

The Black stiffened and turned to me. I caught sight of his eyes and realized how truly angry he was; his pupils and iris were gone. Nothing but black, bottomless pits stared at me. He was close to losing control. I’d heard that his power had something to do with shadows, but I didn’t know exactly what that was.

He should have fed if it was this bad.

“What do you mean, Avery?”

“You are angry over such a small misunderstanding. Come, you should feed if you cannot control yourself,” I gestured to the front door.

A nerve jumped in his cheek, “I’m not angry, and I don’t need to feed.”

He frowned at me, realizing that I did not believe him, before he turned and walked off. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought that they had met before. Rupert was making a mistake to challenge the Spider. He’d get himself killed that way.

Great, men and their egos.

I turned my attention to the Elder, giving him a curious look, “I don’t suppose you know what that was about?”

“If I had to hazard a guess; he is concerned that you will fall prey to my charms before he can culminate his two-hundred year crush. Perhaps he is right to fear moments spent alone in the vast time of fifty years.”

Dante’s face was completely straight, too. With that, he also left.

I took a moment to process the words before I burst into laughter.

So, the Spider had a sense of humour; that was a relief.