The Hunt

Thinking of their encounter gave River a light feeling over the next weeks. He still could not fathom why Andreji had shown such interest in him – it certainly had not been more than a harmless flirt for the elder man for intellectually River was hardly a match for him – but it had swept him away nonetheless. River was not the type to develop frequent crushes; if he liked someone, it meant something.

To River’s surprise, Ray congratulated him on the outcome of the job when they met the next time, instead of telling him off for performing so poorly. It seemed that Andreji had ‘missed’ to inform him of the details. From the looks of it, their little tête à tête had paid off twice. This way, the door to more profitable jobs stood open for River.

Nevertheless, he did not accept every job Ray offered him. The disaster in the manor had taught River a lesson. He spent the next weeks brooding over Lukas’ books and learning more about the creatures he was likely to face, so he knew when a task Ray wanted to appoint to him was beyond his capabilities. During that process, River realised just how right Andreji had been about his training being insufficient. Sometimes he lay awake at night, picturing another situation in which he was facing a beast he could not defeat – and this next time there might not be a more experienced colleague at hand to safe his arse.

River was actually mad at Ray for sending him out after only a few mediocre training sessions. The tricky thing was that he could not even confront his boss with this criticism or ask him for help. River could not risk telling Ray about his qualms, because that might cost Ray’s trust in his abilities. He needed that job; he had learned nothing else.

River’s mother had died of Aids when he had been twenty. He had taken care of her in her last years, after he had passed his last school exams with quite acceptable results. Of course, she had wanted him to do an apprenticeship, think of his own future, but he had not done so. They had lived of the money that River’s father had transferred from overseas and temporary jobs River had had. After his mother’s death, River had severed the last ties he had had with his father. He had never met him, they had absolutely no personal relation, and so he had not wanted his money either.

He had half-heartedly tried to find an apprenticeship, but the gap in his biography, the two years between his exams and his application, did not leave a good impression, and his demeanour probably had not helped either. River was too much of a stray cat to fit into a neat office, working under the watchful eyes of a superior. The people who had led the job interviews had probably noticed that.

River had continued earning money with temporary jobs until Ray had approached him. He had seen him in an Aikidō fight in the training centre of his uncle where he had helped out when his uncle had enough money to pay him. Ray was always desperately seeking new blood for his hunting force and had been impressed by River’s physical abilities.

He had given River a few basic lessons in sword fight and at the shooting range and had taken him on a few easy missions to teach him the basics of the hunt. After that, River had had to get along on his own.

Whereas he had often completed two or three missions a week before, the twenty-four years old chose to reduce his pensum to only one task the week, now. The better payment made it possible. Had he earned about four hundred pounds the week on average so far (that f*cking wolf had been one of his better paid charges, actually), the new jobs easily raised his income by two or three hundred pounds, even though he reduced the numbers of missions, not every job was a class one or two beast, and he rejected a few of the most lucrative offers.

River used the spare time to dive deeper into the theory of the hunt. So far, he had skipped the long essays about the origins of the beasts in Lukas’ books. Now, he studied them intently – and found them a most useful aid in understanding his targets better. Aikidō had told him that both the body and the mind were important to overmaster your opponent; he should not have forgotten that. It was crucial to know how intelligent a beast was to be able to evaluate what its next moves might be. It was also important to be informed about what a beast liked and what it would regard as a provocation. The experience with the wraith had shown him that.

If he had seen an opportunity, River would have preferred to learn all this from an experienced colleague. He knew that preparation with the help of a few old, at best incomplete books was nothing in comparison to what a practical expert could have taught him. However, it was not common practice for a beast hunter to take in an apprentice. To ask for such training could ruin River’s reputation.

One day, River’s phone rang. He had just gone into the kitchen to make himself a coffee and hurried back to his room to accept the call.

“Yes?” His mother had told him again and again to say his name when he answered a call, but Ray had expressly forbidden him to do so – safety measures.

Speaking of Ray, his voice sounded out of the speaker. He asked River to take over the telephone service and meet up with the clients as he had suffered some serious injuries during his last mission and would be handicapped for a time.

“But I don’t even know where your office is! Will the clients not expect someone older, someone who looks more experienced at the meetings?” River expressed his doubts whether he was the right person.

“Don’t worry about that. I trust you; that’s what’s important. You’ve come along well in the last months, I expect you’ll even do better than me – you’re politer and more patient; you’ll know how to handle the clients. It’s just until I’ve recovered.” He named the address of his office and confided to River where he’d hidden the list of phone-numbers of the hunters and the files of previous cases. “Just check what kind of cases the people have handled before to determine who gets which charge.”

It took River a few days before he had oriented himself in the chaos of Ray’s files. Luckily, the assignments came in slowly, so River had enough time in between to direct the tasks to the individual hunters and ask Ray for advice here and there.

One evening, Lukas came very upset to their after-mission-meeting. “F*cking vampire!” He threw his equipment on the floor.

“Vampire? Weren’t you supposed to get rid of a poltergeist?” River asked perplexedly.

Lukas growled unnerved. “I need a drink!” He ordered whiskey. When the booze had been served, he took a good gulp and leaned back. “That’s the second time this year that I stumble over one of them…” He shook his head. “Went into the house at daytime and searched it. When I entered the cellar, that f*cking thing attacked me! Luckily, I was prepared for such occasions - one of those beasts has attacked me and Bob a few months ago already.”

“How did you prepare?” River asked out of curiosity. Lukas’ books held no information on vampire hunt – and vampires were class one targets. Many a beast hunter had overrated his own abilities and died hunting them – he had found files about such cases in Ray’s records.

“Ah, there’s not much that helps against them. The most effective thing is to carry a canister of petrol with you, souse the biter with it, and then lit a fire…” Lukas grinned evilly. “It’s unnerving to carry that can with you during all jobs, but better that than being found drained and with a broken neck somewhere - like June two years ago.”

“What’s it like fighting against a vampire?” River asked. “I mean, they’re intelligent. Isn’t it strange to kill someone with an intellect and looks like your own?”

Lukas chuckled. “Mermy…” His cheeks reddened from laughing. The whiskey seemed to kick in. He shook his head. “Only someone as green as you can ask such a question! They’re bloodsuckers! There is nothing intellectual about that. We’re not in a romantic fantasy novel where the vampire walks about and ponders about the meaning of life! True, some of them will start talking, tell you some nonsense to distract you, lull you in, but in the end they all want the same – get at your throat!” Lukas took another sip. “The first fanged one I encountered in my career actually pleaded with me to let it go!” He laughed dryly and shook his head. “F*cking manipulative beasts!” Lukas’ gaze drifted over to a lady at the counter. “That one was actually pretty good looking. Wouldn’t have minded a dance with her, if you get my meaning – had she been human.”

Offhandedly, Lukas asked, “You wouldn’t have a cigarette for me, would you?”

That was the sign that their conversation was over. River handed Lukas a pack of cigarettes that contained his payment and rose from his seat.

“Oh, by the way,” Lukas stopped him in his tracks, “there was something strange on my nagal sword hilt, almost like pieces of burned skin. Any idea how that got there?”

River shook his head and shrugged. “None.”

A few days later, River strolled through a grocery store in the evening and was just eyeing some frozen pizza when his pulse suddenly caught up speed. He was worriedly scanning his body to try and determine what was up but could detect no other strange signs. He got two pizzas out of the freezer and moved on towards the bread.

Suddenly, he almost bumped into someone. “So eager to meet me again?” a familiar voice asked.

River looked up, and a smile emerged on his face. “Hello! How do you get here? Do you live in the area?” He beamed up at a mildly smiling man – definitely in his mid thirties – who carried a basket filled with two packs of sandwiches and two packs of juice.

“No, I was just passing by and needed something to fill my fridge,” the man replied.

After a week or two of dreaming about meeting him again, River had pushed Andreji to the back of his mind, but now that he saw him, he was immediately hooked once more. “So that is what you look like under proper light,” he stated. He looked straight into Andreji’s ice-blue eyes. From the faint yellowish shimmer in Andreji’s white hair, River assumed that he had once been blond. Small lines around the corners of his mouth gave him a gentle look, somehow.

“Not bad,” River concluded in the end. “I’m sure you attract many women’s attention…”

Andreji smirked, his gaze paralysing his younger colleague once more. “Too bad I’m not interested in them.”

River pushed his luck. “D’you have time for a drink or something? I live close by. The apartment’s empty tonight.”

Andreji smiled knowingly. He seemed to consider River’s offer for a moment. “Why not,” he answered eventually.

They paid their groceries and walked towards River’s flat. Andreji had his hands in the trouser pockets of his well-tailored and yet not too expensive looking suit, wearing his light, grey polo shirt with the buttons open. The cotton bag that contained his food hung leisurely from his shoulder.

“Have you been busy lately?” River asked to keep their conversation going.

“There is always something to do,” the tall man to his right replied shortly.

“I am helping Ray out in the office at the moment. You’re not in his hunter index.”

Andreji smiled. “I am not his hunter. I have my own clients.”

River was eager to learn more. “How did you become a beast hunter anyway? And how do you find your clients?” he wanted to know.

“I have had an instructor whose clients I inherited, so to speak.”

River pricked his ears. “An instructor?”

Andreji merely nodded.

“So you had something like a real apprenticeship?”

“An extensive one, yes.”

River’s heart beat faster. “What about you? Do you take people into training?”

Andreji smirked. “Is that an application? I do not believe you know what you are asking for.”

River felt the urge to justify himself. “You said yourself that my training is poor. I’ve been reading a lot; I’ve taken my job much more serious since I messed up so badly during our mission, but I just cannot prepare myself ideally without any support.”

Andreji’s sharp, calculating gaze rested on the young half-Japanese as they stopped in front of the house that River lived in. His adrenaline-filled blood pumped through River’s veins. He so wanted this opportunity.

“I will consider it,” Andreji said finally.

Gladness swept over River. He kept his voice down, however, when he thanked Andreji. He unlocked the door and led his companion up the stairs.

“Pizza?” he asked, heading towards the kitchen.

“No thank you; I have eaten already,” Andreji called after him from the living room.

River switched on the oven. “Something to drink, then?” he suggested, standing in the doorframe between the two rooms.

His guest still stood, bag over shoulder and hands in pockets, as he had entered the flat, and examined the contents of the book shelf. “A glass of tap water would be nice.”

“We have stronger stuff, too,” River said mockingly.

“No thank you.” Andreji turned around, deposited his bag on the floor, and moved over to the kitchen. He took the water River handed him.

“Anything interesting in those books?” River asked.

One of Andreji’s brows sank low and he shook his head. “Rubbish.”

“See? That’s all I have to learn from,” River underlined the necessity of teaching him.

“We are not going to negotiate, now,” Andreji determined. His gaze strove over the younger host’s body. “What other entertainment do you have to offer me?”

River grinned. “You’re the demanding type of guest?!”

“I am perfectly spoilt,” Andreji replied smugly. “Besides, I believe we were interrupted last time…”

As River stood so close to Andreji, he felt that pull towards him, that attraction again. He followed the line from Andreji’s intense eyes, over his high cheeks, his jaw, along his neck and his collarbones to the glimpse his shirt granted of his chest. Taking a step forward, hecarefully placed a hand on the impressive man’s chest. He felt the warm flesh under the thin fabric. His eyes were misty as he gazed up.

Andreji smiled kindly down on him. “I have not showered in a while. You would not have a towel for me, would you?”

River smiled back. He got up on his toes and tilted his head to steal a kiss from the other man. As their lips met, it was as soft as during their first encounter. River broke away and savoured the taste by licking his lips. He smiled at Andreji again and went into his room to fetch fresh towels.

When he returned, he found Andreji already standing barefooted and without his jacket in the bathroom, reading the signs River’s female flatmate had hung up. They carried messages like ‘Please don’t leave your wet towels behind on the floor’ or ‘Air the room after taking a shower!’

River lifted an eyebrow and winked, pointing out what he thought of this rule-placarding. He put down the towels and stepped up to Andreji, his heart beating wildly in anticipation and sending waves of excitement into his stomach. He lifted his arm, placed his hand on the nape of Andreji’s neck, and pulled him down for another tender kiss. Meanwhile, his other hand moved under Andreji’s shirt.

His work had kept him busy the last weeks, and only by feeling Andreji’s warm flesh under his fingers did he notice how much he longed for another person’s touch. His second hand joined his first under Andreji’s shirt, and he explored his slender, slightly muscular upper body, feeling a few fine hairs grazing his fingertips as they glided over Andreji’s stomach. Moving further up, they found his hardened nipples and played with them.

Andreji pulled River closer, so that their lower bodies collided. The taller man was unmistakably turned on.

River brushed with his hands over Andreji’s back and enjoyed the way in which Andreji’s muscles moved under his touch. Oh yes, the other man’s body spoke a plain language. Collecting the courage to take the next step, his fingers slipped into his colleague’s trousers and cupped his bottom. He felt the muscles in the bottom cheeks tense and found it extremely arousing. A low growl rose in Andreji’s throat. River chuckled into their kiss.

Andreji broke free from River’s embrace and seemed to fight for control over his physical reaction.

River gazed down and eyed the fine line of short, white hair that led from Andreji’s navel down until it disappeared underneath the buckle of his belt. He slipped a finger beneath the belt and pulled it away from Andreji’s body, peering into the dark depths in his trousers. He had a mischievous smile on his lips and in his eyes when he gazed up at Andreji. The other man returned it.

Slowly, he pushed the rigid end of Andreji’s leather belt through the loop of his buckle. Then he pulled it back, so the bolt that held the leather strip in place slipped out. He pushed the button of Andreji’s trousers through its hole and opened the zipper. The trousers pooled on the floor. Andreji took off his shirt as well.

River eyed Andreji’s arousal while he freed his own body of the bothersome clothes. Unconsciously, he licked his lips. He captured Andreji’s mouth again and led him to the shower.

The warm water intensified the sensation of their bodies moving against each other, entwining. Andreji’s arousal rubbed against River’s leg. With one hand, he held River’s head, with the other he reached down to touch the younger man’s sex. His tongue shuttled between River’s ear and River’s neck.

River could not remember ever having felt so good, so thrilled, wanted and safe all at the same time, in the arms of another person. His mind seemed to evaporate under Andreji’s soft and yet demanding caresses.

Then there was the sex against his leg that burned hot on River’s skin; the softness of its touch enticed him. A deep longing made the young man sink down on his knees and take it into his hands. Slowly kneading the member, he could not keep his eyes off it. He bent forward moving the tip of his soft, wet tongue over the soft, wet tip of the sex in front of him. Instinctively, almost dream-like, he opened his mouth and felt the firm flesh in it. A hand settled tenderly on the back of his head and encouraged him to continue. It was a strangely intimate way of fusing with each other, especially since this was their first time sharing something like this. Still, River wanted this, felt perfectly at ease with it.

He did not even mind not being pleasured himself at this point; he took the greatest pleasure in having Andreji in his mouth, a pleasure that spread through his whole body and animated him to stroke himself.

Andreji’s hips pushed his sex rhythmically into River’s mouth, blanking out everything around them. In fact, River’s seed was already washed away when Andreji streamed into him.

His temporary lover reluctantly pulled out and knelt down at his side. He kissed River tenderly on his lips and on his forehead. Then he stopped the water and fetched their towels.

“Are you staying over night?” River asked as he watched Andrehi rub himself dry.

The man gazed out of the window. “No, not the whole night; but I can stay a little longer, if that is what you are asking.” He turned around, smiling knowingly. “Your pizza should be ready by now.”

“Right.” River slipped into a bathrobe and disappeared into the kitchen.

When River came out of the kitchen again, Andreji sat neatly in one of the armchairs in the living room, legs crossed and his glass of water on his lips. He looked introverted, thoughtful.

Strictly speaking, he knew nothing about Andreji, River realised. He was still surprised at the speed with which they got rid of their inhibitions at each meeting. Well, he doubted that Andreji had any inhibitions. River was more astonished by his own behaviour.

He placed his plate on the table and took possession of Andreji’s lap to steel a deep kiss. Why not enjoy this to the fullest? He was a little upset that the man had already dressed again.

After a few moments, Andreji gently pushed him off his lap. River was irritated, but settled for his dinner instead of questioning Andreji’s behaviour. He wondered how far he could dig into Andreji’s life with the questions he intended to pose. The other man did not seem talkative, so he guessed it was better to stick to the one thing they had in common – their job.

“Do you work alone or do you have people at hand like Ray?”

Andreji turned to look at him. “I usually work alone,” he replied.

Not again! River thought as there sounded a ring out of Andreji’ jacket.

Andreji got up and took his mobile out of the inner pocket. His face remained neutral as he listened to the caller. “Yes, of course, I’ll come,” he answered and hung up.

“Do you have to leave?” River asked feigning petulance.

“Yes,” Andreji replied curtly, not providing any explanation, whilst he slipped into his jacket. He seized his groceries and stopped in front of River’s seat. “I trust we will meet again.” He breathed a kiss on River’s cheek and turned to leave.

“Don’t forget to think about becoming my instructor,” River called after him.

The older man turned once more, the sharpness back in his gaze. “I will.” He smiled meaningfully and stepped through the apartment door.

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