I am in awe of the boys' ability to avoid doing actual work. I may have to sit them both down and remind them that there are gargoyles ravaging the city while they run around having a good time...

The next day saw Carl happily humming as he tested the crossbow against an improvised target. The speed and smoothness had been vastly improved and he was looking forward to showing Van Helsing. Thinking of the Hunter made him smile. Last night had been a lot of fun. He was looking forward to more nights like that.

Carl hadn't ever wanted to admit it but he really did hate being by himself so much. While he had friends, many of them were not local. The problem with being a geek is you do a lot of your socializing via electronic means. They emailed and instant messaged and even talked on the phone but they didn't get together as much as he'd like. But now that Van Helsing was here, the place felt a little bit more like a home instead of just some place to be. He liked that feeling a lot.

That last thought made him realize he was really going to need to do something about the décor of the place. The thought made him cringe as he remembered the last time he talked to a decorator. He wasn't sure he could do that again. Putting the crossbow down he tried to think of other options. What if he didn't try to redo everything? He could just replace some of the worse things, like the furniture in the living room. Recalling Van Helsing's cracks about it, he thought that maybe a ceremonial burning would be in order. This thought had real promise until he remembered that they were antiques and rather valuable. Sighing in disappointment, he resigned himself to just selling them off to some poor, unsuspecting snob.

He wandered over to his desk and dug through the piles until he could find a phonebook. He decided that the easiest thing would be to find a furniture store and just buy whatever looked comfortable. Something in leather would certainly suit Van Helsing… but naked skin does tend to stick to it… He pulled his mind back from that thought. Ever since Van Helsing had pinned him to the couch not once but twice, he'd been contemplating rather naughtier versions of that scene. He sighed. Wishful thinking there!

He grabbed the phonebook and decided to occupy himself with more useful things. He flipped through the pages until he found the listings he was looking for. He jotted down a couple of locations and then closed the book. He walked out of the lab and headed down to the basement where Van Helsing was going through some training moves. He was trying to get back into shape for his next round with the gargoyles.

Carl carefully stuck just his head into the room and called out to the Hunter. He was braced to make a hasty retreat if necessary. However the Hunter was aware of Carl's presence and merely stopped what he was doing.

With danger not on the horizon, Carl was able to appreciate the view of a shirtless and sweaty Van Helsing. The man was panting slightly and Carl had to swallow hard as a wave of heat surged through his body.

Van Helsing cocked an eyebrow, as Carl seemed to lose focus for a moment. Assuming it was something to do with what Carl had been working on he merely shook his head and cleared his throat to get Carl's attention.

Carl snapped back from his hormone-induced haze and flushed slightly. "Sorry about that. Ah… I was going to head into town and look at furniture. Did you need anything?"

Van Helsing looked surprised and said, "You are going furniture shopping? What brought that on? Not that it's not a good idea because that chair of yours could cripple a person but why now?"

Carl just shrugged, still blushing and said "Well, I was thinking that we should have a couple of comfortable places to use and the fastest thing to do would be for me to just go to a store and pick out something. I had thought about burning the old stuff but they are antiques and that's a bit wasteful even if they are god-awfully uncomfortable.

Van Helsing grinned at the suggestion but nodded. "It is a shame. I would have liked to set fire to the chair personally"

Carl grinned as well and said "Well, I guess you are just going to have to settle for picturing some snobby antiques collector suffering in silence over their latest acquisition" This got them both laughing and the companionable connection from the night before resurfaced.

Van Helsing continued to chuckle as he walked towards Carl. "Just promise me that you won't buy something ugly and flowered. I'm out of here if you do"

Carl snorted and said, "Do I look like the type to like flowers and chintz? But if you are so concerned, why don't you come along. Then you can insure that we end up with something suitable to your masculine sensibilities."

Carl had been kidding when he said this but Van Helsing shrugged and said "Fine. Maybe this way I can make sure that the stuff can actually be sat on without causing permanent damage. " He stopped for a minute in front of Carl and said, "Give me 10 minutes to shower and change and we can head out"

Carl was stunned. He never thought Van Helsing would agree to come. He felt like he just had to confirm that he was serious. "You are going to come with me?" He looked at Van Helsing with an unknowingly pleading face.

Van Helsing just shrugged and said, "If I'm going to be here for a while, I might as well see to it that the stuff is comfortable. Now, if that is settled, I'm going to go get cleaned up" He moved past Carl and headed off.

Carl leaned against the wall and grinned from ear to ear. Van Helsing was coming with him. They were going to spend some more time together. Ok, it was furniture shopping which wasn't the most exciting way to spend time but hey, it was still better then nothing. He pushed himself away from the wall and hummed happily as he headed off to find his wallet and car keys.

Van Helsing was heading towards his room and wondering what the hell he had just agreed to. Furniture shopping. It was so… domestic. He was not a domestic kind of guy. But when Carl made the offer to join him, he found himself saying yes before he even thought about it. Reaching his room he walked in and closed the door behind him. He stripped off the sweat pants he had been wearing and headed for the shower.

So why had he say yes?

He stepped into the shower and mulled over that thought while he washed up. Why had he? This morning when he got up, he had wandered down to the kitchen looking for food. Hearing the usual music coming from the lab, he headed in to see what Carl was up to. As expected, he was already at work on the crossbow. However, Carl stopped what he was doing when he saw him and made a point of checking in with him to see if he had everything he needed. When he had mentioned needing a space to work out in, Carl had told him that he had a space in the basement where he practiced his martial arts and that he was welcome to use it. That had surprised him a bit since he would never have pegged Carl as having fighting skills but Carl had smugly informed him that martial arts was as much about the mind as the body and that it helped him focus.

Carl had then told him about the improvements he was making on the crossbow and that it would be ready for use later that morning. It had all been friendly and relaxed and a nice change from his usual conversations with people he worked with. Most of the people who worked for the Order were surly and short when forced to talk with him. Carl's friendly chatter was actually rather soothing.

Van Helsing paused for a moment and thought about that last bit. Was that why he said yes? Because he enjoyed being around Carl? Last night had been enjoyable and it had been a long time since he had just spent time with someone. He was a loner by habit and usually only spent time with someone when the need for sexual release became too much to ignore. But as soon as that had been taken care of, he usually just left.

He rinsed off while he thought some more about that. While he was certainly attracted to Carl, he also actually liked the guy. Carl was friendly and funny and didn't seem to mind his somewhat sarcastic attitude. Van Helsing had never really had friends. Growing up, it didn't pay to get too close to anyone and later he was too busy trying to survive to ever really let anyone close. Even his time with the Order had not left him with anyone he could really call a friend.

He shut off the water and stepped out of the tub. Grabbing a towel, he dried himself off while he contemplated the concept of friendship with Carl. Despite his cynical and untrusting nature, the thought wasn't an unwelcome one. Somehow it was impossible not to trust Carl. Shrugging he decided that he was thinking about it too much. They'd go out, they'd buy a couch and come home. It wasn't like this was some kind of deep commitment. He draped his towel over the shower rod and walked out of the bathroom. He grabbed some clothes and got dressed quickly, not forgoing the tojos despite the likelihood of this being an uneventful trip. No point in getting sloppy.

Once dressed he headed downstairs to find Carl. He found him sitting at a computer reading his email. However, the moment he saw Van Helsing, he quickly signed off and got up.

"OK then. Shall we go and see what we can find? There's three stores within about 20 miles of here so I don't think we'll have any problem finding something we can live with." He grabbed his keys and jacket and began to head out of the room.

Van Helsing frowned "Three? Christ Carl. Do you really think it's going to take that long? We're looking for a couch and a chair, not redecorating the entire house."

Carl ducked his head a bit and murmured. "I have no idea how long it will take. I've never bought furniture before. I just thought it would be good to be prepared. You know, in case the first story turns out to be full of flowers and chintz." He was avoiding looking at Van Helsing which was a clear sign he was feeling insecure.

Van Helsing sighed. He hadn't meant to make Carl uncomfortable. He should have guessed that Carl was being his usual, detail-oriented self. Trying to smooth things over he said "Good point. Well, let's get this show on the road. The sooner we go, the sooner we can get rid of those god-awful monstrosities you call furniture."

Carl gave a small smile and said "Onward then into battle" He gestured for Van Helsing to go first and then set the alarm and locked the door. As he headed out the car, a thought occurred to him. "Do you drive? I never really thought about it until now."

Van Helsing shrugged and said, "Yeah, I drive when I need to. But I have to travel a lot so it's not really worth owning a car. When I need one, I rent one."

Carl nodded and said "Well, you are welcome to use this car any time you need to. Still, we might want to think about having a spare. Something larger in case we need to transport equipment or weaponry. " Carl got that unfocused look that said he was contemplating logistics.

Van Helsing just rolled his eyes and removed the keys from Carl's hand. Carl's eyes came back into focus but Van Helsing just gave him a push towards the passenger side and said, "Forget about it. You've got that 'I'm working out the details" look and I have no desire to get wrapped around a tree somewhere. I'm driving"

Carl blushed a bit but allowed himself to be relegated to passenger status. At least Van Helsing hadn't lectured him on how he was always getting distracted in the middle of a conversation. He climbed into the car and pulled out his list of stores. He handed it to Van Helsing and said, "Since we have no idea what any of these stores carry, how about we just start with the one that is closest."

Van Helsing consulted the list and said "Ok, how about this one on Main Street? That should be easy to get to. " Carl nodded and Van Helsing started the car. It took him a moment to figure out how to adjust all the mirrors and get the seat comfortable but then they were off. He tried to drive conservatively since it wasn't his car and he observed Carl out of the corner of his eye to see how he was handling someone else being behind the wheel. Carl, however, looked surprisingly relaxed. Guess he wasn't that possessive of his car.

Van Helsing turned his attention to the road and realized he wasn't exactly sure how to get out of the neighborhood. Carl clearly recognized this and started to give unobtrusive directions. Already they were starting to work like a team. Van Helsing wasn't sure if he should be pleased or scared.

They found the first store without too much trouble, which they hoped, was a good sign. However, walking in the door made them start to doubt. The place was huge and there was furniture everywhere. Van Helsing's hope that this would be an in and out endeavor melted like ice cream on a hot day.

Carl looked around in dismay and said, "I had no idea there was so many types of furniture. I mean, I guess I knew it on some subconscious level but to see it all laid out…" He trailed off and waved his arms in a wide sweeping gesture.

Van Helsing looked grim and then said, "Well, best plan will be to split up. We can cover more ground that way. You see anything that remotely looks feasible, yell out and I'll come over."

Carl raised his eyebrow in surprise. Van Helsing was making this sound like a military reconnaissance mission. But given his profession, it wasn't too surprising. Carl was about to agree when an extremely chipper sales man materialized from out of nowhere.

"So, from the looks on your face, you're finding all of this a little bit much. Most men do. But not to worry, I am an expert in guiding people in finding just the right furniture to fit their lives." The sale man smiled winningly at Carl, who smiled weakly back and then at Van Helsing who just gave him a "just keep your distance" look. The salesman's smile faltered for a moment but rallied nobly. He had dealt with difficult customers before and had the awards to show for it. Deciding that Carl was likely the one who could be easily dealt with, he returned to smiling at him. "Hi, My name is Mike. So what exactly are you gentlemen looking for today?"

Carl was feeling a little put off by Mike's rather oily charm but knew that they were going to need help if they were going to get out of here some time today. So he smiled back and said, "We need living room furniture. Something comfortable and unfrilly. Couch, chair, probably a coffee table and a side table. "

Mike nodded, the smile never wavering. "Well you've come to the right place. I'm sure we can find something to suit your needs. " He glanced over at Van Helsing who was still doing his impression of a big, dark rain cloud. "So how about something in leather? We've got some great sets that I think you will agree are very comfortable and fall into the category of unfrilly"

Carl was about to open his mouth when Van Helsing spoke. "No. No leather." They both looked him, waiting for the next part of the statement but that was all that was forthcoming. Carl just shrugged and said "Well, it would appear leather is out. What else can you offer?"

Mike looked at Van Helsing again and then quickly looked away. It was clear that Van Helsing's unwavering dislike of shopping was starting to eat away at his never say die salesman's attitude. Slightly rattled he said, "Well, maybe this would go better if I had some idea of what you do like. What is your furniture like now?"

Again came a grunt from Van Helsing. "God awful uncomfortable"

Carl flushed and said, "Our place is currently decorated with my grandparents' furniture. Its not what you would call comfortable in even the most generous of terms and its certainly not the kind of furniture I'm looking for today." He looked rather helplessly at Mike who sighed; his no problem is too tough demeanor slipping a bit.

Mike pursed his lips in thought and then said. "Ok, well how about we try this? I'll show you a cross section of possible types and we can begin weaning out what you absolutely don't want. That will give me some ideas on what to suggest."

Van Helsing didn't look too pleased at this but Carl agreed since there really wasn't any other option. Mike looked around for a moment and then said, "Why don't you follow me"

They began to wind their way through the store and Mike pointed out various styles of furniture. Modern stuff of glass and metal was quickly eliminated, as were some of the more traditional "country" styles. They walked past one set of leather furniture on their way to someone else and Carl couldn't resist asking Van Helsing what his objections were.

Van Helsing looked vaguely uncomfortable and said "You stick to leather". He then moved quickly away leaving a stunned Carl to some rather naughty thoughts.

Mike noticed he had lost Carl and quickly circled back in the hopes that something had caught his eye. Finding him looking at the leather furniture that had already been vetoed, he cleared his throat and said, "I thought leather was out"

Carl started and then flushed bright red. He stammered out "ah… yes, its still off the list" He quickly ducked his head and fled up the isle.

Mike watched Carl's retreating back and began to wonder exactly what kind of living arrangement existed between the two guys. The dark haired one was attractive in that dangerous kind of way but he seemed rather bad tempered. Carl on the other hand was decidedly cute and far more approachable. He looked back at the huge leather couch and thought that Carl would look very good indeed spread out on it.

Mike caught up to the two men and decided that he would subtly check out the lay of the land. He dragged Carl over to one couch and said "Ok, how about we start having you try them on for side. This one here is very comfortable and I think you will agree that it's not frilly." He eased Carl down onto the couch and then with a flirtatious smile said "Go on. Lay back and really check it out. After all, a couch has to be big enough to really get comfortable on."

Carl shrugged and complied. He was ready to start narrowing the field a bit. He laid back and then wriggled around a bit to get truly comfortable. Mike knelt down and adjusted a pillow under his head and said, "So, what do you think? Can you see yourself laid out on this one?" He smiled at Carl who looked back at him a bit uncertainly. What exactly had he meant by that last comment?

Van Helsing was eying Mike with extreme dislike. He didn't like the way Mike was coaxing Carl to lay out on the couch. Carl laying out like that was … tempting. And Carl shouldn't be tempting random sales clerks. Van Helsing growled and said, "Get up Carl. That couch is ugly."

Carl sprang up immediately, almost knocking heads with Mike who had been leaning in a bit. "Ok, then lets see what else is available." To be honest he was glad to be getting up. It had felt a bit weird lying there with Mike hovering over him and Van Helsing standing there like some kind of avenging angel.

Mike shrugged and said "Well, what precisely don't you like it about it? If I knew, then I could eliminate others that have the same traits"

Van Helsing glared at him and said, "The pattern is something an Italian grandmother would pick and the material looks itchy"

Carl raised his eyebrow in surprise. That wasn't exactly the kind of feedback he had been expecting. Still, he was right about the material, it was kind of scratchy. "Good point. I wouldn't have thought of that. You know, this whole furniture buying thing is turning out to be much harder then I thought it would be."

Mike tapped his foot and thought about what to try next. The scary one hadn't made a comment about his proximity to Carl, only about the couch itself. So maybe there wasn't anything between them. If so, then he'll just have to make sure that the next couch he showed them was more to the dark one's taste. That way he could keep Carl on it a bit longer. Thinking quickly, he thought of the perfect one.

"I think I may have just the thing. It's a solid color so no ugly granny pattern…" he directed this last bit at Van Helsing who didn't look at all amused "And its got a cotton blend material covering it which should suit your skin just fine" This last bit was aimed directly at Carl with a slightly seedy smile.

Carl looked away and tried to suppress a small cringe. He was beginning to think that Mike was trying to charm more then a sale out of them and it was making him uncomfortable. The last thing he needed was for Van Helsing to witness Carl being hit on by the guy they were trying to get furniture from. He made a non-committal noise and followed Mike. He didn't dare look at Van Helsing for fear of what he would see.

Van Helsing meanwhile was absolutely fuming. If that guy made one more suggestive comment, he was going to punch him. And why wasn't Carl doing anything? Van Helsing looked at Carl who was nodding as Mike continued to spew a stream of sales talk. A horrible thought crossed his mind. What if Carl was actually interested in this clown? He gave Mike the once over and decided that the guy was good looking in a sleazy used car salesman kind of way. Surely Carl wouldn't be interested in someone like that.

They reached the next living room set and Mike immediately dragged Carl to the couch and pushed him down on it. Carl looked a bit startled by the manhandling but wasn't able to get a word in edgewise as Mike began his spiel.

"So I think this one is it. Its comfortable and casual enough to suit a man's space." He grabbed Carl's hand and began to run it over the material. "And the material is nice and soft. Just feel that. Makes you just want to purr, doesn't it" He gave Carl another smile and Carl swallowed hard.

Carl knew without a doubt that Mike was hitting on him. He also knew that he needed to handle this subtly if he didn't want Van Helsing to pick up on what was going on. He tried to detach his hand without drawing too much attention but Mike's grip was too firm.

Then Mike decided to up the ante by trying to get Carl down onto the couch. That was the final straw for Van Helsing. He grabbed Mike by the shoulder and wretched him away from Carl. He then grabbed Carl and yanked him off the couch. He glared at Mike and said "I think you've shown us enough for one day." He then began dragging Carl out of the store.

Carl was utterly humiliated and could only pray for a miraculous lightening strike. They were almost to the door when the manager intercepted them.

"Gentlemen, I can't help but notice that you seem upset. Is there a problem?"

Carl just blushed and kept his head down but Van Helsing just growled and said "Your sales clerk's behavior crossed the line" Mike meanwhile had just caught up with the two of them and saw that his boss was now part of the equation. He blanched and then tried to quickly cover his ass.

"Bob, I think there has been a bit of a misunderstanding between the gentlemen and myself. Please let me apologize if any part of my behavior was misinterpreted. Believe me, I was only trying to insure that whatever furniture you purchased would completely suit your needs."

Van Helsing just glared angrily at Mike and said, "You were doing a hell of a lot more then that, buddy."

Carl cringed even more. Could this get any more embarrassing? He grabbed Van Helsing's arm and said, "Look, lets just forget about this and go home. Clearly this was a bad idea."

The manager, realizing he had a customer service nightmare on his hands, quickly stepped in. "Please, don't leave. How about I take care of you from here on out? I can assure you that you will have no further incidents while you are here." He gave a look at Mike that said that words would be exchanged later.

Van Helsing fumed for a bit longer and then said, "Fine. But you've got 30 minutes and then we're out of here. I've had just about all I can take of shopping."

Then manager nodded and said "Give me a moment to find out what Mike has already shown you and I'm sure I can have you out of here by then." He grabbed Mike by the arm and dragged him off to the side. It was clear that Mike tried to defend himself but was cut off. There were a few more moments of discussion then the manager rejoined them.

Carl kept his head down and made eye contact with no one. He was humiliated beyond belief and just wanted to get this over with so he could go home and lock himself in his room where he wouldn't have to face Van Helsing.

The manager, sensing the various moods of the men got quickly to work. He showed them one set that was ok but wasn't quite right. The next one was closer and the third was perfect. It was a dark blue; large enough that even Van Helsing could lie out on it and the matching chair was comfortable enough to make the grade. The paperwork was quickly and efficiently filled out, with a discount thrown in to make up for their "unfortunate" experience earlier. Delivery was set and soon both men found themselves on the sidewalk in front of the store. In all that time, neither man had said a word to the other.

The walk back to the car was achieved in painful silence and finally Carl couldn't take it anymore. Once Van Helsing closed the door behind him, Carl turned to him and said, "For crying out loud, Van Helsing, will you just say it and get it over with?"

Van Helsing glared at Carl and said "Say what?"

Carl blushed and said "Oh come on. You know what I'm talking about. Just say it and get it over with. Believe me, nothing you can say can make things any worse then they already are." Carl hunched back in his seat and prepared himself for the worst.

Van Helsing continued to glare at Carl who was clearly cringing in embarrassment. Finally he said "I can't believe you let that guy hit on you like that. The guy was a creep"

Carl looked at Van Helsing and said "Let the guy hit on me? LET him hit on me? I don't remember ever giving him permission. I wasn't even sure he was until he grabbed my hand and started rubbing it."

Van Helsing let out an angry snort and said "Oh please. I knew he was hitting on you when he got you down on that couch the first time. Can you see yourself laid out on this one? The guy was hoping to help you break the damn couch in"

Carl flushed beet red and looked away. God, Van Helsing was right. He had been hitting on him from the start. Carl winced as he realized that he looked like an even bigger idiot then he thought.

Van Helsing glared at Carl but felt a little of his anger drain away as he saw realization dawn on Carl's face. Dear God, he really had missed what was going on. The man clearly needs a keeper. Heaving a heavy sigh he said, "Let's just go home. I think I've had about all the fun I can stand for one day."

Carl just nodded, still lost in his embarrassment. They were most of the way home before either of them spoke. It was Carl who broke the silence with a softly spoken "I'm really sorry. I never thought that furniture shopping would go quite so badly. I thought we'd look at some furniture, pick something and that would be it."

Van Helsing stared out the windshield for a moment and then sighed and said "Carl, I'm beginning to believe that nothing is ever going to be simple with you around."

Carl looked glumly down at his hands and said, "This never happens to me. Really. My life is usually incredibly boring."

Van Helsing was trying to hang onto a portion of his anger but couldn't in the face of Carl's clear unhappiness over the whole situation. Shaking his head at how easily Carl seemed to get around him he said, "So, you don't normally have sales clerks trying to give you extra service?"

Carl flushed bright red and mumbled "No. Usually I have a tough time getting anyone to wait on me."

Van Helsing just rolled his eyes and said "Well, you made up for it today. Remind me never to take you car shopping. The guy will be trying to get you into the back seat to show you how roomy it is"

Carl ducked his head in embarrassment and said, "I'm not THAT naïve. Just because I missed the signals with Mike doesn't mean I'm completely innocent. " Carl felt an overwhelming urge to stick his tongue out at Van Helsing.

Van Helsing chuckled and said "Carl, I'm beginning to think that you are not safe to be let out alone. I'm going to have to keep an eye on you from now on."

Carl looked at Van Helsing in alarm. What exactly did he mean by that? "Van Helsing, you can't exactly let one out of character incident color your judgment. I assure you that this was not a normal occurrence for me. I'm hardly in need of someone to watch over me." He tried to glare sternly at Van Helsing but it wasn't having the desired effect.

Van Helsing just laughed and said, "Carl, I suspect that it happens to you a lot more then you think and you just never notice. And since as your partner, my job is to keep you safe, then its my job to protect your virtue from those who would try to sully it" The grin on his face would have made the Cheshire Cat proud.

Carl just glared at Van Helsing and then turned away with an angry huff. He sat with his arms crossed and glared out the window.

Van Helsing continued to smile as he drove the rest of the way home. Carl could sulk all he wanted but Van Helsing was going to see to it that no sleazy predators were going to get within ten feet of him. After all, what were partners for?