"Nervous, Angel?"
"I wish you'd stop calling me that," Walter grumbled and leaned back in the doorway, wishing he could light a cigarette without drawing too much attention.
"You pink up so nicely when I do," Alucard murmured in his ear. "All that blood flowing to your cheeks is quite appetizing."
"Look, just because we're supposed to be waiting for a vampire who preys on the people who come down here to… you know… do business, doesn't mean you need to be leaning on me like that. You don't even look like a man." Walter kept his eyes on the street watching the occasional couple with a careful eye. All human so far.
"Just think of how much money you could earn with your pretty face and strong body."
The change in Alucard's voice drew Walter's attention away from the street. His companion was no longer the smiling child Walter was accustomed to, but a tall man in an absurd Victorian greatcoat.
"You're right. We didn't look like a pair who were here for business." Alucard leaned against the boy and grinned down at him. "Now we do."
"Don't make me cut anything off of you, Alucard. I know it makes you pissy." Walter glanced down meaningfully to make it clear what he was threatening to cut. He'd spent the better part of a year on the streets after his parents had died and he hadn't had to resort to selling himself to get by. The young Angel of Death wasn't going to be giving away what he hadn't sold to survive.
"Do you have a problem with intimacy between men?"
"I don't give a fuck who fucks whom, okay?" Walter snapped and put a hand on Alucard's chest to push him back a few inches. "As long as I am neither the fucker nor the fuckee."
"Strong words for a man your age." Alucard leaned into Walter again, grinning at the boy's discomfiture. For all that the boy had maturity and responsibilities far beyond his thirteen years, he was still just a boy in many ways and it was entertaining to keep him off balance.
"Are you trying to be funny?" Walter turned away from Alucard, trying to ignore the chill presence behind him while he watched the street again. He'd kill for a cigarette soon, and if Alucard didn't shut up, he'd be at the top of the list for who Walter would be killing.
"Yes, this is all quite amusing," Alucard replied before going silent.
The two maintained their vigil through much of the chilly night, watching young men and their older patrons pass by on their way to secluded locations to complete their assignations.
"He's coming." Walter startled out of a light doze when Alucard whispered in his ear. "This one is supposed to be your first solo kill."
"I've killed on my own before," he hissed at the vampire.
"Ghouls. This is a vampire. A lesser creature, but still a vampire."
Walter shrugged and scanned the street for his prey. He grunted and pushed at Alucard when the vampire suddenly pushed him against the doorframe and bent to bring his face down to Walter's, his hair covering both their faces in a silky black fall that smelled faintly of earth and copper.
"Don't fight, Angel. I'm your client," Alucard murmured as he brushed his nose over Walter's. "Your next customer will be coming around the corner in a moment. Let him pass by, observe him carefully, we'll follow him at a distance."
Walter could see the street faintly through Alucard's hair and found himself holding his breath waiting to see his target.
"Breathe," Alucard reminded him. "And do give your customer his money's worth," he whispered in Walter's ear, smirking to feel the boy shiver.
"Ass," Walter grumbled, but he put his arms around Alucard in a manner he hoped gave the impression they were in a passionate clinch. He wasn't going to go for full verisimilitude for anything, though.
After what felt like an eternity, Walter finally heard footsteps and voices. A short, broad man and a boy even smaller and stringier than Walter came around the corner and passed by on their way to the park and its various darkened hideaways.
Walter and Alucard waited until the two had reached the edge of the park before leaving the doorway. Walter wanted to draw away when the vampire put an arm around him, but couldn't for the sake of appearances.
"You're enjoying this too much." He shot Alucard a dirty look. "You're going to let me do this by myself, right? No jumping in to make the kill yourself? Right?"
"Of course not. This is all yours." Alucard gave him a familiar squeeze and turned sharply before entering the park, allowing Walter to walk on in alone. "Don't get ghouled. I'd be very disappointed in you."
Walter rolled his eyes and followed the dim silhouettes of the couple they had followed, hoping for a moment when they were sufficiently separate to be able to eliminate his target without endangering the human. No one who came here to conduct business was an innocent, but that didn't merit death under a vampire's fangs.
The boy turned to look back and saw Walter following them. "Go away," he hissed, tugging the man forward with him toward a heavy patch of shrubs.
Walter drew a deep breath and felt his adrenaline surge, leaving his skin prickling and hot as he dug his toes into the grass under his feet and launched himself at the pair.
Fast. He had to be fast. But faster than a vampire?
The small foot that caught him in the stomach and knocked the breath out of him took him by surprise. He danced back from the boy who had turned on him and threw a handful of wires out to catch the figure that was already on the move.
The boy was almost on him when Walter pulled the wires through his teeth and drew them tight. He flinched at the sudden spray of blood and dodged the remains of the vampire as they continued on their prior trajectory.
Glancing around, he saw the boy's patron turned prey running for the edge of the park. He'd nearly killed a human.
"You smell delicious."
Walter spun around and struck out, wincing when his fist struck Alucard in the sternum and the vampire remained unmoved.
"You didn't tell me it was the boy!"
"You didn't kill the human," Alucard observed.
"Luck," Walter spat. "I came this close…" He held up his fingers to indicate how close and realized they were shaking. "Just forget it. I want to go home."