"What do you mean, 'you can't reimburse advance payments'?"

To her credit, the administrator across from him looked at Techno with an expression that could probably be described as mild pity. As if only for that moment, she was regretful of having to do her job. Not enough for her to make an exception and risk getting fired, but regretful all the same.

Sadly, regret would not keep a roof over Techno's head.

"I'm sorry, mister Blade. It's campus policy."

"Isn't affordable housing also campus policy?" Techno asked. But she did not answer. "Bruh, so you're telling me that even if I drop one of my majors, I'm out of luck?"

"The advance payment is made for the entire school year," the administrator said, tapping her pen on her desk. There was a layer of impatience slipping into her voice, probably because she'd already explained this to him twice. "The rest of the payments are made per trimester, depending on what courses you take. Even if we cut down on your classes, we can't return any money already received."

"Okay..." Techno leaned back, raising his hand to run his fingers through his hair in what he knew was a self-soothing gesture of his. He really needed to dye it again, but lately that had been the last thing on his mind. "Okay, I guess that's that then."

"For what it's worth, we can carry the surplus amount over to next year's bill, so it's not entirely lost. You don't have to worry about that."

That won't stop me from being homeless next week, Technocouldn't help but think bitterly. He didn't want to actually say it out loud though. It wasn't her fault the system was inherently flawed.

So he dropped his hand, doing his best to give her half a smile despite him wasting an hour on this. "Thanks."

He left the building and went straight to the clinic.

"Niki's not in today?" Techno asked the guy behind the desk. The door to the office was closed, which usually wasn't the case when Niki was around.

"She's on a supply run. You can head in if you have an appointment though."

There were two temp nurses on rotation. Since it was a Saturday, the clinic was busier than it had been when Techno was there the week before. He awkwardly idled next to the desk for a while before anybody noticed him. Perhaps they were expecting him to approach one of them, but Techno would rather die than initiate social interaction. He settled on clearing his throat when one of the nurses walked past him to make them aware of his presence.

She stopped, frowning at him and then turning to a clipboard on the desk with a little sigh. "Name?"

"Techno Blade."

Her eyes scanned the page, marking his name once she found it and pulling his chart out of the stack, going over it so quickly he doubted she actually took in any of the information.

"No changes to your health status?"

"None that I'm aware of." He followed her to a chair and sat down. She barely even waited for him to outstretch his arm, grabbing his wrist harshly to keep him still. Techno winced when the needle went in because of how carelessly she went about it.

This is why he usually scheduled his appointments for days he was sure Niki would be around.

He pulled out his book again to start reading, opening and closing his other fist in a steady rhythm to aid the blood flow. But it was hard to concentrate on his dumb literature assignment with his financial problems still fresh on his mind.

Even if he went through with dropping a major - probably the English one. You could get published without a degree, you couldn't work at a museum without some sort of higher education - that would only reduce his future bills. It didn't solve the problem of his landlord breathing down his neck over unpaid rent.

He'd gotten the notice that it was being raised next month in the mail this morning, finally.

With the rent going up, there was only so long Techno could keep paying enough to not cross the 'three months of unpaid rent' threshold that would make it legal for that man to throw him out on a whim. He could feel them waiting on it, anticipating the day they could kick him to the curb with malicious glee. There was some analogy to be made there about the sword of Damocles.

"I was hoping I'd see you again! How has the book been treating you?"

The man who had pulled him from his thoughts dragged over a crutch to sit next to him, smile not falling even when Techno blinked at him for a moment. It was the vampire he'd met a while ago. For the life of him, Techno couldn't recall the guy's name.

Techno never had a good memory in that regard. Ask him to remember the exact dates for the start and end of every Chinese dynasty and he could give them to you on top of all the major events that happened during them. For some specific facts, he even had them memorized down to the hour of the day they happened if that was recorded by history books. Remembering a name, not so much.

"You don't remember me, do you?" the vampire asked, face falling a bit. Techno couldn't tell if he was genuinely upset or overacting to mess with him.

"Of course I do," he said. "You're the Poe guy."

The vampire laughed. "Funny, that's exactly what I called you when I told my family about you."

That comment had Techno straightening his spine against the back of the chair, made uncomfortable for a reason he couldn't quite put his finger on. "There's nothing more interesting happening in your life that meeting me was a notable enough event for you to mention it to them?"

"They like to know what has caught my interest." The vampire's lip quirked up, showing that row of perfectly white teeth with one much more sharp and deadly incisor on clear display. "But I suppose we must reacquaint ourselves then. My name is Wilbur Soot."

"Techno."

"Oh, I do recall. Niki's favorite Fount. So how have you been doing since last we met?"

Techno put the book in his lap, resigning to this conversation happening whether he liked to or not. He didn't really mind, Wilbur was likable enough. But wasn't there some unspoken social rule about not forcing people to engage in small talk when they literally couldn't get away from you? Being hooked up to an iron stand having your blood drawn probably counted.

"I'm fine," Techno said dismissively. Wilbur's eyes seemed to pierce into him, staring at him much too intensely for somebody only looking to make casual conversation. "I've been dealing with a personal crisis."

Wilbur did not pry by asking him to explain, which Techno was grateful for. Somebody knowing when to leave people their privacy always was appreciated in his books.

"What about you?" he asked. "Still struggling with your hungry friend?"

"Oh, he's a menace. I swear to god he's trying to eat Phil and me straight out of our retirement funds. I'm glad neither of us will ever grow old or we'd be in real trouble."

Techno snorted. "Yeah, I imagine you guys have quite a return on your investments."

The nurse came back, practically shoving a box of blood bags Wilbur's way without looking at him. Then she turned and checked the needle in Techno's arm. He tried not to squirm as she not-so-delicately fiddled with the tubing, without so much as addressing him.

Wilbur turned his head to watch her walk away. "She must be a delight at private events," he said sarcastically.

"Don't take it personally," Techno answered, but then frowned at his own words. "No, actually, do take it personally. She probably just doesn't like vampires."

"Then why would she work in a blood bank that caters specifically to our kind?" Wilbur asked.

Techno shrugged. "They're temps, sent out to whatever assignment they get to fill vacancies. They don't choose where they're placed and an awful lot of them hate the idea of drawing blood for the sole purpose of it going down some vampire's gullet later." He looked up at Wilbur's face, adding a quick, "No offense."

"None taken." Wilbur grinned, shifting the box in his arms and standing up. "You don't seem overly bothered by their behavior."

"Eh, I'm used to it. Niki works with the temps if she has nobody else to cover her shifts. And they're not all as chill as her." Techno didn't have any other way to put it. He'd been selling his blood for long enough to have gotten all the negative feedback about how he was betraying humanity and degrading himself by giving his own body to feed these 'monsters' loud and clear. "Some humans are more bothered by it than others. They don't exactly appreciate what I'm doing here either."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Wilbur said. His face was sincere, empathetic.

Techno had met vampires before, he'd shared classes with them even. He wasn't bothered by their existence. He knew a lot of the myths about them people told to scare others were either outdated information from long before two societies so drastically different and seemingly contradictory in their existence had managed to unite, or they were made up to begin with. Stories of shadowy castles and turning into bats. Vampires were no more likely to own a castle than the average human millionaire and weren't affiliated with bats in the slightest.

But there was something about how Wilbur expressed his emotions, with not an ounce of secretive nature to it, that felt almost… safe, to Techno?

Most vampires used their powers to cover up their red irises. It helped them blend into the human world better, often enough that they became indistinguishable. A vampire with red eyes was either not old enough yet to hide their vampiric eye color or didn't care about people finding out their true nature.

And in a strange sense, the fact that Wilbur didn't mind the world knowing what he was made him feel more trustworthy to Techno.

Also, the outfits weren't exactly subtle.

"It's never bothered me too much," he said. He was too jaded to give a crap about what others thought of him anyway. They'd always find something to give him hell over. If it wasn't the selling blood thing, it'd be something else. "And I really need the money."

"For your crisis?" Wilbur asked.

He was either more perceptive than Techno had given him credit for, or an actual mind reader. Perhaps both. Not a pleasant thing to think about so Techno shoved the thought away.

"Something like that," he said.

There was a muffled buzzing sound and Wilbur got his phone from his pocket, checking the screen. Whatever he saw made him displeased. "I got to go. See you around, Techno."

As he left, Techno watched the nurses scowl even more at his retreating back before whispering to each other. One of them laughed, but it had a cruel edge to it.

Techno wondered if he could report them.

Maybe it wasn't really any of Techno's business and he doubted Wilbur particularly cared, but part of him felt weirdly fond of the guy. He had been nothing but kind to Techno and was pretty funny. He came to get his blood through legal measures, which was more than could be said for some vampires.

Then again, he'd only met Wilbur three times. Were they even close enough to be considered friends?

Long after he was already walking home with another envelope of money in his pocket (one that would only gain him a few more days of peace at most) the thought still lingered on Techno's mind.

"Maybe stay seated a while longer," Niki told him, taking the cuff off his arm. "Your heart rate is a little low."

"I haven't been sleeping well," Techno said. Pretty hard to sleep when every night was spent lying awake wondering if that night was the last time he'd have a proper bed to sleep in.

"At least you finally got through Poe, right?" she asked with a nod at his book. His page marker wasn't in it anymore, instead lying on top of the cover.

"One more day and I would have thrown it through the window," Techno complained. "I still need the write the whole analysis though." God, he was not looking forward to that. "I need a palette cleanser. Anything that doesn't fry my brain cells. Any suggestions?"

"Hm…" Niki considered it while she got him his drink and snack. "I've been reading mostly historical romance fiction, if you're up for that?"

"Sounds good. Otherwise, I'll just be reading the Princess Bride for the millionth time."

With a laugh, she handed him a small carton of chocolate milk (the kind that kids usually got but Techno knew the clinic stocked them out of convenience) and a muffin. Judging by the wrapper and how it was just slightly off in shape, she'd made it herself.

Which meant it must be absolutely amazing. If there were two things Techno would put his unwavering trust in, it was Niki's taste in books and her taste in food. It's probably why they get along so well.

"How many fantasy elements?" she asked, still trying to narrow down a good recommendation for him.

"Either or," Techno said. He could go both ways.

"I'll think of something for your next visit."

He bit into the muffin and immediately failed to suppress a grin. Jup, Niki was always right on the money.

"Do you like them?" Niki still asked. As if his expression hadn't totally given it away.

"I guess they're fine," Techno said casually, earning a poke to his face in reward. He batted her hand away, laughing. "No, they're great, they're great. Have you ever considered starting a bakery?"

"Actually, I have." Niki pulled back, watching him shove more of the muffin into his mouth. She grimaced - half amused and half disgusted. "But I wanted to get my license first and I love what I do so I'm not complaining."

"Being a blood dealer, being a cookie dealer. I don't see the difference." Techno nodded.

"I'm still feeding people, right?" Niki said cheekily.

There came three knocks on the open door, the person who just walked in wanted to make their presence known without intruding upon their conversation. Techno felt like he couldn't even be surprised to see that Wilbur was standing in the doorway.

Today, the vampire was wearing a much more simple outfit. The black slacks might not be the most modern look, but paired with an oversized jumper and scarf, Techno felt it was the kind of outfit he'd see on an aesthetic blog. Combined with how Wilbur seemed to switch from speaking like a victorian gentleman and a regular guy between sentences, Techno couldn't help but wonder if that was a vampire thing.

Maybe you couldn't be alive for that many centuries without getting a bit out of touch with the time period.

"Hi. I'm not interrupting something, am I?" Wilbur asked.

"Wil! Of course not." Niki waved at him. "I can get you your order in a second but I left your paperwork at the front desk."

"Oh, great!" The vampire lit up, visibly excited at this news. "I'll take care of that first then?"

Techno waited until Wilbur had gone before opening his mouth. "I don't believe in fate."

"What?" Niki asked, confused.

"I've never seen that guy before in my life, and now he keeps showing up whenever I'm here. He must be stalking me."

And despite him meaning it as a joke at best, Niki did not laugh. Or even smile really. She looked guilty.

Techno put his elbows on his knees, resting his head in his hands. "Oh, I'm a fool. It was occam's razor all along." The mock distress in his voice got a chuckle out of Niki at least.

"I didn't want to say anything but… a while ago when Wilbur came by he asked to see the scheduled appointments. He wanted to make sure he could drop by for his pickup when you were here."

"And you showed him because giving him confidential information is the most legally responsible thing to do. Niki, I'm appalled." There was still no real anger there.

"I didn't show him anything, I just told him when you'd be around. I thought it was nice?"

"You thought the stalking was nice?"

"He's not stalking you," Niki said. "He just likes talking to you. Look, ever since we first met, Wilbur has been a bit-" she hesitated there, choosing her words carefully "-he's never had a lot of friends. And you're not exactly the most social butterfly either, Techno. I thought it'd be a good thing to encourage you two getting to know each other."

Techno felt like he should be angry, but really this was pretty humorous. "So this is like, what, platonic matchmaking?"

"If you want him to lay off you can just tell him," Niki said seriously. "He's eccentric, not a creep. I'm just saying you two have a lot more in common than you think, you'd get along."

"I don't mind," Techno said. "I'm just surprised. I'm not used to people taking a liking to me."

Maybe it was more accurate to say that his general air of disinterest and awkward disposition was wont to scare people off or give them the wrong impression. Techno never bothered to do anything about it because frankly with his tendency towards extreme introversion, the fact that people found him hard to approach was a blessing more often than a curse. Except for when he had to do group projects. Then it was a nightmare.

He got up from the chair, pulling down his sleeve and shrugging into his jacket. Wilbur had come back with a bundle of papers in his hand, and Niki went to the office to retrieve the blood for him.

"How old is your fledgling?" Techno asked.

Wilbur's head tilted a bit. "Hm?"

"The fledgling in your coven," Techno said. "They're who you're getting so much blood for, right? Since they need to feed more than older vampires. Can't be older than a century if they're still eating this much. But they were probably turned over thirty years ago, otherwise they'd still be feeding on their sire's blood."

Perplexity steadily morphed into glee and Wilbur smiled at him. Techno felt like this guy was always smiling at him. It was strange, if weirdly endearing.

Wilbur smiled as if even the smallest things in the world could still bring him joy, despite having walked the earth for centuries. Most humans were disillusioned by the time they hit puberty.

"Should I be wondering why you have intricate knowledge of vampire physiology or is that yet another degree you're pursuing?"

Techno didn't know if that was an actual thing. "I had a pretty intense vampire phase as a kid."

"A…" Wilbur blinked at him, back to being confounded. "A vampire phase?"

"Like, a hyperfixation?" Techno said, feeling very clumsy in having to explain. "I was a weird kid. I thought vampires were badass."

"And you've grown less weird with age?" Wilbur asked sarcastically.

"At least I'm not a prick walking around in a brown tailcoat. You look better like this, by the way."

Wilbur laughed, adjusting his scarf. "Touché." He shifted the papers in his hands. It was a pretty sizable bundle, the paperwork Niki mentioned. "Tommy was turned forty-eight years ago so you're pretty much right on the mark."

Niki came back and handed him another box. It seemed to be even bigger than the one Techno had seen him get before. Wilbur said goodbye to them both as he left, smiling at Techno again.

It didn't even feel weird anymore.

The book Niki ended up giving him at his next visit was a hardcover, Techno let his fingers trace the rough textured outside. He opened it to a random page, an old habit he'd picked up somewhere. Techno really didn't believe in fate, but sometimes he felt like coincidences were overrated.

"Accidents ambush the unsuspecting, often violently, just like love."

He closed it again. This would do.

"You're moving on from Poe then?" Wilbur asked.

Once again Techno found the vampire arriving at the clinic around the same time as him. Thanks to Niki, he knew that was not a coincidence either.

"To greener pastures," Techno confirmed.

"Do you want to come by my home?" Wilbur said suddenly.

Not what Techno had been expecting. "Your home?"

"We have an entire room dedicated to being our private library. As you can imagine, we've acquired quite a collection over the years, some volumes are probably older than me." Techno still didn't know how old Wilbur was exactly, but that still sounded impressive.

"Sounds cool," Techno said. Because it really did.

"Great, we can go right now!"

Before he could react Wilbur had already put his hand on Techno's shoulder, starting to lead him outside.

"Wait, you meant right now?"

"Unless you have something else to attend to?" Wilbur said, slowing down his stride to give Techno an opportunity to slip from his hold. Techno didn't know if he could though, the fingers curled around his shoulder were gripping a little too hard to easily slip loose. Maybe Wilbur just didn't realize his own strength. "You could meet my family too, they're home."

Techno considered if he wanted to go along with this. On one hand, sudden changes in plans were his personal nightmare. On the other hand, it was true he had nothing better to do and it was probably more fun than going home and dealing with his landlord's crap. Yesterday, Techno's heating had been cut off.

And he knew that if he went to complain about it, they'd just point to his unpaid fees as the reason. So if his options were to either go home and sit on the couch with three blankets to prevent from freezing or getting to visit a library, the decision was a no-brainer.

Wilbur's house wasn't too far away from the clinic, they walked for about twenty minutes while idly chatting. It was far enough to take them out of the commercial center of the town and into the

suburbs that lay beyond, the part of town Techno couldn't imagine he'd ever be able to afford. The estates that were built there were old architecture and he couldn't help but wonder how many of these mansions were owned by vampires. He could imagine them being drawn to buildings that looked like they were constructed in the same era they were originally alive.

The driveway he was eventually led down was gravel. Wilbur's home was… subtle, compared to some of the neighbors. Understated, without marble columns or towering chimneys. Still a lot bigger than what Techno would consider reasonable and the door that Wilbur opened for him was made of solid oak wood.

"Wilbur!"

They'd barely set a foot inside or Wilbur was being accosted by a teenager.

He had curly blond hair and a gangly frame. Techno could see his eyes were red, though that was a bit of a foregone conclusion. Wilbur's so-called 'family' would also be vampires, a coven of them.

"If you leave me alone again I will rip your throat out," the teen complained, though the threat was muffled into the fabric of Wilbur's shirt.

Wilbur grabbed his shoulders and pushed him back a bit. "Why are you not in the nest, Tommy?"

Ah, the fledgling.

"Because you fucks abandoned me," Tommy said pointedly. "I'm bored out of my mind too, I don't want to be in there by myself."

"You know damn well that if you keep doing this, Phil is going to chain you to the fucking bed," Wilbur said. Techno found it hard from his infliction to tell if it was a joke or not.

Tommy didn't take it seriously, at least. He rolled his eyes. "I'd like to see him try."

He allowed himself to be pushed off then, though Wilbur kept his hand lingering on the top of Tommy's head. Probably to mess with him, because it made Tommy shove it away and Wilbur chuckle. "Techno, this is Tommy. He's the menace I mentioned."

"I figured," Techno said. "He lives up to his name."

The fledgling gave him a poisonous glare in return and Techno smirked back. Reasonably, it probably wasn't in his best interest to piss off a vampire. But Techno found himself unable to really be intimidated by what looked to be a kid barely of age. Physically, Tommy was eighteen at most. Yet he was this age long before Techno was even born.

Regardless, Wilbur would not bring him somewhere he would immediately get murdered. Techno trusted that much.

"Tommy, this is Techno. From Niki's clinic."

And all at once, Tommy's demeanor seemed to change completely.

"This is him?" he asked, turning to Wilbur. When he looked over at Techno again, it was as if a completely different person was looking at him. In a way, it was kind of unsettling. Maybe not bad - better than being looked at in hatred or disgust or anything.

But Techno wasn't used to being looked at with a weird mix of attentiveness and… whatever that other emotion on Tommy's was.

"Uh, hi." Not his best first impression but Techno thought it would do.

Before Tommy could open his mouth to reply, a voice cut through the hall sharply.

"Tommy?"

The teen froze, almost to a scary degree before Techno was reminded that vampires didn't need to breathe. Most of them did mimic inhales and exhales with speech, but they didn't need oxygen to survive so if they choose to forgo breathing they could.

That didn't make it less impressive to see.

Even Wilbur straightened his shoulders as if standing at attention a little.

Then all at once, Tommy darted off, fast enough that Techno could barely blink to catch it. A door slammed somewhere further in the mansion and Wilbur started laughing so hard he felt a need to turn around and hide his face in his hands.

"Little shit knows exactly what he's doing," the man who had spoken said, coming down the stairs.

"You're being too hard on him," Wilbur said.

"You're being too soft on him," the man shot right back. "He has you wrapped all around his finger, mate." He chuckled as he said it, clearly not mad.

"Pot, meet kettle," Wilbur said. "Tommy can get you to do practically anything on a whim, I was never that spoiled."

When he got close enough, Wilbur bent forward a bit, allowing the man to put his hand on Wilbur's neck and pull him closer. Their foreheads rested against each other for a moment. There was something intimate in that gesture. Techno didn't need to be a genius to figure out this was Wilbur's sire.

"Techno, this is Phil."

Phil smiled at him, taking a step towards him to reach out his hand. Techno took it and didn't even flinch at how cold it was because he was expecting it this time. His eyes were light blue, but very alert. Shining with an unnatural quality that betrayed the inhumanness that lay beneath.

That glow was about the only thing Techno would have found that stood out to him. For all intents and purposes, Phil looked like a random bloke. Shoulder-length blond hair, a shirt and jeans combination that made him seem like the most non-threatening person on the planet. This image was helped by the half-moon reading glasses dangling around his neck from a golden chain.

"Wilbur has told me a lot about you," Phil said. Those blue irises stared at him, straight through him. Techno was unable to pull away. He was still holding Phil's hand, the grip weak but lingering.

When Phil finally broke eye contact and let go, it felt like coming up for air after being dunked in cold water. Techno took an instinctive step back.

"Sorry I don't have long to catch up. I'm going to make sure Tommy doesn't get into more trouble." He reached out to squeeze Wilbur's wrist once, before turning to Techno and giving him another smile. "I hope we can talk more next time."

They must have stood in silence for a solid ten seconds before Techno finally managed to speak up.

"Somehow, you're not the weird one in your family."

Wilbur shook his head, leading the way towards one of the doors - presumably one that would lead into the library. "We've had a lot on our minds," Wilbur said. Techno didn't know if it was an apology or an explanation, or both.

Any lingering oddness of eccentric vampire families was quickly forgotten at the sight he was treated to next. The library was massive, two floors connected with a spiral staircase in each corner, stacked top to bottom with bookcases. Techno would hardly know where to look first. In the middle of the room were several glass cases, housing what he could only describe as ancient artifacts.

Wilbur caught him staring at them. "Phil loves to collect things. He'll talk your ear off about all this stuff if you let him."

"Let him?" Techno asked while walking over to the nearest bookcase. "I'd welcome him. Heck, I would gladly live here if I could."

"Well, perhaps you can?" Wilbur said, coming to stand next to him. Techno had his hand raised as his fingers scanned the titles.

"Just bring me a blanket and some pillows and I wouldn't leave this room for the next millennia."

"I'm serious," Wilbur said.

Techno dropped his arm. "Heh?"

"Have you ever considered working as an au pair?" Wilbur asked.

Techno frowned, once again thrown off by the vampire's archaic choice of words. "You mean, going to live with a coven?"

"As our permanent, exclusive food source, yes."

"That's-"

Theoretically, it was the kind of thing Techno was vaguely aware of existing. But in that way that he knew that there were different planets within their universe or craters at the bottom of the sea. Others had seen these places, had spoken of them. They were common knowledge.

But they were so far removed from Techno's usual, it couldn't help but catch him off guard.

"We've been having some problems with Tommy, as I'm certain you've picked up on. After talking it over within the coven, we have decided that continuing to supply ourselves with blood from the clinic is too much of a chore. We would prefer a more long-term solution."

"So you want a human to live with you as an all-hours buffet?" Techno asked.

It sounded a bit more heated than he had intended, especially considering he'd already had a conversation with Wilbur about the negative preconceptions some humans had about how he earned an income. Morally, there wasn't anything inherently wrong with the concept of a mutually beneficial relationship between a human and a vampire where one provided blood and the other money.

Wilbur clearly agreed. "We want a human to live with us as a coven member. Or you could consider yourself an employee, if you prefer that. You would allow us to feed and we would allow you free room and board, and appropriate monetary compensation."

"That's it?" Techno said. "You'd get to draw my blood whenever you want and I get to live here for free?"

"There's a little bit more to it than that, but essentially yes." Wilbur stepped back, away from the bookcase. "We already got the paperwork in order."

Techno remembered the bundle Wilbur had picked up from Niki's front desk a few weeks ago. His voice raised in anger.

"Wait, was this planned?"

And the slight edge of betrayal must be evident because Wilbur whirled around looking almost panicked.

"No!" he said. "No, I promise. Techno, I swear I didn't approach you with ill intentions." Techno squinted at him as if he'd be able to read the lies on that face. But all he found was honesty. "When I met you, we had no idea that this was the course we were going to take," Wilbur went on to explain. "We didn't decide on the live-in human solution until much later after I'd already spoken to you multiple times."

He kept squinting a moment longer but then Techno nodded. "I believe you."

Wilbur face lit up with relief. "I won't deny that after the proposition was brought up, you were the first one to cross my mind. But mostly because any human we hire for this will have to share a house with us, so I'd much prefer it to be somebody I'd actually get along with. And can trust."

That… definitely made sense to Techno. It was different than a normal employee, they were essentially going to be living together. They would want somebody they could stand having around all the time.

Seeing his hesitance, Wilbur reached into his pocket. The card he pulled out was so old-fashioned it almost made Techno chuckle.

At least this guy was consistent.

"If you're not interested, that's completely fine. I would love to remain friends regardless since I thoroughly enjoy your company." Techno took the card and turned it over. There was a cellphone number on the back. "You can let me know if you're interested though."

Techno nodded, shoving the card into his wallet. "Thanks. I'll think about it."

They switched topics after that, the proposition swept under the rug as soon as it had come. Wilbur did not bring it up again, or push him for an answer. Techno left that day with three first-edition books that had been printed long before his literary professor was even born, and a weird tingle down his spine.

When he got to his apartment it was still freezing. He turned the tap to wash his face, but the water remained stubbornly cold too without heating. The decision did not need a lot of consideration.

He texted Wilbur that same evening.