They were lucky that Vallo never lacked in nighttime activities, given it had it’s own vampire population. Lucky for Nandor and Guillermo, the 2am bowling crew wasn’t especially prolific, and the all-night bowling alley was near empty for their adventure to it. Guillmero had suggested it to Nandor, after spotting the brightly lit glow-in-the-dark motif the whole bowling alley sported, as everything was dark and glowing with blacklights all around them.
He didn’t invite Nadja. Normally, at home, this would have been a group adventure, and Guillermo would have been relegated to being in the background or helping make sure everything stayed sane. But here, the power dynamic had shifted slightly, with only the three of them here (four, if you counted the doll. Guillermo did not.) and Guillermo not being employed by them, technically.
Nandor had been good to him as of late, things had felt more even for months now, even if they were still standing on some weird precipice of awkwardness that hadn’t quite tilted to one end to push them together. Like, officially. But everytime Guillmero found himself looking at Nandor, his stomach was twisted in knots and he just wanted to-- stop being a coward, mostly.
So. Bowling. Sort of a date, but he didn’t call it that, he just rented the ugly shoes and got them their own private lane on the far end, no one was around. The music was some kind of quiet rock in the background and Guillermo was all set to give bowling instructions. “Okay, fair warning, it’s been like, fifteen years since I did this. So I may not actually be the best instructor.”
Human forms of entertainment where often very charming to Nandor. He was easily amused and even more easily distracted by lights and sound. Slot machines had ensared him to a detrimental effect at home, but the bowling alley seemed harmless enough. He liked the cosmic decorations and neon lights.n And the bored teenager at the shoe counter had complimented his "vibe", whatever that meant. Now he had the strange striped shoes on and tied and he stood up, towering over the squeaky plastic chairs.
"I will not know the difference, Guillermo," he shrugged. It was strange to be nervous about this activity. It wasn't even the activity at all. It was being alone with Guillermo and watching the colorful lights flicker across his face. When did he get so annoyingly fond of that face? What was he supposed to do about it? Nandor shuffled over to the shelves of bowling balls and squinted down at them. "Tell me how to choose my weapon. Please," he added belatedly. That too was new.
“I know, but--” He didn’t have a good but, so Guillmero just shrugged as an echo of Nandor’s. He followed behind, taking a moment to appreciate the view in a not-as-subtle-as-he’d-like way, but he hadn’t been called out for it yet. When he put himself next to Nandor, maybe he was a little closer than would be considered acceptable for two friends.
“So most of them are pretty similar, they only fluxuate a few pounds here and there. Because you’re uh- strong, a little heavier might be a good idea? But your fingers have to fit in the holes, too.” Guillmero picked up a blue 14lber and set it in Nandor’s hands. “We can always change if something doesn’t work for you, either.” It wasn’t even true innuendo and Guillmero felt his face flush. “Can you fit your fingers in without them getting stuck? How’s that feel?”
Bowling balls were very strange to Nandor, who preferred his ball sports to be either basketball-related or bedroom-related, but he couldn't say he minded the excuse to be close to Guillermo. He watched Guillermo talk with a little too much intensity and looked momentarily caught off guard as the ball was put into his hands.
"Ah. You want me to put my fingers in the holes?" He waggled his bushy eyebrows shamelessly and did as instructed, even as his gaze lingered on Guillermo's flushed cheeks. "It fits like a glove, Guillermo. A weird paperweight glove." With his superhuman strength, he swung the ball around like it weighed nothing and he could easily have thrown it all the way across the many colorful lanes. He squinted at the humans in the lane next to them for a moment, watching their movements. "Now what? I throw it at the white things?"
Guillermo flushed an even deeper shade of red. He knew he was setting himself up for trouble with that one and still hadn’t stopped himself. But he was no coward, and instead opted to square his shoulders and face Nandor’s expression head on. “That’s how it’s supposed to fit, so good. It shouldn’t take a lot of prep work.”
He tried not to stare too long when Nandor’s long form waved around the ball and took to picking out his own. “Yes but it’s more like.. Gliding.” He settled on a purple ball with sparkles and held it up in front of himself proudly. “I can go first to show you before you inevitably get really competitive about beating me?”
Nandor laughed, a little flustered by Guillermo's bravery. Their flirting tended to be in fits and bursts with one or the other getting skittish. Nandor refused to admit it was mostly him, the skittish one. He was too old to be nervous about such things but this was Guillermo. And after his last heartbreak, he was more worried than ever that he would not be the vampire anyone chose for life. Or undeath, as it were.
"Why do you think I am going to be competitive, Guillermo? This is for fun, is it not? We are…" Well, it was like they were on a date really, but he stumbled over admitting that. "...We are here to enjoy each other's company, yes? It is not my fault if I am better than you," he taunted, pressing his freehand to the base of Guillermo's spine as he moved around him much closer than necessary. "But fine, fine. Show me. Be my guide."
“I think you’re always a little competitive,” Guillermo teased over his shoulder at Nandor. He didn’t hate it, in fact he was always in awe when Nandor showed off a little, even if it was at the sake of his own dignity. He’d lost that a long time ago anyway.
“But alright, I got this.” He hated to pull away from Nandor’s touch, but there was a little swagger to his hips when Guillermo stepped up to the alley with his bowling ball in hand. He didn’t feel like he exuded anything close to resembling sexy, especially not in his smart maroon sweater vest, but did he at least try to uh- straighten his back and focus on how he might look to Nandor when he slid the ball down the alley?
Maybe.
The jubilant cheer when he got eight on his first frame was genuine, and probably took away a little from the squared shoulders and sucked in gut, but it didn’t stop him from grinning at Nandor. “Did that help?”
Nandor could sometimes feel awkward in predominantly human spaces, but Guillermo was doing a good job of distracting him. He towered behind Guillermo at the edge of the lane, a large vampiric shadow with a bowling ball dangling from one hand like it weighed less than a paperclip.
“Oh, very good, Guillermo!...I think.” He was guessing at the goal but it seemed self-explanatory. “Do I have to try and knock down the other two now?” He winded his arm back like he meant to throw the bowling ball down the lane overhand.
“Nono-” Guillermo was quick to intercept, as he often had to do with Nandor, and this time brought his hand up to gently hold Nandor’s arm. “I get another chance to get down the other two and then it’s your turn with a fresh batch.” As soon as his ball came back, Guillermo retrieved it and sent it down the lane, a little distracted by Nandor. He missed both of them, and clicked his tongue.
As the lane reset, he stepped back up to Nandor. “Do you want me to--” Help. He didn’t want Nandor causing mass destruction by throwing it like a baseball, but also selfishly liked putting his hand on Nandor’s arm to guide him. Standing this close was nice.
“Oh. I knew that,” Nandor lied. He almost missed the camera crew. There was something soothing about looking at the camera when he was feeling awkward. Like he could imagine “viewers” sympathizing with him. Without them, he simply flashed a grimace of a smile and moved out of Guillermo’s way. The screen over their heads flashed a big zero and he quietly hissed at it as Guillermo returned to him.
“If I am not allowed to throw it this way…” He glanced down the lanes and back to Guillermo, picturing the way he’d thrown. “…I supposed I have to do it like this.” He changed his arm position to something closer to standard but it still looked awkward. “Come. Guide me,” he repeated, this time more for the hand on his arm, which he covered with his free one.
Moving closer to the end of the lane, he lowered the ball and swung it like a pendulum. “Is this a date, Guillermo?”
Uh, Guillermo was now certain he was red and melting into the floor. He hadn’t been expecting the abrupt question, as fair as it was. Not when they were standing so close and Nandor was so tall-- had he always been this tall?
What a stupid question, since he knew the answer, obviously, but his brain was still shorting out. He stuttered out a non-reply at first, and shook his head. Then regretted that, because it might have come across as a no, and finally got his act together. “Um- yes? I mean-- Does it feel like a date?” Answering a question with a question was a cop-out even with his yes, and he felt bad. “I didn’t ask Nadja along on purpose. I just wanted it to be us.”
Nandor’s emotions went on a dumb little roller coaster ride, between Guillermo blushing and shaking his head and then finally a yes. It was a date! Unfortunately, with his concentration shot, he threw the bowling ball when it was at the top of an arc and it landed halfway down the lane, possibly denting the wood before it rolled into the gutter.
“Ay! This fucking guy.” Nandor made a rude gesture at the ball and then turned to Guillermo, dropping his head in a slightly bashful way. Bashful for a very old vampire anyway. “Yes, it feels like a date, Guillermo. Only…are you sure you want that? You had to take care of me for many years and I…took you for granted,” he admitted, frowning. He unconsciously inched closer and lowered his voice. “I am trying to do better, but…still.”
Guillermo both winced and laughed at Nandor’s misfortune, and then gave it a half-assed attempt to cover it up with a little cough. Hopefully the conversation was enough to not make Nandor twitchy over his enjoyment that he’d thrown the vampire off that easily.
It was easy to lean into this. He barely even noticed his hand coming out to touch at Nandor’s arm, an innocent touch by all accounts, but his fingertips felt like they were on fire regardless. “I wouldn’t have brought you here if I didn’t. I would hae left a long time ago if I didn’t.” Guillermo was earnest and open as he looked up at Nandor. “I could’ve left, I could’ve found someone else to-- you know. There were options, offers. I wanted to take care of you. I wanted you.”
"Oh." Nandor blinked softly down at Guillermo's face. He didn’t know what he was expecting, but it wasn’t that. On the one hand, the thought of anyone else turning Guillermo made him want to bear his fangs and bite him right then and there. On the other hand, Guillermo wanted him. He could hardly believe it but he wasn’t paranoid enough to doubt it.
“I wanted you too. I want you too...vampire slayer,” Nandor added on with a youthful grin. He reached to tilt Guillermo’s face up with a hand at his chin. Part of thought there was no way this would end well. Thankfully, most of him was too stubborn and dense to care. He kissed Guillermo under the disco lights of the Cosmic Bowling and didn’t stop even when his ball clattered back into the ball return.
Was this actually happening? Guillermo was glad Nandor had done the leaning, and the kissing, and the head tilting, because Guillermo wasn’t even sure he was braining enough to do more than just lean back into it, not at first. When he caught up, it was a brief reminder that this wasn’t something he did, so he felt a little awkward, and a little fumbly, and oh gods- his hands were very clamy when he reached up to grab Nandor’s vest.
But he’d wanted this for a long time, had pictured it in a hundred different scenarios, like a heroine in a romance novel enticed by the attractive vampire.
None of them had involved cosmic bowling but hey, he wasn’t complaining. The opposite of, in fact, as Guillermo dove into the kissing with a clear appreciation for Nandor’s wealth of experience. He was breathless when he finally pulled away, face heated and hands still sweaty, eyes still closed. “Holy shit. Holy shit. Am I dreaming this?”
Nandor was careful with his fangs. But he was less careful with his hands as he wrapped his arms around Guillermo. They were in a very public place but the darkness gave the illusion of privacy for a few minutes and he took advantage of it. He missed the days when he could just wave a hand and hypnotize a few people into ignoring whatever he'd just done.
"Do you dream about me often, Guillermo?" he asked teasingly as he reluctantly gave them both a little more breathing room. Not that he needed to breathe but Guillermo did. It was a stealthy reminder that Guillermo was human. He reached out to adjust Guillermo's shirt and smiled, nervous and bashful. They had crossed a line and he knew there was no going back. "Please don't tell me you would prefer this weren't real. I might be a little rusty."
“Yes,” Guillermo was blushing with the answer but not ashamed by it. Now things were out there, and kissing had happened after things were out there, in the air, in the public. What was the worst that could happen now?
No, he couldn’t think down that direction, and wouldn’t let himself burst the bubble that quickly, so optimism would have to do. So far, it was-- nice. Nandor kissing him, Nandor continuing to touch him instead of pushing him away-- “You’re not- I wouldn’t do that. Say that. Right now I’m just torn between saying screw it to the bowling game and dragging you someplace private or wondering if you’re using your supernaturally good kissing gifts to distract me from beating you.”
“Oh ho!” Nandor grinned and crowded back into Guillermo’s space. “I don’t think I will make it that easy for you. I have…not been on very many dates,” he admitted. “I would like to enjoy this one a bit longer. And I am only just getting started on my path to bowling supremacy.” He wasn’t necessarily a competitive person but after they had fought the one time and Guillermo had proven himself a fearsome opponent, Nandor found himself often trying to challenge the man wherever he might see flashes of that commanding side again.
He leaned in to graze Guillermo’s jaw with his fangs and then swooped away with a flare of his cape to collect his ball. “Get ready for the magic, Guillermo!”
He was all talk of course and had zero clue what he was doing but the child in the lane nearby granny bowled and he promptly followed her lead.
“That’s just mean.” Guillermo didn’t put any heat behind it, but he did quietly swear in spanish under his breath when Nandor leaned over to bowl-- that way. Now that the dam was broken, how was he supposed to keep his hands to himself?
“One game,” Guillermo growled as he went around to the little score screen and where his bowling ball had been returned, ready to conquer. Or be conquered. Either one was acceptable as far as Nandor was concerned.