Crimson Dawn: Hallowed Echoes

Upon entering his house, Vic stripped off his dark suede jacket, careful not to aggravate the injury to his arm, and hung it on the coat rack just inside the entryway. He examined the cut and blood stain made by the knife. Muttering a disgusted, "Damn," he shook his head. "Well, maybe that cleaning place down the street can take care of it." He turned away, refusing to cry over spilled blood. He accepted that it was his own damned fault for wearing the thing while searching for a bounty. He tossed his keys into a small bowl on the inside table he also used for mail and went into the kitchen to get a beer, unable to stop thinking about the last few hours with Kevin.

The conversation with Kevin at the bar only a half-hour ago had been full of mostly silence. A few words of observation on that night’s events, but Vic got the impression that Kevin simply needed to come down from his adrenalin high. Plus, he had been scared for Vic when that knife had been thrown. Damn scared.

So much concern from the guy, and they had only been working together for a week.

It made Vic wonder just what was going on between them, if anything, and if he should really let his wishful thinking get the better of him.

Was Kevin developing feelings for him? If so, then were those feelings simply from a deep-rooted friendship due to their interactive, though choppy past encounters? A friendship based on similar losses and circumstances?

Did Kevin need to be near Vic as a bonded friend, a brother figure...or was there something more?

Vic rolled his eyes as he took another swig from his bottle of beer. He could allow his mind to go where his common sense feared to tread, letting his imagination wander into the forbidden grounds of hoping against hope, but in reality, no one had ever been able to truly stop their heart from desiring what it always desired...to fall in love with someone and have that person fall in love with them.

Vic shut his eyes and leaned back against his kitchen sink. His arm throbbed as the local anesthetic started to wear off. He would have to take a pain pill in a bit, but not right now, not while he was drinking and thinking...and hoping.

Perhaps it was all part of the 'friendship' thing. It had been forever since Vic had found a friend he could love simply as a friend and nothing more. A friend like a brother. In fact...had he ever had such a friend?

Maybe that's what this was with Kevin, a friendship that could touch the soul of a man and allow him to take lingering comfort in such a shelter.

Vic stared off at a magnet on his refrigerator door. It was a small regular magnet, nothing ornate or symbolic, just a black background with white letters spelling out: 'God, save me from your followers'. It was just something to focus on as his brain trampled over all analytical possibilities.

Kevin had needed to be with Vic after the knife incident. Before that, he had wanted to be at Vic's side to help him capture the bounty. It was camaraderie, and both of them seemed to crave it from the other.

Vic could have easily confessed to Kevin that he was gay, given the fact that Kevin, if anything, had his head on straight when it came to the tolerance issue. But it was too soon to explore that side of the coin as yet. The time simply wasn't right. Then again, would the time ever be right?