#kind of rushed but i wanted to get it out dhdbSNSH

[purposefully-lost]

"Hello again!"

Mark started as another man slipped into the booth across from him, brows furrowing. Most of the time the diner was near empty this late, and certainly no one ever joined him. He was about to ask just what he was doing when suddenly recognition struck- He'd only seen him once before, very briefly in the dark, but--

"I said we might meet again, didn't I?" William grinned brightly at him, sharpened teeth briefly visible as he tilted his head and searched his gaze. It was those blue eyes that jogged Mark's memory, shining out from behind dark locks. He had his hair pulled back into a low ponytail tonight, wearing a soft blue sweater that only seemed to accent the color of his eyes. He still didn't look anything at all how Mark would imagine a vampire, but then again, neither did Levi, really.

"Uh." He stuttered for a moment before he sat up and cleared his throat, peering at Will. "Sure. But what are you--"

"I was wondering if you and Levi's werewolf were one and the same," Will said conversationally. "You do know Levi, don't you?"

"He's my... roommate," Mark said carefully. "I-"

"Mm. Those marks on your neck mean nothing, then?"

"What m-" Mark cut himself off, his face quickly warming as he raised a hand to rub at the side of his neck, where just this morning Levi's lips had been. He hadn't realized he'd left anything behind. Oh God, he thought, had his coworkers seen? Between that and being called Puppy at work... he shook his head. "It's not- its not like that. What are you doing? And how do you know Levi? Do all vampires just know each other?"

Will had looked away from him, pulling a small leather pouch from his pocket and flipping it open to reveal a stack of paper. Or.. cards? Half of them looked to be of different materials, or different colors, but Mark thought that was what they had to be. Will shuffled them between his hands, his eyes on them rather than Mark as he spoke. He laughed softly. "God, no. There's too many of us. And most aren't so friendly."

"But.. you are?" Mark asked uneasily. "You drank that guy's blood-"

"Levi drinks blood too," Will glanced up at him, though his smile still lingered. "We aren't all lucky enough to have someone swiping blood bags for us. Some have partners that let them drink, but, well..." He sat the deck on the table and fully looked at Mark this time, a certain.. knowing look in his eyes, though it bordered on mischievous. "That can go wrong. And anyway, you get close enough to someone to let them do that, you'll want them to turn you eventually, right? Then you need double the blood. Cut the deck into three, then pull the top card from each one. Whether or not you flip it is up to you."

Mark looked down at the cards. Oh, he thought, and then he laughed. "Oh, come on, this fortune telling stuff can't be.. real." He frowned as be said it. Werewolves and vampires were real. Levi's odd tricks were real. Shit.

"Not really fortune telling," Will told him. "More just.. telling. Helps you gain understanding of a situation, or a problem, or... a person. At least, that's how I've always seen it." He nodded towards Mark. "Go on."

Mark sighed. Might as well, right? He reached forwards and did as Will had said, flipping each card as he set it down; eight of pentacles, seven of rods, the chariot. The first two were little more than sketched images, of a man forging away at a circular slate and a woman surrounded by seven stakes, respectively. They were also both upside down, whereas the last- a man astride a grey-blue horse, was upright and fully painted in with color. Mark frowned. "Isn't that a bad thing? That they're, uh.. upside down?"

"Reversed," Will supplied, humming afterwards. He was peering down intensely at the cards, a curious look on his face. "And no. Not good or bad, just changes the meaning." He looked up suddenly with another smile. Mark was getting that the feeling that either he was either always smiling or he took some kind of joy in this. "You're an interesting one, Mark. Want to know that I think?"

"Well, uh..." he furrowed his brows. "Yeah. Sure."

"I think," Will started, as be began to gather up the cards again. "That you have spent a long time feeling very stagnant. Not unhappy, but not satisfied, either." Mark started to speak and Will continued, talking over him. "But something changed. Or.. will change, it's hard to tell with these things. No longer stagnating, but no longer stable. You're lost, unsure. You're facing something new and you don't know how to deal with it."

Will glanced up, and though he clearly tried not to let his gaze fall to Mark's neck, it did. Mark frowned at him. "I-"

"You wouldn't recognize the man painted on that last card, but he is someone very important to me." Will spoke with a tone in his voice that was wholly new. It took Mark off guard, making him pause in his attempt to protest. "I chose him because I have seen him overcome trials that would have destroyed a lesser man. I've watched him find comfort in a world that would have seen him burn." Will smiled at him, genuine and soft. "Whatever it is you're feeling, or whatever you're facing... it will pass. You seem like a sensible man, Mark. I'm sure you'll be able to figure it all out."

Mark swallowed. "I, uh... I don't think I'm facing anything."

"We're all facing something." Will moved to stand, tucking away the pouch again and giving him a wave. "Tell Levi I said hello!"

"Wait-"

"I'm sorry. I only stopped in because I saw you." Will broke out into a grin. "I'll see you around!"

"I'll, uh, see you," Mark replied. Then Will was gone, and he sat back in his seat for a long moment before he found himself laughing. It was all so.. ridiculous.

He glanced at the clock on the wall and felt a pang in his chest. Levi would be wondering where he was if he didn't get in soon. Leaving a tip on the table, he stood, stretched, and headed out into the night.

It was when he got home after the rain had started to find Levi in the backyard chasing after a muddied Ripley that he thought, for the first time, that he was really going to miss him when he left.