Laurent looked up at Knight with a wide smile. “Does that mean our DNAs would show our colligation?”
Pride swelled in Knight’s chest. “Obviously.”
“Does it say what happened with the baby next?” Jake asked, resting the heel of Knight’s boot on his chest and expertly rubbing it with a cloth.
“It says it had no navel.”
Jake hummed the theme tune from the X-Files. “Spooky.”
Laurent nodded, though he most likely didn’t get the TV reference. “I’ll put it in my folder of things to look into.”
Jake smiled at Knight’s boot as if he were about to kiss it. “Why are you doing this again?”
Laurent waved his hand dismissively. “Just a passion for the paranormal.” Which was the answer for Jake, but all the Kings knew that Laurent was collecting knowledge that could come in handy if some freaky shit started happening in their club again. Hopefully, that would never happen.
Light footsteps approached, and Knight raised his gaze to meet Elliot’s as soon as he entered the common room. Only a week into his stay at the clubhouse, Elliot’s body was already starting to fill up, and his gait seemed more assured. It might as well be that soon there would be a gazelle instead of a daddy longlegs walking the halls and sliding into Knight’s bed to suck some dick. The poor bastard had been starving himself, too proud to ask for anything when money was tight. At least he didn’t have any qualms about eating any unlabeled thing in the fridges.
As expected, Elliot made an instant turn for the kitchen.
“Will he be staying with us much longer?” Laurent asked in a polite voice that spoke of all the ice-cold feelings he had toward Elliot.
Knight exhaled. He knew the exact source of Laurent’s antipathy. Elliot’s love for Fane—the very same man who had assaulted Laurent in the past and triggered his pact with the devil—was constantly aggravating. “It’s a big house...”
Laurent leaned closer and spoke in a hushed voice so that his words wouldn’t reach the kitchen. “Yes, but the refrigerator is not bottomless. That man might look like he’s made of twigs, but he eats like a pig. Just the other day, I saw him eat spaghetti pasta with sauce, right out of the bowl with his fingers. Un-microwaved.”
Jake looked back at him with innocence painted all over his face. “Maybe he doesn’t know how to use the microwave.”
Knight noticed Gray bite his bottom lip hard to not laugh, but Laurent didn’t seem to find it funny.
“He most certainly does,” Laurent hissed and put away his notes. “On a separate occasion I saw him use the microwave oven to cook a banana. He then proceeded to mash it in a bowl with the hazelnut spread and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Is a banana not sweet enough already?”
Knight snorted and looked back at Elliot, who was in the process of diving deep into the fridge. “I mean, at his place he only had moldy bread. He’ll probably get better with time. It’s not like you’re the one paying for the food.”
Laurent was visibly agitated, shifting in his armchair as if Elliot was his kryptonite and Laurent couldn’t even stand being in the same room with him. “He also doesn’t wash yoghurt cups after he’s done eating. He just throws them out. If we want the planet to thrive for future generations, if we want to have the pleasure of using beautiful plastic objects, we all need to recycle the plastic to be reused.”
Gray groaned. “Oh, no. Has someone told Laurent plastic is not as great as he thought it was?” With all the times Gray was away, he must have missed that traumatic day. Laurent had been sulking for a week before he picked himself up by reading up on recycling and proceeded to convince Beast to install several trash cans in the kitchen.
Laurent tensed up. “It is still ‘great’, it’s just a substance that should not be abused.”
Knight snorted. “Trouble in plastic paradise.”
Laurent frowned. “Anyway, if he’s your guest, can’t you just tell him to wash everything and put the recyclables into appropriate containers?”
Knight smiled. He never did that either. “Sure. Will do. But why don’t you just tell him yourself?”
“I am not on speaking terms with that Fane-lover.” The loathing in Laurent’s voice was so unmistakable Knight winced.
His gaze wandered to the kitchen again, where Elliot was making some crazy sandwich with practically every single savory thing he could find. He was smiling to himself, as if he were thinking of something nice. Maybe he was thinking of giving Knight head again. He was quite the cocksucker, and he didn’t mind looking through Knight’s family tree in the aftermath.
Knight had spent most of the past week away, negotiating terms for a large concert on the premises as well as taking two days off to see Mount Vermont and a re-enacting event in the area. Elliot kept in touch, demanding details of the sightseeing and even some photos. Knight found himself thinking that it would have been fun to have him around during those days. Then again, traveling with someone, especially one so annoying at times, could have ended with Knight deserting Elliot at some motel and returning home alone.