Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters and situations belong to Laurell K. Hamilton.
Jason hummed to himself as he rearranged his notes. In a few minutes he was going to go into the next room and give a group of pomme-de-sang applicants a little speech about the do's and don't's of their new positions.
With the addition of the Church of Eternal Life members, the St. Louis kiss was more in need of pommes than ever before. Several of them had already chosen to relocate to the Circus and there were more who simply wanted a more steady and reliable meal than Malcolm's Church was willing to give them. Jean-Claude had asked all of the alpha shifters to ask their respective groups for more volunteers and there had been discreet ads placed in the local newspapers as well.
Not only did they need enough donors to provide for each vampire but they also needed back-ups in case one of the primary donors was unavailable. Jason had been surprised when Jean-Claude had asked him to address this latest group of recruits. Sure he was an experienced pomme but it was usually the vampires themselves who instructed the new recruits.
Apparently, Jean-Claude had decided it would be better if there was more formal training of the pommes beforehand. The previous procedure had been to do an interview, a background check, and then pair the person up with whoever they were most compatible with.
But there had been a few misunderstandings over the years and Jean-Claude wanted to weed those out completely by providing a more comprehensive introduction to the life of a pomme-de-sang. Those had ranged from the occasional obsessive donor who fell in love with the vampire they were feeding to donors who didn't fully understand how their bodies were going to react to being bitten.
"So are you ready for your lecture?" Jason glanced up at Nathaniel as he entered. The wereleopard glided over to look at Jason's notes.
"Yes. Are you ready to be my model?"
"Of course. It should be fun."
"I think we're going to make it fun." Jason grinned at him and shuffled his notes into their final order.
Finally, when he was confident that he was ready, he walked into the room followed by Nathaniel. This shouldn't take more than a half-an-hour total including time for questions. The room was large enough to accommodate about fifty people but there were only thirteen new donors present which made the room look bigger due to the remaining empty seats.
He strode up to the podium and tried his best to look professional. Nathaniel stood just to his left. It was easy to spot the lycanthropes in the group even if he hadn't been able to tell from their scents. They were the ones sitting up front and close together. Even though there were four different flavors of lycanthropes present, the need for warmth and closeness was a universal trait among shapeshifters.
The five humans, four women and a man, were scattered among the other seats further back. Several of them were eying the lycanthropes although they seemed more curious than hostile. They wouldn't be here if they were bothered by supernatural creatures. Among the lycanthropes were three of his packmates although no one he knew all that well. There were also two lions, two rats, and one hyena.
Both he and Nate were getting appreciative looks from the two college-age girls on the far side of the room and Jason couldn't help but respond to their flirtatious looks by wiggling his hips suggestively in their direction, causing the humans to blush and giggle. Enough of that though. This was still an important topic and he wasn't going to let Jean-Claude down by not taking it seriously
"Thank you for all for coming here. For any of you that don't know me, I'm Jason Schuyler and I'm here to give you a brief overview of what it means to be a pomme-de-sang. With me is Nathaniel Graison who's going to help me illustrate some of my points later on. I'm going to explain a few things and then I'll take questions.
First of all, this is basically a relationship not a business arrangement. You'll be providing a service but it's a very intimate one. You'll be interacting with your vampire one-on-one and giving something of yourself to them. This is not like any other job you might have ever had. You're not getting paid for this but if your vampire wants to give you a gift, then you should feel fine in taking it. They appreciate the fact that you're willing to give them a meal.
Since all of you are new, you might be rotated to different vampires every night rather than being assigned to just one. Some of them prefer not to have the same donor all the time. If you get assigned to a vampire and he or she likes you enough to request you again, it may be a step towards being their personal pomme but don't take it personally if you aren't picked."
All of them listened attentively, even the flirtatious college girls. It was important that they not think that this was some kind of love connection. Some of the vampires disliked getting attached to their pommes and had made a request for varying donors.
"Secondly, vampires are individuals and they'll have different approaches to their pommes. Some will chat with you and be friendly and some of them will prefer to have the minimum amount of interaction. Be polite but don't let them treat you like crap either. That's not a problem for most of the kiss but there are a few older ones who can be a little arrogant.
If you feel you've been treated unfairly, you can tell me or Nate or one of the other pommes and we'll let the higher-ups know. You have a right to specify how you'd like to be touched and where you'd like them to feed. The vampires here come from different backgrounds and with some of them, feeding is a very sexual experience."
The werewolf's mouth quirked in a satisfied smile and he couldn't help his knowing expression. He certainly knew about that from personal experience. The college girls giggled again and Jason winked at them.
"But that's not always the case and feeding doesn't give any of the vamps the right to touch you elsewhere if you don't want them to. Again, complain if you feel uncomfortable and we'll look into it. Does anyone have any questions before I continue?"
Jason looked around the room. The shifters all looked pretty calm but most of them were more knowledgeable than the humans when it came to supernatural customs. A few of the humans still looked a little nervous but that was to be expected, especially if they had never done anything like this before. One of the college students raised her hand.
"Do we get to have a preference about who we feed? I mean, if we'd rather feed a guy than a girl or vice versa, is that okay? How much say do we get in this whole thing?"
"We don't believe in discrimination here. If you'd feel more comfortable with one sex over the other, we can take that into account to some degree but if a vampire needs a donor and you refuse without a good reason, that's not going to look good. As new pommes, none of you are going to be assigned to any of the more scary vampires so there shouldn't be any reason to say no."
He shuddered inside at the thought of some naive human assigned to feed the likes of Primo or Valentina. They'd probably leave and never come back. That was why some of the vampires were off-limits to new or weaker pommes.
The girl looked both embarrassed and annoyed but she didn't ask any more questions. Everyone else simply waited for Jason to continue.
"You may be volunteers but this is still a commitment. If you're scheduled to come in and you can't make it, you need to call as soon as possible so we can get someone else to take your place. If you call in too many times without a a legitimate reason, you'll be told not to come back.
The vampires can be affected by what's in your bloodstream so you're not allowed to feed them if you're drunk or high. Having one or two drinks is fine but no more than that. Illegal drugs of any kind are strictly forbidden and security will get the cops involved if you're found to have any in your system."
There was a few looks of unease among the humans at the strict tone in Jason's voice. The weres had more to worry about if something like that happened. Rather than the police, it would be up to their alphas to decide what to do with them and most of them didn't look kindly on drug use. Although, it also took a lot more effort for a were to get drunk or high enough to affect a vampire, they could detect certain levels of drugs in the blood they drank and it would affect the taste. Luckily, there had only been a handful of incidents like those.
"But enough about the legal stuff. Let's get to the fun part, okay? If my lovely assistant will join me, I'll demonstrate the basic feeding positions."
Nathaniel walked gracefully over to the low table to the left of the podium and sat down, posing automatically as he let his auburn hair fall artfully around him. Jason walked over to stand next to him.
"Okay, I'll be playing the vampire and Nathaniel here will play my pomme." Grinning despite his attempts to seem professional, the werewolf pulled out a set of cheap plastic vampire teeth and slipped them into his mouth. "There are several different positions for feeding and we're going to show you most of them."
Nathaniel tossed his head slightly, exposing his pale neck. Jason sat down beside him and slipped an arm around his leopard friend. He pressed the points of the teeth to Nate's neck, right by the jugular. There was no way they could puncture the skin but he felt Nate shiver just the same before he pulled back.
"That, of course, is the classic vampire feeding position. A lot of them prefer it out of habit. The only drawback is that the fang marks are harder to hide if you don't want people to see them." The shifters would heal bite marks quickly but the humans needed to take this sort of things into consideration.
Next Nate held out his wrist. Jason, as the vampire, seized his arm and pretended to bite down at the spot where he could see blue veins under the warm skin. Nathaniel's breathing quickened just a little as Jason let go of his arm.
"The wrist is the easiest way in general because it allows for more formality than the neck and it's easier to hide the marks with sleeves. As newbies, you might want to start with this way until you're more comfortable but that's something to be discussed with your vampire. Another possibility is the crook of the elbow."
He stretched Nate's arm out and scraped the plastic tips over the indicated spot. All of the potential pommes were watching intently.
"Technically, vampires can drink from anywhere there's a vein but some places are easier to access than others. Some vamps like to drink from the femoral artery but that's usually in connection with sex." Jason tapped lightly on Nate's leg in the general location of the artery. He ignored the way the wereleopard tried to move his leg so that Jason's hand would land somewhere else.
"It's important to eat and drink well before you feed anyone. If you feed a vampire on an empty stomach or while you're sick, you'll probably feel lightheaded and maybe even pass out afterwards. It's important to take care of yourself.
Most vampires appreciate and value their pommes. They don't want anything bad to happen so if a vampire tells you that he or she can't feed from you, there's probably a reason. They can tell if you're sick or if you smell 'off' in some way. Don't take it personally."
"Could they tell if we were sick even if we weren't aware of it ourselves?" One of the women asked. "What about pregnancy? Does that bar someone from being a pomme?"
"Pregnancy might be a problem in the later stages but it would be up to your doctor. Most situations where you shouldn't give blood applies to feeding vampires as well. We do have medical personnel on hand if there's any problems. All of you have already provided doctor's notes saying you're healthy enough to provide blood but if anything changed, the vampire might be able to tell. It depends on how powerful they are and what the problem is exactly."
A couple of the humans seemed a little uncertain after everything he'd said but the rest were fine with it. He waited a moment and then went on.
"I think it's obvious that crosses, silver, and anything that can be used as a weapon are strictly forbidden. Anyone caught trying to bring them in will be dismissed without question. Bottled water or any kind of bottled liquids aren't allowed either. There are break rooms where food and drink will be supplied for you after you've donated so there's no reason to carry anything in with you."
He shuddered mentally at the memory of a meeting about security measures for the dancers where Claudia had suggested it was possible for an anti-vamp bigot to sneak holy water in in a bottle and throw it on one of the vampire dancers. It was a horrifying idea and one of the reasons why no outside beverages were allowed in any of Jean-Claude's businesses.
"Also, when you check in, you'll be asked to leave any cell phones or pagers in your assigned locker. Trust me; vampires will get annoyed if your cell goes off in the middle of a feeding. It's just plain rude.
Also, in the rare event that there's some kind of emergency in the building, you'll be asked to find the nearest safe room and stay there until you get the all-clear. But don't worry, nothing like that has ever happened. We just need you to be aware of every possibility. If it's a fire alarm, then get the hell out but if you see yellow lights flashing, then that means there's a lockdown in progress."
It had also been Claudia's idea to install the yellow lights. With all the dangerous events that had happened over the past few years, they needed to take precautions to prevent any humans from being attacked. As it was, the pommes were only allowed in certain areas but if there was someone or something dangerous in the building then they needed to be kept out of its path.
"You have to wear your I.D. badges at all times when you're here and you need to check in and out of the building. That's strictly for security reasons. We can't have strangers wandering the building. Any more questions before I wrap this up?"
"What about becoming a vampire? Is that at all possible for a pomme to do eventually?" It was the same college girl again. Many of the humans who applied to be donors were majoring in supernatural studies and saw being a pomme as part of their extracurricular activities. But others came here for the rush or pleasure of being bitten.
Jean-Claude had put an end to the fang parties that had been allowed under Nikolaos which meant those that were addicted to being bitten had much less options available to them. But he thought it set a bad example and they needed pommes who were more stable than most of those people had been. There probably were some illicit, small fang parties still operating but they weren't sanctioned by Jean-Claude and any vampire discovered at one was punished for their disobedience.
Somehow from her eagerness, he got the impression that she was in this for more than college credit. Those were the types you had to keep an eye on, the ones who were looking to meet some handsome vampire, fall in love, and then spend all eternity with him in some sort of bloodsucking fairytale romance.
"Well, the Master of the City has to approve all turnings and he's not very permissive about that sort of thing. I'd say you're better off joining the Church of Eternal Life if that's your goal." She looked disappointed and then shrugged it off. She probably figured she would end up being one of the rare exceptions.
"If there's no other questions then let me just wrap this up. Being a pomme-de-sang is a very important position. The vampires need to rely on you and you need to trust them. It's a two-way relationship and one where your needs are just as important as theirs.
Keep everything I said in mind and this should be an enjoyable time for everyone. Now, if you'll head out the door and take a left, you can pick up your I.D. badges and set up your schedules with the coordinator."
They filed out and then it was just him and Nathaniel left in the room. The wereleopard was still sitting on the table looking at him intently with those violet eyes but as soon as Jason met his gaze, he ducked his head down.
"So how do you think I did?"
"You did really well. I think you were very thorough. You should teach classes like this more often."
"I don't know. It didn't seem like they were really all that interested in what I was saying, especially that one girl."
"I think they were interested. I know I was." Nathaniel peeked up at him coyly and Jason blinked a little at the intensity there. Sure, they both liked to flirt, even with each other but there seemed to be something more here than there had been before.
"Was there any part in particular that you enjoyed?"
"I enjoyed all the parts. But especially the one about two-way relationships and both sides enjoying themselves."
Yeah, the wereleopard was definitely flirting more than usual. But Jason didn't mind. Why would he be offended that someone found him attractive? Licking his lips, he leaned forward and put his hands down on either side of the wereleopard, trapping him in theory although Nate could easily wriggle free. It would just take a lot of physical contact to do so although he suspected Nate would hardly mind.
"Well, I think you need a little reward for being my assistant. Maybe a kiss will do?"
"Oh, yes." Nate's eyes shined in enjoyment as Jason leaned forward. Their lips met, lightly at first and then with more insistence. Jason cupped the back of Nate's head, entangling his fingers in the long, silky hair and immobilizing the leopard even more. Nate had to stop himself from trembling in eagerness over what the werewolf would do next.
And then it was over and Jason let go and stepped back with a grin on his face. Nate searched his eyes but there was no heat there, just the usual friendliness. The wereleopard stood up and Jason swatted him lightly on the arm.
"That was great. Thanks for playing my pomme. Now let's get going. I have to get ready for my first set tonight." He walked off without noticing that Nate was still standing there and he definitely didn't notice that Nate was struggling to keep a dejected look off of his face.
"I wasn't playing." Nate whispered once Jason was out of hearing range. Resigning himself to being disappointed yet again, he followed the werewolf out and headed for the dressing rooms. He couldn't bring himself to admit it but maybe, with a little luck, he would have another chance to show Jason that he was interested in being more than friends. And then they could both teach each other some new things.
A/N: There are a couple of references to two of my other stories but you don't need to have read them to understand this and it's not a sequel to anything. This is my first time writing anything resembling slash so I hope it worked.