The Queerier Service: 1.5

A/N: And this chapter is finally finished!

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He led Friedrich inside and back up to the landing, heading towards the drawing room.

"Actually, I'm exhausted," Friedrich said, "Could I just go to bed?"

"Of course," Dracula said, though immediately he felt a twinge in his chest. Still, it was understandable that the poor man was tired. He'd been a spider twice tonight. Who knew how much energy it took to grow back up to human size? Or to generally go through such a mind-boggling change.

He led Friedrich to the north end of the castle, to the end of this landing, through a tunnel into the next. Then around a longer, more twisting corridor to the guest wing. He'd inherited this castle many centuries ago, but it hadn't seen many guests in its long life, and it didn't seem to prioritise them in its design.

"Alright, here you are," he said. "Oh, let me get you a clean blanket."

"Thanks," Friedrich said. He wandered inside the very dimly lit bedroom and sat down on a low, squeaking cot.

Dracula would have blushed if blood ran in his veins. "I will get a mattress also. Sorry. It's been a while. I will be much better furnished if your plan takes place."

Friedrich chuckled. "That is fine. I would say a rug also. Maybe some nice curtains."

Dracula glanced first at the stone grey floor, then at the boxy little window with the shimmering white sheet over it. It looked like a prison cell, more than anything else. He dashed off to find a blanket, a rug, anything to make it look less like he was trapping Friedrich here. He was *not* that person anymore. He hadn't been for a decade or more, but the shame still clawed at the inside of his gut and propelled his legs forward as he ran to the other side of the castle.

In a walk in closet attached to his bedroom, he found the finest bed linens he had, and a smaller blanket that could work as a makeshift curtain. Then he took the rug from his own floor, stuffed them all up under his arm and ran back to where Friedrich was probably huddled up in the cold. Oh, pyjamas! Did he have a spare bed robe? Well, he could make a second trip.

He knocked on the door to the room he'd left Friedrich in, but there was no answer.

"Um, Friedrich? Could you invite me in? I'm not sure how this would work but I'd rather not risk it..."

There was a groan from inside, then Friedrich called, "Come in!"

Dracula peeped his head inside and found Friedrich sprawled on the cot, one leg hanging off the side. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, smiling as Dracula started to roll out the rug.

"I said I was tired," Friedrich said.

"I'll just be a moment," Dracula said, quickly tucking the thin blanket in where the sheet was currently attached above the window. He offered Friedrich the bed linens.

"Thank you," Friedrich said, taking them and starting to straighten them out on the cot.

"I'll get new beds," Dracula said, as he backed towards the door. "And nice candlesticks and wall hangings and oh hell, better food."

"Dracula, it's okay," Friedrich said. "I'm sure you'll get everything you need."

Dracula nodded, smiling with his lips pressed together to try and force some of the tension out. He could get all of this tomorrow. There wasn't any rush. He'd been alive for five hundred years - there was never any rush.

---

When he woke in the morning, light was seeping in through his curtains. He yelped and sprang out of bed, jumping into the shadow cast by his bed post. He must have overslept. He usually made sure to never still be in bed when the sun moved around to this angle. It meant he didn't have to live with the big heavy blackout curtains. They just screamed how pathetic he was at him, that he needed to be protected from something billions of miles away.

He shrugged on his dressing gown. He had had a long day, to be fair. And maybe a little excitement had more of an impact on him than other people, since he was used to such grinding monotony. But perhaps that would be no more. He grinned as he headed downstairs to the dining room and wondered if he was so late that Friedrich would be eating lunch by now.

But there was no Friedrich. Dracula found a small white plate with some crumbs on it - they looked big and flaky like they were from a croissant. And on top of this plate a small piece of paper. There were numbers and names dotted on it, one of which was "Erik", and Dracula got the feeling it might have been a receipt of some sort. He could have provided Friedrich with the finest stationery if he'd been awake in time.

He sat down and picked up the paper. The names and numbers had had lines drawn around them, and Friedrich's tiny slanted handwriting went down the page in three columns around and between them. It took Dracula a moment to figure out where to start, but he found his own name.

Herr Dracula,

Thank you for your kindness. I am sure you will make a great member of the family, and many of us will be happy in your home. You do not have to do this if you do not want. I know it has been a while. But I think you should. I think you have too many rooms. And I think it would be good for you. Also, I would like to stay here again, with a nicer bed cushion... mattress?

The address for Miss Clarke is:

64 Rosecoop Way

Limegate

Northumberland

England

Please do write to her. She will welcome you, I am sure. If you like, say that you have met me, and that I told you to write. Perhaps say of the plan to open your house also.

It was very nice to meet you. I forgive you for scaring me, and for what you said about the narrow streets. I can tell you need a friend. And thank you for helping me get to Erik, even if you do not feel that you were welcome. It will come in time. Do not rush it.

Your friend,

Friedrich

p.s. I had to do early delivery. I hope it is okay that I took breakfast.

Dracula put the note down, and stared at the base of a nearby candlestick. He put the note to the side, but then it was like it sat where Friedrich should have sat, and he felt even more empty by comparison. He stood up instead and walked to the pantry to get his own breakfast.

The little nook was very dark, but his eyes saw perfectly well in the dark. The little tray of breakfast goods was pulled out from its shelf, and there was a big empty spot where a croissant had been. Dracula smiled, glancing back out at the dining room. He looked at the note, then back at the tray of food. Somehow he did not feel like walking aimlessly around his castle and taking baths and eating food he did not need.

He would stock up on croissants, and see his friend soon.