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“Miles Luna?”
The young man smiled and held out his hand. “That’s me!”
“Brandon Farmahini. It’s nice to meet you.” He shook his outstretched hand. “This is Matt Hullum, as I’m sure you’re aware.”
“Yes, hi, it’s really awesome to meet you. HUGE Sarge fan.” Miles smirked and the three men sat down.
“I’ve been looking over your work, Miles, and frankly, I think you’re really talented.” Matt smiled. “You just graduated college I see. Where are you working now?”
“Gamestop.” Miles laughed when the other men looked at each other and sneered. “Yeah, I know, it’s awful. Been looking forward to quitting.”
They shot the breeze for a little while, and it wasn’t long before the conversation turned friendly and relaxed.
“Listen, man, we can’t wait to have you on board. When can you start?” Brandon stood up and reached for his hand again.
“Is today too early?”
Matt laughed. “Not at all! We can put you to work upstairs, I’m sure we’ve got something for you to do.”
The three men walked out of the conference room and walked upstairs, where Matt disappeared into his office and Brandon took a little time to introduce Miles to the other interns.
Joel’s office door suddenly opened. “Hey Brandon, do you know where— oh.” He pointed at Miles. “This the new hire?”
“Yeah, this is Miles Luna. Miles, Joel Heyman.”
Joel walked out of his office and took long strides over to the two men. “Nice to meet you. I saw your portfolio, you’ve got some nice stuff in there.”
Miles grinned and shook Joel’s hand firmly. “Thanks! That’s really awesome coming from you.”
Joel cocked his head at the boy, then turned to Brandon. “Mind if I steal him for a minute? Wanna ask him about one of his projects.”
Miles was positively beaming. Brandon nodded. “Yeah, go ahead. I’ll just be at my desk when you’re done.”
Joel yanked on Miles’ hand and pulled him into an awkward side hug, then walked him into his office and shut the door with his heel. “Let’s cut this out. None of your paperwork says you’re a vampire.” He walked over to his desk and sat down.
“None of your paperwork asks me if I am.” Miles’ reply was snarky but his smile was genuine. He sat down across from Joel and crossed his ankle over his knee. “Would you have still hired me if it said I was?”
“Yes, we’ve had vampire interns before—”
“So what does it matter?” Miles raised an eyebrow. “I’m not here to start shit, I’m here for honest work. I’m not a human eater, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Joel propped up his chin in his hand. “I’ve never seen a camouflage hunter in action. You had all of them fooled.”
Miles pointed a finger at the older man. “The one that turned me was shocked too - he said when my change was over he thought I died because I still looked so human.”
“Where is he now?”
Miles waved his hand and set it on his knee. “Fuck that guy. He came to me because I had cancer and thought I’d let him eat me. I told him no because I wanted to live what life I had left, not die right now because I was going to die in the future. Then he offered to turn me instead. I agreed, he bit me, I changed, he hated me. I think he resented me for enjoying being a vampire and not being all ‘woe is me’ about it. Are you kidding? I went from having months to live to having, like, five hundred years! I’m stoked!”
“You’re a talker.” Joel smirked.
“After my six months, he fucking left without a trace. And I’m not sad about it because he never marked me and he never liked that I don’t eat people.” Miles stretched his arms over his head. “So I waited, worked on my sunlight exposure, and once it was good enough I enrolled in college. It was something I didn’t think I would get to do, what with the cancer and all.”
“Wasn’t coming in here hard?”
“What, ‘cause all the humans are marked and smell bad? Yeah, it’s hard, but it’s like you said, Joel - I’m a camouflage hunter. It’s not hard for me to hide that.” Miles cracked his knuckles and leaned forward. “Is it so hard to believe that I have good intentions?”
Joel nodded. “Vampires tend to be shady dicks.”
“Well, this one ain’t.” Miles stood up. “Look, if you want me to talk to Brandon and Matt about it, I will. But honestly? I just want to get to work.” Miles grinned widely and reached out for Joel’s hand. “Friends?”
The older vampire stared at his outstretched hand for a moment, then stood up and shook it. “Yeah, friends. But you do need to talk to Matt. We’ve been having a problem with a… prejudiced employee.” Joel turned his head towards the stairs and frowned.
“Alright, I’ll let him know. Thanks for the chat!” Miles bounced out of the office and shut the door behind him.
Joel pursed his lips. “Strange kid.”