"Good morning," said Aidan cheerfully, making David jump. He hadn't heard the vampire coming. "Or good evening, perhaps."

"Uh, yeah." David blushed, suddenly oddly aware that he was still wearing nothing but a towel.

"Enjoying a little reading?"

"I guess." David looked down at the book in his hands. "Why did these aliens stop coming? Is it because there were no more crops for them to make crop circles in?"

Aidan chuckled. "No. There never were any aliens. Humans made the circles, but other humans didn't want to believe it. Human nature is such that we believe what we wish to believe far more readily than we believe the truth."

"Oh. Yeah... I know what you mean." He remembered the angry face of the judge, the derisive scorn of the policemen. They'd wanted to believe something. He still hardly knew what to believe about that night. Why feel guilty when the vampire he'd helped turned out to be no threat? And yet threads of guilt still hung around his memories.

"I imagine you'd like some breakfast," said Aidan, breaking into David's bleak thoughts.

"Yeah. I'm starving! Though, um... my old clothes are filthy. I don't suppose there's something I could change into?"

"There are some clothes here, from the original owner. I don't know how they'll fit, but they're better than trying to stuff you into something of mine." He grinned and led the way back into the bedroom. As he stepped into the room he flicked a switch on the wall, and a soft golden glow flicked on in the ceiling. David gasped softly. Aidan smiled. "As I have no need for ultra-violet lamps, I have plenty of electricity for normal lights, among other things. There's a generator and a battery bank in the basement here. I'll show you sometime, if you like." Then he turned to the dresser that stood against the wall, which proved to contain jeans and shirts that turned out to be only slightly too large, if very musty and a bit yellowed with age.

"It's a good thing denim lasts forever. Now, onto the food! I think I shall venture an experiment. The canned foods you may have seen in the back are all long ago expired, but expiration dates don't really mean much on cans, sometimes. Once upon a time I myself ate an entire can of sweetened condensed milk that was four years past due to be thrown out, and was perfectly fine after. Not that it's terribly relevant, as these are several decades gone. But still, I think if they have gone bad, it will be readily evident, so let us go explore. I'm fairly certain I even have a can opener somewhere about the house."

Digging around in somewhat dusty drawers turned up a very strange looking contraption that Aidan assured him would open up the cans. "Now, what would you like to try?"

"Beef stew? I've never had real beef, just things flavored like it."

"There's nothing like the real thing!" Aidan picked up a can and took it to the kitchen. "Hmm... I think you'll thank me if I heat this up first. Cold stew isn't that awful, but hot stew is much better. And is that much less likely to have some nasty bacteria in it as well." He rummaged in the drawers again and came up with a small pot, which he put on the stove. David had seen wood and coal fueled stoves. They weren't terribly common, fuel was hard to come by, but there were a few. This was something different though. Instead of the iron top, this had a smooth top that seemed to be enameled, with four flat spirals of something that looked much like iron set into it. Aidan twisted a dial on the front of the stove, and set the pot on one of the spirals. As David watched with interest, the vampire applied the can opener to the can, then emptied its contents into the pot.

"Now, we wait a bit for it to heat up."

David stared, fascinated, as the spiral of metal began to glow. He held his hand close to it and felt the heat radiating off of it. "How does it do that?"

"Er, you know I don't actually know all the details. Electricity goes through the metal and makes it warm, and the warmth is enough to make it glow. Beyond that, I've no idea."

Aidan fished a spoon out of one of the drawers and stirred the brownish, lumpy mixture on the stove. To David it looked less appetizing than the protein goo he was used to, but as it warmed, he started to smell it, and it smelled amazing. When it had bubbled for a while, Aidan twisted the dial again, and picked up the pan.

"Careful with it, it's hot," he said.

David, never having eaten hot food before, managed to burn his tongue anyhow, but he didn't care. The stuff tasted much, much better than protein goo. He sat back when the pan had been scraped completely clean, with a replete sigh. "I could get used to that." As he got up from the table, he groaned as his leg muscles protested. "I am stiff as anything."

"I could do something about that, if you like."

"Huh?"

Aidan smiled. "I have a certain skill at massage. That is, if you wouldn't mind such attentions. I assure you I'll take no liberties with your person."

David tried to puzzle his way through that. "I guess," he finally said.

"Oh good! Then I suggest you remove your pants."

David blushed bright red. "My pants? What?"

"Well, if I'm going to do anything about the muscle stiffness in your legs, it would go much more easily for both of us if there isn't a layer of thick fabric in the way. Leave your underthings on, of course, but the pants need to go."

"Oh. I... um... okay." Still blushing, David stripped off his pants.

"Now, why don't we go to the front room, where there is a rug at least, and you can just lie down and relax."

David followed the vampire into the other room, already having second thoughts, but he couldn't quite bring himself to object, so he dropped down on the floor obediently, and settled into position on his stomach. Aidan sat next to him, and rubbed his hands briskly together. "Friction," he remarked. "Cold hands make for lousy massages." David had a sudden moment of nervous tension at that reminder of what Aidan was. He was half-naked, lying totally vulnerable, next to a vampire. A vampire! The bogeyman of the entire human race!

But Aidan's hands were warm as he placed them on David's thigh and started to knead at the knotted muscles there. "Let me know if it hurts," said Aidan. "I don't want to rub too hard."

"Yeah," said David distractedly, starting to relax a bit. It felt very, very good, if occasionally a bit painful when Aidan hit a particularly sore spot. The massage was thorough and impersonal. As promised, Aidan took no liberties, but when he was done, David just sprawled on the rug, totally limp.