Somehow, they had convinced Ray to let them work at the bar. Frank said he had experience as a bartender, and Ray trusted Gerard.
They would get out after the sun went down, and walk a couple blocks to the bar every night, and they were actually proving to be helpful. What they didn't know was that after two a.m. the bar turned into some kind of vampire hangout.
Ray taught them how to get human volunteers to feed off of them, and after a couple days, they got really good at seducing their costumers and convincing them to hang out for a while. 'Are we like hypnotizing them?' Gerard asked innocently.
'Technically – no,' Ray explained. 'It's more like a spell. If we learn to use our persuasion skills, and the words we use, it's almost like a superpower.' The couple shared a look. 'Vampires are flirty by nature, we just need to use that to our favor. You don't ask them to do something, you tell them to do it, and it's like magic. If you use the right words and the right tone, they'll just do it.'
Gerard raised his hand. 'But what if one of us isn't as flirty?'
'You're gorgeous,' Frank replied, even though the question wasn't for him. 'That helps. I'm sure you'll convince anyone just with your pretty face.'
'Aww – you're so sweet, Frankie.'
Ray rolled his eyes, and continued. 'I'm gonna pretend I didn't see you Frenching each other. But anyway, it just takes practice.' When the bar opened that night, Ray showed them his technique. He would whisper in a customer's ear, a filthy smile of his face, probably saying some dirty stuff, and the customer would just kiss Ray, and then they'd follow him around all night.
The first one to try it was Frank, and he was surprised at how easy it was, and it was helpful to have someone following him around and doing whatever he wanted.
Then, it was Gerard's turn. He was nervous, and he just couldn't do it. Then, out of nowhere, he told a hot guy standing by the counter, 'Kiss me.' He didn't know why, maybe he was trying to prove Frank that it wouldn't work for him, but next think he knew the guy was kissing him, and when Gerard tried to run away, the guy followed him and tried to get his attention. So he tried it again to get a cigarette and another time to get twenty bucks. And when he knew it worked, he had fun with it, and had three different people asking for his attention, and doing whatever he wanted.
That night, back at home, he couldn't sleep. 'Hey, Frankie –,' he called for his boyfriend, who was already falling asleep, but still replied.
'What's wrong?'
'I don't know. I just – I wonder if you're with me because used this weird spell on you.'
'What? Are you crazy? Why are you saying that?'
'Just – you saw how it works. I could have easily convince you to come with me because I was lonely.'
'Honey –,' and Frank said that with all the patience in the world. 'Remember how you have to order them to do things? Well, starting with the fact that I fell for you as soon as I saw you sitting by the corner and biting your nails, and then drawing stuff on a napkin in the middle of a club, I don't see how that's possible. You hadn't said a word to me, and I was head over heels for you. So unless you've perfected the skill of persuading people from a distance, I know that's not the case.'
'Did you really – like me since you first saw me?' Gerard asked skeptical.
The younger man nodded with a smile. 'It was love at first sight. I knew it. I had never seen someone as beautiful as you, and I knew I had to talk to you. Then, when I went to ask you to dance with me you were drawing fucking aliens, and you couldn't be any more adorable.'
