The pup was kinda cute in a naive, used-up way. Josie gazed down at him, already fond. Oh youth. Oh stupidity. He was going to get some mileage out of this one.

He bent to set the weights on the ground, grabbed his own towel and wound it around his neck. While Al chattered about the tits Josie drained his half-gallon bottle of water. He didn't solely remember Al as a kid; Josie had little long-term interest in anything shorter than his knees. No, the really funny thing - the thing that made this meeting a veritable laugh riot - was that not too long ago he'd seen Al's face splashed all over the Elysian news at 10. Tabloid reporters, they just liked a good story. They didn't really have anyone's best interests at heart. That suited Josie just fine - he never did either.

Steele had gone about things all the wrong way, Josie knew. Chaining someone to the radiator, carving pretty words into their flesh: well, it was kind of charming, a really fun first date night. Josie could get behind that. There was nothing like some good old-fashioned possession. He had the nose for it, like he did for many other things. Just looking at Al he could tell the kid had been owned. Those long sleeves - bingo. But Steele was cracked. His wasn't true control. If he'd done things right Al never would squealed, but chained himself to the radiator... and then fetchingly spread his legs.

It was sad, in a way. Such potential wasted. But Josie chose to laugh when the world weeded out lesser monsters. After all, they couldn't have anyone giving Sleepers a bad name.

"Something like that," Josie said. "Same shape, anyways." He looked indulgently down. Then, neatly halving his height, he sank onto the weight bench he hadn't been using. That was better; it was a little more intimate. He could stare Al in the eye now without getting a neck crick. He put out his hand casually, as if for a shake or that friendly sideways clasping all the young bucks did. See, Josie was hip with the young folk. Those poor, blind fools. "Sure, kid, I can sing you a tune. Storytelling these days is an under-appreciated art."