Chapter Text
Sam looked down at the box in his hands, Asher had stayed to watch him unwrap it, beaming happily. He turned the box around trying to figure out exactly what it was supposed to be. It was definitely a device of some sort, whatever it was, Ash had gone out of his way to buy it for him and Sam was grateful. He looked up at the wolf, smiling back. “Thanks, Ash. I- Thanks.
“Welcome. Do you know what it is?” The Beta laughed quietly, no malice behind his words, there never was.
Sam shuffled uncomfortably, “Well, um, no. Not exactly.” The vamp was suddenly very appreciative that the Beta had decided to give him his present in the kitchen, so it was just the two of them. He was never entirely sure how to react to kind gestures, like this, and was glad he didn’t have a crowd of people watching him. Sam spun the box around in his fingers again, peering at the picture on the front. “But I appreciate it none-the-less, I wasn’t expecting a gift to begin with.”
“Aaah it’s not much, but we enjoyed playing with you the other night and thought this would help with the whole ‘sunlight’ thing.” Sam’s head lifted in slight confusion as he waited for Ash to further explain. “It’s a camera for your TV, that way we can all facetime and play from our own homes.”
“Oh- so I just plug it in and you guys will be able to see me?”
“Yeah!” Asher watched Sam’s expressions, searching for a sign that maybe he’d overstepped a boundary but not finding any in the vampire’s expressions. “We all have them, there’s no pressure to play or anything, but with how busy we all are with work and stuff, sometimes it’s hard to find a whole night we’re free to meet up round someone's house.” He reached for a bottle from the counter behind them, twisting the cap and drinking some before continuing. “With this we can all just log on for an hour or two and you know, I mean if you’re up for it we can play with you during the day.”
Sam swallowed, looking towards Ash with a soft expression, pulling at the cuffs of his flannel awkwardly, slightly taken aback by the other man's kindness. He opened his mouth a couple of times before his brain had acquired enough of the correct words to form a sentence. “That’s real thoughtful of you, Asher, I- I- don't really know what to say. I’d love to play with you guys again.”
“Yeah! You like it?” The wolfs smile managed to widen somehow as his posture straightened, any uncertainty he’d been holding in about the present, easing out of him.
“Yeah, I might have to get Darlin to help me set it up but, thank you Ash, really.” Sam placed a firm hand on the wolfs shoulder, it hadn’t taken long for him to learn touch was a large part of shifter culture and although he wasn’t exactly big on it himself, he knew a small gesture like that went a long way with the wolves he’d come to love.
“Ahh, don’t worry about it buddy, I’m just happy you like it. Now come on, the stealth bought David one of those cringy ‘Alpha wolf’ comic T’s and I wanna see his face when he opens it.”
-
“I’ve got him, I’ve got him, I’ve- awww fuck.” Asher’s voice boomed through the speaker into the vampires living room as the screen displayed the four men’s scores. Milo winning SMASH for the second time that night. At home game nights with the pack had become an increasingly common occurrence for Sam ever since his wolf had set up Asher’s gift to him.
To Sam’s poorly hidden delight he’d actually managed to place 3 rd this time instead of dead last, David taking the losing place. Although to be fair to the Alpha, his mate had come in mid-match and designated his thighs to be their new seat for the remainder of the game, blocking his view. Not that he seemed to mind. “Okay, I didn’t have him.”
“Didn’t have me? I might as well have been on a different fuckin’ continent; you weren’t even close.” Milo laughed at his friend whilst taking a large scoop of ice-cream out of a his ‘victory celebration’ tub of Ben and Jerrys.
“Yeah, yeah. You know you really shouldn’t talk to your Beta like that, with such blatant disrespect. It’s real hurtful Milo.” Asher feigned a hurt expression, placing his hand on his chest and throwing his head back into his headrest.
“The only thing disrespectful here, is that you, you actually thought you had a chance at winning.”
“You got in four more hits than me!” Ash whined, already setting up the next match. “Back me up here. Sam?”
“Oh I ain’t saying nothin’, I’m just glad I didn’t come in last again.”
“David?”
The Alpha looked up to the screen, having seemingly been more focused on his mate than his packmates bickering. “Mmm, you got about as close to beating Milo as he did to being able to ride the adult coasters at six flags.” Angel gently slapped their fiancé on the chest, giving him a playfully stern look.
“Be nice, Davey-id.”
“I’m just saying he fell a bit short , Angel.”
“You fucks, how am I still the one getting shit here? I won!” Milo threw his arms up in the air, almost spilling his dessert as everyone else sniggered at his lively display of annoyance. David’s mate chimed in with some support for the targeted wolf, which seemed to calm him down slightly, Milo accepting the compliments graciously.
Sam heard the front door open and close quietly, taking away his attention from the commotion in front of him, Darlin. They’d taken up going on nightly runs recently, their reasoning being that they appreciated the scenery Wonder-World has to offer, although the Vamp knew the reason ran deeper than that. And even though they’d agreed to start going before the sun had fully set, it was still a relief hearing their pounding heart-beat making its way up the drive, returning home.
“Darlin’?”
He could still hear the music playing through their headphones as the wolf hummed back in confirmation it was them. “Wait is Tanker there?” Angel jumped towards the camera excitedly, trying to spot them in the room.
“Yeah, just gotten in.”
Bottles jingled as they retrieved something from the fridge before entering the living room, approaching their mate, energy drink in hand. Sam smiled, that fluttery feeling ever present in his stomach whenever he saw them, especially after a workout. Tight black clothes clinging to their sweat covered skin. Greetings to the wolf travelled in abundance through the tv as Darlin sat down next to their mate.
“Hey.” Darlin replied, a wolf of few words. Sam could feel the heat radiating off of them even though they’d decided to sit on the other end of the couch. He held his hand out to move them in closer and they reluctantly took it. “I’m all sweaty.” was all they supplied in explanation to his silent question of their distance.
“You gonna play a game with us?” Milo placed the lid back on what was now undoubtedly an empty tub of ice-cream before relaxing back in his chair. “I’m getting real bored of beating these shits, could use some actual competition to keep things fun”
“It’s tempting, but no thanks, I need a shower.”
“You sure? Not even one game?” Asher added after declaring that he had in fact, also won twice so far that night.
“Yeah, any other night and I’d be happy to put you both in your place.” They goaded as Angel laughed in the background.
Darlin pulled the tab open on their red bull and Sam watched in shock for second. He always gave his wolf the benefit of the doubt and figured they’d grabbed it to press against their skin as a sort of makeshift ice-pack, to cool them down. They did that a lot in the summers when they started running a little bit too hot.
“You can’t drink that, Darlin.”
“Yeah, I know I know the caffeine’s bad for me-” They moved to take a drink and Sam stopped them, gently placing his fingers against the can and pushing it back slightly but not touching them.
“Not what I mean,” They lowered the drink and placed it on the coffee table, tilting their head slightly, perplexed. “You ain’t allowed to drink or eat anything now, until tomorrow. Did ya forget?” His lips lifted at the corners softly as the realisation setting in was shown so clearly by Darlin’s disappearing smirk. They had forgotten.
“Oh. Yeah.”
“Oooh are you intermittent fasting? I heard that’s like good for your heart or something.” Asher chimed in, ever curious.
“No, no I'm-,” Darlin paused, looking to their mate for support. They hadn’t told anybody but Sam. They didn’t want people to ‘overreact’. As much as the wolf was grateful for their growing relationship with the pack, and they really were, sometimes their care felt overbearing. Tank wished it didn’t, wished that accepting well wishes and comfort wasn’t difficult. Hoped that one day, finding their apartment full of pack members after they had been injured wouldn’t surprise them so much. That it would feel normal, be normal. But accepting such open displays of affection didn’t come naturally to them and it was difficult. They were working on it... “-I have um, surgery tomorrow.”
Sam squeezed their hand in reassurance, as the other wolves facial expressions on the screen twisted into confusion simultaneously.
“Surgery? What for?” Having to use human healing methods was extremely uncommon amongst empowered people, especially shifters. Milo set down his controller, all ears and clearly worried.
“It’s nothing bad. Just getting my appendix taken out, don’t worry about it.” Darlin’s half-assed attempt to brush of their friend’s concerns was unsuccessful, to say the least.
“How come you can’t go to a healer?”
“Are you okay?”
“Is there anything we can do?”
Darlin looked to Sam again, overwhelmed by the number of questions being thrown at them at once. Sam usually didn’t like speaking for his partner, he knew it was important for them to learn how to handle things like this, that they struggled with, and often opted to just be there as support instead of taking over the situation. However, this time he could see them drawing in on themselves, all hunched shoulders and pleading eyes. So, he decided that he’d need to do a little bit more than that. “We can heal the blockage that causes the appendicitis, that’s what we’ve been doin’ but that doesn’t stop it from swellin’ back up again. So, in the long run, it’s better to just have it removed, ‘fore it becomes a bigger issue.” He supplied, his eyes gently encouraging Darlin to answer the other two questions themself.
“I’m fine really. You all know Sam’s a healer, so I'm not in any pain or anything.”
David leaned forward, folding his arms over on his desk. “Is there anything we can do to help?” He repeated, slightly furrowing his eyebrows in the way he always did when he was being serious, or going into ‘Alpha-mode’ as Angel liked to call it.
They hadn’t bothered answering the last question for a reason. Now that the pack knew, there was no doubt in Darlin’s mind that they’d be in and out of Sam’s house to check up on them whether Tank asked for it or not. “No, not really, thanks.” They fiddled with their hands uncomfortably, unable to look their alpha in the eye, even through Sam’s Tv. Healing magic was still going to be used to heal the wound so Darlin’s recovery wasn’t going to take nearly as much time as it would if they had the procedure done at an unempowered hospital.
“Not really?” Of course David only picked up on that part. “If you need anything Tank then tell us, we want to help.”
Darlin’ sighed quietly and Sam nodded at them. The pair already had a conversation about asking the pack for this particular favour and although his wolf took ‘facing things alone’ to extreme levels, they really didn’t have any other choice here other than to ask for help .
After a minute of contemplative silence, Darlin answered. “Are you working tomorrow?”
“Nah, we’ve all got the day off, no gig tomorrow.” Milo supplied.
“I get out of surgery in the morning and Sam won’t be able to pick me up till sunset. I don’t really like staying in hospitals...” They trailed off, clenching Sam’s hand tightly. Why was this so hard for them?
“We can pick you up!” Angel offered, still sat firmly on David’s lap. They were always good at jumping in at the right times, taking pressure off of others. “Can’t we David.”
“Yes, of course. What time will we need to be there?”
“Around eleven, if that’s ok.”
“Ok, eleven, no problem.”
Tank resisted the urge to double check if it was alright, knowing it was pointless. David Shaw never said anything he didn’t mean; he wouldn’t have agreed if he wasn’t certain. Instead, they simply thanked him and his partner before excusing themselves to go shower.
Sam watched them walk up the stairs before returning his attention to his Tv, Ash and Milo were already bickering again, light-heartedly, but David had gone stiff. Expression much sterner, upset. Sam was grateful that his Darlin’ had gained the courage to ask, the idea of them having to wait for him, uncomfortable and most likely dazed from the healing magic made his teeth ache, and not in the good way. He wondered if David was looking at him like that because he was disappointed. Sam knew a lot of people were suspicious of him when he first started hanging out with his wolf, which was fair. They had a bad experience with a vampire and Sam was sure he could prove that he was nothing like Quinn. That he was so much more than just his turning. And he was.
He however could not change the fact that he was bound to the confines of the night and every now and then wondered, when the sun was high and he couldn’t bring himself to sleep, that maybe the fangs and the biting and the power he had over Darlin’ wasn’t the only problem people saw with their relationship. But the power’s he didn’t have. The laws of his nature, he had no choice but to obey, altering how much he really could be there for them.
Maybe this had David realising that Sam wasn’t the best fit. No matter how many times he was referred to as a ‘good man’. Sam swallowed down his sudden embarrassment, thankful when Milo offered another game and pulled him out of his spiralling thoughts.
“Yeah, I’m up for one more.”
-
Darlin leaned against the tiles, cooling their skin, and resisted the urge to sit down and just let the shower swallow them whole. The water streaming down relaxed their muscles as they rolled their shoulders back over and over again. Trying to rid themselves of an almost constant ache between their shoulder blades.
The wolf tilted their head back, willing the water to take their thoughts with it as it washed over their face and hair. They could have gotten out a while ago.
They told their self over and over again that being scared didn’t help anything. Didn’t change anything. But their brain wouldn’t listen. Filling their head with the worst possible scenarios.
“It’s just surgery.” They reminded themselves under short breaths. “Nothing to be scared of.” Maybe if they said it out loud, their mind would listen?
Darlin turned the tap off and stepped out onto Sam's heated floor. Thankful the mirror was fogged up, they wrapped themselves in a large towel, watching the water vapour swirl around under white lights.
“Darlin’? You okay in there?” The wolf opened the door instead of answering verbally, smiling up at their mate. Sam smiled at them in that soft way he always did when he could tell something was wrong. “You wanna cuddle?”
They grinned, “I’m a bit wet right now, cowboy.” There was a soft tapping where droplets fell of their hair, down their back and onto the floor.
Sam grabbed a smaller towel off the rack and held it up. “I can fix that?” They nodded, dropping their head down so he could dry their hair with it, resisting the urge to shake and splatter water all over him.
He moved forward before pausing, his socks soggy. “Oh, for f-. Need to fix that shower screen, keeps leakin’. I don’t think the seals workin’ properly.” He continued working the towel through their hair, gently, always.
Darlin giggled, looking up at him from the side. “I don’t know whether to make a joke about the leaking, or you getting wet.”
Sam pulled the towel off and the shifter stood up straight again, “You, are perverse. Can I do anythin’ without you turning it into an innuendo?” He smirked.
They shrugged.
“Come on, let’s get you some dry socks.”
“Hmm.”
Sam had laid out some clean clothes on the bed for them to change into, boxers and a baggy t-shirt. They always brought their own but ended up sleeping in his more often than not. They didn’t mind. Sam smelled like wood, whiskey, wildflowers and sometimes old spice. It travelled over to his clothes and it was, nice .
Once changed they climbed under the covers to meet their mate. His arms wide, requesting they cuddled in close, knowing how they liked to rest on his chest. Darlin obliged. For once ready to settle in for the night.
He laid his hand at the base of their back, his touch firm and grounding, whilst they traced patterns across his torso. Random shapes, trees, a sun and a moon. Anything that came mind. They wondered if Sam could tell what they were drawing.
They relaxed into him, the sound of his heartbeat growing distant as they drifted off.
“You’re gonna be just fine Darlin.”
“I know.”
“I know.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Thank you.” They breathed into his chest before finally falling asleep. Warm and safe. Loved.