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It was getting harder and harder to focus.
A vampire needed blood to survive; that was a fact. Yet Madeleine hadn’t drank any for, what, one week? Two? He’d lost count. Either way, the honorable paladin couldn’t bring himself to do it, to try and hunt others for the substance he oh so needed.
Yet he couldn’t keep this up forever. The effects were already showing. Tanned skin started to become eerily pale. Usually endless energy almost completely banished. Bright blue eyes had a red tint affixed to them. And worst of all: it was practically becoming impossible to keep his fangs hidden.
By this point others had noticed. His paladin companions wondered if their commander was sick. His family encouraged him to get some rest. His friends urged him to see a doctor. The more… shady individuals immediately brought up the simple solution.
Yet Madeleine only smiled widely and proclaimed that he was fine as always. They didn’t need to worry about his health; neither did they need to worry about a bloodthirsty killer hanging amongst them.
But natural necessities couldn’t be ignored forever, as much as he would have liked…
“Madeleine, are you listening?”
The paladin lifted his head, looking at his coffee scented companion. Right now both of them were sitting beside the fireplace, pausing to rest from one of their missions and chat for the night . And if the narrowed glare the mage was giving him was any indication… he had been ignoring him this entire time.
Madeleine pulled himself straight and smiled sheepishly.
“Sorry sorry I’m just… tired from all of the walking, that’s all” it wasn’t exactly a lie- his legs hadn’t had the energy for such a long stride- but it wasn’t the truth either.
“Hmm. Have you not been drinking any coffee like I told you?” said Espresso, rolling his eyes. Madeleine shook his head “ It does a better job on keeping you awake than any of those energy drinks guys like you fancy”
“I don’t think only drinking coffee is healthy, though”
Espresso huffed.
“Whatever. If you are so tired, then perhaps try to rest a little. I’ll guard for the night”
“Then you will rest too, right?” asked the paladin, well aware of the other’s sleeping habits. Or rather, his lack of thereof. The mage sighed and reluctantly nodded.
Madeleine only muttered a thanks to the divine before standing up and, with some effort, managing to get inside one of the tents. As soon as he closed the cloth he collapsed on the sheets, body sweaty.
He put a hand against his head, noting the temperature. Cold. Too cold. He groaned, rolling over. Normally he would have taken off his armor by now but by this point he was too tired for even that. Honestly, the fact that he had enough energy for this trip was a surprising feat in itself. Oh well; at least it wasn’t the first time he had to do that.
The paladin took a breath, taking in the scent of his surroundings. One of the feats that came with being a vampire was the enhanced senses, smell included. He could smell the flowers around the campfire, the fire that was being burned. But those paled in comparison to the one of coffee, of the bitter yet sweet aroma that came from the mage , and of his equally delicious b-
Strong hands instantly flew to his face, covering his nose and salivating mouth . It was no use; the blood that still remained inside him flushed his face, and sharp fangs had already shown themselves.
Curses.
Madeleine grumbled in frustration. He pulled the sheet up his face and pressed himself against the pillow, forcing himself to calm down, to not think about that . Eventually, his eyes fell closed, and his breathing slowed down in a steady rhythm.
He had managed to pull himself to sleep. But unfortunately, it wasn’t for long.
The sound of an explosion jolted him awake, alert, and he frantically looked around for the source of the noise. A grunt of pain soon followed, and his eyes instantly fell on the tent´s entrance: so outside, then.
Automatically he reached for his sword and dashed outside. But when he was a foot away from his bed, it became apparent that, whatever threat had come over, it had been taken care of quickly.
His senses took in the scene around him. The area was a mess, with part of the supplies scattered around or damaged by the attack. It was not hard to miss why; close to them, was a pair of what he presumed to be bandits, laying there motionless in the grass. And most importantly, having fallen close to the tents, laid…
“Espresso!”
The paladin dropped his sword and rushed to the other’s side. The mage pulled himself to a sitting position, grumbling in pain.
“Espresso! What in the divine’s name happened?! Are you-“ he was about to question more while his eyes inspected the other, until they suddenly settled on one particular spot.
He froze.
Oh.
“ Just some fellows who didn’t have anything better to do in life” the mage complained, unaware of how still Madeleine had gotten. “Thankfully I stopped them before they could take something or hurt me further, although this certainly is a problem”
No response.
“… Madeleine?”
He didn’t answer. All of his attention, all of his senses, were focused on something else.
Whatever those thieves used to harm the coffee mage, it certainly left a mark. Specifically, near his shoulder, was a clear gash.
One that was currently bleeding , dripping onto his clothes and the ground below.
“Hello, Madeleine?!”
Espresso snapped his fingers, trying to get his attention. It didn’t work.
Oh, light
That scent, that instinct , came back again. This time, he couldn’t stop it.
The sight of the blood turned his eyes red, wide pupils into slits. That oh so sweet scent that came from it filled his mind, made his mouth water. And what a waste, what a pity it was that it remained there, wasting on the ground, when he could make it serve a much better needed purpose.
Had his mind been clearer, he would have plummeted those thoughts. How he must have looked in the eyes of others. He would have thought much more about who that blood belonged to, what would happen should he give in to temptation. But right now, it couldn’t be helped.
One’s hunger could only go so long without being satiated, after all…
“Madeleine… “ Espresso gulped, noticing the sudden change in the other’s demeanor. Against what was probably the safer option, he reached a hand out. Without warning it was suddenly gripped, making him gasp.
The paladin’s unusually crimson eyes blinked, regaining their focus a little.
“I..” Madeleine started, clearly struggling to talk, to pay attention “I-I’m”
The mage attempted to free his trapped hand, but the grip only tightened. In frustration- and rising terror- he conjured one of his coffee spells on it, well known for their high temperatures.
It worked. Too well. The paladin let out a cry and released the limb, pushing the mage further back. The blood from his injury spilled into the ground, as he fell on his back.
Adjusting his glasses, Espresso stared as Madeleine gripped his hand, noticeably hot and as though it may fall just from the spell alone.
Strange. That didn’t usually happen. Unless…
“Espresso…”
The coffee mage returned his attention to Madeleine who, with crimson slits and pale skin against the moonlight, looked more like a monster than anything else. He was panting, eyes following the trail of blood until they settled once again on the wound. Espresso stiffened.
Madeleine continued
“ Please forgive me” as long fangs sprouted from his mouth, as his eyes suddenly looked feral and thirsty “For what I’m about to do”
And just a second later, the paladin braised himself on the ground before lunging at him.
The mage barely reacted in time, conjuring magic chains around the paladin’s wrists just before he could land on him. It was still close enough for a clawed hand to grab his leg and attempt to pull him close. He screamed, his other leg kicking the man in the face. As soon as he was let go off he scrambled away, while Madeleine growled in pain.
When he was well out of snatching distance, he spun his head to stare back, frowning. The paladin struggled against his restraints, mouth snapping at the air, at him, while hungry eyes glared back at his injury.
Speaking of which, he used his magic to pull over some cloth to stop its bleeding.
There were a lot of questions in Espresso's mind. For how long had Madeleine been like this? Had he been starving himself? Why didn’t he tell him anything? Why did he even accept to come in the first place?
But he knew those questions were better answered in another moment. Those chains wouldn’t last for long, and they were already starting to falter. And if he was correct about how Madeleine hadn’t been feeding himself, combined with his blood loss, covering the gash wouldn’t help in the long run.
In other words, if he let him loose, he would be dead .
Naturally, he couldn’t let that happen.
And yet…
“ Please!” the paladin begged, his once fierce expression turning into one of pleading “I need this, please! ”
He couldn’t just leave him like that.
Espresso pursed his lips as he covered the wound, thinking about what to do. He wasn’t about to offer himself as a meal, no thank you! But fortunately for him, there was another thing he could do.
… Not like he was going to to like this, but it had to be done,
“One moment! Stay there” he ordered, turning away. Madeleine feverishly nodded, not taking his eyes off the mage.
He kneeled down beside one of the bandit’s bodies, before picking it up. He shivered at how cold they felt in his touch, at what he planned to do with them. Even if they had attempted to attack him and steal their supplies, did they really deserve to be fed to someone as if they were a meal thrown to a starving dog?
Such were his doubts and worries that he didn’t hear the snap behind him, nor the quick footsteps that followed it. Not until his wounded shoulder was grabbed and he was subsequently thrown back.
He yelped as he hit the ground, but any words of surprise or complain died at his throat when he saw what was happening in front of him:
Madeleine, with fangs and claws dug into the bandit’s flesh, had begun to feverishly suck their blood.
Apart from the suckling sounds and his heavy breathing, the air had been silent.
Eventually , despite only having his back on sight, Espresso noticed how the paladin was changing. His breathing became less labored. His pale skin gradually recovered its color. The claws that had appeared on his gauntlets gradually retreated.
And after a moment, Madeleine stopped, letting the drained corpse drop. He stood there, gasping.
Hesitantly, Espresso stood up and took a step forward.
“Madeleine… Are you-“
The paladin’s head snapped back, revealing a blood covered mouth.The mage flinched. Then, those blue eyes turned once again to his wound, then to the ground where the bandit lay, then to his hands.
He started shaking.
And when Espresso tried to reach out a hand… the paladin tumbled over, the mage barely managing to catch him before he fell as well.
Concerned, Espresso looked him over and pressed a hand against his forehead. It was warm, and nothing was out of place. Aside from the blood of course. He sighed in relief.
He frowned at the sight of the bodies. After a moment of thought he decided to solve this mess later.
Oh Madeleine. What am I gonna do with you?
With his non-injured limb, he pulled the paladin up, his head leaning on his shoulder, and made his way towards the tents. There were still questions he had, as well as a well deserved explanation for all of this.
But for now… they all needed a rest.
******
It was morning by the time the paladin woke up.
He pulled himself into a sitting position, letting out a yawn while his eyes blinked awake. He felt lightheaded, his mind fuzzy. He looked at his surroundings, realizing he was once again inside the tent, various medical supplies laid on the side.
“So, are you feeling any better?”
His head whipped around to face Espresso, who sat on the other side of the tent. His shoulder was covered in bandages, a clear splash of blood left in them.
He froze, the memories from the night coming back to him. His body trembled, and when the mage approached, he flinched away.
“It’s alright, I sort of figured it out by now” he tried to reassure. It didn’t help much .
“W- what did I do?!” Madeleine stammered, distressed
“Just scare the hell out of me and slurp someone up like a juice box, that’s all” he responded. At Madeleine’s blank look he added “You didn’t manage to drink my blood, if that’s what you are concerned about”
The paladin sighed in relief. Still, the fact that he almost hurt his companion…
“I-I’m so sorry, I didn’t-“
“ Now now, that has passed. You shouldn’t worry about it ” Espresso interrupted, Madeleine was about to protest, but he continued “ What should actually worry you..”
“Huh?”
“Is yourself, you fool! For people who are always concerned about appearances and worrying about others , you paladins certainly have no initiative about worrying for your own well being! Especially you, Madeleine! Wouldn’t someone as proud as yourself realize that doing this is a bad idea?! That you can’t keep on like this forever?!”
“But-“
“Listen, I don’t know how or why you got turned, and I get that you don’t want to harm anyone to satisfy that hunger of yours. But don’t you realize that by continuing to do as such, you are only putting others at more risk of harm, than if you fed on them when you aren’t constantly on the edge of starvation?!”
Espresso took a deep breath, brown eyes glaring at the paladin. Madeleine stared motionless, speechless. As much as he would have liked to deny it, as much as he wanted to say that all of his actions were better in the long run… he had a point.
The mage broke the silence.
“You are probably too tired for all of this talk, aren’t you?” When Madeleine nodded after a pause, he sighed “Alright. You can rest for the moment, I’ll take care of things”
Espresso stood up, grabbing the entrance of the tent. He turned his eyes to the paladin.
“Knowing our previous interactions, the sun doesn’t harm you in any way, does it?”
The paladin shook his head.
“Good "Still, he was careful when going out, making sure the light didn’t pierce the tent’s interior too much before closing it from the outside.
Madeleine just stared as the silhouette of the other moved away… before sighing and pressing his head against the pillow. He was right; he needed a rest
His words were also right. Unfortunately so, but they were facts.
Yet how could he live with himself like this? How could he live with himself… knowing how much of a danger he was to those he cared so much about?