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Night had fallen, the sun having finally set after what seemed like an endless day.
Porter had set out as soon as he was able, trying to escape from the confines of whatever Clan business he had been sucked into, following the almost nightly routine he had followed for quite some time now: wait through the day, and set out to a certain human's apartment as soon as dusk fell upon the almost-always bustling city of Dahlia.
He followed the familiar path he had grown accustomed to over the weeks, dodging passerby as he traversed through more populated areas of the city. It was a short while until he saw the apartment complex, and shorter still when he finally reached the aged door of the person he saw every other night.
Three knocks, followed by two slow ones. Their idea, not his.
Porter listened intently for the shuffling of feet or mutterings of feigned and light-hearted annoyance that he was used to, but nothing. They were home, he was sure of it; they exclusively worked morning shifts, and ever since they had met him, they had completely stopped being their "friend's" assigned DD. They had also stated many times before that they didn't really have anywhere to go during the night anyway.
He was about to knock again when soft footsteps perked his interest, and he heard the door unlock and watched it swing open.
“Oh. Hey,” Treasure murmured, and Porter was a bit taken aback at their appearance. They looked — for lack of a better word — awful. Dark circles stained the skin under their eyes and their face drooped. They blinked slowly at him, forcing a smile onto their face.
“Don’t," Porter immediately stated sternly.
“Don’t… what?”
“Fake your smile. You look like death."
“Thanks," Treasure said wearily. "I feel like death.” The haggard smile slipped off of their face.
"You look like you're about to fall over," he pointed out with concern, taking in Treasure's general posture. They were leaning heavily against the doorway, and their face seemed almost scrunched up in pain.
"Are you okay?" Porter asked, taking a small step toward them. They sighed, pinching their lips together.
"I'm on my period," they mumbled, an edge of pain and tiredness in their voice.
Porter's mind went blank at that. "Oh," he murmured. Despite all his experience with blood, he had never been faced with one beforehand. He remembered briefly his mother teaching him about them, how they were painful and caused mood swings and what not.
"You need to know these things, dearie," she had said. "Just in case a pretty someone with a uterus walks into your life. You need to be able to take care of them during the times they're not able to take care of themself."
"Are you in pain?" he asked gently, taking in their pinched expression.
"Yes," Treasure hissed through gritted teeth. "And I just ran out of Advil and Ibuprofen yesterday, before you ask why I haven't taken any. I was meaning to drop by the store to get some today, but work left me feeling like shit, and I barely survived the drive back home. No way in hell I'm going out to buy pain meds."
They pressed their hand against their back, trying to ease the aching pain that nestled there, the pained expression on their face only relaxing for a second before another cramp seemingly overtook them.
"I'm sorry if you had anything planned for tonight," Treasure said. "And as much as I'm open to try new things concerning blood, I... I don't have it in me."
Porter's face immediately softened, and he closed the gap between them in order to cup their face, bringing their gaze to his. The soft eyes he had come to adore so much were ever-so-slightly glazed over with pain — and not the good kind.
"While I did come here with a thought in mind, I would never try to force you to do anything you wouldn't want to do," he stated. "I already established that when we met. If you just want to curl up on the couch and watch whatever movie is trending, that's fine with me. If you want me to leave, that's fine too. Whatever you're comfortable with, whatever you want, I'll oblige by it."
Treasure let out a strained huff, a smile twisting at the corners of their lips. "That's probably the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me," they murmured, drawing Porter into an impromptu hug. Porter smiled as well, resting his hands on Treasure's back, trying to ease the pain.
"I'd love for you to stay, by the way," Treasure mumbled into his shirt. "If it wasn't clear already."
Porter chuckled. "Well, thank you for clarifying, my dear. Lead the way."
Breaking the hug, the duo entered the well-worn apartment, bathed in all of it's colorful, fairy light glory. The TV was already playing something, and on the couch a small bundle of fur known as Cinnamon was curled up on a pillow, seemingly asleep.
"Is that... coffee?" Porter asked, having noticed the small mug on the table to the side of the couch.
"Uh, yeah?" Treasure replied, confused.
"You do know that coffee makes cramps worse, right?" Porter said.
Treasure shrugged. "It's never affected me before," they mumbled.
"That's probably because you had pain meds pumping through your system," Porter pointed out, grabbing the mug before Treasure could get to it. "If you want something bitter, then have dark chocolate. It helps with the stress and relieves cramps somewhat."
Treasure looked at him, dumbfounded. "How do you know so much about periods?" they asked genuinely, a small smile on their face.
"My mother taught me, a long time ago," Porter answered simply, cupping their cheek and giving them a quick kiss.
"Now, you are going to sit down and let me take care of you," he said, already guiding Treasure to the couch. They sat down next to Cinnamon, taking the sleeping cat in their lap as they looked up expectantly at Porter.
"First off, do you have a heating pad?" he asked.
"I do, but I can't find it," they answered. "I was looking for it when you came knocking on my door."
"And how bad would you rate your pain?"
"Pretty fucking bad."
Porter nodded. Though they were keeping their composure a bit better, he could still see the glint of pain in their eyes.
"I'll be right back," he promised, before zipping to the kitchen to dump out the coffee in the sink and grabbing a cup of water before making his way back to the living room.
Sitting down beside them after handing them the glass, Porter asked, "Is it okay if I touch you?"
Treasure nodded, too focused on gulping down the water they had been given to reply vocally.
With that affirmation, Porter slipped his hands underneath the sweater they had been wearing, placing them on their lower back. He focused on pulling his magic into his hands, heating them up as if he was about to create fire, but holding off on actually letting flames dance from his fingers. He heard Treasure hum in surprise, though they were quick to lean into the warm sensation.
"Better?" he asked softly. They hummed again, sighing contentedly.
"You're acting as my personal, vampiric heating pad?" they asked playfully, closing their eyes. Porter chuckled, now massaging small circles into their abdomen.
"Seeing as you couldn't find your heating pad and I didn't want to waste time looking for it, I did the next best thing. You'll tell me if it gets too hot, right?"
"Of course, but I'm pretty tolerant when it comes to heat. And this feels pretty damn good at the temperature it's at."
Porter smiled, continuing to press small circles against their lower back and watching as the hidden pain slipped off of their face with each passing second.
A shuffling in their lap drew his attention, but it was just Cinnamon getting into a more comfortable position. The cat had grown significantly from the little kitten he felt he had just met a short while ago. She still liked biting people's fingers though, made apparent now as she was currently gnawing on one of Treasure's.
A few comfortable minutes passed in silence, only broken by the scenes from whatever show was playing on the TV. Treasure had taken to humming softly, petting Cinnamon and leaning further into Porter's hands bit by bit.
"I have a question," they said suddenly, eyes still closed.
"Hm? What's up?" Porter asked, his own eyes focusing on their face once more.
"Can all vampires do magic like you can? Or is it something that gets passed down from your maker or something?"
Porter thought about the question for a moment, before answering. "Well, all vampires have magic, but it's more tied into our physicality, rather than what is perceived as more 'traditional' magic. While we can perform 'traditional magic', we can only really become novices at it, and it takes a lot more out of us than it would a human magic user. Why?"
"You just seem to be really good at it," Treasure said matter-of-factly, and Porter could almost hear the grin in their voice. "And I hope this isn't 'taking a lot' out of you, as you put it."
Porter shook his head. "Not at all, Treasure. In comparison, this is child's play."
Treasure laughed softly, opening their eyes and turning their head to look at him. All traces of pain were completely gone now, their usual softness having bled back into them.
"Thank you, for helping," they murmured, reaching for one of Porter's hands and taking it in their own. "I honestly don't think I would have survived tonight if you hadn't shown up."
Porter smiled softly, leaning into to press a gentle kiss to Treasure's jaw. "Of course, my dear. Anything to help."
Treasure leaned more into his side, somehow maneuvering themself onto his lap while keeping Cinnamon on theirs. They leaned back into him, and Porter redirected the heat from his hands to a more generalized area of his torso and arms, wrapping them around Treasure and nuzzling his face into their neck.
"If we aren't careful, we're gonna fall asleep on this couch," Treasure murmured, tiredness seeping into their voice.
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Porter said.
"Trust me, falling asleep on this couch is the last thing either one of us wants to do. Last time I slept on this thing, I woke up with a crick in my neck."
Porter smiled against their skin. "Would you rather go to bed, then?" he asked, pressing a soft kiss to their jaw again.
"Only if you come with," Treasure said quietly. "I need my heating pad, y'know? And more kisses wouldn't hurt, either."
Porter chuckled. "Of course, my dear."
Porter ended up carrying Treasure to their bed, making sure that they had a towel placed down and water on their nightstand and plenty of blankets to help keep the heat trapped in (he also reminded them to change their pad, inciting a groan from them).
He snuggled up close to them, spooning them and tracing small hearts on their arms and pressing small kisses to their neck every now and then as they drifted off to sleep.
"Good night, my love," he murmured softly against their skin. "Sleep well."