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“Theo! Have you seen my coat?”
Clothes scattered the makeshift bedroom Emizel was currently tearing apart. He never left the base without it, and today was no exception. Random papers of drawings and posters scattered the walls, a stolen stop sign leaned up against the wall by the door. Dingy fairy lights hung from the ceiling and Emizel had always promised to change them to something “cooler”, but the lights had honestly grown on him. He would never admit that though.
He moved over to a different pile of clothes, not really knowing what was clean or dirty anymore after tearing his room apart. Footsteps echoed down the hallway, making Emizel’s ear flick towards the door. That was something he would never get used to, the heightened senses. When he turned his head to gaze at the door, Theo was there. He had himself propped up against the door frame, leaning with his arms crossed.
“I haven’t. You sure you didn’t lose it while you were out?” Theo poked with a smirk, just the playful attitude making Emizel’s chest flutter.
“No, when have you seen me without it?” Emizel quickly turned away from the man at the door, going back to the pile of clothes on the floor, “I put it down not too long ago.”
“Have you checked anywhere else?”
“Not yet. I kinda don’t wanna tear apart the entire base. Too much work.” Emizel stood up straight again, placing his hands on his hips with a sigh. He didn’t want to leave tonight without his coat but would if he had to. He didn’t like the way his arms were exposed out to the world, remnants of scars telling their own story without asking Emizel first if they could shout out their tale.
He didn’t need people assuming, especially now with being involved in a whole new society with its own weird hierarchy. He already forces himself into being tough, someone with no breaking point, all edges. He doesn’t even let the Demons see him without that coat or even a flannel on. Always long sleeves. The only person he has let see him bare armed --or even shirtless-- is Theo.
Emizel won’t forget the first time he got stabbed. After the fight, everyone was ready to jump in and help Emizel, but he denied everyone. Except for Theo. Emizel will never be able to figure out why he let Theo help him, or even see him like that, but Theo didn’t talk about the thin lines that lined his shoulders and his hips. He didn’t bug Emizel about the crescent scars that lined underneath his breasts. Theo just helped stitch the knife wound and bandaged it, even giving him a new shirt to change into.
That was the day Emizel knew he could really trust this guy. No matter what would happen, Emizel would be back for him. An anchor to fall back onto, something that stayed consistent, something that helped this makeshift excuse of a base into a home.
“Well... I have a jacket you could borrow?” Theo spoke up, snapping Emizel out of his thoughts. How long had he been staring over at the other? Hopefully not too long.
“Sure, yeah. Okay.”
Emizel kicked the piles of clothes into an odd pathway-pile on the floor, knowing he would rather not trip on them later, especially if he came back beat up. He remembered one of his first nights after being out in the town. Once he had gotten back to the base he tripped over a pile of clothes and fell into the dresser. He told people the bruise on his face was from the fight.
It was not.
Emizel almost missed the look on Theo’s face, something flashing in between mischief and a bad attempt at putting away his smile. Immediately Emizel stopped in his tracks, squinting at the other in confusion.
“What?”
“Nothing! Nothing.” Theo put his hands up with a nervous smile, but that lingering mischief didn't leave. Emizel quickly studied him, looking at his expression, his lips, his jacket, his shirt-
His jacket wasn’t his jacket. Only Emizel’s had the red patch near the collar.
“You little-” Emizel nearly lunged towards Theo, causing the tanner man to yell out with a giggle-ridden “woah! Hey!” and Theo was able to dodge Emizel’s grab, hopping backwards with a skip and he turned to run.
“Get back here!” Emizel pushed himself off of the doorframe and slid across the floor with the help of his socks, cornering Theo on the other side of the couch.
“Hey man we can talk about this!” Theo pleaded, a wide smile plastered on his face and a soft blush tickled his cheeks. Brown eyes stared into red as they both prepared for any sort of action from the other.
Emizel was the first to move, darting around the couch and using the back of it to propel himself forward, giving him extra momentum to move around to the other side of the couch. Theo reacted quicker, darting the other way and back around to the other side of the couch. They had swapped places.
“Nope! Absolutely not!” Emizel yelled. He was not going to play this ring game, so he vaulted over the couch, sending Theo running back towards his makeshift bedroom. Theo laughed as he ran, trying to shut the door on Emizel in the process but wasn’t fast enough against Emizel’s vampiric speed and strength.
Emizel pushed his way through the door and shut the door closed behind him, ultimately trapping Theo in his room, positioning him right in front of his bed.
“C’mere!” Emizel crouched and tackled him into the bed, fighting him with arm strength as Theo tried to push him off him, trying to find a way to run again. Laughing wasn’t helping him at all as Theo was beginning to lose his breath, and in turn, his strength.
“I give!” Theo huffed, allowing Emizel to pin his wrists to the bed in one swift motion. Both were breathing heavily, and Emizel could never shake the habit of breathing from when he was alive. Theo let out an exhausted chuckle, pushing up against Emizel’s grip on his wrists and Emizel promptly let go. He still had him caged in with his arm.
Emizel sat above him, one arm at his right side and his body on his left and Theo could lay there for hours. Right here, with Emizel. Neither of them said a word as they sat there on Emizel’s bed looking at one another. Emizel’s eyes grazed over the freckles that pricked at the others’ face, a clear indicator of how often he went and saw the sun. He studied the scar that reached up from his jaw up towards his nose.
He couldn’t help himself, reaching up towards Theo’s face and cupping his cheek. He rubbed his thumb gently across the scarred skin, as if he put too much force on it that it would reopen. Emizel could hear Theo’s heartrate pick up with his heightened senses, smell the sickly-sweet blood better now that there was more blood running through his veins.
He almost missed the red tint that covered his entire face and ears, threatening to reach his neck. Theo’s eyes darted between Emizel’s, the brown glowing softly from the light of the old fairy lights above them.
“Emizel?”
Emizel swallowed “Can I kiss you?”
Theo’s expression quickly shifted from confusion to something Emizel couldn’t quite decipher, but the red on his face did darken. Theo licked his lips (out of anxiety?) and his gaze flicked to Emizel’s lips, and Emizel could hear his heart rate pick up even more.
“Please,”
Emizel leaned down and kissed him, guiding the other towards himself as he leaned in. He carefully kept him pinned on the bed, fingers gliding through red-dyed strands. Emizel had never noticed how soft it was.
The vampire was so caught up in the other that he barely noticed the hands that reached up to hold his neck gently, the other hand reaching around and gripping onto the pale blue shirt that he wore.
Emizel broke the kiss first, not sure how long until Theo needed air. He began to sit up but was tugged back down by the other as Theo pulled himself up with the leverage of Emizel.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Theo murmured, leaning in again for another kiss. Emizel’s hand dropped to Theo’s hips, pulling him closer. Their chests touched and Theo held Emizel’s face this time around, kissing him as much as he could, taking in small breaths whenever they broke for a short time.
The way his stomach fluttered made him feel like he was levitating, his fingers tingly and his mind hazy. There was nothing else he could even think about but his best friend, (his lover?)
Theo pulled away for a moment, catching his breath and his smile was wide, a giddy one that was accompanied by giggling. He was excited,
“What?” Emizel poked, confused on why Theo was giggling at him like that.
“So, stealing your coat was a good idea?”
Right, the whole reason they’re in this mess. Emizel huffed and turned his head away from the other, pulling him closer just a bit by his hips. Theo’s hands slid from his jawline down to the crook of his neck, fidgeting with a small bundle of brown hair that sat at the bottom of Emizel’s hairline.
“Whatever,” Emizel pouted, rubbing his thumbs right below Theo’s ribcage. He liked holding Theo, having the other in his hands.
Theo’s giggling subsided and he leaned forward again, but not for a kiss. His hands moved past his shoulders and instead his arms rested on them instead, moving to sit on Emizel’s lap for a hug. He placed his chin on the other’s shoulder and Emizel could feel his heart melt almost instantly.
The pale man wrapped his arms fully around the other, gliding them underneath his coat and he pulled him close. Emizel couldn’t help but bury his face into Theo’s neck, lips resting gently in between his collarbone and the crook of his neck. He took a deep breath and exhaled, taking in the smell that was so authentically Theo, tickling Theo’s neck in the process.
“Please be my boyfriend, or whatever the hell that was,” Emizel ghastly murmured against Theo’s skin, the warmth of it tickling his lips and he gently placed a kiss on his shoulder. He could feel Theo’s heart pounding against his chest and his hand reached up to sit in between his shoulder blades, his other hand hugging around his figure fully, resting on his hip.
“If you didn’t ask after all of that, Emizel, I think I would have to kill you myself,” Theo joked, burying his nose into the longer blonde locks on his head. Even after turning into a vampire, Emizel still smells like Emizel, something that Theo will always cling onto. It’s why he stole his jacket. He wanted to wear it whilst Emizel was out, but he might’ve forgotten how attached Emizel was to it. It smelled just like him, and he began to miss him when he was out during the night but asleep during the day.
“Fuck you,” Emizel shot back, and he pulled Theo down back onto the mattress with him, curling into the Filipino man. Theo tucked his nose into his blonde bangs, moving his arm to become a pillow for Emizel and the other wrapped around him. Their legs were entangled and Emizel carefully nuzzled into his neck again, breathing against the skin.
Gentle kisses tickled Theo’s neck, his heart floated in his chest and his arms felt tingly. He didn’t want to imagine how red his face was right now, but he was glad that this wasn’t one of his late-night fantasies, cuddled up against a larger pillow to help him sleep quicker. It was Emizel, and Emizel was right here with him.
“Take a nap with me, I haven’t slept today.” Emizel asked, placing another soft kiss on his adam's apple.
“Yeah, man. Okay.” Theo whispered in response, reaching his hand up to carefully comb through his hair, scratching and massaging his scalp gently. A pleased hum came from the other and the kisses stopped, but Emizel’s hold tightened.
Theo carefully pulled out his phone and turned on some music for them both, a calming playlist that Theo listened to when he needed something to relax to. He made sure to set the volume low and he set it down farther behind Emizel.
“You’re such a sap, Theo,” Emizel murmured groggily. He wasn’t going to be awake much longer
“And you like that,” Theo defended gently, closing his eyes and gently kissing Emizel’s forehead. Emizel only gave a grunt in return, and Theo slowly felt his breathing slow.
“I guess you were tired,” he whispered, gently pulling the sheet that was next to them over to his hand with his foot, grabbing it and covering them both. His hand returned to the other head, combing through his hair once more.
Theo listened to the song, the instrumentals that soothed his mind on top of the intoxicating drug that was the vampire in his arms.
"Afraid of the light
built by design
to lose control
Oh, I know...
And sometimes I feel I’m hanging on
And all these times we’ve had
Now you’re gone”