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Straight lines, extended fingers, keep core active. Try again. Not sharp enough, again. Timing’s off, again. Luka walked over to the music stereo and set the song about fifteen seconds back, before he walked to the mirror and performed his moves once more.
Either the reflection was turning foggy under the hard work, or his vision was getting blurry. Regardless, it was no sign for him to stop, letting his sight get worse before it went black for a quick second.
Luka quickly stopped in his steps, staring at the floor until the feeling faded again. His throat was getting hoarser by the second too, once more reminded of his unquenchable thirst. He let himself sink to his knees, preemptively, while hands cautiously reached to the floor with weight in his movements still reminiscent of his dancing.
A glare to the mirror revealed a boy alone in the ballroom, eyes sunken and expression empty. Maybe his repertoire was getting close to perfection, but his face betrayed such by its lack of performance.
After taking away two minutes of his time by staring at himself, lost in thought, he pushed himself back up and walked to the stereo. With each swallow, he felt his mouth become dry, his pounding headache more prominent and the noise in his ears almost brutal. Vision went out once more, and while he hoped for it to make its return within seconds, he fell unconscious. The last thing on his mind remembered was telling himself to redo the sequence one more time.
“Luka…? Hey… are you okay?” It was a warm, almost hot hand caressing the black curly hairs that hung over his face. Its palm was placed on his forehead, feeling for a fever. It was a little warm, still well below human temperatures, but concerning for a vampire like him.
There was a soft nod as Luka opened his eyes to meet with Trey’s concerned ones. He had ended up on his back, staring as emotions came crawling up unintendedly. “I’m… fine. Just a little tired.” Forcing out a smile, he watched Trey’s expression soften while a thumb wiped over Luka’s cheek.
Trey leaned down, wrapping his arm around Luka’s waist as he carefully helped him sit up. “Wait, why are you… here?” Luka expressed, wondering why it was Trey specifically that had awoken him. Now that he could finally see a little clearly, he also realised it had become nighttime as nothing but moonlight shone through the sheer curtains of the studio.
“We were supposed to meet up two hours ago. I got worried, so I went looking for you.” Trey put Luka’s arm over his shoulders, “Let’s get you to your room.”
Luka quickly stammered as he was carefully lifted off the floor, “T-Trey, I’m fine though.” He said, despite being unable to resist against Trey’s big arms, being put on his feet. “I need to finish this choreography.”
“Can you walk?” Trey asked, playfully. He knew he was in the right, but there was a light appeal in being proven such.
Luka tried to put his weight down, before realising there was a huge strain forced onto that trembling and overworked muscle. “...No.” He admitted with defeat, swallowing down the lump as the direness of his situation came to him.
Trey kissed his forehead, “So you do need help,” he picked up the exhausted boyfriend, “hold on, love.”
Luka ended up on his back, legs clinging around the waist as his head lay on Trey’s shoulders. Undoubtedly happy with someone as strong and reliable, he couldn’t help but feel bad and think of all the ways he could repay his partner. Even so, he would still hear that sweet voice in the back of his head saying that Trey would refuse any gratitude and insist on it only being natural.
Before Luka realised, he was being put down on his own bed. The mattress sinking under his weight was pure relief, even if he rather wanted the opposite. Trey walked around the room, leaving Luka to wonder what he was up to before approaching with a glass of water and his bag in his hands. “These were the tarts I brought for our date. I’m going to assume you haven’t eaten yet, so here.” Trey opened the box, revealing about a dozen different desserts all displaying unique flavours. “Do you want one now or later?”
Luka nodded in small yet quick motions, unable to resist the idea of sugar entering his system, “I’ll have the pink one.”
Trey smiled, glad to see some form of individual desire from Luka. He took it out and put it to those lips, letting him take a bite out of it. Luka thoroughly enjoyed the flavour, moaning softly as he reached for Trey’s wrist to pull that tart back to his mouth. It got a little chuckle out of the baker. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” He wiped the last little crumbs off of Luka’s lips before he kneeled and started taking off the dance shoes. “Let’s get you to bed.”
“It’s night, Treytrey, I won’t be able to sleep.” He spoke with a gloomy tone, yet tilted his head in a playful manner.
Trey’s worry overruled, ignoring the protests as he rose back to tap below Luka’s arm, ordering him to lift them so he could undress him. “...Or do you want to do it yourself?”
Luka let out a small smile, “‘s fine.” He mumbled as he let Trey take off his clothes. It was such warm tact, genuine care that it almost made Luka feel bad. It was a simple effort, but the impact was greater. The sole statement that Trey insisted on doing this for him, despite never being asked, made Luka feel protected, perhaps from his own lack of self-care.
After being put in his pyjamas, Trey forced Luka to bed. “Go read or something, just don’t leave the bed, okay? You’re sick.”
While Luka wanted to debate whether or not vampires could even get ill, he figured from the way his body felt, it was reminiscent of the fevers he got as a child. The only difference appeared to be that one had been induced by a virus, unlike this time, where he was his own parasite due to perfectionism. “Sorry.” He softly exclaimed as Trey threw the soaked sweat clothes in the laundry basket.
“You can apologise by listening to me and resting up.” Trey said lightheartedly, but it was an effective way of convincing Luka to make the better choice. He approached his sick boyfriend, placing a finger below his chin and placing a peck on the lips.
Luka stared at him with big eyes, “Won’t you get sick too?”
Trey shrugged, “I doubt it. If so, I’m already too late now, so might as well kiss you as much as I like.” He rubbed his finger over Luka’s cheek. “Rest up, sweetheart. I’ll come back tomorrow.”
Luka watched him head out the door, whispering a good night as he let himself get used to the silence of being in his room at midnight. He couldn’t remember the last time he had sat still like this during the moonlit hours. Therefore, what followed was a rough night. A lot of turning and looking around, in search of something that could bring some peace to his head. He broke the promise and left the bed, but kept up the promise of not doing much. It was solely to walk around for a bit in his room, to not feel caged as much as he stared out the window into the night. The morning felt complicated too, and it seemed to take forever until Trey’s morning classes were over. At least until Luka was finally pulled out of the constant state of drowsiness by the knock on his door.
“Come in.” He said in a sweet voice, knees pulled up to his chest as his head was turned with a gentle smile.
Trey, still in his school uniform, revealed himself behind the door and immediately approached his patient. He held Luka’s face as he kissed the tip of his nose, “How are you feeling, honey?”
Luka wanted to say he was feeling alright, but maybe it was just the newfound joy of his partner that distracted him from the aching weakness he felt in his body. Not to mention the dread he felt the entirety of last night. “I’m uh… alright. What about you? How was class?”
Trey shrugged, not really caring much for it as he had more important matters on his mind. After he took off his jacket and vest, and rolled up his sleeves, he pulled out a pack of throw-away wipes as well as a toothbrush and Luka’s personal skincare products, “We wouldn’t want to neglect that pretty face of yours.” He joked, though aware it was a lot more serious for Luka. “...What’s the order?” Trey read the products, barely knowing any of the terms. Sure, he knew the basic things, like cleanser and moisturiser, but this was Pomefiore after all.
Luka smiled, giving quick explanations of what to do. Soon enough, Trey kicked off his shoes and crawled onto the bed, sitting on the patient's lap for perfect access. He reached for the cleanser and started gently rubbing the cleanser along Luka’s cheeks, “Am I doing it right?” He asked, a little unsure about the technique.
“Mhm… but you missed a spot.” Luka said, pointing at where he could still feel a dry patch.
Their faces were extremely close together, and while it may have made Luka feel a little insecure, scared that due to the sickness, his flaws would be shown, it was weirdly nice. Perhaps this was the first time that Luka felt naked from his tryhard image, yet it didn’t bother him as much. To allow Trey to see his bare, sick and possibly eye-bagged expression yet not feel miserable about it was liberating.
Trey continued letting himself get ordered around, eventually wiping Luka’s face clean with cotton pads. He traced a finger across Luka’s lower lip, pulling it down slightly. “How’re your teeth holding up?” With a chuckle, those sharp fangs that Trey had become obsessed with were revealed. He traced the pad of his finger along them, until brutally interrupted by a hand to his wrist.
“Would you mind keeping your fingers out of my mouth?” Luka laughed yet spoke with unusual confidence, amused by Trey’s uncommon curiosities.
He pulled his hand back, “My bad, my bad.” Wiping his finger clean with a cotton pad, he grabbed the toothbrush and toothpaste. “May I?”
“I’m tempted to say no but I fear you won’t let me.” Luka raised a playful eyebrow.
Trey bit the inside of his cheek, “I mean… whatever you’ll allow me to do, dear.” Yet he said it with such a sweet and guilt-tripping smile that it was hard to reject. Or perhaps Luka was just weak to anything he did or said.
Luka rolled his eyes, “You’re very hard to resist when you’re supposedly this excited about it.”
“It’s for the best of your health.” Trey defended, tapping his cheek gently to tell him to open up.
During the toothbrushing, Luka yawned, causing Trey to further tease him. “You sure you don’t feel like going to sleep by now?” He made Luka spit in a paper cup and handed him a glass of water soon after.
“I was waiting for you, though. I didn’t want to be alone again if I woke up.” Luka got himself a little more comfortable, adjusting the pillows to make space for Trey.
Trey noticed the gloomy tone in his words, placing himself next to Luka on top of the blankets. He pulled his vampire boyfriend close, placing the boy’s head against his chest as he held the back of it with his hand in a protective manner.
It didn’t take long for the restless Luka to fall asleep first, softly snoring while Trey rubbed through his long hairs. A vague fact occurred to him, saying that when one is truly comfortable and in a place where they feel safer than anywhere else, the brain produces melatonin, inducing sleep to further let the body heal under love and affection. It therefore, despite being the middle of the day, didn’t take Trey much long either to drift off as well.
An unusually long amount of hours later, Luka woke up in the middle of the night, his vampire body deciding that his rest was over. They had barely shifted positions, besides for himself subconsciously having thrown his leg over Trey’s to lock him into place with no escape. He glared upwards, noticing Trey’s tired head having sunken down and his glasses almost falling off his nose.
Trying to return the caring favour, although this action was minor compared to his, Luka reached up to carefully remove the glasses and place them on his bedside table. It gave him a better view too, getting lost in the softness of Trey’s expression. Though breathing wasn’t actually mandatory for him, the vampire still tried to go along with Trey’s tempo. He wanted to feel that humanity, to crawl close and lay his ear on that chest and hear the rhythm of that heart echo through his ribs.
Unable to further his sleep, Luka just stayed there, using that sound and gentle heaving of the chest against his head to keep him sane. In a way, this was healing as well.
Trey squeezed his eyes hard before opening them, letting out a soft groan as he had been resting in an uncomfortably upright position. He noticed the shaken Luka, having been removed from his state of calmness as Trey had unintentionally moved. “Oh, hi love… How long have I been asleep?”
“Dunno. I slept for a while until midnight. It should be around 2 am right now.” Luka reached for his palm, folding it open and tracing his fingers along the curves of the skin, “Sorry for waking you up.”
Trey chuckled softly, “Don’t worry, it wasn’t as if I was trying to rest, I just slipped away while listening to your sleep mumbles.”
Luka glanced with a shocking expression, “Sleep talking…? I d-didn’t say anything weird, right?” He stammered, scared to have ruined his image towards his boyfriend. He pushed his upper body up slightly, to make proper eye contact with him.
“Nothing weird, only hungry for blood.” Trey said it jokingly, only to let the silence that followed after, reveal that he wasn’t being dishonest.
“Oh,” Luka exclaimed in shame, looking down at the hands holding Trey’s palm. Subconsciously, the pads of his fingers had trailed downwards across a bright blue vein that shone through his skin. Luka quickly let go as he realised his odd placement, “I’m sorry if I-”
“You got to drink from me, Luka.”
“What…?”
Trey shifted positions, getting on all fours and trapping him with his hand offered upfront, “That’s why you're sick, right? You haven’t had plasma in ages. I think it could heal you up.”
Trying not to smell that delicious haze of iron that just hit his nose, Luka pushed his arm down, “It’s fine, truly. I studied too much and slept too little, it has nothing to do with my thirst.” He was used to being able to fully suppress that thought, but now that just the concept had been brought up, his thirst grew much stronger.
“C’mon, sweetheart. It’s fine. I insist.”
Luka closed his eyes and shook his head, as if praying to an unknown entity for mercy or pity for his following actions. “Tell me when you’re getting dizzy or anything, okay?” He knew further arguing would result in the same ending, and yes, Trey was correct. That blood could speed up recovery easily.
He tugged at the hand he was holding to make sure that Trey’s forearm settled down right in front of Luka’s lips. He pierced through the skin as shallow as possible, sucking slowly to make sure the damage and possible wounds would be small and insignificant.
It was inevitable that it would hurt, but with the soft tact of which Luka executed his declaration of trust, it was bearable. Trey barely twitched or groaned, unlike anyone else he had ever drank from before. He seemed unbothered, almost happy as the hand that was getting drained still found its way to touch the vampire’s face gently.
Aware that pulling out and having to go back in would be much more painful, Luka kept his slow pace, waiting to be halted, believing that Trey would be honest about his limit. Moreover, he trusted himself enough that for Trey Clover, he could stop whenever asked to. Luka would never forgive himself if he hurt Trey any more than he needed to, or drain him into bodily damage.
Trey tapped his index finger against Luka’s cheek, feeling that haziness come up to his vision. “You can stop now.”
Luka wiped the remaining drops that lingered on the corner of his lips inside his mouth, savouring the last bit of taste he got. As much as he despised admitting it, he could feel the energy of Trey’s sacrifice coursing through his body like a drug. It was healing, magical medicine that no herb or potion could recreate. “It’s good.”
Trey laughed, “I’m glad.” He kissed his patient, accidentally getting a taste of his own insides, but he didn’t mind beyond the fact that he’d rather not steal anything that Luka’s body could use. “I feel so tired now, though.”
“Common side effect.” Luka nodded in understanding.
Trey let himself fall forward, cheek ending on Luka’s lap. He hugged the sick boy’s waist as his head was snuggling closer. “I’m going to sleep some more, you don’t mind, right?”
Luka swallowed once more, enjoying those remaining few drops that had stuck to his mouth. “Thank you, Trey.” For everything, Luka wanted to add, yet deciding to keep it vague, “Maybe I’ll try and sleep some too.”
Despite their direct switch of positions, it felt just as right for Luka to hold Trey close, showcasing his gratitude through physical affection. That had been the first time in what felt like ages that he was able to sleep during the night, sleep like a human filled with warmth, love and affection.