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There were many perks to being a vampire that Abolish missed out on. He couldn’t transform into a bat or go invisible, and his fangs were hardly more than unnaturally pointed canines. At least his night vision was roughly the same, not to mention the fact that he didn’t get sick.
That’s what he had to remind himself as he blinked sluggishly, an ever-growing headache making it increasingly difficult to focus on the conversation being carried out around him. He’d gone over to Scott and Shelby’s apartment for a movie night, a tradition that had begun soon after they’d discovered him to be alive and set about trying to coax him into the group like some sort of stray cat. Normally he quite enjoyed the evenings, taking pleasure in the comfortable banter of the others that only required him to chime in occasionally. Unfortunately, the prospect of figuring out the right things to say sounded almost herculean in the moment.
Shifting slightly to lean even further against Scott, he sighed almost imperceptibly. He felt uncomfortably warm even in the much more casual clothes he’d donned, and the vampire’s cool touch felt almost heavenly in comparison. The arm wrapped loosely around his waist tightened slightly, and a moment later Scott had leaned closer to his ear, whispering in it softly,
“Are you alright? You’ve gone quiet,” once again cursing just how well the vampire could read people, Abolish turned his head up to stare into his eyes, blinking back the dizziness that the harsh angle brought on,
“I’m alright. Just…a bit of a headache,” he reassured him, voice rasping from his throat painfully. He probably wasn’t drinking enough water, that had to explain why he was feeling so shitty all of a sudden. Abolish hadn’t been truly sick since at least Oakhurst, it's not like that would change, even if his increased outings would have increased his likelihood of catching something.
Scott’s eyes narrowed, scanning down his face before meeting his again, clearly dissatisfied with what he’d seen, “you look pale, doll. And not in a good way,”
Glancing away from the scrutinizing gaze, Abolish realized that Shelby and Drift’s conversation had died out, and they were both staring at him now as well. Shifting uncomfortably under the collective weight of their stares, he racked his brain for some excuse for his appearance. As the moment stretched on, it became increasingly clear that he wouldn’t be able to come up with one, the effort of thinking only serving to intensify the headache that throbbed like stomping boots behind his eyes.
Finally, Scott spoke up again, “Do you want to go home?”
Pushing his face slightly into Scott’s shirt to hide the embarrassed flush on his cheeks–because it definitely wasn’t from a fever–Abolish shook his head. The short walk home sounded entirely unappealing, the prospect of facing the crowds on the street separating the apartment buildings looming like a…he couldn’t think of what. But whatever that small stretch of sidewalk reminded him of, he couldn’t bear to face it right then.
“Okayyy,” Scott sounded hesitant, an entirely foreign emotion coming from him, “do you want to stay here then?” That sounded much better. Here was warm and comfortable in a way that Abolish’s apartment never felt. Here there was Scott, he could definitely fix whatever was wrong with him.
“With you?” he mumbled, grip tightening on the front of the vampire’s clothes. He didn’t like that Shelby and Drift were still looking at them, still unused to showing any sort of vulnerability around either of them, even if he was sure they knew of some of his struggles through Scott.
“Of course, it’s my apartment after all,” came Scott’s reassuring voice, before Abolish felt himself be lifted from the floor as if he weighed nothing at all. Cradling the hunter to his chest in a way that was embarrassingly gentle he continued, “come on doll, let’s go to my room.”
“Put me down,” Abolish complained, wriggling slightly though not enough to actually be dropped. He had appearances to keep up, at least until they were out of sight of the girls, even if he was sure whatever sliver of his terrifying reputation that remained had been destroyed the moment he’d allowed them to cuddle up next to him during one of their movie nights. Scott simply held him tighter, easily walking down the short hallway to his room and kicking the door closed behind them.
Gently, as if he would break, Scott set him down on the bed, more pillows and plush blankets than actual mattress. Normally he would scoff at such extravagance, but in that moment the almost nestlike structure felt heavenly on his increasingly aching body. Immediately Scott sat down next to him, hugging him close to his side again.
“Okay now tell me what’s really wrong,” Scott ordered, the authority of a thousand-something year old vampire lord seeping into his tone in a way that never ceased to make Abolish roll his eyes. Unfortunately, he felt as if his head may genuinely explode if he did so at the moment, so he contented himself with a small but annoyed huff instead,
“It’s nothing, just a headache like I said,” Abolish argued, still determinedly ignoring the increasingly obvious symptoms of sickness that he was displaying. Not only did he have things to do, things that something as simple as a cold could not be interrupted by, but he was sure a vampire who hadn’t experienced sickness in millennia would surely overreact if the person they cared for in some odd way were to fall ill.
Unfortunately for his determination to ignore the issue, Scott had long grown used to his avoidance. A cold hand was pressed to Abolish’s forehead, and it took everything in him to not lean into the touch like a cat–he got that comparison all too often already. Immediately the vampire’s lips were drawing together into a small, poutlike frown, “you’re too warm. I think it’s a…oh, fever!” The sudden exclamation sent a sharp jolt of pain through his head, and he winced slightly, flinching away from the noise.
“I don’t get sick,” Abolish protested, though everything about the situation screamed otherwise. Foolishly, he still held onto the hope that if he just kept ignoring the problem then everybody else could too. Sure, that had worked well enough in the past when he wasn’t close enough to anybody for them to notice or care, but judging by the concern clearly written on Scott’s face that was no longer the case,
“Doll, you’re quite literally shaking.” Drawing his arms around himself as if he could hide the trembling that had in fact begun to take over his body, Abolish stared at the floor. The spiral of self-depreciating thoughts in his head was only intensified when Scott stood up, the realization that he could simply choose to not deal with all his problems for once hitting him like a speeding vehicle. Only the sound of those footsteps moving towards the door prompted him to move again, suddenly looking up with tears pricking his eyes,
“Sorry, I’m sorry. Please don’t go, I'm sorry,” he said in a rush, fingers twitching as he fought the urge to grasp at the retreating man. Immediately Scott paused, turning back around and coming to crouch on the floor in front of Abolish. Taking the hunter’s hands in his, he rubbed gentle circles in them until some of the tension bled from Abolish’s figure.
“I’m not going anywhere, I just wanted to see if one of the girls could go get something to help you feel better,” he assured. A moment later, as if embarrassed to be asking, he added, “Um. What medicine should we get?”
“I don’t know, I’m not supposed to be getting...sick,” Abolish complained, leaning forward until his head was resting directly on top of Scott’s, nuzzling his face into the ice blue locks. Immediately one of his hands was dropped, the hand that had held his coming up to card through his hair instead,
“We’ll figure it out,” Scott asserted, pulling his head away gently, “now you make yourself comfortable while I go talk to Shelby and Drift, alright?”
Grumbling unenthusiastically, Abolish relinquished his grip on the vampire, who quickly walked out of the room. Almost immediately he could hear low murmurings coming down the hall, though he couldn’t be bothered to make out exactly what was being said. Instead he focused on navigating the absolutely outrageous pile of pillows on the bed, struggling to push them all to the side of the bed so he could crawl under the covers. He was sure the bed hadn’t been used often, considering the owner’s vampiric nature, and yet it still managed to smell like the outrageously expensive cologne Scott liked to wear. Not to mention how soft the blankets were–compared to the thin, almost militaristically crafted sheets on his bed, the thick down comforter was an indescribable luxury.
Just as he’d managed to get himself settled, Scott came back into the room. He was carrying an impossibly large amount of blankets, as if the pile already present weren’t enough to suffocate a person. Approaching the bed, he dropped the pile on the floor next to it before immediately picking up one of the blankets and setting about arranging it around Abolish. Once he seemed satisfied with the placement of it, Scott then set about arranging the next one just as precisely.
“What are you doing?” Abolish questioned, shifting slightly to allow Scott to place a pillow beneath his back. He only received an absentminded hum in response, the vampire continuing on his strange mission until every pillow and blanket had been arranged meticulously around him. After one last fluff of a pillow, Scott stood up fully, looking down with a strangely prideful expression,
“There we go, are you more comfortable now?” he asked. Ah, there it was. As soon as he’d allowed himself to show any sliver of vulnerability the man had transformed from a typical snarky, overconfident rich boy into some sort of mother hen, constantly checking in on Abolish as if he were too fragile to care for himself. While the change had caught him off guard at first, it was a welcome one regardless. Especially now that he’d seemingly somehow managed to get himself sick for the first time in a century, the idea of not having to drag himself through the day alone sounded incredibly appealing.
“Almost,” he agreed, grabbing Scott and pulling him into the bed as well. Immediately he wrapped his arms around him, leaving no prospect of escape, “that’s better.”
“Cuddly, aren’t we?” Scott teased, brushing a few sweaty strands of hair from Abolish’s face. He hadn’t realized he was sweating–if anything he’d been trying to get warm, still shaking a bit as he wrapped the blankets tighter around himself. Definitely a fever then.
“Shut up,” he grumbled, closing his eyes. Curse himself for getting properly sick when he wasn’t home, at least then he’d have been able to hide away until he felt better. Now he was stuck here, curled up securely next to someone who’d only ever shown him genuine care as of the recent decades since Oakhurst and… actually, maybe he was glad he wasn’t at home alone. Squeezing Scott a bit tighter, he added, “Sorry. I didn’t mean that.”
The light chuckle that he received as a response reverberated pleasantly through his body, much less harsh to his sensitive ears than the vampire’s voice had been. As if realizing this, after a long moment of silence Scott began to purr, a noise Abolish had only heard from him a handful of times. He wished he were able to mimic the noise, but unfortunately that was yet another aspect of vampirism he lacked.
Practically drowning in the comfort of the moment if not for the ache of fever still coursing through his body, Abolish couldn’t help but drift off.
–
Abolish woke up to a hand shaking his shoulder, gently urging him awake. Groaning, he opened his eyes, blinking blearily at whoever had disturbed his rest. Sitting up next to him, Scott now held a glass of water as well as a pill bottle. Rubbing a hand over his face, Abolish sighed at the headache still pounding behind his eyes. He’d probably have to call out of work, an endlessly embarrassing prospect considering he’d already missed at least three days over the past five years. They would think he was growing soft or something.
Sitting up, Abolish took the proffered glass and pills, downing both in a few quick gulps, “Ugh. I hate this,” he grumbled, patting his pockets for his phone. Drawing it out, he quickly typed out a familiar number, ignoring the questioning look Scott gave him as he raised it to his ear,
“Hey, this is Abolish. I seem to have come down with something, I won’t be available for any calls today,” he spoke, wincing internally at how raw his voice sounded. At least it’d gone to voicemail so he wasn’t forced to hear Morcant’s surely disappointed reaction to the news.
“Everything alright doll?” Scott asked, gently gathering him closer to his body. Leaning back into the touch, Abolish closed his eyes again. It was easier to think this way, something about not taking in his surroundings assuaging some of the headache that so plagued him,
“Just great,” he scoffed, “I’m like…the pinnacle of great right now.”
“You’re always great,” Scott agreed, smiling against the top of his head, “stubborn, yes. But great as well.”
“Okay flirt,” Abolish couldn't help but smile at the words, a joyful warmth so different from the sticky, fever-induced sort bubbling up in his chest.
“You know it,” placing a chaste kiss to the top of his head, Scott rearranged the blankets so they were once again gathered more securely around the pair, “are you feeling any better?”
“No,” immediately Abolish’s mood dropped again as he was reminded of how shaky and off he still felt, “I feel like shit.”
There was a moment of shocked silence as Scott processed what had been said, before he let out a light laugh. Glaring at the blankets in front of him as best he could without intensifying his headache, Abolish crossed his arms as best he could while still clinging to the vampire, “What about this is funny to you?”
“I’m–I’m quite sure you do, doll, I just wasn’t expecting you to say that,” Scott comforted, rubbing gentle circles in his arm, “sorry.”
“It’s fine,” he assented, lacking the energy to properly pick on Scott at the moment. Shifting until he was laying down again, Abolish closed his eyes. After a long moment in which Scott remained annoyingly vertical, he grabbed his hand, tugging him down as well,
“You alright?”
“Mhm. Gonna sleep some more,” Abolish reassured him, “gotta get better quick. Can’t miss too much work.”
“You work too much,” Scott murmured, draping an arm over his waist to rub circles against his back. It was a discussion they’d already had, one that Abolish didn’t want to rehash in his current state, so he elected to answer with a noncommittal hum. Sure, the average person didn’t work 24/7 every day of the year, but he’d signed up for it. He couldn’t expect anybody to understand it, much less someone who’d grown up never having to truly work a day in his life. He still appreciated the concern, even if it was unnecessary.
It was easy to drift off again, the exhaustion weighing on his bones only compounded by the peaceful atmosphere of the room. Hopefully he’d wake up magically fixed and could return to work before too much could pile up, but if not then at least he could enjoy the rare chance for quiet proximity with Scott for a bit longer. That would be nice.