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Turning into a vampire had come with a lot of unforeseen changes Michael had not been prepared for.
For starters, there was the ordeal of flying. He still wasn’t used to the weightlessness, the ease in which his body could lift itself off of the ground and soar through the air, the wind whipping through his hair.
He wasn’t used to feeding, still. David tried to help when he could, but Michael was still a messy eater, blood always finding its way down his jaw and staining his shirt. It always ended in him having to take off his shirt and wipe off his chin, trying to ignore the way David’s eyes always seemed to burn into him when he did this.
He still refused to sleep upside down, especially after a particularly bad nightmare left him thrashing in his sleep and caused him to fall headfirst to the ground. Luckily, David had arranged pillows and padding underneath Michael in case this happened. The more he thought about this fact, the more his stomach fluttered with an indescribable feeling. He had never asked David to do that, and the other men had snickered when the blonde had first set it up, remarking how he had simply told them to suck it up in terms of sleeping upside down.
It feels like any time David interacted with Michael, the other men would laugh. Michael didn’t understand it, and his chest burned with some kind of embarrassment. Did the others not approve of him joining the group? Did he not fit in? These thoughts tended to linger in his head long enough to hurt, but would dissipate whenever David would approach him, hand always finding its place on the side of Michael’s face, thumb tracing his cheekbone.
One night, after a particularly eventful kill (a group of college kids on the boardwalk smoking and partying), The group had flown back to the ironworks factory under the cover of night. As they entered the main corridor, Dwayne ran down the stairs, laughing with the plastic baggie of weed he had taken from the group they had killed previously that evening. Marko bounded down after him, slapping the other’s back triumphantly as he started to search the room for their rolling tray. Paul came in after the two, whooping as he threw himself down into an armchair. Star had declined coming back for the evening, claiming she was hunting down a new recruit for the band (who Michael suspected was probably the blonde girl he had seen Star talking to frequently after shows, her face always twinged with a slight flush). Michael had come in last, with David’s arm flung around him as they walked down to join the others.
Michael had started to become acutely aware of the fact that David seemed to take any opportunity he could to have his hands on Michael somehow. He had waved it off as a friendly habit at first, but had slowly realized it was something that only happened with him. Sure, he would hug the others, or give them quick pats on the back or other small gestures, but they were over quick. With Michael, he seemingly had to be attached to him whenever he could. If he didn’t know any better, Michael would think it was possessive. For now though, it was just another odd aspect of David he couldn’t quite figure out.
When they reached the middle of the main corridor, David let himself fall back into the couch that sat to the side of the factory floor. Maybe once pristine and polished, time had made the leather to be worn and cracked. It definitely looked like a victim of time, but no one seemed to mind once they sank into the soft cushions. When David landed with a sigh, Michael went to walk away, but felt a hand grab the side of his waist.
With a flush, he turned to see David looking at him quizzically. “Where are you off to, Michael? C’mere, sit.”
Michael sighed, attempting to resist for a second before sinking into the cushion next to David. Even if he wanted to leave, he found it impossible to resist David’s commands. It drove him insane. He was sure David knew that, too.
“Atta boy,” David said, placing an arm around Michael’s shoulders once again, causing Michael to shudder at the touch. David looked at him with an unreadable expression as his other hand gestured to one of the other boys. “Marko. Smoke?”
Within seconds, Marko produced a lit joint in between David’s fingers, and he placed it to his lips with a deep inhale, holding it in for a second before passing it back out with a sigh before offering it to Michael, ignoring Marko’s scoff of protest. Michael let himself inhale a bit, passing it out shakily through his mouth while trying not to cough. Next to him, David chuckled softly before taking the joint back, taking another hit, and passing it back to Marko, who snatched it with annoyance.
”Nice to know your fledgling gets priority over the guy who rolled the fucking joint,” Marko muttered, with Dwayne snickering at his comment. Suddenly, David was up, grabbing Marko by the jaw and digging his nail into the other boy’s cheek until a pool of crimson leaked from the spot.
“Is there an issue?” David said lowly to Marko, eyes glowing a faint yellow. Marko put his hands up in surrender, and David let go before sinking back into the couch. “That’s what I thought.”
Michael opened his mouth in protest, but shut it when David raised an eyebrow at him. He wasn’t sure what had just happened, but wouldn’t dare to speak against David.
The boys around him fell into casual conversation, and Michael added his own remarks here and there. At some point, David’s hand landed back over his shoulder, and eventually worked its way into Michael’s hair, gently playing with his curls as he spoke with the others. Michael watched Paul and Marko shoot each other looks with an expression he couldn’t quite decipher. He let himself sigh with content, resting his head gently against David’s shoulder as the blonde spoke with the rest of his brothers, seemingly unaware of the intimate nature of his actions.
Michael let his mind wander as David scratched gently at his scalp, thinking of the night he had turned. The way David had lifted his chin, daring Michael to follow with a crooked grin, how easily Michael had let himself give in. The cheering of his brothers, the unreadable expression on David’s face as he held Michael’s head in his hands. He had been so eager to drink, to give into David’s commands and gain his approval. He was still eager to follow David’s commands, but it wasn’t even about the approval anymore. He just felt content in following whatever David told him to do.
He had gotten so lost in his own thoughts, he didn’t notice the way his throat had begun to gently vibrate, the sound softly traveling through the room. When he opened his eyes, he looked around to see his brothers looking at him with amusement, and David looking at him with something dangerously close to fondness as his hand stilled in Michael’s hair.
”What the hell was that?” Michael quivered, his voice coming out slightly raspy. Beside him, Dwayne cackled, stopping abruptly when David held out his hand and snapped his fingers, freezing time around them before turning to look at Michael.
”A lot of things can change when your body is shifting from alive to undead,” David said plainly, stealing the joint from Marko’s frozen hands and placing it between his lips. “Things you don’t necessarily expect.”
Michael looked at David, somehow even more confused than he had been before as he watched David take a short hit. “What kind of things?”
”Our biology starts to mimic those of the desmodus rotundus, the common vampire bat,” David explained. “Small things, like how our hearing improves and we prefer to sleep hanging upside down.” He shot Michael an amused look at that. “Most of the time, anyways.”
Michael rolled his eyes at David’s comment. “So what does any of that have to do with whatever I just did?”
”Sometimes,” David continued, “Bats like to make rhythmic vibrations when they’re experiencing moments of comfort or they’re making physical contact with someone they trust.”
”So like purring?” Michael asked, his eyebrow still raised in confusion.
“Sort of,” David replied. “It works a bit differently with vampires. It only really happens in cases of romantic attraction.”
Michael’s head snapped towards David at that, cursing himself for over indulging in his last meal as he felt heat rise to his face. “What?”
David chuckled, slowly approaching Michael and twirling the hair at the nape of Michael’s neck with his finger, sending a shudder down his spine. “Purring in vampires?” he repeated plainly, enjoying the look of frustration Michael shot him, his face still flushed. “It usually means you feel some sort of romantic attraction towards the person you’re making contact with.”
Michael didn’t respond, and David began to slowly circle around him, not dissimilar to the way he would prey on a victim before making the fatal blow. “Tell me, Michael,” the other man mused, “do you feel romantic attraction to me?”
”Fuck you,” Michael spat, before he noticed the split second of David’s expression dropping before setting back into his usual predatory gaze. “I don’t know.”
”Oh, but I think you do,” David cooed back, placing his hand under Michael’s jaw, thumb tracing the side of his lips. “Don’t you?”
”I’m tired,” Michael replied quickly, brushing past David’s shoulder to walk up to his room.
”Michael,” David called after him, voice growing more urgent as the other boy continued to walk away. “Michael!”
When Michael didn’t respond, David followed after him, hand catching the other’s wrist in the threshold to Michael’s room. Michael turned back to look at David, his eyes welling with tears.
“Michael,” David said softly, hands going up to cup his face as a tear fell from Michael’s eye, being wiped away by David’s thumb,
”I’m sorry,” Michael choked. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“What are you talking about?” David asked, sincere confusion in his voice.
”My dad,” Michael whispered. “He always—he was always worried I’d turn out like this. I thought if I ignored it, then maybe—I don’t know.”
Michael got a sense from David’s expression that if his heart were still alive and beating, it might have broken looking at Michael’s sorrowful expression. Gently shaking Michael’s head in his hands, David waited until Michael looked back up at him. “Michael Emerson,” he whispered gently. “There’s nothing wrong with you. Screw your dad.”
”You said it,” Michael said, a tearful laugh leaving his throat as David looked at him with a complex expression.
”I’m serious, Michael,” David said earnestly, more sincere than Michael was used to. It made his stomach flip. “He doesn’t know what he's talking about.”
”I was always so scared he’d be right,” Michael rambled. “He always said I was his, his flesh and blood. How bad it would look if he raised a pansy.”
”You’re not his anymore, Michael,” David replied, one hand moving up to brush the hair out of Michael’s face. “You belong to me. Not him. My blood is in your veins. You’re mine.”
In any other scenario, David’s words might have sent jolts of electricity coursing through Michael’s body. Tonight, they wrapped around him like a warm blanket. He didn’t belong to his father anymore. He was free. And David wanted him. He was pretty sure of that last part. Before he knew what he was doing, he felt his body jolt forward, landing with his lips pressed against David’s.
He had a lot of prior expectations for how kissing David might have gone. Fast and desperate. Slow and languid. He hadn’t expected it all to be so soft. When David returned the kiss, it was gentle, not rushing anything forward, letting Michael set the pace. His hands ghosted at Michael’s waist, unsure how far he wanted to push things. As if feeling their presence, Michael’s hands moved over David’s, slowly pushing them in towards his waist. He had expected David to grip him hard, or pull him in closer, but his hands stayed firm, as if anchoring Michael in place so he wouldn’t run away.
When Michael pulled away, he felt one of David’s hands leave his waist, coming up to brush a few strands of hair away from Michael’s face. “You should get some sleep, Michael,” he said, his hand still playing with a few strands of hair.
Michael nodded, and walked a few steps into his room before he turned around. “David?”
”Hm?” The other boy responded, mouth shut in a thin line as he rocked on his feet.
”Will you stay?” Michael asked, a soft pleading in his voice. He watched David’s mouth twist up into a small smile, a hint of playfulness in his eyes.
”I don’t know,” the other man responded, his playful smile turning into a smirk. “You haven’t even invited me in.”
”Oh, bite me,” Michael groaned, throwing his shoe at David as he took it off of his foot.
”That could be arranged, you know,” David responded playfully, choosing to file the brief shift in Michael’s expression away for another time as he came into Michael’s room, bending over to untie his boots before kicking them off.
Since Michael had refused to sleep upside down, David had to get resourceful with finding a place for him to sleep. He had sacrificed his old mattress used for hookups (not that that had occurred since Michael had stumbled into his life), covering it with a new set of sheets he had gotten Marko to grab from some local department store and littering it with a few pillows and blankets.
He had hoped it was enough for Michael, remembering how he had brought him to the room casually one night, hiding the anxiety that had been coursing through his veins next to the fresh blood. Michael had given him a thankful expression, joking that anything was better than the days of sleeping on a yoga mat in his dad’s garage. David had scowled at that, filing it as something to look into later.
Now, along with the mattress, the room was filled with small artifacts of Michael’s life (or…death?). The guitar David had found in a victim’s car, brand new strings and polished to perfection, sitting on its stand. Michael had really committed to learning how to play, and had been getting increasingly better over the last few months. Posters he had taken from stores. Pictures of his life, of his mom and brother. Sketchbooks, with pencils and pens littered about, the origins of which David had no clue.
Michael was already laying down in his bed, not even bothering to strip of his clothes. David hesitated, removing his jacket and belt, before sitting on the mattress next to Michael and inspecting his nails awkwardly. He didn’t want to do the wrong thing. He just wanted Michael to be happy.
“David?” Michael yawned, making David turn to face him. Suddenly, Michael looked away and muttered something incomprehensible.
”What did you say?”
“Can you…ugh, nevermind,” Michael sulked, turning so his back faced David. The other boy gently pushed against Michael’s shoulder, forcing Michael to look back at David.
”Michael, just tell me what you said,” David said softly, a hand carding through Michael’s hair. “I want to help.”
”Can you hold me?” Michael whispered quietly, his face burning with embarrassment. “Like you did on the couch earlier.”
”I don’t know,” David sighed. “You didn’t even say please.”
”Please?”
”Please what, Michael?” David prodded, mock annoyance in his voice. “You’re going to have to be more clear.”
”You’re such an asshole,” Michael shot back with no real mirth behind it.
“Maybe,” David replied with a grin as he laid down. “But you seem to love it.”
When Michael didn’t reply, David let out a soft chuckle, working his way closer to Michael and wrapping an arm around him while his other hand went back into Michael’s hair. The other boy sighed with content, his breathing slowly turning into the soft purring noise he had heard before. David smiled to himself, a soft smile, as the weight of his own exhaustion hit him and he drifted off to sleep.
Michael was the first one awake at dusk, finding David’s hand still in his hair. The two had somehow had their legs slotted together in the middle of the day, and David’s other hand was intertwined with one of Michael’s own. What Michael found interesting, however, was the soft vibrations coming from the sleeping man’s throat. As much as he had poked fun at Michael for it, David had been purring, too.
For a moment, the rumble in Michael’s stomach beckoned him to get up and prepare to hunt. But after lingering in David’s arms for a moment, and feeling the soft vibrations from the other man, Michael let his eyes fall shut again, letting himself drift off to sleep.