Chapter Text
When Abolish wakes up, he can immediately tell something is wrong. First of all, he doesn’t remember going to sleep. Second, he’s face down on the floor of his apartment, meaning he likely passed out rather than choosing to be unconscious. Third, he feels like he’s going to die.
His head aches, which makes his mind foggy, something he’s not used to. Every time he swallows, it feels as if a knife is going down his throat. He shivers uncontrollably despite it being mid-summer and very warm both outdoors and in his apartment. Even though all signs point to it, he refuses to believe he’s fallen ill. He’s half-vampire, for gods’ sake, he shouldn’t even be able to get sick!
Abolish attempts to shakily push himself up, only for his vision to fail on him and dizziness to strike. He falls back to the ground with a small groan. He does, however, manage to turn onto his back. He stares at the ceiling, regretting every life choice that led to this moment.
After another five minutes of memorising the patterns on his ceiling, he forces himself up, ignoring as his vision goes black from the change of position. He manages to stay standing long enough to stumble over to a wall once his vision returns, keeping himself upright as he leans against it.
“Alright, this is fine. All I have to do for work today is watch Scott to make sure he doesn’t get violent,” Abolish murmurs to himself, his voice shaking slightly as he continues to shiver. He somehow manages to transform into a bat, one of the few vampiric powers he’s lucky to have, being only half-vampire.
His bat form trembles as he flies out a window, his wings failing him for a moment before he manages to catch himself and glide slowly to Scott and Shelby’s apartment. The rest of the flight there goes surprisingly well for how much Abolish’s bat body shivers, his vision going blurry every so often, causing him to occasionally veer to the side. Soon, Scott’s apartment is in sight, and he starts to turn to head to the roof of the building across from Scott’s, but his vision goes dark. He lets out a small, weak squeak of surprise, and he pivots to make it through Scott’s window, crash landing on the floor of the apartment.
Abolish passes out a few seconds after hitting the floor, though he hears a surprised noise from somewhere nearby.
<><><>
Scott was expecting a peaceful day today. Shelby and Drift had left to go on a date, sorry, a friendly hangout, as the girls insisted on calling it, both of them refusing to call it anything else even after two hundred years of pining for each other.
So, suffice it to say, he was very surprised when a small black and white bat crashed into his apartment. He stares at the bat for a moment before rushing over, kneeling beside it and gently scooping it up. He doesn’t recognise it, but considering the human-like shivering and way it nuzzles into his palm even while unconscious makes it obvious to Scott that this is a vampire.
He brings the bat closer to his face, squinting at it, though he’s sure he hasn’t seen this bat before. He pinches a certain spot on the bat’s neck, one he was taught as a fledgling would revert any vampire from bat form back to their normal form. He realises as a body falls onto his chest and knocks the non-existent breath from his lungs that he probably shouldn’t have done it while still holding the bat.
He carefully rolls the unconscious vampire off of himself, sitting up and turning to get a proper look at this vampire, who smells weirdly of humans, in a way that only humans can smell. His hair is also half white and half black, which is very peculiar. Scott’s surprised for the second time that day when he realises he does recognise this vampire. Even after two hundred years, that handsome face has yet to leave his memory.
Abolish.
For a long moment, Scott can do nothing but stare at the shivering, obviously sickly vampire in front of him. His mind races as he tries to figure out how this is possible. Abolish must’ve died by now, no human can stay alive for two centuries. He had been cured before leaving Oakhurst. And yet, he lies on the ground in front of Scott, very much alive, well, as alive as a vampire can be.
Abolish lets out a small whimper, his brows furrowing in pain, snapping Scott out of his surprise. Scott scoops the vampire up in his arms, cradling him to his chest, and carries him to the nest he created in the apartment for his coven to have cuddle sessions in. His vampiric instincts race to figure out what is wrong with his fledgling- no, not his fledgling, but he ignores that fact, treating Abolish as he would any of his own.
He carefully lays Abolish down in the nest, and the shivering vampire curls into the pillows, sweat appearing on his brow. Scott frowns, sitting next to him and pressing the back of his ice-cold hand to Abolish’s forehead. He nearly flinches away at just how unnaturally hot the man’s forehead is, and he starts to panic slightly.
Vampires can’t get sick. Abolish shouldn’t even be alive right now. Scott sits there, unsure of what to do. He hasn’t dealt with a fever in almost two thousand years. He sighs and presses his cold hand to Abolish’s forehead, smiling slightly through his concern as the man leans into his touch, the movement similar to that of a cat.
Scott decides to stay there until Abolish wakes up and he can figure out what the sick vampire needs.
<><><>
Abolish groans softly as he wakes up, a headache hitting him like a train. He slowly opens his eyes, blinking a few times to clear his blurry vision, though it doesn’t work as well as he’d hoped it would. He realises he doesn’t recognise his dark and blurry surroundings, and it feels like he’s lying on a cloud made of blankets and pillows, nothing like his own hard and uncomfortable mattress. He tries to sit up only to be pushed back down into the pillows, a soothing voice murmuring something to him. He struggles weakly, trying again, but the hand on his shoulder keeps him down.
He relaxes slightly when the person? next to him begins to purr softly, leaning closer. Abolish’s vampiric instincts might be less strong than a full vampire, but the little noise comforts him nevertheless.
“There we go, just relax,” the soothing voice murmurs, and Abolish furrows his brow as he realises he recognises it, though his foggy mind can’t place who it is. The darkness of the room mixed with his still-blurry vision makes it impossible to make anything out about the vampire- Abolish now knows they’re a vampire due to the purring- besides the white hair and pale skin.
He can feel himself being pulled against the vampire’s chest, and he doesn’t bother struggling, knowing it’s not worth using up what little strength he has left. The vampire adjusts him so his back is against his chest, guiding Abolish’s head into the crook of his neck. Abolish closes his eyes to fight off the wave of dizziness that washes over him at the change in positions, relaxing as the gentle purr reverberates through his body. He subconsciously starts to purr back, the noise rougher and quieter from lack of use, and the vampire coos softly,
“You need to purr more often, darling. You must not be getting enough attention,” the vampire murmurs disapprovingly, carding a hand through Abolish’s hair. Abolish lets out a small noise of satisfaction at the action, then stiffens slightly as the fog in his mind finally clears enough to recognise the voice.
“Scott?” He mutters weakly, the words raspy as they come out of his sore throat. Scott’s purrs increase slightly in volume and Abolish involuntarily relaxes back against Scott’s chest.
“Mhm,” Scott hums, the smirk audible in his voice. “I’d love to know how you’re alive, Abolish, but I have the feeling that you’re not really conscious enough to answer.”
Abolish proves that point by staying silent, continuing to lean into Scott’s chest, letting the vampire stroke his hair. His head pounds, and his body feels both too hot and too cold at the same time. He shivers, though his hairline is coated in sweat. Scott makes a small noise, either one of concern or disappointment, Abolish can’t tell, and shifts Abolish back down onto the nest of pillows and blankets, tucking a blanket around his shoulders and placing his corpse-cold hand back on Abolish’s forehead. Abolish sighs softly at the comfort of the cold against the heat of his forehead, letting himself slip back into unconsciousness.