3. Chapter 3 Interlude (1/1)

apparently you guys are not fans of the fade-to-black approach. so this is actually an extra chapter for you all (hence shortness) and i hope you enjoy it. normal service will resume shortly, once i've finished the ton of work i have to do.

disclaimer: not mine. not mine at all.

robin thought, for a moment, that bertrand was going to push him away. the vampire hesitated, face mere inches from robin's, and it took a moment for robin to realise that of course bertrand wasn't

eathing, but that didn't mean anything about his feelings. he was about to back off, drop his hand and hope bertrand was prepared to pretend this had never happened, but then the vampire's tongue slipped out to moisten his lips and robin found he couldn't tear his eyes away. bertrand put a hand on his arm as if to steady them both, then nodded slightly, as if to himself. he'd barely moved before robin surged forward to crush their lips together.

it was a little clumsy, if robin was honest – he hadn't kissed that many people, and he wasn't a hundred per cent sure he'd been doing it right, but then bertrand's grip on his arm tightened fractionally as he tried to pull back, and only the knowledge that he needed to remember to

eathe convinced him to continue the motion, pulling himself away for just a split second to make sure he was still alive. part of him didn't believe that this could actually be happening; he'd been, well, appreciating bertrand for the last couple of weeks, but he'd never thought this situation would occur.

bertrand's eyes flew open, still close enough for his eyelashes to

ush robin's skin and alert him to the fact, and he met bertrand's panicked look with a tiny, hopeful smile before leaning back in to reclaim his cold lips. before he knew it, strong arms were wrapped right around him and oh, robin thought this might be the best training session he'd ever had, already.

bertrand couldn't quite believe it when robin finally closed the distance, but it seemed like no time at all passed before the boy pulled back and he clung to him desperately, reluctant to lose this fleeting moment of contact that made him feel almost alive. still, the

eather pulled away with a little gasp and bertrand opened his eyes, expecting to see horror, revulsion… maybe even anger. what he wasn't expecting was for robin to give him a nervous grin and come right back for more.

this time he allowed himself to really enjoy the moment, no longer afraid of the rejection he'd been sure would come the moment robin remembered he was technically undead. thinking about it – and thinking about anything was proving a struggle with the boy pressed so tightly against him – he should have known better; robin loved vampires. apparently he had a favourite, now. he wasn't really aware of deepening the kiss until robin let out a stifled moan and he pulled back, afraid that he'd hurt him somehow.

the boy's attempts to get closer to him again, however, suggested that he may have misinterpreted the noise, and he experimentally pressed their lips together again, surprised when robin immediately offered his tongue access. bertrand knew that they were going to have to talk about this at some point; some serious thinking was required and they would need to discuss what exactly robin thought he was doing, getting mixed up with someone like him.

for now, though, bertrand was going to enjoy kissing someone who wouldn't recoil when they realised who he was.