10. Chapter 10 (1/1)
shorter section; there should be a longer one some time in the next few days but i've got uni to contend with again now so it might depend on how mind-bogglingly dull and exhausting it's been. enjoy!
disclaimer: not mine. obviously.
robin opened his eyes to find that bertrand's had returned to their normal state of blue, albeit a little darker than usual. he had a tiny smudge of blood at the corner of his mouth – robin almost reached to kiss it away, but the vampire dodged backwards the moment he moved – but that didn't seem to be a good enough reason for the disgusted expression on bertrand's face. it took robin a while to recognise the self-loathing in bertrand's gaze.
then, just as he was wondering how best to convince bertrand everything was alright, vlad turned up. bertrand flew backwards, propelled by some sort of invisible force, and robin wondered if it was all really going to get worse.
bertrand stared at robin, wondering why he hadn't pushed him away. on the contrary, he leant forward as if to kiss him again, and bertrand scooted backwards in shock. he had given in, he could still taste robin's blood on his tongue, he was a monster and that bothered him now in a way it never had. he remembered the experience; he remembered wanting to bite robin – robin – wanting to drain him dry to satisfy his own thirst. how could the boy even bear to look at him?
vlad's appearance in the doorway was a relief; now robin was safe. vlad was being more careful than he'd ever been with his ability to – as he jokingly said – 'force push'; bertrand came to rest gently against the wall and slumped there gratefully."robin. are you ok?" he watched as the chosen one fussed over his best friend, the
eather nodding firmly before surprising both vampires again with his angry outburst."i'm fine. can you stop throwing bertrand around?" vlad glanced at his tutor, clearly taking in every detail of his appearance, before turning back to robin, who was scrambling to stand up.
"he drank from you?""i let him! you don't have to throw him across the room every time he so much as looks at me, you know." bertrand's eyes widened; the boy thought he'd been attacked. why he even cared given what had just happened, bertrand had no idea, but it was clear that he did. vlad was going to make no progress until robin was reassured."he didn't throw me very hard. i'm fine." robin gave him a searching look eerily like vlad's, and then nodded at his friend."yeah, he drank from me. i cut my arm – fell over, clumsy – and he was hungry. i told him to do it."
vlad nodded."yes, yes, but did he bite you?" he was craning his neck to try to see robin's, to check for himself. robin shook his head dumbly, clearly bewildered by the chosen one's casual acceptance of the facts."right. bertrand, are you okay?" vlad turned to him, holding out a hand and producing a bottle of blood from his pocket. bertrand accepted the help in getting to his feet and took the blood gratefully; he couldn't risk being hungry around robin again. still, he didn't drink it. not yet."i'm… yes. thank you for coming to my aid."
help, he'd said, reaching out to the chosen one's mind as well as robin, hoping that he'd make it in time. if robin couldn't stop him – and honestly, he shouldn't have been able to, there was no way he could, and yet he had, and he wasn't even sure why he was surprised by anything his remarkable
eather managed to do anymore – if robin couldn't stop him, vlad might arrive before it was too late. and he'd come. he'd come to save robin, bertrand knew, rather than the monster preying on him, but he'd come.
robin stared at the vampires in shock. bertrand was thanking vlad for checking up on them, bursting in and interrupting yet another moment between them? he was thanking him for throwing him – however gently – across a room? bertrand seemed to read his mind – maybe he actually had – and continued as if robin had spoken aloud."i wasn't sure i could stop. i knew vlad could stop me if i needed it." he didn't make eye contact, eyes fixed on a point slightly behind vlad's shoulder. "i called for help. it's not something i do lightly."
robin's heart skipped a couple of beats, and both vampires flicked their eyes cautiously in his direction. he didn't really think before stumbling forwards and wrapping his arms around bertrand; he knew how much it must have cost him to consider calling vlad for help, to admit that he might not be able to control himself. he did, however, pause before he actually touched him, giving bertrand fair warning that he was about to do so. this time, there was nowhere for bertrand to draw back to, which meant robin felt a little bad about cornering him as he finally got to kiss him.
bertrand didn't understand; he'd just admitted that he almost lost control and drained the boy, and here he was, in his personal space, reaching out to em
ace him and pull him into a kiss? he didn't bother trying to resist this time. if the boy was really that much of a glutton for punishment, if he really had taken leave of his senses enough to em
ace the monster he was – and oh, robin's tongue had just flicked out to, if bertrand wasn't very much mistaken, lick a stray drop of blood from bertrand's lip – then he would let him. the boy was behaving like a vampire himself, almost as if he was actually aroused by bertrand's vampiric side – he pushed him backwards slightly, away from him, eyes snapping open as old doubts and fears flooded in. vlad cleared his throat awkwardly in the background.
"robin, bertrand, look… i just wanted to apologise. i was trying to look out for you and i got a bit carried away. i swear i'm not that kid who thought mind wipes could fix anything, not anymore. and… well. i haven't promised her anything, but i had a word with miss mccauley and she says there's room for another pupil at garside if you wanted to… i mean, you seem like you've enjoyed it here, and…" vlad suddenly seemed to notice the matching startled expressions on the faces of his friend and tutor, and blurted out the last of his words as fast as he could. "well, dad says he'll pay the fees and you can stay here, because it's worth it if you keep bertrand out of his hair for a bit," he grimaced apologetically, "so no pressure anyway i'll leave you to talk about it."
then he was gone, and bertrand regarded robin silently as he digested vlad's offer. then his eyes snapped back up to bertrand's and he nodded firmly."guess we need to talk."