Author Topic: The Ties That Bind  (Read 6434 times)

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Offline Existentially Odd

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The Ties That Bind
« on: February 25, 2012, 07:11:42 PM »
Once Sam returned to the Masquerade, he sought Vomas out immediately, reporting that Dominik and Carrie were heading for the doctor because it seemed that she might have gone into (slightly) early labour as a result of her unexpected bump.  They exchanged grim expressions before gazing around at the crowd.  Sam was perplexed by the reactions he could read on peoples' faces, on the whole.  They seemed... offended, incensed, righteously disapproving.  It looked to Sam like none of them had ever been to a party where somebody got drunk and disturbed the peace before, yet since most of them were older than time, he sincerely doubted it.  He had no idea they were working with such prudes and said as much to Vomas, adding, "Shit, where I come from, when somebody got drunk and started falling over, that meant the party was a success!"

When Vomas just smiled at him and his suddenly-extra-thick accent, he was overwhelmed with affection for the handsome man before him and wondered mentally if they'd be allowed to leave yet.  Vomas glanced around, saw that Jake was still present and working on tidying everything up, that everybody seemed to be continuing on about their business, looked at Sam and told him, "Absolutely."  With a grin as broad as his mask, Sam took his lover's hand and walked with him to the lift, their eyes locked and promises being silently exchanged.

They were alone in the lift and Vomas didn't waste any time getting their masks off so they could use the time wisely, their lips locked together and bodies thrumming nicely as they presssed each other up against the nearest walls.  After a brief stop on Sam's floor and a rolling visit to his apartment (rolling because they found themselves doing a bit of that on Sam's bed and had to stop before they got into the lift naked and dishevelled) so he could get some clothes, they were back in the lift up to Vomas' suite.  Even though they'd slept there exclusively since they'd had a discussion about committing to one another, the only thing Sam had brought to stay there was a bottle of shampoo, conditioner and some of his cologne.  Every night before they retired he got new clothes for the next night and though it'd been about two weeks of this routine, he didn't mind.  It seemed far too soon to push a discussion about co-residence when they only technically lived a few floors apart, though... it would be far more convenient to have some clothes at Vomas' place.

Once they got inside said apartment, however, clothes were the first things that went and the last things on their minds.  Sam's fancy outfit made a very pretty, golden line along the carpet leading to Vomas' bed and he was somewhat surprised by the passion and abandon his Irish lover was showing (seeing as he used to be so fastidiously neat - he liked to think it was his own good influence at play, there).  Emboldened by Vomas' enthusiasm, Sam directed him to prop himself up against the pillows he arranged against the lattice-style headboard in a mostly sitting position, his legs bent at the knees and feet flat on the mattress.  He loved the intensity their masked evening seemed to have fostered and wasn't prepared to sacrifice it by not being able to look into Vomas' eyes while they culminated everything; he climbed onto his eager lover's lap and lowered himself down, gripping the headboard for balance.

At some point that night, Sam had contemplated that their after-party lovemaking would be as graceful and artistic as the outfits and masks they'd both worn.  He quickly found the opposite to be true (and he was not sorry at all).  He rode Vomas frantically, kissing him hard and using the headboard for leverage while Vomas used one hand to stroke him and the other to guide his ass up and down.  It wasn't smooth or perfectly paced, it became wanton and erratic at times and when they climaxed together Sam was very, very close to telling Vomas that he loved him.  He stuck to saying he loved the act, though, knowing that - like his clothes moving in - it was too soon... to say, at least.  He felt it regardless.  So many relationships he'd spoiled by flinging himself in head first and he'd been determined to do better this time, because it felt like it really counted... but that was exactly why he couldn't, it seemed.

Making an offhanded remark about the sex just getting better and better (which it definitely was, with his eager heart involved), Sam dragged Vomas into the shower so they could clean up the mess he'd sprayed all over his lover.  He giggled as he pushed his hands through it, over Vomas' chest, making mock-arrogant comments about branding him while they waited for the water to heat up.  He also loved that Vomas indulged his silliness.  The shower was nowhere near as intense an experience as they'd had in bed, but they spent longer in there, playing and touching and getting clean in the steam, laughing at the silly things that lovers do when they're intoxicated with post-orgasmic bliss and that special drug that only new relationships exude.

When they got back to bed at last, it wasn't too far off dawn but Sam had waited for his chance to speak with Vomas and he took it when it was available.  Crawling in between the Irishman's legs, he lay upon his body (carefully), folding his arms on Vomas' ribs and resting his chin on his arms so that he could look up at him leaning against the pillows.  "So," he said quietly, a smile playing around his mouth simply because he was looking at someone he loved.  His hair had been towelled dry and brushed but there were still plenty of wet strands framing his face and rebelliously poking at his eyelashes, so his head was tilted at an angle that would encourage them to keep out of his eyes while he talked.  "You have a brother.  What's his name?"

Saccharin

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Re: The Ties That Bind
« Reply #1 on: March 01, 2012, 05:51:53 PM »
Vomas looked down his chest at Sam, his mouth askew. He'd hoped to make it through the rest of the night without having to talk about his brother, but he didn't think he could wriggle out of it like he had earlier at the ball. Regrettably, no one was around to cause any disturbances, much less one that would justify leaping from bed and away from Sam's questions.  And even more regrettably, their bodies didn't respond to their vigorous activities the way a human's would, so there was no chance at all that Sam would drift off and forget what he'd been inquiring about.

"Yes," he said resignedly. "His name is Halwyn." He caught a strand of Sam's damp hair between his fingers, twirling it between them idly as he stared into his lover's dark blue eyes and considered what else he should say. But where to start? Sam hadn't even known Halwyn was his brother, so that left everything - a prospect he dreaded. "You haven't read my file, have you?" he asked suddenly, his fingers becoming still and his eyebrows dropping several notches.

He was surprised he hadn't considered it earlier, given the shocked way Sam had reacted when he'd first mentioned his relation to Halwyn. If Sam had even glanced at his file, he would've known beforehand that they were brothers - but further reading wouldn't have revealed much beyond that. There had, at one point, been more in there about their relationship (including detailed record of their time together in the city prior to the Apocalypse), but Vomas hadn't felt information about the past was... pertinent, so he'd removed it. The only thing that mattered was that they now led very separate lives and had minimal contact with each other.

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: The Ties That Bind
« Reply #2 on: March 01, 2012, 05:59:38 PM »
"No!" Sam exploded with an indignant laugh, his grin broad.  He had the computer skills to hack into such information if he tried, in all likelihood, but he was not a deviant employee; he'd never even thought of it until Vomas had suggested it!  Unconsciously, his head leaned a little more towards where Vomas' hand was as his hand templed beneath his chin just long enough to make a pathetic pushing motion at his lover's stomach, indicating he was offended by the suggestion he'd ever do something so wrong.

"So... what would I have read on there if I was that naughty?" he teased, raising his eyebrows.  "Vomas and Halwyn... born brothers in Ireland and... what?  Sired by the same person?  At how old?"

Saccharin

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Re: The Ties That Bind
« Reply #3 on: March 01, 2012, 06:51:28 PM »
He made a sound of protest - a strangled 'hey!' - at Sam's prodding, and shifted beneath him so he could lift his arms and wiggle his fingers along the other vampire's sides. He couldn't help laughing when Sam responded instinctively by jerking away from him, but all that shifting was putting pressure on parts of him that could do without being squished, so he dropped his hands onto the bed again.

"Senan and Halwyn," he corrected once Sam became still again, smiling because he figured his birth name would be news to Sam as well. "Born brothers in West Bréifne, sired by a deceivingly frail woman named Etain when... oh, we were in our early twenties, I believe. It was only me to begin with, but he followed me as he always does and I... well, you could say that Halwyn becoming a vampire was an accident." His expression became grim as a chaotic jumble of images, thoughts and emotions he still retained of the night his brother was sired washed over him. Surely there would be a day when they didn't haunt him so.

"Anyway," he said, shaking his head. "The file doesn't mention much beyond that."

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: The Ties That Bind
« Reply #4 on: March 01, 2012, 07:29:42 PM »
"Senan?" Sam repeated enquiringly. "When did you change your name?"  He was then struck by yet another nugget of information that took his imagination and prompted another rapid question.  "Wait, a woman?  Are you telling me you were once into women too?" he asked, his eyes lighting up with interest.

Saccharin

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Re: The Ties That Bind
« Reply #5 on: March 01, 2012, 08:00:19 PM »
"I've had many names," he said laughingly. "Senan just happens to be the one I was born with." The second question Sam had posed required a little more thought, and he stroked the pale skin of Sam's back as he did so. If he had to have this conversation, curled up with the Southerner was the best way to conduct it.

"Not like I enjoy men," he decided. "I was more attracted to her intelligence and all the things she offered me. Education, escape, eternity." One 'e' had led to the other, as it were. "It didn't matter that she couldn't spark the same response in me that you can; her bite made up for it."

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: The Ties That Bind
« Reply #6 on: March 01, 2012, 08:10:22 PM »
"I can't imagine changing my name - beyond Sam instead of Samuel, o'course," the brunette murmured wonderingly, trying to imagine Vomas with many other names.  He quite liked the sound of Senan, but it wasn't the name of his lover, when he thought it.  Mind, it'd be a whole lot easier to get a shortened name or a term of endearment out of than 'Vomas' offered.

He grinned unabashedly at being told Vomas' sire hadn't sparked a sexual response in him, inexplicably proud.  "My sire was female, too," he confided, "but I was an innocent, twenty year old virgin and she rocked my world before she broke my heart." His accompanying theatrics included haughty eyebrows, closed eyes and a prim mouth before he relaxed back into a curious frown and a slight smile. "She never stalked my brother, though, thankfully - how did your brother get into the mix?"

Saccharin

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Re: The Ties That Bind
« Reply #7 on: March 02, 2012, 08:49:07 PM »
"It was an accident, as I mentioned," he said, all traces of humor evaporating from his face. Opening up to Sam seemed like the right thing to do, but when they touched on subjects that even within his mind were barricaded away, it became difficult to actually do so. He pressed his lips together and breathed out through his nose, at the same time forcibly relaxing his body. Only then was he able to begin his story.

"Throughout our childhood, Halwyn was constantly in trouble and I did my very best to help him. But by the time I met Etain, I was tired of it." He smiled, albiet sadly, and brought one hand up between them to rest in the curve of Sam's neck. He swept his thumb over the line of Sam's jaw and once more, found that he was grateful for the comfort he provided just by being physically close to him.

"In taking care of him as I did, I created a sort of... dependency, so when I disappeared with Etain, he sought me out. I cannot blame him for that." His hand slipped away from Sam and he let his head fall back on the pillow behind him. He also relinquished eye contact with Sam to stare at the ceiling, finding that it became a blank canvas upon which he could project his memories upon.

"I'd only been a vampire for a few nights, so when she let him into the room we had taken for the night, I didn't yet have the control to keep myself from him. She didn't stop me until he was nearly dead. I've wondered... No, I'm almost certain at this point that it was intentional, because she immediately offered to save him. I, not wanting to live with the guilt of having killed my only brother, encouraged him to accept her blood." He licked his lips and sighed again, this time through his mouth.

"As I said, it was an accident. At least, as far as I was concerned."

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: The Ties That Bind
« Reply #8 on: March 02, 2012, 11:41:28 PM »
Sam raised his eyebrows as he silently pondered Vomas and Halwyn's story, sensing that there was more to it but also that Vomas seemed... reluctant to give details.  He was, at heart, still incredibly private - though no longer aloof, because he was sharing and the little touches as he went about it seemed an attempt (to Sam) to keep himself grounded in the present, where he was, rather than slipping into his memories of the past.  They also seemed to be incredibly considerate touches of reassurance that made his heart swell with happiness.

"Women," Sam eventually announced, after he'd taken his time deliberating on the facts, "are bitches.  Especially vampire women."  It was unlike him to swear but thoughts of his own sire, added to Vomas' story of believed deception, encouraged him to do it.  "So now your brother still follows you around and annoys you?" he guessed, deciding at that moment that he was no longer content with wallowing in the lee of Vomas' legs and crawling gracefully up his body instead.  Hands pressed into the pillows and mattress either side of his lover's body once he acquired his goal position, Sam's face hovered right before Vomas', their noses lightly touching.

"Do I get to meet him?" he grinned suddenly, then leaned down and kissed Vomas gently before he pulled away, not giving his partner any time to respond before he spoke again.  His hair was arched into his eyes a little, likely tickling Vomas' forehead and his blue eyes were dancing with mischief and affection.  "Do I get to play the loving boyfriend to a family audience?" he added huskily, settling his lower half quite comfortably against the older vampire's body and leaning in to give him a slightly more lingering kiss before he withdrew once more.  "Or is Halwyn still one final frontier of secrecy that I'm not allowed to hurdle yet?"  He waggled his eyebrows to show that he was playing but Vomas likely took his words with great brevity (as he did with most words).

Truthfully, he wouldn't have minded meeting the smartass brother on more knowledgeable terms, but his heart wouldn't be broken if Vomas balked at it, either.  It was worth a shot, because he intended to be in this man's life for a very long time yet, so getting to know everything about him was pretty important to Sam.  He had time, though, there was no rush.

Saccharin

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Re: The Ties That Bind
« Reply #9 on: March 04, 2012, 08:57:22 AM »
Vomas nodded in agreement to Sam's assessment of Etain, though he wondered how she'd respond to being called a bitch. His sire had never responded well to truths that could double as insults and she was capable of brutalities that were frowned upon by most modern societies, so it likely wouldn't have ended well for Sam (or him, because he'd be held responsible for the actions of his companion and lover).

What he wasn't sure how to react to, however, was Sam's talk of meeting again with his brother. He became very still beneath the other vampire, motionless except for the occasional flutter of his long, dark eyelashes as he blinked. Like most of their kind past their first century, he could transform into a statue or mannequin, and with Vomas, it usually happened when he was deep in thought.

"The last time I introduced Halwyn to someone I was with, he tried to kill him," he began, breaking the silence that had lasted several long moments while he ruminated. "He claimed it was for my benefit, but he's a jealous creature. Years prior to that, when we were still in Europe, he burned one of my first collections of books because apparently, I spent too much time reading and not enough time with him." The justifications Halwyn made for his actions were laughable, but the fallout was real and often incredibly painful.

"I don't think it would be wise," he answered finally, shaking his head and frowning. Vomas shifted, situating his arms so that he could grasp the wrists at either side of his head. He squeezed them lightly before moving his hands up and down Sam's forearms, caressing them tenderly. "You mean a lot to me, and my brother... be it intentional or not, has in the past destroyed the things that meant the most to me."

Offline Existentially Odd

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Re: The Ties That Bind
« Reply #10 on: March 04, 2012, 02:54:56 PM »
Sam grimaced and made a, "Yeesh!" type noise as he was warned that Halwyn could get so jealous over his brother that he might be likely to do him harm.  He was prepared to do a lot of things for Vomas, so even with that warning he wasn't too intimidated to try, but he could see that his lover wasn't interested in rocking that particular boat.  He wouldn't push it.

Besides, he'd just more or less been told that he was one of the things that meant the most to Vomas and it had his heart singing and his head giddy with happiness enough that he pushed his hands betweenthe Irish vampire and the pillows behind him and squeezed him in a tight hug.  He also kissed him, hard, and when he pulled away he attempted to flick his hair out of his shining eyes (without great success) and grinned at the wonderful man before him.

"I love you," he said simply and then gave a happy little laugh, aware that he was likely to freak his boyfriend out with such a declaration but not worried by that enough to hold it in when it was effusing his very veins.  "I love that you're quiet and stern and serious with everyone, but with me you're sweet and sexy and passionate.  I love that you want to protect me from crazy brothers because I'm important and I know I rush into things and this time I swore I'd take it slow but... it has been slow.  I've had a crush on you for over a year now, so I've had a head start and that means, my darlin', that you don't have to feel obliged to do anything except let me love you, 'kay?"

He tilted his head forward and looked pointedly at Vomas from beneath his brows and between his hair as he gave his final, mock-stern directive, wanting to reassure him that he didn't expect to hear such words back.  He loved Vomas and he wanted him to know, but he also didn't bother to make the distinction that he wasn't head over heels crazy in love with him yet; so far... he just loved everything about the guy, but he was falling harder and deeper into that every night and needed to preface such things before he got there.  Mostly just because he couldn't hold it in any more and if it wasn't now, when the timing felt right, it'd be soon anyway.  If it made a difference to his lover... well, he'd be interested to hear why, but it wouldn't change anything about his own feelings (he didn't think).

Saccharin

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Re: The Ties That Bind
« Reply #11 on: May 25, 2012, 09:27:35 AM »
This was new territory for Vomas.

Although he'd managed to almost entirely disentangle himself from his brother's life, he'd always attracted people with very similar personalities to his side. They, who took from him and returned little. Parasites. He'd made himself hard and cold, callous to others because he thought it'd prevent them from latching on and sucking him dry, but it'd cut him off from everyone - not just those he sought to protect himself from. Because of it, he'd very nearly missed getting to know this warm and beautiful creature who'd brought laughter and life back to him and asked for little in return.

"Okay," he agreed quietly, his dark brown eyes filled with affection and wonderment. He couldn't say it in return just yet (though the emotions he felt surging through him could certainly be labeled as such), but it would come.

In the meantime, he'd let himself be loved.