Now or Never

[pinkroses]

((Reserved for Sai))

Russell pushed open the door of the hotel and moved inside quickly, shoving the key into his pocket before picking up a few stray items he’d left around, the hairbrush on the bed was moved to a table, a t-shirt on the floor was picked up and folded before Russell put it into a drawer and he moved the rucksack from the foot of the bed to a corner of the room. He took a second to straighten the bedcovers before turning around to face Pierre, looking a little sheepish. The place wasn’t a mess really, he didn’t have enough left to properly make a mess in here. He’d been living in the hotel for a short time since leaving the hospital but he didn’t feel comfortable here and it showed. This wasn’t his home to welcome someone into, but here he was bringing Pierre into it. He felt like he was about to be judged on it (like he hadn’t been judged enough already tonight) and none of the décor or his situation were his choice.

“So… uh… are you… are you still ok to do this?” Russell asked, his eyes wide as his feet shuffled on the worn carpet. They hadn’t spoken much on the taxi ride here, but Pierre had done more texting, not giving anything away to the human. Russell hadn’t been with a vampire since Dale and it had only been Dale for so long. Offering himself up to Pierre like this felt weird and wrong, but he needed the blood, just a little, just a couple of drops.

[Saiketsu]

It hadn't dawned on him exactly what he might be getting himself into until the taxi had pulled up in front of Detour Hotel. Something inside of him dropped when he realized where they were and the tension made his abdomen ache with aggravating pain. His jaw remained clenched until the car stopped and Pierre could get out of the car with a grimace and a stretch to relieve the pain. He made no effort to explain his actions so if Russell had noticed his face and the worn look in his eyes, Pierre paid it no mind and answered even fewer questions.

So when Russell had asked that question, Pierre didn't truthfully know how to answer. It certainly wasn't that he didn't know how he felt about this entire situation; it was rather that he didn't know how to explain this all to Russell, who seemed both desperate for it all to begin and reluctant to have him here. In response, he blew air out of his lips in a sort of low putting noise which did nothing but communicate his internal struggle to find the right words.

"Uh, yeah," he said finally with a higher pitch and less confidence than he meant to portray. "Just... Do I have to feed from you? Like, it that necessary for this to work?" It didn't occur to Pierre that the human could take his words in the wrong context - it wasn't as though he didn't want to feed. It was more that he still had very little clue as to what was about to happen. Or at least he felt like he did.

[pinkroses]

Russell blinked in surprise at the question as it caught him off guard and he took half a step towards the bed as he tried to figure out how to answer.

“Um… I… I guess not. If you fed recently. But I thought you might… want to. Otherwise what are you get out of this?” Russell asked, hovering beside the bed before perching on the edge and gesturing slightly for Pierre to do the same but honestly having no clue whether the vampire would want to. There wasn’t anywhere else to sit though so if he didn’t then he’d have to stay standing. Russell had spotted the vampire wincing and didn’t know if the pain was worse sat or standing. He found it weird that a vampire could be so badly injured that feeding wouldn’t help them heal faster. But Pierre obviously didn’t want to talk about it so Russ wouldn’t press the matter.

[Saiketsu]

Pierre nodded absentmindedly at Russell's surprised response. It wasn't that he didn't want to feed - in fact the idea of feeding hadn't really occurred to the vampire until he had asked the question - but that he didn't want this to turn into something personal. What they were about to do was something just short of fledging and Pierre knew close to nothing about this human. It wasn't exactly a moment that Pierre wanted to cherish or remember for any amount of time.

Still he at least tried to remain even a little optimistic about it all. He would be feeding tonight and hopefully that would give him a few hours of flexing his body with less pain. Not to mention that this human could offer some potential links to the human world if he were deemed useful after all. And it wasn't as if things were going to get out of control - he was an older vampire who knew how to fledge and feed without concern. Perhaps it was Damien's words in his ear that made him think that his blood, like his sex, like his thoughts, should be shared under only the most righteous of situations. It was a new age and there were new things that had to be contended with in this modern era. Perhaps Russell was a symbol of this gateway that he was to cross tonight. The thought brought him enough comfort to move his lips and speak to the human sitting on the bed.

"Ok. What are you going to be like after I give you my blood?" Pierre stepped cautiously with a very serious expression. This was going to happen, but Pierre would still have control over the ways in which this would unfold. With his fledgings, his children craved him, clung to him and tried to get him to stay using any number of vampire tricks including nipping at his flesh, trying to seduce him, or digging their nails into his flesh. This time, however, nothing of the sort would happen. Nothing personal. "Will you 'ave a burst of energy? Are you going to sleep? What usually 'appens?"

[pinkroses]

Russell watched Pierre warily, not sure what the nod meant – was Pierre going to feed from him or not? Was that agreement to drinking and Russ’ question on what the vampire would get out off it, or just an acknowledgement or what he had said?

He bit his lower lip gently at Pierre’s next set of questions and he hesitated for a moment before giving a small shrug.

“I get more energy. Less… edgy and fidgety,” Russell said, unsure of quite what Pierre wanted him to say. Russ had seen groupies who would seem to go into a trance whilst being fed and others became hyper sexual.

“I don’t usually want to sleep… but I’ve only done it with Dale, and we were… together. So it would usually lead to… more.” His fingers twisted together as he spoke, his hips shifting on the bed from side to side, worried constantly that anything he said might make Pierre head for the door.

“But if you don’t want that I won’t, I swear, I don’t know what I’ll be like with you, but I’ll try not to do anything to make you uncomfortable. Just tell me what you want,” he said, shimming to the edge of the bed as he looked up at the vampire, a desperate glint in his eyes which he had been trying so hard to keep under control.