Pilgrimage

[Ehcorn]

One week after planning their trek across the country, Remi climbed into Sam’s rental car, closed the door behind him, and waited.

He waited for the roof to collapse, for the walls to close in, for the floorboard to shudder beneath his feet and shake him from his seat. He waited for his heart to crawl into his throat, making every breath a futile gasp, and for his chest to burn for the want of oxygen. He waited to feel the overwhelming urge to curl into a ball and whimper while darkness encroached and death became inevitable, but when none of his typical reactions to being confined to a small space came to pass, a stunned smile took his expression hostage and refused to release it.

It’d taken an ancient vampire’s help, but his fear had been yanked from his mind by the root like a stubborn weed. He relaxed the grip he’d had on Sam’s hand, assured him that he was okay to continue, and as he begin driving, Remi began exploring a space he’d never been before.

There were buttons everywhere: a button that reclined him onto his back, one that slid him forward until his knees were pressed painfully against the dash, another that didn’t appear to do anything until his ass grew inexplicably hot, and those were only the buttons for his seat! There were others that made the roof open, some that locked and unlocked doors, but his favorites, he quickly discovered, were the ones just beneath his window.

One long press, the window would slide down and wind would pour into the car, stealing his breath and ruffling his hair like flying did. Another long press, the window would go up and up and the air would grow still. Short presses sent the window whirring jerkily up and down and down and up, making funny noises that had him grinning widely as he proceeded onwards in his experiments. How many short presses did it take to close the window? To open it fully? Short press, short press, short press, all the way up, then short press, short press, short press all the way down.

His first car ride was turning out to be far more fun than he'd ever imagined.

[Existentially Odd]

At first, Samuel had been amused by Remi's reaction to the inside of the car. He'd spent some time familiarising himself with its features also, since he didn't own this vehicle and hadn't driven since he'd been with Vomas. It was a modern sedan, modest on mileage - according to the rental place - yet luxuriously outfitted. Sam had delighted in Remi testing that theory by pushing and poking at everything to be sure it worked accurately.

By the time he'd settled on playing with his automated window, however, the endearing quality of Remi's wonder was tarnishing. It was annoying. Samuel didn't understand why the angel needed to wind the thing up and down, smoothly at first and then in aggravating little jumps that seemed to grind themselves down Sam's spine with increasing vigour. As another blast of wind flurried into the car to mess with the equilibrium in his ears, Sam gritted his teeth, telling himself that Remi was innocent and hadn't been in a car before because of his claustrophobia. Plus, his wings were away so he was no doubt feeling out of sorts and needed a distraction.

It didn't matter. The vampire couldn't convince himself to find delight where Remi did because the window games were too bloody annoying to get past! Still, he didn't want to spoil Remi's fun entirely so he forced himself to block it out and watch the road for as long as he possibly could before he spoke, schooling his voice into something calm and as smooth as possible when he did. "You know, the window should stay up so that the climate control isn't getting overworked," he said conversationally.

Sam didn't give two figs about the climate control. He just wanted Remi to leave the damn window alone.

[Ehcorn]

When Sam began to speak, Remi turned to look at him with parted lips and raised eyebrows. All he could make out was something about the window needing to stay up and then something about the climate control. It was difficult to hear anything else over the thwump thwump THWUMP THWUMP of air bouncing inside the car like tiny tornadoes.

“Oh uh— Okay,” he said loudly before he twisted back around and pressed the topmost button until the window sealed shut. Remi grimaced. His ears felt full like they did when he flew too high, too fast. Fortunately, the same trick that he used while flying worked in the car. He yawned and when his ears popped, he blew out a big burst of air and sat back in his seat.

He stayed still for all of five seconds.

“This is the climate control, right?” he asked, sitting up and reaching out to press the arrows on the screen that made numbers go lower. Air pumped into the car again, but through circular cutouts in the dash. Remi frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, pushing his hands underneath his short sleeves to rub his biceps.

“That’s… that’s really cold,” he complained.

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel worked his jaw to pop his ears once Remi's window was finally up and he combed fingers through his hair until he felt it was all swooping in the right direction (and out of his eyes) again. His gaze slid sideways when Remi started fiddling with the climate control and he smirked when goosebumps spread across the angel's beautiful skin like a rash. Sam was also clothed in a comfortable pair of jeans, sneakers and a teal t-shirt but he was immune to the effects of the cold air blasting at him.

Not that he wanted to remind Remi of that. It might ruin his fun.

"Watch what the numbers say," he advised, chuckling at his partner. "If you're cold, make it warmer. You probably want it at about sixty or so. Adjust it until you're comfortable," he shrugged, relaxing as he finally got them onto the highway and on their way out of the city. The night was young and the road was open ahead of them at last, easing the tension in Sam's shoulders to the point where his right hand reached across and settled comfortably on Remi's thigh, the other needing to do little with the wheel of the automatic car to keep them steady.

[Ehcorn]

Remi’s goosebumps grew more prominent by the second. He had a choice to make: keep his middle warm while his arms froze, or set the climate control to ‘about sixty’ like Sam said. Reluctantly, he withdrew one of his arms from his chest and strained against his seatbelt to  poke repeatedly at the up arrow, hissing six zero, six zero under his breath until the both the six and the zero made an appearance on the screen. The air that pumped through the vents grew warmer, and he settled back in his seat with a wide smile.

“That’s much better. Thank you,” he said, sliding his hand atop Sam’s to give it a good squeeze. The vampire’s skin was as cold as the air had been. He didn’t let that deter him from holding Sam’s hand as he stared out his window, though, watching as they passed other people in other cars in what felt like slow motion but in reality, was as fast — if not faster — than he could fly.

This time, he managed to stay still for roughly twenty seconds before he turned his face towards Sam, tilting his head onto the uppermost part of his seat. There was just enough light inside the car for Remi to admire his features: a strong jaw, pronounced cheekbones, and lips that he wanted to meet with his own but couldn’t. Sam had insisted that he put on a strap over his shoulder and lap that severely limited his range of movement. He still wasn't sure what its purpose was except to frustrate him.

His foot began jiggling on the floorboard.

“Is this all we do the whole way? Just… sit here?”

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel bit back his laughter as Remi cutely whispered while he adjusted the climate control. Sam cast several glances across the cabin of the vehicle at him, his grin unable to be hidden as the warm-blooded angel finally stopped shivering. He took Remi's hand on his as a positive sign and intertwined their fingers on Remi's knee, chuckling when his impatience eventually won out again.

He didn't want to offend the angel, but he was awful squirrelly and proving to be difficult to entertain. At least he wasn't playing with the windows but Sam was going to have to think of something to distract him, considering their drive would take them almost twelve hours to complete. Twelve. Hours. And they hadn't even been at it half an hour yet and Remi was already wriggling.

"Pretty much, yeah," Sam chuckled, grinning lazily at Remi. "That's the beauty of the machine doing the work for you. You get to relax in comfort while you drive. You have me to entertain you, though. We can talk?" he suggested impishly. They did a lot of talking but there were plenty of things they could still learn about each other. They'd been together a couple of weeks, not years. He wasn't sure Remi would go for something so simple, though.

Already, Sam had learnt that his partner was hyperactive because he'd never tried to pin him down in one place for any significant length of time, before. Questionable Road Trip Discovery number one... and counting.

[Ehcorn]

Remi’s groan was cut short when Sam said he could entertain him. He popped his head up from the seat to look at him hopefully, but fell back again and finished his groan when he suggested that they could talk.

“You’d have an easier job of entertaining me if all this”—he glanced at the center console that Sam’s arm was draped over, then down at himself, at the strap that crossed his chest—“wasn’t between us.”

His expression was tragic, the look of an angel denied full access to his favorite person on either plane. Talking would’ve been better if he’d been able to pair it with cuddling or kissing or literally any other activity besides sitting idly in a car while Sam drove.

“But I'll try to make do with talking," he sighed. "I'll uh... I'll start.” He lifted Sam’s hand, arranging the vampire’s fingers so he could tilt his head and rub his cheek against them, back and forth, his beard bristling with each pass. “Okay. I've always been curious: What made you decide to become a vampire?"

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel quirked an eyebrow as Remi complained about the car separating them. He tilted his head, glancing at Remi thoughtfully. It was a sweet complaint but Sam couldn't tell if it was because Remi loved snuggling or because he was horny and just lamenting the car's architecture for interfering with his plans to... a thrill of anticipation ran down Sam's spine and pooled in his pants. Despite his best intentions, he couldn't help thinking of the things Remi could do to him in the driver's seat if the console wasn't between them.

Angels had a certain kind of reputation on the earthly plane (as Remi referred to it) and Sam was well-versed in it. They were supposed to be holy, divine and good, oozing grace and impartiality in their every move. They were righteous and wise and elevated beings, better than the average people around them. Remi was certainly those things - even kinder than they implied, frankly - but the reputation fell short of the reality in so many ways. Having lived with Remi for a week now, Sam knew better than anyone the truth about angels.

What that reputation failed to take into account was the fact that angels were living, breathing beings bursting with love and curiosity that craved affection. Remi wasn't happy if he wasn't helping another creature (which could be a plant or a person, he didn't mind the level of sentience or willingness he was dealing with) in some way, shape or form and Sam was his favourite project at the moment. They'd been having a lot of sex. So much more than Sam would've believed was 'angel appropriate' - and it was only because of the afore-mentioned reputation that he'd been surprised.

It hadn't been anything he'd ever considered before knowing Remi, but angels were red-blooded creatures with needs... so many sexy, delicious, voracious needs that the vampire had never bothered to contemplate. He was wiser now but with that wisdom came vulnerability. Just looking at Remi's pouting lips and miniature tantrum over the console shouldn't have turned him on the way it did but he couldn't help it. He had intimate knowledge of just how good that mouth, those hands, that body could be and the effect was embarrassingly powerful. In fact, he almost missed Remi's actual question because having his hand nuzzled by soft hair and warm skin sent tingles of awareness shooting through him that had his pants tightening.

Chuckling huskily, Sam did his best to keep his eyes on the road, unable to stop his thumb straying to swipe along Remi's curvaceous lower lip when the angel's head tilted just right. He swallowed, hoping Remi wouldn't hear anything untoward in his voice when he spoke. He couldn't imagine the teasing working out in his favour, considering he was trapped behind the wheel. "Interesting question," he said and cleared his throat anyway, stalling for time because his thoughts weren't gathered or anywhere near where they needed to be to answer his partner.

"Well, uh, I guess the short answer is love. Or maybe lust? I sure thought it was love, at the time. Maybe it was by the time I was turned but not at the start, though. My sire's name was Abigail - Abi - and I met her at a soiree my father was throwing. Some political thing or other. She found me curled up in a corner and flirted with me for hours. I could barely speak to her for stuttering and my face must've been so red because I remember it being ridiculously hot," he laughed again, feeling it was probably a mistake to be thinking about all this. Remi already had him worked up, thinking about his sire wasn't going to help him calm down.

"Somehow, she convinced me she needed an escort back to her home in Charlotte. Because I'd kept her there so late talking, she said. It seemed like a gentlemanly thing to do and my family home was quite a way outside the city where she lived so I got in her carriage with her. I was so innocent," he snorted, wetting his lips with his tongue as he glanced again at Remi's mouth, comparing the ride that night with the carriage they were riding in now. By the gods why was he torturing himself explaining this in detail? He shifted in his seat, swallowing again and watching the road determinedly.

"Long story short, she did not need my protection. She just wanted my company. I was twenty years old but I'd never even kissed anybody. Next thing I knew, she was climbing into my lap and ravishing me. I'm pretty sure I apologised through the whole thing, like it was my idea and I was accosting her, but she just laughed. I think I saw stars. I was besotted. By the time we reached her home, I was ready to follow her anywhere, her bed was just the first stop," Sam snickered, rolling his eyes at his own idiocy. He really had been the most naive child. He hadn't even noticed her fangs sinking into his neck while she rode him.

"After that, I visited her all the time. On one hand, I despaired for her reputation but on the other, she just laughed it off whenever I brought it up with her. I was wracked with guilt! She always managed to distract me, though. It took... hmm, I think it was about a month? Weeks, anyway, before I found out she was a vampire and I was absolutely amazed by it. It didn't faze me in the slightest. She was very pleased. A couple months later, she decided she wanted to leave America and return to her home, to England. She offered to turn me and take me with her, telling me she'd never return. I was beside myself, convinced I was in love and would never feel that way again. I didn't even care about my family or the reputation they insisted I'd torn to shreds - I loved Abigail, what did I care about the Taylor family name?!" Sam queried, layering emotion into his voice for effect.

He smiled as silence crept into the cabin of the car, hundreds of years away from that time in his life, yet he was still able to imagine it quite vividly. Abi. His sire, his first love, his first everything. Oh, how he'd loved her and grieved her when she'd grown bored with him. It all seemed so dramatic and distant now, yet he knew his feelings for Remi were growing at the same staggering, life-altering rate. So what had he truly learnt in his almost two hundred years of life? Little else but how to love harder and faster, it seemed. He refused to be ashamed of it, though. Remi deserved his whole heart; he was a literal angel.

"So I agreed. I let her change me to be like her because she convinced me it would be easier that way, for us to be the same when we travelled by ship to the continent. I think that was the first lie she told me. The first of many. It wasn't easy at all, being a fledgeling aboard a ship travelling across an ocean, petrified of killing people and surviving on the blood of rats and livestock brought along for the journey. Abi was confident and skilled enough to drink from people and them be unaware but I wasn't like her. I was shy and scared. I regretted my decision, especially when we fought."

Sam's expression turned sad as he remembered how awful things had become between him and his callous sire. She hadn't anticipated he'd stay so true to his nature once he was a vampire and hadn't accounted for him reverting to his shell on a ship full of strangers. "It got better once we finally reached England but the damage was already done. Vampirism wasn't the romantic lifestyle I'd anticipated it would be and I was not the bold, confident fledgeling she'd expected I'd become. Both of us were harshly stripped of our illusions on that trip and, unfortunately, I believe it shortened the time we had together markedly. Hindsight is twenty, twenty and all that," Sam shrugged, offering Remi a wry grin.

His thumb stroked Remi's lower lip again and he suppressed a shiver of delight.

[Ehcorn]

Remi, who had traveled into the past with Sam as he told his story, was jolted back to the present when the vampire simultaneously stopped talking and dragged a cool thumb over his lip. There’d been so much he wanted to follow up on, questions he’d wanted to ask, but in that moment, it was difficult to focus on anything other than Sam and the way he could make his heart fly and his desire grow with a single, intimate touch.

A touch he wouldn’t have been able to experience if it hadn’t been for Abigail.

“Hope you don’t regret it anymore,” he mumbled, one word blurring into the next like all the white stripes on the road they continued to speed past. He hadn’t wanted to open his mouth fully when he spoke because he’d been afraid that if he did, he’d dislodge Sam’s hand before he could capture his thumb gently with his teeth and slide it into his mouth up to the knuckle.

Something that was a cross between a sigh and a soft moan filtered into the cabin of the car as he sucked it the rest of the way in, stopping when the base of Sam’s thumb was pressed against his lips. He remained poised there for the span of several ragged breaths — savoring the flavor of his skin — then his eyes lidded and his cheeks hollowed as he began slide his lips up and down, head bobbing slowly at first but increasing in tempo as he familiarized himself with the shape of Sam’s finger and how much pressure he had to maintain to keep from losing suction at any point along the way.

Deprived of the ability to crawl between Sam’s legs, Remi was trying to make do again, but though the motions he made were identical to the ones he would’ve made if he’d been able to undo Sam’s pants, they weren’t nearly as fulfilling when compared to the real thing. His forehead grew creased as he pulled his head back entirely, relaxing his hold and releasing Sam’s finger with a soft pop.

When he looked at Sam again, it was with heated frustration.

“Maybe… maybe you should tell me another story,” he said, licking his lips.

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel shook his head, a smile on his face when Remi professed his hope that Sam didn't regret being turned any longer. He opened his mouth to elaborate on how accustomed to vampirism he'd grown but his words died in a strangled mewl at the back of his throat as Remi gently caught his thumb between his teeth and worked it into his mouth.

Dear gods. Dear holy, hallowed, honoured gods.... how can I... do I... what's he... should I make him stop? What the hell...

Sam's thoughts staggered and then dispersed as sensation overwhelmed him. The warmth of Remi's soft mouth and tongue encapsulating his digit was maddening and invigorating, a blasphemy and a blessing in one delicious action. And his sounds. Dear gods, Remi's spine-melting sex sounds bleeding into the vacuum of the cabin as Sam sat, droopy-eyed and transfixed by his every movement, did nothing to quell the blare of lust and instant arousal pulsing through him.

In moments, Sam was rigid and throbbing, doing his best to spare glances at the road in between staring at Remi sucking on his thumb. He was like some divine porn star, sent from the heavenly plane just to torture him and make him tingle with need. Cold shivers of anticipation swirled up and down Sam's spine, inching across his shoulders and down his arms even as his groin became the centre of his entire universe. Every universe. Galaxy? Something. The drawing on his thumb was a limited mockery of the eloquence Remi displayed when he gave head properly but it was everything in that moment.

When his thumb was released with a slick pop and left suspended in front of the vents blowing tepid air over it, Sam's trance was broken and he shivered, swallowing thickly. He drew in a breath for the sole purpose of exhaling and attempting to calm his raging erection, fisting his hand as he pulled it away from Remi's face and back to the steering wheel. He gripped it with care as he stared at the road ahead, debating whether they should take the time to pull over or... no. They'd only just got on the road. There were still hours to go. If he pulled over just to satisfy every primal urge Remi roused in him, they'd never make it.

But fuck he wanted to.

"You... dear... maybe you should talk for a bit," Sam snapped, his voice thick with lust and the impatience borne of soothing a turgid beast against his will. "And keep your lips to yourself, for the time being," he added sternly, imagining Remi would be highly entertained by the effect he'd had on Sam's body. He glanced down and saw that his thumb was still moist and glistening with Remi's spit and another shot of desire speared through him. "Holy shit, Remi, you're ridiculous. And amazing," he whispered unsteadily and then he laughed because how could he not? The situation was ridiculous and amazing and he was the luckiest man on any world to have this siren by his side, toying with him, caring for him, liking him, making him giddily happy.

He kept giggling because it was insane how difficult it was to make the heat in his body die and he should've known better than to trap himself in a confined space with a horny juvenile angel he hadn't yet managed to get his fill of. He was a damn fool and he wasn't even sorry.

[Ehcorn]

Predictably, turning Sam on had turned him on, too, and while the vampire chastised him for sucking his thumb like he would’ve sucked him off if he’d been given half the chance, he chewed on the inside of his lip and eyed the bulge in Sam’s pants. He’d been told to take a turn at talking, but how was he supposed to do that when he was expending all his energy on keeping from reaching over and coaxing Sam free from his tight, denim prison? Distance. Distance would help. It had to.

He retreated to his seat, grumbling and yanking on his seatbelt to make sure the strap that crossed his chest went under his arm, not over it, just like Sam had taught him. But almost as soon as he’d released the strap, Sam declared him both ridiculous and amazing and then he… started giggling, erasing the feeling that he’d done something wrong or unwanted. Remi looked Sam’s way, gaze flitting from the vampire’s mirth-filled expression, to the hands tightly gripping the steering wheel, and inexorably down until he was right where he’d started and all he could think about was feeling that hardness for himself.

“Alright,” he drawled, a mischievous glint in his eyes, “I’ll keep my lips to myself.”

Anticipation coiling in him like a living, breathing thing, he slid the hand closest to Sam across the center console, leaning over to ensure he could reach far enough to run his palm over the top of Sam’s thigh and farther, to the stiff seam of his zipper.

“Dunno what to talk about, though,” he said, toying with the flap, pushing it aside and ticking the back of his nail over metal teeth. When Sam didn’t push him away and send him to his side of the car, he grinned and popped the button loose. Then all that was left was unzipping Sam’s jeans enough to allow him the ability to tease his length out where he could wrap his fingers around it and stroke him from base to tip and back again. “Except maybe what you want me to do with this.”

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel didn't believe he'd do it. That's why it got as far as it did. Remi toying with his zipper had been a tease that had him smirking at the angel even while embarrassment tinged his cheeks pink. He'd had a generous drink before they'd left this evening so the colour was obvious. Still, this was Remi and they were in a moving car. He was just playing around!  He wouldn't really...

And then his warm, soft hand was sliding up and down Sam's rigid member and he couldn't think straight any more. Sam's mouth gaped and he stared in horror from his lap (his penis was a damn traitor, there was no love nor loyalty here as the thing wept eagerly for Remi's touch, even twitching in his direction) and then up to Remi's face. He was supposed to be making conversation. Ridiculous angel.

"You... uh... don't need to do anything with it," Sam replied bravely, gritting his teeth and doing his best to look at the road. He needed to ignore the sensations tingling between his legs. Ohhhhh to have the freedom to move right now. He'd definitely return the favour. "Just... let go. Keep your hands to yourself and I'll keep mine to myself and this whole trip will be over sooner rather than later. You don't want to make it take longer, do you?" he coaxed, using his best weapon first.

[Ehcorn]

Remi froze, confusion marching across his face to wage war with his smile. He’d expected sounds of pleasure — sighs, murmurs, gasps — but what he got instead was an order to let go and keep his hands to himself. Too stunned to argue, he did as he was told and released Sam, making a fist of his hand as he sat up and returned to his side of the car.

Belatedly, he considered that he might’ve helped Sam back into his pants, but he couldn’t even bring himself to look at the vampire, much less tuck him away and zip him back up again. He slumped against his door and stared out the window instead, his face burning and a sour brick of humiliation sitting heavy in his gut.

It was a night filled with first time experiences: the first time he’d planned a trip without his mentor's permission, the first time he’d gotten into a car, and the first time Sam had rejected his advances. The last one, in particular, had left him with an overwhelming urge to disappear, much like when Ben had dug his fingers into the joints of his wings and he'd embarrassed himself by moaning in response.

He pushed his thumb into the golden ring his father had given him, spinning the angels on its face a full rotation on his finger before he realized what he was doing and stopped. Trying to hide from Sam was pointless. Even if he made himself invisible, there was no where else to go. He had to suffer the consequences of his actions in plain sight.

Remi shifted in his seat and reached down to rearrange himself so he wasn’t pressed as tightly against his jeans.

Then he huffed.

“You want me to keep my hands to myself this whole trip?” he asked, sounding as miserable as he felt.

[Existentially Odd]

Samuel was busy dealing with his own wave of bitter disappointment when Remi's washed over him as well. Sam had told him to stop as a matter of safety and expediency but he found, the second Remi stopped, that he didn't really mean it... because he yearned for his touch the moment it was gone. Swallowing his mewls of pleasure had been difficult; swallowing his groan of frustration was impossible once he heard the hurt in Remi's voice. Sam felt about two inches tall.

"Re- what? Darlin', no! Don't be ridiculous!" he argued swiftly, looking agitatedly between the road ahead and Remi's cold shoulder. He reached across and gripped his thigh firmly, giving it a squeeze meant to draw the angel out of his huddled pout so that he could see his beautiful face. "C'mon sweetheart," he cooed at the same time, hoping his words could coax a positive response even if his touch couldn't. Whether it was accurate or not, he didn't see an immediate good reaction coming from Remi so he panicked a little, launching into a rapid and heartfelt plea instead.

"Baby, you know I don't want you to stop touching me. Ever. It's just tha- hey, you remember what happened the other night when we were flying and I tried to fool around with you, don't you? When I tried to get a little too adventurous but my hands were freezing from the altitude and when I touched you, you got such a shock you lost complete control of what you were doing? Well, if you kept touching me right now, the consequences would be even worse than that. It wouldn't be just us crashing, I'd lose control of the car, probably smash it into a tree and then we'd be hurt, in trouble with the rental company, carless and stuck on the side of the road indefinitely. We already decided it's too far for you to fly us there so what would we do then? Fly back to the city and have to wait until we could get a new car?"

Sam's words were fast-paced but his voice was filled with sincerity as he worked hard to convince his lover that he absolutely wanted him to touch him. Just not when he was in control of their fate to such a dangerous degree. Sam doubted he'd have been able to maintain any semblance of concentration much longer than he already had and the alternative would've been pulling over to do it, which would've put them even further behind schedule. If it would appease Remi now, though, he'd do it. Sam gave his thigh another squeeze. "C'mooon," he cajoled again, "show me your beautiful face. You know I didn't mean it that way; I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I love everything about the way you touch me. I just didn't want to delay us or put us in danger, that's why I said you should stop!"

His southern drawl had never been more honey-like or deep than it was right now, hoping to catch a pissed-off fly in his sugary trap. and convince it he wasn't an intentional asshole.

[Ehcorn]

Instead of sitting up and covering the vampire’s hand like he usually would’ve when it landed on his leg, Remi did his best turtle impression. He burrowed into the door, scrunched his eyes closed, and began to spin the ring on his finger again. The desire to hide from Sam had overruled his previous decision to stay and weather the humiliation that came from being rejected not once, but twice, and not realizing it until too late. It'd be easy, too. All he had to do was feed the artifact a little magic and he’d blend into the seat he’d been chased back into. Then, he’d stay hidden until Sam forgot what he’d done or they made it to the temporary home Sam had said they’d sleep in while they waited for the sun to set — whichever came first.

But his tone changed and Remi untucked his head to angle an ear towards Sam, his eyes growing wide and his face slackening as the vampire went on to remind him of an incident that hadn’t happened all that long ago.

“I remember. I almost dropped you,” Remi said quietly. He’d never dream of intentionally letting go of Sam thousands of feet in the air, but when icy fingers had wrapped themselves around him, his brain had short-circuited and he’d forgotten how to fly while holding a passenger. There had been times he'd played high-altitude games with Diego, taking him up until the air grew too thin for them to breathe, then he’d let him go only to dive after the adrenaline junky and catch him before he smashed into the ground. Diego, though, had always come prepared with a backpack stuffed with silken fabric that, when triggered, ballooned out like the top of a jellyfish and slowed his descent if Remi couldn’t catch him quickly enough.

Sam, on the other hand... Remi wasn't sure being a vampire would've saved him from becoming a broken, bloody smear if he hit the ground hard enough. 

He shifted farther, straightening to watch the headlights of oncoming cars opposite of them on the highway. Being in a car was different, too. If Sam lost control, there wasn’t anything preventing them from slamming into one of them. He could heal, and Sam could too in his own fashion, but what if he couldn’t get to the people in the other car in time to heal them? They might die, and for what? Because he couldn’t wait to get his hands on Sam?

Remi turned to face Sam fully. “Alright. I get it now. I uh…”

His eyebrows shot into his hairline when he realized the vampire hadn’t fixed his pants yet.

“… I’ll keep my hands to myself while you’re driving,” he said, clearing his throat before he continued. “Unless you need help? I— I can help and not, y’know— touch more than I need to.“ Remi pinched his fingers together and lifted his hand in a zipping-up-and-no-funny-business gesture. “Promise.”