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“You know what?”

I glanced up from the old fluffy cat curled in my lap at the orange-haired vampire on the floor. He sat up from his previously prostrated position and sighed with a determined look on his very pale face. “I have something to tell you. Slash ask you. I’ve wanted to for a while so… Ok, I’m just gonna ask. Not gonna be weird about it.” He closed his eyes, sighed, opened them again with a fierce intensity.

My gut wrenched a little. How serious could this be? He seems really nervous.

“It’s… well, it’s life-changing, but… I mean, no one’s gonna get hurt or anything. And it’ll only apply to our lives. So. I really, really hope I’m not making a mistake…” He put his head in his hands for a moment, only to look up again with another sigh. “I’ve never done this before- well duh, stupid Kaoru… I mean I’ve never seen it done. Like, I don’t really know how it works. There shouldn’t be anything to it, though-“

“Kaoru!” I rubbed my tired eyes, trying to rid myself of the tension building as a headache. “You’re scaring me! Just say it already.”

“Ok ok ok! I’ll begin with a question. Do you like me?”

…Yes? I like you. It’s funny, I expected my cheeks to flush a little at recognition of this, but it seemed too normal, too ok to be weird.

Apparently that was not the case for Kaoru, whose cheeks burned a light pink shade. “Ok. That’s good. That makes this easier, I guess.” Another sigh, a stronger headache. “So, I like you too. Is this the same kind of like? Like, do you ‘like’ me like you ‘like’ Tangent? Or pizza?”

I resumed petting the cat in question as I thought. I ‘like’ you both as I ‘like’ pizza and as I ‘like’ a significant other. Is that ok? Is that the kind you’re talking about?

“Yeah.” He nodded in thought, no longer looking at me. “Yeah. That’s what I meant. So I ‘like’ you the same way you like me. Well, I’ve since come to realize that we ‘like’ each other because we’re destined to ‘cause you’re my mate. I hope this doesn’t change stuff. Well, I hope it changes some stuff, but not much.”

I nodded. That makes a lot of sense, I guess. Do I automatically feel things for you?

He shrugged and jumped up to the bed beside me. “Sometimes it has a huge effect on the two people, other times not so much. Again, I don’t know how this works. You don’t seem too… surprised?” He kept inching closer, eyes wide and curious and concentrated, hands absentmindedly petting the cat. Brushing mine occasionally.

It was my turn to shrug. I mean, we already have a child together. Granted a very old, geriatric child, but a child nonetheless.

He cracked a smile, petting our “child”. So what happens now? What do we have to do about it?

“Nothing, really. Most vampires turn their mates so they can be together forever. Sometimes it’s forced on them. I won’t force it on you. I don’t even think I want to turn you anyways. I’ve heard ‘forever’ is a long time. But turned vampires- not ones who’ve been born- are more susceptible to natural deaths. Diseases and crap like that. Otherwise you’d need to be murdered if you didn’t want to live anymore. Or commit suicide. I don’t like to think about either of those options, especially when they pertain to you.”

Yeah, I don’t want to have to live off of blood. Thanks anyways. He chuckled at my thoughts, seeming a little more relaxed. So… do you wanna be my boyfriend?

His brow furrowed. “Oh. Yeah. I guess I kinda thought that was included in the whole ‘mate’ package. I’m supposed to be asking you that question, not the other way around.”

I raised a brow. Why do you have to ask? Why can’t I be the one to ask you? Just because you’re the vampire in the relationship doesn’t mean you get to make all the decisions. If that’s how this works, I’m pretty sure I don’t want to be a part of it.

By the scared look on his face, it was obvious he didn’t understand the implied sarcasm. “I didn’t mean it like that!”

I leaned in and kissed him before he could continue rambling about how sorry he was. “I didn’t mean it like that either, dumb bunny,” I whispered, a little bit of my cold still in my voice. “I don’t care who asks.”

He closed his eyes and released a happy hum of pleasure, inhaling through his nose. “That was nice. It helps that you smell great, too.” He took my hand and played with my knuckles thoughtfully. We sat in silence a moment, during which Tangent hopped off the bed and slowly made his way out the door to a sunnier spot in the house. “I’d appreciate if we kept this on the down-low, though,” he whispered after a while. “My family would want me to turn you. Either that or keep you like, on a leash or something. They think you’re just a ‘toy’ right now. They wanted me to get involved in something like that so I was getting fresh blood. They also don’t know I haven’t been drinking from you, and I’d prefer to keep it that way.”

Wow… I watched his fingers move over my own, chills rising on my neck. I thought your family seemed kinda nice. If you don’t mind my saying, this is a little more cutthroat than I would have guessed them to be, from my interactions with them.

He scoffed and moved to lay his head down on my lap. “Pft. Don’t let my mom’s smile fool you. She would just as easily seduce you with her charm and grace and white teeth, become your best friend, then rip your throat out. She hasn’t done anything like that in a while- that’s mainly my dad’s thing. She usually doesn’t end up killing her prey anymore. But you don’t have to worry about that anyway, as long as I’m here.” He thought a moment. “And as long as no one knows we’re mates.” Another small quiet. “…And as long as no one knows I’m not feeding off of you.”

These are a lot of requirements for my safety. I traced a pattern on his forehead with my free hand, fingering strands of his neon hair. Why can’t you feed on me?

He glanced up at me, then back at my fingers. But I think I saw something flare in his eyes. “Well… I guess I could. Everyone reacts differently. You’d either feel kinda loopy afterwards or like you’re gonna throw up. We can try if you’d like.” When I shrugged, he lifted my hand up to his mouth, first only inhaling. Like sniffing a sharpie. “That’s what it feels like, yeah,” he groaned after reading my thoughts. “It’ll feel like I’m on crack. Or a sugar rush. A really, really, really bad sugar rush.” He stopped speaking, and I wondered what he was waiting for.

Then I started feeling super tired. Like, really tired. “Woah,” I mumbled, unable to stop my head from falling forward. “I’m getting dizzy… Can we continue this lying down?”

As he pulled back, I felt the canines retract from my skin. I flopped down on the bed, head by his knees. “Sorry,” he breathed out. “Sorry, I’m done. Do you feel sick?”

No, just sleepy. My eyelids involuntarily shut, my brain prepared to turn off. Kaoru moved around on the bed to lay beside me. “You can spend the night here if you want.” A blanket was tucked around us and he snuggled close. Our noses touched as we fell asleep together- a sleep so deep I dreamed of nothing.