Waiting for Jean

Gabriel stepped into their room, glancing around with a slight pout. Jean wasn't here, then. Shame. He normally was.

The blond sat down on the bed, stretching out. He was tired. Doing nothing all day for all eternity really took it out of you. He missed having Jean's warmth next to him, but his eyes quickly drifted closed, curling into himself. He would find his fledgling later.

Jean-Claude yawned as he padded back into his room wearing black training pants and a soaked through white wifebeater. A towel was slung over one shoulder and a gym bag over the other.

He had spent most of the evening practising his dancing. He knew that he wouldnt be getting back to The Imugi any time soon and he knew that he didn't have to carry on with practising but dancing had been something he had been doing from when he was a kid.

The bag hit the floor with a thump and he almost collapsed on his bed.

He'd get a shower after he'd had some sleep.

The blond stirred slightly as Jean collapsed on the bed next to him, but kept his eyes closed. He groaned.

"Who...?"

Anything more than one syllable was too much effort right now. His eyes opened blearily, sitting up slowly. A grin spread across his face. "Oh hello." Arms wrapped around his fledgeling's waist pulling him down with a contented sigh.

"Shut up," he groaned, mouth opening wide in a yawn.

He was tired and he needed to at least rest, sleep if it was possible. He knew he wasn't going to get anywhere with that if Gabe decided he was going to be all touchy feely.

"Nap, rest, no sex," he muttered, curling against his sire's side.

He faked being hurt, pulling a face at him. "What, a vampire can't hug his fledgling without wanting sex? You wound me."

Still, he pulled the younger man closer to him with a faint purr, combing fingers through the brunet locks affectionately. He dropped a kiss to the top of his fledgling's head, comfortable in the warmth of his lover's body.

"What did you do to tire yourself out so much, anyway?"

"It's you," he snorted, burying his face in Gabe's chest. "You always want sex."

He purred softly, leaning into the touch of fingers in his hair.

"Dance practise," was his reply. "Wanna keep in shape even if I dont have to dance any more."

He pouted. "I'm not that much of a whore."

Though having said that, his ears pricked up at the word "dance". Belly-dancing or pole dancing? Somehow he doubted it would be ballroom. No. Mind out of the gutter. Just lying like this was nice for the moment.

But he still had to ask. Out of sheer curiosity.

"What kind of dance?"

"Yes you are."

He hummed quietly at the question. "We dabble in a lot. Mostly stage performances at the bar so very provocative strip-teases. Street-dancing sometimes. Lap-dancing."

He yawned loudly. "The occasionally rumba or tango if we have the girls in."

He tried not to let very vivid images enter his mind, burying affectionately into the crook of his fledgling's neck, his arms tightening around his waist with a happy sigh. "...You do a club, then?"

Something about what his lover had just said sunk in, and his eyebrows knit together in concern. He really hoped Jean wasn't still stripping. Partly because he was possessive, but also because it was dangerous work. Strippers got attacked by drunk men and drugged and all sorts. Yes, Jean could fend off attacks more easily now in theory, but not if he continued to refuse to drink from humans.

Wait... why was he worrying? It was no concern of his. Jean could look after himself right? Gabriel had always been fundamentally selfish, so these new feelings of concern confused him a little.

But still... he could not help but feel worried, for some reason.

"Mhmm, it's called the Imugi."

He smiled at the thought of the bar he used to work at. "It was great. I've been working there since I was nineteen."

The fledgeling pursed his lips and sighed softly. "I miss it."

Gabriel continued to frown slightly in a mixture of guilt, confusion and silent concern. How could someone miss stripping? All the lecherous men (he ignored the fact that he was a lecherous man) and the danger... He persuaded himself not to talk about it and quickly changed the subject to something that would make him feel less uncomfortable.

"Umm... ah... we should go to a bar again sometime. It feels too long since I've left the mansion."

He wasn't jealous. He was just concerned for his fledgling's best interests. Yes, that was all.

"It's been less than two weeks."

He pressed a kiss against his sire's neck as he curled closer to him, yawning softly. "Two weeks isn't all that long."

It wasn't all that long, but in less than two weeks he had had his life changed around and come to feel like this place was home.

He sighed softly at the kiss, but still pouted, a little childishly. "It's a long time to stay in one place."

The elder vampire pulled his fledgling closer to him, fingers of one hand idly smoothing up and down the man's back, while the others started to comb through his hair again. A brief thought flickered through his mind and he looked down at his fledgling.

"When was the last time you fed?"

"Not really. This place is nice. Its big and there are a lot of people to get to know."

At the question, he blinked and recounted the days, trying to remember the last time he had fed.

"Uh... three days? Maybe four?" Could have been five...

Too long. If Jean was dancing and refusing to feed, he would collapse. He pulled his hair back, revealing the faint traces of the fang marks from the last time that Jean had fed.

"Feed. You won't be able to keep this up for long."

A hand slid into Jean's hair, pulling him to his neck. It had got easier to make him feed recently, but he really hoped that Jean wouldn't make it difficult this time.

He sighed softly and pushed awya fro his sire, turning over.

"Pass," he muttered.

Honestly, the only times he and Gabe had been in each others presence, his sire had only wanted sex or to try and get him to feed.

Could they just have one hour together when Gabe wasn't pining for sex or trying to shove blood down his throat?

He sighed, nestling up to his fledgling's back. "All right, I will give it a rest for today. I promise."

But then... he knew Jean had to feed... he knew that vampires could go for a while without feeding if necessary, but fledglings needed more blood than most. He would make Jean feed tomorrow, he decided. Now was not the time.

"Please turn around? I was enjoying that."

"Thank you," he muttered.

He really didn't want to go through the drama of refusing to feed and having Gabe force him. Not tonight.

He turned around, nuzzling against his sire again.

He smiled as his fledgling turned back to him, pecking him on the forehead before bending down to whisper in his ear.

"I wouldn't put you through feeding if I didn't have to. You know that, right?"

"It's for your own good" was an expression he hated with a passion. It was that nagging, negative term that automatically made people react badly. So he avoided that phrase. He wanted Jean to know that he understood how he felt, rather than seeming like a nagging parent.

His arms curled around the younger man's waist again, stroking his back gently.

"Yeah...Yeah, I know."

He sighed softly, burying his face in his sire's neck, arms sliding around his torso.

Would anyone force another to drink blood if they didn't need to? It was a vile practise. He hated it.

"But still. Don't think you're getting away with it tomorrow."

He pretended to scold his fledgling, wagging a finger at him. But there was a playful glint in his eye, and he hoped that Jean would take it more as a joke than something to be worried about. He grinned at him, hugging him close.

Jean would get used to it, he forced himself to believe. He had to. Apart from anything, he didn't have any option unless he wanted to die. If not through starvation, then at the hands of Zeke. He suppressed a snarl at the memory, his mouth twitching in displeasure.

"Mhmm," he muttered with a sigh.

As much as he hated it, he knew that he'd have to suck it up and start getting used to the taste of blood. Not liking it... He didn't think he;d ever like it. But he'd at least have to learn to tolerate it.

He stroked his fingertips along the man's cheekbone and down over his jaw to tilt Jean's face upwards, kissing him tenderly, soothingly. Dropping one last, sweet peck to the man's lips, he pulled away, resting his forehead on Jean's.

"It will get easier, you know."

He wasn't very good at the soothing, motivational speeches, but the least he could do was try.

"But anyway." he moved the topic on, wanting to make Jean feel more comfortable. "When do you want to go out? If at all, anyway. We don't have to if you don't want to, I just thought it might be nice."

Ok, now he was babbling. But it was better than the awkward supportive speeches.

"Uh-huh," he replied monotonously, not putting any emotion into the reply. He didn't believe him.

"You're stumbling over words like a kid asking a girl out on his first date," he chuckled softly, leaning up to press a soft kiss to his sire's lips.

"Maybe in a couple of days."

Gabriel flushed a little at the teasing, but smiled into the kiss, continuing to comb his fingers through Jean's hair. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm a smooth talker, me."

He really wanted to go out. He knew it had been less than two weeks, but he hadn't been out for a long time before that. Staying in one place really was boring.

"Any idea where you would like to go?"