[C] Cheer Up

Dario groaned softly as he ascended the stairs in his apartment building.

It had been a long, slow night.

None of his usual friends were there. Jean-Claude had bailed to go back to France to visit his family. Khaliq had bailed to spend some time with Rai and Tibor. Silt and Demir had bailed to stay at home fucking each other.

Without his friends there to chat with on breaks, the night had dragged.

Now he just wanted to curl up with someone and relax.

He slid the key into the lock and turned it, pushing open the door. "I'm home," he called out, making his way towards the kitchen (or rather the coffee pot) as he always did when he first walked in.

The apartment was oddly quiet when Dario entered, normally Hayden would have the radio on or a movie going, he liked the sound of a busy house as he went about his chores.

However he had gone out to the shops while they were still open.

Jika padded out of the study as Dario called out, the pup giving a low whine as he looked up at the man worriedly, rubbing up against Dario's thigh as he lapped at his Master's fingers.

He nipped the man's hand softly to get his attention before skittering a few feet toward the study and whining again.

"Hey, Jika."

Dario smiled down at the pup as his fingers slid through his long hair, smoothing over dreads and braids carefully.

His head tilted a little as the pup skittered towards the study.

"Everything okay?" he asked, brows drawing together slightly as he took a detour, making his way towards the study.

Was Ray all right?

Jika gave a whine as he pushed the door open a little more and padded into the darkened room.

Rayner usually worked in the dark, it didn't hurt his eyes as much.

The pup curled up under the desk that Rayner was currently sitting at.

The Vampire sat up on his chair, his feet resting up on it as he hugged his knees to his chest and hid his face against them.

Evidence of his crying came as his shoulder shook in silent sobs.

Dario's lips pressed together as his eyes adjusted to the dark room and fell in the Vampire's crying form.

Dario had seem this before; Ray getting caught up in his writing and breaking down. He'd always tried to help him calm down a little and pull out of his depressive thoughts.

The human padded forwards slowly, making sure to make some noise to alert Ray to his presence.

He crouched next to the chair.

"Hey, Ray," he murmured softly.

Ray had made a lot of progress to his story, a lot of it was already written but there was always moments when something particularly horrible had happened that made him remember the cruelty he had endured.

He lifted his head slowly as he looked down at Dario, his eyes bloodshot and his cheeks damp.

He wiped his eyes on the sleeves of his large sweater and made a choked noise as he tried to speak but merely shook his head and threw his arms around Dario's shoulders.

He remembered everything all too vividly, he had killed them, he was a murderer.

Dario's arms wrapped around the Vampires when Ray just about launched himself at him.

He pulled Ray out of the chair gently, settling him in his lap as he sat down comfortably on the floor.

He tucked Ray's head under his chin as he stroked his back gently. Being nice and gentle and calm always helped him attempt to calm the Vampire down.

"Shh, it's okay. It's all in the past now."

Working through everything he had been in this position many times before.

Dario had become his rock, something constant he could always grab onto in times of need.

He gave a soft sob as he hid beneath the man's chin and curling in against his body.

"I didn't mean to hurt anyone..."

He whimpered in a near whisper, he hadn't meant to do it, he had tried his best but it hadn't been good enough.

His fingers curled in the man's shirt, gripping onto him tightly.

"I know."

His hand continued to rub the Vampire's back gently.

He knew that Ray didn't want to harm anyone and any time that he did wasn't because he chose to do it.

He nuzzled against the Vampire, pulling him a little closer.

"You're a good person."

He was afraid of ever letting Dario read his story, he didn't want the man to think less of him, to see what he had done, and what had been done to him.

Rayner hadn't held back, he had let it all out, every disgusting thought brought on by hunger and every thing he had done to survive it all.

The Vampire froze a little as Dario spoke. The man thought he was a good person?

He didn't know if he believed it himself but it warmed his heart to have Dario think of him that way.

He wanted to be good, and he wanted to be treated like a normal person, not some oddity.

Slowly his tears stopped and he peaked out from Dario's chest for a moment, giving a soft sniffle before he leaned up, pressing a kiss to the man's lips.

He hadn't been so happy about something someone had said about him in a very long time.

Dario smiled encouragingly when the man's tearstained face pulled away from his chest.

He was shocked when the Vampire leaned up and even more shocked when he felt the hesitant, delicate brush of lips against his own.

But that didn't stop him from letting his eyes slide shut as his own lips returned the gentle caress.

His arms slid around the Vampire in an embrace as his lips moved gently over Ray's.

A few stray tears streak down Ray's face as his eyes slid shut, they were ones of repulsion or sadness though.

He was happy, happy that Dario thought highly of him, happy that he could still be redeemed despite his sins.

Happy just to be normal.

The kiss was tender and long, Rayner was hesitant with any movement but he was also extremely gentle, enjoying the soft tough before reluctantly pulling away from his lips, resting his head against Dario's forehead as his arms slid around the man and held him close.

When Ray's lips pulled away from his, Dario let his own lips curl into a little smile.

His hand slid up the Vampire's back and slid into his hair. It was growing out quite well; it's length finally moving away from the terribly short crop that he'd had when they had first met.

His fingers stroked through the man's hair gently.

A little smile curled Dario's lips.

Rayner actually gave a soft smile in return, nuzzling his face in against the man's neck as he cuddled in against him.

His horrible mood had melted away so quickly.

Dario knew how to care for him, how to make all the horrors from his past fade away in a few simple words.

"I missed you."

He murmured softly as he held the man a little tighter.

"I missed you, too."

Dario enjoyed having Ray's quiet company when Hayden and Jika were curled up together napping.

Dario and Ray could sit together and do nothing and it could be comfortable. He and Ray had a very simple relationship and he enjoyed that. It was what he needed right now after such a long day.

"have you been awake for too long?"

Rayner didn't have to sleep all day now, with the only window being in the spare room he could easily move around the house during the day, it just made him groggy.

"A while, I couldn't sleep."

That happened often enough, he had trouble sleeping most days, though it had gotten much milder since Jika had began living with them, the pup followed him constantly, which would be annoying to most but he really liked it, he never felt alone and Jika was always ready to cuddle and nap.

"Have you had anything to drink yet today?"

Dario could almost be like Hayden sometimes, worrying about whether Ray was feeding himself right or not.

Quite often Ray had heard Dario ask about whether he'd had any blood yet.

Dario wanted to make sure Ray was staying healthy.

"Not yet."

He admitted sheepishly, normally he was quite good about making sure he was fed but on nights when Hayden and Dario was out it could slip his mind, especially when he got into one of these moods.

"I fed Jika..."

He replied, Hayden left some pre-cooked meals in the freezer for them all and he had heated one up when the pup had gotten hungry since Hayden had been out most of today, though the Shifter had told him to eat before he left.

"Thank you."

He was glad everyone was taking such good care of Jika. The pup always had something to drink and eat on hand, courtesy of Hayden. It was great to know Ray was helping out with that, too.

"Let's go get you something to drink. Upsy daisy." He stood up and set Ray on his feet carefully.

He paused for a moment to press a kiss to the Vampire's forehead before grasping his hand and leading him towards the kitchen.

Ray's lips quirked up a little, he liked to help out and every seemed to appreciate every little thing that he did around the house.

It made him feel more like apart of the family when he did little things.

Hayden would call on him to reach something that was up high or help him pack away groceries, all of it made him feel included.

"Okay."

He muttered as he got to his feet, holding Dario's hand and padding into the kitchen.

Ray had been eating fairly well lately, he usually drank twice daily and still ate three small meals a day.

Already he looked healthier, his ribs were no longer skeletal and his face looked a little fuller.

They wanted Ray to feel like part of the family. He was part of the family to them. He was every bit as important to them as each other. Every chance they got, they tried to bring Ray into the happenings of the house.

"We have..." Dario pulled open the fridge and looked over the choices in the blood. "A or O. Take your pick."

He held up to blood bags for the Vampire, shaking them a little as he waited for Ray to make a choice.

"O, please."

He replied, he had asked Hayden not to get any more B type blood bags, the taste always left him feeling depressed, it tasted bitter now and he couldn't stomach it any more.

The boy had done what he asked immediately and the next time he had gone to the fridge all of the B type bags were gone.

"Hayden said he found a recipe for blood pancakes that he will try make for me tomorrow."

Rayner looked down at his hands as he fiddled with his sleeves and smiled, they did a good job in making him feel special.

Dario tossed the bag of A back into the fridge and moved over to set the O bag into the microwave.

"Nice. You gonna be sharing with the rest of us or are you gonna be greedy and keep the pancakes to yourself?" Dario asked with a little grin.

After setting up the microwave, he moved to pull Ray against his chest, leaning back against the counter.

His hands ran idly up and down the Vampire's arms.

Ray gave a soft purr and nuzzled in against the man's chest, curling in against him comfortably.

"You can have some if you want."

He replied with a chuckle, he doubted that he would catch Dario eating human blood any time soon.

Though he didn't know all that much about the man, he hadn't been living here for a very long time.

"I might give them a try."

Dario was quite an accepting person. He hadn't fretted at all at the thought of having human blood in his house.

The idea of actually consuming it himself, though, was a kind of strange one for the human.

He'd give it a try, though.