Eric & Michael

[kersen]

Kersen was sitting in a chair in a room in the Blood Diamond. The room was light tight, there was a large bed in the middle, and currently there was a dead girl in it.

A girl who, sometime before dawn, would be waking up craving blood. Whose human life would be over. And who was now Kersen's responsibility for eternity.

He dropped his head into his hands, and didn't even hear the door open and Eric enter the room.

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[kersen]

Kersen inhaled deeply against his neck, feeling comforted by the scent of him. "I'm so glad to see you," he said.

If only Michael knew how close he'd come to not. Because who knew where Michael would be in five fucking years.

"But you shouldn't stay too long," he added, pulling away, hands on Michael's shoulders. He glanced back at the bed. "She'll... she'll wake up eventually and you shouldn't be here."

[trustearned]

"Who is she?" Michael asked, drawing his gaze away from the body to meet Kersen's gaze, hands dropped to his sides.

[kersen]

"She's... mine," said Kersen, sounding pained.

His eyes dropped to the floor. "The Magister was feeling creative. This was my sentence. A life for a life. They made me make a new vampire. Against her will."

[trustearned]

It could have been worse, Michael tried to tell himself. They could have killed Kersen. They could've silvered him away for years. They could've made him make Michael a vampire. It could have been worse.

That didn't make him any more pleased with the news. And everything it seemed to entail.

"You've got a vampire child," he summed up. He didn't know what they called it, and didn't care.

[kersen]

"I should consider myself lucky," Kersen said, still sounding pained. Sick. "I pissed him off. He was going to bury me for five years. But then... this instead. Though at least five years or something would have been over after that. This is permanent. She's my responsibility. I didn't... I didn't want this. I never did."

[trustearned]

Michael was silent for a beat, then said, "She's going to live with you."

[kersen]

Kersen winced. "For a while, at least. I don't know how long. Until I've... taught her. And besides, she almost certainly won't have anywhere to go. Look how young she is, hell she could still be living with her parents."

[trustearned]

She very well might be. "What's her name?" Michael asked, then thought to add, "Her full name."

Background checks were par for the course in his life.

[kersen]

"I don't know," Kersen sighed, pulling away from Michael. "She was too busy begging for her life to tell me the story of it."

Clearly the memory made him uncomfortable. The fact that he'd had to force her - it sickened him. She was going to think he was a monster just like the rest of them when she woke up.

[trustearned]

Michael walked around Kersen and to the girl, patting her pockets until he found a wallet, and some ID inside. He had a look at it - enough to memorise it, given his memory - then had a cursory look at the rest of her wallet, and held it all out to Kersen for his own perusal.

[kersen]

It hadn't even occurred to Kersen to look for a wallet. He had actually avoided touching her as much as possible. That is, after he'd bitten her and drained enough of her blood to kill her.

He looked at her ID, noting the name, but groaning when he saw her age. "Fuck."

Then he tossed it down on the dresser.

"She could be very dangerous for a while," he said after a moment.

[trustearned]

Michael thought that she would be very dangerous for as long as she lived, in more than one way. But he knew what Kersen meant, and nodded. "When is she due to wake up?"

[kersen]

"I - I'm not sure," Kersen admitted. "Could be right before dawn. Might not be until after another sunset. But I have to stay."

For a second, he honestly looked like he might burst into tears. "But all I want to do is go home with you."

[trustearned]

"You're responsible for her," Michael stated, his gaze straying back to the dead girl. He looked back at Kersen, and stepped in close, an arm sliding around him to pull him in for a kiss.

[kersen]

Kersen kissed him back like he was a life line. It was a much needed reminder of everything he had to live for, and why this outcome wasn't as bad as it could have been.

When the kiss broke, Kersen said softly, "I'm sorry, if you were... worried." He had no idea how Michael might have been feeling during the past few hours.

[trustearned]

"I'm - glad," Michael settled on, pausing again before finishing, slightly awkwardly, "that you're going to be around." It was as much of a declaration of anything as he was likely to make.

[kersen]

Kersen almost laughed, but had the good sense to hold it back. Still, he knew that I'm glad you're not dead was about as much of a declaration of affection he was about to get from Michael.

"Me too," he said, and leaned in to kiss him again, softly. "As for the rest of it... well. There were going to be consequences. I knew that. And now I just have to deal with it."

[trustearned]

They would have to, but even Michael knew that there were some things they could wait to discuss. "I shouldn't be here when she wakes up," he stated, still keeping Kersen in his arms.

[kersen]

Kersen didn't make any move to move away from him. "No, you shouldn't," he said softly. "It could be bad when she wakes up."

[trustearned]

"Phone me when you're free to see me," Michael told him, and kissed him again, although more briefly this time. He cupped Kersen's face when the kiss ended, and simply looked at him for a few seconds, then he turned to go.

[kersen]

"I'll see you soon," Kersen said softly as Michael went for the door. And he loved that he could say it and mean it.

[trustearned]

Michael nodded as he opened the door, then slipped out.