One Day Too Late: Sand Through an Hourglass
Kari Kurofai and Myriad Lapse's Co-Authoresses' Note
KK: Yo all! This is Kari Kurofai, the epic procrastinator, bringing you Myriad and I's joint fic of DOOOM!
ML: ...And this is said person who doomed all of you with an idea of epic proportions that just HAD to be written! It's a lil' thing pretty much based upon the profile picture of this joint account. (Clicky the linky that says What the FrUK) :D
KK: OHOHOHO! Yes, it was Myriad's idea that I breathed some life into. :] And fenangled in some of the details that I feel will make this plot. That is, if we can agree on what Prussia pairing to go with. lawl
ML: Yup! And this fic is gonna have a helluva lotta pairings...gosh. (Shh, you'll all find out soon.) ;) Speaking of how many pairings, I'm sure our lovely readers are dying to know if this fic will hold any future lemony action. Any response to that? -gets ready for a BWUAHAHA moment-
KK: Actually, if ur up for it, I have lotsa lemons planned! This is Kari the perv you're talkin about here, lol. But as to how far such lemons will go . . . THAT'S A SECRET! BWHAHAHA! -is evil-
ML: Oh, I just knew it. :3 Well, as some of you have guessed by the summary, this fic is yaoi and is going to concerned about the topic of. . .VAMPIRES! Dun-dun-DUNNNNN~! :D
KK: And other supernatural phenomena that we can not tell u about because that would be a SPOILER! lol. And just a quick FYI, this is in no way at all related to Twilight. because there is nothing wrong with OUR vampire's left nipple. Nor is he gay and sparkly. Er, well, I take back the gay part. Gay. Vampire in fic is gay. otherwise there would be no fic, no? But at first I was very resistant to the idea because I fricken HATE Twilight, and Vampire Knight. And those were the only two stories I could think of for inspiration. But I had this lovely book in my hand called Millenium Snow. So Arthur's "condition" was spurned from that, more or less.
ML: Oh, a majority of us hate Twilight, dearie. I just wish moar people did. OMG, I also have a dislike for VK~ :O Ah, weeeeelll, I do believe our readers likely want us to "shut the hell up and give me the FrUKing yaoi!" :3 -nodnod-
KK: That is true. FrUKing yaoi = the bestest. So go for it!
ML: And now, here's what you clicked for~ Please enjoy this chapter! Give us reviews, and we'll work faster. And quite possibly even make some lemony dreams come true~ :D
Arthur Kirkland had never learned to dance with a partner, how to waltz or how to two-step across smooth floors and under dimmed lights. He had never held hands with anyone in a way that made his heart pound or his ears feel hot. The thought that he would never get his first kiss, let alone lose his virginity, was something that he tried not to dwell on too long. And no matter how much he wished for it, prayed for it, he knew that all his wishes and prayers had long run out. As had his short life.
He had been born with a weak heart. The doctor had told his parents that he would not live to see fifteen, a cruel fact that they had accepted. He'd lived his life in and out of the hospital, listening to the foreboding beeps of heart monitors and ambulances at all hours of the night. His days consisted of staying inside. He could not exercise and run around like the other boys his age, or attend movies or parties. It had been a little over a year since he'd last had the strength to go to school. So most of his days were spent watching movies and having ridiculous fantasies about finding the love he knew he would never meet.
The doctors would talk about it when they thought he couldn't hear, or when he'd feigned sleep. His heart wouldn't hold much longer. Just one more attack, that was all it would take, and he would never miraculously pull through again
He would not think about death or what may lay beyond it. Even if he made himself believe that there was an afterlife and that his parents were waiting for him, he couldn't deal with it. Maybe it was because somewhere, deep down, he was scared that there would be nothing, that he'd just cease to exist. Endless darkness, and consciousness never again. He thought about school instead, and his gaze turned to the sketchpad on his bedside table, remembering the person who had filled it's pages.
Feliciano had sat at his side countless times, drawing anything that Arthur had asked of him. Various imaginary loves he described, as fantasized and nonexistent as a Disney princess. Sometimes, that's exactly what he had the Italian draw. He watched him sketch out scenes of daily school life he hadn't experienced for so long. Of Kiku and Ludwig at lunch, smiling and laughing without him. It made him sad, but happy at the same time, to know that other people in the world would live on when he was gone, and maybe remember him too. He did not want to think that it was possible that no one would mourn his death.
"I'll mourn you," Feliciano had assured one afternoon as he closed the sketchbook. "Me and Ludwig," He'd smiled, "And Kiku too. But you shouldn't think like that, Arthur. I believe that you'll see that hope is always just around the corner."
Feliciano had said that with his usual, far-off expression, one that Arthur could not read. He had long ago learned that his friend was always strangely right about such things. So at this, he couldn't help but agree.
"I believe," Arthur whispered to himself, turning his gaze from the sketchbook to the window again. His eyes narrowed as he caught sight of something, or rather, someone standing on the roof of the east building opposite his room, illuminated by the full moon light. It was a young man, his dark coat standing out against the backdrop of the night-drawn orb and his shoulder-length platinum-blond hair almost white in it's light.
Arthur scrambled to his knees in his bed, hands going to the windowsill as he stared out at the figure. He was balanced precariously on the edge of the West building, and Arthur sucked in a horrified breath as he leapt down from his perch. But he didn't drop like a rock as Arthur had suspected he would, like a normal person did, but rather slipped into a glide-like fall that landed him just behind a bench across the courtyard. His hands shoved deep into his pockets and a slight tilt of his head told Arthur that he knew someone was watching, and he turned his back, walking down the path and out of sight.
The blond sat back on his heels in shock. They say people see things before they die, but this was ridiculous. He'd seen faeries and all assortment of daemons and ghosts in his abnormally short lifetime, but never this. That man couldn't have been mortal or, hell, even human. A human would have died from something like that. Oh good god, he was beginning to feel as if he'd fallen into one of those C grade movies.
He slid back under the covers of his bed, deciding to forget the matter entirely. Nothing good could come of such a hallucination, or worse, such a creature. Better to just wipe his mind clean of the experience.
Arthur was becoming impatient with the nurses in his ward, there always seemed to be new ones oblivious to his needs. What he hated most was when people could only see him for his condition. Dubbing him weak and dying, which, at least the former, was far from what he was. "I get around town just fine, thank you very much," he snapped, folding his arms across his chest with an impatient snort.
The nurse in question today just looked at him with that, Oh my gawd you're dying stare that he despised, "Your charts say that you're not allowed out off the grounds-"
"Well," Arthur growled, "it's either you let me out, or I sneak out." He held up two fingers, "Two choices. You decide."
"We'll look after him, ve," an auburn haired teen spoke up beside him, latching onto his arm like a leech, as if to prove that he wouldn't let Arthur out of his sight. A fresh sketchpad and pack of new pencils lay in a bag hanging from a strap around his wrist, and a tootsie-pop was dangerously close to sticking to Arthur's sleeve where it lay in the other hand. "Right, Ludwig?"
The blond standing behind Arthur nodded, taking the sucker from the other before it stuck to Arthur's shirt and popping it into his own mouth, "Right. Even if Feliciano zones out, I've got both eyes on him." He held out a hand and pressed it to Arthur's back as the other started to fall over under Feliciano's weight, something that would not have helped their cause one bit.
The nurse raised a disbelieving eyebrow, reaching for the phone, "Let me call your doctor first," she said skeptically, keeping one eye on them as if she thought they would make a break for it.
Ludwig rolled his eyes, handing the sucker back to Feliciano as the other started to reach to take it out of his mouth, "Stop getting the brown ones, they're gross," he frowned, sticking it in the Italian's open mouth with a smirk.
"But the chocolate ones are the best!" Feliciano exclaimed, "And you messed up my licking, Ludwig. Now I'll have to try and count how many it takes to get to the center on the next sucker..."
"One of these days he's going to get wet and melt into a giant pile of sugar," Arthur scoffed, "and then we won't even be surprised, with how much of the stuff he eats."
"Sugar and noodles," Ludwig muttered. "I put in ten extra hours last week because he insisted we had to go to this fancy Italian place on Friday night. Forty dollars for one plate." He scowled. Arthur laughed.
The nurse looked over at them again, phone still to her ear, "The doctor says you can go," she relented, waving a hand at them to leave.
Arthur threw his hands up into the air and whooped in victory, leading the way down the hall and to the elevator, the other two trailing behind and discussing whether blue or brown tootsie-pops were the best ones. The blond grinned as they stepped out onto the street, held back from dashing headlong down the sidewalk by Ludwig catching his shoulder. "Hold up there, we promised not to let you get too rowdy."
In the window above, the nurse still held the phone to her ear, "How could you just let him out like that?! You know how frequent his attacks have become!" she hissed into the receiver.
"Let him be. If that is what he wishes to do with the last bit of time he has left, then so be it," the doctor said evenly in reply.
Feliciano hung back from the other two as they walked down the lightly peopled streets of their city, taking pictures on his phone of various scenes he would want to draw later. Every once in awhile he would have them stop so that he could make a quick sketch of a particular object or person. It was as they were waiting for him to finish doodling a vase in one of the wide store windows that Arthur's attention was captured by something else. Or more specifically, someone.
He had felt something not far behind him while he was watching the Italian, and he had shivered unconsciously. It wasn't unusual for him to sense or see strange things, and living in a hospital for most of his life, he had become used to it. Ghosts and dark fairies and daemons that enjoyed the smell of death. He tried to ignore them as much as possible. But this was different. When he turned around to face the perpetrator of his sudden unease, he was entirely shocked to see that on the outside, the young man in question looked human.
The other was easily spotted amongst the crowd on the other side of the street, getting ready to cross with the gaggle of girls that seemed to have their eyes glued on him in a way that made Arthur a little creeped out. It was the kind of rabid stare that said I want to jump you bones as clear as day. But the person it was directed at was either completely oblivious, or just wasn't interested. Though he did give the girls a rather dazzling smile and waved as he crossed the street ahead of them. His hair was a light blond in contrast to Arthur's own, his eyes a perfect sky-blue, and a light stubble dotted his chin. His feet touched the sidewalk and his gaze suddenly met Arthur's as if he could feel the other's eyes on him. A slight frown crossed his features and he narrowed his eyes at the other, a flash of wariness crossing his face.
Arthur took half a step back, unsure of what exactly this person was. His eyes were too light for him to be a demon, and he was too large to be a fairy. And the way that the girls flocked around him told Arthur that he was too visible to be a ghost. He'd met a siren once on a trip to Greece with his parents when he was nine, but sirens were all female. Unless this was some strange sort of transvestite. He blinked and tried to just ignore the stranger, not wanting to get involved should he be something dangerous, at least, until his attention was caught by something else.
A little girl exited the shop that Feliciano was looking into, still sketching the vase. She picked up the edges of her dark blue, almost black dress as she walked daintily down the steps before breaking out into a run towards the young man Arthur had been staring at. Her back was to Arthur, and her long dark-brown hair was tied up into two pigtails held by twin red ribbons. And on her back . . .
Arthur couldn't contain the startled breath when he saw her, in awe and at the same time, a little afraid. On her back were two, small, bat-like wings curled tight against her shoulder blades. The talons at the top were flicked outwards in an almost menacing way, and he suspected that if they were unfurled, she'd have about a four-foot wingspan. The blond reached over and grabbed the hem of Feliciano's shirt, fingers clenching into the fabric with nervousness as she ran up to the stranger and he laughed, lifting her up into his arms. "Feliciano . . . Can you see that?" He prayed it was just a costume prop.
Feliciano looked up, amber-brown eyes confused as he followed Arthur's horrified gaze, "See what?"
"That little girl's wings," Arthur breathed. Now, Ludwig too turned to take a look.
"No," the German snorted, "There's nothing there."
"No wings, Arthur," Feliciano said softly, understandingly, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "What do they look like?"
"Like devil's wings," Arthur whispered, taking another step back. Oh god, he'd read about things like this. Angels of death with wings like a bat's. He didn't want to die yet, god damn it. He hadn't even had his first kiss yet!
The stranger's eyes fell upon him again over the top of the little girl's head, icy stare saying that he knew that Arthur was watching them. He said something to the crowd of girls around him swiftly before tightening his grip on the child in his arms and taking a pace towards Arthur. Arthur took a pace back. This dance of sorts was repeated and continued for a moment longer until Ludwig grabbed Arthur by the arm, steering him into a nearby restaurant for some lunch.
For a brief second, Arthur thought that being in a crowded restaurant with his friends would make the stranger back off. But it was a fleeting thought, as the bell on the door rang almost right behind them as they entered. Arthur muttered something to Feliciano about getting a table while he ran to the washroom before darting away. Surely, not even a demon would be weird enough to follow him into the bathroom, where everyone inside could hear their conversation and the walls would echo with screams if the stranger was deadly.
The blond pushed past some people and made his way to the back, shoving the bathroom door open and falling onto the tiled floor inside, his heart beating wildly. He had to calm down right now or he'd have another attack. Scrambling to his feet again, he dragged himself over to the mirror, placing his palms on the counter and lowering his head towards the sink, breathing unevenly. He flinched as the door creaked open, glancing up into the mirror to see if it was the odd young man coming in to finish him off, or something. But to his surprise, the door swung shut again without a single person entering the room. He sighed in relief, blaming it on a sudden draft before reaching to turn on the sink.
A hand grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to turn around and slamming him up against the counter with crushing force. He couldn't even scream as blue eyes met emerald in a furious gaze, locking him in place with a look alone.
"Shouldn't have used the mirror to check who was coming in, ami." The young man smirked, triumph on his features. "Now, do you mind telling me why exactly you were staring at me and mon Ilea?"
"I-I wasn't staring," Arthur said hastily. A little too hastily, to be exact. He gasped as the rough hands shoved him up against the counter so that his feet were no longer touching the ground.
"Liar! I can see it in your eyes! You saw something!"
Arthur began to panic, terrified that this man was really going to kill him, "Her wings! That's all I saw, I swear!"
The stranger drew back a bit in surprise, "You can see her wings?"
"Y-yes," Arthur gasped as he was shoved up higher against the counter, falling over backwards across it so that his head almost hit the mirror, their legs tangling together.
The stranger leaned over him, gritting his teeth, "You tell no one about what you saw, understand?" He pressed the other back so that his head cracked against the mirror and he elicited a small cry of pain, "Understand?!"
Arthur paled, eyes widening as he caught sight of the abnormally sharp teeth that glinted in the bright bathroom light, bared in anger and just a tinge of fear. "You're teeth," he gasped, realization washing over him. Sharp teeth, no reflection, the bat-like wings on the little girl. It all fit. Though not perfectly. "What are you?"
The taller teen man drew back a bit, a small smirk playing in the corners of his mouth, "Did you put two and two together, ami?"He grabbed Arthur's head with one hand, turning it to the side to bare his neck upwards, "Then I'm afraid you're a liability."
The other's breath caught in his throat, trying to scream but unable to do so, the sound held back by those piercing blue eyes trained on his. The stranger opened his mouth, licking sharp canines with a dark smile. "Too bad, ami. I've always wondered what the cops would say if they found a body drained of blood. They'd probably blame it on some satanic ritual, even thought the twin bite marks of a vampire would be as clear as day." He laughed, "I guess I'll find out."
Finally, Arthur screamed, a terrified wail that was quickly smothered by the other's hand, making the noise vanish in case others should hear. "Ami! Ami! Calm down!" The stranger's eyes widened, a laugh bubbling up in his throat. "I was totally joking!"
Arthur slumped in his grip, breathing hard and closing his eyes as the hand was removed from his mouth. "That is a really mean joke," he muttered. "I see things like vampires all the time! Of course I'd believe you, you git!"
"That's not what I was joking about," the stranger smirked, stepping back to run a hand through his light hair. He waved a carefree hand at the mirror behind Arthur.
The dark-browed blond turned and stared at his own reflection, alone in the room, "Then you really are . . ."
"A vampire? Oui," the stranger laughed. "Though it might not be what you're used to." He held up hand and began to tick off his fingers, "I can walk around fine in daylight, I'm not undead; I was born this way, I do not drink blood, and I definitely don't sparkle."
Arthur couldn't help but smile, "Aw, really? I was totally pining for that last one." His breathing was still shallow and uneven, but he tried to ignore it. "You don't drink blood?"
"Ami, can you think of anything more disgusting than drinking lukewarm liquid that tastes like a penny? Ew." He smiled, but the expression instantly fell when he saw how Arthur was breathing, the shorter blond reaching up a hand to clench into the folds of his shirt above his chest. "Ami?"
Arthur shook his head, a pleading chant begging in the back of his mind. No. no, no, no, no! Not again! I might not make it through another attack! Please! His breath began to come in short, panicked spurts, and he squeezed his eyes shut as a sudden searing pain laced through his chest. This was a hundred times scarier than any vampire, and a whimper of fear escaped him, mixed in with a silent gasp at the second shock of pain in his heart. He fell forward off of his perch on the counter, his world darkening even as strong arms caught him, someone screaming something over and over that sounded vaguely like help. In the distance, he heard the door burst open, and more voices surrounding him, before he blacked out, and shut out the ripping pain in his chest.
^-^ ^-^ ^-^
A gentle hand was brushing back his hair from his eyes when Arthur regained consciousness, and he kept his eyes closed. The fingers were cool, like an icepack on the fever he knew was well under way. He shifted beneath them, a mumbled question forming on his lips but not escaping.
The person sitting on the edge of his bed leaned over him, warm breath fluttering out over his ear, "You should have told me you had a heart condition, ami."
"It wouldn't have made a difference," Arthur whispered, eyes remaining closed.
"I would not have treated you so roughly," the stranger muttered, regret in his voice. "If I had known I-"
"Arthur."
The other sat up a bit more, pulling his hand back from Arthur's hair as the smaller teen opened his eyes, "Hmm?"
"My name," Arthur said quietly. He sighed, shifting onto his side so that he could look at the vampire properly. The taller blond was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed, one hand fisted into the sheets and the other resting on Arthur's shoulder, his blue eyes on the window where the girl he'd seen before was carefully perched in the full moon light. "I was pronounced due to die the day I was born," he smiled sadly, "How horrible that must have been for my parents to hear, their only child doomed to die. So they read me stories of happier times, and I would pretend they were my own. I would dream about being a dashing prince that rescued a helpless princess from the clutches of evil. And you know," he closed his eyes again, "That's all I ever really wanted. Not money, or petty things, or even life. I wanted just the tiniest piece of what all those fairytale characters ended up with. Just a taste of what it would feel like to love, and be loved in return. And in truth, I didn't want to be the prince. Because I was the helpless one, trapped by the evil of my weak heart. I wanted to be saved." He shook his head, "But it's too late for that now. And my parents are already gone, so I don't even have the stories left anymore."
The vampire glanced back at him, eyebrows furrowed together, "Don't say that so lightly, ami. You never know what will happen tomorrow, or the day after that." He pushed the hair out of Arthur's eyes again, "That's what I really hate about humans. Too weak willed, too ready to die." He sighed, "I owe you an apology, Arthur."
"What for?"
"For scaring you so badly, this is my fault," he whispered, regret clear in his gaze.
Arthur flashed him a small, but genuine smile, catching the hand in his bangs and giving it a light squeeze, "No matter what you do, I'm going to die. It's only a matter of how long it will be until then. I like to believe in fate. So if I am meant to die, then so be it. Whatever you or anyone else does can change that." He frowned, "The time between my attacks is getting shorter and shorter though. I doubt I have much time left at all."
The other sighed, turning away again, "There's a nurse coming in a few minutes, I should really go." He scooped the little girl up into his arms, watching as Arthur's eyes fell on her wings again.
"Wait," Arthur tried to sit up to stop him, but winced and lay back down again, "What . . . What's your name?"
"Francis," the vampire smiled.
"Will you be coming back to visit me?" Arthur asked, trying to keep the hopeful tone out of his voice. With Feliciano, Kiku, and Ludwig at school all the time, he only saw his friends on weekends. It was quite lonely. And even the company of a vampire would be welcoming.
"If you would like," Francis nodded, before pulling open the window and leaping down to the ground far below.
Arthur started as a nurse entered the room not a second later, glancing at the open window in surprise. "Did you open this?" she asked, going to shut it and peering down at the ground below as if she thought someone six stories down could have possibly done it.
"No," Arthur said honestly, smiling innocently. He blinked as he looked out at the full moon outside, suddenly understanding what he'd seen the night before. The person on the opposite roof, that had to have been Francis, there was no other explanation. He laughed softly, wondering exactly how many times they'd passed each other before they'd finally been close enough to collide.
^-^ ^-^ ^-^
Arthur was in the middle of making a snowman when he saw the vampire next, pushing a giant snowball in front of him. The other had appeared out of nowhere, suddenly emerging from behind a tree and making Arthur nearly jump out of his skin. Francis looked alarmed at how badly he'd startled him before the shorter blond assured him that he was feeling just fine today. It had been five days since his attack at the restaurant, and he was feeling just fine. Well, as fine as someone who had lived through multiple mini heat attacks could feel.
"You really came back," he grinned, folding his arms over his chest and leaning back against his massive snowball.
"You asked me to," Francis said simply. He waved a hand at the snowball, raising an eyebrow, "What are you doing?"
"Making a snowman," Arthur said bluntly. "Didn't they have those back in whatever eighteen-hundred year you were born in?"
Francis rolled his eyes skyward, "Another incorrect myth about vampires. I expect I am roughly the same age as you, ami. In the literal sense. I'm seventeen."
"You don't look it," Arthur said in disbelief.
"Ah," Francis twirled around, "Is that because of my ruggedly mature and handsome looks?"
"I was speaking of your immaturity," Arthur mocked, smiling as Francis pretended to look aghast. "And you never answered my question, have you never seen a snowman before or what?"
"Of course I have seen a snowman," Francis huffed, hands on his hips. "I have just never made a snowman."
"What, seriously?" Arthur stared as the other could only scowl at the question, "Get over here and finish mine then, I'm pooped." To his utter surprise, Francis looked delighted at the prospect, taking up the snowball rolling and allowing Arthur to go sit down on a nearby bench. It was amusing to the dark-browed teen to watch the vampire's attempts at snowman making. He constantly had to shout out instructions, like when to start on the next snowball and the fact that he thought was obvious about avoiding various shrubs and trees while making them.
So he sat back on the bench instead, watching the other and trying not to be too disturbed by the fact of how easily he got tired these days. Maybe if he didn't think on it, it would simply go away. A fruitless wish. He blinked as small hands suddenly rested on his knee, and he stared down into the dark-brown eyes of the little girl he'd seen with Francis before. He smiled and lifted her up to sit on the bench beside him, "You're Francis' friend, right? What's your name?"
"Ilea," she said quietly, fiddling with the scarlet ribbons in her hair as she looked up at him. "Are you . . . Are you the young master's partner?"
"His what?"
She looked away, "I suppose not then, if you must ask." Ilea tilted her head to the side, studying him closely, "The young master is seventeen now. He must choose a life-partner before his eighteenth birthday, or he will die." She noted the shocked look in Arthur's eyes before continuing, "He does not need to drink blood right now, should he choose not to. But once he turns eighteen, it will become a necessity. A life-partner should be chosen before then, someone that will let master drink their blood, because from then on, master will drink no one else's blood but his partner's. And his partner will live just as long as he does to keep the young master alive, almost a thousand years." She frowned in worry, "I don't think the young master will ever take a partner. He'd rather die. I don't want the young master to die."
Arthur placed a hand on her head, "I'm sure he'll choose someone before the time is up." He cast a glance at the vampire, carefully examining different fallen branches to decide which would make better arms for the snowman, "I think . . . That he loves life more than he cares to admit." A small laugh escaped him as Francis frantically waved at him to come over and help.
"Ami, I can't decide which ones are better," Francis pouted, "They all look the same to me!"
"Why do you think I'm an expert snowman builder? It's just a hobby," Arthur teased, taking a few of the branches from him to compare them. He winced as a thin piece of bark slid along his palm, leaving a small cut and a piece of wood embedded in it. The blond muttered a curse under his breath, pulling out the splinter and tossing it into the snow with a huff, "Fuck, now my hand's bleeding," he hissed, taking off his scarf to wrap it around his palm. His eyes widened as he realized what he said, casting a fervent look at Francis.
The vampire was crouched down in the snow, his hands covering his nose and mouth as he tried to tear his eyes away from Arthur's hand. "Francis?" Arthur whispered, unsure of what to do.
"Get back!" Francis yelled, stumbling and falling over backwards.
Arthur followed and leaned over him, tearing the hand away from the other's mouth, "You really do like blood don't you," he gasped, seeing the wild look in the other's eyes and the way that the almost rabid saliva filled his mouth behind his bared fangs. "Then take my blood you idiot! You'll die without it won't you? Make me your life partner!"
An feral growl ripped itself from Francis' throat, "Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!" He practically screamed, backing away from Arthur. "Don't you understand the horror of living for that long? Everyone around you will die!" He shoved the other away, covering his nose and mouth again.
The smaller teen gasped as he hit the snow, hard, his breath escaping him in a whoosh. He tried to push himself to his feet, to little avail, slipping on the slushy ground. "Francis! There are worse things than living too long! You could die before you've had the chance to see anything of the world! I don't want you to give up your life like that when you have a fucking chance to keep living! Don't you understand? I don't have that kind of chance! And I won't have you wasting yours!" He screamed the words, he begged and pleaded as much as he knew how, until tears formed in his eyes. Even if they hardly knew each other, he didn't want Francis to die, without even trying to live. Not when he himself had tried so hard and failed to do the same.
Francis' eyes widened as Arthur suddenly swayed dangerously, a soundless gasp forming on his lips, but dying there as he fell facedown into the snow. And for the second time in less than a week, Francis found himself screaming for help, slipping and sliding across the snow to the other, though he knew that at the moment, there was nothing he could do.
Time froze. Figuratively and literally. There were doctors and nurses all around Arthur, watching different machines and monitors, one of which he realized was strapped to his wrist, the spiked lines measuring his heartbeat almost flattened out. A doctor right above him was holding the electrical paddles, prepared to try and start his failing heart again, but he knew that this time, it wouldn't work. Nothing moved, and he could barely feel his own breath inside the oxygen mask over his face. He pulled it off and dropped it at his side, eyes searching for the source of this suspended space in time.
Francis was leaning against the window, blue eyes filled with regret and something else. Arthur could swear it was anguish. "Mon ami, I'm sorry," he whispered.
Arthur tried his best to smile, tears welling in his eyes, "It's not your fault. I'm the one who should apologize." Even with time standing at a halt, his heart still beat wildly, slowly fading, and his breathing was shallow, chest heaving with every forced breath. "The way you said what you did back there, I understand that fear. And believe me, I feel the same. I don't want to die, I'm scared that there will be nothing left after I do, and that it will be just me, all alone in the dark." He choked back a sob at the thought, "So I'm sorry, for leaving you behind when the reason you want to die is so that you never have to be left behind at all. I'm . . . So sorry, ami . . ."
The vampire rose from his perch on the window, crossing the room to stand at the side of the stretcher, "Arthur, wait . . ." There was no answer, and Arthur smiled faintly, his eyes flickering closed and his breathing all but disappearing. "Ami! Answer me!" Panic flared into Francis' voice, and he leaned over the bed, shaking the other gently, "Arthur! Wake up!" He stumbled back, pulling back the right sleeve of his shirt and sinking his teeth into his bare arm, spilling crimson blood onto the floor as he filled his mouth with his own life.
Francis climbed up onto the stretcher, pulling Arthur up to him and brushing his hair back from his eyes, "I can't . . . I can't give you a forever, I would not grant that to anyone. But at least . . . At least a little longer, please . . ." He leaned down, closing the gap between them and kissing the other, hard. The vampire pried the smaller man's lips apart, transferring the blood in his mouth into the other's, holding him close as such until he felt the motionless heart against his chest pound with new strength.
Arthur coughed and choked, noise suddenly erupting around him. The stretcher was moving again, rushing him towards the E.R, the machines and doctors creating a frenzied ruckus beside him.
"Heart rate has suddenly spiked up!"
"What the- there's blood all over the stretcher! Where did that come from?"
"Heart rate still climbing! We're out of the danger zone!"
His emerald eyes searched for Francis, but he was nowhere to be found, vanished with the moving time.
^-^ ^-^ ^-^
A black furred fox was sitting, unseen on the windowsill outside of a certain six-floor room in the hospital. Dark-brown eyes watched carefully as one person slept soundly in the bed, wrapped tight in the blankets, and for once, looking almost relaxed in his sleep. Another sat on the edge of the bed, one hand in the first's hair, brushing it from his eyes as he murmured something that even the fox's strong ears could not pick up through the glass. The first person had not seen the second person arrive, drugged to sleep. And the fox was certain that he would not wake in time to see him leave. But the fox would, because he was always watching, observing, scenting, listening.
Right now, his nose told him that the second person was not human. There was a reek of blood about him that unnerved the fox, and the way he walked suggested a grace that only came with impending long life. The fox was curious, but he would save his questions for later. He would know in due time, just as he always did. So instead of sticking around to continue watching them, he made his way slowly along the ledge of beneath all the windows on the building. His paws left the safety of his perch as he came to the end of it, leaping down onto the roof of building beside the one he was on, a children's ward only five stories tall.
A figure was crouched there, and it beckoned the fox over with a wave of it's hand. The fox approached him slowly, aware of the waning moon overhead lighting his path. The figure smiled down at him, scratching him behind the ears and closing startling blue eyes behind thick glasses, apparently pleased.
"Is he what I think he is?" the figure asked.
The fox flicked his tail once, giving his answer in the code he'd learned to communicate with when it came to the figure.
"Good. Finally," the figure patted the dark-furred creature's head approvingly, "Let's just hope the legend's correct then, hmm?"
End AN from Kari: forgot to mention it earlier, but in case you don't get it, Ilea is Seychelles. :] Myriad insisted that she had a more normal sounding name. So I came up with Ile (the French word for island) with a random ass A on the end. Lol.