A/N: Servamp has quickly and rather suddenly become one of my current obsessions, and I just had to get this sweet little story written down! I love the relationship that Misono and Lily have, and I wanted to express that love to others through the way I know best- writing! So, I hope you enjoy, and please feel free to leave a review at the end! Thanks~

Not Always the Lonely Alice

"Lily!"

As always, the servamp could hear the summons from across the mansion. Smiling softly, he patted the head of the tiny subclass vampire whose arms were currently wrapped around his legs in a tight hug. He removed himself from her grasp and, within seconds, was at his Eve's side.

"Yes, ever-so-grumpy Eve of mine?" the vampire questioned, placing a hand against his chest and kneeling in front of the small boy. Misono regarded him with his typical expression of un-amusement.

"Oh, stop," he said, rolling his eyes and resting his chin on the back of a palm. His entire body was slumped towards the right side of his chair- an obvious sign of exhaustion that Misono tried desperately not to show. Lily's smile remained as he stood up and locked eyes with the young boy. "You know what day it is."

"Hmm... Saturday?" the servamp questioned innocently, tapping a finger against his chin. Misono let out a soft sigh, apparently not appreciating Lily's humor, as usual. Ah, well.

"Just get on with it." Misono's tone was brisk; he wanted this to be over as soon as possible. Since it was the weekend, the boy had forgone is usual school uniform in favor of a black button-up shirt underneath an off-white vest, coupled with a pair of black skinny jeans. Lily raised an eyebrow as Misono roughly tugged down the collar of the dress shirt. The movement should have been easily achieved with one forceful pull, but Misono apparently had a lot less strength than he had thought and fumbled with the button on the collar, fingers weakly grasping at the fabric.

"Misono..." Lily's entire demeanor softened as he gently grasped his Eve's hands in his own. "Stop. You don't need to-" He was cut off as Misono gruffly pushed him away without a word. Lily bit his lip, eyes full of concern, as the young boy resumed his struggle with his shirt. Finally, his tired fingers won out over the offending button and he managed to pull the stiff collar down just enough to reveal the pale, thin throat underneath.

"We had a deal," he said simply. "You'd give me your power and protection, and I'd give you blood every two weeks. You've lived up to your end so far, and I'm continuing to live up to mine."

"When you're able to give me your blood, I believe was my condition- not just every two weeks regardless." While the sight of a bared throat never ceased to send a spike of adrenaline-filled hunger through the servamp's entire being, he felt no need to swoop down for the attack. He wasn't a savage, after all. In fact, he had quite the moral compass, especially for a supposed representation of "Lust." He much preferred the name, "All of Love," if anything, for this very reason.

"It's not a problem," Misono said, tilting his head further to the right so that even more of his neck was visible. "You never take that much, anyway."

"But every little bit I do take makes you weaker," Lily pointed out, raising an eyebrow and pointedly looking away from the bared throat. Misono made a dismissive gesture with his hand, and the servamp sighed, muttering, "So, so incredibly stubborn..."

Misono gave no audible response to this jibe, choosing instead to tap his throat once and close his eyes. Lily sighed, a bit louder this time. The child really was stubborn. Yes, they had made a deal many years ago that the vampire would provide protection if the Eve provided blood, just as all other servamp contracts went, but... Misono was a special case. All of Love knew that going into this arrangement. He had helped raise the boy, after all, and knew full well how fragile he was, both physically and mentally.

Of course Lily wanted blood; despite his caring nature, his true being remained that of a vampire. However, he thought of Misono as more than just an all-access food source. He loved the boy like a brother, more often than not valuing the health of his Eve more than his own desires.

And thus, he once again found himself in the situation that he had been in many, many times before. He knew that he shouldn't take any blood from Misono right now; the boy had spent too much time during the past few days hanging out with his new friend- his only friend, really, besides Lily himself. It took a toll on the boy's naturally frail body and made him weaker than usual; so weak, in fact, that he could barely sit up in his chair at the current moment.

"I'm not going to do it, Misono," Lily said softly, reaching down to button up the boy's collar. Misono once again tried to bat his hands away, frustrating the servamp with every unintentionally gentle hit. "Oh, you're so weak right now! Look at yourself! You can't even-"

He cut himself off with a sharp intake of breath, freezing in place. His eyes darted to meet his Eve's, which were currently narrowed in a combination of hurt and defiance. Lily scrunched his own eyes up tightly for a moment, instantly regretting his words.

"...I'm sorry," he apologized. He never, never wanted to insult his Eve, already so fragile, and so whenever the rare, harsh words slipped out, he felt extremely guilty. "I never meant to say... Forgive me."

"...Just bite me, already! Now, Lily!" the boy spat, a little louder than he'd meant to. With that exclamation out of the way, he shut his eyes and refused to say anymore.

The servamp gulped. Damn it, that was a direct order. Servamps couldn't refuse a direct order, and Misono knew it. Lily's eyes were once again drawn to the pale throat displayed so prominently in front of him. Well, it would just be a little bite; he made sure to never take too much. Greed wasn't his appointed sin, after all. And yet...

Even as he leaned down and positioned him mouth directly over a vein, he couldn't help but do so rather slowly. All of his instincts were telling him to bite, bite! Just do it! BITE! But... there was that damn moral compass again, a miniscule part in the back of his mind screaming for him to wait, wait! Don't do it! WAIT!

He was following a direct command, though. He couldn't disobey Misono.

Misono, who currently had his hands clenched into fists and his lips pressed tightly together, bracing himself for the imminent pain.

Pain that would only last a little bit, and pain that the boy was surely used to by this point.

Yes, at this point he should be used to the pain, but that didn't make Lily feel any better about causing it. And the pain of the bite wasn't his main concern at the moment; it was the aftereffects, the even more poignant weakness that was sure to hit his Eve as soon as he'd taken his fill.

Still... a direct order was a direct order.

The vampire bent down so closely that he could feel the heat radiating off of his Eve's throat. He could smell the blood, could almost taste its deliciously irresistible scent. His mouth opened wide; as fangs grazed skin, the boy flinched.

...And, once again, Lily paused. What was he doing?! He couldn't take blood from Misono right now! The poor thing couldn't even stand up at the moment; Lily didn't want to sap what little remaining strength he had.

Using all of his willpower not to lean down just a few centimeters more and bite, he gripped the edges of Misono's chair and mumbled, through clenched teeth, "...No."

Silence. Then, just as softly, Misono turned his head and murmured, "...Excuse me?!"

"I s-said, 'no,'" Lily repeated as his body began to tremble. The unseen forces of the contract were working against him; all of his senses began to cloud over, trying to make him obey the most recent command from his Eve. Still, he resisted with everything he had. "Y-You can't handle it, s-so... I-I'm not going t-to hurt you. I c-can't hurt you."

Misono's eyes widened as he gazed at the vampire currently trembling over him. Lily was so close and gripping the chair so tightly that he could feel every shake wracking the servamp's body.

"How... How are you resisting a direct command?!" the boy questioned, utterly perplexed. Lily let out a barking laugh, his nails digging into the sides of the chair.

"V-Very c-carefully," he responded. He really shouldn't resist; there was no point, after all. In the end, his instincts would take over, as they always did, and he'd give in to the temptation and take what he wanted from the fragile boy. It's not like Misono could fight him off-

Lily stopped these thoughts with a rough shake of the head. No, that was exactly the kind of thinking that he'd sworn to stay away from. Not yet possessing the free willpower to right himself and move away from the ever-enticing neck of his Eve, he decided to try his best to quell the tremors to keep his mind distracted.

Misono only let this continue for three more seconds before deciding that enough was enough.

"Stop!" he yelled, lightly pushing against Lily's chest. "Get up! You don't have to take my blood, just... stop! Please!"

With tremendous relief, the servamp felt the shaking instantly cease. He stood up straight, only to immediately lean down again and re-button Misono's collar. The boy put up no resistance this time.

"...I don't want you to... go hungry, or anything," Misono mumbled, once his shirt had been properly straightened. Lily gave him a kind smile.

"I won't, I promise." Gently, the servamp cupped Misono's cheek his hand. The boy's skin was unusually cold to the touch. "...You're so exhausted, Misono; you need to recover for a few more days. I'll keep an eye on you and make sure you're properly healing."

Misono looked away, biting his lip. Lily released the boy's face, placing his hand back against his side. Eventually, the Eve met his servamp's gaze once again.

"...Why do you always do this?" he asked. Lily frowned.

"I'm... not exactly sure what you mean. This is the first time I've ever resisted a direct command, if that's what you're referring to. I'm actually surprised that I-"

"No, no, not that." Misono shook his head, and then flinched as the beginning of a headache began to make itself known. "I mean, that's part of it, yes, but... you always put my needs before your own. Sometimes unnaturally so, it seems, for a servamp only doing what he's contractually obligated to do. So... why?"

Lilly could only stare. He'd thought it was obvious- surely, the boy knew how much he cared for him, much more than just being an Eve. But, then again, interpreting and understanding emotions had never been Misono's strong suit.

"Misono, you silly child," the servamp responded with a chuckle. This earned a pout from the young human, to which Lily merely said, "It's because I love you! Genuinely! And not just because you're my Eve. You're like the little brother I never had; being the youngest out of seven servamps certainly never gave me the chance to dote on a little sibling of my own. Not to mention the fact that I helped raise you since the day you were born, did you forget?"

Misono shook his head slowly; of course he hadn't forgotten. Yes, it was more than a little obvious that Lily cared for him, what with the exorbitant amount of extra time the servamp spent doting on him and catering to his every need- sometimes, admittedly, at nauseam. But still... in the end, he only stuck around because they'd formed a contract together.

At least, that's what Misono thought.

Apparently, though, he meant a little something more to the servamp standing before him- the servamp that had just denied a direct order, despite the pain it caused him, in favor of protecting his Eve from the unpleasant effects of a simple bite. An action that had been for the Eve's benefit not because the contract obligated it, but because the vampire couldn't bear to see him hurting anymore than he already was.

Hesitantly, Misono grasped the arms of his chair and tried pushing himself to his feet. Immediately, the encroaching headache sent a stab of pain through his skull, causing him to flinch and sit back down.

"Oh!" Lily exclaimed with a small gasp, placing the back of his hand against the young boy's forehead, eyebrows creased in concern. "You really should be getting to bed; I can make you some chamomile tea, and..."

He trailed off as Misono gently pushed his hand away and, without saying a word, tried to stand up again. Lily knew he could very easily force the boy to stay sitting, but "forcing" Misono to do anything wasn't in his usual thought process. To Lily's great surprise, his Eve managed to rise fully onto his feet, if a bit unsteadily. Both of the boys stood there for a moment, Misono watching his feet and Lily, in turn, watching him.

Then, suddenly, Misono fell forward- not by mistake, but intentionally, to wrap his arms around Lily's waist in a hug. Though the boy's grip was weak, Lily could feel every ounce of determination that Misono had being poured into the gesture. Being a servamp who represented the most emotionally-tied feeling imaginable, All of Love felt tears prickling the edge of his vision.

"What... W-What's this for, now?" he said softly, smiling and placing a comforting hand against the back of Misono's head while wrapping his other arm around the boy's shoulders. Misono mumbled something unintelligible into Lily's torso. "Hmm? I didn't quite catch that."

"Thanks," came the quiet response as the boy moved his head slightly so that his voice could be heard. His arms still remained clamped around his vampiric protector; Lily wondered if he was ever going to let go.

Not that he minded, of course. Affection from Misono, even something as simple as a nod of encouragement, was a rare thing to come by these days. That being the case, a hug was certainly the rarest of them all. Lily tightened his grip around the boy's shoulders.

"You don't have to thank me," he responded, still smiling. "You've meant more to me than just an everyday Eve long before we formed a contract. My first instinct is to protect you, and I sincerely hope you know that I'll do whatever I can to make sure you're safe- even if it's from myself."

"...You're too nice," Misono mumbled, closing his eyes tightly. He would not cry; certainly not now, of all times.

"Hush," Lily chided lightly. Another moment of silence. Lily wondered if the boy had fallen asleep- he'd been found passed out in stranger places than this- when Misono spoke again.

"Do you... really mean it?" The boy looked up, meeting Lily's quizzical gaze. "What you said before, about... um, about me being like your... b-br...br-"

"Yes," Lily said, knowing the word that Misono was trying desperately to say. The look of mild puzzlement, relief, and the tiniest smidge of genuine happiness that filled the boy's face nearly caused the servamp to lose his composure right then and there. Feeling much the same way, Misono once again buried his face into the buttoned part of Lily's shirt- the pieces of attached fabric being, thankfully, just at eye level.

Lily sighed, giving the boy's shoulders another squeeze. He was a lonely, sickly child, yes, but to the servamp at his side, he was so much more than that.

He was an Eve and a brother, too.