When You've Been Hurt, Too
Chapter 3 – The One Dilandau-sama Promised
By Threshie
AN: I don't own Escaflowne. Chapter 3—wow, I'm really getting into chapter fics lately! This chapter's my favorite so far. Hope you like it.
Dallet sighed, taking the room in absently. A desk sat in the far left corner from the door, a large bed with velvet curtains and comforter residing almost straight ahead of him. Beside the bed there was a small but comfortable-looking chair. I never knew vampires were so obsessed with velvet, the vagrant thought sarcastically. Shrugging, he crossed the room, curious about what Gatti looked like.
The inhabitant of the bed stirred as he seated himself in the chair, dropping the bag beside it on the floor.
"Dilandau...-sama?" The whisper was soft and faint, like the speaker was out of breath. Dallet blinked, leaning over to examine the vampire's face. The first thing he noticed about Gatti was his hair. It was a light, sandy blonde, pale though not so much so as his skin, and curled gently across his forehead.
Slowly, almost dreamily, the blonde boy's eyes drifted open, and Dallet was surprised to see that they were a deep sky blue, not red like Dilandau's. Gatti gazed at him almost dazedly, asking softly, "Wh-who are you...?"
"My name is Dallet," the brown-haired boy sighed, feeling a bit uncomfortable under that gaze--he looked far too angelic to be a vampire. Gatti gave a faint, sad little smile.
"So...you're the one...Dilandau-sama...promised?"
Dallet blinked, "I don't know what he told you, but he said I was supposed be take care of you while you're sick."
"I-it's...no illness...that torments me," the vampire sighed.
Dallet blinked, "If you aren't sick, why are you so weak?"
"I....well, m-maybe it's better...if I showed you," Gatti murmured, tugging the blanket away from his chest. The fact that he was shirtless was the first thing Dallet noticed, but not for long. The second observation was far more striking--across the left side of his chest, positioned almost perfectly over his heart, a large cross appeared to have been branded into the blonde's skin.
Dallet blinked after a long moment, tearing his eyes away and feeling a bit rude for staring so obviously.
"It's alright..." Gatti placed a hand on his chest, carefully avoiding touching the wound. "I know, i-it looks awful..."
"Gatti..." Dallet met the vampire's sky blue eyes, and again felt himself being lost in them. Were all vampires' eyes so mesmerizing?
Gatti broke the dreamy gaze, closing his eyes and sighing.
"Who did this to you?" Dallet asked hesitantly--he wasn't sure he really wanted to know, anyway.
"...There are those who hate us," the blonde explained, gazing down at the cross with the first bright, definite emotion in his eyes so far--pain. "Th...they caught me off-guard... D...Dilandau-sama saved me....but not before...they'd given me this mark of death." Dallet glanced at the wound uneasily.
"Don't vampires regenerate, though?" He asked, looking up into the sky blue eyes again.
Gatti smiled weakly, "Usually we do...b-but it's cross-shaped, so...no powers of ours...can touch it." The brown-haired boy nodded, sighing. Now I know what Dilandau meant by saying I couldn't nurse him well enough that he lived, he thought unhappily. And I made a deal that if he lives, I can leave! I guess since he's doomed to die, I'll never be released, then...
"You...look sad," Gatti observed quietly.
Dallet blinked, then sighed, "Well, in the face of the situation, there's not much to be cheerful about," he pointed out. The vampire smiled a little, tugging the blankets back up over his wound. He winced a little at that, but smiled again.
"Please...if I'm going to spend...my last days alive with you," he murmured, closing his eyes, "Don't act sad--it's okay. I've lived...plenty long enough." Dallet nodded.
"Well...um, I guess we'd better get to know each other if I'm going to be staying here with you a lot," he returned the blonde's quiet smile. "We know each other's names already. There's something I'm very curious about, though..."
"What is it?"
"Uh, well," Dallet fidgeted, feeling a little sheepish. "It's really a silly little thing, but...how come you can be a vampire but have blue eyes?" Gatti blinked in surprise, then laughed faintly.
"Of course," he smiled, "I don't think...it's that silly a question. My eyes...are only red in the dark."
Dallet blinked, "But how come Dilandau's--er, Dilandau-sama's are red all the time?"
"He's...a vampire by birth," Gatti explained softly, "The rest of us...he embraced us. W-we're not as...pure of blood...as he is."
The brown-haired boy nodded, "I think I get it...is Viole a vampire, too?" Gatti nodded.
"Yes...we're all vampires here. Everyone...but you."
"Which reminds me of maybe my most important question," Dallet stated, looking up. "Gatti, tell me the truth--why aren't your friends taking care of you? It makes no sense for them to grab some stranger off the street, somebody who knows nothing about vampires at all, and have them try to nurse you back to health!"
Gatti sighed, closing his eyes. "There are two very good reasons. I'm sorry...you won't like one of them, I'm sure."
Dallet leaned forward a bit, asking seriously, "You need my blood, right?"
The blonde sighed faintly, not opening his eyes.
"Y...yes... I understand...if you don't like the idea." Not so long ago, I was thinking death was better than the life I had, Dallet noted to himself. What's a little blood doning? I just hope he doesn't have to bite my neck, or things could get a little...ackward...
He sweatdropped, asking, "And what's the other reason?"
Gatti looked surprised he'd accepted the blood thing so easily, but answered, "It's hard...f-for the others to be near me. The...cross-shape...it repels them. You're human--it doesn't affect you. I'm...afraid Dilandau-sama hurt himself...rescuing me." He sighed, and Dallet decided that letting the atmosphere get depressing again wasn't a good idea. If Gatti was really going to die soon--and it seemed he had no choice--then it would be cruel to steal what little happiness he had away before he went.
"One more thing," he spoke up, attempting to be a little more cheerful.
Gatti looked up and said unhappily, "I'm sorry Dilandau-sama dragged you into this..."
"Eh, I needed some excitement," Dallet waved the apology off, shrugging. Leaning down, he snagged the bag Dilandau had given him, asking curiously, "Dilandau-sama gave me this--any idea what it's for?"
"Open it," Gatti sighed, hazy blue eyes drifting closed again. Glancing down at it, Dallet shrugged. It made sense. Cautiously, he unzipped the bag and peered inside. A sweatdrop was his only comment. Inside the bag were several large rolls of white bandages, and a small knife.
It's obvious that Dilandau-sama had blood in mind when he prepared this for me,
Dallet thought with a little sigh. Oh, well. I didn't realize what was going on until I passed out last time I got bitten by a vampire--maybe it'll be interesting. Whatever happens, this beats the hell out of wandering around in the rain. Shrugging, he picked the knife out of the bag, sliding it out of its sheathe. The blade looked as sharp as a razor, he noted approvingly."Thirsty?" He asked Gatti brightly, smiling. The vampire blinked at him, then smiled a bit unsteadily.
"Thank you...for being so understanding," he breathed.
"I wouldn't call it 'understanding', exactly--just assume I'm masochistic, okay? Easier than explaining it." Glancing at the blade, the brown-haired boy asked a bit curiously, "I wonder why he gave me the knife, anyway...? Are you really too weak to just bite me?"
"I...think Dilandau-sama...was g-giving you the option...of cutting yourself..." Gatti winced a little, placing a hand over his heart. Taking several shaky breaths, he finished, "I-in case...you don't...like being bitten."
Dallet shrugged, "Honestly, it doesn't matter to me. It makes more sense for you to bite me than for me to slit my own throat."
"Oh, n-not your neck!" the blonde said in surprise. "I don't want to hurt you..."
He wants to drink my blood but not to hurt me,
Dallet thought with a sweatdrop. Oh, the irony..."My arm, then?" Shrugging, the brown-haired boy rolled back the right sleeve of his pajama shirt and offered his bare wrist. "Shall I cut it, or do you want to bite me?" He asked.
Gatti looked a bit amused, for some reason, but answered, "Fangs are probably best--it'll heal up faster that way." Nodding, Dallet sheathed the knife and tucked it back in the bag. Turning, he offered his arm again.
"Help yourself." Gatti sweatdropped, gently gripping his arm with both hands.
"This will probably...hurt a little." Dallet nodded to show he understood. Seeing his determination, Gatti sighed and pressed his lips to his wrist. The pain came just like when Dilandau had bitten his neck before--a sharp, sudden stinging that persisted even after the initial bite.
It's not so bad,
Dallet mused to himself. Recalling how Dilandau had pounced without warning, he also remembered that he'd passed out before the vampire had finished his drink. The stinging eased a little, being replaced by a gentle sucking instead. It still hurt, but certainly not as much as being bitten on the neck had. I wonder how often he has to do this? He thought, glancing at Gatti's pale face.The vampire's hazy eyes were closed at the moment, and despite all of the messy scenes Dallet had heard about in vampire stories, the blonde's face wasn't covered in blood. If Dallet didn't know better from feeling it, it wouldn't have seemed like he was bleeding at all.
It seemed a bit strange to sit there with someone sipping blood from his wrist, though, even if he knew that the vampire wasn't trying to hurt him. Deciding to distract himself a little, Dallet examined Gatti's face in more detail. The vampire's fair hair was messy and tangled, and it occurred to the vagrant that none of the others had probably been able to come near enough to their friend to care for him since the cross was branded onto him.
I wonder how long ago that was? No wonder Dilandau...well, Dilandau-sama, was desperate enough to snatch me off the street and just toss me in here,
Dallet mused, tossing the respectful 'sama' on as an afterthought. None of them can go near Gatti to take care of him. They must feel pretty bad about it...I guess I would, too, if I had friends I cared about that much. Frowning at these thoughts, he absently smoothed Gatti's hair with his left hand, trying to get it to lay down somewhat. The vampire made a sound something like a purr, leaning against his hand, and Dallet couldn't help but smile.Shrugging, he continued combing and smoothing the vampire's hair while he finished his drink. When at last his wrist was released, Dallet noticed that it was still bleeding freely and pressed his other hand over the small bite marks.
"You should bandage it..." Gatti murmured, sounding sleepy. Deciding that this was a good idea, Dallet opened the bag again and put some of the bandages in there to good use. Once his wrist was taken care of, he peered at Gatti, wondering if the vampire was still awake.
"Gatti...?" He asked, testing. The blonde blinked sleepily, his eyes looking hazier than ever, as he smiled a slightly bloody smile.
"I'm okay," he murmured tiredly, eyes falling closed again. This time he didn't reopen them. "J-just...need to sleep..."
"Okay," Dallet sighed, zipping the bag closed again.
"Dallet..." Gatti fought back sleep once more, dragging his eyes back open to glance at the other boy's bandaged wrist, "Th...thank you." Dallet, despite himself, smiled and patted the vampire's head.
"No problem, Gatti. Go ahead and sleep--I'll stay right here." Smiling faintly in return, the blonde nodded once, just slightly, before surrendering himself to sleep. Almost immediately, his breathing became slow and steady.
Dallet shook his head, sighing as he pressed his wrist to ensure it stopped bleeding before it soaked all the way through the bandages. Not long ago, I didn't even believe vampires existed...and now I've been bitten by them twice. I wonder if that means I'll become a vampire, myself?
What was strange was that the idea didn't disturb him as much as it should have. In such a short time, he was already comfortable--well, almost comfortable, if he didn't think about it too much--with people drinking his blood. Maybe I'm so crazy it seems normal to me, he mused, smiling a little. Smoothing the sleeping Gatti's hair one last time, he shrugged. I could be worse off, I guess. I just hope they don't want me to keep giving blood until I die--I'd be a lot less comfortable with them with that in mind...
--End Chapter 3
Hurt
Akugi! Volume 3--Akugi #6
Dallet: (Offers wrist) "Help yourself."
Gatti: (Freaked) "Wait, wait a second! I can't just bite you, just like that! You hafta use disinfectant first—how do I know where you've been? I won't eat just anything lying around, you know!"
Dallet: Oo;; "What a picky eater… No wonder you're dying!"
--Akugi #7
Dallet: "But how come Dilandau's--er, Dilandau-sama's are red all the time?"
Gatti: (matter-of-factly) "He's always mad—I only see red when it's dark out or when somebody eats my share of the Pocky, but Dilandau-sama sees red is anybody eats Pocky, whether it's theirs or not. Since nobody can resist eating their part of the Pocky, he's always mad."
Dallet: "I see…secretly, this whole story is fueled by Pocky!"
Gatti: "Nope—the authoress hasn't had a single piece since she started writing it."
Dallet: Oo;; "She's very dedicated to her craft…"
Gatti: "I'll say. But it's not that bad—I've been eating her share, too!" (Smilies)
AN: I can't believe how many people in the fandom don't even know Gatti has blue eyes. I mean, that close-up while he's talking to Dilandau in his Guymelef in Episode 4 should be a good clue… The Akugi got a little random, there, but I think they're funny nonetheless. ;; Anyway, please review and tell me what ya think of this chapter. There are three things I have hell with writing: Anything hentai (I've never tried, and don't plan to), people eating (Sweatdrop Not even sure why…) and vampire bite scenes. ;; So, how was this one? Good, bad? I'm really unsure about it and I'd like your opinion. Even if you don't review, though, thanks for reading. =)
