"What does it taste like?" Aubrey voices idly, delicately thumbing the shell of Beca's ear.
The blonde is pressed into Beca's side on the sofa, her legs curled up beneath her and her shoulder pressing into the brunette's own, alternately playing with Beca's hair before tucking it behind her ears all over again. Chloe's head rests comfortably in the Vampire Queen's lap, but, after Aubrey asks, the redhead shifts her confused gaze upward.
Chloe doesn't even know what Aubrey's talking about, so she can't imagine how Beca's meant to.
"Yeah…" Beca smirks widely. "I'm gonna need a little more than that, Posen," Beca remarks dryly, steel blue eyes glittering with amusement.
Aubrey rolls her own eyes in return and pulls fondly at Beca's ear in admonishment, but still replies, "Blood. What- what does it taste like, for you?"
Beca hesitates, before she slowly replies, "Everyone tastes a little differently; personally, I try to avoid anyone taking iron supplements. Some of us prefer the metallic taste, but that's just- not really my thing."
Chloe giggles, because she's never really thought about how supplements or vitamins might have an impact on how Vampires decide whose blood to take. It's sort of interesting, for Chloe, but it's also just a tiny bit cute; like a child, eating around the vegetables on the plate.
Still, Chloe curiously expands, "Okay. Well, what do we taste like?"
The Vampire Queen's eyes slip to a close, her tongue sweeping longingly across her lower lip as she stiffens and swallows, like even the conversation is tempting her will.
"You taste differently, to me, than you would to other Vampires," Beca says thickly. "Because my body recognizes you as potential mates, I'm- more drawn to your taste than others would be, and I taste more of you in your blood than anyone else could."
"What does that mean?" Aubrey frowns. "What do I taste like, for you?" She presses gently, and Chloe watches as she tugs Beca's wrist to her mouth, pleating a soft, tender kiss across it to soothe the Vampire Queen's nerves, and it makes Chloe smile something sweet and earnest and devoted.
"You taste like- the universe," Beca's brows furrow in concentration, like she's remembering, and Chloe feels oddly, powerfully struck with the urge to let Beca taste her blood all over again, basically for no reason at all. "You taste vast, and complex; shifting and endless and breathtaking," Beca sighs wondrously. "You taste like the stars, and the moon, and every planet beyond them; like every supernova in the sky exploding on the very tip of my tongue," Beca rasps quietly. "You taste like an eternity, Aubrey – happening all at once, in the most glorious way imaginable," Beca whispers reverently, staring vacantly at the coffee table in front of them.
Aubrey blinks, and, if Chloe's angle isn't playing tricks on her, she thinks there are tears in the blonde's eyes, too, but Chloe won't blame Aubrey for that, even a little; Beca's words have always been meaningful, and deep, and honest, but to hear her speak that way about Aubrey is just–
Well, Chloe can easily see how the blonde could be flattered.
The redhead can almost imagine the flavors of the blonde's blood, too, because Chloe might not have thought to word it that way, exactly, but she thinks that's almost exactly how Aubrey feels, to Chloe; complicated, and volatile, and out-of-this-world kind of gorgeous.
"And Chloe?" Aubrey swallows roughly and clears her throat. "What does Chloe taste like?"
The Vampire Queen moves soft, affectionate eyes to find the redhead's own, and Beca smiles down at her for a moment, without saying a thing.
Chloe tries not to fidget, under such an intensely invasive stare, but she's eager to know what Beca's thinking; the way that she's looking at her right now – adoring and bemused and contemplative, all at once – makes Chloe want to shuffle up and kiss her, just because she can, and just because she wants to.
"You taste like cheer, Red," Beca sighs out finally, her words soft, and her fingers stroking tenderly through Chloe's hair, splayed across the Queen's lap. "You taste like laughter and celebration and genuine delight; like family and sunshine and love, persevering in the face of every dark secret the Devil whispers in your ear. You taste like peace, Chloe; like every Miss America wish come true," Beca snorts, and pulls teasingly at Chloe's hair, and Chloe giggles through her emotion-stopped throat, playfully slapping her palm across Beca's thigh. Then Beca's tone falls – deeper, lower, quieter – until it's hardly even a gust of breath that sweeps upward from her lungs. "You taste like hope, and decency; like giving your very last dollar to a stranger on the street, and trusting him to appreciate it more than you could. You taste like the very last thread of kindness left in this world; like the last lighthouse on the shore that no storm could put out, and no cloud could cover."
Poetry has really never been Chloe's thing, but she thinks that Beca might have changed that, for her. The Vampire Queen might not have intended to even be poetic, but Chloe's pretty sure that this definitely qualifies; it has to, because the entire point of poetry – much like music – is to make a person feel, and Chloe doesn't think she's ever felt so much.
Her heart is humming with satisfaction beneath the confines of her chest, her hands trembling violently over Beca's thighs, and Chloe's tears have already begun to drip from her eyes and across the bridge of her nose, and it's just because this girl–
She is impossible.
Beca shouldn't exist; nothing this perfect should ever be allowed to walk the Earth among lesser beings who might taint her.
Chloe's angel can't belong here; there must be someplace special for Beca – someplace worthy of her wisdom and strength and poetical accolades, or at least more worthy of those things than Chloe feels she ever could be – but, even if there is a place for her Queen, Chloe would never let her go there.
Chloe has been spoiled with her – spoiled with Beca's devotion and love and fathomless care – and Chloe doesn't usually think of herself as any more selfish than most, but she's suddenly positive that she is definitely too selfish to ever let Beca go.
Especially now that Chloe's angel finally is hers.
"Beca?" Emily calls out softly from the door. "Is it- Can I come in?"
The Vampire Queen chuckles, tipping her head back against the sofa cushions to turn eyes on her sired, and Chloe watches Aubrey hungrily eye the line of Beca's throat as it arches.
The redhead reaches over to lightly pinch the side of Aubrey's knee, and the blonde's attention startles back to Chloe with a sheepish look in her green orbs and a wry, helpless twist of her lips into a smile. Aubrey moves her shoulders in a small shrug, and Chloe giggles, because she gets it – she does; Beca is overwhelmingly difficult to resist, in the first place, but it's even harder now that the Vampire Queen has made them wait.
"You're good, Em," Beca calls out with a laugh. "I'm pretty sure you'd be able to tell if we were doing anything you wouldn't want to see."
"Well," Chloe hears Emily fluster, but she can't quite see her, yet, "I guess I just wanted to be sure. I wouldn't want to interrupt- that. And, actually, my sense of smell isn't really all that helpful, if you think about it, because I can still smell- things, whether you actually, you know, do anything about it or not, anyway," Emily emphasizes with a pointed look at Beca that Chloe can finally see, as Emily rounds the couch, and the redhead giggles all over again, because she thinks Emily looks so awkward and clueless that she would definitely be blushing, if she were human. "You know?"
"Honestly?" Aubrey frowns. "I don't have any idea what you're talking about, right now. Did that even make sense?" She wonders curiously.
"It did to me," Beca smirks, and stands to stretch, dislodging Chloe and very effectively eliciting a pout, but it only lasts long enough for Aubrey to roll her eyes and smile affectionately, before scooping Chloe into her arms, holding the redhead tight against her.
Chloe watches with a loving smile as Beca reaches forward, cradling Emily's neck in her palm, and the taller brunette sighs out maybe the softest, happiest noise that Chloe's ever even heard, in answer.
"Anyway," Emily purrs contently, "I ran into Luke on my way back."
"Did you?" Beca lofts an interested eyebrow upward. "Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"
"Not- really?" Emily replies bemusedly, then shrugs. "I mean, I don't think so, but- he said he needs to talk to you tonight. Is everything okay?" She worries, chewing the inside of her cheek.
Beca's opposite eyebrow rises to join the first, and her free palm rises, two fingers tapping lightly against Emily's cheek.
"That's new," The Vampire Queen notes quietly.
Emily's eyes widen as she blinks, before she turns her head down and slightly away, and Chloe frowns instantly in reply; it's just- she's truthfully never seen Emily do anything but seek Beca out, and now she's hiding from her.
"Em," Beca whispers and shakes her head, smiling sweetly and urging her sired to look up again by pressing two fingers softly beneath her chin, "it's okay. We've talked about this."
"About what?" Chloe asks, because her curiosity is practically insatiable, even if she can tell by the softness of Beca's voice that their conversation is probably meant to be private.
"It's, um- I'm still young, you know? I mean, in Vampire years, I'm only three, so compared to most, I'm still, like, a baby. Or a toddler, maybe? I'm really not sure when I graduate from one to the other, and Beca tells me it's sort of a process; there's no defined age when the changes to happen, they just sort of- happen in their own time, you know?"
"Not really," Chloe smiles and laughs warmly. "Explain it to me?" She bites her lip hopefully.
Emily swallows, but defers to Beca with wide, pleading eyes.
"Young Vampires are very impressionable," Beca says with a worriless shrug. "Particularly to humans. It's instinct, mostly; we've only survived this long by disguising ourselves in a world full of humans, and the only way that we can effectively do that is if we behave in the same ways that they do. This is Emily's first year out of the Villa, and, up until we came here, her contact with humans was pretty limited; she was exposed to enough of them to acquire the basics, but that's about it. Now that she's spending more time with your kind, her mind is picking up on human behaviors in a way that Emily has no control over, and she's subconsciously mimicking them to assimilate easier among you."
"How do you mean?" Aubrey shifts slightly, until Chloe's nose is pressed softly into her collar, and the redhead hums in reply.
"I mean," Beca chuckles deeply, and Chloe shivers helplessly in answer, her breath pulsing out in a hot pool of air that gathers at Aubrey's throat until the blonde trembles a little, too, "that I've seen you bite your cheek that way at least a dozen times, Posen, and Emily's apparently seen it, too. She's copying you, Posen."
"Me?" Aubrey straightens attentively, incredulous and confused.
"It makes sense," Beca tells her comfortingly. "She spends a lot of time with your Bellas, Posen, but it's rarely one-on-one; Emily's just spent four days with you, basically alone, and that has an effect on her. That's all it is," Beca explains slowly.
Aubrey blinks furiously and frowns, but Chloe thinks maybe that might be the sweetest thing she's ever heard.
Still, the whole thing really isn't all that complicated, for Chloe, so she's having trouble understanding what has Aubrey so off-kilter.
Emily is getting closer with the blonde, so she does things that Aubrey does because those are the things she's seen the most – like a baby who learns habits from its parents; it really does make sense, especially because Chloe has basically equated Emily to being Beca's child from the very start, in an effort to understand the sort of bond that they share, together.
It's the best way that Chloe can think of to define the relationship between a sire and her sired, because Chloe is only human and only has human relationship constructs to work with, in the first place – and Chloe thinks it's a relatively fair comparison, anyway, because even if Beca isn't Emily's real mother, the younger brunette is definitely Beca's baby.
"But why would you copy me?" Aubrey hisses, appalled. "Jesus, Emily, I'm the worst model for human behavior."
"You are not," Beca frowns, and replies firmly, in the same moment that Chloe gasps out the same. "You're a perfectly fine model for her to live up to, Aubrey. Why would even you say that?" Beca goes on bemusedly, and Chloe nods, just to make sure Aubrey knows that Beca might have asked the question, but Chloe's interested to know the answer, too.
"Because!" Aubrey throws her arms upward, only narrowly missing Chloe's cheek as the redhead ducks quickly out of the way. "I 'stress more than most,'" Aubrey mocks with a glare in Beca's direction. "I stress, Beca, and I worry, and I make plans; it's what I do. And when things don't fall in order the way that they're meant to, I vomit! That isn't normal, and if you think I'm not aware of that, then three thousand years really hasn't done much to improve your intuition," Aubrey scowls. "I'm not someone who anyone should strive to be like, Beca, and especially not your sired!"
Chloe wraps her arms around Aubrey's neck and briefly burrows her face into the blonde's hair.
It sort of shatters the redhead's heart to realize that Aubrey actually believes that to be true, and Chloe can tell that she does, because Aubrey's hands are nervously clenching and releasing, and her eyes look positively frantic; still, they flood swiftly with embarrassment and deep, soulful apology the very moment that Emily speaks.
"I'm sorry," Emily whispers, shamed. "I didn't mean to, Aubrey, and it wasn't intentional, or anything, I just – "
"Hey," Beca frowns and interrupts, suddenly silver eyes gleaming with dangerous indignation as she turns them toward Emily. "Stop. Do not ever apologize for what you are," Beca growls fiercely. "Not to anyone. I don't care who it is," Beca snaps sharply, then inhales deeply and calms her fury with a quickness that nearly gives Chloe whiplash. "This isn't a mistake that you made, Emily, or something you could help; it is literally instinct for us to do this, and it's served our kind very well, in the past. If we didn't adapt this way, we'd never blink, or shrug, or move at human pace or speak at human volumes. It's necessary, and it isn't bad, Emily; it's important, for us. Do you understand?" Beca murmurs patiently, and sweeps her thumb across her sired's cheek, just beneath one of Emily's wide, trusting brown eyes.
"Yes," the younger Vampire whispers softly. "I do, Beca, I swear, it's just – " Emily cuts herself off and sighs, resignedly shaking her head.
"It's just what?" Beca encourages gently, and Chloe instantly wants to coo at her.
Chloe wants to coo at them both, frankly, because they are sweet together, and so, so precious, and Chloe thinks her heart might burst just from watching the two share this tender moment between them.
"I don't know," Emily replies quietly, and shrugs. "Sometimes I just feel like- like I was never a human to begin with. I mean, shouldn't I already know the way that they behave? Shouldn't I have enough quirks of my own that I shouldn't need to pick up Aubrey's, too? Shouldn't I remember?" She blusters in aggravation, curling her fingers desperately around Beca's wrist like the contact has never been more important to her than it is in this moment, right now.
"It doesn't work that way," Beca smiles sadly and shakes her head, before leaning it softly into Emily's. "When I turned you," she rests her eyes shut for a long moment that makes Chloe's heart ache, because she can see, in the twitch at the edge if Beca's smile, that the memory is a monstrously bittersweet one, for her new girlfriend, "it changed everything in your DNA. You still have your human memories, and they're just as vivid as any other, so I understand why it's confusing, Emily," she swallows and sighs, "but you're a different creature, now, and you understand those memories in a different way, even if you wish that you didn't.
"You're not the same, Emily," Beca whispers shakily. "Your behaviors are totally different. What came naturally to you then – like the way you used to grind your teeth in your sleep, when you were human – isn't natural, anymore. They're learned behaviors, now, and this is you, Em – learning.
"I know that you're… more comfortable, with humans, and that's fine," Beca swears earnestly, even as her eyes briefly flicker downward, and Chloe thinks that maybe Beca feels shamed, too, even though she can't understand why the Vampire Queen might feel that way, now. "That's okay, Em; but if you're around humans as frequently as you are, it means that you're going to pick these things up more quickly than most of us have ever had the chance to, in the past, and I just want you to be prepared for that.
"But I want to be clear, with you: no matter how many new things you learn from humans, none of that means that you are forgetting what it was like to be human; it doesn't mean that you're forgetting your human life, or that you'll forget what was important to you, then. You're a new creature now, Emily – but you're still the same person. I won't ever let you forget that, okay? I promise, Legacy," Beca vows, and Chloe feels every part of herself thrum with Beca's promise like it's one she'd made to Emily herself.
Emily sniffles, and swipes fisted palms against abruptly teary eyes, before she throws herself into Beca's arms with a wet laugh and a kind of desperate ferocity that puts even most of Chloe's hugs to shame.
… And Chloe's pretty proud of her hugs.
Still, as emotionally straining as this conversation has been for Beca, Aubrey, and Emily, the redhead feels like maybe this moment is the most important one that the three of them have ever shared, and – as concerned for them as she might be, anyway – Chloe feels honored to have been here to witness it.
Author's Note: This chapter feels a little funny to me, although I can't quite pinpoint why. If you notice anything weird or off, please let me know; if not, review and let me know if you liked it. : )