The Vampire Heero
Part Seven
By Lady AngelFiren


Morning sunlight lanced through the window and splashed warmly onto my face. I was reluctant to open my eyes and greet the new day, but I knew I would eventually have to drag myself from the safety of my bed very soon whether I wanted to or not. Much sooner than I would have liked. As I've mentioned, I am anything but a morning person.

I shifted in the unusually warm bed, trying to rise, and realized that I was pinned to the bed by a pair of hot, sweaty arms. They were very strong, immovable, really. I stopped squirming and reflected in confusion. What was going on? Pulling back the blankets I was surprised to discover Heero clinging to my waist, holding me tightly in place. His face was twisted into what appeared to be a pained grimace, and his dark hair was matted in clumps to his forehead. A sheen of sweat covered him entirely, soaking into my white bed sheets, staining them a vibrant red. After all, the sweat was blood, which I had come to believe was the only fluid in his body. The skin that had been cool and soft the previous evening was feverish, but he remained soundly asleep despite his condition.

/So it wasn't a dream/ I thought in bewilderment, letting the smooth, surreal memory of the night before sink in a little more solidly. I had no time to think over what had passed between us however, Heero was obviously in poor health. I allowed myself to think back a little, sorting through the various things I'd learned about him, retracing every word that had passed between us. Sunlight did sometimes make him sick, right? He must have ignored his own physical demands to talk with me.

/Typical Heero, Mr. I Don't Care About Myself, always ignoring his own wants or needs. Dumbass moron. I hope he's ok/

Angry with myself for being ignorant, and feeling just generally disgruntled at his behavior, I wriggled out from his slick arms and quickly pulled the shades over both windows in the room. Then I swung the heavy fabric of the drapes (since when do dorm rooms have drapes??) closed over the shades and hoped it was dark enough for him. It wasn't all that dark though. Now that the room was filled with a yellow glow, I started to feel a little warm, just because of the ambience created by this particular lighting. Looking back down at Heero's face, I saw the tight look soften slightly, but it was far from gone. His teeth were still tightly clenched, tiny fangs showing ever-so-slightly through drawn lips.

I wondered what else I could do and made my way over to him, placing a hand on the skin of his forehead. It was so hot that I had to remove my hand because it was uncomfortable and unsettling; He was burning up. No human body could have remained alive at that temperature, something was very wrong.

"Heero, wake up." I said in a quiet but urgent tone, shaking his shoulder with one hand. He groaned from deep within his chest and his eyes fluttered open. I saw that they were especially silver and very luminescent, so that not even a tiny bit of the natural colour showed through and they glowed softly in the semi-darkness. The eyes quickly snapped shut and he rolled over, burying his face in my soft pillows and groaning again. The section of sheets he'd been laying directly on top of were soaked clear through with blood, but I really didn't care about the sheets, I just wanted him to be ok. The voice in my head stayed wisely silent as my concern began to lean towards fear.

His voice came from somewhere in the pillows, muffled, but I could still hear him enough to tell that he was distraught. "Duo, could you shut the drapes? The sunits too bright, I can't see anything."

"Heero, the drapes _are_ shut. What's wrong with you?" I hoped it wasn't anything serious.

Heero pulled the blankets up to cover his head, even as he continued to talk through the pillows. "I'm just feeling a little sick. I didn't spend enough time outside last night. But I'll be fine, don't worry. I can't die, remember? And there's nothing you can do unless you have a few pints of blood, which you don't. HnI'm fine."

I was a little surprised by his light attitude, I mean, normally, it would be a serious 'hn' and a suppressed groan, I didn't expect him to admit the pain. It must be really bad for him to actually say it. I figured he felt like death warmed over, and if blood would help him feel better, then I was going to do everything I could to force him to find some. However, maybe there were some alternatives

"How about if I make it really dark in here? I'm sure you'll feel at least a little better. Man, I'd never have figured you for one to actually admit you needed something. Much less admit pain. Don't worry, I'll cover both windows right up."

I went around the room and used the blankets off of Heero's bed and my own to cover the windows even more. The fabric was thick, and both were a dark shade of blue, so most of the light was gone after I had put them up. I had to turn on a bedside lamp just to see where I was going. At least Heero seemed not to mind the artificial light, but he still wouldn't get up, and now he was laying on my bed wearing only his light blue boxers. Everything was soaked with blood. The thin shorts had become all but transparent, and my sheets were stained red permanently. It was disturbing to see him laying there in a soaked up puddle of his own blood and not be overly concerned. Had I walked in on this scene the day before, I would have called an ambulance in a second and have him rushed off to the hospital, with a lingering hope that he'd still be alive after losing so much of life's precious fluid.

/Jesus, he's really a vampire/ I still couldn't really think of it like it were true. It was far away from me, like I was watching him in a vid or something, and although it was based on a true story, I didn't really think it had happened, or at least it hadn't sunk in. At the same time I was in awe of him, the way he managed to look sounearthly. Like he had fallen out of Heaven or something. Even as he was, sick and unhappy, I was drawn to him with inexplicable force. I wanted more than anything to lick him clean, but resisted the urge by biting the inside of my cheek to force myself to focus.

"Hnthank you." Heero said in a soft voice that only made me want him more. It was strange to hear those words from him-'thank you' had not, according to me, been in his vocabulary until today. It sounded good.

"No problem buddy," I said with a huge, grin as I watched him turn over and get up off the bed. He was indifferent to his state of near-undress, and bent to pull the sheets off the bed, presumably so he could dispose of them. I bounded over to where he was and sidled up right beside him, attempting to pull the sheet deftly from his hand. I was yanked back by my own arm as I began to spring away, because he had the sheets in his iron grip, and had not allowed his arm to move when I pulled. I fell backwards into him, and was unpleasantly surprised to find his skin still unnaturally hot. I stared into his mirrored eyes and let a little frown accompany my furrowed brows as I scolded him even while he kept me from falling on my ass. It was strange to look up at him, because he appeared upside down from the way he held me with his arms under my armpits.

"Heero! You're still all feverish and sweaty! That is not good! Bad vampire! Seriously though Heero, go take a cold shower or something, this can't be normal." Boldly, my mouth continued before I'd given it authority to do so, and I suspected that the voices in my head were just taking me over and controlling me again. I was getting used to it. "And while you're in there," I watched myself say, "I could join you to make sure that you're better before you get out" the little voice trailed knowingly and drew a huge smile across my face. I almost died of embarrassment. The only thing I got from the stupid fucking voices was a laugh, but Heero had taken them seriously, and was already heading towards the bathroom after disposing of the stained sheets in a big garbage bag.

"Good idea, but I don't think you want to join me, unless you can stand freezing cold water. I don't use any hot at all, sorry." He looked at me strangely, like he was both amused and wistful, the turned his head and went into the small room, shutting the door softly but firmly behind him. I noticed that he didn't turn on a light, even once I could hear the water drumming down onto the molded plastic wall as it sought out the drain.

Sighing to myself, I continued to make the bed, thankful that none of his blood had soaked into my mattress. /Who would want to shower in freezing cold water in the dark? Maybe its better that I don't shower with him. Crazy bastard/ I thought to myself as I hummed and drew a fresh set of sheets over the bed. A snicker in the back of my mind told me that I wasn't as alone with my thoughts as would have liked.

/What do _you_ want?/ I demanded of the annoying voice that had rightfully earned my hatred and my dependence, although I had no idea how long it had been present. I repeatedly told myself that until it told me its name, I did not need a visit to the loony bin, although I probably belonged there anyway.

/Nothing, but I know _who_ you want!/ It snickered again, and I promptly told the voice to go fuck itself. It added some remarks about who it thought I'd like to fuck and retreated once more into wherever it came from. That made me grumpy. Why the hell should I have to have voices in my head?! Didn't I have enough to worry about with saving the world, dealing with Karl and trying to help my stubborn friend who just so happened to be a vampire? Yeah, so I do that whole self-pity thing a lot. I'm a pessimist sometimes, and I think the whole world's trying to fuck with me, whaddy'a expect me to do?

~~~~~~~~~~

Ten minutes later found me flipping through a manga on my freshly made bed, anxiously awaiting breakfast. I was starved! I was running a list of all the things I'd like to eat through my head, and to put it simlpy, I was not expecting Heero to come out of the tiny washroom. In fact, I'd completely forgotten him, and when he opened the squeaky door I jerked up and almost yelped. I wasn't that into the manga, but Heero was quite possibly the farthest thing from my mind. Its strange how easy he is to forget when he's gone, like he's never existed, but when he's around he's the only thing I can focus on. That thought stuck in the back of my mind as I stared dumbly at him. Well, what did he want me to do?! He was stark naked, and apparently vampires react differently to freezing cold water than most men. Rather, they don't react at all. I was suddenly very glad I hadn't showered with him. Jesus, that would have been embarrassing. I can see it now: Mr. Raisin meets Mr. Indifferent! Yeah, so Rule Number One: don't take cold showers with vampires. And a helpful reminder: quit staring you dumbass!

I jerked away from him and got up, pretending to be oh so busy putting the manga away as he made his way lazily to his dresser to put on clothes. I thought over how badly I'd failed my attempt not to stare. It was simply impossible to avert my eyes from his gorgeous form, rippling with muscle and all swathed in the smoothest taut skin. He certainly wasn't lacking. Anywhere. I sincerely hoped he'd hurry up and change because I was getting hard, and I had to resist jumping him. It had occurred to me that I didn't even know if he could, umin the same manner as most people. I knew he was attracted to me, but for him did that just mean that he wasn't going to kill me? I had no idea, and I wasn't even close to being comfortable enough with what I'd only just learned about him to just ask outright. I guess I'd have to wonder for now. I hoped I'd at least get a little action.

My back was turned to him, and I realized that I hadn't heard anything out of him in a few minutes, not so much as one footstep, so I started talking to him, not turning around, and not really sure where to direct my voice. "Feeling better?"

"Much," he said with a smile in his voice from right behind me. I whirled around, braid flying, to find him fully clothed and baring an expression that was as close to a malicious grin as I had ever seen Heero Yuy get. I hadn't even suspected that he was behind me. So now he was a Crazy bastard and a Sneaky fucker too.

"You did that on purpose! Moron" I muttered. The smile was something I really wasn't used to, especially this one, because it showed his tiny, finely pointed fangs, but managed to make him look like an innocent little boy. It was totally priceless. I moved slowly into the circle of his arms, fighting the urge to pour chocolate syrup all over him an lick it off. Wonder how he'd react if I did that

My eyes widened in surprise as he slid his hands along my back over top of my shirt. "You'revery cold Heero. Is that healthy?" I caught his gaze in concern. His eyes were their normal, deep-sea prussian, but they had a sparkly luminescence to them, made me feel like I was special in his eyes. It was a good feeling.

He softened his features and pulled me close to him, surrounded me in chill arms and torso. "I'm fine Duo, I don't feel things like cold or pain the same way that you do. I prefer to be a little cool most of the time, but I was so hot before that I wanted to cool down completely to feel better. You're hungry. Let's go to the caf and eat."

It occurred to me that he must be hungry too, especially because of how much blood he'd sweated off, but he couldn't eat anything where we were going. It was so strange to be pressed against him and how alive he was, but to have his body completely hard, skin icy cold.

And along came Rule Number Two.