"You sure you want to do this, dude?"
I was stood in the training room with Santiago, Afton, and Renata, ready to…well…train. Somehow I'd managed to convince them that I was ready enough to fight like a vampire, so Santiago offered to teach me some moves, using Renata to practise on. That morning, I'd chosen an outfit of a pair of beige hiker boots, white sweatpants, and a black tank top.
"I'm so ready," I stood opposite Renata, "karate chop me or something."
"You really have no idea how this works, do you?" Santiago glanced at me, unimpressed.
"Nope, never seen vampires fight before."
"Just call us immortals, little human," he snarled jokingly, "Let's show her, Afton."
Renata and I both hurried out of the way, sitting beside each other on one of the wooden benches at the side. Quicker than my brain could process, Afton leapt at Santiago in a flurry of movement and the two of them seemed to be fighting but all I could see where two dark blobs zooming around each other. After a few seconds, the fight came to a halt as Santiago had Afton pinned to the floor face down with his arm held behind his back.
"And that, Eli, is how it's done," he let go of Afton's arm with a thud and stood up again, leaving Afton to climb to his feet on his own.
"I didn't know what was happening half of the time," I admitted and stepped back over to the floor.
"Faster than the human eye can see," Afton wheezed as he got back to his feet and stepped aside beside Santiago.
"You don't really expect me to do that, right?"
"Obviously not, dude, we'll just be teaching you the basic moves carefully at human speed," he shrugged.
"Like what-"
I screamed in shock as Afton slammed me backwards into the floor, which was fortunately covered with thick padding and mats so that limbs were less likely to go flying. He towered over me with a grin on his face and his hand just below my neck.
"As a rule of thumb, always stay alert. Losing focus loses lives," Santiago shrugged.
"That was harsh, Afton, she's only human," Renata shook her head disapprovingly and helped me back to my feet, but not before sending him flying backwards into the wall.
"Thanks," I blushed timidly and dusted myself off.
"Now," Santiago began, "you'd be surprised how well humans can do in combat with an immortal when they put their mind to it. We may be faster, but there are still a few ways to catch us out which I think you should probably be aware of."
"Seriously?"
"Yes. For example," he took a few steps back opposite me, "I will come to attack you, and I only want you to follow your instincts and save yourself."
"I'm not so sure if this is a good idea," I backed off hesitantly.
"You wanted training, right? We're training dude, don't worry about us hurting you or anything."
"Well, if you insi-"
Santiago quickly became a shadow bolting head on in my direction. My heart started racing and adrenaline rushed though my veins, causing me to leap to the side onto my front with my eyes tightly closed. Somehow, when I opened them, I was still intact, while Santiago had skidded to a halt just before hitting the brick wall.
"How did…?" I sat up and looked around confused.
"You correctly moved away at the very last minute. Due to the momentum our speed comes with, we often struggle to take unplanned sharp changes in direction, which you can easily use to your advantage," he explained.
"So that wasn't just you going easy on me?" I confirmed.
"Okay, so maybe I was more wary than usual, but I was still running at a speed that could've easily injured you if you'd stayed where you were. Aside from dodging any attacks that come your way, there is another way to save your ass, but I don't recommend it."
I stood up and drew my eyebrows together. "What is it?"
"A blow to the crotch is just as painful on vampires as it is humans," he cringed, "Not only is it incorrect form for a fight, but it's embarrassing."
"Huh, I'll keep it in mind for next time you piss me off," I laughed.
The next few hours were spent working slowly through manoeuvres and moves used in combat between immortals. I used Renata as a practise dummy and I must've been slammed into the floor too many times to count, to the point where I had a tingly feeling in my spine. Near the end, she decided to aim a seemingly light round kick at my torso which caused me to skid a few metres across the floor onto my back. I began to stand up again but was too tired too and instead resorted to staring at the ceiling.
"Eli, are you injured?" Afton came running over to my side.
"No, I'm great actually, life is going just swimmingly," I snarked, "What do you think? I was just yeeted across the room, sir Afton."
Renata instantly appeared on the other side, helping me to sit up straight. "I'm so sorry El, I didn't realise a kick like that would do that to you."
"Eh, don't worry about it," I waved my hand and began to stand up but winced subtly at a minor sting in my lower back.
"Maybe we should take you to Theo, dude, you took quite a fall," Santiago offered.
"Don't you need an examination done in anyway?" Afton reminded me.
I sighed. "Fine, fine, I'll see a medical professional, but I bet it's absolutely nothing."
I came to the conclusion that I hated the medical wing. Everything was so white, so empty, so sterilised, it just scared the shit out of me. I was sat on the examination table, still with a slight dull pain in my back which made it a little sore to move. Renata was stood beside me clutching my hand with an apologetic look on her face.
"Well, if it isn't Miss Eliana Arrowood," a bronze-haired doctor with an Australian accent in light blue scrubs strode into the room, "I am Doctor Theodore, but you can call me Theo."
"Hey," I smiled timidly, "how do you already know my name?"
"We have access to all of the medical files the human government holds, and I already have yours saved onto our database," he sat down at his computer and pulled up my information onto the screen, "Are you here for your medical examination?"
"Actually, there's kinda something else," I grimaced.
He spun around on his chair and glanced at Renata pointedly. "What did she do?"
Renata groaned. "How did you know?"
"You have a guilty look on your face, Renata," he shook his head.
"Well, we were training Eli-"
Renata's sentence was interrupted by Theo sighing and holding his head in his hands. "Why?"
"She wanted to be trained, Theo," she snapped, "Anyway, so I lightly kicked her in the torso and she slid across the ground on her back."
He tutted at her and turned his gaze to me. "Do you have any trouble moving? Any pain, ache, or numbness?"
"It's a little difficult to move around at my lower back, and it aches a little when I sit down," I explained.
The door suddenly burst open and Caius came storming into the room. If looks could kill, Renata would've been mutilated by now. The fuming blonde came to stand beside me with his cold hand on my leg possessively.
"Renata, what came over you to make such a reckless decision?! You dared foolishly to bring harm to my mate!" he bellowed.
"Caius, it's fine," I placed my hand over his, "I told her to train me. It was just an accident, I'm honestly okay."
"We will decide if you are okay after I have examined you," Theo corrected, gesturing Renata out of the door.
Once Renata had left guiltily, Theo proceeded to examine my back, while Caius sat tense in the chair beside his desk. Damn it, why do these things always happen to me?
"As I thought," Theo stood up straight, "fortunately, you've only strained your lower back. You should be back to full health in less than a week. For now, ice that area of your back for 20 minutes every 4 hours for the next few days. Try to take it easy for today and tomorrow, but the more exercises you do to strengthen your back, the better."
He quickly placed an ice pack on my back, and I gasped in surprise.
"Ooh, that's quite nice actually, thanks," I giggled.
Caius growled quietly and flitted over to sit beside me on the table, holding the ice pack to my skin while burying his face in my hair. At that moment, Aro and Marcus both also entered the room as hurriedly as possible. Great, my short visit to the medical wing has become a group field trip.
"Oh, cara mia, are you alright? Santiago informed us you injured your back, you had us incredibly worried," Aro cooed and pulled me into his arms, my head held against his chest.
"Luckily for Eliana here, she only suffered from a simple back strain. She will have completely recovered after a week," Theo assured.
"What are you like?" Marcus mused to himself with a chuckle, sitting on the other side of me while Aro stood beside the table.
"While we are here, would you mind if we verify your records now?" Theo asked.
"Sure," I bounced slightly but then winced in pain. Smart move Eli.
"Be careful, carissima," Caius murmured.
"Quite right, take it easy today Eliana," Theo began scrolling through the details on his screen, "It appears you have somehow never had a blood test carried out, but I will fill you in as O positive now," he tapped away at his keyboard, "Do you still suffer from hayfever?"
"Yes," I answered simply.
"And do you take antihistamine for it?"
"Sometimes, during high pollen season."
"When you need some, feel free to come to my office at any time," he smiled, "Have you experienced any head injuries in the past?"
I paused. "Not that I know of," I replied hesitantly.
"She was hit in the face with a basketball when she was eleven years old, but only suffered from a mild concussion," Aro told him. How did he- oh.
Theo busily typed away at his keyboard while my mates all laughed quietly at my embarrassed face. Why did Aro have to know everything?
"Would you mind if you take your boots off so I can measure your weight and height?" he asked.
"Uh sure," I pulled off my boots and stepped over to the scales. It only gave me dark flashbacks to having my BMI calculated while I was still at school when I was little.
He quickly took measurements. "That is 127lbs in weight and 5'5" in height, you seem to have grown a few inches since your records were last updated," he dashed back over to his computer to fill in the details, "finally, I'd like to check your teeth to see if those wisdom teeth of yours have grown in yet."
"You're a dentist?" I raised an eyebrow.
"I am the medical professional here," he shrugged, gesturing me over to a dentist's chair on the other side of the large white room.
Marcus seemed to find it hilarious how I was lying uncomfortably with my mouth open on the reclining chair while Theo had a medical mask and latex gloves on and poked around at my teeth with a metal probe and mirror. It got to the point where my jaw was seriously getting tired and I just wanted this whole visit to be over.
Theo chuckled. "Going anywhere on holiday this year?"
I attempted to respond with 'god I hate dentists', but my sentence came out as a series of 'ahs' and 'ehs', which only fuelled Marcus' amusement.
Aro briefly held my hand in his much colder one. "Eliana says, 'god I hate dentists'."
"That's a new one," Theo humoured, pulling the mask and gloves off, "Well, your top set of wisdom teeth are now partially erupted. If they cause any problems in the future, we could consider wisdom tooth surgery, but that is nothing to worry about for now."
Caius' eyes widened with concern as he gripped my hand tightly. "Surgery?"
"Don't worry, Master, it is not a particularly invasive surgery. She would be given a local anaesthetic which would numb the area, the procedure itself only taking approximately twenty minutes."
"Do I need wisdom tooth surgery then?" I asked him.
"I doubt it, but we will see in the future," he smiled warmly, "That is it, be free my child," he joked.
I moved my jaw a little. "Freedom," I leapt to my feet, instantly regretting it from the sharp pain that shot through my spine.
"Please take care of yourself, tesoro, the last thing we need from you is yet another injury," Marcus tutted disapprovingly.
Caius appeared at my side with my boots in his hand, an arm wrapped around my waist for support. "Let us go back to my quarters."
I nodded, hobbling along beside him. "Thank you, Theo!" I called behind me.
Caius led me by my hand along a different corridor, one I'd never gone down before. It was one of the lower floors, just above the car park, but still underground.
"Caius? Where are we going?" I asked him.
He turned his head back to me with a smirk on his face. "You will see."
We stopped at a door at the end of one of the cold stone corridors and he pushed it open easily before flicking on the fluorescent lights. Inside was what I assumed to be an art studio, an incredible one at that. The only furniture in the room was a white sofa in the middle which was covered in the odd paint splatter, various acrylic paints and brushes littered the stained wooden floor and all four of the walls were covered in breathtaking murals, all except one which looked like it was only half complete.
I stood there with my mouth open like a fish, earning a light chuckle. "I have wanted to show you my private art studio for some time now, carissima. Aside from myself, Aro and Marcus are the only ones who have ever been in here, and only ever for a few moments."
"Damn, for a second I thought these were photos," I laughed, gesturing to the walls.
He had a smug expression on his face as he bent down to pick up a discarded paint palette and brush. Placing the items back down on the sofa beside where I had settled, he proceeded to quickly pull off his button up, leaving him completely shirtless. I didn't even realise I was staring at his perfectly defined torso until he turned around with a smug grin and I looked away bashfully.
He chuckled. "Like what you see, carissima?"
"You work shirtless then?" I giggled.
"It helps me focus. Care to join?" he offered.
"In being shirtless? I'll pass for now, thanks," I blushed.
"I am sure I can get you to change your mind," he raised an eyebrow cheekily, "Would you like to help me paint?"
"Oh, babe, I know nothing about painting," I laughed, "You saw the stick figure I drew in your sketchbook that one time."
"I still have that somewhere," he mused, "I will teach you," he insisted, pulling me to my feet by my arms.
My back was still a little sore but not as bad as earlier, funnily enough. "So, what do I do?"
In front of us was a painting of some kind of mountain landscape which took up the entire length of the wall. The patience he had to have used to paint each individual leaf on those pine trees, wow, no wonder he was always so snappy and impatient. Over the next half an hour, Caius tried to teach me how to paint, using all of the different techniques and brushstrokes he'd learnt over the years. I was honestly hopeless though, and gave up after a few minutes.
"You have a little paint on your face," I told him light-heartedly.
"Where?"
"Here."
I attempted to wipe the smudge off with my thumb, forgetting that my thumb was covered in blue paint. It was already too late though, a blue streak marked across his left cheek. I gasped, instantly feeling my cheeks heat up. I began to frantically apologise before he took a small droplet of yellow paint on his thumb and wiped it across my nose.
He chuckled. "Yellow suits you, cara."
I rolled my eyes, gazing back over at the mural. "You're talented…for an albino bunny."
With an aggravated growl, he crashed his lips against mine, backing me up into the sofa while edging my top off me. Goddamn it, why did I open my mouth?
Author's note: Oh my god my mum accidentally found out about my fanfic and now my entire family are saying how proud of me they are for having such an excellent hobby skdjsksjs.
Anyway, irrelevant point out of the way, when I was writing the dialogue for Theo, maybe it was just because I was tired, but I could only imagine him with a thicc Australian accent, so you're welcome.
Thank you so much for reading, be sure to leave some feedback because I love your comments ahh, stay safe, and ily lots!