Ren held Makoto for a long time. There didn't seem to be anything to say to her that would stop her sobbing, so he simply held her in his arms, which was about all he could think of doing. It seemed to do some good, as Makoto eventually quieted and fell asleep kneeling there on the landing. Ren gently lifted her and walked her over to the garish heart bed.
The room stank of fear, sex, blood, and other bodily fluids- just like the rest of Edgetown. He hated it. And he hated everything about it. But here they were, so it would have to do.
The single saving grace of the hotel and this room was its steel door with sliding rambars. The disgustingly tacky love hotel vibe was a base veil for this hotel's primary function: secure storage of high value living humans. There was no one more valuable to Ren than Makoto, so… this was the only place to bring her when he lacked the preferable option of never bringing her to Edgetown in the first place.
At the edge of the bed, Ren gave the bedspread a dubious look. There were no stains visible in normal light, at least. He greatly doubted the sanitary standards of any business in this shithole of a city, but it was better than the floor or his cloak, so it would have to do. Ren set Makoto upon the bed and she grimaced in her sleep and curled into a ball. She still smelled lightly of her own vomit, but Ren preferred that smell over anything else in the room- it smelled of her, and anything that smelled of Makoto was desirable.
With her seasickness, Makoto's body had lost a lot of water. Blood was the water of the body. To Ren's layman understanding, he thought she needed to drink a lot of water. Clean drink and some food would go a long way in helping her to recover. There was a day or two on horseback in front of them, and she would need the strength to manage it.
"Makoto," said Ren, "I'm going out for supplies. The door will lock. All right?"
Makoto frowned and mumbled in her sleep. That wouldn't do. He couldn't leave her alone here without telling her where he was going, especially not after all the admonishing he gave her about not leaving his side. Here he was, about to leave her alone, practically first thing.
"Makoto! Hey!"
"Z-wha? What?" Makoto woke groggily with a wince and a look of fear. Ren looked down at her with his usual serious, placid expression.
"I'm going to get some supplies. You'll be here alone. But these rooms are basically prison cells. You can't get out and no one but me can get in. Okay?"
"Prison cell? Hotel?" said Makoto with a wince.
"Yeah," said Ren.
"This place is evil, Ren."
"Yeah," said Ren. "But you'll be safe here, okay?"
"Okay." If Ren said it, she believed it. Makoto lay her wincing head back on the bed and almost immediately fell asleep.
Ren stood and did a quick search of the room. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary: bed, mirrors, bathroom, shower, and… adult swing. He unhooked that thing from the ceiling and tossed it into the small closet. Makoto didn't need to sleep in a room with one of those dangling nearby.
The room was as presentable as it could be. Ren decided to leave. He took up the massive gearlike key and spun open the wheel that passed for the door's handle. From this side, the door looked like it belonged on that ferry.
Ren checked the hall, and upon seeing it empty, exited Makoto's room and closed the door behind him. He twisted the gear key into the slot on the front and heard the sound of the steel bars inside sliding into place. The thing was six inches thick and there were three bars of thick steel for a lock. Nobody younger than 20th generation was busting that thing down, and nobody above 20th generation was going to be poaching random humans from the Lockbox Hotel in Edgetown.
Ren walked away with confidence in Makoto's safety, for the moment.
Makoto woke to the sound of steel bars unlocking. She sat up, her headache having returned in force. The door to the room was opening. She reached into her shirt for her gun, relieved to find it where she expected it to be. She took it out and aimed at the door, finger off the trigger. The door opened. Ren entered, carrying a large sack. Makoto lowered the gun as he shut the door and sealed it behind him.
"How are you feeling?" said Ren as he walked towards the bed.
"Better," said Makoto, as she winced at Ren's approach, the dim lights of the hotel room sensitive on her eyes. It was true, though. Not feeling like she needed to heave her guts up at every moment was a vast improvement.
"Here." Ren put down the full sack on the bed and pulled out a large bottle. "Water. And here are some rice balls. I think these are the best food around here for you."
Makoto gulped some water and then examined the wrapped rice balls. They looked slightly stale but not too bad. "How did you find these?"
"Some of the better cared-for humans were eating them. So I bought some."
"Oh," said Makoto. That made sense, in a morbid sort of way.
Makoto ate and drank her fill, feeling steadily better as she did so. The rice balls were made by someone who knew what they were doing and they were well salted. The combination of the salt, food, and water was fighting off the remnants of Makoto's illness. She watched Ren unpack the rest of the sack. There was some travel rations for her, a new water flask for him, and some fresh undergarments for them both. Blessings all.
"Now," said Ren with a sigh. "I think I will bathe and then rest, as well."
Makoto chewed and swallowed a large bite of rice. A shower sounded wonderful.
"All right, I'll go second."
Ren nodded. He did look somewhat exhausted- so far as fatigue showed on his face. His eyes seemed a bit darker gray than usual, and his voice was a bit more husky. How long had he been awake? Since the cave? He'd kept watch over her since then, what with other dhampirs about them. So.. he'd gone perhaps three days or more without rest? God. Surely that was taxing, even for a dhampir like Ren.
He entered what was obviously the bathroom and shut the door. Makoto ate and drank water on the bed as she looked around the room, not having given it a good look before. It seemed a seedy place and not somewhere she would want to sleep in most any scenario- but if Ren thought it safe, then surely it was their best opinion.
The heart-shaped bed was a bit much, though, honestly.
Makoto sighed, feeling safe and secure for the first time in what felt like weeks. The tacky surroundings of the room (and its strange smell) notwithstanding- she was with Ren and behind a formidable locked door. She could relax and let her guard down a little, and the food and water was like a magic potion for her head.
She heard water running. The room obviously had plumbing of some sort. Likely similar to the shower she enjoyed in the Niijima Estate. Probably such luxuries were commonplace here on the Island. Vampires were a lot of things, but unhygienic didn't seem to be one of them.
When had she and Ren last been safe in a secure place? The cave, wasn't it? Makoto's mind went back to that night. Her heart rate increased slightly and she felt a warm glow to her cheeks. She had behaved quite scandalously, had she not? But she remembered her mind then. The imperative need to live life then, when she had the chance.
Makoto glanced at the door of the bathroom, feeling a low hum of desire deep in her body. She was still living now, was she not? Ren was in there. Assuredly naked. And most likely more than willing to retry all the things they had done together in that cave. This room was another cave, of sorts. And there was no guarantee that Makoto or Ren would survive to see another one like it.
When Makoto thought about it, the only reason she was not also in the bathroom with Ren was because…
Makoto stood from the bed, shed her clothing, and opened the bathroom door. It was a small room with a semi-transparent wall which sectioned off the shower area. Makoto opened that secondary door.
Ren looked up from under the torrent of hot water, his gray eyes surprised to see her stepping into the shower towards him. His eyes left her face and traveled down along her body. Makoto witnessed her almost immediate impact upon Ren's body as he quickly stiffened. Ren's face could hide emotions from her, but his body couldn't hide his desire- and that, for some reason, made Makoto feel wanted and sexy. And a little powerful. And powerful far from what Makoto felt lately. It was a welcome, empowering feeling.
"Makoto," said Ren, and then words failed him.
Makoto stepped under the water with him, pressing herself to the solid firmness of his frame, the stiffness of his erection pressing against her stomach. She didn't have words for him either. Instead she ran her hands over the pristine skin of Ren's chest, enjoying the soft firmness of him, then similarly enjoyed the thickness of his shoulders, and the ripples of his musculature along the parts of his back that she could reach. She felt his hand go to the space between her breasts and linger there. She looked down to find him softly tracing the outline of her gunshot scar- the wound that should have killed her.
She felt a twang of self-consciousness. "Sorry," she said, her voice barely audible under the shower, even to her own ears.
"What?" Ren said, feeling the fool. What was she apologizing for? He watched her shoulders hunch slightly, as if she were cowering within herself. It made him want to wrap her into his arms, but he held off. There was something going on and he wanted to hear it.
"The scar. It's unsightly," said Makoto, moving Ren's hand away from her scar and onto her breast.
Ren's hand fought back, pushing her soft effort away and pressing firmly to her scar tissue. "It's beautiful. I'm sorry it happened. But it's beautiful. Everything about you is beautiful."
So simple to say, but so nice to hear. They gazes met, and their lips followed. Ren grasped Makoto to himself, his hands roving her back in turn as the heat of their mouths competed with the heat of the water which flowed down upon them both. There was a rapid escalation of mutual excitement...
**Camera fades to black**
((Author's Note: the short remainder of this chapter violates this website's sexual content rules. There is not much remaining, but if desired, it can be read on Ao3.))