The everyday monsters in our lives

He had been right about not wanting to be something negative to the human, and right now it was so clear that he was uncomfortable. And yet he stayed. "It was a freakish vampyre .. Maybe three times bigger than me in muscle and only hungry for vampyric blood," he said, his voice a little shaky because of how easily it had just tossed him around and bitten and scratched him. "It's dead now," was all he said, before he went on to clean his wounds. It was painful, but perhaps that was what was meant to do to him. Maybe he would always have this cut? He wasn't sure, but the doctor was on their way.
The human refused to leave, even coming closer, wrapping his arms around him from behind Cesare felt so cared for. It meant a lot to him that he stayed, but he also felt guilty for wanting that. Selfish. "I always want you near me," he finally confessed, reaching a clean hand down to caress one of the human's hands that were clutching on to his shirt. He could hear a car door in the distance, but it wasn't something that Benjamin could pick up on. "The doctor's here," he gave him a fair warning just so he could move away. It stung a little, but at least he got to be close to him when they were in private.
The doctor came in, assessing the cut and sighing to herself. "I told you to rest .. I heard you had gone into slumber, but walking around right after waking up could've put you right back," she was a professional, but also scolding him a bit. She didn't pay much attention to the human as she was here to care for the vampyre first and foremost. "And I told you that I'm like a cockroach and that I can't ever really die," he smiled in his charming way, owning him a firm look as the cut began to bleed at his smile. "I'm prescribing you refined seraphim blood .. be careful of its addictive properties and don't take more than a few drops a day; Dilute it in your regular blood intake and it shouldn't cause any trouble," she instructed him before looking to the human. "Make sure he gets his rest; he's a stubborn asshole," she sent him a slight smile as it was clear that the doctor and Cesare had known each other for a while, "thank you Delia," he rolled his eyes, before the doctor turned back to him. She inspected his cuts and sighed, "I could try and sew you up again, but last time your body absorbed the thread before really healing." It was a ponder but she decided not to. Instead she put on some light ointment that made Cesare grit his teeth, closing his eyes as he reached for Benjamin's hand. Eventually she covered it with a patch, instructing him to change it two times a day before she had to leave.

He felt thankful that the human was taking his hand and as the doctor left he did notice how he was a bit different. It was then he realized what he had done and he looked down in shame, "yeah, go do that," he said. While the human was away Cesare got up and walked out to a few of his sires, talking to them and assuring them that he still just needed a bit of time to be healing up. It was an unusual cut, and most of the sires were confused, except for the ones that had seen the creature. But now wasn't for that. He wanted to move his room for rest downstairs and it was done fairly easily. At least this way he didn't have to climb the stairs every time he wanted to go somewhere. Of course he had to keep his promise he had made to the human, and he wondered if he was going to get bored. But they would have to talk about that when he came back from his cigarette.
When he did, Cesare was sitting in the bed with a book, not really reading it, but at least it would look like he at least was trying to relax. Looking up his sea foam green eyes met those lovely brown and he smiled at him quite softly. "Are you bored?" he asked. He was pretty good at being restless himself, but just because he was dying to do something didn't mean the human had to just waste time.

Cesare had guessed correctly then, and he couldn't help but smile a little, being mindful of the patch. He reached out, taking his hands gently, not caring if he ended up fiddling with his. Selfish? He thought keeping him here would be selfish. "What if we brought something here that you could do?" Was it not a fair suggestion or perhaps middle ground? He lifted his hand, kissing it gently, just feeling his fingers against his lips. He really couldn't help himself. "Whatever you want, I can have it brought here, and you can work on it whenever you feel this itch in your fingers," he wasn't sure if that would be enough, but it was the best he could offer at a time like this. And just letting the human return to the city when they hadn't caught the last vampyre yet felt too risky.
"I know you like cars .. I have a few that might need a good mechanic; or you could have your own brought out? Work on it and perhaps you could get a few weights out here too?" He had noticed a lot of things about Benjamin, many that perhaps the human hadn't even realized. Cesare knew that he worked with cars and that he liked working out. If that could keep him busy then it was easy fixes. "Once all of this is over we can go back to the city and while I might have my own hesitations about you going back to work, I won't stand in your way."

Cesare chuckled softly at the mutter. He was just observant. "Well you always either smelled of gym mats, engine oil or cigarettes when I see you," he shrugged lightly. It had been easy to guess, but seeing the old rusty car had sorta sealed the deal on that theory. He sighed at the mention of the human going back to work. He couldn't stop him from living his life and he wouldn't, though it would perhaps take him some time to adjust to it. Also because what had happened to him had been at work and so Cesare was perhaps a little on edge about that still.
The human seemed interested in his cars and he let his thumb play a little with one of his fiddling fingers, clearly not minding the need to move around. He had it himself but it was more apparent when he hadn't eaten in a while or if he was excited. "I have a small selection; A few of them rather old at this point, but you seem to like those kinds of cars, am I right again?" he asked just to be sure. If he hated them then they could find something else. He listed a few in his possession, some rather old and perhaps classified as vintage or veteran cars, others only a little old, perhaps from the 80s and 90s. "I do have a Cadillac that could need a handy mechanic; it's from the late 50s and it probably needs a thorough run through," he mentioned. It was a nice car, but it did have its fair share of problems that Benjamin could use to tinker.

He was happy to see the human smile for a change. He didn't do it often, but he looked so stunning when he did. Now it was his time to have his fingers itch, wanting to reach out and pull him close. But alas, he had been pretty greedy today. And this was quite the nice conversation to be having. Not wanting to ruin a cute moment, he shrugged lightly as the human worried about his skill level. "Don't worry about that," he assured him. He had plenty of money to replace anything that could be broken, but this wasn't about that. He wanted Benjamin to feel comfortable, to dig into his hobbies. And seeing as Cesare's cars were just being stored, at least the older models, he couldn't see the harm in the human trying his luck on some of them. "I'll have a few brought here; some of them don't work anymore, so if you can fix them it would only benefit me," he said, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.
"I have a question for you, and you can answer however you please," he then said, turning a little serious. He looked down to their hands, seeing how they both had a hard time letting go. "Would you sleep in my bed while you're here?" It wasn't like Cesare could do much while he healed, but knowing that the human would be there every night would at least give him something to look forward to. "If you want I can keep all of my clothes on and find a pajamas to you or something," he chuckled, just to be sure the human knew it wasn't about that.

He saw the hesitation right away, and he knew this wasn't an easy thing to ask. The statement made him nod, "she won't be here while her and Martin are searching the city, I promise you," he said, just for him to be sure of that fact. He wasn't trying to assume anything, but the human was just hesitant about them being seen together. The human tried to speak but Cesare hushed him softly, lifting his hand to kiss it once more for comfort, though he wasn't sure who of them felt it most. "No-one will even be in the house; they'll all be outside," he promised him, looking at him with a sincere gaze. He just needed the human. "No-one would be able to enter .. we could close and lock the doors, make sure every window is bolted shut," it clearly wasn't a hassle for him to accommodate the human like this. "If they're outside, they won't even hear if we talk or what we talk about - it's just going to be the two of us," he wasn't sure if he was begging at this point, but he was willing to do anything to have Benjamin just spend one night with him willingly. "I just need you."

Benjamin agreed, but Cesare also knew better than to celebrate it. This was a sore subject for the human, and he wanted him to be as relaxed as he could be, but the vampyre didn't have the luxury of simply sending away his sires. First of all because they wouldn't take no for an answer and secondly there was still the loose vampyress to worry about. The clarification made him chuckle, "only sleeping," he promised rather seriously. Carefully he let go of his hands as the human was probably dying to do something else than stay here with a healing vampyre. "Go talk to Jackie .. tell her what you need in regards to tools and workout equipment and she can handle the rest from there," he said, encouraging him to go out and do something. At least he could set up his gym for the remainder of the day. Jackie was a dark skinned vampyress who was rather curvy, but she seemed sweet enough. Nodding as she took down what he needed she went off to go grab it all and soon returned with it all. Helping him get it inside, there was a room cleared out for the human to use as he pleased. Jackie didn't speak much, if at all. Silent and calm, there wasn't much for her to say anyways.

Cesare sure knew where to find him, but he also wasn't one to nag or dig into other people's private life once he got to know them. And with Benjamin he just truly wanted to be respectful. The human had always gone through so much, and so he found it only fair that he could have some time for himself. However he did have to draw the line as it reached about dinnertime and he hadn't heard the human even go to the kitchen. He felt restless himself, getting up and heading out into the kitchen. Whipping up something easy, he did have a better balance now, and as he went to the room he now had dubbed the hobby room, he waited for an answer.
It was slowly getting dark out, and if the human called for someone to enter or came to open it himself, Cesare would stand there with a small tray with a plate of food and a big glass of water. "I know you want to do your own cooking," he started out, knowing he probably had to defend this, "but just as you need tinkering time, so do I have an itch in my fingers." Was that not a fair enough excuse? He wasn't sure, but it would be up to the human if he wanted to eat it anyways. "I don't want to barge in, so please remember to eat .. I'll head back to bed," he promised, having taken a vial with a drop of seraphim blood already. He would probably be a bit tuckered out soon enough.

"Just because it's my house it doesn't give me permission to overstep your boundaries," he just nodded, leaving the human to his tinkering and eating as he made his way back to the bedroom. He changed into something more appropriate; A nice loose shirt with buttons down the middle and a pair of loose black pants. He got comfortable, continuing to read the book he was on, but it wasn't like he hadn't read it before.
Time sorta went by relatively quickly and as he heard the knock he smiled slightly, "come in," he said. He had aired out the room, changed the sheets and was now sitting with his back against the headboard. He had even managed to change the patch as the doctor had asked him to. "Are you ready for bed?" he asked, though he wasn't sure if it had an obvious answer. The human worked in strange ways, and he would rather ask one too many times than forget to ask at all. He placed his book down, adjusting himself a little as he was clearly the one who felt inexperienced now. He had of course had lovers sleep over, but not like this. And certainly not with the fact that all they were truly going to do was sleep. He felt nervous in that sense, and had he been a human he would've been sweating and having his heart beat fast. But as a vampyre he could conceal that part of him relatively easy.
"It's quite a big bed .. so .." he said, looking down at the new linen he had put on. Was the human truly alright with this? "You can still go sleep in another room if you've regretted." A sweet reminder that he wasn't forced to do anything he didn't feel comfortable with.

He didn't sound too convincing. It was fine? Cesare had usually only heard that when it wasn't fine. He did notice the small oil smudge, but he frankly found it very cute. The human got undressed and the vampyre remained silent for a while. He wasn't sure what to do to make him feel comfortable, so he sat up on his knees, moving over to him and wrapping his arms around him from behind. His head resting on his shoulder, he moved a hand up to remove the small oil smudge. "Have I done anything to upset you?" he asked, just having his arms loosely around him, mostly because it seemed easier for him to speak when they weren't looking at one another. He wanted the man he cared for to be able to speak his mind.
"And is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable? Because frankly you feel as stiff as a board," he muttered, unsure if it was his touch that did it.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, because Cesare was clearly a cuddly person, at least with the human. Maybe it was his heat. Or maybe it was the fact that he smelled so good. Either way, he would give him the distance he needed. The mark was still a thing that hurt to see on his skin, and it did make his insides boil with anger, however there wasn't much he could do now but wait until he could kill the vile vampyress.
Their days passed pretty easily. Cesare would be resting most of the time, pretty much leaving the human alone until nighttime came. He wasn't sure if he was getting crazy, but it felt like for every night Benjamin moved closer. The vampyre's cut on his cheek was actually starting to heal. The seraphim blood did him a world of good, and he felt how he was returning to normal. One morning he woke before the human as usual, looking at him he just admired him. Running his hand through his hair, touching his cheek and admiring how peaceful he looked when he slept.

Cesare smiled at the sleepy human. He felt lucky that he got to see this part of him; serene and peacefully asleep. As Benjamin turned around it was usually his cue to snuggle up to him. Even for someone who claimed to hate cuddles, the human would always seem to really fall back into sleep when they were laying close or having some sort of contact. Cesare buried his face in his hair, breathing him in, feeling the heat that radiated off of him. Both of them had seemingly gone on to be more daring, now only sleeping in their underwear. Of course the vampyre couldn't hide the reaction he got from laying this close to the man he cared for, but he also felt safe enough as to not need to hide it away.
His lips moved from his skull, down his neck and to his shoulders. "It's about time you need to get up," he muttered, hating himself for saying it because it meant another long day waiting for Benjamin to return to bed. "You always say to wake you up early on the days you work out," he argued, nuzzling his nose into the nape of his neck, kissing him gently. While he knew the human didn't mind the affection, he seemed to at least grown more accustomed to it by now. Cesare still felt a little guilty because of his needy personality, but it seemed that deep down Benjamin perhaps enjoyed it too?