The everyday monsters in our lives

"I am not mocking you .. just slightly teasing," he corrected him, smiling softly at him as he felt his unbeating heart could burst with emotions. He wasn't sure how wise this was. He wasn't sure if he was complicit in enabling Benjamin, but at the end of the day he just wanted his happiness. And if this would make him happy then he would do it a million times over, because he could not be the judge of what sort of help the daemon needed. The wisest thing to do would've been dragging him straight back to Louis, but for some reason Cesare had felt a bit slighted by the fact that they hadn't been able to be together excluding the time where he had appeared uninvited.
The mention of getting cleaned up made him sigh, looking down at the mess between them. He knew Benjamin was not one to want to hear about perversions, but Cesare was a vampyre, and any fluid like this made him rather proud. To know that he had been the source of this pleasure was important to him. "A shower together?" He pondered out loud. They weren't in a rush, right? They could just take their time and not worry about anything at all. He got up and out of the bed, reaching a hand out if Benjamin wanted a hand, but also if he wanted to join him. The vampyre had calmed down a bit, but it was still clear that he had an itch that hadn't truly been scratched. But maybe that would come later. He was not one to be impatient, especially not when it came to intimacy. "Let's go clean off," he smiled heading out to the bathroom.
The bathroom was nothing special indeed, the corners darkened with what Cesare presumed was either mold or perhaps just a buildup of dirt and limescale. Either way he ignored it, turning on the shower just to get it to an alright temperature. While neither of them had to worry about being cold, there was something familiar about a warm shower. Something relaxing. The showerhead was placed much too low for the tall vampyre, but he wasn't too worried about it as he stepped into the shower, the water running down his body and easily cleaning him off. Nothing truly stuck to a vampyre, at least not in the long run.

He appreciated that the daemon pulled him down in a hug, and he gladly returned it, pressing a kiss to his cheek, "I love you too." Their shower wasn't really anything spectacular, but it was nice just to share a continuing amount of intimacy that the vampyre had sorely missed. He loved touching the daemon's body, helping him clean up and just having him close basically. After the shower he was handed a worn and torn towel, holding it up it actually held its shape which was a bit frightening. "I don't need a five star hotel, but this is maybe a bit too run down for me," he admitted with a slight wince. Yes, he was snobby in that regard, but he also felt like this was barely acceptable as a place to stay.
Drying himself off, or rather using the dry towel to scrape the water off of his skin, he moved back out and got dressed. He really didn't want to stay here for too long either. In the heat of the moment he hadn't cared, but now he was a bit more skeptical about this whole ordeal. Once he was fully dressed he put on his shoes, adjusting his shirt a little. "I'm ready when you are," he said with a nod. He was however wondering if perhaps Benjamin wanted to pack up his stuff before they left. "Okay, one thing; can we find another motel to stay in for the night?" He wasn't sure if the daemon would take offense, but he didn't really like this place. Not just because he was snobby, but also because the smells here were messing with his senses a lot.

Cesare frankly felt more relieved as Benjamin disclosed he was open to the idea of staying somewhere else. It didn't have to be fancy, but this was the bottom of bottoms, at least in the vampyre's opinion. He waited until the daemon had packed his bag before the admittance came. He frowned lightly. "Why would I not want to spend the night with you?" He in turn asked. He had always adored laying next to him, even if it had been hours, they never seemed dull or boring in any way shape or form. His hand was grabbed and he chuckled lightly, of course opening the door for them to head out. He was tired of this place, and he wanted to spend some time with him on this small date that Benjamin had suggested. He was already rather happy about that fact. "Did you bring the car?" He asked. It could be a good place to hold the daemon's belongings while they went out. Otherwise he had his own car parked not far away from here.
When everything was sorted he entangled their fingers, pulling at him lightly towards a park nearby. The two of them always seemed to gravitate towards parks and nature when they needed a bit of a break. The weather was still rather decent and as long as it kept dry then it would be no trouble. They walked along the designated road, Cesare holding his hand, giving it a squeeze from time to time as he caught the daemon up on the whole wedding situation. "It's quite the guest list already .. Martin however has been a great help in the planning and Sadie has really shown her leadership skills," he smiled, clearly proud of them. It was really all he wished for as a sire; that they were thriving and continuing to grow. "At first we feared that the venue wouldn't be available, but we booked it just in time," he sighed quite clearly relieved at that fact.

"So?" Cesare truly couldn't see the problem, but maybe it was strange for the former human to wrap his mind around eternity. The vampyre had all the time in the world, and hours weren't wasted when he could lay there with the man he loved. "Sometimes I need a bit of rest too .. and staying with you makes me relax," he admitted. Of course he didn't need physical rest, no his body didn't grow tired as Benjamin's, but his mind did. And to him just laying there for a night felt almost like meditation to him.
It made sense as to why he hadn't brought his car around. It was a nice one, and having it ruined would've probably been bad. Not that the vampyre cared for the hunk of metal, but the daemon did. As they walked through the park it just felt easy, though he could feel the man beside him tense a little at the sounds. Cesare had an idea, but he couldn't execute it without a bit of planning, so he put it on the backburner for now. Instead he focused on keeping the conversation going. It felt like they had a lot to catch up to, and it felt good to just be around each other. The question of the location made him smile, "well at first she wanted something small, but the more people she thought of inviting, the bigger the venue had to be," he smiled, though he clearly didn't mind it. He was paying for it all, seeing as he felt like he had to, being their sire and all. "Eventually we settled on a rather large mansion out in the countryside," he said, taking out his phone to show some images. It was a large house, and the garden was beautiful. "Martin wanted to be sure that those who might've traveled far could have an easy place to sleep - there's quite a few bedrooms upstairs, but the downstairs area is mostly just one big room," he explained, then showing some images of how Sadie wanted it decorated. It was truly like a winter wonderland as their wedding would be set in winter time. "Of course there won't really be a dinner; kind of redundant with a guest list of mostly vampyres," he chuckled, "but she has ordered a bartender who specializes in adding supernatural food into the drinks so nobody gets cranky."

"Not what I expected either, but I think she wants to make some good memories out there as well," he admitted. She seemed to need closure in a way, and while the wedding would be far from what her and Benjamin had grown up with, it was still a lot for her to be that far out of the city.
As he stopped, Cesare stopped as well, frowning as the daemon spoke of the wrongs he had done. Was he considering going back to Louis? Because the vampyre would support him in that, but the worry about the wedding made him hum. "Well you had agreed that Lily would act as a chaperone, so I can't see why you wouldn't be allowed," he admitted, thinking about it some more. The elder daemon seemed strict, but not with any malice to it. In fact he had found her very compassionate in a sense that perhaps Benjamin would never recognize. "I'll have a chat with her; of course she will be entitled to finding you some sort of punishment, but it is also clear that she pushed you too far," he admitted. He had found that not seeing Benjamin had been rough, especially with the wedding and so forth, and on that regard Louis had been unfair. The daemon had shown improvement, but it was also clear that he wasn't quite there yet. Things took time, and Benjamin lacked patience.
He took a deep breath, cupping his face gently as the daemon complained about all of the noise. He looked into his eyes, smiling softly at him. "Do you want to go somewhere more quiet?" He asked, because they could do that so easily. All he had to do was ask, because Cesare couldn't read minds.

"Well I would have you in the room with her for starters," he smiled at him, knowing that Benjamin would be too stubborn for the vampyre to let him speak for him. No, the daemon would've wanted to speak up for himself. "I would remind her of the importance of your past, which your sister is apart of; how a wedding usually means the coming together of the past and the present to celebrate a milestone," he said rather seriously and well thought out, adding with a mischievous smile, "but I might keep out what ungodly things I would do to you after the party." He just couldn't help himself. Weddings were romantic, weren't they? They were supposed to get people in the mood so to speak.
Benjamin wanted to stay and he hummed, because he was right. He could still remember how freaked out the daemon had been in the hotel when the doors outside had been opened. The hand entangling with his own made him feel good, smiling at him as he felt genuinely happy to have him here right now. Of course it was under unfortunate circumstances, but it didn't take away from the fact that it was good to see him. Whether they kept standing or returned to walking was up to Benjamin, though the question surprised him, and Cesare knew the exact number. He never forgot a sire, even if they had passed a long time ago, or even branched out to their own coven with their own families. "1267," he said quite seriously, wondering if this was one of those moments where the daemon would find him disgusting for spreading himself that much.

Cesare rolled his eyes at him, "as if being tired ever have stopped you from being needy for my touch," he retaliated in an intimate whisper. No, he had heard plenty of pleading for him to continue, even if he had tried to fight sleeping. It was cute, but also rather rewarding to have that effect on someone. Especially because he did long for him in a way he hadn't longed for someone before. Did he dare say he was experiencing some sort of lust? Not that it was uncommon for vampyres to feel that towards someone, but it was a new thing for Cesare. "But I suppose you will have to prove me wrong," he smiled, taking it as a challenge. Though he doubted that they wouldn't try to sneak off to a more quiet spot to make out like some teenagers. It was just one of those things that new couples did, right? And it wasn't like they had gotten to have much of a honeymoon phase to begin with. It would catch up to them in due time.
It was clear it was a surprise to hear such a high number, but Cesare was also rather old. However the question about willingness made him sigh. He wouldn't say he had a squeaky clean past. "Not all of them," he admitted, but he had tried to make up for it by being better to those who came after. There was still so much that Benjamin didn't know about him, but maybe it was about time that he heard of the struggles that even a pureblood could go through. "Let's sit down somewhere quiet," he said, as they eventually found a bench overlooking a small fountain. He sat down, folding his hands in his lap, because he was sure Benjamin wouldn't want to hold his hand when he heard about this. "Most of those I turned unwillingly was back when I was younger, and I don't mean a hundred years younger, I mean when I was actually younger than you are now," he admitted. It was maybe a lot to dive into, but perhaps hearing of struggle would encourage Benjamin to see that you could make amends, that you could move on in life despite what happened to you.
"I mentioned my father being rather stern, or rough handed," that was putting it tame, as he had told Benjamin about the time he had been kept in the kennel and exposed to daylight for misbehaving. "Well, back then clans were rampant, at least where I grew up, and there were many wars fought," he said, swallowing as he went on to explain how his father had expectations of the family expanding its soldiers by having more newly changed vampyres. It was about control, about power, and most of all about territory and who got to feed on who. "It was barbaric .. but I decided to count each and every one of those I turned, because that way I could hold myself accountable - or I don't know, just to see how far my father was willing to go." He took some time to breathe, letting Benjamin react or ask questions if he wasn't too stunned to speak.

Not all of them? That did make Joe rather worried. But frankly he wasnt angry. He could have been, but it did seem like it was something that Cesare wasnt just proudly boasting about. So when he suggested that they'd go somewhere quiet, Joe simply nodded and they went to look for a place. He sat down on the bench, looking at the vampyre next to him. He let him take his time if he needed, though as Cesare began explaining, it did make Joe's stomach churn a little. One thing was changing willingly, but Cesare spoke of the unwilling, and as the story went on, the worse it got. It gave a bit more of insight to Cesare but Joe felt a little short ended as the listener in this. "That sounds... so complicated that I dont even think I can say anything about it. I'm sorry you had to go through that?" he tried. But it wasnt like he could say much else. He didnt know wars like that. Sure, his town had raged a full war on the supernatural, but it had been so one-sided. Not ever had the town itself ever had to fear for attacks or something in the like. He looked down at his hands as he thought about it. "So how many are from back then? And how many are after?" he asked.

Cesare shook his head no, there was no reason for Benjamin to say anything to him, "I've had to live with it," he just said, though not disclosing if he had fully accepted it himself. He had called himself a monster for a reason, but maybe that was more understood by the daemon now. Or perhaps he would come to understand it once he had had time to digest it all. Wars back then had been all over. It was every day and he was sometimes happy that he couldn't sleep and relive the things he had witnessed. It wasn't only people getting changed, it was also the victims of those who had changed when they needed to feed. Bloodbaths and entire mortal villages crumbling into dust.
Benjamin sure knew how to pick his questions, didn't he? "1102 unwilling," he said after taking a deep breath. "The last one I changed, Michelle, convinced me to run away with her and get out of all of that war," he said looking to the fountain as if it would help soothe his memories in any way. It was not a time he had been proud of, that was very clear. "Michelle and I got about five counties over before my father's sires surrounded us .. Michelle got ripped to pieces in front of me .. and I was stripped naked and tied to a tree right before sunrise so that the sun may slowly burn away at me," he went quiet after that, his eyes distant as he didn't like thinking of it too much in his day to day life.

Joe's question werent soft, but he just felt that he would have a better idea of how serious it had been if the numbers were split up. And the answer made him bite the inside of his cheek, nodding a few times as it was something he had to think about. The story that followed made him look at Cesare with saddened eyes. He felt bad that he had brought up such a bad memory. He at least knew how he himself reacted when he was confronted with memories that felt unresolved and still brought ache at mere thoughts. He reached over and grabbed the vampyre's hand. "It makes more and more sense why you wouldnt let me be alone with my father back then." he scoffed, pulling the cold hand towards himself, lifting it to place a kiss softly on the back of it. "I was just asking because you seem to know so much about... changes. I wasnt asking to be crude." he explained, feeling like he had to.

Cesare hummed, because the scoffing daemon was correct. Maybe that was also a part of why the vampyre was so adamant of being better with his sires. Sure, he had twisted times and maybe he did have some madness in him when he drank blood excessively, but otherwise he hoped he would do better. Not that he was a saint, no he could be crazy too. But he always seemed to reconnect with humanity at some point. As he explained he shook his head, "I wouldn't have told you unless I wanted to," he said, not wanting him to worry so much. Frankly, Cesare knew his past had distinct shadows in it, and he would be foolish to ignore them. He did however appreciate the gesture of getting kissed on the hand, his lips even pulling up in a soft smile. "It's many years ago now, but since then I've mostly changed those who wished for it, but accidents happen even for the most experienced vampyre," he admitted, though it wasn't something he shied away from. Those sires he still tried to have a connection with, but most resented him and wouldn't want anything to do with him.
"But what I'm saying is, is that you are not the only person struggling with being changed on the spot, and while I only have experience with guiding newly turned vampyres, I suspect that any change from a mortal state would be shocking," he spoke softly, turning his head to look at him. It was so clear on his face that nothing about the way that Cesare saw the daemon had changed from when he had been a human. He had gotten good over the years of just seeing people as they were, and not their inherited race or anything. "It's also why I know that being aided by someone more experienced helps, even if you don't understand it right now, you might do down the line."

He admired Benjamin for admitting to his own flaws, but Cesare also didn't want him to beat himself up about it. Giving his hand a squeeze he smiled softly, "I've lived for long enough to know that this isn't the end of things," he spoke from experience. How many times had one of his sires not messed up but eventually come around? It was a natural process of understanding ones new self, and who he was now was different than when he had been a human, there was no point in denying that. "Louis will see reason, and she will have seen a case like yours a million times by now," smiling as he knew that to be a fact, because he had seen something similar with his sires. And compared to them, this was actually pretty tame. "The choice is yours .. I would gladly have you come back home to live with Sadie or me, but if I am being honest I know that you need more help than I can provide for you," there was no reason to dance around a topic such as this. He leaned in, placing a kiss against his cheek before resting his forehead against his temple, smiling softly as he placed his forehead down against his temple. "I'm not going anywhere, I've waited for you a long time and I can wait some more."

The kiss was nice, and he returned it carefully, happy that they at least had each other through it all. There was no rush to do things, and frankly the only thing that they had to do was the upcoming wedding. Everything else could wait for as long as it took. He heard the male and female as well, frowning as Benjamin got up. He sighed getting up with him and following him, but not saying a word. When they arrived at the source of the noise, Cesare knew in an instant that the poor girl wasn't going to do much without a soul. Placing a hand on Benjamin's shoulder he looked to him seriously. "It's not your territory," he said in a hushed voice. No, daemons in this part of town could be very territorial when it came to victims such as this poor young woman. He knew that Benjamin was fuming, he didn't even have to ask. "Head back towards the bench, please," he spoke calmly, not wanting to have to compel him, because to him it would be a betrayal of trust. But of course he knew he wouldn't do that, because Benjamin Joe Harris always had to be reckless. Instead of stopping him he let him walk forward, but staying close by if something were to happen. Sure, a daemon would be stronger than him, but he would be faster.

Joe was fuming, though he seemed almost calm, beside a small tremble in his shoulders that he was trying to suppress. Cesare's reminder that this wasnt his territory wasnt helping. He didnt buy into the concept of territories, and Louis hadnt bothered to try and work with that just yet. The daemon was confused before he let go of the girl, letting her corpse fall to the ground. He walked up to them, Joe not moving as they now stood face to face. "What's your problem?" the daemon asked, shifting between the brown eyes that were full of anger. Joe exhaled deeply before he looked at Cesare with an apologetic look. He struck the daemon that staggered back, confused and irritated now. "Piss off! What, you want this territory? You and the vampyre?" he asked, looking from one to other. He scoffed and shook his head. Joe frowned before he realized how the daemon was treating him like some sort of equal. That would have never happened as a human. And that probably made everything so much worse. "I'm nothing like you!" Joe hissed, to which the daemon at first didnt get it, but then he laughed. "Oh, you're better than me or something?" he asked, stepping closer even if Joe was quite obviously on edge. The daemon chuckled and it pissed off the newborn daemon who swung at him again, and again, so set on his anger that if Cesare touched him, he might hit him too just because of the frustration and anger inside of him.

The apologetic look should've warned him, and it was clear the daemon thought this was some sort of joke. But as Benjamin just went for it he stepped in, however it resulted in him getting caught in the crossfire. He was hit rather hard in the face, staggering back a bit as his brow had been broken and blood was now trickling down his face. He was more stunned than anything, but he didn't stay away even if it was stupid, "we need to go now," he said, upset that it had come to this. He wasn't hurting physically, but mentally it had been rather brutal to just be hit full force by his boyfriend. Reaching out he took his hand, "just listen to me this once," he pleaded, blood still running down his face, making him look more hurt than he actually was. He didn't want Benjamin to run away now. He needed him to calm down and confronting this daemon.

The other daemon hadnt expected to end up in a fight but it seemed that there was no other choice. The vampyre intervened and that kept the other daemon from retaliating as it became rather clear that Joe was behaving out of turn. He stepped away and Joe was half a mind from following him, had Cesare not stepped in and he had seen the blood on his face and broken brow. Joe's eyes widened as he realized what he had done. The vampyre grabbed his hand but he felt the shame that was slowly building up inside compel him to pull away. But he stood there, frozen, just staring at his boyfriend. The daemon that had started all this just slipped out of sight to leave them alone, not wanting to aggravate the situation further.

The vampyre heard the stranger slip away, and perhaps that was for the best. However he refused to let go of him now. He wasn't sure whether he was still fuming with anger, hurt or just confused. "It's alright .. it's just a bit of blood," he assured him, "it doesn't hurt." Only mentally. Being hit by someone you loved, albeit accidentally, wasn't the nicest thing to experience. He sent him a reassuring smile, "let's head back to my car .. I think we need to go get you some sleep," he said, giving his hand a soft squeeze. Despite being hit, he was quick to forgive. He knew the daemon hadn't meant to strike him, and that he was still figuring out his own strength. "Please, can we just go?"