boundbyyou (boundbyyou) wrote in sevendevilslog, @ 2020-10-16 08:26:00 |
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Ever since he’d become a vampire Warren found that his body clock had definitely shifted. No longer was he an early bird but a night owl which he assumed stood to reason considering the sun was certain death whereas night was in many ways a lover’s embrace in comparison.
That did mean his sleeping habits were decidedly out of sync with the rest of the world (which thankfully didn’t affect his work as he could do that whenever) but it resulted in him being clad only in a pair of dark sweatpants as he opened the door to regard one Kitty Davenport blearily, desperately in need of a brush being put through his hair and squinting even though those issues with his eyesight? Cleared right up. Go figure.
“Hey,” he rumbled, voice husky and heavy from residual sleep. “Come on in.”
He swept his arm in welcoming gesture, figuring she was here for a good reason and it wasn’t even that early to be fair to her.
Honestly, it wasn’t that early at all: Kitty had waited until after midday to come and see Warren because the sun was on the other side of his house to the front door and therefore there was less chance of him being hit by direct sunlight. She’d been tinkering with charms since he told her that he was coming back to Seven Devils - things she’d been working on since he was turned but hadn’t had any real success and she wasn’t willing to even experiment a little bit with her friend’s safety.
“I start work in a couple of hours,” she said, by way of apology. “Otherwise I’d have waited until at least sunset to come over. At least the nights are getting longer, you’ll be less house-bound soon.”
She shut the door behind her and shrugged out of her jacket, walking confidently through Warren’s place with her tote bag still over her shoulder. She headed into the lounge and rummaged a brush out of his drawers, clicking her tongue and sitting on the couch, waiting for him to come join her.
“Come sit down?” Kitty waved the brush invitingly.
Warren watched with some amusement as Kitty moved about his apartment as comfortably as he did, but that wasn’t a huge surprise. They did spend a lot of time in one another’s company after all. “My hair’s that bad, huh?” He smirked and wandered over, settling on the ground in front of the couch and between Kitty’s legs before reclining back so it was easier for her to reach him.
“I am really looking forward to being less house-bound soon, starting to feel like I’m going to climb the walls soon.”
Not even an exaggeration.
“Yeah, it’s really that bad,” Kitty said, bracketing his shoulders with his knees. He felt cold, something she’d never associated with him before: he and Cassidy were warm, and Jesse (by comparison) was burning hot. She knew it was just part of his new life now, being a vampire, but still, she missed the body-warmth that came from a full hug from him.
She raked a hand through his hair before starting to brush it out almost absent-mindedly. She hadn’t done this in ages, but it was just as relaxing for her as it was for him.
“Guess that’s why vampires sleep during the sunlight hours,” she offered, one hand resting on his shoulder. “Less boring.”
It probably would have helped if he’d bothered to put a top on but he hadn’t. Then again layers did fuck all good for the lack of body heat considering he’d essentially been killed and brought back to some sort of weird undead state. Honestly the less he thought about it the better.
As she began to brush his hair he closed his eyes and just relaxed into the touch, head tipping back a little.
“Sleep is good for that,” he agreed softly. “I am definitely keeping weird hours these days.”
His hair wasn’t that long, it took her only a couple of minutes to brush it but she knew he found his relaxing, and when he tipped his head back she kept going just softly. He was tactile, like Jesse, and being turned into a vampire had limited the amount of physical contact he’d been able to get.
She couldn’t do much for him, but she could do this.
“You should get to know some of Cassidy’s ghost hunter friends,” she said after a moment, “they keep the same weird hours. You might feel less lonely.”
“I’d have to hide the fact that I am now a-” He proceeded to wiggle his fingers and in his best Transylvanian accent got all up in his dramatics, “vampire.”
The simple act of having Kitty brushing his hair and touching him in a way that honestly he hadn’t experienced in a really long time was reassuring and comforting in so many ways that he couldn’t even express it in words.
“Which shouldn’t be a problem provided I’m properly fed and stuff.”
Kitty rolled her eyes. “If Cassidy knows, you can work on other people knowing too. But there are a lot of vampires around that keep it quiet, as do the werewolves. Since you still have a reflection and don’t hiss dramatically whenever you’re near garlic, I think you should be okay.”
She leaned forward and kissed the top of his head, alternating fingers and brush in his hair, bracketing his shoulders with her knees.
“And with- with feeding, you’re doing okay, right?”
“It would really fucking suck if I couldn’t have garlic again,” Warren drawled before his lips curled into a smile when Kitty kissed the top of his hair and replaced bristles with fingers on occasion.
He shrugged. “I think I’m doing okay. I still have some left over from the… supply I brought with me from New York and uh, I mean, there’s always Thirst.”
Cassidy had suggested speaking to Kitty given where she worked but Warren hadn’t got round to it yet.
“There’s someone at the hospital that can help you, too,” Kitty said. She was pretty sure she’d seen vampires heading in and down to the morgue, but she wasn’t sure who it was down there. Maybe one of the morticians. “But Thirst is a safe place and I’m- well, I’m sure there are places we can go that’ll be able to give you some supplies so you don’t always have to visit there. Plus once you get settled, the vampires here will have tricks and tips.”
Watching his shoulders sag as she kept fussing, Kitty didn’t stop. Warren and Jesse were both pretty similar in that sense: touch kept them grounded though it came from very different base needs.
She squeezed his shoulders between his knees.
“I’m glad you came home,” she murmured softly. “I know it’s hard. But you’re still not alone, and now Cass knows the two of us can help you.”
“I met one,” Warren shared. “At Thirst. She seemed pretty cool, definitely didn’t give me psycho vibes and she’s kind of helping me out.” Thirst was a safe place but it also felt weird, feeding on people that were there because they either got paid or they just really enjoyed being fed on by vampires.
He supposed it was something he was going to have to get used to though.
His arms lifted to rest atop of Kitty’s thighs and his hands curled around her knees, squeezing gently. “Yeah, which I appreciate. I’m lucky to have you guys as friends.”
“At least Thirst exists here. And it’s much less seedy than some of the affordable ones in New York,” she pointed out, humming a little as he squeezed her knees. She remembered not long after he turned, when he finally let her see him, he wouldn’t hug her or stand near her at all, afraid of himself, of his strength, of his self control slipping. It was so much better now.
She hummed. “And honestly, if there are people willing to let you feed from them straight from the vein, isn’t that the better source for you anyway?”
“Yeah, it is,” Warren said as he tipped his head back to look up at Kitty. “Just feels… really fucking weird. Like, hi, my name’s Warren and for the next however long I’m just going to suck on your neck and drink your blood.”
His eyes shut again when Kitty’s nails dragged over his scalp.
“I mean, I guess it’s sort of the same as paying for other services?”
“It’s vampiric take out,” Kitty replied. “There’ll be people who get off on it too, if you wanted to make it like, y’know, a massage with a happy ending or whatever. But you’re probably not in the place where you’re comfortable crossing that line. And when you find someone you want to be with - in that way - maybe they can help top you up.”
She nudged the back of his head with her nose before sitting up straight again. “If you’re ever desperate, as long as you accept that Jesse will shout at you for it, I don’t mind helping out. But only when you’re desperate. I know you wouldn’t want to normally. But, like, if we’re trapped in a cave and it’s been three days kind of desperate. Which, if Cassidy lets me drag you along to his cryptid hunt with his friends, might actually end up happening.”
Warren’s cheeks flushed as apparently even undead he could still blush, shock of the century. “Yeah, no. I definitely am keeping sex and feeding very separate. I mean, first of all, I need to be having sex for me to even be thinking about how I mix the two.”
Which he was not and had not for a very, very long time.
“They’re doing what?” He asked, eyebrow lifting. “Seriously? After what just happened? Jesus.”
“Give yourself some time, Warren. In twenty years, a dry spell like this will feel like a week.” Kitty tightened her knees around him again, squeezing his sides a little. “You’re hardly rusty, just need to take some time to be comfortable with you again. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
She clicked her tongue in displeasure, “Yeah, they’re going after the thing in the mines. It’s some kind of bat cryptid, I think Cassidy said. He’ll let me help with the research, and I want to go with them when they actually go into the mines. You never know when a potion or two, or a w-” she cut herself off, cursing internally. She’d done such a good job of not talking about magic near Warren.
She leaned forward again, kissed his shoulder in apology and then slung her arms around his neck in a loose hug. It was natural for her to be tactile with her friends, after growing up with Jesse.
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Warren was quick to reassure, his hand lifting to squeeze her forearm and head turning to press a kiss to her temple. “I don’t want you to feel like you can’t talk about magic or be your authentic self around me, okay?”
He nudged the side of her head with his nose and huffed out a breath.
“I really do not like the thought of either you or Cassidy facing off against some sort of bat cryptid without some sort of supernatural something around. Like me, for example. I might be sort of new to this whole vampire thing but nobody and nothing fucks with my friends while I’m around.”
“I mean I was hoping he’d let me drag either you or Jesse along anyway,” Kitty admitted. “Or at least let me tell Eli where we were going. I don’t- it’s hard enough being somewhere like this when there’s a gathering of people like us for those that aren’t to be safe.”
She just hugged him with her whole body, as best she could.
“I’m glad you’re here, with us, where you belong.”
“Agreed.” Warren reached up with his other hand and soon his arms were braced against hers with both of his hands curled around Kitty’s elbows, grip firm but not too firm.
This was nice, really nice. He’d almost forgotten what easy affection was like. Between Allegra and Kitty he really had no excuse to be lacking in that area of his life now that he was back.
“It’s good to be home,” he said softly. “Even if telling everybody what I am was definitely the least fun thing ever.”
“At least, for the most part,” Kitty pointed out, kissing his temple. “you’re around people you don’t need to hide from.”
Warren hummed in agreement and tipped his head into the kiss on his temple. “Amen to that.” He squeezed Kitty again and relaxed into the easy affection and comfortable company, grateful for good friends.