wrong place Who: december and mannix Where: her office When: just after dark Warnings: not quite nsfw
As soon as the sun sank behind the trees, Mannix was out of the house, heading down to the hospital. He hated waiting so long to check on his brother, but burning up in the sun wouldn’t do either of them any good. When he arrived, Jack was asleep or unconscious, but his heart sounded good and he was breathing solidly. It was enough to calm Mannix’s nerves for the time being, so he scribbled down a note, just in case he woke, and wandered down to the morgue.
“You in?” he called out as he opened the door. It always smelled cleaner than he expected, like disinfectant rather than decay. There was a hint of blood, but nothing like he’d experienced in the rest of the hospital. The bodies that came into the morgue didn’t tend to bleed all over the floor. December had been busy. Mostly, she was winding up helping the mortician with embalming and the like, because there were just far too many corpses to process all at once. So, she’d taken on that role because autopsying people that were clearly mauled to death by rogue wolves was a waste of time, but that didn’t mean they didn’t need tending to. So, she was helping. It just took a long ass time.
When she heard Mannix, she looked up, and gave a half smile. “Hey.” she greeted. Probably the warmest greeting in a long while between them, due to circumstances. But it lacked any sarcasm, bite, or anything else. In fact, she was glad to see him. “How’s your brother?”
“Hey,” he said, giving her a small smile in return as he walked on into the morgue, letting the door shut behind him. The last few days had given him a lot to think about, more than he liked really. He might be invincible, but no one else was. And he definitely didn’t have all the answers. Life had been simpler outside the dome. Simpler, but it was still up in the air on if it was better. “He’s doing okay. Unconscious at the moment. Or sleeping. He lost a lot of blood and... well, they’re not really sure how he’s alive, but he is, and they think he’s going to pull through.”
"Glad to hear it." December said. She'd been dealing with enough corpses to be glad anyone survived anything. Though she did hear there were quite a few people who did. "So, this might be disgusting, but I saved some blood for you--from one of the stiffs. Might as well check and see if you can get sustenance from blood from a body, right?" she suggested.
Just the idea turned his stomach, but he wasn’t sure if that was the vampire in him or the human. “I guess it’s worth a shot,” he said, though the disgust was written all over his face. Something about it reminded him of rotting meat. “If it works, maybe just don’t tell me it’s from a body next time,” he said with a little laugh.
December was assuming he'd be able to tell, but maybe not. What did she know? She pointed to the cooler. "In there. Sorry if it sucks." she told him. She just really wanted to come up with some proper solution to things. She wanted to not worry about Mannix getting himself fed without hurting anyone. So, it meant she'd attempt to think outside the box.
“I appreciate you thinking of me,” Mannix said, flashing her a smile as he walked over to the cooler. Opening it up, it looked like normal blood. Perhaps if he didn’t know it had come from a dead body, then he could drink it without issue. That would solve so many problems. He turned the bag over in his hands a few times before shrugging an opening the end. “Here goes,” he muttered, then took a sip. He wasn’t even able to swallow once before he began to gag, rushing to the sink to spit it out. “Nope,” he gasped, putting his mouth under the faucet to get a sip of water. Blood from a dead body was a no-go.
Wincing a little, she made a face. "Sorry." she said. "Guess that would have been too easy." The universe didn't like any of them that much. She sighed, and stepped away from the body on the table, letting the embalming process start. Taking off her gloves, she washed her hands, then looked back to him. “How are you, on blood?”
Mannix washed his mouth out one more time before he turned back to her, smiling like nothing had happened even if he hadn’t gotten the taste completely out. “Thanks for trying. It would’ve been nice if it worked.” Maybe he could stomach it if he was starving, but Mannix didn’t ever want to get to that point. “I’m okay, I guess,” he said, leaning back against the counter. “Mickey let me drink from him the other day, which was interesting. It’s the next few days, or weeks I’m worried about. Jack can’t donate, so my list is shorter than I expected.”
Going into her office, she left the door open for him while she dropped down onto the couch. "He let you? And interesting...?" she prompted. It was hard for her to picture. Mannix and Mickey didn't really get along, but apparently they were hanging out? Or...something?
“I was drunk. He offered and I took him up on it,” Mannix grinned, shaking his head to himself. It was ridiculous, really. He wasn’t even sure how it had happened at this point, but what mattered was the result. Mannix had gotten fed and learned something about himself in the process. “Jack was there to make sure I stopped,” he said, sitting down on the couch next to her. “Turns out people enjoy being bitten. Or at least Mickey did.”
December blinked. "Enjoy." she repeated. "Like, yay ice cream enjoy or...what are we talking about here?" she asked. She had a sneaking suspicion this was going to turn into an Anne Rice novel or something, but didn't say that. Instead she was looking at that grin Mannix had on his face and thinking that filled in blanks pretty well on it's own.
“My guess is that he’d ‘ve eventually gotten off on it, but he said stop and Jack pulled the cord, then Mickey ran off shortly after. I really don’t blame him,” Mannix said, amusement in his eyes. Mickey had every reason to hate him for it, except that Mannix had no idea that that would happen. “I won’t be feeding from him again. Or any guy, at least not from the source.”
And December wished she could take that question back, because she really didn't need to know that Mannix was possibly nearly making Mickey cream himself. While apparently his brother 'pulled the cord' whatever that meant. She'd been suggesting that he set things up to do things safely and all that, but still. This sounded...like a scenario she didn't want to picture too much yet couldn't actually stop herself from doing. "The look in your eyes says otherwise. And that you're thinking this is pretty damn amusing." she pointed out.
“Okay, well, maybe we’ve considered making it an added service at the brothel, but more around when someone’s already there, with one of our girls,” Mannix said. He didn’t like the idea of guys getting off on him, but didn’t mind being fed on a regular basis. “And yeah, it’s fucking funny, but only because it was an accident. I swear to God I wouldn’t have put Mickey through that if I’d have known what was going to happen. I’m not that cruel.”
"And yet the 'hee hee funny!' eyes." December said, rolling her own. "So is he going to have a complex now? Is that why he was being extra bitchy towards the end of the hunt?" she asked. Because it wasn't like she hadn't noticed.
“Hell if I know. I saw him after that, before we met up with you, and everything seemed cool. Or as cool as things get with me and Mickey. I’m not sure what crawled up his ass there at the end of the hunt.” Mannix just assumed it was part of Mickey’s sunny disposition.
"Right." December said, figuring there'd be issues now. She sighed, and leaned back against the pillow propped against the arm of the couch. "Anyway. So I guess yay you aren't going to be finding people screaming in terrible pain or anything."
“It makes things easier, but I’ve still got to be willing to tell them what I am before I can feed,” he pointed out, leaning in towards her as he propped up his elbow on the back of the couch. “And until I can completely control myself, I can’t do it unsupervised. You were right in telling me to play it safe.”
"Yeah?" she asked. "Why, what happened? You mentioned your brother and a cord or something...I don't really need specifics, mind." she told him before he got too overboard with the information. She didn't need a clearer mental image.
“Mickey said stop and I didn’t stop,” he said, leaving it as vague as he possibly could. “It was like I didn’t even hear him. My brother pulled me off him. His arm. Not his neck.” Okay, so he wasn’t vague, but he didn’t like the idea of her thinking he’d bitten Mickey’s neck. That was just... too much, even for him.
That...wasn't good to hear. At all. That showed in the little frown on her lips. "Not good." she said. "So do you figure it's going to be like that every time?" she asked. It would explain why there were drained corpses before. If stopping wasn't seeming like the thing to do while someone was in the act, then...yeah. It made sense. Just not happy sense.
“I don’t know,” Mannix sighed, not surprised by her expression. He was feeling the same way about it. “If it’s anything like the fangs, then there’s an element of control that comes with practice, except practicing is a little more difficult. It probably didn’t help that I hadn’t had anything since the blood you gave me.” Which he’d drained in a similar fashion.
"Probably." December said, hoping that was the case. That it was because he was hungry, not because it was going to be a continued theme. She didn't know, though. She just hoped that things could get under control of some description. "So...what's your next move then?" she asked.
“I guess I’ll have to find a girl at the brothel who’s willing to let me bite her. Get some practice in and see if it’s something I can harness. If not, I’ll have to stick to the bags.” It was better drinking from the source, he’d figured that out immediately, and that likely contributed to the difficulty in stopping. If things were different, if he knew he could stop... “Would you ever consider it?”
"I'd say bags, until you have someone who can stop you again. Your brother's here, so...yeah. Bag it for now." she advised. Then she chewed at her lower lip, eyeing him. "I don't know." she said honestly. "Why?"
She was right. Without Jack, he wouldn’t be biting anyone, though if he ever had the opportunity to bite December, he didn’t want his brother to be there for it. “Because...” he said, pausing as he tried to put his finger on the why. It wasn’t because he wanted to drink her blood, even though he did. This was something else. “I think you’re one of the few people I would enjoy biting.”
This was a weird conversation to be in. She wasn't exactly sure how to take it. And at first, she didn't answer at all, merely watching him as he spoke. "Do you like it? Biting someone." she asked eventually, voice possibly a notch quieter than before.
He’d only bitten one person as a vampire, which made her question a bit more difficult to answer. Mannix had liked biting Mickey, but not for the same reasons that he could see himself liking it with December. Those were two different types of hunger in his eyes. “I do,” he said softly, the volume of his voice dropping to match her own. “I did before I was a vampire, but I wouldn’t have broken the skin. Now, if my fangs are out, it’s hard not to.”
At his mention of liking to bite people pre-vamping, there was a little smirk that lit her features for a heartbeat. "I can't say I'm not a biter myself." she admitted. She extended her leg to nudge his knee slightly. "But anyway, you like it now." she continued. "And you would like biting me. You've already tasted my blood. Out of curiosity, do you think you'd remember the taste?"
He raised a brow at her admission, a little smirk tugging at his lips. He liked the idea of her biting him almost as much as he wanted to bite her. It was only too bad that she couldn’t leave a mark. “Do you like to receive, or just give?” he asked, knee brushing back against hers. “Positive I’d remember, both with and without the hint of wine.”
"It was good wine." December said, smirking. "And I like both. But I do have certain...likes." she admitted. "And all blood doesn't taste the same, then?" she asked, honestly curious on that, too. Plus she should probably stop inching toward that line of flirting with him.
“I would have enjoyed sharing it with you,” he pointed out with a grin. “And what might those be?” He couldn’t help but ask. Some girls liked biting, but didn’t want to be bitten back. He’d learned that the hard way. December, though... she never stopped being interesting. “I’m still learning, but no, it doesn’t all taste the same. It’s been different for each person, and different when it’s from the vein versus bottled.”
She kept smirking at him. "I'll just bet you would have enjoyed sharing it." she said. "And hm. How about you guess, and if you're right, I'll confirm it." she suggested. "And that's interesting. Weird, but interesting. I assume it's better from the vein."
“I recently learned it’s a bad idea to drink alone,” he teased, making fun of himself after an incident they would both clearly remember. Or really, she might remember better than him. He had text evidence where his brain was fuzzy on the details. “Okay, well... I’d guess you like a little bit of pain with your pleasure. Maybe you’d enjoy being tied up. If so, with handcuffs or rope. I don’t see you as the silk scarves type.” Or maybe that was just all a fantasy that was forming in his mind. “It’s been better from the vein so far,” he confirmed. “Which is why it’s worth the effort to learn control.”
December had to laugh at his jab at himself. And when he went on to make his guess, she shook her head, amused. "So, that was kind of scarily accurate." she told him. "Though maybe more than just a 'little' pain." she added. "And yeah I'm sure." she added. "And you have your sights set on me."
“Knowing you were a biter helped put me on track,” he grinned, pleased that he’d guessed correctly. And a little surprised. Pleasantly surprised, but still surprised. “How much more pain?” he asked, just to be sure he understood. Her observation earned a soft laugh. “That’s been true since before I became a vampire.”
"That's for me to know." she told him, with a bit of an evil grin. She wasn't going to spell it out for him right now, she was betting his imagination would be just fine with trying to work that out. "Yeah, but now, you want my blood from my vein." she said. "Do you think about it? Has that crossed your mind before? Have you pictured it?"
And for me to find out. She’d given him enough for his imagination to run wild and his answering smirk said as much. Someday he hoped to become intimately familiar with the details, but right now she was drawing his attention to another desire he had, one he wasn’t as eager to admit. “Yes,” he admitted quietly, eyes meeting hers.
December wondered if he'd make eye contact, and was impressed when he did. She sat up a little better, holding onto that eye contact herself. "And what is it that you picture?" she asked, voice volume lowering to match his.
If she was imagining it was something tame, then she had him all wrong. His dirty little fantasy had only been made worse upon learning that she would enjoy his bite. He hadn’t expected to tell her about it, though. Mannix licked his lips. “Licking the blood off your thighs as I finger you. Or biting your tits as I fuck you,” he said, holding her gaze as his hand moved to rest on her thigh. “You’d taste your blood on my lips. I’d avoid the neck. Too much blood.”
She had expected something slightly less to the point, though she had to admit, she liked that it wasn't. There was just the hint of color to her cheeks for a second, mostly because she couldn't help but picture it while he said it. And it was not a bad picture at all. Not even a little bit. "Interesting." she voiced, knowing she needed to respond in some fashion here. She couldn’t just be wrapped up in the idea of the moment, even if her heart had sped up a little.
Mannix was aware of the fact that his answer was highly inappropriate, but she’d asked for it. Rather than shy away and give a vague answer, he’d gone for it, and earned a slight blush in response, as well as an increase in heart rate. They were little things, but they were the kind of things he noticed. “Just interesting?” he asked, leaning a little closer. “I take it you’re not completely opposed then?”
"Everyone has their buttons, don't they?" she posed in return. And it was possible he'd found the right one to push there. She wasn't going to outright admit that he'd caught her interest, but she was guessing he could tell anyhow. She just wasn't going to say it.
“They do,” he agreed. His own had changed slightly since becoming a vampire. He wasn’t sure he would have brought blood into the equation as a human, not like he wanted to now, but he’d always liked things rough. It was just too bad he didn’t have control yet. “There’s a lot I can do without biting,” he reminded her darkly before grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her against him, lips crushing against hers.
December hadn't been expecting that. Not even a little bit, honestly. They were flirting, heavily, yes. But she didn't expect him to just grab her and pull her in. She made a little surprised sound when he did, though found herself kissing him back in short order. After all, it wasn't as if she wasn't attracted to him at all. She was. She'd just been repressing that as much as she could lately. Til today, apparently.
Mannix knew he was taking a chance, that this could go very poorly. He’d kissed her once, but that was before he was a vampire, before she’d been attacked by one, and before she’d slept with Mickey. She had a handful of reasons to tell him to stop, and he would have respected that, but he couldn’t let the moment pass again. He kept hold of her wrist as her urged her closer, other hand on her hip, but his main focus was on kissing her. He was so pleased that he found himself smiling into the kiss, urging her mouth open with his own, wanting as much of her as he could take.
December was wrapped up in the moment, complying when he pulled her closer, when he deepened the kiss. She reached up and threaded her fingers through his hair slightly--to grip it tight after a moment. She didn't pull him away with her hold on him there, she just made it known she could.
He didn’t mind the hold on his hair, enjoyed it in fact, so long as December didn’t decide to rip it out completely. Mannix released her wrist so that both hands could slide up her sides, once over her t-shirt, then again beneath it. She was so warm it took him by surprise, forgetting how cold he could get until he had someone to compare to.
Getting wrapped up in the moment was something December sometimes had difficulty doing. She got in her own way sometimes, overthinking things, or letting other stuff bother her just enough to not get swept away. But Mickey had managed to do it when they'd been at her house, and Mannix was managing it now, despite the fact she was at work. She really loved the feel of his hands on her skin, and she broke the kiss to leave little bites at his neck, not even thinking about other implications there.
Mannix, on the other hand, was extremely good at getting wrapped up in the moment. Once he had December’s attention, he didn’t care where they were or what might be going on around them. She’d been in his thoughts for far too long for him to think of anything else at the moment. He groaned as she bit him, exposing more of his neck to her to do as she pleased, while he was busy trying to get her hoodie off at least. It dropped to the floor and his hands slid back under her shirt, up along her back, feeling the ribbons there. His fingers plucked each piercing as he wondered to himself how that might feel. Then he grabbed the ribbon at the bottom and gave a tug.
She liked the sound of his groan, most certainly. She liked that she was getting that from him with a bite. And she might have continued that, but then he found the ribbons. And pulled them. The reaction was immediate and very strong, her whole frame seeming to be shot through with electricity for a moment as she drew in a sharp gasp, a sound escaping her to match it. "Do that again," she demanded, slightly more prepared for it this time, but still.
For a second there, Mannix thought he’d hurt her in a bad way, but her request for more indicated the exact opposite. His fingers slid into the ribbons, grabbing several of them at once, and pulled again, watching her expression with a smirk. “Like that?” he asked, his free hand pushing her skirt up her thighs. He’d never met a girl with piercings like Decembers, and though he’d played with them the last time he’d kissed her, he hadn’t imagined the possibilities they might present.
She wasn't able to keep eye contact, with the pull, her eyes squeezing shut as she arched her back, making another gasped moan. "What do you think?" she ground out, reaching up to grab a handfull of his shirt, pulling him back to kiss him again. A hard, bruising kiss.
Now that he’d seen her reaction, Mannix couldn’t keep his hands off the ribbons, plucking one after another as he kissed her. He grinned into the kiss, enjoying it’s intensity as well as the hint of blood in the mix. Hers or his, he couldn’t tell, though likely his fangs were to blame. At some point they’d descended, but he hadn’t noticed, focused instead on pulling December into his lap.
She wound up in his lap, amongst sharper gasps at the ribbon play. She opened her mouth and caught the flash of fang, just a moment, and she stopped, eyes landing on them. She wasn't scared, or anything, that wasn't what was going on. She did reach up, putting her palm to his cheek, and she used her thumb to push his lower lip down slightly so she could see one of them better.
Mannix wasn’t sure why she’d stopped, not at first, but figured it out as soon as her attention turned to his fangs. He pushed his tongue up against one, the sharp point of it drawing blood. Damn it. It wasn’t like he was hungry, so why the hell were they out now? “I won’t bite you,” he said as his hands slid up her thighs beneath her skirt, settling on the curve of her ass. “Not yet.”
She saw the blood drawn there, and wondered if it was going to get her regardless of his assurance. "'Yet'," she said, ticking her gaze to his eyes. "Meaning you fully plan to do so at some point." she pointed out, brushing her thumb across his bottom lip.
His eyes held hers as he bit her thumb, his front teeth catching her skin rather than his fangs. Mannix wasn’t going to even try to deny it, not when she already knew that biting her was a fantasy of his. He wasn’t sure how the two got so combined, blood and sex, but now it was difficult to separate the two. “If you’ll let me,” he muttered, then nipped again at her thumb.
She couldn't deny that part of her was curious. Especially knowing the effect it had. So yes. There was a part of her that couldn't help but wonder what it was like, She drifted in closer, focus on his lips, mouth. "You're kinda dying to, aren't you." she murmured.
If he’d been confident in his control, he wouldn’t have even hesitated to bite her. He knew they’d both enjoy it, but the thought that he’d drink too much and not realize it was enough to keep him at bay. He would learn control, though, and when he did he planned on taking advantage of December in every way possible. “Yes,” he smirked, biting again as he pulled her body closer to his, this time grazing her thumb with his fang.
She felt that scrape of fang, and wondered just how strong the pull was for him. After all, he was playing with fire. He did have fangs after all. It would take very little pressure to puncture the skin. Just a little push on her part would do it, even. Her mind was racing along other lines too. Like wondering what he would give to get to. Not removing her thumb, she moved closer again, and kissed his neck, grazing her teeth against his skin, of course.
When she was this close, there was a definite struggle, especially when he could already taste her skin. It made Mannix glad that he’d fed recently; if he’d been as desperate for blood as he’d been when Mickey approached him, Mannix didn’t think he’d be able to handle the position he’d put himself in. Instead, there was just the challenge, knowing that if he broke the skin, he’d have more work on his part, but he’d also get to taste her. His eyes closed as her attention turned to his neck and he gave in, biting down just hard enough to draw blood. Perhaps, if he was lucky, she’d do the same. The taste hit his tongue and he moaned softly, but didn’t move his hands from her ass, granting her the ability to pull away if she wanted to.
December didn’t know if she was surprised or not. But there was that little bit of pressure, resistance, then pop against her flesh, and the first thing that she noticed about it was that it didn’t hurt. Not even a little bit. In fact, it felt nice, something that had her pressing in toward his fang a little more, seeking more of that. She was aware distantly that she should be more careful, but in the heat of the moment it was hard to really go with that. It had her biting harder at his neck too, just because.
It was just a little bit of blood, not a full on bite like the sort he’d given Mickey, but enough to get him going. The biggest difference was that he had something else to distract him-- December in his lap, biting at his neck, a desire that was about as strong as the taste for blood itself. Mannix sucked the blood off her thumb as he ground his hips up against hers, growling softly as she bit him. “Harder,” he muttered, moving one hand up her back to find the ribbons again and give them a tug.
That was a command that was hard to miss and she complied, biting at him harder. Harder than she probably would normally have allowed herself, since he was a vampire and all and she was guessing he could take it. Plus, if he couldn't she knew he'd stop her anyhow, so there was that. It was also even a little harder due to her reaction to the pull to her ribbons, which also had her grinding back against him.
He groaned louder this time, not used to being bitten so hard. A wound on the neck was something he would’ve avoided in the past, but that wasn’t a concern anymore. Instead, he could just enjoy the pain, a nice counter to the taste of her blood and the pressure of her grinding against him. His fingers moved up her ribbons, giving them another pull as his other hand slid around the front of her thigh, down between her legs. He wanted to get rid of her underwear at some point, all her clothes in fact, but for now he could settle for teasing her.
His louder groan had her loving it and at the same time reminding her of something rather important - she was at work. She was about to say something about it when he pulled her ribbons again, and she gave a little moan, and then he was touching her which stole her breath. She rested her forehead against his, not stopping or pulling away, but she did manage at least to sort of get her thought out. "I'm...at work."
Mannix gave her thumb a hard suck before he released it, trying to find his focus as he caught his breath. He could still taste her blood, but now he could practically smell her desire, and her words were contradicting everything he wanted at the moment. “I can be quiet,” he said, almost laughing at the thought. He didn’t want to be quiet, and he definitely didn’t want her to be quiet, but he hated the idea of stopping.
December had to give a little laugh. "Yeah, I don't think I can be." she admitted. Not with how things were going. She was more than willing to bet he was going to be very good at hitting all the right buttons.
“I don’t really want you to be,” Mannix smirked, his fingers continuing to tease her as he tried to decide how serious she was about stopping. He’d never been in a job where he couldn’t have sex wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted, but hers was a bit more professional. And if there was one thing he’d noticed, it was that December took her job seriously. “You really don’t want to break in this sofa?”
"'Want' and 'Can' are different things," she said, after another soft moan. "Because god yes, I want to. But yeah. I'm here, I'm at work, this is a morgue. Which is used everytime someone drops, which could technically be at any given moment..." She really didn't want to stop. But she was aware she should.
He kept thinking about the last time he’d let her go, how long he’d had to wait before he got another chance. But that time she’d been teasing, and he’d let her play hard to get. This time was different, her reasoning the sort he couldn’t argue with. He just couldn’t decide if he cared enough to stop. If it was just him, hell no, but he did care about what she thought. Mannix groaned in frustration and leaned in to nibble on her neck, just barely remembering he couldn’t do that with his fangs. “How pissed will you be if I push you back on the couch and have my way with you anyways?”
She heard him with the frustration. "I know." she told him, with feeling. "Trust me, I know." When he nibbled at her neck, she shivered, knowing his fangs were right there. Knowing that her curiosity could be satisfied...but she honestly wasn't even sure she was ever going to let him. Just in the heat of the moment, it seemed like such a good idea...
But she was at work. And she did actually take her work seriously, and didn't trust any other po-dunk jackass they dug up to do her job. She didn't think there was anyone else out there, but she couldn't be sure, and she didn't want to be enough of a bitch to pull the 'well you have no one else, deal with my screamingly loud sex life in my office during normal hours' bullshit. ...but still. Did she ever not want to be responsible. "Pissed isn't the word. Fired is, though."
Mannix sighed and removed his hand from between her legs, his fingers tracing down the inside of her thigh before settling on her knee. “I suppose that’s what I get for starting something while you’re at work,” he smiled, sitting back on the couch and looking back at her. He was trying to let it go, even while his entire body was tense, still hoping for something he’d decided to deny himself. His eyes held hers, enjoying the look of her on his lap, thoroughly kissed, a little color in her cheeks. Reaching out, he took her hand in his, looking at her thumb. “Does it hurt?” he asked, brushing his thumb over the wound.
She shook her head. "No." she answered. "Though, to be fair, pain doesn't quite read the same to me as other people a lot of the time." she added. "But the simple answer is no. You did okay. No blood lust or anything. Sure, it was just a nick and whatever, but still. No rawr out of you that wasn't of a very different nature entirely."
“Well, it wasn’t a lot of blood,” Mannix said thoughtfully. “Or a full bite. And I’ve fed recently.” He wouldn’t have even attempted to bite her if he was really hungry. There might always be a risk involved, but he didn’t want to push it. “Sorry about the fangs, though. I’m still learning what triggers them.” It was usually the smell of blood or the desire to feed, but this time he had no explanation.
"It's okay. I know what you are. It isn't like you have to hide it or anything." December told him, at least wanting to put that out there. She didn't expect him to try and pretend like he wasn't one, or hide the fangs, or whatever. She accepted his state of being.
That was more reassuring than he expected. He’d been working hard not to be a threat, which already went against everything he was used to and had become more difficult with the vampire aspects in play. He still remembered her reaction the night he’d changed and didn’t want a repeat of that experience. “Thank you,” he said with a little smile, hands sliding over the outside of her skirt as they moved back to her hips, pulling her closer. “I think I might actually enjoy them once I learn to control myself with them.”
"That doesn't surprise me." December said with a little smirk. "I could very much see that. It fits you, in a fucked up, hey I still can't believe this is my life sort of way." she admitted. "And hopefully that'll be sooner than later."
“It’s a lot less fucked up than it used to be,” he pointed out with a grin. It said a lot about his former life, considering he was currently a vampire who owned a brothel. “But yeah, hopefully sooner, rather than later, but I need Jack back home first.” He hadn’t figured out a way to really learn how to feed without a third party intervening. Now that he knew how addictive it could be from both sides, he definitely needed that.
"Depends on your definition of 'fucked up'." December noted, amused. "After all, zombies--yep. Totally fucked up. But I'm sitting on a vampire's lap. So, there's that." she told him. "How is he, anyway? You going to go see him? How close is he to getting back home?" Then she smirked. “And you realize you said ‘home’ right? Like you live here. You aren’t just stopping through.”
“A different kind of fucked up then,” he snickered. “Maybe even a good kind.” Because he wasn’t going to complain about her sitting on his lap, no matter what he was. He enjoyed her company, even if he wasn’t screwing her, which said a lot for him. “I’m going by there when I leave here. He’s in pretty bad shape, but they think he’s going to pull through. I don’t know when they’ll let him go, but I think their definition of when they’d let him go and when Jack will march his ass home is completely different.” From what he knew of his brother, Jack would leave the hospital as soon as he was physically capable of doing so. “Did I?” he asked, raising a brow. “I guess I did. Again, just now. It’s weird, having a home. But kinda nice.”
She laughed a little. "Yeah I could see both of you being that type. Technically, I was too. I had to be sent home forcibly." she recalled. Micah had made sure she wasn't coming in. Which had been annoying, but she had to admit he'd been right. Then she nodded. "You did. And I hope it's nice. You're stuck here."
“I don’t think I’ll ever have to worry about being hospitalized again,” he said. “I think I’m at a point where I’m either good as gold or completely dead, but I guess we’ll see.” She was right, though. He would be just like Jack, eager to get out of the hospital as soon as possible. “I don’t mind being stuck here. I was worried I’d get bored. Stir crazy. But the hunt helped with that. I hope you’ll call me next time you feel like going.” He’d enjoyed the hunting, more than he knew how to say. It was the rush he’d been missing and he knew, if he could do that on a regular basis, he’d be fine to hang around a while.
"I will." December said. At least, she figured she would. They'd done well together. She had to work out how to do things. She'd hunted well with Serge as well. And Mickey was damn good, of course, but he'd been pretty twitchy last time. She didn't want to disclude anyone, really. Just getting the kinks worked out would probably be a challenge. "Now you should probably get out of here before anyone walks in." she added, reluctantly sliding off his lap.
“Damn,” Mannix sighed, watching her with a small smirk as she slid off his lab and fixed her skirt. If only she wasn’t at work... he would have made use of the couch and maybe even her desk. At least he wasn’t the only one left frustrated. Mannix climbed to his feet, then stepped up close to her, wrapping an arm around her waist as he pulled her against him. “Enjoy the rest of your evening then,” he said, then kissed her hard, something to think about after he was gone.
That was a fun exit. She didn't mind that he pulled her in to kiss her, especially like that. She returned it, knowing it certainly wasn't going to help the frustration factor, but it was still fun, none the less. "You too." she told him when the kiss broke off, and she smiled at him.
While he didn’t think it was going to get better than this, Mannix figured it was a pretty good start to the night. He grinned as he released her, slowly making his way to the door and enjoying the look on her face. “See you around, December,” he said, giving her one last grin before he disappeared out the door.