Reap the Earth at Which you Stand [boyxboy]

Chapter XXXV

~Thursday 18th January 2018~

Vasile didn't think he could ever forget about his heat. It was ingrained into his mind, the date a constant reminder of the animal he truly was. He experienced such hell every month, he didn't think it would be possible for it to slip his mind. And, yet, it had. Since he had been so preoccupied with ensuring that Dakota was comfortable at Joshua's, or the best that he could hope for anyway, he had simply lost track of the month.

Of course, the thought had crossed his mind when Dakota first came to tell him he would be leaving for two weeks, but he didn't want to burden the boy. He was already fearful enough about their separation, there was no reason Vasile saw to worsen the boy's guilt. He had coped by himself for this long, there was nothing to say that he wouldn't be able to continue as so. Although he did understand Akos' displeasure at the situation.

He had been under the impression that Vasile would have figured out a way to see Dakota, and had been busy enough with monitoring Mylo since he seemed to be worsening by the day with his eating habits. He hadn't been in the best of moods when Vasile had mentioned to Izelon that he would be needing the chains he had left in the man's room from his last heat. There had been an argument, and Vasile had offered to go up to the cabin, but it was Mylo that stopped him. He trusted Vasile, against all other advice, against all the odds, he trusted the man. Vasile only hoped he wouldn't ruin that.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" Izelon inquired as he walked into Vasile's room unannounced, holding a glass of ice water that the man feared for a moment might be thrown at him. Although an effective way to cool him down, it didn't do much for Vasile's temper, and Izelon had received the brunt of that the last few times he thought it would be funny to pull such a trick.

"I got a few hours here and there," Vasile bunched the covers up in his lap, letting out a brief sigh, "I was thinking about him," he glanced to his left, to the framed picture that he had taken of the boy asleep in his bed. He had never been amazing at photography, and Dakota refused so far to allow for a professional shoot, but it was still beautiful, no matter the backlash it got from the boy, who picked out every invisible flaw. If only he drew himself, Vasile had said, he would frame it then. Dakota never agreed, something about needing beauty for inspiration and believing his form held none.

"I don't need the details, thanks," Izelon teased, perching on the edge of the bed at Vasile's hip and handing him the glass of water, "Akos is being twitchy downstairs, he wanted me to check on you. You have to be honest if Mylo is going to stay here, I mean it, Vas, you know Akos has every right to kill you if you hurt him," Vasile had heard that speech more than once over the years. There had been one particular winter, when the snowfall was too much and the roads were closed. Akos couldn't get Mylo up to the cabin, Vasile hadn't been informed they were still there. It had been a moment of weakness, one that left years of self-loathing and disgust, and a nicely sized scar across Vasile's shoulder from where Akos had practically torn his limb from his body. They learnt to communicate better after that incident.

"I know the rules, Mylo's safety comes first," although Vasile's voice held little emotion, he was sincere. Mylo meant everything to his friend, he was practically Vasile's family in a loose sense of the word. He would never do anything to intentionally distress him, physically or emotionally.

"I thought we could go for a run after breakfast, get some of your energy used up-" Izelon babbled on, even though Vasile was barely listening, too lost in the sound of his own blood pumping in his ears, "-need to pick up some new chains since the others are- Vas, are you alright?" Vasile lifted his eyes to meet Izelon's, seeing real concern there, not just the simple worried expression he wore during this time of the month.