The Man With The Gloves (mxmxmxm)

4. Zephyr's lovers

"Nice people are the dangerous ones. They threaten the whole structure, shake the fortress. (...) The least breath of wind, the smallest dizzy spell, could make her collapse. She has reached the point of fragility, of disequilibrium, at which things lose their meaning, their proportion. With this degree of vulnerability, the tiniest detail is capable of engulfing her in joy or destroying her." (Delphine de Vigan, Underground Time)

It was funny how yesterday sounded so far away, was Fayez's first thought, as he opened his eyes with great difficulty.

Yesterday, he had gone to bed with newfound resolution. He had managed to convince himself that he was on a mission, and that he wasn't going to let a bunch of supernatural brats intimidate him. After all, being around other people couldn't be such a big deal. Sure, he wasn't used to communautary life, but, as his father constantly reminded him, he was strong, powerful and clever. There was little doubt in Fayez's mind that he was going to be one of the best students the ISB ever had !

That was yesterday's thinking. Today, he was feeling grumpy because of lack of sleep, and he wanted nothing more than stay in bed and pretend he was the only creature left on Earth.

He had to put his alarm clock at 6 am. Fucking 6 am. In his parents' castle, only the servants ever woke up this early!

What's worse, nobody was going to bring him his breakfast in bed. He had to get up, get dressed and wander in this gloomy castle in search for a common area where he wasn't even sure he would get something decent to eat.

That was it. He wasn't going downstairs to get some breakfast. This way, he would still have another hour of relative freedom before he had to go to the Common Hall, as Helmut had instructed him yesterday.

Helmut. The guy seemed so nice and confident, he probably had many friends here. No doubt that he was just doing what he had been told , when he had helped Fayez find his way in the castle yesterday. Fayez didn't think he would get another chance to talk to him again.

Well, it didn't matter. What matters was the here and now. As he still had another hour left before he had to go downstairs, he knew he should use his extra free time the best way he could think of.

Yes, exactly. He was going back to sleep.

******

When Fayez woke up again, it seemed like hardly ten minutes had passed, and he wasn't feeling any better. Someone was banging on his door, and the sound itself was enough to worsen his growing headache.

"Fayez! What the fuck are you doing? You're going to be late on your first day! Trust me, we're not in high school anymore and it won't make you look cool"

Helmut! Despite what he had told himself about not needing friends, hearing the young man's voice was enough to make Fayez jump excitedly from his bed.

When he opened the door, Helmut smiled at him. However, as he looked closely at the tired-looking vampire, his expression turned grim.

"You look like shit"

"Yeah, I didn't get much sleep"

"No, but you look really bad" Helmut insisted, taking a step further to get a better look at Fayez's face. "You look... you look like you got wasted, then fell into a bucket of icy water, then banged your head against a wall, then tripped over a -"

"Jeez, I get it already, thank you very much" Fayez interrupted him, pouting like a child, all thoughts about looking tough and cold long forgotten. "Now I'm starting to feel self-conscious"

"Don't be" Helmut winked at him. "You still look very edible."

Helmut started laughing as a now blushing Fayez closed the door in his face, muttering something about needing to get changed.