When Secrets Run Out

Care and Joy

Oliver's POV

   When I wake up, I feel a damp cloth on my forehead. Opening my eyes is a struggle and when I do I'm taken aback at how... plain the world looks.

   There's some color shades that I can't see anymore. White noises that I had gotten used to, now gone. For a second, I close my eyes back again, and let myself, if only for the brier fest of moments, mourn.

    For many lives I have roamed this earth as a Vampire, someone that was stuck in a perpetual limbo, waiting for the key to my to set me free.

   And he's done that in way I never even considered. He's free me in ways I never thought I could be.

   So with my eyes closed, I say goodbye. Goodbye to my speed, and hearing, and agility, and all my enhanced abilities. But I also say goodbye to solitude. To misery. To loneliness. And instead, I want to welcome love and happiness so I can finally get the ending I've always dreamt of.

   When my eyes open this time, I don't think of the colors I miss, but rather focus on Elijah, my love sitting next to me diligently as I rest and recover.

    "You must be bored out of your mind." I tell him and he jumps a bit before his worried face breaks out into a smile.

     "No. I was thinking." He tells me with a smile and I nod before coughing, my lungs feeling raw and heavy in my chest, the need for oxygen unsettling. "How do you feel." Elijah asks me after a while, the now warm cloth being replaced by his hand on my cheek.

     "Human. It's quite disturbing and very disorienting. However, I have not a single regret and I would do it again. I've never been happier than I am now, as a human." I confess though the words burn to voice.

     He smiles but doesn't say anything for a moment before he studies my face, his hand traveling to my stomach to grab mine.

    "I love you." He tells me, and the joy that I felt earlier doesn't compare in the slightest to the pure feeling of spiritual bliss that I feel with Elijah by my side. "I know that you gave up a lot for me, and I promise to make it feel worth it every day." He swears to me solemnly, but I smile, raising my own hand to touch his face.

     "My dear, Elijah. You already do. I love you more than there are stars in the sky." I tell him, and I watch as his eyes fill with tears before he leans down and presses his lips to mine passionately until I'm gasping for breath, something I've never had to do.

     "I guess I'm going to have to teach you to be human." He tells me with a watery chuckle and I smile sheepishly.

     "I may not be the easiest student." I confess, recalling the countless teachers and Masters that I've called upon to guide me through the years. He laughs joyously, his eyes sparkling behind his glasses beautifully.

     "It's okay. We have our whole lives together to figure it out." He tells me, and this time when he comes in for a kiss, I don't come up for air for a long time.

✨✨✨

    It's been almost a month since I gave up my power and Immortality, and Elijah has kept his promise. I haven't regretted it once.

   Well, not on a serious note.

   "I swear, Elijah. If this is your attempt at a joke, it's not funny." I tell my lover, his face the picture of amusement as he sits on the counter and waits for me to open the sauce jar.

    "Your english is getting better. And I told you I didn't super glue it! Magic made you weak." He tells me, sticking out his tongue, and I set the jar down to lunge at him, but he jumps down from the counter before I can touch him. I groan and flip on the couch dramatically like Elijah likes to do in game night.

     "This body sucks!" I call out to the ceiling and he laughs, the two of us knowing it's the loss of my powers thats really been the issue. Since we've bonded a month ago, we've moved all of Elijah's belongings here with the help of Eve and her Bond who both found my mortality adorable.

     It's been two weeks since Elijah's been officially moved in, three since he went back to work.

    While he's gone during the day, he tells me about one thing in the city or at home that I should go do or experience to catch me up to speed in the world. Because I actually have one now.

    Today, I'm trying to open spaghetti sauce jars, and after two minutes of trying, I'm pretty sure Elijah is playing a prank on me. I learned that concept by watching reality shows. Apparently the TV Eve made me install had all types of channels on there.

    "Hey." I turn my head to see Elijah standing over the back of the couch smiling down at me, his hand reaching down to touch my face. "I love you." He tells me, and just like that very first time, I can't help but smile.

    "I love you, too." I tell him sweetly. "Now open the damn jar." I say, trying my hand at modern phrasing, and Elijah laughs, but nods, his amusement and joy in my learning process the only good thing to it.

    Elijah. My silver lining.

~~~~~~~~~~~
This book is going to be over in like two chapters. I thought about having them go on a trip, but i'm ready to be done with this book.

Thoughts?

Comments?

QOTD: What pizza roll flavor is your favorite?