Red Lightning / (Kas Steddie)

Chapter seven - Trust

A/N: Finally wrote over 2000 words, every other chapter was like 1500 on average. I'm trying to make them longer, so I'm proud of this one <3 Btw no warnings for this chapter except it talks about bl00d a bit so if you're squeamish idk.

As he slowly shifted into consciousness, Steve's eyes blinked open, adjusting to the sunlight pouring into the room. He turned and felt the light dampness of his pillow, still showing signs of his heavy tears the night prior. The most notable sign however was the headache pushing on his eyes, his forehead, and the back of his head. He rolled over again, burying his face into the damp pillow and rubbing his hands over the sore part at the back. They were slightly cold and running his fingers through his hair seemed to soothe it long enough for Steve to remember last night.

The beams of sun peeking through the slits in his blinds was not normally so prevalent on work Mornings, especially in December - he assumed he'd woken up half an hour later than he normally did. That meant his shift started in forty minutes..

Steve quickly jumped up, graceful enough while doing so to hit his head on the wall and trip on his blankets while getting out. He tumbled but caught himself before he fell and made his headache even worse. He went across the hall for a quick shower and sped back to get dressed.

Too shocked and exhausted to put any serious consideration into his outfit, Steve reached into his drawers and dug around for a few seconds. He produced a light yellow polo with white and green stripes, to which he frowned but did nothing to change, and also found a basic pair of light blue jeans. The man quickly rushed to pull the clothes on and snatched his green Family Video vest and a light coat that sat in a pile in in the corner, before finally leaving the room.

Slowly he made his way down the hall towards the living room, partly expecting to find a sleeping Eddie waiting for him. The split second of panic that shook him when he laid his eyes on the empty couch, though, was quickly interrupted by the second wave of it produced by the yelling vampire jumping around the corner.

Eddie grinned wide, his sharp teeth visible behind his blood-spattered lips. He started speaking, Steve leaning against the wall and breathing heavily as he recovered from the shock.

"Sleep well, Harrington?" The man laughed, crossing his arms. "Nice shirt."

Eddie seemed to be in a much better mood - due, Steve guessed, to the fresh blood on his face. Steve felt his stomach start to hurt.

"Shut up, Munson." He said, in response to the shirt comment. "Yeah. It was okay." He lied, obvious by the following yawn. "So when the fuck were you gonna mention you're a morning person now?"

"Suddenly you're not?" The man joked back, tilting his head and slipping his hands into the pockets of his borrowed sweatpants. "Well, didn't sleep so, it's not like there's any huge change to adjust to like there used to be. Besides, already got some food in me so obviously, I'm feeling great."

He spoke quickly in his answer, Steve's half-asleep brain not able to fully form any questions in response. However, at the mention of "food", Steve's eyes flicked down to Eddie's lips. Apparently his feelings were obvious (his knit eyebrows gave him away) and Eddie quickly raised a hand to wipe away the red substance. He smiled as if to say, "you saw nothing."

Steve scrunched his face slightly and nodded, trying not to think about whatever food Eddie had likely found. He set his sights on breakfast, despite his ruined appetite, as he turned and headed towards the stairs. Eddie followed.

After arriving in the kitchen, Steve put a pan on the stove, found the eggs and started cracking two into it. He smiled to himself peacefully and settled into his classic breakfast routine, dropping two pieces of bread into the toaster to his right, and preparing the coffee machine. Then his heart skipped a beat and it felt like he was choking on his own breath when he felt two cold hands wrap themselves around his waist, their sharp fingertips creeping below his waistband and tracing downward along his V-line. Eddie's touch flustered Steve to say the least, causing him to shiver further when he lightly planted a kiss on the back of the man's neck.