Blood Bound

Chapter 4

*June 18, 1852; 21:30*

By nightfall, Amell had returned home to notice a slightly groggy male standing in his dining hall. "Good evening, Liam." He couldn't help the small chuckle building as the black-haired male yawned while trying to hide it with a hand.

"Evening, how was work?" Liam's question was meant to be nothing but polite, but it got the vampire to stutter in his walking.

He hummed lightly, acting as if it were in thought before answering, "Work went well. Did you have a nice day? Were you treated well by the castle?" He couldn't help but joke a little; there was no one but them two in the castle.

"I ended up sleeping most of the day because I felt odd wandering the halls while you were away if I am to be honest," Liam said, gaining a couple of blinks from Amell for a moment.

"You slept, all day? Had you not slept last night? Was the wind too loud against your window? Did it sound like screams due to a small crack in the window?"

Liam raised his hands slightly as Amell jumped to conclusions, "No, I slept well last night. The wind wasn't anything out of the ordinary for me. I truly mean I slept today because I did not want to invade your privacy while you were working."

The vampire slowly nodded as he looked over the human, "I often work from dawn until dusk every day, Liam. You should not have to change your schedule to correspond with mine."

"But-"

"Liam, trust me, you do not want to deal with the way I live, I work all day and only ever have time to myself in the early morning or late at night. Keep your schedule. I do not think you plan to stay here forever."

"Why do I feel that is either a threat or an offer," Liam chuckled lightly, but Amell kept his face straight as they stared at each other. "Sorry?" The uncertainty in Liam's voice made Amell's face soften slightly.

"I don't want someone to stay here forever with me." He said before pulling his cloak off and laying it over the chair. "You can stay as long as you wish, but do not stay forever; live your own life, Liam," Amell spoke sweetly before sitting down and gesturing for the male to do the same.

"Why? What makes you so against being around other people," inquired the younger male as he did as directed and sat down so they could eat together.

Amell blinked a couple of times as Liam's question sunk in. "I do not need company to be happy." This statement got a snort from the raven-haired male for some reason... "Besides, after the passing of my wife, I do not see the desire to keep on friendly terms with those around me."

"You are literally in the middle of nowhere. What do you mean 'those around me'," Liam had not meant to come off as accusatory, but there was no way to avoid that it had come off in such a manner.

Amell grabbed the goblet off the table and stared Liam down for a moment, trying to figure out his intent with the comment. "Perhaps it was intentional for me to move here to avoid socialization with everyone. Yet here you are in my private home that you had recklessly walked into, and I felt guilty, so I agreed to let you stay until you got your barring again to move on." The vampire snapped as he sipped on the dark red liquid, trying to relax.

Liam awkwardly ran his hand through his hair and stopped at the base of his neck, his head cocked slightly to the side, "I suppose it was presumptuous to invite myself into your home, and I will leave if that is what you want, thank you for your hospitality. I will go change and-" 

"I am not going to force you out while it is dusk. By the time you recovered all your items and left, it would be dark, and it is not humane to send anyone to the wolves."

"There are wolves in the woods?" the male's voice was suddenly higher than normal as he froze in his position of the fork halfway between his plate and mouth.

Amell bit his lip as his words had been so valuable to Liam, "Yes, how else would I get the blood disguised as wine," he promptly covered his mouth to smother the laugh building, but Liam's eyes only widened as they stared at each other across the table. "Are there senses of humor in France?" Amell followed up once he realized Liam believed him to be serious.

Liam forced out a laugh, "I mean, yes, but most of it is anti-British or the revolution humor." He shrugged slightly, "I guess humor, while the concept is universal, the actual sense is not." The male shrugged again, this time actually giving an honest laugh.

Amell hummed quietly, taking in the words. What was so important about the revolution? Well, what about it made it humorous? "Humor is subjective, I suppose." He shrugged as he raised the cup to his lips.

Liam smiled widely before focusing his energy on eating the food in front of him with a small flush on his cheeks with the conversation that had taken an awkward turn. "If you are tired, you can go to sleep. I was planning on finishing something for work and then heading to sleep myself," Amell spoke up after a moment of watching Liam eating; both of them felt uneasy in the current situation.

Liam glanced up, feeling like a little kid again being sent to bed by his parents for not finishing his dinner despite having been outside all day and neglecting food from the time he woke up to when he was called back in for dinner. "Yeah, I'll just- yeah, sleeping." He fumbled over his words as he stood up, causing the brunet to cock his head slightly.

"You can finish eating; I am not your father. I was simply suggesting since it appeared you were falling asleep into your dinner."

A tight smile formed over his lips, "I have already overstayed my welcome. I will leave first thing in the morning." 

"I do not mind the company... I do think while I have been open to having company, I tend to scare them away the same way I have just done with you. My dear, Lilianna always had a welcoming persona. Please, stay. I have not had company to stay more than a few days in a long time." Amell tried to explain, he knew he should let Liam leave, but there was an innate desire to protect the young male.

Liam pulled his bottom lip between his teeth. He did need to get back home, but how was he supposed to when he did not have the tools to do so? If Amell's schedule remained the same as being busy during the day, it allowed him to figure it out. "Alright, but I am unsure how long I can because I will have to get home eventually," He settled himself on this decision. Perhaps it would allow him to figure out why Amell was so familiar.