Scribbles and Drabbles

Vampire Drabble 3 part 3

"Guys, calm down." Roman tried to calm the rumbles of disapproval. They weren't wrong. Jaxon and Theo thought he was mad for letting Walter near after what Walter's sire did to him the last time he was in town. Roman didn't think he had much choice. Regardless, he could do worse than a vampire who had saved his life on several occasions. The last time he fell in love with someone, it hadn't worked out well.

"Walter is poaching you."

"I doubt it," Rue grunted. He did crack his knuckles, however, before rubbing his hand over Roman's shoulders. "No neck bites." 

Roman's cheeks warmed. No bites at all. Walter usually jumped at the chance to bite him. He draped his scent over Roman but not fed from him. Not even a cursory nibble in the evening when he pulled Roman into bed to purr. Roman hadn't questioned it, in a 'not looking a gift horse in the mouth' kind of way. With the information that Rue had declared his children not for sale but open to being courted, it shifted things differently. 

Rue's hand on his shoulder burned like ice. Roman's heartbeat shifted a notch. He pushed the concern away, and his mind instead rolled through a thousand and one Implications for Walter's behaviour. He'd guarded them a few times. He didn't like not knowing where they were going. Theo and Jaxon kept making eyes on Roman, judging.

"Walter is courting me," Roman said. Saying the words out loud turned it more real. Now the question was, did he mind? He hadn't kicked Walter out of his bed. He'd offered his wrist when Walter turned cold. He let Walter dance with him. "Context would have been nice."

Dale growled, sounding more like a puppy compared to Rue. He sat up and squared his shoulders. "I'll keep you safe from him."

Rue's lips twitched upwards, not immune to his son's adorable statement. "Dale, leave Walter to me. I'm perfectly capable of handling him."

"We shall see," Dale sniffed.

"I can handle him fine," Roman said firmly, glaring at Rue. 

"You're interested in him?" Rue rumbled. 

Roman flushed again. Rue had a calculating look in his eyes. "Dad..."

"I suppose the two of you are well-matched in fights. He has bit you plenty but never dared attempt a claiming bit. He's always been rather careful even when his sire wanted more from your interactions," Rue said, a touch of unwanted respect in his voice. "Drained you dry a few times but never enough to turn or kill you. Not many can do that without slipping."

"That hardly makes him a suitable suitor," Dale snapped.

"His sire is a powerful vampire with a reputation," Rue said, voice barely hiding his dislike of the idea. The hand on Roman's shoulder tightened as if to stop him from disappearing.

"But it is my choice?" Roman interjected before Rue could plan something darker. 

"Yours," Rue agreed. 

"We will return to this conversation," Dale said through gritted teeth and glowing eyes. "Now, Father is hungry because he had to feed me most of the blood in him so I could heal from that ridiculous trap that you idiot set. If you are happy to let Walter feed from you, will you let Father?" Dale demanded.

Both Rue and Roman stiffened, and Rue's grip loosened in a controlled way. Roman could wriggle out to escape though if Roman panicked, it wouldn't help much if Rue's predator instincts kicked in again. Rue let go and put his hands in his lap. Roman's throat continued to burn as a reminder that Rue had strangled him in retaliation for hurting Dale. That was something Roman would need to sort through later when he wasn't trying to pull Rue home rather than give him more reason to flee his angry children.

"Dad?" He intended to offer in that sentence, but the words didn't come out. 

"Dale, it is not polite to guilt someone into offering their blood. Roman, go back to sleep. I'll go to a suck club later," Rue said, shifting to sit closer to Roman, wrapping him in a side hug before slipping from the bed. 

"Father! You're hungry, and you were almost feral."

"It is not fair to ask that of Roman. We will talk about it later," Rue said, the final word forced into his tone. 

Roman didn't know about fairness, but none of this was fair. Not his parents being killed, not Rue secretly being a vampire about to inherit the city - none of it. That didn't change the situation.

"Roman! Father is being a fool and ignoring his instincts for your comfort. If he explained things more, you'd understand," Dale glared at Rue, ignoring him as Rue tried to stop him from talking. Roman bit his lip to stop laughing as Rue picked Dale up and muffled him. Telling Dale to stop doing anything seldom worked. 

He was his father's son, stubbornness and all. 

"Come on, Dad. Lay it on me. Why does Dale think that you feeding from me is more than food?" Roman didn't want information that would persafe him to let his Dad bit his neck. He also knew the longer he let Rue hid the information, the harder it would be to crack it out of him. 

"You're not food! You're family. He has never claimed you and that leaves you open for attack and Walter will try to poach you if Father doesn't bite you. I don't understand why you don't ask him!" Dale directed the final sentence at Rue rather than Roman but there was no mistaking the distress in Dale's tone. 

Roman met Rue's eyes, or tried to but the man wouldn't look at him. 

"Walter wouldn't dare try," Rue's fangs flashed.

"His sire would. I don't know why you leave it up to chance!"

"Dale, drop it." Rue dropped Dale in Roman's lap and got off the bed. 

Roman knew his father, Rue was going to bug out at this rate. Roman would have screamed as a teenager. Now, in his twenties, he had more restraint. "Is that why you strangled me earlier?" But no less daggers in his voice when he needed them. 

A flinch. 

"I can't."

Rue vanished. Dale hissed and poofed himself leaning Roman in a room uncertain to where he was. Roman's stomach tensed as his chest ached. Roman closed his eyes and counted to ten. Anger did not help with Rue.

"Running away won't fix the problem, Dad." Roman flopped back down on the bedn and waited. Unsurprisingly Rue did not reappear. Coward. Roman fixed the blankets and settled back in to rest. He found his phone on the side. He had a few hours before it would be safe to venture out into daylight. 

"Can't what? Explain? Bite me? Claim me?" 

The more powerful a creature, the stronger it wanted to claim the people around it. Few creatures could resist layering their magic on their human compansions. Interferring with a human that belonged to a group in the community was a dangerous offence. Walter never had issue biting him until after he'd met Rue. 

Roman hated being bitten. It hurt less now - more because Walter stopped biting him to hurt or scare.

 He needed more information. He didn't have the energy for this. He slumped and tried to fall back to sleep. It took a while. Dale reappeared at some point, warmer than before. Rue had fed. Roman curled around his younger brother and slept a little longer. 

There was a taxi waiting for him in the morning. And a note from Dale promising to work on Dad to get him to come home. Dad left a single word. Roman screwed it up and got into the taxi, texting his brothers. Dale was cute but it wasn't a mircale worker. They needed a new approach. At least this time they got some answers.