Down below

Chapter 43. xxx

   His words caught Loki off guard. He became so accustomed to his room that it didn't even cross his mind that Lestat would ask him to leave and the arrogant tone of his voice annoyed him even more. He won't be ordered around by him, certainly not after all that happened! He went to his quarter, undressed and stepped into the bathroom. He went through the wall cabinet and found sterile gauze pads. He looked into the mirror. His face was bleeding from several places, his mouth was swollen with a nasty cut and bruises had already started to appear on his body. He cleaned his wounds and the scratches with clean water, then stepped into the shower, turning the temperature down. He poured shower gel on the sponge and carefully ran it through the left side of his torso, gritting his teeth in pain.

'Let me.' he heard Lestat's smooth voice and he almost dropped the sponge, turning around in a flash, conjuring his daggers.

   The Marquis stood in front of the shower cabin wearing a black silk bathrobe, his hands raised, showing he came in peace.

'Where the hell did you come from?'

Lestat tilted his head to the side a little, a wan smirk lingering on his face as if saying "Oh, please, I'm a seasoned predator", putting his hands down.

'I can't bear listening to you grinding your teeth. Let me help.'

'I'm fine, thanks.'

   Loki turned his back on him and Lestat couldn't help but admire his courage. He knew he was following his every move still and he was also aware that this was Loki's way of expressing, he wasn't afraid of him and the damage he's capable of. He found it extremely arousing. He also felt a numbing guilt for roughing him up, seeing the bruises and injuries on his otherwise flawless body, which wasn't an emotion he was used to. He left the bathroom and sank into one of the cushiony armchairs. After ten minutes, Loki stepped into the bedroom, a towel wrapped around his waist, rubbing his hair with another. He rolled his eyes when he spotted Lestat.

'I'm leaving, don't worry. Just need a few hours to heal enough.' he told him.

'That's why I came. I can help with the wounds and scars. If you let me.'

'I don't need your pity.'

'It's not pity. It's...an offer. Maybe an olive branch.' Lestat shrugged, feigning to be super blasé. 'Take it or leave it.'

   Loki was eyeing him with suspicion while gently rubbing his hair. Lestat had a hard time to keep his gaze from wandering to his lean, shredded body.

'How? With your blood?'

'Yes.'

'You did give away a few secrets in that book.'

'I did.' Lestat smirked, mischievously.

'Go on then.' Loki conceded.

   Loki threw the smaller towel on the dresser and watched him as he stood up and stepped to him. Lestat bit his own thumb, then ran his finger over a bruise on his left shoulder. Loki felt warm tingling under his skin as the swelling shrunk along with the inflammation. Lestat moved over to his bruised ribs and bit his thumb again, because the wound was almost closed. Loki felt envious of how quickly the vampire's body was fixing itself.

'This is too slow.' Lestat said. 'Give me your dagger.'

   Loki conjured his dagger and handed it over to him. He stabbed the ball of his right thumb and dragged the blade down, creating a decent cut without a hiss, like he didn't even feel it. Loki was impressed as he watched. When Lestat treated all his injuries on his body, he looked at Loki's face, cupping his chin with his other hand, his brows knotted in a slight frown.