Amaranthine: Descent | WinTeam | Boyslove

Vampire Lessons

Team stretched and yawned. He woke from the deepest, most dream-free sleep of his life. The type of sleep where you don't move or even roll over. As he stared at the ceiling, the soft clacking of keys drew his attention. Win sat at his desk, typing on his laptop, his back turned to him.

Oh right. He spent the night with Win again after his visit to Calix. Win had drank from him and then... he passed out? His memory was fuzzy. Team tentatively touched the skin of his neck. Nothing of either bite remained. He propped a pillow under his chin, hugging it as he watched Win. His blonde hair was damp from a shower. A simple white t-shirt and athletic shorts completed his look of complete normalcy. Team couldn't help but chuckle.

Win glanced over his shoulder at Team, a dark red pouch labeled with a barcode coming away from his lips. That last detail distorted the illusion a bit.

"Oh, you're awake. Feel better?"

"Much." The light peeking below Win's curtains gave the impression of evening. "What time is it?"

"Eight." Win resumed his typing.

"P. M.?!" Team sat up and grabbed his phone. Several missed calls and texts from both Manaow and Pharm greeted him. He had slept through their entire study session scheduled for that afternoon.

"Oi! Why did I sleep so late?"

"I compelled you. You were sick." Win flashed a grin over his shoulder. "And now you're not."

Team groaned as he got up. He supposed he should thank Win. He would have dragged himself to the study session and felt crappy the whole time. Pharm and Manaow would understand if he was ill and unable to come. They were probably worried about him and his lack of response, though. He made a mental note to make it up to them before his focus shifted back to the vampire whose fingers were flying over the keyboard. Team stood behind him, reading the name at the top of his email account.

"That's not your name." The surnames didn't match.

"It is now. I couldn't exactly keep the old one." 

Team supposed that was true. He hadn't stopped to consider it before. His gaze returned to the screen, eyes landing on a detail he missed before.

"Wait, you're in college?" Win squinted up at him. He shook the blood pack in his hand.

"That's what you take issue with here?"

"I already knew you drank blood. You drank mine," Team snarked. "But college? Why?"

"Why not? I couldn't finish the first time."

"It's just... "

"Just what, Team?" Win leaned into the question, goading him toward the answer. The blood-sucking elephant in the room.

"You're a vampire! College? What sense does that make?"

"Should I be running around in a cape with my fangs out instead? Hissing at people?"

"Well, no." Though the image did make Team want to laugh despite Win's scrutiny.

"How many vampires do you think there are?"

"I don't know. A few hundred? A thousand?" Win tempered his reaction, trying to be empathetic to Team's uninformed reasoning. He had experienced a similar shock when he found out.

"Try millions."

Team gawked at him.

"There is an entire world that the majority of humans have no clue about. I didn't." Win returned to his email. "Me finishing my degree probably sounds less crazy now."