Bread And Blood

Acceptance

A few days later Justin sat watching everything happen, Yuna rushing to get ready for work, Grey giving him the nutrient smoothie, and Ben sitting on the couch.

Grey voiced some concerns to Ben about how he looked, Justin even noticed it, Ben looked deflated, pale and a bit starved, he hadn't eaten breakfast, saying that he wasn't hungry.

Grey scanned through the kitchen and rushed into the living room, he looked ruffled.

"Why didn't you tell me you had no more blood bags? How long has it been? I don't want you dying on me damn it!" Shouted Grey, he was nicely dressed in his work clothes and Ben gave a faint smile.

"I won't die, I'll just.." Began Ben before Greys frustrated and worried muttering drowned him out.

He finally groaned in defeat, "look, I'll buy you some after work, don't tell me not to! Its my money and I'll spend it how I like!" Exclaimed Grey, Ben didn't get a chance to butt in.

Grey and Ben looked at the schedule, Justin had seen it, the title for today was 'stretch and get human to move legs'.

"Don't do anything until I get back!" Commanded Grey, he rushed about and quickly left, flustered and a little upset.

Justin was shocked, will Ben die if he doesn't drink blood?

Ben ignored Grey's words and clipped a collar to the humans neck, "once you get used to it and decide if you like it or not, you can choose between the collar or the wrist collar" explained Ben.

He helped Justin to his feet and used an arm to help keep the boy steady, they walked out of the house, Justin struggling to put pressure down and not fall over, luckily Ben had a good grip on him.

They slowly traversed the nearby park, energy slowly returning to Justin's weakened legs, he gazed at the area around him, humans were being walked with leashes, one was on a bench having their blood sucked, no one reacted though.

As if it were normal, and quickly the vampire and human spoke a bit and got up to continue the walk.

Ben clutched his gut and Justin nearly tripped over, "oh no! Sorry! I'm so sorry! At least you're a pretty placid human for now" gasped Ben.

"I guess we better get back home."

They arrived home and Ben turned the TV on, letting Justin revel in the fact he could finally sit on a couch and not a dog bed.

The TV channel was titled, 'vampire hourly', must be a special channel for vampires, he watched as a news anchor began to speak with the type of speed and firmness that only a news anchor could manage.

"This just in, Hiker Christoph Moveck, was fined for multiple accounts of animal abuse and neglect, from what we have learnt, the hiker was known for using his pet human as a simple disposable blood bag rather then a hiking partner, as two woman were out hiking they noticed Christoph feeding from his human, that would seem pretty normal, after all, a hike burns off energy, but from what these ladies Sarah and Joleen recount, it was far from normal." Explained the news anchor.

Pictures of a vampires face and a human guys face flashed on screen, before showing two woman with a mic shoved in their faces.

"It was awful! We knew something was wrong! The human was actively struggling and seemed so pale! So we followed him as he left and the poor thing fell over, he kept kicking it! Telling it to get up! It was so weak! He must have been using the poor thing as a tap to refresh at any point instead of his best friend, its truly awful, we had to step in, I think I threw my handbag at him, but luckily we called the police first or else he would have run off!" Explained one of the woman, the other cried on her shoulder.

"Wow, what a dick" growled Ben, he seemed worse, and looked to be visibly in pain.

Justin gazed at Ben, deciding to speak.

"Um.. What's the difference.. Blood sucking" croaked Justin, his heart fluttered in fear and he flinched as Ben's eyes landed on him.

"Oh? Are you worried about that? I'm sorry, normally pets are used to it when their born, well buddy, vampires only suck blood when they need it, we can tell how much blood you have, by your heart beat and so forth, but we also ask for permission, after all, sometimes humans just don't want to be sucked on that day, and its completely fine, but without permission or doing it to much is a huge no no! Its illegal" explained Ben.

Justin was confused, all media on vampires was always about blood sucking and no permission.

"Will you die?" Asked Justin, Ben paused and reassuringly patted the boys head.

"No, no, if I don't have blood, I fall into a coma like state, you see we eat normal food and blood, both hold the nutrients we need, blood being the most important, simply due to the nutrient value of the blood, sure without any, I will reach a death like state, but I won't die, not unless I'm completely starved of all food, just like you humans" explained Ben.

Justin nodded along, he had no urge to escape, its not like he could, but he couldn't accept being a pet.

Yet still, hearing that cemented it in Justin's head the circumstance Ben was in, he had spent so much time caring for the human that he hadn't been looking after himself, which made Justin feel guilty and responsible for the vampires potential death.

Ben got up and went into the kitchen, he came back with some bread to nibble on.

Justin eyed it hungrily, he had really missed eating real food, Ben noticed the boy staring and chuckled softly, he handed a good portion to Justin.

He was in heaven, he nibbled and slowly chewed the soft loaf, almost wanting to cry from the sensation of tasting and swallowing real food.

They sat and watched TV for hours and Justin was hooked onto the shows, learning so much about the strange invaders he had once feared as monsters.

It was getting later and Ben was looking far worse, Justin felt the guilt build up to uncontainable levels, he moved closer and revealed his neck, shuddering in disgust.

Ben gazed at him for a second, "what are you doing?" He asked in confusion.

Justin's face flushed with embarrassment, "you need blood" he muttered quietly, Ben's eyes widened and glittered in restrained adoration.

"Silly, we don't suck out of necks, besides, I don't think I can, I don't want you to feel pressured or responsible for this, it has to be an easy choice" gently explained Ben.

Justin paused and looked up at the vampire, he remembered how the stranger drank from the girls wrist, so he held it out.

"No its ok, I don't want you to feel pressured please" muttered Ben, Justin shook his head.

"No, I give permission, please... But... Don't let it hurt" croaked Justin, Ben sighed, his eyes teary yet weak.

"Ok, it may sting a little though, thank you, but remember, this whole moment is controlled by you, you want me to stop, I will" explained Ben.

He carefully grabbed the boys wrist and sunk his teeth into the flesh, Justin flinched at the slight pain, but he didn't complain, colour was already returning to the vampires skin, he sighed in relief.

The door burst open and Grey stood there, a bag of red blood in hand, he stopped and stared at the scene in confusion.

It was only 30 seconds when Ben removed his teeth and the wound quickly healed, leaving a big bruise, and two tiny pin pricks.

"Whoa, did he actually let you" gasped Grey, Justin nodded in embarrassment, while Ben hugged him close and tight, tears in his eyes.

"Yes he did! It was so sweet! I really wanna keep him" sobbed Ben, Justin felt the urge to tell them that he's not some animal to own, but fear still shut him up.