storm ◇ jasper hale ◇

chapter sixteen ; summer break

He'd successfully gotten through that year of high school. Hell, he'd done well in the exams he'd had to do. That had been a stressful part of his life, but it was over ... until school started up again.

Now Madej was stuck at home doing nothing. His mom had lifted his grounding, though it didn't really change much. He was often in bed, trying to get as much sleep as possible.

"Mads." The hearing aid had been put in place, and he heard the nickname clearly through one ear. "I think it's time for you to get up,"

"Nah," he said, pushing his face into his pillow. "Time s'it?"

"Half past one," Jasper told him, amusement laced in his voice. "At least get your breakfast."

Madej groaned. "Gimme a second." It took him a moment before he managed to will himself to get up. "Right. Bathroom first. No listening, perv." he said as he got up and out of bed, putting the other hearing aid in.

"What do you think I am, Edward?" Jasper asked, and Madej chuckled, shaking his head as he left for the bathroom.

After washing his hands, he made his way downstairs. He scratched at the back of his head, aware of how messy his hair was. When he got downstairs, he saw Benedict in his usual spot on the couch, scrolling through his phone. He manoeuvred around him and went into the kitchen, where Jasper was glaring at their toaster.

"Glare enough and you'll set the fucker on fire." Madej commented, raising an eyebrow at Jasper. He moved over to him, pressing the right buttons and put the bread in. "Get the-the thing." He pointed to the cupboard with cereal in it. "Frosted Flakes."

Madej grabbed the butter and a plate for the toast. Jasper made his bowl of cereal for him, and Madej sat on the counter, bowl in hand, munching on the food. He watched Jasper try his best with the toast, mostly succeeding.

"What are you gonna do today?" he asked, looking at his boyfriend with a raised eyebrow. "Gonna be sunny. Your eyes are darker than usual."

Jasper nodded. "I'll go hunt later, when it's cloudy enough for me to go. What about you?"

"Sleep. Take a walk. Maybe make Benny take us to get groceries." He shrugged a shoulder, foot reaching out to poke at Jasper's leg. "He's telling me not to sleep all day even though I barely sleep as is."

"Gotta have a sleep schedule, ease your insomnia."

Madej mimicked Jasper's words, voice higher as he shook his head from side to side. He smiled at him, then ate some more cereal. "That's rich of you to say, Mr Doesn't-Sleep-At-All."

Jasper just chuckled at him, then kissed Madej's temple. "Upside to being immortal,"

"That's gotta suck, I mean. You can't, like, turn off from the world. Just get rest. You're constantly awake, which seems pretty stupid."

"I can't control my immortality."

"Well, if I ever got turned into a vamp, I'd find a way to get vampire naps."

There was a pause between the two, the sudden thought of Madej as an immortal, like Jasper. Then Madej felt the terror of oh shit, we're soulmates, it's eternal, before he shoved it down, unsure of what Jasper was feeling or thinking. He put down the near empty bowl and put his arms around Jasper's middle.

It was different; Madej didn't really think about becoming immortal, to live off animal blood. He'd been preoccupied by losing Zeke, having to deal with his powers, the threat of Dominic and then the hunter and Victoria. Madej wasn't sure if he'd want to become immortal. There was the underlying threat of the venom not agreeing with Madej; his bloodline and powers could collide with the venom, and take his life instead of changing him.