Thiam: Times When We're Together

#8

It was before they all settled back in their tents that Liam caught him.

It shouldn't be anything unusual, they were the last ones awake anyway (with Liam having to force Theo to go in the tent first).

Except, when Liam went back to pile up the chairs, he smelt the familiar metallic scent that immediately froze him. The sounds of someone slurping didn't help.

"Faust?" Liam calls out, alarmed.

The slurping paused.

"Liam?" He finally answered. "Dude, you scared me."

The beta exhaled a relieved breath.

"What are you doing there?" He asks curiously, steadily approaching the other male. Faust tensed.

"Uh- Drinking?"

"I thought you don't drink?"

The curly haired boy clutched the dripping bag that he has in his hands as his heartbeat sped up from being nervous. Liam, smelling that from him (mixed with the awfully close smell of blood), abruptly stopped. He opened his mouth to say something but Faust decided to beat him to it.

"Okay, I'm guessing you don't know about me yet so I'll just be forward. I'm a vampire and I drink blood, yes blood, but this is just a bag. I swear I didn't kill anything. Or anyone."

The beta blinked, obviously not expecting an outburst from him.

"... I'm not gonna accuse you of killing."

Faust exhales. "You won't?"

Liam shook his head, shooting him an incredulous look. "No, why would you think that?"

"Because I remember what Theo said about you and your pack when it comes to killing. I don't want you to think I was doing something stupid."

Well that threw the beta off.

"I wasn't even thinking about anything until you said that."

It took a few seconds before seeing the vampire visibly loosening. "Oh."

Liam sat on another log, facing the still nervous boy across him.

"So he told you about us?"

Faust nods, fingers fiddling the opened corner of the bag.

"Yeah. He just told us everything one night. I don't want you to think I'm a bad guy."

Liam shook his head. "I know you aren't, Oaks."

The two were silent for a moment.

     "So is Theo."

Liam twitched an eyebrow. "That too."

"No, not that." Faust says, tilting his head a bit to the side. "I meant, it wasn't his fault. But he still believes it is."

It took a second before it finally hit what the other boy meant, a slight frown pulling at the sides of his mouth.

"... I know."

Faust smiles, now entirely relaxed, and goes back to drinking his bag.

"No wonder Theo likes you."

Liam's previous pensive look was immediately replaced with a surprised one, earning a snort from Faust.

"What?"

"Damn, you two are even worse than Jane's."

"Well, I mean sure, we're friends. Who doesn't like their friends?" Liam stammered, tinting a tinge of red on his cheeks.

Faust snorts again although quietly this time that made it sound like he's gurgling instead, a drop of blood leaking out of his mouth.

'Certainly not like the way you do, as he does to you.' Is what he wanted to say but seeing as the whole situation amuses him, he decides that he'd have to stay back and watch. 'Here we go again, I guess.'

Steadying his already slow heartbeat, knowing that Liam could track it when he's lying, Faust shrugs. "Point taken."