Fictional Reality.

In the cupboard Syn froze mid rummage, his head and upper body still hidden from view. I could feel the blush creeping up my cheeks and is fidgeted uncomfortably on the sofa.
“I’ve been drinking small amounts of blood as often as I can, but it’s just not enough. The Hunger has been getting stronger all day.” Silence still from the cupboard. “I’m sorry, I should have said something earlier on today, but I was trying to control it.” Syn sighed, stepping back from the cupboard, a comforter dangling in his arms.
“Don’t apologise for following advice that I gave you.” He placed the comforter over the back of the sofa carefully. “I do wish you’d said something before we got into discussing all of this though. I’d have been able to run to the kitchen and get you a glass. As it is, you’ll have to drink direct.” I blinked, trying to work out if that meant what I think it meant. Syn sighed again looking down at his bandaged forearms, before reaching into a back pocket and pulling out a switch blade. He flipped it open and started cutting the bandage off his right arm.
“W…wwhat are you doing? You’re still healing – stop it!” I exclaimed trying to scramble forwards to stop him before he could completely ruin his bandage, my few working brain cells still lumbering along after me trying to work out what was going on. A smirk graced his lips as he gave a soft chuckle and shook his head.
“Well, I figured you’d prefer to go for the wrist. I mean you can go for the neck if you prefer, or there’s always the femoral artery.” His chocolate eyes glinted with mischief, daring me to fall into his trap. Unfortunately for him, I already knew where the femoral artery was. Unfortunately for me, my brain was supplying a very unhelpful mental image of me biting into the artery in his upper leg and my slight blush turned what I was sure was a spectacular shade of beetroot, my ears burning at the thought.
Thinking about something fun there, are we? I dropped my hands from where they had grabbed hold of his left hand with the knife and fixed him with a glare.
Go jump into a patch of sunlight, dickhead.
His smirk widened into a grin. Oof, so rude. He turned his attention back to carefully cutting through the last of his bandages. The bandages fell away revealing the still healing gash left by the Manticore’s leg, looking red and angry. Danger had covered the wound in some kind of Fae healing paste to stop the bleeding when she had first bandaged it, refusing to stitch it in case of some weird side effect from the Manticore’s poison. I hadn’t realised how deep the wound was until I was looking at it a week later it was only just starting to heal at the edges. Syn flexed his fingers before closing them into a fist, I turned away trying hard not to look as I could see the muscles and tendons in his arm moving. Deep, dark, chocolate brown eyes caught mine, seeing far more than I was comfortable with.
“Trust me, this is way better than the other one. That one is still oozing green manticore gunk in places.” He mumbled, grimacing at the thought and glancing down at his left arm. “Just be careful where you bite, if you bite away from the wound it should heal up at my usual speed instead of pox-ridden fucking human slow.” The reality of what was about to happen suddenly crashed down onto me.
“Well this isn’t remotely awkward and uncomfortable.” I muttered, sinking back down onto the sofa and rubbing a hand over my face. Syn gave a short laugh and sank down next to me, leaning forwards.
“You were going to have to cross this bridge at some point, better to learn where and how to bite someone now than be left up shit creek without a clue later.” I snorted and nodded. I guess he’s right about that. Didn’t make it any less awkward though. After a few moments uncomfortable silence. Syn sighed and leaned back. “Well, let’s get on with it. As already mentioned, you got three main points to bite to start with. Although technically you can bite anywhere – it’s easier to go for a pulse point though. You’ve got the wrists here” he indicated the pulse points on both wrists, “neck” he tilted his neck and touched a couple of spots on either side, “and femoral artery.”
“Yes I don’t need you to point that one out thank you.” I interrupted before he had chance to do anything else, earning another chuckle and a sly look.
“You sure about that Little Wolf? I rather think you were having fun thinking about my femoral artery a moment ago.” My flushed face had been returning to its usual pale shade, but with that comment, my entire head may as well have turned into a fire engine. I forced myself to avoid the urge to try and shrink my head into my shoulders like a turtle retreating into its shell – although the idea of retracting my entire body into my jumper to avoid this entire situation was becoming more tempting by the second. Instead I fixed Syn with what I hoped was a contemptuous glare. Or as contemptuous glare as was possible when your face was burning with the fires of a thousand suns. I desperately tried to think of a quick, witty reply to cut him back down to size as usual, but what ended up coming out was …
“You wish.” Another smirk slowly spread across his lips. I chose to ignore how a corner of brain has appeared to have clustered together for the sole purpose of pointing out exactly how hot his smirk was. He leaned forwards, stopping mere millimetres away from my face. So close he could probably feel the heat coming off it. Curse my bloody sheltered upbringing, I should be able to knock back a few snarky, suggestive comments without turning into a radioactive beetroot.
“Well, if you wanna make that wish come true all you have to do is ask.” He murmured in a deep, rich, velvety voice, his eyes half lidded. In a split second my glare vanished as the pure shock that Synyster fucking Gates was flirting with me crashed through my brain. The corner of my brain that had been paying attention to his smirk has now appeared to turn into a puddle of good.
“Syn … I … I … you … wha…” Great. Now my mouth had decided to run off and do its own thing as I stumbled to find something to say. Before I was able to form a coherent sentence, Syn slumped forward, his head on my shoulder, his whole body shaking. “Syn what is it?! What’s going on?” All of a sudden the gooey part of my brain was together again, running round with a air raid siren screaming THE MANTICORE VENOM, THE MANITCORE VENOM! MAYDAY! MAYDAY! HE’S DYING! “Oh my god! The venom must be causing a seizure. Syn can you hear me?!” Panic laced my voice. Syn lurched backwards, sitting upright again, his whole body still shaking. It took my panic laced brain a whole 30 seconds to realise he wasn’t dying of a venom induced fit. The damn motherfucking bastard was laughing. Tears were actually running down his cheeks. Rage washed away any last traces of panic, shock and gooeyness from my brain. “You shitweasel! I thought you were fucking dying!” I growled, causing even more whoops of laughter from him. Right. Fine. If that was how he wanted it. “Screw you asshole.” I drove my elbow into his gut with all the force I could muster. He crumpled into a ball, sliding sideways off the sofa wheezing for breath. Apparently I could muster quite a lot of force. Good to know. Carefully, now fully aware that I had just hit one of the grumpiest men I knew, I edged along the sofa to watch him. Doubled over on the floor, he was still shaking with laughter but also very clearly winded from my elbow strike. I’d have to thank one of Danger’s changelings for showing me the best way to knock the wind out of someone. “I’m not going to apologise. You deserved that.” I mumbled in a quiet voice as he carefully straightened his legs and started the breathe more normally again. He gingerly pushed himself up into a sitting position, wiping the residual tears from his eyes.
“I did. I definitely did. Sorry, I just couldn’t resist teasing you a bit. You are just so fun when you get flustered. And you turn red so easily.” Laughter still twinkled in his eyes as I glared at him again.
Do you want me to hit you again?
Maybe.
Oh for the love of God.
Alright, alright, I’ll behave.
As we were having one of our silent conversations, he eased himself to his feet, stepping round me and carefully sitting down to my right wincing slightly as he rubbed where I’d hit him.
“Nice strike through I have to say. I thought you might smack me, but I didn’t expect that. I’ll have a chat with Zacky and Danger about starting some training with you in Home. Better start getting used to your new speed and strength.” I perked up slightly at that, I hadn’t expected to be allowed back into Home and the training gym for ages yet. Syn took a deep breath then cleared his throat. “Right then, fun aside – shall we get on with this?” And just like that we were back to awkwardness. I nodded, staying silent. His voice turned soft and soothing “It’s nothing to worry about Blair, just relax a little. It’s all part of being a vampire. Now, I want you to try and bite here” he indicated a point on his right wrist that wasn’t too close to his wound and held his arm out to me, angling his body slightly so he was facing me. “Take a few deep breaths, your instincts will take over and you’ll be fine.” Cautiously I took hold of his wrist, nodding as I tried to take a few deep breaths. As I lifted his wrist closer to my lips I could hear his pulse. The sound of the blood pounding through my ears. I was just wondering how awkward it would be if I couldn’t focus my instincts, when my fangs shot down, slicing through my bottom lip. Again. “Good, let your instincts lead you.” Syn murmured softly, his left hand moving to rest on the back of my neck. I closed my eyes, letting my instincts guide me towards his wrist. Before I even fully realised how close I was, my fangs were in his wrist, blood swirling around my mouth. Vaguely in the background I heard a deep grunt, but all I could focus on was drinking. As the moments passed the initial hunger started to recede and awareness of my surroundings began to filter back in. First, was my grip on Syn’s wrist. It was too tight, I forced myself to relax my hands. Then there was the blood trickling down the side of my mouth, then Syn’s hand on the back of my neck, tangled in my hair, gripping tightly. Then his breathing, faster than usual. He made a slightly strangled noise and I opened my eyes, glancing up at him. His eyes were closed, head leaning back against the sofa back. I could see white lines in his cheek from how tightly he was clenching his jaw. Dammit I must be hurting him. Of course, I would manage to screw this up somehow. The hunger was fading faster with each swallow, cautiously I started to pull back. Syn’s grip on my neck loosened as I started to straighten up, sliding down onto my shoulder. “If you’re sure you’ve had enough, then lightly lick the entry wounds.” His voice seemed huskier than usual; he took a slow breath in before continuing. “There’s a coagulant in our saliva that stops the bleeding and promotes healing. The wounds will be closed within 15 minutes.” I remembered Zacky telling me something along those lines at some point too. Hesitantly I ran my tongue over the fang marks, watching as the dribble of blood slowed and stopped within seconds. Syn hissed, sucking air in through his teeth. Embarrassment hit me hard and I let go of his wrist, sharply pushing myself backwards and away from his lingering touch. I tried to continue the motion and get to my feet, but as I straightened up, my head started to spin and I stumbled a step. Before I could lose my balance, Syn was there, his hands guiding me back down onto the sofa. “Easy there, easy, Little Wolf. Direct feeding can give you a bit of a rush, especially first time.” I blinked, trying to clear the blurriness from my eyes and stop my head from spinning. Was this what being drunk felt like? I smiled, giggling a little at the thought of how horrified my mother would be at the idea of me being drunk on the blood of a tattooed, mercenary vampire with an attitude problem. A deep chuckle came from behind me, as a pair of strong hands wrapped a comforter around me. “It’s a hell of a feeling, hey, Little Wolf?” I was having trouble focusing on his words, swaying slightly as I sat. His hands guided me backwards, so I was leaning against him. “Rest Blair, enjoy the feeling while it lasts.” I could hardly keep my head upright, feeling both weightless and too heavy at the same time. Eventually I gave up on the battle and let it fall backwards resting on something warm. Gradually, I let my eyes drift shut, enjoying the warm, happy, floating feeling before sleep finally claimed me.

Syn POV.
I stayed still, smiling as she giggled to herself as the high from the bite took her. Eventually Blair drifted off to sleep, her slight snoring making my smile widen. Warmth from her spread through me as she shifted in her sleep, getting more comfortable. Her comforter slipped down from her shoulders, pooling around her waist. Carefully, so as not to disturb her I reached forwards and drew the blanket back up, tucking it around her shoulders. I should get up and let her sleep. Go to bed myself. But something kept me there, watching her sleep peacefully. A gentle smile on her face. I should move. Both Zacky and Danger, and well pretty much anyone else in the house, would kill me if they found us like this. Hells, with my reputation, Zacky would probably castrate first and ask questions later. And still I couldn’t bring myself to slide out from behind her and cross the room to my own bed. Her head turned, tucking into my neck, dark hair falling across her face. Softly I reached over and tucked it behind her ear. Various thoughts tried to form but kept vanishing when I reached for them. Slowly, but surely, sleep claimed me too.

Notes