Warming Up

We all watch in surprised silence for a few moments after Lucien leaves.

"I think you just made things worse for yourself," comments Dante.

"Yeah," I agree. "Oh well." I reach for the coffee cups to put them away, then realize my mistake when I see my hand. "Ah. I should have asked him to unlock my hand. Damn." Dante sniggers.

"You could still ask," says Virgil hopefully.

"No, don't go after him," says Adrian hastily. "Stay here."

"Alright," I relent. "But I need something to eat."

Dante stands as well. "I think I might follow, though. I have a few propositions for him."

Now that makes me really worried. But there's nothing I can do about it right now, so I head to the kitchen.

When I return with my tray of scavenged food, Adrian pats the seat next to him. "Come here, little bird."

"That's not fair," complains Virgil, and Adrian sighs.

"Fine. Between us, then."

I'm not sure I can get much eating done with these two, but I take the seat anyway. As soon as I do, Virgil lays down and puts his head on my lap.

"....I'm eating."

"Then don't spill," he replies, and closes his eyes. There's no reasoning with him sometimes.

As I was afraid of, Adrian seems eager to talk. He puts his elbow on the table and leans on his laced fingers. "So, little bird, that was quite the show you gave us earlier." I know he's not talking about the singing. Virgil does too, shifting around on my lap. "Why didn't you do that for me?" he purrs.

"That was a more...extenuating circumstance," I answer hesitantly. 

"Oh? So I just have to put you in extenuating circumstances to get that? He traces a finger down my arm. "I'm a lot nicer than Lucien, you know."

I just keep eating in silence.

 He continues. "You know, your boundaries seem a lot further out than I thought they were. Tell me, what else are you willing to do?"

I shrug. "Depends on what you're asking." On my lap, Virgil stiffens slightly.

"I could go au naturale," he says with a smirk. "You didn't seem to mind it much with Lucien."

"What?" squeaks Virgil.

"Oh, he didn't tell you? I suppose not. She wouldn't want to talk about it either."

"You make it sound so much worse than it is!" I sputter. "He tried to scare me by shapeshifting and didn't bother putting clothes back on."

"That may be true," he replies, "but you did accompany him to the bath afterwards." Virgil's hand on my thigh starts to squeeze a little. "And you looked absolutely drained afterwards," he teased. Virgil's squeezing grows stronger.

"Yes, literally drained!" I cry. "He locked me in! God forbid I want to have a bath after so many days of stress!"

"And you're overdue for another one, aren't you?"

"Yes," I grumble. "Wait." Adrian grins at me. 

"I take a bath every day. In the morning if I don't have company," he says. "I haven't today because of Lucien's invitation. Why don't you join me?"

"...I'm not going to get a bath otherwise, am I?"

Adrian just smiles in response.

I sigh in resignation. "Fine. But I'd really like to have private baths in the future."

Adrian chuckles. "No promises." He looks down at Virgil, laying stiffly on my lap. "Do you want to join us too?"

Virgil immediately turns bright red. "No thanks!" he half shouts, and exits in a hurry.

I look back to Adrian. "Wait, you don't really mean right now, do you?"

"Of course," he says innocently. "I like to take my time," he adds, with a suggestive tone.

"But you'll keep your promise?" I ask with a pointed glare.

He puts his hands up. "I swear. I won't touch anywhere you tell me not to. It's more fun that way, anyway." My glare grows sharper, but his  smile just grows deeper in response. "You'll be begging for it soon enough, though."

"Doubtful," I say, turning away.

He giggles. "Doubtful, you say. But not impossible."

I keep my face turned away to hide my blushing cheeks, even though it's probably obvious.

He stands and offers his hand. "Well, little bird? Shall we?"

The bath is already full, and I dip my hand into the water in confusion. It's just lukewarm. Behind me, I can hear Adrian shedding his clothes.

"How is it warmed?" I ask him. "You made it so hot when you were here."

"Enchanted tiles," he answers casually. I was afraid of that.

"So in other words, I can't have a hot bath unless someone warms it for me first?"

He leans over me to embrace me from behind. "It's not that bad, is it? Aren't you going to undress?"

"Not til it's warm," I say, shrugging off his arms and turning around to get the bathing dress from the hook. But it's not there. Shit. I never brought it back.

"Looking for something?" he teases.

"I'm going to go fetch the bathing dress while the water warms up," I grumble.

But Adrian catches my wrist. "There's no need for that. Besides, how are you supposed to wash yourself properly with that thing on?"

He's right, but… "I don't trust you."

"What if I were to swear it?"

I turn around slowly. Did he really just say that? A swear from a vampire actually means something. For humans, it's just words, but to swear as a vampire means you're bound to your word.

Adrian just smiles at me guilelessly. "If you bathe with me tonight, I swear I won't touch you inappropriately. Unless you ask for it," he adds with a wink.

"I won't," I reply coldly. "And that definition of 'inappropriate' better be mine."

He raises his hands defensively. "Of course! You can burn me if I get it wrong~"

"You don't sound like that's much of a punishment," I grumble, "but fine. Go on, get started if you want to. I'm not going to undress with you watching."

He sets a stool down in front of the spout, and the strong scent of roses fills the room. I inhale it appreciatively.

Adrian calls me from the spout. "If you wash my back for me, I'll share it with you."

Might as well. I grab a stool of my own, and he passes me a washcloth. "Don't go making any weird noises, now," I say.

"I wasn't going to," he replies defensively. "Sex isn't the only thing I think about."

I giggle. "Are you sure? You could have fooled me."

"I suppose I have been rather...forward lately," he admits.

"Pass me your shampoo?" I ask, and start lathering it into his hair. "Well, I'd certainly appreciate it if you stopped laying it on so thick," I say, chuckling. "As it turns out, I'd willingly spend time with you if you just hung out with me normally."

"Really?" he asks, turning around with an incredulous look.

I let out a laugh. "Of course! Why is that such a surprise?"

He turns back with a huff. "Your turn." We switch spots. I jump a little when his hand touches my back. I don't know how I still manage to forget about cold vampire hands.

"What's wrong?" he asks.

"I'm used to warm hands," I admit, feeling a little guilty.

"You bathe with the other thralls?"

"Of course. Is it really so surprising?"

"Hmm." His hands knead my back. "It's more that I'm jealous."

I roll my eyes. "It's not like anything ever happens. It's just normal for us."

Adrian moves to my hair, massaging the shampoo into my scalp. "That's exactly why I'm jealous! Noble society is so uptight. No one ever wants to relax and share intimate time together unless it's for some ulterior motive!" He sighs. "It's so frustrating."

"I understand," I reply. "It's painful."

"What would you know?" he scoffs. "You don't have to navigate those politics. With all eyes on you, waiting for chance to use you, or hurt you."

I can't help but let out a little laugh at his comment. "Are you really sure? Adrian, I'm a thrall. The only thing anyone ever wants from me is to use me."

His hands stop. After a few moments, he busies himself with rinsing out the shampoo. "It's different. And besides, it's not like the other humans are like that to you." He stands and steps into the bath. "Come in."

I follow into the steamy water, but I'm not going to let him brush it off. Finally, I can look him in the eye as I speak. "You're right that noble politics are different, but that doesn't mean there aren't any among the humans."

"Really?" He looks genuinely surprised, again.

"Well, of course," I answer. "I mean, politics is simply a matter of everyone wanting different things and trying to get them, right? It's the same for us. Thralls compete with each other over who they serve, or where; the human servants resent the thralls for easy lives and thralls resent the servants for having a degree of freedom...then there's the vampire servants, who are always taking snacks, so there's always a risk you'll be too drained to serve the next day-"

"That's forbidden," Adran says seriously. "That's not really common, is it?"

"Well, of course it is," I say, shrugging. Adrian still looks baffled, and I don't want to push him too hard, or he'll go straight into denial. He needs to think about it on his own.

"But I do understand your feelings about intimacy."

He looks at me with a struggling look in his eyes. "I can't tell you how often I've gotten in trouble with something because I didn't do anything with them. Everyone at court thinks I'm an irredeemable playboy because I never stay with anyone long. But no one ever believes me if I tell them it's the opposite!" 

He's frustrated, but I can also tell he's in genuine pain. I just pull him into a silent hug. He's stiff for a moment before he relaxes. But when I start to pull away, he leans in for a kiss. I push him away by the nose. "That's not it, Adrian."

He opens his eyes, pouting slightly. "What do you mean? You initiated it, didn't you? Don't you like me?"

I sigh and lean my elbow on the side of the bath. "Being romantic with someone isn't the only way to be intimate with them. I would say it's not even the best way."

"It's the deepest," he argues. "The strongest."

But I shake my head. "Why can't you have that strong of a connection with someone without that? You know you can have sex without love. You can have love without sex, too."

Adrian just watches me with a slight frown. "It's not that simple," he says, laying back. "Romance is different."

I watch him for a few moments as I consider. "Why don't I show you?"

"Show me?" He's immediately interested, but then he narrows his eyes. "Show me how?" he asks doubtfully.

"I can act like your lover in every way except for the sexual things," I tell him, and his eyebrows shoot up.

"That's a lot you're offering, little bird. Are you sure you're prepared for that?"

I chuckle. "We're basically already doing it, you know."

He shakes his head. "No, it's more than this. It's...it's comforting each other when you're upset, doing things for each other just because you want to, listening-"

"Listening to their problems and offering empathy?" I say wryly.

He's shocked for only half a moment, then relaxes into a rueful smile. "You're right. I'll take you up on your offer, then." He grins. "It's certainly not a bad thing."