#dane-tow

[trevor-tow]

His smile settled at the near-fascinating sound, shaking his head."Yep," Dane responded plainly, reaching an idle hand to fluff the fledglings matted hair. "We could get your fluff-mane cut we're at it. Shed your winter coat for the spring and all." The fledgling probably needed the change, gave them something simple to start out with. "But, we don't haveta do it right this moment. Why don't ya show me another one of those video things on the interwhosits? We gotta be behind on'em."

“...That might be nice,” Trevor muttered, “considering I can’t do it myself.” Not that he could before, but it had become disconcerting to try and do anything near reflective surfaces. Or typical human cameras, for that matter. Dark-rimmed eyes lifted to look up at Dane, and with a quiet sigh, the younger man nudged his sire with an elbow--then reached out to take his hand and tug him off, nodding dourly.

“...Right. So there’s this thing called Buzzfeed...”

It would be a welcome distraction. For both of them.

And he could remember, just then, why it was he always felt so bloody safe with Daniel “Dane” Sinclair.

It was because Dane was as natural at being a father as he was a friend. Even more so because he himself didn’t seem to notice.

Thus Trevor decided he wasn’t ready to give up. 

At least, not until tomorrow.

[trevor-tow]

Gee. Dane frowned slightly, but released his hold with the intent to remain close. He hadn't really thought too much farther than this. "Gee whizzers, if I am being really honest about it, this is new to the both of us, kiddo." The elder vampire crossed his long arms and thought only a moment longer. "Suppose, we'll haveta just play it by ear. We don't gotta rush into anything or nothin'. Plenty of time, but the first step is gotta be outside this place." He nodded and hummed. "Tomorrow."

“...Brilliant,” Trevor muttered, running his hands through his thick, out-of-control hair, sighing deeply. He tried to yank it back out of his face, failed, and gave up, untangling his hands from snarls of unkempt, unattended-to auburn locks. Pinching the bridge of his nose instead, the Welshman emitted a sound that was half-sigh, half-caterwaul (there really was no other word for such a pathetic noise). 

“...Do we have to do things involving ‘outside this place’?” Trevor asked feebly, staring at Dane’s feet. His stomach clenched at the thought. “We could just--stay indoors. Have a nice...talk and just--pretendeverythingisfine. It’s working really well, see...”

[trevor-tow]

The muppet in question laughed brightly. "Wooble watchahoosits and crazy eyes--sounds like the best type of family if ya ask me." Dane hummed, thinking about the remaining few. "Tim's my best friend, wouldn't got nowhere without him, but there's also big brother Ray. I think you'd like him, got all that sense the rest of us been missing. Plum taller than me, too. Tim's bout your size though--so you won't have ta worry bout being lonely down here," he added cheekily, patting Trevor's head.

“How the fuck could anyone be taller than you?” Trevor asked with a shaky smile--but then thought again of Jack, and how he missed him, and how tall he was--and how bony hugs were oft more comforting than anticipated. He hugged Dane a little tighter at that before pulling back completely, resorting to hugging himself absent-mindedly for comfort’s sake. 

“Gee, thanks,” Trevor muttered, pushing Dane’s hand away with a tired sigh. Staring at the floor, he forced himself to ask the one question he didn’t want to ask: his voice small, and frayed at the edges.

“...so...what happens now?”

“

[trevor-tow]

The new sire felt each budge in the words and in the boy's words, but his arms were decidedly settled around him like a protective chrysalis. Metaphors and fanciful words aside , he wasn't opening them anytime soon. "Heck if ya ain't," Dane retorted as pointedly as he could muster. "You're my friend, and through a buncha horrid circumstance, now you're my blood. You're my only responsibility in all this." The cause, the symptom, and the cure. "We're family now, kiddo. That's all it is."

Huddling in Dane’s arms as if afraid to move (which was true in more ways than one), Trevor tried to piece himself together. For Dane, if not for himself. The fledgling felt fragile, thinly-stitched, as if he’d come apart and bleed and cry again at any given moment. Shakily inhaling once again, Trevor wound his arms around Dane a little more tightly than before.

“...You’re a good mate,” Trevor said, trying to buck up. Put on a stiff upper lip. It didn’t mean he had to go outside, or do anything. It just meant he could make Dane feel better. That’s what physicians, or wannabe physicians did. They made people feel better. Others before themselves. Do unto others...

“Some family,” Trevor laughed weakly, pulling back and sniffing shortly. “O-one woobly--wotchamacallit...” He pointed to himself. “One stork-legged muppet...” He patted Dane’s shoulder, eyes tired.

“And--who else, remind me. There’s your sire, right, the--the one with the crazy eyes...”

[trevor-tow]

Dane knew what it all felt like, but his loss of humanity hadn't been half as devastating, or maybe it had, he was struggle so much to remember. The cold, The pain. The hunger."Nope, I've been known to take a hit or two," the vampire replied, running a hand through his fledglings hair. "I'm sturdy and have you ever known me to have a lick of sense? Another one of my many unappreciated skills, I'll tell ya. Still," he paused, considering his words. "I don't regret nothin' bout it, Trevor."

Maybe they shared a desire to forget in common, along with a liking of bad puns and a flair for the dramatic in small doses. Trevor clung to Dane a little, refusing to admit how irritatingly soothing the hand running through his stupid--shaggy hair was. He wanted to buzz it all off and start over, he’d let it grow out to his shoulders, and just--it was another reminder of things he bore the weight of. He buried his face harder into Dane’s shoulder and inhaled shakily; noisily.

“Y-you should, though,” he insisted stubbornly, pulling back at long last without looking at Dane, his eyes watery and reddish. Jack, Mossy, Nero, Mariela, Remus--they should all have regretted befriending someone so wimpy and useless. So unadaptable and rigid. “I’m just--l-literal dead weight, now. You’ve your own stuff going on, I’m n-not your responsibility anymore, Dane...” He began to nudge Dane away, weakly.

“You did the best y-you could but--you’ve got your own life, d-don’t--feel obligated to look after me...” His voice got steadier, but only because he forced down sobs.

[trevor-tow]

The older vampire watched quietly, letting the boy speak his piece and every ounce of negativity sink into him to settle amidst slowing thoughts. "No," Dane spoke quietly at first, moving to stand between Trevor and the wall that held his interest. "Now, that ain't got a lick of sense to it." He laughed, not joyfully or hollowly. Then, the vampire was kneeling, his arms snaking around the fledgling's shoulders firmly. "After all, viruses are itty bitty, and you ain't little in the least."

Dane was always getting in the way, wasn’t he?

First he’d crowded into his life at a grocery store. God, he couldn’t even remember when food didn’t taste like ash in his mouth, now. He had held Trevor during so many stupid little breakdowns. He’d gotten to know him, teased him, cared about him, shown him mercy in so many small ways. He’d even saved him several times, yet Trevor’s bitterness threatened to overwhelm him. It occluded everything, a great greasy gray cloud of woe that soaked him to the very soul.

“Don’t--touch me--” Trevor hissed, starting and trying to push Dane off initially. But the embrace burst the dam, and Trevor felt hot tears (red, but still briny) rise behind tightly-cinched lids, his hands lifting to clutch Dane’s arms tightly.

“You--you ass, Dane Sinclair, y-you utter fucking knob...!”

[trevor-tow]

The smile had long since faded, leaving an ounce of quiet sternness in the spaces that laugh lines usually filled. "This ain't it, kid. You're not protecting anybody this way." His age and his exhaustion came to settle his aching jaw. "All this is--it's just setting you up for so much worse. You're making yourself into a little landmine with a blast radius that anybody in this house could get caught in. Now, I'd sure rather that be me, but there isn't a guarantee. You gotta get up. You gotta."

“Make me,” came the bored reply as Trevor stubbornly sagged onto the nearest piece of furniture, turning his face away from Dane. “When you have a virus, you isolate it. You batter it with medicine. You treat it, I’m treating myself, because I’m a fucking virus, Dane.” Trevor’s voice didn’t rise, but instead flatlined, despairing, cracking in the middle. His dark eyes rooted themselves to the nearest wall and he worried one of his fingers between his teeth, chewing on the knuckle like a child teething.

“And I’m not ‘little’,” he added shortly without looking at the other vampire. “If I’m to be a landmine let me be a landmine, but don’t call me ‘little’ jut because you’re ten bloody feet tall.”

[trevor-tow]

His face scrunched at the billow of smoke, but his smile remained strong and placid. "Well, golly gee, if you don't seem a heck more lively." The vampire patted the screen as if forgetting it was there between them just like the layer of sheer disdain for his presence. "Should ya really be smoking that dillydacky stuff inside? Not a bit good for your fish friends, kiddo." Dane shook his head, waving hand to brush away the smell. He'd have to take a shower tonight. "Why don't we go for a walk?"

“’Lively’,” came the shallow, disgruntled echo of Dane’s poor choice in words. The fledgling stared at his sire through the window and had half a mind to kick out the screen and Dane besides, but that would require effort. He wasn’t about to exert himself unnecessarily. It took all his strength just to crawl over to different corners of the house to mope in. C’est la mort.

“No shit,” Trevor said blandly, still staring at Dane with mounting displeasure. “I was trained a bit; medically-speaking, before all this--bullshit.” He inhaled on his cigarette sharply, then blew smoke through the left corner of his lips, scowling faintly. “Hence the open window, Mr. Sinclair.” He rolled his eyes at the next suggestion, beginning to reach up to shut the window, sliding out of the nook. He didn’t have time or patience for this. He had denial to sink deeper into with zero desire to swim.

“Why don’t you fuck right off.”