theres a lil bit of character context here but not much sorry
thank u very much to cain @the-witch-is-void for helping to inspire this fic!
I laughed, not unkindly. “So you really haven’t eaten much actual food at all since you were infected?”
Even in the glow of the fire, it was easy to see his rising blush.
“Well, what exactly is the point? It doesn’t sustain us or anything.”
“No, but it tastes good! And it’s not like you only ever do things because they’re necessary to live. What next? Are you gonna stop playing video games because they’re inessential?! And no more music, or any other shit like that!”
“Shut up!” He grabbed an unused skewer from the pile and lunged at me with it. The more I laughed at him, the more he pretended to be angry at me, until eventually he couldn’t take it anymore. He broke a semi-convincing pout with ripples of laughter.
In time, a hush fell between us again.
“I mean, if we all never ate because it wasn’t necessary, I’d never have eaten anything.”
“Fair point.”
For a few moments, I watched the crackle of the fire, as the flames rose and fell. In the darkness, its light illuminated only a small circle around us, but if we took only a few steps away, we would vanish into the starless night. But in the fire’s warmth and the muggy haze of the summer night, we weren’t cold at all.
My eyes were drawn to him again. Somehow, he was even more mesmerising than the fire itself. The movement of his curls of hair in the slight breeze, his hazel eyes fixated on the embers, the slight shine to his skin reflecting the fire’s light, every tiny detail seemed to make me fall more and more in love with him. At this point, I didn’t even think that was possible.
“So,” I broke the silence gently, “Did you have smores a lot when you were young? As in, back when you were human. Human human, I mean.”
“You don’t need to clarify. I know what you mean.” He smiled. “Not much, actually. Only a couple of times. And only once over a fire.” His hand went to his neck. A subconscious thing he did every time he remembered his life as a human. Human human, I mean. I don’t even know if he knows he does it.
I raised an eyebrow. “How else do you make smores, if not on a fire?”
“In a microwave.”
My face wrinkled in disgust. “That’s just wrong.”
“No it’s not!” He protested. “In a microwave they’re super gooey and really nice.”
“Well I guess you’re gonna have to teach me the art of microwave smores some time.”
“Not until you teach me the art of campfire smores! Come on Asselte, what’s the secret recipe?”
I skewered a marshmallow, and pushed it deep into the flames. I moved it about until I found the best spot, then pulled the marshmallow out, to reveal an edible torch.
“Yeah, I see a problem with this method.” Sam said bluntly.
“What?”
“It’s now on fire.”
“You blow it out before you eat it, dumbass.” I demonstrated. “Here, you can have this one.” I handed it to him.
He raised an eyebrow before taking a bite. “Jesus Christ, it’s hot!” He exclaimed, amongst a marshmallowy mouthful.
“No shit.” I replied flatly, already preparing another marshmallow. As I stuck it into the fire, Sam spoke up again, his mouth empty this time.
“Oh my god. This is fucking amazing. It’s so crispy on the outside, but then on the inside it’s even gooier than a microwaved marshmallow.”
“And this is why we eat food. Because it’s fucking good.”
“Thank you for teaching me your ways. Now I need to try.”
Once he’d skewered his marshmallow, I guided his hand to help him find the liveliest flames, and to avoid the logs. Soon, he raised his marshmallow torch high in the air, as a sign of victory. He blew out the flame, but then looked at it with concern.
“The skewer’s still glowing on the top. Is that gonna kill me?”
“Sam, you’re a vampire.”
“Oh yeah.”
As we ate a few more marshmallows, Sam leaned his head on my shoulder, and his hair brushed against my neck. I wrapped my free arm around him, and pulled him closer to me. He pulled a final marshmallow from his skewer with his teeth, and threw the stick into the fire. Whilst I ate mine, he snuggled closer to me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I couldn’t hide my rising blush and smile, so I let them fill me with warmth and happiness.
I quickly tossed my skewer in the fire, and as the flames rose to engulf it, I pulled Sam close into my chest, and kissed the top of his head. Things weren’t perfect, but they were definitely getting better.
