Chapter 3
Donnell eyed the loony mage warily. “What do you mean, it’ll be good to have you around? And that you’ll grow on me?” he demanded.
Kieran grinned merrily, his duel-toned eyes sparkling. “Well, I just thought that we could hang out together from now on,” he said persuasively. “I mean, we’re both lonely. Neither of us have anybody that’s close to us…or am I wrong about you?” he asked, looking Donnell over shrewdly. “Are you rolling in friends, and you just can’t wait to get back to them?”
The vampire wanted to bare his teeth. He glowered at Kieran from under his dark brows. “That’s none of your business,” he growled.
“But I think it is,” Kieran replied promptly. “Or I’d like it to be, anyway. See, I thought I’d never seen anyone who looked more lonely or depressed than you were earlier. You looked so sad…it made me feel bad. I just want to cheer you up. And besides, I’m not kidding when I say that I don’t have any close friends either. And I certainly can’t go and visit my family for Christmas - I’d give my sister a heart attack if I did that. They all think I’m dead,” he sighed. “I had to fake my death forty-five years ago. That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” he looked glum for the first time since Donnell had met him on the street less than an hour ago, his shoulders drooping. Suddenly, for the first time in at least a century, Donnell felt compassion for someone else, instead of just pitying himself and his own plight.
“I guess,” he said rather stiltedly, “That we could…hang out together. Or something,” he said aloud.
Kieran instantly brightened up. “You mean it?!” he cried, sounding so happy that it rather took Donnell aback. He couldn’t remember anyone ever being this excited to spend time with him before. Not even Vassilly at the beginning of their relationship.
“Err…yes,” he said, eyeing the mage warily again. He really had to remember that Kieran himself had admitted to being crazy.
Kieran crowed victoriously. “You won’t be sorry!” he cried, beaming at Donnell. “I swear!”
Actually, he was already rather sorry. But Donnell couldn’t take his words back, since Kieran just looked so bloody HAPPY about them! He sighed. “What now?” he asked.
Kieran considered this question. “I think we should go ice skating,” he told Donnell.
The vampire looked perplexed. “Ice skating?” he repeated incredulously. “Are you serious?”
Kieran nodded. “Sure! Its great fun. Have you ever been?”
Donnell shook his head slowly. Kieran nodded in a satisfied way. “Great. I can teach you,” he told the vampire happily. “You’ll love it.”
Donnell decided that he didn’t love ice skating at all. He and Kieran had been at the rink for almost half an hour now, and he still hadn’t quite gotten the hang of it. His ass was sore from falling down, and he’d barked his shins a couple of times, too. His ankles felt wobbly in the laced-up skates. There was a black scowl on his face as he tried yet again to balance on two metal blades, and his dark eyes promised retribution on the crazy mage that had dragged him here.
Kieran was gracefully coasting along ahead of him, but he spun around and came back to Donnell. “Let me help you!” he called out to the vampire.
Donnell started to tell him just where he could shove his ‘help’, but before he could get a word out Kieran grabbed him around the waist(well, the upper waist, anyway, since he was so much taller than Donnell) and steadied him. “Listen, I’ll go slow,” he told Donnell. “Just try to match my pace and do what I do. All right?”
It wasn’t ‘all right’, a mutinous Donnell thought. He looked down at their feet and tried to imitate what Kieran was doing, to match his pace to the mage’s. To his surprise, he started to get the hang of it at last. His stubborn feet began to glide along instead of tripping him up. He heard a delighted laugh above his head. “See! I knew you could do it!” Kieran cried encouragingly.
Donnell felt relief and pride mingle within him. This wasn’t so very bad after all, he decided. It was kind of fun, actually. He yelped suddenly as Kieran steered him into a turn. “You’re doing fine!” the younger man called. “Just relax and have fun.”
Donnell felt some of the tension flow out of him. He even tried going faster on his own recognizance, and Kieran only laughed and kept pace with him. To his shock, the vampire realized that he hadn’t had even one brooding thought for the last two hours. He glanced up at Kieran’s face, seeing his white teeth as the taller man smiled down at him. A saucy wink, as he remarked: “Told you you’d love it!”
Donnell tried to frown at him, but couldn’t quite muster the expression at the moment. Kieran chuckled and removed his hand from Donnell’s upper back. “Try it on your own now,” he encouraged.
He looked down at his own feet, carefully moving them in that gliding motion. While he was moving slower now that he didn’t have any support, he wasn’t falling down! Donnell felt almost delirious at accomplishing this all on his own. Kieran skated a circle around him, even turning and skating backward to look into his face. “You’re doing great,” he told the vampire. “I’m so proud of you. Isn’t this fun?”
It was now. Donnell shrugged a bit, not letting his delight at getting a handle on this new pastime show on his face. Kieran’s eyes were laughing at him, and he suspected that the mage knew exactly what he was thinking(and trying to conceal). He smirked as he did a little pirouette. “I could have been an ice skater,” he remarked happily. “But it would have been a bad idea to become so famous that everybody knew what my face looked like. Having photos of me around from thirty years ago where I look the same as I do now would be pretty hard to explain. Besides, I’m too lazy to want to put in the amount of practice that ice skaters have to to be really good.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Donnell replied sardonically.
Kieran shrugged. “Hey, I am as I am,” he said. “Ahh, its starting to get really cold out here,” he added with a shiver. “Do you want to go inside somewhere warm?”
“What did you have in mind?” Donnell asked suspiciously.
Kieran’s eyes were twinkling. He lifted a gloved finger to his lips. “It’s a secret,” he told Donnell. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
They traded in their skates and left the rink. Kieran stood on the corner and hailed a cab, while Donnell stood besides him and wondered bemusedly why he was allowing this human mage to drag him around the city like this. Still, this was better than just sitting in his apartment and staring at the TV. So he’d put up with it for now, until he got tired of Kieran’s enthusiasms.
A cab pulled up in front of them. Kieran held the door for him. “After you, sir,” he said gaily.
Donnell frowned at being treated like a woman. But he climbed into the cab anyway, and Kieran slid in after him. The mage leaned forward and gave the cabbie an address that Donnell didn’t recognize. Then he sat back as the cab pulled away from the curb. “Where are we going?” the vampire asked.
Another manic grin. “Not telling,” Kieran crooned. “Uh uh. You have to wait and see,” he went on with a laughing glance at Donnell.
He fumed silently, leaning back against the cushions of the seat and folding his arms over his chest. He was probably pouting, Donnell thought to himself. But right at this moment, he really didn’t care. Kieran was annoying him. The mage had pulled off his gloves and was twiddling his fingers again. The vampire felt the tingle of magic once more, then Kieran opened his hand to reveal a blood-red rose in his palm. He held this out to Donnell with as wink.
The vampire scowled at him and refused to take the blossom. Kieran shrugged and made it disappear, relaxing back against the cushions himself. He looked utterly comfortable and pleased with himself. Made Donnell want to kick him in the shins smartly. He turned his black look on the frozen outside instead, refusing to meet Kieran’s eyes anymore. Bastard had hypnotized him with that weird, duel-colored gaze. He was sure of it. He was bespelled.
The cab pulled to a halt. “Here we are!” Kieran sang, getting out and holding the door for him again. But Donnell got out the other side instead, glaring at him. Kieran only shrugged and went to pay the cabbie, tipping him generously.
Donnell stared at the bui0lding in front of them. It had large windows, and a mellow golden warmth shone from within. Kieran bounced over to him(how did someone that tall bounce anyway?) and waved a hand at him. “Come inside,” he said wheedlingly.
Donnell scowled at him but followed when he led the way into the building. The floor was shiny black-and white tile, and small tables and chairs were set on it. A counter ran the length of one wall, with glass cases full of delectable looking pastries and treats under it. Kieran led him up to the counter. “This is the best bakery and candy shop in town,” he told Donnell. “Everything is made right here in the shop, and its all awesome. Hi!” he chirped to the man behind the counter, who was wearing a white apron. “I know this is going to sound weird, but I’d like a little bit of everything. Can you do that? Give me a sampler plate?”
The man nodded. “Sure, if that’s what you want,” he said.
“Great!” Kieran beamed at him. “My friend has never been here before - I want him to be able to taste all of the cool things that you make.”
The man looked hopefully at Donnell, obviously seeing a new customer in the making. He bustled away to make up a sampler plate, as Kieran turned to Donnell. “This should be fun,” he remarked. “Watching you get to taste all of this stuff.”
Donnell wasn’t sure that he liked that idea. His intense response to just a drop of hot chocolate did not bode well for tasting all of these sweets and pastries. He debated just taking to his heels, but the part of him that was incredibly lonely and longing for a friend or companion of some kind wouldn’t let him do so. He shoved his hands into his pockets and frowned, trying to resign himself to what was going to happen very soon.
The man returned and handed Kieran a plate with little tidbits of everything that the shop sold on it. Kieran thanked him and paid for the treats, then dragged Donnell over to one of the little tables and set the plate down in front of him triumphantly. The vampire looked at the plate apprehensively, gulping as his taste buds began to tingle. This, he thought rather wildly, was just about exactly how he’d imagined that Purgatory would be like. He was really, REALLY in trouble now.
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Donnell eyed the loony mage warily. “What do you mean, it’ll be good to have you around? And that you’ll grow on me?” he demanded.
Kieran grinned merrily, his duel-toned eyes sparkling. “Well, I just thought that we could hang out together from now on,” he said persuasively. “I mean, we’re both lonely. Neither of us have anybody that’s close to us…or am I wrong about you?” he asked, looking Donnell over shrewdly. “Are you rolling in friends, and you just can’t wait to get back to them?”
The vampire wanted to bare his teeth. He glowered at Kieran from under his dark brows. “That’s none of your business,” he growled.
“But I think it is,” Kieran replied promptly. “Or I’d like it to be, anyway. See, I thought I’d never seen anyone who looked more lonely or depressed than you were earlier. You looked so sad…it made me feel bad. I just want to cheer you up. And besides, I’m not kidding when I say that I don’t have any close friends either. And I certainly can’t go and visit my family for Christmas - I’d give my sister a heart attack if I did that. They all think I’m dead,” he sighed. “I had to fake my death forty-five years ago. That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” he looked glum for the first time since Donnell had met him on the street less than an hour ago, his shoulders drooping. Suddenly, for the first time in at least a century, Donnell felt compassion for someone else, instead of just pitying himself and his own plight.
“I guess,” he said rather stiltedly, “That we could…hang out together. Or something,” he said aloud.
Kieran instantly brightened up. “You mean it?!” he cried, sounding so happy that it rather took Donnell aback. He couldn’t remember anyone ever being this excited to spend time with him before. Not even Vassilly at the beginning of their relationship.
“Err…yes,” he said, eyeing the mage warily again. He really had to remember that Kieran himself had admitted to being crazy.
Kieran crowed victoriously. “You won’t be sorry!” he cried, beaming at Donnell. “I swear!”
Actually, he was already rather sorry. But Donnell couldn’t take his words back, since Kieran just looked so bloody HAPPY about them! He sighed. “What now?” he asked.
Kieran considered this question. “I think we should go ice skating,” he told Donnell.
The vampire looked perplexed. “Ice skating?” he repeated incredulously. “Are you serious?”
Kieran nodded. “Sure! Its great fun. Have you ever been?”
Donnell shook his head slowly. Kieran nodded in a satisfied way. “Great. I can teach you,” he told the vampire happily. “You’ll love it.”
Donnell decided that he didn’t love ice skating at all. He and Kieran had been at the rink for almost half an hour now, and he still hadn’t quite gotten the hang of it. His ass was sore from falling down, and he’d barked his shins a couple of times, too. His ankles felt wobbly in the laced-up skates. There was a black scowl on his face as he tried yet again to balance on two metal blades, and his dark eyes promised retribution on the crazy mage that had dragged him here.
Kieran was gracefully coasting along ahead of him, but he spun around and came back to Donnell. “Let me help you!” he called out to the vampire.
Donnell started to tell him just where he could shove his ‘help’, but before he could get a word out Kieran grabbed him around the waist(well, the upper waist, anyway, since he was so much taller than Donnell) and steadied him. “Listen, I’ll go slow,” he told Donnell. “Just try to match my pace and do what I do. All right?”
It wasn’t ‘all right’, a mutinous Donnell thought. He looked down at their feet and tried to imitate what Kieran was doing, to match his pace to the mage’s. To his surprise, he started to get the hang of it at last. His stubborn feet began to glide along instead of tripping him up. He heard a delighted laugh above his head. “See! I knew you could do it!” Kieran cried encouragingly.
Donnell felt relief and pride mingle within him. This wasn’t so very bad after all, he decided. It was kind of fun, actually. He yelped suddenly as Kieran steered him into a turn. “You’re doing fine!” the younger man called. “Just relax and have fun.”
Donnell felt some of the tension flow out of him. He even tried going faster on his own recognizance, and Kieran only laughed and kept pace with him. To his shock, the vampire realized that he hadn’t had even one brooding thought for the last two hours. He glanced up at Kieran’s face, seeing his white teeth as the taller man smiled down at him. A saucy wink, as he remarked: “Told you you’d love it!”
Donnell tried to frown at him, but couldn’t quite muster the expression at the moment. Kieran chuckled and removed his hand from Donnell’s upper back. “Try it on your own now,” he encouraged.
He looked down at his own feet, carefully moving them in that gliding motion. While he was moving slower now that he didn’t have any support, he wasn’t falling down! Donnell felt almost delirious at accomplishing this all on his own. Kieran skated a circle around him, even turning and skating backward to look into his face. “You’re doing great,” he told the vampire. “I’m so proud of you. Isn’t this fun?”
It was now. Donnell shrugged a bit, not letting his delight at getting a handle on this new pastime show on his face. Kieran’s eyes were laughing at him, and he suspected that the mage knew exactly what he was thinking(and trying to conceal). He smirked as he did a little pirouette. “I could have been an ice skater,” he remarked happily. “But it would have been a bad idea to become so famous that everybody knew what my face looked like. Having photos of me around from thirty years ago where I look the same as I do now would be pretty hard to explain. Besides, I’m too lazy to want to put in the amount of practice that ice skaters have to to be really good.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Donnell replied sardonically.
Kieran shrugged. “Hey, I am as I am,” he said. “Ahh, its starting to get really cold out here,” he added with a shiver. “Do you want to go inside somewhere warm?”
“What did you have in mind?” Donnell asked suspiciously.
Kieran’s eyes were twinkling. He lifted a gloved finger to his lips. “It’s a secret,” he told Donnell. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
They traded in their skates and left the rink. Kieran stood on the corner and hailed a cab, while Donnell stood besides him and wondered bemusedly why he was allowing this human mage to drag him around the city like this. Still, this was better than just sitting in his apartment and staring at the TV. So he’d put up with it for now, until he got tired of Kieran’s enthusiasms.
A cab pulled up in front of them. Kieran held the door for him. “After you, sir,” he said gaily.
Donnell frowned at being treated like a woman. But he climbed into the cab anyway, and Kieran slid in after him. The mage leaned forward and gave the cabbie an address that Donnell didn’t recognize. Then he sat back as the cab pulled away from the curb. “Where are we going?” the vampire asked.
Another manic grin. “Not telling,” Kieran crooned. “Uh uh. You have to wait and see,” he went on with a laughing glance at Donnell.
He fumed silently, leaning back against the cushions of the seat and folding his arms over his chest. He was probably pouting, Donnell thought to himself. But right at this moment, he really didn’t care. Kieran was annoying him. The mage had pulled off his gloves and was twiddling his fingers again. The vampire felt the tingle of magic once more, then Kieran opened his hand to reveal a blood-red rose in his palm. He held this out to Donnell with as wink.
The vampire scowled at him and refused to take the blossom. Kieran shrugged and made it disappear, relaxing back against the cushions himself. He looked utterly comfortable and pleased with himself. Made Donnell want to kick him in the shins smartly. He turned his black look on the frozen outside instead, refusing to meet Kieran’s eyes anymore. Bastard had hypnotized him with that weird, duel-colored gaze. He was sure of it. He was bespelled.
The cab pulled to a halt. “Here we are!” Kieran sang, getting out and holding the door for him again. But Donnell got out the other side instead, glaring at him. Kieran only shrugged and went to pay the cabbie, tipping him generously.
Donnell stared at the bui0lding in front of them. It had large windows, and a mellow golden warmth shone from within. Kieran bounced over to him(how did someone that tall bounce anyway?) and waved a hand at him. “Come inside,” he said wheedlingly.
Donnell scowled at him but followed when he led the way into the building. The floor was shiny black-and white tile, and small tables and chairs were set on it. A counter ran the length of one wall, with glass cases full of delectable looking pastries and treats under it. Kieran led him up to the counter. “This is the best bakery and candy shop in town,” he told Donnell. “Everything is made right here in the shop, and its all awesome. Hi!” he chirped to the man behind the counter, who was wearing a white apron. “I know this is going to sound weird, but I’d like a little bit of everything. Can you do that? Give me a sampler plate?”
The man nodded. “Sure, if that’s what you want,” he said.
“Great!” Kieran beamed at him. “My friend has never been here before - I want him to be able to taste all of the cool things that you make.”
The man looked hopefully at Donnell, obviously seeing a new customer in the making. He bustled away to make up a sampler plate, as Kieran turned to Donnell. “This should be fun,” he remarked. “Watching you get to taste all of this stuff.”
Donnell wasn’t sure that he liked that idea. His intense response to just a drop of hot chocolate did not bode well for tasting all of these sweets and pastries. He debated just taking to his heels, but the part of him that was incredibly lonely and longing for a friend or companion of some kind wouldn’t let him do so. He shoved his hands into his pockets and frowned, trying to resign himself to what was going to happen very soon.
The man returned and handed Kieran a plate with little tidbits of everything that the shop sold on it. Kieran thanked him and paid for the treats, then dragged Donnell over to one of the little tables and set the plate down in front of him triumphantly. The vampire looked at the plate apprehensively, gulping as his taste buds began to tingle. This, he thought rather wildly, was just about exactly how he’d imagined that Purgatory would be like. He was really, REALLY in trouble now.
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