Chapter Text
I roll over, slowly becoming aware of my surroundings as I wake. I briefly freak out at my unfamiliar surroundings, before remembering the events of last night. I turn to the side and see Edith isn’t occupying the bed with me. I tilt my head to get a better look at the rest of the room, and see that my sister is currently passed out, head against the desk.
I very slowly roll out of bed, taking a moment to clumsily pull myself from the new sheets. I step across the room to see her resting her head on her arms, breathing softly, making subtle faces. I chuckle, remembering all the times I woke her up as kids because I wanted to know what she was dreaming about.
Stupid, idiot, even when she’s not awake she’s trying to get in your armour.
I shake away the thoughts, and look across the desk. Sitting up, in the crook of Edith’s elbow, completely mended, is the stuffed rabbit. Almost on queue she squeezes the animal closer as she mumbles something incoherent.
I gently pull it from her grip, examining the hand stitching across its midsection. I’m torn between ripping the thing in half again, and hugging it to my chest. I settle for simply dropping it back on the desk, waking Edith with the soft impact.
“Mm? Did I fall asleep while I was working?” She mumbles softly.
“Yep.”
I turn and rush out of the room, suddenly worried that if I stayed to watch her yawn and stretch awake that I might be overcome by… at this point I was struggling to figure out what I was feeling.
So much for having a clearer head after sleeping…
I step into the kitchen, grabbing both of us breakfast before falling on to the couch. It takes about another 15 minutes for Edith to wander out of the room. She’s fixed her hair and changed into new clothes, once again returned to the pinnacle of style and cleanliness, before freezing in place as she see’s me. I hold out the other blood bag to her.
“Here, breakfast,” I say with probably more force than I was intending.
She flashes a quick smile before hesitantly grabbing the bag from me and sitting down. She stares at the bag, rolling it over in her hands, examining each of the tubes sticking out the top. She finds each seam of the plastic and runs her fingers on it as if to evaluate the craftsmanship. I kick her softly.
“Ow! Hey, what?”
“Are you gonna fucking drink it, or are you gonna stare at it all day?”
She pouts, then looks back at the bag, specifically at the tubes. Then she looks over to my now empty bag, a small drop of blood still clinging to the thickest tube, before swallowing nervously and returning to her own. I notice where her gaze falls and raise my eyebrow.
“Have you… never had bagged blood before?” I ask.
“I- I mean we- There… there’s no need for the bagged stuff if you always eat fresh,” She stammers.
She freezes in place as she continues to simply stare at her food. I reach over and take the bag from her.
“Like this, alright?” I say, piercing the thickest tube with my fang and taking a small sip.
I hand it back to her, a droplet of blood running down the straw onto my finger. Edith takes the bag, but her eyes are transfixed on that finger as I slowly lick it clean. She opens her mouth, no doubt hungry after not feeding yesterday, then returns her gaze to the tube, blushing a light purple. She ever so slowly brings the straw closer to her mouth, before shutting her eyes, and quickly biting down on it.
She takes a deep breath through her nose before takes a large, audible swig from the blood bag, squeezing it gently in her slender fingers. Her eyes open is surprise, then she takes a few more gulps of the liquid. She pulls the straw away.
“Oh my gosh it barely tastes different! And it’s so refreshing cold!” She says before leaning back into her breakfast.
“I… what, you’re kidding… it’s just blood, like any other kind of blood.”
“I know that, I was just worried it had gone… bad, after being outside a body too long…”
I can’t help but chuckle as her tone becomes more whiny as she talks.
“What’s funny?” She says, blushing and taking a few more huffy sips from her pouch.
“Just– chuckle –you’re this super sleek, professional assassin lawyer whatever, but you’re scared to drink from a blood bag?”
I double over laughing as I describe it, unable to control my volume, watching her blush spread well across her ears and nose. She takes another minute or so to finish draining the bag. After she sets down her breakfast, I hear the door unlock and slam open, Madison and Charlee’s shouting reaching us well before my housemates round the corner, each with a wooden tool snapped in half to form makeshift stake.
They run into the lounge and their screaming slowly dies off as they examine the situation. We’re all silent, staring at each other wide eyed, before Charlee grumbles.
“We thought we heard screaming!” They shout.
I look back to Edith, pressed up into the corner of the couch, wide eyed, then back to my housemates, chuckling and pointing at my sister.
“She was scared to drink bagged blood.” I attempt to explain more but I return to fits of laughter before I can get any further.
“So… everything’s okay? You were just laughing?” Madison says, dropping her stake to her side.
I nod, watching Edith go completely purple and turn away, attempting to remain stoic.
My housemates let out a sigh of relief before they start talking about their days to me. I hear all about the annoying coworkers and the stress because it’s the end of the financial year while they make dinner and get out of their work clothes. My laughter subsides, and I briefly let out a smile, taking in the atmosphere of the room. When a thought stabs into my mind unbidden.
She’s getting you again, you’re laughing and smiling, and she’s gonna betray you.
I go stone faced. I wait to find a moment to wish my housemates goodnight, and slink off to my room. Edith quickly takes the used bags and puts them in a bin before following after me. I swing the door closed as she sits on the bed, adjusting the rabbit that now sat in the middle of the pillows. As she returns her gaze in my direction, I’m leaning over her, hand on her shoulder, eyes an inch away from mine.
“Why are you making this so hard on me?” I whisper.
“Making what so hard on you?”
“Hating you. You know I can’t trust you, but you’re fighting me to remember that. You’re finding ways to endear yourself to me and my housemates, trying to give me gifts, ask to be close, when you know that trusting you isn’t something I can afford to do again. So why?”
I let out a sniffle and put my other hand on her other shoulder.
“Why are you trying to earn my trust again?” I cry out.
She looks away, managing to hold back her grimace only barely.
“Um… I don’t think I can give you a satisfactory answer… I guess because… I want to? I’m sorry, that came out wrong-”
She’s cut off as I fully collapse into her shoulder. I whimper softly as my warm, red tears run down my chin and land on the fabric of her jacket with a soft plip. It takes me a few moments to force more words to come out of my mouth.
“Why taunt me with the idea of getting my sister back?” I whisper, sobbing every few syllables.
She freezes as I say that last bit, taking a few moments before slowly wrapping her arms around me, pulling me into a hug. Instinctively I return the gesture, gripping the edge of her jacket to pull her closer. We stay stuck in this position for a while, me sobbing into her shoulder while she gently strokes my back. Eventually I go silent, then I wipe away the tears, before stepping away. I wipe my eyes with a tissue and turn away from Edith.
“It’s… I really do want to take care of you…” She says softly, holding out the rabbit.
I look over my shoulder and stare into its beady eyes, then to my sisters face as she gives me the faintest hint of a smile. I collapse onto the floor, knees to my chest.
“How could I possibly believe that?” I whimper.
“I… I don’t know…” She whispers, putting a hand on my shoulder and leaning in to me.
Instinctively I lean back, and can’t stop myself from resting my head on her knee. She softly places her hand on my head, and I take a few moments to gather my thoughts. After about twenty minutes, I look up at her and mumble.
“I’m sorry about your jacket.”
“Oh… it’s fine, blood washes out of these clothes really no problem.”
She looks away, seemingly scared to make eye contact with me. I let out a sigh, then stand up, grabbing the stuffed rabbit. I walk out to the couch, and collapse on it, before inspecting the animal further. Edith follows after me, gripping the edges of the couch as I turn on the TV and find something to watch. Eventually I stop examining the stuffed rabbit and hold it to my chest, and try to focus on my movies for the rest of the night.