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The air felt thick with dread as Simon slowly worked his way through the old ruins outside the small village he had moved to after getting discharged from his role in the Kingsguard. He had heard whispers in town of some great evil hidden in the ruins, and he was never one to just walk away from an issue. His footsteps sounded like canons with each step, no matter how he tried to soften his footfall. How much of it was his hyper-awareness he didn’t know.
Eventually, he came to a large door at the end of the corridor, the metal hinges rusted and the handle hanging half off. Lifting his hand he gently pushed against the wood the loud moan of the old metal echoing loudly through the stone structure. He held his breath looking into the main chambers of the dilapidated temple.
It took his eyes a moment to adjust and when they did his breath caught in his throat, he didn’t know what came over him but before he knew it he was rushing into the room. There in the center of the grand room was a man sprawled out and presumably injured. As he neared the body all his worry filling his very being he didn’t realize the mistake he made until he was suddenly flat on his back.
Staring up at the creature pinning him down he opened his mouth to begin demanding to be let go, instead, he screamed in pain as the creature buried his teeth into his neck. Simon’s eyes began to roll back as the loss of blood and pain combined into a nightmarish cocktail that overwhelmed his senses. All he could think as he steadily lost consciousness was, ‘Next time I’ll just ignore the damn rumors…’
~.~.~.~
Simon groaned, as feeling slowly returned to his body, pain pulsed from his neck and his eyes felt like they were cemented shut. It took every ounce of strength in his body to turn over onto his side and when he did he felt an arm snake around his waist. All at once everything came surging back to the forefront of his mind, his eyes snapped open and searched the dark room wildly before landing on the smaller man tucked into his chest.
“It’s still morning, go back to sleep,” the man mumbled, scrunching his nose in annoyance at getting woken up as he cuddled closer to the broad chest before him.
Simon didn’t know what to do in this situation. Normally he’d throw himself away from the man and start demanding answers but instead, he settled back down into the impossibly soft silks and plush pillows he was laid up in. “Sorry,” he whispered, wrapping an arm around the man curled against him and took a moment to take in his surroundings. The room looked ornate, with stone walls decorated with paintings and gold fixtures. Large velvet drapes covered the windows lining the walls and thick plush rugs covered the floors. The furniture was all dark wood, antique, and of incredible craftsmanship and the bed was the softest Simon had ever had the pleasure of laying in.
This was nothing like the stone ruins he was in only a few hours ago and he knew what happened in the ruins was real his neck still hurt. He could still feel it pulsing with his heartbeat radiating a constant ache. He remained in bed lazily stroking his fingers up the back of the man in his arms until finally he couldn’t hold back his questions anymore, “What are you?” he whispered into the still silence of the room.
“I believe your people call us vampires,” the man hummed, shifting slightly to press his nose into his collarbones breathing deeply, “undead bloodsuckers as you like to call us.”
Simon nodded slowly, “Why didn’t you kill me?” he asked, keeping his voice soft almost scared to break the tranquility the room offered.
“Killing you would be foolish,” he chuckled, hugging him tighter and pressing himself impossibly close to the taller man, “I believe you have a saying. You don’t kill the dairy cow for her meat?”
“I’m your dairy cow?” Simon asked, looking down his nose at the man raising an eyebrow at the comparison.
The man grinned, from his canine back they all looked unsettlingly sharp, “You are my love, the one I have waited years to meet knew it the moment you survived my bite.”
“Do people not typically survive your bite?” Simon asked, furrowing his brow, “Have you killed others in the village, is that why they speak of evil in these ruins?”
“I am not evil I’m just hungry! ” the man scoffed, pulling away from Simon to better look at him, “I had a deal with the former elders that they’d send up a goat every month or so, so I could eat but these new people don’t want to honor that deal. I’ve been slowly starving for months and then you showed up! Our bites are normally fatal to humans, the toxins we use to subdue our prey often being too much for your heart to handle the fact you survived just proves you're meant for me.”
Simon lay there absorbing everything the man had to say before opening his mouth once more, “ Or, and this is just a guess, you were so weak from getting starved that your venom just… didn’t work and I’m not meant for you I just got lucky.” he said, trying to reason with the man.
“Can you not just let me have this? I’m lonely and you're bound to me now so let me have this.” the man pouted.
Simon rolled his eyes, sucking in a breath, “Yeah okay this might as well happen,” he muttered, shaking his head and rolling onto his back once more, “Just no more biting me if I’m right and I’m not immune to your venom the next one might kill me when you get your strength back.”
“Hmp fine,” he grumbled, moving closer and resting his head on his chest listening to the steady beat of his heart, “Oh I’m John by the way,”
“I’m Simon,” Simon said, wrapping an arm around Johnny’s waist, “Now go back to sleep Johnny I’ll probably get up in a few hours not nocturnal like you,”
“Just don’t make too much noise,” Johnny said, closing his eyes and settling in to sleep off the daylight.
~.~.~.~
“ Simon~ ” Johnny whined, his voice echoing across the stone halls of the quite well-restored portion of the ruins. Simon sighed, lifting his book high in the air as he leaned back in the plush armchair he was reading in. Within moments Johnny was climbing into his lap and curling up on his chest like a lazy cat.
“Isn’t it your bedtime?” Simon asked, lowering his book once more wrapping his arms around Johnny’s waist and resting his cheek on top of his head, “It’ll be dawn soon and you know how irritated you get if you don’t get enough sleep.”
“I’m not a child Simon,” Johnny deadpanned, tilting his head back to stare up at the larger man, “I was irritated because of a lack of food not a lack of sleep,” he said, stressing the words.
Simon just let out a soft hum, turning to press a soft kiss to the shaved sides of his head, “Well what did you need love?” he asked, turning the page in his book as he held Johnny on his lap.
“Nothing I just missed you,” Johnny said, practically melting into his chest as he soaked up the gentle kisses and smiled at the way Simon gently petted his waist through his shirt, “I never get to see you now, you’re gone during the day since your awake and even if your here at night your sleeping.” he pouted, lightly tugging at a loose thread on Simon’s shirt, “I just want to spend time with my husband.”
A smile tugged at Simon’s lips as he grabbed his bookmark off the little side table and tucked it away in his book. Setting it aside he hooked his arm under Johnny’s knees and braced the other behind his back lifting him as he got to his feet, “Then how about before the sun rises we got for a walk in the gardens,” he said.
Johnny smiled tucking his face into Simon’s cheek as he nodded, “Can I wear your coat in case the sun rises before we come in?”
“Do you want to wear my coat so we can stay out while the sun is out?” Simon asked, stopping by the wooden coat stand by the garden door. Johnny didn’t answer instead he leaned forward took the coat wrapped it around himself hiding his skin from any possible sun and tucked himself back into Simon’s neck. Simon chuckled, shaking his head as he left the safety of their home and ventured out into the garden.
He took his time walking along the path he had spent weeks fixing up having cut back all the overgrowth and scrubbing the cobblestone. All so Johnny could walk with ease at night without having to worry about slipping on a moss patch. The plants were most dormant having settled in for the night a few were awake which Simon had spent even longer in their library researching just so he could locate and plant them in the garden so Johnny would have something nice to look at during his night strolls.
“You didn’t have to do all this,” Johnny mumbled, reaching out to gently pet his fingers along some of the blossoming ivy hanging from a trellis, “I was fine with the old garden.”
“The old garden was boring and dangerous. Let me do something nice for my husband,” Simon chuckled, adjusting his hold to lift Johnny higher so he could reach one of the larger blossoms, “You're stuck inside and there’s only so many times you can look at the same cluster of leaves.”
“I’m fine being inside,” Johnny said, looping his arms around Simon’s neck, “It’s not like I can go out during the day and see the town like you do.”
“Maybe one day you will I’ll figure out a way,” Simon said, readjusting once more so he could free a hand to fix the coat covering Johnny as the first rays of sunlight peaked through the trees, “I want you happy Johnny even if it means I spend the rest of my life researching and working my hands to bone I’ll do it just to see you happy.” he whispered, pressing a soft kiss to his lips, “Let me have this.”
Johnny smiled against Simon’s lips nodding gently, “Okay,” he whispered, tucking his head back under his chin as they continued their leisurely stroll through the gardens. The sun steadily rose and with its growing strength, the warmth slowly began to lull Johnny into a deep sleep.
He would wake up several hours later in the late afternoon to the rich scent of Simon’s cooking and with a fresh vase of flowers on the nightstand of the same blossoms he had been admiring in the gardens. As he stumbled his way into their little kitchen Simon had already set his food on the table, a steak made blue rare and a mug of warm blood the bandage of Simon’s arm telling him exactly where it had come from.
“Good morning love,” Simon said, kissing his forehead as he set his dinner on the table, another steak this one done more medium and with a side of roasted veg.
“Good evening dearest,” Johnny smiled, leaning into the kiss and pressing one of his own into Simon’s shoulder, “How did your day go?” he asked, sitting down to cut into his meal and taking a sip from his mug.
“It went well should get a new shipment of flowers for the garden in a few days.” Simon said, taking a large bite of his steak, “What about you? Any plans for tonight?” he asked, taking a drink of his juice.
“I think fixing up another shelf for the library your collection keeps growing and I don’t want you to run out of room.” Johnny smiled, setting his mug down, “Heard there’s a merchant that sells… peculiar tomes in the night, I may go fetch a few for you after I ensure they aren’t cursed of course.”
Simon chuckled, smiling wide at the idea of new strange books to read, “Well until the shop opens how about a nice lie-in?”
“I would love that,” Johnny said, smiling at his husband as they both continued to talk about their days as they finished their meals. Johnny finished his mug and helped Simon to clean the dishes before tending to his arm to ensure it was properly bandaged. Once all was in order they made their way to the main chambers of the ruins, no longer were they dilapidated and crumbling.
Simon had put in countless hours fixing the place up into their little sanctuary even went as far as replacing the old crumbling ceiling and roof with glass panes. Spent days attaching drapes that could be pulled to cover the glass to shroud the room in darkness so Johnny could enjoy it during the day.
Lined the walls with plants that remained in bloom year-round just so Johnny could enjoy them even in the cold. Had a corner filled with books that Simon had never heard of before but enjoyed reading nonetheless. They had a large pile of plush pillows and blankets in the center for them to curl up in so they could stare up at the stars through their ceiling. Simon stretched out on his back groaning softly as his back cracked and Johnny lit a candle in the corner of the room after pulling the drapes back to reveal the ceiling.
They had only made the mistake of falling asleep with the drapes open once and after a few days of Johnny being a bit sore, they had worked out a fail-safe. Everything was in place and the candle slowly burning down to the trip wire that would draw the drapes in an hour's time Johnny joined Simon on the nest of pillows and sighed as he rested his head on his chest, “Good night my love,” he whispered, “May your dreams be pleasant and sweet,”
“And good morning my dear,” Simon yawned, wrapping an arm around Johnny’s waist as they both stared up at the moon and stars, “May your day be easy and bright,” he hummed, slowly drifting off.