alcuin | Aaron

Aaron

When Alcuin didn't hear from Aaron in a reasonable amount of time after leaving that note, he was... annoyed. Mostly at himself, because he wondered if he'd miscalculated. If it had been too soon for such an overt step. Though also he was slightly insulted.

Finally he decided that he was tired of waiting, and he might as well kill two birds with one stone and push things forward. Though he was also a little annoyed at having to get Hannibal's input into this plan because he didn't like admitting that Aaron was ghosting him.

But Hannibal had liked his new plan very much, and was more than happy to help.

Which was how, late one evening, Aaron received a phone call:

Alcuin's voice was nearly a whisper. Weak. "I - I'm so sorry to call you, but I didn't know who else... I think... I think I need help..."

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"It does," Alcuin said with a sigh.

He'd been trying to carefully keep track of the lies he was telling Aaron, and it had occurred to him that he hadn't actually had to tell that many. There was the "ex who wasn't very nice to him" from their first meeting, but beyond that he'd said very little about his life, intentionally. And Aaron hadn't asked.

Aaron hadn't asked, because Aaron hadn't - up until now - cared. Or rather, he hadn't allowed himself to care. He was used to hearing confessions, but not having conversations.

"Would you like to stay for breakfast then?" he asked.

"Yes please," murmured Alcuin, and thought how pleased Hannibal would be when he didn't come home tonight.

Aaron could hear Alcuin get sleepy. "If you want... we can talk in the morning." And then, as if realizing. "And if you wake and I'm not here, it's because I went out to get us breakfast. I'll be back."

"Okay." Alcuin let his eyes slip closed, still laying against Aaron.

Aaron couldn't sleep until after some time. He thought of the violent attack, and what the Church' plans were - and how he hoped they would suffice. He was rarely paid to think, but he was concerned that the Church didn't see the danger and didn't care about collateral damage. These thoughts didn't help him sleep.

Instead he thought of Alcuin, the body next to him and his breathing. It calmed him and finally he did fall asleep.

Alcuin intentionally slowed his breathing, but stayed intentionally awake until Aaron was asleep, listening to his thoughts.

This was the reason he'd been so disappointed that Aaron had had him leave, before. Someone's thoughts as they were falling asleep were often a gold mine. He also had some ideas for how to get more information with a conversation in the morning.

And then he did fall asleep, because he really had been through quite a lot today and was exhausted.

Aaron was an early riser. He also truly wanted Alcuin to enjoy waking up here, and that made it suddenly important that there were other things for breakfast besides bread and sausage. So instead of his usual morning run, Aaron went to the store to get some jams and fruit and orange juice and things like that.

Alcuin had only been pretending to be asleep when Aaron left. He waited a couple of minutes until he was sure he was gone, and then got out of bed and began snooping.

Dear god, the man had a lot of weapons.

But the jackpot was a laptop. And - oh for fuck's sake - there was a sticky note on the inside with a password written on it. Alcuin was quick about it, going straight to his email. His eyes went wide as he clicked on something. He thought it possible that Aaron wouldn't notice if he forwarded it to himself, but didn't want to risk it, so he took out his phone and snapped a few photos of emails on the screen instead. Then he wiped off the keyboard and the top with a tissue, closed it, locked his phone, and went into the bathroom to take a shower.

Aaron came back and was glad to note Alcuin had gone to take a shower. He made sure breakfast was served on the kitchen table. There was nothing fancy about anything he owned, but he managed to make it look... nice, with nice plates and glasses of orange juice and the coffee he'd picked up as well.

Alcuin came out with a towel around his waist, freshly showered. The bandages were gone too, and he smiled and tilted his head. "Look, it's not so bad. Maybe it won't even scar."

Aaron smiled, pleased. "Doesn't look like it will, no. That's a rather ironic blessing in disguise. Vampire wounds heal well."

"I hope there's something here to your liking. I hope you're hungry." Maybe he'd bought a bit too much...

"This was so sweet of you," Alcuin said. He wandered over and kissed Aaron's cheek. "Do you maybe have some clothes I could borrow? I think mine... well, I imagine blood stains are hard to get out. Just toss them."

"Uhm, just my clothes, but of course you can borrow whatever you need," Aaron said. He was substantially broader than Alcuin so nothing he owned would fit, but... probably Alcuin could walk around in a binbag and still look divine.

"I know they'll probably swallow me whole," Alcuin laughed. "But... ah, this will work." He pulled a pair of sweatpants with a drawstring out of a drawer, and a t-shirt.

The clothes were indeed way to big for him, but somehow he managed to make them look almost fashionable.

"I am very hungry," he added, and came over to the table.

He was just beautiful and... alright there was appeal in having him wear his clothes, for some reason.

"Oh, good. I've got a bit of everything. I never skip breakfast, but it's usually just bread and sausage or eggs." That seemed a bit too brutal for Alcuin, which is why he'd bought croissants, pastries and jams.

Alcuin sat down, and picked up a croissant and a knife. "It's perfect," he said. "Perhaps a bit much for the two of us, but I appreciate the thought you put into the variety. And I suppose it's good for me to keep my strength up."

"That was my thinking, yes," Aaron said, a bit sheepish. He looked at Alcuin. "Tell me a little about yourself. I feel I don't know anything at all about you."

Indeed he did not.

"Oh, there isn't much to tell," Alcuin said as he slathered jam onto the croissant. "I'm an orphan. No family to speak of... which is why the idea that I might have fae blood doesn't seem so far fetched."

"What do you do for a living?" Aaron asked.

"Freelance writer," Alcuin said. "Website and advertising copy, mostly. I do well enough to get by. Though I'd rather be spending my days writing poetry." He chuckled. "But then I'd be living out of a cardboard box."

Aaron chuckled. "Well, I would love to read some of it, if you would let me."

Alcuin did write poetry, actually. The best lies were the ones interspersed with the truth.

He'd have to find some poems that weren't subtly about vampires though.

"Perhaps someday," he said lightly. And then after another bite he asked, "Aaron, about last night... do you know it might have been? The vampire?"

"There's an infestation somewhere near where you were attacked," Aaron replied. "I'm waiting on intelligence on that, actually. So, hopefully you'll be rid of that soon."

"Near where I was attacked?" Alcuin clarified. "Is that where all the vampires are?"

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