Nom nom nom (for Asher)

[speakscanadian]

 
What was that saying?

Beggars couldn't be choosers.

India had never been at the top of Ray's list of vacation hotspots but it wasn't like there was a brochure full of options for where they could go that year. He'd heard on the grapevine that it wasn't exactly a luxurious place but after bumping back down to reality after the disappearance of the mist, anywhere that was away was a step up in Ray's book.

With hindsight, maybe two giant suitcases and a bag slung across his chest wasn't the best plan. Especially not when he'd partnered himself with the least helpful or willing man on the planet. Never one to travel light though, there were very noticeable drag marks left in his wake as he ploughed ahead over the causeway and onto the second island.

"Thanks again, by the way," Ray drawled sarcastically for the third or fourth time. "For all of your help. Really."

Had Ray not spent so much time packing and repacking, maybe they would have reached their destination before nightfall.

Comments

[asher_talos]

"Did you expect a cape and a widow's peak?" He asked, pushing away from the wall and adjusting an earplug. "Wouldn't be as easy to get a meal if we looked that different from you average human."

[speakscanadian]

"You've never exactly been forthcoming with the details, so how was I supposed to know?" Ray replied defensively, voice notching up a few notes.

His fingers flexed a little when Asher moved, almost like they were considering their options.

"And don't say 'we'! You're not a 'we', you're a 'you'."

[asher_talos]

"Really?" The skepticism was more than apparent in his tone. Although, it still probably wasn't as obvious as it appeared in Ray's body language since Asher had said the V-word.

"Because you're not exactly acting like someone who has full confidence in the truth of that statement."

[speakscanadian]

"I don't have full confidence?" Ray asked incredulously. "You're the one who just separated us into predator," he pointed at Asher, "and prey," back at himself, "in a single sentence."

Ray was trying not to make any assumptions but with Asher acting weird and cryptic, it was hard to believe he was still his completely normal self, no matter what he looked like.

[asher_talos]

"Oh, for the love of-- I'm not going to eat you!" He shouted. He may not have been able to control his senses being heightened, but he could control whether or not he was going to up and bite someone. Especially if that someone was Ray.

"Even if I did feel like I had to feed right now the smell alone around here would ruin my appetite."

[speakscanadian]

"Feed," Ray mouthed silently, expression one of childish distaste at the thought. Why Asher couldn't use normal human vocabulary was beyond Ray. It wasn't exactly helping his case.

"That's exactly what I imagine a vampire saying right before he pounces," he pointed out, sounding more unconvinced than ever.

[asher_talos]

"Fine," Asher said, rolling his eyes and moving past Ray toward the mouth of the alley, only to fall back even further than before when a particularly noisy cart rolled by. "I plan to drain you dry. Better?"

He would have chosen that moment to storm off, but he could only shove the earplugs so far into his ears.

[speakscanadian]

"Don't be stupid, Asher," Ray snapped, tone serious and no-nonsense. He hated not knowing what was going on or what to expect. It wasn't even like he could approach the situation like a cop - the last thing he wanted to do was point a weapon at Asher if he didn't need to.

"You bit me when you were human but now you're a vampire again, you don't want to? Sure, that makes sense." All Ray had wanted was a vacation but now he couldn't wait to get home again. "Let's just go. We leave and you'll turn back to normal."

[asher_talos]

"Oh, please. Don't flatter yourself; I can control myself." It wasn't as if he'd been turned yesterday. Back home, most of his meals hadn't even come straight from the source, but rather a farming facility. Sometimes, the other way was just too exhausting. And messy.

[speakscanadian]

It was almost an anti-climax. The idea of Asher as a vampire had preyed on Ray's mind in the past but apparently, he'd been living with one in all but eye color the entire time. It was both comforting and worrying at the same time.

"I believe you. You're not gonna hurt anyone." He barely suppressed a sigh. "Can we go now?"

[asher_talos]

"You can," he replied, leaning against the wall once again, slightly more casual this time.

If Ray did believe him, he wasn't sure why he was so set on leaving so quickly. He wasn't even the one trying to keep his lunch down while dealing with the volume of the world around him stuck on max.

[speakscanadian]

Ray dropped his head, feeling a little defeated already. He soon raised it again resolutely, and meandered a couple of steps closer to Asher. Not too close but close enough to just about touch him should he reach out that far.

"C'mon...I don't wanna leave without you."

[asher_talos]

"Because you're afraid I'll doing something you'll regret," he said with a humorless puff of laughter. He heaved a sigh, attention set on the mouth of the alley once again, only to be on Ray a second later in less time than it would have taken the other man to blink.

He forced him back against the opposite wall - maybe a little harder than he had intended due to his increased strength - forearm pressed over his chest to keep him in place. "Maybe something like this?"

[speakscanadian]

It wasn't the first time they had been physical with one another but this was the only time Ray'd never had a chance to fight back. Even when he tried to push away from the wall, it was like having a steel rod across his body.

Considering how fast Asher had moved, Ray figured he didn't have a hope in hell, and while he would have liked to look Asher square in the eye before he did whatever he had to do, Ray couldn't bring himself to do it for more than a second. Maybe it was fear or maybe he just didn't want to see what Asher really was.

His breaths were fast, shock evident in his voice. "I'm gonna kick your ass when we get home."

He hoped that wasn't wishful thinking.

[asher_talos]

"Someone's incredible optimistic and doesn't fully grasp their role as 'prey," he said, leaning in as he spoke, voice low. "That's what you called yourself, right?"

[speakscanadian]

He grasped Asher's arm tightly and tugged it in an attempt to get him to let up off his chest. Even Ray knew it would be stupid to answer his question. Instead, he swallowed around a dry mouth and replied, as steadily as possible, "You said you could control yourself."

As he spoke, he turned his head back to face Asher, both to restrict access to his neck and give the impression that he had more confidence than he felt. There was barely any space between them, so it was difficult to hide his true feelings.

His other hand pushed futilely at Asher's side.

[asher_talos]

"Oh, I can. If I want to." His gaze flicked briefly to Ray's neck then back up again. "I'm just not completely sure that I want to."

[speakscanadian]

Ray mentally took back everything he'd thought about this being an anti-climax. He'd seen that look before, only last time they'd been in bed and Ray had received almost instant compensation for the injury inflicted upon him.

He'd been pretty sure up til this point that he would have offered himself to Asher in place of any one of the innocent passers-by. Now, however, he wasn't feeling so selfless, given that every one of them just walked on by without giving him a second's look.

"Asher," he licked dry lips, "listen to me. I've been there, done that. Got the bite marks to prove it. C'mon." He gave another tug on his arm. "C'mon. Don't do it again."

[asher_talos]

"And what makes you think this time will be anything like last time?" Asher asked.

"If it's another set of scars you're worried about... Don't. Won't be an issue," he promised, a slight smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

[speakscanadian]

Keeping him talking was about Ray's only tactic. He could feel his gun digging into the small of his back and he tried shifting minutely, moving one of his hands away to try to reach behind him.

"See this?" Ray asked, wiggling the fingers on his other hand as a kind of distraction. "See this ring? If you're still the Asher I know, then this means more to you than a quick meal down a dirty alleyway. I'm pretty sure if I die here, I'm dead over there too."

It sounded almost like a dare, one that Ray didn't intend to follow through, not when his fingertips were so close to reaching his gun.

[asher_talos]

"Do you ever shut up?" Having been involved with him as long as he had, Asher knew the answer to that well enough. "And what exactly are you planning on doing with that gun? Unless you loaded it with silver bullets before we came out here, it's useless. Or were you planning on putting yourself down?"

[speakscanadian]

"Thinking about my options," Ray replied for lack of anything more intelligent to say. It was quickly becoming apparent that he had no options and he stopped his pursuit of the gun, lifting his hand up, palm out as a sign of surrender.

[asher_talos]

"Praying's always an option." Not a very bright one in Asher's opinion, but still: an option.

"Have you tried that yet?" With his free hand, Asher gave Ray's crucifix a light flick. "It's now or never."

[speakscanadian]

Part of Ray had been waiting for the other shoe to drop but suddenly everything felt very real. Asher had never been so flippant about his religion before and whilst Ray wasn't exactly the best Catholic, it still meant something to him.

He opened his mouth to reply, nothing coming out for a moment. Then desperation hit and he blurted: "What's Daniel gonna think if he never sees me again?"

[asher_talos]

"That the Island did what it's done to dozens of people before you?" He offered with a shrug. Moving his hand from the cross to his chin, Asher forced Ray's head to the side, fangs bared before finally going in for the kill.

Or kiss, in this case.

His fangs barely scraped skin before he pressed his lips against the pulse point in Ray's neck, lingering there a second before pulling back and releasing Ray completely. "Low blow. But I think I'd be more worried about what the Mountie would think," Asher said, conversationally, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just taken place.