CHAPTER SEVEN

Introduction to Intimacy

Summer had arrived. On sunny days, Karou lounged around in the shade of the compound’s wooded area. With her back hugged by the trunk of a Ponderosa pine, she sometimes drew, sometimes read. Similarly to how she used to sneak out to Walden Pond, her solitude amongst the trees had become a habit in her new life, too. The most pleasant part of her past life replicated in her new one made going back to the unit every night more bearable.

Since April, when she’d first broached the idea of ending her mortal life through vampiric transformation to Warren, he’d been much more guarded around her. The conversations they’d had between the same recurring arguments about her Siring very rarely took a turn for the personal and were often short-lived.

Making Karou feel more alone wasn’t a tactic that was working in Warren’s favour, in any case. Even though Warren had voiced, no, shouted, his objections during the times she’d bravely brought the subject back up, she wasn’t dissuaded but more determined to get what she wanted. To have control over her life’s path grew more and more appealing.

Karou never woke up in the morning and intended to bring it up. Still, somehow, she always managed to find her way to the topic. Consequently, many mealtimes and movies were ruined by her mentioning it.

Warren always forgave her persistence at the end of the day. To his mind, she was just a kid and didn’t understand the gravity of her request. He could see why the idea of being physically stronger seemed attractive. She’d never age, her allergies would disappear, nor would she die of a mortal illness. Amongst the pros, the prospect of joining a new community and belonging was logically appealing to a girl who had always lacked familial love.

Despite the fact she’d told him she wasn’t lost when they’d first met, she was. Perhaps not in the woods around Walden Pond but in life in general because she’d never belonged anywhere. The Compound was a safe place to dream, but the truth of the matter was that it wasn’t likely to remain that way forever. Who knew what would happen in the future, far or near? The war was still raging, and it wasn’t getting better in the news, just worse. Maybe Mythicals wouldn’t exist much longer? Maybe mortals would win and wipe them out? The fact remained that transformation came at such a high price. Warren couldn’t, in good conscience, turn her into a creature that was being passionately hunted to extinction.

On that sunny day, sleep had found Karou curled up in the grass beneath a pine. As the sun had panned the sky, the shade inevitably disappeared, and Karou woke from her nap to find her skin sore and burnt. Being pale was such a curse! The damage had been done, though and being that it was sundown, there was no point in her cussing at the sky.

On her way back to the unit, she stopped by the physician’s office to acquire aloe vera ointment to soothe her sore skin. Fortunately, sunburn was an ailment she’d dealt with before, so she knew the drill; take a cool shower, apply the lotion, and drink plenty of water to stave off any dehydration.

Warren had also fallen asleep that afternoon. He’d abandoned work, and his laptop sat open on the coffee table while he snoozed on the couch. When Karou’s sketchbook slapped against the leather seat nearest the door as she tossed it aside while wandering into the unit, Warren groaned and stirred.

Sometime later, again, he was disturbed by the burst of sweet fragrance that left the bathroom along with Karou. Coming to his senses, he gathered himself and rubbed his fingers into the pits of his eyes. When he opened them, the state of Karou’s skin around her shoulders, chest, and arm was the first thing he noticed. The redness, in contrast to the white towel she had wrapped around her, startled him. Blinking his eyes and propping himself up on his elbows, Warren continued to eye her.

“What happened?” He asked sleepily.

Karou had been leant over him. Poking at his arm and calling his name to wake him. So, when he finally opened his eyes, the way they examined her so thoroughly sent chills up her spine. Instinctually she flinched backwards, feeling wary of his intentions.

“Uh- just sunburn,” Karou explained timidly, clutching the towel to her chest a bit tighter. “I… I can’t reach to put this on my back.” Finally, she said, making her predicament clear. She held out the bottle of ointment to Warren with a disgruntled look on her face. I can’t believe I’m asking him to do this. She thought, trying to look anywhere else but his face. “Would you maybe… Uhm, help me?”

Warren didn’t say a word and just took the bottle from her in a simple gesture of agreement. Next, he invited Karou to sit by tapping the couch.

Seated in tandem, Karou grabbed the TV remote and decided to watch something as a distraction. When he didn’t begin as quickly as she’d expected, she glanced over her shoulder and smirked when she saw what the hold-up was. “What’re you reading the label for?”

“To check you’re not allergic to anything in this...” He mumbled distractedly.

Karou found some of his habits both amusing and endearing. “I’ve already put it on everywhere I could reach, so it’s fine. I’m not allergic to aloe vera, Warren. Besides, I got it from the pharmacist at the clinic - he knows about all my allergies.” Karou explained as she picked out a movie.

Warren rubbed the lotion over his palms and fingers without any further protest before she felt him tug the towel a little further down her back. With the burn on display, there was something else he could see, too. It was the raised, ruddy, and jagged scar that bisected her back. Warren knew how she came by it, but he’d never seen it.

“Is the scar the cause of your back pain?” Warren asked; his tone was undramatic so as not to make a big deal of it.

From time to time, Karou complained of backache and sometimes even woke up in the night in crippling pain. Since Warren was also accustomed to bouts of restlessness due to pain, he’d give her pain medication prescribed to him for his muscular problem and send her back to bed; that was all he could do to help.

“Y-You’re looking at it?” Karou hung her head, and her shoulders shifted in discomfort because the ugly mark was shameful.

“It’s hard to ignore,” Warren admitted, equally blasé as before.

“Mm... My back used to hurt even before they did that. Who knows, maybe they could’ve fixed me?”

“I doubt it.” He uttered dismissively.

Within a mere second, Karou had imagined several ways she could take offence to what he’d said. Perhaps he’d cruelly meant that she was unfixable and the violence her parents inflicted upon her was in vain.

He’d already decided not to focus on the scar a moment longer to avoid upsetting her unnecessarily, so he didn’t bother to say so, but he concurred with her latter thought – that she didn’t require any mending in the first place.

Set to the task, Warren gently placed his hands on her upper back to apply the ointment. Beneath his palms, Karou’s skin was hot to the touch and tight feeling. Most of all, he noticed its texture; it was smooth and delicate, like silk.

The pleasured sigh she suddenly made certainly caught Warren off guard, “uh- this stuff really works, huh?”

Even though they’d been talking about such an unpleasant subject, Karou instantly forgot it and sighed in relief when Warren touched her. “Mhmm,” she hummed, relaxed under his fingers. “… and your hands are cold too.”

“That isn’t always a good thing,” Warren replied in a disgruntled mumble. Everything else about his vampirism was easily concealable, but his cold touch was impossible to hide without making oneself conspicuous by permanently wearing gloves. Moreover, it was something inescapably inhuman about his body that caused people to retreat when they contacted his skin.

“It is right now.”

Silence fell over the pair while Warren gently applied ointment to Karou’s skin. Maintaining an untainted focus on her was difficult when he was free to ogle over her bare skin and body’s shape. Once Karou was distracted by the movie, where her fingers had once kept the towel wrapped tight around her, now she barely clung to the corners to hold it closed over her chest. Warren could see all the way to her tailbone, where the white towelling pooled.

As his fingers worked over her back, he was already taking liberties; the act of applying the aloe vera didn’t need to take this long, but for now, Karou allowed it. It gratified his desire for physical contact, which he often went without. In turn, this quelled some of the loneliness, which he also tried to refute. Being a solitary person meant that he didn’t touch people very often. Ellis was the last person to be physical with him, and it had been almost six months since then.

“Warren...” Karou whispered under the television’s murmurings when she realised the time that had elapsed.

“Hmm?” In a trance-like state, Warren continued to trace his fingers over Karou’s skin and was currently trained on the part of her back that wasn’t even sun-scorched, but unless Karou called him out on that, he didn’t plan on stopping, even though the ointment was depleting.

She could hear how engrossed he was, and if she were honest, she didn’t want to interrupt him. In her short life, she hadn’t experienced many gentle touches. Compassionate applications of medicine when sick or injured weren’t a feature of her childhood. So, she was enjoying it, too, even if not for the same reasons as Warren. Actually, she had no idea why he seemed to be indulging her so much; he’d implied she was repulsive to him as easily as he’d admitted finding her more attractive than he should. From that, all she could conclude was that he thought she was appealing to others but not to him personally. Initially, she’d been a little putout but figured everyone had their preferences and tried not to take it to heart.

Repositioning the towel tighter around herself, Karou turned to face him. Her expression was open, but she’d caught him unawares. With his hand hovering in the air, still reaching for her, Warren’s eyes stared at where they had previously focused. It took him a moment to compose himself and look up at her face. When their eyes met, Karou’s expression changed – a little wonder, a little surprise, and a little prick of fear that made her wary. Warren’s eyes were the colour of deep water, and his fangs peeped over his lower lip.

“Is- is there any left?” Karou asked, trying to act natural and deflect from having noticed his thirsty expression. “You’ve been rubbing my back for almost an hour...”

“Time must’ve escaped me...” Now that he spoke, he noticed the presence of his fangs and the dryness of his mouth. Swallowing first and then flexing his jaw to make his fangs go back into dormancy, he just stared at her.

Now that the painful flush of a fresh burn had gone from her skin and its natural delicate-looking ivory tone had returned, Warren’s eyes were drawn in. Over one shoulder, her hair had dried into lazy waves. Karou exuded delicious youth.

It would be so easy. His demons whispered to him. Imaginings flashed behind his eyes, showing how his hands could effortlessly disarm her, remove her towel, and-

“I guess that’s okay when you have all the time in the world.” Karou started, interrupting his devious train of thought. She might have carried on, but Warren cut her off too.

“Not this again. Not tonight. I don’t have the energy to fight about it.” His tone was that of defeat as he combed his fingers back through his hair.

“I don’t want to fight about it either. You just need to say yes.” Karou said and swung her legs off the couch like she was about to stand.

Warren reached out and grabbed her arm, bringing her to a halt. “Karou, I’m never going to say yes.” He hoped she would finally see sense. He didn’t want to keep going over the subject; it was tiring.

“Is it because you don’t want to bite me?”

“You shouldn’t ask me that. Not right now.” Warren let Karou go and allowed her to stand. With her lingering before him, looking confused, he closed the space between them when he also stood up. “Considering the mood I’m in, I might not say no.”

When Karou’s lips opened as if she were about to say something else, Warren held up his fingers before her lips and shushed her.

“Go put your pyjamas on. We’ll watch the rest of this movie before bed, okay?”

Karou rolled her eyes, and, despite making tracks toward her room obediently, she was muttering sassy comebacks as she went. She wasn’t halfway gone when Warren called out, “And I’m not talking about this anymore,”

Warren rounded the couch and stood before the remedy to his frustration. “Good God, I need a drink,”

~*~

In mid-July, one of the Compound’s celebrity residents threw a large birthday party at The Brass Lantern for their spouse. Amidst the news that the war was still escalating, it was a nice respite. Warren had enjoyed his evening tucked away in one of the corner booths, preferring to observe the action rather than participate.

In comparison, Karou had been pulled into the throng and found that dancing wasn’t her forte. Alas, she’d been forced to try by a girl with whom she’d formed a friendship. Waddling awkwardly around the makeshift dance floor had become fun once she’d drank away her inhibitions, and the pub’s brewery vats were becoming considerably shallower now that the patrons had started to consume an irresponsible amount of alcohol.

By the time the celebrations died down, Karou had concluded that she wasn’t a fan of high heels or wine. So, wandering barefoot back through the woods towards the Compound’s main building, Karou carried her shoes to give her sore feet a breather. The wine’s afterglow left a merry flush in her cheeks, and she felt both docile and giddy. At her side, her friends meandered here and there over the path, chatting and laughing into the night.

Warren kept both a distance and a watchful eye from behind, feeling somewhat in awe of how easy Karou made interacting with her peers look. Sure, you don’t fit in. He thought to himself. She had plenty of friends to his mind, more than him, although that feat wasn’t hard to achieve.

Eventually, they all parted ways and wandered off in the direction of their rooms. Left alone, Karou looked over her shoulder to find her unit mate lagging behind. She looked quite sweet with her toes turned inward to meet each other, and her shoes hanging from her clasped hands before the skirt of her dress. The hairstyle she’d attempted had begun to fall out, and dark strands fell in messy waves down and around her freckled face.

“Did you enjoy the party?” Karou asked with a smile as Warren neared.

Together, they stood in the courtyard that separated their unit from the other Compound buildings. Warren was busy pulling a set of keys from his pocket when he replied, “Yes. You look like you did, too,” and unlocked the door.

As the unit’s lights flickered on, Karou abandoned her shoes, to which Warren rolled his eyes. When he removed his boots, he took it upon himself to put her shoes away because she wasn’t likely to.

“Mhmm yeah, it was fun. I haven’t been to many parties.” Karou replied from the kitchen, where she’d opened the fridge, searching for a non-alcoholic refreshment. “I don’t think I like wine that much, though.”

“That didn’t seem to put you off drinking it.”

“Well, I wanted to have fun. I thought it might help,” Karou said, having come to lean on the kitchen counter adjacent to him; her body language indicated she was tipsy. With her judgement just as clouded as the lemonade she was sipping, Warren thought he would have to be cautious.

“You kept to yourself; maybe you didn’t drink enough to enjoy yourself?” Karou teased.

“I drank quite a bit more than I do most nights, actually. You don’t have to worry whether or not I enjoyed myself. I watched you having a good time with your friends… I guess you could say I lived through you.”

“They find it creepy that you watch me, you know?”

“Do you?... Find it creepy, I mean?” He cocked his brow at her, and she shook her head, smirking impishly like she’d sensed he was subconsciously flirting with her.

“I don’t care what they think either. I don’t think Mia will be my friend for much longer, anyway.” Karou shrugged, causing the cardigan she was wearing to fall from her left shoulder and down her arm. She didn’t notice, but Warren’s eyes were drawn to any naked piece of her soft skin.

“Why is that?” He asked distractedly.

“She’s dating someone now, so she’ll probably ditch me to hang out with him instead. It always happens that way.” Karou explained while climbing onto one of the bar stools. Once seated, she swung her legs; they were comically too short of reaching the foot bar.

“I’d say you’re a little jealous.”

“Am not... She talks about stuff they do together, and I can’t relate, that’s all. Like, tonight, she kept going on about kissing, and I’m stood there just nodding along like an idiot. How the hell do I know what she means when he’s talking about ‘that thing’ he does with his tongue? I’ve never kissed anybody.” Karou looked down into her lap as she confessed her secret.

“I don’t think you’d have told me that if you weren’t a little tipsy.” Warren had no idea what to do with that information, but he’d expected that that had been the case even if he’d hoped he was wrong. If she’d been kissed before, the times he had caught himself staring at her lips when she mouthed the words to a movie didn’t seem so perverse. Alas, he was as morally questionable as he feared.

He cleared his throat, faking nonchalance. “You’re not missing that much.”

“Ha! That’s a big fat lie. If kissing wasn’t nice, people wouldn’t do it all the time. I’ve seen how you kiss Ellis, remember?”

The little flutter of laughter that danced from her throat made Warren want to smile, but what she said didn’t.

“Yes. I don’t need reminding of that, thank you.”

“I bet you’ve kissed loads of people,” Karou said with confidence as she shifted from the barstool to sit atop the counter instead, closer than she was before. She wasn’t invading his personal space yet, but Warren was wary that she was edging nearer.

“Hmm, probably. More than I care to remember. There are quite a few years of my time as a fledgeling that I’ve chosen to forget. My questionable encounters being one of the main reasons for that.”

“Party animal, were you?” Karou laughed.

“More animal than party.”

“Yeah, I can’t imagine you being the life of the party, to be honest.” Karou shrugged and was quickly onto the next thing. “I think Ebon would kiss me if I asked him.”

With that statement, Karou commanded Warren’s complete attention. He was shocked but knew she had the capacity to be alarmingly bold at times, but he had to ask, “You’re going to ask him to kiss you? You want to know what it’s like so bad you’re going to ask Ebon to kiss you?”

“It’ll probably never happen if I don’t make it happen, right? I’ll be twenty this year, and besides, he thinks I’m cute; he’s told me so.”

“And just because he thinks you’re cute, you think it’s a good idea to ask him to kiss you? What if he had more than kissing in mind? C’mon, Karou, you’re not in elementary school. Surely you know that’s not a solid idea?”

“I’ll let him take me on a date first; I’m not gonna be that easy. Besides, you’re not giving me any better ideas.” Bumping her shoulder into his, she grinned. “Unless you’re jealous that I’m gonna ask Ebon and not you!?”

Warren said nothing and just rolled his eyes before grabbing her by the waist to lift her down from the breakfast bar. He planted her back on the ground, spun her around and herded her in the direction of their bedrooms. “I think it’s time for bed.”

“So, are you gonna?” Standing in her bedroom’s doorway, she watched Warren turn toward his door like he was about to leave without saying another word about it.

“Not while you’re intoxicated. Karou, go to bed...”

He didn’t say no; that was the first thought that floated into her head when she woke up the following day. Luckily, she hadn’t drunk quite enough to have a nasty hangover, but her head felt a little heavy. Telling herself to remain calm, she exited her bedroom to find Warren nowhere in sight. She figured he must’ve gotten up at his usual early time and packed himself off to work, probably having forgotten all about what he said to her the night before. He’d probably thrown away the comment hoping that in her tipsy state, she would forget. But she hadn’t.

As she went about her business, it would pop into her head out of nowhere throughout the entire day. Kissing Warren seemed more palatable than Ebon. While listing the reasons they should kiss in her mind, she reminded herself that she didn’t want to ‘make out’. No, she’d be satisfied with just a regular kiss, a peck, and wouldn’t bring it up again afterwards. She wouldn’t make it awkward for Warren, seeing that she had to continue living with him.

Once he’d finished work, maybe she’d remind him. Or maybe after he’d relaxed and watched some TV with her? Or perhaps once he’d had at least two glasses of liquor, was a better time? She had to be careful - she didn’t want to ambush him because that way, he was likely to say no.

That was how she found herself curled up in ‘her’ corner of the couch, watching a movie that she hadn’t been paying attention to since the titles rolled. She just stared at the flashes of colour that came over the screen while her mind raced through how she’d approach the only thing on her mind, the question. Out of the corner of one of her blue eyes, she could see Warren looking her way. He’d been watching her for a while; little did she know, but that wasn’t unusual behaviour for him. With his third glass of scotch resting on his knee and his legs crossed lazily, ankle to knee, she thought now was probably the time.

“Warren?” She started, her eyes never leaving the television screen, also sensing that Warren’s focus hadn’t shifted either.

“Yes, Karou?” He replied calmly.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“I wondered what was keeping your mind so busy that you haven’t even been watching the movie.”

“What? Of course, I’m watching it.” Karou scoffed defensively and rolled her eyes when she finally looked over at him.

He called her bluff. “Yet the two main characters have just engaged in aggressive sex on a bar table, having just blown that guy’s brains out, and you haven’t blushed or flinched despite his insides splattering everywhere... Your mind is clearly elsewhere.”

“How… How d’you know I didn’t flinch or blush, huh?” Trying to blow off his comment, she decided to face the situation head-on and turned to face him.

“Because I’ve been watching you,” Warren said with an amount of confidence that induced a flutter of butterflies in Karou’s stomach. The charming expression that came over his face when he raised his left eyebrow was utterly deviant. Karou could barely contain her reaction, having come over all unnecessary. Still calm and collected, Warren took a generous swig from his scotch before leaning forward to place his glass on the coffee table. “What’s on your mind? Did you ask Ebon?”

So, he did remember their conversation from the evening before! Okay, now is the time to be brave.

“Say I did ask him; do you think he did it?” Karou threw the question back his way and shifted from her customary seat and closer to Warren.

With his arms spanned down the back of the couch cushions, he shrugged his broad shoulders. “I figure if you have asked him, he hasn’t said no. But I don’t think he’s done it yet, per se. You’re not miserable enough for him to have refused you, and you’re not giddy enough for him to have accepted your request… Unless it was as underwhelming as I warned you it would be.” He reasoned, always logical in his dissection of things.

“Hmph, I’ll let you in on a little secret then?” Karou said while on her knees and crawling down the length of the couch, closing the gap between them. For now, Warren maintained his composure and just watched her. “I didn’t ask him.”

“You chickened out, huh?”

“D’you remember what you said to me after I told you I was gonna ask someone to kiss me.”

“That it was a bad idea?” Warren quipped.

“No, but you didn’t say no. You just said not while I was tipsy.”

Karou had come to be sat back on her heels before Warren as he sat slumped into the corner of the couch. While she had him cornered, she had an adorably innocent look of expectation on her face, but that couldn’t hide the devious glint in her eyes. He couldn’t read feelings well, but he could undoubtedly read body language. Right now, the inexperienced mortal girl that sat only inches away was attempting to flirt with him. It was amusingly clumsy but oddly challenging to resist. Trying his best not to reciprocate and give her the green light, Warren fought to remain serious.

“Right, I said that did I?” With the fleshy part of his middle knuckles pressed into his lips, he stared her down. “So, you’ve crawled over here to collect what you’re owed on that statement?”

“Uh...” Lost for words, Karou couldn’t read his expression or body language to mean anything other than he wouldn’t give in so easily and probably didn’t even want to kiss her. “You meant to say ‘no’ then?”

“Look, whatever it is you think you’re missing out on, you’re really not. These things all happen in their own time.”

“I get that. It’s just I’m tired of waiting for it to happen. I figured I should try and make it happen, be the maker of my own destiny or whatever. Y’know, believe something into reality?”

“That’s very utopian of you, but haven’t you already failed by not asking him?”

“I wouldn’t say I failed.” Karou shrugged one shoulder. She looked up from her lap to meet his gaze from under her lashes. “Would you like to know another secret?” Without waiting for Warren to answer, she took the curious look on his face as a yes. “Ebon asked me out on a date.”

~*~

Karou could hardly believe the girl looking back at her from the mirror was herself. This whole scenario didn’t seem like reality either; she’d spent the last few hours getting ready for her very first date.

In the shower, she’d pampered herself and even shaved her legs. Back in her bedroom, she’d gathered her wavy hair into a slightly more intentional updo and attempted to neatly apply the eyeliner and mascara she’d borrowed from Mia. The only thing left to do was get dressed. Karou had done her research and probed her female friends on what she was expected to wear on such an occasion. The vote was out jeans and a nice top.

Seven-thirty had arrived sooner than he’d hoped, seeing as he had so much work to get done before the weekend. Pulling in a huge lung full of air, he arched his back against his office chair. While combing his fingers back through his hair, he let out a great sigh. He was burnt out.

“I don’t think I can read any more of this jargon - it’s all starting to look Greek.” He groaned to himself.

Peeling himself out of the leather chair wasn’t enough relief, he decided. “Yes, it’s time for a drink.”

There he was, again, talking to himself.

The clunk the door made as it fit into its jamb was a pleasing sound in its finality; it meant his working day was done. The trickle of his sixteen-year-old, single malt scotch made as he poured it signalled the beginning of his wind-down. This was all disrupted by an unwelcome racket, three knocks against the unit’s front door.

From across the lounge, he glared at the metal door with such ferocious intensity it was a wonder the steel didn’t smelt. “Who the fuck is that disturbing me at this hour?”

Warren opened the door to find a kin boy standing at the threshold. Though he looked at him expectantly, Warren said nothing. It was rumoured that the Overseer was unnerving, but foolishly, most of the Compound’s youths called it hype because people rarely saw him. Warren had become an urban legend within his own domain. Ebon was finding that the stories were Kosher now; he felt uneasy beneath the scrutiny of the vampire’s gaze.

In reaction to Warren’s silent stare, the boy loosened the back of his collar from his neck and stated his business with a disappointing amount of conviction. “Uh, I - I’ve come to pick up Karou?”

A grunt was all the response Warren gave. Closing the door to leave an inch gap for the boy to peep through, he called back over his shoulder into the void of the unit, “Karou! Your date is here.”

Smoothing her hands down the satin top she’d chosen to wear one last time, Karou rushed out of her room and to the front door eagerly. “I’m ready.” She beamed. “How do I look?”

Warren beheld Karou as she stood before him, looking all excited and anticipating a good time. Privately, he admired her and thought she looked pretty, but he showed no shared enthusiasm outwardly.

“Right… Stupid question.” Karou muttered, raising her brows and tutting. I should’ve known better than to have expected a compliment.

“You’re going then?” Warren asked dryly.

“Yeah… Why?” Her head tipped towards her shoulder, and Warren fought back a grin and managed to maintain indifference.

“Hmm, figures.” Suddenly Warren opened the door and revealed Karou to Ebon.

As soon as Karou was in sight, Ebon displayed an overwhelming amount of boyish charm, flashing her a Hollywood smile that earned him a giggle from the naive girl and a discreet eye roll from Warren. In truth, Ebon was an attractive young man; his flaw was that he knew it and enjoyed compliments about his image. He was particularly fond of the attention his dark, mysterious eyes gained him.

“Wow, you look… great,” Ebon said, but it sounded somewhat scripted.

“Thanks, so do you,” Karou replied, equally predictably.

“Karou, be back by eleven,” Warren commanded, shooting Ebon a warning glare. “Don’t make me come looking for you.”

Honestly, Karou had expected Warren to have shut the door on them by now. His little protective request caught her off guard, and she didn’t know how to respond other than to say, “Uh, sure.”

Apparently, that was all he’d wanted to say because now he closed the front door. Through the thick metal sheet at his back, Warren’s keen vampiric ears picked up on the beginning of their conversation.

“What was that: ‘Be back by eleven’ shit? Is he like your dad or something?”

“What, no!” Karou scoffed. “He’s just… looking out for me.” She could hardly believe she was defending Warren, just as little as she could believe that his sentiment was protective.

“Well, maybe I’ll keep you out ‘til five past eleven. What d’you think he’ll do then, eh?” Ebon mocked.

“You’re braver than me. I wouldn’t mess with him. He’s mean and scary sometimes.”

“I’m not scared of him; he’s just a Sired vampire at the end of the day.” Ebon spouted, full of bravado that had evaporated beneath the vampire’s gaze only minutes before. A door opened, “I hope he doesn’t do anything that makes you scared of him, or I’ll -”

Warren didn’t hear any more of the conversation, and he assumed they’d entered the Compound’s main building. What he had already heard made his blood boil, though.

A loud snarl roared from the back of his throat before he growled, “Don’t you dare underestimate me, Ebon Valuntari. Laugh at me again, and I’ll steal the air from your lungs without even having to show you my fangs.” Though he would have preferred to say those words to the kin’s face, he didn’t want to ruin Karou’s night. He knew she’d been looking forward to it for a week. Downing his scotch on his way back to the decanter for a refill, Warren hissed another insult to get his venomous rage out of his system. “Pathetic excuse for demon spawn; he’s just a declawed fuckin’ house cat.”

At precisely five minutes past eleven, Karou scurried through the unit’s front door, flustered as though she’d run through the Compound to get back home as quickly as she could. Much to her relief, the unit was in complete darkness, so she assumed Warren was already in bed and wouldn’t realise she was five minutes late. Just as she slipped off her shoes, she sensed something ominous behind her. The hair on the back of her neck and forearms stood on end.

A figure blacker than the darkness appeared beside her and whispered right into her ear, “You’re late.”

“I- I know, I know. I’m sorry…” Karou’s tone pleaded mercy from Warren. He was still alarmingly close, and though she could feel his presence, Karou could barely pick out his face amidst the blackness. “Ebon made me come in late. He just did it to piss you off.”

“If he’s willing to antagonise me, give me a reason why shouldn’t I go teach him a lesson?” Warren snarled.

“What’re you going to do to him?” Karou asked cautiously and a little scared on Ebon’s behalf.

“Nothing for tonight.” Suddenly he was gone, and the TV lit up the lounge – nothing of interest played, and the audio was muted anyway. Warren appeared calm despite how he’d sounded earlier; he lit a cigarette. “So -” He began and took a long drag “- how was it?” He asked with a disturbingly amicable smile.

“Uh, fine, I guess.” Karou shrugged, blinking into the bright bluish light of the TV.

“Fine, you guess?” Warren mimicked mockingly. “See, I told you it would be underwhelming.”

Wrapping her arms around herself, Karou sighed and muttered, “I didn’t kiss him.”

“Why not? Did he do something… unsavoury?”

Before her eyes could truly focus on his face, Warren was standing in front of her again. He didn’t try to disguise the fact that he was sniffing her; he could smell Ebon on her clothes, but that wasn’t enough to decipher whether that was something to be concerned about.

“No - …” Karou smirked, bemused; Warren’s concern was as endearing as it was unusual.

He relaxed when he saw a more cheerful expression on her face and moved away to slouch on the couch and finish his smoke.

“- He didn’t do anything other than talk about himself… a lot…”

“Doesn’t everyone do that?” The way his eyes and brow twitched showed he was confused that she’d find that strange. To a man with a very poor understanding of social nuances, someone talking about themselves wasn’t odd. It was something he also hated about small talk; it was inherently self-centred.

“You don’t. You’re a closed book.”

“I’m not particularly interesting, to begin with.” Despite how many thrilling tales he had to tell about his life thus far, Warren truly believed that no one would care about them. Ironically, unlike Ebon, the last person Warren wanted to talk about was himself, so he swiftly deflected. “So, really, why didn’t you kiss him?” Lent forward to the coffee table, he flicked the ash from the end of his cigarette. Though he watched the ash tower tumble, he didn’t keep his eyes from Karou for long. The left side of his lip curled in a lopsided grin; it was his ‘talk to me’ smile that he didn’t often reveal because it was rare for him to take an interest in someone else’s personal life.

“I – I just didn’t…”

“Maybe you didn’t want it bad enough?” He reasoned, shrugging. He figured she’d probably lost her nerve.

“When it came to it, I just didn’t feel like kissing him.”

“So, I was right. It was underwhelming. That’s what you get for trying to force chemistry.”

“I told you I was sick of waiting.” Karou didn’t want to admit it, but she was pouting; her date had been underwhelming. All she’d felt towards Ebon was annoyance; he was so full of himself that it made her want to gag.

Anger was brewing inside her, though she wasn’t angry at anyone in particular. It was born from how pathetic she felt for wanting to take her life into her own hands, even in this small way, and being unable to do so.

“Whichever way you look at it, it won’t be worth it if you force it. Karou, you’re not even twenty ye-”

“Exactly! D’you know how lame it feels that I haven’t even been kissed yet?” Karou snapped. After how unsuccessful her evening had been, the last thing she wanted was Warren patronising her with his impromptu speeches. “Look, I know you think I’m pathetic, and it kinda is, but things like this didn’t matter to me before, back when my main concern in life was not getting the crap beaten out of me on the daily. But now I’m here, and my life is sort of normal; the mundane things I haven’t had the chance to do somehow matter now.”

“Surely your first kiss isn’t such a big deal, though, right?” Warren could see how passionately she felt about it, but she didn’t seem to see that she had so many other things to focus on and be glad for. He figured she could afford some patience on the coming-of-age front.

“If it’s not such a big deal, then why don’t you do it like you insinuated you would? Is it going to suck that bad for you?” Karou bit back; despite how placid Warren remained, she was all fired up. It was fine for him to sit there and talk of forced chemistry, but didn’t he realise what he did to her - all the anxiety, hot flushes, blushes, and butterflies? Hadn’t he noticed them? Didn’t he feel anything in return? “Am I so hideous and repulsive that it’s too gross to consider?”

“That isn’t what I mean to say...” Things had flared up quickly, and in the wake of her frustration, Warren was left second-guessing what he’d said to her a week ago. He combed his hand back through his hair; it was how he calmed himself when his emotions confused him, and he struggled to find words to construct his feelings into something that made sense.

“I don’t have my mom and dad here to tell me I’m a scrawny, weird, ugly, bug-eyed freak. I escaped them. I made it here. But it turns out it doesn’t even matter that they can’t say it anymore because now I feel like a scrawny, weird, ugly, bug-eyed mortal.”

“Oh boy, where do I even start with that?” Warren questioned under his breath. He heard everything she said, and it was heavy.

“Don’t bother. I get it! Just forget it, okay? I’m going to bed.”

“Karou, listen.”

She hadn’t had much chance to escape where she’d sat and ranted at him when Warren grabbed hold of her upper arms, which got her attention. Honestly, he was tired of having to manhandle her so that she didn’t constantly run away; she’d gotten good at uprooting herself when her bravery wasn’t enough to get her through.

Selfishly, Warren couldn’t help but think it would’ve been much easier to keep a level head and maintain focus on the disagreement at hand if he didn’t have to touch her.

“Look at me, Karou. You are hanging far too much on this experience you’re chasing after. First kisses are always awkward and disappointing. It really doesn’t matter how old you are when it happens.”

“Save the speeches, Warren. You still wouldn’t do it?”

“C’mon, you don’t want to be kissed by someone over one hundred years old...”

“You literally just said age doesn’t matter...” Then, with his hands holding onto her arms, she leaned towards him, testing his nerve.

“Wha- I… Well… I guess I did, didn’t I?” He asked rhetorically.

Just when he needed a voice of reason to bolster his choice, instead, his darker side whispered to him. You are just as curious. Just do it. It won’t hurt her.

“K- Karou, I just can’t.” He said despite his inner monologue.

“Okay.” Something about the way he looked at her told her to admit defeat. Being rejected hurt. It was embarrassing, too, especially when the person refusing you was so obviously out of your league.

As if she could’ve shrunk any further into herself, she looked to her feet, expecting him to let go at any moment so she could run to her room and lock herself away. The television screen turned black as credits rolled, and the room flicked into darkness. Using the lack of light to her advantage, Karou dared to steal one last look at him; he was still staring at her.

“Warren, can I go to bed now?”

“Yes,” He sighed, conquered by how Karou’s melancholy had hollowed him.

“Warren… You’ve still got a hold of me...” Had he forgotten?

“Right.” Just like that, he let her go.

Karou didn’t need any further prompting to flit across the unit towards her bedroom.

“Oh, fuck.” He breathed, rubbing over his face in exasperation and reaching for the scotch glass from the coffee table; he downed what remained in it. He’d never meant to hurt her feelings, but something about how she seemed so small and wounded-looking as she walked away told him that he had.

I’m so damn sick and tired of overthinking everything!

Then stop… A voice whispered just loud enough to influence his next move. He stood up and marched after her. Having downed the last bit of liquid courage and having pushed his nagging thoughts aside, he reached out to apprehend her again.

Karou hadn’t heard Warren on his approach because he was barefoot. Besides, being a vampire meant the stealth and speed at which he could move was inhuman. To gain her attention, he whispered her name into the darkness. Naturally, she turned to look in his direction. Searching the dark for his eyes, she found them a second before it happened.

Warren set his lips on hers.

The moment it began, Karou scrunched her toes against the floorboards, and at her sides, her hands tightened into fists until she realised that he wasn’t pulling away. As soon as it dawned on her what was happening, she’d expected it would be over just as quickly.

It had occurred to Warren that stealing a kiss while taking her off guard would leave Karou unable to remember what it felt like, which would render the act pointless. So, he lingered to let her process what was happening.

Despite Karou’s disbelief, she took the opportunity to relax into the experience and quickly decided that it wasn’t as underwhelming as Warren said it would be.

I can’t believe he’s actually doing this.

When Warren finally stopped, having given her enough time to contemplate the texture of his lips, he opened his eyes to find Karou staring up at him through the darkness.

Presently he didn’t let go of her arms and met her gaze and whispered. “Well?”

Karou answered honestly and whispered, “it- it didn’t suck,” like it was a secret.

Warren’s voice held one of his rarer emotions; vulnerability when he asked, “was it what you wanted?”

“Uh- I think so.”

“You’re lying...” Neither of them knew how he came to that conclusion, but as soon as he’d said it, Karou realised he was right. Somewhere about halfway through, she’d pined for more.

“I didn’t mean to.” She muttered, feeling a pang of shame form a lump in her throat.

Before he had the chance to rethink what he was committing himself to, he ran his hands up her arms, over her shoulders to cup either side of her face.

When their noses touched, but their lips hadn’t met yet, Karou stopped him. “Wait.”

“Changed your mind?”

“I don’t know how to do this, so it’ll be bad, right?” Her nervousness was palpable, but before she could say anything else, he smirked and quickly placed his lips back onto hers.

This time, some moments in, Warren skilfully parted her lips to kiss her more deeply so that their tongues could meet and mingle. Here was where Karou felt truly out of her depth, but it didn’t seem to matter to Warren; he carried on regardless.

How calmly he’d considered her inexperience and freed her of it made Karou feel at ease. Warren was patient. He navigated through her fumbles and waited for her confidence to mount until she was ready to engage with him fully. When her lips began to move against his with purpose, the smallest of sounds escaped her. That let him know several things, mainly that she felt satisfaction but also that she might soon want even more. That was dangerous territory but swept up in the moment; Warren could barely contemplate pulling away. No, he wouldn’t, not until they were on the very edge of what naturally came next. Yes, until then, he’d continued indulging her.

That time came sooner than he’d hoped. His instinct told him, you need to stop now.

Another voice answered and whined. Crushing her innocence tastes so sweet.

But still, you must stop.

Unwillingly Warren made himself pull away, and it was then that he felt the tug on his t-shirt; Karou had grasped a hold of it.

See, I told you… If you hadn’t stopped now, mistakes could’ve been made.

Coming too was like surfacing from deep water, and Karou sucked in a deep breath and sighed it back out just as quickly. Enjoying what he’d given her was one thing, but what came next was the part she hadn’t fully considered; how would he react in the wake of having introduced her to intimacy?

Releasing her face from his hands, Warren allowed her to step away from him. Afraid to look at her just yet, he kept his eyes closed and waited to feel her let go and hear her step away.

“Y-You should go to bed now, Karou.”

An hour passed without sleep even entering his head as he stared at his bedroom ceiling. When he’d finally given in to doing it, he’d done so under the illusion that it would feel as mundane as any other kiss he’d given or received, but it didn’t feel remotely similar. He wasn’t sure what to do with that knowledge. Afterall, she’d blindly trusted him not to take advantage of her.

Drowning in the aftermath, he struggled to put words to how it had made him feel. Although he was trying not to hang too much on it, he couldn’t get the delicate whimper of pleasure Karou had made out of his head. It rang through his ears over and over, and he didn’t know why, but it made his chest ache.

I could have kissed her all night…

Karou also lay awake in the other bedroom. She gnawed and felt over her lips where Warren had been. Re-imagining the way he tasted and what his mouth had felt like and how he smelled, and how his hands had possessively cupped her cheeks made her feel something she couldn’t recall having felt before – it had made her feel safe, wanted, and a little less broken.

Although she tried to accept it plainly for what it was, she started mulling over questions like, had he considered how she tasted? Had he enjoyed it too? Would he ever do it again? Did he want to?