(no subject)

[nathaniel_kitten]

Nathaniel's been sleeping a lot.

He's not really quite sure how much time has actually passed, but he thinks he remembers seeing Asher awake at least three times. It could have all been in one night, it could have been three different nights. He isn't sure. Any attempt to pull him from blissful sleep has been met with solid resistance and a determined mind to go back to sleep. Save for a handful of bathroom trip and some drinks of water, Nathaniel has simply stayed curled up in bed.

But now, Asher is being insistent. Nathaniel pries his eyes open and looks at his vampire, blinking several times. He swallows, unsticking his tongue from the roof of his mouth, and licks his lips.

"I'm tired," he murmurs, voice husky with sleep.

Tired might have something to do with little food or water and a great big dollop of depression, but he tries not to be bitchy about anything. Nathaniel shifts in bed, drawing his knees up to his chest, and stares at Asher, trying to not think about Anita.

Comments

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

"Apple butter?" Asher asks, confused. It does not sound like a dish. Certainly not one he is used to.

[nathaniel_kitten]

Nathaniel blinks at him.

"I keep forgetting you're a vampire from a time when things like apple butter didn't exist."

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

"Nor sushi, beefburgers, milkshakes..." Asher has a guilty love of American diner food; not often, but he does love the strawberry milkshakes that Bar makes.

[nathaniel_kitten]

"I love sushi," Nathaniel says with a nod. "I swear, you are intent on making me gain twenty pounds."

Nathaniel chuckles, brushing his fingers down Asher's cheek.

"Apple butter is apples and spices and lemon juice cooked and cooked until it spreads like butter. It's sweet and reminds me of my mom. She used to make a lot of it in fall since apples were cheap. Nicky and I would eat it on toast or mixed into oatmeal, since bread and oat were also cheap."

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

"That sounds delicious, cher," Asher smiles. "I look forward to attempting to cook it." He's fully prepared to try cooking - and likely fail.

[nathaniel_kitten]

Whether Asher succeeds or not, Nathaniel is certain it will be quite a lot of fun.

"You said something about bathing," he murmurs. "I've never bathed with you. Damian, yes, but not you."

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

"Of course," Asher murmurs, brushing Nathaniel's hair gently back from his face.

"Shower, or bath?" He asks, slowly pulling out of Nathaniel's arms, sitting up.

[nathaniel_kitten]

Nathaniel smiles, keeping his hands on Asher.

"If I take a bath, I can use my hand on you. A shower, I can blow you."

Can you see where Nathaniel's mind is?

He kisses Asher softly as he sits up.

"I don't care, Asher. I just want to stay close to you. Shower, bath, here, St. Louis, it doesn't matter. You're home to me, and I can be content doing whatever wherever so long as you're there. So, you pick."

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

"Take a bath, and you can ride me," Asher points out, his voice soft, seductive, wrapping around Nathaniel like a warm blanket. It's fairly obvious where Asher's brain is going, too.

[nathaniel_kitten]

They had been going without for days now as Nathaniel wallowed in his sadness, so one can hardly blame either of them for wanting the other now.

"Bath then," Nathaniel murmurs.

There was nothing quite as perfect as Asher within him.

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

"Stay here," Asher slides out of bed, padding across the room.

"I will run the bath. No sense in you getting cold, mon chat."

[nathaniel_kitten]

"My body temperature tends to run on the overheated side," Nathaniel calls after him.

But he's willing to sit and wait, let Asher take care of him. Nathaniel curls up in the bed, nuzzling the pillow Asher sleeps on.

"I love you," he murmurs to the empty room as he hears the taps open in the bathroom.

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

Asher laughs softly.

"Allow me to coddle you, then," he calls through, running the bath. He strips off, dropping his clothes in a corner of the room - they need washed, in any case. Padding back through to the bedroom, he leans against the doorway, beckoning to Nathaniel.

[nathaniel_kitten]

Nathaniel sits up and takes in the lines of Asher's body, lavender eyes trailing each inch of exposed skin as a smile quirks his lips. Asher is beautiful, painfully so, and Nathaniel can't help but admire that beauty when it's so enticingly displayed. Slowly, his eyes rise to Asher's, and after a weighted moment where he just stares at those pale eyes, he gets up from the bed.

He'd not bothered to dress since they'd come back to Asher's room after Anita's decree. Once he stands in front of Asher, he looks up at his vampire. "Haven't you been coddling me this entire time?" he asks softly.

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

"Perhaps," Asher replies non-commitally, smiling gently. "It is in best interest to have my pomme fit and well, after all." He brushes the backs of his fingers down Nathaniel's cheek, letting him know it was not meant unkindly.

"Do you wish to forget, tonight, mon chat?" He asks, wondering whether Nathaniel wants him to be gentle, wants to be made love to, or whether he wants dominated.

[nathaniel_kitten]

Nathaniel leans into the gentle touch. The gentleness is a temptation, as is the offer hidden behind the question for something darker, harsher.

"What do you want, Asher?" he asks. "You always give to me, give me what I ask for or what you think I need... what about you?"

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

"Gentle tonight, I think," Asher murmurs. He is satisfied either way - and Nathaniel has worried him too much over the last few days for him to be entirely at ease with treating his cat harshly.

[nathaniel_kitten]

Rising up a bit on his toes, Nathaniel gives Asher a tender kiss, his fingers trailing down his lover's throat and chest.

"Gentle," he agrees with a smile. "I like when you're gentle."

No one else other than Anita had ever bothered to be gentle with him. Even their harsher touches -- Asher's and Anita's -- could be so very gentle.

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

Asher hums softly, kissing Nathaniel again, sliding his hands down Nathaniel's sides, over his ass, wrapping around Nathaniel's thighs and hitching them up, lifting his leopard easily.

"Gentle it shall be, then," he murmurs, breaking the kiss only so that he can carry Nathaniel through to the bathroom without breaking his neck.

[nathaniel_kitten]

Nathaniel chuckles, the sound almost like a purr.

"It's been years since I bothered with an actual bath," he says. "The last time would have to be... when Anita brought Damian back from that coffin Jean-Claude had put him in."

He doesn't let the pain he feels when he talks about Anita show in his voice, body, or expression. Nathaniel just lets it wash over him, and then releases it.

"I think the only time I ever took a bath with someone was as some sort of kink for the john," he says.

God, was there nothing he could say that wasn't awkward and wrong? Nathaniel buries his face against Asher's neck.

"Forget I just said that, okay?"

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

Asher turns his head enough to kiss Nathaniel's hair, shaking his head.

"Non, cher," he murmurs softly. "I will not forget. But let us try and change your association with baths, hm?" Not entirely, of course; once Asher has fed, just enough, he plans on following through on his earlier promise.

[nathaniel_kitten]

Nathaniel nods.

"I'd like that," he says, smiling against Asher's throat.

And then he decides, being so close to Asher's neck, it would be a terrible thing not to make the best of the situation. So, Nathaniel begins to nibble and suck on Asher's throat, teeth scraping where a pulse should be.

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

Asher moans softly, dropping easily to his knees, still holding Nathaniel in his arms, his lap. He turns off the taps, testing the water quickly before climbing in, keeping Nat in his arms the entire time.

He kisses Nathaniel's neck, nibbles gently just as his leopard had, the only difference being the fangs scraping with a little more intent.

[nathaniel_kitten]

The water is perfect. When someone else usually runs a shower for him, the water tends to be too cold, but Asher knows him. It's just right for his natural body temperature.

Nathaniel tilts his head back and to the side some, pressing his throat eagerly against Asher's lips. A sighing moan leaves his lips, and he runs his hands along Asher's shoulders and arms.

[ash-imperfect.livejournal.com]

Asher doesn't draw back to ask permission; Nathaniel gives it eagerly, wordlessly, in the baring of his throat, the way his body presses close.

He bites down, moaning at the first burst of fresh, hot blood over his tongue. He's been feeding from Bar ever since they left Anita's room - he still doesn't want to take much, worried about how weak Nathaniel is from not eating.