no time to die

“Then what would be the point of living this long? Just because it’s possible? To prove what exactly? If you really think we shouldn’t have emotions, then you shouldn’t care that your so-called pets are being put down.” Leifr slammed his hand on the surface between them, but had the restraint enough to whisper yell, “And no, no. They get more than enough chances, Estrid. I don’t handle them for killing one person. Hell, not even five people. When they start slaughtering upwards of twenty or thirty? They fucking deserve it.”

“Just because I have ADHD doesn’t mean I’m a child.” He’s heard that insult before, albeit not from his mother. But that was his instant association with those words. That was beside the point. “You don’t even give me a chance to think for myself, so yeah, I think I’m doing great by myself. I’m finally able to provide for both me and Odie, and taking care of my loans. Can’t you be happy for me?” The more she kept egging him on to leave her, the more he pushed back. He’d never get through to her. But now his voice was low. How could anyone talk about this with their mother? “I know she’s the one, Mama. I’ve never felt those feelings around anyone before. She’s my mate, Mama.”

“When have I ever said that, Adam? Are you serious? You’re a child because  — because you are! Not because of that,” Magnolia said, hurt that he would even imply that she was judging him based on that. She was about to talk back, when she heard the three worst words in her life. Mate? No. No, she couldn’t be his mate. “No. You’re just confused about that. This — She’s not your — she’s not.”

Perfectly arched brows raised slowly. “Again, you’re no fun. We sure could have come up with something a little more creative. That’s letting her get away with it easy.” Nelly chuckled and looked over an array of pocket watches. Nothing new here. Not that she would have been particularly interested. “What did the mutt do to her anyway? Any plans for the fuck-up?”

“He’s offering to be my familiar. Well ——  not exactly. He’s offering someone to be cured fully of being a vampire, but he needs fangs and strength he said. So I’ll be giving that to him, he’ll be a vampire, he’ll be stuck as my familiar.”

“Eleven dollars for the drink, Roman. Pay up or order another drink.” Now, he was actually a little curious to see whether Roman would stop coming in or not. It amused him, the idea of Roman drinking somewhere else. Somewhere with cheeseburgers that weren’t as good or cheap. “Okay, next time you see her ask her on a date! I bet she’ll say no.” Noah winked as he filled up four shot glasses for someone on the other side of the bar. “What else do you expect from a nurse and a bar owner? We’re busy.”

“Will the other drink be actual price? Or are you gonna keep overcharging me no matter what I do?” Roman laughed. He really had no intention of going anywhere else, due to the fact that he was banned from enough bars already. “Nurses only work three days, don’t they? That’s four days to not be busy and four nights to go out with me. Who cares if you’re busy or not?”

Silence surrounded them for a moment as Leifr’s eyes searched his sister’s. She seemed genuinely hurt, but he’s not so sure it’s about her sired being killed. Leifr sighed and looked down at his hands, uncharacteristic for the usually confident leader, “We’re not… immune to emotions, Estii. No matter how hard we try to push them down.” He clicked his tongue and met her eyes again, “But when your sired are bad people, they lose their privileges of immortality. These people aren’t pets, Estii. The sooner you realize and accept that, the better.”

“We should be immune to emotions by this point, Leif. Honestly. Honestly. They’re as close as we can get to having pets, they live so short compared to us,” Estrid explained. “My sired are just trying to get used to their life and they’re doing it properly. You have no right to kill them for it.”

“As you should be.” An embarrassed little laugh escaped him. “It’s just, that your relationship with food seems a little…off?” Instead of waiting for a reply, he hurried to reassure her. “It’s not obvious at all. We’ve just been spending quite some time. I don’t think anyone would notice usually.” It was devastating that he was still trying to look for any signs of something being wrong. Whether he was missing something important that would end in a disaster again. Sometimes it was so damn obvious to himself that he was still blaming himself for everything that had happened. Maybe he hadn’t been ready to go leave his shell after all.

“It’s okay. I didn’t expect anyone to notice anyways.” Emeline sighed, placing a hand on his lap. “I have my reasons for that. But trust me, it’s not for the reasons you think. My taste buds have always been a bit off, everything tastes horrible to me.”

“It sure is.” He chuckled at her first comment and frowned softly at her next. That was exactly what he had been thinking about over the last couple days. Maybe, yes, maybe he was just seeing ghosts and everything was alright, but it wasn’t uncommon for Emeline to ‘not be in the mood’ for food. Nor had he ever seen her excited about food, or commenting about being hungry and watching her eat simply gave him a weird feeling. He almost felt bad about it and he couldn’t really say why. He knew that it was probably none of his business, but he also wanted her to be happy and healthy and he’d definitely be there for her if- “You know, you can talk to me about anything, right?” Wow, way to go, Ty. What an exceptional way to begin a serious conversation. Didn’t he think about a million variations on how to start this just minutes ago? His sigh was heavy with uncertainty. “I just want you to know that I’m here for you and that you don’t have to be ashamed of anything. You are so beautiful the way you are, Em. You don’t have to worry about- You know. Weight. Looks. I wouldn’t care either way. I mean…” He was seriously searching for words that had been prepared days ago and were nowhere to be found when he needed them. He was almost certain he had made a fool of himself right now anyway. Ty could feel how his neck was starting to warm up.

Ashamed of anything? What? Emeline couldn’t help but narrow her eyes when he spoke to her. Did he think she was struggling? “I  — Ty, thank you, but I’m perfectly content with the way that I look,” she answered. “Where is this coming from?”

          he  arched  a  brow,  intently  observing  roman  for  a  moment.  “nothing…  nothing  to  an  extant—  but  you  can  sort  of  come  off  as  cocky.”  jo  shook  his  head,  raising  his  hands  to  surrender.  “listen,  i  don’t  know  but  if  you  hurt  her  in  any  way,  i  will  end  you.  you  hear  me?”

“Oh, I’ll hurt her alright,” Roman laughed, gyrating his hips in a joke. “Fine, fine. I’ll let her be the one to end things. Just to be fair.”

“Oh wow.” Nelly scoffed softly, running her finger over an embroidered lampshade. The texture was nice. She had walked past it about a dozen times before and still couldn’t decide whether she wanted the lamp or not. “Anything worth taking on as a pet?” She chuckled at amusing herself. She wasn’t the one to take longer-term interest in any human. “What did she even manage to do to that poor soul? Any punishment in mind?”

“She said she meant to make him hurt and suffer, but I believe she was just trying to curse him into a vampire. The old fashioned way. He ended up at some half-way, pathetic mutt version of a vampire. So we’re rejecting her for a bit. So she learns her lesson.”

With a chuckle, Ty layed his arm around her and pulled her close, placing a kiss on her hair. “Lucky you. I still got three more shifts for the week. Tonight was uneventful, though. Boring. Could have just stayed home, to be honest, but that wouldn’t pay bills.” He smiled at her softly, enjoying her presence. “You want to grab some breakfast before I walk you home? There’s still that one place I told you about we have to try. It’s just a five minute walk and it’s right on our way.”

“Well, uneventful is a good thing, you know? Definitely makes for an easier time.” Emeline was exhausted, and past the point of wanting to pretend that the food didn’t taste like anything other than burnt. “Only if you want to, I can’t really say I’m in the mood for it. Eating after work is just so hard.”

He didn’t pull out the object he was holding to oblige by her commands. No, it was because he was exasperated at his mother. It wasn’t uncommon for that to happen, but she raised her hand. That was new. He’d turned at the right time, and he winced, closing his eyes, waiting for impact. Nothing came. When he opened his scrunched up eyes, he took a few steps away from her. She hadn’t done anything to him physically, but it was a reminder that still stung him, six years later.

The object they were arguing about was on the table like a compass, pointing the way of their relationship. And yet Adam still dared to speak. His anger was far too strong. “I’m a few years shy of thirty. Neither of us are children like you and Dad were. And trust me, I’ve made worse mistakes in love. What I do know, though, is that Marley would never raise her hand except to touch my hair. You know what Odette’s other parent did? You really wanna know what horrible shit they put me through? I can’t leave someone that makes me happy for once in my life, especially if she’s pregnant with my kid.”

“You are a child, Adam. I don’t know why you think you’re not. Just because you think you’re making good decisions in your life? Because you live out on your own?” Magnolia couldn’t help but feel sick when she heard her son speak about what happened to him, although vaguely. She hadn’t realized that Odette’s other parent was like that  ——  and a horrible guilt washed over her. “I-I... You haven’t been with her long enough. You don’t know that she’s the one that’s going to make you happy.”

          “unfortunately,”  ayelet  responded.  without  flinching,  her  gaze  was  still  on  him  as  he  leaned  closer.  “and  nothing’s  going  to  change  that.”

“Tell me how you really feel, Letty. I don’t think I caught it.”

Tyrell opened his eyes when he heard her voice, turning his head and spotting her immediately on her way from the entrance to his bench. With a smile, he slid to the side, making enough room for her to sit beside him. “Hey, beautiful. Good morning. How was your night?” He patted the space beside him, waiting for her to sit down.

Emeline couldn’t help but laugh lightly when he told her good morning. More like good night, seeing that her day was ending. “It was crazy as usual,” she replied, sitting down next to him. Her cheek pressed into his shoulder, as she let out an exhausted sigh. “I’m glad that’s it for my work week.”

“Ma, you assume way too much. It’s nothing.” Wait, there were two similar sticks - which one did he pull out? What were the options? A thermometer and a pregnancy test? He guessed he’d know by judging her reaction. How was he supposed to tell the difference? He’d hardly seen a pregnancy test before, and there was no reason for him to go down that aisle (though he most certainly would if Marley needed something) and stare intently at them.

Then he registered what his mom said. What the hell did that mean? He instantly lashed out. “Me? I’m the one who’s not ready? Yet you’re the one freaking out, not knowing the full story, but only going off of the little bits and pieces you see! Explain that to me, Mama. Explain how that makes any sense. I have the fuller picture and you know that.”

“If it’s nothing, then show me. Show me it’s nothing.”

The redhead huffed at his words. She hated when her sons talked back to her, even before she knew they carried the werewolf gene. Her hand pulled back as if to slap him for his comments, but the hand slowly fell down. She couldn’t. As much as she felt he deserved it, she could never slap her boys. “Don’t talk to me like that,” she replied. “You’re not ready. You’re too young. She’s too young. And you’re not a right fit for each other.  Take it from someone who went through the same mistakes you can avoid right now. Leave her and... I don’t know.”

“Oh — yeah, totally,” he agreed. “He’s always been like that, from what I’ve seen of him. I just figured it was a rich dude complex making him that way, and from being old.”

“Oh. Okay,” Manon replied, at least relieved that it wasn’t purely directed towards her. But was that even a good thing? “W-Well, I still live w-with him. So m-maybe I could come over sometime? Since we’re s-so close?”

“No shit,” Lionel gasped, genuinely surprised as he never pegged Lucky as the clingy type. “… Uhhh, do you mean like, in conversation or physically …?” he asked. He treaded lightly in fear he might expose the fact that, yes, he was thrown around by the ancient vampire, and he actually didn’t mind it even if he preferred to be the one doing the throwing.

“C-Conversation. He’s really... c-cold sometimes. I thought he wasn’t when we were t-together but I found some th-things out, and, um, he’s been kind of harsh since. Does th-that make sense?”

“He’s my neighbor! We used to—” he paused, thinking that it probably wouldn’t be considerate of him to tell her about hooking-up with her ex. “We’re friends, sort of.”