Rocky!

He tried to shut the door, but Finea put a foot forward to stop it. "I was being polite. It's not a request."

He could argue. He could push her back and shut the door. He could pretend to agree, say sure, he'd be right along, and then simply go back to sleep.

Don't make their job any harder than it already is.

It had been a long time since Gem scolded him for causing problems for staff with his antics, not since they were little more than children, but even centuries later he could still hear her words clear as day.

fWhip's chest ached. He'd give anything to hear his sister scold him again, no matter what it was for.

If he wanted to live long enough to grin sheepishly while Gem threw her hands in the air and rolled her eyes at him in exasperation, he needed to be careful how much he antagonized Jimmy. And while he didn't think Jimmy would take out his frustration on Finea or any other palace staff who reported fWhip's mulishness, it wasn't a risk he was willing to take, either.

"Ugh...fine. Lead the way," he grumbled, and followed Finea to Jimmy's personal quarters. When she left him outside the door, he took one more moment to consider finding some quiet corner of the spire to vanish into and ride out his exhaustion in peace, then sighed and let himself in.

He raised an eyebrow at Pixlriffs, who was on the floor leaning against Jimmy's legs with his head in his lap, but Pix seemed far more interested in the fingers massaging his scalp than he was in fWhip's judgment.

"You certainly took your time," said Jimmy, rubbing little circles that curled Pix's hair around his fingers. "You didn't give Finea a hard time, I hope."

fWhip crossed his arms, trying to blink clarity back into his wavering vision. "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. What do you care?" An ache gnawed inside him, a hunger that wasn't hunger, and he fought to ignore it.

Jimmy paused his movements. "I didn't call you here to be a brat," he growled.

"Too bad," said fWhip. "You're lucky I even showed up."

Jimmy surged to his feet, but fWhip was ready for him this time, already focused on every twitch of impressive muscles. His thirst begged him to hunt, but instead of grabbing for his prey like instinct demanded, fWhip leaped out of Jimmy's grasp, snapping his wings for an extra push. But there were only so many places he could go, and his strength was already flagging after the burst of movement, and it wasn't long before Jimmy had him cornered against a wall.

He didn't even know what they argued about, really. Jimmy was shouting something about disrespect and knowing his place, and fWhip was vaguely aware of his mouth moving without his input as he snarked back. Despite her best efforts, Gem never really had gotten fWhip to rank self-preservation higher than sass in his list of priorities. Probably because she wasn't much better at it herself.

Darkness seeped into the edges of fWhip's vision, and a slow-building ringing in his ears wasn't helping his headache. His knees tried to fold under him, and he covered his wobble by leaning back against the wall nonchalantly as he told Jimmy where exactly he could shove that stupid mask.

A hand entered his limited line of sight, reaching for his throat. With nowhere to go, fWhip resorted to the only course of action he had left, and sank his teeth into Jimmy's flesh.

The room went still, chaos giving way to abrupt silence as all of them processed what was happening. Jimmy stared down in shock, Pix sat up slowly with wide eyes, and fWhip wondered if Gem and Sausage would at least be allowed to collect his body for a proper Grimlands burial.

Oh, shit.

Blood welled around fWhip's fangs, warm and metallic and so, so satisfying. He closed his eyes, unable to stop the groan that bubbled up in his throat.

Oh. Shit.

He wrapped his hands around Jimmy's wrist and swallowed greedily from twin punctures. Jimmy tasted like the sea, cool and crisp and salty. Like magic - like power, golden and thrumming, overwhelming divinity already refreshing fWhip's strength faster than he thought possible.

With sustenance finally at hand, clarity began to return to fWhip's mind, but it faded just as quickly as magic-induced euphoria took over. He only had a brief moment to curse the side effect that most vampires saw as a bonus, before it fully settled in and he could no longer bring himself to care.

"Well. That certainly explains some things," said Pixlriffs, watching fWhip continue to mouth at Jimmy's hand greedily.

"It does," agreed Jimmy. His other hand came up slowly to cup fWhip's cheek, and fWhip leaned into the touch. "fWhip? You with us, buddy?"

fWhip glanced up at him, pupils blown wide, and pulled back just enough to run his tongue over the blood that dripped down Jimmy's hand before resuming his feeding. But he didn't respond otherwise, and for once didn't seem to mind Jimmy's gentle stroke across his hair.

"Is he...all right?" asked Jimmy uncertainly. "I don't know the first thing about vampires. Well, other than the obvious."

Pix sprang to his feet. "I can't recall much off the top of my head, but I know a tome I can check." He rushed out of the room, an eager gleam in his eyes at being given a new subject to research.

Jimmy watched fWhip curiously, until he finally seemed sated and sat back with a content sigh. He ran his hands over Jimmy's arm, as if fascinated by the feel of skin under his fingers, then peered up at Jimmy with a dopey smile.

"Kiss me?"

Jimmy raised an eyebrow, but leaned down and kissed his concubine as requested. "You good?"