"Did you eat differently?" Silco asks, already knowing the answer.

"I ate the basket you gave me," Viktor answers immediately, reaching for him. "What's wrong? Why do you look so....anxious?"

Silco sighs, running a hand through his hair. "In your blood, I can taste..." He reaches forward and cups Viktor's cheek. "You need to visit the doctor immediately."

Viktor is alarmed by the faint break in Silco's voice. 

"Okay," Viktor whispers.

Viktor goes still and then his face twists, full of emotion.

"Please, don't -- don't leave me, Silco. Whatever it is, I can get better...I will get better." 

No, you won't, Silco thinks to himself.

"I have to go," Silco still has to feed tonight, even if it won't be Viktor. "I'll be back. I promise." He pulls Viktor into a kiss, the disease burning his tongue, but the taste of Viktor's mouth is more overpowering.

Viktor voice is small as he clings to him a little longer, a little tighter, asking "But you won't....do the other things.....with....someone else?" 

Silco cups his face. "No one tempts me, as you do."

When Silco comes again, Viktor has the results from the doctor on his nightstand. Viktor is curled up in a ball and doesn't move, even when Silco sits on the bed and puts a hand on his arm.

"You knew," Viktor says quietly, bitter note in his voice. "You knew." 

"Yes." 

The admission is quiet....sad.

And then a broken keen escapes Viktor as he turns his face deeper into the pillow.

"I don't want to die."

Silco takes a deep breath. "That's why I came." 

Viktor stills for a moment. "To say goodbye?"

"To offer an alternative," Silco says quietly, the words paining him, because he knows....if Viktor accepts....it'll never be the same between them again.

Viktor won't feel so warm and vibrant and alive in his arms, and his mind will be silent to him. His blood will never taste as sweet.

Viktor finally turns to Silco. "You mean..."

"Yes," Silco can see he hasn't been sleeping and likely not eating either. He runs a hand through Viktor's hair and brings it to rest on his cheek. "If that is what you truly want."

The gleam in Viktor's eyes makes him feel uneasy.

"But I warn you.....the transition isn't easy. You....you may wish you'd died. And then you will have to adjust to....everything."

Viktor swallows. "How many have you...turned?"

"Just one other," Silco sighs. "Centuries ago."

"Where is he?" 

Silco hesitates for a long moment and then says, "Ashes. I killed him after he attempted to do the same to me. Took a while to recover from his brutality, but age affords me a strength to endure that fledglings lack."

"Did you also..."

"Love him?" Silco looks softly at Viktor as the boy processes what he just said. "Yes. He was very different from you, though."

"I would never do what he did," Viktor says fiercely, face set with the same kind of conviction he wears when he speaks about the injustices he witnesses in the world.

And Silco smiles, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes.

"Come now," Silco lets out a breath, knowing he needs to do this now before he talks himself out of it yet again. "We have to be finished before morning." 

"Wait," Viktor grabs Silco's arm. "When I change, I'll be...different. Physically." 

Silco nods. "Yes. Any physical ailments will go away. Your disease and your leg."

Viktor shakes his head. "No. My blood. It won't taste the same, will it?"

"Your blood will never taste as sweet as it was," Silco answers, expression softening, "but it won't taste sick either. It will be different. Like mine. It wouldn't sustain me, but could be enjoyed from time to time."

Viktor lets go of Silco's wrist and looks down. "Why then?"

Silco lifts Viktor's chin. "Do you really think that I've continued this solely because of your blood?"

Viktor looks away, shrugging weakly, and Silco gets flashes of Vktor being told that he's a worthless cripple over and over, that he'd never amount to anything, etc

"Your blood may have brought me to you," Silco explains "but your beauty and your brilliance kept me returning." He tucks Viktor's hair behind his ear. "And now, I find the idea of continuing without you to be very painful."

Viktor looks at him again, eyes watering.

"You would miss me, if I...." 

"I would mourn you for the rest of my existence," Silco admits, hand lingering where he'd tucked Viktor's hair.

Viktor reaches up and clutches his hand tightly.

"I want this. I want you. Forever." 

And Silco doesn't waste time. He scoops Viktor into his arms, tucking his face against his neck, and then he runs, so fast that the world feels like a blur.

Silco carries him to his home, with its electronic blackout blinds set to a careful timer. 

Silco sets him on the large plush bed carefully, and then fills the walk-in tub in the ensuite, because Viktor will need to be washed once he makes it through the other side of the transition.

Turning someone is messy, stinky business, as it is technically a kind of death.

Viktor isn't sure what to expect but it certainly wasn't this.

Silco starts by kissing the inside of Viktor's wrist and apologizing before using this teeth to rip it open.

Viktor yells but the numbing quickly takes effect, until Silco opens his own wrist and places their wounds together. At the contact, the blood starts to burn, further and further up his arm as his veins take it through his body. 

Silco pulls his wrist away then takes a few steps back, clutching it. There was nothing he could do about the pain, and he had to make sure Viktor had someone to feed on when he woke up.

Remembering someone from the academy that had berated Viktor in his memories, he decided that would be perfect.

The worst of the burn is in his chest....his spine, hip, and leg.

He feels like he must be on fire, that he must be burning alive and he's screaming, he's crying, he's thrashing. 

He is so lost in it that he doesn't notice when Silco leaves. He doesn't notice his abdomen contracting or the rush of filth being rejected from his insides.

When he comes through the other side, when the burning fades, and he's left to pant on the bed, it's to the awareness that there's too much noise.

Sirens, car horns, water in the pipes, music from nearby bars. Too loud too loud too loud too loud.

And voices, so many voices, voices he doesn't know, all mish-mashing on top of each other.

But then one voice cuts through them all, clear as a bell.

"Look at me, Viktor."

His attention snaps on Silco immediately, and Viktor gasps, because he's seeing  Silco in an entirely new light. 

Silco almost glows, but in a cold way, like a glacier.

And then Viktor looks at his own hands to see he almost glows, the same way.

Viktor finally seeing the person Silco has kneeling at his feet.

And at first, Viktor doesn't even recognize the person because the sudden pull of hunger is so immediate and so strong.

Viktor doesn't even realize he's moved until he has the person's face gripped in his hand.

And then all he can see the rapid thump of arteries pumping blood around the body.

Silco bends the victim's neck, showing Viktor where to bite. With an unfamiliar ferocity, Viktor bites into the man, his inexperience clear when a few spirts and drops fall to the floor.

Silco's hand soothes over Viktor's hair. 

"Easy, my darling; don't pull too hard." Silco's voice is lightly chiding, but affectionate. "Let his heart do the work for you."

Viktor hums and listens to Silco, slowing his drinking. Visions of what the man is thinking start to barrage his mind, mostly fear and regrets. It causes Viktor to pull off the man and hiss, grabbing his head. 

"The thoughts," Viktor strains. "It's distracting."

"Yes," Silco agrees quietly, "It can be. Focus on the beat of his heart. It should help while we work on building control. But remember: you stop when the heart stops. Dead blood will make you sick."

Viktor nods and takes a breath, focusing on the man's rapid heartbeat and returns to his neck, more careful with his bite this time. The thoughts are still there but Silco was right about focusing.

As the victim's heart slows, Silco grabs Viktor's shoulder just before the man dies, reminding him to leave that last drop

It takes effort to pull away, because Viktor is still craving the feed because the taste is still on his tongue. But he does pull away, and just sits there on the floor for a minute breathing heavy, and realizing that he does feel full.

Silco kisses his temple tenderly.

"Time to clean up. Go, take a bath. I'll take care of him  and the bedsheets.

Viktor slowly stands, with Silco's help, but notices his leg and his back don't hurt like they used to. He's able to stand up straight and walk without his cane. He turns to thank Silco, but he's already taking care of the body and Viktor knows there's more than enough time later.

Viktor goes to the bathroom, smiling at the already filled bath, and sinks in. The warmth feels different against his skin now, but not unpleasant. Viktor closes his eyes for what seems like a minute, but opens them when Silco walks in, seemingly already finished with the chores.

"How do you feel," Silco asks, a soft and a little sad smile on his face. 

Viktor looks at him funny. Silco never asked before; he always just seemed to know. 

Viktor tries to reach out with his mind, to hear or feel anything from Silco, but all he gets is silence. 

"Why is your mind closed?"

"Because that's what happens when we share the gift. We will never be able to touch minds again."

Silco sits on the side of the tub near Viktor and rolls up his sleeves before grabbing a washcloth. He dips it in the water, then starts to wash Viktor's back, smirking when he leans into the touch.

"I feel...different," Viktor answers. "Certainly not bad. All of my pain has vanished." He sighs and leans his head back as Silco uses a cup to rinse Viktor's hair. "It's a sort of unnatural feeling."

"I know how unnatural it can be," Silco says. "When I went through the change, I had to learn how to live with two working eyes, after living with only one since childhood."