Victor

The boardwalk lights were almost unbearable giving the ache thumping through your skull. Trying to keep up with the boys was exhausting. You’d fallen behind them a little, being behind Marko who seemed to finally notice how exhausted you’d looked. He stopped in his tracks to turn his full attention to you. The others headed forwards not noticing the sudden stop. “You okay?” He asked, concern clear in his tone. You nodded, not wanting to bring down the group's fun. Marko squinted, not believing you. Of course they knew you had trouble sometimes and were more than happy to take care of you during those times. “C’mon, I know something's up.” He crossed his arms against his chest. There was no getting anything past Marko, was there? "I’m not feeling well.” You admitted quietly. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner?” Marko’s usually bright smile was pulled into a thin frown. He glanced around the busy street for a moment before spotting what he was looking for, a bench. He looped his arm around you, guiding you over to sit down. “Wait here, I’ll catch up with the others and we can head out, okay?” He didn’t give you time to argue of course instead jogging off to catch up with the others. From where you sat you could see him explaining to them, wide arms flailing about as he spoke. 

The group turned and headed back to where you sat. Silent as ever Dwayne scooped you up into his arms bridal style. You gave him an annoyed look. You’d love to argue and say you could walk on your own but your body said otherwise. Being carried allowed your body to relax ever so slightly, relieving some of the pain. Paul peeked over Dwayne’s shoulder to check on you, usually it wasn’t hard to tell how you were feeling just by how drained your expression was, and well Paul had seen corpses more lively than you were right now. David looked back at Paul giving a small motion. “While we get them back to where we parked why don’t you run off and grab some take out?” Nothing from David was ever a request or question, only a demand. Or at least to the others. He was surprisingly gentle with you. “You got it.” He gave a nod before disappearing into the crowd. The boys had already had their own…meal tonight, but they often would get food for you and their own enjoyment. Even the undead loved noodles. 

The walk back to the pier was short. You were sat down on the back of Dwayne’s bike as you all waited for Paul to return. You almost always rode with Dwayne. For multiple reasons, for one his bike was the roomiest allowing you more comfort, and for two he didn’t drive like a fucking maniac. Especially not with you on the back. The first time you rode with David you’d nearly thrown up thanks to the sharp turns he likes to speed through. Soon enough Paul could be seen bounding over with several bags of take out. Paul handed out the food to everyone, even remembering what your favorite was. Once everyone had food he plopped onto the sandy ground cross legged to eat his own serving of orange chicken. David was leaned against his bike enjoying some lo mein noodles, Marko sat on his bike picking at some stir fry and Dwayne stood, practically downing his entire serving of beef and broccoli. In moments like this you were able to forget about the pain and exhaustion that ran through every nerve ending. It was just you and your boys enjoying dinner under the stars. It was almost enough to make your heart feel like it would burst. 

Once everyone had eaten they got you back to the cave. Dwayne carried you inside, laying you on the dusty yet comfortable couch. You didn’t let go of him however and instead pulled him down with you. He chuckled softly and re-positioned so you were laying on top of him, his heavy arms like a weighted blanket around your body. It didn’t take long for the others to pile onto the couch into one big cuddle pile. Even with so many undead corpses against you, you felt so safe and warm. They made you feel so loved. David’s fingers trailed around your joints lightly massaging to relieve some of the pain. Between Dwayne’s embrace, David’s massage, and the cuddles from Paul and Marko you were able to drift off to sleep.

So something I want to put out there is the old lore of horses not liking vampires, lots of old legends say horses are afraid of the undead and will try to run away for them or will freeze. So as Much as you have to get the boys used to your horse, you also have to get your horse used to the boys.

David: I think David is pretty neutral towards the horse. He thinks what you named it is cute, and he's definitely not afraid to try and ride it unlike some of the boys Dwayne and if you gave him the chance to ride (horse permitting) I think he'd be pretty good at it. He's a natural at most things so I think he's a fast learner when you try to talk him through it.

Marko: He's an animal lover through and through. Not only does he love his pigeons but he loves all animals. But...again, horses aren't fond of the undead. He took it kinda personally when your horse backed away and you ended up having to console him over it. But over time you showed him how to give the horse treats and despite their differences he loves the horse. HOWEVER he is not good at riding it. He'd tried to jump right on and was thrown right back off! But oh boy that was a RUSH! He thought it was some kind of game. If you didn't know better you would've thought he'd gotten brain damage from the fall because he got right back on and was thrown right back off. It went on like this for...awhile.

Paul: Oh boy- he laughed his ass off when Marko was thrown right off of the horse and thought he could do better! He could not. He hadn't minded the horse at first but now he has a personal vendetta against it. Mostly because the horse gets so much attention from you. At his core I think Paul is an attention hog. Though I do think Paul would have the time of his life at the Kentucky Derby. Your happy seeing horses and he has an endless buffet of drunk rich pricks! win win! He maybe even bets on the horse with the dumbest name.

Dwayne: This is where it gets a bit self indulgent. I think Dwayne is a southern boy. I think he was raised around farmland and saw a lot of horses growing up. Did he ever interact with them? No. He was too much of a pretty boy for that shit. He really thought he was far away from that shit until you walked into his life. He thinks its sweet really. He loves to watch you tend to the horses but him? He stays far away from them. The way he sees it is they don't like him so he's not gonna like them. But you want him to like the horses so eventually he warms up to the idea of getting close to them, though he's still very weary. All of this to say I think he's afraid of riding a horse. But you put that man on a mechanical bull and he can hold on all night!