Past the Charades and Under the Skin

[daddysaysno]

Who: Tamaki and Maka
When: Friday Evening
Where: Suite 38, Suite 35
Summary: Maka does what she can to keep Tamaki under control, even if it means bleeding a little.
Rating: R for safety
Warnings: Friendship and vampiery things

Comments

[togana_keiri]

"That won't work." Maka replied softly, having just exited the room to where she felt Tamaki's wavelength residing. Smiling gently, she approached him.

"When it happened before to us, people effected had to "drink" every couple of days." And from the looks of it, Tamaki was just about at his limit.

[daddysaysno]

"But if I file them down, then I can't attack anyone. It wouldn't do anything. I think it's an ingenious plan, really. I just hope my beautiful teeth will go back to normal. Oh! Maybe I could find pencil erasers and stick them on the ends, or I could tape my mouth shut!" He was getting excited. "Maka, find me the tape!"

[togana_keiri]

"Tamaki..." She placed a hand on his arm, firm but gentle.

"That won't work either." She turned back to face her room for a second before turning again to face him.

"Come on." She slipped her hand into his in an effort to lead him away, not back to her room but to the hallway.

[daddysaysno]

"Maka, this isn't necessary." He laughed with a bit of nervousness. Tamaki could feel her pulse through her palm and could practically smell it in the short distance between them. "I'll figure something out. You should really return to the children. I'm fine, really. It's not so bad."

He was horrible at lying and he knew it, so Tamaki swallowed and shook his head. "You shouldn't be alone with me."

[togana_keiri]

"There isn't any figuring anything out. I was there the week this happened to half of the people here. The best thing you can do for everyone is to deal with it now before it becomes uncontrollable, okay?"

She continued on her way to the door, holding it open and throwing a smile back at him as she waited for him to follow.

"It's not that big of a deal, and I'm your friend. I won't leave you. I'm going to help you with this and then we'll come back here, alright?"

[daddysaysno]

He hung his head and clenched his fists. "I'm not going to do it. Drinking blood, hurting people, it's not me! I'd rather die!"

[togana_keiri]

Maka sighed and her smile dropped. She hadn't wanted it to come to this sort of talk, but he was leaving her without a choice.

"There is no do or not do. I understand that you aren't used to anything like this, but you have to understand that here, doing this is the right thing. It's what keeps people safe and you won't be hurting me." She took a step closer and placed her hand in his.

"Sometimes we have to make choices here that seem like the wrong thing to do. The truth is, there isn't a clear black and white line here but the right thing isn't dying, I can tell you that. It would hurt me and everyone else a whole lot more to have to lose you again."

[daddysaysno]

Tamaki ran a hand through his hair, feeling his chest ache a bit more than his stomach. "There has to be some other way. I.. I can't do it. Not again."

A sudden wave of nausea hit him at the memory and he clasps a hand over his mouth before rushing past her into the common room and into the bathroom.

[togana_keiri]

She started to follow him, and then stopped. There was something better she could do.

Carefully Maka unhooked her necklace, pulling the tooth that she always wore from beneath her many layers. She stared at it in silence for a minute, a tug on her heart reminding her where the tooth had come from, but the moment passed.

After finding an empty water bottle, she used the tooth to slice the bottle into a cup. When that was done, she grabbed some extra bandages from one of the nearby first aid kits. Angling her arm so that it was held over the bottle, she very carefully made an incision in her arm, wincing only a tiny bit as her blood began to drip into the cup.

She continued at it until the cup was decently full and she began to feel waves of dizziness, and then immediately pressed a cloth to her cut. When the bleeding had stopped enough, she bandaged her arm carefully, doing her best to stop any residual bleeding.

Maka sat down on the couch to catch her balance for just a moment before making her way to the bathroom.

"Tamaki..."

[daddysaysno]

Tamaki was curled up by the sink, knees to chest and forehead to knees, trembling. He could easily smell the blood she had drawn for him; it wafted in like some sort of delectable savory soup from her makeshift cup. However, it was the blood still inside her that caught his attention. To feel what it was like to pin someone down, to steal their power to protect their self before sinking his mouth onto soft, warm flesh. The gasp, the struggle, the slow fade. It was plaguing his mind.

"Please Maka, just go." Maka was a kind friend, trusting and strong. How could he even dream, even fathom hurting her, experiment or not?

[togana_keiri]

She didn't go away, instead drawing closer and pulling him up so that one of her arms was around him and the other held the make shift cup to his lips.

"No. You have to drink."

[daddysaysno]

"I said no!" He tried to fight against her or turn his head, but his hunger... Tamaki jerked the cup from her hands and drank from it with greed at first before tears rolled down his cheeks from clenched shut eyes. What would his friends at home think of him now? He could practically see them, standing around watching him with disgust and scorn.

'Make him stop, Takashi!'
'Disgusting, boss. How you're drinking that, you'd guess this was some sort of sick fetish you've always had.'
'We should have guessed he was this messed up. Look, he's enjoying it.'
'It's a shame. You didn't even fight as hard as I thought you would have, Tamaki. Have you given up so easily?'
'What are you doing, Senpai?! I don't even know who you are anymore!'

The cup was soon empty and he let it fall from his hands before covering his mouth to keep it all from coming back up again.

[togana_keiri]

When it was gone, Maka placed her other arm around him, pulling him closer to her and holding him tightly in her arms.

"It's okay Tamaki, it's okay. No one was hurt. You did the right thing, you're protecting everyone. You kept people safe by doing this. It's okay." She continued, making her voice as soothing as possible.

[daddysaysno]

As soon as the urge to be sick passed, he wrapped his arms around her as well. "I'm so sorry. I tried to fight, but I can't. I'm not as strong as all of you. I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

It seemed Tamaki wasn't speaking to Maka, exactly, but the remorse and pain was still clear.

[togana_keiri]

"Don't be stupid, you're really strong Tamaki. I can see it in your soul. Did you know that? This isn't about being strong. No one was able not to last time either."

She rubbed his back, holding him still closer.

"That doesn't matter...none of it matters. You're one of the strongest people I've ever met here." She'd noticed from the beginning. Maybe it wasn't strength in the way she was used to seeing it, but it was still strength. The ability to overcome adversity shining brightly in his soul.

[daddysaysno]

He gently pulled from her arms and wiped his eyes, as well as the corners of his mouth where some smears lingered.

"I've told everyone h-how happy I'd be to see my friends again, but. I don't think I could face them now. Not after this. I'd never want them to see, or-or endure this nightmare. I don't think even I can look at myself now." He smiled weakly at her despite the fresh tears. "And looking at m-myself is one of my favorite things to do."