The Leech & The Whore [7]

[sorryll]

 Hello! Next part. I might as well keep posting it. Love to anyone who reads. <3


King’s Cross was as chaotic as ever. Blake had never been inside before but it lived up to his expectations of irritating him to the point where his fingers were flexing in the hope of finding something to grab and slam into a few faces.

The lights were too bright, the people too noisy and the suitcases too large. He didn’t like the way they had to stand in the gangway because all the seats were taken, wincing every time wheels ran over their feet or rucksacks threatened to knock them out. He really didn’t like the way they were herded out through the doors and processed indiscriminately like idiotic cows making their noisy way to the slaughter. But his unhappiness about that was nothing compared to his feelings towards Phoenix’s choice of seat.

At the back. Annoying but expected, where else would the sneaky bastard want to sit? Next to the window, shoving Blake into the aisle. Not really a problem since the only view available would be an orange ribbon of night-time motorway but still irritating on principle. The real problem lay in the seats’ position above the engine which rendered their little section of bus for the next four hours similar to the inside of a bake-oven. They were still caught in the horror of London traffic when Blake was forced to stand in the aisle and struggle out of his jacket, narrowly avoiding hitting a sleeping old woman in the face. He wasn’t surprised when he sat back down to see Phoenix taking his own jacket off without a hint of discomfort.

“Just ‘cause you’re used to taking your clothes off in confined spaces,” Blake muttered, earning himself a glare from a mother sitting with her child a few rows down.

“Just because you’re jealous,” Phoenix grinned before laying his black jacket across his lap. “Now sit down and stop disturbing people.”

Settled back in his seat, the leather causing his shirt to stick to his back and arms, Blake eyed the other occupants of the bus with suspicion. The majority of them appeared to be asleep, resting on rolled up jumpers and bags. A few had even brought out blankets and cushions as if the bus were a communal travelling bedroom. The old woman who had claimed the row of seats in front of them as her own had gone so far as to bring a flask of hot chocolate which she was slurping loudly.

“People are fuckin’ weird,” Blake whispered to Phoenix. “Why the hell are they so tired?”

“Because it’s just gone midnight. Not everyone is able to sleep in until sunset.”

“It’s still weird,” he insisted, lowering his voice as the woman in front of them shifted in irritation. “I’m not gonna be able to sleep all the way to wherever the fuck it is we’re going.”

“Deal with it,” Phoenix sighed before slouching down in his seat and resting his head against Blake’s shoulder. “Wake me up when we get there.”

The leech tried dozing but the constant rumbling of the engine stopped him. He watched the other passengers for a long time, noticing the way a group of girls near the front had yet to fall asleep and were casting the slumbering incubus glances more often than was subtle. Blake even tried reading a newspaper left behind by someone who had travelled during the day but after two pages of death and destruction and the fall of the economy were enough to last him the month.

He resorted to staring out of the window past Phoenix and wondering just what the hell he was doing here, anyway. When he had agreed to this trip he hadn’t been expecting Phoenix to actually go through with it. It was the sort of impulsive, sappy thing teenagers did. He had tried pointing this out but the redhead had given him a look that made it clear he didn’t see them as adults yet, whatever Blake thought, and so the trip was completely justified and he was going whether he liked it or not. It wasn’t that he had been thinking of saying no, it was just that he suspected Phoenix had a higher agenda he couldn’t understand.

Asking Phoenix about it hadn’t solved anything. The redhead had muttered something incomprehensible about the stupid man in the bar with the stupid green eyes and then gone back to doing something unmentionable. In hindsight, Blake could have chosen a better time to ask but he hadn’t been able to summon the energy since. The redhead had probably decided Blake was jealous of the blonde man and thought this pointless trip was going to help. If he had been less naive about what they were and about the inhuman underground culture in London, Blake would have tried to explain the real reason the man had set him on edge so easily.

He wasn’t human, that was certain. Nor was he a leech or an incubus. Blake suspected he was something a lot more dangerous, something he wasn’t going to think about or investigate unless he had to. Phoenix would be happier not knowing.

Blake glanced at the sleeping man and sighed. If swallowing his pride and going on this ‘holiday’ - that was more accurately termed a ‘dirty weekend’ if he knew anything about Phoenix at all - would keep the incubus in a state of happy obliviousness then he was willing to do it.

He felt less charitable two hours later when a hand crept across the space between them and settled itself on his leg.

The rest of the bus was sleeping by now as far as Blake could see and he opened his eyes to see Phoenix smirking up at him, eyes burning like rubies in the darkness.

“What the hell do you think you’re-“

Phoenix cut Blake’s whispered indignation short by placing one finger against the leech’s lips.

“Quiet,” he breathed, leaning close against the leech and speaking directly into his ear. “You’ll wake people up.”

“Then leave me alone, asshole,”

“Why? We’ve got nothing else to do for a few hours.”

The hand was creeping insidiously up his leg and Blake turned fully in his seat with the intention of glaring the redhead into submission. This plan backfired as Phoenix pulled him into a gentle kiss, ignoring the half-hearted way Blake slapped at his arms to try and push him away. He held his palm against Blake’s cheek, as much out of a sincere desire to do so as to make sure the leech couldn’t turn away.

“People are going to see,” Blake hissed against Phoenix’s lips, trying and failing to force his eyes open. “Will you back off already?”

“No one is going to see. They’re all asleep and facing the wrong way.”

“You’ve done this before, haven’t you, you kinky bastard?”

“Done what? I’m only trying to kiss you. Now if you don’t stop talking people are going to notice. Just-“

“But-“

“Just hush, will you? And relax. We’re on holiday.” After a feather-light series of kisses, the redhead grinned. “Ish.”

“Idiot,” Blake tried to whisper but the word was lost in a quiet breath.

He stopped arguing, deciding it was less hassle to risk being yelled at by some other passenger than fight back. There was also the fact that the thing was back, the invisible thing inside his chest that had started squeezing with increasing regularity over the past few months. If he wanted to fight against Phoenix’s attentions, he’d have to start figuring out just what it was. Not thinking was a much better option.

Phoenix could feel Blake relaxing and fought the urge to say something arrogant. As amusing as it would be to goad the leech further, the way he was now leaning into the gentle touches and not just accepting the soft kisses but returning them too was infinitely more enjoyable.

They stayed that way for what felt like little longer than minutes but which the clock at the front of the bus claimed had been just under an hour, the lights of the motorway flickering across their skin like slowed strobe lighting. The kisses were slow and languorous and when Blake finally drew away so that he could catch his breath without making too much noise, he looked down to find the hand on his leg was now folded gently over his own fingers. The woman sitting in front of them shifted in her seat and Blake jumped, casting wild amber eyes around as if he had forgotten where they were.

“Everything’s fine,” Phoenix whispered, “stop worrying.”

“My chest hurts,” Blake murmured.

“Then stop holding your breath,” Phoenix smiled, catching the leech’s lower lip between his teeth and sliding his jacket over to cover them both. “You’re not going to wake anyone up-“

“Of course I’m not if-“

“-if you keep kissing me back. Now hush.”

Blake didn’t have much of a choice as the hand returned to his leg under the cover of Phoenix’s jacket and began sliding upwards with a clear agenda. Yelling at the redhead would only alert the other passengers to the shameful position so Blake remained silent, kissing back fervently in the hope it would distract the man from what he was doing. This didn’t work and it was all he could do to keep breathing. Blake felt as if he was burning up thanks to the combination of the warm air from the engine, the way they were pressed together in the cramped seats and the skilful fingers running lines up and down his thigh. For all his flirting and insinuation, when it came down to it Phoenix was usually straightforward in his actions and didn’t hold anything back. Now, reduced to gasping into Phoenix’s kisses and digging his fingers into the edge of the seat, Blake wondered if this was how the incubus had treated people before they had met. It would explain why people would overlook his arrogance at least.

Opening his eyes for a moment, Blake looked out of the window and straight into the cab of a truck. The driver, a balding man puffing away on a cigar, winked at him over Phoenix’s shoulder. He squeezed his eyes shut again, cheeks burning and tried to pretend he was somewhere else.

Eyes open and dark with intent, Phoenix liked to think he could hear Blake’s heartbeat over the rumble of the engine. He could certainly hear his own, the blood rushing in his ears and brain. This was what he lived for, not the hungry glances of Diana or the coy comments of the clientele. As often as the leech denied it, Phoenix could feel Blake surrendering to the moment and silently, secretly hoping for more, as if the air around them was crackling with crimson static on a black screen.

Pressing his palm firmly against Blake, Phoenix was rewarded with a hastily smothered whimper.

“Careful, babe,” he whispered, grinning as a hand was slapped angrily against his chest in place of words. “I’ll have to stop if you make too much noise.”

“Good,” Blake breathed, head falling forward to rest on Phoenix’s shoulder.

“You don’t mean that.”

“Fuck you.”

“I don’t think you understand quite what we’re doing here.”

“Go to hell, you arrogant...” Blake stopped speaking and pressed his lips against Phoenix’s neck to keep himself from making a sound as the incubus made it quite clear that he wasn’t going anywhere.

The silence of the sleeping bus was broken by the unmistakeable sound of a zip being undone and the woman sitting in front of them shifted, her seat rocking backwards and pressing against Blake’s knees. They froze and waited until she had settled, Phoenix’s free hand pressed over Blake’s mouth to stop him from saying something stupid just to relieve his embarrassment.

“Fucking hell,” Blake whispered into Phoenix’s shoulder as fingers ran across his burning skin. “I can’t believe you’re...just...on a bus...”

“Am I going to have to try harder to get you to stop talking?”

Blake fell silent again, other than the shallow breaths he was now trying to smother by pressing his face against the back of his seat. He could feel Phoenix watching him closely and didn’t have to open his eyes to know the redhead was smirking as he began moving with more confidence, rendering the thin jacket useless as a shield. Blake twisted in his seat, the cheap upholstery creaking, and his eyes slammed open. Down the bus, the girls had woken up and were turned fully in their seats, eyes wide.

“Phoe, stop,” the leech hissed. “Fuck’s sake.”

“Why? Worried about what they’re going to say?”

“Just do it.”

“They’ll stop looking if we embarrass them enough.”

“I don’t want to-“

Blake was pressed back into his seat as Phoenix leant over him, kissing him with lips parted and eyes closed, one hand pulling at his hair. There was a muted gasp and the sound of someone trying to pretend they’d only just woken up from down the aisle. Grinning in triumph, Phoenix broke the kiss to find Blake glaring at him, eyes flecked with silver and glowing dimly.

“Why?” the leech asked, eyes fluttering closed and muscles tensing under Phoenix’s touch. “What the hell is...what’s in this for you?”

“Everything.”

Fingers running against his cheek forced Blake to open his eyes and he shivered under the weight of Phoenix’s gaze. The redhead’s lips were parted, his cheeks flushed as if Blake was doing something more than simply submitting. He leant forward and pressed his lips to the corner of Blake’s mouth, soft hair brushing against his neck.

“I’ve never told you that you’re beautiful, have I?”

“Shut up.”

“I mean it.” Lips now ghosting the shell of Blake’s ear, Phoenix spoke in a low whisper, tone serious. “And I love beautiful things, Blake. I love touching them, making them react, making them mine,.”

“I’m not-”

“Until we have to get off the bus, you’ve got no choice, babe.”

Laughing softly as Blake bit his lip in order to silence a torrent of abuse he could see building behind the leech’s eyes, Phoenix ran his free hand up and under Blake’s shirt, determined on making marks that would last for the final hour of the journey at least. Where the first hour had seemed to last hardly more than a minute, the last hour could have lasted an entire evening, if Blake’s increasing lack of restraint was used to judge. Phoenix had carefully kept the leech under his control during the hour, easing the intensity of his attentions whenever it seemed necessary, even stopping altogether and feigning sleep when a few passengers walked past in order to use the bathroom at the back of the bus.

By the time the bus rolled into the sleeping city, Blake had lost the ability to use his voice and was having to concentrate in order to breathe. He didn’t notice as the bus began to empty, the girls who had been watching earlier turning to stare as soon as the lights turned on. Phoenix smiled politely at them while using one hand to make Blake presentable under the cover of his jacket. Once the other passengers had disembarked, they stumbled down the aisle and almost fell down the steps, earning a disproving glance from the driver who was probably used to such scenes and sick of them.

“This way.”

Phoenix grabbed Blake’s hand and pulled him through the bright bus station, glad they had only brought the one bag and didn’t need to wait to claim luggage. The apathetic eyes of those catching early morning rides watched them go. It didn’t take him long to find an empty alleyway nestling between two derelict red-brick buildings, their walls tall enough to block the moon from sight and plunge them back into comforting darkness.

Pushed up against a crumbling wall, Blake needed no encouragement to rediscover his vocal chords. Intoxicated by the noise he had been denied on the bus, Phoenix encouraged him anyway, murmuring against the leech’s skin. Fingers sliding against Blake’s skin, he watched the other’s expression with enraptured eyes and wondered why he had ever even considered flirting with anyone else when he had this gorgeous creature all to himself. As Blake reached his climax with a cry that echoed in the enclosed space, Phoenix touched the leech’s face tenderly and held his breath until the moment was over.

As Blake twisted away to lean against the opposite wall, trying to catch his breath, Phoenix realised that the leech had not once made a move towards biting him, even when his lips had been marking the flesh of Phoenix’s neck an angry red. That had never happened before. Phoenix wondered why. It could have been because of this particular situation but for the first time, the incubus hadn’t sensed even a hint of hunger from the other youth.

“Fucking journey,” Blake said, voice shaking a little. He turned and grabbed his jacket from where he had dropped it and pulling it on. “I knew this was a bad idea.”

“Went quickly though, didn’t it?”

Blake blinked. “Way to kick my ego when it’s down, you complete and utter bastard.”

“I meant the journey,” Phoenix grinned, leading the way back to the street. “And you know I did. Hungry?”

“Lay a finger on me and I’ll break your fuckin’ arm.”

“Pizza sound good?”

“I mean it.”

“Pizza it is.”

-x-

Blake fell off the creaky mattress and landed with a thump on the floor. The impact only managed to silence him for a moment and he was soon curled up double and helpless with laughter.

Lying back on the bed, Phoenix was reaching the level of hilarity where a person’s memory gives up under the strain and he could no longer remember what had started them laughing or why it was so funny. His ribs and face ached from whatever it was and part of him hoped he never remembered in case his lungs exploded from the experience.

“Fucking inflatable dinosaur,” Blake managed in between giggles and rolled onto his back, crushing an empty pizza box. “Only you, Phoe, Jesus.”
“Shut it,” Phoenix laughed, reaching out blindly for a drink on the bedside table. After flapping his hand around uselessly for a while he remembered that they hadn’t had enough money to buy any alcohol and so he had no excuse for being so childish.

“Why aren’t we drunk?” he asked, once Blake seemed capable of speaking properly.

“Because we spent all our money coming to this scummy city. Why are we even here?”

“Change of scenery and all that jazz.”

“But we haven’t left this room since we got here.”

“We could go out. Rave it up and such.”

“You’re too well-spoken to ‘rave it up’, pretty boy. Anyway, the sun’s gonna come up in half an hour. Unless you want a bonfire as a dancing partner, we better stay here.”

“Point. The curtains here are thick enough, right?”

“Yep.”

They lapsed into companionable silence, both smiling and staring into the middle distance. The room was far from quiet, the same traffic from a different city roaring past their ground floor window and making the cheap furniture rattle and shake. Phoenix had booked the cheapest hostel he could find, not just because they were low on funds as it was but because there was always the possibility they would wreck the room within five minutes of arriving. Despite his expectations, it looked much the same as when they had arrived except for the bag in one corner of the room and the pizza box Blake was flattening on the floor.

“This is weird,” Blake said suddenly, sitting up with tousled hair and eyes shining with amusement that hadn’t completely faded. “It’s a Friday night, right?”

“Saturday morning.”

“Yeah, half-four in the morning which means it might as well be Friday night.”

“Why does it matter?”

“Because I haven’t hit you yet. And I don’t want to.”

“Wow, thanks, Blake. I feel so special.”

“I always hit you on Fridays. Which is your fault ‘cause you come and piss me off at work but still.”

“Maybe it’s because we’re not at home,” Phoenix suggested. “Anyway, it’s not healthy for us to be fighting all the time.”

“Guess not.”

Silence. They avoided looking at one another until Phoenix couldn’t take it anymore and turned to the leech.

“Hey Blake, why did we start-“

“Bed.”

The bed creaked loudly as Blake hopped back up beside Phoenix and switched the lamp off, plunging the room into darkness. Phoenix was a little comforted as he felt an arm drape across his chest and hair brushing against his shoulder but his smile continued to fade. He hadn’t thought about it before but he couldn’t remember when they had started hurting each other on Friday nights, as if it was some twisted foreplay routine that was necessary to their having a good night. He would always laugh it off and cover the bruises but it was starting to feel wrong. Blake had never been one for words but surely if he was angry about something the way to sort it out was to talk - or shout - it through, not by letting his frustration out physically and burying it in the resulting chaos.

Which wasn’t fair. Phoenix was to blame just as much as Blake and he knew it. The leech had been happy spending their evenings on the sofa before wandering into the bedroom whenever it felt right. Phoenix was the one building the foundations of their arrangement on violence and anger. Because it was more exciting that way, wasn’t it? He was trying his hardest but even the most aggressive nights with Blake were tame compared to how he had spent his evenings in previous years. He’d been forced to leave home for having tastes too extreme for a respectable family. It was starting to look like someone as volatile as Blake was still not enough to satisfy him.

“Go to sleep, you moron. You’re giving me a headache.”

Phoenix snapped out of his reflections. He spoke without thinking.

“Am I good enough for you?”

“What bullshit are you asking now?”

“I mean, is this working for you? This...whatever it is. I satisfy you, right?”

“Don’t use creepy words like that.”

“But I do?”

“Of course. Do you think I’d still be hanging around you if I was starving to death?”

“I guess not.”

“Even if you haven’t helped tonight at all,” Blake added reproachfully. Sensing Phoenix was about to make an offer, the leech sighed and hurried to continue speaking. “It’s no big deal. You’ll be around tomorrow so I can wait. Can’t spend the whole day taking, can I?”

The hint of mortification in Blake’s voice let Phoenix know that he was thinking about the journey earlier. His lips twitched into a weak smile and he ran a hand through Blake’s hair.

“G’night, Phoe.”

“Night.”

Phoenix lay awake until the sun had fully risen, listening to Blake’s steady breathing. Of course, he’d said. The incubus slid out from Blake’s hold and slept on the other side of the bed. That night, like every night, his dreams were filled with unfulfilled fantasies and a vague sense of longing for something different. He wouldn’t start feeling guilty until he had woken up to see the leech sleeping beside him with an unguarded, satisfied expression.

-x-

Saturday passed too quickly. Having decided to try out Blake’s sleeping pattern for the weekend, Phoenix awoke just before the leech at eight in the evening. They managed to not leave their room, instead locking the door firmly and turning on the tiny television to try and mask the sounds that were bound to carry to their luckless neighbours.

For the first time, Blake actually felt like the youth he knew himself to be, living a life of excess and passion, a chaos of stupid, half-considered words and actions that felt good until he started thinking about it. He was sharply aware that this sort of behaviour was normal for Phoenix and wondered how he could ever explain that although the calm nights in with the television on weren’t exactly normal for him either, his life before had run on violence and competition with little time for the sort of emotions that were intent on breaking his brain.

After the second incident, Blake was starting to think he actually wouldn’t be able to consume any more blood even if he wanted to and considering spending the last of his money on some hard-earned vodka when Phoenix gave him a look. It was a calculated look, hungry and imaginative. Blake should have spoken, at that moment. He’d never been a good judge of emotions but he could tell that things were going to get complicated and that he really didn’t want to have to deal with them while in some strange city in which he wouldn’t know where to run.

He said nothing. For one night, he decided to join Phoenix in the unspoken fantasy that things were simple. They were just ordinary guys, albeit ones with eccentric tastes and a penchant for pain that few people were willing to accept. They weren’t a couple but two friends who just wanted to have a good time in any way they could. They’d go back to London and slip back into the cycle that seemed to come naturally and never have to talk about this weekend again.
The idea that he should vocalise this decision never crossed his mind. Instead, he let Phoenix kiss his already swollen lips and let the redhead lead the way.

Take me, Phoenix had said. Just this once. I trust you. Blake understood exactly what the incubus was doing and knew he should have been offended on some level, knowing that his normal behaviour wasn’t enough to sate Phoenix’s needs. But it was hard to feel offended when confident hands urged him on and the world melted into nothing but heat and pressure and the rich blackness of closed eyes.

Once turned into twice and once Blake had managed to stagger to the shower in the early hours of the morning twice turned into three times. It shouldn’t have felt as strange as it did and Blake cursed Phoenix for training him otherwise. Phoenix collapsed back on the bed as the sun starting staining the sky red, a washed out colour compared to the blood that was still seeping from numerous bite marks, despite Blake’s best efforts to patch them up.

“Fucking hell. I’m sorry.”

Blake’s voice was quiet and a little hoarse as he stood beside the bed and surveyed the damage. Phoenix’s body was a mess and would have shocked Blake even if he hadn’t been the one who had inflicted the wounds. There were three raw bites now, two on his left arm and one on the back of his right shoulder, at the curve of his neck. His stomach and chest were covered in thin scratches and his knees were slightly bruised from slipping and falling against the bathroom wall. Blake knew that he couldn’t see everything, too. He’d watched Phoenix walking back from the bathroom with a horrified expression.

“Not your fault,” the redhead mumbled, eyes shut and arms crossed behind him as a makeshift pillow, the actual pillow lying on the other side of the room.

“Bullshit.” Blake sat heavily on the edge of the bed and tried to ignore the way Phoenix winced. “I guess I forget that you won’t be good as new by tomorrow. Will you be okay at work?”

Phoenix waved a hand in dismissal. “No problemo. I have enough ribbons and high collared shirts to cover this up. The worst they can do is dock my pay.”

“Which would suck since we have no money right now.”

“If you can go a week without breaking anything we’ll be fine,” Phoenix said with a smile. “Stop worrying about it. It’s not like I was a virgin.”

“Did you have to say that?”

“Of course.”

“Idiot.”

Phoenix turned with a grin to check the leech wasn’t properly angry and his breath caught in his throat. Other than a few marks on his neck, Blake’s skin was unblemished and pale as ever. Following his line of sight, Blake ran a hand along his arm and sighed.

“You don’t have to say it. It’s creepy, right?”

“A little.”

“With you in a state like that, I kinda wish I didn’t, heal so damn fast.”

“Does it work faster if there’s more blood in your system?”

“Yeah. That’d make sense.”

“How?”

Blake shot Phoenix a sidelong glance filled with suspicion.

“Why’re you so interested all of a sudden?”

“I’ve always been interested. You just never offer information. So, how does that make sense?”

Blake watched him for a long moment before sighing and leaning back on the bed.

“I guess I owe you one. It makes sense because I once went three weeks without going near anyone and when I fell over and smashed my elbow open on the sidewalk it took another week to heal. That and...”

“And?” Phoenix encouraged, watching Blake speak with interest. When talking about things like this, the leech would stare at the floor and his expression would darken as if he was teetering on the edge of a mental cliff above dark waters.

“And years ago, back in New York, I healed so quickly I barely even noticed I’d been hurt. Some arrogant little fucker took a crowbar to my arm and I only realised it was broken when I went to hit him and saw the bone sticking out. Anyway, he-“

“Jesus Christ Blake, don’t say that so casually. What the hell were you doing?”

“Long story,” Blake muttered before shrugging. “Anyway, the point it that by the time I was done with him and starting on the next dude, my arm was good as new. I only remembered it had been broken when Aston told me later. I guess I-”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Phoenix sat up with difficulty. “Could you explain this please? The next one? And who’s Aston?”

“The point of this story,” Blake continued, ignoring Phoenix. “Is that at the time I was constantly out of my fucking head on leech-blood. I don’t heal anywhere near that fast now and...well, since meeting you it’s been quicker than when I was using ordinary people. Although you’re a half-breed so only I would notice the difference.”

There was a long silence during which Blake could feel Phoenix staring at him as if trying to force an answer from him through obstinacy. Refusing to give in, Blake stood and crossed to the light switch. Red dawn light crept in from under the heavy curtains and Blake was careful to stay on the other side of the bed. He was also careful to not touch Phoenix for fear of hurting him.

“Blake.”

“I don’t wanna talk about it, okay? I gave you your fucking answer now let it go.”

“But why? It sounds like...well, if I’m honest it sounds fucking awful, babe. I could help, maybe.”

“You couldn’t.”

“You won’t know until you-“

“I know, okay? It’s worse than whatever little story you’ve already told yourself. Talking about it will do fuck all except make me remember shit I can pretend I’ve forgotten. Don’t make me remember, Phoe.”

“But-“

“You don’t want to know.”

“I do.”

Blake sighed and reached out with one hesitant hand. When Phoenix felt it brush against his shoulder, he reached up and laced his fingers with Blake’s, squeezing them gently.

“I want to know,” he murmured.

Blake shook his head. “You said you trusted me earlier. Was that true?”

“Of course it was.”

“Then trust me. You don’t want to know.”

-x-

If Saturday had passed quickly, Sunday was over in the blink of an eye. The bus back left at eleven at night which meant the little time they had left in the city needed to be spent making routine conversation that skirted the conversation of the night before. Much to Blake’s chagrin, they had spent the last of their money on the pizza and had to resort to drinking tap water. No matter how many times Phoenix insisted water didn’t taste of anything, the leech could feel it clinging to his teeth.

“Tastes like fucking metal,” Blake muttered, leading the way through the bus station. “I’m gonna feel sick all the way back to London.”

“And how would you know what it feels like to fuck metal?” Phoenix remarked with a grin.

“Shut the hell up. Do we have enough change to buy a coffee or something?”

“Blake, we have two coppers and one five pence piece. It’s just water.”

“It’s disgusting, is what it is.”

“If you’re going to whine all the way back, you can sit next to someone else.”

“After last time? Please let me sit next to someone else.”

They reached the lane their bus would be leaving from to find a small group of people already milling around. Although the group consisted mostly of balding businessmen in crinkled suits, there was a group of four students sitting patiently near the doors. As Blake led him over to some seats opposite, Phoenix couldn’t stop himself from winking at the youths.

“I think you have a problem,” Blake muttered, flicking his head towards the girls that were now giggling together and casting glances at the redhead from under their lashes.

“What do you mean?”

“Blondes.” Blake spat the word out as if it burned, no longer bothered about the tap water taste on his tongue. “Always the fucking blondes. Just like the dude in The Pit.”

“This again?” Phoenix asked, eyes wide with incredulity. “That was over a week ago. Why did he make you so angry?”

“Because he’s-“

“Because he’s good looking?” Phoenix snapped, usually smooth voice sharp in the quiet air. “Because I flirted with him? Is that it?”

“No, it’s ‘cause-“

“I asked you, Blake. I gave you an offer and you turned me down.”

“I know, but-“

“You can’t expect me to ignore-“

“I never said that, it’s-“

“I haven’t gone near anyone else all weekend, have I? Why the hell do you think I wanted us to come here?

“’cause you’re depraved.”

Phoenix stood up, eyes narrowed. It dawned on Blake that he had never seen the redhead quite so angry but the rage pulsing through his own mind refused to let him back down.

“You just don’t get it, do you Blake? If I can’t make you understand even when I try this hard I guess I should just give up, right? So forget all about the blonde guy.”

“I can’t, Phoe, and if you would just listen for two goddamn seconds you would know why.”

Silence, and it wasn’t just from them. The other waiting commuters had fallen quiet, their conversations interrupted by the shouting. Raising his hands in defeat, Blake stepped towards the redhead, wondering when he had risen to his feet, and lowered his voice.

“I can’t forget about him because he could be dangerous.”

“Oh really?”

“He’s not human.”

Blake’s voice was barely above a whisper and if the leech hadn’t looked so embarrassed about uttering something so melodramatic, Phoenix would have thought he had misheard.

“What do you mean?”

Blake’s reply was obscured by the bus engine roaring to life and before Phoenix could ask him to repeat himself, the leech was already heading towards the vehicle. Hitching his bag onto his shoulder with a sigh, the redhead resigned himself to having to wait for an answer. It was hard enough to get Blake to talk in private. There was no way he would elaborate during the journey.

They both pretended to be asleep all the way back to London.