Alpha to Omega-mxm

Chapter 7

The next two weeks flew by far too quickly... mainly because he was either asleep or eating the majority of the time. Both elder vampires were absent during that time as well, allowing him to truly begin recovering without having to worry about that stubborn peacock, Kova, and the frustrating Vrasje he considered quite comparative to a porcupine. 

Stretching beneath the thick covers Taru had tucked him in with, Marquise gave a wide yawn and content growl before turning and nuzzling into his soft pillow. 

He had somehow gained a bit of weight during the previous two weeks and actually felt well enough to finally try getting up on his own. 

Of course, he knew that Taru would likely tell him that he wasn't ready to be moving about just yet, but perhaps the man wasn't around right th— A soft pat to his head immediately told him otherwise. 

"Good morning, Marquise," Taru said cheerfully, his excited voice making Marquise finally blink open his eye. 

That's when he realized something and lifted one hand to press against the other side of his face. 

"Is it okay? I couldn't save a lot of your skin or tissue around where your right eye used to be, so I put you under a bit of anesthesia while you were already resting and did some grafting. There shouldn't even be very noticeable scars once it heals up," Taru said a bit nervously, as if he might be upset that he continuously tries to help him get better. 

"Maybe we can even try a prosthetic eye if you get tired of patches."

Marquise glanced at him for a moment before refocusing his attention on where his right hand was skimming along surprisingly-smooth skin. Taru had managed to keep his eyelid and the general shape of the area, but he could tell where the grafts had also been stitched in closer to the bridge of his nose all the way up toward his forehead. 

Once he was done checking on the area, he tilted his head on the pillow and smiled. 

"Thank you, master Taru." 

The man's nervous expression immediately morphed into a beaming smile as he moved forward to sit on the edge of the bed, then reached up to rub Marquise's hair like he were petting a dog. 

"I'm glad that you like it. I tried to save as much as I could, but while most of your other injuries are slowly healing, that area just wasn't showing enough improvement and the rot was starting to cross the bridge of your nose toward your left eye. I was really worried that you might end up losing it, too, if I didn't do something soon," he said, his voice quieting gradually as he moved his hand down from Marquise's hair until it came to a rest just to the side of his left eye. 

"I might need to do one or two more small surgeries, but I think you should be good if we keep track of the remaining rot there," he said, then grinned. "I don't want you to lose your good looks, after all." 

Unable to help himself, Marquise burst out into a fit laughter, his lips turning up as his voice rose beyond its normal raspy quietness. 

He laughed for a surprisingly-long amount of time. Even to the point where his eye began to water and his stomach started to hurt. It felt good. After so many years being the one who dealt with every issue from bottom to top, as well as poisoning himself to try and help others, and then facing the fallout and consequences of that decision, he had honestly needed a good, real laugh. 

I can't even remember the last time I thought something was funny enough to laugh out loud at. 

"You're a good pup," Taru said as he wrapped his arms around Marquise's neck, having leaned over from where he'd been sitting to complete the action.