Victorian Vampire Boyfriend |MxM|

Chapter 12

The next week passes peacefully, and for that, Orsino is grateful because his nights are filled with dreams of being chased through the woods by the shadow of Elliot Darling and worse -- the press of the very same shadow against his body as he's pinned into the dirt. He wakes up panting, flushed, and unsure if he'd rather be asleep or awake.

During the days a few more of Alaina and Harley's type arrive at St. George's, but they all seem wary of him and their eyes get flinty at the sound of the word "vampire". He assumes they've been told he's spent time with Darling. And Orsino is left feeling he only has a partial picture of the motivations on either 'side' of this conflict.

Unsure what to really do about that, he spent most of his time in his room sketching on loose paper or downstairs in St. George's and there was always one vampire hunter (as Orsino decided to name them) nearby, he's tried asking them questions, but they clam up quick.  Apparently, he's a security risk. Orsino's starting to wonder if he'll have to prove his loyalty in order to figure out anything about any magic that could get him back home.

He has been on one or two errands, usually with Alaina, but nothing big, just to the local weekend market and the corner store for seemingly innocent-looking supplies. Nothing to clue him in on what kind of trap they have planned for Darling.

Today Orsino's allowed to go on a more interesting excursion though. He tugs on the cap Alaina had given him a few days prior as he steps outside with her. According to her, he'd be embarrassing himself if he went outside without it. Orsino doesn't think one or two more embarrassments matter at this point, but everyone else seems worked up about it so he's pretty much resigned himself to looking like a newsboy.

Alaina is taking him along with her to examine the venue for the masquerade, but Harley isn't joining them. "He's negotiating the use of the ballroom with University administration. As you likely already know, the student union here includes a ballroom that is open to bookings, however, by the time the equinox strikes, it may already be in use by students, as the semester will have begun."

Orsino doesn't remember going to any ballroom events while he was a student, but maybe he was just too busy. Or boring. Probably both, he thought. "I still think this is a lot of drama for the sake of catching one guy."

"Oh darling, have some imagination! We're hunting a vampire, a creature of darkness that has preyed on the people of this town and beyond. There's plenty of drama in that, and it requires all the cunning we have in order to pull the thing off!" says Alaina adjusting her own little hat with a determined flick of a primly gloved wrist.

The leaves haven't started changing yet and there is a distinct autumn scent in the air - fallen leaves, wet soil, crisp breeze, and apple pastries - things that violently throw him into the hopeful nostalgia of the beginning of the school year, and well, it is the beginning, isn't it?

He's seen more people his age wandering around, though they look very different from the students he knows from his own time, they're probably here to study. They sit in the quads on picnic blankets reading books or having a smoke in the shadow of the-- wait. In the shadow of the bell tower across the street, there's another shadow, a silhouette of black, in a top hat, leaning on an umbrella. It turns towards him with a flash of white -- then a pair of friends dash across the street obscuring his view -- and the figure is gone.

Orsino squints. A trick of the light or are students in this time weirder than he thought?

"Orsino, do catch up!" calls Alaina from the steps of the student union.

He shakes his head, still looking back to the tower, and then takes the steps two at a time.

The union building is imposing, with a central tower inscribed in Latin and flanked by stone saints and gargoyles and to either side span broad wings, smattered with ornate windows. Though despite all that this is one building that looks the same as it does in the future. Alaina waits for him at the carved oak double doors.

"You can go in without me, you know," he reminds her because he's kind of sick of being helicoptered over by his fellow adults.

"I'm afraid that's not true," she replies looking scornfully at a stained glass window.

"Look, I've kind of been keeping this to myself, but are you really that worried I'm gonna run off and make sneaky evil plans with Darling?" he asks crossing his arms.

"No, that's not it, though Harley feels differently." She sighs, "I thought you would know. Women aren't allowed into the student union unchaperoned, or perhaps it's never concerned you and you've never had to bother about it."

"Oh right." Ye olden turbo misogyny is a thing. "You saved me from the woods on your own and you hunt vampires and stuff, so you probably don't need a chaperone or at least not to protect you from the unfeminine horrors of patriarchal academia, or whatever."

She eyes him, "I appreciate that you think so. Sadly, not everyone shares your views. So if you would kindly follow me inside?"

He opens the door for her, this conversation reminding him there are things he's supposed to do differently for the sake of gentlemanliness -- and at the very least for the sake of appearances which is Orsino is no stranger to. Make straight people art for the market, make cis people art for the galleries, either be Chicano or be All-American and don't you dare straddle the line in your work. Pretend to be what you're not even though art is supposed to be the place to be unabashedly Other, unabashedly Yourself.

At one point Orsino considered framing his line of B's and C's on his art assignments. Not too low a grade that his professors could be accused of hate, but never perfect, never good enough.

He'd been expecting a B- on the work he was going to pick up when he walked through the art building door and traveled into the past. Now he'll never know for sure.

He walks through the door of another university building, trailing behind Alaina who marches ahead for the ballroom while he examines the interior, which unlike outside does look different. More wood-paneling and arches and cozy fireplaces than in the future where everything is wide and open, cool modern metal.

He peers out one of the windows and thinks he catches a glimpse of a broad, stalking movement under one of the hunched trees clawing its branches over the union's steps. He lengthens his stride to catch up with Alaina.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*"*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a/n: Hey there, just wanted to let everyone know that I'm going to try to do at least one update per week for VVBf in this spooky, spooky month of October. This might result in some nonstandard chapters, but hopefully, this will result in me writing more overall and I can always go back and edit chapters together as necessary later.

Thanks for reading and Happy Fall!