Sick Child - MarkoxOC

Part 12: Try a little tenderness

"Sorry," she whispers.

"Why are you sorry this time?"

"I don't know," she laughs. "I should shower. I've got to get ready for work."

He nods and she untangles herself from him and grabs some clothes from the closet while Marko moves to the bed to watch her. She showers, dresses, and creeps into the living room to find Laddie and Ichabod curled up on the sofa. Ichabod purrs softly and Laddie looks like this is the best sleep he's gotten in years. Quietly, Sofie pulls his clean clothes out of the dryer and places them on the coffee table. She pads to the kitchen and rummages through the cupboards - anything to distract herself. She manages to scrounge up some bread for toast, some jam, and a couple of pieces of bacon that she found in the back of the fridge. They smell fine. She's pretty sure she only bought them a few days ago. She quietly cooks, trying to push the incident in the bedroom out of her mind, and places the plate on the dining room table before gently placing her hand on his shoulder. Laddie jumps a little and rubs his eyes.

"There's food on the table for you," she says softly.

He practically leaps off of the couch and onto the dining room chair, stuffing food in his mouth like a feral animal. Sofie hears Marko laugh behind her. She grins at him and pats Laddie on the head.

"Slow down a bit, bud. You don't want to choke."

The boy nods and slows his pace - just a little. Sofie laughs and shakes her head while Marko comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist. The tension between them (if she wanted to call it that) has gone. Marko kisses her cheek and rests his head on Sofie's shoulder to look down at Laddie.

"Once you're done, I'm taking you to my place, kiddo."

"You don't live here?" Laddie says with a mouthful of toast.

"Nope. This is Sofie's house. I live somewhere really cool. I think you're gonna like it."

Yeah, if you like tetanus.

"What did I tell you about thinking too loud?" He breathes, low enough so that only she can hear him, before nipping at her earlobe with a bared fang. It's a rough, punishing bite that sends a small trickle of blood pouring down her earlobe and dripping onto her neck. Sofie hisses softly in pain and glances over her shoulder. Marko's normally sweet demeanour has been quickly replaced by a primal anger bubbling just beneath the surface, eager to punish small transgressions. Sofie removes his arms from around her waist and walks quickly into the bedroom, tears stinging her eyes. She shuts the door, but Marko follows. Sofie turns around, tears spilling down her cheeks.

"Don't do that to me," she hisses angrily.

Marko raises his eyebrows, baffled and oblivious.

"What are you talking about?"

"Biting me like that! So I thought something you don't like. So what?"

He laughs.

"Sofie, it's not a big deal. This is how we -"

She lunges at him, hands balled into small but ferocious fists.

"I don't care how you do things with the boys. You might be my sire - whatever the fuck that means - but that kind of shit isn't going to fly with me. Understand?"

She breathes heavily, glaring at him. Marko tilts his head and leans up against the wall, studying her.

"Who's Kevin?" He asks softly.

"What?"

"Who's Kevin?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"