(The little Vampire) Tony X Rudolph 'Slice Of Life'

Chapter 3: The first and last autumm sunrise🍁

Rudolph takes Tony to his favorite spot and realizes Tony has a fear of heights. Who knew?

Autumn is Rudolph's favorite season despite the ever looming promise of winter.

Clouds are frequent and the nights are longer; trees change color, plants start to die, and the graveyards are blissfully quiet. The cold is the only downfall, vampires already run cold. But it's the first Autumn day, the clouds that cover the sky are dark and heavy with rain, and Rudolph knows the rain is a risk, but he's willing to take the chance to show Tony his favorite place.

Rudolph nods to himself as he tries to fold his arms in resolution; instead, hitting his elbow on the side of the coffin and wincing at the loud noise. When Tony doesn't stir, Rudolph settles and tries to get some sleep. It comes in bursts:

Some dreams are of Tony flying with him, pressed close in the cool air, others are nightmares of Tony leaving and never returning, or seeing him as a monster. But most of the time awake and dreamless is spent thinking about Tony himself. About his sky-blue eyes, the freckles on his cheeks, the curve of his lips.

Until it doesn't: Rudolph falls asleep fully to the sound of Tony's heartbeat, his own trying to match it.

"Rudolph!" Tony is loud outside the coffin sometime later, obnoxiously so, banging on it like he's been trying to wake Rudolph for some time. "It's night, the sun is down. Time to get up, no time to waste!"

That is definitely true.

With a stretch and yawn, Rudolph opens the coffin and rubs at his eyes the come to focus on Tony. He can't help but smile.

"Evening, Tony. Sleep well?"

"Nah, not really," Tony rubs the back of his neck in a nervous gesture, "Too excited. It's our last night before I have to go home to America...I didn't want to waste any time." Tony almost looks sheepish, a blush spreading across freckled and suntouched cheeks.

"Well, I won't keep you waiting any longer. Have you completed your mortal morning rituals?"

"What? Like brushing and showering? Yes."

"I don't know what that means, but I was talking about food, Tony. Have you fed yourself?" Rudolph rolls his eyes as Tony slaps his own forehead with his palm in a dramatic gesture.

"It's slang, I guess, for hygiene things. Cleaning our teeth is brushing and a shower is like a bath, bathing? Whatever word you use for that."

Rudolph folds his arms, lifting a brow as Tony hesitantly says what he had for breakfast, immediately hearing the lie in his heartbeat.

Tony fades off when he sees Rudolph's amused stance.

"What?"

"You can't lie to a vampire, Tony," Rudolph circles Tony in the air, fingers tracing his shoulders until he's passed, "I can hear the lie in your heartbeat, it betrays you."

Tony blanches, and Rudolph would have made a comment about 'looking like the dead,' but the truly shocked look in Tony's eyes stops him.

"Tony, Tony! It's fine. What's wrong?" Rudolph's eyes soften in worry.

"Sorry, sorry." Tony blinks a few times and rights himself, "It's just weird that you're like a vampire lie detector. Sometimes we mortals need to keep secrets."