Dog Fights

Chapter 12; Territory

Leon tilts his head into Ezra's hand as it cups his jaw. "You didn't hurt me," he says quietly, as if he spoke any louder it would startle the other male into depression.

Ezra's lip quivers, turning his head down before the moment of weakness can be seen in his eyes.

"I asked you to," Leon explains, reaching back and drawing the heavy comforter over Ezra's shoulders as he notices the sun leaking through the curtains. He pulls it over his head, giving him a hood to look out from under.

Ezra looks up, gripping the blanket on his lap to ground himself. Leon smiles.

"Such a pitiful little creature," he chuckles, brushing tangled black hair from the vampire's eyes. His glasses had been lost sometime the night before. "What am I ever going to do with such a vampire?"

Ezra hesitates but cracks a small smile, the longest of his fangs peaking down from under his top lip. "I guess you're stuck with me now," Ezra says, reaching up and running his thumb over the healing wound on Leon's neck.

Leon reaches forward, gripping either of Ezra's shoulders and pulling him forward. The vampire rolls with the pull instead of easily staying in place against the humans strength, landing on the other's chest with the comforter on top of both of them.

"The hell are you doing?" Ezra grunts, shifting to unpin his arms from between them. They were now both laying back in bed, the dark blanket shielding the vampire from the morning light.

"Going back to sleep," Leon says, fixing their tangled legs to get comfortable. Ezra watches as he yawns, straining the muscles in his neck and making the bruises shift colors for a brief moment. "I'm never up this early, and you can't be in the sun anyway."

"I don't sleep easy," Ezra murmurs, slowly laying his head on the human's chest. A steady heartbeat startles his ear back up, silent as Leon lets his eyes drift closed.

"I bet I could coax you," he murmurs quietly, running his hand into Ezra's messy hair. He gets past a few tangles, passing through a select few black locks and convincing him to lay his head back down. This time the beating doesn't startle him.

Ezra takes a deep breath, staring at the wall as the same piece of his hair is brushed through with gentle fingers. The heartbeat in his ear slows gradually, thumping so clearly that that alone almost calms both his mind and upsets his stomach.

"Will you try to sleep at least?" Leon asks, peaking his eyes open to look down at Ezra. His eyes hadn't closed yet, giving a slight reddish glow on Leon's shirt in the shadows of the blanket.

"I'll try," Ezra says, placing his hands on either of Leon's sides. His skin is warm even through the fabric of clothes, bringing a sense of comfort to his rough and cold fingers. "I'll try."

-:*:-

Ezra hadn't fallen back asleep, only laid in silence and listened between Leon's heartbeat and his parents moving around downstairs.

Somewhere in the two hours, as he could see by the guest room alarm clock, he had tucked his head under the humans chin and snuck his hands under the bottom hem of his shirt. His calloused fingers rest at the bottom of his ribs, making the human twitch in his sleep before his body accepts the cold and heavy hands.