WitchBite

The Date

It was curious, as I watched Aramis do the same. He felt the sandwich between his fingers first, like he was working through every texture with touch, studying it thoroughly with his eyes like he was looking for the slightest hint of foul play. I paused eating my own food, as I watched him take a nervous gulp before bringing the sandwich up to his mouth.

His tongue slipped over his bottom lip before he took one, miniscule bite, chipping a piece off with his front teeth and pulling it back into his mouth.

His face went gaunt for a brief moment as he made almost fearful, eye contact with me. His eyes wide as his jaw moved to chew the sandwich in his mouth.

I was about to interject when I watched him swallow, albeit harshly.

"Are you okay? That looked like a struggle and a half. I've never seen a face go through so many emotions while eating a sandwich" I chuckled

"Yup! Tasty! Best sandwich ever" He said smiling, only earning an even more confused look on my face when there was the slightest hint of grey staining to his previously, sparkling white teeth.

"Um... Aramis? Your teeth?" I asked, pointing to my own, like they could be the same. He rubbed a finger against his teeth, pulling it out to look before wiping it on his jeans. He quickly reached over to grab a plastic cup and one of the bottles of drink. It smelt like lemonade as it hissed when he unscrewed the top, poured it, and took a big gulp. Making sure to swirl it around his teeth before swallowing, and smiling once more. Revealing them to be white once again, staring at me nervously.

"You can't eat food can you?"

"Not really..." He sighed defeatedly tossing his sandwich to the side. I couldn't help but feel a certain well of pity, spring up in my chest. But I dare not move to comfort him, despite wanting to. "For the briefest moment I can taste it though! It was good from what I got!" He said cheerily, perking up once he saw the unmistakable look of pity on my face.

"Why? How? Sorry... I don't mean to pry. Tell me to shut up if you want, that's totally okay for you to do, because I can be nosey sometimes. Too nosey for my own good." I began, hoping my dorkish rant would be enough to cheer him up a bit more, while also unashamedly looking to satisfy my own curiosity.

"Curse." He said meekly "Long, long time ago. Like a ridiculous amount of time. We were cursed so that pretty much anything that isn't a lover of the heart turns to ash in our mouths. S'okay though. There are other things than food, even if it does look so damn tasty"

"Thank you" I replied, causing him to look up. Curiously being pulled from his solemn look. "For sharing that with me" I scooched closer, hoping my proximity would comfort him somewhat. He didn't seem that beat up over it, I should imagine he'd had a lifetime to get over it. Apart of me was curious as to how old he actually was. Was this curse something that he was literally around to be afflicted with, or was it something that's just lingered with Vampirism as a whole? I knew very little of Vampires other than the odd rumour and their penchant for blood and other, otherworldly abilities.

But in that moment all my questions seemed to get pulled into an electric void by the very closeness that we were with each other. It felt like so much distance, these few inches, but also like everything else was fading out around us. The gentle trickle of the stream at my back, a white noise that began to mute as my eyes connected with the infinite depth of his own. The gentle caress of a soft breeze that had slithered through the trees, did nothing but prickle at the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck, making me increasingly aware of the heat of my own body.

My eyes fell to his lips daringly, before darting back to his eyes. I shuffled closer, gingerly closing the gap with an explosive sensitivity as he remained still. Like any movement too sudden or too quick would cause him to scamper off like some frightened animal.