A few days went by, all of them filled with meaningless office work while they let Sean inform Unbound of everything that had transpired in Russia. The lack of things to do left Don with enough time to be nervous about everything that might be related to his upcoming date. Did Sean know he'd meant it in a romantic way? If so, did he only agree so their professional relationship didn't suffer in the process? What would Sean even like to do? Did he even eat human food? Would he have to bring blood for him!?
Finally, it was Friday night, and Don nervously waited at the office. Yes, he was still living there. He no longer minded, however, realizing this just made it so he no longer had to walk to work.
Although he'd been the one to ask Sean out, the latter was the one who had decided where they'd go. This left Don unprepared in terms of clothing, as he didn't know whether the place would be casual or fancy. As a result, he panicked, and put on the ugliest pink sweater he had.
The door of the building opened, and Sean stepped in. Thankfully, he wore casual clothes. They were baggy, just like the last time, and Don was once again surprised by the choice.
"Hi," he said.
Sean didn't look as stiff as he'd expected him to. "Hey. You ready?"
Nodding, Don walked toward the door, and the two got outside, then got in the car.
"So, where are we going?"
"You asked for dinner, right? I cooked."
That was a surprise. He fully expected Sean to know how to, as he was just that type, but that seemed to confirm he ate human food. Why, then, had Don not found any human food back when they were about to fight Dimitri and John?
"Couldn't we have just gone after work?" asked Don.
Sean smiled. "This seemed more romantic."
Don's mind performed all sorts of acrobatic moves and twists. Sean did think of it as a romantic thing, after all!
They drove in silence, which did nothing to ease the awkwardness.
Finally, they reached their destination. The atmosphere inside the house was nothing like romance movies liked to show. There was no dim light or candles. The table wasn't decorated at all. It was the Sean of houses.
"Have a seat. I'll bring the food," Sean instructed, and Don hopped to it as though it were a work order. Sitting there, he thought about the topics they might talk about. What was Sean like? Strict and clean. How would he talk about those!?
Sean returned with a plate of spaghetti and meatballs. Don, in a weak moment of immaturity, wondered whether those would be the only balls he'd encounter that night.
"You've mentioned liking this before, right?"
"Uh, yeah," Don replied, sitting up straight. "Just one plate?"
Sean looked like he was trying not to frown. "I don't eat."
"We both know that's not true," he heard Erin add, but ignored her. This became harder when she appeared behind Don, leaning on his chair. "Some nice researched, with a side of scientist. Am I right?"
"I also prepared a movie we can watch after," he said, ignoring the illusion completely. He'd hoped she might disappear after a few days, but no such luck. Erin was there to stay, it seemed. At least until he could find a way to get rid of her.
"You okay?" asked Don as he swirled some spaghetti around his fork. "You look worried. It's my sweater, isn't it?"
Sean let a chuckle escape. "No, Don. It's not your sweater."
"Are you worried about your cooking?" Don stuffed the spaghetti in his mouth, with a bit of one still peaking out. "Because it's pretty good."
Sean's expression turned dead serious. "Of course it's good. I cooked it."
"O-Oh."
"You can stop being nervous. I'm not your boss right now." Erin frowned at that, then faded away. "How've you been handling your vapor's evolution?"
Don sighed. "I'm kinda too scared to use it now. I don't even use it the old way."
"Erin told you about those pills before we turned on each other. You can probably rely on them."
"I don't like her." Don gripped the fork hard. "She's worse than Omen, as far as I'm concerned. Do we really not know where she is?"
Sean didn't answer right away, fearing he might give away his condition. He knew he should trust the others with it, but his pride didn't let him show weakness. At some point, the insistence on espers being equal to people led him to hold himself in high regard. Tried not to drown, and wound up in the captain's cabin. He suspected that hubris might be one of the reasons espers were often rejected, and knew he himself would have to work on it.
This was the ideal moment for it.
"I have something I need to get off my chest," he said to Don. "I need you to listen until I'm finished."
Silent as a cat, Don nodded, concern evident on his face.
Taking a deep breath, Sean started.
"My vapor is among the stronger ones. It makes me strong, fast and resilient. In turn, it comes with a massive drawback. Every time I get injured, my hunger for blood grows. The more I feed, the more I crave. At the ERF, during my fight with Erin, she got a really good hit on me. It destroyed my brain completely, and my body started acting in instinct. I drained her dry, and then the hunger led me toward the other scientists there. I tried to reign myself in, and fed only from the ones I had determined were lying. I let a few of them get away, but then gave in and started feeding indiscriminately. By the time I regrouped with you, it took all my willpower not to attack you guys as well. I've been like that ever since, and that's not the worst of it. The damage did to my brain - it didn't fully disappear. I can see her. I hear her, too, urging me to give in to my hunger. I-I'm not sure what to do, Don."
The few minutes after the confession were filled with heavy silence. Don set the fork down, no longer interested in the spaghetti at all. He wasn't sure what to do. Sean had never exposed a weakness about himself before. What was he supposed to say?
"When was the last time you saw her?"
Sean said nothing, and just looked at something behind Don.
"That's not normal, Sean."
"I know."
"You should've said something before."
"I know."
"Why didn't you?"
Sean shuddered. "I don't know."
"We're leaving." Don stood up, taking out his phone. "I can't believe you went on a date with something like this going on. The idiot role's already been filled by Dean and Jordan, with myself giving them assistance every now and then. We don't need you to be consumed by jackassery, too."
Sean nodded, disappointed. Both in himself and the night. Though he knew he'd never show it, he'd been looking forward to it. Don was different than the others. He wasn't sure why, but something about him attracted him like a moth to a candle. He then went and fucked it up.
"You didn't fuck it up," Don said, surprising him. "That's what you're thinking, right? You're easier to read than you think. We can pick this up after you're better. I'm calling Lan to check on your mind. Does she know where you live?"
Sean nodded, eyes wide with bewilderment. He didn't see this coming. He was always the one making mature decisions. When had Don grown so much?
It nearly made his heart beat.
"Get your ass to the boss's house. It's urgent. No, you can't shave your legs first." Don hung up, then got closer. "You can tell us these things, you idiot. That's what we're here for. Aren't you the one who told me that?"
"Guess the advice was easier to give than follow."
"You still worried about where we stand?"
Sean smiled weakly. "Can you blame me?"
"Will this change your mind?"
Don surprised them both by leaning in and kissing Sean. Despite their ages, the clumsiness came from Sean. He tried to reciprocate, but had no idea what he was doing. It wasn't that he lacked the experience; He just hadn't done anything of the sort in a while. Not since he and Erin were kids.
"So, who's better?" the woman herself asked, and when Sean opened his eyes, he saw that it was her he was kissing, not Don. He pushed her away roughly, and the next thing he saw was Don flying across the room and hitting the wall.
"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." He got up and tried to go help, but was too scared to get closer. "Are you alright?"
Don slid down to the floor, back against the wall. "Yeah. Just lots of pain and internal bleeding. Possibly spinal damage. Just give me a bandaid."
"I could've hurt you," Sean said, more to himself than Don. "Had I hit harder, you could've broken your neck or skull."
"Wouldn't that be a shame?" Erin teased, whispering in his ear from behind. "Don't you just wonder what blood that can change its properties tastes like? Go on; Rip him open. Feast to your heart's content."
"SHUT UP!" Sean whirled around, and threw his chair toward the hallucination. Naturally, it went right through Erin, making her disappear, then hit the wall and shattered. "Shut up already!" He started taking deep breaths to calm down, but it wasn't working. He heard Don take a step closer. "Stay right there! I don't want to hurt you!"
"You don't, dear?" replied Erin. "So your feud was with that chair, and not me?"
Sean turned around to face her again. "Will you shut up!?" He came face to face with Don, who was clearly horrified by what was happening.
"It's that bad?"
Sean put his head between his hands. "Every day. She just keeps talking. She tried to get me to kill you just now. I know they're just words, but they're getting louder and louder. Don't come close; It's not safe."
Don took a step forward.
"Don't!"
"You won't hurt me. Calm down."
"I already did hurt you! This isn't a fucking game. I don't need comfort now; I need to get better."
The bit of logic he'd managed to get out was enough for Don to stop. "Lan will be here in a minute. Just ignore her until then."
Sean sat down on the ground, then closed his eyes.
"You'll be fine, Sean."
Erin had a different opinion. "You might think that's my influence, but it's really just your hunger that makes you hurt so much. You'd feel much better if you fed a little."
"Deep breaths, Sean. We can get through this."
"This isn't gonna just go away naturally. You were clearly born to be above them. They're just cattle for you. Feast as much as you'd like."
Don and Erin took their turns giving him advice. They kept walking until Sean could no longer tell who said what.
"You're not going to hurt me."
"You don't have to feed on somebody you know. You can always go with a stranger instead. If that's too much for you, you can always go with a criminal. They deserve what they get."
"Lan is almost here. I'm sure."
"Don't you want the pain to stop?"
"She's gonna make it better."
"I know how you can make it better."
"She'll make the voice go away."
"I know how to silence your hunger."
Finally, after being pushed too far, in fear that he would snap and do something he'd later regret, Sean put his hands on his own neck, then broke it. In that instant, the pain overcame everything else. Erin vanished from the room, and all he could see was Don's worried expression.
Someone rang the doorbell - it must've been Lan - and Don hurriedly opened the door. The girl started to ask what was wrong, then saw her boss on the ground. Don pointed to him, and she quickly got to work, putting her hand on Sean's head.
The more his neck repaired itself, the more clear his thoughts got.
"Can you hear her heartbeat?" asked Erin, kneeling on the other side of him. He could. It beat like a loud drum. Thump. Thump. Thump. He could hear every single beat, and felt his mouth watering. "Just one little bite, Sean, and it all goes away." He started getting closer to her, feeling his fangs grow sharper. He could no longer even hear Erin; The heartbeat had become too loud.
Once everything grew silent, Sean opened his mouth and bit into Lan's neck.