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“That can get you in trouble one day.” He muttered, not wanting to think about the people that would take advantage of him. So easily too, he’d probably do it with a smile.

So innocent. 

“Would you like to come over my house? We could put your stuff in my fridge for the time being, and I could drive you back home.”

Another thought came to mind.

“You can meet Connie, my cat. She likes people. Not me though.”

“It’s already been a while. I’m sure not even a vampire can go without eating forever. I don’t feel obligated. My parents always taught me to help those in need. It’s become ingrained in me. The feeling of wanting to help is just part of who I am.” He’s smiling again. “No obligations needed.”

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“I feel like you feel obligated to help. I’m not in any danger. Nobody is.”

He didn’t want to pressure anyone into feeling like they needed to help him.

“I always find someone. I’ve lived this long, right? It’s no emergency.“

It takes a moment, but finally, he grins. “I’m willing.” It’s better than letting someone starve to death, right?

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“Ah. No. Hard to find a replacement. Well. I’m picky. They have to be willing and the like.” 

Poor Nathaniel. Getting caught up in all of this. He seems too innocent. Too... human. 

He nods, slowly. “I thought that would be the case. So you have’t eaten since…?” He can’t find the words to say.

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“Hunger.” 

There’s no point in lying. 

“My dear friend and her husband ended up moving. It’s been... Hard.”

It was for the best, in all honesty. Wendell didn’t think he could handle another stake to the chest.

“Distracted? I’d say. What got you so worked up?” He resettles his weight, shifting the bags of groceries over to his other arm.

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Wendell chuckles, ducking his head down a little. He didn’t deserve this concern. It was appreciated, but unnecessary. Then he remembered that it wasn’t all about him. It was much bigger than him.

“I’m honestly just out for a walk. Fresh air and all that. Just got a little... Distracted. I’m fine.”

Most of that was true. He wasn’t lying. 

He blinked again, turning back to the man before him. What was that about…? “I didn’t get anything frozen or anything.” He shrugged. “I’m more worried about you than my groceries, honestly.” Was that too forward? After all, he’s only met this man twice. But it was in his nature to worry about others. He grinned slightly. “At least let me help you get wherever it is you need to go, alright?”

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He saw the fear in the others eyes and it was like a bucket of ice water down his back.

He was so disappointed in himself. He had let himself go far too long for it to be safe. 

He wasn’t a danger to anyone besides himself. But to see Nathaniel here, looking at the passersby with a worried look, it sickened him.

Nothing happened by feeling sorry for oneself, so he made a note in his head to not do this again. Especially not without a donor. 

“Should you be getting home? I don’t think it’s cold enough for groceries to be chilled outside just yet.”

A gentle ‘don’t worry about me’. 

He knew that smile. He’d seen it on his students before. Like a little kid who got caught with their hand in the cookie jar. He finally got over to Wendell, close enough to touch him, and found himself cocking his head slightly to the side. “Are you okay…?” He looked…tense. Like a feral animal stalking its prey, ready for the chase. And maybe…maybe that’s what it was.

He didn’t know what Wendell had been doing since he took a leave from work, and Nate wondered if he’d been eating properly. If he was a threat to these people…He glanced around quickly. It was busy, there were so many innocent people around them. If Wendell lost it… “Do you need to go somewhere quieter? You look sick, man…”

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There was a ringing in his ears. Eyes wide, body small so he could run faster, focusing on the smell. 

No. No. Stop it. 

Luckily, he heard his name, snapping him farther from the episode. 

He inhaled, and turned to where the voice came from, trying to figure out who said it. Nathaniel. But where?

A little more to the left, right? Ah. There he is. It’s busy today. Probably everyone getting ready for the holidays. 

The needy little voice in his head was trying to remind him about the blood, maybe because Nathaniel was the one to help him out the last time he needed it. 

“Funny seeing you here.” Wendell gave the other a small smile. Like he got caught. He was totally caught. Of course it had to be Nathaniel. Thank god it was Nathaniel. 

It had been a while since…the incident, as Nate called it, and he was still trying to wrap his head around the whole thing. Not only were vampires real, but he actually worked with one. He talked and joked with him, watched him survive a stake to the heart. It was mind boggling. But he still returned, somewhat unsurprised to not see the vampire back at school. Part of him wondered if he ever would come back.

He sighed to himself, scratching the back of his neck as he walked along the busy sidewalk, carrying the few groceries he had picked up back to his apartment. Sometimes he thought it was good to be a bachelor. Only one person to feed, after all.

He glanced back up, eyes noting strange behavior. It wasn’t enough for someone very busy to notice, but as an actor, it was nothing for him to pick up on it. And, okay, maybe the person acting strange had a familiar face.

…A very familiar face.

He blinked, dropping his hand from his neck as he hurried over, hardly even taking time to excuse himself as he worked through the throng of people. “Wendell…?”

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He was, for the most part, healed. 

Hands were fully functional, a faint scar on his forehead, and only a few of the stitches remained where the gaping hole was. 

That did nothing for his mood. He needed to take a few weeks off from work, and it was a critical time for students. They were going to get lazy. 

His hunger was a whole different beast to deal with. 

He forced himself to go out, to smell and hear and see the rest of civilization. It was a test of self-control. Wendell knew how long he could go without blood. But he needed to know if he could stretch the time between.

He was to the point of snapping. It wasn’t good. But he couldn’t get desperate. Finding someone else to drink from took time. It’s a shame that he didn’t have much to start with. 

On the street, he smelled it. Or maybe he didn’t. Blood? Sharp notes of copper. 

He probably looked like a wild animal, turning his head this way and that trying to pinpoint the location. 

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“No. Not at the school. Too weak then. Not that much better now. Need to pull it out and use tweezers to get any remains out. I can sew myself shut. Then might need blood. Might need blood first. Going numb. Going cold.” 

“I’m okay.” He gave the other a smile before finishing his water. “Alright how do you need to do….this?” He gestures at the wood, brow furrowing. “Do you need to take that out first? Would it have been better to take it out in the school?”

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He could smell the fear. It’s in his sweat. Made him sick.

“I want you to be okay with it. Nothing bad will happen. I will take care of you, I promise.”

He offered a smile, pushing away the urge to tremble and shake due to how cold he was.

He glances at the other over the rim of his glass, where he’s still drinking. Once he finshes that glass, he talks. “I told you we’d get you all fixed up, right? If that means using my blood, then that’s fine, if that’s what it takes.” Still, he’s slightly afraid. This man could kill him at any second. He didn’t know anything about him beyond that he was a vampire and a teacher. With a deep breath, he reaches for the other glass of water, setting the first one down. Better to risk it than just watch this man die when he could save him, right?

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“Need you to drink all of that.”

He pushed himself up, using the back of the couch to prop him up. 

He needed to think about how to do that. 

First hydrate the human. He’s going to need more water than what he has. Especially since the hot room made him sweat. More water means more blood. 

How to care for human afterwards? He has apples in his fridge. Lemonade. Cookies in the pantry. A place to sleep. 

But before that. What’s he going to do to fix this?

The sharp wood is in just the perfect position that Wendell can look and see everything that was happening. Good. He can remove anything that might cause infection. He can see what he’s doing. 

His one hand was still purple and gross to look at, all bruised up. But the other was just limp at his side.

He can do this.

Deep inhale. Open eyes. Look at Nathaniel.

“Might need some more blood. If you don’t mind.”

“Right. Yeah, of course.” He wanted to smack himself at his own stupidity, but stopped, grabbing one of the cups of water instead, taking large drinks from it. It felt good, he realized, after the heat.

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He smiled. He shouldn’t have, because of course Nathaniel would still be scared, or at least skeptic, about this whole vampire thing.

“The water.”

“Drink…?” He blinked at the other, confused as he took the sewing kit and pulled out what had been requested, setting the rest aside. “You mean drink the water or…?”

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He flopped his hand around underneath the couch and pulled out the small toolkit looking thing.

“You. Drink.” he mumbled against the cloth of the couch. 

He nods, running around to find the bathroom and kitchen, returning with a couple of cups of water, tweezers, and rubbing alcohol. “Do you have a sewing kit?”

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Of course the door was unlocked. He knew he forgot something that morning. Well, at least he lived in a nice neighborhood, the neighbors are friendly and the kids aren’t old enough to cause trouble.

“You... water. A lot.” it was so difficult. It didn’t need to be! It was only a few words! Spit them out!

“Needle, thread, tweezers, rubbing alcohol. Blood.” 

He opens his eyes and tosses himself at the couch, opening his mouth to scream (nothing came out) when he felt the wood push itself out a bit through his back. He landed too hard. Well... It would just be that much harder to rip out.

It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. Everything hurt.

“Connie? That’s a cute name. Connie the cat.”

There they are. He drags the other into the house, happily surprised that the door was left unlocked. “Alright….what do you need?”

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He stopped breathing. He never really felt the need to after a while.

“C-” Focus. One word. Picture the cat. “Connie.”

He felt so cold. After being so close to the boiler for so long, he had grown use to the heat. Or maybe it was because he’s practically a skeleton at this point.

“At least dinner first.” He grins, helping the other out of the school and towards his house. “Don’t worry, we’re going to get you all fixed up, okay?” At least, he hoped so. He’d never seen someone die and now didn’t seem like the time to start. “What’s your cat’s name?”

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“Come live with me,” he chuckled, or at least tried to. It was a pathetic attempt.

“I’ve got a whole house and one cat to share it with. She’s fat. She also tries to kill me. Sleeps on my neck. Suffocates me. Precious thing though. Very well behaved. I know we don’t know each other well enough for me to be asking you to move in with me. I feel like I just skipped out on the whole taking you to dinner and meeting your parents thing. I’m kidding. Sorry.”

His eyes were shut, but he could talk in his sleep and be completely coherent. The trouble was that his words were slowing down. They were slurred, like they were just drooling out of his mouth. 

The problem was, he needed the wooden stake out of his chest, but in order for him to properly take care of himself, he needed blood. And it was useless to give him enough blood to let him remove the wood and stitch up because the blood would already be lost due to the gaping hole in his chest. It would have to be a steady supply. From someone who was prepared to do this. Nathaniel has been incredibly kind, but maybe it was the end of the line for the vampire. 

He felt like he had to chew the words out, force them to make sense.

“Not... good...”

He pulled the other’s arm over his shoulder, hoping like hell no one outside would decide to come out and try to help. “Close to work, nice. I wish I lived closer.” He needs to get the other to talk, to help him stay awake. “I should start looking for a new place, I think.”

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“Behind... school... house to the left of the one with the fence.” words felt fuzzy in his mouth. Like he was chewing on cotton.

He needed to help walk. He needed to keep going. But his body felt like a bag of sticks. It was a weird feeling. At least the pain was numbed again. 

The dry, cracked sensation was spreading throughout his throat again.

“Soon as I can be sure I won’t get arrested for public indecency…” He’s already taking off his jacket, not sure why he hadn’t before. “Okay, I need you to stay awake long enough to tell me where you live.” He places his jacket over the stake, in an attempt to hide it.