When Nikola came back to their hospital room, Dimitri was fully out of his bindings. He looked so, as if he had a storm brewing behind his eyes.
Nikola stood there, rooted in the doorway, and didn't dare make even a step inside.
"Are you going to stay there the whole day?" Dimitri finally snapped. "What happened?"
"I died. It seems to happen often these days. This time I died through administration," Nikola tried to joke. Dimitri stood up and then took a hold of his hand.
When he saw that Nikola had an ID card in his hand, he blinked.
"Weren't you Stoyanov?" The vampire asked. It was strange because he had seen the ID card more than once.
Nikola was one of those lucky or unlucky few who looked to be in their teens, even after entering their late twenties.
When Dimitri had realized that Nikola refused to age, he had decided to come into his life.
But now… now, Nikola really wasn't going to age.
Or maybe he was going to, but up to a certain point? The vampire didn't know.
Druids were his natural enemies. And yet, this one was his soulmate. It was like playing with fire while juggling hot coals.
Dimitri didn't know if he should call it love yet. He had nearly died for this man.
And yet…
"I told you: I died. They changed my last name and made me a full citizen. Not just someone who had immigrated in the country," which was something he had tried to get more than once. He had not been born in the states. His parents had come with working visas.
For all that Nikola had been taught at an American school and had recited the pledge more than once, he had still been viewed as a Slavic outsider.
And now… now he was still a Slavic outsider, but his new birth certificate told a different story.
A story of him being born right here, in this hospital. Of a right to stay he had never had before.
"Did you pick the name?" Dimitri asked. Nikola shook his head.
"Asenov. How corny," Dimitri looked around. There were no nurses to be seen. He picked up his backpack and slung it over the shoulder.
"Why? Did you want for me to be a Popescu?" A part of Nikola wanted it. Wanted to have a claim not only to the home he remembered, but also to the man he loved.
Dimitri chuckled.
"Maybe. Come on!"
The two of them went out of the door. No one stopped them. When they were at the bus stop, Dimitri looked at him once more.
"You know," the vampire began, as he looked from one end of the street to the next. The bus stop didn't have a digital display.
The vampire took out his phone and checked the time.
"We can find you some textbooks from a shop ran by a friend of mine," he said, as he sat down on the bench. "She won't mind selling to us. She is just like me."
Nikola nodded. He sat down as well, only for a hand to grab his.
"I was scared," the vampire finally said. "I thought I lost you."
"I am weak," Nikola didn't want to whisper sweet nothing's to Dimitri. The vampire deserved better. "And until that doesn't change, I can't stay put and do nothing. You know how to fight. Will you teach me?"
Dimitri let out a snort.
"Fight? You know how to fight. It is the magic that you have to get a grip on," the vampire rubbed his thumb over soft skin. "Did they do anything to you apart from taking the blood?"
Nikola shook his head.
"No. But the blood grew leaves," which he still found unsettling. "I guess we can't go back home, can we? So, I can pick my stuff?"
Dimitri sighed.
"Niki, you died. You said it yourself. They are going to char a corpse for you. The only thing we can do right now is to find a way to reign in your magic."
"The doctor said that there is something called Wendigo in the forest," Nikola looked at the green tree line. It still looked healthy. So, as if he had not run through it, panicked, and had drained it of its energy.
"A Wendigo? Do you know anything about them?" Dimitri asked. He might be a vampire, but he would be damned if he ignored such a beast.
"No. Not a single thing," before Nikola had met Dimitri, he had not cared much about myths and lore. But now, now he knew that there was more than one thing which went bump in the night.
"Those are people who have tried to survive in a harsh winter. People who have succumbed to cannibalism. You won't be coming with me," Dimitri told him, as the bus finally rolled in front of them. "I will get you settled in the cabin, and then I will hunt the Wendigo by myself."
"But… what if…?"
Nikola stopped himself. The bus's doors swung open. They couldn't speak about such things in hearing range of mortals.
The two went and sat in the back. Both of them keeping their hands to themselves.
Until Dimitri yawned and slung his arm over Nikola, leaning on him and closing his eyes.
There were a couple of people who snorted, but most didn't bother them.
Even sleepy, there was an aura around Dimitri which made them all cower.
The bus stopped on the next stop. More people got in. Dimitri continued to pretend he was using Nikola as a pillow.
He needed to teach the man that if he hid his whole life, the people will not think any better of him.
What was eternity if one had to hide his feelings?
Nikola looked out of the window. He saw a dog pass them by, but it was healthy. Not one of those skeletal hounds which had pursued him.
Soon, there was a man jogging behind the dog. A leash in his hands.
The nightmare was over, Nikola told himself.
So why was he still on edge?