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Kevin was... well to be honest he had no idea what he was at this moment. He wasn't conscious, but he wasn't totally unconscious either. He was somewhere in between. He had read, somewhere, that this whole feeling would last maybe ten minutes tops, but it would feel like hours. And time did feel like it was dragging. Damn it, Lance. Damn it all to hell.
Lance had totally caught Kevin off guard when he sank his fangs into his neck. That was the last thing he had expected. Well, kind of. He had been feeling hunted this entire time (which was something he hadn't been used to). He had just not expected to have been right. That was definitely weird.
They say when you die that your whole life flashes before your eyes. For Kevin, it really was only a week's time.
It was his day off. It was his day off and he was at the Bloody Rose anyway. That was just fantastic.
Brian and Nick were here, which was typical. They were always here, looking for a pretty face to take home. Well, that was what Nick was doing. Nick was young, impressionable, horny. But, he reminded Kevin of himself back in the day, so he never did call Nick out on it. Brian seemed to be just going along for the ride.
His eyes shifted from his friends and to the blond man on the other side of the club who stuck out like a sore thumb. Oh yeah, he belonged here. But he piqued Kevin's interest, so with two beers in hand he headed over.
The man was all polo shirts and fauxhawks and yuppie. A stark contrast from the usual clientele of the club. He probably read vampire books and thought they were all like that. Spoiler: They're not.
"Need a drink?" he asked, handing the drink over.
"I do," he said, "Thanks."
"No problem," Kevin smiled, "So, you here by yourself?"
The guy shook his head, "Nah, my friends are at the bar." And he pointed into the direction of his friends.
Kevin followed the finger. Now they looked like the club's usual clientele. This guy hung out with them?
Kevin nodded. "Ah," he nodded. "I'm Kevin, since I don't think we formally introduced."
"Lance," came the response from the other guy as they shook hands.
Kevin didn't know it at the time, but he would learn to regret ever learning this guy's name.
A second date? Kevin never did second dates. What was it about this Lance guy that made him agree to a second date? And it had to be somewhere not the Bloody Rose. He was definitely down with that one. Lance had been totally out of place there, and they both knew it.
But as Kevin looked around the sports bar they were now at, where he was now out of place and Lance fit in just so, he wondered if maybe it was payback.
Can it be payback if you like it? "This place is actually better than the Bloody Rose," he noted.
That caused Lance to raise an eyebrow. "Really? You seemed like you really fit in there."
"Well," Kevin shrugged, "I guess I just got used to it. It didn't used to be like that."
"Really?" Lance asked, his drink halfway to his mouth. That stuck out to Kevin, since no one had ever asked him that.
Kevin nodded. "Yeah, the owner changes the name and atmosphere of the club to accomodate whatever's in at the time. Started as a biker bar, then a poetry hall, and now it's what it is. When the vampire thing gets old it'll be something else."
Lance nodded. "At least at keeps him in business. Change is good sometimes."
Kevin nodded.
This hadn't been a onetime thing, which was also new to Kevin. They were kind of... an item now. When Kevin worked, Lance went to the Bloody Rose to wait for him. When he didn't, they had dates just like this.
Kevin should have known something was up.
Kevin wasn't going to say it. He didn't do relationships, he didn't do love, he wasn't going to respond when Lance said...
"I love you."
"No you don't," was Kevin's answer.
"And how do you know I don't?" Lance asked, "Can you read my mind?"
Kevin shook his head. "No, but we've only been at it for three months? Three months isn't time to fall in love with someone."
Lance countered with, "Love at first sight."
"Not love," Kevin had a comeback for everything, "Lust. And for what? Because you think I'm a vampire? Cause I'm not. I just work nights."
"I knew that, Kevin," Lance said with a shake of his head, "I've always known that. It was pretty blatantly obvious. You work at a club."
"Bartenders make perfect hunters," Kevin shrugged, "Or so I've heard."
Lance chuckled, "Not so. Too obvious, you know. Then you get people after you. Like the hunters. And the daywalkers."
"Daywalkers?" Kevin almost squeaked out, "What are those?"
Lance laughed. "Hmm... an interesting question from you. I was expecting more like, 'How'd you know I wasn't a vampire?' or 'How come I never see you out during the day?' or something like that."
Kevin's eyes grew as he figured it out. "Wait a minute. You're a vampire. You're a vampire, and your friends are vampires, and when we met you guys were the ones hunting. And you picked me as your prey, and now you're going to kill me."
"Perhaps, perhaps," Lance smiled. "And I'll say it again, I love you." And then, "Do you love me as well?" before he sunk his fangs into Kevin's neck.
Kevin's eyelids were heavy when he finally came to. He looked around trying to remember he was and what happened the last ten minutes. He finally locked eyes with Lance. The other man was smiling.
"So, how do you feel?" he asked.
"Like I was hit by a truck," Kevin admitted, "Am I supposed to feel like this?"
"I did kinda technically kill you," Lance pointed out, "And even if you weren't now dead, I did drain you of quite a bit of blood. Yeah, you're supposed to feel like this. It'll take a while for you to come to."
He nodded. "But you'll still be here when that happens, right?"
"Of course. Go get some sleep."