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Carmilla watched Fay twirl around the human shop, tidying displays and restocking shelves. It was amusing to watch the witch work and to be honest they were pretty cute. The way they sang quietly (most of the time, though they had a habit of not noticing their own noise level) to themself as they worked and how they jumped whenever they thought they saw an insect was adorable. Of course, the vampire was also keeping a close eye on her underling to make sure the uncoordinated witch didn’t hurt themself. Occurrences where Carmilla found herself having to step in to save her friend from a falling jar or tripping over their own laces were much more common than she’d expected when she’d convinced Mr. West to give the poor thing a chance. Of course, she didn’t regret it though. What the witch lacked in ability to do their work safely and effectively, they more than made up for with their companionship.
Sometimes on days like these, when the shop was quiet aside from the two of them, Carmilla would start to feel a familiar longing while joking around with the witch. The feeling had crept up on her slowly and stealthily until suddenly it was impossible to ignore.
Yet, she tried her best to ignore it anyway. Fay was her friend. Possibly her closest friend at the moment, despite the fact that the two had only known each other for such a short time. She couldn’t bear the thought of ruining their blossoming friendship. Not like last time…
Carmilla wasn’t good at relationships. She knew that. A frown tugged at her lips as the memories of the screaming, the betrayal in her dearly departed beloved’s eyes, and later the cold anger when she’d fallen perfectly into that final trap. She’d barely escaped with her life that night, even with the “accidental” escape path she’d been offered that night the same as the many nights before. She could sense her beloved’s heart wasn’t in it the same. Their game had finally ended… The regret of the events leading up to that final encounter still haunted her. The fault of her heartbreak was hers alone. If only she hadn’t been so immature and selfish…
“Carmilla!” Fay cheerfully called out to her, breaking the vampire from her thoughts.
“Yes, Doll? Did you need my help?” She answered, slipping back into her regular charming personality.
“I finished restocking and I’m borrrred! Do you have any spells you could teach me?” The witch whined in a way which Carmilla found utterly adorable.
Carmilla paused for a moment, humming as though she were thinking carefully on this. “Wellll,” she drew out the first word to add suspense, “I could start teaching you voice mimicry..” She mused.
The witch’s eyes immediately widened in interest.
“Like that thing you were doing yesterday?!” Fay asked with sparkling eyes. “Oh, I can’t wait to get you back for th-”
“For a price.” Carmilla interrupted.
“What? Aw, man…” Fay said, the disappointment clear on their face, but their excitement wasn’t dead yet; they still were following the vampire’s words intently.
Carmilla smiled mischievously, “Oh? Did you think even the great Fay Nightshade would get lessons from a powerful vampiress like me for free? Are you forgetting I’m royalty?” She teased, but there was nothing to joke about when it came to her status above the witch. If she really wanted to for some reason she could likely end the mortal’s life in just a few moments. She wondered if it ever made the other scared.
“How could I forget, someone as talented and jaw droppingly beautiful as you is royalty? That’d be like forgetting I have red eyes.” The witch laughed, though if anyone were to forget their own eye color, it would be Fay themself.
Camilla giggled.
“Alright then, if you want me to teach you voice mimicry I’ll need you to promise me to let me have a little drink of your blood in, let’s see…” She glanced at the large dusty clock that hung from the far wall. “40 minutes?”
“That’s all?” They asked, clearly a little surprised at how small the price for assistance mastering another spell would be.
“And you won’t use it to try to get me back for yesterday.” The vampire quickly added on and hid a laugh when Fay immediately frowned at that.
“But that’s half the point of even learning it!” Fay protested.
“Well, if you’re uninterested, I could always find more work for you to do around the shop instead.” Carmilla suggested with a wicked smile, clearly amused by this reaction.
“No- I still want to learn voice mimicry! I’ll just find another way to get you back!” Fay said.
Carmilla laughed and smiled at them. “You can try.” She teased, clearly not taking Fay’s threats seriously as she took the witch’s arm and guided them behind the counter to begin practicing together.
The next hour was spent full of laughter, flattery, and many mock competitive jabs and by the end of it Fay was a mimicry master. Or well, she was competent at least. It depended on who you asked. Carmilla was proud of her little pet though, the witch had come so far since they’d first met; due to Carmilla’s wonderful teaching no doubt. The mortal lunged at the vampire, trapping her in a bear hug.
“Thank you so much! You’ve seriously been so much help to me recently!” Fay said.
Carmilla froze a second and was glad that Fay couldn’t see her face from this angle. If her dead heart still beat it would have been going crazy. The witch’s skin was so soft, so warm against hers. She smiled and returned the hug.
“It’s no problem really. I’m glad to have someone around to appreciate and learn from my impressive skill set I’ve acquired over the centuries.” The vampiress bragged, though underneath the proudness of her voice, was sincerity. It was nice to have someone who felt around her age to talk to who genuinely seemed to like her for her.
“But…” The vampire continued, “Our little lesson went a little over time and I’m getting awfully thirsty.”
“Oh-” Fay blushed. They’d done this a few times now, but still they felt their heart flutter every time they’d allowed Carmilla to feed on them. There was something so…soft, gentle about the whole process. They felt close to the vampire, more connected and vulnerable than usual when the vampiress carefully raised their wrist to her mouth and gently pressed her lips to their skin before sinking in her fangs. It stung, but only momentarily. Fay had gotten used to it by the third time.
Once Carmilla was attached the next moments would go by quietly, only the gentle pounding of Fay’s heart filled the room. The sweet taste of their blood flooding the vampire’s senses while Fay tried to not stare too much at the peaceful, blissful expression on the girl’s face. It made them wonder sometimes if blood just naturally tasted good to vampire’s or if it was an acquired taste. Carmilla certainly seemed to enjoy it, but whenever Fey’d put an injured finger to their mouth the taste of blood always made them fight the urge to recoil. They thought to themself if they had to live off a vampire’s diet they’d certainly be sick.
“Thank you,” Carmilla smiled as she pulled away and gently brought up a small fabric square to carefully dab the fresh blood off her lips. “You taste sweet as always.”
Fay was pretty sure that was a compliment so they thanked her and reached for a bandage for their arm.
“Oh no, allow me, my sweet doll.” Carmilla said, gently taking hold of Fay’s reaching arm and lowering it back to their side. She hummed quietly an old song she used to know as she wound the bandage around the small puncture wounds. They weren’t too large, so they likely wouldn’t scar for long. That was good, it would be a shame to ruin Fay’s beautiful soft skin, but a part of Carmilla was disappointed. In only a few seasons or so her mark on the witch would likely be gone. She wasn’t sure why that idea made her so sad.
“What’s it called?” Fay asked, interrupting the vampire’s thoughts for the 2nd time that evening.
“Huh?” Carmilla glanced up at them, confused, as she finished off the bandage.
“That song you were humming. It’s so beautiful. What’s its name?” Fay repeated.
“Oh,” Carmilla blushed. She hadn’t even been aware she’d been humming it outloud. “It’s um. It’s just something an old friend taught me long ago. She called it ‘Twilight’s Calling’” She answered, for once she came across as uncharacteristically self-conscious for a moment.
“Can you teach me?” Fay asked, those same sparkling eager-to-learn eyes they always had when they were about to beg Carmilla for some sort of help.
“Maybe another day.” Carmilla dismissed the topic.It felt like she had been staked through the heart, but she retained her surface composure. She internally prayed Fay wouldn’t pry on this.
For once her prayers were answered and the witch let it go, instead changing the topic to excitedly inform Carmilla about the upcoming matchmaking event they planned to hold at a cafe not far from here next Saturday. It would be their biggest event yet according to Fay. There would be a chocolate fountain and heart shaped strings of lights adorning the room. The vampire smiled as she listened to the lovely description, it sounded like a nice place, but she had no interest in attending. There wouldn’t be any point when the only one who was worthy of her love in attendance wasn’t going to be one of the guests up for grabs.