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“Oh, дорогой.” (sweetheart) Ilya crooned, pulling Shane’s face out from its place burrowed in his sire’s neck. “Let me see. I know, I know.”
Shane had woken up from his evening nap whining pitifully. This type of whine was far from the distressed, confused ones he usually uttered as he emerged from naptime. This whine was one of pain.
Discomfort bloomed in his mouth as if his gums were viciously bruised. The pain was enough to cut through the drunken haze Shane seemed to find himself in whenever he forced himself up from the confines of sleep.
His memory was fragmented. All he really remembers is Ilya. Ilya holding him. Ilya touching him. Ilya’s voice. Ilya’s eyes.
Eyes that had turned from their usual warm hazel to dark red.
Shane remembers being cold, so cold, until he felt Ilya’s arms embrace him with love he hadn’t felt since he was a small child.
“Let me see, моя маленькая летучая мышь.” (my little bat) Ilya’s voice grew slightly more firm as Shane continued to try and wiggle away from strong hands. With some unnatural force, Ilya got Shane to open his mouth slightly only for it to clamp shut when Ilya’s fingers ran gently over his sore gums.
Ilya’s fond laugh vibrated through Shane’s whole body.
“Oh, Shane.” Ilya freed his finger from Shane’s teeth. He cupped Shane’s aching jaw instead. Shane couldn’t deny Ilya’s touch soothed the pain a little. “Is just your first set of baby fangs, my love. No need for such dramatics.”
Shane huffed, unamused at Ilya’s disregard for his pain.
“I know, I know. Your sire is so mean.” Ilya nuzzled his cheek against Shane’s as he tugged the fledgling closer.
Sniffing as tears threatened to form, Shane tried to dampen his wayward feelings. All his emotions seemed so big ever since Ilya did whatever he did to Shane. And the worst part, it was as if Ilya knew what Shane was thinking and feeling before he did.
“Why did you do this to me?” Shane sobbed, not really knowing what this was. He had ideas deep in his mind, but he was never fully clear-headed enough to explore them. All he knows is Ilya was responsible, but also, Ilya was helping him. Ilya was here.
Ilya, seemingly unbothered by Shane’s cries, merely continued to nuzzle and pet Shane’s skin. They were definitely both naked, not that Shane could do anything about that fact. Besides, Ilya had seen him naked before. In fact, Ilya was the only one to see Shane naked and laid out ever.
Shane had been so stupid, trusting the hauntingly perfect stranger who had taken interest in Shane for some reason. It had just been so long since someone had cared if Shane lived or died that when beautiful, smart, kind Ilya had come into Shane’s life, he thought himself lucky.
Now, he wasn’t so sure.
“Милый маленький летучий мышонок,” (sweet, little bat) Ilya murmured, placing a kiss to Shane’s tear-stained cheek. “Everything is alright. I did what needed to be done. This discomfort will pass, my love. Is all part of normal changing.”
“But it hurts.” Shane insisted, unable to stop the pout from forming on his lips. He sounded petulant even to his ears.
“This is nothing compared to what awaits you.” Ilya promised, rubbing his finger over the sensitive mark on Shane’s neck. Even in his hazy memory, Shane remembers Ilya pressing his lips to his neck right there. “All the joys of vampire life ahead. Speed, strength, power, family.”
Shane’s breath hitched.
He hadn’t had a family in so long. He vaguely remembers parents who loved him yet died too soon. Foster families who looked at him as a check, friends who mocked him behind his back, coworkers who took advantage of his naive heart.
“Oh, yes, моя маленькая летучая мышь.” (my little bat) Ilya exclaimed, full of lush honesty. His voice was deep and lovely. His accent had been one of the first things Shane noticed about him. “Our coven is so excited to meet you. You will never be alone for the rest of eternity, my love. Always someone to cuddle you or feed you or comfort you. Doesn’t that sound nice?”
A needy sound vibrated in the back of Shane’s throat.
It did sound nice.
His mind, so tired from all this thinking, begged him to return to the land of dreams. Not that it was that different from being awake because all Shane ever dreamt of was Ilya. His strong arms, his soothing voice, his sweet words.
Just as his eyes began to droop, a familiar smell filled his nose, jolting him awake. A warm, spiced smell. Thick and flavorful.
Shane’s eyes honed in on the small cut on Ilya’s throat made by his sire’s own hand. Without any conscious thought, Shane bared his new fangs.
His reaction caused Ilya to smile so wide his eyes crinkled slightly at the edge.
“Put those little needles away, маленькая летучая мышь.” (baby bat) Ilya teased, coaxing Shane to lean into his neck to latch. “That’s my good boy.”
Shane latched on without a second thought. Some small part of his brain was grossed out. He wasn’t a cannibal for crying out loud. Why did Ilya’s blood smell and taste so good?
You know why. His mind whispered. You know what you are.
That was too much thinking for now.
At the taste of Ilya’s richly flavored blood, Shane’s fangs instinctively tried to puncture around the wound to increase the flow, but they had no luck. It was like trying to punch an embroidery needle through a steel wall.
“Stop that.” Ilya pinched the soft flesh of Shane’s thigh, making the fledgling let out an unhappy chirp. “You will break your fragile, little baby teeth. Just suck, greedy boy, no biting.”
Begrudgingly, Shane listened, taking in mouthfuls of the hot blood. It warmed him like hot chocolate on a winter’s day. Like his bones were being heated from the inside out.
Shane couldn’t let go of his thoughts, though. Usually, it was easy to sink back into the fluffy embrace of sleep, but today, he kept thinking. He was suddenly interested in his surroundings, wanting to lift his head and swivel it around to take in the room. He was also more keenly aware of his state of nakedness than during any of his other awake windows.
His newfound mental clarity was not lost on Ilya, either.
Watching his fledgling’s curious eyes take in their temporary nest was as endearing as it was frustrating. Of course, Ilya wanted to spend time with a conscious Shane. He loved hearing his baby bat talk and seeing his bright expressions. He missed Shane’s voice in the long hours while his baby slept.
But, there would be hundreds of years for him to admire Shane when the poor thing was not fighting an absolutely necessary nap.
It had only been about two weeks since he turned Shane. There was truly no reason for his very fresh fledgling to be awake for so long. It was grating on his sire nerves.
If he was a less experienced sire or a more self-conscious vampire, Ilya would be tempted to return to their coven’s nest and lean on his siblings for help.
This was not Ilya’s first rodeo, though. Nor was it his first time dealing with a fussy fledgling. Of course, there was something else about it being his own fledgling, but the principle was still the same.
Ilya decided to give his baby bat one more chance to settle on his own. Coaxing Shane into resting his head back on Ilya’s shoulder, the fledgling held the position for about thirty seconds before returning to his curious scanning of the room, eyes wide and certainly not asleep.
At this point, Shane was probably overtired. The appearance of his baby teeth was probably keeping him just uncomfortable enough that it was difficult for him to self-soothe. That was perfectly alright.
Truly, there was no need for a fledgling to self-soothe when their sire was near.
Angling Shane’s head just slightly to the side, Ilya used his own, full grown fangs to break the delicate skin of Shane’s neck the barest amount to allow his venom into his fledgling’s system.
The angry, little chirp Shane let out was quickly becoming one of Ilya’s favorite sounds. So adorable and bratty.
Ilya brushed his tongue over the nip to allow his saliva to close the small wound, savoring in the tiny drop of Shane’s blood that had emerged.
It was considered greedy for a sire to drink excessively from their newly turned fledgling, especially at this stage. The poor things need the blood so much more to continue the change and keep their temperature up that it was unnecessary for a sire to take any for their own pleasure.
Still, Shane’s blood was even more delicious as a fledgling than it was as a human. Ilya had self-control, though. There were some sires who took advantage of the vulnerability of their fledglings and helped themselves to the sweet blood.
Ilya had always found those trials and executions the most satisfying to be part of. It was one of the only parts of vampire society he willingly took part in even after all these hundreds of years.
Shane’s sweet little sniffles caused Ilya to coo at his baby bat, bundling the poor thing up closer to him.
The nip worked wonders, though. His little one’s eyes fluttered shut almost immediately, his system being gently shut down by the presence of his sire’s venom.
Sire venom was some kind of biological cure-all for fledglings. It had something to do with the fact that their sire’s venom was now part of their very essence after their bodies accepted their sire’s blood to regenerate their life force after being drained.
If a fledgling caught the sun and got burned, their sire's venom could speed up their healing process. If a fussy fledgling was refusing a nap, a nip would put them right to sleep. If a fledgling was showing signs of silver poisoning, a sire’s venom could be the difference between life and death.
Sire venom could also trigger other responses in a fledgling’s system, as shown by the way Shane’s adorably sweet cock was demanding Ilya’s attention by twitching against the grown vampire’s thigh.
Sire and fledgling relationships often mirrored and became amplified versions of whatever relation they had prior to the turning of the fledgling.
While Svetlana and Rose maintained a platonic, sisterly relationship, Scott had somewhat maneuvered himself into the already established romantic feelings Kip and Hayden had for each other before turning.
Ilya knew the moment he laid eyes on Shane what kind of bond they would share.
After all, Ilya could smell the desire Shane had for him the moment they locked eyes. It did not take much wooing or romancing for Shane to allow Ilya into his heart and his bed. The poor thing was just so touch-starved and lonely.
That was also why he was the perfect prey. Nobody would notice his disappearance nor would anyone question his reappearance decades later without a sign of age upon his pretty face.
Once Shane got over the few years of rebellion most fledglings had, they would pick up right where they left off and have plenty of years of loving happiness.
Fledglings do not inherently have high sex needs considering their bodies are putting in so much work to survive the change, but Ilya’s venom had merely caused Shane’s body to react in a familiar way. Human Shane had been sensitive to Ilya’s touch, so it only made sense that fledgling Shane was the same way.
Indulging himself with a loving caress of Shane’s pretty, pink cock, Ilya drank in the little moan his baby bat let out in his sleep.
“У меня будет полно забот с тобой, моя любовь.” (I will have my hands full with you, my love.) Ilya crooned before returning his hand to embrace his baby fully against his much warmer body.