Affliction, Part 11/13
Sep. 7th, 2010 12:20 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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wl_fanfictionTitle: Affliction, Part 11/13
Author: illyriaone (Thesseli)
Pairing: Colin/Ryan
Rating: R
Summary: I once swore I would never write a vampire story...
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction.
Type of Feedback Desired: Any.
Colin was still shaken by what he’d done in the hall, even as the production meeting began. He couldn’t get the abject fear in the woman’s eyes out of his mind. How had he been capable of such a thing? All the woman had done was touch Ryan’s arm and he’d gone ballistic. This was the first real time his territoriality had been triggered, and it scared him. He’d been afraid of what he might do around Ryan even before they’d begun their affair, just because of their longtime friendship. What else might he do if the wrong person came too close, or got too friendly with Ryan? Maybe he was a monster after all.
No, no, no. Ryan *and* the CDC people had all said that reacting that way was to be expected. It was like a new instinct he had, to protect what was his. It didn’t make him any less human. It didn’t.
He straightened, trying to focus on what was going on in the meeting. It had just started. Drew, as the host of the show, was presiding; aside from them, there was also Wayne, Greg, Jeff, Chip, Kathy, and Brad. He’d noticed that Brad kept stealing glimpses of him, his eyes quickly moving to stare at nothing when Colin looked back. Colin had had the feeling that at least one of his co-workers would be doing that; maybe it would be best to get everything out in the open early, like Drew and Ryan had suggested. Well, maybe not *everything*, of course. He’d never been too keen on letting out the details of his personal life. There were some things he’d rather keep private.
“OK, guys,” said Drew easily. “Let’s get started.”
There were murmurs of assent from around the table, and Greg helped himself to the coffee. “Anybody else want any?”
“I’ll take one,” said Ryan.
“Me too,” Colin added. At the multiple sets of raised eyebrows, he chuckled. “Yes, I can still drink coffee.”
“And pretty much anything else, except tequila. He still can’t drink that,” said Ryan, giving him a friendly punch on the arm. This elicited laughter from everyone; none of them could forget the time in Vegas when the Canadian had drunk way too much of the stuff, and had spent the night passed out in the hotel room of an older couple from Florida. They’d been very understanding, and Colin had been so grateful (and embarrassed that he’d shown up in the wrong room) that he’d paid their entire hotel bill.
“Which brings us to something I’m sure everyone is wondering about,” said Drew, glancing over at Colin to make sure it was all right. He gave a brief nod. “Colin, how are you doing?”
“As well as can be expected, I suppose,” he replied offhandedly.
“Colin, I want you to know that you’re among friends here,” said Drew. “We don’t want you to feel uncomfortable, or self-conscious, or anything like that. We know you’re probably feeling like a bug under a microscope right now.”
“That’s OK. I know everyone’s probably very curious,” he replied.
“I know I am,” said Brad, not sounding very happy.
Ryan glared across the table at Brad, then turned back to Colin. “You don’t have to answer anything you don’t want to.”
“No, I think it would be easiest if we just got everything out in the open right now, so we can get it over with. I really hope that none of you are concerned about working with me; I’m still pretty harmless.” He smiled, but didn’t show his teeth. “And you don’t have to worry about me getting hungry…I’ve found a very obliging butcher, who also happens to have the disease, so I’ll always have a big supply of what I need.” It wasn’t a lie; he just didn’t say that the majority of his meals were coming from Ryan.
“Hey, at least the animal rights activists are loving this…technically, you don’t have to kill anything to eat,” grinned Greg. “So, Col, are you planning to get your own cow?”
Everyone laughed but Brad. “I’d say he’s already got one,” he said coldly, looking at Ryan.
“What do you mean by that, Brad?” Ryan asked, his voice dropping just a bit.
“Nothing. But I noticed that your shirt’s buttoned all the way up. It’s a nice, warm day…why have you got your collar closed?” he asked. “Is there something you don’t want us to see?”
“Dammit, Brad,” Ryan hissed. “Since when were you such a fashion plate, to be worried about what other people are wearing?”
“Other people I don’t care about. Just you. You’ve got someone staying with you who needs blood to live, someone who wasn’t feeling too happy until he came back to your house. Now everything’s just hunky-dory. You sure he’s getting his meals from the butcher shop?”
Ryan’s eyes flashed angrily. “Brad,” he said, his voice a low growl.
“Ryan, you don’t have to--” Colin began, but the other man was too angry to hold his tongue. Colin leaned back, resigned. He’d known this would come out eventually, he just hadn’t expected it to be today.
“You really wanna see, Brad? Do you?” Ryan challenged.
“Yes, I do.”
“All right then.” And he began undoing his collar. All eyes in the room turned to him; except Colin, who was looking down at the table. As he undid the lowest button, he pulled down the fabric, exposing his skin. The marks on his neck were clearly visible and were unmistakably bite wounds. “Satisfied?” he asked, as if daring him or the others to comment.
“*Dude*…” said Greg, peering at him intently. He didn’t seem repulsed; merely interested. Drew and the others couldn’t help but look too -- they’d never seen anyone who’d been bitten.
Brad, even though he’d been the one to confront Ryan, seemed stunned that his suspicions were actually true. “I can’t believe it,” he said. “Ryan, what’s the matter with you? Is he making you do this?”
“Of course not,” he retorted. “It was my idea.”
He stared at Ryan in utter disbelief. “You’re actually letting him drink your blood? For God’s sake, why?”
Ryan looked at Colin, seated beside him, and smiled warmly. “Because he’s my oldest and my dearest friend, and I love him,” he said simply.
Colin felt himself almost blushing…he hadn’t been able to manage a decent one since he’d changed. Something about the thinness of his blood now. It didn’t matter; he was gazing at Ryan so fondly that his feelings were obvious to anyone who was looking. And everyone was.
“Well I think it’s great,” said Greg, looking in confusion at Brad. “What’s your problem, man?”
“Don’t you know what goes on with them, when they drink?”
“Is that any of your business?” Greg asked.
“You’re actually saying you’re OK with this? Knowing how they get when they take blood, and knowing that he’s doing it to Ryan?”
“I think it’s up to Ryan to decide if it’s OK or not,” said Drew. “I thought you were over this.”
“How *do* they get when they take blood?” asked Wayne quietly, who had been watching the whole interchange with the others.
Brad opened his mouth to speak, but Colin beat him to it. “We get like animals. Isn’t that what you were going to say, Brad?” he asked bitterly. “That we’re like mindless animals when we feed? That we’re uncontrollable, and we can’t be trusted not to hurt someone, even the people closest to us?”
Brad frowned. “That’s not what I meant…”
Ryan looked like he wanted to leap over the table and crack Brad in the jaw. “Then what *did* you mean?” he demanded.
“That you’re letting your feelings for Colin cloud your judgment -- you’re using this as a way to get him into your bed, and you could end up dead because of it.” His last words came out just above a whisper, his fear obvious. He was afraid that Ryan would be killed, like what had almost happened to those people in Boston or the man in Indiana.
Ryan’s mouth fell open, but no words came out. It was Colin who spoke next. “It’s not like that, Brad,” he said softly, the anger draining away. “We’re not doing this because of anything that wasn’t there before. Maybe it took this to bring us here, but we would have ended up together eventually, I think. And I would never hurt Ryan, not for anything. He means everything to me. He did even before this.”
Ryan’s eyes were shining, and he looked at Colin as if he was the only person in the room. “Even before this?” he asked.
Colin nodded, a smile spreading over his face. “Even before.”
Ryan took him in his arms and hugged him fiercely, then kissed him. Colin felt like he was melting. He returned the kiss, his hands coming up to stroke Ryan’s back.
After a few moments, Drew cleared his throat noisily. To tell the truth, he’d always figured that Ryan and Colin would end up together; he just hadn’t expected it to involve vampirism. “OK, now that everything’s cleared up -- and if the saccharine twins here could come down to Earth -- we can get back to business and get this meeting over with so we can all be home at a decent hour tonight. Is that all right with everyone?” Drew asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Ryan and Colin hastily broke apart and sat down; Brad, thoroughly chastened, also returned to his chair.
Greg just took another swig of his coffee and shook his head. “Man, only in L.A.”
Author: illyriaone (Thesseli)
Pairing: Colin/Ryan
Rating: R
Summary: I once swore I would never write a vampire story...
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction.
Type of Feedback Desired: Any.
Colin was still shaken by what he’d done in the hall, even as the production meeting began. He couldn’t get the abject fear in the woman’s eyes out of his mind. How had he been capable of such a thing? All the woman had done was touch Ryan’s arm and he’d gone ballistic. This was the first real time his territoriality had been triggered, and it scared him. He’d been afraid of what he might do around Ryan even before they’d begun their affair, just because of their longtime friendship. What else might he do if the wrong person came too close, or got too friendly with Ryan? Maybe he was a monster after all.
No, no, no. Ryan *and* the CDC people had all said that reacting that way was to be expected. It was like a new instinct he had, to protect what was his. It didn’t make him any less human. It didn’t.
He straightened, trying to focus on what was going on in the meeting. It had just started. Drew, as the host of the show, was presiding; aside from them, there was also Wayne, Greg, Jeff, Chip, Kathy, and Brad. He’d noticed that Brad kept stealing glimpses of him, his eyes quickly moving to stare at nothing when Colin looked back. Colin had had the feeling that at least one of his co-workers would be doing that; maybe it would be best to get everything out in the open early, like Drew and Ryan had suggested. Well, maybe not *everything*, of course. He’d never been too keen on letting out the details of his personal life. There were some things he’d rather keep private.
“OK, guys,” said Drew easily. “Let’s get started.”
There were murmurs of assent from around the table, and Greg helped himself to the coffee. “Anybody else want any?”
“I’ll take one,” said Ryan.
“Me too,” Colin added. At the multiple sets of raised eyebrows, he chuckled. “Yes, I can still drink coffee.”
“And pretty much anything else, except tequila. He still can’t drink that,” said Ryan, giving him a friendly punch on the arm. This elicited laughter from everyone; none of them could forget the time in Vegas when the Canadian had drunk way too much of the stuff, and had spent the night passed out in the hotel room of an older couple from Florida. They’d been very understanding, and Colin had been so grateful (and embarrassed that he’d shown up in the wrong room) that he’d paid their entire hotel bill.
“Which brings us to something I’m sure everyone is wondering about,” said Drew, glancing over at Colin to make sure it was all right. He gave a brief nod. “Colin, how are you doing?”
“As well as can be expected, I suppose,” he replied offhandedly.
“Colin, I want you to know that you’re among friends here,” said Drew. “We don’t want you to feel uncomfortable, or self-conscious, or anything like that. We know you’re probably feeling like a bug under a microscope right now.”
“That’s OK. I know everyone’s probably very curious,” he replied.
“I know I am,” said Brad, not sounding very happy.
Ryan glared across the table at Brad, then turned back to Colin. “You don’t have to answer anything you don’t want to.”
“No, I think it would be easiest if we just got everything out in the open right now, so we can get it over with. I really hope that none of you are concerned about working with me; I’m still pretty harmless.” He smiled, but didn’t show his teeth. “And you don’t have to worry about me getting hungry…I’ve found a very obliging butcher, who also happens to have the disease, so I’ll always have a big supply of what I need.” It wasn’t a lie; he just didn’t say that the majority of his meals were coming from Ryan.
“Hey, at least the animal rights activists are loving this…technically, you don’t have to kill anything to eat,” grinned Greg. “So, Col, are you planning to get your own cow?”
Everyone laughed but Brad. “I’d say he’s already got one,” he said coldly, looking at Ryan.
“What do you mean by that, Brad?” Ryan asked, his voice dropping just a bit.
“Nothing. But I noticed that your shirt’s buttoned all the way up. It’s a nice, warm day…why have you got your collar closed?” he asked. “Is there something you don’t want us to see?”
“Dammit, Brad,” Ryan hissed. “Since when were you such a fashion plate, to be worried about what other people are wearing?”
“Other people I don’t care about. Just you. You’ve got someone staying with you who needs blood to live, someone who wasn’t feeling too happy until he came back to your house. Now everything’s just hunky-dory. You sure he’s getting his meals from the butcher shop?”
Ryan’s eyes flashed angrily. “Brad,” he said, his voice a low growl.
“Ryan, you don’t have to--” Colin began, but the other man was too angry to hold his tongue. Colin leaned back, resigned. He’d known this would come out eventually, he just hadn’t expected it to be today.
“You really wanna see, Brad? Do you?” Ryan challenged.
“Yes, I do.”
“All right then.” And he began undoing his collar. All eyes in the room turned to him; except Colin, who was looking down at the table. As he undid the lowest button, he pulled down the fabric, exposing his skin. The marks on his neck were clearly visible and were unmistakably bite wounds. “Satisfied?” he asked, as if daring him or the others to comment.
“*Dude*…” said Greg, peering at him intently. He didn’t seem repulsed; merely interested. Drew and the others couldn’t help but look too -- they’d never seen anyone who’d been bitten.
Brad, even though he’d been the one to confront Ryan, seemed stunned that his suspicions were actually true. “I can’t believe it,” he said. “Ryan, what’s the matter with you? Is he making you do this?”
“Of course not,” he retorted. “It was my idea.”
He stared at Ryan in utter disbelief. “You’re actually letting him drink your blood? For God’s sake, why?”
Ryan looked at Colin, seated beside him, and smiled warmly. “Because he’s my oldest and my dearest friend, and I love him,” he said simply.
Colin felt himself almost blushing…he hadn’t been able to manage a decent one since he’d changed. Something about the thinness of his blood now. It didn’t matter; he was gazing at Ryan so fondly that his feelings were obvious to anyone who was looking. And everyone was.
“Well I think it’s great,” said Greg, looking in confusion at Brad. “What’s your problem, man?”
“Don’t you know what goes on with them, when they drink?”
“Is that any of your business?” Greg asked.
“You’re actually saying you’re OK with this? Knowing how they get when they take blood, and knowing that he’s doing it to Ryan?”
“I think it’s up to Ryan to decide if it’s OK or not,” said Drew. “I thought you were over this.”
“How *do* they get when they take blood?” asked Wayne quietly, who had been watching the whole interchange with the others.
Brad opened his mouth to speak, but Colin beat him to it. “We get like animals. Isn’t that what you were going to say, Brad?” he asked bitterly. “That we’re like mindless animals when we feed? That we’re uncontrollable, and we can’t be trusted not to hurt someone, even the people closest to us?”
Brad frowned. “That’s not what I meant…”
Ryan looked like he wanted to leap over the table and crack Brad in the jaw. “Then what *did* you mean?” he demanded.
“That you’re letting your feelings for Colin cloud your judgment -- you’re using this as a way to get him into your bed, and you could end up dead because of it.” His last words came out just above a whisper, his fear obvious. He was afraid that Ryan would be killed, like what had almost happened to those people in Boston or the man in Indiana.
Ryan’s mouth fell open, but no words came out. It was Colin who spoke next. “It’s not like that, Brad,” he said softly, the anger draining away. “We’re not doing this because of anything that wasn’t there before. Maybe it took this to bring us here, but we would have ended up together eventually, I think. And I would never hurt Ryan, not for anything. He means everything to me. He did even before this.”
Ryan’s eyes were shining, and he looked at Colin as if he was the only person in the room. “Even before this?” he asked.
Colin nodded, a smile spreading over his face. “Even before.”
Ryan took him in his arms and hugged him fiercely, then kissed him. Colin felt like he was melting. He returned the kiss, his hands coming up to stroke Ryan’s back.
After a few moments, Drew cleared his throat noisily. To tell the truth, he’d always figured that Ryan and Colin would end up together; he just hadn’t expected it to involve vampirism. “OK, now that everything’s cleared up -- and if the saccharine twins here could come down to Earth -- we can get back to business and get this meeting over with so we can all be home at a decent hour tonight. Is that all right with everyone?” Drew asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Ryan and Colin hastily broke apart and sat down; Brad, thoroughly chastened, also returned to his chair.
Greg just took another swig of his coffee and shook his head. “Man, only in L.A.”
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Date: 2010-09-07 04:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-07 06:09 pm (UTC)...And Greg's last line made me laugh too!
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Date: 2010-09-08 02:39 pm (UTC)Best line ever!
And I could see Greg being curious (and perhaps a little titillated).
Love this. (I wonder how Jeff would have reacted?)