Love Bites. [Daci/Cassie]

[Dacian]

If only her hands hadn’t tried to hold him as he stepped back, it would have been easier to believe she didn’t mean it. It would be so much easier to hold a grudge, to make this her fault and not his. It was his fault. He had dug too deep, and now he was scrabbling to get out. It was his own grave, and he wasn’t dead enough to lie still in it.

“You shouldn’t of needed saving.” He muttered, staring resolutely at his hat lying on the slushy ground near her feet. He could sympathise with the accessory, forgotten and alone in the cold. He’d let himself get into this mess, he should have noticed how close this was getting to disaster. She should have taken what he wanted from her and left instead of this ridiculous charade. Getting attached to your food always ended up in tears or blood, or both more often than not.

It didn’t help that Cassie seemed intent on making it difficult. He needed a clean break; he didn’t need any lingering temptations that could fester in the open wound and some back to haunt him him. Better to rub salt on the wound now than have it become infected with time. He looked up, meeting her eyes with as little emotion as possible. “Turn away. Go to him. Don’t look back.” He suggested, though it was more a direction than a proposal.

[Cassie Vimes]

Cassie wiped at the tears on her cheeks with numb fingers, sniffling her way through a few deep breaths to try and pull herself together. She was pathetic, she hadn’t even known Dacian for two weeks and she was crying like her heart was breaking. It was her fault and she should have known there would be consequences for patching things up with Ed. It wasn’t like she was unaware of the animosity between the two men.

Dacian was withdrawing further from her, he wouldn’t touch her, wouldn’t look at her and when he spoke it was so quiet she was convinced the comment was more to himself than to her. She couldn’t think about the growing gap between them and so to distract herself she stooped to retrieve the hat at her feet. Cassie brushed away the drops of ice and water with her bare hands, barely feeling the cold of it on her already frozen skin. She felt like she’d never be warm again.

”Here,” She held the hat out to him, wondering how he could look so detached. There was no emotion in his eyes, no anger, no pain, nothing. Had he even cared at all? Perhaps he’d been looking for a way out all along and she’d just handed it to him on a platter. ”I don’t know if I can.” She said, lip trembling all over again. It hadn’t been what she wanted to hear. This whole exchange didn’t even come close to what she wanted.

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[Dacian]

He wanted to be petty. He wanted to scream and shout and act on irrationalities and for a moment, he knew what being a teenager was. He rolled his eyes to look at the proffered hat. His hand itched to snatch it from her, but as his fingers clasped on the opposite brim of it, he paused before taking it gently. He held it in his hands reverently, turning it over and over so he didn’t have to look at her. He was used to tears – fear did that to a victim – but never tears of any other emotion. It ached to see them.

Was she staying there to torture him more? Was she so keen on tempting fate? She and Edward were alike in that respect, they both liked to push their luck and lucky for them, he had some experience under his belt. Did she want him to hurt her more? He shook his head. He was not playing her games. “Just do it.” He snapped, his voice cold. He turned fully away from her, lifting his hat to his head. “I’ll give you a demonstration.”

Taking a few steps, it got easier to take each one. His senses were less overloaded, and the cold night crept in. He took deep breaths, purging his sense of smell of Cassie. He could still smell and hear her, but at least he couldn’t see her. The clear and cold night air was helping but he would have been grateful for more sound to drown out her heartbeat and irregular breathing. The night was deathly quiet but for her. There should have been something else.

He stopped suddenly. Something was wrong. Something was… missing.

The vampire spun, all but falling on the ice. “Vivian!” Pushing Cassie further out of his mind, he ran back to where she had been standing. There was no sign of her; only her scent lingered on the air. He rushed past Cassie, following the scent back up toward the Hog’s Head. His panic eased as the trail led him toward the building. She’d just gone back to wait. Guilt grew in the back of his mind. He’d forgotten her completely when faced with Cassie. He hadn’t even noticed her leaving.

Had Vivian ran because of what he’d been saying? Oh God, please don’t let her of heard all that. She was too young to understand it, and Vivian was always scared when he lost his temper. Her scent suddenly veered off course, leading up a side street. She hadn’t gone into the pub? The panic returned tenfold. She was young, and out on her own. If she was upset, she would be less in control. She could hurt someone, she could kill. Not only could she take someone’s life, she could ruin her own. Vivian was not ready for the harsh realities of her new self.

“Vivian!” He called again, taking off after her trail, slipping and sliding in his haste across the treacherous ground without a backward glance to Cassie. How could he have forgotten Vivian? Cassie had completely preoccupied him, and that was the most frightening thing. For all his self control and discipline, Cassie had destroyed it all just by being there. It shouldn’t be possible.

[Cassie Vimes]

Cassie flinched as he snapped at her, feeling like a misbehaving child that had finally made an adult reach the end of their tether. She stood motionless, even the shivering was stopping now, eyes wide and filled with tears as she watched him turn away from her. She knew it would hurt to see him leave, like Dacian walking away would take a part of her with him too, but she couldn’t take her eyes off him. There was no hesitation that she could see, no visible sign that this was a struggle for him.

For a moment she couldn’t bring herself to move, she was cold, probably dangerously so, but if she left this spot it would definitely be over. Cassie had just turned, taking the first shaky step back towards The Hog, to warmth, safety and true comfort, when she heard Dacian calling. Her heart leapt with false hope. He wasn’t calling for her. The sound of Vivian’s name seemed to lift a temporary spell. Cassie blinked, looking around for the teenager.

She’d been right there. Where had she gone? Dacian rushed passed her, only looking at her long enough to avoid crashing into her. Cassie followed, her pace much slower, limbs stiff and aching with the cold. She could understand why he was frantic, any parent would be, but didn’t see the harm in allowing her a little freedom. It wasn’t like Vivian would have wanted to hang around and listen to them argue.

By the time she reached The Hog’s Head Dacian had already disappeared down a branching pathway. She didn’t have the advantage of enhanced senses and could barely even think straight with grief clouding her mind. Cassie pushed her way clumsily through the door of the pub, the blast of hot air seemed to burn across her cold skin. She needed Ed, he would want to know Vivian was missing. She needed Ed.

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