Welcome to Gaia! ::

I laughed again, nodding. "Yes, years of practice. Decades, really. I mean, how is a gay man - or vampire - supposed to live in the early nineteen-hundreds when homosexuality was considered a disease? When people were killed for it?" I sighed. "Sometimes I wish I had been alive in the seventeen-hundreds, and turned then. That was when it was most... well known, I guess. The Renaissance. And if I had been turned then, I could've turned someone and..." I let the thought trail off, and said after a while, very softly, "But then I wouldn't have you." I kissed the top of his head softly.

******** was hoping he wouldn't ask this. Ever. Even if I did turn him and spend eternity with him, I was hoping he wouldn't ask me if I'd ever been tempted to turn anyone.
Wait.
Loophole.
I had been tempted.
Did I have to tell him I had actually done it?
Conscience said yes. Damnit.
I heaved a sigh and was silent for several moments after I finished deliberating. "Yeah," I said. "And once.... I gave in." I waited for him to scream at me, get up, and leave. I prayed he didn't; he needed to hear the whole story. But I'd wait for him to ask.

I sighed again, but this time it was partially from relief. He wasn't angry, he wasn't yelling at me, and he was still laying with me. I just had to explain a memory that hurt me....
"About... eighteen-ninety, twenty six years after I was turned, I found someone. I found him, and I showed him what I was, and he didn't care. He wanted me to turn him, so he and I could spend eternity in each other's arms. We were so, so in love... One may go far as to use the term soul-mates.
"And then, only a year after I turned him, as we lay together one night, our home was broken into. Men, red-faced and drunk, found us in the bedroom. They were disgusted by the sight of two men in bed together. But by the paleness of our skin, they knew what we were. Or thought they did. A lot of innocent people were killed for being 'vampires,' when they simply weren't.
"So they dragged Philip - that was him - and myself out of our home and tied us to a stake in the town square. However, they did not light fires beneath us. The entire town was starting to gather, and the men that had brought us were instructing them to get ready to use holy water, in just a couple moments. 'When the time was right,' one had said.
"I broke free of the ropes. I heard yells, and felt water nearly touch me. I was lucky, so, so lucky, that I wasn't burned.
"I couldn't get Philip free. There was too much going on. 'Go, Markus,' he said, gazing at me with pleading eyes. The eastern horizon was beginning to brighten. 'I promise you,' he said, 'when eternity ends, I'll be waiting for you. But don't commit yourself to a life of loneliness.' A splash of holy water hit him square in the chest, and he let out the most petrifying cry of agony I've ever heard.
"He turned those pleading eyes back to me and said, 'I love you. Please, go. Save yourself.'
"So I went," I concluded. "I heard him scream as the sunlight touched his body and turned him into a pile of ash from the depths of a deserted building. I've never forgiven myself for running."
If I could cry, I would've been doing so at that time. I could almost feel tears running down my cheeks.

(Sorry, for some reason I couldn't find this thread... I hate to ask this, but what happened?)

((I'm a good two-thirds through. I'd probably be done, but I sat it down and haven't gotten back to it. Really interesting, though. I might have to continue the series.))

"You've already thought it through." Teddy said with surprise, having not expected Markus would even be considering something so serious yet. He sits up and dries his face with the heel of his hand. Then he presses one more kiss to Markus' lips. "I haven't even thought about it. But I... if we could last... if I ever do decide to go that way, I want you to do it. Don't argue with me until you think about this; if I want to be a vampire I will be. If you won't turn me I can find someone that will. Do you really trust every vampire here enough to let me look for a likely candidate?" Teddy didn't really want to be a vampire and still did not understand fully what that would even mean. But what if he fell in love? What if he had to grow old and watch Markus move on when whatever he had for good looks were gone? Being a vampire couldn't be any worse than going to hell and he could think of a whole list of people who'd insist that was all there was beyond death for him.

Teddy blushed, embarrassed by Markus' response, but still gave him a smug smile. "I'm sleeping with a gay vampire and hiding it from my old school, fire and brimstone Christian parents. Face it, Markus, this most certainly is a young adult human/vampire romance novel. The only way it could get any more stereotypical is if I had a young band of clueless friends cheering me on between gratuitous vampire bashing. Oh, and you totally need some enemies you haven't seen in months but here they are just in time to meet your human liability." Teddy laughed, then touched Markus' face. "This talk is a little premature any way. You said it yourself; we've known each other for forty eight hours and some change. But I will decide my life for myself Markus; I have that right. You can't really think I'll just be completely okay with you watching me turn to a prune then offing yourself when I'm finally done dying."

I sighed. He was right, I knew it, but I wouldn't admit it. At least, not now. So, I decided to change the subject.
"C'mon," I said, smiling. I planted a quick kiss on his lips, then picked him up and stood, setting him back down on the bed. "The night's still young-ish. Let's go back out talk. Maybe we'll leave the District for a while. There's a bar not too far from here." I pulled my pants up and fastened the clasp, then pulling my shirt over my head and going to the bathroom to fix my hair.
I may have been a vampire. but that didn't mean I didn't care about the way my hair looked.

((Aww, okay Damien : We'll just say your character... left for a while? **shrugs**))

I laughed at his last comment as I turned off the bathroom light and walked back out into the bedroom, pulling on my shoes by the door. My chin-length hair was back in a small pony tail, with a few stray strands here and there. Why had we been talking about eternity? Teddy had had a point, when he had brought up my own point from earlier that night. We'd known each other for two nights. Certainly there should be no saying I love you, let alone talk of forever.
"I'm ready when you are," I announced, leaning against the wall by the door.