His belly felt far too full. 

Groaning, Marquise tried to roll over but just couldn't find the willpower to do so. 

What on Earth did I eat? 

"Three full course meals." 

Marquise was about to try and respond verbally, but when he opened his mouth a ground-shaking belch rumbled through the room. 

"Nice." 

Feeling at least a little bit better now, he finally rolled over and opened his eye. 

Oh...

"Is everything okay?" he asked, his voice nervous. 

He knew that something was wrong. Heck, he remembered what he'd done in the fountain had made the man frustrated, too. Before he could begin to dissolve into worry, though, Marquise was promptly tugged up into a surprisingly-warm lap. 

"Marra, I might be upset with you, but that doesn't mean I'll ever stop loving you and treating you well. I'm also not mad about you trying to play with me in the fountain. I actually really appreciate that you tried to get a little closer to me in your own way, and I'm more than willing to work on that with you," Vrasje said, making Marquise's heart fidget uncomfortably in his chest. 

He was never good at receiving reprimands, and as he grew they became fewer and further in between. 

I don't really remember the last time I was chastised before coming here. 

"Let me answer your previous question," Vrasje said as he settled a hand against Marquise's belly and channeled some of his warmth into it. 

Okay, that actually feels good. 

"I'm sure you have guessed this already, but Pepper took over again when you passed out. He let me give him a bath even though he was a bit grumpy towards the end," Vrasje said as he tugged up a blanket to cover part of Marquise's mostly-naked body as he leaned them back against a large mound of pillows. 

"When I was bathing him he seemed pretty thin, but once we were done I figured I'd just feed him. Well, it turns out that he wasn't thin underneath all of his fluff for no reason..." 

Marquise pursed his lips as he turned his head against Vrasje's chest. He hadn't really thought too much about his alpha wolf besides feeling remorse for what he had done to it. 

"Your alpha is no longer a part of you, Marra. When he was sealed, the rot he was keeping from your human body was forced onto you. His consciousness was also sealed, evidently severing your connection nearly completely." 

Carefully moving onto his side with Vrasje's help, Marquise settled with a shaky sigh and blinked back tears. 

"I've been starving him," Marquise concluded, his voice raspy and uneven. 

The hand that wasn't keeping his belly warm lifted to settled against his hair. Instead of enjoying the head-pat, he lowered his head until that hand fell away. He didn't deserve that kind of positive attention. 

He expected Vrasje to try and comfort him right away, but when the man simply continued to hold him and warm his body in order to aid in the digestion of the extra food his wolf had eaten, and evidentially partially passed to him, he relaxed and eventually drifted off back to sleep. 

The next time he awoke it was sometime around evening. Unsurprisingly, his stomach was still quite full. There was one thing that was bugging him a little, though. 

Drink up, love. I'm just resting my eyes. 

Marquise did as told. It only took a tiny bit of adjusting where he was already lying against the man before he was able to reach his neck and nibble just enough to get the blood flowing. 

Tastes so good...

They remained quiet for a short while as he fed, but the moment Marquise retracted his fangs and leaned away, Vrasje opened his eyes and looked up at him. 

"Oh." 

Marquise frowned at the single word, confused, but then felt his eyes widen as the man slowly reached up and brushed a thumb across his lower lip. 

Frozen in place, he watched as Vrasje withdrew his slightly blood-stained finger, then slipped it between his own lips. 

It was suddenly way too hot in their room!

Hurrying to the edge of the bed, Marquise tossed the extra blanket aside as he felt even his ears steaming uncomfortably. 

"Did I warm you up too much, love? I apologize if so, I got a little bit distracted," Vrasje said as he scooted to the edge of the bed to sit beside him. 

Needing to change the subject immediately, Marquise quickly licked the last tiny taste of blood from his lips, then looked up at the other man. 

"It's fine, um... did you want to do anything today? I don't sense Garlic and I'm sure after eating so much, Pepper is probably going to be asleep for a long while," he said. 

Vrasje gave him a calm smile, relieving some of the tension that had been building between his shoulder-blades. 

"Taru actually wanted to come by with Kova. Would that be alright with you?" 

He didn't have to say that twice! He was extremely excited, even if the peacock was coming, too. 

Eager to get ready, Marquise jumped up... then ran toward the wastebasket, making it just in time to begin throwing up. 

There was soon a warm hand rubbing his back firmly as his stomach emptied its remaining contents. He honestly felt terrible because it was Pepper's food, too, but Vrasje didn't seem worried about that at all. In fact...

"He ate much more than what you have, love. You probably just got stuck with the extra that he couldn't digest, himself," he said, making him feel a little bit better about not being unable to keep it all down. 

Damn, the blood I just drank came up, too. 

"I'll feed you again later once your stomach settles. Don't worry about anything," Vrasje said as he gently held Marquise's hair away from his face. 

He was honestly grateful for the assistance. His hair had grown a surprising amount since he'd begun healing. He probably needed to get it cut soon. 

"I can take care of it, if you'd like. I've done Taru's ever since his parents passed away," Vrasje said. 

Marquise slowly leaned back after a few moments, panting quietly and a little dizzy, but feeling much better. 

"Here sweetheart," Vrasje said as the edge of a cup gently pressed against his lips. 

Marquise took a big gulp and swished it around his mouth, then spat it back into the wastebasket. He did that two more times before Vrasje set the cup aside and guided him backwards until he was settled in his lap, leaning against his chest. 

A few moments later he felt something else press against his lips and slowly opened them. Vrasje gently brushed his teeth for him, erasing the nauseating flavor of vomit. Another rinse a minute later and he was feeling much better. 

"I'll be more careful about how much I feed him tomorrow, sweetheart," Vrasje said, making Marquise blink out of his tired daze and look up at the man still holding him. 

"Tomorrow?" he rasped, his throat sore from throwing up. 

Vrasje nodded, his expression cooling the slightest amount as he brushed Marquise's bangs aside gently, then settled his palm against the side of his face. 

"Yes, tomorrow. Before you wake up each morning I'd like to feed Pepper. I'll be careful not to let him eat too much again, but he deserves to be just as spoiled as you and Garlic," Vrasje said, making Marquise avert his eye. 

"But he's really dangerous. Maybe the mate bond has him calm when he's around you, but he—" his remaining words died on his tongue as Vrasje gently took his jaw between his thumb and pointer finger and tilted his head up the slightest amount. 

The action drew Marquise's eye right back to meet his warm ones. 

"It will all be okay, hun. I will never let Pepper harm anyone. I can't just look the other way when he's suffering. He is a part of the person I want to protect, and he's hurting and hungry." 

Marquise felt a tear slip from his eye as his heart shivered in his chest. He could feel Garlic curiously staring through his blurry eye. To his surprise, however, the pup wasn't interested in taking control. It actually felt like it was settling over him somehow. Like a blanket of reassurance.   

He suddenly snapped back to attention when he felt Vrasje nuzzle his nose against his cheek, then ever-so-softly, lick away a teardrop at the very edge of his eye. 

A warm feeling suddenly diffused throughout his body, calming his nerves and relaxing his erratic heartbeat. Before he realized what he was doing, he was pressing his own tongue against the man's smooth cheek. 

It was the briefest action, completing itself before he even registered what he'd done. It even took him nearly ten full seconds before he put the pieces together, too. 

Uh...

He was just about to have a mini meltdown of embarrassment and blame Garlic, even though the pup hadn't really pushed him, so much as just made him a little more comfortable with the situation in general, but before he could begin spiraling into a puddle of stress he felt Vrasje lick all the way from the bottom of his jaw up to the edge of his eye!

Scoffing out a growl of surprise and annoyance, Marquise reached up and shoved the man's face away, though he didn't put too much force into the action. It was more of a light nudge than anything else. Just enough to get Vrasje's face to turn away from his own. 

"What are you doing you—" he straightened abruptly up onto his knees in the man's lap, lifting himself just out of reach of that darn tongue as it tried to lick him for a fourth time! 

Vrasje grinned up at him with a mischievous look in his eyes after his swift dodge.  

Marquise scowled in response, but for some reason he just couldn't stay mad. 

Garlic, you stubborn dog. What are you doing to me? 

Garlic gave a quiet grunt in response, but Marquise couldn't pinpoint the pup's actual form within him. It was somehow melded with his own right then. 

He was zoning out again. Thankfully, he did notice a faint brush of air against his right nipple and immediately snapped back to attention to look down with a warning growl!

Vrasje looked up with a cheeky grin as he leaned forward the slightest amount, allowing his nose to faintly brush against his chest. 

"Hi sweet love."

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked as he reached up and tugged at a bit of Vrasje's long black hair. 

The man gave a quiet chuckle and leaned forward to press a kiss to the middle of Marquise's chest. 

"Showing my pup some love." 

Marquise tugged the length of hair harder. 

"Are you blind now, Jey? What part of me looks like Garlic?" he asked, more than a bit miffed. 

The man's grin widened as he straightened his back and looked up at him. 

"All of you. You have his eyes, and his sweet personality. Your hair is just as soft as his fur and you both love being held by me." 

That last one was a bit of a stretch... except, he was currently being held by the man. And he did tend to be carried around a lot without getting upset.  

Scowling, Marquise turned around and sat down on the guy's right leg, crossing his arms over his chest in the process. 

Of course, even though he was clearly fuming, Vrasje didn't seem bothered in the least as he wound his arms around Marquise's waist and tugged him closer. 

This man...

Glaring over his shoulder, Marquise nudged an elbow against Vrasje's chest. 

"Why are you so handsy? Do I need to get you a doll to hold?" 

Vrasje's eyes sparkled at his poor joke as a smirk slid across his lips. 

"Why didn't you get out of my lap if you don't want me to hold you?" Vrasje replied, making Marquise fidget as his ears reddened and he quickly looked away. 

Instead of poking fun at him, Vrasje hugged him a little closer and pressed a kiss to the lobe of his left ear. 

"I love you, Marra." 

Marquise felt his heartbeat skip in his chest as he nervously peeked the slightest amount over his shoulder. 

Vrasje immediately leaned a little closer and pressed a kiss to the base of his ear. 

"Marra, I love you."

Marquise lifted his shoulder and nudged the man's jaw gently.

Vrasje stopped kissing his ear, but redirected downward to his bare shoulder, since it was practically being offered. A shot of something that felt like adrenaline mixed with excitement zipped through Marquise's body in response, making him shiver a little. 

"Marra, I wanna kiss you," Vrasje said as he lifted his lips from his shoulder and brought his eyes up to meet his. 

You are kissing me...

Of course, he knew what he meant, and honestly, it shouldn't have been a big deal. 

This isn't a big deal. He's your bonded mate, even if you can't feel it. 

Garlic definitely could, and considering how Pepper had acted around him, even his alpha probably didn't mind the possibility. 

You know what? Fuck it. 

Reaching up and turning more, Marquise grabbed Vrasje's jaw a bit too tightly, then yanked it forward as he leaned in. He saw the man's eyes widen from surprise but paid his expression no further mind as their mouths pressed together awkwardly. 

Okay, that's done. 

Spinning back around in a blur, Marquise moved to get out of the man's lap when he felt the arms around his waist tighten abruptly, pulling him right back up against Vrasje's chest. 

Turning, since he was now trapped, Marquise glared at Vrasje and opened his mouth to grumble at him, but before he could even get words out the man had lifted his left hand up and settled it against the side of his face, making him turn toward him a little more. It was the perfect angle. Vrasje leaned forward and sealed their mouths together again. 

The man's hand soon slipped away from his cheek to settle on his waist, but Marquise didn't even notice. He was too busy trying to fend off Vrasje's damn tongue! 

Although, after only a few moments, it became oddly easy to overpower it, making it retreat back into Vrasje's mouth as Marquise's tongue followed. His full attention was focused on his task, making him completely oblivious to the overall situation until their mouths finally separated as Marquise lifted his head up. 

He was panting a lot harder than Vrasje, but to his surprise, the man that was now beneath him also seemed to be a bit winded. He was also... not looking at him? 

Instinct immediately drew his head downward again, making him nuzzle against the man's bared neck. Pretty soon he was nipping at the same spot he'd drunk from earlier, easily opening the barely-healed wound. As he began to drink, he was a bit surprised that he didn't feel any hands on him at all. 

He waited a few more moments, but didn't hear the man speak, or talk to his thoughts, either. 

Once the worst of his thirst was sated, Marquise slowly leaned away again, pushing himself up to check and see what was really going on. 

Oh...

Vrasje wasn't not touching him because he wanted to. 

I've been pinning him down? 

The elder vampire didn't seem interested in fighting him on it, either. The man lay completely still beneath him, his neck bared and bloody, and his head turned away. The behavior was completely submissive! 

Not knowing what to do, Marquise hurriedly got up and went into the washroom, then shoved his face into the cold bowl of water that was available there to wash his face. 

He heard Vrasje get up a few moments later, glad that he made the effort to be audible. 

I'm going to go get ready for Taru downstairs. Take your time. 

He felt the man blur around the other room for a moment, then the sound of the door opening and closing met his ears. 

He's gone...

For now. 

Heaving a long sigh, Marquise leaned on the counter in front of him and just let himself calm down. Once he was comfortable, he got busy taking care of himself. Besides, he could worry about his situation with Vrasje later, his master was coming over and he wanted to greet him with a smile on his face. 

Looking up into the mirror after scrubbing his face more and brushing his messy hair, Marquise felt his face warm as he noticed how swollen his lips had gotten. 

I suppose even smiling will garner some uncomfortable questions. 

Shaking his head, he ran his fingers through his bangs, then gave out a quiet bit of laughter. 

"I guess it can't be helped. I'll have to talk with master about this new development." 

For some reason, he didn't feel nearly as nervous as he thought he would about it, though.