Lupirin: Pain - part 3
Lupirin - 'Pain' part 3
Story © Aenzi
All comments/criticisms will be met accordingly with vast amounts of love.
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Adrian had his paws wrapped tightly around Mariah.
God, he loved her! Had he really, only moments ago, been ready to give up? To surrender to this feeling of helplessness? To sink into the darkness?
No, Adrian realized now. There was too much left to live for. Besides...Adrian was afraid of the dark. Mariah had brought him back to reality with her gentle kisses, her soft paws. He didn't want to go anywhere that Mariah wasn't. He had to keep going. Adrian gave one last sniff.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I won't break down like that again..."
"Don't make promises you can't keep." Mariah said with a grin.
Adrian smiled, too. She knew him all too well.
A soft knock upon the open door...
Seerey walked in, with a container in her hand. Adrian recognized it as one of the fluid containers from the hospital. Adrian got sick quite easily, so he was no stranger to hospital supplies. This bag was unique, though, in the fact that it was opaque: Adrian could not see what was inside.
"Sorry to interrupt," Seerey said, a smile upon her grayed muzzle. "But you need to get something in your stomach, Adrian. There can be some nasty complications if you don't get fluid regularly."
Adrian blinked. He had felt those...complications before. That pain he felt when he'd first awoken. He never wanted to feel anything like that again. Never. He'd drink whatever the hell Seerey wanted him too, at this point.
Seerey inserted a straw into the bag, and handed to him. Seerey and Mariah shared a brief glance at one another. They both knew what Adrian didn't...what was really in that bag.
Adrian giggled as he took the bag from Seerey, oblivious to the look they had shared. "Just like the juice pouches back in grade school." he laughed.
Seerey smiled. "Not all that different, really."
Adrian gave a sniff at the end of the straw...and he liked what he smelled. "Mmm...what is this?"
Mariah's eyes widened. Seerey gave no visible reaction. "Something I mixed up. Go ahead...drink. You'll feel better."
Adrian needed no second bidding. He put the straw in his mouth and drank deeply of the substance, letting his eyes closed. This...this was amazing! The liquid was thick, rich...so amazingly sweet! There were layers of taste here...like nothing Adrian had ever drank before. As the stuff flowed into his stomach, he suddenly began to feel lighter, better. No wonder he'd been so worked up before...he hadn't realized how hungry he'd been.
Adrian finished off half the bag in one gulp, and gave an over-dramatized sigh. "Man, this stuff is fabulous! What do you call it, Seerey?"
Seerey did not hesitate. He needed to know...needed to accept what he was now.
"It's blood, Adrian."
Adrian did a double take, his eyes widening with painful refusal to accept what he'd heard. "Come on, now, Seerey...this is no time for jokes..." he said, his voice shaking.
Mariah took Adrian's paw in her own. "No jokes, Adrian. That's blood...my blood."
Adrian's stomach gave a sickened wrench, the bag slipping numbly from his paws. Blood...? He'd drank blood? And enjoyed it?
"What...have I become?"
Mariah took one of his paws. "Now stop that."
Not just anyone's blood...Mariah's! What was he now...would he feed off of those he loved?
"I liked it..." he whispered. "What am I? I liked it!" Adrian's voice began escalating in volume. "I actually liked the taste of it!"
Mariah let out a deep growl, and snapped. "Stoppit!"
Adrian blinked in surprise. Mariah never raised her voice.
"That's my blood." she said firmly. "You think someone else's would taste so good? Do they love you like I do?"
Silence.
"My blood loves you. My blood...wants you to live. It just isn't anybody's blood. Trust me, you can taste the difference."
"But Mariah..." Adrian pleaded. "Not this...I--I can't...
This wasn't about how much he loved Mariah, at this point. Adrian couldn't bite people! Not the way he'd been bitten; the pain, the anguish, stealing others' lives so he could live himself...Adrian wasn't like that. He loved Mariah, more than his own life. But, he couldn't bite people! He couldn't do it!
"I can't drink blood for the rest of my life! I'm not like that." he insisted. "I can't hurt other people all the time..."
"You won't have to." Seerey said, cutting him off firmly. "I have...friends, in the medical industry. There is a 'cordial' we produce for Lupirin, a non-living blood substitute. I'd have given you some of that, but I'm out at the moment. As soon as I obtain some, you can use that instead."
Adrian breathed a sigh of relief, feeling himself relax. "Thank god..." No biting people. Good. Adrian wasn't cut out for this sort of thing.
Mariah prodded Adrian none to gently in the ribs. "You still need to drink the rest of that." she said, indicating the bag.
Adrian winced. "Please, Mariah...I don't like this..."
"You'll have side effects if you don't." Mariah pressed.
"You're being mean..."
"Do it or I'll bite your ears."
Adrian's eyes widened. One of his greatest weaknesses was the fact that his ears were ticklish...painfully so. Whenever Mariah wanted to tease him, she'd nibble on his ears. Adrian would be immediately forced to submit...he couldn't resist her when she had him by the ears. His paw strayed protectively toward his head. "You wouldn't..."
She slapped his paw out of the way and ruthlessly seized one of his ears with her claws, gripping none too gently. Adrian let out a dismayed feline chirrup. "Mariah!" he protested.
"Drink!" Mariah commanded again.
Adrian let out a whimper, but picked up the bag. He returned the straw to his lips. Then he looked again to Mariah, to confirm if she was actually going to make him do this. She responded with another tug on his ear. Another whimper...and Adrian drank. It really wasn't all that bad...he just tried not to think about it. After all, it did taste really good.
He drained the rest of the bag, though not nearly as quickly as the first half. Mariah smiled and let go of his ear. "Good boy." she purred.
"Only because you cheated." he said, smiling.
"All's fair in love and war." she murmured.
All of a sudden, like being hit by a stone, Adrian felt incredibly lethargic. He wanted...needed sleep.
Seerey drew closer. "Sleepy?" she asked.
Adrian nodded weakly.
"Yes, that will happen for the first few months every time you feed. You're body needs time to get used to the task of assimilating blood. Go ahead and sleep, for as long as you feel you can."
"Alrighty..." Adrian said, the task of keeping his eyes open becoming burdensome. Seerey gave him one last smile. He'd be alright; he was strong. Then she left.
Mariah hadn't told Seerey, but she hadn't slept since she heard the news of Adrian's attack. How could she? Mariah prided herself on being able to be the rational one in tough situations, but that didn't mean she wasn't afraid. And the lord knew, she'd been afraid. Now, though, the fear was fading...steadily being replaced with determination, hope for the future. She slipped into the bed beside her love, pulling his blankets over herself as well.
Adrian's eyes were already closed, but he was still aware enough to feel her beside him. He let out a deep purr, putting an arm around her. Mariah, in turn, wrapped her own arms around Adrian's torso...and then she blinked in surprise. Slowly, a smirk crept across her features.
"Adrian, you're not wearing anything." she murmured...and then, grinning, she took full advantage of his bareness.
Grab!
Adrian's eyes snapped open, and a blush burned beneath his fur. "Mariah!" he whispered, alarmed. "We're...we're not alone here!"
"Oh, I know..." she laughed. "Go to sleep, Adrian. I was just teasing."
It took Adrian a moment to settle himself back down after being so rudely grabbed...down there! But--she'd only been teasing after all...and...
Oh dammit...he was just too tired to care.
As Adrian drifted off to sleep, Mariah smiled to herself, tucked in her lover's arm. She actually blushed herself...she didn't usually do things like that. The way she touched him! Adrian and Mariah were still virgins, really. They'd fooled around together before...heavy petting, that sort of thing. But they'd never gone all the way. Never with each other--never with anyone else.
She grabbed Adrian for several reasons...firstly, only this morning she'd thought she lost him forever. That was...well, she was venting, she supposed. More importantly, though...Adrian, the Adrian she knew and loved...would have been upset at that sort of thing. He would have blushed: he was so modest. She wanted to make sure...that it was really him. That he hadn't really changed.
And he hadn't. He was a Lupirin now, yes...but he was still Adrian.
Mariah purred, hugging Adrian tighter. And then, feeling safe and content, she fell asleep.
The two lovers slept for the remainder of that day into the next morning.