After the raid.

Simon opened his eyes. He was lying in a hospital bed, dressed in a hospital gown. He reached up and touched his face. The skin felt healed. Looking down at the rest of him, Simon saw that he recovered from the sun exposure quickly. Pulling the covers off, he slipped out of the bed and walked to the bathroom mirror, turning on the light as he entered. The reflection in the mirror gave him a sigh of relief. His gown said Duibne Industries. He was in their medical facility.

The room was large and private with a full bath and 2 doors. A private entrance and the hospital entrance. The hospital door opened and someone called out.

'Mr. Huntington?'

'In here,' he replied.

'I need to check your vitals. Are you alright?'

He looked back at the mirror and smiled. Turning he exited the bathroom and saw the older nurse standing in her uniform and nurse's cap. He didn't think they wore those anymore. Climbing back into bed, he rubbed his eyes and laughed.

'What's so funny, Mr. Huntington?'

He looked down at the bed covers as the nurse wrapped the blood pressure cuff around his arm. 'I just had one of those days.'

'Really, love?'

Simon froze. The voice had changed and it was a painfully familiar one. The blood pressure cuff on his arm became increasingly tight. He swallowed hard and looked up into the face of the nurse.

With a blood shot green eye and disfigured, burned face, Ellis gave him a smile and said, 'I loved you too, Simon.'

Marthinus T. Steyn stood outside Simon's room talking to one of the doctors monitoring Simon. On the wall next to Simon's room door was a computer panel with his vitals flashing.

'His skin has had extensive damage, no telling how much blood it'll take to replenish it. We'll keep him on an IV and monitor his healing,' the doctor said to Marthinus.

Marthinus looked at Simon's vitals screen, watching his heart rate beat slow and normal. When they had brought him in, he smelled of ash and sulfur, his body pale from the damage of the sunlight and no doubt his organs boiling like Sunday's hamhocks. He had received blood from the reporter, Kyle Evans, which kept him from the brink of crumbling to ashes.

Although young Kyle Evans had his own problems down in detox as he experienced the euphoria of the Eternity he had taken and waited out his inevitable need for more of it. From his story about what happened to him inside, he was without a doubt addicted now. Marthinus would check on him afterwards.

Suddenly Simon's heart rate spiked high and an alarm set off at the nurses station. The doctor pushed open the door.

Simon was screaming.

His eyes had been badly burned and bandaged to protect him from any light source till they healed a little more and he was tearing at them and his IV's, trying to pull away. Marthinus ran to the bed and grabbed him.

'Simon, Simon! Calm down!'

The doctor ordered a sedative from one of the nurses running in. She turned on her heel and ran back out.

Marthinus tried to push Simon back down on the hospital bed but even in his weakened state he managed to push Marthinus away easily. He was yelling something incoherent. Screaming over and over again.

No.

Go away.

But you're dead.

Nova turned away from the door with a sigh as her mobile began to vibrate, giving the nurses a wide berth as they rushed into the room. She sighed and leaned against the wall while she pulled her phone out and had a brief conversation with registration regarding the two scientists they had taken from the compound.

She had named them Bill and Ted.

She had also made sure they gave blood to the ‘save Simon’ cause before handing them over to HR.

Hanging up the phone, Nova turned once more to look through the small glass window in the door.

She would need to see Kyle soon, she knew, but she didn’t really feel like dealing with the human right now. He would be feeling pretty good for a while yet, and Nova couldn’t help but hope he enjoyed it. It would be the last time he was feeling good for a while.

Simon was, at the moment, her main concern, and his current problem was one she thought maybe she could help with. Pushing open the door, she walked in quietly behind Marthinus, who was at the moment quite busy with keeping Simon in his bed.

The IVs were doing their work, she saw, but wouldn’t be for long if Simon kept thrashing about. The nurses were giving him a little something to help him relax but that would probably just mean he couldn’t move around. His brain would still be working full swing, which, in spite of the circumstances, Nova couldn’t help but see as a good thing. At least his mind hadn’t been totally baked by the sun and hopefully Simon would come out of this whole mess without anything too nuts happening.

“Hey Marthinus. I’m a do a thing.”

With that she walked over to the couch and flopped down, closing her eyes and tuning out the world. She didn’t need to be asleep to walk dreams, though if she crashed out while she was sitting here it wouldn’t surprise her. She tended to sleep like the dead and it was way passed her bed time.

Taking a deep breath, she focused on Simon with her mind, calling up the familiar image that helped her subconscious make the transition from her own mind to someone else’s.

She was in a long hallway with closed doors on both sides. She began walking, looking down to see the bright yellow ‘fuck you’ tee shirt that she tended to wear in her dreams. That wasn’t necessarily what the dreamer would see; hell, sometimes they didn’t see her at all. At the moment that was neither here nor there, though; she needed to find the door.

Dreamwalking got easier over time, the more you got to know a person and how they ticked. She had never poked around in Simon’s dreams before, but she was pretty close to him and hoped their creator/child relationship might help pave the way.

Nodding her head as name plates began to appear on the doors, she passed by a handful of ex boyfriends, coworkers, her brother, willing Simon’s name to appear. The hallway never seemed to end but she sighed in relief when she spotted a door with light streaming out the bottom.

The nameplate said Simon Huntington.

She pushed on the door and was pleased to see that it swung open with little effort.

/ooc permission to poke at Simon's dreams
Edit: We're going to make the dream world blue :D. That's what all the edits are.

'Kyle you're fucking higher than a kite.'

She had been watching him just sit there, goofy ass grin on his face. Kyle had been in that same position for over two hours. He turned to look at her standing at the door. Same grin.

'Kyle you're addicted to the Eternity.' She walked up to him and touched his shoulder. 'You're going to be coming down soon.' No reaction, same grin. Carol sat on the bed and put her arm around Kyle, her head resting on his shoulder.

'You did a good thing Charlie Brown. We'll do everything we can to help.' Then looked out the window into the sunlight with him.

Nova took Simon’s offered hand and rose to her feet, returning the hug with damn near rib crushing force as he explained that she would want to talk to Carol. It sounded like good news and she wondered what the deal was.

This was, in any case, her cue to go, and with a last little smile and not a little hope, she turned around. As was the way of things in dreams, she found herself back in the hallway and started for the door with the light filtering out the bottom.

She came to with a rather indelicate grunt and took a moment to let her vision adjust before looking around the room, first down at Simon, then, somewhat sheepishly, over at Marthinus.

“How you holding up?”

Remembering that Simon had said Carol was coming, she stood up to open the door for her, then froze.

Just how the hell did Simon know Carol was on her way?

Carol closed Kyle's door quietly and then ran down the hallway back to Simon's room which was on the otherside of the wing. She dodged a nurse and with an apologetic 'oops' ignored the angry looks as she passed the nurses station next to Simon's wing. 'Alright alright,' she slowed down and then suddenly it hit her.

Her stomach cramped up and the nausea was coming again. They took Simon away so quickly she couldn't see him until just now so she visited Kyle while she waited for the doctors to stabilize him. Carol completely stopped and bent over in the hallway, trying to gasp for air.

Oh dear god the pain he must be in, she thought. She waved away a nurse that had come up to help her and she straightened, heading towards Simon's door slowly. With each step the cramping got worse.

Carol reached out to put her hand on the handle when Nova opened it, looking a little shocked. 'Nova...' She stopped as the door swung open, revealing him on the bed. Suddenly she ran around his bed and into the bathroom. The vomitting was so violent she thought she was going to pass out right there on the bathroom floor.

Pulling herself up, she painfully washed out her mouth and walked back out to Simon. Marthinus stood and walked her to his chair, sitting her next to the bed. With one arm craddling her stomach, she reached out and touched Simon's hand. He stirred and murmured her name.

'I'm here Simon, I'm here.'

Nova blinked as Carol moved passed her to the bathroom, still stuck on the whole ‘Simon knew Carol was on her way’ thing. The sounds coming from the bathroom distracted her from further thought on that matter, though she wasn’t sure what the hell to think anyway.

Sounded like Carol was hurling something fierce and she looked over at Marthinus with a concerned expression before deciding maybe she should check to make sure Ellis’s familiar was okay.

Shit. Ellis’s familiar. Nova had never heard of violent illness being a symptom of a familiar bond breaking but then there weren’t a whole lot of cases to look at. In any case, she imagined something like that would sure fuck a body up. She wondered if Marthinus was feeling icky too.

Kinda odd, though, that it had been Simon she was screaming over the com channel for. Not Ellis, Simon. And there was still the deal with Simon knowing where Carol was.

Carol came back out of the bathroom while Nova was still trying to sort this shit out, and her eyes went wide at their interaction. She turned to Marthinus, pointing between Carol and Simon. Not wanting to interrupt…whateverthefuck was going on, she mouthed two words in her friend’s direction.

‘Holy Shit.’

Marthinus, meanwhile, had calmly given up his chair and seemed pretty unflapped by this development. Did he know about this?

“I think I missed a memo.”

“I think I missed a memo.”

Carol looked at Nova and the expression on her face. Oh right. She looked back at her hand holding Simon's and flicked her eyes back at Nova. 'It just sort of...happened, Nova.' She took a deep breath, trying to fight off another wave of nausea. 'I think it must've been when he...decided to...take steps.'

She looked back at Simon and gently touched his forehead. Just then another nurse came in and checked the skin under his bandages.

'These can come off now, they appear to be decently healed.' The nurse gently cut the wrapping off and Simon stirred again, moving closer to Carol.

Carol's face tightened up in pain but seeing his face clearly still made her smile. Out loud, to no one in particular, Carol said softly, 'I love him.'

Nova tried to stop doing her impression of a goldfish as Carol explained how things had gone down. Damn but that was some crazy shit, they must have been on pins and needles all this time.

She watched as the nurse cut the bandages away, revealing freshly healed skin, and certainly didn’t miss the fact that the two lovebirds moved closer to each other as soon as they possibly could, even with Simon in his current messed up state. Realizing she hadn’t said anything in response to the rather shocking news, she let a grin break over her face.

“Well…shit, good for you!”

So. Simon and Carol…in love.

And she thought dreams were weird.

Marthinus opened the door and called a nurse. Then he put his hands on Carol's shoulders softly.

'Carol you need to be away from Simon when he's like this. The pain is only going to get worse until he gets better. Maybe in several hours?' Carol looked up at Marthinus and nodded with a grimace. Before she left, she reached over and pressed her forehead against Simon's and then gave him a small kiss on his lips. Again he stirred, his grip on her hand did not seem to want to let go.

Marthinus did not have the words. He had never seen Simon, for one, in this much pain but the fact that he knew she was there and needed her so much, even while drugged pretty heavily, just impressed the hell out of him. He knew Carol would've stayed till she passed out, as well. He hoped to god that he'd find some peace in his life now, especially with Carol.

He gently helped her up and out the door with the nurse. Marthinus watched the door close and then he turned to face Nova. With a sheepish grin, he put his hands in his pockets.

'Yes, I knew. She told me several days ago. Apparently it was sudden.' He raised his eyesbrows and grinned. 'They seem to be very much in love.' Marthinus looked away under Nova's stare, blushing slightly.

((Carol out))

Nova frowned as Marthinus led Carol out of the room, making the connection now that it was Simon’s injuries and not the familiar bond that was causing her sickness. Marthinus seemed at least a touch sheepish about knowing before everyone else and Nova gave him what she hoped was a reassuring shrug.

“We’ve all had a lot on our minds; all the more shocking that they were dealing with” She gave her hand an abstract wave “love…things.” Resisting the urge to wash out her mouth after saying the dreaded ‘l’ word, she instead focused on the scientific aspects of all of this.

“So what’s the deal though? Is Carol Simon’s familiar now or is the whole ‘I feel your pain’ thing something else? And are you feeling okay?”

Marthinus looked at her a little surprised. He would've thought she'd have figured it out. 'Me? No, I'm fine. To be very honest, Ellis hasn't kept up the bond in some time, but the ownership was obviously still there. She obviously had other things on her mind, so she's let her bonds laspe.' He had been briefed about the information found in the Compound's database. 'Although I'm not sure with the new one, Addison Monroe.'

Again his eyebrows crinkled together, 'But Carol isn't Simon's familiar, Nova. They're bonded.'

Nova nodded her head at Marthinus’s explanation regarding his good health, relieved to hear that he was okay.

“Yeah, I met Addison briefly…guess someone’s going to have to talk to him. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of talking happening once Simon is up and running again, though.”

The rest of the clan would probably be just a touch concerned about their leader falling into a fiery pit, and well they would, or at least had damn well better, stay in line, they’d all be looking for some order.

Nova wasn’t particularly invested in the whole ‘recognized clan’ goal, mostly because that would imply that she gave a fuck what other vampires thought of Tacharan, but she couldn’t help but wonder how the recent changes might effect that. Mostly people would just want some assurance of the clan’s direction, at least in Nova’s opinion.

At Marthinus’s next explanation, she nodded her head, looking down at Simon.

“Yeah, for some reason it doesn’t seem very…Simon…to do the familiar thing with Carol. I didn’t know he –could- bond, though, didn’t occur to me.” She gave a shrug. “Not an ability I know a whole lot about, but seems like they’re happy with the way things worked out.”

Digging into her pocket, she pulled out her key ring and separated the car alarm button from the rest of the keys, placing it in Simon’s hand and wrapping his fingers around it.

“Guess I should see what the deal is with Kyle.”

Marthinus pulled softly at his bottom lip. 'Yes, Mr. Evans. Our unwitting hero. I would imagine that he's enjoying the effects of the Eternity.' But not for much longer, Marthinus thought. If what Evans had said was accurate, he's a rather happy but very addicted E-user now.

'I wonder if we can't help him somehow? I suppose we owe it to him for what he did.' Kyle had freely given his blood to Simon, much to their surprise. If it hadn't been for that selfless act, Simon would've died right there in the sewers. Noble deeds were not Mr. Evans style, but Marthinus was grateful.

'I'll wait here and sit with Simon, he should be coming around soon. Thank you, Nova', he nodded towards her alarm button in Simon's hand, 'for everything'.

Nova nodded her head at Marthinus, seeing his point regarding Kyle.

“Well yeah…I mean, you know what I think of Evans but of course, we should help him any way we can.”

She found she wasn’t particularly reluctant to help, even if she did feel the need to mention how much she didn’t like the guy at any opportunity while she was doing it. For one thing, it would be interesting to see the effects of an eternity addiction first hand.

And, if Nova were being honest with herself…it was just the right thing to do.

“Hell, thank you. I’ll come back in a little bit then.”

With that, she stepped out into the hallway, though she paused for a minute before moving on to Kyle’s room. She was truly glad Simon would be okay, and in spite of heavy injuries the rest of the clan had come through. She was, however, having a hard time shaking her worries about Marthinus. The guy had just had a heart attack.

Deciding that she could only do what she could do, she picked up her feet and started moving.

She pushed open the door without knocking, for some reason petulantly being rude on purpose in some passive aggressive scheme to annoy Evans off the bat, and she was both disappointed and alarmed to find the room apparently empty.

Then she heard sounds from under the bed.

For fuck’s sake.

She walked over to the bed and yanked the sheet up, peering down at the grown man curled up on the floor.

This really had to suck for him.

She held out her hand, ready to drag him out by the armpits if need be but wanting to see if he was up for coming out on his own.

“It ain’t gonna get any better under there.”

His body had begun to shiver uncontrollably which added to his also uncontrollable weeping. This was worse than getting back on the wagon and suffering through that shit, he thought. This was one hundred times worse. One hundred times more needles jabbing at his skin and eye balls. Then to make matters worse, She Ra was poking her head under his bed, intruding on his hell.

'Go away.' He reached out to grab the sheet from her, failing miserably. 'What do you want? To gloat? Is my pain amusing you??'

Nova gave a disdainful snort at Kyle’s behavior.

“No, you tit, I’m here to help.”

She sighed and gritted her teeth, realizing they were off to a bad start and calling Evans a tit hardly made for sounding sincere in her efforts. She waved her hand in front of him again and spoke through still clenched teeth.

“So will you…please…take the hand?”

God, why was she mollycoddling this guy? And who the fuck said ‘mollycoddling’ anyway? She figured she was going to have to drag him out one way or another but it just seemed…better…if he made the call to meet her halfway. Her patience, however, was a little on the short side.

He covered his head with his arms and pressed his face against the floor. Yelling, although muffled, he expressed his feelings towards Nova.

'I've had enough help from you people already, thank you!' He cried a little more. Muttering he wailed, 'Either go away or...just go away.' He reached out for the sheet again and grabbed a hold of it. He yanked down on it and covered his head again with it. He suddenly pulled the sheet off again and pointed a finger at Nova.

'If you want to help me, you'd get me a fucking drink. Vodka. AND OLIVES.' Kyle continued with his crying. He weeped into the carpet and said, 'I don't even like olives.'

What in the holy fuck was his problem? Nova had –said- please. Sighing, she muttered under her breath as she yanked the sheet away from Kyle.

“Alright, fine, I guess it’s the hard way then. We’ll just add rug burn to the list of your problems, not like you’re going to notice anyway.”

With that, she reached under the bed and grabbed Kyle by the armpits, yanking him out from under the bed as hard as she could.

That was considerably harder than she realized, apparently, as she managed to overbalance and fall on her ass in the process, with a sweaty crying man half on her lap. Moving quickly before he could worm his way back into his hiding place, she got her legs underneath her again and pushed up, dragging Evans with her.

“You gonna puke?”

/ooc Permission to move Kyle

'Oh god, yes I am.' Kyle half ran, half crawled to the bathroom and violently vomitted. A few minutes of agony passed and he finally flushed the toilet and closed the lid. Resting his head on the cold surface, he mumbled, 'I wouldn't have puked if you hadn't asked me, you evil wench.'

Kyle didn't know what to do, cry, laugh, puke or just cry. The pain and misery was far more than he had ever experienced with alcohol. The unreal euphoria of Eternity was one thousand times more potent than anything he had ever tried and you know he tried a lot. He went to college.

He mumbled loudly again, 'I WENT TO COLLEGE YOU KNOW.' He lifted the toilet lid again and just stuck his head in it, just in case.

Nova let Kyle go as he seemed capable of moving the short distance to the bathroom, though she stayed close in case his legs gave out. She could hardly help the sympathetic wince that came when he started spewing up a storm; blowing chunks was never a fun thing to do and she’d worshiped the porcelain god enough to know.

Ignoring his whining, she stepped over his legs and opened the shower door, turning on the knobs and letting the water warm up. Not too warm, but it didn’t need to be freezing either.

“Yeah, yeah, and maybe if you’re lucky you still have a couple of brain cells to rub together.”

Sticking her hand in the spray and deciding it would do, she turned to the closet and pulled out a couple of towels and some scrubs. Never one to be shy, she leaned over Kyle’s doubled over form and started tugging at his shirt in an attempt to pull it off.

“Alright, time to get you in the shower, let’s go.”

'What the,' Nova had begun to pull his shirt off over his head. Suddenly discovering vanity while in withdrawl, he started to slap her hands away. Part of him winced at how comical he must look, but a man's gotta have his dignity.

'I want you to know,' he slapped her hand away, 'I am not attracted to you.' She yanked his shirt off and finally he gave up.

It occured to him that he could not recall her name, if he even heard it in Marthinus hospital room. She was trying to help, he knew that, but the pain and misery was just too much for him and when he was in pain or sick...he whined.

'Listen...She Ra...could you just please let me die in peace?'

Nova rolled her eyes as Kyle struggled feebly against her efforts to get him disrobed.

“Well call the fucking Times, Kyle Evans is not attracted to me. I’m just gonna leave you on the bathroom floor while I go cry in my pillow then.”

Nova thought about that for a minute, then realized what she had just said.

“Hey wait, you are the Times.”

The shirt at last slipped off and she tossed it into a corner before kneeling down to get one shoulder under his arm.

“No can do, up we go now, atta boy. And it’s Nova. Four letters, surely with your college education you can manage that.”

Once he was something resembling vertical she gave the knot at the drawstring of his pants a tug before yanking them down by the waistband.

“Though actually She Ra kinda has a ring to it, come to think of it.”

Kyle stood stoic, finally humilated beyond what his mind could reason at that moment. Any other time he'd ask her to join him, a woman undressing him, who wouldn't love that? But right then Kyle was finally broken emotionally. Like a robot, he stepped into the shower and let the water hit him, eyes open. They immediately started to burn but was lost within the sensation of stinging pain he was already feeling through out his head and body.

An aching despair settled over him. This was far worse than alcohol addiction. Far, far worse. He leaned against the side of the shower and let himself slowly slide down. He hugged his knees and spoke softly to Nova.

'What did they...put in me, Nova? What's inside me now?' He shivered harder, sobs wracking his aching body. 'I NEED it, I can feel...it...inside me.' Kyle put his face down on top of his knees. He continued to cry softly whispering over and over again, 'It's inside me.'

Nova was prepared to haul Kyle into the shower if need be but his independent streak eventually won out and he made it on his own. She stayed by the shower, not bothering to slide the door closed, and closed the lid to the toilet to have a seat once it seemed he was managing okay.

Then, of course, his legs seemed to give out and she reached out a steadying arm to help ease him to the floor. His legs were probably cramping up on him, but he seemed to sink in despair as much as anything else. As evidenced by the terrible sobbing. Nova winced; puking and crying were probably her least favorite things to do and she couldn’t help but feel bad for the guy.

She wasn’t sure if he was being rhetorical at this point but thought it might help to answer his questions. He’d certainly earned it.

“Well, the bad news is that you’ve got Eternity in your system right now. It’s very addictive and, as you can see, a bitch to come off of.”

She leaned against the tank and continued.

“The good news is, you won’t be like this forever. The drug will be completely gone from your system in at the most three days, maybe less depending on how much you exerted yourself while you were peaking. When you go beyond your own strength and start relying on the drug, that burns it up faster. If you’re just enjoying the high it’ll last longer. Anyway, after that you’re…still going to crave it. Maybe for a long time. Sometimes it’ll get easier and then you’ll get in a situation where your body remembers, ‘hey, I know what I need to get through this!’ and you’ll be climbing up the walls all over again.”

She bit the inside of her cheek, realizing that even her good news sort of sucked.

“Uh, if it makes you feel any better, this didn’t make you a vampire or anything. Eternity can bring you back from the brink but it can’t change you.”

And that, Nova felt, was the real dilemma. Eternity could save lives. It had saved Marthinus’s life. Yes, it was going to be abused, but she didn’t think that was a reason to stop developing it. Of course, when you had corruption at both ends and bleeding machines being made to farm more blood, there were problems. She wondered, though, about a world where vampires and humans both gave blood willingly to help each other.

She shook her head and wondered when she had become some Evenhet wet nurse.

Kyle sneered. 'Yes, back from the brink. The fuckers shot me in the chest.' He shut his eyes, trying not to remember the ackward feeling of having his spine severed. He made a jabbing motion with his hand. 'They fucking shoved the needle into my heart...christ.' Kyle continued to shiver, his teeth now chattering but he wasn't sure if it was from the luke warm water or just his body's needs.

He looked at her with piercing, narrowed eyes. 'How do you know so much about this drug, anyway?'

Nova listened as Kyle recounted his injuries, feeling just a little stupid for bitching so much about a bump on her head.

“Woah. That sucks.”

She privately thought that he was still better off being alive but considering it sounded like they had shot him just to cure him, she didn’t think that argument carried a whole lot of weight.

She stood to go back to the closet and grab a couple towels, thinking that the chills were probably making Evans pretty miserable and he might be wanting out soon. She explained while she moved.

“Because I’m one of the people who helps to develop it, and drugs like it. I study how blood behaves in hopes that one day we’ll be able to replicate its various effects artificially. The more we understand about our blood’s behavior, the better we’re able to, in turn, develop other pharmaceuticals to lead to a better quality of life.”

She sighed, a little sadly, at the thought that Evans sure as fuck didn’t have a better quality of life right now. This shit was supposed to help people, not be whored out to the highest bidder for a recreational drug.

“At least that’s the idea.”

Kyle reached up and turned off the shower. He sat a moment longer, staring at the wall until he realized Nova was trying to offer him a towel.

'Thank you,' he mumbled and took it, wiping his face as he sat in the shower stall still. He pulled back a hand, watching it shake. He made a fist to try and still it. It began to tremor, despite his efforts. Sighing, he stood, a little wobbly on his feet but managed not to fall as he finished drying off. He wrapped the towel around his waist and tried to step out without help...which of course did not work as planned. His rubbery legs gave as he tried to step over the railing and promptly fell onto Nova. There was a painful sounding bump of their bodies hitting the tiled floor.

Kyle's knees hit the floor straight on and the pain reminded him of his trunk ride in Hillman's limo. He couldn't tell if he broke anything since the pain just kind of radiated everywhere. Eyes squinted shut, he uttered a rather colorful expletive and then slowly opened his eyes.

Kyle noticed three things. Nova had the prettiest hazel colored eyes, she smelled nice and her lips were about an inch from his.

'You smell like Irish Spring,' he said suddenly. His forehead crinkled and he looked to the side wondering just where the hell did that little observation come from.

(( permission to squish nova))

Still caught up in other musings, Nova almost didn’t notice Kyle’s mumbled thanks. He seemed to be doing better, though, and so she let her mind wander back to their earlier discussion.

It might still be possible that her work could help someone out, particularly her latest development, the starburst drug. It was designed to extend the life of a vampire’s blood, but after a slew of tests she had to concede to the fact that it was repressing appetite as much as it was lessening the real physical need to feed.

It was risky, she knew, but if Kyle were as desperate as he seemed, something to take the edge off the craving might be just the thing. Resolving to ask him about it, she turned just in time to realize there was no way he was going to make it out of the shower. She stepped forward to help…and was rewarded for her efforts by landing flat on her back with his full weight on top of her.

There was a very nearly naked man on top of her. An incredibly stupid, amazingly brave half naked man with stubble and substance and sharp blue eyes looking right back at her.

A half smile crept over her face at his next words. Yeah, she did smell like Irish Spring.

Wait. He was smelling her?

The smile faded as her eyes narrowed.

“Merf!”

With that said, she wiggled enough to get her arms free and planted them firmly on Kyle’s shoulders, giving him a hard shove off of her. He ended up pushed against the cabinets under the sink and she pushed herself up on her elbows to scowl down at him for a moment. Satisfied with the death glare she had shot him, she stood up and offered him her hand, deciding it was best to just pretend that never happened.

/ooc permission to shove Kyle

OOFMPH.

Laying on his side, Kyle tried to steady the world and its incessant ringing after Nova promptly shoved him clear across the bathroom. Or at least it felt like across the bathroom, but it was more like a foot.

Still, it's principle.

'What are you doing man handling me AGAIN?' He grabbed his towel, keeping it from falling and ignored her hand. 'Jesus woman, do you ever do anything softly??' Kyle reached up and grabbed the corner of the sink counter top and slowly, but surely, pulled himself up. He crossed the bathroom, using the walls and door frame as support and he exited the bathroom.

Thankfully his body was now preoccupied with the throbbing his knees, head and body were feeling. The pins and needles had momentarily faded so he relished feeling like a rather large sore thumb. He sat down heavily on the bed, towel still wrapped around him.

'You know, really Nova. I'm aghast that you didn't go after your obvious calling of care giver. The medical field is really at a loss.' He gave her a dirty look and rummaged around in the dresser drawer next to the bed, looking for something to wear.

His mind kept returning to how good she smelled, which he shook off with an angry snort. His addiction had ebbed enough to let him realize that Nova was quite attractive...and it annoyed the shit out of him. He glared at her again from the bed.

Simon tried to open his eyes but the lead weights attached to them was preventing him. The sedative they gave him was starting to wear off but they had given him quite a bit just to keep him still. Outwardly he looked fine, refreshed even but his insides were still a painful mush of pain. He organs had literally been boiled and he still ached painfully when he moved.

Struggling again to open his eyes, he caught sight of something gray. He peered and heard a soft laugh. 'Marthinus,' he mumbled and tried to smile, but smiling still hurt. His hand came up and covered the eye that still felt like a large stick was poking out of it.

He groaned and tried to sit up, which was abandoned quickly. 'Where's Carol, is she alright?' She had been there, he felt that quite clearly and he could tell she was in some sort of distress. He could only imagine what it must've felt like for her to be even within fifty feet of him. Still, he wanted to see her, if only for a minute.

Marthinus held up his index finger and middle finger, 'She was here for approximately two minutes, but she did manage to ruin lunch for all of us while she was here.' His gave him a half grimace, half smile. 'She's alright. She was very happy to see you. Carol told Nova, by the way.'

Marthinus crossed his leg and looked about the room. With a sigh he said, 'So Ellis is...gone?' He needed to hear it from Simon, although almost the moment he reappeared out of the inferno alone, Ellis' disappearance and presumed death had made it across every single Tacharan channel known in the city. The clan undoubtedly knew their fearless, cruel leader was dead. Long live Simon...till someone challenged him, but he'd leave that thought for another day.

Simon grunted at Marthinus' description of Carol's state, but his smile fell when he asked about Ellis. Rubbing his pained eye still he finished by running it through his brand new hair. Clearing his throat, he began.

'We were walking out, and almost there, when she started talking about rethinking her business partners. She even mentioned Sorin, that fucking snob.' He closed his eyes, embarassed at his sudden flash of jealousy. 'She continued on with her business, Marthinus. We were walking out of an almost exact copy of the Domicile, created by her idiotic plan for power with...a...human,' he stopped and gave Marthinus an apologetic look.

'Let's face it, her choice in men obviously wasn't very good,' his laugh sounded like a croak and he found his humor to be just as reptillian. He stopped and was thoughtful for a moment. 'God I loved her, Marthinus. I told her that before I let her drop into the fire.'

He ran both hands through his hair and pulled on it slightly. Simon felt...lost. He was suddenly in a position he wasn't familiar with. He laughed.

He was free.

Nova rolled her eyes as Kyle rejected her offer of a hand, annoyed that he seemed to totally forget that a minute ago he had been sprawled out on the floor.

Oh wait…she was trying to forget that too. And now she was trying to forget the vague admiration for Kyle’s nerve. She had once mentioned that he had balls of steel and she figured even if she had found him under his bed crying like a little girl, maybe that held true.

She followed him out of the bathroom, still determined to help even if he was being a total dick, and did her best to ignore his ranting. For some reason, though, that last comment made her cheek twitch in irritation.

She returned the glare with a lip curling snarl, revealing one fang. She was actually pissed off enough that she could barely form a sentence, but after a moment she somehow managed.

“Fine! Fine! You know what? You’re right. I’m not your nurse, I’m not your mommy, I’m not your little girlfriend…” She sneered at that last remark, conjuring up an image of a pretty little skinny girl that wore cardigans and headbands, which was probably exactly the sort of chick he went for. “…but I am someone who can help.”

With that, she stomped off to the bathroom and picked up the scrubs she had grabbed out of the linen closet. Walking back with only a bit more calm, she resisted the urge to throw them in Kyle’s face and instead slammed them as hard as she could on the bed.

The bed, in turn, creaked in protest, but held.

“And no. I don’t do anything softly.”

Marthinus blinked at Simon's emotional rollercoaster. 'I think,' he started softly, 'that it might do you some good to visit the psych department here in Duibne.' Simon gave him a look. 'Hear me out, you've got some issues, Simon. Don't let your guilt rule your life for it is a very long one.'

He reached out and patted his arm. They had never talked this way...ever. Marthinus was enjoying their new friendship. What happened next took Marthinus very much by surprise.

His left arm tightened and started to tingle.

Marthinus broke out into a fine sweat. He reached out again and took squeezed Simon's hand. 'If you're feeling a little better, I can send for Carol?' Simon nodded, seemingly oblivious.

Slowly, Marthinus stood, trying not to betray the sudden pain he was feeling in his chest. His right hand dipped into his pocket and wrapped around the item hidden there. He pushed back away from the bed. 'Get some sleep, I'll see how she is.'

Marthinus left as quickly as he could, trying not to arouse suspicion. He nodded to passing nurses as he walked down the hallway to the general bathroom. Walking in, he tried not to run to the bathroom stall. As soon as he was in, he pulled out the item in his pocket.

Heart pills, specifically nitroglycerin.

Marthinus was now perspiring heavily and he leaned onto the stall wall and placed the tablet under his tongue. He tried to concentrate on breathing slowly and just when the pain had gotten its worst, it suddenly began to subside. Deep, long breaths.

He looked at the pills and recapped the lid, quietly slipping them back into his pocket.

((Marthinus out))

Kyle stood and pointed at Nova. 'Listen sister, I've had better help from a pit bull. Would it kill you once in a while to be nice??! All I said was that you have beautiful eyes.'

Kyle turned red and curled his pointed finger into a fist. He shook it slightly and closed his eyes. A moment later he added, 'I hate you.'

He grabbed the bottoms of the scrubs and before he dropped his towel, he turned walked to the bathroom and slammed the door. Putting on the bottoms angrily, and now with a sizable headache from the slamming and yelling, he opened the door back up and walked back over to her. He grabbed the shirt and roughly put it on. Straightening it while giving her a dirty look.

'Listen, we don't like each other here,' he pointed back and forth between them, 'but I know you're here because I saved your golden boy from going up like fucking bonfire. Let's show me a LITTLE COURTESY and stop being so god damn SEXY,' again he closed his eyes, 'GOD DAMNIT STOP BOSSING ME AROUND.'

Kyle mentally beat himself with a thousand lashes and blamed the withdrawl that was making him say horrible things. Sexy, for god's sakes she looked like a Hell's Angel...but he figured she'd look hot in a little red number.

He squished his eyes closed and hit himself with his fist on the forehead.

The journey through the sewers gave no comfort to Mathias' troubled soul. At the Domicile he had found out that Simon was in fact alive. That anyone had survived the conflageration gave him a vague hope that Ellis' might too be alive. But the sun filled hour and no news gave the lie to that dream.

A thousand different thoughts warred within Mathias' head. Ellis a traitor? Selling out her clan...the clan she had built into the power it was today? No,Simon and Carol were mistaken. Perhaps they had misinterpreted the data or were hasty in judgement due to the chaos of the raid.

Ellis...yes she could be cold and ruthless,when the situation required. But she had always been at her fiercest when defending "her" clan - how could anyone believe she would just easily sell us out? No,there had to be another explanation for it.

I will discover that answer ,he thought to himself, I owe Ellis that much.

Arriving at the medical facility,he used the secret entrance to gain entry. Making his way upstairs he inquired from one of the staff where Simon Huntington's room was. that got him nowhere,until he showed her his DI identification. Mathias' didn't know if there was a special symbol encoded on the badge or if ID was just the right answer - but it sufficed and soon he was opening the door to Simon's room.

"Simon..it's Mathias, Thank Jesu you are alive. How are you doing?"

I will find out the truth of it, he swore to himself

Simon had his arm over his eyes. The light, even soft light, was still bothering him. His all over body ache was starting to subside but running out of a burning building anytime soon wasn't on his to do list.

Something odd was happening to him. He could always feel people nearby, so feeling the people walking by his door wasn't all that a surprise to him. It was second nature. But now it was a little more than that. He could feel presence. Simon struggled trying to define it. It was like each person carried a signature presence and he could tell when the same people walked by. So when Mathias approached the door, he recognized it but didn't know who it belonged to.

"Simon..it's Mathias, Thank Jesus you are alive. How are you doing?"

He removed his arm and gave the newer clan member a nod. Smiling was never quite Simon's style. 'Mathias, come in.' He pointed to a chair. 'I'm doing...better.' His voice croaked and truth be told, he was feeling a little better. It would probably still be several hours before he could get up and walk around.

'The damage was extensive so, forgive me for not standing.' He gave him his version of a smile, a wry one.

Nova braced herself to ignore Kyle as he started on another of his rants, crossing her arms over her chest and tapping her foot, but she turned her head sharply and felt her jaw drop when out of nowhere he said…did he just say…

She blurted out the first thing that came to mind, as though he had just delivered a grave insult.

“I do NOT!”

She was almost relieved when he added the part about hating her, which she felt was definitely much safer territory. Watching him storm off, she rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath as the bathroom door slammed closed.

“Yeah, feeling’s mutual, pal.”

He was back all too soon, and she rather felt that if he was going to go off and get dressed he could have had the decency to put his shirt on as well, but as he was remedying that matter she, for once, kept her mouth shut. Letting him blow off steam, she blanched a little at the ‘sexy’ remark but held her ground, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

She grabbed his wrist before he could hit himself in the head again and got right up in his personal space.

“Yeah, you saved Simon, and you –still- don’t get to talk about him like that. And you don’t get to play around with me either. And I’ll boss you around as much as I feel like, you ungrateful little worm, unless you actually –like- what’s happening to you right now and want to drag it out a little more.”

She peered at Kyle, her face still inches away from him.

“Is that it? Hoping if you call me sexy I’ll hook you up with a little fixy fix? It’s not going to work.”

Kyle ripped his arm away and held up both hands. My god he wanted to STRANGLE this woman.

He tried to form coherent words but instead he yelled a garbled mix of what sounded chinese with a bronx accent. Finally he sputtered, 'NO I DON'T WANT ANOTHER FIX! I DIDN'T JUST GO THROUGH THIS SHIT WITH ALCOHOL, JUST TO BECOME ADDICTED TO VAMPIRE BLOOD.' He laughed at his declaration because it did sound fucking ridiculous. 'ARE YOU GETTING WHAT THEY DID TO ME? THEY FUCKING SHOT ME. I -FELT- MY SPINE SNAP AND SUDDENLY...I COULDN'T FEEL MY LEGS ANYMORE. THEY LEFT ME THERE UNTIL THEY DECIDED TO SHOOT ME UP WITH THIS FUCKING WONDER DRUG OF YOURS!'

He stopped yelling, undoubtedly attacting attention outside his door. 'I don't need anything from you. I don't need your help. But I'll tell you what YOU need and that's a straight up fucking kiss, ON THE MOUTH, WITH TONGUE!' He stared down at her, snorting profusely, 'Maybe that'll loosen you up some, for christ sakes.'

Kyle turned away from her and took several steps, but then rushed back, right into her face. 'And I'll say whatever I want about your Simon. I didn't have to do anything, BUT I DID and as far as I'm concerned...HIM, YOU...YOUR ENTIRE FUCKING CLUB OF VAMPIRES OWE ME.'

He nodded, agreeing with himself and crossed his arms.

Nova nodded her head and did her best to look bored, though she was privately fairly pleased that Kyle seemed to get that he –really- didn’t want to have another fix. He was mad, and that was good.

She could use that.

She raised both eyebrows when he gave up more gory details about his time in the warehouse, interested in spite of herself. Just how long had they let him go? Sounded like they fucked him up pretty bad and she found herself curious, in a scientific sort of way.

Giving a derisive snort at the idea that he didn’t need help, her expression changed to a filthy scowl when he felt the need to inform her of what –she- needed. Jesus Christ, first Jan and now this clown.

Stupid men. Stupid Kyle. Stupid stubble on his stupid face.

“I’m –plenty- loose, I’ll have you know!”

She pulled a face at that and felt her shoulders fall.

“Wow, that came out completely wrong.”

Kyle was back to ranting and Nova took to looking about the room, growing seriously tired of all the yelling. She regarded him coolly for a long moment before speaking.

“That made no fucking sense, Evans! You can’t claim you don’t need help and then say we owe it to you to help! Fucking…just…shut up and sit down before your legs cramp up, I’d just as soon –not- have you falling on me again.”

Mathias nodded, Like he can see you he chided himself
Accepting the offer of a chair,Mathias sat down across from Simon

"Very understandable Simon, it is a miracle indeed that we can even have this conversation."

And yet Ellis,who was stronger than us both, did not. Something to discuss with Simon once he is better , Mathias mused

"I do not wish to take up more of your time Simon. I realize recovery can be an arduous process." He stood up and stood a closer to Simon's bed.

"With you in here and Carol dealing with the aftermath of the operation I assume - is there anything I can assist you with or handle?"

Kyle sat with a humph on the bed. He really couldn't recall what was making him so angry. Nothing she had actually done, but maybe it was because he had actually taken a moment to look at her. Really look. He eyed her up, foot to head and then snorted angrily again. She was cute, god damnit.

'I don't want to be here, Nova.' He stated plainly. 'I was perfectly happily being a recovering drunk, hack reporter. It's one thing to claim there are vampires...it's another to be right and go through what I just did.' Kyle looked down at his hands and quietly mumbled.

'I want my life back.'

Simon tried to focus in on Mathias, his eyes still achy and blurry. 'Nothing really, Mathias. There will undoubtedly be a council meeting with the Elders, but that's not anything anyone is going to be able to help me with. I appreciate your concern with the clan. Just keep your eyes open.'

He laid his head back and covered his eyes again with his arm. There was no point in going into what happened right now. He would when he returned to the Domicile, hopefully within a couple hours. Simon didn't have to see Mathias clearly to know he was suspicious. Who wouldn't be? None of this was going to work itself out easily.

Mathias bowed slightly to Simon. He hadn't expected Simon to have anything,but the form had to be observed.

"As always Simon, I serve the clan"

Heading out,he turned to the new leader of Tacharan.

"We all miss her - and we will honor her memory" he said softly

The journey back to The Domicile was no less troubling than his trip there. Things did not add up,and Mathias had no proof for his fears. But that did not mean he trusted Simon or Carol - Ellis was gone and her memory trashed.

I will put it all right Ellis - I swear

((ooc- Mathias out,pending response))

Seeing that Kyle was, perhaps, ready to be a reasonable person, Nova pulled up a stool on wheels and parked it next to the bed. Sitting down, she rested one elbow on her knee and the other on the edge of the bed and considered Kyle’s calmer musings.

“As far as the whole Eternity thing goes, that’s not going to last forever. I don’t know about what the important people are planning for you as far as…” she waved her hand vaguely “…everything else. I figure since they didn’t kill you when they had the chance you must be alive for a reason. I mean, sure we’re grateful about what you did for Simon, but we just killed a shitload of people.”

Realizing that maybe this wasn’t the direction she wanted to go in, she shook her head and scowled.

“Anyway. You somehow through some freakish series of coincidences managed to survive this whole mess. You –have- your life, at least that’s something.”

Shrugging, she continued. “All I know is you’re going to be here a few days; after that I’ve got no idea. You want me to bring you anything? Maybe something from home?”

She had no idea what compelled her to make that offer and rationalized it by telling herself that she was only being nice so that he wouldn’t start freaking out again. If her offhanded speculations on why he wasn’t killed outright didn’t set him off she wasn’t interested in breaking the surely temporary ceasefire.

Kyle watched Nova as she spoke, hazel eyes and all. His eyebrows went up at her offer to bring him something from home. He supressed the urge to comment on it, instead he looked back at his hands.

They were starting to tremble again.

Kyle immediately gripped his thighs and tried to still them. In a soft voice he said, 'Can you bring me some clothes? Uh, some books maybe?' He thought a moment, 'The paper will wonder where I am. Can I call out from here?' He wasn't altogether sure where 'here' was and asked. 'Where am I, anyway?'

Nova frowned at the slight vibration of the bed and looked over at Kyle’s hands, wary that another trip under the bed was forthcoming. It seemed, however, that he was fighting for control and trying to keep up a normal conversation and she didn’t want to discourage that by fussing over him. Instead, she took in his questions and did her best to answer each in turn.

“Yeah, think that can be arranged.” She bit off a smart assed remark about getting his ickle teddy bear too, which surprised her because normally that sort of thing was par for the course. She decided she just didn’t want him dwelling too long on the fact that…they knew where he lived.

“Er…I’ll have to get back to you on the calling out thing but I see your point.” She didn’t want to straight up tell him ‘no, you’re locked up here and until we get things under control we can’t have you calling willy nilly,’ but she wasn’t sure of exactly what the plan was.

“Anyway, you’re at the Duibne medical facilities. We take care of the somewhat…unique problems that come up, things you really can’t go to a regular hospital for.”

Standing up, she gave Kyle a piercing look. “I can check into that stuff now; want me to give a nurse a call or will you be alright on your own for a bit? I also want to go down to the lab, I have something that I think could help. It’s not being manufactured yet but…anyway, it might help.”

She frowned as she started for the door. “We’re supposed to be helping people, and yeah, we’re serving my kind’s interests more than yours…but it’s not supposed to go down like it went for you.”

That was very likely the closest Evans would get to an apology from her.

Kyle's right eyebrow arched up, 'Did it hurt you just now to almost apologize to me, Nova?' Before she could belt him one, he put his hands up and smiled. He avoided looking at them since they were now very noticeable trembling like an old man's...or an addict about to ride out a bad shake.

He passed Nova and walked with her to the door. Kyle pulled on the handle, opening it. He leaned on it, resting his cheek on the edge. He watched Nova walk out the door and he called to her, making her look back.

'Hey, when you come back, I expect to see you in a skirt. I wanna see if the gams match the rack.' And gave her a big smile.

((Kyle out pending nova's reply))

Nova glared at Kyle, her foot itching to deliver a kick to the shin, but for some reason his easy smile was sort of making her feet feel a little numb and she tripped a little as she moved toward the door.

Great, she didn’t even have the withdrawal excuse and she was stumbling around.

Stupid smile.

Rolling her eyes as she headed out, she turned sharply when Kyle called, mentally cursing the way he was leaning against the doorframe and looking in need of more walks around the room with his arm draped over her shoulders and sponge baths and…

His comment erased that thought like a record needle skipping and she gave a snort before bringing her hand up in a one fingered salute.

As if she would ever wear a skirt.

She was sure to tell the nurses that Evans was ill behaved and may need to be beaten liberally to be kept in line, and resisted the urge to knock their heads together at the knowing glances they shared.

/ooc Nova out

Carol leaned on the nursing station watching the flat panel tv mounted on the wall. All day long the local news broadcasted the explosion down at the docks. They spun it as a chemical explosion. She nodded, quite happy with Duibne's efforts in twisting the news. She tapped a red nail against her chin, wondering about Kyle and what he would say after they released him.

Well, assuming they did. She liked him and hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid.

Carol was still quite a ways away from Simon's room. Closer to Kyle's part of the wing actually. It had been several hours since she last saw Simon, so she decided to make another trek out to him to see if he was better. For her stomach's sake, she hoped he was.

Pushing off from the counter, she walked leisurely in her black combat boots and sheer appropriately placed daisy covered shift. Her hair done in pig tails, she tentatively turned peek around the corner to his part of the wing.

She looked around. No pain.

'Ok,' she said to herself and walked down the hallway leading to the other nursing station. She stopped as she got to it, still another 30 or so feet away from his door.

Carol looked at the nurses who looked back at Carol.

'Ok,' she said again and walked up to his door. She touched her tummy and didn't feel anything too bad. Kinda like a bad whopper but nothing horrific.

Carol pushed open the door with a knock.

Simon was leaning against the bed with his arms crossed waiting for Carol to come in. He had felt her easily recognizable presence from right about when she turned the corner to his part of the wing. She might have well have used horns and elephants to announce her entrance.

'Hi.' He said, giving her an easy grin. He once again almost dropped her when she jumped on him.

'Oops,' she said after she jumped on him without thinking. She climbed down but still stayed in his arms. 'Are you feeling better? You look way better.' He was wearing the outfit she had brought him and he looked like nothing had happened. Ack, she thought, he was probably hungry.

'Did you need to go out and feed?' How easy the notion of vampires feeding had come to her. Although watching one feed could be quite horrific, especially if it wasn't consentual, but she had gotten used to the idea quite quickly. Hell, she had been someone's snack.

She ran her hands up his chest, sliding them under his jacket. His chest felt warm and strong. He had no idea how happy it made her to see him as right as rain. He was looking at her, not saying anything but he had a happy smirk on his face. She curled up in between his legs as he sat on the bed and was eye level. Carol leaned forward and kissed him softly on the lips.

Simon wrapped his arms around Carol's tiny waist as she climbed down from her perch. He shrugged off her question about feeding.

'I should, before returning to the Domicile at least.'

When she put her hands on his chest, he sighed happily. He ran his hands down her back and he squeezed her bottom gently as she kissed him.

[I've missed you.]

And that was an understatement. They hadn't spoken privately in what seemed like forever. It felt like years had gone by since the raid. He mentally pushed that thought away and enjoyed the beautiful little pixie in his arms. Simon deepened their kiss, teasing her lips open with his tongue. Carol slid her arms up all the way and was running her fingers through his hair, giving him goosebumps. He pulled her closer to him with his hands cupped around her bottom. It wasn't long before their kisses were deep and hungry.

Simon shivered like someone walked over his grave, but he pulled back slightly with a smile and his pupils were suddenly huge. She had grazed her tongue over his fang and immediately intensified his need to feed.

'Carol,' his voice ached and Carol blinked in reaction, 'don't...do that.' He picked her up gently and pulled her onto the bed, rolling over her. He pushed up her dress and dipped down low, running his tongue down her exposed belly. Then Simon stood up, much to Carol's surprise and took a step back. He reached behind and locked the door.

She had never quite heard Simon's voice have that type of pitch before, but it immediately tied her stomach into knots as he practically ached his words. Carol chuckled silently thinking this is not how she pictured their first time.

((ooc no they didn't do it at the beach house! HA HA!))

They kissed till their lips were raw that night at the beach house, but both mutually agreed that things couldn't progress any further till things had been settled. Not just for the moment, but for the rest of their lives. Simon had made promises that night and he kept them. My god she loved this man, loved him loved him loved him.

Especially when he ran his tongue down her stomach and gave her a look that threatened to tear her asunder only to be punctuated by the click of the door lock.

Carol laid back on the bed and raised her hands yelling, 'THANK YOU GOD! YES!'

Carol's exclamation made him laugh out loud, something he was not used to doing. This was the difference between Ellis and Carol. Carol loved and lived, never wasting a minute with bullshit or scheming. Her laugh was musical and her body curvy and petite. Simon ran his hands slowly up her legs. Her knee came up and he kissed the very top of it as his hands followed the slope down to her hips. Her arms were up over her head, dangling off the side as they lay across the hospital bed. Cozier than most and a little bigger, it would do just fine.

He slipped in between her legs and lowered himself onto of her. The bottom of her very short slip dress was just under her breasts, so he helped himself to the flat part of her stomach, kissing and nibbling her skin. Her hands came down and started to run through his hair again, causing shivers down his spine. He climbed further on top of her and the bed. She reached down and pulled the rest of her slip off.

Simon stopped and just looked at her body. Carol was still at that age to where a bra was a courtesy, not a necessity and her little bit of thong almost made him whimper. He lowered his mouth down to the softness between her breasts and kissed her skin, nuzzling it softly and on occasion, raking his fang across it. She'd sigh deeply and purr when he did it. He slowly but surely made it across her unbelievably ample breasts to a nipple and proceeded to assault it, again using his fangs, nibbling softly.

Simon was fairly sure Carol liked it.

His other hand came up and caressed the neglected breast. He began to feel his fangs tingle deep at the root, driving him crazy. Simon knew he could control his urge, at least he was fairly certain he could. It was one thing to kiss her for hours, it's another to have, what he was pretty sure, her hand undoing the buckle of his pants.
__________________

Simon couldn't help but laugh that he couldn't figure out the controls to the bed. Finally, after much laughing and Carol trying to take the controller away from him, he lowered the top half of the bed. They laid out on it, giggling and laughing as they kissed. Quickly their kisses turned hungry and deep when Carol wrapped her legs around his hips.

He easily slid inside her, making her gasp and him forget how to breathe. He pressed his forehead against her's and they both enjoyed the sensation of him sliding into her slowly and almost painfully. Her nails dug into his back and he played with her loose ponytails. He ran his mouth down her neck and back up to her ear. He nibbled on her lobe as he eased in and out of her. Her reaction was nothing short of awe inspiriing. Her legs came up higher on his back and he began to quicken his rhythm.

'Sweet Jesus,' he gasped as he quickly pushed inside her. Simon tucked his arms under up and pulled at her shoulders, forcing her down as he pushed up. He pulled back and kissed her again, her hands coming back up into his hair, pulling at it as he started to push harder inside her.

He gripped the sides of the bed and pushed up, harder and quicker till she started to moan his name over and over again. He was dizzy with lust as he dipped his tongue into her mouth and she sucked on it gently. Simon gasped and started to thrust his hips.

Suddenly, Carol did it again.

His entire body stiffened at the sensation of her running her tongue over his fang. Simon gripped the sheets so hard, he tore them. The urge in him now was fierce and holding onto it was pushing him closer to the edge. It was intoxicating and painful at the same time. He pulled back and saw the small grin on her face. Simon pulled out and then rolled her over onto her stomach.

Carol couldn't help the evil grin on her face when she licked his fang for the second time. The urge to do it was just too overwhelming and the result was...satisfactory, to say the least.

Simon rolled her over and pushed back into her so hard she thought she was having a panic attack. He pulled her hips up and grabbed her shoulders, bucking so hard into her that it almost hurt. But when he pushed back down on top of her, biting but not breaking the skin on her shoulder, Carol tripped that light fantastic and came. And we're not talking demurely either here people, Carol grabbed the pillow in front of her and did everything in her power not to alarm the people on their hospital floor. She ached his name loudly into the pillow as he sucked and bit at her neck.

Carol was definitely going to use the fang licking rarely but more than likely in highly public places. She grinned and giggled softly as she finished out her orgasm.

Dr. Harrison was walking down the hallway doing his rounds before the end of his shift that evening. As he walked by the nurses station, he looked at the stations read outs of the several visitors they had that night. Nurse Gloria walked by and put a chart back over the counter.

'Nurse Gloria,' he said.

'Dr. Harrison,' she replied.

Suddenly the LCD monitor for room 501 started beep. The vitals started to spike into the high hundreds.

Dr. Harrison looked at Nurse Gloria.

Nurse Gloria said, 'That's Simon Huntington's room.' She rolled her eyes, 'And he has a visitor.'

Dr. Harrison replied, 'So I gather Mr. Huntington is feeling much better?'

Nurse Gloria replied, 'Yes, apparently he's feeling just fine.'

Nurse Gloria turned the corner, out of sight.

Dr. Harrison pushed a button and turned off the monitor for room 501 with a smile.

Simon's grip on the bed sheets was beginning to be violent. One arm grabbed Carol's arm as he bit down the urge to feed and followed her as he dug his mouth into her neck and came hard into her. He let go of her arm before he hurt her and curled fists fulls of the sheets. Moaning her name, gasping for air he came into her. His fangs were on fire, tingling loudly in his head. He'd have to immediately feed after recovering from their love making.

Simon waited and catched his breath before he rolled off her onto his back. He was still taking deep breaths, trying to keep the blood lust at bay. Breathlessly he said softly.

'For shame, Carol...for shame.' Then he started to chuckle.

'Me?' She said increduously. 'I'm not the one that switched hit on the first outing, mister.' She rolled over and onto his chest, trying to catch her breath as well.

'You're freaky, we just did it in a hospital bed!' She got up on her elbows and started to clap.

She poked her elbows into his chest and they dug in. 'Ow ow,' he picked her up and pulled her up to him for a kiss. 'Always have to be so rough.' He kissed her softly again, wrapping his arms around her.

'I hate to do this, but I need to go out. It's been too long and with you licking my fangs and making it worse!' He pinched her. 'God you really shouldn't do that, one of these days I'm going to bite you and then where would we be?' He gave her a wry smile.

Carol thought a moment.

'Um, happy?'

He gave her an admonishing look. 'Yes yes, I know. Well then be gone with you, you foul beast. I'll be at the Domicile.' Carol started to shove him out of the bed.

Simon gave her a final kiss before he stood and dressed. As he buttoned his shirt, he found the missing button. Carol let out a snort from the bed.

Pulling on his jacket he leaned back into the bed and kissed her. 'Alright, I'll see you in a bit.' Simon looked into her clear blue eyes and her bright smile and said exactly what was on his mind.

Softly he whispered, 'I love you,' and then he unlocked the door and exited.

((Simon out to go get some human grub. Carol out after she gets dressed and finds a new shoelace. :teehee ))