Victor eased his grip on her a little, not wanting to crush her. He knew he was far from forgiven and everything was far from over. He expected nothing else. “I could try t’ kill him, I jus’ wouldn’t be able t’ count on my vampiric strength. If you want t’ give it a shot then go ahead, love.”
“You’re sure he’s not going to unexpectedly turn up on my doorstep tonight?” Summer pulled back enough to look up into his eyes. “I could really wish that whole ‘invitation-only’ mythology were true.” She led her head fall back enough to thunk on the wall gently, briefly, before pushing herself away from it. “I found you some clothes. You should probably sleep.”
“He’s not a vampire, an’ no, he’s not even exactly sure of the location of my house right now. He’s a human tha’ got some outside help as t’ how t’ bind vampires.” Victor looked down at the floor. “I-um would you mind jus’ laying there with me? If not I get it, y’know I’ve been gone an’ such.”
She’d been going to sleep on the couch. Been going to say ‘no’, before he even asked. Except when he did ask, it was so diffident, so already sure of her ‘no’, she changed her mind. “Yes, alright, Victor d—” She did cut off the ‘darling’ before it left her lips. “Go put on some dry clothes,” she said instead. If she really looked at him nude, tonight, fuck knew what might happen.
She slipped back into the bathroom to gather up his wet clothes without, again, waiting for an answer. How did you recreate the space in your life that had been left empty, that had started to heal? If he had just been away, and kept in touch, that would be different, but he had been /gone/. Utterly absent in a way that brooked no argument and left only room for grieving. What did you do when the grieving cycle was brutally interrupted by a /lack/ of absence?
Summer became aware that she was standing over the dryer, arms braced on its top, staring at nothing at all. Helios sat in the kitchen entrance, watching her with grave blue eyes. “Yes, alright, fuzzbutt,” she told him, and let him let the way to her bedroom.