Serenity

Avira listened to Coilean singing, distracted, once more, from leaving to go to bed. The singing was hypnotic, and it had been a long time since Avira had enjoyed such a thing.

“…You have a lovely voice.” he commented softly.

Tentatively, more nervous about himself than Coilean, Avira turned his hand over. He nibbled his bottom lip, feeling their fingers lace together now that he had turned over his hand. It was odd. He was holding hands with someone, with a werewolf, but it didn’t feel at all bad.

"Now that one's definitely a compliment." He grinned at the vampire. "Thank you."

He gave the hand a little squeeze as their fingers laced together. Avira was acting like a total recluse when it came to relationships. He was acting like Coilean used to.

The Lycan thought it was cute.

"So, how old are you, Darlin'?" How huge was the age gap between them?

A soft pink tint brushed Avira’s cheeks as Coilean squeezed his hand. It was silly, holding hands wasn’t that huge of a deal. Oh god he was such a loner.

Coilan’s question distracted him though and he paused, mentally calculating his age. His lips quirked into a momentary smile that disappeared almost as soon as it appeared.

“Quite a bit younger than you I imagine.” he supplied mysteriously.

He hummed in amusement.

That sounded like the answer a woman that didn't want to admit she was as old as she was would give. Was he finally thirty and wished he was still in his twenties?

"Possibly. I'm not terribly old." Eighteen hundred years wasn't too old. Right...? And it wasn't really ancient for near-immortal beings like Lycan and Vampires. Tony was old; he was...middle-aged.

Avira felt himself smiling again. What the hell was going on with him? Smiling all the time around Coilean…That wasn’t like him at all. He wondered what it was that made him be so at ease around the werewolf.

“You don’t seem too old.” he conceded. “Just older than me.”

Then again, Avira was terribly young. Not a baby, but he was quite young for a vampire of his apparent maturity.

"I'm only eighteen hundred years old. Young considering my sire is over three thousand." Aleksandr was old. Very old.

And he wasn't the oldest in the pack besides Aleksandr and Aodh. Aleksandr's pack was known to have some of the oldest, strongest Lycan in the world.

"So, how much younger than me are you?"

Avira snorted. Eighteen hundred, my, he did like them mature it seemed. How odd of him. Perhaps not, Avira was mature for his age, both in vampire and human terms.

“Well over a thousand years younger.” he murmured.

Sometimes his age hit him hard.

After all, so many people had had the chance to love and be with their families, packs, covens, for so long, but he…

Avira mentally shook his head and told himself to be quiet.

The Lycan laughed. Over a thousand? That made him feel old.

"If Aodh found out..." he shook his head, grin still in place. As a general rule, when they had relationships, Aodh and Coilean tried to stick to a five hundred year age difference.

"Well then, jailbait, you're gonna get me in trouble with my brother if he find out how old you are." His tone was light and joking. He didn't care much for what Aodh thought about his almost-relationship with the younger (much younger) vampire.

This time, Avira blushed a darker red color, giving the lycan a slight glare.

“I’m not jailbait.” he fumed.

Almost pouting, Avira turned his eyes outward to the ocean, and only then did his mind decide to kick in and reiterate what Coilean had said.

Wait…What did it matter whether or not anyone knew how old he was? More importantly, what did it mean? …Did it mean he was now in some kind of…relationship?

When the hell did THAT happen?

"In my brother's eyes you are."

He leaned forwards with a grin, pressing his lips softly against the pale vampire's cheek before running them to his ear.

"You're well over five hundred years younger than my brother allows," he whispered, lips brushing the shell of Avira's ear.

His lips trailed down over his cheek again, stopping a the corner of his mouth.

"I'll keep you my dirty little secret," he breathed before pressing his lips to Avira's.

Lips pressed to his cheek, trailed to his ear, then brushed back along his cheek to the corner of his mouth. Avira felt his heart, usually beating slowly, thundering in his chest, his cheeks reddening more and more.

Coilean kissed him and Avira was sure he was red as a strawberry. His mind had short circuited about a minute prior, and it was all just sparks and broken machinery now. He wasn’t sure what to do or think. This was the second time someone had come onto him since his arrival. (Second male too.)

When they finally parted, Avira whipped his head around, trying to hide his expression. He looked like a shy teenager, his cheeks flushed his eyes wide and staring at anything but the male that had just kissed him.

One hand raised, fingers brushing over his lips, the other was still clasped in Coilean’s.

He arched a brow as the younger man turned away, presumably to hide a blush.

Cute.

Coilean squeezed Avira's hand gently with one hand as the other came up and hooked a finger under the vampire's chin, turning his face back towards him.

"That blush is cute." He grinned broadly before leaning in for another kiss.

Avi didn’t know which made him blush more, the compliment or the next kiss.

This time at least, Avira was marginally prepared. Enough, at least, that he didn’t just shut down and stutter like a moron.

He let his eyes slide shut this time, his body leaning forward slightly to easier kiss the lycan. It wasn’t so bad, he supposed. Coilean tasted like the woods after fresh rain smelled, and he was a sweet kisser. At the very least, Avira found himself relaxing and enjoying it.

Coilean smiled against Avira's lips as, this time, he relaxed.

That meant he was comfortable, at least. Kissing was not pushing any boundaries. That was good to know.

But this kiss was chaste. How would he react to a slightly less innocent kiss? Well, only one way to find out...

His lips moved against Avira's slowly, hoping for him to respond and not push him away.

Avira was having to beat down his instinct to run the other direction.

Physical contact, emotional contact, intimacy….Bad bad bad bad bad. Avira did not do well with these things and he did not like them.

Yet here he was, leaning in closer to Coilean and tilting his head the other direction, so it was easier to mold their lips together. A less innocent kiss was alright, he kept kissing back, letting his instincts guide him. Or at least those instincts that didn’t want to run screaming.

No being pushed away. That was a good sign.

His hand cupped the back of the vampires neck as he pulled away slightly. He gave Avira a smile, pecked him on the lips, then kissed a slow path along his jaw and down his neck.

Would the vampire let anyone near his throat, he wondered.

Coilean touched his neck, then his lips trailed down.

Avira stiffened. He didn’t move away, but he didn’t tilt his head back in offering either. He was calm, but relatively tense. At any given moment, Avira could strike.

He was like a wound spring. He had been through too much to properly trust and too little to hate everything. Avira could go either way. One had to be very careful around him, when things like this came up.

He felt the man tense.

Ah, boundary crossed. No throat.

He lay one soft kiss against the side of his neck, tongue darting out to taste the skin before he pulled back.

The hand cupping the back of his neck moved to stroke down Avira's cheek with the backs of his fingers.

Avira made a small sound, almost a purr, leaning into the touch against his cheek. Coilean’s fingers were warm, and a little rough, but he liked it. It was a nice contrast to his own smooth, flawless skin.

He was glad he hadn’t gone for the neck though. At least… not yet.

“….This is strange….” he murmured softly.

Or at least, it was for him. Very strange. He wasn’t sure what to make of it to be entirely honest. He wasn’t usually so comfortable around others.

Coilean's lip twitched in amusement at the almost-purr. He sounded like a cat.

He straightened out his fingers, the tips slipping into the younger man's long white strands as his thumb brush over his cheek.

"It's different," he responded.

Usually, it was Coilean that pulled back and away from physical touches in relationships. He was fairly reserved sexually compared to some of his past lovers. It was odd being the one that had to be careful not to take things too far.

Avira could agree with him there. ‘Different’ was a good word for what this was.

Avira had been alone a very long time, and he had no idea what he had even come to this mansion. A whim, a momentary interest, and now here he was. The roof had been a terrible mistake, Avira had sworn off physical contact from there on in.

But here was Coilean, and he was gentle, and slow, and… He made Avira feel comfortable. The vampire had no idea what to make of it anymore.

He turned away slightly, feeling the panic starting to set in.

No attachment. He…he couldn’t get attached. Everyone he got attached to…EVERYONE died.

Coilean's brows furrowed slightly when Avira turned away.

His thumb brushed along the younger man's cheek gently. "You all right, Avira?" The neutral tone slipped, his voice heavily lined with an Irish accent.

His Irish accent was only ever used when he was extremely comfortable in his current company or when he introduced himself.

The Lycan felt comfortable in Avira's company. He didnt feel the need to be overly careful or silent or broody. He didnt need to hiss and growl and push Avira away because he was getting too friendly.

Their companionship was simple and easy and comfortable.

Avira jumped slightly as Coilean’s accent thickened. It was lovely and brusque and calming, a deep tone that sounded mature, but not too mature.

He swallowed, the panic stamping out any like or dislike he had for that voice. (It was mostly like.)

“I’m fine.” he answered.

There was a hand still on his cheek, thumb brushing against his skin… It felt so nice, it felt so light and gentle… When was the last time someone had just laid a hand on him gently and not tried to take anything more? Avira couldn’t remember. Had there ever been a time?

In his mind, he murmured a prayer to god in French. He knew he was pathetic, but was it so much to ask to brush aside his own demons, just for a little?

His silver eyes pierced Avira for a long moment before conceding. He assumed that even if he did push, Avira wouldn't give him a straight answer. It was better to just let sleeping dogs lie.

He gave a small nod, braid jerking on his shoulder. "That's good to hear." His lips quirked into a crooked smile.

Deciding that he was comfortable enough, he didn't try to hide his accent. He'd just let it run free through his speech.

His hand dropped from Avira's face after brushing his thumb over his lower lip and his other arm slid around the man's shoulders, gently coaxing him to lean against him.

The ocean drew his attention and he watched the gentle waves roll onto the wet sand. "Its a nice night, isn't it, leannán?"

Avira didn’t want to give in again, he wanted to flee, in fact, but instead he found himself leaning against the werewolf, listening to the lap of waves on rocks and watching the night sky.

What the fuck was he doing.

“…I’m sorry, I don’t know that word.” he said softly.

Anything to distract him from how warm Coilean was, or how good this felt. He mustn’t get attached, he mustn’t admit he liked this. All and everything from there would be disaster. It always was. Eighteen hundred year old werewolf or no, Avira wasn’t taking chances.

He sighed, closing his eyes. A life of solitude, was that really all he was going to attain?