Alaric nodded wordlessly after Rowan agreed to remain silent. With that, he immediately got to work.
Alaric dropped his sword to the ground and then slid his backpack off of his shoulders so he could kneel down and fish a pristine and oddly fresh first aid kit out of the front pocket of his backpack. It looked like it had never been used before. Hell, it looked like it was the first time this kit was even opened. That thought was odd and a bit disorienting. All of the replacement first aid kits Rowan had found over the last seven months came from abandoned hospitals and were never in mint condition. They frequently only contained half of the supplies they should have and were covered in grime. Only the first kit he’d had with him at the start of his journey was as polished as this.
He knew that the Vampire Hunters didn’t have a base with resources anymore, so Rowan wondered where Alaric managed to acquire this kit.
Alaric pulled out the supplies needed– disinfecting wipes and a needle and thread– and patted the grass beside him, signalling for Rowan to sit down.
Rowan took a deep breath. Just get this over with. The thought of sitting that close to Alaric was more nauseating than the thought of receiving stitches. Wordlessly, he knelt down in front of Alaric against his better judgement and didn’t meet his eyes as Alaric prepared to patch him up.
He winced at the first touch of the disinfecting wipe against the wound. He ground his teeth together, trying hard to keep himself from hissing in pain. He’d rather show weakness in front of a Vampire than Alaric. It took two large wipes to fully clean all of the blood that had painted itself across Rowan’s cheek and chin, and he detested to admit it, but Alaric was surprisingly gentle and efficient with his process.
Alaric cleaned the needle, and they made brief eye contact that made Rowan’s heart beat in a weird way before reaching up to Rowan’s cheek again. His fingers hovered for a moment, and Rowan subconsciously held his breath.
“This will hurt,” Alaric warned, but gave no time for Rowan to respond before the needle was piercing through his skin, and Rowan couldn’t hold in a cry from the back of his throat, much to his humiliation.
“It’s okay,” Alaric said, too softly for Roawn’s liking. “I’ll be quick.”
“Don’t…” Rowan tried. “Don’t mess it up. I can take it.”
“Stop talking if you don’t want me to mess up.”
Rowan knew that Alaric was right, despite his instincts telling him to continue being snarky. So, he shut up and let Alaric stitch him up. There were tears forming behind his eyelids, but he didn’t let them fall. He bit down on his tongue to cope with the pain. He quickly learned that was not an effective method.
It felt like eons, but eventually, Alaric pulled away, and Rowan’s wound was stitched up with little risk of infection. They sat in silence as Alaric packed up, and Rowan wondered why he hadn’t dashed off yet. He found himself not wanting to leave just yet. But he had to. Just because he hadn’t had human contact since the last small village that so generously gave him a replenishment for his food (before being overrun by Vampires) didn’t mean he had to stay with the next person who didn’t seem to be a vampire in disguise. Especially not if that person was fucking Alaric.
Alaric stuffed his kit back into his backpack, but he didn’t stand up. He picked at a thread on his pants, not meeting Rowan’s eyes.
Rowan made to stand up. “Well, it was great of you to help me, but–”
“We should team up.”
A beat of silence. Two.
Then, Rowan started laughing hysterically.
Alaric glared at him, something dangerous teasing at his gaze. “What’s so funny?”
“You’re joking, right?”
“Joking?”
“Me and you? Team up? You must have lost your damn mind!”
“How much longer are you going to act like having me with you wouldn’t save your life?”
“Dude, I’ve been alone for seven months. Tonight was just a fluke. I don’t need you.”
“Being a team is better than being alone, historically. You’ve just been getting lucky. Aren’t you lonely?”
Yes, he was. But he wasn’t about to admit that. “No.”
Alaric gave him a dubious look that Rowan almost cowered under. There was something so perilous about the expression that Rowan couldn’t describe. “You’re lying, aren’t you?”
“Of course not. If you’re so lonely, find someone who will tolerate your insufferable douchebag tendencies.” Rowan crossed his arms.
“You don’t think that having a Vampire Hunter on your side would be beneficial.” It was said as less of a question and more of a statement, like Alaric couldn’t believe such absurdity.
“That’s right. I can protect myself.”
Alaric scoffed. “You were about to die. I watched you accept death.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Don’t even try to gaslight me,” Alaric growled. “I know what I saw. Is it so bad that I want to put our past behind us and team up so we don’t die?” His eyes held an unexpected genuine desperation that threw Rowan off. He didn’t want to feel guilty, but damn it, guilt was crawling up his throat, burning him from the inside out.
“Put it behind us,” Rowan repeated. “You really expect me to just forget about all of it? The months of bullying?”
Alaric averted his gaze, seemingly feeling guilty now. “No, but for the sake of survival, I think we’d make a great team. In the technical sense. We don’t have to be friends.”
Why was Rowan even considering this? He should have bolted the second the last stitch was done.
Maybe he could get Alaric to lower his guard, and then, when he least expected it, he could steal his supplies and leave him in the dust. Rowan eyed the sword that Alaric had yet to pick up and decided that it would be cool to have that for himself. All he had to do was deal with Alaric for a few weeks, a few months at most, and then he could be as powerful as a Vampire Hunter and wander independently again.
As Alaric said, they didn’t have to become friends.
“If you don’t want to, I’ll be on my way now.” Alaric stood up.
“No, wait.”
Alaric looked at him inquisitively.
It would only be for a few months. Rowan could do that.
“Okay,” Rowan said. “Let’s team up.”
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