"FUUUUCK!" Caden screamed and held his aching hand. "You broke my fucking hand!" He yelled at the vampire, who was still laying on the ground, rubbing the spot on his jaw where the redhead had punched him just a moment ago.

"And you hit me!" Ludwig retorted and tried to get back up but was almost immediately pushed to the ground again by the furious redhead. 

"So?! You fucking deserved it!" 

"I… I did, didn't I?" The vampire admitted, finally realizing what he really had said in the heat of the moment. Why did I say something so cruel? He is maybe a little bit of a nuisance at times and not particularly the brightest mind but that doesn't give me the right to insult him like this. Ludwig thought and looked at the human, who was still holding his injured hand and trying his best not to cry. Please don't cry my little demon, I didn't mean any of that. I… He shook his head, forbidding himself from finishing that thought. No matter how much he may have felt by now for the red-haired human, he just couldn't let his emotions free.

"I'm very sorry, it was wrong of me to say something like that. I do not actually think of you in this way… it's actually quite the opposite." The older being explained, mumbling the last bit in the hope that neither the redhead nor the Lord above had heard him.

Caden eyed him for a moment, contemplating if he should just accept the apology or make the vampire crawl on his knees and beg for forgiveness a bit more. Oh come on don't give me those puppy eyes! This isn't fair! 

"Urgh, fine. Apology accepted." The redhead sighed, no longer able to resist the look Ludwig was giving him. "But you are still a jerk. And, just for the record, I'm not sorry that I hit you!"

"Alright, now please let me take a look at your hand."

—---

"Does it still hurt?" Ludwig asked, and gave Caden the food he had collected while the young man held his injured hand into the cold water of the lake right in front of their cave.

"What do you think?!" The redhead snarled back and stuffed a handful of berries into his mouth. 

Hopefully it will be better by tomorrow. I mean he never really does anything with his hands besides pleasuring himself but still… The thought made Ludwig blush and reminded him of the times he had secretly spied on the human when he was 'bathing'. 

"I’ve actually never hit anybody before. I always had other people do it for me." Caden suddenly admitted, bringing the vampire back to reality. 

"I'm not surprised." 

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Nothing…" 

"Right…” Caden glared at him, slightly pissed about the obvious insult, but then looked away from the vampire’s piercing blue eyes that seemed to see right through all his superficial mask. He doesn't know shit about me! The redhead angrily thought, even though deep down he knew that the exact opposite was the truth. Afterall Ludwig, unlike most people Caden knew, had never tried to suck up to him to get something or had attempted to deceive him in any way. Maybe if he would finally stop his religious act, and just be honest to himself and me, we could be great friends… or maybe even more? 

The red head chewed on his lower lip, contemplating if it was really a good time to finally demand some answers from the dark-haired vampire. He took a deep breath and prepared himself mentally, just in case he wouldn't get the answer he hoped to hear. “Uhm, Ludwig, what is it that you have against me? Is it just because of the stick up your ass, or did I really interpret your signals completely wrong?"

"My signals?" Ludwig questioned. Even though he knew full well what the human was referring to, he still fanned innocence, hoping that he hadn't been that obvious and that the redhead maybe meant something else. 

But when Caden explained that he had very much noticed the lustful glances Ludwig was giving him and how he often went out of his way to make him feel safe and comfortable, the vampire knew that there was no longer a way to hide his feelings from the younger man. "It's true. I do have feelings for you… but I just can't allow myself to act on those.” 

"Why?"

The question made Ludwig scowl. Though from what Caden had told him, he had figured that the world had become way more accepting and less religious from how he remembered it, it still baffled him slightly how casual the redhead was about the whole topic of two men laying with each other. He rubbed his temples and tried to think of the best way to explain his predicament. “I just don't want to make the same mistake twice and put you in danger."

"If you are talking about almost draining me, it's fine.” Caden hadn’t particularly enjoyed passing out or the lethargic feeling afterwards, but still he wasn’t afraid. “Besides, if you overdo it again I can just kick you in the balls." He added with a playful wink. 

"No, it's not about that…” The vampire mumbled and sighted in frustration. How was he supposed to explain to this reckless heathen, in just how much danger he brought himself with his relentless courtshipping? And how wrong this behavior was even though it felt so good.

”It's about why I was cursed to become an undead creature of the night." The vampire hesitantly explained, prompting Caden to further poke into the ant hill, without even a thought about if he may get bitten. "Tell me about it."

"It's a long story." A shameful one at that, Ludwig thought to himself. 

"Well, considering we are both stuck here for who knows how long, I'm pretty sure we’ve got the time."