Alone, Together

"Wake up, hey, Wake up." Rona's face scrunches, as he's slowly pulled out of sleep. He chooses to ignore the noise, relaxing his muscles. "I said get up, asshole!" A kick to his leg. Ah, never mind then. Sunlight temporarily blinds Rona, as he opens his eyes. He feels a dull sting in his leg.

"Good morning," Rona sits up, stretching with a yawn.

"Oh please, hurry up and get off the floor. You need to start waking up by yourself, do you know how annoying it is to get you up? And you snore like a wild hog." Mortas, already dressed, leaves the room.

"Woke up on the wrong side of the bed?" Rona mumbles to himself. "Really, he's most likely still upset over last night." Rona thinks, as he heads to the washroom.

"Good morning mother, father." Rona greets his parents in the dining room. "Mr. Dracul, Mrs. Dracul." He sits down.

Rona steals a glance towards Mortas, seeing that the vampire is slightly slumped in his seat. His eyes are looking off into some random part of the room, an ever growing frown upon his face. He's never seen Mortas this way. Well, he's seen him frowning, he always seems to have a frown, but not one that holds melancholy behind it.

"Is something the matter, Mortas?" His mother asks him, and his brows furrow.

"Mortas just woke up with a headache, is all. He told me he could do without medicine, but I think he may need some now." Rona replies.

"Oh, you poor baby! What were you ever thinking? You don't need to look strong in front of Rona," She laughs. "Fetch Mortas some headache medicine, please." She asks of one of the servants.

The servant walks off, going to get medicine for Mortas. The vampire looks at Rona, blankly, before returning his eyes to no where. Rona doesn't quite understand, Mortas seems to be taking this really hard. But they're just pictures? Maybe they mean something more to Mortas. Rona won't ask, it's clear Mortas didn't want to speak with him about it, anyway.

Breakfast is served, and who would've guessed? It's their favorites. Again. Sighs escape the mouths of both boys. But can they really complain? The food is delicious, after all.

"So, boys," Mortas's father begins. "There is something we need to tell the both of you."

"And what may that be?" Rona asks.

"Well, we will be leaving for a couple of days. Us adults, that is." Rona almost chokes on the juice he is sipping from.

"Leaving? But why?"

"Only for two days. We'll all be heading into our towns and villages, giving more back to the people. We want them to truly believe in us, and if we're with each other, what more proof is that?"

No wonder they were served their favorite foods. This was supposed to tide Rona and Mortas over, so that they don't freak out over this.

"So, two days?" Mortas speaks.

"Mhm! Only two days, we'll be back before you two know it!" Rona's mother says.

"Alright, travel safely." Mortas continues on with his meal. Rona worries their parents may pick up on Mortas's frank attitude, but again, he put too much faith in them.

"Thank you, Mortas!" His mother says. "While we are gone, we expect some work to come out of the two of you. Not only will you be alone, minus the servants, but we expect the two of you to grow even closer! You seem to be getting along fairly well, already."

"And?" Rona asks.

"And," She continues. "There is planning to be done, remember?"

"Planning?" Rona thinks to himself. Ah, yes, that's right. "You mean the-" He speaks.

"Yes, we mean the deciding on how to deal with our land disputes, and the food shortages."

"We'll do our best." Rona bows.

Breakfast is concluded, and the adults prepare to take their leave. Rona looks around, unable to find Mortas. "Excuse me, but I'm going to go find Mortas." Rona tells Mrs. Dracul.

"Oh, go ahead! Don't worry about us, we'll get out of your fur. We'll be on our way now!"

"Ah, are you so sure? I can see you off."

"No, no. Go find Mortas, really." The Countess waves Rona off. "Remember, two days!" She walks off, leaving the mansion.

As all of the adults leave, Rona goes on to find Mortas. Naturally, the first place he looks is the bedroom. No vampire in here. The leisure room? No, Rona would've seen him on the way up. He checks the washrooms as well, just to make sure. Still no Mortas.

"Wherever could he be?" Rona thinks. How did he manage to sneak away so quickly? Rona swears he just had his eyes on him. Would Mortas have traveled outside? "No, he wouldn't go through all that trouble... besides, our parents just went out there." Rona hums in thought. He decides to check anyway. He heads to the back of the mansion, going into the backyard.

"Mortas?" Rona sees the vampire sitting against the wall of the mansion. He's not wearing anything to protect his skin, he's lucky the shade from the awning is there instead. "Why don't you come inside?"

"Why would I do that?" Rona stands, confused by the vampire's response. "It's a beautiful day outside, nice and breezy. Too bad I can't go out there."

"Mortas, your skin- don't lie to me, it's hot out here for you, isn't it?"

"I'm not going back inside."

"You-" Rona sighs. He looks to his side, seeing an old tarp. He grabs it, walking over to Mortas, and wraps it around the vampire. "Is that better?" He asks, sitting apart from Mortas. Mortas gives no answer, just continues to stare out into the grass fields.

"You didn't need to do that," Mortas speaks up, after some time. "This tarp is dirty."

"Oh, so you wanted me to just sit and watch you burn?" Rona scoffs.

"No one told you to stay," He glances at Rona. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Isn't it obvious? I was looking for you. You were no where to be seen. I didn't know you could be so fast." Again, there is silence, and Rona knows not what to do. "This is the part where you tell me what you're doing here."

"I told you, it's a nice day out. Can a vampire not enjoy the scenery?" Rona stares at Mortas. He has questions he wants to ask, but doesn't know if he should speak his mind. He usually doesn't get into stuff like this, but for some reason, he really wants to know what Mortas is thinking.

"Is that truly all?" He decides to ask. Mortas chuckles.

"Yes, it is. What, can you read my mind?"

"I have a feeling you're not telling me everything."

"And why would I? We're not friends."

"I would like to at least be your acquaintance," Rona sighs.

"Well, I would not." Mortas replies. "If you want to keep sitting here, stop being so nosy." Rona rolls his eyes.

"Mortas, may I ask you a question?" Rona tilts his head at the vampire.

"No."

"Why do you hate the world? Why must you hold such a grudge?"

"Hate the world?" Mortas laughs. "I hate not the world, just the people that inhabit it."

"So that's it? You don't believe in redemption?" Mortas looks over at Rona.

"You and your questions," he sighs. "Yes, I do believe. However, if you were to ask me if I've seen it, I'll have to say no."

"So, then you do believe your parents redeemable?" Mortas falls silent. "Wait, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"No," he says, standing. "Not them." Mortas drops the tarp from around his shoulders, stretching. "I think you're right. We should head in now."

Rona frowns, knowing he's yet again made a mistake. But at this point, there's no turning back. He'll die if he doesn't know what's on that vampire's mind! He gets up, walking back into the mansion. Mortas follows behind, but stops at the doorway. He squints his eyes. Is that.. a storage shed? Yes it is, covered by the trees, out past the fields. Has that always been there? Mortas shrugs. No matter. He walks inside, closing the door.

The two still have the entire day ahead of them, yet they don't know what to do. Unless they stay upstairs in the bedroom, the servants are always going to be keeping a strict eye on them. Mortas had gone to the leisure room, kicking his feet up on the couch. Rona joins him, not much later. He sighs. "Why must you keep bothering me?"

"Our servants are still here, remember? I would've stayed in the other room, but it seems that they'll only give us space if we're together." Rona leans back into the couch. "Does my presence bother you that much?" Rona asks.

"You're only now noticing?"

"Well, can you at least deal with me, for the time being? We have work to do, remember?" Rona rests his chin in his palm.

"Ah, work," Mortas groans. "Let us start tomorrow, yes?" He gets comfortable in his spot on the couch.

"Tomorrow?" Rona sits up. "Why not now?" Mortas sighs a long sigh.

"I'm so comfortable here, why make me get up? We have two entire days, Rona. There is time, I assure you."

"Hmph, I do say, I believe that's the first time you've spoken my name." The werewolf points a finger at Mortas.

"Whatever," Mortas dismisses it. "Consider it the last, if you're gonna get that weird look on your face."

"Weird look? Why, I was starting to think you didn't even know my name. Of course I'd be a bit surprised." Rona chuckles.

"Psh, yeah right. I can see your invisible tail wagging. Stop it." Mortas rolls his eyes.

"Ah, heir of the Dracul. Rude, and lazy. My parents sure did pick well for me, huh? I get to take care of a man-baby." Rona smiles innocently.

"Man-baby?" Mortas scoffs. "Lazy? Rude, I can agree to, but not the other two! Come on, let's do this, right now." Mortas sits up.

"Oh? You want to work now?" Rona tilts his head. "I thought we had two whole days?"

"Yeah, two whole days for me to shove my foot up your ass." Mortas crosses his arms. "Shut up, let's just get this over with."

"Great!" Rona clasps his hands together. "Let me go get us some snacks and refreshments." He stands.

"Can't we just have the servants do that?"

"Yes, but I'm quite capable of walking to the kitchen." Rona leaves the room.

"Hmph, what an annoying brat." Mortas thinks. "Why does he have to be so persistent?"