5. Cry

Stress was something Warden was accustomed to, but the amount that he was suddenly under as landed on his balcony was hurting his chest. Cerat was squirming his arms, nearly awake after having dozed off a few times while he'd been flying.

He dropped down into one of the chairs he had set out, bringing Cerat with him. Since the guy wasn't quite awake yet, he hurried to slip his fingers into his back pocket and pull out the wallet he'd felt there earlier while shifting his weight around.

Warden found a few useless pieces of paper inside and a twenty dollar bill, but no real identification. He probably got rid of it since he is practically killing himself.. He thought as he pulled out one last folded piece of paper from the back of the wallet and opened it to read.

"Oh... it's for the pet shop."

Leaning over a little, he glanced at Cerat's face where his head rested against his chest. Still asleep. He took his phone from his own pocket and quickly dialed the number, then lifted it to his ear as it began ringing.

"Hello, this is Flora, of Flora's Pet Shop. How may I help you today?" Cerat's manager, and the owner of the store, answered.

"I'm going to cut to the chase. Did you know that your employee was a vampire?" He said, trying to hold back at least some of his frustration about the situation.

There was a long pause on the end of the phone that told him that he'd guessed right, but when she replied, it wasn't to deny or confirm his suspicions.

"You are one of those men that came in earlier, aren't you? You were with that werewolf pretending to be a dog." She said, making him purse his lips. She was pretty good for a human.

"That doesn't matter. Do you know that it's illegal to harbor a vampire in this city?" He asked, getting another long bout of silence before her response came.

"Is he alright?"

Sighing, Warden looked up at the sky, then back down to see Cerat staring sleepily up at him.

"Yes, he's alright. I've got him." He said, holding the guy a little closer to his chest to make it clear that he shouldn't try to fight him right then.

He could hear her give a relieved sound on the other end of the line. "That's good. I was very worried. When are you bringing him back?" She asked, earning a raised eyebrow from him, even though she couldn't see it.

"He's not coming back. I signed a contract to save his life. He has to stay with me." Warden said, the enormity of what he'd actually done slowly sinking in with his words.

Flora made a frustrated noise and replied. "He has to stay where he lives, and he lives here." She said haughtily.

Warden could almost see her crossing her arms, holding the phone between her shoulder and ear as she spoke.

"I've read that paperwork because I was considering doing the same thing. I wish you hadn't beaten me to it, but it does state in the fine print that he must remain confined to his residence, and if you look on his employee application form, that would be here."

Please tell me that's not true.

"You can't tell me that he lives in your pet shop. He's not an animal." Warden said, even though he technically owned him now.

She scoffed, making him pull his phone away to stare at it for a moment before putting it back against his ear to hear what she was saying.

"Don't you smart mouth me, young man. He lives upstairs. It's a small apartment I decided to let him borrow. I live with my nephew, and it's on Cerat's contract, so you best bring him back here."

Why is this getting more complicated by the second?

"Fine, I'll have him over there before it gets dark." He said before hanging up, not wanting to be badgered any further.

Feeling Cerat move in his arms, he hesitantly let him climb out of his lap. They both stood right after the other, their eyes locking for a moment before he gestured him inside.

Having no other choice, Cerat allowed himself to be lead through the sliding glass door. The moment Warden followed him inside and slid the door closed, the front one opened and Drake stormed in. He threw Warden's keys on the counter, then turned to them.

"I brought your car back." He said before turning his attention to Cerat.

"One of the council members contacted me, since he knew that I was your friend and you wouldn't pick up your phone. They already ordered a farrier to come out here soon and grind his teeth down, as well as check that you're doing everything you should be."

Warden shook his head slowly, but knew that Drake was right. No one liked vampires, including themselves, but most people absolutely hated them. The council will likely do everything they can to make him mess up so that they can just kill Cerat.

"You know he's not going to be okay with this. He's already killing himself by not drinking blood. I wouldn't be surprised if he refuses to drink it or eat his usual spinach now. Not that you'll be able to feed him spinach much longer. The papers you signed specifically state blood, and blood only."

The sound of the doorbell chime cut off whatever Warden had planned to say in response. Instead, he grumbled under his breath and walked to the front door. When he opened it, he was surprised to see the supernatural farrier standing there with an intrigued expression on his face.

"Here for a vampire." The man said, making Warden already dislike him.

"Cerat. He has a name." Warden growled as he slowly stepped out of the way so that he could enter.

"One of you will need to hold him." The man said as he moved to stand in front of Cerat, clearly not worried in the least that he was right next to a vampire.

Warden stared at Drake for a moment before his friend glared at the man beside him and growled. "I'll do it."

"Yes, well... just so you know, vampires have extremely sensitive nerves in their fangs. You will need to be really careful."

Drake snarled loudly, drawing everyone's wide eyes to him abruptly.

"I'll hold the damn guy, just make it fast."

The farrier flinched and stepped back as Drake reached over and grabbed Cerat by the shoulder and tugged him against his chest. The guy didn't fight at all, letting himself be restrained without a word.

"Tilt his head to the side slightly, so that the shavings don't fall into his mouth." The man said as he knelt down and set his bag to the side. He then began to press a finger between Cerat's lips, lowering his bottom jaw. When he seemed pleased after a glance inside, he fished out a small metal device and slid it between Cerat's tongue and upper jaw, the item effectively keeping his mouth from closing.

When the farrier began to massage Cerat's gums, he blinked a few times and tried to shake his head to get the man's hand out of his mouth, but Drake easily held him still as he moved one of his hands to grasp his hair tightly. He calmed down for a few seconds before the farrier started filing his left fang. Drake managed to still hold him, but no one was able to stop the screams and whimpers that tore from Cerat's throat.

Warden hadn't even noticed that he'd walked closer until his hands gripped onto one of Cerat's cold ones. He stared down at him, each scream twisting the knot in his stomach tighter and tighter. When the farrier finally leaned back, Warden noticed that Cerat was limp in Drake's arms. His eyes were closed and a sheen of sweat shone on his pale skin.

"There. Unfortunately, those grow back somewhat quickly, so I'll be back in about a month." The man said, making Warden tense even further as the farrier removed the little piece of metal he'd placed in Cerat's mouth, then took a step back.

"Have a nice day, gentlemen." He said as he began to turn toward the door to let himself out.

"Wait! Where are the pain meds? Infection ones, too?" Warden asked with a shaky voice.

Come to think of it. Why hadn't he given him a numbing shot like the dentist does?

"He's a vampire. He'll get over it." The farrier said with a laugh, before walking himself right out of the penthouse door.

Warden couldn't believe what he'd heard. He'll get over it? It hurt like a bitch to get any kind of work on your teeth done at the dentist. Even a little bit of drilling for a cavity hurt like hell, and Cerat had just had half of his most sensitive teeth ground off! Anger flared in him, but he withheld hitting anything, knowing that it would do nothing but ruin a wall or door.

Fucking idiot. He thought as he turned back toward Cerat.

"Next time that has to happen I'm going to make them use a numbing shot and bring pain medication." Warden said quietly.

If they could get the good stuff with a prescription he would have already left to pick it up, but the guy hadn't even left them that.

"Here. Take him." Drake barked, obviously just as frustrated as he was as he shoved Cerat into his arms.

"Wait, where are you going?" Warden asked as he carefully tugged Cerat against his bare chest.

"To get him some ice packs, since you don't seem to be thinking much right now. And I told you not to take him there." Drake replied as he disappeared into the kitchen, only to return a minute later with three blue ice packs wrapped in dish cloths.

"What the hell was I supposed to do then? Leave him to die in the forest?" Warden huffed as he took a seat at the small dinner table he had.

"Yes." Drake replied immediately as he held out one of the packs to Warden. He took it and gently pressed it against one of the spots around Cerat's mouth that was beginning to swell up.

"I doubt he's going to be able to chew for a long while, and he gets sick when he drinks blood." Drake said.

Warden fidgeted, pursing his lips as he felt Cerat stir slightly in his arms.

"I'll just use the blender and make smoothies for him or something..." He mumbled, frowning.

"That's all fine and dandy, but did you ever think that he wouldn't eat it?" Drake said as he leaned against the wall next to Warden.

"What?"

Drake rolled his eyes and reached over, pressing the second ice pack to the other side of Cerat's mouth.

"He wanted to die, War. Now he's going to wake up in excruciating pain. He won't be a pet. I can tell you that much right now. He'll likely try to starve himself by refusing to eat anything you give him... And I don't think that it will take long for his body to give out, either, considering how bad his health already is."

Drake's eyes turned dark and narrowed. "You are basically just torturing him until he dies, now."

Warden opened his mouth, but when Cerat's faded greyish-blue eyes opened, his words caught in his throat and he stuttered until he managed a simple "H-hey."

Recognition began to show in Cerat's eyes at the same time a cloud of pain washed over his face and he shivered, then began to whimper. Warden hugged him tighter, making sure to keep the ice pack on his mouth. When Cerat just started to cry and his whimpers turned to screams, Warden looked up... only to realize that Drake had left. Grinding his teeth together, he did his best to comfort the poor guy in his arms, but no matter how much he tried to get his attention away from the pain with simple questions or gentle touches, Cerat remained completely oblivious.

"Here, idiot." Drake growled as a small tube of something clattered to the table and he hurried to pick it up.

Numbing gel.

Warden hurriedly unscrewed the cap and squeezed a good amount out onto his finger. He couldn't care less if it numbed part of it as he slipped his finger between Cerat's slightly parted lips and began rubbing the gel over his gums. At first Cerat tried to fight him, but Drake was holding him easily so that Warden could keep applying more and more gel. He didn't stop until Cerat sagged against him and his face relaxed ever so slightly.

"I'm sorry, Cerat." He finally said after letting the half-empty tube drop from his hand. He wanted to hug the guy. Tell him that everything would eventually be okay, somehow, but didn't get the chance because Drake yanked Cerat into his own arms with a gruff growl after he'd dropped into the chair beside him.

"Go get the damn collar they require. They'll probably send a vet to inject the microchip tonight or tomorrow, so don't think about taking him anywhere."

Warden sighed and got up, but then realized something.

"His place of residence is already established... he can't stay here." He said, frustrated.

"He lives at that pet store. If I don't have him there they  might kill him..."

Fur began to sprout along Drake's extending muzzle as he snarled his response. "Get the fuck out of here and get the damn collar. Now!"

Knowing that he was seconds from being mauled by his best friend, Warden bolted  after swiping his keys from the counter.

He picked up the most expensive collar he could find after arriving at the pet store, that wasn't Flora's. One, because it looked the most comfortable, and two, it also had the lowest possible setting out of all of them. He hated that it also had the highest, but he would never shock Cerat with it.

It was a relief when he finally returned to his penthouse. When he walked into his room, he noticed right away that one of his thick dark comforters was missing from the bed, and had been stolen by a bundled-up Cerat in the far corner.

Deciding to just get it over with, he retrieved the collar from the bag and got it out of its packaging. He took his time reading the small manual that came with it, not wanting to risk making a mistake and hurting Cerat. When he finally lowered the small booklet and yawned, finished, he realized that there were faded, tired eyes watching him from the corner. The moment Cerat noticed he'd garnered his attention, however, he ducked back under the comforter.

Warden silently wondered how he should get the collar onto Cerat. He could just force it. That would be the easiest way, but just the thought of doing that made him feel queasy.

"Cerat? I need you to push that blanket down a bit for me, please." He asked as he walked over.

To his surprise, the young vampire slowly tugged the thick blanket down around his shoulders. Warden's heart jerked at the sight of his swollen upper jaw, but he bit back any words that tried to leave his mouth. He knew that Cerat didn't want to hear them considering the look he was getting. So instead, he carefully unbuckled the shock collar and leaned forward, easily clasping it firmly around his neck and turning it on. He put it on the lowest setting, which would just vibrate the collar slightly when the button was pushed. Which it never will be. Warden assured himself as he leaned back with a half-hearted smile.

"If I bring you some spinach, will you eat?" Warden asked, keeping himself from adding 'hun' at the end of his sentence. Cerat just looked so miserable. He might hate vampires, but he'd never met one so... soft. There was nothing aggressive about Cerat besides the one time that Warden had forced him to feed from him.

All he had wanted was to be left alone in that pet shop. Left alone to die.

When Cerat gave him a pained look and ducked back under the thick blanket, Warden frowned.

"I'll make a smoothie. You can drink it until your mouth is feeling better."

When he didn't get any kind of answer, Warden sighed and got up. He went and made a small smoothie with a tiny bit of blood from a cut he made on his wrist, then brought it back.

Cerat refused to even move from beneath the blanket, however, making Warden eventually give up. He left the cup beside him and stripped out of his work clothes, then changed into a pair of comfortable sweatpants and a light sweater.

He took the next thirty minutes to pack up a good amount of clothing, toiletries, and whatever else he might need to bring with him to the little apartment above the pet store until he could get Cerat's place of residence changed.

"We need to get going." He said as he knelt beside a blanket-covered Cerat. "You can bring that if you'd like, but we need to get back to your apartment." He said, earning a curious stare from Cerat as the guy poked his head just barely above the edge of the blanket he'd been hiding in.

Warden couldn't help but smile a little. "You want to go home, right?" He said as stood, offering Cerat a hand. When the guy didn't immediately take it, he wiggled his fingers.

"No more torture today. Just a quick drive back to your home where you can rest for the night." He said.

After a few more moments of hesitation, Cerat carefully pushed himself up, bringing the comforter with him. "Let's go." Warden said as he grabbed his bag, phone, and keys, then headed for the door with Cerat following slowly behind him.

He paused for a moment to send a text to Drake that he could eat whatever he wanted in the fridge if he got them some groceries later for the apartment. As an afterthought, he also asked him to head over to his house and pick up the rabbit and its stuff. And to not eat on the way over.

The drive across town was silent, but when he stepped inside of the apartment, having been let in by a glaring Flora, he noticed the scent of something cooking.

She wouldn't have made us food, would she have?

Coming around the corner that lead into an absolutely tiny kitchen that was faded white on top of faded white, he was surprised to see Drake standing at the oven with a spatula in his hand.

"How...?" He asked, looking behind himself, only to see Cerat stumble to the corner of the small living room and drop to his knees as he scooped the rabbit Drake had brought into his arms.

"You drive like an old lady, that's how." Drake stated simply. "I even packed my stuff and brought it, too."

Turning back to Drake, he ran his fingers through his hair and paused in the entryway. Drake was just finishing piling way more food than he should have cooked onto two plates. One clearly had double that of the other, making Warden smile slightly and shake his head. He took his plate when Drake walked over and offered it a moment later, and they both headed toward the two-person circular table in the small dining area, which was really just part of the entryway.

Once they were seated, their eyes went to Cerat. He'd shifted a little and gotten under the blanket, then lifted himself up onto his arms just enough to see the rabbit. It was sniffing at his nose, giving it little kisses with its tiny pink tongue. The blanket remained on his head like a hood, letting them see just enough of his face to figure out his expressions. When the faintest ghost of a smile slid onto Cerat's lips, Warden finally felt like he just might have done the right thing. At least considering the rabbit. The rest...

I've got a long way to go to fix everything else.

He was just glad that Cerat hadn't turned into a ghost of himself. If he had to buy every damn animal at that darn pet shop he worked at to make him feel even a little bit okay, he would.