Why we lose

Tonight had been full of plot-twists and surprises. His emotions had been all over the place, and he had felt them all so intensely. It had clouded his mind, his ability to make logical decisions based on facts. If he would let his thoughts overrule, he would never do what he was about to do. But his heart, although not beating anymore, was leading him into it. And Mort couldn’t fight it. Not even if he wanted to. It didn’t feel wrong. Everything seemed to fit perfectly together, natural.

Her lips against his shot adrenaline all through his body, as little electrical shocks that set his nerves ablaze. She relaxed in his embrace, and he moved his hands to her lower back to support her. Fingers trailing along her spine as he kissed her more passionately. It was a good thing he didn’t have to breathe anymore. Cause he would swear he would forget how to if he had.

The attraction between them was undeniable, impossible to ignore. From the moment her lips touched his, it felt like gravity was shifting and he was now pulled towards her. He didn’t know what this meant. He wasn’t too eager to find out either. Future Mort could deal with those issues. For now, he was just living in the moment. Her hands slowly wandered off as well, as she explored his cold skin. Wherever she touched him, it felt like she was leaving a visible trail on it. Glowing with a warmth that was new, unfamiliar to him.

Eventually she pulled away, and he reluctantly let her go. His chest was rising and falling as he inhaled her scent. ”I was wrong”, He said, discovering a raw undertone in his voice as he did. ”This was the most fun part”, He continued jokingly. After those words, he created a bit of distance between them. He didn’t want her to cool down even more. ”You’re going to catch a cold”, He mentioned casually. If only there was a cosy room with a fire nearby, that would be great.

To his amusement, her heartbeat had raised very clearly. His would have done the same, if it was still functioning properly. Perks of being a vampire. She had also lost the ability to speak, which made it even better. Her non-verbal communication had taken over completely. Poor thing. So naturally, Mort spoke up. He wasn’t the type of person to let someone linger in their thoughts for too long. To avoid making it awkward. He could quickly switch between different topics, so the other wouldn’t feel pressured to speak at all.

His observation was just one of those things. Of course he was genuinely worried too though. She mentioned his little deal, and he was glad she actually agreed on his suggestion. ”Yeah, you should”, He simply grinned, after which he walked out of the water and picked up his shirt. He laid it across his shoulder. Putting it on would be stupid because he was soaking wet. He waited for her before walking off. It wasn’t even two streets away. He led her inside the tavern, straight upstairs to his room. The fire was indeed still burning. With a little bit of fresh wood it would light up in no time.

Of course there would be consequences to this. But he had the ability to postpone dealing with that. For now, he did not worry at all. If she could do the same, was only a question she could answer. It looked like she was struggling with it a bit more than he was. Or, it was the cold she was worrying about. But he had a simple solution to that. When they entered the room, the fire was still going, as he had promised. The warm bear rug in front of it, with the blankets from the bed on top of that, gave away that he had been sitting by it quite often too. Even the pillow had been moved. He didn’t sleep anyways, so he might as well use it for other purposes.

Mort walked over to the fire, grabbed a new log of wood and carefully dropped it on top of the smouldering remains. Soon, the fire would catch on and warm up the room even more. The young vampire got up and turned to Lexa again, who was still standing near the door. Without saying anything, he flashed into the bathroom and back, holding a big white towel. She could dry off most of the water, and the fire would take care of the rest. ”If you dare ruin my bear rug with your wet clothes I swear I’m kicking you out”, He joked, while passing her the towel and turning away from her to the bed. He sat down on it and pulled down his soaked pants, so he was only left with his underwear. He felt no shame at all. When he was ready, he sat down on the rug, waiting for her to join him.

The only light in the room came from the fireplace, and the moon outside. It gave the room a slightly orange glow. Luckily for her. He didn’t notice her face was as red as a tomato when he had casually pulled down his pants. He hadn’t thought twice about it. Even after the intimate moment of earlier, it was nothing sexual to him. He didn’t expect anything from her. It had happened, he had enjoyed it, and he had moved on. It was just convenient to get rid of it, as it was sticking to him in a not so comfortable way. It would also dry faster this way. Mort installed himself in front of the fire, waiting for Lexa to come back from the bathroom.

The flames had warmed him up a little. His touch could almost be considered human now. He looked up from the moment she sat down next to him. “I should’ve thought about the misery of wet pants before we went in there,” She said with a sigh. He chuckled amused. ”Probably”, He admitted. But he didn’t regret anything though. He noticed how she rubbed her own arm. ”I would offer to warm you up but I don't think that'll work”, He then said jokingly. So he grabbed one of the blankets and put it over her shoulders, in the hopes that would at least help a bit.

This was for sure more comfortable than standing in a pool of water. The fire was softly crackling, adding to the ambiance in the room. The warmth was pleasant, and for a second he felt very human. He was glad he could share this moment with her, too. When she joked that he could try, he happily complied. He moved a little bit closer, after which he laid down in the mess of pillows and blankets. Softly he pulled her back by her shoulder, wrapping his arm around her when she laid down too. His hand rested on her side. She was still safely wrapped in the blanket, so their bodies didn’t actually touch. To avoid cooling her down with his body temperature, of course.

“You know,” She suddenly said. “My Advisor might actually try to have my head if she’d know I’m being this careless,” She continued. Mort hummed softly. ”Then she better not find out”, He replied. But he understood why she was worrying. ”Do you regret it?” He then asked. Hopefully she wouldn’t change her mind about letting him walk away with all that information on her and her people. Her weapons might be in the bathroom, but he was pretty sure she knew other ways to get rid of people that knew too much.

To her people, the equivalent of what they were doing now, would probably be the image of their Commander cuddling a cold-hearted snake. Someone who couldn’t be trusted because he could snap every second and go on a killing spree. And yet, she set aside her prejudices and gave in to his soft pull. The level of trust she had in him, almost made him emotional. Especially because he knew about her background. How she probably had once wanted to exterminate people like him. Now she looked up to him, the faintest of smiles around her lips. “Seems like it’s working,” She mentioned. ”Who would have thought”, He replied, a pleased tone in his voice.

Apparently she didn’t have any regrets. Mort softly squeezed her arm, after which he put the other behind his head to get more comfortable. ”I hope one day you find peace”, He murmured. He inhaled some air to let out a sigh. Just to be dramatic. ”And then I don’t mean by dying”, He added. Oh, it would upset him. Even after this short time together, he couldn’t imagine this world without her anymore.