A little revisitation, from their immortal hearts to yours.
——

Frank still couldn't feed without the mess. Despite his efforts of digging in his fangs and seamlessly tearing through flesh without spilling more blood than necessary the way the vampires he knew were able to, he always resurfaced with dribbles of blood staining his neck, soaking into the fabric of his shirt and ruining the material with its penetrating crimson.

"I can never get it right. I always make a mess." Frank huffed, crouched over a lifeless victim which he forced himself not to peer at too closely or familiar remorse and regret would overshadow his hunger and lead him astray from the path of his own nature. All humanity aside, nothing was as satisfying as blood fresh from the vein. Bagged blood carried an awfully synthetic taste from the container which it was held in and the slightest congealed texture overlaying aged blood gave a stale and lifeless taste, stripped of all its richness and purity.

"Practice is all it takes, my love," Gerard's voice like silk upon golden gardens rang out to Frank and warmly wrapped around his body. "You're still but a fledgling."

"I've been a vampire for three years. I'm not as sloppy as before, but still, I don't know how all of you manage to stay perfectly clean." Frank relaxed out of his kneeling position and sat back on his heels, wiping at the mess of blood smeared across his mouth.

Gerard's fingers came to sweep Frank's soft locks away from his face, pushing them back to press a gentle kiss against his jaw from where he resided right behind Frank. Frank's pleasant shivers rolled freely through his body as the kiss resonated throughout all of his insides, eradicating every parcel of discontent.

"Your self control has yet to reach its full potential. Within the first few years of vampirism, your hunger as you feed is nearly a savage thing that awakens in you as soon as blood grazes your tongue. You bite fervently." Gerard's whisper brushed against Frank's ear, causing a whirlwind of desire to sweep through Frank.

Frank turned his head, twisting around slightly for his eyes to lock with the glowing emeralds always smoldering with immense amounts of adoration and passion for his lover. Frank's smile was faint yet loving as ever as his husband's hands caressed his arms, lowering to settle at his waist.

"You'd know exactly how I bite, wouldn't you?" Frank teased lightly, earning a delighted chuckle and a fleeting kiss at the corner of his mouth.

"Let's clean up, mhm?" Gerard suggested in a soft murmur to which Frank agreed to, grimacing as he was reminded of the drained bodies strewn across the floor, bodies once filled with blood they subdued their hunger with for the time being.

Once the bodies were successfully incinerated, the pair wandered out to the cavernous garden thriving with the most opulent flowers, rich petals widely spread and waxy leaves gentle amongst the thorny stems serving as a looming threat protecting the beauty of freshly bloomed buds. Their vivid colors were enticing to the eye, and though flesh may be pierced while the stems were handled, the earthy and mildly sweet scent of crimson roses were luxurious in the arms of those aiming to gift them to lovers, to dear friends, or to themselves if loneliness was a brutal thing they'd succumbed to.

The sunlight was faint as an overcast shrouded over the golden beams, yet Gerard still carried out a parasol fabricated with black battenburg lace, flowers and vines embroidered into the center webbed together with sturdier material blocking out the sunshine that would grow harsh on a vampire's delicate skin if exposure lasted too long. Gerard raised it above their heads as they walked close together down the winding cobblestone paths to collect flowers to display in the decorative vases inside, a favor as Mina and Aura took off to care for their own thirst since they were usually the ones tending to the garden.

With a wicker basket hooked on his arm, Frank used garden shears to cut free the freshest roses to pile in it, gingerly positioning them over the velvet blanket nestled inside. He admired the softness of their petals brushing against his sensitive fingertips, inhaling the scent of the lingering dew nestled between the folds, and always found his thoughts tracing back to the lips of his vampire as a comparison to the sensation so plush beneath his reaching hands. Frank found that all things beautiful could easily be compared to the ethereal traits of his husband, such as the silver spill of the most otherworldly moonlight and the feathers of a raven's back as they perched in the garden under midnight's onyx glow. Roses, for the tenderness of the words he composed and recited for Frank, as though his soul was a poet and Frank was his eternal muse sparking inspiration in him by so much as a glance in his direction. The silk of blushing lips coming to connect with Frank's awaiting his kiss the way lungs begged for oxygen.

"I'll always think of you when I see roses. I like the affiliation." Frank mused out loud, quiet and soft as the fluttering breeze. He rested another flower inside the basket and lingered on it.

"I see you in everything, Frank." Gerard casted the most intriguing shadow among the bed of tulips they passed while resuming their stroll, broad shoulders and a parasol, inky long hair ever so slightly curled at the tips.

"Like what?" Frank asked, his lips involuntarily curling up to show how deeply endeared he was by this.

"The list goes on beyond the amount of time we have in the world."

Frank chuckled. "Well, we are immortal. Unless your list beats eternity."

"I consistently add to it. It makes it seem as though eternity isn't nearly as long as I need it to be." Gerard's gentle smile was saccharine as berries ripe from the vine. Frank returned it and his eyes rested on his husband's face for a moment, a thing never failing to fill him with yearning. Gerard sensed it and brushed a hand against Frank's cheek, fingers slipping down over his jaw and his neck before pulling away.

A moment passed where they strolled in content silence aside from the cheerful chirp of small birds bounding from tree to tree, wings frantically flapping as their narrow beaks pecked at plump fruits ripened just in time for spring. Frank always frowned the smallest bit as they sensed the predatory instinct residing in vampires and startled away at the mere sight of him. Despite a vampire's ability to be compassionate and nurturing, they were undoubtedly a species whose survival tactic was preying off of vulnerable creatures, an unnatural source of power bestowed upon them. Frank could be the purest vampire to walk on earth, yet still, many things of nature would fear him.

"Have I ever told you the story about the first vampire, Frank?" Gerard suddenly asked, his tone curious and questioning all the same, wondering if it would capture Frank's interest.

Frank's interest had indeed been ensnared. His eyes widened a fraction and he looked up at his husband, shaking his head. His hand hovered over the garden shears as he paused in front of the tulips.

Gerard's gentle eyes met Frank's and held his gaze steady. His small smile overbrimmed with fondness to sense Frank's anticipation to hear another good story. Frank adored stories, whether they were printed in books or falling from the tongues of others, either made a riveting experience for him. Learning about his own kind's history was undoubtedly the most fascinating form of storytelling he'd come across.

"It may come as a surprise to you that part of it is romantic. Despite the way of our nature." Gerard outstretched his hand and brushed the very tips of his fingers tenderly along the blossoming petals of a red tulip.

"I could definitely see how all of this could be romantic." Frank's words hinted at his own tale of breathtaking love even as it was stained in blood, finding the addition of it only strengthened the bond between him and his most beloved vampire.

"It was centuries ago. History warps and changes through time, there's no possible way to preserve it once it's been handed down through thousands of generations. Some details are obscured, added in, or erased completely. The origin of our kind comes across as more of a legend than truth. I must admit a good deal of it is beautiful, even though I lived in agony for so long to see what I'd become . . ." Gerard momentarily grew distant, a phantom pain ringing out through his chest and Frank's as it transferred over through their bond. Frank tethered him to the earth again with a brush of the back of his hand against Gerard's, watching life fill his emerald eyes refocusing on the present.

"Pardon me," Gerard breathed, "It's too easy to be consumed by the past."

"I'll be your anchor." Frank vowed softly, encouraging Gerard to continue as he draped himself onto a nearby bench, pulling Gerard down with him. The shade of the parasol encompassed them as their sides plastered together as they automatically became one each time they held still.

Gerard composed himself, navigating his thoughts and memories to properly tell the story. Frank's patience never ran thin with Gerard; he sat quietly, fingers tracing along the veins visible through Gerard's translucent pale skin like silk underneath his enamored touch.

"Out of the many people on Earth, there was a woman. The most beautiful woman roaming through the gardens and lingering by the river's side. So pure that she was believed to be holy, given to the Earth by God himself as gift to humankind. And, before men were so crooked, his eyes found hers and saw her purity as something to be preserved and cherished rather than corrupted. His love for her blossomed the moment he found her wandering into his garden, oblivious to who it belonged to, yet she believed it was God's will for her to stumble upon it, or she would have never met her true love. In them were the very stars that created Adam and Eve."

Frank hummed softly. "Was it another test? Like the original Adam and Eve?"

"That part remains unclear. There are some similarities, but many differences. Whatever their destiny was, it was . . . wrongfully ripped from their hands. The power of Heaven couldn't rescue them from fate given to them by another." Gerard's grave expression caused Frank's heart to sink down to the recesses of his gut, sensing impending doom fell upon the story starting out so delicately its essence was floral and golden. If there was Heaven, there was Hell, leaving Frank with a terrible guess at where the story would lead.

"Evil will always sniff out the purity in the world. Hell's task is not only to punish, but to corrupt. If the flesh is vulnerable enough, Hell longs for it to rot under their hands." A disgusted grimace fell upon Gerard's pale lips. "And so, inevitably, the girl was scented out by a despicable creature from the Underworld. He took the form of her young lover and lured her out to the river, promising a simple soak in the moonlight. As soon as she was submerged, the beast asked for her to be his forever; a trick. If she agreed, the creature would be able to drag her to the Underworld with it. Of course, she said yes, and only then did the beast show its true form.

"Her lover found them by the river, lured out by her scream for help and the Earth quaking. As he found his lover in the grasp of a demon crouched over a massive crater in the ground leading to Hell, he did everything in his power to stop it, begging for his lover to be free. He was willing to give everything he had to protect his woman and she was prepared to meet her fate if it meant her lover didn't need to sacrifice anything at all, showing the true strength of their love, but there was no reward for any of it. The demon informed him of the curse that couldn't be undone, not unless the young man could complete an exchange. A clean soul for a clean soul. The man, as pure as the girl, would be the only suitable replacement. Thus, he made a deal with the beast; he would offer his soul to save his lover."

Frank's exhale was shaky as a shudder rippled through him, repelled by the vivid image of a sneering creature with eyes swallowed up by darkness, cradling a helpless young woman with all the intentions of dragging her below the ground for unspeakable reasons Frank didn't want to think about in detail. "So, a soul for a soul . . . did the demon take the boy instead?"

The grim look in Gerard's eyes was haunting. "I'm afraid not. The monster never specified the way it would take the young man's soul. He set the girl free, as promised, and a great storm swept over the land as the time for the exchange came upon them. The young man wasn't given the privilege of giving a tearful goodbye to the woman he loved, nor was he able to encourage her to find love again even after he was condemned. The demon reached deep into the caverns of his body and tore his soul free, and with its evil touch lingered a most grotesque and cruel curse. The young man would pay the price in more ways than one for interfering with the demon's task. He'd walk the Earth eternally, never aging, always battling a terrible craving for human blood he would not be able to resist once hunger consumed him. No food could ever satiate it. Given the powers of a demon, he would live like one, filled with darkness forever."

Frank's throat suddenly grown dry was difficult to swallow around. His eyes dropped down to his lap where the basket of flowers remained, a strange form of despair creeping up the back of his neck and resting on his shoulders. He never viewed vampirism as a curse; it had always been a gift and an advantage of him. Yet, there were undoubtedly the painful aspects of it, such as living eternally and suffering bloodlust. Eternity was to his benefit because it meant he'd reside in the arms of his vampire as long as the universe existed, but he could only imagine the insanity of loneliness others were forced to endure, the never ending torment of the winter's cold and the unbearable guilt as victims piled up at their bloody sides.

"What— what happened after that?" Frank whispered, "He couldn't be lost forever. He still had his love."

"He had no soul unlike the vampires you know now, Frank. There was no empathy, no love, no reason to hold back his lust for blood. A warm body was so near to him as his sharp teeth sprouted and his eyes glistened in the darkness the way a monster's did. Her blood called to him, he answered to it."

Frank shut his eyes. After a long moment, he dreadfully said, "He killed her."

"When all is lost, when no part of ourselves can be found in this cold shell, the true horror and purpose of our creation comes to the light." Gerard somberly confirmed Frank's assumed conclusion.

Taking in a deep breath, Frank slowly released it, opening his eyes again. "I don't know what I expected. Obviously, if none of us had a soul, the human race would be gone. There would only be us."

"It's a blessing that the generations after the first vampire weren't corroded in the same way. Even he was born with a mortal form. He didn't have the ability to consume souls like his creator."

A flurry of questions suddenly circulated through Frank's mind. He rummaged through them, indecisive over which one to pick first. He eventually settled on one and turned his body towards Gerard with a furrow to his brows.

"How did the first vampire know how to make others? It's not an instinct, right? We need to learn how to make more vampires?"

"After his lover was dead, the demon informed the first vampire how to make others of his kind. He told him to have them follow in his lead and soon enough, the world would be theirs."

"So, how is it possible they didn't take over the world?" Frank's eyes were wide.

Gerard plucked a rose from the wicker basket, stroking the petals flared out the most. "There was the flaw. We need human blood to survive. Animal blood won't cut it. If there's no humans, we'd be forced to turn on each other, resulting in extinction. Though, it's possible it wasn't a flaw . . .  it could've merely been a thing of satisfaction for creatures of the Underworld to watch unfold. Knowing not even Heaven could've stopped it from happening."

"But we aren't all sadistic things that want to hurt everyone," Frank frowned, "Unlike the first vampire, we've kept our souls. The only time we go insane is if we starve ourselves."

"Yes, but despite all of that, we still need to kill to survive." Gerard said, pulling a flinch from Frank.

"Oh." Frank whispered. Suppressed guilt resurfaced as he recalled the countless times his fangs sank into necks still warm from being pumped by beating hearts belonging to human beings, something he once was, youthful with the joys of passions and love. For Frank, vampirism suited him best, death was peaceful. For them, death was exactly as it was made out to be; a robbery of the soul that was meant to live on for eons. Frank stole their lives away before they truly lived it. Was it possible that all of his good intentions and morals weren't nearly enough to compensate for the murders he needed to perform in order to survive, even if he aimed for it to be as painless as possible for the victim? Vampires were tailored in the image of monsters; was he not much different from the red-eyed beast that nearly slaughtered him as a child?

"My love," Gerard's velvet whisper drew Frank away from his dooming thoughts, "You know you're the furthest thing from evil, don't you? A heart as pure as yours, lips so tender and gentle."

Frank's heart newly instilled with a bed of roses thrived as they bloomed the second they were placed there, warmed over by the artificial sunlight Gerard's loving words provided.

"I just . . . I feel guilty. For killing. I have a hard time moving around it. This is the only part about being a vampire that I dislike." Frank whispered mournfully, sad eyes turning to Gerard's reflecting the same emotions.

The parasol fell away and sunlight washed over them. Heartbroken, Gerard entangled their fingers, pressing himself further into Frank's side. "Sweet one, I know how you feel. I experience it every day, every time I feed. I've struggled for so long, you know I have, until something happened that changed everything."

Frank looked up curiously through his veil of melancholy falling over him. Gerard released Frank's hand to lift his own to Frank's face, curling it gingerly around his cheek and tilting his head up.

"You came and enlivened all the parts of me that separate me from this curse. The part of me that's capable of loving, caring for someone, of forming friendships and feeling so much emotion, more than I can handle at times. It reminds me of who I  once was and now I know that's who I'll always be. I know what we must do to live is awful, but we aren't monsters. If we had a choice, we'd find other ways to survive, wouldn't we?"

"Of course." Frank choked out softly, unable to comprehend the way Gerard constantly moved him.

Gerard's smile was evanescent as his eyes were touched with doubt for a second. His thumb stroked Frank's skin, gaze flickering all over his face, a sudden pained look overtaking him.

"You don't regret choosing this life, do you?" Gerard's could hardly push the question out as a sharp stab of pain radiated through him, so strong it struck Frank and it mingled with his own suddenly sprouting.

Frank gasped, immediately shaking his head. He batted Gerard's hand away to collect his face between both of his, softly cooing 'no' repetitively as his lips pressed reassuring kisses all over his crestfallen face.

"I'll never, ever regret choosing this life, Gerard. Because in doing this, I chose you. Maybe I didn't consider being a vampire from the very beginning, but I knew whatever time I had, I wanted to spend it with you." Frank saved his final breath to press his lips against Gerard in the most gentle kiss he could provide as he poured out every inch of love stored in his heart to gift Gerard with it, and he'd repeat it hundreds of times that day if he felt it was necessary.

To feel his vampire melt beneath him would never cease to be heavenly. Gerard returned his kiss and leaned into his touch to recover.

After a long moment of lips connecting and moving in a symphonic glide, Gerard pulled away a few centimeters, their foreheads pressed together as they reveled in the exchange of romance they collected over their time together, eternally bound and then some with the time spent while Frank was still mortal—even then, Frank belonged to Gerard, he always did.

"The way the first vampire sacrificed himself for his lover. I'd do the same for you." Gerard vowed. "I'd find it within me to beat such a dreadful curse to be with you always."

Frank's smile glided easily across his lips as he captured another precious glimpse of the heart framed in the most mesmerizing flowers that didn't exist in reality, only in Gerard, their colors surpassing all that was visible in the world, for their likeliness couldn't be emulated. As much as Frank found Gerard in all things beautiful, sometimes, their beauty paled in comparison to what he found in his vampire. He ran his fingers through Gerard's hair like raven feathers below his hand. Then, he sang his little tune he fabricated to croon only to Gerard when words fell short as his fascination overcame him, leaving nothing adequate enough to repay Gerard for the way he made him fall in love anew every passing second.

Rising lithely to his feet, Frank held his hands out for his husband to grasp them, hauling him off the bench. "You can do so many things that it amazes me. But I bet you can't do this one thing."

"What would that be, mon petit fleur?" Gerard rose one eyebrow higher than the other.

Frank's lips spread into a wide grin, baring his teeth including the sharp point of his fangs as adrenaline began circulating through his veins. "I bet you can't catch me."

Frank used his advantage of supernatural speed to flit in a blur through the many winding paths of the garden, circling around the flowers and whizzing past the trees with leaves that fluttered in a startle in his wake. He ran to his heart's desire and left behind a trail of elated laughter for Gerard to follow as he chased him through the magnolias and the apple trees, slowing down a notch to allow Frank his fun since he was perfectly capable of catching up to him immediately, yet he knew the joy it brought Frank to successfully outrun him during one of their lighthearted games.

Leaping effortlessly over a hedge and slowing near the gazebo, Frank's high pitched laughter echoed throughout the yard as Gerard crashed into him, arms wrapping tightly around his waist from behind and clinging on as he muffled his laughter into Frank's shoulder. Gerard spun them in slow circles until he eventually twisted them around and swept Frank off his feet in an embrace, burying his face into the crook of Frank's neck where the hum of his endeared giggles vibrated through Frank's skin. Shivering pleasantly, Frank wrapped his arms right around Gerard as his feet hovered above the ground, spun in light circles and eventually set back down on the ground. Their dazzled gazes met and held, fangs bared through their impossibly wide grins emitting the peak of happiness they could only experience together.

"Hey, lovebirds!" Jamia's voice called out loudly from afar.

Curled up in Gerard's arms, Frank looked over expectantly. He held out one arm and waved, nodding his head in question. Jamia stood at the double doors of the back entrance leading out to the garden, her hands on her hips and a secretly awed faint smile touching her lips.

"Mina and Aura are back. If you're done cuddling over there, they wanna see the flowers you picked out." Jamia gestured over her shoulder with a jab of her thumb.

"Have we picked out enough?" Gerard's lips brushed against Frank's ear slightly as he whispered to him.

"They'll have to be enough because I'm already feeling a little worn out by the sun," Frank glanced up at the sky, "As long as there's roses to put on display, they'll be happy. Especially Aura."

"We better head inside before Mina worries we've been consumed by some unknown garden monster." Gerard rolled his eyes fondly and slung a strong arm around Frank's waist to pull him forward, the vampire fluidly falling into step with him as a blissful smile plastered across his face.

Although Frank was at times overcome with self doubt souring the exceptional experience of vampirism, he'd always gracefully float back down to earth by the ties spun by pure gold attaching all the contents of his chest to Gerard. Through the short years of being married to his vampire and being intertwined in every feasible way, Frank not only discovered what it was like to be loved unconditionally, but to find the beauty in life that overrode the sorrow sorely easy to submit to. Frank may have submitted to the inevitable countless times before, but never to things that were detrimental to his wellbeing in ways caging him. There was balance he couldn't find on his own before. Suffering was soothed, contentment cherished, all troubles laid to rest with wisdom and the antidote always seemed to reside on Gerard's tongue of silver.

No, Frank thought as he clasped his rosary he never took off, one person's curse didn't condemn all that individual touched. Though he'd always struggle with the ways of survival, the weight of the good was too bold to even compare. Nothing was abhorrent about dashing through ethereal gardens with his vampire and twirling with him in the rain now that illness couldn't creep in if he lingered in the icy showers, or laying in the grassy fields of hills miles away from their home to watch the wispy clouds drift by in the night as their sharp eyes found constellations that weren't visible to human eyes. There was no evil in the gentle eyes of a lover who was perfect in all the ways he was flawed. There was certainly nothing harrowing about giving his heart to his vampire eternally, and being given Gerard's heart to keep safe in return.

Perhaps they were made of the same stars the way all the original lovers were, only in their tale, fate defied them not, but finally allowed their incandescence to coalesce in the same canvas of night.

——
I don't know why I had the urge to revisit this in the middle of the night since it's been a long time, I guess I thought something sweet and interesting would be nice, kind of like checking in on old friends.

They're all happy and thriving in my imagination. I thought you guys would like to know that and see for yourselves. I miss this story and I'll always love it.

-rosexo