The puff of smoke made a stylish exit from Veg's cherry lips, obscuring the sexy dimples adorning his cheeks. "Someone once said that the pendulum swings between Light and Darkness, and I would rather you choose the former; an eternity in the Light is much more enjoyable, I can assure you." He tapped the cigarette gently on the blackened steps of the church before returning it to his lips. 

He waited for an acknowledgment of the pearls of wisdom he had shared, but none came.

"Glen, you weren't listening, were you?" The broad-shouldered man rose to his feet and dusted off the powdery remains of the recently departed feral vampire that clung to his vintage pants. "Shit." He muttered under his breath and flicked the almost extinguished source-of-lung-cancer gracing his fingers towards his companion, who seemed to return to the here-and-now instantly and dodged it before it could do any damage. 

Veg was well aware of his friend's quick reflexes. After all, even before rebirth: as Veg liked to call the agonizing process of soul exiting the body, Glen's reflexes were commendable. 

Glen's eyes focused on the fine dust lining the older man's trousers. He looked up through his lashes; a sad smile lingered on his lips, "I have submitted my resignation letter to Jamie."

Almost five decades had passed since the supernatural community had officially come out. Surprisingly, humanity had been most accommodating. Not only had they offered them equal status, but created job opportunities for them as well, laying the groundwork for the amicable coexistence of the two races in the decades to come.  

Seeing his confession ignored, Glen added, "Veg, I want this."

The older man waved his hand dismissively, "No. You don't. Sometimes you know what you want but still, go for something you don't want and end up blaming the lack of wonder and magic."

Smiling, the younger man joined his friend, "I can assure you that I am going after exactly what I want. And as for magic and wonder, my creation was a wonder, and my continued existence is magic. Don't you get it? I want more."

Veg rolled his eyes and turned on his heel. His intention: walk away, as clear as day. 

Glen didn't want that, not yet, at least. There was much he needed to get off his chest. Moreover, he hadn't had enough of his blood-brother's enticing gray orbs. 

Blood-brothers. Glen hated that term. It made what he felt for the latter sound incestual. It wasn't. Glen's burning passion for Veg was as long as his time as a vampire...maybe longer. 

Glen stopped the man, wrapping his fingers around Veg's muscular arm, and turned the annoyed vampire around, "Come now. Don't be like that."

The older man huffed, "Like what, hum?" With his brows pulled down and his delectable lips pressed into a thin line, he fixed the younger with a questioning gaze, "After all this time, you suddenly want to try-" Veg made air quotes. "-and seek your soul. Frankly, I am slightly offended. Wasn't I good to you?" Gray orbs searched hazel ones. "Didn't we have fun? Let me tell you, you couldn't have done better than me, and now you want to leave."

The intensity of Veg's gaze made Glen go weak in his knees. Thankfully he had better control over his limbs now than a century ago. "You were the best. And the time we spent together was-" The hazel-eyed man ignored the lump forming in his chest and pressed on, "-perfect." He pulled in a deep breath. He didn't need to; it was just a force of habit. "I have been pondering over it for a while, but Dep's passing opened my eyes. Now I know what I have been missing out on."

"Elaborate. What exactly is it that you are missing out on?" Veg demanded, "Aching, muscles? Wrinkles? Loss of your pearly whites?" He clenched his fists and broke free of Glen's grip. "Have you gone senile?"

The duo had known Dep for over half a century. She was the first among them to survive after being injected with VCure: a drug that boasted of turning vampires back into humans. She had lived a full forty-seven years as a human before dying of natural causes. 

Glen directed a playful smile at Veg, and cocking his brow, joked, "I am over a hundred. I think I have earned the right." 

"So, you really want to do it?"

"Yes. I do, Veg."

"Fine. Go kill yourself. See if I care!" The words left the older vampire from deep within him, drenched in anger, pain, and something else that the latter couldn't comprehend. They clawed their way into Glen's undead heart, disintegrating his world into nothingness, taking away all he had held dear in a heartbeat. 

"Are you abandoning me, Veg? I need you. I need you by my side now more than ever!" Hazel eyes swam with pain and heartbreak as they waited for the retreating steps to falter...to wait. 

They didn't; he didn't. 

***

The beach blond at the clinic upraised her latest patient, spending a little longer on Glen's chiseled torso than appropriate, "Thank you. You can get dressed now."

While the determined vampire did as instructed, the lady continued, "I would like you to answer a few questions before administering the dose. Alright?"

"Yes. Go ahead, miss."

A delicious blush rose to the blond's cheeks, "Are you aware that the chances of survival are only around forty-nine percent?"

"Yes."

"If the vaccine fails to turn you, it will kill you."

"I am aware."

"Oh. I thought..." The woman cleared her throat and pretended to immerse herself in the leaflet of a file. 

A few seconds of uncomfortable silence followed before she enquired in a voice barely over a whisper, "Off the record, why do you want to do it?"

'Because I am tired of waiting for my Blood-brother to see my heart.' Glen shrugged, "I like trying new things." He knew that it would make the woman lose any interest she might be developing for him. 

The next moment, the woman nodded. Disappointment lining  her countenance, she gestured to Glen to roll up his sleeve, "This might sting a little. If you pass away, I will inform your-" she paused and read from her file, "-Veg Freelo."

Glen bobbed his head and closed his eyes, "Thank you." He muttered and waited for the sting. It came not a moment later, but before the serum could enter his bloodstream, loud footsteps interrupted the blond who turned, "Wait your turn, will... Oh. Hello there."

"Hello, miss."

Veg!? Glen's eyes snapped open and landed on his friend's heaving form. 

"I am not here for VCure. I am here for that idiot!" The towering vampire pointed at the confused-looking patient. "Miss, have you injected him already?"

The woman shook her head, "Not yet."

"Good." Urgency left the gray pools, and a relieved smile touched the corner of Veg's lips. "Sorry for barging in like this, but I need to have a word with him."

The tension that hung heavy between the men left no scope for questions. The woman made herself scarce without another word. 

Gray pools connected with hazel depths as the older man approached his longtime companion. 

"Are you stupid?"

Glen smirked, "I thought you abandoned me."

"Did you really think that?"

"I did," Glen replied sincerely, averting his eyes, shielding his heart from giving itself away. 

"Glen. You are an idiot. There is a fifty-one percent chance of failure. You can accept that, but I can't. I can't let you throw your life away. Heaven is not an option for the likes of us, nor is hell. There is nothing but darkness waiting for us on the other side. Did you really think I would just let you embrace it? We are like sun and moon, and the sun does not abandon the moon to darkness, you fool. I can't be me without you. I need you. I am sorry it took me so long to understand what you mean to-" 

The older vampire stopped abruptly as the blond crashed into him.

Throwing his arms around the brunette, Glen teased, "Maybe I should have threatened to try VCure when Dep did?"

"Naaa." Veg buried his fingers into Glen's golden strands, "I was much more oblivious fifty years ago. I would probably have realized my feelings for you months after letting the darkness consume you."

Glen wiped imaginary sweat from his brows and winked playfully, "Dodged a bullet, didn't we?" 

"I reckon we did." Veg replied, snaking his arm around his Blood-brother and holding him close, just like he had been unknowingly meaning to do since the first time he had caught sight of the blond walking out of the tavern in the middle of the night, looking drunk and asking for trouble.