Doe's POV:

For some reason, Xander kept me on his lap at breakfast as well.

I think he knew better than to try to repeat what he did yesterday, but he had to have been plotting something else.

And apparently, he was keeping his show of 'not feeding me'.

Which I really didn't care about. I preferred choosing what I ate over dealing with whatever repeat they give to the pets at this dining hall.

I subtly glanced over at what Khloe was quietly chewing on, nearly grimacing at the blandness of it all.

The food they served us here was basically the bare minimum we need to survive and also only food that enrich blood.

I'm sure my blood had done plenty of enriching in its time, what I needed was energy and strength.

Layla returned tomorrow after all.

I felt a quick chill run up my spine, my next breath quivering a small bit.

It always got bad the nights that she hadn't fed from me in a while.

I could just barely feel the fact that Xander turned his attention to me, showing that it had happened more outwardly than I had wanted.

And I guess that's when he decided it was time for him to start up some nonsense.

"So," He began, "I've been thinking about getting Doe branded."

I physically heard Khloe choke on what she was eating and if I'm sure I would have been the same way.

My eyes just went wide, wondering how on earth that popped into his mind.

There's no way he just said that.

"Why?" Nico asked, sounding almost disgusted by the very thought.

I felt him shrug.

He said something completely ridiculous and then just shrugged.

"Why not? The branding company is coming into town soon, so I figured that I could take the opportunity."

Branding company?

Please tell me that he just made that up.

If it's actually a real thing, and something that he knows about then that would mean that he was actually serious about this.

I felt my hands ball into fists, just imagining what that would feel like.

There's no way. There's absolutely no way he'd put me through something like that.

Even if it was for Layla.

Well...

"That's actually the stupidest idea I've ever heard," Nico simply responded, apparently much to the relief of the girl beside him, "What would you even get branded on her?"

A tiny bit of fear sank into me when he didn't hesitate one second for a response, and even started chuckling.

No... there's no way he was actually...

"I was thinking about my name going right down her back."

This guy had to be joking.

"Why don't you just tattoo that on her?" Nico asked, sounding like he too was trying to reason with Xander's thought process.

All the time I've been with Xander, nothing even close to this had ever come out of his mouth, and I knew this wasn't something Layla and him had talked about.

He leaned back, taking hold of his glass that I'm pretty sure was just full of water.

"Tattoos are boring and less entertaining to watch," He took a small break to take a drink, "Did you know that they actually have to tie the pets down before that brand them? Its fun as hell to watch."

His sentence both disgusted and partially relieved me.

Disgusted because this was easily the most sadistic thing that's ever passed his mouth, and I knew for a fact that he didn't have that in him.

Then relieved because now I knew that this was all a ploy.

If I had to guess, another ploy to terrify his brother's new pet.

I found my previous quick rush of adrenaline turn into frustration as I now waited for a good moment to dig my heel into his calf.

I'd at least give him the decency to make sure his brother isn't looking.

"I guess. Have fun with that," Nico discouraged.

"You should do it with me." Xander offered.

Which was strange, Everyone knew what Nico's answer was about to be, but he asked anyway.

Sometimes I wonder what goes on in his head.

"I'd rather not," He responded within a second.

I felt Xander slump at that, adding to his act.

Nico's never been into literal mutilation, so I'd say his act was a little overboard.

"Well, who else am I gonna get to go with me?" He whined.

Nico let out a quiet sigh, a typical response to show the disappointment he had for his brother.

"If you're so persistent on going, then I'm sure Layla would be more than happy to go," I just barely noticed how he spoke her name almost like a mock, "She'd probably want to get some floral shit branded onto her pets back."

There were multiple issues in that statement, and Xander promptly listed one of them.

"You know her pet is dead right?"

I took the small moment where Nico was preoccupied with his drink to finally jam my heel into the front of Xander's calf.

He immediately tensed from both surprise and pain

Yet he didn't make a sound, instead, I think he was holding his breath to stop him from doing so.

It was almost impressive.

"How?" Nico inquired.

I felt him release his breath as quietly as he could, his arm snaking around my middle as some sort of response while he made me lean back with him.

I'm hoping it meant a surrender.

"Layla sucked her dry a couple nights ago. She told me that she was bored with how her pet acted."

Nico's tapping on the table brought my attention towards it, which then effectively made me notice that Khloe wasn't eating anymore.

"Okay, so it wasn't my fault." Nico settled with.

Xander just shook his head.

"Nah, she probably would have been on your case if she was."

Nico scoffed, obviously annoyed.

"If she was bored of her pet then I don't see why it matters. I should be on her case for wasting medical supplies on a pet she didn't even want."

Is that really what Nico thought was going on when she did that?

To me it just seemed like another one of Layla's countless excuses to go and see Nico.

I knew for a fact she didn't listen to a single thing Nico said as he looked over her pet.

"She probably knows not to mess with you anyways," Xander concluded.

It was plainly obvious that she didn't know that.

"Probably," Nico stood, causing Khloe to straighten, "Even so, She'd probably still go with you. She'd probably like to watch."

Oh I bet she'd just love to watch.

I rose my foot again in case Xander wanted to agree with him.

Luckily he didn't.

"I'll ask," Is all he said on the matter, "Where are you going so soon?"

There was a small pause.

"I have to review some documents again before tonight," He responded.

I could practically hear the glare he healed, all of us knowing it was the ones that Xander gave to him late.

"Oh yeah, don't you have that meeting with the Lord?" he stupidly asked.

Another silence between the two.

"Yeah," was the only response he gave before continuing to walk off.

We both just watched as he did, Xander relaxing fully with a long exhale as soon as he was far enough away to not see us.

"It's like you're trying to make him hate you," I said, quiet enough to not gain the attention of the remaining vampires around us.

"That wasn't... completely what I was going for, "He responded equally as quiet.

"Then what the hell were you going for? I mean branding?! Really?!"

"You know I was lying," He tried to defend, tapping his middle finger twice against my back to tell me to stand so we could return to our room.

I did, waiting for him to stand next before we began walking.

And even though I did know that, it still felt nice to actually hear it from him.

"Sure I knew that but Nico didn't, by the look on his face, he probably thinks you're insane!" We walked as we usually did, me one step behind and both of us keeping our gazes straight ahead to avoid suspicion, "Y'know for someone who's constantly worried about your relationship with him, you surely know how to keep making it worse."

I saw his shoulders tighten at my words.

I knew that was one of the most touchy subjects Xander had.

It was touchy, yet would be so easy to fix if he just dropped his infatuation with Layla and dropped all these personas he'd adopted recently.

I didn't know how else to get that through to him.

Straight up telling him didn't work, so I was resorted to this.

He didn't respond for a solid couple of minutes, and when he finally did, it had absolutely no confidence behind it.

"I'm just... trying something," Is all he said.

"Trying what? Sadism? You think that's gonna mend your relationship?"

"Why do you care?" he paused in the middle of this empty hallway, turning to face me.

His words didn't hold that hostility it did whenever I'd speak those words.

It was almost just... sad. Curious even.

Honestly, it caught me off guard enough where I stopped too.

What was I supposed to say?

'I can tell you've grown more miserable by the day, and even though that specific aspect about what you're doing doesn't necessarily affect me directly, I still don't understand why you keep digging yourself deeper into a hole you could so easily get out of?'

I just let out a sigh, beginning a slow walk back to our room again.

"I don't know, Xander," I said as I passed him, my words almost matching his tone "I guess I'm just trying to understand you. Ill focus on anything I can to keep me from thinking about her."

I didn't need to say her name.

He knew what I meant.

He waited a few more seconds before following and eventually keeping a step ahead of me again.

The rest of the walk was enveloped in silence.