Narry found himself awake in a room he didn't recognize.

The walls were bare and the paint had long since faded, leaving him to assume whoever the room belonged to rarely used it, or just hadn't kept up with the it's growing demands. A small, lopsided cabinet took up the left corner, leaning slightly into the desk perched beside it. The sheets of a worn bed were pulled haphazardly across his bare chest, and he noticed with flushed cheeks that his shirt had been thrown across the room. There was a man sitting impatiently at the end of the bed, perking up as Narry kicked at him to get his attention. "You're awake!" He noticed, jumping up and leaning over Narry's face with interest. "Are you okay?"

"Just dandy," Narry spat, making the man back up slightly, "considering I've just been kidnapped."

A forced laugh broke the mood. "Is that what you think this is?" The man put a cold hand against Narry's forehead. "I considered you'd be a little more thankful; you fainted in the street and you've got a nasty fever. Now who in their right mind would've stopped to help a vampire?"

"Somehow 'werewolf' isn't the first thing that comes to mind," Narry shot back sourly, glancing over the man's ragged appearance. "Is that what you normally think of?"

The man huffed, dropping his cheery demeanor. "Let's start with some niceties," he stated simply, holding out his hand to shake. "Artemis."

"Narry," he mumbled, casting a cautious glare at Artemis' hand. "What time is it?"

Artemis pulled his hand back, showing no sign of taking offense to being rejected. He shifted nervously, checking over his shoulder at a heavily curtained window Narry hadn't noticed before. "I'd say around noon."

Narry nearly jumped straight out of bed, stopping only when Artemis caught his arm. "My brother is gonna be so worried. My phone—God I don't have my phone—I'm never gone this late, and he knows how my health is—"

"I have a phone, you can call him on it if you like," Artemis cut in, tightening his grip on Narry's arm as he tried to get up again. "You just stay here and I'll get it from the other room, we don't quite have the other windows blocked and the sun...y'know..."

"I'm perfectly aware of what the sun'll do, thanks," Narry snapped, fighting out of Artemis' grip. "Don't take too long."

He hastily retrieved his shirt from the floor as Artemis left, pulling it on embarrassedly. He felt sick at the thought that a man he barely knew had taken it off if him while he was unresponsive, and he hoped that was all he had done. "What a great thing to wake up to," he mumbled sourly to himself. As soon as he was able to contact Patrika, he was leaving.

The door nearly whacked him in the face as Artemis shot back into the room, his finger pressed against his lips in a panic as he yanked Narry behind him.

Narry let out an involuntary gasp as a second, much taller man stepped coolly into view, eyes like amber fixed over Artemis' shoulder. "What do you have there, Arty?" His voice was low and rough, reminding Narry of the growl of a large dog. "Let me see him."

Artemis carefully stepped to the side, his hand clamped tightly on Narry's shoulder. The second man laughed slightly and cocked his head. "You've caught an undersized vampire, have you?"

"This one isn't for you," Artemis informed him softly, fear evident in his tone. "He's not food, Micah."

Micah lowered his brow daringly. "Then why is he here? Catch and release? What use is that?"

It was Artemis' turn to frown. "He's a guest," he stated stiffly, shifting back in front of Narry as though afraid of how Micah would react.

"Actually," Narry cut in, startling them both, "I'm here against my will. Would you call that 'a guest'?"

Micah snorted and stepped out of the room, muttering a quick, "I'll let you handle this" under his breath. Artemis turned to Narry with a look of horror. "Would you rather I let him tear you apart?"

"I'd rather you let me go home," Narry stated flatly, tugging at the sleeves of his shirt. "Where's that phone of yours?"

Artemis' attention shifted to his clothing, ignoring his question. "Why is your shirt back on? Narry, you have a fever, you're burning up. Please, take that off—"

"I'm not taking my shirt off," Narry heard his voice raise in pitch. "I don't care about my fever; I'm always sick. Let me call my brother, and he can come pick me up—"

Artemis shoved his phone in Narry's hand, eyes cast on the ground. "If you're so desperate to leave, I won't stop you."

Narry quickly grabbed at it and shooed Artemis out of the room, stopping only to ask for an address before shutting the door to block the noise. A few minutes of heated arguing passed before he begrudgingly hung up the phone and murmured to the door that he was done.

"So?" Artemis asked, snatching his phone back as he took a seat on the end of the bed.

Narry's face scrunched with distaste. "He doesn't want to pick me up until nighttime," he spat in a single, frustrated breath. Anxiously, he bit at his lip, ignoring Artemis' amazement at his fangs. "And I really need something to drink."

"Like what?" Artemis got up, the mattress squeaking as his weight left it. He shoved his phone into his pocket and turned to face Narry, grimacing as though he already knew the answer.

Narry bared his teeth at him before asking dully, "What do you think?"

Artemis stood silent for a moment, pressing his lips together. His hand met with the handle of one of the drawers on the cabinet beside him, pulling it open. Narry watched curiously as he extracted a small pocket knife and flipped the blade out. "Artemis," Narry heard himself say as the knife struck Artemis' outstretched palm, "what are you—"

Artemis yelped and pulled the blade back from his hand, scarlet blood dotting the floor beneath him. Narry, too overcome with his growing hunger to even consider what Artemis had done, grabbed at his arm eagerly. It wasn't until he'd cleaned the blood off his hand that he came to his senses. He jumped back, wiping his mouth off on his sleeve. "Y-you didn't have to...I didn't...I'm sorry."

Artemis, preoccupied with dressing his wound, said nothing. He merely shrugged, tying off the excess bandages and laying back on the bed. "I need to get to bed, anyway. It's a full-moon tonight, you know that?" He threw back the covers and paused. "You should probably get to sleep too. I bet you'll need your rest if you're leaving as soon as it gets dark."

Narry hesitated for a second before nodding, flicking off the light-switch and awkwardly positioning himself as far from Artemis as he could manage.

Artemis, not getting the hint, put a hand against Narry's forehead and pulled back immediately. "You're really hot," he gasped, "and your forehead is burning up, too."