乇卩|乙ㄖ́

匚卄卂卩ㄒ乇尺 ㄒ乇几

When I finally woke up, I was intent on staying down for a bit.

My hearing finally came back to me, and I heard the fire cracking from the wood.

I didn't hear any sign of life around me, but that didn't worry me so much.

I groaned as I got up, feeling more refreshed from that nap.

The sky wasn't pitch black yet, but the sun had already set. There were still faint signs of light over the horizon, but it was still definitely nighttime.

I glanced over at Griff, who was already looking at me.

It looked like he was cooking meat over the fire. I couldn't tell what meat it was, but my hungry ass would eat it either way.

"Was that nap heavenly?" Griff smirked, looking back at the meat.

My scoff turned into a laugh, shaking my head when I recognized the reference.

"You're an asshole." I smiled, gaining the strength to crawl over to the fire.

"That's my brand," he sighed, staring deeply into the orange flames.

I glanced at him, then into the fire as well. The heat felt good compared to the cold air circulating.

We ate the food when it was finished, which Griff told me it was chicken. That was a relief.

Afterward, we simply talked for a bit, saying the absolute dumbest shit. Well, mostly me.

"Hey, I had a question for you," I spoke, causing him to go silent.

"Shoot," he responded, listening intently.

"Are you like a vampire? Cause when you took in blood, even looked at it, you went all stupid. I don't know if it's because of your second mouth or whatever, but it's something I've thought about," my question was sort of a joke, but I'd genuinely like to know.

He looked at me like I was the one growing in a second mouth. That look of amusement faded for a bit, like he was thinking of a serious answer.

"I guess you could say that. Sometimes, with certain people, I do get that vampire feeling. It could be because of my second mouth. It's the one that acts out when I'm angry. Despite that, I don't need to drain people to live or whatever vampires do. I just crave it sometimes." he answered, trying to explain it as best he could.

"So... is it with any blood? Like, if I were to cut myself with wood right now, would you crave it? Or is it really specific?" I questioned more, really trying to make sense of this.

"I guess it's specific, but it could be any blood. All I know is that when you were draining blood out of your leg, I felt it. I'm assuming that was one of the instances you were referring to," he smirked, causing me to glance away.

"Well, yeah. Did Aino know?" I muttered, refusing to look him in the eye now.

"Yeah, he's been known. I actually bit him once without thinking and had to explain myself. He had only pretended to be mad, and I felt stupid after. That's why he tried to snap me out of it that day. It hadn't been that intense for a bit. " he laughed to himself as if replaying that memory.

"Yeah, you looked insanely head empty then," I chuckled, feeling less embarrassed.

He rolled his eyes, looking away from me now.

I laughed at him, trying to think of more questions now that he was less quiet.

"Would you ever suck my blood if you wanted to? Or do you always resist it?" I blurted out without thinking.

He did seem put off by the question, but he answered, nonetheless.

"Normally, I resist it if I don't have clear permission to do it. Why? Do you want me to?" he joked, resting his head on his hand.

"You wish."

"You're the one that wanted me to eat you."

I covered my face, remembering that I did say that.

We had definitely gotten into a weird topic now.

"I guess I just wondered how it'd be. I didn't really expect there to be vampires despite being in a zombie apocalypse," I admitted, groaning to myself.

"I'm not Count Dracula now," he frowned, laughing at my reaction this time.

"Even if you were, I'd never let your second mouth bite me. That shit is way too aggressive for my liking," I joked.

I must have pissed it off cause I heard growling coming from Griff's forehead.

He awkwardly blinked, sighing when he realized it.

"I don't control it," he chuckled, his voice becoming a lot softer.

I laughed as well, leaning forward to lift his bangs up.

The second mouth started chomping at me, doing everything in its power to bite off another finger.

I stuck my tongue out at it, doing other gestures that seemingly pissed it off.

It stuck out its tongue as well, still trying to bite me.

I started laughing, hearing Griff chuckle as well.

"Almost everyone has been scared of it. You're the only person who's faced it." he pointed out, watching me continue to ridicule it.

"Well, it's finally met its match," I smiled, fucking around with it still.

I placed a finger on his forehead, far enough so the mouth's teeth couldn't reach me.

"This power is interesting, though. Are you alright with sharing its backstory?" I asked, wanting to set the boundary in case it was a bad past.

I heard him stay silent for a bit, urging me to check on him.

I felt his breathing on my neck. I never realized we were so close.

I noticed his breathing slow, starting to become heavy.

"Are you alright?" I asked, leaning back just a bit to get a full glimpse of him.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine with answering," he cleared his throat.

"I was born with it, but it was closed at first. It was only lips during my early years, and it wasn't until the apocalypse that it started gaining its own mind. When I joined that camp, they tried to use my power. I was used to kill monsters and other members of the camp. I guess that's how it became as rabid as it is today," he sighed, refusing to look at me.

I was shocked by what he said about the camp thing. They made him do that? No wonder why he'd leave.

"That's cool, but what they made you do sounds... cruel," I muttered, still thinking about it.

"Eh, it's alright. I'm not there anymore, so I'm glad. I'm just worried about what they might be doing to Aino." he responded, finally looking up at me.

I nodded along, agreeing with what he said.

In the back of my mind, I was screaming bloody murder.

We just stared at each other, and we had been only inches away for a few minutes now.

Now that he was looking back at me, I could feel myself melting once again.

Did I like him? Or is this just attraction?

God, I hope it's the second answer.

I let out an awkward chuckle, moving myself off of him. I still stood close, but not as close as we were before.

I heard him clear his throat, starting to move away.

"I should sleep now, we’re gonna be heading out in the morning. Goodnight, Kama."

I felt my face getting warm when he said my name, but I simply agreed, heading back to my area.

"Goodnight, Griff."