Hidden In Plain Sight (MxM)✔

Chapter 10 - Fun Facts About Humans

Luke stared down at the book in his hands as he struggled to decipher the extensive word play. He was unfamiliar with a majority of the terms and felt that many of them were unnecessary. 

Perhaps it'd be easier to read if he used a dictionary?

"Something wrong?" Nicholas asked, hovering over the human's shoulder and eyeing the page he had open. There was a diagram of a body that was labeled to point out specific differences between humans and Vampires.

"Nope." He lied, drawing the book closer so he could read the tiny text better.

He had spent nearly twenty minutes searching for a book that wasn't in some complex foreign language, but now that he had found it, he realized that his reading skills still weren't up to par.

A finger suddenly ran up the length of his spine, causing the human to shiver. He then turned to find the Vampire grinning ear to ear. "That one is a bit hard to read. I was only able to skim it briefly before losing interest."

"You've read up on humans?"

"Yes, back when I was a fledgling. They existed before my time and there was a temporary trend in the study of them. I remember how people used to theorize that they'd make a resurgence since scientists claimed they were somehow resilient despite being so weak."

"So you know a lot about them?"

"If I say yes, would you be more interested in me than that book?"

Luke laughed at the childish request. "Yeah, if you know anything then I'd much rather listen to you than try and find the definition of....Mesenchyme?" He squinted as he tried to pronounce the strange term.

"Will there be a reward?" Nicholas inched closer.

"What kind of reward?"

The Vampire wrapped an arm around the human's waist and pulled him closer. "Maybe something like this?"

"Like...this?" Luke stuttered, feeling distracted by the warmth between their bodies.

"I'll tell you everything I know, and if you don't like what I'm doing, just tell me to stop."

"Oh..." The human blushed as he tried to hide his face behind the book. "And you'll stop if I say so?"

"Naturally."

He wasn't sure if it was a good idea to let a Vampire stay so close to him for an extended period of time. While they had already kissed and hugged quite a bit up to this point, it was only for a brief moment. In this situation though, he wasn't sure for how long they'd be talking.

The Archduke tightened his grasp on Luke's waist, and the human felt his face heat up. He certainly didn't hate the contact. What harm would there be in cuddling a little longer?

Biting his lip, Luke finally consented. "Okay. Tell me about humans."

A flash of excitement crossed the Vampire's face, but as usual, Nicholas hid it immediately with a smile. "Where to start? Well, since you're reading about the biology of humans, I supposed I can begin there."

The Vampire let go and waved for Luke to follow. "First, the average human supposedly could have one child a year, which is ten times faster than our birth rate and why they were able to keep their population up despite having shorter lifespans."

"How much shorter?"

They stopped near a lounge chair but instead of sitting, the Archduke returned his attention to the human, taking the book from his hands and hugging him once more. "They lived to be about a hundred if I recall, and that's only if nothing else killed them. Plus they became weaker the older they got."