Lured by the Moon

Atlas felt himself flush slightly before he turned around. Sebastian grabs his neck tighter, not giving him any chance to move.

Atlas tries to speak; his words get smaller and smaller. "Uhh. Are you by any chance homophobic?"

His courage gets smaller and smaller once he realizes it was too silent behind him.

Sebastian twitches his lips, "Stupid, I don't care if you like guys or not. I'm just teasing you."

Sebastian lets go of his neck, walks around and heads toward the closet as he grabs pairs of comfortable clothes to sleep in. Sebastian could feel his stare; it was hot and burning to the point that goosebumps spread across his back. He turned around, holding clothes in one hand and placing the other on his hip, and tilted his head, saying, "What? You got something to say?"

Atlas shakes his head, "Do you like men?"

How did we get into this conversion?! Sebastian grins even further, saying, "Uhh. No. I'm more into women."

Atlas then closes his eyes as he ponders something deeply. His eyes were furrowed.Sebastian walks closer to him and asks, "What are you thinking?"

Atlas shakes his head, saying, "It's nothing."

Sebastian sighs and tells him, "Well, wait for me. I'm going to put these clothes on."

I'll get him to spill eventually, until I put on the clothes.

After walking back into the bathroom, he put the clothes on. He walks out again, while Atlas remains slouched on his bed. He was still watching that show, but the scenes were different. Atlas turns around at the sound of his footsteps. Sebastian strode toward the bed and crawled into it. He sighed softly, then heard Atlas's soft voice. "Do you feel better now?"

Sebastian's lips turned into a grin. "Much better. Were you worried about me?"

Atlas scowls, not enjoying his carefree attitude. He snickers before asking, "What happened to you? Why were you injured?"

Sebastian tilts his head, "Don't worry about it. You're a kid, so just act like it."

Atlas scowls again, saying, 'I'm not a kid. I might be fifteen, but my birthday will be in two months."

Interesting! Looks like I will have to get him something. But what do boys his age like?

Sebastian grins, "Is that so? When's your birthday?"

Atlas whispers, "March 13."

Sebastian claps his hands, "Alright. What do you want for your birthday?"

Atlas shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly, "I don't know. I never celebrated my birthday."

Sebastian's expression turns thoughtful. "Is that so? I'll give you something; there must be something you want."

Atlas tilts his head thoughtfully, but a fleeting hope vanishes in the blink of an eye. "C—could you teach me to defend myself?"

Sebastian is stunned. Sebastian asked, "Are you sure that's what you want"

Atlas nodded affirmatively, "Yes. I want to protect myself."

Sebastian remembers being abused by his father. He wants to ask him, so he talks in a composed tone, "You said that your father hurt you? Can you tell me more about it?"

Atlas's face became slightly pale; he swallowed hard before nodding hesitantly, 'Yeah. He hated me. Where I came from. Strength was valued in the family. He believed I was too weak."

Seriously?! What about his eyes, which turn purple and have double pupils? I almost forgot about that. Sebastian asks softly but bluntly about what he was wondering. He wanted to know if he would tell him the truth. "What are you?"

Atlas's face, already pale, turns even paler, making him look like he's about to faint, and he stammers, "W—Why?"

As Sebastian crawls next to him, the blankets slide off his shoulders, and he asks warily, "Why what?"

Suddenly, Atlas grips his wrist tightly, his knuckles turning white. If Sebastian were a human, it would have hurt. But Sebastian didn't feel any pain, so he let Atlas grip his wrist and asked, "Why are you so afraid?"

Atlas stuttered, his eyes reddening, "D—Do you know what I am?"

Sebastian whispered in response, "I have a feeling you're not human. Although I don't know what you are."

Atlas was so silent that Sebastian started to regret opening his mouth; then he heard Atlas say, "My father was very afraid of me. That's also another reason for his hatred towards me."

A thought occurred to him: Sebastian tilted his head and asked, "Are you worried that I would be afraid of you?"

Atlas didn't say anything, but Sebastian could see his question was a yes; he was afraid that Sebastian would be afraid of him. He curves his lips into a rare, kind smile and pulls Atlas's cheeks, saying, "Brat, I don't care what you are. I'm a vampire, so why would I care what you are?"

Atlas whispers softly, but he is able to hear him. "Even if I killed someone?"

Sebastian was slightly surprised, nods firmly, "Yes, I don't care if you killed someone as well."

Why would I dare? Throughout the centuries, I have taken many lives, to the point where I can't remember how many deaths I've been responsible for.

Atlas bit his lip so hard that Sebastian worried he would cut it, but then Atlas caught him off guard with his next action.

Atlas suddenly jumped into his lap like an agile cat; Sebastian had to lean back against the wall. Atlas's entire body was shaking; he realized that he was crying.

Sebastian wasn't used to being hugged or sought out for comfort. It felt like a large heating pad, trickling warmth into his heart. Warmth and a heavy feeling caused Sebastian to reach out his arms to wrap around Atlas's shaking body. "D—do you mean it? You wouldn't care about what I am?"

Sebastian tilts his head, feeling the soft, silky black hair scratching under his chin. "No, little brat, I wouldn't give a crap about what you are. So stop crying now."

Sebastian didn't know how long it was, but his arms were getting sore and heavy. He realized that Atlas had stopped crying and fell asleep in his arms. He looked at the clock and saw it was thirty minutes later. He tucked Atlas's sleeping form under the covers as quietly and softly as possible. He handed Atlas a small pillow because Atlas refused to release his grip on his shirt, clinging to it like a sticky monkey.