Fic: turn (April Fic Challenge)

[csi_sanders1129]

Title: turn
Chapters: 1/1
Author:csi_sanders1129
Ratings: K+
Word Count: 900
Pairings/Characters: Nobody Owens, Silas
Synopsis: In which Bod ensures that Silas will not be alone.
Comments: Written for my April Fic Challenge 2021, Prompt: Birth. Could be Gen or Pre-Slash. Follows my other Graveyard Book fic, if you will move your icy hands. Comments and kudos would be awesome. Enjoy!

"Do it."

Silas frowns down at Bod's bared neck, the pale expanse of flesh and the steady pulse of blood just below the surface is tempting in a way that's harder than usual to ignore – he can hear every heartbeat as the tempo picks up, faster and faster in anticipation of... But, no. He thinks of the life Bod would be giving up – the potential he still has to change the world in so very many ways. With a staggering amount of self-control, he pushes himself away from the young man he's watched grow up. He stomps down hard on the urge to give in, to take all that potential away. "You do not know what you are asking."

"But, I do," Bod answers, without hesitation. "I know what you are, Silas, I've travelled with you for years now. I know what you have to do to survive, you've told me of the things you've done in the past before you joined the Honor Guard. I know the limitations you face. I know all the good things you do with your powers. I know what I'm asking. And, still, there's nothing I want more than to stay with you, fighting alongside you. Forever." Bod takes a single step forward. "I know that you almost did this once before, when you thought you were going to lose me – so I know you're not totally against it."

He doesn't like thinking of almost losing Bod. A few years back, when he'd forced himself to put his fangs to Bod's neck in a last, desperate attempt to stave off the Lady on the Grey. She'd revived Bod, brought him back from the very precipice of death, but she hadn't been happy about his manipulation. She'd sworn to take Bod from him, she'd sworn that he wouldn't be around to interfere when she did come for him again. A part of him has feared that inevitable moment every time Bod's been out of his sight ever since.

But, this… This would subvert her claim on him, put Nobody Owens beyond her reach.

The idea certainly has its merits.

"Silas," Bod tries again. "Please. Do it."

"There's no going back," he warns. "Not ever. If… if ever we are killed, there is nothing else for us. The Lady on the Grey will not come for us. We will not be ghosts living out a happy eternity in the graveyard. Those who would desire to find you in the afterlife, they would never find you. There will simply be nothing." He offers one last out, "It will hurt." Bod still does not appear dissuaded. "Once I start, I cannot stop. No matter how much you beg me to – and you will – if I stop, it will kill you, and she will take you."

"Understood," he agrees.

"Come here," Silas says. Bod moves in, and Silas encircles him in a tight embrace, revels in it for a moment – the rise and fall of his breath, the beating of his heart, the warmth, the life. Then, "Hold on as much as you need to," he instructs. Bod does, his arms winding around Silas's chest, loosely for now, in an awkward sort of embrace. Silas takes a deep, steadying (unnecessary) breath and allows his eyes to fixate on the skin of Bod's vulnerable neck.

When he feeds, he uses his powers of suggestion to erase the memory of their encounter from his victim's minds. He takes what he needs and those he feeds upon go about their evening a little weary from the blood loss but generally unaware of what has happened. He has, however, never used those powers on Bod (though he'd certainly been tempted to on several occasions when childish arguments had gotten out of hand) and he can't bring himself to do so now, either. While it would take away the pain of the bite, it would take the memory, as well, and he never wants Bod to doubt any aspect of how this played out.

Still, he moves without warning, sinks his fangs deep into the vein. Blood spurts from the twin punctures in rhythmic arches, filling his mouth as he swallows it down. Bod clutches at him, now, fingers desperately clutching at his sides as the life leaves him. There are shouts, cries of pain; despite his prediction, there are no pleas for him to stop. Silas forces himself to ignore it all and keep going.

Slowly, Bod goes limp, turns into dead weight in Silas's arms. He keeps drinking until the blood flow stops, until Bod's breath stops, until his heart stops. He holds tight until the warmth fades away, knows it will never return.

He knows that if the Lady on the Grey is going to show up, it will be at this point of the process. He needs to act quickly, though he doubts there's anything she could do to stop this now – and he certainly isn't going anywhere. He bites his into the flesh of his own wrist, lets his own tainted blood pour into Bod's open mouth for a long moment before the wound knits itself back together again. That done, there is nothing to do but wait for the change to come.

It doesn't take long.

Bod wakes with a gasp, re-born into a different sort of life where he and Silas will never be without each other.