(Addis)

Addis did his best to ignore Faye’s presence as they moved around the room, hating every little chuckle and smile the human gave. Despite their shared disdain for one another, the human was playing his role perfectly, smiling and laughing when appropriate. 

‘Disgusting,’ Addis thought to himself, although he had to admit some part of him found it impressive. It was now immensely obvious to him that Faye hated Adrian as much as he seemed to hate Addis, but was he not also just as flirtatious and cordial when on his owner’s arm? Addis felt his smile twitch as he noticed Adrian approaching the pair, another human on his arm that the vampire didn’t recognize. 

“Nice to see you taking care of my Faye, Addis,” Adrian spat and Addis gave a hearty laugh, tightening his hold on the human. 

“As well as I may, Adrian. After all, one shouldn’t refuse a gift from the king,” the vampire delighted in the whispers around them at his statement, and he grinned broadly at Adrian’s scowl. “My thanks to you as well, for being ever so accommodating.”

“Only doing as one should, Addis,” Adrian spoke through clenched teeth as he bowed his head and Addis laughed again, tapping Faye’s arm with his hand. If he wasn't sure of it before, he was now: Adrian was the one being punished here. He wasn’t sure what the man had done to upset the king, but Addis couldn’t help but be slightly relieved. He didn’t want Rasvan’s attention on him, not now.

“Well, Faye and I must be off! Plenty of others to greet and see!” Addis waved to the high vampire as he turned away, not wanting to give Adrian a chance to touch Faye. He didn’t need to be seen trying to protect the human and he knew Rosie was simply ecstatic to see Addis with the human. The vampire did his best to work their way to a more deserted side room and as soon as they were away from the majority, he quickly uncoupled his arm from Faye’s.

“Don’t worry, I don’t bite,” the human spat, sitting down angrily on the couch as he faced away from Addis. The vampire for his part scowled, finally dropping his smile in the privacy of the room. As much as he still couldn’t stand Faye, he had to admit, his respect for the human was growing. Despite his position, despite his lack of power, he didn't mince his words. “I’ll be happy when this is all fucking over.”

“You and I both,” Addis huffed as he stood, remaining on the other side of the couch from the human as they watched the party. The silence was awkward and uncomfortable, but Addis preferred the silence to dealing with the other vampires. Bad enough he had to have a human, worse that it was one of Adrian’s, and even worse that it was a human he was Soulbound to.

“Why do you even come to this shit if you hate it?” Addis turned a dark look to the human as Faye spoke, noticing that the human was still staring out the crack in the door. His expression had not changed and Addis shrugged as he chuckled. 

“Simply being a high vampire does not allow me to refuse the King, a fact I’m sure has Adrain seething tonight,” Addis answered candidly, scanning the main room until he found the human’s owner. Adrian was making small talk with Rosie, but Addis could see that he was scanning the room for the pair. Pathetic. “The King could take away my power and wealth in an instant, leaving me with nothing.”

“Guess we’re all just slaves to someone with more power then,” Faye scoffed and Addis chanced another look at the human. He had closed his eyes and shifted until he lay down on the surface, a pouty expression on his face as he sighed. “Ain’t nothing good about this place.”

“Then why come?” Addis asked, unable to help his curiosity as Faye growled, refusing to open his eyes. Addis had chosen Dephus after the death of his mother, realizing there was nothing left for him on Terra. Most other humans he knew were charmed here by high vampires, with hopes and promises of power and comfort, only to learn that the truth was a lot less rosy.

“I didn’t choose to come to this goddamn place. My pa sold me, traded me for a pot of money that probably didn’t even last him a week,” Faye spat, rolling into the couch to hide his face, but Addis didn’t need to see it to know the human was crying. He had already noticed that Faye had a habit of crying when he was angry. “Vampire that brought me here died within days before he could decide what to do with me, and Adrian scooped me up with all his fake promises of making me his human servant.”

“Forever a victim then, I suppose,” Addis chuckled, unable to hide his surprise as Faye jumped to his feet. He didn’t try to fight as the human grabbed his jacket, glaring even as the tears ran down his face. Addis kept his calm expression, meeting the human’s angry eyes evenly; they had already been through this once, and he knew Faye, in some small way, wanted Addis to retaliate. He wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. “Let go of me, Faye.”

“Fucking make me. I ain’t gonna have some fucking vampire who wouldn’t know the meaning of a bad day talk down to me,” the human spat, fury filling his teary pink eyes. Addis relaxed as Faye gripped his jacket tighter, smiling darkly at the shorter human. Did Faye also fight Adrian like this? Interesting. “You don’t know what it’s like to constantly be the one without power. You–”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Addis grinned, enjoying the confusion he saw flash across Faye’s expression. “I am quite aware of what it feels like to be small, beaten, and treated like property.”

“Nice try, but you–”

“I was not always a vampire, Faye. I know you care little about others, but even I was once human,” Addis interrupted the human, grabbing Faye’s wrists as he forced the human to release him. Despite knowing that his grip had to be hurting him, there was no look of pain in Faye’s eyes and Addis’s respect grew. So used to the pain that it barely bothered him, good. A step in the right direction. “I took power instead of waiting for it to find me.”

“But Zélia–”

“I wouldn’t use her as a source of information about me,” Addis chuckled, tightening his hold on the human’s wrists. Faye didn’t even try to resist and Addis’s smile grew wider. “I know you want me to prove your petty point, that all vampires are nothing more than abusers seeking more power, but I am not one to stand by and be used by anyone, not even you.”

“I may not be able to disobey the King, but I am no more his slave than I was to the man who beat me for his own pleasure,” Addis continued, leaning closer into the human’s face, slowly becoming aware of an intoxicating whisper in the back of his mind. What if he could prove the human wrong, make him eat his hasty words? He moved Faye’s hands as he leaned down more, taking in a deep breath as he spoke into the human’s ear. “You are only as much of a victim as you choose to be.”
It was then that Addis did something he never thought he’d do. 

He kissed the human he held.