Work Text:
It’s unusually quiet in the Staten Island house as Guillermo wraps up his nightly dusting routine. Nadja and Laszlo had flitted out the front door earlier without a word, Colin Robinson cooped up in his basement dwelling the entire evening—Guillermo isn’t quite too sure what he’s up to, but he’s been quiet and that’s all the human can ask—and Nandor hadn’t been out of his crypt since the human had met him to rise from his coffin. Guillermo hadn’t questioned it then; some days the vampire is more reserved than others, choosing to hide away in his private quarters when the cameras aren’t rolling. Today is one such day, and although Guillermo relishes in the silence, he can’t help but miss Nandor’s presence that is usually hovering around him during these moments.
A hefty sigh leaves his lips as he places the duster down on the coffee table, then stands up straight while propping his hands on his hips, looking around to admire his hard work. Sparing a glance at the clock on the wall, he squints a bit to catch the time—just past four in the morning—not quite time to put Nandor to bed, but also nowhere near enough hours left in the household’s day to warrant searching for another task to begin.
Guillermo huffs again before walking off to the rarely used kitchen, swinging open wooden cabinet doors to reveal mostly barren shelves except for one lone box of stale granola bars. He grabs one from the cardboard box, then rips the plastic off of the crumbling snack.
By the time he’s finished munching, Laszlo and Nadja have returned in a flurry of squeaks that turn to rustling fabrics and idle chatter, and there’s still been no sign of Nandor. Guillermo figures it’s time to finally go check on the vampire considering the sun is slowly but surely on the rise.
The door to Nandor’s crypt is ajar, and the human peeks around the cracked entrance inside the candlelit room. The vampire is sitting on the chaise lounge that resides in the crypt, a jeweled hand mirror held up blocking his entire face as he focuses with dead eyes on what Guillermo knows to be a blank reflection.
“Knock, knock,” he says lightly while simultaneously rapping his knuckles casually against the wooden slab. Nandor startles from his intense staring into the mirror before him, immediately snapping it face down onto the bench beside him, looking at Guillermo with widened eyes and an open mouth.
“Guillermo! What are you doing sneaky sneaking around here like that?! Little rascal…” Nandor scowls before edging the mirror slightly under his thigh, as if he’s a child hiding something naughty from their mother.
“What are you doing?” Guillermo asks calmly, completely ignoring Nandor’s outburst, his eyes tracking the glint of the candle glow off of the golden handle that still sticks out from its cover.
“Nothing!” the vampire rushes, lifting his hands in front of his chest in a defensive motion, as if trying to keep Guillermo back from entering the room.
“Can I come in?” he questions, and Nandor scoffs with impatience. “It’s almost time for bed.”
“Yes, I suppose you may.” When Guillermo comes inside and begins to arrange everything to get Nandor ready for coffin, he notices that the vampire hasn’t moved an inch from his perch on the sofa, still attempting to keep the mirror out of sight.
With his back turned from the other man, Guillermo shoves open the heavy lid of the mahogany box and smoothes down the lining inside while continuing to speak. “What’s up with the mirror?” he prods carefully, his eyes remaining on the menial task he’s pretending to do with the utmost care as he waits for Nandor’s response, giving the vampire space to answer how he wishes without having to face Guillermo directly. He’s noticed that more often than not, this is the best way to approach these kind of scenarios with Nandor: allow him to open up at his pace and reveal information on his own terms.
“Nothing,” is what he’s met with again, and Guillermo rolls his eyes in return. He pivots back around to meet Nandor’s eyes, which are now cast toward the hardwood floor. Guillermo hums, then holds his hand out for the vampire to grasp to get him to stand from his seat.
“Were you trying to look at yourself again? You know I can just take a picture of you, right? It’s not like you guys can’t be seen on camera.”
Nandor lets out a growl of frustration before raising the handheld mirror high above his head and slinging it across the room, the face shattering against the wall from the force, a few jewels falling loose from their setting on the back of the golden paddle. Guillermo flinches at the noise, and at the knowledge that he’s going to have to clean up the mess.
“It isn’t the same,” Nandor grumbles before crossing his arms across his chest petulantly like a child, completely ignoring Guillermo’s outstretched palm. “I want to be able to see the faces as I make them! I want to be able to get up close and look at my skin! I want to know what color my eyes are and look at my gray hairs! I want to know if I have freckles that still linger from my time in the sun over 750 years ago!” The man lets out a forlorn sigh before going on. “I… can’t remember…” he trails off, a broken expression gracing his face.
Guillermo’s heart cracks a tiny bit, as it always seems to do when Nandor is upset about his “curse” of vampirism. An idea pops into his head, and although it seems silly, he hopes that it won’t go unappreciated by the vampire.
“You know, I could describe it to you? Or you could make funny faces and I’ll make them back!” he says with enthusiasm, trying to get Nandor into the spirit of feeling better. Even though Nandor can be a huge pain in his ass at times, he hates seeing the big softy upset or sad.
“That is not the same either,” The vampire mumbles, then hesitates before opening his mouth once more. “Though I suppose it could not hurt to try…” He finally looks up to meet Guillermo with dark, shining doe eyes. An involuntary grin spreads across Guillermo’s face at the sight before him, and he swears the corners of Nandor’s mouth shift upwards slightly as well.
Silence washes over them as Nandor stares up at Guillermo expectantly as Guillermo studies Nandor and tries to formulate words in his mind to describe the man before him without sounding like a completely lovesick fool. It’s no secret that Nandor is attractive, even less of a secret that Guillermo has a huge thing for him. The entire situation could get away from him quickly, and that’s that last thing that the human wants to deal with currently. Dealing with a depressed vampire is already more than enough.
“Well, I guess let’s start from the top. I see…” he pauses, and Nandor’s attention is rapt, his gaze full of… adoration? Surely Guillermo can’t be seeing that correctly. He takes in a deep breath before beginning his description.
“I see a strong, fearsome warrior. A long, thick crown of hair,” he pauses to inhale again, feeling like his lungs won’t hold enough air to get him through this as he imagines running his fingers through the locks nonchalantly, as if it’s something that they do casually all the time rather than just when the vampire wakes and as he gets ready for bed.
“Dark, black eyes—but they’re bright, shining.” Beautiful, full of life, he omits. “A defined nose, sharp jaw, the strong features of a king.” Guillermo thinks that if vampire’s could blush, Nandor definitely would be in this moment. “Wrinkles by your eyes, around your mouth, showing that you’ve laughed and lived.” Nandor’s lips turn up again, causing the skin mentioned to crinkle in joy. Guillermo can’t help the little giggle that leaves his lungs, breathless as he stares at Nandor, studying him and letting the words flow from his lips. He swallows before moving on.
“A full, dark beard, probably one of the best looking I’ve ever seen if we’re being honest,” he jokes, and Nandor lets out his own chuckle. Guillermo’s fingers twitch where they dangle limply beside his thigh, urging him to reach out, to run the digits through the thick hair that covers the vampire’s jaw.
He decides to skip over the fangs, considering the circumstances, but he admires the sharp teeth that poke out slightly just above Nandor’s plump bottom lip. Rather than lingering on that feature, he holds out his hand again to attempt to pull Nandor to full height once more. This time, the vampire goes easily, compliant, allowing the human to drag him up from his seat, standing him tall.
“I see a soldier, a fighter. Strong shoulders and a towering stature, enough to bring even the most powerful nations to their knees.” Guillermo can’t hold back anymore after Nandor breaks their handhold once he’s towering over the human, bringing his arm up to rest on Nandor’s bicep and extending the limb up to his lower height as if to examine it.
“A powerful man, a man who could move mountains, who could drain the seas if he wanted. A man who turned the Euphrates red with the blood of his enemies, not only once, but twice…” He trails off as his fingers drift down Nandor’s arm on their own accord before meeting his own fingertips. Nandor’s breath hitches in his throat as their fingers tangle together, and Guillermo pretends not to notice it for both of their benefits. He tugs Nandor closer to the coffin, moving him gently to ready for bed.
Guillermo begins to loosen Nandor’s cravat, removing it before beginning on the clasps on his overshirt. Layer after layer, the vampire is stripped bare, and Guillermo gives himself the pleasure of allowing his eyes to search and dissect every part of Nandor’s body.
“I see a leader, a man who is capable of anything, who has done the impossible. Who has lived a hundred lives and done a million things.” Guillermo lowers his voice as he pulls Nandor’s night shirt over his head, messing up his hair a bit in the process. The human reaches up to smooth down the strands, stroking his finger down the vampire’s cheek slightly in the guise of an accident. Nandor’s eyes flutter closed as Guillermo continues finishing wrapping him up in his sleep clothes, and he lets out a sigh, tension deflating from his shoulders as he relaxes into their morning ritual.
“I see…” Guillermo halts his words as he begins to brush out Nandor’s mane. He stops himself from spilling all of the words that are caught in his throat before going on. “I see you.” He says firmly with a nod of his head, even though Nandor can’t see from where he stands in front of the smaller man.
Tension shoots back into Nandor’s posture, his shoulders tightening up and rising high. Guillermo lets a hand rest on one of them, urging it back down into a resting position and giving it a gentle squeeze. “I like seeing you,” he whispers, almost too quiet for a human to hear, but a perfect volume to be picked up by vampire ears.
When he’s finished brushing out the vampire’s hair, making sure all of the knots have been worked out of the black strands, he moves around to Nandor’s front again. ”Make a face,” he insists, and Nandor gives him a look filled with confusion. Before the vampire even has a chance to realize what’s happening, Guillermo does his best to copy the expression.
“What are you doing?” Nandor asks, and the human makes his best attempt to move his lips in the same pattern as the vampires without knowing what words are exactly going to come from him. ”Hey! Are you copying me?! Stop that!”
Guillermo continues his mimicry before falling into a snicker at Nandor’s indignation. ”I’m being your mirror,” he confirms, and dark eyes light up when the vampire finally catches on.
“Yes!” he exclaims. “I like this game, Guillermo. Very fun, keep going.” Guillermo chuckles as he watches Nandor flash a ferocious face—lips snarling and grit teeth bared in a scowl with sharp fangs on display, eyebrows knit together and hands perched up in a clawing stance. Guillermo does the same, and Nandor makes a noise of delight. ”Not quite the same since you do not have fangs and are not a vampire Guillermo—“ Guillermo genuinely scowls now at the statement. “—but this is quite fun. Again!” the vampire urges before he crosses his eyes and sticks his tongue out in a silly expression.
Guillermo follows Nandor’s actions immediately, and the vampire falls into genuine laughter now, pitching forward through his giggling fit and letting his hand fall onto Guillermo’s shoulder. Guillermo relaxes his expression again before smiling up at his vampire. Eyes lock, and Nandor’s visage slips into something that’s much more at ease than when the human had first entered the room.
”Ready for bed now?” Guillermo asks lightly, holding out his hand once more for the final time this morning, and Nandor’s arm drops to reach out and clutch it in his own much larger one before stepping slightly closer, ignoring the question.
“Thank you, Guillermo,” he says so quietly, so sincerely that Guillermo’s heart takes off into a rapid flutter in his chest.
“You’re welcome, Nandor,” the human whispers back, and he swears he sees the vampire’s eyes flutter again as his name passes Guillermo’s lips.
“Right, yes, off to coffin now!” Nandor rushes, breaking the precious moment like shattering glass before they can get too far: just like they always do in this game of chicken that they play so often.
“Of course.” Guillermo steps to the side and coaxes the other to begin his ascent up the small step stool that resides in front of the coffin.
Once Nandor is tucked in, his arms crossed over his chest in position for his slumber, Guillermo hesitates as he stands above him, arm reaching up ready to close the lid once they exchange their pleasantries for sweet dreams. The vampire seems like he has something left unsaid, but Guillermo knows better than to push and prod him to speak.
“Guillermo?” Nandor says, his voice faltering a bit as the human edges further over the coffin, to the point where all the vampire would have to do is give one sharp tug to his cardigan and he’ll be falling right in along with the other.
“Yes?” He asks, voice hushed in the stillness of the room.
”Goodnight,” Nandor whispers while extending one of his arms from the crossed position to grab Guillermo’s free hand, then bringing it up to his face to allow his lips to brush across the human’s knuckles in a semblance of a kiss. An involuntary gasp rips from Guillermo’s lungs, his cheeks flushing bright red, and Nandor immediately pulls back from the touch. “Now, close the lid,” he orders flatly before readying himself for sleep again, eyes slipping shut as if this was nothing out of their ordinary routine.
Once the lid is closed, Guillermo thinks he hears one more muffled “goodnight,” from beneath the wood as he extinguishes the hundreds of candles around the crypt, heart still racing and breath still trembling.