A commission for Anikan! Thank you!
A/N: This takes place somewhere in season 2, but nowhere in the canon timeline, really. Kind of the first night after they get back to Silas in their new room, but pretending Perry and LaF didn't come in ahaha.
Disclaimer: I do not own Carmilla.
Delicate
It wasn't long after they'd arrived in their new dorm room when Laura started to notice something was... off about Carmilla.
After finally obtaining such a luxurious form of shelter – entirely thanks to her vampire girlfriend's hostile threats to the previous owners – Laura had anticipated that the first night she and Carmilla spent alone together on that beautiful king-sized mattress would be absolute heaven.
The days and nights of trekking through the rain and mud and being chased by mobs were finally behind them, exchanged for the safety of four sturdy walls, three hours' worth of thunderstorm to listen to, two very comfortable blankets, and one extremely warm and tired vampire girlfriend to cuddle up to.
Changing into dry clothes had been a quick and simple feat for Laura before she'd flopped down onto the bed for a moment, waiting as the lightning flashed until she finally felt the presence of Carmilla beside her. She'd wrapped her girlfriend in her arms and happily dragged her beneath the covers to brush their cheeks together, rub her hands all up and down Carmilla's sides, and to kiss her as many times as her breath allowed.
She'd expected to fall asleep like that, pressed close with each of Carmilla's heartbeats ringing softly in her ears.
But to Laura's surprise and a bit of her concern as well, she discovered that her girlfriend seemed to be having a bit of trouble falling asleep.
Carmilla kept... jolting, flinching and jerking about every minute or so. Whenever Laura would get herself perfectly comfortable snuggled up beside her girlfriend, Carmilla would growl under her breath and shudder before she needed to move her hands somehow.
It didn't take very long for Laura to start getting concerned, so she pushed herself up, flicked on a lamp, and looked down at the vampire.
"Carm? What's up? Are you okay?"
Her girlfriend blinked up at her, eyes ridden with frustration and her lips pulled downward in an irked grimace.
"I wish I could say for sure..." She sat up, both hands going to her head to ruffle through her hair. "God damn it. What the hell is this?" She shuddered again as another unpleasant sensation went through her, and her nails flew to her sides to drag down and scratch over her shirt. "It's like my skin's crawling, which probably isn't good..."
Laura watched her, unable to discern what was wrong with her. Now that she had reason to think about it, Carmilla had been a bit twitchy ever since they'd stopped to rest a night in the hayloft in that old barn.
That night, it had only been a few uncomfortable shifts and scratches on her girlfriend's part, but this was clearly a lot worse.
Biting her lip, Laura reached up a hand to rub the vampire's back, not knowing what more she could do to help this – whatever it was.
"Do you feel sick or anything? Like is there something I can-" She stopped the instant something caught her eye. It was a tiny dark speck that seemed to jump onto her girlfriend's shoulder. Laura inadvertently slid back a bit. "Whoa! Oh, gosh. Um, Carm? Y'know what? I... actually think I know what's wrong."
Her girlfriend ran another hand through her hair and shook herself. Carmilla looked up at her with annoyed yet tortured eyes.
"Really?"
For her to be admitting she was stressed out by this really made Laura feel bad about it.
But it needed to be done.
She gave a light pat to the girl's back, then pushed herself off the bed.
"Think you could shift for me?" she requested.
Carmilla looked up at her as though she'd sprouted an extra limb.
"Laura, it's 2 in the morning. Why would you possibly want me to shift right now?"
"Because I think I know what's up, and this'll help. Trust me."
Carmilla flashed her gaze over the girl, then heaved a sigh.
"Fine. Anything if it might help get rid of this hellish itching."
She climbed out of bed on the opposite side as not to damage anything. Then, she shook her head and closed her eyes.
Laura had witness her shifting before, but it never ceased to amaze her.
Carmilla's bipedal posture was exchanged for a crouch, her clothes, skin, and hair all melting into jet-black fur. A long, snakelike tail sprouted from the small of her back, and her front paws hit the floor just as her whiskers and ears popped in.
The resulting panther turned around to look at Laura, then immediately had a seat on the floor. Carmilla's back leg went to work almost instantly as she was forced to use the claws to scratch at her ear and neck, and a growl of frustration filled the room.
Laura skirted the bed and put a hand to her mouth, hiding the faintly-amused smile behind it.
"Oh my gosh..." she mumbled. "I can't believe it."
Carmilla glowered up at her, demanding answers.
But clearly, she didn't like the one Laura provided.
"Carm... you've got fleas."
A full-fledged roar erupted throughout the room, much louder than any thunder might've been. It was outraged, disbelieving, and dismayed all at once.
Laura took a step back, but could see it in the panther's eyes that Carmilla couldn't deny the reality. She could also make out her girlfriend's thoughts in those anguished eyes as well.
Just kill me, Laura. Please. Just kill me.
"Okay calm down," Laura soothed. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about."
Another roar - It's everything to be embarrassed about!
Carmilla growled again as she was forced to return to scratching.
Laura went on as delicately as possible.
"Well, it's happened to all of us at one point or another! Only, we get head lice! You just got fleas! They're basically the same things – all just tiny little bloodsuckers with no purpose in life other than to make the rest of us miserable... But I guess since you've got this... bigger form with a lot more fur to hide in, you got a lot more of 'em. That's all."
Carmilla didn't move for a moment, and Laura felt she was contemplating going on a murder rampage to compensate for this humiliation. When her girlfriend next responded, her growl was short, and her tail lashed once.
So what the hell am I supposed to do about this?
Laura already had the solution in mind.
"Just leave it to me!" she declared. She crossed the room to grab her jacket from the closet, then knelt down to start putting on her boots. "I'll just swing by the convenience store to get some... special soap. It's open 24-7, and I doubt anyone else will be in there at 2AM. So I'll just be a minute or so. Until then... you just sit tight. Preferably in the bath tub."
She was about to slip out the door but paused, turning back to look at her girlfriend. Carmilla's shoulders and ears were constantly twitching, her tail swishing and paws kneading the floorboards in discomfort.
Laura knew she was beyond mortified, so much so that it was destroying her pride and possibly even affecting her health now.
So she stepped forward, ignoring Carmilla's warning hiss of: You'll catch them, you idiot.
Laura didn't care, though. She wrapped one arm around the panther's shoulders and kissed the top of her head.
"It's okay, Carm. Really. I'm not making fun of you or anything like that. I'll never tell anyone. I just wanna help you get better as soon as possible. So wait for me, okay?"
Carmilla grunted, tilting her head to the side in order to rasp her tongue over the back of Laura's hand, and a short-lived purr rumbled to life in her chest. Laura stepped back and patted the cat's head again.
"I'll be back before you know it."
Carmilla whimpered softly. Be careful.
"I will!"
And with that, Laura took off running out the door.
Luckily for her, the thunder had stopped, even if the rain was still coming down a bit. She pulled up her hood and ran as quickly as she could around campus, bound for the neon lights of the convenience store.
The same red letters of OPEN were still aglow in the window, and Laura came to a halt at the automatic doors before hurrying inside. She ran right away to the pet care aisle, entertaining thoughts of just how incredibly odd or even suspicious a nineteen-year-old college girl might look running around in the rain at 2 in the morning to buy flea bath soap.
But as she grabbed a bottle and rushed up to the register, she found she didn't particularly care.
The cashier clearly looked surprised to see her and her strange choice of purchase, but he said nothing as he rung up the item and rummaged for change.
"Thanks!" Laura said. "I don't need a bag!"
And with that, the eco-friendly student was off and running once more.
She ran back through the night, guided by the streetlights lining the sidewalks around campus. She pushed her way back inside the building and hurried to the dorm room.
She found that Carmilla wasn't there, and panicked for a brief second, until she remembered that she'd asked her girlfriend to wait in the bathroom.
Sure enough, there were several books and pencils that had been knocked to the floor, chairs and tables pushed out of place. The room hadn't exactly been designed to accommodate for a panther, after all.
Laura shed her boots and jacket, then carried the bottle into the bathroom where the light was already on. She had to come to a dead halt and actually let out a laugh at the sight that greeted her inside.
Carmilla was sitting – rather squished – in the bathtub, ears flat and tail still flicking as she struggled to scratch herself.
The second she saw Laura, she growled in embarrassment and stood, then turned her back and sat down again.
Laura did her best to kill the giggle, closing the door as she put the bottle of soap down.
"No, Carm-" she chuckled. "Hey, hey. I wasn't laughing to be mean. It's just... you're so big for this tub now. It's actually really cute. Though I'm sure you're kinda not comfortable. At all..."
The panther huffed and snorted, flashing her gaze back to Laura briefly before hanging her head once more.
Whatever. Let's just get this over with, please.
"Right."
Laura rolled up her sleeves and set to work. She ushered Carmilla back a bit away from the faucet, then turned on the water. She instructed her girlfriend to indicate a comfortable temperature of water before Laura let it run.
As she waited for it to fill the tub, she went back to the bottle of soap and read the instructions, rolling up her sleeves and finding an unused brush to prepare.
In the meantime, Carmilla was getting used to the feeling of the water soaking into her fur, though it was difficult not to scratch herself, lest she spray droplets everywhere. She could only shake herself and grunt, waiting for Laura to return to the tub and save her from this hell.
Once the bath was filled almost to the brim with water, Laura hurried over to shut it off.
"Alright," she said determinedly. "Let's do this." She prepared Carmilla for what she was about to do, then proceeded in dumping the contents of the soap bottle all over her body. "Normally, we'd just need a little bit. Like for a dog or something. But for a panther...? Yeah, I think we'll need the whole thing..."
Carmilla snorted bubbles away from her nose, sticking her tongue out distastefully as some got in between her teeth.
Laura went to work with the brush, dipping it into the warm water before pressing it between Carmilla's ears and scrubbing.
Carmilla couldn't stop herself from whining in relief as the bristles of the brush dug into her thick, course fur, massaging the dense muscle underneath. Unbeknownst to her, her back leg started to kick a little, sending waves of water splashing against the side of the tub.
Laura smiled a bit, glad this was doing her girlfriend some good.
"Just let me know if I hurt you or something, okay?"
The response was a purr, as if to say, Hun, you're doing the angels' work.
So Laura continued with her task, scrubbing the brush through Carmilla's soapy fur, going from her head down to her shoulders, chest, and then her front paws. At one point, when she scrubbed just beneath Carmilla's chin, her girlfriend let out a small purr.
Laura smirked. She'd remember that secret sweet spot in the future.
She continued her work, brushing all along Carmilla's flanks and haunches, and making sure to get her tail as well.
Laura could see the tiny black flecks in the water as the fleas dropped off one by one, but imagined that sitting in a pool of their disgusting little bodies wasn't very enjoyable for Carmilla.
So she drained the bath and refilled it again with clean water. She reached her arm beneath the panther's belly and washed every strand of fur on her body.
If someone had told her a year ago that she'd be up at 2:30 in the morning giving a flea bath to a giant black panther who also just so happened to be her god-fighting vampire of a girlfriend, Laura would have checked them into the nearest asylum.
But here she was.
She didn't see any more fleas in the water, and her girlfriend wasn't itching or squirming anymore. Laura brushed Carmilla over one more time just to be safe, then finally sat back.
"How do you feel, Carm?"
The panther blinked her eyes open, realizing the relaxing brushing was at its end. She focused on her body, trying to pinpoint any sources of itching or discomfort in her fur, but after a minute of feeling, could detect nothing pestering her any longer.
So she leaned to the side and rubbed her cheek against Laura's arm, letting out a deep purr.
Laura grinned and put the brush down.
"Awesome!"
She proceeded to drain the bath, then started grabbing towels. When Carmilla shifted back to her human form, she'd still be wearing her clothes from earlier, so to avoid those getting wet, she'd need to be dried in her panther form.
Laura ruffled the towels all over the panther from head to tail tip. Carmilla let the purr continue for a while as she did so, her tail tapping happily against the side of the bath.
When at last she was deemed "dry enough" by Laura and the towels were tossed aside to be put in the hamper at a later date, Carmilla shifted back to her human form.
She stood in the tub in the same clothes (and now-wet socks) as she'd been wearing previously, her hair still damp, and she shook her head a bit to dislodge stray drops of water.
Laura stood and smiled, offering her hands to her girlfriend to help her out of the tub, ensuring she wouldn't slip.
Once Carmilla was on dry ground, Laura released her wrists and smiled.
"Better?" she wondered.
Carmilla's only response was to sigh and pull her into a small embrace.
"Though absolutely mortified to the point where I'd almost wished death upon myself, yes, I'm better now. All thanks to you, Sunshine."
She pulled back briefly in order to share a deep kiss with her girlfriend. Laura returned the contact with equal fervor for a moment. When they parted, she released a small yawn.
"Oh, right. It's like... 3AM. Wanna try that whole 'sleeping together in the nice big cozy bed' thing again?" she offered.
Carmilla brushed her cheek against hers and hummed.
"After the insanity we've been through in the last twenty-four hours, that's the best idea I've heard in weeks."
"Yeah. We can worry about cleaning and stuff in the morning after sleeping in for a few hours."
"Now you're talking my language."
Laura took her girlfriend's hand and started for the door. But a slight tug alerted her attention behind her again.
Carmilla swayed a bit, her shoulder bumping the wall as she put her free hand to her head, moaning softly.
Instantly, Laura turned back to her, holding both of her sides firmly to keep her from collapsing.
"Carm? What's the matter?"
The pitch of concern in her voice was flattering to say the very least, but Carmilla's last intention was to worry her unnecessarily.
"Easy, Cupcake," she soothed. "Just a bit dizzy. I guess those little bastards took a bit more blood than I could handle. Ironic, isn't it? Now I know what it feels like..." She paused for breath, chest heaving the slightest bit. "In all my years, nothing like that's ever happened before," she muttered. Then, her eyes looked sternly up into Laura's. "If I ever... If I ever go overboard like that on you, tell me."
She was dead serious about this, and Laura could tell. Laura nodded, tracing small circles over her girlfriend's sides.
"Don't worry. You've never done anything like that, and I know you never will, Carm."
Her words seemed to ease the vampire a bit, and Carmilla sighed in relief.
"Alright... My head's a bit fuzzy, but a good night's rest should fix that."
Laura frowned, maintaining her hold on her unsteady girlfriend.
When she shifted forms, Carmilla's body compensated for the bulk and blood of a panther, which means there was more room for the insects to bite her. But now that she was back in her human form, she was clearly unwell with how much blood they'd stolen from her smaller veins.
Carmilla looked paler than usual, and understandably tired. But Laura didn't want her to be suffering like this so weakly for the rest of the night.
There was only one possible solution.
Carmilla tried to take another step toward the bedroom, but Laura stopped her gently.
"Carm. Just drink from me. It's okay. You need your strength back."
Come to think of it, it had been a few days since she'd last seen Carmilla drink anyway.
Clearly, her girlfriend was meek enough that she could look unhappy about the offer, but wasn't able to argue or refuse it.
Laura reached her arms up around her girlfriend's neck and shoulders, then slowly pulled Carmilla down to her shoulder. She could feel the vampire's labored breaths fanning out against her neck, and Laura pet through her hair soothingly.
Carmilla clutched her waist, mumbling a faint apology before sinking her fangs in.
It didn't hurt at all, and Laura was rather pleased to be sharing her energy when her girlfriend clearly needed it.
Carmilla only took a few sips before withdrawing, wiping the back of her hand over her lips to catch a stray drop. She placed a kiss over the bite mark, then nuzzled into Laura's neck.
"You're a life-saver, Laura."
"Anytime, Carm."
Laura hugged her softly before leading her back into the bedroom. She sat down onto the bed with her, and Laura got herself comfortable.
But before she could lay down and invite Carmilla to do the same, Laura noticed her girlfriend still looked conflicted. She scooted closer until their thighs brushed, and Laura took one of her hands.
"What's up? Still dizzy?"
Carmilla flashed her a glance, then looked down at the blankets.
"No. Just thinking... about what you said..." She heaved a sigh.
"What I said? What did I say? Did I say something stupid again?" Laura fretted.
"Not stupid. Just the truth," Carmilla mumbled. "How am I any different from those little blood-suckers? All we do is leech off other creatures to survive, stealing their lifeblood for ourselves and giving nothing in return." She plastered a smile, but it was pained, and she pulled her hand away from Laura's. "Guess that makes me a pretty awful girlfriend, huh?"
But Laura was having none of that.
"Noooo no no nononono! Hey, missy!" she scolded, taking both of Carmilla's hands again. "Look at me, you beautiful idiot vampire."
Carmilla tried to shy away, but the grip on her wrists was surprisingly tight, and Laura wouldn't release her. So the vampire looked up – more timidly than she'd ever done anything else in all her years.
Laura's eyes were unwavering, her countenance stern.
Carmilla blinked, saying nothing. She realized her girlfriend was very serious about what she was addressing right now.
Laura waited until Carmilla was holding her gaze – and her hands – before continuing.
"Carm. Don't ever say or- even think you're anything even remotely like a leech or anything like that. You're not a parasite. You're a person. You don't take and take without giving back. You give back so much.
"You give me someone to be with when I'm lonely and scared. You give me someone to hold when I'm freezing my butt off in some rusty old hayloft. And I wouldn't just do those kinda things with anyone. I wouldn't do them with anyone but you," she murmured earnestly.
"You're important to me, Carm. You're so special. You give me a reason to... keep going. You're my girlfriend, and I love you. You give back more than you'll ever really know."
By the time she'd finished voicing her honest feelings, she'd become more than a little emotional. She could feel the sting of tears wanting to spill over, attesting to just how genuine her words were. She thought she saw a shimmer of water in Carmilla's eyes as well, but her girlfriend looked away before Laura could be sure.
Carmilla squeezed Laura's hands and simply breathed for a moment, trying to absorb everything she'd just heard. Her hands trembled slightly, but Laura's steadied them, patient as ever.
Even after a few minutes, she didn't have words to respond with. Laura could see she was overwhelmed by it all, the aloof and undeniably powerful vampire now reduced to a speechless, delicate girl.
Carmilla merely turned back to her girlfriend and pulled Laura in.
"Thanks..." she rasped. "Thank you, Laura."
Happily, Laura returned the hug just as tightly.
"Thank you, Carm. For being here. With me."
They held one another for a long moment, the silence of the night wreathing around them in the dimly-lit room.
Carmilla knew Laura would never think of her as a pest or a parasite – only a person. One with a taste for blood rather than water, but a person nonetheless.
Laura was the one who finally allowed Carmilla to believe that she could be loved and cherished by someone, no matter what.
After a few minutes, Laura leaned back to turn off the lamp, then laid herself down beside Carmilla, stroking her hands through her girlfriend's soft hair as it finally dried completely.
"I love you, Carm," she murmured honestly. "So don't worry about anything. You'll never intentionally try to hurt me, and I know that. You'll never take advantage of me or anything like that. And I won't do those things to you, either. I won't leave. I won't push you away. Promise."
Laura leaned in again, her lips easily finding Carmilla's in the darkness. Carmilla kissed back, hoping the action could convey what words couldn't.
Laura signified she understood by hugging her girlfriend's waist.
With a sigh, Carmilla nuzzled into her collar.
"Thank you, Laura. You're... the best thing that's ever happened to me. I mean it."
Laura kissed her hair.
"You are too, Carm."
Another moment passed, the more serious atmosphere began to dissipate a little.
Laura put what she'd learned earlier to use, moving one hand up to Carmilla's neck. Gently, she ran her nails up and underneath her girlfriend's chin in long, slow strokes.
Carmilla whimpered at the unexpected exploitation of her weak spot, but she didn't honestly mind it all that much. She absolutely melted beneath Laura's touch, her body going limp within seconds as a small rumble rose up from her chest.
Laura giggled and kissed her cheek, rubbing her back for her.
Within seconds, Carmilla's breathing had slowed and deepened, her defensive walls crumbling down to reveal her true self only Laura had the privilege of witnessing.
Despite her girlfriend's otherworldly strength and abilities, it made Laura remember a lot of other things about her as well.
Carmilla got upset. Carmilla got embarrassed. Carmilla got insecure.
For all her vicious threats and cunning tactics, underneath the hard exterior, she was very delicate indeed.
As the minutes passed, Carmilla drifted off, and her embrace loosened just a bit. Laura tightened hers in compensation, then kissed her girlfriend's temple before curling up around her.
"Goodnight, Carm."
A/N: A bit of humor with a bit of closeness and sincerity. I hope you enjoyed!
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