The wind whipped Toris' hair around his face and neck when he opened the door to the inn. A flurry of snow came in after him, and he held Ivan's face to his chest as he shuddered, closing the door behind him. Though he couldn't feel the cold like a human could, he knew just how chilly it was by the shivering boy in his arms. "Which room?" Toris asked quickly. The clerk only gave them a glance, recognizing the Russian in his arms and lifting one eyebrow slightly. If Toris could have blushed he would have. Oh what the man must think! A grown man like himself, and one that Ivan had not been seen with before, coming back and asking which room… Ivan didn't seem to notice, and he murmured from Toris' chest.

"Upstairs… Fourth on the right!" Toris nearly ducked his head down, heading out of the lobby with all speed possible. The sooner he was away from that misunderstanding gaze the better. The stairs creaked in protest as they headed up them, and Ivan's hands curled into Toris' coat lapels. "…What would you have done if I didn't give you blood?"

"Sh-shh…" Toris warned quietly. "I-I would have figured something out. Don't try and justify what you've done, though! I told you that was very dangerous… If I was any other… like me, they would have killed you! I can take care of myself."

"Da, da," Ivan gave a sigh, and his breath was warm on Toris' cold neck. "Well I'm saying that you're horrible at it! You should just let me do it…" Toris didn't even get a chance to respond as Ivan pointed his hand at a door. "There, there!" Toris carefully set the boy down and Ivan wobbled a little, seeming confused as to why he couldn't quite get his balance. "H-how…"

"I told you, blood loss… Watch yourself, alright?" But Ivan batted away the hands offering to help, giving an embarrassed frown.

"St-stop saying 'I told you', you sound like my sister!" Ivan complained, heading for the door. Toris gave a small sigh, following after. Ivan opened the door, reaching back to wrap his warm fingers around Toris' cold ones, pulling him in as soon as it was wide enough. The room was small, and yet it probably cost a fortune in this town right now. There was a bed to the right, and in it there was a wrapped bundle of a small body. Straight ahead was a window, and to the left a table and chairs, and a small stove. It wasn't lit—firewood would be expensive as well. A woman rose from that table as Toris closed the door behind them. He knew it was a woman by her slight build, but she was wrapped tightly in a blanket. She dropped it when she spotted Ivan, giving a gasp.

"Vanya! You terrible boy, I looked all over for you!" She scolded, though there were tears in her blue eyes. Her hair was long and blond, braided nicely behind her. Her dress was old, and it looked a little big on her, except… The chest seemed to fit her perfectly. Though she was slight of build, she seemed quite ample there. She couldn't be over sixteen! Ivan was laughing as she rushed over to gather him into a hug, shoulders trembling with her unshed tears. "The men told me to give up and go back inside! They say that there's a demon out there Vanya! A… A vampire!" She whispered the word, as if saying it might bring the said 'creature' down on them. Toris grew tense, but Ivan only laughed again.

"I know Katya, I met him!" The boy proclaimed proudly. His sister frowned immediately, pointing her finger in a scolding manner.

"Oh Vanya, if mama was alive she'd punish you for worrying us and then lying!" Ivan's smile never faded, and even Toris was starting to see how ill-behaved this child was. With no parents to raise you and a sister who seemed too soft-hearted for that though, it couldn't be helped. And Ivan didn't seem like a bad child…

"That's not important!" Ivan said with a shake of his head. He indicated Toris now, pointing right up to his face. "This man came to help us!"

"O-oh!" Toris was a little surprised to be introduced so informally. He smiled shyly, giving a small nod of his head. "My name is Toris Laurinaitis, miss."

"Y-you speak Russian?" Katya was surprised, her blue eyes roaming over the man before her. Toris didn't look Russian at all, and he knew it. Still he noticed that blush of color cross her pale cheeks.

"I-I picked it up in my travels. Your brother waited all night in front of the city hall until the medicine was brought in, so please don't be so angry with him. I came back with him because he said his sisters were ill." And indeed there was a scent of illness in the room. Only faintly from the young woman in front of him, but from the one on the bed… He only knew the other—Ivan's other sister right?—was alive because he could smell her blood. "Do you perhaps have some ale or porridge in which I could put the medicine into?"

"P-porridge or ale? N-no, I'm afraid not…"

"The kasha, sestra!" Ivan spoke up. "We have the kasha, make that." He said firmly, and Toris was struck silent with surprise. This boy… He was really pushing it! Ordering your older sibling around like that was quite insolent. But Katya only nodded, smiling at Toris a little. "Don't make any for him." At this, Katya's expression was stricken, and Toris could just hear her unspoken protest of 'don't be so rude!' Ivan only crossed his arms. "He's already eaten! And stop looking at him like that, he's mine! Mine!" At that Katya blushed deeply, looking at a loss again. Not only was her brother being quite rude, but he was claiming another man! She really couldn't control him…

"I-it's alright! It doesn't bother me, really." Toris spoke up with a small laugh, as if to say 'kids these days!' "Please, prepare the kasha. When it's ready I will add the medicine to it, it will go down much easier that way." Katya gave a small nod, murmuring her thanks as she moved over to the bag by the stove, her pretty face still quite pink. Because they had been moving so far they'd brought many essentials with them, including a beaten old pot. She lifted it to the stove, getting out the millet seeds and pouring them inside. Toris glanced to the window and frowned to see that the night was more than half-gone already. He had to make this as short as possible. He was brought back to awareness as Ivan's hand took his own again, tugging him over to the window that he's been looking at. Running over to the table, Ivan grabbed a chair and pulled it over. "O-oh, thank you." Toris said as he took a seat.

Ivan hurried away then, moving over to the bed. He tugged down the covers a little, and Toris heard a small and feminine groan. Long blond hair spilled out from the sheets, messy and tangled. Ivan ran his small fingers through it, brushing it away from the little girl's face. "Natasha," He whispered. The little girl smiled then, and Ivan grabbed a cloth to wipe at her brow. This girl… Toris could smell her sickness from the window. Would she have even lasted the night? Ivan leaned down to kiss her forehead, and he covered her back up. And with affection like that… Ivan would have fallen ill in no time at all. Another family destroyed by the plague. What was even worse were the families that locked away their ill. They put them in sheds or barns, and gave them but a blanket. Most of them died of the cold before the illness, and it hard to say what the kinder death was. Ivan returned to 'his' vampire once his sister was covered up, and Katya was boiling the kasha now with what little water she had gotten earlier. There seemed to be just enough kindling to make it through the night, now that they had to use it.

"Where is the medicine?" Ivan asked quietly once he was close, eyes wide. "What is it? Let me see it!" He held out his hand eagerly. Toris tensed, sitting a little stiffly.

"O-oh, that..." He glanced around a little. "Listen to me, Ivan..." He took the boy's hands, pulling him closer to stand in front of him. "You can't talk about this," His thumb brushed over the cut on Ivan's arm. "You can't talk about me. They... You saw that man, the church man. They believe that I am evil, and that all those I cure are going to hell. But such things are just silly. No one goes to hell just from getting over the plague..." He smiled a little. "You believe that, right?" Ivan only dropped his eyes to where Toris' thumb rest on the end of his wound, his lips curling into a smile as he looked up.

"It would be quite troublesome if they did..." Ivan glanced back at his ill sister briefly. Turning his gaze back to Toris' eyes, he grinned a little more. "You can't be evil! You're more like an angel!"

"An… Angel?" Now that Toris had a bit of blood in him it all seemed to rush to his face. That spread of color was small, but it would be noticeable on his pale skin. Ivan nodded quickly, moving his free hand to rest over the one on his arm.

"Mama always said that one would come one day to save my soul. That I would fall in love..." Of course, his poor late mother had meant a nice woman. "I won't talk, if it will protect you!" Ivan added quickly. Angel. The young Russian was speaking about saving souls and love but the Lithuanian could only focus on that word. He'd never... been called anything like that before. He had helped so many in his long life, but in the end he was always condemned. A holy man, maybe, but that was only before the real men of God discovered what he was. They always caught on towards the end…

"I-I... Yes. Yes, it would protect me." Toris nodded, though in reality it would protect them. These poor three children... He brought Ivan's hands to his lips then, kissing them. "You are such a good boy Ivan, I can see that in you. You're very strong and noble in your own way..." Toris smiled; a true smile this time. "What's in the cure doesn't matter, does it? Not even I can explain how it works... It's just that it does..." Ivan leaned in close however, almost too close.

"It doesn't..." Ivan agreed, tilting his head a little, "But I still want to know. What is it, why do only you have it...?" Toris winced at the boy's curiosity. He glanced over to the stove, but Katya was cooking busily and minding her own business. Looking back, he licked his dry lips swiftly. Ivan's face was so close to his own that he could feel the boy's hot breath on his face, and the only thing that kept Toris from pulling back was the fear of being overheard.

"I... am different from you now Ivan, but I was once like you. Human, that is. Now I... I am what I am." There was a short pause. "And you knew didn't you? That I feed on others..." He traced that cut again, gently with his thumb, and Ivan shuddered. "It's in the blood. Everything... it's in the blood. It's such a precious thing to you, and yet to me... It is everything. I take it into me, and inside of me it changes. I discovered that it has the power to heal when given back to humans." He smiled, "It's the least that I can do..."

"It… its blood? Your blood?" Ivan's violet eyes were as wide as they could go, his lips slack in shock. He gave a little hitch of breath, turning his head to the side, "Sister!" He shouted, and Toris' back straightened in panic. He was going to tell—"I'm taking my medicine straight, so save the kasha, okay?" Katya glanced over with a frown.

"Are you sure Vanya? The last time you were ill it took mama and me nearly an hour to get you to swallow—."

"Da, da, just keep cooking! I'll take it!" Ivan frowned, blushing as little in embarrassment. Not in front of the guest! Katya sighed, murmuring to herself as she went back to stirring. Ivan turned back to Toris, nearly bouncing. "So you'll have me... and I'll have you." He did his very best to keep his voice down. If Toris could have blushed right now he would have again. H-he didn't mean it like… That is, Ivan had no idea how that sounded, right? Toris was hesitant of course, but he supposed if it would save their food then it would be for the better right?

"A…Alright." He agreed at last, standing from his chair with a creak of the old wood. Toris turned until his back was to the boy's sister, cutting off her line of sight as he rolled up one sleeve of his coat. "It's probably bitter, though... Let me see that knife." Ivan fumbled to retrieve the knife from his pocket, holding it out eagerly. Taking it from the boy, Toris poked the tip in to his own pale wrist until a bead of bright red blood welled up. "Now suck, just gently..." He held his wrist out. Ivan didn't even hesitate. Small hands grasped Toris' elbow and his arm just above the cut that had been created. His pink tongue caught the drop of blood that was about to fall. Warm and wet, it lapped up the trail as well, before those pale lips sealed over the wound entirely.

Ivan closed his eyes as he sucked, and Toris winced. Ah that stung…! He wasn't about to complain however, not when his drinking had made Ivan cry… He had no way of knowing that Ivan hadn't cried from physical pain alone. Now and then that tongue would lap at the already healing cut, and it was all that Toris could do not to groan aloud. Everything about this young human was so warm… Behind him, Katya glanced back over to the window. Her back straightened when she saw the stranger standing, and… she couldn't see her brother with him in the way. J-just what was Ivan doing for this medicine! Blushing deeply, she decided she would rather not know.

It burned Ivan's throat—the blood. Like the vodka his father used to give him, it tingled for a while. It was cold too, which seemed strange for blood. But he felt his arm stinging as well, and so when Toris' other hand set the knife onto the windowsill to reach out and pat his hair with a whisper that it was enough, Ivan pulled back with a gasp of air. Licking his lips, he watched as the stranger's wrist healed right in front of him. Remembering his own strange tingling in his arm, he looked to his cut again. Before the bleeding had stopped, and now it was already half-healed! "Amazing…" Ivan whispered softly. Looking up again, he smiled.

"The kasha is done!" Katya called from behind them. Toris turned to the side, and Ivan looked annoyed at being interrupted. The vampire discretely picked up the knife from the windowsill again.

"Good! Make two bowls of it and give them to me. I'll add the medicine and then you two can take it." Toris directed. Katya pulled out two bowls from the bag, scooping the lumpy kasha into them. Once they were ready she handed them over, and Toris took them over to the table. Making sure that he was concealed he cut his wrist again with the knife, letting just enough blood into each bowl. Stirring it in until the color was gone, he turned back around. "It's ready." Toris' voice was rather professional suddenly. "Don't mind if its bitter of course, and try and eat as much of it as you can. You're going to find yourself tired come tomorrow, so just sleep it off. You also might find bright light..." Like say the sun, "Quite annoying for that day. But I promise you'll feel so much better by the next day!" Katya had moved over to the bed, sitting on the side of it as she lightly touched her sister's shoulder.

"Natasha, it's time for food! I know you don't feel well but…" She paused when there was a whisper, leaning down closer to the lump in the blankets. "..Ah? But I can do it…"

"Ivan! I want Ivan!" The girl's voice was loud and strong, but then she dissolved into coughing. Ivan sighed, moving to take one of the bowls into his hands. Moving over to the bed, he smiled at Katya.

"I can take care of her." With a small troubled frown, Katya nodded as she moved over to the table. Sitting on the empty seat, she brought a bite to her lips. Wincing at the taste, she chewed and swallowed it down. It wasn't as if the siblings were unused to bland or bitter food after all. Natalya was frowning at the bowl in disdain on the other side, and Ivan was trying hard to coax her to eat. In the end he was forced to put a bite into his own mouth and transfer it to hers, and only then did she feel like eating. Reaching in to his pocket, Toris' fingers closed around the money there. Swallowing, he pulled it out.

"U-um… Katya, was it?" At that the oldest sibling's face went beet red, and she almost choked on her kasha. Covering her mouth, she flustered, blue eyes not quite meeting Toris' face.

"E-Ekaterina!" She corrected. Toris knew Russian, but it seems he'd failed to grasp the sensitive nature of names yet. He would have been blushing too if he had more blood in his system.

"I-I'm sorry! Miss Ekaterina, here." He set the money down on the table. "Take this and head up north. You'll run across a small farming town that's big on linen. Making clothing will be prosperous, and your brother could work in the fields at his age. At least until you're on your feet again! You might want to see about picking up Polish or Lithuanian for now…" Katya looked guilty as she picked up the money, holding it close to her ample chest. She knew she shouldn't take it—who knew what her brother did to earn it, but she wouldn't refuse.

"Y-yes, thank you Mr. Laurinaitis! I-I already know some Lithuanian…" She said with a nervous smile. As handsome as this man was, there was something about him. Something off…

"That's good! I really wish I could do more, but I'm afraid I have to leave this town soon. There are other places that need me, and…" And I'm not welcome here anymore.

"Oh, you've done more than enough Sir! Thank you!" There were tears in those eyes, and Toris knew that she was honest. Ivan was kissing Natalya's forehead, brushing her bangs back.

"You get some rest. Big brother loves you, so get better. This medicine will make you well again…" He pulled away, carrying the bowl over to the table and setting it down as he came to stand next to 'his' vampire. "The sun will be up soon—" He paused mid sentence, hesitating. "S…so we should be getting to sleep..." That was a good cover, right? Vampires burst into flame when the sun hit them or something didn't they? Ivan gave a knowing grin, leaving Katya quite befuddled. Toris glanced to the window, seeing that it was true. The stars were vanishing fast, and pitch blue had become navy. Biting his lower lip, he gave a small nod.

"That's right; you'll all need your rest." Toris looked back towards the siblings. "I should be going now. I have a ways to go before I reach home. I will pray for all of you, for your health and your safety." Toris made the sign of the cross, drawing wide eyes from Ivan. Vampires could do that? Toris gave a small bow then before he headed for the door. The young boy hurried after him, catching the Lithuanian vampire by the tail of his shirt before he could reach the door. Waiting for him to turn back around and see what the boy wanted, Ivan reached upwards. Without much thought, he snagged hold of the hair that hung down around Toris' face and tugged... hard. It forced the vampire down until he was level with the young Russian. Ivan did the first thing he thought to do, a mix of mimicry and that puppy-love... Those young lips fell square on his elder's, giving him a quick, inexperienced kiss. Dry chapped lips met Toris' smooth cool ones all too briefly.

"Mmh!" Toris' eyes went wide, and just as he pulled back he saw Katya fall to the floor. He himself felt like fainting! Covering his mouth, he frowned at the boy who was now smiling ever so proudly at him. "I-Ivan… That's for people that you love!" Toris protested. Ivan only nodded.

"Yes!" He nodded, "Since I finally found someone I love... I can't let them go without a kiss, right?" An innocent smile formed, and Ivan's cheeks were flushed pink. "So I'll find you again, okay? Toris Laurinaitis." He repeated the name as if to prove that he would never forget it. Toris was shaking his head, at a complete loss for words.

"I-Ivan, you don't… I-I mean you're Russian! You'll go back home eventually, right? I live here in Lithuania. How will you ever find me? N-no, this is foolish." Toris shook his head. "Concentrate on your family! Forget about me, Ivan. This was all nothing but… But a dream. You can't love…" A monster. "A-an angel, right?" He smiled weakly. Ivan was clearly confused! Toris had saved his dear family, he was just feeling attached… He would forget all about the strange creature he'd met by the time he was older! But Ivan continued to grin, almost bashfully.

"Be careful okay? Take really good care of yourself while I grow up." Ivan pleaded. He couldn't take care of Toris like he had promised—not yet! He had to get money, and had to be big and strong! To make enough blood to feed his vampiric love... Toris only sighed heavily, still a bit flustered. He hadn't taken his hand away from his mouth just yet, as if guarding it. Setting his hand onto the door, Toris opened it to step halfway outside.

"T… Take care of your family and yourself, Ivan. That's the best thing that you can do for me." He pleaded.

"Da, I will." Ivan agreed. And with that the door closed, and the vampire was gone. With a big grin, Ivan moved over to the bed again, taking a seat on side. He gave Natalya a glance. "I'll marry him one day, so be nice!" He scolded her for her glare at the door, but that comment only turned it to him, causing him to startle, and jump a little.