Erik had been unable to sleep that night. In truth, he'd been almost hyperactive with both mental and physical energy. Though he had tried to remain quiet so as not to awaken the sleeping human, he had eventually become dissatisfied with reading, and had eventually began to do push ups and aerobic exercises to try and wear himself out and release some of this boundless energy. Once or twice he wondered if he should lay off blood more often if coming back to it made him feel this amazing. He had even tried several attempts at leaving the room, first by walking, and then sprinting, out towards the exit, only to have his own body force him back crashing onto the floor. A human would be hurt and severely bruised, but Erik merely brushed it off and stifled a laugh. He eventually had exercised so much that he sweated himself into needing another bath, which he took gleefully, swimming through the water he did not think was terribly dirty. Of course, he had been so excited that he had forgotten about draining the pool, much to Alexi's chagrin in the morning.
However, when Alexi awoke, Erik was much more calm, the physical energy having been spent, but the mental energy still keeping him awake and reading. He had finished his book on high elf history and had begun reading about the dark elves, commonly known as Drow. He had nearly finished that book as well, when Alexi spoke to him.
“Good morning,” Erik replied politely, looking up at Alexi with some concern. But his expression wass not without trepidation. He thought carefully about the potion he was about to take, and once again assured himself that he could evaluate the effects and refuse with what will he had left later, if it was determined that Alexi was lying. Besides, there were a few more ways to commit suicide now, if it came to that.
Just as that horrid thought passed his mind (and it was horrid, for Erik did not relish death, and truly only considered it a better resort than living the rest of his life in disgrace as a slave), Joseph entered the room, carrying a pitcher of orange juice, wearing his usual posh head butler's outfit and looking calm and collected as ever, despite his internal worry over Alexi.
“I heard the alarms as you tried to bang through a few doorways last night, Erik,” he chastised, remembering the Leader's wish not to be called by his title. But the younger vampire thought he detected just a hint of a smirk behind the elder butler's lips.
“I prefer to think of it as 'knocking... loudly,'” Erik replied jokingly. “And come on, you can't blame a guy for trying.”
“No, not at all," Joseph agreed. It is only natural for a wolf to beat against the bars of his cage, he thought, thinking of the way he had been when he had first been captured, in addition to Erik's situation. But his eloquence was not spoken, for he did not want to insult the younger vampire. Without being asked, he poured the younger man a glass of orange juice as they waited for the master of the house, and of their lives.
* * *
When Master Alexi finally left the bathroom, Joseph greeted him immediately, offering him a glass of the juice without asking if he wanted any. Given how weak he looked (oh, how he tried so hard to hide it!), Joseph shot him a look, just for a split second meeting his master's eyes. It was almost an unspoken order that he drink the juice. Of course, such an order was only ever given for Master Alexi's own good.
“Are you prepared for me to extract the blood, Master Alexi?” he asked demurely, once more looking down at his Master's neck, no indication of that unspoken, almost fatherly order that had passed between them seconds before.
Of course, despite his great eyes and normally keen senses, Erik was oblivious to all of this, as he was far more focused on the potion that lay innocuously in his pocket. He took out the vial, studying it once again, as if he did not already have every crevice of the intricately woven, hand-sized bottle already memorized.