Disclaimer: standard.

Languages:

Bold—Ghia—Earth language

Italics—Usre—PLANTs language

Regular—Common—Cornicupris language

Vampires of Cornicupris

16: Partners

Lacus really wished that he would stop doing that.

Every time Kira turned to look at her, trying to engage her in a proper conversation, he sent waves of his scent in her direction. It was floral, it was earthy…and it was delicious. Lacus had to stop herself from inhaling deeply, from breathing in as much of his scent as she could. She knew that it was one step closer from just tilting his head just a little, and then…and then…

That black collar would do nothing to protect him.

Eat him, the monster commanded Lacus.

In her hands, Eternal trembled. Her eyes shined, and her pink metal body glowed. She leaned against Lacus' hands, leaning in the direction of the boy's spirit-form, who, unaware of the threat, continued to point out things to his person, occasionally taking up a pencil to make his own markings. It was just so precious, so vulnerable. It made him a perfect target.

Eat him, the monster commanded Eternal.

Eternal let out a groan of frustration, frustration of a missed hunt. In Lacus' head, the sound was terrible. Still more terrible was that it perfectly reflected her own turmoil, her own frustration. All Coordinators knew the sound. It was the sound of deafened silence, the sound of doubt and fear and rage and discord. It was the sound of the monster.

Luckily for them, Eternal was in her Haro form, so the sound came out as a small, high-pitched whine. Kira and Strike looked up.

"Is something wrong?" Kira asked concernedly. Strike peered at them, but especially at the tense-looking Eternal, who betrayed the feelings of her otherwise serene person.

"Oh, Eternal's just really hungry; neither of us can't wait 'till the lunch bell," Lacus answered. The monster mocked the irony of her statement.

Kira still looked perturbed. His eyes, whether he knew it or not, looked searchingly into hers. It was then that Lacus knew what his specialty was: empathy.

Lacus returned his gaze. She was, like Athrun, among the stronger telepathics in the Coordinator world. She shielded her thoughts, placing a façade of serenity and overall genki-ness to hide the deeper, darker emotions within. It was a façade that she used often, among strangers and friends alike.

None of them could know about the rages of the monster. None of them could know how much she longed to eat them.

She was perfect. She was Lacus Clyne, singer, idol, and princess. She couldn't be anything less. She was never anything less, and she wasn't about to let this scrumptious boy break down her well-constructed mirage. She still needed it.

He shrugged, and returned to his paper. Strike's gaze lingered a little longer, but, in the end, even he was fooled.

Both Lacus and Eternal heaved inward sighs of relief. Are you happy now? they both demanded of the darkness.

It just laughed.

X x X

"Uh…Athrun? Are you feeling alright?" Nicol asked.

Athrun had all but collapsed beside his companion, almost slamming down his lunch tray. More uncharacteristic still was that the tray had a mound of kebob on it, almost smothered in sauce.

The part of him that was still thinking rationally was telling him Good move, Athrun. He was becoming so obvious. But that didn't really matter. His excruciatingly long hour and a half with Cagalli had left him so hungry. It took all of Aegis' willpower and pride not to dunk himself into the less-than-normal looking hardly-could-be-called meal.

"Yeah Nicol," Athrun said, forcing a smile. Nicol looked like he wanted to ask further, but thankfully dropped it. Blitz, however, still continued to gaze at them, questioning vibes coming off his little form.

Aegis and Athrun sensed Rouge and Cagalli enter the room, and without further ado, Athrun started to almost shovel the food into his mouth. Nicol looked disturbed, but Athrun was too hungry to care at the moment. Part of him was distracted with the food, but most of him was tracking Cagalli. Aegis was included in that part, whose gaze traced Rouge around the hall.

They noticed that Cagalli also had ordered kebob, and had the same kind of sauce on it. Aegis laughed darkly, and Athrun knew that they were both thinking the same thing.

You are what you eat.

They barely registered Dearka and Yzak, along with their respective spirit-forms, arrive. The two were smirking and probably discussing the outcome of last night's spirit-battle. Their spirit forms were jauntily trying to get each other to lose balance and fall off their people's shoulders. Athrun and Aegis could barely recall the details. It was always like that, really. Immediately after the battle, most of them would go into denial. If they didn't, if they acknowledged each and every battle immediately after, they would probably go insane.

He couldn't understand how Dearka and Yzak could laugh about it. Aegis couldn't understand how Buster and Duel could spar the day after. Maybe it was just their way of coping.

Dearka and Yzak stopped short of the table. "And what's our great leader doing this time?" Yzak asked, but his phrase lacked the usual accompanying sneer.

Athrun ignored him, knowing full well that he looked ridiculous bordering insane, but was too preoccupied to care. Nicol said something, and both sat down, trying not to look disturbed.

The three of them got into a conversation. They were probably talking about Athrun and Aegis, and how oddly they were behaving. Nicol said something about politics class, and something about going to ask Cagalli about what could have happened…

At the mention of her name, Athrun's head snapped up. Nicol, Dearka, and Yzak made their way towards Cagalli and Kira's table. Dearka had sat with them, right beside Kira. Nicol had caught Cagalli's attention by placing a hand on her shoulder.

"It's too close," Aegis muttered. Too close to her neck. Don't get any closer, and don't touch the other one. The other one is ours too.

Both were horrified by the thought that came into their heads, horrified that it included not only one, but now two people, but they couldn't seem to get rid of it. They watched in poisonous jealousy as their comrades leaned closer to the objects of their obsession...

Disgusted with themselves, they looked away. However, in doing so, they saw Lacus, who was on the other side of the room. She was looking in the same place that he had torn his gaze from, with the same horrified, jealous expression on her face.