"You can stay for as long as you wish, lindo. If you're that excited to start writing, I can get you some parchment and pen, or you can use my laptop if that's easier." He offered, silently promising himself he would do anything to see Alex smile the way he was smiling now. It was beautiful seeing him this excited and determined. "You could never disappoint me, love. In all honesty, that's one of my own fears. You're so well loved at school, rightfully so, I mean who wouldn't immediately be attracted to you, but me. Not as much. if anything I'm worried about disappointing you." He gently rested his hand on Alex's cheek, brushing his thumb back and forth, finding comfort in the gesture.
Alex closed his eyes at the touch. “It’s alright. I like this.” His eyes then flickered, a reddish glow peeking through. His brow upturned. “How could you ever disappoint me? You’re the most amazing, beautiful, talented person I know. Don’t tell Rain I said that.” He giggled, his eyes opening up a bit more. “But seriously, you are. And I’m glad I’m able to say that now. I love you, Cas.” His eyes widened at his own words, and he covered his mouth with his hand. “Sorry, was that too much?”
Cas smiled softly, blushing at Alex' praise. "I'm alright with being second if Rain is first." He lightly traced Alex's cheek and jaw. While he couldn't entirely believe Alex words now, it did feel nice, being told all these things from someone he had had feelings for for so long. He gently tugged Alex's hand away from his mouth and tipped his head up to meet his gaze. "No, carino. It will never be too much. I love you too, Jeremias Alex Ruiz. I hope I can show just how much I do, in however long a time you allow me." Cas slowly leaned forwards and pressed a slow kiss to Alex's lips, his eyes fluttering shut. He wasn't sure if he'd ever get used to kissing Alex, he hoped he never would, no matter how many times they kissed.
“No, no. You’re both on equal standing.” He leaned into Cas’s touch, letting him take his hand and tip his head up to him. His heart pounded in his chest and his cheeks grew flushed, but he was calm. He couldn’t remember the last time he was this calm, this content. He felt present. Alex leaned forward, meeting Cas in the middle and receiving the kiss with delight. His eyes closed again, and he reached up to cup Cas’s cheek.
"I'm honored to be regarded as high as the amazing Rain herself." He laughed between the kiss. He slowly wrapped his arms around Alex's neck, gently tugging him closer, gladly resuming their kiss once he had a moment to breath. His hands found a place in Alex's hair as they moved closer to each other. Cas could acutely feel every place they touched, a delightful shiver coursing down his spine at every minute shift. He broke away to press small kisses to Alex hand take a breath. "You have no idea how nervous I get whenever we're this close." He admitted, dropping his hands to Alex's shoulder and toying with the hair at the base of his neck.
“Yes.” Cas’s laugh made him laugh too. “And I’ll give you all the time in the world for you to show your love.” Alex wrapped an arm around his waist as he was pulled closer. He just pressed closer and closer to him, never wanting to let go. He reveled in all the ways and places he and Cas touched each other. With the pleasure also came a sense of amazement, because it was only until he was actually touched in this way did he realize how much and long he had wanted it from the little witch.
When Cas broke the kiss, Alex also took a moment to breathe. He hummed with pleasure as he toyed with his hair. “Nervous? Why?” He pecked Cas’s nose. “Why not excited? I’m excited.”
Cas arched an eyebrow at Alex's humming, a pleased grin spreading over his features as he started to massage Alex's scalp.
"why? Because you're you, Alex. Tu Eres ermoso, querido. You're kind and loving. You're someone I have only dreamed of being with. To actually be allowed to show you that love…it's something I never thought I'd actually be able to do. Not with confidence at least. The closest thing I got to this was in my dreams." He admitted with an embarrassed laugh, wrinking his nose cutely when it was kissed. "Nervous excitement," he corrected, "believe me, all in a good way." He reassured, tipping Alex's head to press anither tender kiss kiss to Alex's lips
He had to resist the urge to purr at Cas’s massage. Alex loved the way he touched his scalp, gentle, but with pressure. He almost didn’t pay attention to his words.
He was a little confused. What was so special about him anyway? He blushed at the compliments, his hand drifting from Cas’s cheek to his shoulder. “Oh…” he paused. “Maybe I would be nervous too, then, if it weren’t for the potion. I remember thinking that too… never being able to show my love to you.” He chuckled a little. “You always seemed so cool and mysterious, but far away. Now I know that you’re just a dork.” He laughed cheekily.
He bit his lip when he saw Cas wrinkle his nose, though let his lips part to receive Cas’s. His hands ran around his shoulder and down his back.
Cas chuckled in amusement, "You like that, don't you, amor." He teased, slowly making soothing circles. "Cool and mysterious are not words I'd use to describe myself. Distant might be a bit more accurate though, there's always something going on up here." He tapped his temple and chuckled, smiling against the kiss and at the way Alex's hands trailed his spine. He hummed softly, surpressing a moan as he broke away again.
"A dork? and not dark and mysterious anymore?" He pouted, pressing butterfly kisses to Alex's features. "you say that as if you're not a dork yourself, babe" He pressed a final kiss to Alex's lips before gently nudging him back so he could scoot off the table. "As much as I would love nothing more than to make out with you all night in the privacy of my store backroom, we unfortunately have classes tomorrow neither of us can afford to be that sleep deprived for."
(I’m so sorry)
“Yes…” he leaned further into Cas’s touch, squeezing his torso slightly. “Well, that’s how I saw you back then.”
He giggled at the kisses. “Hey, I’m fully aware that I’m also a dork. Rain tells me all the time.” Alex kissed him back, then got out of his way, standing up. “Awww,” he whined, pouting a little. “I don’t mind making out all night! Please?” He was feeling giddy from the kisses, which made him only crave more.
(it's all good!)
"You might not mind darling vampire but this little witch needs sleep." Despite his objections to staying long, Cas tugged Alex in for another kiss, loving the way he fit again the curve of Alex's body. "As always, Rain is absolutely correct, you are a dork. A dork that I'm falling in love with but a dork no less." He teased as he scooted off the desk and start organizing papers and trinkets he had about, readying to close for the night. "We'll see each other tomorrow, love. Promise. We can even go on a date if you want. I should have too much going on since it's my day off other than a morning class I've got." He suggested, gently taking Alex' hand and guiding him back outside the shop before he let go to lock the doors
Alex sighed, unable to stop the feeling of disappointment from coming over him. He appreciated Cas’s final kiss though, and he hugged the witch’s body against himself as their lips locked. He chuckled as they parted. “I could say the same of you, pequeno brujo.”
He got out of Cas’s way. “Ahh, don’t make me start thinking about tomorrow, I won’t be able to sleep at all.” He shook his head, eyes shimmering with crimson. “A date sounds nice though… I’ll check my schedule.”
He couldn’t help but kiss his hand as they walked out of the shop. Despite this being goodbye, he smiled the whole time, watching Cas.
Cas playfully glared at Alex as he stuffed his keys back into his bag. "Mi pobre vampiro." He cooed teasingly. "Of course. If it works out call me. Don't worry about place or anything, I've got it covered, my treat." He said, gently squeezing their linked hands together and brushing his other hand against Alex's cheek. "You make it so hard for me to actually leave." He shook his head and reached up to pressed one last kiss to Alex's lips before he fully broke away. "Get some rest, and please come to class." Cas gave him a pointed look before helplessly breaking out into a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, querido." He waved before sliging his backpack over his shoulder and making his way back to his own dorm building.
Alex blushed faintly. “Oh? Okay, will do.” He leaned into Cas’s touch, grinning uncontrollably. “Am I that irresistible, mi cariño?” He kissed him eagerly, and the sadness finally set in when he had to let him go. “Yes, sir, I’ll be there.” He laughed softly and watched him walk away. When he felt his feet pulling him to go after Cas, he forced himself to stop. He closed his eyes and transformed into a wolf, then headed towards his own dorm building.
"You have no idea," Cas breathed a small laugh to himself as he dug out his ID and let himself into the dorm building. It took everything in him not to go back and find Alex. He wanted so badly to return into his arms, safe and warm. He hadn't thought the love potion would have had an effect on him as well but in a way, he supposed it did, even without him needing to drink it. He wanted to know Alex more, wanted to find out what he liked, what he didn't like, discover the sweet little things about Alex like his laugh or the ways his eyes gleamed in sunlight without the effects of the potion obscuring it into pinks or reds. He was excited for tomorrow, to take Alex to one of his favorite spots on campus. While it was popular among the witches he knew, he had seen only a handful of vampires actually there so he assumed Alex would the date s bit of an adventure. With the date in mind for the rest of the night, Cas readied for bed and went to sleep.
"How come you're taking Alex there and not me, I've never been!" Jeckle whined to Cas as the pair settled in their seats to wait for class to start. Cas rolled his eyes and shook his head. "You and Rain are more than welcome to come if you both want. You've never shown any interest in going so I never asked before." now it was Jeckle's turn to roll his eyes. "What vampire doesn't want to see the witch's botanic garden? I get it serves no purpose to us but we appreciate pretty plants too. Plus I heard the little cafe inside serves amazing teas." Cas smiled at his friend's enthusiasm. "alright, let me ask Alex and I'll text you later."
(Just want to apologize for being absent. It’s been difficult to find the time to reply)
(absolutely no worries, take all the time you need to respond if you still want. Hope you're doing well and again take any break and time you need, no pressure or worries at all)
He was just absolutely vibrating, even in wolf form, too excited to go to sleep. To go on a date with Cas was truly a dream come true. He found himself curled up in bed, staring at the ceiling, just thinking about Cas and wondering what tomorrow would hold. Perhaps more embarrassingly, he had a thought that Cas would even propose to him. But he knew that was silly. He blamed it on the potion. He was just craving everything about that witch boy. His hair, his voice, his smile, his eyes, his kisses. Soon, he could lie in bed no longer. He shifted into a normal vampire, grabbed his notebook, and started writing.
Alex came to class rather late. Because Rain didn’t have quite the same schedule, she wasn’t there to wake him up and he had slept in. He made a beeline for Cas and Jeckle and sat right next to Cas. He could see his usual group of friends in a separate group in the classroom, staring at him in confusion. But, he just turned right back to Cas and Jeckle.
“Hi!” He smiled, honestly not paying attention to the professor or doing anything he probably should.
Cas glanced up from reviewing his notes in surprise, breaking out into a smile as Alex settled beside him. "Hey," He greeted softly, glancing ouround to make sure they weren't disturbing class. "You're later than normal, sleep in?" he asked, trying to remember if Alex had ever been late, usually Cas was the one to come in last minute.
"We're reviewing for the test next week, by the way. Professor stepped out for a bit." He explained, waving a page of his own notes. Not necessarily of the specific class of they were in but Cas had some confidence in the subject that he felt like his efforts would be better spent reviewing another class. "are you still okay to go on a date later today? jsut a heads up we might have some company," Cas not so subtly glanced at Jecklewho looked up innocently. "but I don't think they'll be too disturbing." He chuckled lightly.
“Ah yeah, couldn’t sleep.” He put a hand to the back of his neck, his smile turning sheepish. Alex was rarely late. In fact, he often liked to be early to class so he could chat with friends or work without the rest of the class in the room.
“O— oh, right—” he muttered under his breath. He had completely forgotten about the test. He started rummaging in his bag for his own notes. He wasn’t as confident in this class as Cas seemed to be. He quickly forgot about this though, as soon as he heard the word date. His eyes shone as he looked up. “Yes! Absolutely! Oh, hm?” Alex looked over to Jeckle. “Ohhh. I mean, I think it’s fine. We could even make it a double date.” He chuckled.
He finally pulled out his notes, setting them on his desk along with a bottle of water.
Cas laughed softly, liking how easily Alex could become flustered, easy and yet barely tried to hide it, cute. "Yeah, we could." He agreed, arching an eyebrow when Jeckle leaned in. "Say the word and me and Rain will disappear if you wanted a more private date." He gently nudged Cas and winked to which the witch shoved him back playfully.
"What? Alex seems to want a solo date." Jeckle laughed, looking to Apex for support. Cas blushed even more and lightly batted Jeckle's head. "Okay alright enough out of you, hush." He demanded though it more sounded light begging. Whether it was a solo or double date, he would happy to show Alex a place that meant so much to him.
He watched them with amusement. “Oh, no, it’s totally fine if you come with. I mean, I don’t know where we’re going though. If it’s a restaurant, we’ll have to stick together, but if it’s somewhere outside, then we can certainly give each other space if it’s necessary.” He shrugged.
He turned and glanced at his notes but the words swam in his vision. He shook his head and put it back down, internally resisting the urge to kiss Cas in front of the whole class.
"Ya hear that Cas? we'll give you space. All you need to do is ask." Jeckle teased, earning him another cuff over the head from the witch. "Please don't make me regret saying yes." He groaned, but a teasing smile spread on his features. "You'll all like it, I promise." He sighed softly, focusing as the professor came back in and finally began class. "Good luck everyone." He muttered as the tests were passed out. Cas glanced behind him before gently brushing his hand over Alex's. "You got this, babe." He winked before turning over his worksheet and began to fill out the answers.
Alex found himself wishing he was told where they were going. He couldn’t think of what it could be, but it must be pretty fancy or something if Cas was letting Rain and Jeckle come along. He hoped it wasn’t anything expensive, he didn’t want Cas to spend that much money on him.
His attention drifted as the professor came into the room and passed out tests. A familiar spark of anxiety was lit in him as he received his test and looked over it. But, the moment he felt Cas’s touch and saw his wink, all memory and anxiety of the test and its material flew from his mind. Alex stared at him for quite a while before returning his gaze to the paper in front of him. He didn’t remember anything. Nothing came to his mind, not even the things he thought he knew. And yet, he couldn’t find it in himself to care. This test didn’t matter all that much anyway, right? He filled out random answers, just guessing really. He was too busy thinking about how cute Cas’s wink was to really process any information on the page.
Cas would be lying if he said the only reason why they were going to the cafe was just for the double date. While the cafe was welcoming to everyone, it was a notorious hotspot for witches to find exotic ingrdients, ones even Cas couldn't get his hands on as college student simply for the cost. Thankfully he was friends with the owner of cafe through their families closeness so he often times got a discount. It was mostly for these rare ingredients Cas wanted to go the cafe. it was all the potion back home was missing to help Alex go back to normal. As much as Cas loved the sudden attention from the boy he had been crushing on since god knows when, he had never expected them getting together would happen like this. He peeked over at Alex for a moment and frowned slightly, seeing the vampire fly through the test seemingly without a pause to think. Maybe he knew what he was doing and this was a deceivingly easy test but Cas just knew that wasn't it. Guilt edged into his mind again, as he struggled through the latter half of the test, his mind now preccupied with reversing the love potion. Then they could start over again if Alex wanted to be with him after everything that had lead them upo to here. Or Cas would be alone again, deservingly so after making the potion in the first place.
He finished the test in about fifteen minutes, and once he set it on the professor’s desk, his mind automatically switched back to thinking about Cas. He was not particularly worried about how well he did on the test, nor was he worried about how his score would affect his grade. His eyes glowed with a pink tint as he sat back at his desk. He rested his head on it and stared at Cas as he worked. His thoughts wavered, moving between the idea of kissing his lover and hoping that his staring wouldn’t distract him too much, since he was still taking the test.
(Okay. Another weird world building tangent, if you don’t mind. I finished watching Midnight Mass not long ago, and kinda want to bring the themes from that show into the theology Alex was probably raised with? Like. Idk. Vampires are actually supposed to be God’s chosen ppl bc they were given eternal life, and they are supposed to spread “God’s gift” to others by turning them into undead vampires or converting true vampires to Catholicism. Additionally, vampire blood could be associated with Jesus’s blood bc of the whole “washing away your sins” and transformation aspect of salvation. Also, literally communion being drinking actual blood. Uh yeah that’s all I got rn cuz it’s late but I’ll probably think of other things)
(ooh I really like that, need to watch the show but it's interesting that it's more of superiority instead inferiority complex.)
Between the test and the warmth rising to up his neck and cheek, Cas had a difficult time focusing on the end of the test, so much so that he ended taking the rest of the class to finish, cramming in explanations and triple checking his answers. As much as this new relationship with Alex excited him and he wanted everything to end up well regardless of the potion, Cas still was a stickler when it came to grades and his education, wanting to always do his best andworried about failure. Finally finishing, he brought the paper up to the professor who even arched a eyebrow at him in mild surprise it took one of his top students so long. Cas smiled sheepishly before returning to his seat and glancing over at Jeckle, who had fallen asleep after handing in his test. Cas breathed a laugh "at least it was easy for some of us. How did you do?" He asked, turning to Alex and gently poking his arm. "You're distracting, in a good way but still distracting." He teased lightly
(Yeah, the more I thought about how I originally went about the ways in which Alex was raised, the more it didn’t make sense bc of the fact that they were vampires so)
(ah then yeah it does make more sense to have them be so devoted)
