The room was silent, which was nothing out of ordinary since it was past midnight, but the two men sharing the room were both still awake. It wasn't like they could really sleep, not after finally managing to track down the vampire. Countess Elizabeth Bartley was here, in England. The exact location was Castle Prosperina, and John and Eric were planning on making it to the castle tomorrow. Right now, they were staying in a small village somewhere not far away, but near enough.

The inn they were staying at was small; there was only one room available which they had to share. That was not a problem to them, as they had already traveled across half of Europe together. There were two beds, but both of them just sat there, awake.

"Never thought I'd come to England like this," John said with a low voice, breaking the silence for what was about the twentieth time that night. Any conversation they attempted to make was slow; one of them would say something, and the other would answer after a while, then there was silence again.

The pattern repeated itself; it took a few minutes before Eric raised his head, and replied, "I didn't either." They both were quiet afterwards, and the only interruption to the silence was when John moved to look out of the window after some time passed. He couldn't really figure out what was wrong with them. Maybe it was because the quest was about to end, or maybe they were nervous. He closed his eyes for a moment, asking himself what it was. They needed the rest.

Something suddenly caught his eye outside. He pushed the curtain to the side and stared to the darkness, ready to get his weapon even if he knew that whatever it had been, he was just being paranoid.

"What is it?" Eric had gotten up and was next to his friend now, spear in hand already. John looked at the older man and shook his head. He stared into the darkness for a few moments, trying his hardest to see anything, but he then took a step back.

"Nothing. Probably a cat, or even more like my mind playing tricks on me. We've been fighting so many strange things lately that I see them everywhere I guess. We should..." He paused and looked outside again, knowing there was nothing to see. "We should sleep, you know. We're going to need all our strength tomorrow."

Eric lowered his gaze and stepped away from the window. He placed the spear away by the wall, then sat on his bed again. "I know," he said after a while. "I just can't. Not when this will finally be over tomorrow. Either by us defeating the undead or... No. There's no other option. We win and then it's over."

"We'll win," John said, moving closer. "We didn't track her down through half of continent and come all the way here to lose."

"I know," the blond replied before silence settled in the room again, and for a moment it looked like nothing had changed. It bothered John more than he had realized, though, and after standing there for a moment he sat down on his friend's bed. The silence made him paranoid, and reminded him of their enemies, of undead beings that moved without a sound. It also made him unconsciously reach for Eric and grasp the older man's hand, just because he needed to know that there was someone there with him, someone alive. A human.

Eric turned to look at him, a hint of worry in his eyes. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," John mumbled, not that he really felt fine. All of the sudden, he stopped to think if anyone else could have even done what they had been doing and would do. His bloodline held great power, but it could also have been considered a curse of a kind. He had to do this. At least Eric was by his side; John knew too well that some of his ancestors had had to go through it alone.

He blinked then, surprised as he realized that Eric had wrapped his arms around his shoulders and was holding him. "Uh..." Such affection was a bit less common between them, and he froze for a moment, but he allowed it then. They were close and had hugged before, and he really didn't mind having someone close to him right now.

"I know what you're thinking. That we have to do this because nobody else can," the older man said quietly. "And it's true but we can do it, and we will do it. You said it yourself earlier, we should be sleeping. So..." He trailed off and pressed his head against John's shoulder. "But I can't sleep, either. I don't know what's keeping you up, but I'm know I can't because I'm thinking too much. We shouldn't."

John mumbled something unclear as a reply and lowered his face. He stared at the floor for a long while and just sat there, at least somewhat comfortable with his friend there. Eric didn't move either for a moment, but he then got irritated at the silence and moved away.

"Sitting here isn't going to help," he said. "We've been doing it for hours already. I don't think I can sleep. Not alone..." He went quiet, then just raised his hands and grabbed John from the back of his head, drawing him close for a kiss.

It was tentative at first, and John didn't really know how to react. He first considered pushing the blond man away but couldn't get himself to do it. They had fooled around a little when younger, and while it felt strange, he gave after a moment and wrapped his arms around his friend, letting Eric lead for now. After all, the older man was more experienced of the two of them in the end.

Eric broke the kiss after a while and proceeded to remove John's shirt. Neither of them were wearing too much, since they had supposed to be sleeping, and the shirt came off without trouble. John froze a moment then returned the favor and got rid of whatever his friend had been wearing. The room wasn't cold, so it didn't bother him that much to end up naked; feeling Eric being there close to him, naked as well, did, though.

"Uh..." He looked at the blond next to him. He wasn't exactly embarrassed, but he felt more unsure than he had thought. "What now?"

"It's not that difficult," Eric murmured, lying down on the bed and pulling the younger man to lie next to him. He moved his hands lower on the other man's body, caressing his skin lightly. "Here..." He placed his hand over his friend's crotch, smirking as he found John already hard. He wrapped his fingers around younger man's erection and stroked a little. "Just do the same to me," he whispered.

John closed his eyes and did as told. Truth was, he wasn't all that experienced and hadn't done it much. He had done this to himself of course, and although it felt weird to be touching Eric instead of himself, his friend was touching him, and the feeling was almost the same, if not even better.

Feeling a little more encouraged, John sneaked his free hand around his friend and pulled the blond closer for a kiss. The older man responded eagerly enough, and John concluded Eric was the better kisser and let him be on the lead, even if it felt somewhat silly. He was certainly stronger of the two of them; it wasn't hard to compare them in normal circumstances, and now with Eric's slender body next to him it was even more clear.

Eric was also more skilled with touching someone. John tried to mirror his friend's caresses but felt a little uncertain anyway. The older man was not complaining though, so he drew the conclusion his caresses were good enough. He didn't dare to open his eyes, as he had an idea that what they were doing was somehow wrong, but it really felt a lot more better having someone else touch him than doing it to himself.

"I, ah... Eric...?" John mumbled between their kisses. His friend's fingers worked on his sex, stoking him skillfully, and he tried to do the same, quickening his pace a little as he felt the other man press against his hand. Eric mumbled something but he couldn't hear it, and he decided to just pull the blond man closer for another kiss. It was hard to make conversation in the current situation, anyway.

He felt hot, and Eric's warm skin against his didn't make it any better. Eric moved his free hand to John's thigh and held onto him, his nails digging against the younger man's skin. John tensed a little but tried to relax then; it didn't hurt, but rather just made him more conscious of Eric being so much closer to him.

"Gah... Eric...!" He mumbled under his breath, then gritted his teeth and pressed himself against Eric's hand, unable to control himself any longer. He had to pause touching his friend and just clung to the older man for a moment as he came. He felt a little lightheaded afterwards, but he forced his eyes open. "Eric..."

"It's okay," the older man mumbled, pulling John's hand back to where it had been and placing his own hand over it. He pressed himself against the younger man, his breathing ragged. "I'm... almost..."

John took the hint and continued to stroke his friend's erection for a moment longer. It didn't take too long for Eric to reach orgasm, and as the older man mumbled something while he came - John simply ignored the fact that what the blond said might have been "Gwendolyn". He was too busy to listen, anyway, as he watched his friend. Eric looked somewhat weak but beautiful, and it made him feel strange to see his friend like that.

Afterwards, they both lay there, too tired to really do anything for a moment. Finally, Eric reached to take a handkerchief from the nightstand and cleaned them both a little.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I just felt... lonely."

John shook his head and wrapped his arms around the older man. "Don't apologize. I... know. And don't feel lonely. We're friends, remember? I'll always be there for you."

Eric smiled tiredly then closed his eyes. It only took a moment for him to fall asleep. John watched his friend for a moment, then smiled as well. Whatever happened tomorrow, or ever, they would go through it together, he decided before drifting off to sleep as well.

Author's notes:

Castlevania Bloodlines doesn't really get many fics. Yep. Porn! :D

- Lady Harken (August, 2006)