Amante's body heaved with a gasping breath as life returned to his formerly still form, and he rolled over without opening his eyes, content to doze a bit more, curled around the warm, pliant body next to him. When he woke again, his bedmate had moved, somehow managing to wriggle almost completely beneath Amante as he slept. An almost inaudible purr resonated from the sleeping form under him, making him quash a chuckle, lest he wake the sleeper. As much as Amante enjoyed waking up warm, now that it was the height of summer, the wine-haired wereleopard under him clung to the vampire's  pre-feeding coolness with rapturous delight. Pale fingers glided gently over young, golden-hued flesh, and Amante smiled as Nathaniel's purr grew louder and he moved into the touch, so trusting in sleep. Such innocence, still, in the sleeping man-child tucked beneath Amante's body. Despite all that he'd been and seen and done, Nathaniel still possessed a quality of pure guiless uncorruption that it nearly brought tears to Amante's eyes whenever he glimpsed it. It should be impossible for someone who had experienced all that Nathaniel had to hold on to even a frayed, vaporous thread of innocence, but somehow, Nathaniel managed. Amante sometimes wondered if that shining glimpse of the unjaded was the child that Nathaniel had once been, before he'd been forced to grow up at the speed of thought. He might wonder, but deep down, Amante knew Nathaniel's inner child had been ruthlessly slaughtered on some day long past but never forgotten. In his mind's eye, Amante could see the inner child's tiny bones shoved into a dark, dusty corner of Nathaniel's abused psyche, utterly devoid of life or love, but cherished all the same, unburied and everpresent, as if Nathaniel was unable to relinquish the memory of what he'd once been. Amante could tell by the untangled sheets and lack of  stickiness upon the 'leopard's skin that it had been a good night for him, unplagued by nightmares or cold sweats. That was a good sign. It meant that while Nathaniel might not be wholly fixed-maybe never would be again- he was at least less broken, less haunted, than before. Amante watched adoringly over the slumbering 'leopard, seeing, and cherishing, the beauty that others had  sought to possess and destroy. His eyes caressed the fragile looking work of art made flesh, the same delicate perfection others before him had cruelly coveted, ripped, torn, and branded forever with agony; invisible to sight, but always there, just under the surface, millions of seconds of pain tattooed on the soul encased within, a permanent cacephony of silent screams and bitter tears enmeshed in every  molecule, every atom, a sense-memory tangled in Nathaniel's blood, and the marrow in his bones. Amante himself had caused the lovely creature pain, but only because Nathaniel was so broken when they met that the vampire had to descend into the darkness in order to bring Nathaniel back into the light. He'd been without it for so long, that he'd forgotten the light even existed. Every time he saw Nathaniel, Amante wondered what he'd done to deserve having such a treasure, even if it were only to be for the brief eye-blink of a mortal lifetime. Nathaniel stirred drowsily, sleep-glazed lilac eyes finding Amante sluggishly, a tiny, fleeting smile of sleepy contentment curving cupid's bow lips before warm hands tangled in Amante's silken raven hair and drew him down for a langorous kiss. For all the intimacy involved, there was nothing sexual in the meeting of lips and the dancing of tongues. It was only a greeting, an affirmation, a physical  demonstration of all that could be forever good and pure and right if only the harshness of the world would let it. When their lips parted, they exchanged contented smiles and tangled their limbs as they lay in silence, seeking the simple solace in each other of nothing more than  being held, cradled in another being's arms. Hours passed, and the rumbling growl of thunder outside echoed in the marble-floored room, a crackling fire in the hearth serving as their light when the electricity failed. Without a word, they shifted, bodies joining together and undulating in the timeless, primal dance they knew so well, soft gasps and wordless cries the only language needed or understood. When it was over and lethargy claimed them in the  blissful afterglow, liquid emerald eyes caught soft lilac and held, spilling over, blotting out reality, where even the happiest times were forever darkened by a  looming cloud, the memory of pain and suffering. Trapped beneath Amante's mind, Nathaniel could only know peace and beauty and bliss. He was inundated with  thousands of Amante's own memories; of places he'd been that were too beautiful to properly describe, people he'd  known who made the heart soar with a simple friendly touch or smile, and nights without pollution of smog where the stars glittered like a black velvet cloak encrusted with billions of glimmering diamonds. With the images came sensations, the light touch of a friend, the warmth a smile gave the recipient, the feeling of being surrounded by those one loved, and who loved one in return. Happiness. Peace. Comfort. There was no pain, no sorrow, no fear. Never an angry word, a sneer, or injury. It was a glimpse of what Heaven must surely be like. Releasing Nathaniel's mind gently, trailing a pale finger down the wereleopard's cheek and gazing down at the blissful upon smile his lover's face, Amante smiled and leaned down, his lips ghosting over Nathaniel's. "Happy Birthday, Natani," Amante murmured with a smile. Nathaniel gave a husky, delighted laugh, and pulled Amante back into his arms.