Massages
After deciding you were going to stay, Michael showed you the rest of the lab after making sure you’d eaten something. It made you sway less on your feet now that you had something in your stomach, but you still felt lightheaded as he’d drank quite a bit of your blood – which made you slightly sick every time you thought about it.
The lab itself wasn’t that big but there were a few rooms connected to it like a small bathroom and even a bedroom. Although it hadn’t been a bedroom at all before Michael had taken over the lab from some illegal business. He knew he couldn’t stay at his old place any longer and had to go into hiding, and thus claimed this place for his own. And in doing so, he had made sure he had a bed to sleep on as well.
There was also a staircase in the building which led up towards the roof. In daylight, it was nothing special, but once the sun made place for the moon and the starts, it almost became something magical as all the lights in the city sprang to life. You already knew you were going to be up there more often.
The only question was, how long were you going to stay? Until he had found those men and had dealt with them? That seemed to be logical. Besides, you had to find a new job now that you didn’t have one anymore. Your rent wasn’t going to pay itself, after all.
“Michael,” you said as you stood leaning against one of his desks, your hands holding onto the edge. You had been walking around the lab a little so you weren’t sitting or lying down the entire time.
His head shot up from behind one of the computers, one brow raised as if to say ‘yes?’.
“Can I ask you for a favour?” Even though you were already indebted to him. He had saved your life and was helping you stay out of harm’s way.
The wheels of his chair squeaked a little as he rolled backwards so he could look at you properly. “What is it?”
“My phone broke somewhere during the night. I was wondering if you could maybe get me a new one, just a cheap one so I can tell Layla I’m safe. I will pay you back, of course, as soon as I’m back on my own again.”
He nodded. “Anything else?”
You wondered why he was being so nice. Why he was helping you without asking questions – without asking anything in return. He had said you’d reminded him of himself and maybe that was one of his biggest reasons to help you out, but he had to draw a line somewhere, right?
“Clothes, maybe?” you said, slightly cringing as your eyes dropped to your party outfit. You were still wearing the dress of the night before and you started to feel dirty.
His gaze roamed your figure for a moment, which made you entirely self-conscious.
Your eyes darted away from him, your fingers drawing circles on the desk just to keep you occupied as you weren’t sure why he was looking at you the way he was.
“Do you want me to go to your place and get some of your stuff?” he finally said.
You dared to look at him. Which might’ve been a mistake. He was looking so intensely at you, you felt like a prisoner in his eyesight, captured and unable to look away again.
Nodding, you hoped your face didn’t give away what you were thinking. Or rather, feeling. Michael Morbius was a beautiful man, there was no denying. And having someone like him looking at you in such a way, made you painfully aware of how single you were.
As your focus was on your thoughts about Michael, your head started to spin and a tremble went through your body. The lights in the lab went out – or was it your eyesight turning black?
Your train of thoughts came to an end when your mind shut down.
A voice echoed near your ears after a moment of complete darkness and silence. It kept getting louder until you wanted to shout for them to shut up. But as you listened, you heard someone was actually calling your name. And the voice was familiar.
“Michael?” you uttered as you felt like a ton of bricks were lying on your chest.
“Easy, don’t force yourself.”
You blinked a couple of times before realising you were in bed. It was the one Michael had showed you when he’d given you a tour of his lab. The only question was – why where you there?
That's when you remembered your health. Your body was still dealing with a portion of the drugs and on top of that you’d lost blood.
You could slap yourself in the face. You had strained yourself.
“I’m sorry,” you mumbled as you let your hand glide over your face. Your forehead was beaded with sweat.
“No, don’t apologize, it’s kind of my fault. I knew your condition; I shouldn’t have let you walk around that much.”
You raised a brow as you looked up at him as he was standing next to you. “Would you have forced me to sit down? Don’t worry Michael, I don’t need to be a doctor to understand limits, I just didn’t listen to my body.”
His blue eyes averted for a moment and he nodded. “Listen,” he said. “I’ve found a trace of those guys so I’m going after them tonight. In the meantime, it’s best if you stay here and don’t move around too much. I can’t catch you if I’m out there in the city.”
He’d caught you? For a moment you frowned, but then you remembered he was part supernatural. Speed probably came with that package.
“You’ll be better soon; you just need rest and you need to eat.” He said the last part with a knowing look. You hadn’t eaten that much from the food he’d brought, you just weren’t as hungry as you normally were. Maybe it was the drugs in your system, or simply the stress.
He also promised to bring some clothes for you from your apartment. After giving him your address and pointing him towards your bag for the keys, he was gone.
All you could do now was rest, wait, and entertain yourself. Eyeing the room, you caught sight of something next to the bed. It was a folded piece of paper in the shape of an animal. It looked like a fox. It was rather cute.
You weren’t sure how long you’d slept, but when you opened your eyes again, you weren’t alone anymore. Michael was sitting at the edge of the bed, his back towards you. His hair was down. And for a moment you simply stared at the dark locks which looked rather inviting.
He probably heard you move in the sheets because he turned his face a little to look over his shoulder. He still didn’t say anything, though.
“Michael?” Your voice sounded a little hoarse from sleeping. “Is everything alright?”
After a couple of seconds of more silence, he turned his head away from you again, letting out a soft sigh. “Not really.” He sounded off, something must’ve gone wrong tonight...
You crawled up so you were sitting, you quickly grabbed the sheets as you almost forgot you had stripped out of your dress. You hadn’t wanted to sleep in the dirty piece of clothing, so you were only wearing your underwear.
“Do you – do you want to talk about it?”
“I found them,” he said. “The same men who’d hurt you. Well, not all of them. One was missing. He wasn’t there.”
“Did you...” You didn’t want to finish that sentence. The thought of him killing those men was haunting enough. Not that you cared if those men died – they were the scum of the city, kidnapping innocent women and doing god knows what with them.
He sucked in a breath. “Yes,” he simply confirmed.
You swallowed, unsure what to say.
“It’s just... With each kill, I feel less human,” he said, making it sound like a confession.
That explained his current distant mood.
Pressing your lips together, you stared at the back of his head. Somewhere along the line, this was your doing. Not that you were to blame for the actions of those men, but in the end, it was Michael who suffered because you’d almost been kidnapped.
You looked down, eyeing your almost naked state, but then decided it didn’t matter if he saw you like this.
You let go of the sheet and crawled over the bed towards him. As you reached him, you halted for a second, unsure if he actually liked to be touched or not. He had pulled you into an embrace when you had bawled your eyes out, so maybe he didn’t dislike being touched.
Careful, not wanting to startle him – although you doubted you could with his super senses – you laid your hands on his shoulders as you sat behind him, your legs folded beneath you. Almost tenderly you started massaging his stiff muscles. You really wanted to touch his hair though, let your fingers run through it. But this wasn’t about you, this was about him.
“If it makes you feel any better,” you said, “I think you are more human than all of those men put together. If anything, you have helped the world get rid of a few of her monsters.”
You could hear him release a calm breath. The muscles beneath your fingers flexed for a moment before relaxing a little.
“And I wish to say thank you,” you added. “Not just from me, but from all of the girls you have unknowingly saved in the future.” Who knows how many more girls would’ve fallen victim.
He didn’t say anything for a while, letting you work your magic on his shoulders. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, though.
He pulled you out of your trance when he murmured your name. “How are you feeling?”
You finally paused your movements. “Better, I think.” Although you didn’t dare to push yourself again. Getting a head injury from fainting again wasn’t exactly on your agenda.
“There’s a bag in the lab with your clothes and a new phone.”
So he had indeed gone to your apartment. You let out a sigh, you couldn’t wait to clean yourself and put on some fresh clothes.
“Thank you,” you said and you bit your lower lip as he was still sitting quietly in front of you. You decided to let your intrusive thoughts win this time and your fingers slowly left his shoulders to glide towards his hair. Your fingers caught onto the black locks, and they were as soft as they looked. It made you wonder which conditioner he used and you almost laughed to yourself.
He didn’t seem to mind the way you were touching him so you went a little further. Your fingers went up until you were at the base of his neck.
Would he mind?
Maybe.
Maybe not.
He would move if he didn’t like you touching him.
Holding in your breath, you let your fingers glide into his hair, almost massaging his head. He immediately leaned into your touch and you could almost swear you could hear him purr.
His hair was thick and smooth, it would be perfect for braiding, honestly.
A visible shiver went through his body and you paused, unsure what sort of feelings you were evoking from him.
In a heartbeat, he turned and was facing you completely. Even though you were sitting there in just your underwear, his eyes remained on your face. It was very gentleman-like.
Your breath shivered as you noticed how close his face was hovering near yours.
“You’re very beautiful,” he said softly. The way he said it made your toes curl. He truly seemed to mean it and it completely caught you off guard, making your cheeks heat up.
For a moment, his blue eyes went to your lips and you were almost convinced he was going to kiss you. But then he pulled away, his hands in his hair as he bound his hair back into a bun.
The last thing you expected to happen came next; you felt disappointed.
What for? For him not kissing you? You hardly knew the man.
“I’ll be on the roof. I imagine you’d want to shower without me being here.” He already started walking towards the lab, which bordered the bedroom. “Just call my name if you need any help.”
Seemed like he was going to take a breather. You could’ve used one as well. Especially since you weren’t seeing any daylight as you were holed up in this lab.
With all the care in the world, you took a shower and put on new underwear, dark sweatpants and a matching hoodie. You were thankful for the comfort-clothes he’d picked out from your apartment.
After eating and drinking something, you started to feel restless. Michael had said one of those men wasn’t there tonight. Meaning you still wouldn’t feel completely safe if you were to go home right now.
You sat down cross-legged on the pillows on the floor in the lab when you called out for Morbius. And just as he had said, a moment later he walked into the lab.
“I was thinking about the whole situation,” you said, watching as Michael took his seat on the chair in front of you. “And I want to help.”