The vile smell of some chemical filled Louis’ sharp senses. His steady feet took him to the burning scent, each step bringing him closer to you. He saw the silhouette of the back of your head as you sat in front of the hazed vanity. Slowly, he crept behind his lover, nose sniffing the prickly air over your shoulder.

His eyes picked up the glass tube set on the wooden vanity, the top opened and visible through; a thick red liquid. Your hand held the cap, a small, delicate brush protruding out of it. You coated the blood red substance on your nails as if it was makeup for your fingers.

The brush flicked against your glassy nails, tainting and staining and painting over the cold, shiny surface. Why were you painting them? He had never seen you do such a thing before.

You had been painting your nails, styling your hair and over all doing everything differently to bring back the human features you had lost all those thousands of years ago. On late, vibrant nights you’d walk the streets and pretend you were human like you once had been. Talk to new people, learn new things. Feel normal. But it was a secret of which none knew. Not even your lover.

His brows pinched as he moved his pale eyes up to your lively complexion. It was as if you’d covered the top coat of paleness that lingered over your skin with something a little more..human. The purple veins that could usually be vaguely seen through the translucent of your skin were now covered in a more earthly shade.

“What is the source of this?” Louis had never seen you as a human, he had only met and wed you centuries after you had been changed. The way you looked now is what he had always pictured you would as human. It was quite a pretty sight, but not beautiful and striking like he was used to.

His freezing hands cupped your cheeks and moved your face around gently under his emerald view. Seeing so much life on your skin was a contrast to the usual normalcy in his life. It was an interesting concept that he was already starting to mull over.