“Ugh…” Carmen complains on top of you, his hands tangled in your hair as he presses his weight further into the mattress. It’s a cool fall morning, misty light filtering through the curtains while he holds you closer, procrastinating you leaving him for the day. The blanket is tangled around you two, fan gently humming in the background. His hand reaches past you to snooze your alarm on the phone for just a moment.

It’s been a couple months since he’s been bitten, an unfortunate case of bite-and-run from Carmen’s sire, and, while the vampire transformation was its own kind of hell, the shift to night shift for him vs you staying on the day shift had been the most painful change for him. Or at least, that’s how he’s described it. He’d always been a clingy sleeper, usually using you as a body pillow most of the nights before he changed. Now, though? With you two working completely different shifts, his chances to cuddle with you have been shortened significantly. Now, all he can seem to do is complain when you have to get up for work. And when he goes to work. And when the sun comes up, in general.

His fingers tug lightly at your shoulder, pressing you more into his chest with a soft groan. “Do you have to go to work?” He mumbles in your ear, tugging you closer, pressing his face into your scent gland affectionately and nipping softly at your skin. “Can’t you just… I dunno? Call out? Get someone else to take your shift? Quit?” He jokes a bit, nibbling at your neck in soft, affectionate movements as he curls around you.