Chapter 35: First sleepover

 The celebration had been pleasant, Darius had to admit. He still remembered how the many uncles and aunts of his friends had welcomed him. With the little ring box clutched in his hands, he entered Anastasios's room.

It was tidy, as expected of the room of a prince. The demon wondered what exactly Prisi was supposed to clean in here. Anastasios walked after him, and made a beeline for the bed. 

He took off the covers, and placed them on the carpet. 

"We can make a fort," Anastasios suggested, as he placed the pillows down as well. The vampire went to his wardrobe, and then began taking out blankets, and piling them on the floor. "A big fort, for two people. The carpet is soft. You won't notice that you sleep on the floor." 

"I have something to give you," Darius's palms sweated. He didn't know why he was this nervous. Was it because this was the first time, he was going to gift Anastasios with something?

"I have something for you, too," Anastasios said, taking out a package from the wardrobe. "I packaged it myself." 

"You already gave me the Basilisk blood," Darius protested, but Anastasios shook his head. 

"Oh, no, birthdays need to be celebrated properly. I already got the present from your father. And, by the looks of the box in your hand, I will get yours, next. So, it is only fair for you to get a present from me as well, is it not?" Anastasios smiled, when Darius's tail wagged uncertainly. 

"I suppose. Here is mine," Darius handed the small box, and Anastasios handed him the package. 

 "And here is mine. I hope you like it," the vampire prince said, and then opened the box. Darius unwrapped the package carefully. He was going to keep the paper as a sort of a keepsake. To remember his first birthday celebration, and the boy who shared his own birthday with him. 

When Darius took out the blue scarf from the package, he gasped. There was no logo on the scarf anywhere. It was handmade. 

"You made this?" They both asked in unison. The boys shared a giggle, and when they calmed down, Anastasios held up the rune. 

"The mana feels different," the vampire said, and the demon nodded. 

"It will become a tattoo on your skin, and work forever," Darius said, proud of his achievement. "I made it with the Basilisk blood and my own blood as well." 

"I wish you didn't have to bleed for runes," Anastasios murmured, and then held up the rune to Darius. "Will you put it on me?" 

Darius took the rune, and pressed it to his friend's throat. It itched itself into his skin, and the vampire let out a giggle. 

"That tickles," he said, and Darius nodded. 

"Well, I am glad it didn't hurt you. I wondered what the different effect on different races would be. So far, no one has complained of pain from the new types of runes," Darius told his friend, and then put on the scarf. "So soft." 

"Now I feel silly. You got me a magical rune, never before seen, and I just got you a scarf," Anastasios murmured. Darius just shrugged. 

"You took the time to make it for me. That makes it more worthy for me than a thousand trinkets," Darius assured him, and then took off the scarf. "Sorry, it is just that it is too warm for scarves." 

"Yes, well, that is all I can make, so far," Anastasios admitted, and then went to his mirror to see how the rune looked at him. "This looks so cool." 

"When the bounty hunters come back with the blood bottles from all the beasts, they promised they will hunt for me, I will make you more runes. How does titanium armor rune sound? Or would you rather prefer a dirt removal one? Cooling rune?" Darius suggested, and Anastasios chuckled. 

"If my mother sees me littered with tattoos, she will have my hide," Anastasios said, and then touched the water breathing rune. "Do you think you can create a rune that can hide tattoos?"

"I suppose that I can make illusion runes," Darius said, thoughtful. "I will need a mind rune, one that uses the mana of the host. Maybe I will also need camouflage runes, but there are so many of them, that I don't know which one to pick."

"How about you make something that works the same way as make-up?" Anastasios suggested. "An extra layer of something like cream, that will hide the tattoos." 

"What is make-up?" Darius asked, and the vampire prince blinked at him. 

"Well, women use it to hide their wrinkles. Mother doesn't, but she is still young, for a vampire. She doesn't have wrinkles. Grandma Andromeda has make-up. I think I can ask her to show it to us," Anastasios said, and then made his way towards the door. "Come on, before she falls asleep." 

"Are you certain that we should be bothering your grandma at this hour?" Darius was not certain that they would be well-received. 

"Come now, Dari. Grandma was nice to you, wasn't she? She loved you to bits. Even got on the entire soulmate bandwagon, the traitorous woman that she is," Anastasios said, nose scrunched up. 

"We are soulmates, Nastia," Darius insisted, but Anastasios just shook his head. 

"I will believe that when we are thirty and my heart starts back up by the very sight of you," the vampire prince insisted, and then marched out of the door. "Are you coming?"

"Yes," Darius said, and followed the boy out. They walked down winding corridors, and Darius stopped to gawk more than once, when they passed by something that was either made from gold, or had jewels encrusted in it.

Finally, they stopped before a set of double doors. Anastasios knocked, and the doors opened. Andromeda already wore her sleeping gown, and her white hair was in a hairnet. 

"Grandma, show us your make-up," the prince demanded, and the woman blinked at them. 

"Oh, my," was all she could say, before Anastasios dragged Darius inside.