"You keep a certain number of nanos inside you, the perfect amount for your body. It replaces those that die when necessary, and kills off extra ones should they develop. A sudden influx of extra nanos from another vampire takes time for your body to process. In the meantime, those nanos consume blood, using it up at an accelerated rate. It's bad enough for such a thing to happen when you are well fed and full, but Etienne told me you've been underfeeding because you can't stand the taste of blood. And then too, neither of you had any available to you this morning--which is why Thomas came."
As if on cue, Etienne's cousin came sauntering into view carrying a medical cooler. His gaze dropped over Etienne's unconscious form, then over Rachel's disheveled and weak state, but he merely smiled. "Hi, Dudette. Looks like I came in the nick of time."
He opened the cooler and withdrew two bags of blood, handing one to Bastien, then taking the time to retrieve two straws from his pocket and stab them into the second bag. "I didn't think Etienne would have any straws, and I knew you'd want them so I picked some up at the corner store on the way over earlier," he explained as he held out the doctored bag.
Rachel accepted it with a grateful smile and quickly affixed the straws to her teeth. The liquid in the bag began to disappear at once, and she sighed with relief as her weakness and pain began to recede.
"Another bag, Thomas." Bastien exchanged the already empty bag he had slammed into Etienne's teeth for a fresh one. He urged Etienne's mouth open again and popped the second pint into the teeth, too. Glancing from his brother to Rachel with concern, he asked, "How much did you take?"
Rachel gave an embarrassed shrug. She had no idea.
"Bit him, huh?" Thomas asked sympathetically. "It's a common occurrence with newbies."
Bastien grunted what might have been agreement, but Rachel wasn't paying attention; she was watching with a sinking feeling as Thomas peered at his cousin. He frowned and asked, "Where did you bite him? I don't see the marks."
"Get her another bag of blood, Thomas," Bastien ordered, patting Rachel's knee. She flushed and squirmed where she sat. Her mouth was firmly closed. She wasn't going to admit where she'd bit him. Not in this lifetime.
"Sure." Thomas took the empty bag from Rachel, pulled the straws free, grabbed a fresh bag, and fixed it up as he had the first, then handed it over with a smile, his question apparently forgotten. Rachel wasn't fooled, however. She had caught the exchange of glances and was sure the two men had communicated with their minds. She just hoped Bastien had admonished him to let the subject go. A decidedly amused light filled the man's eyes.
Sighing miserably, Rachel slid the straws over her canines and allowed her teeth to do the work of ingesting the blood she sadly lacked.
Much to her surprise, Thomas patted her shoulder. "Not to worry, little one. This is all my fault, not yours."
Rachel had a grim moment as she recalled these men could not only communicate with their minds, they could read thoughts. Bastien probably hadn't had to give away the location of the bite; she had probably done so herself without meaning to. Then she caught the man's words and peered at him curiously. How could he possibly claim it was his fault? Before she could unhook the straws from her teeth and ask, a moan from Etienne drew her attention.
"Relax," Bastien ordered as Etienne's eyes popped open. He began to struggle to sit up. "You need a little more blood before you get physical."
Etienne relaxed back on the ground, his eyes shifting until they landed on Rachel; then his hand slid across his stomach to touch her knee reassuringly. She supposed, or at least hoped, that this was a silent message that he wasn't upset. She felt better for it.
"This is becoming a bad habit, Etienne."
Rachel and Etienne both glanced at Bastien in confusion as he popped yet another pint into his brother's mouth.
"This is what? The third time I've had to save you lately?"
Etienne managed a curse around the bag in his mouth, which Rachel found rather impressive. She didn't think she could speak intelligibly while ingesting--but then she supposed that Etienne had a couple hundred years' practice. She wondered, however, if it wasn't considered rude to speak while eating. She had been raised to believe that it was. For humans, at least.
"You are one of our people now, Rachel," Bastien pointed out quietly. When she remained quiet, he turned to glance at Etienne. "So, you thought you saw Pudge out here earlier."
This time, Etienne pulled the bag from his mouth before saying, "Stop reading my mind, Bastien. It's rude."
"The thought was just lying about on the edges of your mind," his brother said with a shrug. "Although it seems rather silly to be indulging in... er, anything if you thought Pudge was lurking about. He could have jumped the two of you while you were distracted."
"I must have been seeing things," Etienne groused. "I checked the yard and there was no sign of him. Then we let the door close and were locked out. We were waiting for Thomas to arrive so that he could call you and get you to bring my extra keys."
"And you decided to share body heat and fluids while waiting," Thomas guessed. He laughed, earning a glare from Etienne. The younger man shrugged, giving Rachel an apologetic glance. "Sorry, Dudette. Couldn't resist that one."
"Have you had enough blood to get back into the house to finish recovering?" Bastien asked abruptly.
"Yeah, yeah." Etienne handed him the last empty bag and sat up, then got to his feet with Bastien's help.
Rachel accepted the hand Thomas offered and got to her feet as well. Some of the embarrassment and discomfort she suffered slipped away when Etienne claimed her hand and held it on the walk back to the door. This had been a new experience for her, but it would seem she was in for a lot of those. Life had definitely taken a twist.
"So?" Bastien asked as they stepped into the kitchen. "Have you talked to Rachel about--".
"No," Etienne interrupted.
"Well, are you--"