Both Alike in Dignity

A/N: Sorry this has gone up late - I'm sick. I'm still sick, but I still sat down and did this for you guys because I love you. 8l Thanks for all the reviews. More are always appreciated. Also, send hot tea.

Word Count (overall): 22384
Word Count (this chapter): 2255
Updates: Tuesdays and Fridays

Chapter Twelve


Berlin; poor but handsome. It was a city that greeted them with open arms, constantly changing, alive with people. Full of construction and optimism and art. It was a city that was coming into a new age, a city that found itself free and whole again. Berlin was sprawling and confident, revitalised and reformed.

Sebastian hated it.

He hated the press of people, the sounds, the smells. Most of all, he hated the layer of urban grime that seemed to coat everything. At least it was cleaner than Paris. That wasn't exactly a challenge – Paris seemed like it had been dipped in garbage and then left to fester.

Jasper walked at his side, looking around, everything seeming to grab his attention at once. His gaze, lightning fast, shifted from place to place, person to person. The bag he carried hit the side of his leg every so often, full of the amassed belongings they had accumulated.

Sebastian pushed his sunglasses up his nose and glanced over at Jasper, then at the bag. Some part of him wondered if they should just dump the dirty clothes, but it seemed impractical to leave a scent trail behind.

Berlin was mercifully cool. Sebastian didn't feel too uncomfortable, even dressed as he was. He'd switched out the raincoat for something a little less... attention-seeking, a form-hugging grey coat with a belt around the waist. Very stylish. Jasper had insisted it was 'faggy', but Sebastian had ignored him. Uncouth idiot.

“So, where are we going?” Jasper asked, right on cue. Like he knew Sebastian was thinking of him. He slid up beside the vampire, moving just as gracefully as Sebastian did. Both predators, despite the differences in their nature. Jasper glanced up at the rising moon – it was nearly full. Something they would have to deal with soon.

“I don't know,” Sebastian sighed. He was walking aimlessly, half-looking for a room and half-looking for an easy meal. The more he could fill up on strangers, the less he would be tempted by Jasper. “It's not imperative that we get a room right away.” Hint fucking hint.

Sebastian could do with some alone time, some time to feed and just get away from Jasper. They had to have put some distance between them and Blaine. There was no immediate danger, not that he was aware of. As long as they kept under the radar, there was no reason for them to stay together. But Jasper didn't suggest parting ways, and Sebastian couldn't quite bring himself to ask the other to leave.

“Feels kind of aimless now, doesn't it?” Jasper asked, shoving his hands into his pockets. The shadows lengthened the curve of his cheekbones. Twilight was upon them. “The urgency's gone.”

It was almost like Jasper had read his mind. Sebastian started, whipping his head around to stare at the other male uneasily. “Yes, it does,” he answered. Someone was bleeding. Sebastian's senses zoned in on the source. A woman. His stomach cramped with hunger even as he wrinkled his nose in distaste.

“I'm starving,” Jasper said. It was a city. There was something to eat everywhere.

Sebastian grimaced, silently agreeing. He opened his mouth to suggest they see to their own respective means, when Jasper surprised him.

“I know you don't eat, but would you like to come with me to dinner?” Jasper asked, raising his eyebrows at the vampire.

Sebastian hesitated. It was a ridiculous idea. He would have to sit there and watch Jasper eat. But he couldn't deny that the idea of acting mortal was somewhat appealing. How long had it been? How long had it been since he had sat in a restaurant with food in front of him and wine in his glass, all things that he could technically eat but never did. He got no nutritional value from food. It went straight through him. Some vampires ate anyway just for the pleasure of it. Sebastian hadn't for years. He suddenly craved it.

“Don't think about it too hard or anything,” Jasper said, breaking the other's reverie. “If you don't want to, it's cool.”

Sebastian jumped like he'd been physically shaken. “No, I want to,” he said, before he even had time to process his own answer. Fuck. “But only if I get to pick where we go.” He wasn't going to let Jasper drag him into some shit-hole.

“Deal,” Jasper said, grinning at Sebastian. It was a real, honest smile, warming his eyes. “I suppose I can handle not having a burger. Just this once. For you.”

Sebastian smiled and shook his head, sending Jasper a sidelong glance. Fucking sweet talker. Just wanted to get into his pants. Sebastian ran a hand through his hair and then started down the street, passing a good number of nice establishments just to piss Jasper off and see how long it would take before the other said something.

“Can we just go in here?” Jasper finally asked, stopping outside a nice, fancy-looking pizzeria. He eyed it pleadingly. “Everything smells so delicious.” And they had passed about twenty places.

Sebastian hesitated and stuck his head in the door, looking around. Clean enough. Trust Jasper to stop in front of a pizza place, but it wasn't like Sebastian would be eating anything. He nodded. “Alright. This is fine.” And mostly empty. It was cool inside, and Sebastian immediately took his jacket off.

“You were fucking with me, weren't you?” Jasper asked, both amused and annoyed.

“Yes,” Sebastian said, then asked for a table in the back in smooth German. They got gestured back to a nice, intimate table. Sebastian took a seat and gestured for Jasper to take the other side.

“You're a dickhead. And you know German?” Jasper asked, getting settled and reaching for the menu.

Sebastian smirked. “Yes,” he said, nodding his head. He stared down at the cutlery that had been laid out and reached for a fork. It had been a long time since he'd had to use anything like this. He ran a finger across the prongs.

Jasper laughed. “You're looking at that like you don't know what to do with it,” he said. He perused the English menu, tracing down with his finger as he read.

Sebastian looked up sharply. “Mm, I'm sure I somehow forgot to use a fork,” he said, letting the utensil alone. “Besides, if I understand the consumption of pizza correctly, you don't use cutlery, do you? Unless you intend to cut yours?” Sebastian raised an eyebrow. He hadn't taken Jasper for a prissy little bitch. Seemed more like something the other would be picking on him for.

“Touché,” Jasper said, his grey eyes sparkling with amusement. “Do you want some, then?”

Sebastian hesitated. He licked his lips. It felt almost... taboo. Jasper was a bad influence on him. “I'll try some of yours,” he decided. “I don't care what you order.” Back to fiddling with the fork.

Jasper paused, then grinned, his pleasure written all over his face. “Okay, cool,” he said, setting the menu down. A waitress was over immediately. Jasper immediately turned into the worst kind of tourist. “Large... mushroom... pepperoni... extra cheese... and two cokes,” he said, speaking loudly and slowly to compensate for the fact that he didn't know the language.

Sebastian watched the display of ignorance, bad manners and even worse breeding with a mixture of horror and amusement. It was just so Jasper that he couldn't help but smile. He apologised to the waitress and translated the order into German, thanking her profusely. “You should have just asked me to order,” he said. “Unless you were going for a side of spittle with that.”

“I can take care of myself, I don't need you to translate,” Jasper said, frowning. “Besides, I would have smelled it a mile off.”

“I suppose your personal pride comes before manners,” Sebastian shot back, looking over at Jasper, smugly amused.

“This coming from you,” Jasper said. “You'd rather let a puppy drown than sacrifice a speck of your damn pride.”

Sebastian's mouth twitched. “Quite.” He sat back in his seat, smiling at the waitress as the drinks arrived. “Danke vielmals,” he said, just to make a point. He stared at the dark, fizzing drink that he'd been served. A coke, Jasper had said. Sebastian grimaced. He'd rather have had wine. “What is that?” he asked, poking at the straw that had been shoved into the foul liquid.

“That?” Jasper asked, taking a sip of his own drink. “That's a straw.”

Sebastian glared at the other male. “Yes,” he said. “I know what a straw is. I mean the 'coke', you idiot.” He gave Jasper one of his patented death glares.

“Uh... it's coke. You don't know what coke is?” Jasper asked, raising his eyebrows. “It's like... sugar... and soda and stuff.”

“The last I heard, coke was a pseudonym for a drug snorted up one's nostril,” Sebastian said, taking the straw between his pale lips hesitantly.

“Of course, you know about cocaine but don't know anything about the drink. Why am I somehow not surprised?” Jasper snorted, his eyes fixed on Sebastian's lips.

Just ignoring the other, Sebastian sucked on the straw experimentally. The first thing he registered was that it was really, really sweet. The second was that it was... fizzy. The bubbles popped across his tongue and got up his nose, making him sneeze. He pulled back and made a face.

“D'you like it?” Jasper asked eagerly, still watching.

Sebastian hesitated. He leaned forward and took another sip of it. It tasted like he was drinking melted fizzy sugar. Way too sweet. “No,” he said. “It's too sweet. And weird. I don't like the bubbles.” He pushed it away from him, disappointed. He was almost tempted to abandon this little food venture altogether. If the pizza wasn't any better, this would just be a huge waste of time. He could be out satisfying his real hunger rather than spending his time with an overgrown dog. Not like he needed the company.

Jasper's face fell. His shoulders sagged a little. He looked just about as disappointed as Sebastian felt. “Oh,” Jasper said, taking a sip of his own coke and eyeing Sebastian. His stomach grumbled audibly. “That pizza smells fucking great,” he said, looking longingly toward the kitchen like the pizza would just magically appear if he stared hard enough.

“Somehow, I don't quite trust your judgement,” Sebastian said, eyeing the coke with a grimace. He actually considered taking another sip just for the sheer novelty of the experience, but he'd already told Jasper that he didn't like it.

They didn't have to wait much longer. Within minutes a large, greasy pizza was set in front of them, pre-sliced. Jasper stared at it hungrily whilst Sebastian eyed the running grease with distaste. That didn't look appealing. Not at all.

Carefully, almost reverently, Jasper detached a piece and set it onto Sebastian's plate before helping himself to a slice. He immediately bit into his, stringy cheese dangling down over his chin.

Sebastian watched Jasper and wrinkled his nose. He stared down at the pizza, hesitated and then tried to pick it up without getting grease on his hands. After a few attempts, he deduced that was impossible. He glanced up at Jasper, watching as the other smeared grease all over his hands and face in an effort to devour the pizza as quickly as possible. Disgusting.

Despite their conversation earlier, Sebastian eventually just reached for his knife and fork, ignoring the way that Jasper smirked at him. He cut a tiny bite out of the pizza and raised it to his lips. Another hesitation. He wasn't sure if he really wanted to commit himself to the act of eating it. He slid the small bite of pizza past his lips and closed his teeth around it before he could change his mind.

Sebastian just held the morsel in his mouth for a moment, not chewing. He tried to process all the tastes, far too aware of Jasper watching him. Scrutinising him for his reaction. He could taste it all, an amalgam of textures and flavours – the cheese, the pepperoni, the mushroom. He chewed, flavour bursting across his tongue. Sebastian couldn't help the wonderment that spread across his face.

It was like he was eating for the first time. His memories of it paled in comparison, had painted it mundane. He had been kidding himself. His memories didn't match up at all with the explosion of flavour and texture. It was... marvellous. He looked over at Jasper, knew his pleasure was written all over his face, but he still couldn't help but smile.

“It's good,” he said, “I like it.” He cut off a second, bigger bite. This time there was no hesitation – he put it straight in his mouth and chewed, savouring the taste of it with his eyes closed.

Jasper grinned. “Knew you would,” he said, looking smug and satisfied. A weird kind of pride shone in his eyes. Jasper helped himself to a third piece, watching as Sebastian neatly and methodically destroyed his first ever piece of pizza.

As soon as he was done with the first piece, Sebastian reached for a second and then a third. It was strange to be eating without satisfying his hunger. His stomach was filling but his gnawing hunger for sustenance still plagued him. Full but hungry. It was a weird sensation.

“It's... interesting,” Sebastian said, licking his fingers clean of any grease despite his tidy, methodical way of eating.

“So does it like... do anything for you? Or are you still hungry?” Jasper asked, still working his way through the pizza ravenously, like he couldn't get enough.

“It's... I don't know, it's weird,” Sebastian said. He shrugged, embarrassed. Then he looked over at Jasper. “I'm full from the pizza. But I'm hungry. Really hungry.” He wanted to go hunt. Sebastian took another sip of the coke, then scowled. “Still don't like that, though.”

Jasper laughed, then eyed Sebastian. “We'll get you something to eat later,” he said, his voice low. He put another slice on Sebastian's plate and continued to eat. “Promise.”

The way that Jasper said it made his stomach twist and a shiver go down his spine. He swallowed hard, picked up the pizza and ate.