Gabriel finds the twig under the spare pillow on Ravi’s bed, and picks it up while wearing a nitrile glove he’s discovered in a box in Ravi’s kitchen. He eyes the twig curiously, turning it over in his fingers as he listens to Ravi breathing deeply in his slumber, his heartbeat a slow drum. 

Gabriel wants answers, but what’s more, he wants to speak to Ravi. To get through to him. To make him understand that they are meant to be. He gently sits down on the bed, caressing his ungloved fingers over Ravi’s brow, brushing back those raven black curls. Ravi stirs immediately, that same terror on his face that Gabriel had seen in his vision. Ravi’s hand dives under the pillow, clearly searching for the twig as his heart hammers like a bird’s, thundering now in Gabriel’s ears. 

“Looking for this?” Gabriel asks, holding up the twig for Ravi to see. 

Ravi lets out a shuddering breath, then throws back the covers and dives out of bed in the opposite direction, toward the door. Gabriel moves instantly, blocking the door in a fraction of a second, causing Ravi to flinch and stumble backwards until his legs collide with the bed, almost toppling over. His gaze is flitting about in an attempt to find escape. 

“Relax,” Gabriel says, holding up a hand.

“Please,” Ravi shakes his head, his gaze now focused on Gabriel, “Please don’t do this.”

“I just want to talk,” Gabriel says, taking a tentative step toward Ravi, who has nowhere to go with his legs pressed against the bed. Ravi swallows nervously. 

Gabriel holds up the twig, “What is this?”

Ravi glances at the twig, then back at Gabriel’s face, “I b-believe it’s the cure, for what you are. Taken from the Witch’s Tree in the Hoia forest, where your species originated. Th-th-the end is coated in the sap of that tree. It destroys the bacteria that evolved with your blood to make you an immortal killer.”

“A cure,” Gabriel repeats, looking at the twig thoughtfully. “I had no idea.”

While Gabriel is looking at the twig, Ravi takes several steps sideways, attempting to get around the bed, toward the window. Gabriel sets the twig on the nightstand, removes the glove, and zips around to catch Ravi and force him down into his computer chair. 

Ravi’s chest is heaving with shuddering breaths as Gabriel sits on the bed, wheeling the computer chair up next to him so that they are eye to eye. 

“You’re so brilliant, Ravi. A perfect specimen of humanity. I think I fell in love with you the first time I saw you in my library. And now, not a moment goes by where I don’t think of you. Waking, or asleep, you’re always in my thoughts.”

“What you feel is akin to what a rat feels that has been infected with toxoplasmosis,” Ravi says quietly. “The rat is drawn toward the cat, its natural predator, because that it what the virus needs it to do to continue its life cycle. You are drawn to me because the bacteria in your body yearn to propagate in a n-new host. It is not love. It’s a compulsion to expand. It simply means my blood is something the bacteria craves.”

“No,” Gabriel shakes his head, gently squeezing Ravi’s arms as he looks into those deep brown eyes. Eyes so wide with fear. “What I feel…this cannot be hand waved away as just the bacteria. It is something so much more than that.”

He sees Ravi’s gaze flitting toward the twig, and Gabriel frowns.

“You want to take it away from me? To what? Leave me vulnerable to death?” Gabriel asks. 

“No, no,” Ravi shakes his head, his heart skipping a beat, giving away the lie.

“You managed to get me, you know. In another timeline, you stabbed me in the throat, leaving me paralyzed to burn in the morning sun.”

Ravi frowns, “You had a vision? That’s how you knew what to look for?”

Gabriel nods. 

“That’s incredibly rare for your species,” Ravi points out. “Not unheard of though.”

“Was that in the book?” Gabriel asks, “I don’t recall that bit.”

“It was in a book,” Ravi admits. “I needed to do some more research of my own.”

Gabriel can hear Ravi’s heart rate beginning to slow a bit, perhaps curiosity taking the place of fear for a moment. 

“Tell me more,” Gabriel insists.