DISCLAIMER: Hellsing belongs to Kouta Hirano.

~ The Indignities of Getting Old ~

"Wait, stop!" Her sudden protest was punctuated with a light punch to his shoulder, followed by a single succinct: "Fuck."

"What's wrong?"

"I forgot the safeword."

"You stopped me because you forgot the safeword?" he asked, nonplussed.

"No," she snapped, banging her fist against his shoulder again. (Although she was well aware that physical abuse was not the correct way to vent her irritation, even if her partner was a vampire who barely registered the impact, much less felt any pain from it.)

"Did I hurt you?"

The worry in his eyes was underlaid with disappointment, and she didn't have to be a mind reader to know that he was disappointed with himself because he'd been trying so damn hard to be gentle with her.

"No," she snapped again, but this time she did not hit him.

Seconds ticked by in tense silence.

His lips parted, but before he could speak, she turned her face away, her eyepatch catching awkwardly against a crease in the pillowcase as she did so.

"Let me up. I have to pee," she said, every word a blow to her pride.

Ah, the indignities of getting old.

~end~