Work Text:
“Hey, Sergio, I wanted to apol-HOLY SHIT!”
Sergio startles at the voice, his heart skipping a beat. His chest tightens and he can’t breathe. “Ge-gerard?” He chokes out.
The shock is mutual. Gerard’s fingers go slack, lips parting, eyes widening. The bottle Gerard brought with him clatters to the floor and shatters, red wine spilling between the cracks of the floorboards.
Sergio is the first to compose himself. He turns away, hiding his face from Gerard. Gerard has already seen it so it’s too late to keep his secret but that doesn’t mean Sergio appreciates being gawked at.
“Don’t shit your pants,” Sergio says dryly but inside he’s panicking. Gerard has no business being here right now and intruding on his privacy. “I didn’t know you were still up. What are you doing here?” If Gerard takes a picture and posts it, Sergio’s life is over.
“I… I…” Gerard is at loss of what to say and he shifts his weight uneasily from one foot to the other.
Sergio chances a quick look over his shoulder. Gerard can’t meet Sergio’s eyes, watching the mess on the floor instead. It looks like a murder scene.
‘He fears me,’ Sergio realises, the thought slicing though him as a sharp jab. He curls into himself a little, trying to disappear into his hoodie, pulling the sleeves down his hands to hide the greyish colour of his skin. There is no way to mask the claws, though. Or the horns.
“Whoa, man,” Gerard exhales. “You nearly gave me a heart attack. A bit early to be trying your Halloween costume, isn’t it?”
“It’s not a costume,” Sergio informs him gravely.
Instead of running away in fear, Gerard is still standing there, curious eyes darting between the pool of wine and what little he can see of Sergio’s face, back and forth, becoming more daring each time and eventually lingering on Sergio.
Sergio stops trying to twist his neck to see and swivels around, spreading his arms, letting out a low hiss.
“Holy hell, that’s awesome.” Gerard ventures closer. “And this! It looks so real,” Gerard reaches out to Sergio’s head then pauses, hand outstretched. “May I?”
Sergio gives him a go ahead and patiently waits as Gerard prods the horns.
“That’s some good shit. If it’s not for Halloween, then what’s with the get-up?”
“I wasn’t–” Sergio starts but is interrupted.
“Oh! Don’t tell me. I know. You’re planning to prank the rookies. Right? I bet you’ll make them scream. Hell, you gave me a scare and you know I don’t scare easy. Fuck. It’s horrifying. And genius.”
Oh thank fuck. He’s being given a way out of this on a silver platter. He’d be a fool not to take it, especially since Gerard seems content with the explanation he came up with. Who is Sergio to prove him wrong. Better to have Gerard think Sergio’s pranks are horrifying than to realize it’s Sergio who is horrifying. He lowers his head and mutters. “Thanks, man.”
Gerard pokes his arm, carefully avoiding the spikes protruding from Sergio’s skin. He probably doesn’t want to break them off but Sergio is glad he’s careful, he would hate to see Gerard get his palm sliced open. “It suits, you.”
Sergio scoffs, turning to face the window again. He stares outside and doesn’t see a thing. “Yeah, right.”
“I’m serious!” Gerard comes up behind Sergio, nudging him until he twists around, then he cups Sergio’s cheek and turns his face to the light.
Resigned, Sergio closes his eyes and allows the inspection.
Gerard makes a displeased sound. “Keep them open so I can see.”
Feeling much like a prime attraction on a freak show, Sergio blinks his eyes open and fixes his gaze on the wall above Gerard’s shoulder.
Gerard takes in the carmine flare of Sergio’s irises and exclaims, “Holy shit. Holy shit, man, the eyes are so freaking cool. I can’t even see the edges of the contacts.”
‘Oh, fuck me,’ Sergio groans mentally. He breaks free of Gerard’s hold and crosses the room. He grabs paper towels and kneels beside the spilled wine.
Gerard’s hand on his shoulder stops him. “Let me help you with that. It’s my fault anyway.”
“No, no need,” Sergio shakes his head, shying away from Gerard’s touch. “You should have knocked, though.”
“Sorry.” Gerard crouches beside him and starts picking the largest shards of the bottle. “You’ll get the grey paint washed out.”
“I won’t. Shut up.”
They get rid of the worst mess but there is just no helping it. Gerard shakes his head. “You’ll have to ring up the reception and get them to send some clean-up to your room.”
“In the morning,” Sergio waves him off. Gerard’s eyes catch on the claws.
He snatches Sergio’s hand from midair, pulls it in front of his eyes to inspect the way the elongated nails adhere to his fingers. Sergio stumbles closer with the move. Gerard turns Sergio’s hand palm down, then palm up, then curls Sergio’s fingers as far as they can go without the claws sinking into the tender flesh of his palm. “What the hell are you supposed to be anyway?”
“I’m… does it matter?” Sergio can’t tell him the truth like this. Not when Gerard is certain it’s a all just a get-up he can take off.
Gerard releases Sergio’s hand. “Nah. You’re frightening enough.”
“Yes. I guess I am,” Sergio says. He briefly hesitates but Gerard has taken everything in stride so far, so Sergio hazards a bit and lets out a creaking shrill, the one that makes shiver run down people’s spine when they hear it at the dead of night.
“Shit. You really are,” Gerard laughs. He sounds genuinely appreciative and a small smile sneaks is way on Sergio’s face, revealing his pointy teeth. The smile drops when he realizes Gerard is staring at them.
“Wicked,” Gerard says. “Open up,” he demands, tipping Sergio’s head back and inspecting the teeth up close. “Spooky,” Gerard breathes out, sticking one of his fingers into Sergio’s opened mouth and pressing the pad of his finger into the sharp edge of Sergio’s teeth. He doesn’t seem to be afraid of losing the digit. “My, my. What big teeth you’ve got!”
Sergio catches Gerard’s hand, gripping his wrist tightly and pulling the prodding fingers away. “Fuck off.”
“Oh, c’mon. This is awesome. Rodri is going to bawl like a baby when he sees you.”
There is no way Sergio is letting anyone else see him like this. One wrong move and he could be burning at the stake.
“Actually, the fuckers didn’t even wake up when I snuck into their room.”
Gerard gapes at him. “What?”
“I’ve already tried, man,” Sergio lies. “All this was for nothing.” He makes a gesture at his horns.
“No way. That sucks.”
“Yeah. You caught me just as I was about to change back.” That’s not technically a lie. Sergio doesn’t let himself wear his true form for too long when he’s staying at hotel rooms and never knows who is going to barge in through the door unannounced.
“What? No. We need to make them cry. Get back there and wake them up.”
“I said I’m done,” Sergio snarls and strides toward the bathroom.
“I thought you wanted to go give the rookies a good spook?”
“Not feeling it anymore,” Sergio calls back. “I’ll go… get the make-up off.”
He shuts the door close behind him, slinks down the tiles till his back is resting against the side of the bathtub. The full-length mirror reflects his form, unforgiving, showing each and every garish feature he’s sporting right now. His face twists in anger and he shuts his eyes. He can’t see it right now. He can’t, it’s too much of a reminder of what he is.
Taking a calming breath, he blinks his eyes open but carefully avoids the reflection. He focuses on his hands instead, watches the black claws shrink back into his nails, the grey skin around his fingers turn into his normal colour. One by one, his tattoos emerge from the mass of grey, bright and colourful. He lets out a sigh of relief, feeling more anchored. He focuses on the horns next and the colour of the eyes is the last thing to go.
When he peers at himself again, his reflection looks fully human. For a moment he takes it in, adjusting to what he sees. The first few moments are always disconcerting no matter which form he assumes.
He waits a few more minutes, trying to guess how much time it would take if it really was just a get-up he needed to wash away.
When he emerges from the bathroom, Gerard gives him a thoughtful look.
“What?” He snaps.
“Nothing. It’s just… is it weird that I think you look weird now?”
‘It’s because you saw my true form.’ Sergio forces out a chuckle. “Tell me about it,” he says and hopes Gerard takes it as a joke.