Work Text:
Rudolph hated his birthday. He had been 13 for 300 years, and it was the same thing every time. Well, almost every time, because this year he had a new friend. Rudolph and his family had entered the castle where the Thompson family were staying, and after the ridiculous amount of garlic was removed from the walls, the party was set into motion. Rudolph was hiding from his family in a stairwell when the person he was waiting for announced himself.
“Rudolph!” Tony called. He turned around to see the blond boy running down the stairs. He had left to his room for a previously unstated reason, but Rudolph was able to figure it out. Tony had changed out of his red hoodie and tattered jeans into a simple suit and bow tie. When he reached the stair Rudolph was on, he did a twirl.
“You…” Rudolph trailed off. What was he going to say? You… Look cute? Handsome? He had no clue what to say. In his 313 years of life on earth, never had he felt anything like what the mortal boy in front of him had made him feel.
“Yea, my mom made me pack it, but now I’m kinda grateful.” Tony had a toothy grin on his face. “What do you think?”
“Good,” Rudolph thought that keeping it simple would leave the least room for error, “you look good.” He felt cool blood rush to his cheeks, something he didn’t even know was possible. He hoped Tony wouldn’t be able to notice, but unfortunately, he did.
“Hey vampire, are you good?” Worry filled the American boy’s voice as he inspected Rudolph.
“Yea, I um,” Think. “I’m just a little nervous about my birthday.” That was the lousiest excuse Rudolph could think of, but Tony seemed to buy it.
“Oh, well, we can go out together! I’d love to meet your family.” Tony’s voice was full of excitement again, and Rudolph let out a breath.
“Yea, let's go.” He instinctively held out his hand, but before he could apologize, he felt a warm hand encompass his. When he first shook Tony’s hand, he felt the same shock. It was electric, it was reassuring, it was warm. Rudolph lifted them both off of the ground and they flew together into the large ballroom where the party was in full motion.
“RUUUUUDDDDYYYYYY!” Rudolph rolled his eyes at the sound of his aunt calling. He pushed him and Tony towards the voice, landing behind his aunt.
“Auntie!” Rudolph suddenly put his hand on her shoulder causing her to jump back and hiss at him before realizing who it was.
“Oh, Rudy! You really can’t keep scaring me like that.” Aunt Ashley’s eyes trail over to Tony, then down to their still interlocked hands. “Oh, is this your new friend?”
“Oh, yes, this is-”
“Tony Thompson! Nice to meet you!” Tony let go of Rudolph’s hand and held it out, offering to shake her hand. Aunt Ashley tentatively took it, gradually becoming more comfortable with the thought of shaking hands with a mortal.
“Ah, yes, a pleasure to meet you!” She smiled at him, then pulled him away from Rudolph to whisper something. When he tried to listen in, his aunt shooed him away. He flew over to a doorway, hovering near the top while he waited. He watched the two talk and laugh, when finally, his aunt seemed to tell Tony one last thing. The mortal’s eyes grew wide and he looked around for something. When he locked eyes with Rudolph, aunt Ashley let out a laugh and gave him a forceful pat on the back, propelling him towards the young vampire. Rudolph flew towards Tony, meeting him in the middle.
“What was that about, mortal? You’ve piqued my interest.” Rudolph regretted saying that the moment he did, because he felt his cheeks become cool again.
“Um, nothing.” Tony looked around, anywhere except for Rudolph’s gaze. He seemed a lot quieter than before, almost shy.
“Did auntie say anything to upset you?” Rudolph put his hands on Tony’s arms, causing his breath to hitch.
“No, no. Nothing that upset me…” The blond trailed off, still not looking at the vampire.
“Hey, whatever it is, it’s okay, we can leave if you would be more comfortable.” Rudolph’s voice was as low as it could be to still allow Tony to hear over the loud party. He got a simple nod in response. As the pair made their way to the staircase to Tony’s room, they were met by Anna.
“Tony!” she called out, rushing over to him, “I’ve been looking for you. I wanted to talk to you-” Rudolph pulled Tony away from her.
“Not now, we were just leaving.” He barely contained a hiss at his sister. He knew what she was trying to do, but then again, he wasn’t much better. At least he wouldn’t put some spell on Tony to hear what he wanted.
“You don’t own him, Rudolph.” Anna returned his tone.
“Guys, it’s alright, but I really do need a breath of fresh air,” Tony looked at Anna, “I’ll come back to talk, don’t worry.” They exchanged soft smiles, which made Rudolph’s stomach knot. He groaned as he flew ahead in an attempt to hide his current feelings. Wait, why was he trying to hide that? What was he feeling that he felt he needed to hide? Tony caught up with him faster than he had expected. Rudolph glanced down at him from the air and held out his hand again, but this time, Tony didn’t take it. His face became dusted with pink as he made his way up the stairs. What was that?
As the pair entered Tony’s room, the mortal opened the window and leaned on the ledge. Rudolph had to physically stop himself from staring. It was unfair, the moonlight highlighting the soft features of the boy, stars sparkling in his baby blue eyes. His unusually formal attire didn’t help Rudolph’s current predicament either. Tony broke the silence.
“Rudolph, how do vampires age?” He asked, making eye contact with the vampire. The question caught Rudolph by surprise, causing him to fall from his position in the air. He knew Tony was obsessed with vampires, but why that question out of them all? He felt a cool sensation creep up his neck and ears.
“Well, I don’t know,” he got up, quickly recovering from the fall, “If I did, do you think I’d stay 13 for centuries?” He laughed, but Tony didn’t join in. His expression was serious, and he was holding his gaze firm. Rudolph gulped at the sight.
“Rudolph…” The blond’s voice sounded impatient.
“Um,” Rudolph began, “the idea is that, well, a vampire ages when they meet their soulmate.” It felt so awkward and cheesy to say out loud, but he continued. “We all grow up almost normally, but we reach a certain age in our teen years where we just stop. Growing, that is.” he clarified the last part, which Tony nodded in response to. “And i know the idea of soulmates is not realistic for you mortals-”
“No,” Tony cut him off, looking up at the moon, “no, it makes sense.” He paused, seemingly gathering his thoughts before continuing. “How do you know they’re ‘the one’?” Tony’s voice was barely above a whisper, but Rudolph heard him loud and clear. He took a deep breath, after all, it’s better to just get it out indeed of dragging on this uncomfortable line of questioning.
“We react differently to them. Sometimes, even just meeting them kickstarts the growth process, or it could be small things that no one notices but us.” He hoped he was making sense to the human boy. Tony hummed and let out a sigh.
“Did you know,” he looked away from the vampire at a wall, “that you’ve grown?” Silence hung in the air for what felt like an eternity.
“What.” Rudolph said simply.
“Your aunt told me.” Tony buried his head in his arms, “She noticed you were taller. Like, a considerable amount.” Rudolph felt his dead heart drop into his stomach and he genuinely couldn’t think of anything to say. His first real friend, crush, whatever, was now uncomfortable around him. He was never going to speak to Rudolph again because he knew that he was-
“Wait,” Rudolph barely inched towards the human boy, “why were you so… shy earlier though?” Tony’s breath hitched audibly, “If my aunt just told you that I got taller, why did you act like… you knew what it meant?” Rudolph realized that him pressing Tony probably wasn’t the best idea, but it earned him a response.
“Ah, I didn’t think you would, um, realize.” The mortal quickly pushed himself upwards so he was sitting on the windowsill, “She might’ve also told me you were gay.” Rudolph didn’t think he could feel any worse, but unimaginable dread crept into his stomach.
“Look, I understand if you are uncomfortable around me now,” Rudolph started to babble and creep away from the boy, who was now looking curiously at him, “but I really mean this when I say you were and are an amazing friend and I couldn’t have saved my family without your help and I don’t want to lose you but I understand-”
“Whoa, whoa, timeout!” Tony leapt off of the window and strode over to the vampire, grabbing his arms so he couldn’t escape in shame, “Did you think I wasn’t gonna be your friend cause you like boys?” Rudolph had to admit, it sounded silly when Tony said it.
“Well, not that alone, but, uh… the other thing she mentioned.” His face felt ice cold, a mixture of embarrassment and shame. “Tony, I really like you.” The mortal’s blue eyes widened, then he smiled his typical toothy grin.
“Well, that works out well.” Rudolph took a moment to process just what Tony was saying.
“Wait, you-”
“Yes!” Tony laughed, “I like you too! That’s why I was so nervous. I didn’t know how to tell you.” He released the vampire’s arms, “Sorry to make you worry.”
“Mortal, Tony,” he corrected himself, “It’s alright, I’m just glad we both, um…”
“Like each other?” Tony cocked his eyebrows at the vampire, causing him to become even more flustered. Tony let out a laugh that felt contagious to the vampire, resulting in him chuckling too. Tony hugged Rudolph, resting his face in his neck. “You really did get taller.” Tony mumbled, resulting in Rudolph letting out a breath in place of a laugh. They stayed in Tony’s room for a little longer, just chatting about things and occasionally hugging each other out of the blue. They eventually returned to the party hand-in-hand, but anyone could tell it wasn’t just to help Tony fly..