Chapter Text
Northdin was sure he would remember the first time he met Draus, the youngest heir of the Dragon clan forever.
It was only the beginning of spring and he was already missing the cozy, gentle, confortable wind of winter, his mood had not improved as he was required to attend yet another gala gathering several of the most powerful vampire families, especially since this one was held by the eccentric head of the Dragon clan. He had heard rumors, always whispered with dread, about the man’s habit of organizing games and group activities to be avoided at all costs. Honestly, Northdin didn't care too much about that, rumors were always greatly exaggerated. Whatever it was it couldn't be as bad as that.
But he learned three things that fateful day:
1- Holy fuck, the rumors weren't nearly scary enough to convey the horror that was their host's games. They weren’t even come close to the horror of the situation!
2- He was gay.
3-He had fallen in love with the son of the eccentric in question. Of all people.
Since that day, taking advantage of his noble lineage, he took the opportunity to try and approach the object of his affection. To his surprise but mostly his great pleasure, Draus and Northdin became good friends very quickly. He felt that every moment, every day, every second he spent with one of the most outstanding vampire he ever met made him fall a little but more in love with the man, if that was even possible.
Over time, he tried to send signals to Draus, the polite-noble-socially-correct equivalent of saying 'hey! I'm free! Do you want to f*ck me? Maybe???'
But as time went on, Northdin came to wonder if Draus was either trying to reject him gently, very gently, too gently really, by simply ignoring every single one of his signals.
Or if he was really just that oblivious.
Maybe if I put on a red dressing gown and nothing else, light some candles and put petals on the floor of his bedroom while I'm waiting for him lying in his coffin with a red rose in my mouth, maybe then he will notice?? Northdin quickly dismissed the thought. How shameless!
He had started by making a point of bringing gifts, it was usually bloodvine, flowers or luxury food. He had even taken care to always bring him quality products, going so far as to hire extra chefs dedicated to prepare the dishes he would bring to Draus. But no matter what he did, his message didn't seem to get through. His dear friend would thank him every time, modestly tell him that it was too much and that Northdin didn't need to bring him gifts every time he came to see him, that his presence was enough. Then he would usually follow up with 'Oh Northdin, I'm so glad we're friends! Because we're the best of friends! Friends and nothing more, yup, that's what we are!' or at least that's how it sounded in Northdin's ears.
Draus was always happy and excited to meet with him, from his experience with nobility, Northdin had grow to being able to easily identify false joy, worn like a mask at galas, from the real feeling.
And all the time he had known Draus, he had never once seen him try to hide his feelings behind another one. Not even once. How was he even doing it? He really admired him for that. Especially since, despite still being one of the 'young adults', Northdin was very good at smiling and making polite but useless discussion where none of the participants of the conversation wanted to be here. Such honesty... it was one of the qualities he loved most about Draus.
And if he had to suffer through the sudden cravings of the Dragon clan's head to stay close from his friend, then he would suffer!
And so what if his thoughts were formed exclusively made of "Do it for Draus, do it for Draus, do it-" when the almost ridiculously overpowered vampire asked him to join them for a game, he had to make a good impression on his (potential) father-in-law!
Also, he didn't want to leave Draus goint through all of that alone as he looked at Northdin with such a desperate look on his face, somewhat similar to a puppy left in the rain. Just because he was trying to change the nature of their relationship didn't mean at all he still couldn't be a good friend.
It had been a year since he met Draus, a year since he realized he was gay, a year since he tried to seduce Draus as subtly as he could. Too blunt, and either Draus might end up ignoring him, or his father would do inexplicable things to him for daring to make his son uncomfortable.
Honestly, he didn't know which was worse.
Today marked the beginning of spring, once again. Bye bye sweet winter and hello endless heat. Although honestly, he looked at nowadays at the beginning of spring with something almost like kindness and nostalgia, because it had marked his first encounter with one of the most important people in his life.
His gift today was a simple rose, not a bouquet, but not just any flower either. Perfect. In any case, this year he had gotten to know Draus' circle of friends little by little. And he was sure of one thing.
He didn't know any of them were that the type to wear a flashy yellow suit with a checkered pattern.
As Northdin, still holding his gift, walked towards the courtyard of Draus' personal castle to have tea as they so often did. He was met by an unusual sight.
The youngest member of the Dragon clan was walking in the company of another vampire with overly gelled blonde hair, a tacky checkered suit, a look in his eyes that screamed 'mischief' and a smile stuck to his lips that screamed it even louder.
If that didn't scream 'nouveau riche', then nothing else did.
After getting over the shock of another person's presence in what was supposed to be their alone time, he noticed how friendly the atmosphere around his esteemed friend and the total stranger was.
Draus was also smiling, but this one was not shouting mischief, but only happiness and amusement, interrupted only by little laughs that escaped him as the conversation went on, sounding like the sweetest sound. And oh, Northdin was deep into it, isn’t it?
But more important than that... It was the kind of atmosphere that was expected from a friendship of many years, perhaps decades even. To be able to talk and communicate with such friendliness and ease.
"Who? When ? WHAT??? When did that happen?" Northdin couldn’t help but think. "I've only been gone a week! What happened? DRAUS???"
Far from him the idea to supervise in any way Draus' relationships. He was only very knowledgeable of the friends the heir of the Dragon clan had, if only to be sociable with them, and thus avoid having quarrels that would put Northdin in a bad position. Perhaps he paid so much attention to it because he also took great pride in being able to announce with complete confidence that he was definitely by a large margin Draus' closest friend. But who would dare to say it out loud? Certainly not him, that’s for sure.
But even he had never been able to create such a friendly atmosphere... so who...?
His beloved friend noticed him, "Ah, Northdin! You've arrived!" Ah, he could look at that smile for hours.
This also drew the blonde's gaze towards him. Draus beckoned him closer as Northdin couldn't help but glance at the strange man, who noticed his look and responded with an even bigger smile on his face.
He already knew that he was not going to like him.
"I'm sorry I didn't warn you my friend, but Ydan here has a terrible habit of coming unannounced. But I wanted to introduce you two, so this is a good timing after all!" The happy voice of his beloved rang out, but all Northdin could think was, "At least announce yourself!"
But that was his name, Ydan, huh. He never heard of it before.
The intruder to his and Draus’ alone time held out his hand, "Hi! Well, the name's Ydan, and you must be Northdin, Draus has told me a lot about you, you know! It's almost as if your name was all he could talk about." if possible, his smile widened even more.
Northdin took his hand and shook it in a courteous handshake. As he put on a friendly but polite smile mask to hide his feelings from the stranger.
For a split second, he thought he saw a tinge of something indescribable in the other vampire's eyes. But it was so brief that Northdin was almost completely sure it was just his imagination.
Still smiling politely, he spoke up, "Yes, my name is Northdin, it’s very nice to meet you. I'm very flattered that my dear friend is apparently talking about me."
"Umm." Ydan made in reply. What a lack of manners! Nouveau riche theory confirmed, absolutely confirmed!
"Ah but for whom is this rose? For me?" The m- Ydan said, with a false innocence in his voice, knowing full well that Northdin was not aware that he would be here.
He had known this person for exactly five minutes but he already couldn't stand him! How could his dear Draus befriend someone so rude and childish?
"I'm afraid not, sir, that would be for you," he turned to Draus and handed him his gift, "It's not much but when I saw it, I couldn’t help but thought of you, so I thought of bringing it back."
"Oh! That's so nice Northdin, thank you so much!" He said as he took the flower.
"I also brought five bottles of bloodvine with me. They are in my carriage."
"I don't need that many!"
The familiarity of the interaction put him in a better mood and even a slight smile appeared on his face. Until he noticed the presence of Ydan, and more specifically the look he gave the two of them. How- no he couldn't know. Could he? But what was that sparkle in his eyes? That knowing look? But then again, that little change in his expression disappeared almost as soon as it had appeared.
Northdin couldn't read him and that pissed him off more than he wanted to admit.
Suddenly, the blond vampire draped his arms over the shoulders of Northdin and Draus, placing himself in the middle of them. Forget not having good manners, this guy was breaking them on purpose!
The unbearable vampire spoke up, "Let's go drink the bottle that Northdin brought! Try to know each other better and all that, what do you say?" His dear friend may have be very kind but even he had limits. Surely he would realize that hanging out with someone so suspicious and that breathed malice was a bad idea!
Draus laughed.
Oh, of course he laughed.
"Well, I don't see why not. You two need to get to know each other! I'm sure you'll get along!"
Northdin wanted to laugh for a totally different reason. But of course, he didn't.
Ydan gave him a sideways glance, "Yeah, I'm sure we'll get along just fine," he even made a show of bringing his head closer to Northdin's face and looking straight into his eye. Asshole. "He looks like fun to hang out with!" announced the yellow intruder. Wait, what?
"Alright! Let's get this party started then!" Ydan said suddenly, not letting Northdin concentrate one second on his thoughts.
But then Draus leaned over to him and whispered something quietly in his ear, and suddenly there was not a single thought in his head, "He takes a while to get used to, but I swear it's worth it. He's not a bad person."
And how could he say no to that expression.
Well, if it made Draus so happy to have this shady guy around... then maybe he could make an effort and just keep his polite mask around Ydan.
That should do it.
The tea-turned-drinking-party-by-yours-truly was a fiasco. Surprisingly.
Northdin had never wanted to punch someone so much. In his life.
And he was extremely experienced in the fied of gala bland generic discussions, long speeches from vampires who thought they were way bigger than they were, and conversations turning into arguments about politics, where he was forced to smile and shape his personality slightly depending on who he was talking to.
At first he thought Ydan was just lacking in manners, but he was so, oh so wrong. This guy was doing it on purpose. During the whole night he had been playing with Northdin's nerves. For no good reason!
It went from the way he ignored basic manners, to very indiscreet and direct and none of his business questions he asked Northdin. Sometimes he would even change his posture to one that somehow managed to be even more provocative and shameless, then make direct eye contact with Northdin with this damn smug smile of his, before taking a gulp out of his bloodvine. That bastard.
If he could take one good thing out of this evening, it was that when their impertinent guest had asked him what type he had, Northdin had had the opportunity to answer without any hesitation in his voice, "Black hair, long hair, long black and pink cape, beautiful smile."
What Draus had reacted by a thoughtful expression, which gave him the slightest hope that perhaps, just perhaps, his case was not a lost cause.
Then Draus opened his mouth, "Ummmm. Ah that's too bad, I don't think I know anyone who fits those criteria! I'm sincerely sorry my friend. But I’ll make sure to tell you the second I meet someone like that!" And of course there was sincere regret in his voice. Of course there was. Ah.
Well anyway, Northdin had trained the idea that his beloved friend was going to stay in the company of this yellow fool for some time, a month at most maube. But that after a while, all the provocations, the lack of manners and the total disregard for anything that was not, not lewd, would get to him and Draus would end up distancing himself from Ydan.
A vampire such as him, who had been raised his whole life with a very good education and a strong sense of etiquette could only take so much shamelessness and impertinence before he snapped, right? Right?
But deep down, he knew that Draus was not the type to judge or distance himself from people who didn't have the same sense of etiquette as himself. Why did his dearest friend had to be so perfect? What a pain!
And sure enough, he had unfortunately been greeted, not by the warm smile of Draus who made him feel inexplicable things. But by a smug smile on a much too punchable face.
Northdin always did his best to get along with the whole of Draus’ friends. But Ydan... he was a challenge.
Northdin wanted to find out more about this shady man, because all he knew about his origins was zero - absolutely nothing - just, no information at all. Was he a vampire by birth, a dhanpir turned vampire, a human turned vampire maybe? He didn't know, and apparently no one else did!
According to the information he had been able to collect. Just like the man himself, Ydan appeared like a flower, one day he doesn't exist, the next one, he was there and saying obscene things to his best friend's ears to mess with him. He had the urge to investigate more but if Ydan got wind that Northdin was walking around asking questions about him, he could already see his damn face and hear his voice say, "Oh? You seem very interested in me lately, Northdin. You know if one didn't know better, they might think you’re interested in me in some other way," followed by his damn laugh he already heard too much.
Every time they met each other, Northdin always found something new he hated in the strange man. And Ydan didn't hold back from torturing him by provoking and offending him for fun all the time.
What was he even expecting by doing that? That Northdin humiliates himself by hitting him in the face, in front of his dear Draus at that? AH! No thanks! Especially if it was Draus' friend. He could just swallow all the insults he wanted to say and go on his merry way. That's what he'd been doing all his life after all.
Until he realized... Ydan was going too far. He was going way too far.
And "Oh, wow, what a surprise!" he wanted to sarcastically think. Except he couldn't.
Too perverted, too casual, too rude, too immature, too carefree, too shameless. And way too perverse.
Who knows what would happen if he let someone like him, especially someone as shady as him get so close to Draus, seeing them interact in the balls and galad could cause so much trouble for his dear friend. The Dragon clan always attracted great attention after all, and he maube didn't know Ydan for a long time, but he wasn't known to be polite in social situations.
Maybe Ydan was abusing his friend's kindness and Draus was simply too kind to walk away from such a bad influence. Who knows? Certainly not him!
But the risk was there and he had to do something. Before something went wrong.
For the first time in his life, Northdin was disappointed to not see an all-too-familiar flashy yellow suit the next time he visited Draus, this time accompanied by some home-cooked (by chefs) chocolate.
"Ydan isn’t here?"
Draus made a surprised expression before quickly shifting into something between a cheerful smile and a smirk. Oh god, it was too late, Ydan already infected him! He shook his head to chase away those silly thoughts.
"Oh? Since when do you two get along? Did you get attached?" Draus asked, doing his best to keep his sly expression but slipping more and more into a warm smile. God he loved that man.
"Oh, no. He's been here so many times, I just wanted to make sure that this yellow fool wouldn't be around to bother us."
Draus' expression softened, his warm smile slipping, "You're too mean with him, North."
"I'm mean to the perfect amount, I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh, Northdin."
"I know your 'Oh, Northdin' and I don't like this at all."
"He may be unconventional but I promise you he's not a bad person, you know." Draus said.
‘I have my doubts about that.’ he didn’t say out loud.
They then moved on to their tea party, and although he had hoped to say two words to the man with a permanent grin on his face, he was reminded of how much he enjoyed these moments of calm and tranquility he shared with his beloved.
"It's so nice, hanging out with friends like that." Draus commented distractedly.
"Ah, yes..."
As they talked quietly, Northdin expected the rest of his visit to go as great and perfect as this. Unfortunaly, it didn't last long.
He heard a faint, but present bulge of leaves in the distance, the kind of noise too quiet for humans ears to hear. Then any idea he had of a quiet night dispersed as he heard, "HEY, uff - DRAUS I HAVE SOME- urg - SOMETHING - uff - SOMETHING TO SHOW YOU!" coming from a small figure positioned... atop one of the walls of Draus' castle? What was he even doing there? What, did he just climb there?? "Why?!" Northdin didn't even bother to ask. The man was weird.
As the figure descended the wall with a surprising great agility. Wait, was he used to coming in like that? As the new guest walked towards them, his iconic yellow checkered suit became more visible.
The unwanted guest spoke up, "Hi Drau- oh hi Mister Icecube, glad to see you're here too!"
"Mister wha-"
"Good evening Ydan!" Draus interrupted the beginning of what could develop into an argument, "But you know, you can go through the front door if you want to, it's always open for friends like you and North, it seems more... convenient than climbing the wall."
"Aww, isn't that kind? Thanks for the offer, but no thanks! I need practice."
"Um? Practice for what?" Draus asked confused.
"I need to build up some muscle into my legs if I want to be able to run fast enough to avoid the people who want to chase after me."
"Oh? Chasing you? Why, are you that successful with ladies?" Northdin mocked.
"Nah, I’m pretty sure they want to beat me up." Ydan replied with a big smile of his, contrasting greatly with his words. What-
"Oh," the ice vampire was momentarily stunned, "Well deserved, I'm sure," he looked away. His words earned him an offended "Northdin-" from Draus.
"Perhaps more importantly, there are many more people than you think who have fantasies about leg muscles and-"
"I-I DON'T WANT TO KNOW MORE!" His dear friend stammered blushing like crazy. It was a good look on him though. Wait, that wasn’t the point-
"Haha! A flustered face looks so lewd on you Draus, it makes me wonder who is really the more lewd of the two of us!" Northdin glared fiercely at him, which the pervert in yellow noticed and gave him a smug look in return. This fucking bast-
"Anyway!" Ydan said clapping his hands theatrically, "If I'm here, it's not to tease Drausy, but because I have a big announcement to make!" And for just a moment, the unwanted guest's face turned into a serious expression.
At this point he almost believed that Ydan was physically capable of only making expressions that varied from 'little smirk' to 'god-I-want-to-punch-him-so-bad kind of smug face'. Guess he was wrong. Northdin saw from the corner of his eyes Draus looking more worried at the change.
But the annoying vampire could only hold that expression for a few seconds before his smile crept across his face, obviously against his will before he gave up the act completely.
Because of course, it was all an act, to say that Northdin here was even worried for a second about this bastard – Wait, nope- Him? Worried? No thank you, he wasn't a sentimental fool. He was only just concerned about Draus being to worked up about this guy, yeah, that's it.
Ydan reached for something behind him, before theatrically showing them a-
"A cane?" Northdin offered.
"No, I think it's a scepter."
"Maybe a staff-"
"It's a beam!" Ydan announced with pride, completely ignoring them.
He even made a show of twirling it between his fingers with a dexterity that showed he had trained just for this occasion. There was a lot of pride obviously written on his face, but also something that looked like a childish joy. Well apparently Ydan could at least make two different expressions, and one that was not pure smug. Good for him.
"Oh my, is this the thing you told me you were looking for all this time?" Draus exclaimed, happiness for his friend clear on his face.
"It sure is!"
"A... Beam then. What’s its use?" He didn't imagine Ydan to be the type at all to buy frivolous things just to impress the gallery.
"Oh well it's very useful for my-" Ydan interrupted himself suddenly, "Well," oh Northdin didn’t like this tone. The third guest finally picked up a spare chair and dragged it over to their table, finally sitting down and striking a sligly obscene pose- because Ydan was Ydan and if he could find a way to piss off Northdin even more, then he wouldn't lose that opportunity.
"I'm sure you'll find out that soon enough," his smile that had until now strangely warm turned into something more a little malicious, a little more familiar.
Northdin hated how something yet so irritable had become something familiar, and also something he almost worried about when it wasn't there.
This man was unbearable.
“Ydan… I want to have a private conversation with you."
"Oh my, oh my! How straightforward!" Ydan said not fazed for one second for the fact that he was standing between the wall of Draus' castle and Northdin.
"You know, I didn't take you for someone who got straight to the point," the yellow menace said with a sinuous tone in his voice. “Oh how unbelievably outrageous, isn’t it?"
Northdin didn't want to dwell for a second on the fact that his cheeks felt warmer at the shameless implication, even though the victorious laugh that Ydan made reminded him in full force. Someone like him – someone like him shouldn't hang around Draus. Who knows what misadventure he could cause his dear friend to suffer.
"Stop hanging around Draus," he said suddenly.
Ydan's laughter stopped short, replaced by a look he couldn't quite figure out, "And why would I do such a thing?..."
"Because you-" Northdin pointed a finger with the hand that wasn't resting against the wall, resting it against the yellow suit's, "are a bad influence. And I don't want you to get Draus in trouble because of you."
“Such a caring friend, really. But tell me exactly, why do you care that much?"
"Huh?"
"You heard me. Why do you care that much, North? »
"Don't call me that..." ‘Only Draus can call me that’ Il ne dit pas. "Draus is simply my friend and I care about his happiness! There's nothing more to it!" Wait. When did his warning turn into Ydan interrogating him?
"Umm, are you sure about that?" Northdin couldn't say a thing in return before a scepter -no- a beam was suddenly right in front of his face, slightly glowing with an ominous air to it. Oh shit. This thing was a weapon? Really now? He didn’t have the time to think about how absolutely inappropriate it was for Ydan to bring a weapon of all things to one of Draus’ tea party than his self-preservation instincts told him to get away from this thing as fast as possible.
He immediately took a step back but could not avoid in any way the intense light that emanated from the damn beam. SHIT-
As he bathed in the light, his mind gave him several –too many– results and outcomes to what was going to happen to him.
But in none of them had he planned to be standing in the same place as he had before, with no apparent change on himself, and still feeling exactly the same.
The yellow menace moved closer and leaned slightly towards him, holding his staff playfully, "Tell me North, what do you think of Draus again?"
Don't call me that!
"There's nothing more erotic than the idea of Draus, lying in a big bed and welcoming me to come join him!"
He clapped a hand to his own mouth, 'What on earth-'
A loud, loud laugh erupted from the smaller man. Northdin snapped out of his stupor to focus on the menace, laughing more merrily and louder than he ever saw him, his hands on his knees as if he was ready to roll laughing on the floor at any given moment, he looked almost hysterical.
It didn't take a genius to put one and one together.
What did you do to me you bastard?! "Proper clothes being dischieveld truly is the lewdest thing there is!" WHAT?! That asshole didn’t attacked him a second time. So why? How?
If possible, the Ydan's laughter got even louder.
He belatedly realized that they were making way too much noises. And they were still inside Draus’ territory. He had hoped to take Ydan in private, tell him his warning as a 'either calm down or stop hanging out with my dear friend entirely' and then leave unhindered! But if that idiot keeps laughing like there's no tomorrow, and himself keeps saying-
"Ydan? Why are you laughing that much? What's going on here?" Oh no, no no no, the vampire glanced at the yellow menace’s weapon, Draus- !!
DON'T COME CLOSE TO HIS BEAM! "I hope someday to be on the receiving end of the attentions of someone shy but eager to please, kneeling between my legs in a few remaining layers of the evening's formalwear and gazing up at me with obvious lust in their eyes!" TOO LONG!! That was way too long! What the hell?!
"..." Draus looked at his best and closest friend who currently had his hands over his face in despair.
"Um, g-good for you?…" The person the most important in his life said. And for a moment Northdin never wanted more in his life than being sucked into the ground and never coming up again. Then he heard it again. This laugh.
Both Northdin and Draus' attention was drawn to the only thing that dared to make noises in that awkward moment that would haunt Northdin's nightmares eternity. Ydan was still laughing as if there was nothing in the world funnier than what he just saw. Between two bursts of laughter, he still managed to say, "Pff - such honesty Northdin! I really - really admire that – HAHA!"
For half a second, Northdin felt his blood run hot, as if a furnace had suddenly ignited in his chest.
The next thing he knew, his fist had made contact with Ydan's laughing face.
The blow was so strong that it sent the vampire with -freaking hypnotism power, apparently- into some bushes a little further away.
Huh… Oh shit.
"...Oh shit," He blurted out unintentionally. He hadn't – he hadn't wanted to physically attack Ydan like that, a vulgar fist-fight went against everything that made up a gentleman. But more than that... well…
He shouldn't have done that.
He should probably apologize, huh?
"Ydan! Are you okay?" Draus reacted faster than Northdin and moved to the side of the smiling bastard in the blink of an eye. Wait - smiling?
He finally made eye contact with the man he had just punched, and, yup, there was definitely a smile there. Why the heck is he smiling?
Even more confusing, Ydan pointed at him and proudly declared, "I won!" Like it explained every-fucking-thing, before going for another fit, this time fully on his back against the floor, moving his legs as he laughed. Draus looked as confused as he was.
Northdin didn't know what Ydan thought he had won, but did he really want to know? He had already resigned himself to never being able to understand the other man's thought patterns.
After a moment that seemed to him like hours. Ydan apparently finally got tired of laughing.
"Aah, what a good day that was! Welp!" The yellow menace stood up, bringing his wretched weapon with him and playfully making it turn with his hand , "I think I'll be leaving now, goodbye Draus. Best tea party I’ve ever had, Hah! I'm looking forward to the next time we hang out together!"
" Oh. Ah, me too,” his poor friend replied, still shocked by the recent events.
"And," Ydan's gaze shifted to Northdin, looking at him in the eyes, still with that stupid smile of his, "Looking forward to seeing you again! Hope we can hang out together more often in the future!"
"Go die." Northdin said.
At that Ydan laughed merrily -did he ever stopped laughing?- as he was leaving. Letting Northdin and Draus processing what just happened.
After that tornado of a man was gone, Draus asked him, "Shall we ever talk about what just happened or-"
"Let's not - let's never do that. Ever."
"Okay…"
Then Draus gave him a look, "You've got a pretty definite kink you kno-" and nope, nope. He wasn't doing that, not today. Northdin all but flew out of this situation in a way that felt more like a clumsy and flustered escape than the dignified exit he would have wanted.
But one thing was certain, he had obviously greatly underestimated this yellow threat.
And he shall never make that same mistake again.
After this... event. Northdin had unfortunately continued to meet the strange man. But to his surprise, the first time they had seen each other after he had discovered Ydan's powers, in the worst way imaginable, the threat had behaved exactly as usual - annoying, yes - but nothing Northdin wasn't already used to.
It was... strange. He would have bet on the fact that Ydan was opportunistic and would have harassed Northdin about his new knowledge about him.
But he didn't.
The only proof that this had actually happened that was not simply a horrible, horrible nightmare was that Northdin had received some really inappropriate winks from Ydan, as well as some obscene gestures made with his hands when Draus wasn't looking at them. Shameless bastard.
And Northdin's reaction apparently was enough to satisfy him as a chuckled to himself. Draus didn't notice the whole thing and just looked confused everytime that was happening.
He was thinking about all this as he was in the company of his dear friend, And Ydan, carrying his beam on his knees.Despite the danger of the thing, it was not really that that was a threat, but the powers of the person themself, some accessories like clothing or objects were often used by vampires to catalyze their powers and thus be able to better use them. It was common sense in the vampire society that it was considered just cruel to separate vampires from their objects catalysts. So Northdin had come to terms with the fact that he would see this beam as often as he saw the owner, which was way too often.
He returned to reality as he noticed the indecent man staring at him for no apparent reason. The older vampire gave him a questioning look in return as he slowly sipped his tea, which was the same tea he had brought as a gift for Draus. He didn't know what Ydan wanted, but one thing was for sure, he didn't like that look at all.
Sure enough, Ydan rested his elbows on the table, holding his head in his hands, "Say Draus,"
"Um?" Draus replied, taking a sip of his own cup.
"What do you think is the sexiest piece of clothing?" His friend almost spit out his tea. But he managed to hold back and was caught in a coughing fit instead. Northdin patted his friend’s back gently and Draus thanked him with a soft voice when the it passed.
"Haha... good one Ydan." Draus finally replied, then noticed the eager expression Ydan wore, "Oh... you were serious." Ydan didn't answer, letting his expression speak for itself.
And Draus was obviously used to Ydan's favorite topics of discussion at some point because at Northdin’s bafflement he said, "The... the most sexy you say?" Ydan nodded exitedly.
For some absolutely, completely unrelated reason, Northdin leaned in a little more so he could better listen to the conversation.
"M-Maybe..." Draus was having trouble following, too flustered, he took his face in his hands, Northdin just couldn't ignore the flush in Draus' cheeks and his shyness to say his next words. Maybe, just maybe, there was an some advantages to having Ydan hang out with them. Just sometimes.
As if reading his mind, the irritating yellow man jabbed at him lightly with his elbow, which Northdin countered with a rude gesture with one of his hands. Ydan smiled and chuckled in amusement before turning around, still waiting for the answer of their common friend.
His voice was slightly muffled behind his hands, but Draus managed to answer, "Maybe... it’s… underwear... chosen on purpose to please a certain person..." his voice got weaker and weaker as his sentence went on, but his words were still understandable.
Ydan's whole face seemed to light up, "Oh? Underwear you say?" He repeated in a louder way he put one of his arms around Draus' neck and pushed him against himself in a side-hug, completely ignoring the very notion of personal space like he always did.
"Draus, you have a lewder mind than I thought! Haha!" The yellow menace teased him.
"I DON'T!" his friend fought back, removing his hands from his face and revealing a very flustered face.
Ah, no matter how many times he could see it, it looked so great.
WAIT no! He was distracted for a second, but Ydan really shouldn't be making fun of Draus like that! And also respect his personal space!
"Isn't that an interesting information Northdin? What do you think?" that fucking yellow bastard asked him out of the blue.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I wasn't listening to the conversation." He replied, sipping his tea, in a completely monotone voice.
"Umm um, sure."
Northdin was confused.
With a bottle of expensive bloodwine in his hands, he began to walk the halls of his friend's castle once again. He knew that no unpleasant surprises awaited him, because for once he knew for a fact that Ydan was also invited, as he was more and more often these days. Because apparently Draus had found that they got along well these days and when he had said this thought aloud, Northdin didn't have the heart to correct him while the annoying yellow man was holding back from bursting into laughter with all his might.
And he wondered why he was holding back just before Ydan put one of his arms around the shoulders of the vampire whose skin was getting colder and colder with anger saying, "Yup, we're such good friends now, isn't it Northdin?", "I hope the sun burns you." "Hahaha!", "Ouaaa, don't fight you two!"
Northdin didn’t punch Ydan but he had been very close.
He knew now that the hypnotist didn't even care about being hit actally even find it funny, but heck if he was going to play into his game. He was a noble man, respectable and composed. He did not let himself be tempted by fist fights that easily. Thank you very much.
But all this did not help him to clarify his actual situation while he was still looking for the owner of the castle. He regretted that he didn't have any power of hypersensitivity right at that moment. Even though his hearing was superior to the ones of humans, it didn't help him much in right now. As he almost started to worry he heard a:
"WAAAAH WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! H-HOW SHAMELESS! SHAMELESS!" Ah, that was Draus. But he was pretty sure that Ydan didn't know the definition of 'shame' at this point.
What sounded alarms in his head was that this shout was followed almost immediately by a laugh that he knew all too well, despite the fact that their encounters numbered quite a few in the end.
Northdin immediately used his powers and began to levitate through the corridors at full speed in the direction of where the noise was apparently coming from, most probably somewhere around Draus' room and – wait, came from where??
He had been at this place often enough to remember the general layout, he also remembered the time Draus had first invited him to his castle, and knew where his friend's room was, which a younger version of him had bashfully been careful to remember, um, for no particular reason or hope for the future at all, really.
Trying to reduce the blush in his cheeks at this reminder, he concentrated himself on getting to the door to Draus' room as quickly as possible without bumping into any walls in his haste.
Finally arriving, he returned to the floor but he didn't have the patience to knock at the door like the gentleman he truly was.
So instead he kicked the door open.
"HOLY MOL- WHAT?! NORHDIN?" a shriek came from his dearest friend.
Draus was standing just to the right of him and seemed perfectly fine, thank goodness he was fine.
Scanning him up and down with his eyes, he made sure one last time before letting his shoulders drop with relief. Then he noticed the incredulous expression with which Draus looked at him and was immediately reminded that his manners were all but extremely impolite and he probably looked a little deranged.
He straightened up and made a show of putting his tie back in place with one hand, suddenly remembering that he was still holding the bottle of blood wine with the other, he cleared his throat. "Excuse me for barging in my friend, here, I was just worried about you after hearing your scream."
"Oh, haha, that wasn't- that wasn't necessary you know. But thanks you…" Draus replied while accepting the bottle.
Now that he was closer, he noticed Draus' face was redder than normal and he wasn't looking at Northdin in the eye, his gaze was fixed against the wall behind them. His voice sounded strange in a way he couldn't explain either.
"Hey~ Northy! Don't forget me! Can I get some wine too?" and oh no. Why him..
Northdin sighed, "No, you can not - IOHURIHGUEIREFJKE?!!!"
Turning his head toward the bed, he found the source of Draus' discomfort. Which, to be fair, he had all the reason in the world to be discomforted right now because WHOA.
Ydan was lying sensuously in Draus' bed, on top of the sheets and almost naked if not for some weird underwe - nope – not underwear, it was lingerie. His beam-scepter still never far from him. He noted briefly that some not properly folded clothes wearing the bastard’s favorite yellow checkered pattern were placed next to him in a wild, uncaring way. Accompanied by even more lingerie. Why.
But that wasn't even the worst part, the worst part was the lingerie itself, it was the kind that no sane person would ever wear for their everyday life and which he categorically refused to look at more than a glance so he couldn’t say more about it. Nope. Not today. Not ever actually. No thank you.
He was lying against the bed as if it belonged to him, no, as if the whole world belonged to him and that basic decency was nothing more than a simple inconvenience to him.
Northdin’s eyes met a smug face, some blond hair stranding in front of his brown eyes that screamed 'Hey! What are you going to do about this, huh?' and all Northdin could answer was 'I have absolutely no fucking idea.' apparently.
As more seconds passed where Northdin was stunned by the sight, the more Ydan seemed to give off a smug aura at the reaction. He saw in the corner of his eyes that Draus hiding his face in his hands while making a wimper.
Finally coming out of his stupor, and immediately turned himself around, his eyes now glaring at the wall as a wicked laugh rang out from behind him. Seriously, why was he like that?!
He found his voice again, "Why... Why on earth are you wearing such things?"
"Why wouldn't I?" He heard the sound of shifting fabric indicating that the yellow menace had moved against the sheets. "Lingerie is great! Wouldn't you agree Draus?" Oh, the bastard. To this, the son of the progenitor responded only with another wimper from behind his hands.
Northdin gathered his courage and asked the question he had been wanting to ask all this time, "B-By the way… Did I, did I interrupt something here?"
"No!"
Draus shouted right back at him. His friend rushed over him and pressed his hands against Northdin's arms with force as if to make his point, "Don't go imagining things North! Ydan only said that he had bought new clothes and wanted to show them to me! Fashion! It was for fashion!" In his rent, the face of his old friend had come closer and closer to his own.
He tried with all his might to ignore how much Draus' hands seemed to burn against his skin, despite the multiple layers of clothing they were both wearing. Draus had absolutely no idea what effect he was having on Northdin and it was in those moments that he felt guilty for feeling such strong feelings for someone who only considered him as a friend.
Besides, he also knew Draus enough to recognize his lying face to his ‘please, I know it sounds ridiculous but it’s really the truth’ (more often used with things involving the progenitor).
He remembered to answer, "Oh... Is that so."
"It is so. It really is so," and oh, his gaze was so intense, and his cheeks still held the remnants of the blush he had from the whole situation.
"Hey, get a room you too!" Ydan shouted from behind them. "And to think I'm the one who's practically naked here. Humph." he sulked.
Draus directed his gaze to the man lying casually on the bed, "Please Ydan, I know you have a habit of seeing situations with a lewd look, but there's nothing such as this between Northin and me!"
"Oh my, really~?"
Northdin was so glad that the personification of indecency was positioned behind Northin's back. Gosh, he was so glad. But Draus had no such luck, a slight blush coming to his cheek. "I can't believe that two friends as close as you two are never experienced... some things."
Draus gasped, "HOW SHAMELESS!"
"You're repeating yourself!" Ydan laughed loudly.
His dearest friend then struck a confident and determined pose, "Don't misunderstand anything Ydan. Northdin and I are friends! Only friends!And nothing in the world could ever change the perfect relationship that we have!"
"...ah." Ydan said.
Northdin looked out the window. Ah, the weather really looked bright today. The moon was full and was projecting a soft light haha. He tried to ignore the glance he saw Ydan gave him when he was looking at the window. Wait no, what glance? There was no glance, no glance at all haha... ha.
"Huh? Ah? Anyway, we're not going to wait until sunrise to start the tea party, are we now?" Draus exclaimed. "I'll go prepare the tea. Oh, and the blood wine! Right!" The son of the progenitor retrieved the gift that Northdin had brought that he had forgotten was here. Right. Blood wine. Courting, yeah. Before Draus left the room with haste in his steps.
Northdin sighed, "Why... did you ask Draus to give you his opinion on underwears."
"Kinky underwear." Ydan corrected him with discipline.
"Whatever."
"Well after our discussion the other day, I thought, 'who better to give me an expert opinion on the matter than Draus!‘ You know? And then-"
The door suddenly was slammed opened, startling both Northdin and Ydan. "BY THE WAY, THE CHECKERED ONE WAS THE BEST I THINK-OKAY-BYE. His friend spoke so quickly that his words seemed to almost blur together before closing with accidental force the door again behind him.
They heard a, "Also, please Ydan, please put some clothes back on you before you leave the room, I beg of you." coming from behind the door, then replaced by the sounds of steps getting farther and farther away.
Ydan laughed again, "Aww, he even thought about what I would want to wear instead of his personal taste. Isn't it charming?"
" ... "
"Whoa! You don't have to give me that look Northdin! You don't have to worry about me for competion, haha! He’s not my type anyway. I'm looking for more... firmness, you know."
"...In your woman?" Northdin asked, unsure.
A look, "No, also in my man."
"Oh."
"But both are good!" Ydan added.
"I really don't want to know about your personal life!"
The hypnotist chuckled, he never stops laughing does he. "Welp, it's not all that, but we have a tea party to attend to!" He straightened up and Northdin was suddenly reminded that the lewd man was in nothing but lingerie, so before he could see anything more, he turned on himself immediately and walk his way to the usual place where his dear friend liked to have tea.
Once there, the two friends had already settled down before they saw the last guest arrive, thankfully dressed up, carrying his trusty beam in one hand and... something blue in the other?
"Hey Draus! Do you remember this kinky underwear that I have? I think it would look good on Northdin, don't you think?"
THIS LITTLE SHIT-
Before he knew it, a punch had already landed on the face of the most annoying man he had ever known. For the second time in less than two weeks. Ah. But before he could think about how to handle the situation this time, Ydan was already up and running, laughing loudly and beckoning him to come chasing him he he dare. He noticed from the corner of his eyes Draus facepalming and, ah – no, he was trying to muffled a chuckle.
But all Northdin could think to say at the moment was, "Holy shit, he's fast!"
He just hoped that this kind of behavior wouldn't become a habit between the two. He had a reputation to uphold, thank you very much.
"By the way, there's going to be a member of my family coming in today, is that okay with you two?" Draus said, which was a nice way of saying 'hey, the progenitor will come here and probably kill us half to death'.
At least Northdin thought he could considered himself lucky that his closest friend's father had at least notified of his arrival. That was rare.
"Oh great! I don't think I've ever met any member of your family. I hope they have some entertaining lewd thoughts." said the ignorant future-victim.
"Oh um... I wouldn't do that if I were you." Draus said.
"Oh~? Afraid I'll make a bad first impression Drausy?"
"No, not really..."
The lewd man's teasing smile was replaced by a confused one. As if he had one expression in his repertoire and it only come in some slight variations.
Ydan looked at Northdin in search of an answer, but he didn’t meet his gaze. Too focused on his own thoughts.
The idea of running or avoiding the eccentric man was very tempting, but first, he didn't want to leave Draus alone in the clutches of a deadly game. Two, he didn’t want to make a bad impression to his (possible, his dreams told him, unlikely but still possible) maybe-future-father-in-law. Also he knew that at best, the father of his beloved would warn of his arrival only five minutes before his was here. It would be logical to think that he gave such a short notice because he was impulsive like that, but Northdin suspected that he was aware that no one could simply escape from him because of it.
Seeing the haunted expressions of his two friends, (because no matter how many times Northdin corrected him that they were not, he never listened to him and still call him that). Ydan looked more and more confused, shifting his gaze between Draus and Northdin’s face.
All too soon, they heard the creak of the front door opening – ah, that wasn’t the window for once - and footsteps approaching.
Their tormentor, his hopeful-future-in-law, the most powerful vampire that has ever existed, a bored old man whose only joy was to play games and spend quality time with his family (and also anyone else who had the misfortune to fall into his clutches), had arrived.
"Hey... Listen to me Ydan," Draus sais, "I know this is your first time and I know the situation is going to seem hopeless but I can assure you that everything will be fine, okay?" he heard Draus' reassurance, doing his best to mentally prepare Ydan for the tornado of a man that was his father. While he himself closed his eyes in acceptance that the rest of the night would not be spent being good company for Draus and, against his will, Ydan’s too.
"… It looks like I'm going to participate at something hardcore," joked Ydan and oh, bad choice of words, but the usual cheerfulness in the lewd man's voice was not present.
"It's hardcore, but not in that sense," Northdin muttered to himself.
"Wha-"
"Greetings," the voice of their tormentor interrupted Ydan.
Northdin opened his eyes just in time to witness something he would never have imagined seeing in his entire life.
If there was one thing he had learned about Ydan from his observations, it was that he was fazed by only some, very rare things. Even during the moments before and during being punch or chased, the merry man would always find a way to smile and make fun of people, and probably beam them too. He did that often.
But the moment Ydan's gaze landed on the progenitor's face, looming over them.
His face lost its smile altogether.
"Oh that's new," Northdin thought absently.
"Oh. May that be... Yes, it is you. Yo. Long time no see," the progenitor's gaze was glued to the one he was talking to, a fact for which Northdin would be eternally grateful for if only Ydan didn't look so scared out of his mind right now.
The man dressed in yellow took a step back, holding his beam close to his body in a defensive pose, folding on himself, while the taller man took a step back towards him while still looming as he so often did.
The situation was, to say the least... very disturbing, and despite Draus' oblivious tendencies, even he had noticed that something extremely wrong was going on here.
"Wowowow," the progenitor's son stepped between the two, the shorter man rushed to hide behind his friend and clung to his cloak as if his life depended on it, only his head sticking out from behind Draus' shoulder to keep watch on their tormentor's movements. If Northdin focused well enough, he could see a slight tremor on Ydan's whole body.
He.
He had never seen Ydan act like this.
"Um, do you two... know each other?" Draus asked with his best "I have no fucking idea what's happening here." voice.
"Yes," replied the giant. Without elaborating further because why would he bother doing that when it was so much fun to watch his son and his son's best friend try to decipher whatever the fuck was happening here apparently.
Ydan didn't answer the question, just swallowed nervously. His eyes remained glued on the progenitor.
But the most disturbing thing that Northdin had noticed so far out of all things.
Was that Ydan had become completely silent. It was... weird.
He felt a strange sensation in his guts at the thought but he tried to ignore it.
Northdin got tired of witnessing fromthe side and walked up to the looming giant, "Sir, I'm sorry to have to ask you this, but would it be possible for you to step back a little, please? No offense, but our... friend seems somewhat intimidated by you," he put on his most courteous smile he had as he said his most polite 'kindly, fuck off' that he had.
"Oh, sure." he said in a deadpan tone as he stepped back, but deadpan was his: normal, his happy, his angry and his proud tone. Needless to say it didn't really help him to understand the whole situation.
But Northdin barely held back from a sigh of relief.
The man in a yellow suit must have taken this as his cue because finally, he decided to speak. Breaking for the first time since the giant had arrived the visual contact with the progenitor. He moved from behind Draus, playing with his beam and making it turn in a falsely relaxed way before taking a casual pose, "Heyyy! Isn't that the Progenitor I see? Long time no see indeed!"
Northdin had greatly underestimated the merry man's acting skills, perhaps because unlike the vast majority of people he knew, Ydan never even bothered to play the role of someone he wasn't. He was the type to receive a mandatory gift and say "Whoa! It sucks!" Before throwing it out the window, not out of malice, but simply because he didn't give a shit.
The only thing that indicated that what had happened earlier was the drops of sweat still stuck on Ydan’s face, and his smile looked just a little misplaced.
"Yes, it's cool to see you again, looking towards the ret of the day," his friend’s father said.
"Aah..."
"Okay, I'll bite. How do you two know each other?" asked Northdin.
The gaze of his maybe-one-day-father-in-law turned to him and he did his best not to tremble under the gaze of the most powerful vampire in the entire fucking world. His expression shifted? Yeah, shifted, into one that could be interpreted as joy...?
"I've had him play games a few times. Know him since a long time" The progenitor said, an indiscernible expression over his face, "He's funny to hang out with."
Northdin felt a tremor go through his whole body at these words, it was frightening... No wonder Ydan, the most reckless, weird, shameless and incomprehensible man he has ever met in his whole life had reacted like that to the arrival of Draus' father! It was a totally understandable and appropriate reaction! More than appropriate actually!
He couldn't even imagine being one of the progenitor's favorite playmates, it must be hell. Especially since he wasn't even part of the family! Knowing him, he probably once landed in front of Ydan with "Hey, do you want to come climb a mountain? Let's go." as the only explanation before kidnapping him without waiting for an answer. Oh god.
The lewd man's voice snapped him out of his visions of horror, "Anyway, what are you doing here in the first place? I know you like to show off like an improvist but," -look who's talking!- "We're already expecting another guest from Draus' family, so, you know."
"Um, actually, he's the guest, he’s my father," Draus said, awkwardly pointing with a finger in the giant's direction.
"Oh I see, he's you're- HE'S YOUR WHAT?!" His smile was gone once again, this time not out of fear, but out of pure shock.
The lewd, and very confused man then proceeded to turn his head from Draus to the progenitor and then back to Draus. The looming man made a peace sign with one of his hands as if it was doing any-fucking-thing.
Until apparently Ydan's eyes landed on their hair and he noticed the two similar and iconic turfs.
"Oh... I never noticed the family resemblance, haha."
The merry man then took a deep breath. Put a determined hand on his dearest friend's shoulder and said as seriously as he could, "Hey, Draus? Just so there's absolutely no misunderstanding between us. I'll be back."
"What are y-"
But Draus didn't have time to say more than that before Ydan took off in a sprint, running in the opposite direction of the progenitor.
Unfortunately for him, he didn't have time to reach more than the end of the hallway before their tormentor took off after Ydan and caught him, the lewd man emitting a comic "Blarf!" as he was captured.
Next thing he knew, the lews man was being dragged away by a progenitor who looked... joyful, no, enthusiastic? Yeah, enthusiastic about starting a some sort of new board game that really shouldn't exist in this realm, or any other realm for that matter. He had learned to recognize at least that expression by now.
Ydan was being held by one leg and dragged across the floor, his precious beam held by his mouth as he used his hands by scraping the ground with his nails for a foothold to free himself.
"YOU'LL NEBER TAKE ME ALIBE!" He said, his voice muffled by his scepter.
"I'm sure we'll have fun. What have you been up to since the last time I saw you?"
"LISEN TO ME ASHOLE!!"
When the executioner and his victim passed by them, even though it looked more like a old man dragging an unruly cat, Draus hurriedly moved and stood beside Northdin and out of their way.
When they got to where they were standing, the progenitor stopped abruptly to address Draus, "I'll take this one with me if you two don't mind. It will be fun, I feel like we have some catching up to do."
"Oh, um. Yeah, sure." Draus said.
"Go ahead." replied Northdin.
"Tbaitor!!!" The lewd man exclaimed as his tormentor continued walking down the path that most likely led to hell.
"I'm soryyy!" His dear friend whispered, just loudly enough for Ydan to hear, hoping that the progenitor would not care about it.
"I'm not." said Northdin.
Earning him a shocked look from Draus and a vulgar and rude gesture from Ydan's hands. Heh.
"I'LL REMEMBEL THIS AHOLE!!!" A last shout reaches them, barely audible from the distance.
Turns out, he DID remember.
Because he’s been the victim of Ydan’s beam, not once, not twice, but five times.
Petty asshole.
And all of these was in extremely inappropriate situations. Always in the middle of a ball, and often while he was talking. He knew that if this yellow threat was there in the first place was because he was also invited to these balls but he rarely participated before, their main purpose being to pretend to agree with assholes, and to show how rich you were to the other noble vampires’ faces.
Now, however, and especially since the acquirement of this accursed scepter of his, his appearances had become more and more usual. Not for any good reason though.
And he and his diabolical weapon had now become the worst enemy of many noble vampires. Was that fun to see them fumbling their most kinky and lewd secrets? Yes. Was that the point? Nope. It wasn’t.
So he was hit by the beam, twice just him, and three times all the guests of the gala. He had already started to make a reputation for himself. And if Northdin was still in his 'This guy is shady and should stay away from Draus' phase, that would have definitely been one of his main reasons for trying to separate them.
But now, the situation wasn't exactly the same. So Northdin supposes he just had to deal with it.
For Draus. Of course.
Even if the fact that Ydan was using his power on people, including Northdin, meant that he was sometimes punching Ydan in front of others nobles and affecting his reputation. But since everyone hated Ydan, his insolence and his habit of using his power on everyone. 'Punching someone in the face' was apparently more or less socially accepted when the victim was someone that everyone lowkey hated. The more you know.
Also. He had been hit by the beam five times, and he knew for a fact that Draus had gotten the exact same treatment that he had.
But.
None of them were in front of Draus.
Northdin also knew that there was no way that Ydan has just a little bit of altruism in him, especially concerning other people's kinks.
But now that he thought about it, since the first time Ydan had used his beam on him, all the other times were without the presence of his dear friend. It was as if after beaming him, he had taken into consideration the pathetic situation Northdin was in and said to himself: "Whoa, this dude is pathetic! Having a hopeless crush like that. Yeah, I guess I'm not going to make him admit his crush in front of Draus. Cool? Cool."
He didn't know how to feel about that.