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It had to be a joke, how that coat used to be something he wore once out to a fancy masquerade ball in 16th century Venice and it's now found hung up in the local Japan museum as one of the grandeur exhibits brought in to showcase the life and times of the past. He can see the stitching and golden threads had dulled over the many years, unlike a couple hundred years ago when it had once shone brilliantly under the moonlight. The frills are a little faded and worn out, but otherwise still intact like how he remembered them. He had paid a pretty penny for it to be custom-made at the finest tailor at the time.
It felt like his wardrobe taste was up for display to everyone, kind of embarrassing, really, when he saw what other garments they had uncovered from his long-abandoned mansion. Toge lived a fairly wealthy life back then filled with wild parties and people larger than life. Although there were unfortunate unforeseen circumstances that led him to leave Venice, something he would rather not think about at the moment.
His gaze flickered over to the white mask displayed to the right. He had one in particular he favoured, the silken white one adorned with pearls from the deep ocean depths and tail feathers of an exotic bird. He grimaced at the splotch of brown that had splattered half of it, as well as the plaque that mockingly described it belonging to the unfortunate owner that must have been assassinated, along with the other shirts and coats (that didn't belong to him) which had been ripped to shreds and put back together by historians.
An awful mismatch of fashion, Toge thought. He would have a word with the museum curator about it if he wasn't to be labelled weird and thrown out for it. His second plan was to demand custody of his stuff back, but again, not feasible. Five hundred years (give or take a few decades) tend to put fuzzy lines on who the rightful owner of the possessions was.
He caught the gaze of the other patron who was the only other person here at this early hour, who had been standing at the same spot for the past half hour that Toge was here. Toge hadn’t given his way a glance, thinking that he was some enthusiastic tourist here to see the newest exhibit in town. He's tall, familiar, like someone he had met long ago, though Toge has met many people in his incredibly long life, so most people made him feel a sense of deja vu.
When their eyes met, Toge was surprised at how his deep marine gaze was watching him intently, something else flickering in its depths. Recognition.
Toge hadn't talked to many tall and handsome strangers in Japan. The guy approached him with a grace that's hard to miss, the stealthy prowl of a predator on the hunt. He easily towers over Toge when he stands right in front of him, the overhead museum LED light casting a looming shadow over his face, his eyes sunken in darkness, covering whatever blue that had peeked out earlier. When he spoke, his voice was quiet, but when Toge realised that the man was speaking Venetian to him, he's too shocked to move.
" Luca, I've been looking for you ."
He hasn't heard that name in over five hundred years, the name that he used back when he still lived the extravagant life in Venice. Now, he lives in Japan as Inumaki Toge, wandering the streets as he pleases under this new identity.
It was a little rude of him to not remember who this person was, he could have wanted anything from Toge. Is he part of the Mafia? Some revenge for his ancestor passed down through the generations? Or worse yet, a monster hunter out to collect some bounty that unknowingly had been put on him?
…Yes, he had been through a lot, so much that he had enough reason to find suspicion in everyone that knew him.
He felt the cool glass of the display on his back as he bumped into it stepping backwards, eyes darting about for an escape path when his flight senses kicked in as the man followed his motions and took a step, cornering him. The one standing in front of him wasn't human, when the large silver mirror that Toge could see hung behind him reflected the museum's empty exhibition hall. A vampire, just like him.
He didn't recall meeting any other vampires in Venice and everyone else was long dead, so how did he know his name?
The intensity of his gaze burned him more than sunlight on a cloudless day.
" You don't remember me?" He lets out a low laugh, the smile on his face not reaching his eyes, forcing Toge to look up at him. If he still had a beating heart, Toge's sure that he would have a heart attack on the spot. " You left me for dead back in your mansion, bleeding out and dying. Why did you leave me like that?"
Oh. The man’s face churned out a memory in mind, the one that Toge branded the darkest moment in his life.
During his time in Venice, he had taken a fancy to a shy man at one of the Baron's parties. He always stood by the corner with a glass of wine, avoiding contact with people when he could, taking sips out of it every now and then. Toge knows he doesn't drink more than a glass, somehow he's always caught his attention at the corner of his eye. Sometimes, their gaze met, but not more than a fleeting moment.
The man (Toge doesn't remember his name, it had been far too long) always dressed simple with an accompanying black mask, the exact one he saw hanging right next to his in the museum exhibit. He blended in easily in the shadows, always smiling politely to the people who approached him but it quickly dropped when he’s back to being by himself. Toge had never seen him with a companion, he’s always coming alone to these fancy balls.
His blue eyes, gorgeous like deep sapphires, had always been engraved in his mind. Eyes that he felt back then watching him from afar, the same eyes that were staring him down now, waiting for an answer.
Guilt churned in his stomach when he thought back to why he had left. Toge didn't have any excuses for what he'd done, for losing control like that. He should have known better than to partake in drinks, to lose his grip on his humanity like that.
They had finally met one night after their little game of chasing each other with their eyes, interest in each other clear as crystal. He introduced himself to the man, finding how attractive his face was covered in a blush like that when Toge complimented his eyes. After that, they continued meeting at the Baron's party every week, which turned into abandoning the party to rendezvous in the flower garden every other night, and finally, he found himself brave enough to offer the man to come over to his mansion for the night after years of these fleeting romantic escapades.
Bottles of the finest wine were scattered about his bedroom; Toge wanted to splurge a little on him. It must have been his clouding judgement from indulging in too much alcohol, but the man had smelt so delectable, his thrumming blood that pulsed through his veins under his fingers called to him, and Toge was so, so hungry for a taste. He wanted the man laying under him, he wanted to taste more than just the sweat on his skin, he wanted to kiss him more, wanted to sink his fangs in deep and greedily drink the sweet nectar of his blood. Just a taste he told himself, just a little.
Passion and wine made his morals questionable and he gave in to temptation. Not his greatest moment, Toge admitted. When he was back to his senses, blood dripping from his mouth, everything under him was stained red and the man was still, almost lifeless. His silk mask lays in a pool of red, creeping up the sides like the guilt of what he had done to the poor man.
They could have a brief moment of romance, if it wasn't for what he did. More late night walks together, the gentle smile turned his way, cheeks flushed red with happiness, a smile bright enough to be Toge’s sun, it's all gone. Toge stole it all from him. The man laid unmoving in Toge's bed, turning paler with each second that passed, the multiple puncture wounds in his neck the cause of his impending doom. His mouth was full of the man’s blood and it tasted so bittersweet. He wanted to gag.
He sobbed for the first time in a long while, cursing out his existence as a monster. Out of heartbreak and a little delirium, he clutches the body close to him, willing him to wake up and tell him that it wasn’t real, to bring life back to his glassy eyes. A hand feebly raised towards Toge, then flopped back onto the bed as the last breath left the man in his arms.
That night, Toge took the first ferry off to the mainland, leaving everything else behind.
And now, said man was here, so different from the cold, lifeless body in his memories. The warm smile he knew was gone, replaced with a dead look in his eyes. Was he here to seek revenge on the one who cursed him to this life of eternal darkness? Toge supposed he owed him that much for what he did to him.
He pushed at the man, and surprisingly, he let Toge go.
" I'm sorry, I thought you had died, I…I didn't know… I’m so sorry… " The language felt foreign on his tongue after many years of disuse, stumbling over the pronunciation. Many, many years ago, he would have broken down and cried, but today, over five hundred years later, he just feels numb at the old memory resurfacing.
The man turned to look at the masks on display. "When I woke up that night, I didn't know what to do. You were gone, and all around me was my blood. Everything was painful," he said, switching over to Japanese, a language more familiar to Toge now. "Something within me kept calling out to you, and I made it my mission to find you. I thought about what to do when I did. I was so lost, and I got angry at what you did to me, enough to entertain the thought of putting a stake through your heart. Everyone that I once knew is long gone, and you left me. This sort of loneliness from eternity hurts, doesn’t it?"
He reached out for Toge, holding the side of his face gently, with something that he feared would never exist in the man in front of him again. His eyes melted into the gentle kindness from those days, and love.
"You're still as beautiful as I remember, my dear Luca."
Centuries of buried emotion came bursting forth through the dam he thought he built so solidly, and Toge couldn’t stop the burning tears from sliding down his cheeks. His mouth is wrenched with silent cries, gasping for air that he didn’t need. The man that he once loved, and still loves, and yet, for the life of him, can’t put a name to his face, lost to time. He babbles more apologies, but he knew it won’t make up for what he had done.
He was pulled into an embrace, his words lost in a muffle. Toge buries his face into the soft sweater of the man holding him, fingers digging into the soft material, not wanting to let him go again. He missed him so much, his delightfully adorable, handsome and kind
The arms around him tightened. “I was afraid I wouldn’t see you again. You’re not easy to find,” the man said, inhaling the scent from Toge’s hair, tangling his fingers through the blond locks. “I didn’t know what to do if you had forgotten me completely. My Luca, I wanted to see you again so badly. I wanted to hate you for leaving me, but when I saw you again, I just… I missed you.”
Toge’s hesitant, searching the man’s eyes for any doubt or hesitation, but all he saw was himself reflected in those blue depths and the warmth of adoration. He touched the man’s face, tracing the structure of his jaw, his ear, the short strands of his hair brushing against the tips of his fingers. Cold, just like Toge. Fangs peeked out from under his lips at the shy grin the man sent him, making him look more devilishly handsome.
Suddenly feeling shy, Toge ducked back into his hold. He felt the rumbling laughter from the man’s chest, and he wanted to feel it again. With a pang, he realised that he would never fall asleep to the sound of his heartbeat anymore. “I’m sorry. This isn’t what I wanted to happen,” Toge said. “If it wasn’t for me, you would have lived a long, happy life as a human.”
“But, my happiness was with you. Those days spent with you were the best that I ever had.” The man smiled sadly. “You cried for me, didn’t you? As you held me in the final moments. Luca–”
“I don’t go by that name anymore,” he mumbled. “I’m Toge now. And I don’t even remember yours.”
It doesn’t faze the taller man. “Then, you can call me Yuuta.”
“Yuuta.” He was only saying it to test out his name on his tongue, but when Yuuta beamed down at him like the sun, his chest ached. He missed this radiant smile, missed the comfort of his companion.
“Yes, Toge?”
He didn’t feel like he deserved to tell Yuuta that he still loved him, to burden him with his feelings. Yet, he wanted to, yearned to be closer to him. He cursed him to eternity in darkness, yet Yuuta wanted to be with him, despite everything.
Was this his second chance at happiness with his beloved? If it was, Toge wasn’t going to let it go, only if Yuuta was willing to let him love him once more.
They had forever and a day to learn each other’s love again.