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Catnap never went into the sunlight.
That was something Dogday had noticed recently.
Usually when he invited him to play or hang out with him and the others during the day, Catnap would make some kind of excuse, like he was busy cleaning, or stuff like that.
But when he asked him during the nighttime, Catnap ALWAYS said yes.
And while Dogday loved playing bocce ball and flashlight tag as much as the next guy, sometimes he wished they could have a nice game of fetch during the day.
It made Dogday curious about what was going on with his boyfriend.
One night, Dogday decided to visit Catnap and invite him to take a romantic moonlight walk outside, so he climbed up the rope ladder and rang the doorbell.
No answer.
He rings the doorbell again.
Still no answer.
Dogday starts to get worried.
He slowly goes inside. “Catnap…?” He says, softly. “Y-you home…?”
He looks around, no sign of his friend.
All he could hear was the curtains blowing in the wind.
Dogday slowly goes upstairs, to Catnap’s bedroom, knocking on the door. “Catnap?”
Still no answer.
He presses his ear to the door.
All he could hear was the sound of something… slurping…?
Against his better judgment, he decided to go in, taking a deep breath.
He gently opened the door.
“Catna-”
Nothing could have prepared Dogday for what he saw.
Catnap was kneeled down on the floor, desperately sucking on a bottle of mysterious red liquid, surrounded by at least 3 empty bottles.
Catnip gasps, jumping and dropping the bottle, causing it to spill.
He quickly covers his mouth, standing up.
‘O-oh hi Dogday!’ He nervously signs. ‘W-what are you doing here?!’
He tries to kick the bottle of liquid under the bed, more of it spilling out.
Dogday was speechless, staring at Catnap, who was trying desperately to wipe the liquid off his mouth.
“Catnap…” he finally asks, stepping forward. “A-are you a…”
Catnap shakes his head. ‘N-no! I’m not a…’ he signs, wiping the rest of the liquid from his mouth. ‘A-a… whatever you were gonna say!’
He signs, still covering his mouth with his other hand. ‘S-so you can just think nothing of it!’ he signs with a nervous giggle.
Dogday’s suspicious look made it clear that he didn’t believe a single word of what Catnap was signing.
Catnap sighs, his whole body sinking.
He uncovers his mouth, revealing his glimmering fangs.
Dogday’s heart drops.
“Okay… yes…” Catnap admits, his voice even lower and more whispery than it usually was.
He steps a bit closer.
“It’s true…” he says, tearing up.
“I’m a Vampire.”
Dogday stood still for a moment.
“Well that explains why you refuse to go into the sunlight…” he says quietly.
Catnap nodded, starting to cry. “I-I'm sorry, I didn’t want you to find out like this…” he says.
He looks down, closing his eyes. “Y-you probably… h-hate me now…”
Dogday then steps forward, gently placing a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, hey… it’s okay…” He says gently.
He gently cups Catnap’s face with one hand, looking into his eyes.
“I don’t care if you’re a vampire.” He says with a gentle smile. “I still love you...”
Catnap cries more, hugging him tightly. “Oh Dogday!” He says. “Thank you thank you!” He says, nuzzling his shoulder.
Dogday hugs him gently. “There there… it’s okay…” he says softly.
The two shared the happy moment, just gently embracing for a while.
Then Dogday pulls back, looking into Catnap’s eyes.
“But… how come you never told me…?”
Catnap looks down, guiltily.
“I was worried you’d think I was a monster…” he admits.
“And even if you didn’t, I was worried you’d hate me for keeping it a secret from you…”
Dogday smiles softly. “Oh Catnap…” He says. “I’d NEVER think you were a monster.”
Catnap smiles a bit.
“And I don’t hate you for keeping it a secret, I totally understand why you would wanna keep this in the closet.” Dogday adds.
Catnap hugs Dogday again. “Thank you, darling…” He whispers. “I love you so much.”
Dogday kisses his cheek. “I love you too.”
The sweet moment was interrupted by Catnap’s stomach growling.
He whimper-grunts, bending over and holding it in pain.
Dogday’s eyes widen, worried. “O-oh no, Catnap what’s wrong?!”
Catnap puts a hand on Dogday’s shoulder to stabilize himself. “I-i’m just so… thirsty…”
He wheezes out, his point being punctuated by another stomach growl.
Dogday takes hold of Catnap’s upper waist, helping him stand up and guiding him over to the bed, which they both sat down on.
He hadn’t noticed it before, but he could faintly see the outline of Catnap’s ribs.
“Oh Catnap, you look like you’re starving!” he says, his eyes filled with fear.
Catnap nods sadly. ‘i-I haven’t had real blood in way too long.’ He signs.
He gestures to the empty bottles on the floor.
‘Usually I can drink stuff like Pomegranate or Tomato juice to satisfy my thirst, but nowadays it’s just getting worse…’
He looks guilty. ‘Sometimes I even have to go into the woods at night, and see if there are any animals that I can put to sleep and feed off of…’
He signs. ‘And usually there are none… either that or they run away as soon as I get within 50 feet of them…’
Dogday thinks for a moment, then comes up with an idea.
“I know!” He says, moving one of his ears out of the way.
“Drink me.”
Catnap’s eyes widened. “W-what…?”
Dogday gestures to his neck. “You heard me.” he said. “You can feed off of me until we can find you a better sustainable blood alternative.”
Catnap shakes his head. “D-Dogday I can’t!” He says, trying to let go of him. “What if I hurt you?”
He goes cold. “Or… worse…”
Dogday gently holds his face. “I will let you know if you’re drinking too much, okay?” he says with a reassuring smile. “I’ll even push you off if need be, how about that…?”
Catnap thinks about this for a bit.
He loved Dogday and, even with his reassurance, was scared of accidentally hurting him…
But on the other hand, his hunger was so great that even Picky would get jealous…
Catnap reluctantly nods. “O-okay… but just this once!”
Dogday smiles. “Good enough answer for me,” he says.
“Now.” He moves his ear out of the way again. “Drink up.”
Catnap nods, slowly moving his mouth down to Dogday’s neck.
“A-are you absolutely sure…?” Catnap says.
“YES, now please drink before you die of thirst!” Dogday says, insistent.
Catnap nods, shivering as he bites into Dogday’s neck, as gently as he could.
When he starts sucking, he could hear Dogday whimper a bit, stopping.
“N-no don’t stop!” he says, grabbing Catnap’s head. “K-keep going!”
Catnap does, drinking more.
Dogday’s blood tastes better than any other liquid he’s ever consumed.
It was sweet like cherry juice but had the tanginess of pomegranate, but had a bit of saltiness like tomato as well.
He could hear Dogday breathe heavily, trying to stay as quiet as he could.
When Catnap was finally full enough, he licked the wound gently, then pulled back, licking his lips.
“D-did you get enough…?” Dogday asks, looking a bit faint.
“Oh yes, that’ll be enough to hold me for at least a few days.” Catnap says happily.
His smile then fades. “I-I didn't hurt you did I?”
Dogday shakes his head weakly. “Oh no, you did fine,” he says.
Catnap looks at the wound on his neck, which was still bleeding.
‘O-oh no.. I'll fix that.’ he signs, getting up and going to get some bandages and peroxide.
“C-catnap it’s f-fine…” Dogday tries to say, but Catnap wasn’t having any of it.
After cleaning the wound and putting some Band-Aids on it, he looks deeply into Dogday’s eyes.
“Thank you so much.” He says. “I didn’t know how much longer I could last.”
Dogday gives him a weak smile. “No problem…” He says. “I couldn’t bear seeing my sweet kitty suffering…”
Catnap blushes and giggles. “Oh stop it you.”
Dogday leans over to rub noses with him. “Never.”
Catnap then gets a wet wipe and cleans up the juice that was spilled under the bed earlier before it attracted ants.
He then gets into bed with Dogday, adjusting their position so that Dogday could lie on his chest.
After a minute or two of cuddling, Catnap lifts his head. “Dogday… could you do me one more favor…?”
Dogday nods. “Sure, what is it?”
Catnap nuzzles his head. “Please, please don’t tell the others…” he says. “They’re all scared enough of me already…”
Dogday kisses his neck, making him shiver. “I promise not to,” he says. “Your secret is safe with me, kitten.”
Catnap nuzzles his head. “Thank you, Dogday…” he says gently.
“You’re all the sunlight I'll ever need.”