Work Text:
Yuji [4:28]:
I've got the worst cold
Yuji [4:28]:
This is awful
Megumi [4:30]:
I’ll be home in a bit
Megumi [4:30]:
Can I get you anything?
Megumi [4:42]:
Yuji?
Megumi [4:56]:
Going to assume you’re asleep. Be home soon.
Megumi knocks when he makes it in. Waits outside as he says, “ You awake?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Yuji says, “‘M not sleeping.”
Megumi swings the door open, hovers in the doorway.
“Sorry,” Yuji says, hyper-aware of how congested he sounds, “You probably don’t want to come in, I feel like I'm dying, don’t want you to catch this.”
Megumi shrugs, pushing his way into the room. “Can’t get sick, remember?”
Of course, Yuji thinks half-heartedly, if he had the energy he’d roll his eyes. ( Stupid vampire immune systems or whatever.)
Yuji closes his eyes as Megumi sits on the edge of the bed beside him. He’s past the embarrassment of his flatmate seeing him in less favourable situations. One too many nights spent crouched over the toilet with Megumi force-feeding him glasses of water after going too hard at the club taught him to get over it quick.
Any hopes of Megumi thinking he was put together or even remotely cool dashed within the first few months of living together.
It was fine. Megumi came home often enough practically dripping with animal blood. They knew how to clean up each other’s messes.
“Can I get you something? Tea? Or cold medication? I bought extra on the way home in case we’d run out.” Megumi says.
Yuji groans. They have, in fact, run out. But only because he’s tried everything , spent hours shuffling around the flat while Megumi was at work taking pills and lozenges, pausing every five fucking seconds to blow his nose. He’s been so blocked up that his head kind of feels like it’s passing through layers of molasses trying to process any rational thought.
Eventually, he came to the damning conclusion, he’d just have to ride this one out. At least for this evening.
Still, he manages one bright idea. (One he definitely won’t spend hours dissecting and thinking about over and over again later.) “Can you just like… I don’t know. Hold me?”
“What?” Megumi says, tilting his head like he didn’t quite hear him.
“I’m burning up,” Yuji says, too unwell and uncaring to try and play it off as anything other than what it is, “And you’re kind of like an ice pack.”
Yuji already runs hot as it is. It’s not the first time he’s played off his desire for physical contact as temperature related. This time he means it though.
“I–” Megumi frowns, like he’s vaguely embarrassed or something. Yuji’s mind can’t make sense of it. “Yeah, of course.”
It’s a little awkward. Yuji shuffles over and turns on his side, facing the wall. And Megumi just lies down beside him, shoulder pressed against his back.
He shivers a little at the chill, and then leans into it, presses his thigh firmly against Megumi’s and settles into the cold like a nice bath. He’s sure he’s sweaty and gross, he’d been feverish when Megumi had come home, but Megumi’s nice enough not to mention it.
Their hands are right next to each other, and Yuji barely thinks about it as he shifts, ever so slightly, so they’re touching, not quite holding hands, but palm to palm.
The coolness of Megumi’s skin radiates through him, has an almost neutralising effect on his high temperature. He sighs, moves easily as Megumi slips his free arm under his waist.
And then they just lie there, in the near dark, the only sound Yuji’s labored breathing.
He’s mostly asleep when he feels Megumi moving beside him. Sitting upright, swinging his legs down in what must be some attempt at a stealthy getaway.
“Thanks,” Yuji says, blinking a little as he rolls over again to face him.
Megumi shakes his head, “No problem, you’ll get me back next time.”
“What do you–” Yuji frowns, “I can’t really repay the favor, you don’t get sick. I can’t exactly take care of you.”
Megumi just shrugs, ready to let the train of thought drop, already turning away to leave the room.
“You could bite me some time.” Yuji throws the thought out and blames it on how muddy his brain feels. (He’s not thinking clearly. He can plead insanity. It’s fine.)
But Megumi stops dead in his tracks, “What?”
“You heard me.” Yuji’s sure it would be classed as flirting if he wasn’t already half-asleep again and didn’t feel like absolute shit.
“Yuji, you’re unwell. We’re not talking about this right now.” Megumi says, turning to look at him. Barely.
And Yuji holds onto that thought with two hands. Right now.
“Megumi–” He says, a half-finished thought aborted before it had even fully formed, feels his eyes falling closed. He’s exhausted.
“Just… Just go to sleep, Yuji.” Megumi says, Yuji thinks fleetingly that he sounds weird, just a little. Not enough to register as alarming in his muddied mind. “Later.”
Yuji slips into unconsciousness with that promise. Doesn’t even notice Megumi closing the door behind him as he leaves.
__.__
It’s mid-winter when he gets the chance to do anything about it.
Megumi’s sitting on the couch, and Yuji doesn’t think he’s ever seen him so… Unwell isn’t the right word. But he looks so tired. Giant shadows under his eyes. Pale and chewing at his bottom lip. He’s always been careful about not letting Yuji see his fangs.
That’s perhaps the most key indicator that something’s wrong, because they’re out now, and he’s just sitting there, staring blankly at the white wall of their apartment.
Yuji stares for a long moment, they shine a little under the dim lighting in the living room, sharp and white and Yuji wonders what it feels like.
And then he has to stop himself from following that line of thought because now he’s thinking about Megumi’s hot mouth on his neck. Blood running down his collarbone and that sharp tongue lapping up every last drop of it.
Megumi notices him then. Startles with an aborted, “Yuji, shit –” And shoots a hand up to cover his mouth.
Yuji comes to sit next to him, craning his neck to try and get a proper look at the barely concealed fangs. “What’s going on?” He says, “You look terrible .”
“Nothing,” Megumi says quietly, moving away from him. There’s a tension in his shoulders that Yuji thinks might be his fault. But he can’t help being worried.
“No,” he says, “You’re being weird. What’s wrong?”
Megumi keeps his hand firmly in place over his mouth but looks away as he admits quietly, “Haven’t had much luck hunting lately. Too cold for anything to brave this weather.”
Yuji notices it then, the faint lisp that’s indicative of the elongated canine teeth he’s trying his hardest to keep concealed.
“So you’re hungry,” Yuji says. It’s not really a question, but it leaves room for Megumi to back away.
He watches, as Megumi’s eyes dart over to him for a reaction. Notices something like fear in his pained expression. No. Not fear, nervousness. Maybe he’s just trying to gauge Yuji’s reaction.
“No,” Megumi says quickly, “I’m not– I’ll be fine.”
Yuji just sits for a moment. Raises an eyebrow, and waits.
Megumi’s always been good at letting silences drag on. But this feels different.
“Don’t worry about it, Yuji,” Megumi says eventually, “I’m– I’m not dangerous. Promise .”
And there it is, that weird tone, that lisp. He registers then that that’s what he’d heard as Megumi had left his room that night. He’d been hiding his fangs. Yuji considers that for a moment. Maybe it's some weird version of being vampire-turned-on.
And perhaps the weirdest part is that its… Not as weird a thought as the first time he’d considered it. Because of course he had. It was one of the first things he’d thought about when Megumi had told him at his viewing of the spare room Megumi had been trying to fill.
“Strictly animal blood.” Megumi had promised, and there hadn’t been even a second where Yuji had felt threatened. Like his life was in danger.
He’d been following Megumi around for like twenty minutes, and the whole time he’d hunched his shoulders. Not in a creepy guy-from-the-internet way. Just the demeanour of someone who felt a little out of place.
“Okay,” Yuji had said, “That’s cool.”
“And that’s not going to be a problem?” Megumi had said, face pinched and hands twisting into the bottom of his shirt.
Yuji had had to pretend he wasn’t a little morbidly curious. That he wasn’t looking a little too hard at the guy’s seemingly normal-sized canines. Sure, he had the pseudo-goth look down, but he wasn’t exactly what came to mind when Yuji thought ‘ Vampire’. “Nah, man. It’s all good.”
Now he can’t help rolling his eyes. Megumi. Dangerous. “I’m not scared of you.”
“I kn– You aren’t?”
That’s when Yuji loses it, just a little. Tips his head to the side and laughs softly. “‘Course not. Never have been.”
“Oh,” Is all Megumi says, “Okay.”
And then they just. Sit. And stare at the wall. And very pointedly definitely do not look at each other. (This is a lie.)
Yuji spends about five minutes trying to catch a glimpse of Megumi’s fangs before he eventually throws the towel in and says, “Don’t you have a guy at the blood bank for times like these?”
Megumi groans. Pinches his lips together tightly as he moves his hand to rub his eyes, before securing it back in place. “He’s sick. Got a similar bug to the one you did. They won’t let him anywhere near the place.”
Yuji just hums. Lets that explanation hang there for a second like it’s a normal thing to be discussing.
And then, so casually, he says, “I mean, offer’s still on the table.”
He feels the couch actually move as Megumi practically jumps in his seat. Flinching away from Yuji. And then, as if that performance wasn’t as dead a giveaway as anything, he has the audacity to school his face into something Yuji can only imagine is supposed to resemble confusion, and say, “Offer?”
Yuji decides he’ll be nice . Play along. “Yeah, you remember. Next time .”
Megumi winces. But Yuji notices the way his eyes have gone wide, the tension that’s slowly building in his jaw, like it’s an effort to keep his mouth so firmly closed.
“Yuji,” He says carefully.
“Oh, come on, Megumi,” He puts a hand out, gently, like he’s trying to approach a stray animal, “At least let me see them.”
Megumi stares at him for a long second, eyes darting around wildly. And then lowers his hand slowly. And waits.
Yuji huffs out a surprised breath, he didn’t really think that would even work. He moves forward, getting up on his knees on the couch. Reaches out, slowly, tucks a finger under Megumi’s chin, and tips his head up toward the light.
It’s fascinating. How little it really changes anything. He takes his thumb and uses it to gently lift the corner of Megumi’s lip, revealing the full length of one of the fangs.
Megumi shudders a little, and Yuji takes that as a cue to back away, sitting back on his heels, but still watching, still holding eye contact.
“Seriously, though, Megumi,” Yuji says, seriously, “The offer’s still on the table.”
“ Yuji,” Megumi groans, tipping his head back until it hits the couch cushions.
But Yuji stops him, “No, I’m being serious. You look unwell. And don’t give me that ‘ vampires can’t get sick’ crap, I know what your ‘ healthy’ looks like. Just let me help you out.”
“You’re– Jesus Christ.”
“ Come on .” Yuji insists.
Megumi sits there for a while. Just watching him. Considering . Before eventually he says, “You’re sure ?”
“ Yes .” Yuji says, “Just do it already.”
“I– Yeah, yeah. Can you–” Megumi shifts on the couch, turning slightly to face him, “Give me your wrist.”
Yuji offers his arm, and tries to reel in the wave of nervousness that washes over him. Megumi presses a thumb firmly against the veins there. “Will it–”
Megumi looks up at him immediately, eyes so wide. “What?”
Yuji laughs nervously, “It’s going to hurt, right?”
Megumi’s lips part in what Yuji can only register as incredulity, fangs fully on display. It’s not not settling his nerves. “I’m going to bite you.” Megumi says, voice pitching up in exasperation, “We’re clear on that right? That’s what this is, I have to break skin.”
“Yeah,” Yuji says, “I know, but–”
“What am I even doing?” Megumi says, dropping his arm to run both hands through his hair, “This is fucking stupid.”
“Megumi,” Yuji says, reaching for him again, “It’s not stupid, I want to help you.”
“I–” Megumi looks at him then, sits for a moment as though he can win this argument with his mind. And then takes his wrist again, “Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Yuji says, he feels a bit insane.
Megumi wraps his hand around Yuji’s wrist again, “It’s– Yeah, it’s going to hurt. ‘M sorry. But just for a bit. Then it’s okay, I think. From what I’ve heard.”
“You haven’t done this before?”
“Once,” Megumi admits, his ‘s’s come out a little sharper than usual and Yuji finds it needlessly endearing, “When I was younger. ‘S been a while.”
“Okay,” Yuji says, “Then we’re in this together.”
“Yeah,” Megumi says, and then he lifts Yuji’s wrist to his mouth, his breath is shallow and cool against Yuji’s skin. “Okay?”
He waits for the nod from Yuji, and then he dips his head down, presses his lips to Yuji’s wrist in something resembling a kiss, and Yuji doesn’t even have time to consider the implications of that before he’s biting down.
And it fucking hurts. Sharp, searing pain rockets up his arm and he winces, and then it’s gone. And all that’s left is a hollow sucking feeling as Megumi drinks his fucking blood.
And now the real weirdest part is that maybe it feels… Nice.
It feels good.
Megumi’s mouth is hot and wet and his tongue is moving over the sensitive raw skin of his wrist and Yuji shivers. Drops his head back and basks in it.
And then all too soon, his grip loosens, and he licks over the wound one last time and sits back.
Megumi looks wild, eyes wide and glittery, blood on the inside of his lips. There’s a flush on his cheeks. One Yuji recognises from the way he looks when he comes in from a hunt. And he realises quickly that he did that.
“Okay?” Megumi asks, and his voice shakes a little as he says it. And Yuji doesn’t even think about it as he reaches out and takes his face in both hands and kisses him. Doesn’t mind the metallic tang as he quickly skips over the fact that that’s his blood in Megumi’s mouth.
There’s a moment, a terrifying moment where Megumi remains frozen and Yuji comes back to himself quickly as he understands that he might have just ruined a perfectly good relationship with a really good flatmate.
And then suddenly Megumi’s kissing him back and nothing else matters. He feels kind of high. Wonders if Megumi feels the same. If it’s like a mutual thing, and then Megumi’s tongue is in his mouth and he couldn’t care less.
Megumi’s hands find their way to his waist and his hands are warm and Yuji shudders and threads his fingers through the hair at the back of his head. Holding him impossibly closer.
It’s Megumi that pulls away first, still looking wild, lips red and wet and Yuji just wants to kiss him again.
“Been wanting to do that for a while.” He mumbles, and Yuji first realises that at some point, his fangs have retracted back into his gums, and then registers exactly what he’d said.
“You–” He tries, still reeling from the kiss, “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Megumi says, looking a little pained, like he hadn’t wanted to admit that at all.
“Thank god,” Yuji says and kisses him again. Grips his jaw with both hands and breathes hard against his mouth. He’s still processing how warm Megumi is against him. Wonders fleetingly if that’s another benefit to human blood, Megumi’s never this hot after a hunt. (He is, Yuji reasons, just in a different way.)
“Are you okay?” Megumi says eventually, holding Yuji at arms length so he has to answer this time.
“ Am I okay ?” Yuji says, “Never been better. Why haven’t we been doing this the whole time I’ve been living here?”
Megumi laughs, actually laughs, “We don’t have to–”
“Oh no,” Yuji says, “We’re doing this again. And there’s going to be a next time as long as I get a kiss afterward.”
Megumi’s blushing, something he can apparently do now that he’s actually got blood in his system. He’s practically glowing. Yuji doesn’t think he’s seen Megumi look so alive in all the months they’ve lived together. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Yuji says leaning forward, “Please let me kiss you again.”
It’s Megumi who leans in this time, pressing a thumb under Yuji’s chin and tilting his head slightly as he meets him in the middle. They don’t talk about what any of this means for the nature of their relationship. Not yet anyway. But they’ll work it out.
It’s what they do.