Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Vampire: a corpse supposed to leave its grave at night to drink the blood of the living by biting their necks with long pointed canine teeth.

Coriolanus had recognised himself in that description for many many years now.

While he didn’t leave his grave, he did leave the old coffin in his bedroom and saunter out into the rest of the castle to see if his cousin and grandmother had awakened yet. It wasn’t a night to hunt, the places they usually went to had less prey, less humans, than usual, currently they had to be content with the blood packs stuffed in the drawers. It didn’t give the same satisfaction as fresh blood and the taste wasn’t far from unbearable, but they worked with what they had.

His cousin and he had been trying to figure out what caused the shortage of humans. Their grandmother was never a part of the discussions, she had been old when turned and didn’t want to hunt on her own. Coriolanus had never seen why one would turn such an old woman, but maybe you’d make anyone you loved into an immortal. She didn’t even seem to want to be a vampire. The only joy left in her life was the flowers they grew outside of the castle.

Of course, that hadn’t mattered. Coriolanus still remembered the events so clearly. No matter how long ago it was, he would never forget it.

“Your mother will have to wait, Coriolanus, she’ll soon be like the rest of us.”

His mother hadn’t been turned like the rest of the family. She’d been pregnant and insisted that she at least birth the child. Of course, prioritising the baby over herself is what led to the demise. Coriolanus had been 19 years old, young for a vampire, considered an adult for a human, he’d watched his mother die, neither she nor the baby survived. His father had been out hunting, he was supposed to come back with fresh food, ready to turn her as soon as the child was born. But he was too late, by the time he came back she’d already bleed out. How stupid it was to offer your life for another’s.

“It’s going to be alright Coryo.”

His cousin had been there. Neither of her parents were alive by the time the rest of the family became vampires, she was like a sister to him.

Then came his fathers death. It had just been him, Tigris, and their grandmother at home. His father had been out hunting — had always needed more blood than anyone else. Vampire hunters got him, it was many years ago by now, probably enough for a human man to be born and die. Coriolanus didn’t keep track anymore, he had all the time in the world, always the least of his worries.

His cousin was in the living room, sitting with thread and a needle, fixing a hole in one of her many dresses. Before becoming a vampire she’d liked wearing anything colourful and happy, but she had to throw it away. The rest of the family, especially their grandmother, didn’t think it fit.

“There is no reason to be dressed happy when life is a constant funeral.”

He’d never really figured out what that meant.

Tigris looked the same as she always had. Sharp jawline, boney fingers, blonde hair, although it was lighter now. That’s the thing with being a vampire — sure, it’s great that you can’t starve to death, but you won’t ever gain or lose any weight. Both he and especially Tigris, had been very skinny when they were turned, it was something they’d have to live with.

“Good morning Coryo,” Tigris said, looking up at him with her blue, almost grey, eyes. She looked so lifeless. Coriolanus knew she’d never really wanted this life, would’ve preferred aging and dying like a normal human.

“Good morning Tigris.” Is ‘good morning’ the correct phrase when it’s night?

She sighed and put away her dress. “I’m worried. Something is wrong, you’ve been feeling it too, haven’t you? Less humans, less animals, and it just feels wrong.”

Coriolanus nodded. “Something else has invaded our space. Definitely not a human, I’ll go see if I can find anything later. Has grandma’am woken up yet?”

“No, you know how she is, she has been sleeping for longer lately, I’m worried.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing. She had a phase like this about 30 years ago, but went back to her old self pretty quickly. As soon as we get her some fresh blood she’ll be back to pestering us.”

Tigris smiled and continued on with her dress. She spent most of her days sewing, Coriolanus had offered to buy her a sewing machine, but she insisted on doing it by hand. She had explained it was more relaxing, and even if she did prick one of her fingers, it didn’t matter. Not a single drop of blood left her body and the wound closed up in a matter of seconds.

He dug through the cupboards. Not many blood bags left. Buying them was such a chore, maybe Tigris would be willing to do the errand. “Do you want one?” He asked, but didn’t press her any further when she declined. She often woke up early and liked to drink the first thing she did in the morning.

He dug his teeth into the blood bag. It wasn’t the same as fresh blood, not even close, but it was something. The liquid filled his mouth, it was pleasantly warm. He made sure to pace himself as he drank up the contents. They only allowed themselves one bag each to ration it out. While they weren’t exactly broke, they weren’t sure how long it would be until they found another seller.

When he drank half of the contents he wrapped it up so it wouldn’t go stale and put it back in, saving the rest for later. If he was going out in the forest he wanted something to look forward to, even if it was just a few cups of bagged blood.

He spent most of the night reading. He’d stocked up on insane amounts of books, it was his favourite pastime. Every vampire needed a hobby that could continue on forever. There was an endless amount of books, even if many of them were mediocre, it was still something to do.

When he’d made sure their grandmother had gotten up and had her share of blood, he left the castle to go see if something was wrong in the forest.

He brought a lantern with him, it didn’t light up much, but it made sure he didn’t trip on any roots or stones. His eyes had gotten used to the dark, but it still helped.

Something felt wrong. The sounds were slightly off, and so was the smell. He’d lived here for so long, ventured through the forest so many times, that he easily knew when it wasn’t in its usual way. He didn’t hear a single deer running around, not even a rabbit. He didn’t smell that familiar smell of tree bark, instead his nose was attacked by the scent of animals and something akin to the hair of a wet dog.

As he walked around in the dark forest he slowly started to come up with different ideas. Maybe humans had been permitted to hunt here, but they would leave more traces. Maybe there was something wrong with the system, too many predators had been born and so there wasn’t enough prey.

Maybe there was another unnatural creature here.

It was a possibility. Coriolanus had met other people like him. He knew they existed. Some were vampires, but there were other kinds too. His mind immediately went to werewolves. He still wondered why they’d choose here of all places. Shouldn’t they know this is Snow's territory? Shouldn’t they be aware that the family had lived here for hundreds of years? It was known well enough within the realm of unnatural beings, it would only be stupid to invade anyone else’s space, especially the Snow’s. They were older than most vampire families, they were powerful. His father had been well known, but Coriolanus was on a similar level in strength. It wouldn’t be hard for him to get rid of something, someone, making their way into his forest.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a branch breaking and he suddenly had that unsettling feeling that something was watching him. He looked around, lifted the lantern higher in hopes to see more, but it was out of his sight. He started to walk quicker without even noticing it, he was embarrassingly scared.

Another branch breaking, this time closer. The rustling sound of dry, dead leaves. A low growl. He looked up at the night sky that felt way clearer than he’d remembered it being when he left the castle. Full moon, everything was pointing towards this being a werewolf.

He looked down again, staring at the creature that had appeared in front of him. They made eye contact for a few seconds. It was a dark brown wolf, it was bigger than a normal one and could be mistaken for just another animal if it wasn’t for the big brown eyes that looked too human-like for any wolf. The wolf howled.

Coriolanus was embarrassed to say he ran back to the castle, dropping the lantern and relying on whatever nightly vision he had. He was usually brave, but this animal, this creature, had made him terrified.

He shut the door behind him, cold with sweat and panting, how could a simple dog induce so much fear?

Tigris noticed him coming home and checked on him, he explained the situation to her and finished the bagged blood he’d saved.

-

“You have to be careful, alright? Now that we know that there’s werewolves in there we can’t risk anything,” Tigris mumbled.

A few days after the first meeting with the werewolf, Coriolanus was taking one of his trips into town to see one of his only friends — Lucy Gray. She and a few others would perform songs in a small shack. They always performed in the evening, on the darker side of the year he could safely watch them without the risk of seeing the sun. The little place also had such bad lightning that no one ever noticed that he looked a little different.

“I promise Tigris. Same procedure as always, drink my blood bag before I go out so I’m not tempted to feed from anyone. I’ll bring a lantern and be careful when I walk through the forest. I promise, I’ll be fine.”

He didn’t really understand Lucy Gray and her, what even were they? Friends? Family? Distant cousins? She had been smart enough to figure out that he was a vampire, but he still didn’t know what she was. Definitely not a normal human, but she didn’t seem like a werewolf, he’d seen them perform during the full moon anyway. Maybe a witch, she and her — whatever they were — seemed to be the kind.

“Okay,” Tigris took a deep breath, “it’s just- you know how it is, we don’t have many left in the family.”

Coriolanus could only agree. She didn’t want to live alone with their grandmother for hundreds of years.

He finished his blood bag and grabbed a lantern. He gave her one last hug and another promise to be careful before heading out of the castle.

The first bit from their castle was alright, it was just a small path where the grass was dead from all their walking. He crept through the forest, listening for any sound. It still had that feeling that something was slightly off, but he felt safer now that he knew what it was.

He was still on edge though, every snap of a twig made him turn his head, every rustle of leaves made him stop dead in his tracks before he realised it was just another bird.

Just 5 minutes left,he reasoned as he was getting closer to the end of the dark forest. Soon nothing can-

His thoughts were interrupted by something pouncing on him. He was knocked against a tree, even with his immortality it hurt like hell. That still wasn’t the biggest concern, because he was staring at those big brown eyes again, only this time they sat on a human's face instead of a wolf.

Well, human was a bit generous of a description. Even as he’d let go of his lantern he could see how hairy the man was. Did he know that he could shave his face? Or his arms? Or at least cut his hair? He wasn’t against long hair on men but this was just an unruly mess, if the man had taken the consideration to take care of his curls like Coriolanus did-

“What are you doing here?” The man growled.

“What are you doing here!?” Coriolanus shouted back. Who was this creature, who dared to come into his forest, attacking and accusing him?

“Me and my pack recently decided to stay here.” His tone wasn’t as rough or aggressive now, but he was still pinning Coriolanus to a tree.

“Your pack? My family has lived here for hundreds of years, so I suggest you and your little pack leave.”

“Your family? And what little vampire family might that be? No one has had a claim on this land for a while.” Of course, they hadn’t officially renewed the claim on the land, but what was the point in that? Everyone knew they lived there!

“The Snow family doesn’t need to tell everyone. It’s well known, but your pack has to be very new not to know about us.” Coriolanus tried to move around, the sharp nails digging into his arms certainly wasn’t pleasant.

“Guess we’ll just have to share then.” Coriolanus didn’t get another say before the man had transformed into his wolf form and ran off. Not even a name, how improper.

He checked what damage had been done. While any scratches the sharp claws had made were gone, his shirt had still ripped slightly. It was one of his favourites, he had to ask Tigris to fix it.

His lantern was gone, he’d dropped it when attacked and couldn’t seem to find it, so he made the rest of the trip almost blind in the pitch black.

-

Even as he took on a brisk pace he didn’t come in time, the band had already sung a few songs and the shed was already filled to the brim with people. He didn’t manage to get a seat and had to be satisfied with standing in a dark corner. At least no one saw him.

The music was great, he recognised many of the songs. He’d been coming there for 3 years now, but had only known the group personally for a year. Lucy Gray was a great singer and the rest of the band was amazing, even if it wasn’t his taste in music he could still appreciate it.

He started to dig through his pockets when Maude Ivory started collecting donations. He had to make a few purchases and could only spare a few coins, but the little girl was still grateful. She knew him well enough to know that he’d be more generous when he had more on him.

He made his way through the crowd, careful not to bump into anyone too hard, he didn’t want to start anything unnecessary.

“Lucy Gray!” He called out as he came up to her and the rest of the band.

“Well there you are!” Her voice was impossible to mistake, it just had that sound to it. “I didn’t see you before the show, thought you’d abandoned us for a second!”

“I got slowed down with something, speaking off, I really need to talk to you.”

“Well alright, I just gotta tell the covey that I’ll be gone for a little while.”

Coriolanus waited patiently, when she came back he quickly sat her down on one of the cardboard boxes that was used as a chair and sat opposite to her.

“There’s something- someone that’s come to my forest, and has decided to make my territory into their own.”

“Uh huh.” She nodded along and he took it as a cue to continue, although he took on a hushed voice so no one else would hear.

“He’s a werewolf, he and his pack have apparently decided to settle down near my castle. They’ve been hunting a bunch of the prey, which has discouraged any humans that’s coming there.” He sighed. “When I was walking here he pinned me to a tree and started talking about how we had to ‘share’ now. I want your advice, you’re better with people—and werewolves— than I am.”

Lucy Gray raised an eyebrow. “He.. pinned you to a tree?”

“He just lunged at me out of nowhere. He looked like he wanted to devour me.”

Lucy Gray chuckled at the description. She flattened out her skirt and brushed her fingers through her hair as if she was thinking. “Well, I certainly wouldn’t be happy if someone came to me and started to take my food and home.”

He nodded eagerly, “exactly!”

“But, he probably got his reasons! Everyone needs to eat, don’t they? I’d try and reason with him. This could be somethin’ good you know, maybe he could help you somehow. You know what they say, don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.”

“What?” Coriolanus had heard many of her weird sayings, but that one was new.

“Oh forget it,” she waved it off and continued, “all I’m saying is that maybe you should try an’ get familiar with him! See if you can decide on somethin’ together.”

“And how do you think I’ll get a werewolf to reason with me?”

“Just be nice to him.”

Maude Ivory had come over when she was done counting what they had got in donations and interrupted the conversation. “You could get him a gift, like a peace offering!” She chimed in.

Lucy Gray smiled. “You know, I think that’s a wonderful idea! You’ll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar!”

Coriolanus sighed, he didn’t like the idea of being nice to a werewolf. Maybe if it’d been a vampire, or just anyone other than a werewolf, this would’ve been easier.

Tam Amber pulled Maude Ivory away, mumbling something about getting her to bed. Coriolanus was thankful to be able to talk to Lucy Gray alone. “I can walk with you to your house if it’s alright, it’s still pretty early in the evening, so I have lots of time to do everything else. I don’t want to keep you up all night.

“Well that’s awfully nice of ya! I think I’ll take you up on that offer, we got an early performance tomorrow morning.”

Coriolanus walked with the covey towards their house, Lucy Gray and he walked the furthest back so as to have some privacy in their conversation.

“How’s it going with you and the covey?” He always asked, since he didn’t see them all too often.

“Well it’s going great. Maude Ivory is still obsessed with the idea of getting butter from the goat milk, we’re not sure how that’s gonna go. Barb Azure is seeing a girl in town, I’m happy for them.”

“How’s it going with your relationships?”

“Haven’t been seeing anyone in a while. I needed a break from guys after first Billy Taupe and then you.”

Coriolanus nodded, if he was capable of blushing his cheeks would’ve turned a pink tint. He was still embarrassed about how he’d behaved when they were together. After one of their arguments they decided to end it. At least it had ended on better terms than her relationship with Billy Taupe.

“Well, it’s best not to dwell too much on the past! Are you seeing anyone?”

“No. Except for you I haven’t seen anyone in decades.”

“Well that’s a pity, you’re a handsome young man,” Coriolanus snorted at the word young, “okay, well not young, but you know what I mean!”

Coriolanus walked the rest of the way to the covey's house and then turned back towards the town. He had to rush, he’d planned to do some errands before the show and now he barely had time.

-

He picked up a few blood bags at the hob and ultimately decided to listen to Maude Ivory's advice about getting the werewolf a present. If he regretted it later he’d just keep it for himself or give it to Tigris.

When he was done with the errands he slowed his pace. There weren’t a lot of people out in the streets and there was still a few hours left until the sun would rise, he had enough time.

The town was alright. He’d learnt a lot about it from Lucy Gray, it was one of those close knit communities where everyone knew everyone. Even some of the locals recognised him. If too many people started recognising him he might have to stay away for a few years so people forgot him, it wasn’t unusual that someone was suspicious about the fact that he didn’t seem to age.

Vampires weren’t well known. Most people still thought they were a myth, just like werewolves and witches, but the people that knew always seemed to keep an eye out for them. Billy Taupe, Lucy Gray’s ex, was one of them. He and the covey had always known magical creatures existed, and when Coriolanus started showing up he noticed the small things. Too sharp teeth, never showed up during the day, mannerisms that just weren’t human like. He wanted to get rid of the man. He knew the covey wouldn’t tell, but Billy Taupe was the person to go around telling people about his vampire form. What if he told his new girlfriend, the mayor's daughter? Maybe she’d just think he’d gone crazy, but if she did believe him- Coriolanus didn’t want to deal with torches and pitchforks.

He crossed a corner and noticed a shadowy figure. Speak of the devil. It was Billy Taupe, wandering the streets and kicking pebbles around. No one would be sad if he was gone, most people wouldn’t even care. He was hungry, if he did this he could give Tigris and their grandmother the blood bags for weeks until he needed blood again.

He pounced on Billy Taupe, knocking his head against the wall hard enough to make him go unconscious. He quickly brought the body to any alley he knew no one would come to this late and started drinking. Oh how delightful, to dig your sharp teeth into that soft human flesh. He drank and drank, intoxicated by the taste of something fresh. How he’d longed for this, it had been way too long and he couldn’t stop himself for a second. Not even a thought about pausing or bringing it home to share. The walk was too long anyway, the body would go stale, there was a chance someone saw him, and if that werewolf came back he didn’t want to have an unconscious body with him. I deserve this.

It didn’t take too long to drain the body with how hungry he was. When he was done he made a small cut in the neck to hide the bite mark. He threw the lifeless body hard on the ground again, if they decided to do an autopsy, which was unlikely in itself, it would look like he hit his head and bled out. Those kinds of accidents happened often when someone was just a bit too drunk.

-

As he walked back to the castle through the forest he thought through his actions. Maybe killing him of all people wasn’t smart. Clerk Carmine and he were close.. but he would’ve gone down that path anyway, get killed in a fight or drink himself to death. He didn’t need to tell Clerk Carmine about what had happened and had to hope that Lucy Gray didn’t figure it out. If even she did she wouldn’t tell, she knew it would only cause unnecessary fights.

This time he wasn’t approached by the werewolf. He didn’t even hear any sounds, the thing and its pack had probably gone to sleep already, thank God for that, he didn’t want to be pinned against a tree again.

Chapter Text

Maybe it’s not what she meant when she said ‘peace offering.’

“You could get him a gift, like a peace offering!”

It was a gift, but a peace offering? No. The silver ring adorned with flashy diamonds he held in his hand could at best be a passive aggressive threat.

The thing was ugly, the stones were too big and flashy, something he’d never wear himself.

He paced around the room, he’d decided on the gift, but he didn’t have anything to put it in. Wrapping paper was definitely a bit excessive. Would taking it right out of his pocket be the best?

He rummaged through his drawers, hundreds of years of things were collected in there, there was no way he wasn’t going to find something. I should definitely organise this at some point.

There. That was perfect. A small black ring box. One of those you proposed with, it just made the already rude gift even worse. He grinned, he was somehow giddy about getting this werewolf an incredibly bad gift, and he didn’t even know the man’s name!

He put the ring in the little box and put it on the table so that he wouldn’t forget it. He got dressed, the shirt he got a tear in had already been fixed and washed by Tigris, she had so much free time on her hands.

He shoved the box in his pocket and walked through the castle. He didn’t drink any bagged blood, the fresh he’d drank was still so new in him. He was still energised by it and would be for weeks as long as he made sure not to overexcert himself. He hugged Tigris, he hadn’t told her about the affair, just saying he was going out for a walk. She probably would’ve told him how stupid of an idea it was to aggregivate someone they’d have to share a town with. Maybe they’ll leave if I get them mad enough.

Their grandmother was out in the garden, tending to her roses. Red, white, yellow, all kinds of roses. She walked up to him and placed one in his vest.

“For luck,” is all she said. He hadn’t told her he needed luck. She was either going crazy or somehow knew much more than she should.

“Thank you grandma’am.” He still used that nickname Tigris had given her when they were little. Little, it was such a foreign concept now. When he was young he always thought there was such a huge difference between him and his grandmother, but now he’d realised that the 70-or-so years that separated them wasn’t anything in comparison to what someone could live.

He walked into the forest with slow steps, the place still creeped him out. He hadn’t brought a lantern with him, not wanting to lose yet another one.

He looked straight forward as he walked. It didn’t matter if he stepped on any twigs or dead branches, he wanted to meet the man, didn’t he? After about 15 minutes of walking around without anything more than the occasional sound and that feeling that something was watching him, he decided to lure it out himself.

“Hello?” He called out — pretty stupid, but he couldn’t come up with anything else, and it seemed to work as he heard the rustling of leaves and a rugged man came out of a bush.

When he stood his full height Coriolanus noticed that the man was taller than him by a few centimetres. Not weird, he’s a werewolf, they’re always huge. Now that Coriolanus could get a proper sight of him he noticed that the man was a walking stereotype of a werewolf. Tall, hairy, broad shoulders, big muscles, a shirt that just seemed to cling to said muscles- what was he thinking?

“You came here again,” the man said.

Thanks, Captain obvious. “That I did,” he started, pacing around the man. “I was interested in all of-“ he waved his hand around, making a motion towards the werewolf. “-this.”

“You got a problem?” How old was he? He looked to be about the same age Coriolanus was when he became a vampire, maybe a few years older, but his rugged look certainly aged him.

“No.” What was he supposed to say? He couldn’t pull his little present out just yet. “You know, I never caught your name when you tried to attack me.”

“Sejanus. Sejanus Plinth. What about you? I only got your surname, Snow.” He said it with a disdain that Coriolanus had never heard when someone spoke of his family name.

“Coriolanus Snow. I haven’t heard the name ‘Plinth’ before. Has a pack changed its name, or are you new?”

“We’re fairly new. Me, my ma, and my pa are the first in the family to be werewolves.” Ma and pa, he’d never heard someone refer to their parents in that way before.

“Ah, so you created your own little pack, interesting.”

“Lots of werewolves aren’t in traditional packs, for your information. Some just have families in the same ways that humans do. Your information on werewolves seems quite outdated.”

“My apologies, but when you’ve lived longer than most of the strongest werewolf packs, you’re excused for — what was it you accused me of? Being outdated?”

“Why are you here? Do you just want to flaunt how old and awesome you are?”

“Now I understand why my kind despises yours so much, you’re just so.. rude, without reason.” Coriolanus smiled, this little game of cat and mouse was fun. “No, I’m not here to flaunt how old I am. I’m here to talk to you. I want to negotiate.”

“Really? A vampire willing to negotiate with a werewolf? Doesn’t seem very realistic to me.”

Coriolanus scoffed. “I actually brought a gift, a peace offering, you could say.”

Sejanus cocked an eyebrow and he pulled out the little box. Now, he wasn’t so deranged as to go down on one knee, but he still took a step closer as he opened the box with one hand. The other one grabbed Sejanus’ and put the ring on. He heard a low growl from the other man and chuckled.

“Don’t like it? I think it fits you.”

“Well, since you’re so adamant about your little gift exchange, I think it’s only right I give something back.” Sejanus took something out of his pocket, a cross on a necklace — did he always keep that there? — and put it around Coriolanus’ neck as he let out a hiss.

The cross burnt as it touched his already sensitive pale skin, but he placed it on the outside of his shirt, as if it didn’t bother him. It wont kill me as long as I take it off as soon as I leave. He really wouldn’t have anything against religious symbols if it wasn’t for the fact that they gave him the same reaction as the sun did.

“I think it does wonders for you,” Sejanus was close enough that Coriolanus could hear the words when they were whispered in his ear.

That did it for Coriolanus. He ripped the cross off and threw it back to Sejanus. “Keep it,” he spat, oh how much he hated the man.

“What? Isn’t it as funny when I’m the one doing it?” He asked, his tone lighthearted as if this was some sort of playful banter.

“It’s not the same.” It really wasn’t. Silver wasn’t exactly dangerous to werewolves, it was just that it was the only metal that could kill them. What Sejanus had done was like if Coriolanus had stabbed a silver dagger through the man’s heart.

Okay, that may be a bit intense, but still.

Sejanus called after him as he walked off, why was the man — the werewolf — so obsessed with making things alright between them? Why did he behave as if they could be friends? It was tiring and Coriolanus had no reason to waste any more energy.

As he walked through the forest back to the castle he wondered how it’d go if he tried to negotiate with Sejanus. Even if they wanted the same things, would it just end in a fight? Sure, Coriolanus hated werewolves, but he’d lived in that castle forever, and he needed to figure something out. He’d go crazy if his nightly affairs had to be interrupted by a werewolf again.

Maybe that ring hadn’t been a good idea.

Chapter Text

Werewolf: a person who changes for periods at a time into a wolf, typically when there is a full moon.

It was about two years ago now. His pa had come home and was different. His ma explained to a then 18 year old Sejanus that their lives were going to change drastically. Strabo turned both he and his ma two months later. They stayed in their home town for a while, until someone discovered their dirty little secret.

They moved from place to place for a while. Small towns didn’t work, rumours spread too quickly. Big cities didn’t have enough nature. It was hard to find a balance, but here seemed like a perfect place. Well, except for the fact that their hunting grounds were apparently taken by vampires.

Sejanus was in the forest more than his parents. He hadn’t even told them about Coriolanus, hadn’t decided whether he should or not yet. When they weren’t transformed they lived in a pretty standard, way above average house. Two floors, two big bedrooms — each with a bathroom attached, a guest room, a nice kitchen, everything you could ever want.

His pa spent most of his time in his study. Calls, paperwork, planning and of course going out for the occasional lunch meeting.

His ma spent more time at home, well, more time in their pristine marble kitchen, cooking and baking. Sejanus loved her cooking, maybe it was the reason he’d become so well built. His ma always referred to him as a ‘handsome young man’, but really, you kind of have to call your son handsome.

He himself didn’t do much during the days. He walked around town or was in the forest. Currently he wasn’t studying or working since they’d just moved to the town, but he thought about getting a job at some nice little store.

He washed his hands thoroughly, he often had lots of dirt under his fingernails. He should trim them soon. For a few moments he just enjoyed the sound of the water splashing and the warm water on his hands.

He turned the tap off and turned around, first shaking his hands off and then drying them on his pants. Sure, they had a towel, but drying his hands on his pants had become a habit, and the shaking thing had begun pretty recently. Maybe it was linked to the werewolf thing somehow? Dogs shook off water, didn’t they?

He pondered over it as he walked into the kitchen, smelling the wonderful tomato soup his ma had prepared. Tomato soup and grilled cheese — a classic.

“It smells amazing,” he commented as he sat down opposite to where his ma was already seated. His pa wasn’t eating with them today. Business dinner or something, it must be fun to discuss weapons while eating. Thinking about dead bodies definitely didn’t make anyone lose their appetite.

He shook the thought off as his ma replied, “thank you Sej, I’m sorry your father isn’t here today. You know how it is..” she looked sadder than he felt. Strabo had promised to eat dinner with them every day for a week straight. He had yet to fulfill that promise.

“It’s fine ma, really.”

She nodded before pouring up the soup, giving Sejanus a large portion of soup and two pieces of toast.

He took a sip of the soup and let out a groan of pleasure. “Amazing as always, ma,” he praised.

“I’m happy you enjoy it.” She smiled brightly, he’d managed to get her back in a good mood. “How’s it going with the new town?” She asked, “I hope you enjoy it. I know I let you and Strabo do most of the hunting, but the forest seems great.”

“Mhm,” he hummed, the conversation suddenly turning stale. “I was actually planning on going out in the town square after dinner, you wanna come along?” As long as he managed to steer away the conversation from that wretched forest. He’d have to face it at some point, but right now all he had to do was avert the attention from it and try to convince his pa only to hunt when the sun was up.

“Oh no, it's quite alright. I want to be here when Strabo gets home. It would be rude not to at least make him some tea after a long meeting.” It’s also rude not to eat dinner with your family.

“Of course. Want me to get you anything?”

“Well since you’re asking..” she took a moment to consider the offer, thinking through her options thoroughly, “if you go by the grocery store it would be nice if you could buy me some apples. I’m making a pie tomorrow.”

“Well of course, if your infamous apple pie is an option then I just have to get you some apples,” he joked. She chuckled and he smiled back at her. He was always happy to see her happy. She had a hard time with all the moving around, since their werewolf secret got out in their old town, her sister was the only one willing to talk to her anymore.

“Aw, you’re too sweet Sej.”

They chatted quietly for the rest of the dinner. Sejanus changed into a pair of pants that weren’t dirtied by the fact that he wiped his hands on them and gave ma a hug before leaving.

First stop: grocery store.

He walked into the bustling grocery store. People had just gotten home from work and eaten dinner and wanted to do their grocery shopping now. Apples, and they were running low on milk so he had to grab that too. A few protein bars went down into the shopping cart — can’t hurt to have a few snacks around. A bag of sweets, and his pa had been talking about how they were running low on coffee.

By the end of the shopping his bag was heavy. Maybe he’d gone a bit out of hand, but oh well. None of it would go bad anyway.

It was already dark by the time he got out of the store. There were still lots of people walking down the street, like any Friday night. For a while he just walked and looked at people, saying the occasional ‘hi’ if it was someone he recognised. He wanted to get to know people better. If they were serious about staying here then he had to get some friends.

He found a bulletin board with a bunch of events, perfect. He looked through the board, it was the normal selection of activities. Church, sports, some theatre performance. But there was something that caught his eye—

‘LUCY GRAY BAIRD and the COVEY performing at the hob, 19:30-21:30 FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 15TH’

Jackpot. It was starting in half an hour and he didn’t know how the ticket system worked so he took a brisk walk to ‘the hob’. He had heard people talk about it before, and it wasn’t very hard to find.

The hob was some small shack where people would sell various homemade goods and where someone had the occasional performance. Most of the people just sold cheap, but strong, booze. Either that or illegal substances that Sejanus didn’t want to get involved with.

He didn’t bother to buy any alcohol, he didn’t like to drink much, he’d probably enjoy the concert without it. He tried to buy a ticket but was just told to pay after the show and was ushered to take a seat before the concert started.

The light wasn’t great since it was one of the poorer parts of the town. Sejanus watched as a little girl — she couldn’t be older than 11 — walked up on stage. She had to stand on a small stepping stool to reach the microphone. No one seemed bothered, maybe it’s normal with young music artists here.

“Quiet down, quiet down people!” The effect was immediate, everyone stopped talking, even the most intoxicated ones. “If you didn’t already know, my name is Maude Ivory, and I have the pleasure to introduce y’all to the covey!” A few more musicians walked up on stage. They all seemed older than Maude Ivory. Two of them, a girl with a guitar and a boy with long hair and a fiddle. She introduced the boy as Clerk Carmine, or ‘CC’. The other two were even older, a man with the name Tam Amber who played the mandolin and a woman who played the bass by the name Barb Azure.

The last one to be introduced was the girl who played the guitar. “And last but not least: the only, the only, Lucy Gray Baird!” She shouted out. The crowd cheered as Lucy Gray spun around, her skirt twirling beautifully, and played a few notes on her guitar. Sejanus couldn’t help but participate in the cheering, the atmosphere made it impossible not to.

Lucy Gray walked up to the microphone and Maude Ivory walked away to stand further back with the rest of the covey. “Well hello folks! I was thinking we start with something calm today, something to get y’all in the feels!” She said, starting to strum on her guitar.

The first song was pretty calm, but Sejanus liked that. He listened carefully to the lyrics.

“My heart is sad and I am lonely, for the only one I love. When shall I see him? Oh no, never ‘til we meet in heaven above.”

“Oh, bury me beneath the willow, under the weeping willow tree, so he will know where I am sleeping, and perhaps he’ll wait for me.”

He swayed with the song, humming and almost singing along when he’d learnt the chorus.

The band played lots of different songs during the evening. Some were calmer, like the first one. Some were more energetic, and some were purely melodic. Sometimes one or a few band members went off stage to let a duo or a single person perform alone.

When the show was done the little girl from before, Maude Ivory, came around to get donations. Sejanus dig through his pockets, he still had some change after the grocery shopping, but he had a better idea.

“Hey,” he started, bending his knees a bit so that they were at the same height, “you like sweets?”

Maude Ivory nodded enthusiastically and a smile spread on his face. He pulled out the bag of sweets he’d bought. It was supposed to be for his own enjoyment, but this felt more important.

Her eyes widened when he stuffed the bag in the donation basket. She said a long thank you and bowed her head down slightly. He just chuckled as she headed along. I should keep going to these concerts, he thought.

He stayed in the small space for a little while. Lots of people were trying to get out. Since he wasn’t in a rush there was no reason for him to push through the crowd. He instead watched as Maude Ivory ran up to the others. She showed them all the donations she got and after a while she pointed to the place he was standing. They’d probably asked where the sweets came from.

He smiled towards Lucy Gray who turned her head in his direction. He was happy for a moment, maybe I can start getting some friends around here. Then a figure appeared, seemingly coming from the shadows, but when he thought it through the man had probably just stood behind Lucy Gray.

It was that vampire — Coriolanus Snow. Was he here? He started to head off, he didn’t need yet another argument, maybe if he didn’t go there again the man wouldn’t take any offense to it-

Well that was a very naïve thought.

He was pinned against a wall as soon as he got out of the building. I mean, it’s only fair as revenge, but c’mon?

“What are you doing here? I thought your kind stayed in the forests,” Coriolanus snarled. He really needs to learn to control his temper.

“And I thought your kind stayed in dark, gloomy castles, guess we both got a surprise today, huh?”

Coriolanus’ grip tightened, okay, not the time for jokes. His skin was as cold as a dead body, completely different from all the other patrons who were warmed up by standing close and getting intoxicated. Completely different from Sejanus.

“Still doesn’t answer my question.”

“I live in this town, a house not too far from the town square,” he explained, managing to handle his temper much better than the vampire across from him.

“A werewolf living in a house? Not very believable." Coriolanus finally let go of Sejanus, instead standing a few steps away from him. A safe distance.

“This would be much easier for the both of us if you stopped making so many assumptions,” Sejanus said. Coriolanus just sighed in response. “Are you just looking to pick a fight? We’re both in this town and we’re both going to stay here, no matter if you like it or not. If there’s some places you want all on your own, then fine, but we gotta decide on it somehow.”

He watched Coriolanus closely, seeing about a million insults form in his head, but the vampire let go of them. “Fine. But this isn’t any place to negotiate.” He looked Sejanus up and down. “You’re probably intoxicated, I don’t need to deal with that.”

Sejanus rolled his eyes at the comment, but he wasn’t bothered enough to correct Coriolanus. “Where do you want to negotiate then? When and where is suitable for you, your highness?" He mocked.

“Do you live alone?”

“No. I live with my ma and pa.”

“Really? Calling your mother ‘ma’ and living at home at your age?”

“I’m moving out soon,” he mumbled. “That’s beside the topic. I can get them out of the house for a few days. My pa has a business thing in a few days, in a city pretty far away from here, if my ma goes with him-“

“Sounds great,” Coriolanus interrupted. “I’ll come to your house next week. Saturday night.”

Sejanus wanted to say more, at least give the damn guy his address, but the guy just disappeared into the shadows. How would he even know what house to go to?

-

Sejanus sat on the sofa, biting at his fingernails — another bad habit of his.

He didn’t like the house much. They hadn’t lived for long, it still felt so sterile and unlived in. His ma had her space, but his pa wanted everything else to be nice and tidy. He hated it. The walls were some plain white wallpaper, the sofa was just a normal dark grey, the dining hall didn’t have a single painting, and nothing was ever left out. It looked like a movie set.

He had left an empty cup of tea on the coffee table, his way to spite his pa while the man was away.

He stopped the biting, and the thinking, when he heard a knock on the door. He felt a lump in his throat, why am I so nervous? Okay, maybe it’s normal to be nervous when a vampire enters your house.

He walked through the living room and the hall. He looked through the peek hole, he didn’t really know why, no one else would visit at 11 pm. Coriolanus was standing there, dressed similarly to their other encounters. He looked bored, maybe a bit annoyed, but no other emotion showed on his face.

When Sejanus opened the door he quickly slipped into the house, throwing his jacket on the coat hanger.

“Didn’t think you’d be polite enough to knock, what a pleasant surprise,” Sejanus commented, fixing the jacket so it didn’t fall off.

Coriolanus turned around. “It isn’t courtesy, just that vampires can’t physically enter somewhere without being let in. That’s very basic knowledge.” Sejanus could recall hearing about that at some point. He just shrugged and took Coriolanus to the living room.

“Sit down. I would offer you something to drink, but..”

“But you don’t want to give me blood.”

“Not easily available,” Sejanus answered.

“You’d be surprised,” Coriolanus said, absentmindedly looking around the room. “But I’m not here to talk about the blood market with you. I want to discuss whatever deal we have to make.”

“Me and my family are staying here, that’s final. And we need a place to hunt. We need animals from time to time.”

“Fine. But I also have some rules to establish. Don’t hunt too often, it makes people suspicious, never leave any residue, it just makes it worse. And me and my family can hunt in the forest during the night, yours gets it during day time.

“Your family? You’re like the Cullens or something?”

“…the what?” Of course this hundred-plus year old vampire wouldn’t know what twilight is.

Sejanus just brushed it off. “Nothing. How big is your family?”

“Me, my cousin and my grandmother.” Coriolanus didn’t task about Sejanus’ family, which he was happy for, he didn’t need the unnecessary small talk.

“Okay. You three get the forest during the night, we during the day. Can we agree not to hunt too close to sunrise and sunset so we don’t accidentally run into each other?”

“That seems reasonable. But that isn’t the only place I want. I don’t care much for this town, you can have it all you want, but not the covey.”

“The covey? That band that played a few nights ago?” That band had been nice, Sejanus didn’t want to lose it. But if it meant having peace with this vampire, then he’d have to agree.

“Exactly. They don’t need some rowdy dog running around during their concerts. They’ve already dealt with enough ill-mannered men.”

“Like you?” Sejanus asked. Coriolanus scowled. Touched a nerve there.

“Thought we agreed to stop insulting each other? But of course, you werewolves have to be constantly at someone else’s throat.”

“You’re the one that started with calling a rowdy dog, and ill-mannered, and I really don’t think you can talk about being at another person's throat.”

“Are we done here?” Coriolanus asked. Sejanus was growing tired of the conversation too.

“Fine. But you don’t get to say anything about me or my family to other people, I’m not having my reputation destroyed by you.”

“Wasn’t planning on it. You know that I don’t spend all my time thinking about you, right? Or do you think that I obsess over you in the same manner you do? Besides, I think you could easily destroy your reputation on your own.” Sejanus was ready to punch a hole in the wall at the implication that he was obsessed with the vampire, but he let it go. Deep breaths, he reminded himself.

“Will you leave now?”

“Gladly.”

Coriolanus left the house and Sejanus let out a breath he hadn’t noticed he’d been holding. He dragged a hand over his face, absolutely exhausted. Why does this have to be so complicated?

Chapter Text

Coriolanus had gone to yet another of the Coveys concerts. He was delighted to see that the werewolf wasn’t back, this was his place.

Coriolanus walked with the Covey and a lady, Barb Azure’s girlfriend, to their house, as he so often did. It meant more time with Lucy Gray. Their dynamic was.. weird. They’d had something for a few weeks the earlier summer, but then he’d messed up and they’d gotten in a huge argument. Lucy Gray broke up with Coriolanus, which was very new for him. All his earlier relationship experience had taught him that if you were unhappy with your marriage then you just waited until the other person died.

But even after their argument, Lucy Gray was fine with still being friends. Coriolanus was thankful for that. Most people in town would get suspicious of him, possibly even rat him out. She knew about the fact he was a vampire, and didn’t seem to care much. She even seemed a bit supernatural herself.

“Did you know the guy that gave Maude Ivory the candy yesterday? I saw you walk up to him,” Lucy Gray asked.

“Sejanus Plinth,” Coriolanus started, his tone bitter, “he’s the werewolf I told you about.”

“Hm, just your type then?” She looked at him, and his face contorted into a confused expression. His type? What did that mean? “Well, he seemed nice,” she continued, “I think you should give him a proper chance. He was nice to Maude Ivory!”

“Not everyone can be bought with sweets like she can.”

Lucy Gray grinned. “You say that as if you’re not a sucker for anyone nice.”

“I am not, especially if that ‘anyone’ is a werewolf.”

“Oh c’mon, don’t get your knickers in a twist, he probably doesn’t mean anything bad.”

“You’re way too optimistic.” He stopped dead in his tracks, and she turned around with a deadpan expression. “For all we know he could be horrible, what if he’s worse than Billy Taupe?”

She went stale at the mention of Billy Taupe. “Coriolanus..” He could sense she knew what had happened. He didn’t want a fight, but there was no use denying. He started to walk again, hoping it would make the conversation calmer.

“I didn’t see it was him,” he lied, “not- not before it was too late. By then he would’ve just bleed out and died in pain.” He made sure to lower his tone, he did not want the rest of the Covey hearing about this.

“He wasn’t a good person, but he meant a lot to Clerk Carmine.” She sighed. “I won’t tell him, no one else in the Covey has made the connection yet, but you can’t- you can’t go around killing anyone you don’t like.”

“I don’t! You know, I handled Sejanus very maturely.” He felt embarrassed as he realised how much he sounded like a little child. Maybe he should be thinking more about the consequences of his actions. They didn’t mean much before, when he could just wait for people to die (or kill them himself), but now that he had friends it was different. Maybe he’d been a bit spoiled by never having to see any consequences.

He noticed Lucy Gray raising an eyebrow, waiting for him to elaborate. “I told him that me and my family would have the forest during the night and he would have it during the day. And that he can’t go to any more of your shows.”

“Really? What’s wrong with him coming to our shows?”

“It’s my territory!” He argued.

“It’s the Covey’s if anyone’s.” She sighed again, was he really that annoying? “I wouldn’t have a problem with him coming to our shows. If anything I’d be happy about it, Maude Ivory already loves him.”

“Fine, I’ll tell him he can come. But he might not want to.” She eyed him, clearly suspicious. “I promise! I’ll tell him that he can come. You know what? I’ll invite him myself!”

“Great, I think a date would be good for you.”

Coriolanus couldn’t be bothered to correct her, but it certainly wasn’t a date.

They soon arrived at the Covey’s house. Tam Amber instructed Maude Ivory and Clerk Carmine to go to bed, “it’s getting late, I don’t want you to start waking up in the middle of the day,” he said to Maude Ivory.

The rest of them sat down at a table. Barb Azure quickly introduced Coriolanus to her girlfriend. She was a girl from town, her name was Juniper, she was one year older than Barb Azure. The rest of the Covey already knew about her, they’d been dating for a while now.

Lucy Gray grabbed the bag she’d brought with her to the hob. At first Coriolanus thought she’d bought food or wanted to see how much they’d gotten in donations, but he quickly understood it wasn’t the case when she pulled out a bottle.

“What’s that?” It was most likely booze, but he wasn’t very familiar with what humans drank.

“A donation,” she said, and everyone but Coriolanus laughed. He didn’t get the joke, but after a few seconds laughed with them. He didn’t like feeling excluded, especially not among humans. Or non-vampires, whatever the covey were.

The bottle was passed around the table, no one bothering to pour it up in actual glasses. Coriolanus thought it was a bit unsophisticated, but he didn’t comment on it. When the bottle landed in his hands he said he didn’t want to drink, that he had to wake up early the next morning. He didn’t think Juniper knew he was a vampire, and he guessed that you don’t want to be told that your girlfriend's buddy is a vampire when you’re first meeting him.

Between the booze and the close-knit circle, the conversation flowed easily. Coriolanus found himself comfortable, even with the addition of Juniper.

“Well romance has never been much of a thing for me,” Tam Amber said. His words were very coherent for someone who’d drank as much as he had, the covey tended to have a pretty high alcohol tolerance. “But I’m certainly happy for y’all, young love is truly amazing.”

“Tam Amber, you’re 27, it truly isn’t too late for you if you want to find a man or woman to get with,” Lucy Gray insisted.

“Love has never found me, it seems,” Tam Amber stated.

“How’s it going with you Coriolanus?” Lucy Gray asked, he could feel where this was going. “Sejanus certainly seems like a great option,” she teased.

Juniper spoke up before he could deny the claim. “Sejanus? The one with the tan skin and brown hair? Pretty tall, muscular, just moved here?” Lucy Gray nodded along to Juniper's description. “Oh he’s sweet! I’ve met him a few times, he always does his shopping at the grocery shop I work in.”

“He does?” Coriolanus asked. He’d promised to bring Sejanus to one of Lucy Gray's shows, and the first step in that was actually talking to him. If he found a place he often came to, it would be a lot easier. “Does he come there often?”

“Oh, yeah, I work in the evening on weekdays, I usually see him at least once a week.” Coriolanus nodded. He’d have to venture into town more for this, but maybe Lucy Gray was right. Having friends is important, and Sejanus wasn’t human, that was one good thing.

“I do think we should leave Coriolanus’ love life to be handled on his own,” Tam Amber chided. “You young people are so eager to gossip.”

Lucy Gray rolled her eyes visibly. “Tam Amber, you’re great and all, but you can not keep on insisting that you’re so much older than us.”

He took a swig from the bottle. “Older and wiser,” he joked, and they easily fell into laughter.

Coriolanus continued chatting with them for a few hours. When the clock passed midnight Tam Amber, as the responsible adult, decided it was time to go to sleep.

“I should get home,” Coriolanus said, already wrapping his coat around himself.

“Isn’t it awfully late?” Juniper commented. “It wouldn’t be a problem if he stayed over, would it?” She asked Barb Azure. The atmosphere went stale. How do you explain to someone that you can’t stay because when the morning comes you’ll die if you make contact with the sun.

“It’ll be fine, I know the town well,” Coriolanus decided, and before Juniper could disagree, he left the house.

He walked off and saw the lights in the kitchen turn off. He could imagine them talking with hushed voices and taking soft steps as not to wake Maude Ivory or Clerk Carmine.

Chapter Text

“Hm. So just your type then?”

‘His type,’, it was one of those human slang that Coriolanus still didn’t really get. Lucy Gray had never told him what ‘a type’ was. He hadn’t asked about it, but that would be embarrassing. The way she said it makes it obvious it isn’t one of her own sayings, it’s something everyone says. Well, except for him.

Lucy Gray had talked about his ‘type’ once before. It was a year or so ago, when they’d been dating. She’d visited his castle for the first time and they were walking through some corridors.

-

“This place is amazing, though it does lack a bit of colour,” Lucy Gray said, her eyes passing over the walls.

“I don’t think the architects of these kinds of castles usually didn’t care about colour as much as you do.”

“Well, one man’s trash is another man’s pleasure.”

She twirled around, her rainbow dress bright in the usually dark room. She was so carefree, like a songbird.

“These windows,” she started, “stained glass, right? Must be a shame you can’t ever see them when the sun is shining through.”

“It’s quite alright. The moon shines through when the night isn’t as cloudy. I’ll show you at some point.”

“That would be a right pleasure.”

He opened the next door for her and her face lit up. He’d already guessed it would be her favourite. The room was where they stored any paintings that didn’t fit on other walls, mostly old ones, but Lucy Gray could appreciate all kinds of art. Old or new, dark or bright, monochrome or colourful.

“Amazing,” Lucy Gray sighed.

“Truly is,” Coriolanus confirmed.

Coriolanus’ favourites were the ones of landscapes. He missed being able to see them when the sun was out, so the paintings were at least something.

Lucy Gray walked over to a corner with many different paintings stacked. He looked over, immediately recognising it.

“What’s this?” She asked.

“Old paintings. Me and my previous lovers. I don’t really care for the paintings anymore, I don’t like thinking of the dead.”

“Hm.” Coriolanus couldn’t tell if she was mad because he kept paintings of his precious lovers, or was it something else that was on her mind.

“Is something wrong?”

“No, no, I don’t have an issue with it.” Lucy Gray shook her head. “But they’re all pretty similar,” she commented.

“Well, yes, that’s been the common way of posing for paintings for hundreds of years-“

“Not that, you dummy. Your lovers, don’t you see the pattern?” What was she talking about? “Curly dark brown hair, brown eyes, tan skin, all that same look in their eyes-“ he hadn’t thought about that before, “-you have a type, that much is obvious.”

“A type?”

“Definitely.” It didn’t answer his question, but he didn’t want to press the issue further. Instead he showed her the rest of the castle.

-

A type, a type of person she must’ve meant. Sure, Sejanus and Lucy Gray were like each other in some ways. They both seemed very passionate, they looked similar, and they had a similar way of speaking, though Lucy Gray was more exaggerated.

But his type? Coriolanus type? Coriolanus wasn’t at all that kind of person. They were definitely not his type, what could she possibly mean? Coriolanus groaned. He hated humans, he hated humans and their slang, why couldn’t they just say what they meant?

Coriolanus dragged a pale hand over his face, heading down the stairs to talk to Tigris. He took one blood packet out of the cupboard and tossed it over to Tigris.

“I already had one today, Coryo-“ she tried, but still caught the plastic bag.

“Doesn’t matter,” he insisted. “You can have mine, I still have energy left from that feed.” He sat down on the couch across from her and watched as she dug her teeth into the plastic. “Speaking about feeding, you should really get some proper food. Both you and grandma’am have been low on energy for a few months now.”

“Thank you for the concern Coryo, but I don’t want to go into the forest. There’s something wrong there.”

Coriolanus groaned as he realised he’d have to tell Tigris about everything. “Okay, there’s a lot I have to tell you.” He waited for her to reply, and when she raised her eyebrows he took it as a sign to continue. “Werewolves moved into the town.”

“What!? Why didn’t you tell me, I could’ve handled it-“

“I have handled it. It’s this guy, Sejanus, and his family. We had an agreement, they get to have the forest during the morning and we during the night. Otherwise I can try and get someone from the town, or the neighbouring one if you want to be even more careful.”

Tigris sighed. “That’s sweet of you Coryo, but next time something like this happens I want you to tell me,” she started. “Sejanus, you said his name was?”

“Sejanus Plinth. His family aren’t really a part of a pack, some complicated werewolf thing. I’m taking him to see the Covey when I get the chance.”

Tigris’ face lit up. “Is the Coriolanus Snow going on a date? With a werewolf?”

“It’s not a date, it’s like- a peace offering. My first one didn’t go well.”

“Your first one?” She asked. Of course, he hadn’t told her about that either.

“I got him a silver ring.”

“Oh, yeah, you just gifted him a metal that could kill him, that isn’t weird at all.” Tigris shook her head, discarding the packet of blood that she’d already finished. “You know Coriolanus, sometimes I think there’s something really wrong going on in your head.” The remark was sarcastic, but he still was a bit offended.

“Really? From my own flesh and blood?” He joked.

“Not sure that works in the same way when someone’s a vampire. The Cullens were family without sharing flesh and blood, we could share flesh and blood without being family,” she joked back.

“Who are the Cullens!?” Coriolanus shouted, it came out louder than he intended but he was absolutely exasperated. It seemed like everyone but him knew who they were.

“It’s a book that came out recently, I would tell you to read it, but I’m not sure you’d appreciate it. It’s a vampire romance.”

“You know I don’t like those.”

“Which is exactly why I haven’t recommended it!”

Coriolanus sighed. “Thank you?”

“You’re welcome.”

Chapter Text

Sejanus liked doing errands, it cleared his mind and helped him make friends.

He would usually do his errands during the day, but since befriending Juniper he’d started doing them during the evening more so that he could say hi to her.

He’d taken the bike to the grocery store, it made it easier to get home the groceries if he was doing a bigger shop. He jumped off his bike and said hi to a person passing by. But before he could step into the store something grabbed him.

“Oh my gosh,” Sejanus groaned as they stood in the shadow behind the store. Coriolanus winced at the mention of the religious figure. “What could you possibly want? Don’t tell me that the only good grocery store in this town is also your territory-“

“No, of course not,” Coriolanus interrupted. “We’ve made our deal, and that’s final. It’s something else.” He let go of Sejanus.

“And that thing is?” Sejanus raised an eyebrow, writing for a proper answer.

“I want you to go to one of the Covey’s shows with me.”

“You can not be serious.”

“It wasn’t my choice, Lucy Gray wanted me-“

“Why are you talking about me with Lucy Gray? And you say I’m obsessed with you.” Sejanus scoffed.

“It doesn’t matter, does it? Will you go with me?”

“Why do you want to go on a date with me?” Sejanus asked. Coriolanus took a few moments to respond, like he didn’t know the answer himself.

“Lucy Gray told me I should.” Coriolanus could tell the werewolf wasn’t satisfied with that answer so he continued. “And I need friends other than the Covey.”

“There’s plenty of people here, no? Go befriend one of them.”

“They’re humans, they’d get suspicious,” Coriolanus reasoned.

“I thought you hated werewolves.”

“Can you just give me a straight yes or no for once?”

“I don’t think it’s very straight to want to go on a date with another man,” Sejanus joked, Coriolanus mostly looked perplexed.

“First of all: it’s not a date,” Coriolanus started, “second of all: nothing ever implied I’m a heterosexual.”

“You’re not?” Sejanus raised an eyebrow. “You know what? Never mind. I’ll go with you, since you insist.”

“Finally, it’s starting in 45 minutes, we should get going.”

“I have to get groceries, can’t we do it next week or something?” Sejanus tried, looking towards the store.

“Groceries can wait. The store is open until 11pm anyway, the show will be over by then.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

Sejanus managed to convince Coriolanus that it was a good idea to take the bike to the hob. Coriolanus was sceptical but reluctantly complied, deciding that they’d come too late otherwise.

“Really? A helmet? You know it’s not illegal not to wear one,” Coriolanus commented.

“Not everyone is immortal, you know,” Sejanus replied, buckling on his helmet.

“Grown man wearing a bicycle helmet..” Coriolanus muttered as he got on the package holder, wincing at the uncomfortable seat.

“Grown man whining over a bicycle seat..” Sejanus muttered back.

The trip didn’t take more than 10 minutes. Sejanus was athletic and Coriolanus didn’t weigh him down much, though his hold was uncomfortably tight.

Coriolanus got off the bicycle as quickly as he could, nearly making Sejanus fall in the process. Sejanus huffed and followed Coriolanus through the crowd that was already filling up the hob. Sejanus managed to buy some alcohol on his way, deciding that it was the only way he’d get through the night.

“You’re light. And very cold,” Sejanus commented as they each found a seat.

“Don’t have many organs weighing me down, no blood either,” Coriolanus answered.

“Didn’t know blood would weigh that much.”

“Organs themselves are a few hundred grams in total. Blood off the average human is 5 litres, which is 5 kilograms, so it does make up a pretty significant portion.”

Sejanus almost laughed. “And why do you know this?”

“When you have all the time in the world there’s nothing better to do than educate yourself,” Coriolanus answered. “Now, be quiet. It’s starting.”

The concert was just as amazing as last time, even with the presence of a vampire by Sejanus’ side. He took a few sips from the alcohol but it was awfully strong. His ma definitely wouldn’t be happy if he came home later than he intended and reeked of alcohol.

He put the lid back on the bottle, maybe the covey would want it.

He started singing along quietly to one of the songs but stopped as soon as Coriolanus turned to face him, with an expression that said ‘really?’ He felt his face heat up, it was a bit embarrassing that Coriolanus had heard him.

He was careful not to sing anymore during the concert, but he couldn’t resist humming along during some of the songs. Maybe Coriolanus would allow him to start going to these things, maybe he could get some friends. If they were willing to hang out with a vampire then they certainly wouldn’t have a problem with him.

His gaze drifted to Coriolanus, who was completely enamoured by the show. He seemed different, like this was his favourite thing on the planet earth. Maybe it was. The way he spoke about Lucy Gray, the fact that he was so annoyed when Sejanus had said something about Coriolanus being rude to them — were they dating? He felt some unease at the thought, but he didn’t know why.

Maude Ivory walked around to take donations and Coriolanus and Sejanus were both generous.

Sejanus spoke up when she left. “You think you could give this to them?” He asked, holding up the bottle, he’d barely even made a dent in the contents.

“You can. I’ll introduce you to them, that way Lucy Gray will have proof that you and I made amends.” Of course. Lucy Gray, she was the only reason Coriolanus brought him here. Sejanus felt something twist in his gut, but he couldn’t explain what it was.

Coriolanus pulled Sejanus through the crowd, holding him by the wrist. Coriolanus pretty much shoved Sejanus towards Lucy Gray, and his face turned red.

“Hey, uh, I’m Sejanus,” he said quietly, handing her the bottle.

She eyed it, taking it and tucking it into the skirt. It didn’t seem to have pockets, but what did he know? “You gotta speak up darlin’! The acoustics in here are way too loud to have you mumbling!”

“Uh- sorry. I’m Sejanus. I went here with Coriolanus, he told me you wanted me to come.”

“Ah, Sejanus! I knew I recognised you, you’re the one that gave Maude Ivory those treats.” She leaned in a little closer as she said the next sentence. “Though I much prefer this kind of treat,” she whispered, referring to the alcohol.

Sejanus chuckled. “It was supposed to be for myself, but I’m not big on booze,” he explained. He then decided to ask what had been on his mind. “Are you- are you and Coriolanus like, a thing?” He asked, hoping she wouldn’t take offense to the question.

Lucy Gray just burst out laughing. “Oh no! No, no, darlin’, that was a while ago now. You can have him all you want, but I warn you: pretty is as pretty does.”

“What?”

“Oh it’s something my mama used to say. He may look pretty, but don’t let that fool you all too quickly.”

Sejanus nodded. “I wasn’t planning on dating him.”

“Oh c’mon! I saw you looking at him. Give the guy a chance.” Sejanus was perplexed at her words, at first she told him to be careful and then she told him to give Coriolanus a chance.

Coriolanus came up behind Sejanus, he had an uncanny way of just sneaking out of the shadows. “See? I did bring him,” he said.”

“I can see, we were just having a great conversation about why y’all should continue going on these dates!”

“It’s not a date,” both of the men hissed.

“If you say so.” Lucy Gray shrugged.

“I should get going,” Sejanus said to break the uncomfortable silence. “I gotta get my groceries before the store closes.”

As Sejanus started to walk off, Lucy Gray pulled Coriolanus close. “You should go with him.”

“Why?” Coriolanus replied.

“Maybe he’ll get hurt in the dark- I don’t know, but I can’t bother to deal with you.”

Coriolanus huffed at the insult, even as it had not bite, but quickly rushed to catch up to Sejanus. He got on the bike at the last second.

“Hey- what the fuck Coriolanus!?” Sejanus shouted, he lost his balance and almost made both of them fall over. “Are you crazy? You can’t sneak up on me like that.”

“Lucy Gray told me to go with you.”

Sejanus jumped off the bike and Coriolanus did the same. “You can’t just follow me everywhere because Lucy Gray told you to.”

“What if I want to?”

“What if I don’t find that believable?"

Coriolanus rolled his eyes. “Can’t a man be nice for once? Listen, I don’t want to go home and have to be around my grandmother, so will you humor me this once?”

“Fine.” They started to walk together, and Sejanus started to talk again since he couldn’t stand the tense atmosphere. “How did you know I was going to be at the grocery store? Just lucky guess or those same vampire powers that told you where I lived?”

“Neither. Barb Azure, one of Lucy Gray’s cousins, is together with Juniper. She told me. And I didn’t use vampire powers to find out where you lived either, it’s actually really easy to just ask around.”

“And you say I’m obsessed?” Sejanus smirked. “You know, that’s almost a bit romantic, asking around in the town, telling your friends about us,” he teased. He didn’t know what made him do it. He would’ve said it was the liquid courage, but he barely drank anything.

“Are you drunk?”

“You saw the bottle,” Sejanus replied conspicuously.

“Are you flirting with me?” Coriolanus didn’t look as disgusted as he tried to sound, so Sejanus took it as a sign to continue.

“Depends, is it working?”

Coriolanus' eyes narrowed. Sejanus’ widened. It took them a few seconds of tension before they were at each other's throats — or mouths.

Sejanus shoved Coriolanus against the closest wall he could find, but Coriolanus pushed back. “No way I’m doing this in an alleyway. I know you’re a dog, but that's unsophisticated, even for you.”

Sejanus growled. “I’ll show you unsophisticated-“ before he could do anything, Coriolanus mumbled a quick apology and grabbed him by the wrist and they were at his house in no time.

“..that’s kind of scary, this walk is supposed to take double the time,” Sejanus mumbled.

“Are your parents home?” Coriolanus asked.

“My ma is, but she’s definitely asleep at this point.”

Coriolanus walked first toward the door, but waited for Sejanus to open it.

“It’s not locked- oh yeah, that vampire thing.”

“Yeah, that vampire thing.”

Coriolanus didn’t want to wait. You’d think living for hundreds of years would teach him some patience, but you’d be wrong. As soon as they got into Sejanus’ bedroom he slammed the werewolf towards the wall.

Sejanus barely had time to react before lips crashed into his. He pushed Coriolanus off, panting. “Slow down,” he croaked. “And be more careful, you’re gonna break some bones if you continue like this.”

Coriolanus grumbled something before getting back to it. Teeth clashed with teeth, nails dug into skin, hair was pulled, and kisses were exchanged. They were on the bed in no time, not spending a second to stop and think about what they were doing.

Chapter Text

Coriolanus woke up, thoroughly confused for a moment. He looked around the bedroom, one which certainly wasn’t his own. He rolled over to see Sejanus next to him.

Oh.

He rolled out of bed, thankful for the curtains that didn’t let a single ray of light in. He grabbed a shirt from the floor, one which he could assume was his own. The other man didn’t seem like the kind to wear button-ups.

He slowly took care of each button from bottom to top, surprised that the shirt was completely intact. Warm hands caressed his shoulders before he could fix the last couple buttons. It was intimate, way too intimate. Even if it wasn’t for the fact that Sejanus was a werewolf and they’d met just a few weeks ago, it was still unlike Coriolanus. He didn’t ‘do’ intimacy.

“Thought I’d left some marks,” Sejanus hummed. “You certainly did.” Coriolanus turned around. Sejanus had at least put some pants on, but his upper body looked like an animal had mauled him. Not far from the truth.

“I’m a vampire, you seem to forget that. No blood means no internal bleeding means no bruises. Regeneration means no bite marks,” Coriolanus explained. “Doesn’t seem like you had the same privilege.”

Sejanus shrugged. “Doesn’t matter, you’re so weak that they didn’t hurt anyway,” he teased.

“I don’t believe that for a second-“ he saw Sejanus reaching to pull open the curtains. “Don’t you dare.”

Sejanus stopped, he’d completely forgotten the fact that Coriolanus would perish in sunlight. “Sorry, guess I just assumed you glitter in the sun.”

“What?”

“You really need to read twilight,” Sejanus continued.

“I really don’t think so,” Coriolanus decided. He dragged a hand over his face. “Can you leave me alone?”

“It’s my own room, you know,” Sejanus said. He couldn’t help but feel hurt at the sudden dismissal.

“And I can’t go home until it’s dark again,” Coriolanus groaned. “I’m going back to bed.”

“You just got dressed,” Sejanus commented.

“And? I can sleep with clothes on. I’m a vampire, I’m not picky.” Coriolanus walked back to the bed, laying down there. Sejanus sat next to him.

“Well I’m starving, so I’m going to make myself some breakfast.”

Sejanus walked into the kitchen, scavenging through the fridge. He found a packet of bacon and some eggs that would suffice. As he looked at the almost empty fridge he remembered the grocery shopping he was supposed to have done yesterday. Shit. His Ma would definitely notice.

He looked at the clock on the wall — 12:32. For a second he wondered what he’d done to wake up that late, and suddenly memories flashed through his mind.

Fangs against shoulder blades. Cold hands against warm skin. Panting. Obscene sounds.

He groaned, cracking the eggs into the pan along with the bacon. He let it sizzle for a few minutes before flipping them over. He had no idea what had compelled him to do that yesterday. He hadn’t even been drinking, the two sips of booze definitely couldn’t count as drunk, barely even tipsy.

Had Lucy Gray's words made that much of an impact? Or had he just needed some relief that bad?

His thoughts were interrupted by footsteps. His head turned, first wondering why Coriolanus would be in the kitchen, then realising. Ma. His Ma stood there and she saw everything. From his disheveled hair to his shirtless bruised chest to the fact that he had woken up many many hours later than he was supposed to.

“…hi,” he managed to say. He grabbed a t-shirt that had been laying on the couch, quickly pulling it over his head.

“Sejanus,” she started.

“Look, I’m sorry, this wasn’t meant to happen. I didn’t-“

“Did you use protection?” She interrupted, and somehow that was worse than her finding out that he’d hooked up with a vampire.

Sejanus’ face flushed and he quickly stopped the eye contact he’d been making. “No- I mean, we didn’t-“ he sputtered, trying to find the correct words. “Yes. Yes I did,” he finally decided.

Ma walked up to Sejanus and pulled him in for a hug. “That’s great, is he still here?”

“Ma, can we- can we just not right now?” he pleaded. If there was one person he didn’t want to have this conversation with then it was his mother.

“Alright, well I’m going into town, I need to get that grocery shopping done.”

“Oh I’m sorry, I, uh, forgot.”

“It’s alright Sejanus, I’m happy you’re making friends,” ma teased. She gave him yet another hug and a kiss on the cheek before she headed out.

Sejanus only got a few minutes of peace and quiet to dish up his breakfast before Coriolanus peeked his head out. “Was that your mother?”

Sejanus jumped a bit, taken aback by the sudden noise. “Yes, that was my ma,” he confirmed.

“She seems alright, though I’m not sure she’d be happy if she found out her son had hooked up with a vampire,” Coriolanus said. He paused for a moment and then continued speaking. “I’m not very happy about it either.”

“Can we please have this conversation while we’re both in the same room? Sit down and speak like normal adults?”

“If you come into the bedroom. I don’t want to make contact with the sun and lose the life I’ve managed to maintain for the last few hundred years.”

Sejanus sighed. “Fine,” he reluctantly agreed. He made his way into the bedroom, bringing his breakfast with him.

Sejanus sat down on the bed, facing Coriolanus who sat in the chair at his desk. “Can we just agree this was a mistake?” Coriolanus asked abruptly.

“Was it though?”

“Definitely. I don’t like werewolves.”

“You certainly liked me last night,” Sejanus started. “What if you just admit that you were wrong about something?”

“I wasn’t,” Coriolanus insisted. “I’m leaving as soon as it turns dark, and we’re never speaking of this again.” He was now pacing back and forth in the room, his steps heavy.

“Fine. Whatever. Do you just want to go back to that pact? We get the forest during the day, you do during the night? Will I have to stop going to those concerts again?”

“I don’t care, just let me be.”

Sejanus’ eyes narrowed. “Sure, I’ll just let you be. We’ll forget any of this ever happened and never speak again. Great.”

The rest of the day was awfully tense. Coriolanus spent his time in Sejanus' room, reading the first book he could find. Sejanus spent the day trying to avoid his bedroom at all costs. By the time the sun set, Coriolanus had snuck out of the house and was making his way to the forest to get home.