Work Text:
My throat is dry, I feel dizzy
Yearning grows in those days
Every time we meet, the wounds deepen
And I become even more unable to let go
Bloody Lullaby; Ryugujo
-
Kyouji bends his head to the side, exposing his neck.
“Go ahead,” he says.
Satomi is tempted. He hasn’t eaten anything in days and he’s starving. Since his transformation, no matter what he tried to eat, everything tasted disgusting and even when he managed to swallow, his stomach immediately rejected the food and he threw up. He even tried to eat raw meat, but his body was only accepting blood, and he couldn’t afford enough meat to get all the blood he needed. He doesn't have the stomach to kill strays either. He’s feeling tired, weak, dizzy, and so, so hungry.
“I can’t,” he says. His voice comes out weak. He turns his face away so he wouldn’t see Kyouji anymore. If he keeps looking, he might not be able to resist. But he can't do it. He can't just bite Kyouji’s neck. That would be too… intimate.
“Satomi-kun, you need to eat.”
“I know, but…” he purses his lips.
Satomi looks white as a sheet. His complexion had always been on the fairer side, but due to the literal lack of blood in his body, he’s pretty much a walking corpse now.
“Satomi-kun, I know I’m a smoker but I’m pretty healthy. I exercise and eat well. I’m strong enough, you can have some of my blood, I’ll be fine,” Kyouji tries.
“That…” is not the problem. He lowers his head and closes his eyes. Don’t look. Don’t look.
Satomi hears Kyouji moving closer, sitting cross-legged right in front of him. Their legs are almost touching.
“Come on,” Kyouji says. “I understand that you’re nervous since it’s your first time, but it’s just me. I’ll take care of you.”
Satomi thinks Kyouji couldn’t have worded that in a worse way, and if he had enough blood in his body it all would have run to his face now. Perks of being a starving vampire, at least it isn’t so obvious when he’s feeling embarrassed.
“I can’t,” he says again.
“Satomi-kun…”
“I can’t bite your neck. That’s just…” He opens his eyes, but doesn’t turn to look at Kyouji.
Something seems to snap in Kyouji’s brain.
“I see,” he smiles, understanding.
Kyouji unbuttons the cuff of his sleeve and rolls it up, stopping just a little before his elbow.
“Here,” he extends his arm, offering Satomi his wrist.
Satomi finally looks up and sees Kyouji’s arm reaching him. It’s his right arm, the one with Satomi’s name tattooed. Satomi can see it, and it seems to be enough to convince his brain that it’s okay, he’s entitled to drink Kyouji’s blood.
Or maybe he’s just too hungry to think straight.
Satomi grabs Kyouji’s arm with both hands, as if afraid that Kyouji would pull it away. He approaches his mouth to Kyouji’s wrist. He’s not sure if he can actually hear Kyouji’s pulse, or if it’s just his mind playing tricks on him. He presses his lips on Kyouji’s skin before opening his mouth and finally sinking his small but sharp fangs into his flesh.
Blood starts flowing into his mouth, and Satomi closes his eyes before he starts swallowing. It’s salty and coppery as expected, but it’s also the best thing he’s ever eaten. He can feel his body getting warm, like Kyouji’s blood is instantly filling his veins and flowing through his body, giving him life. It tastes good, so good, and he can barely make sense of what’s happening around him anymore. Later he would vaguely remember Kyouji’s voice talking to him in a low, kind intonation, You’re doing great, Satomi-kun and Keep going until you’re satisfied, and in a more playful tone, You look like you’re enjoying it. Do I taste good? But Satomi wouldn’t be able to tell if Kyouji really said any of that or it was just his imagination.
As his hunger is sated, it feels like he’s getting out of a trance. Like there’s blood circulating in his brain again, making him able to think. He opens his eyes and looks at Kyouji, who has his eyes fixed on him and is smiling fondly, as if Satomi isn’t doing something extremely dangerous to him. Satomi needs to stop, so he withdraws his teeth from Kyouji’s flesh, but the blood doesn’t stop flowing. He doesn’t know what to do, but almost as if it’s instinctual he bites his own tongue just enough to make it bleed a little, and licks the wound he left on Kyouji’s wrist. The blood stops running a few seconds later.
Satomi lets go of Kyouji’s arm, and Kyouji pulls it away, looking at his wrist. There’s a wound, but it looks like it was left in there days ago. It’s not bleeding.
“Hm, interesting,” Kyouji says to himself, then looks at Satomi again. “Satomi-kun, yo—Hey, what’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry,” Satomi says, covering his face. “I didn’t—I don’t—I don’t know what to do. I’m scared.”
Kyouji moves closer and takes Satomi’s hand away from his face. Satomi is flushed now, his skin has color again and he looks like a normal living person. Kyouji can feel his pulse through the skin of his wrist. But he’s crying, the tears don’t stop rolling down his cheeks, and his lips, still red with Kyouji's blood, are trembling.
“Look at me,” Kyouji says.
It takes a few seconds for Satomi to obey.
“I’ll be here to help you any time you need, okay? Just call me.”
“But you—”
“Call me, Satomi-kun. I’ll come running. I promise.”
“But I can’t keep doing this. I can’t just drink your blood every time I’m hungry.”
“We’ll find a way,” Kyouji says. As if it’s simple.
Kyouji’s hand is still holding onto Satomi’s wrist. He moves it to hold Satomi’s hand instead, covering it with both of his.
“Okay?”
Satomi nods, hesitantly. Kyouji’s hands feel warm on his. He wants more of that warmth.
“Stay here?” Satomi asks, before he could stop himself.
“Hm?”
“Tonight. Can you… stay here?”
“I can,” Kyouji says. Then adds: “But If I stay I might be the one to bite you.”
It had been days since Satomi felt his own heartbeat, but now he was feeling it. And it was fast.
“That’s okay,” he says.
“Do you want me to?” Kyouji asked, leaning in.
Satomi is blushing intensely now, but he looks Kyouji in the eye to answer.
“Yes.”