Work Text:
The sun was setting by the time Izumi returned to the tower after visiting the other knights. He’d spent the day deciding on a present for the vampire sorcerer and had finally settled on something at Ritsu’s recommendation. Izumi had thought about just not buying anything at all and pretending like he’d forgotten about the birthday since he doubted Rei would remember anyway, but Arashi had convinced him that a present was just a nice thing to do.
Izumi entered the tower and climbed up the stairs to the living space. Rei was probably still sleeping considering none of the lamps had been lit yet, so Izumi set his present on the dining table and headed further up the stairs to their bedroom to wake the vampire up. Unexpectedly, Rei’s coffin was empty. Has he gone out? Izumi wondered, a little apprehensive.
There was still the study to check, which was between the living area and the bedroom, so Izumi started heading down the spiral stairs again, only to bump into a black-cloaked figure on its way up.
“Wha–” Izumi yelped as he tried to catch himself on the stairs, though a strong arm grabbed his before anything could really happen. “What the fuck are you doing in the dark?”
“I guess you caught me,” Rei laughed, setting Izumi upright. “I thought you’d be back late.”
“It is late,” Izumi said, sullen. He noticed that Rei was wearing the heavy cloak that he usually wore to go out during the day. According to the schedule, there weren’t supposed to be any clients today, so…
“I’ve just been up a little early,” Rei said, dodging Izumi’s question before he could ask it. “I suppose there’s no point in pretending. Let’s go downstairs.”
Izumi followed Rei back to the living area, mystified as to what Rei was up to. He sat at the dining table as Rei began lighting the lamps, thinking that maybe he should have wrapped his gift with something more than just a bow. Outside the window, the sun had fully set, leaving just the residual twilight glowing through the silhouettes of the trees.
“Rei,” Izumi started to say, but Rei either didn’t hear or pretended not to hear as he continued in his task, and Izumi faltered, doubtful for the umpteenth time that day. He decided just to wait and see what Rei had to say first so he could minimize the damage if he’d made a mistake.
Finally Rei finished with the lamps (Did it always take that long? Izumi thought) and came to sit across from Izumi at the table. He had cast off the heavy outer cloak at some point and was dressed in his regular casual robes. He put one cold hand over Izumi’s reassuringly, and with a smile, said, “It’s a little early, but happy birthday, Izumi.”
Izumi flushed at Rei’s sincerity, surprised that the vampire had not only remembered but had beaten him to the punch. He blinked away the tears threatening to prickle at the corners of his eyes. “Happy birthday to you too,” he said, “though I thought that– I thought maybe you wouldn’t remember."
“Of course I would,” Rei said, putting his free hand over his mouth in mock offense. “We have the same birthday, after all. I even took the trouble to decorate.”
“Decorate?” Izumi repeated. Looking around now that the room was lit up, Izumi noticed that, indeed, there were colorful cloth banners draped in the limited space. And instead of the gas lamps, the sorcerer had actually set little magical dancing fires throughout the room. Now Izumi felt a little silly for doubting so much. “Sorry, I didn’t notice in the dark,” he said, feeling the blush coming back at seeing Rei’s efforts.
Rei laughed gently. “That’s fine. I intended it to be a surprise, anyway. There’s dinner waiting in the oven as well.”
Trying to hide his embarrassment, Izumi pushed his present forward on the table. “I got you something too, so here.”
Rei picked up the tall bottle and examined it. Izumi had gotten a fine wine that came recommended by Tsukasa, whose upper-class taste Izumi trusted. The wine was not really what Izumi was worried about, nor the scant wrapping of the red ribbon he’d tied on it.
“It’s been opened,” Rei said, looking at Izumi quizzically.
So he noticed, Izumi thought. But there was no backing out of this one. “Yes, I opened it earlier,” he said, not offering any explanation. Rei would find out soon enough. “I’ll pour you a glass, so why don’t you get dinner set up?”
Thankfully, Rei handed over the bottle without any questions and stood from the table to fetch whatever he’d made from the stone oven. Izumi stood too, and retrieved two glasses from a cupboard. He poured a glass of the wine out for Rei, and a glass of water from a jug for himself. Rei returned to the table soon after with a small pie, two plates, and tableware.
“You like chicken pot pie, right?” Rei asked, cutting the pie in half and dividing it up onto the plates. The warm and savory smell made Izumi’s mouth water.
“Yeah, but I always like your cooking,” Izumi said, taking the plate. It really was a small pie, but Izumi never ate much at night and Rei never ate much at all, so it was just perfect for the two of them. Still, before Izumi could dig in, there was one more thing to address. “So, uh, you should try the wine first.”
“I’m sure it will be good,” Rei said, though he picked up the glass anyway. Brought it to his face, and then stopped. He looked at Izumi with wonder. “You didn’t,” he breathed.
“I did,” Izumi said, too quickly, the nervousness bubbling up like it hadn’t been simmering all day. He couldn’t gauge Rei’s reaction. Was it good or bad?
Rei stared into the dark liquid as if somehow he could see what was in it. “Normally, I don’t drink blood–”
Izumi panicked. So he’d been a fool to trust Ritsu after all. Ritsu probably knew his own brother’s diet preferences and had made the suggestion to aggravate Rei through Izumi. “Sorry,” Izumi said, reaching for the glass. “I’ll just, shit, I don’t know, just–”
“Izumi.” Rei caught hold of Izumi’s flailing hand and calmly squeezed it. “Don’t be so hasty. I was going to say, normally I don’t drink blood, but if it’s yours, of course I will.”
That left Izumi’s mouth dry. He snatched his hand back from Rei, sure that the vampire would’ve been able to feel his suddenly quickened pulse. It wasn’t fair that Rei always effortlessly made him flustered.
Rei took a sip of the wine as Izumi watched. He appeared to consider it briefly, then said, “As expected, you know just what I like. It’s delicious."
“I’m glad,” Izumi said weakly, trying to gain back some semblance of cool after his outburst a moment ago. He ignored the odd feeling that came with knowing that Rei had just drank something he’d put his blood in and called it delicious, and tried to focus on eating. The pie was also as expected, meaning it was absolutely wonderful.
As dinner progressed more or less normally, Izumi relaxed. He’d been living with Rei for almost a year now. As if something like a birthday could make or break their relationship this late into the game. He should’ve listened to more of Arashi’s fussing earlier.
They finished dinner quickly on account of the small portions, and Izumi washed the dishes in the basin as he usually did. Rei poured a second glass of the wine for himself and corked the bottle, disappearing downstairs with it to store the bottle in the cooler cellar. While he was gone, Izumi thought about tasting the wine for himself but decided quickly against the idea. He’d only put in as much blood as Ritsu said to, which wasn’t that much, and it hadn’t smelled like anything was different about the wine after the deed was done, but still, the knowledge…
“Are you hurt?” Rei asked when he returned. He clarified, “From the blood.”
“Oh, no.” Izumi showed Rei the short, thin line on his palm where he’d cut it. It was a shallow cut that had closed quickly, nothing to worry about.
Rei kissed it, and the line faded away. “You don’t need to hurt yourself for my sake.” he said.
“I wanted to,” Izumi said, meeting Rei’s gaze. “Wanted to give you something back for taking care of me all this time.”
Smiling fondly, Rei said, “You just being here is enough of a gift for a lonely creature of the night like me.”
“Don’t be so sentimental,” Izumi said, afraid that he really was going to combust at this rate.
Laughing, Rei finally withdrew to the table where he’d left the glass. “I’ll be as sentimental as I want. Do you want to go for a walk after I finish this?”
Izumi glanced out the window. The sky was fully dark by now, though the gibbous moon provided plenty of light. And it was still warm out if the breeze drifting in was any indicator, unusually so for the time of year. “Okay,” Izumi agreed.
“You can do your routine in the meantime.”
Scowling, Izumi left Rei in the living area and went upstairs again to the bedroom to do his nightly routine. Even during his days of service, Izumi liked to maintain his appearance, and being friends with the local beauty queen certainly didn’t discourage him from developing his rigorous habit. Rei always snickered about it, but also always helped Izumi with the ingredients to make the various cleansing oils. There were just some things that a sorcerer could obtain that Izumi couldn’t on his own.
Izumi washed his face at the washbasin Rei had installed in the bedroom for this very purpose, then washed again with a sugar scrub, and finally sat at his vanity and applied two of his multitude of oils. With the skin care part done, he changed into some more comfortable clothes and sat on the floor to do breathing exercises and meditate.
By the time Izumi returned downstairs, Rei had put away the remaining glass and was idly plotting out some hex or other.
“Are you ready?” Rei asked, capping the inkwell. At Izumi’s nod, Rei got up from the table and threw an old blanket over one shoulder.
“What’s that for?” Izumi asked. “It’s not cold out.”
Rei patted the blanket. “Just in case. Shall we go, then?”
“Yeah.”
They exited the tower, and Izumi took Rei’s cool hand as the vampire led them into the nearby woods. Under the shedding trees, the moonlight was less strong, but Izumi trusted Rei’s lead and walked confidently even if he couldn’t always see what was on the ground. They were heading in the direction opposite the nearest town, into the deeper parts of the woods where Izumi rarely went.
Soon they crested a low rise, and Izumi saw what it was that Rei had taken him out to see. The rise sloped off into a small clearing dominated by a still pool, the reflection of the moon on its surface shimmering as bugs skimmed across the water. To Izumi’s side, Rei laid out the blanket near a fallen log and beckoned for him to sit.
“It’s beautiful,” Izumi breathed, leaning comfortably against Rei on the blanket. “I didn’t know there was a waterhole here.”
“There wasn’t,” Rei admitted. “It took me a while to shape the ground and collect the water here, though the heavy rain a few days ago made the process easier.”
Izumi sighed and laced his fingers through Rei’s. “You’re always so good to me. I’ll never be able to repay you in a lifetime.”
Rei reached over and gently patted Izumi’s head with his free hand. “I told you, it’s enough that you’re sharing your life with me.”
They sat in silence, just leaning against each other for hours if the faraway town’s bells were anything to go by, with Rei occasionally pointing out animals that were too stealthy for Izumi to notice. Eventually, though, Izumi felt the tiredness creeping in. He rarely went to sleep too late if he could help it, and just sitting here with the water and the animals and Rei was very relaxing.
“It’s okay if you fall asleep, I’ll carry you back,” Rei said.
“I’m not a child,” Izumi pouted, even though he’d already dozed off a few times and Rei knew it. “Just a bit longer, and we can walk back together.”
Rei only hummed amusedly in response. Izumi thought back on the entire day, from meeting with his old friends and getting their encouragement all the way to sitting together like this, and thought, There is something I could give Rei that I haven’t yet today. So, he briefly twisted away from Rei in order to draw the vampire into a kiss.
Over time, Izumi had gotten used to the coolness of Rei’s skin, though it still came as a surprise when it was the coolness of Rei’s mouth against his. Izumi imagined that he could taste the iron from his own blood in Rei's mouth, and felt the sharp canines pressing against his tongue, and another thought came to him.
“What you said earlier,” Izumi panted after breaking away, a little breathless. He ignored Rei’s curious eyes and instead looked out over the water. “About my– about drinking my blood, I think, I’d be fine if you did it.”
“You want me to bite you?” Rei laughed, tracing a cold line down Izumi’s exposed neck. The ghostly touch sent shivers down Izumi’s arms.
Izumi cursed his tired mind, and yet couldn’t find it in himself to stop from blabbering on. “Not on the neck, that’s too obvious a place, though I guess– well, everybody in town already knows I live with you, so maybe there isn’t any point in hiding it if you did leave a mark…”
Cradling Izumi’s face gently to draw Izumi’s gaze, Rei pressed a kiss to the side of Izumi’s mouth. He was smirking a little as he said, “I wouldn’t leave marks anyway, though it’s cute that you want me to.”
“I didn’t say that much,” Izumi said, bristling a little at being called cute even in his tiredness. He glared, as if challenging the vampire. “Are you gonna do it?”
“Maybe another time,” Rei said with another laugh.
Off in the distance, the town’s bells rang again, and Izumi counted one, two, three, all the way up to twelve. “Happy real birthday, Rei,” he said, the sleep finally kicking in now that he had gotten to what he was waiting for. He let himself sink against Rei again, draping over Rei’s lap like a lazy cat.
“Yes, happy birthday to us,” Rei murmured, settling fingers in Izumi’s hair. And then, as Izumi was really drifting off, so much that Izumi thought maybe he imagined it, was a quiet, “I love you, Izumi.”
Izumi woke up late the next morning, properly tucked in bed, bright sunlight streaming in through the window. He briefly felt like going back to sleep, and suddenly remembered all of the stupid things he’d said to Rei late the last night. Izumi sat up, instantly awake from the embarrassing memories, and noticed that Rei still hadn’t gone to sleep even though it was past time for the vampire to retreat to his coffin. Izumi got out of bed and dressed, figuring he could see if Rei was up for breakfast and then wash later.
Voices drifted from the living area as Izumi rounded the stairs, and Izumi entered to see a very familiar person sitting at the dining table. “Yuu– I mean, Makoto!” Izumi called out, surprised.
Makoto saw Izumi, and flinched ever-so-slightly. “Oh, Izumi! Good morning, it’s been a while.”
“Good morning,” Rei said from the kitchen area. He was wearing the heavy cloak again, with the hood pulled up to protect from the morning light. He appeared to be heating some smoked fish fillets over the stove.
“Morning,” Izumi responded, moving over to sit at the table and noticing, with a scowl, that Makoto unconsciously leaned back. There was a basket of fruits on the shelf by the window that hadn’t been there the night before. “What are you doing here, Makoto?”
Makoto was staring at and fidgeting with his hands. “Well, Ritsu told me you got engaged, so I thought I should pay you a visit. I brought gifts.”
Izumi looked at Rei. Rei looked at Makoto. Makoto realized that maybe he’d said something wrong by the silence in the room, and looked up at Izumi, startled.
“Engaged?” Izumi echoed blankly to Rei. “Why would Ritsu tell Makoto we’re engaged?”
“‘We’?” Makoto asked, clearly confused by what he’d started. “You and the sor– er, Rei are engaged?”
Rei snuffed out the stove fire with a wave of his hand and tipped the fish fillets onto a waiting plate, which he then placed on the dining table. “No. Not yet, at least. It’s Izumi’s birthday, Makoto. It seems my little brother lied to you.”
Makoto gasped. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know! Wow, this is so embarrassing. I brought the wrong type of gifts, then.”
Izumi glanced at the fruit basket. Well, food was typically a household gift rather than a personal one, but it came from Makoto, so Izumi was still happy. “It’s fine,” Izumi said, resisting the urge to kick up a fuss about Makoto forgetting. “It was nice of you to come, anyway. I can walk you back to town later, if you want.”
“Eat first,” Rei interrupted. “I suppose I should finally pay my dear little brother a visit.”
With Rei wandering away to prepare for his venture into town, Izumi was left at the table with Makoto. It really had been a long time since he’d seen his childhood friend. Not since Izumi entered knighthood, and he’d spent most of his time then chasing rumors. When it came down to it, Izumi didn’t know what they could talk about. He pushed a fork towards Makoto, picking one up for himself. “Here, before it gets cold.”
“Um. Thanks.” Makoto took the fork and speared a piece of fish. “You know, Rei is really nice. I’ve only heard about scary things about the sorcerer who lives in the eastern tower, so I was surprised when he invited me in and offered to make food.”
“Yeah,” Izumi agreed absently. He ate some of the fish as well. Was this the salmon they had stocked in the cellar? Izumi tried to put on an air of indifference as he said, “I guess you hadn’t heard, but Rei’s been taking care of me.”
“I’ll be back in the afternoon,” Rei called from elsewhere in the tower, followed by the sound of the front door shutting.
Makoto finally made real eye contact with Izumi for the first time since they were in the room together. “That’s great,” Makoto said. “I’m glad that you’ve been able to, uh, move on, I guess. Find someone else and all that.”
“Yeah,” Izumi said absently again. But then, as he repeated Makoto’s words in his head, he found that they struck a chord. Izumi hadn’t thought about his old feelings for Makoto in a long time, especially not after moving in with Rei, and was a little shocked to realize that he genuinely didn’t even want those old feelings anymore. He stood suddenly from the table, surprising Makoto again. “I, uh, Rei forgot something, I’ll be right back,” Izumi said before rushing to the door and pulling on some shoes.
Izumi ran towards the town, spotting the black-cloaked figure farther down the woodland path. “Rei!” he called.
Rei stopped at Izumi’s voice and turned, backtracking to meet Izumi. “Is something the matter?” Rei asked.
“I just,” Izumi said, hands on knees, trying to catch his breath between words. He peered up into Rei’s hood, dark with the backdrop of the blue sky. “I just wanted to let you know that– that I love you.”
“Is that it?” Rei laughed, jolting Izumi upright. He pressed a quick and comforting kiss to Izumi’s lips. “You don’t need to tell me that, I already know.”