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5up peeked outside, making sure night began. He sighed in relief as soon as it came.
He concentrated and after about 5 minutes, he shifted into a bat, wings stretching out as he flew onto the streets.
There was a lone human in an alley, seemingly on the phone. 5up flew onto the wall to watch them.
It was a tall male, with orange hair and glasses.
As soon as he hung up the phone, 5up moved slightly, and he glanced over at the bat.
"Hafu, you don't need to stalk me in the city." He sighed in annoyance.
He tilted his head. Who was 'Hafu?'
He tried to lunge at 5up, and he swerved away, but due to his inexperience he transformed back.
"Fuck! I'm sorry! Don't hurt me, please!" He cried out, lifting his arms in front of his face.
The male blinked in shock, and curled his lip.
"Oh, you're not Hafu. Who are you?" He demanded.
"Just a vampire. Nothing of harm, I swear!" 5up responded.
He raised an eyebrow.
"Were you gonna try and feed off me, bloodsucker?" He growled.
5up nodded his head slightly, a bit ashamed.
"I'm sorry. I've been hungry." He complained.
"Then you are a small threat. However, I believe I can help you," He mused, ignoring 5up's statement.
He looked around, and no one was around.
"I'm Apollo, a werewolf. If you follow me, I can take you to a mythical creature safe haven." Apollo told him.
He stared at him doubtfully, he thought he was the only monster in miles.
"Show me your werewolf form, then I'll decide." He said finally.
Apollo sighed and closed his eyes, before he shifted into a taller creature, ears popping out of his hair and pupils slitting before his form turned animalistic, and finally a werewolf.
5up blinked in shock, but he was also impressed with the fast transformation.
"Impressive," He admitted softly.
Apollo laughed, it turning into a slight howl.
"I'll come with you... If you carry me or something, I'm tired from flying." He said, almost a challenge.
He expected the werewolf to refuse, but he squeaked as he was picked up and put on his back.
He ran out of sight of the town, as 5up clutched onto him for dear life.
"Don't drop me!" He pleaded as he began to sprint, now that they were hidden from the shitty small town's eyes.
The narrow slits in his eyes rolled as much as they could, as if saying 'I've been doing this for a while'.
Eventually, they finally reached a large mansion, it was twice the size of any house 5up had ever seen.
"Wow," He breathed out as Apollo put him down and turned back to his human form.
He knocked on the door, 5up almost hiding behind him due to his height.
A girl with short black hair peered up at him and smiled, and 5up saw her fangs.
It could be the 'Hafu' he was talking about, and that theory was confirmed when Apollo cried out her name happily.
"Hey, Hafu!" He smiled softly.
She raised a brow.
"Weren't you going home for the night? I just told Steve you left." She tilted her head.
Apollo froze, shoulders tensing up.
"Is he still in there?" He asked, suddenly worried. Hafu nodded, then Apollo sighed in relief, shoulders shagging.
"Anyway, I was just going on a walk when I received a call from my dad. You know how he is," He sounded annoyed, groaning at the end of his sentence.
"Then I got side-tracked by this guy!" He exclaimed, sounding like he was joking until he stepped away to reveal 5up.
He looked down awkwardly, shifting his feet.
"Apollo! Are you kidding? Did you bring a human to the hideout?" She hissed.
The werewolf stared him down.
"He's probably just nervous. He's a vampire, like you." He stated, as 5up continued to stare at the ground.
What if they didn't actually accept him and he had to go off alone again? He had only recently escaped the scientist lab of that city, and he wanted friends, especially within a mythical creature society.
While his nerves threatened to overcome him, he shivered slightly as bat wings appeared on his back.
Hafu's eyes widened and her jaw dropped.
He finally looked up and opened his mouth to speak, and that must've been when she saw his fangs.
"Alright, come in." She said excitedly, basically dragging 5up in.
He glanced around, seeing every type of creature in the house.
A kraken. A small boy with ram horns. A taller one accompanies him, a hybrid of a ghost and some black creature with purple eyes.
The most interesting one by far, a fae flies around the kraken, giggling softly as he whispers something.
It seemed so pure that within a house of chaos, within the house of monsters, a fae was flying around.
Once he's done scanning the room, he realizes that Hafu and Apollo were talking about him from behind him.
"What's his name?" Hafu asks softly.
"I forgot to ask. Uh, bloodsucker?" He calls out for 5up, and he turns around.
"5up. 'Bloodsucker' makes me sound like a weirdo." He wrinkles his nose. Apollo raises an eyebrow but keeps walking.
Hafu however, stares at him with glee.
"You remind me of a sibling." She says delightfully, coming to walk beside 5up.
He was still a bit nervous, but the bat wings on his back disappeared when she said that, almost as if he was comfortable around her.
She glanced at his back curiously.
"Has that ever happened before?" She murmured softly.
"No. Usually I can't even begin bat-shift for like 5 minutes. I only found out I was a vampire 2 years ago.. I don't get much blood though, I've been so hungry recently." He complained.
Hafu softened her eyes sympathetically.
"We have some people who are willing to be taken blood from-" She said, as 5up smelled the familiar scent- blood. He, in a trance, walked toward the scent.
He couldn't see anything and was afraid, but he still instinctively followed the stench of blood.
He couldn't hear Hafu's calls of his name, he just needed to get to the blood.
A brunette human was wrapping his finger until 5up snatched it dazedly, unwrapping it, bringing the hand to his mouth, about to suck the blood.
He only stopped when Apollo lunged at him, pinning him down with a snarl.
5up immediately was out of his trance or whatever, shaking fearfully underneath Apollo.
"Just because I brought you here doesn't mean you're allowed to feed off of my boyfriend!" He yelled angrily. 5up panics and hears footsteps running over. He can't turn, closing his eyes, terrified.
"Apollo! Get off him! Don't you see how badly he's shaking? He couldn't control it!" Hafu hissed defensively as 5up continued shaking. Apollo's werewolf form was terrifying when against it.
Apollo glanced down at him apologetically, however fire still in his eyes.
He got off, however, and Hafu ran to him.
"5up? You okay?" She asked softly, rubbing his back. Undoubtedly she could feel his bones, since he wasn't eating much recently.
"Hungry.." He murmured, burying his face into her shoulder.
He heard the whispers of Apollo to his boyfriend, but only buried his face further in shame.
"I know bub, let's go find you something to eat, someone will be willing to give some blood to you." She coaxed softly.
He sighed and stood up, following Hafu out of the potion room? Or something? The brunette must be a wizard or potion maker of sorts.
He refused to look back on the couple, and see their angered faces. Great, just great! 5up's stupid hunger had caused him to lose 2 potential friends.
5up sighed outwardly, and Hafu caught his eye.
"Hey, it's alright. It happens to every new vampire. We call it blood-possession. It happens when you haven't drank blood in about 5 months, and you smell blood." She informed 5up. He tightened his fist, upset.
"Yes, but I think I just lost 2 possible friends, and what if everyone hates me? Surely the story will spread..." He groaned, wanting to sink into the floor and disappear. Hafu blinked.
"They won't judge you. Apollo might keep a grudge though. He's protective of Steve." She said fondly.
"Steve?" He raised a brow.
"The potion maker." She answered.
His shoulders slumped slightly at the mention of the situation.
"Can we just find someone willing to give blood..? I don't want that to happen.. ever again." He said, near to tears.
Hafu noticed his upset expression and grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently.
"Yeah. C'mon, I know Koji usually doesn't mind his blood getting taken." She basically dragged him along, as he stared at the floor shamefully. Sure, he couldn't control it, but it was still his fault.
"Koji!" Hafu called out.
A dark haired guy turned to Hafu.
"Hey, Hafu!" He smiled slightly, and turned to 5up.
"Who's this?" He gestured to 5up.
"Oh, this is 5up! He's a vampire like me. Speaking of.. He hasn't had blood in months, and we were wondering if he could take some of yours..?" Hafu asked.
Koji glanced at him, as if assessing him.
"Yeah! Of course! Just not too much." He smiled softly.
"Alright. 5up, have you ever bitten anyone before?" She asked him, looking at him.
He shook his head, the one time he had, he was in a trance similar to blood-possession, and didn't remember anything after. Just a dead body in front of him.
Hafu helped him learn how to bite by biting into an apple, then he bit into Koji's arm and began taking blood. Eventually, Koji told him to pull away and he stopped.
Hafu was standing there with a bandage and gauze, and wrapped Koji's arm tight enough to suck up the blood but loose enough that it didn't hurt.
"There. Thank you so much, Koji." Hafu smiled in appreciation, and gestured to 5up to follow her.
"Anytime! Hope you feel better, 5up!" He called to them.
Did he deserve to feel better anymore? He wasn't even sure.
He yawned. "Is there anywhere I can sleep?" He asked Hafu.
"Yeah! There's a spare room if you want it." She said, and he nodded.
She showed him the way, and he changed into a pair of pajamas that were in the drawer, magically changing into his size.
He lay down in the bed, until he opened his eyes for a moment and saw something different.
5up knew he was in the estate's potion room, due to the fact Steve and Apollo were there, mixing something.
Though, when they turned to him, Apollo was in his werewolf form and lunged at him, pinning him again.
"No Hafu to save you now, huh?" He growled, claws curling around 5up's throat.
"I didn't mean to Apollo- I'm sorry!" He said fearfully, and Apollo's claws were now digging into his throat.
"Kill him Apollo! I want his head for revenge!" Steve cackled, and Apollo tore his throat out, causing him to drop dead.
They laughed at his writhing form as the blood began to pool underneath him, all he could see was red, covered in his own blood as the forms of Steve and Apollo turned into cackling shadows.
He woke up gasping for air, clutching the sheets for dear life. When he could get his breath back, he was screaming.
Steve snuck a glance at the curly-haired vampire, as he buried his face into Hafu. They must be new, since he didn't recognize them.
He then stared down at his finger, which had been pricked by a thorn and begun to bleed and he started wrapping it, until the vampire had undid it in his blood-possession.
Steve felt bad for the poor guy, since he looked so terrified of Steve's lover when he had pinned him down. If Steve heard right, Apollo brought him here.
Apollo leaned in to whisper to him.
"You alright, baby?" He asked worriedly.
"Yeah, but who was that pretty guy? I think you really scared him though, Apollo," Steve responded with his own question.
Apollo rolled his eyes.
"He could've killed you in that possession for all we know! Also, his name is 5up, and, hurtful, I'm right here." He huffed.
"Blood-possession only happens when vampires are extremely hungry, that means he's probably not had blood, and judging on his body, he also looked like he was starving himself. I would've been fine if he took a bit of blood." Steve argued.
His boyfriend sighed.
"Steve- no offence, but you're a human. I can't stand to lose you--" Apollo started, and Steve interrupted him.
"I can protect myself now! I had a potion that could've helped if I needed it." He quipped.
Apollo glanced into his eyes.
"I'm sorry baby. I just don't want you to get hurt." He murmured, pulling Steve closer. He smiled.
"I know, but how about don't scare pretty vampire boy like that next time?" He asked.
Apollo narrowed his eyes.
"...Fine. But if he tries to hurt you, I will personally oversee that he gets what he deserves." Apollo finally agreed.
Steve kissed him softly and they left the potion room to see 5up, Hafu and Koji talking.
They watched as Hafu taught the young vampire how to bite, with an apple of all things, but it was still sweet of her. He wondered if 5up had taken a liking to Hafu since they were both vampires.
Suddenly, 5up bit into Koji's arm.
Apollo's eyes widened. Steve held out a hand.
"Wait. Watch what happens. Let's see if I would've 'died'." He stared at 5up, who, when prompted by Koji, let go, a small, unsure smile on the vampire's face. Koji grinned at him.
He and Hafu walked away until 5up went into the room which he recognized as the guest room, where he'd previously stayed.
"See? Could've been fine!" He said proudly.
Apollo just rolled his eyes and pulled him in for a kiss.
"Love you too, asshole." He grumbled.
They realized it was getting late, then began to head to their room, which was next to the guest room.
It was around 1:30am when Steve heard the first scream.
He rubbed his eyes, thinking it was Apollo.
"Whh?" He murmured tiredly.
When he heard the second scream, he identified it was not Apollo, and it sounded like it was coming from the guest room.
"Hafu will comfort him, he'll be fine," Apollo said groggily.
Steve's eyes flashed with panic.
"Hafu left earlier this evening, Apollo-! She needed to go get groceries." He said, standing up and leaving the room.
"Pollo, c'mon! He needs our help. Please?" He begged.
Apollo sighed and stood up, following Steve out of the room.
He ran into the vampire's room, he was gasping for air and fidgeting around.
He didn't realize what was happening until he felt arms pull his up and trace circles on his hand, and soft lips pressing quick kisses to his forehead.
They began to speak.
"Breathe, baby. In.. out." The voice said calmly. He felt the bed dip slightly on the other side, and this time, paws wrapped around his waist. 5up was only aware of one creature with paws. Apollo. He stiffened and waited for Apollo to kill him, exactly like the dream.
"5up, what's wrong?" A different voice, Apollo's(?) asked softly in his ear.
He was still frozen in terror and fear, his eyes shut tightly. He also didn't realize he was crying until the other person wiped his face with their finger. Shit, shit, shit, shit. Of course the only two people who heard him were Steve and Apollo.
He began to shake again and the form in front of him, the one he presumed was Steve, kept rubbing his hands and kissing his forehead, honestly 5up was waiting for Apollo to kill him for what his boyfriend was doing, though he didn't seem to care and buried his face into 5up's neck, rubbing his sides. He gasped slightly before stopping shaking and panicking. Now, he just cried.
Steve wiped his tears away again.
"It's alright honey," He cooed soothingly, pressing a longer kiss.
"Nothing can hurt you now, 5up." Apollo's voice sounded from behind him, or somewhere in his neck.
"A-Aren't you.. mad?" He wondered, finally being able to speak. Steve shushed him gently.
"Not anymore. We watched how you tried to be better than earlier." Apollo said fondly, and 5up almost smiled, then realized the situation, and flushed red.
"Why are you guys," He began, pausing to sniff.
"Here?" He asked them.
"You screamed. It sounded like you were scared. I know when I'm scared I like to have Apollo with me." Steve shrugged.
5up shook his head.
"No, I mean, why are you holding me like this, and kissing my head?" He wrinkled his nose.
Apollo sucked in a breath and Steve flushed a little pink.
"Uh- Well- I don't really know how else to comfort.." He admitted sheepishly.
"Please tell me I'm not ruining your relationship.." 5up curled a little closer around himself.
"Never." Steve said fiercely.
Wordlessly, he got lost in Steve's beautiful eyes until he dozed off again, this time having no dream.
When he woke up, Apollo was still burying his head into his neck and holding him, while Steve had moved a lot closer and forced 5up's face to be buried in his chest.
He winced slightly, why were they still here? They could've gone back to their own room and slept peacefully.
Still, he found himself not moving until they woke up. Apollo was the one to wake up next.
He could feel him move away, then hear him stretch and place his arms back, but this time his head was just above 5up's.
"You awake?" Apollo murmured sleepily.
"Yeah," 5up responded. No sense in pretending he was still asleep.
Apollo hummed and fiddled with 5up's hair.
"How come you yelled last night?" Apollo asked, still concentrated on 5up's hair.
"...Nightmare," He murmured, refusing to elaborate.
"Oh. I'm sorry." Apollo said sympathetically.
5up shrugged, nightmares and just suffering in general was normal to him.
The movement must've woken the potion maker up, as he groaned groggily.
"Morning, darling." Apollo said fondly to his boyfriend.
Steve yawned and pulled 5up closer, losing contact with Apollo. He turned around and widened his eyes, singling to Apollo that he didn't know what to do, and asking if he was alright with it. He just smiled and shrugged.
"Could you guys uh, leave? I want to change, but I don't feel comfortable changing with you guys in here.." He stuttered, trying not to seem rude or offend them.
Steve gasped dramatically.
"I'll have you know I can behave myself! But fine," He added, and pulled Apollo out of the room with him.
He heard their footsteps recede after Steve called out that they were going to go get breakfast at the breakfast bar. 5up did not know what or where that was, but he smiled and wished them well. When they were gone though, he dropped the facade.
He shook while thinking about their thoughts of him. Why did they come to him in the night? Surely they still didn't like him? Wasn't he just burdening them by accidentally crying out?What if they were just playing nice to get on his good side?
'Friends' weren't meant to last for him.
A thought came to his head.
If he wasn't here, then they could be at peace, and never have the threat of a young vampire killing the potionmaker.
He could make a plan. Stay in his room until the next party, then sneak out when everyone's too drunk to notice.
Timeskip, about a month
The party had begun. After a month of waiting. 5up spent that month locked in the guest room, visited only by Koji, who decided to use his extremely annoying phantom form to come bother 5up whenever he was bored (which was basically every 5 seconds), but secretly, he didn't mind. He made a big deal out of it whenever he showed up, though.
He had found a loophole on the third day of the second week, pretend to sleep.
Apparently, Koji's small British braincells did not comprehend that 5up is not nocturnal, and was usually awake during well, everything.
He hasn't really slept in 3 weeks, out of nerves that nightmares would keep coming.
He shook that thought away as he glanced at the note he'd prewritten. Someone would find it, and they would honour his wishes. They had to.
5up closed his eyes and unlocked his door for the first time in a month, opening the door.
He took peeks around the estate, reminding himself of a fond memory for when he would be alone, yet again. It seemed like 5up was always going to end up alone, after everything he'd been through with humans.
Now he was smart enough to swear off any friendships, as they always ended in shambles with 5up being more depressed than before.
Now he would leave before he could get left heartbroken.
The loud music was certainly distracting as the door opened and closed quickly. 5up took a moment to transform into a bat, but the furthest he got was getting bat wings.
He frowned but flapped his wings and flew off into the distance as the sun began to set.
Goodbye Steve and Apollo. I hope you stay happy now that the risk is gone.
Goodbye, Hafu. I'm sorry. You were good to me, and I appreciate that, but I can't.
He smiled wistfully as he flew off into a forest in the distance.
Apollo woke up hungover with pain in his head.
God, why did he let Steve convince him to drink so much? Oh, right. He loved him and did almost anything for him. He sighed with annoyance as the human was curled up into his side.
Steve woke up with the noise and groaned, he seemed to be as hungover as he was, which put a small but fond smile on his face.
He'd been more reserved and closed off before meeting the hot-headed human, but now he was a little more social, due to his need to be liked by everyone.
"Good morning Suptic," He teased as Steve rubbed his eyes tiredly.
Once he could finally pull his hands away, he rolled his eyes and pulled Apollo closer, causing him to chuckle.
"Awww, you tired Stevie?" He smiled widely now.
He nodded, but then sat up.
"You wanna go see 5up? If he's finally done with anti-social month, anyway." He said, suddenly awake as if he was struck by lightning, and now had energy coursing through his veins.
"Sure, why not?" Apollo shrugged.
5up had been closed off for the recent month, staying locked in the guest room of the estate. It wasn't unnatural, since most mythics were somewhat similar to him when they first came to the mansion.
He stood up and pulled off his pyjamas to replace them with a white t-shirt and jeans.
They went to the door of the guest room, where 5up had locked himself away.
"5up? You here buddy?" Apollo called out. No noise was made. For good measure, he checked the door. It was unlocked. He smiled at Steve.
"Guess you get your wish today, darlin'." He grinned. Apollo opened the door and Steve peeked in. After a moment of staring, Steve turned to him.
"Are you two playing a prank on me? No one's in here?" He said, confused. Apollo peeked in and glanced around. He was right. The room was empty. He dashed in and felt the bed. It was neat and organized.
It was also cold. 5up had been gone for a while. Apollo frowned.
"No, haven't talked to him since he shut himself off." He finally answered frantically, searching around the room.
Steve's eyes turned worried, and his expression dropped into horror as he picked up a piece of paper.
"A..Apollo.." He stuttered, and he ran over, holding his boyfriend's waist tightly while looking over his shoulder to read it.
'im leaving, dont come looking for me. just forget i exist. it won't be difficult. even if no one reads this, just dont.' Apollo's eyes widen.
"Oh god, Apollo we have to find him!" Steve said frantically.
For once, he agreed with something his lover mentioned about the adorable vampire.
"I can get some potions for you which would help you to go search for him as a werewolf--" He stammered, before cutting off by running to his potion room.
Apollo ran after him and watched as he searched his shelves quickly.
"Uhh. Mind-reading potion in case he is too hurt to speak or something, then a tracking potion, and a cancellation potion in case he has had something bad? Or if he doesn't want you in his mind?" He asked, furrowing his brow. Apollo nodded.
"I'll be good with just that and my senses. I should leave quickly so the little guy can't get much ground on me." He said quietly. Steve turned to him.
"You alright? You're not usually that quiet while talking." He smiled at Steve as he immediately recognized it.
"I'm just worried about him. Young mythics out in the world alone.." He shook his head, his words trailing off. Steve grinned.
"Don't waste any more time! Go!" He ordered, then left him a kiss, immediately convincing Apollo.
He drank the tracking potion and began to follow 5up's scent track. It was faint, because he'd probably been flying, but he could sense it with his own power with mastering his werewolf side, and the tracking potion.
5up had been wandering for 3 days. Sometimes he saw a wolf running through the forest, but often hid from it, as he didn't want to be eaten.
The one regret he had of leaving the estate is that Hafu had not taught him much about being a vampire.
He walked until he reached a dock of sorts, near a willow grove. It was a beautiful sight.
He smiled softly, staring at the water until a reflection of a bear came up behind him. He froze. The bear stared at him wonderingly, reaching a paw out. He tried to dodge, but just fell in the water.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck- No- I can't swim!" He screamed, flailing around in the water, but due to his weakened condition, it didn't take him long to sink under.
After a long moment of staring upwards, the water began hurting his eyes. He shut them.
He was well aware he was going to die permanently now. He sighed and allowed himself to sink further and further down.
5up heard a splash but ignored it, assuming it was a fish. It was not.
He felt paws grab him from behind, pulling him up as quick as they could.
5up opened his eyes to see Apollo, as a werewolf, desperately trying to save him.
He gasped when they finally reached the surface, coughing out water that got stuck in his mouth. Instead of talking, he buried his face into Apollo's shoulder, tears letting loose.
I was so close to dying. Echoed in his mind, over and over again. Maybe I do actually need other people.
Apollo rubbed his back, paws turning into hands, his height growing shorter, and he sat on the dock to hold 5up easier.
He still was slightly afraid of Apollo, but he'd saved him, and he needed something right now, so he didn't question it.
"Hey, it's alright. I'm here. It's okay. You're okay." He whispered. He wrapped his arms around him, shaking and sobbing.
What if I drowned before he could find me? What if-- His thoughts were cut off by Apollo.
"But I did find you. You're alright now 5up. I promise. I won't leave, and I will make sure you stay."
How did he-
"Mind-reading potion." Apollo answered.
He tensed up. He could see his every thought right now.
"Right. I'll uhm, get out of your head." Apollo said, taking a sip of a teal-coloured vial.
He blinked. Apollo wasn't gonna just search through his thoughts?
He buried his face deeper into Apollo's shoulder, and he felt him lift himself up, and start carrying 5up, assumingly, back to the estate.
He wanted to squirm and struggle, but he was just too tired, and cold, and hungry. He hadn't eaten food or drank blood in that whole month.
In fact, he probably hasn't eaten food for 6 months.
It dawned on him that Apollo probably could tell, with his too skinny to be healthy stature, and weakness in the moment.
His nightmare could come true and Apollo could kill him in any second. Though, if he wanted to do that, wouldn't he have let 5up drown in the lake?
He chose to trust Apollo and lean in closer, for his warmth and safety.
He felt the werewolf stop and actually shift into a werewolf, probably to gain speed and stamina.
He curled up into his fur, growing a bit drowsy. 5up was half-asleep when he heard a second voice.
It was too blurry to make out, but he could catch few words.
"thank--you found 5up."
That was when he drifted off into sleep.
He woke up the next morning in a-- bed? Wasn't he in a forest? He opened his eyes just enough that he was squinting, and he was back in the guest room. Right. Apollo found him near-to-death yesterday. He groaned slightly, stretching his arms up and wide. A short-lived gasp sounded from one of his sides. He peered in that direction, and the potion maker was in his vision. 5up dropped his gaze guiltily, burying his face into a pillow.
Steve chuckled slightly.
"Glad to see you back, little guy." He said, with a lace of fondness in his tone.
For some reason, it made 5up's face go warm.
He shook those thoughts away.
"Apollo's making you some tea, he'll be here in a moment." He hummed and sat down beside the vampire. Sure enough, he heard the door open, footsteps growing closer.
He forced his head to the side and blinked at Apollo. He was holding a cup delicately.
"Mmh.. what kind?" He murmured as Apollo set the tea on the nightstand. He looked over, delighted shock on his face.
"Good to see you alive, 5up. Oh, also jasmine. It was all we had." Apollo said softly. He sat up and took the tea, taking delicate sips of it, not too large nor small.
5up hummed contentedly, looking up to see Steve and Apollo watching him closely.
"What?" He blinked confused, then fell self-conscious, trying to hide the rest of his upper half underneath the blanket.
"Hey, uh, how come you ran away 5up?" Steve asked nervously after a moment. Before he could even think about it, the words tumbled from his mouth.
"I felt too comfortable. Whenever I start feeling comfortable, they play me up to leave. So I left before I could get left." He said, widening his eyes. He was about to ask what they'd done, but Apollo cut in.
"Who left?" He demanded, eyes blazing as they did the day he'd almost attacked Steve.
"My 'friends'. They were the reason I originally died and came back as a vampire..." 5up blurted, unsure of what was happening but trying to cover his mouth.
Steve reached out and grabbed his arms, holding them down. He attempted to squirm out of his grasp, to no avail.
"What. Did. They. Do." Apollo said angrily, as if he was riled up over what they did to him. Surely he wasn't getting this angry over something in 5up's past?
"They tricked me into going to a graveyard at night. An angry spirit attacked me, and one of my friends sacrificed me for the rest of them. I think some higher deity took pity on me and brought me back as a vampire, with a bit of advantages, but that didn't really help... I only was lonely until now, as well as I nearly died again.." 5up blabbered on, closing his eyes now, to avoid their gazes.
He heard a growl come from Apollo, and slightly peered his eyes open to see his fist shake.
"How long has it been since you took care of yourself...?" Steve asked carefully. Fucking idiot, 5up was forced to answer him.
"I haven't eaten real food in 6 months. Blood however, I only got about a year and 7- no, 8 months ago. Apart when I took the smallest bit from Koji, which hardly helped." He said, quietly, eyes slamming shut again, and he felt their soft and worried gazes on him.
"Why haven't you taken blood?" One of them asked. He couldn't even tell who.
"I accidentally killed my only true friends in a blood possession.. I vowed not to take blood and just let myself suffer through the pain." He answered, trying his hardest to bite his lip. Tears fell down his face as he mentioned Fundy and Sleepy.
"Their names?" A voice he could tell was Steve piped in. 5up's face contorts angrily. He's about to curse at him, but whatever is causing him to tell the truth comes first.
"Fundy and Sleepy." He sobbed at the actual use of his old friends' names. They'd trusted him and lowered their defences, and 5up accidentally killed them. His only friends. The tears continued to fall only harder.
Apollo moved to wipe his tears, but he broke away from Steve's grip to swat him away.
"Fuck off. You... You gave me whatever the hell this is. I trusted you. Fuck, I--" He scoffed, cutting himself off with a hand on his mouth. Apollo's eyes widened and grabbed his hand away.
"Hold on. Say what you were gonna say." He said, panic in his voice. 5up fought to bite his lip.
"Say it." Steve murmured.
"I like you both. I'm too scared to admit it." He said, then stared at his hands. They stayed quiet and 5up seized the moment to run into the bathroom. There would be no way he could escape the estate again, so he decided temporary hiding would work.
He locked the door behind him and sunk to the floor, sobbing into his knees.
5up heard shuffling and murmuring behind the door, and a small vial, familiar and teal was slid under the door with a note.
'okay, maybe that wasn't the best idea to get you to open up, but we had to at least try to understand, and it's not the easiest thing to open up on your own. so we put truth serum in your tea. here's the potion of cancellation. you saw me (apollo) drink it earlier. we're aware that it was wrong that we did that, but we're not sorry for getting the information from you. feel better soon and let us know when you're ready to come out. for the record, we like you too 5up. :)' -apollo & steve
He smiled slightly through the tears, and took the potion in his hand to drink it.
5up still needed a moment, but the tears finally stopped and he was calming down. He shook himself a bit before raising his voice.
"I'm uh, opening the door." He said, hoarsely from crying.
He heard footsteps immediately approach the door, and his shaking hand reached for the doorknob, unlocking the door and opening it.
Both the werewolf and potion maker stood there, and immediately they both enveloped him into a hug.
"Are you okay?" Steve whispered, holding him tightly, as he was pulled into Apollo's lap. He let out a soft smile at the care he was being shown.
"Yeah. What happened with Fundy and Sleepy was ages ago. I.. moved on." He said quickly, realizing he wasn't lying anymore. He would always miss them, but there was no way to bring them back, so he'd gotten over it.
Steve squeezed his arm reassuringly and he lay back onto Apollo's chest.
"I'm tired. Can we watch a movie? Or something?" He asked in an almost whine.
"Yeah. Popcorn?" Steve asked. 5up tensed at the mention of the food humans usually consumed during movies. He still hadn't eaten food for a few months, he couldn't remember right now. Apollo seemed to notice and understand, as his frame was skinnier than humanely possible.
"Do you have an eating disorder?" He whispered in 5up's ear.
"No.. I just don't.." He trailed off, staring into the distance.
His thoughts were mostly strings that led to nothing. He wasn't really ever hungry, per se, more lonely than hungry. He zoned back in to Apollo rubbing his arms.
"I.. can try to eat," He murmured vulnerably.
Apollo smiled and hugged him.
"Don't try to do more than you're comfortable with, but I think we should set a schedule for eating. To get something in ya." He said, gesturing to 5up's ribs which were definitely visible.
He nodded slightly, standing up and lying down, burying his face into the pillows as Apollo and Steve went off to get popcorn. He didn't hear them return, though he was aware when they did as he felt his bed dip slightly, and arms wrap around him.
5up smiled softly and sat up, laying his head on Steve's shoulder, as well as stealing a handful of popcorn from Apollo's bowl. They chuckled and cuddled closer to 5up as Steve turned on some human movie that 5up didn't recognize.
Halfway through the movie, he heard a knock on the door.
"I'm coming in!" Hafu's voice called. His mouth went dry and he covered Steve and Apollo under the blanket then ran to Hafu.
"Hafu!" He said excitedly, opening the door, then stopping when she looked a bit ticked at him. She glared at him then pulled him in for a hug.
"Do not ever do that again. I was so worried!" She exclaimed. He smiled at her.
"Alright, I won't. I'm here to stay now." He said sheepishly. Hafu smirked at him.
"Have fun with Apollo and Steve!" She called, walking off cackling. He gaped his mouth open then turned around, they were standing obnoxiously close behind him.
"Oh my god, you two are so dramatic." He huffed, as Apollo picked him up.
"You love it though!" Steve called as he jumped back into the bed, Apollo following, setting 5up firmly on his lap.
He rolled his eyes but laid down, easily falling asleep with the presence of both Steve and Apollo.