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Michael was slowly discovering that becoming a creature of the night had learning curves he wasn’t necessarily prepared for.
For one, he was still adjusting to the feeling of flying. The weightlessness, trying to navigate while up in the air. He had gotten himself into a few incidents at first, barreling out of the sky or startling himself by flying up too high.
He also wasn’t used to the ordeal of hunting. His brothers had initially encouraged him to hunt for his own food, but he had quickly shut that idea down. He tried, but he kept throwing off his prey or triggering alarm bells in their heads. So now he resigned himself to staying in the shadows, watching as his brothers masterfully lured victims into their traps, ensuring that no one picked up on the warning signs until it was far too late.
If he was honest, he was envious of the charismatic nature his brothers had. They were able to charm just about anyone they wanted, luring people in with their confident demeanors and ability to play off of one another. He wished he was more socially confident, carrying himself with the poise and class that the other vampires seemed to naturally possess.
Of all of his kin, Michael found himself most envious of David. The unofficial leader of the group, David carried himself with more confidence and poise than Michael had ever seen. If he was honest, he found it intimidating. David always seemed so elegant and cool, and even in moments alone in the ironworks he never seemed to drop the ice cold persona he had built up for himself; Michael was beginning to think it was just who he was.
When he had the time, Michael found himself visiting his old home in the dead of night. His mother never seemed to be awake, exhausted from her added workload since her boss (formerly the head vampire) had been killed. Sam always seemed to be up waiting for him though, cracking the window open expectantly as Michael clambered in.
”You’re late,” his younger brother hissed, and Michael gently ruffled his hair as he took off his sneakers.
”Yeah, yeah, sorry,” Michael sighed, throwing himself onto his brother’s bed despite the younger’s protests. ”What did you need?”
Sam seemed to perk up at the question, rummaging through his nightstand drawer and pulling out his treasured manual to the undead—Vampires Everywhere. “So, Edgar, Alan and I were wondering–”
”You called me here for a vampire question?” Michael groaned. “Sammy, I thought it was something actually important.”
”It is important, Mike!” his brother hissed. “I’ve never heard you talk about it before, but we were reading this passage about how vampire fangs work and I wanted to know if it was true.”
Michael looked up to see his brother pushing his book into his face. Annoyed, he grabbed it from him, reading the page as Sam spoke.
”The book says fangs drop in instances of bloodlust, which we already assumed. But it also said that sometimes, they can come out in any instance of excitement or nervousness. Have you ever had that happen?”
Michael thought about it for a moment, and then sighed. “Not really. I don’t even know if I’ve watched anyone get excited to a degree that would warrant fangs coming out like that.”
”Have you tried asking about things they’re interested in?” Sam pressed. When Michael looked at him, perplexed, he groaned. “Well that’s half of your issue! You have to find things to ask about.”
”Sammy, no, you aren’t running science experiments on my friends.”
”If you asked David about his secret comic obsession," Sam said innocently, "I’m sure he might trust you more.”
Michael snapped to attention at that, turning far too quickly towards his brother. “What do you mean David’s comic obsession?”
”Edgar and Alan see him going into the comic book store all of the time. He always goes when he knows nobody else is going to be there,” Sam explained. “Apparently he’s always asking for the newest Captain America comics. Must’ve gotten really into them when they were coming out.”
After a long moment of silence, Michael asked, “When do the newest editions come out?”
“A new one came out today,” Sam said. “David doesn’t go into the store until Friday nights though.”
Michael's face fell, but Sam kept talking. “But I got a copy today. I don’t read Captain America—DC is better than Marvel anyways, and you can tell David I said that—but you can bring it to him and try to get him to talk about it.”
”You bought a comic in the name of doing an experiment on my friend?” Michael asked incredulously.
“It’s just an innocent behavioral study. Worst case, David gets his new comic early and you get brownie points. And we all know you want as many of those as possible with him.”
Michael’s face scrunched up at that. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Sam scoffed, rolling his eyes as he pushed a comic into Michael’s hands. “You can lead a horse to water,” he mumbled, before looking his brother up and down. “Go give this to David, and report back.”
”Fine, whatever,” Michael huffed, standing up and sliding his feet back into his sneakers before crawling out the window. “Sammy?”
“Yeah, Mike?”
”Nevermind. Goodnight.”
When Michael got back to the ironworks, his mind was racing, turning over his conversation with Sam — David was a comic book nerd? How had he not known that? Had David been trying to hide that from him? Why did that hurt his feelings?
He was so lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice the other vampire standing in front of him until he walked directly into him. When he stumbled back, David was watching him, puzzled and vaguely amused.
”Where are you coming from, Michael?” David asked.
”Was just visiting my brother,” Michael huffed. “Gave me some stupid comic book my mom bought for him today. Was going to offer it to the others.”
”What comic?” David asked, and Michael watched David’s expression betray him as an air of interest surrounded him.
“Some new Captain America or something?” Michael said dumbly, and tried to ignore the way David’s expression sharpened. “Mom must’ve seen it just came out today and picked it up, but Sammy doesn’t read Captain America. Says it’s boring to him or something.”
”Captain America is not boring,” David mumbled, which Michael picked up with his vampiric hearing. When David noticed the other boy’s quizzical expression, he continued. “Your brother is wrong. He’s a good hero, he literally came from nothing and became a symbol of hope during wartime and took down literal supervillain Nazis and–”
Somewhere along the way, Michael noticed David’s speech became slightly muffled, and when he looked closer, he noticed David’s sharp canines poking out against his lip as he spoke. Unable to help himself, Michael reached up and brushed a thumb against David’s mouth, pulling it back to reveal his teeth underneath.
David’s speech died in his throat, looking down at Michael with an unreadable expression. After a moment, Michael realized the intimate nature of his actions, dropping his hand and retreating a few steps back. “Sorry, David, I don’t–”
”What are you doing?” the blonde hissed, grabbing his wrist.
“I’m sorry,” Michael apologized. “I just– your teeth, they came out and I didn’t know–”
”It can happen when vampires get too excited about something,” David said bitterly, his words still coming out with a slight lisp. “It’s stupid. Forget it.”
As he turned to leave, Michael grabbed at his wrist, making the other boy turn around. “I want to hear more.”
“You want more of me talking about a comic series you know nothing about, with my voice being muffled because of my stupid teeth?”
”I want you to tell me about it,” Michael urged, bringing David over to the couch. “I never see you actually care about something like this.”
“I try not to care about things like this,” David said, and Michael could have sworn there was a hint of embarrassness in his voice. “Max always said caring about things like this was too human. Too weak.”
“You’re an immortal vampire,” Michael stated, and ignored David’s confused expression. “You should be allowed to enjoy things when you can.”
David opened his mouth to protest, but paused, pursing his lips together as he examined the thought. Michael observed this progression, until David turned back to him and asked, “Why do you even care about me having interests?”
”I like listening to you talk,” Michael said without much thought, then panicked when David raised an eyebrow. “I just mean, like– I like hearing you be excited about things, I guess– god that sounds even worse–”
”Michael,” David interrupted, a hand coming up to rest at the nape of Michael’s neck. “I happen to like listening to you talk, too.”
”What do y– oh. Oh, okay,” Michael breathed, watching the expression on David’s face intensify. They were in dangerous territory, having both made confessions that couldn’t easily be taken back.
David’s hand was moving up into Michael’s hair, gently massaging his scalp. Against his wishes, Michael felt his throat begin to vibrate — another recent discovery of his that he was too ashamed to tell his brother about: the fact that he purred now. It had been an accidental discovery, when David had ruffled his hair after a kill and he had responded with a loud purr. They had never talked about it again, both trying to avoid the topic and bury it in their minds.
Now, though, David was being intentional. He was trying to get a response from Michael, and it was working. When he removed his hand, Michael felt himself whine softly at the loss of contact.
“There,” David said softly. “An eye for an eye.”
For a moment, neither of them moved. Their eyes remained locked on one another, a dangerous confession passing between their glances. Something too sacred, too intimate, was being exchanged, and the moment seemed to stretch out until they both found themselves leaning into one another at the same time.
Michael wasn’t sure what he imagined kissing David might have been like, but he certainly would never have expected it to be this soft. David led the kiss, gently pressing his mouth against Michael’s as his hand moved back into the brunette’s curls, making Michael purr softly into the kiss
After a while, Michael grew desperate to deepen the kiss, nipping gently at the bottom of David’s lip and slipping his ttongue into the blonde’s mouth. David groaned in satisfaction, but soon after hissed and withdrew his mouth from Michael’s, who whined in protest. But when he looked at David, he noticed blood pooling into a cut on his lip.
“You cut me, asshole,” David accused with no real weight behind it, and Michael opened his mouth to argue, stopping only when he felt his own tongue run over his exposed fangs.
“Shit, David, I’m sorry–”
“Hang on,” David interrupted, his eyes dropping to Michael’s mouth. “Did you get so excited about kissing me that your fangs dropped?”
“No,” Michael lied immediately, covering his mouth with his hand.
“No, you so did–”
“David,” Michael groaned, annoyed at the blonde’s teasing, “just shut up and kiss me again.”
David was more than happy to oblige, bringing their lips back together with a smile on his face. It was messier than their last, their teeth clacking against one another as they giggled.
“Stop laughing,” David hissed lightly, trying to still Michael’s shoulders as they shook with laughter. “I can’t kiss you if you’re laughing.”
“I’m trying,” Michael laughed, “I just can’t stop thinking about something Sam told me earlier.”
“Wow,” David drawled in mock disappointment. “Is my kissing that bad that you’re thinking about your brother–”
“Oh my god, shut up,” Michael groaned. “I was just thinking about you going into the comic store all by yourself in the dead of night just to get the new Captain America–”
“Okay, it’s not that funny,” David interrupted, pinching Michael’s side with a scowl. “Everyone in Santa Carla just seems to think I’m this like– cool suave idol.”
“Well I don’t think that,” Michael retorted.
“Well you’re not everyone,” David said softly, in a way that made Michael’s stomach flutter.
And because Michael had never met a sincere moment he didn't feel compelled to break, he mused, ”He also told me that he thought your choice of comic was bad. Something about preferring DC to Marvel.”
”Well, he’s wrong,” David declared, missing the amused look on Michael’s face. He continued to make arguments for his beloved franchise, eventually dying down when he noticed Michael’s expression. “What?”
”I didn’t know how much of a nerd you were,” Michael responded, laughing at the way David groaned and rolled his eyes as he playfully shoved Michael into the couch. “It’s cute.”
“I am not cute.” David protested, but gave into Michael’s touch and melted back into the couch to meet the brunette’s lips.
When Michael pulled away, he noticed David watching him with a fond expression. He was sure that if his undead body allowed for him to blush, his face would be flushed under the blonde’s intense gaze. After a moment, he coughed. “What?”
”You’re beautiful, Michael,” David murmured, and Michael was struck by the intimate nature of the confession as David cupped his face. He was seeing a new side of David tonight, one that was too delicate, like if Michael reached out too quickly this David would shatter before his eyes. He was used to the blonde’s larger-than-life persona, his confidence and commanding nature on stage. Here, he was almost human again, and Michael could have sworn there was a beating heart underneath his cool skin.
The glisten of David’s fangs broke him from his thoughts, and Michael realized that David was nervous. It was an unusual look on him, his brows furrowed and his eyes scanning over Michael’s features. With a small smile, Michael reached out to David, gently placing a hand against his cheek. David seemed to melt into the contact, his face falling against Michael’s palm.
”Do I make you nervous?” Michael found himself asking, watching as the blonde contemplated his answer.
”More than you know,” David replied, earning a surprised hum from Michael. “You make me feel more human than I’ve felt in a long time. I’m not used to the vulnerability.”
”What’s wrong with vulnerability?” Michael pressed further, gently rubbing his thumb against David’s cheekbone.
“Max used to say it made us too weak. Too human,” David hissed, and Michael felt his chest hurt at the blonde’s pained expression.
“Max isn’t here anymore, David,” Michael urged, bringing his other hand to rest in the blonde’s hair. “It’s not weak to care about things. It’s not weak to care about people.”
“I want to try,” David agreed. “I’m so tired of not caring.”
”Well we can fix that,” Michael said. “We just have to start somewhere.”
With that, Michael pulled the comic he had brought off of the table and gently pressed it into David’s hands. “For you. Maybe next week we can go together to get the next o–”
Michael’s words were cut off by David reaching forward and gently connecting their lips again. It was entirely soft, just a gentle press for a moment before it was over, and David was looking back at him. “I don’t know what I did to deserve someone like you.”
”You didn’t have to do anything,” Michael responded.
In time, Michael watched as David got more comfortable with letting his guard down. More comics and other items started to appear naturally on coffee tables, and Michael would sometimes find David out in the living room reading. It was a pleasant sight, Michael thought, seeing David at ease in the comfort of their home.
With some coaxing (and a lot of gentle kisses of encouragement), David found himself at the comic store on a Monday afternoon, an umbrella hanging over his head to block out the sunlight as he went in. Michael watched from a nearby awning, studying David’s body language as he spoke to the man at the register. Within a few minutes, he reappeared by Michael’s side, a small plastic bag in his hands.
“You get it?” Michael asked, and David nodded. “And did anyone judge you?”
”No,” David mumbled sheepishly, his eyes wandering anywhere but on Michael.
“So it wasn’t as bad or life-ruining as you had envisioned?” Michael teased, poking David in the side.
”Oh, shut up,” David groaned, leaning down to give Michael a firm kiss before pulling away. “Come on, let’s go home.”
Michael nodded, following David as they walked home. When their brothers asked their whereabouts that evening, Michael watched as David showed off his new comic, his fangs protruding as he talked to his brothers. Michael smiled to himself then, sitting down on the couch as he watched Dwayne eagerly try and grab the book from David, who swerved out of his way. He may still need some improvement on opening up to people, but it was a start. All he needed was a little encouragement.
Michael felt his eyelids growing heavy, the effects of seeing the sunlight starting to wear on him. As he drifted off to sleep, his thoughts were filled with the new David he was getting used to: a happy, caring, excited David who had hobbies and interests. It suited him, Michael thought, as the darkness of sleep overtook him.