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They coughed. Nothing wrong with that normally, but this has been happening a lot more lately. Cody takes a swig of water. They cough into the water. When they put the glass back down, they notice… blood in the water. Why… Why were they coughing up blood? Vampires shouldn’t get sick- they couldn’t get sick. Cody decides to push aside the thought for the time being. Maybe they just need to take a break from work.
Cody walked up to the deck for some fresh air. Fresh air was supposed to be good for you, right? They caught a glimpse of Lucky. Lucky… their dear wife… the two of them had been… distant lately. She’d not spoken to them in a while. Thoughts of their wife flashed through their mind. They started coughing again. That was weird… Now that they think about it. Every time they had this unusual cough, they were thinking about Lucky… maybe this was some sort of strange coincidence?
The library. That’s where they find themselves. Cody looks for any books that might explain the coughing. It just keeps getting worse; it evolved to coughing up blood to… to the pink petal they’d just coughed up. They couldn’t tell what type of flower it came from. Lucky would probably know, but– *cough cough* Cody’s train of thought was interrupted but coughing yet again. They coughed up more petals, a couple of them being coated in blood this time. How? How could a vampire cough up flowers? The search for answers continued.
Hanahaki. Some weird flower disease. That’s the answer their search led them to. It was laughable. A disease from unrequited love? A flower growing in your lungs from it? Please, at least be realistic. But… what else could explain it? The coughing up blood. Vampires don’t get typical illnesses, so while it could be near anything for a mortal, the options were already sparse for them. The flowers… Flowers! Imagine that! Coughing up flowers! There was no scientific explanation for it, just this stupid “hanahaki” thing. The cure? Nothing. It keeps growing until you die. But, what does that mean for an immortal being? Are they just stuck like this forever now? …There was a theory that you could have it surgically removed, but a potential side effect was losing the ability to love altogether, and they couldn’t do that to Olive or Froggy.
A couple days later, and… Cody’s accepted it. This disease is eating at them because Lucky no longer loves them. That was… fine. People fall out of love all the time. It was foolish of them to think that it couldn’t happen with their partners. That there wouldn’t be a time where it wasn’t them against the world, always together through thick and thin. Hanahaki may take them over forever, and they’re fine with it. It’s gone from coughing up just a few petals at a time to the whole flower. Cody now knows that the flowers are camellias, his love’s favourite flower.
“Hey, Cody?” Oh, why, why, why, why was Lucky here? No, she couldn’t see them like this.
Cody tries to suppress the coughs. “Ye- yes, Lucky? What do you,” *cough* “need?”
Lucky’s face fills with concern. “Cody, you’ve been avoiding me lately. Is something wrong?”
“N- no! Nothing’s-” *couch* “Nothing’s wrong.”
“You’re coughing a bunch, too. Are you sick?” Concerned, Lucky tries to feel for their temperature, forgetting Cody’s vampirism. “You… smell like flowers? Why?”
Cody pushes her hand away from their face. “It’s none of your business. I just… decided to try a new fragrance.”
Lucky doesn’t seem to believe them, but lets it go for now. If it was something important, she trusts that Cody will tell her.
As soon as Lucky disappears, Cody dashes for the trashcan in his office. They cough up several flowers this time and so. much. blood. They were light-headed. Not only had they been hacking up a storm, they hadn’t been feeding properly. Cody knew Ollie would be more than willing to supply blood, but they didn’t want to waste it when they knew they were going to just cough it all out anyway. They were… scared. Cody figured it was about time.
They grabbed the letters they had drafted, and left it at the crew’s cabin doors. Most said almost the same thing: it was a pleasure knowing them and working together, they loved them, and they wished the best for the crew. For their father and partners, it was more detailed. For Pol, they thanked him for being their father, for always being there, that they were sorry they hid their sickness, and that they didn’t want him to blame himself for their fate. To Olive, they explained the illness and why they hid it, they told him that they’d always love him, and instructed him to not let any grief distract him from taking care of Mouse. To Froggy, they told her that she was the loveliest bird they got to know, that they wished they had more time together, that they didn’t want her to lose her smile, and a promise that she always had a place in their heart.
To Lucky…
“Lucky, I love you. I know you no longer feel the same for me, but nothing will ever stop my love for you. This wasn’t your fault. The fault lies with me and my inability to keep my emotions in check. I’m sorry for lying to you. That flowery scent you smelled wasn’t a fragrance, as I’m sure you knew. You with that smart brain of yours. The smell was from a sickness, hanahaki. I’m sorry I never told anyone, but I couldn’t force you to love me again. Don’t stop looking after the others.
Yours always and forever,
Cody”
After delivering the letters, Cody shifted into a bat and flew away. They found a cave to hide in. They figured it was comfortable enough to live the rest of their days in. While they knew the disease couldn’t kill them, they also knew that it would be misery to bear- potentially too much misery. So, they made themselves a stake just in case.
A few days after Cody flew away, they heard footsteps approaching the cave entrance? “Cody?” They… they knew that voice. How had their father found them? Wait- he shouldn’t have to see the blood-stained camellias! But it was too late, for they were scattered all over the cave.
“Cody… love..?” Cody quickly turned around at that voice. It was… Lucky…