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Keigo forced a grin.
The annual Interspecies Fellowship Gala was a sorry excuse for peace, but it was all they had. At this event, they redrew hunting grounds, signed blood contracts, and upheld the status quo of multiple fiends.
As a Human-Avian hybrid, Keigo held a particularly unique position. He was an intermediary that understood fiendish hardships as well as Human fears. Furthermore, his half-breed status often allowed him the luxury of being a third party to the more volatile fiends.
That was why he found himself drowning in numerous debates coated in a thin layer of politeness.
He wished alcohol was served at these events.
Even when he excused himself to use the washroom, someone managed to wrangle him into a conversation while washing his hands.
“What do you think of that awful surprise the bloodsuckers prepared?” A Hunter. Young, too.
Keigo gave the stranger a plastic grin. “Oh? I didn’t hear anything about a surprise.”
“Rumor has it they were carting a cage in earlier through a side entrance while everyone was distracted by guest arrivals.” His lips curled into an awful sort of smile. Too smug to be genuine. Too cruel to be caring. “Hope it’s nothing dangerous. Wouldn’t wanna ruin this fun little get together we have every year.”
He nodded and laughed along while silently wishing this night could just end.
Instead of returning to the party, Keigo headed toward the back of the building in search of the so-called crate. He had one important job and that was to uphold the peace and prosperity of this ridiculous gala. They were all supposed to play nice for a single evening and if the vampire clans were planning a prank of some sort, he was going to put a stop to it immediately.
It took a surprising amount of time to locate the crate. There was a large collection of art to be auctioned later in the night and tucked behind them was a velvet covered container. The drapery barely budged when Keigo tried to pull it aside so he resorted to slicing a slit into the thick fabric with a feather blade.
He expected something to leap out at him. Maybe a drugged Lycan. Or perhaps a Giant’s offspring (the cage was fairly large after all). A suppressed sorcerer?
Keigo stared through the shadows and saw none of those things. Electric blue eyes gazed back at him.
Fear bolted through his muscles, but he fought the urge to jerk back. It was unbecoming of someone in his position to run away scared. Besides, he had no idea what this blue-eyed creature was doing here. Hesitantly, Keigo pushed the velvet draperies aside, allowing more light into the cage. This is hardly a crate.
The creature was clearly some sort of fiend. Judging by his Human appearance and protruding fangs, he could only be a vampire. What puzzled Keigo was his obviously frail physique.
Thick gauze wrapped around his throat, upper body, and waist. At the edges, Keigo could make out dark purpling marks and perhaps even flaking skin. Despite these horrific injuries, his eyes were so bright. So alive.
When he took a cautious step toward Keigo, his coarse black hair bled white at the roots. Had he dyed it before or after being turned? Was he a victim at all? Keigo could only assume yes based on the condition of his body, but maybe—
He shook his head.
More importantly, he needed to understand why this pitiful excuse for a vampire was brought here. He wasn’t rabid with bloodlust, but he wasn’t beautiful or charismatic enough to be one of the elite vampires.
Keigo hesitated. Well. He was beautiful beneath the injuries. That wasn’t hard to deduce. But there were such extensive cosmetic horrors that Keigo knew this was part of some scheme to ruin the gala.
Sighing, he pressed a hand to the cage. “What’s your name?”
He didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he simply studied Keigo with a mixture of wariness and confusion. His lashes bowed as he brushed a sharp claw across the palm of Keigo’s hand. It was cold to the touch. “Dabi.”
Against his better judgment, Keigo caught his hand, careful of the sharpened nails. Ice rippled through his veins, but he ignored it in favor of focusing all of his attention on the startled vampire. “I’m gonna ask you to come with me, Dabi. It’s not safe here and sooner or later, things are gonna start looking even worse.”
Dabi glanced at their hands.
Keigo held on tighter. “I’m Hawks. Will you trust me?”
He snorted, looking somewhat amused despite the situation. Regardless, Dabi held onto his hand. The meager warmth from Keigo’s hand was being sapped away, cocooned in an icy shell the longer they gripped each other. For a moment, he wondered if that was a vampiric trait.
No. He must just be hungry.
“Come with me, and I’ll feed you.”
He perked up.
Keigo stifled a grin. Of course. Why hadn’t he tried to tempt him with food first? Sending his feathers out, he sliced the cage bars apart and they clattered to the ground.
Dabi’s eyes fluttered and he slowly released Keigo’s hand to step out.
***
Little did Keigo know, this wasn’t just a bizarre rescue mission. It certainly did prevent a chaotic auction but that was hardly the lasting consequence.
Keigo grumbled loudly as he felt familiar sharp pressure on his neck. Rather than being terrifying, it was just annoying.
This was his life now.
The first few weeks were rocky as they found a routine and compromised about how to share Keigo’s flat. There was enough room for two people, but only one bedroom, a large bathroom, and a modest lounging area. The kitchen was barely used and took up a small corner. Having another living being around certainly brought some life back into the space even if there was an adjustment.
Nearly a month after taking Dabi in, he had put on weight, his open wounds closed, and his unscarred skin was fully healed. Keigo still insisted on tending to the scars, knowing that the sheer thickness probably made it difficult to move around. He never thought of himself as the fussy type but taking care of this ragged and worn vampire was awakening something strangely protective in him.
After the third month, it was only natural to have Dabi around. Keigo knew it was bad form to get attached and yet he couldn’t stop. There was something deeply satisfying about providing him with everything he wanted or needed. His pretty eyes always lit up when Keigo brought home even the smallest gifts.
It started as trinkets and souvenirs from business trips. That soon evolved into precious jewels and clothes Dabi never wore but put away for safekeeping. He never went anywhere, acting more like a reclusive housecat than a terrifying bloodsucker. Once Keigo registered that, he changed up his gifts to food and books. There were a few places that catered to vampiric diets and he became a frequent customer.
Around the sixth month mark, Keigo wasn’t sure what life would be like without his mysterious, demanding, adorably needy vampire. However, there was one habit he couldn’t yet decide if he liked or not.
Every morning and sometimes in the evening, Dabi wanted a snack. For whatever reason, it wasn’t enough to give him packs of blood (and the artificial blood pills were scoffed at).
Even if it was only a mouthful, he wanted something fresh.
“Dabi,” he groaned, pushing at his soft white hair. It was so fluffy after stripping it of that toxic dye. Keigo still had no idea why he was in such an awful state at that auction. He sneaked him off the premises before anyone could notice and simply never heard about the potential disaster ever again. Half a year passed without anyone suspecting he whisked Dabi away.
It left a bad aftertaste, but Keigo wasn’t inclined to dig deeper into the issue. There were so few things in life that brought him genuine joy and he wasn’t going to sabotage himself by trying to hunt down Dabi’s origins.
He’s fine and I’m fine. Why look for trouble?
“Just a bit,” Dabi mumbled, sucking at his skin, and scraping his fangs over his pulse point. “C’mon, Hawks.” He nuzzled and pressed between his wings. The fleece pajamas Keigo bought him a week ago had become his favorite and only outfit of choice. This meant frequent washing and Keigo was already ordering several more sets of the exact same pajamas.
Keigo didn’t know what to expect after the circumstances of their meeting. He had been so focused on how things could go absolutely wrong that he hadn’t considered everything could just be fine. Maybe no one was looking for this starved vampire. Maybe that was exactly why he’d been up for sale as some sort of grotesquely cute monster.
“Fine,” he relented. “I don’t work today, but that doesn’t mean you can—ow! Take it easy!” Keigo swatted him away after he drank for more than a few seconds.
Dabi reluctantly licked the wound closed and pulled at Keigo until he rolled over. It was a bit of a shuffle and Dabi rather rudely crawled over him instead of circling around but in the end, Keigo had an armful of his little leech.
Despite being Keigo’s height, he was skin and bones at their first meeting and only slightly better now. It seemed he didn’t put on weight easily. Maybe due to the condition of his body. It was hard to tell. Ultimately though, he was all sharp edges, meaning that cuddles were sort of painful. Sleeping was always a challenge these days, too, what with Dabi’s tendency to splay himself across the entire bed and much of Keigo’s backside.
The list of complaints he had could probably fill an entire book.
“Why’re you so lively already?” Keigo murmured, brushing Dabi’s hair absently as he drifted in and out of sleep. The sun had only just risen. For vampires, that meant it was time to sleep but for Dabi, he had adjusted to Keigo's sleep cycle.
In what alternate reality did he end up in? Why was he domesticating with a vampire?
“It’s always dark in here. How would you even know the time?” Dabi grumbled, burying his face against Keigo’s chest. His favorite spot after Keigo’s neck was right over his heart (for obvious reasons).
“Because you like to eat in the morning. Must be morning then. I’m also still very tired which means you woke me up earlier than usual.” He cracked an eye open to find those pretty blues watching him.
Dabi lowered his head. “You said you’re off today?”
“What? Do you wanna go somewhere?” Keigo’s hand drifted down his shoulder and back, tracing delicate ribs and curves. They were softened by the thick fleece but still protruded more than he liked. “I can order cakes from your favorite bakery.” He pressed his lips to the top of Dabi’s head, breathing in the familiar scent of their shared shampoo.
“The dark ones?”
Keigo snorted, one wing draping over them. “Aren’t they all dark? It’s blood based.”
Dabi was quiet for a moment and then seemed to focus on what he’d been trying to ask about before. “Will you stay here today?”
He blinked slowly, some of the sleepiness fading. It was no surprise at this point to find that Dabi was spoiled. Clingy. For someone who looked like he had been abandoned on the side of a road, he seemed very comfortable having someone take care of him. At least, when it came to basic things.
Trying to learn anything beyond his food and grooming preferences was like pulling teeth. Even after six months, Keigo had only caught snippets of his personal life prior to their encounter. They were harmless nuggets of information—nothing that could lead to them parting ways.
“Lonely?” Keigo asked almost inaudibly, somewhat worried of scaring him off.
Dabi didn’t reply and instead curled against him more. His sharp nails were retracted for the time being. Sometimes they came out when he was in a particularly bad mood, but he was good about being gentle when they were pressed together.
“I didn’t have plans to do anything else today.” He sighed. It was hard to say no. When did that happen? “Let’s take a long bath first.” Keigo pressed a lingering kiss to the crown of his head, trying to hide a helpless smile. “I’ll order from the bakery.” He kissed the corner of his eye, careful of the scars. “Get all your favorites.” He nibbled at the curve of Dabi’s ear and couldn’t help a flutter of pleasure when he shivered. “And tonight, we’ll go to the bookshop. You need something new to read, don’t you?”
The little answering whimper was so precious that Keigo was positive he melted.
In the early days, Dabi had been so much more like a feral cat just waiting to draw blood. Nowadays, he was domesticated beyond compare aside from his awful habit of biting Keigo first thing in the morning.
Maybe I can train it out of him. That thought echoed in his brain, leading down several avenues that stirred heat in his gut. Of course he had acknowledged Dabi’s underlying beauty but hadn’t actively begun to see it until recently. The attraction grew more consuming with each passing day. It made him want more and more and more until there was nothing left to offer.
If Keigo was a better person, he wouldn’t be so pleased at the thought of caging Dabi. A benevolent savior would give him the means to become independent. That person would show Dabi how to stand on his own feet instead of spoiling him rotten. They would provide tools to eventually leave.
That’s not an option.
Keigo brushed a knuckle gently across Dabi’s cheek. He smiled and Dabi softly nuzzled against his throat. It was a little cold. That probably meant he needed to get food for him soon.
“You can drink a bit more,” Keigo murmured, stroking his hair.
Without hesitation, Dabi parted his lips, practically salivating as he dug his teeth into his throat. Keigo flinched but didn’t stop him. The graceless way he attacked made him feel wanted in ways no one else had ever made him feel.
Let him get more addicted. Make it harder to leave.
But there was no need to alarm Dabi by sharing those thoughts and plans. Little by little, he would come into the cage himself.