Being the “Good Cop” of this scenario, Ash leaned down to the slaver’s level.
“Buddy,” he said, putting a hand on his shoulder, “I would do as she says. Usually she breaks the entire hand at once. Trust me: you don’t wanna see her get impatient. And, uh, friendly reminder…you’ve also got ten toes ripe for snapping.”
Warnings: Irmo nearly gets into an accident (blink and you might miss it)
Word count: 900+ words
Summary: Manwë makes new acquaintances moving to a new city in a new country
This is also available on AO3
London was a hive of activity, even while it was caught in the grips of a chilly autumn. Manwë walked about this bustling city, amazed by the sheer throng of people hurrying past him like a fast-moving river flowing around a boulder: businessmen in their fine suits, mothers and nannies with children firmly in hand, ladies in splendid dresses and thick cloaks and elaborate hats promenading with their suitors and chaperones. The sound of people talking and laughing, along with the din the many carriages and horses plying London's streets created, added to the chaotic cacophony filling the air. Manwë stayed out of other people's way, watching, listening, and discreetly observing. He was a stranger here, having only just arrived in the country after he had acquired a home beyond the outskirts of the city for himself.
“Good evening.” He smiled and doffed his hat respectfully at a young lady who dared to look at him appreciatively. She giggled and looked away before turning to whisper something to a friend who walked out of the nearby shop, her bags full of yarn and thread and lace and bright new ribbons. Manwë continued walking, having little interest in looking over his shoulder. The ladies were beautiful, to be sure, but neither of them caught his eye. Not in that way.
And I could not make myself known to them even if I desired to, he lamented, for I could not risk having the true nature of who I am being discovered.
Manwë was a vampire. He was turned by another while he lay at death’s door. It was what he wanted—to be spared the call of the angel of death—and it was granted to him willingly as an act of gratitude. He never truly regretted his choice, save for those fleeting moments when he came across friends talking and laughing or when he came across companions lost in love. Until now, he did not allow himself the joys of such things, for his companions would age while he remained unblemished, and mortals feared what he and others like him stood for.
We are death and sin made flesh. We are all that they think is unnatural and wrong. Manwë closed his eyes to the cold wind that swept through his silver hair, breathing in the scents of new apples, freshly baked bread and cake, and hot, roasted chestnuts that drifted with it. If he had been mortal, Manwë thought with a smile, his stomach would have rumbled fiercely.
“Irmo! Irmo, get back here!” Manwë's delight in what greeted his senses disappeared when a young man cried—exasperated—as he chased his brother around onlookers who quickly moved out of his way. “Irmo Lórien Fëanturi! Stop running this instant!”
“No!” Irmo returned gleefully, evading his older brother’s repeated attempts to catch him. He ran and ran, running as fast as his little legs could take him, flashing cheeky, dimpled grins at anyone who passed him by, and hooting with wild joy. It was all a game to him, and he enjoyed it immensely. He did not stop, not even when others tried to reach out in their vain attempts to catch him on behalf of his much-put-upon brother. Manwë had also seen the little boy racing toward him. He made haste to swoop down and scoop the child into his arms before he could run around him and onto the path of an oncoming carriage.
“And who do you belong to, young master?” Manwë said, dipping gracefully to his knees and smiling at the little boy who struggled in his grasp.
“He belongs to me. Well, our family, that is.” Námo reached them, nearly out of breath from the merry chase Irmo subjected him to. “Thank you, truly, for stopping him before he hurt himself. And my humblest apologies, sir, for him getting in your way.”
“It was no trouble. No trouble at all.” Manwë straightened himself after Irmo was placed into his brother’s care. Then he introduced himself. “I am Lord Amân Mānawenūz, of Taniquetil. I am pleased to make your acquaintance.”
The name he gave was an old one, and it had once belonged to a distant uncle of little consequence. No one had heard of that name since that uncle perished nearly six hundred years ago, and Manwë only made use of it on those rare occasions when he had to introduce himself.
"Námo Fëanturi,” Námo said, extending his hand. When Manwë stood there and looked at it, puzzled, he let it fall to his side. He must not know our ways, he thought to himself. “And this bundle of never-ending delight is my brother, Irmo.”
Irmo squirmed in his older brother’s other arm, but he rewarded the one who saved him with another cheeky grin. Manwë could not help but smile at them both.
“I am pleased I was able to be of assistance to you," he said.
“We were heading toward that teahouse over there to meet our sister," returned Námo. "You are more than welcome to join us, if you like, Lord Mānawenūz.”
Manwë wanted to do nothing more than refuse the invitation. He opened his mouth to speak, to politely say no. Then he stopped himself from doing so. What he was offered was an invitation to have tea with people he would never see again, not an invitation to dine with a lover. No harm would come out of accepting such a request, so long as he was careful not to give too much of himself away. And, he told himself, what better way to learn about this new city than by talking to those who actually lived within it? He took a moment to decide before saying, “Yes. I would be honored to join you and your family."
Little did he know how much his life would change after that day.
Ash’s ears pricked up when he heard Jess, and he soon entered the room. “Yes, babe? What's wrong?” He then noticed how red her face was, as well as how flustered she looked. “Uh, Jess?” He had a feeling he knew where this was going, not that he had any problem with it.
vampire! sakusa kiyoomi who can sense if someone is ill from five feet away and that bothers him, a lot. especially when he’s standing in a crowd.
vampire! sakusa kiyoomi who occasionally sleeps in the bathtub with his head underwater to dampen his sensitive hearing so he could clear his mind
vampire! sakusa kiyoomi who loathes daytime matches because he has to bring extra bottles of prune juice and at least twenty strips of iron tablets to keep him away from being lethargic
vampire! sakusa kiyoomi who’s picky with his food and squirms whenever he sees you eat garlic bread or anything that has garlic in it; “and you dare say that i am a monster.”
vampire! sakusa kiyoomi who scoffs so loud at the spf amount labeled in every sunscreen he sees and complains that none of them were made specifically for him; “when will they invent an spf 30000+ sunscreen?”
vampire! sakusa kiyoomi who will turn into a wolf to avoid arguing with you (congratulations, now you have a giant black wolf just walking and lounging in your living room)
vampire! sakusa kiyoomi who exasperatedly replies, “for the last time, i don’t know much about the war of the roses or the siege of constantinople because i was busy serving tokugawa ieyasu and trying to keep japan from falling apart. i almost died for this country.”
vampire! sakusa kiyoomi who has to lie to your parents about the tachi sword on display in his apartment’s living room by saying that he bought it on an online store
vampire! sakusa kiyoomi who fills his fridge with bottles of coconut water because, “i may be a vampire, but this isn’t the 1400s anymore where i can freely hunt people in the woods. also, coconut water is less messy than blood. i have etiquette, (y/n).”
BUT also vampire! sakusa kiyoomi who admitted that he stole fifty packs of blood from a nearby hospital because, “fine, i was sick of coconut water and prune juice. it’s hard to be a vegan when you’re already a blood-sucking monster by nature. please, just look away while i feast on this.”
This man takes you in from the storm after your car breaks down but ur pretty sure hes a vampire wdyd
Mostly a bit of a companion piece to a Habit X reader I might be writing asdfgh
The princess slips into an inevitable daze. A million different emotions finally lull into a hazy calm, causing her eyes to flutter in exhaustion.
Time slips by her as she sits curled up in the giant bed, the silk sheets rumpled together at the end of the bed from when she had awoken a second time. Soon she slowly slips out of the haze and her vision focuses in the dark.
She notices her vision seems to have improved slightly, being able to see more than just contorted shapes in the darkness. Sitting in the room for so long without light helps adjusts her sight to the blackness.
Her eyes flutter to the door. When she had first awoken in the bed, in a strange room that was not her own, her first instinct was to scream and scramble around in the pitch-black. She had found the door in that fear-induced frenzy and had gingerly pried it open only to be met with dark obsidian eyes. The first time that door opened, the Vampire Prince had bitten her—‘marked’ her. The second time the door opened, the Prince had patched up her ‘mark’ that was made by him.
What would happen a third time?
She stares at it, her breath steady as she wonders what would happen if that door were to open again. Would she meet those obsidian eyes that glowed gold in the light? Would the prince come in and show her that the myths of vampires’ cruelness were not just myths? Or would he come in and she’d feel that strange sense of safeness she felt looking into his golden eyes? Or would she meet soft black eyes of the human servant, Sehun? Would she meet another human? Would…would she meet another vampire?
So many possibilities run through her head, so many different things she could potentially meet on the other side of the door that makes her fingers twitch. She fears what she could meet behind the door, yet her fingers itch to twist the door knob. Curious about what she could meet; who she could meet.
The Princess slides off the bed in slow movements. She takes a few steps until her fingers are centimetres from the door handle. She pauses as she stares at her shaking fingers, so close to the door knob, and twists her head to flick her eyes around the room. She has the feeling she was looking for something, as if seeking permission to leave.
She takes in a big breath, closing her eyes to settle her frantic nerves.
It took small, minimal steps to get to the door, but it was going to take a huge step to open it.
Her breath trembles as she exhales and quickly grabs the knob, preparing herself to open it. Yet her hand freezes around the cool metal surface and her body stills.
She can’t do it. Her throat tightens as her eyes stare at her immobile hand on the door. She can’t open it.
Predatory obsidian eyes staring back at her flashes across her mind.
What if she meets another pair of eyes? What if she encounters another vampire?
She’s only met one so far, and she hasn’t liked the encounters she’s had with him.
Her lips tremble along with her hand. She can’t do it.
Well, apparently, she didn’t have to.
The door swings open, knocking her back until she almost stumbles to the floor before she catches herself and she tries to caste her wide eyes to the figures in the doorway. However, the light burns her eyes before she can look anymore at the two figures and turns her head away, bringing a hand up to block the candlelight.
“Look at the sheets… Such a mess.” A raspy woman voice tuts as the Princess tries to adjust to the light.
Her stinging eyes causes her focus to shift and forgets the two visitors as she rubs harshly at her eyes. She feels the sting travel behind her eyes and to her temple, creating an ache to settle within. Why was the candlelight so harsh?
She groans softly as she slides her hands down her face and pries her eyes open slowly. She sees a shadow in the corner of her hazy vision before her eyes re-adjust to the lighting. With an ache still sitting behind her eyes and in her temple, she blearily realises two women making the sheets of the bed.
She jolts away from the door and stumbles until her back meets the wall. She stares at the two old women, looking completely unfazed by neither her actions or presence.
“W-who are you two?” The Princess stutters out warily as the two women straighten out the sheets.
“We’re servants of the Byun Castle.” The shorter of the two old women rasps out, not even looking up to glance at the Princess.
“Are you…humans?”
“No.” was the short reply from the other woman, her voice devoid of emotion.
This makes the princess’s heart start to beat faster and her throat becomes cloggy. The young female watches the two maids closely, waiting for them to do something, like attack. However, as she waits and waits nothing happens. The two maids just continue to make and tidy the bed. Her heart slows down as she stands pressed against the wall, watching the two vampires finish making the bed.
“The bed is just going to get messed up again, you do realise this right?” a sudden voice causes the princess to jump and whip her head to the door where a man is standing.
Who is he?
Her heart picks up pace.
The old raspy-voiced vampire simply flicks her eyes briefly to the new person standing at the door, inclining her head towards the towering male. The two women continue tidying the room without a word to the new visitor.
The man hums before his eyes shift to the Princess still pressed against the wall. The princess quickly looks down before her eyes can meet the new man’s eyes, feeling her body go cold.
“Well, you must be the Prince’s…” The man trails off, his deep and sardonic voice traveling to her ears.
“Wife.” The emotionless servant supplies as she finishes up the bed.
“Wife, yes that’s the word.” The man chuckles before stepping into the room, prowling towards the princess.
“Although I rather prefer another word to describe such a pitiful, weak being.”
The princess’s fingers tremble, her fear rising as she listens to the predatory like steps come closer to her. She feels an instinctual need to run from this man as she stares at the floor with quivering lips.
Polished black shoes enter her vision and she holds her breath.
A deep hum from above startles her and she tries to flinch away from a hand suddenly gripping her chin and tilting it up, so she was face-to-face with the vampire’s. She clenches her eyes shut before they can meet the towering man’s eyes and her bottom lip quivers.
“I prefer the term ‘pet’.” The man’s voice sounds smug, as if her fear pleases him. “I’m surprised the Prince has kept this little one considering his past reactions to such beings.”
A lump develops in her throat, constricting her breath as her eyes clench tightly. A dark chuckle crawls up her spine.
“Open your eyes.” A hypnotic voice whispers into her ear, creeping into her subconscious and tugging at her eyelids. She feels helpless as her control slips from her and her eyes flicker open.
A sickly warm clench tightens her throat while she now stares right into glowing blood red eyes.
“There we are.” He sneers while his eyes dull into a cold inky blackness and a scathing smile stretches onto his face.
“Do you know who I am?”
Her throat throbs as she swallows, feeling incredibly powerless as the looming vampire grips her chin in his hand and stares helplessly into predacious eyes. She feels trapped. She feels like a baby deer wandering the forest lost with a wolf prowling behind the bushes, getting ready to pounce.
She wishes someone would save her.
“Well it seems an introduction is needed.” The man grins, his deadly sharp fangs on full display as his hand travels from her chin and down her neck. Her skin pricks as his icy-cold fingers glide over her skin, trailing towards the curve of her shoulder.
His hands still and she realises with a choked breath that his hand hovers over the bandage, where the mark lies under. Panic grips her heart as she feels an instinctual need to protect the mark, however he body is paralysed, unresponsive to any commandments she tries desperately to yell at herself.
“My name is Park Chanyeol, little one.”
A/N: I dedicate this chapter to @shesdreaminginoverdose !! Thank you for bringing back my love for this story and I hope you enjoy it~
And thank you to my best friend who helped edit this for me~ and for shutting down my dramatic loving ass hahah