Hours in the Moonlight: Persevering Afterlight - 12. Hunter Becomes The Hunted
Summary: There was only so much a person could really prepare themselves for having to kill, even if the target was a crazed vampire that would doubtless harm incalculable others if left alive. And matters only become worse when there is a surprise to accompany such an unpleasant evening.
Series Type: Gender-neutral reader/ Vampire AU/ series/ romantic/ angst/ angst with comfort/ fluff/ sfw/ platonic interactions too!
Trigger Warning: Vampire
Word Count: 1552
Hours in the Moonlight Master-List
I stiffened as I heard what sounded distinctly like a roar. My arms tightening slightly as Jack skidded to halt at the exact same time a second sound filled the air, this one more of an enraged shriek.
Wordlessly, I slid off Jack’s back, and he looked my way. I nodded at him before handing him the slip of paper, doing my best to keep my hands from shaking or showing any level of the concerns I currently felt, “Go on. You don’t have much time before you’ll need to be getting back to your clan. And tell them not to try and visit me tonight. There won’t be time.”
Jack nodded solemnly but stopped me with a hand to my wrist, gentle but firm as he pulled me to a gentle halt as I started off towards the sounds, “Be careful, Y/n.”
I met his golden-eyed stare silently, before nodding with a slight smile that barely made its way to my face, “I will. Thank you.” I stepped backwards, away from him, as I pulled my wrist free of his grasp, “I’ll see you tomorrow night, Jack.”
He nodded once more, a myriad of emotions battling there on his face, as I turned and trotted off into the darkness. Knowing he stared after me until I rounded the corner and left his view.
I could only hope he’d do as I requested and not follow me.
It was ridiculous, knowing that everyone knew who I was and what job I had, but I still wanted to keep those I’d befriended as far away from this job of mine as possible. Though I doubted there was any way of hiding this from Leona since he was already here and had already seen me during my debut.
But I didn’t want them to think of me as the executioner of their people, even if that’s what I was. Even if that was what Crowley had made me.
I ran through the dark streets, following the sounds and pausing only to pull out the crossbow Rook had given me. It could only handle distance attacks, but if that were possible, that was what Rook had recommended.
From a more cold perspective, it was easier to kill a vampire from a distance by pulling a trigger than plunging the same stake into their chest, and it was certainly safer.
It wasn’t long before I ran across them, coming to a halt as soon as I spotted the two men facing off.
Leona stood, breathing hard as he stared across the space at the other vampire. He had bloody marks on his arms from where claws had been dug in, and a certain degree of frustration played its way across his face.
At odds with him, the other vampire appeared to almost revel in the fight. Purely mad, with ripped-up clothes as he licked his lips excitedly.
I almost grimaced at the sight; it was horrifying to see that the disease that helped them to survive for such a long period of time could also reduce them to such a state.
This was the vampires that came to mind when one considered the horror stories that were always so popular. Monsters that lived off the lifeblood of others without a single thought to the death, sorrow, and pain caused by their actions.
One of Leona’s ears twitched, and I saw him glance my way without actually turning his head. Almost like he was trying to keep the other vampire from noticing me.
He swallowed like he was trying to down a bitter medicine before he slowly nodded. I pressed my lips together, fully understanding his meaning, before I lifted the weapon and aimed.
I had no doubts that Leona had done his best, but now it came to this. One of the leaders of the clan had agreed, sentencing this vampire to his execution.
My eyes widened though as a sensation like someone running a cold finger down my spine shuddered through me.
The vampire’s eyes, reddened with madness, shifted to where I stood, and time seemed to slow as his grin spread. I distantly heard Leona shout something as deranged delight splayed its way across the vampire’s face before he moved.
I fired, but wasted no time in throwing myself to the side. Somehow already realizing that stake would not reach its mark.
Cracks shuddered through the wall I’d just been standing in front of as the vampire slammed into the stone. He hadn’t been holding himself back at all when he’d thrown himself at me.
High, deranged hissing filled the air as he pulled his hand out of the stone, and I realized, with a creeping horror, he was laughing.
He twisted, his eyes somehow glistening under the little light that surrounded us as I shoved my hand into my bag. My hand closing around a new stake, the smooth wood oddly warm in my cold hand. Almost like it was promising me that so long as my aim was true, it would be reliable.
“And so,” I felt myself freeze as it spoke. My eyes going wide at his raspy words, “The precious little morsel of a hunter becomes the hunted.”
I stepped backwards as he faced me fully, almost seeming to gloat in its power as it fell silent. Spreading his arms like he was telling me to take my shot.
I faltered slightly as I went ahead and pulled my weapon the rest of the way out of the bag. This one had more sense than the other one’d had.
“Leona, are you sure you can’t get this one back?” My voice wavered a bit but was respectively level as I spoke. But adrenaline was rapidly taking over as a cold calm crept into my mind that I knew would flee the very instant I felt safe.
I’d been here before. Treated like prey before a vampire. I recognized the feeling now, but it was different now. I knew how to fight now.
Leona was standing on the other side of the vampire from me, his voice practically a growl as he responded, “Positive…. Just do it, Herbivore.”
I nodded, waiting for the very second the vampire shifted, preparing to launch to throw myself forward.
It was like barrelling into a wall, and I felt the man grasp my shoulders, his claws easily tearing through my shirt and slicing into my skin.
He inhaled sharply, breathing in deeply as if he were smelling something delightful as soon as my blood touched the air, and I grimaced, fighting to push the stake into his chest.
He hissed suddenly though and curled around me slightly, and somehow I could tell his attention had shifted from me to where I could now hear Leona snarling behind him.
I hadn’t time to question any of it though as I continued to push forward. Grimacing against the pain in my shoulders as the vampire stumbled backwards. Losing his footing as he focused on whatever was happening behind him.
His back hit the earth hard, and he gasped, jerking forward from the pressure of his fall and shoving himself onto the stake.
His eyes found mine as I stared down at him in slight shock, my hands already beginning to tremble as his blood bubbled up around the stake. And I saw nothing but hatred in the depths of those eyes as he hissed, snapping at me before falling backwards, impaled on the stake by his own motions.
I jerked myself off him, further tearing my shirt from where his claws had still been dug into my skin as I whirled, only to see Leona fighting another, new vampire.
My breaths came in pants slightly, and my legs were already trembling as I darted towards where my bag lay abandoned, the crossbow ready to load and fire in an instant.
My hands snatched at the weapon as I ripped another stake from the bag and loaded it hurriedly. My hands slipped on the wood as I silently cursed myself for not being more deft.
I raised it, leaning back to fire it as I shouted, “LEONA!!”
The young man let out something disturbingly akin to a roar, his large fangs, larger than the ones on the woman he was holding off himself, bared. He shoved one foot against the other vampire, kicking her off of himself.
The other vampire slammed into the abandoned crates with a shriek, and I aimed, ready for her the very second she emerged from the wood. But she wasn’t looking at Leona. No, she was looking at me and barreling forward. A maniacal grin on her face, like she didn’t see the weapon I held aimed at her.
I fired in a panicked rush, but there was no way I could miss, and the stake found its target as she bore down on me.
She fell forward, landing on me as she already began to dissolve into ashes, and I felt the crossbow fall from my numb fingers.
The words from the previous vampire danced through my mind like a bad omen, mocking me as I stared at the ash that now covered my lap that had been a vampire.
“And so the precious little morsel of a hunter becomes the hunted.”
Hiccup’s eyes grew insanely wide at the question, and his cheeks flushed as deep red as the rose still clasp delicately in his hands. Jack… Jack wanted to kiss him. Jack asked to kiss him!! Oh gods! What— how do you kiss someone?! Was there a proper method or did he just have to go with the flow? He desperately didn’t want to mess this up and offend Jack, or make a fool of himself in the process either. His gaze flicked down at Jack’s lips only a moment and that was enough for his heart to skip and pound harder against his ribs in anticipation.
“You… you may,” he whispers ever so softly.
Jack grinned and as his lips curled upwards his long fangs shone in the moonlight. The smile only lasted a moment before his face turned serious again and Hiccup watched as he slowly started leaning in. Soft lips tenderly pressed to Hiccup’s.
Hiccup’s eyes flutter as Jack’s lips land on his own. They are... cold? Jack’s lips were cold which he wasn’t expecting but that was probably just because it was chilly outside tonight. The kiss was gentle and soft and slow and oh gods is this what it was like to really kiss someone? Not just a peck but real kiss? Hiccup could feel his left leg lift off the ground ever so slightly in the way that it would in any cliche romance novel, but Hiccup couldn’t help it! Jack was so gentle with him! And the kiss sent sparks and fireworks off in his chest.
Jack's arm came around Hiccup's hips and slid up to support his back. Then-- then the kiss moves. Hiccup’s lips tingled as Jack kissed the corner of Hiccup’s mouth, the soft cheek, the curve of his jaw, the sloping column of his neck.
His breath hitched at the feeling of Jack’s lips on his skin. Oh… that felt… that felt good.
Until it didn’t.
His eyes snapped open wide as a sharp pain shot down his spine-- like two needle like razors broke the skin on his neck. Because that’s exactly what was happening. Jack was biting him.
A choked gasp ripped from his throat, and he grasped at Jack’s arm or chest or really anything he could reach to try and struggle out of his hold. Oh, it hurt— it hurt so bad— he could feel his eyes water with hot tears and overflow down his cheeks as the pain radiated down his neck and through his entire body.
“Jack— Jack, st-stop--“ he choked in a small, pain-filled voice. Though after a moment his struggling slowly ceased, like a rabbit accepting its fate in a wolf’s jaws. Jack’s bite was putting him into a daze… everything sounded muffled around him and his ears were starting to ring like they had earlier. Finally, his body goes limp in Jack’s hold and his arms fall to his sides. The rose slowly slips from his fingers and falls- down, down until it lands carelessly in the grass...
- A sneak peek of a Halloween special by myself and @antiqueginger
She had escaped her captors and ended up on the grounds of the castle in her wolf form fight or flight mode on high. Finding a sheltered place to hide she fell asleep and reverted herself to human form.
She was awoken by a dark-skinned woman with an eye tattoo looking at her.
"What are you doing on my master's castle ground ?"
Sorry no direct HiJack this time, but this is based off an idea i had through brainstorming and independent of that also independend a thing that might happen in a RP from @toopliss-chewtoy in the future.
So, is this a garlic loving Vampire Jack? Yes yes it is.
I would say it could be like with people that have a lactose intolerance but they still crave some milk or cheese from time to time. They love it, but might hate their live (or in his case undead-ness) after.
And Werewolf Hiccup too!
so yeah, i wish you @toopliss-chewtoy a Happy happy Bithday and hope you have a nice day.
(ﾉ´▽｀)ﾉ♪
He saw it appear in the distance. A pale shape slowly gaining refinement on the horizon. The pirate fortress; the secret floating city known as Ship Wreck Cove appeared on the horizon, back lit by the late afternoon soon.
Jack could see it more of it through his telescope and felt himself smiling, even though he took a shaky inhale and exhale of breath. A breath the vampire didn’t require. There were so many churning emotions upon seeing his old home...and the ultimate vampire nest. At least for sea-faring pirates who had been turned. In the paling sky above them, nearly lost in the soft dusky powder-blue atmosphere he spotted the pale face the moon beginning to rise. Now it was a pale ghost but soon...soon it would shiny rusty red with blood.
He knew what would happen then. The reason for the return to the nest. The reason for the revelries that would come tonight. The Blood Moon was rare and sacred occurrence to vampire’s. A night when they were at the height of their power. He was compelled to return home, to join the others like him in their festivities. Weeks had gone into the planning of this...his father; Captain Teague would have been part of the preparations. He should have been exciting for a night of decadence, debauchery and reveling in blood.
But there was one thing that held him back. The man beside him, who was watching the horizon as surely as he was. Kili had been his prisoner; yes. But the hunter was more than that now. Jack bonded with him. Not just through blood and their frequent couplings either. The hunter was more...he was a companion. He was...a reminder of the humanity he had lost. And he wanted to protect him. He held that duty, as his master, to care for the man in his charge. Tonight worried him and excited him all at once.
There were such delights and such pleasures to be had tonight. Pirate society--especially for those who had been turned--was full of things that mere mortals dare not experience. He wanted to share those things with Kili...it was what came after; the madness...
But Jack had been working on a plan to protect his lover. And himself. From being utterly lost. He could only pray it would work.
He turned to Kili, lowering the eye glass and stroked softly along the back of his neck and down his back. “You’re about to experience a rare treat...not many humans have been awarded the honor what you’re about to see. Only promise me...” he turned so he could see Kili’s eyes. “That you’ll stay close. And heed any warning I give.” He looked at the other sincerely and then kissed him softly. “Promise me that. And I will keep you safe.”
Below them; the crew was teaming and anxious. Many gathered to watching the growing island in the distance. They sang and some danced. It seemed a merry occasion indeed and certainly it was. It was release from hunger and the fear of being hunted. To feel their full strength if only for a night. Unfortunately that strength could be monstrous when left unchecked.
Jack pulled Kili too him and nuzzled softly at the claim marks, which were closed and clean. He’d not tasted him in more than a week. He needed the man strong for tonight. While the bond between them was new, it was growing stronger; more secure. “I’ve treats in store for you. They’re inside the cabin. I had Gibbs lay them out.”
@watchwhathappensfromafar day 2 of au week! It’s a little late but I don’t care fhksfdlb Werewolf/vampire stories are my favorites, so I hope I’m doing this justice hadslkfkljas. Warning for swearing and mild body horror. Didn’t go off the shits for this one because I wanted to do something sorta fluffy with it.
Jack Kelly smelled wrong.
Or, he would’ve smelled wrong, had he had a proper smell to him, but he didn’t, which, as far as Davey was concerned, was worse than wrong.
See, Race smelled like his cigars that usually remained unlit, and Crutchie smelled like dirt more often than not. Romeo always smelled like the perfumes he was trying, Spot smelled of sweat, and yes, Jack smelled like paints, like paints and city smoke, but he didn’t have any scent that was distinctly his own, which was odd. As far as Davey knew, most humans smelled of something that he couldn’t quite explain. Something that was just... human. But Jack just didn’t. He didn’t smell like anything.
Which was weird.
To be fair, the fact that Davey noticed to begin with was also pretty weird.
He couldn’t help it. Being a werewolf in Lower Manhattan of all places was exhausting, and being a part of the newsies there only made it harder to keep it a secret. He’d caught himself growling at Racetrack once, though to be fair, the full moon had been the next night, and he’d reluctantly had to hawk headlines about infernal barking and dog attacks the next morning.
Keeping the secret was difficult-- but he had to do it. He didn’t get a choice in the matter. If word got out that one of the Jacobses was a were... he didn’t want to think about the consequences. They’d go after him, of course, but Les... Les wasn’t like him. None of his family members were, and as far as Davey was concerned, it was going to stay that way.
One werewolf was more than enough, as far as he was concerned.
With his bag slung over his shoulder and his cap slightly crooked on his head, Davey walked side by side with Jack, the scentless wonder himself, and tried his best to focus on the words Jack was saying. It wasn’t normally hard to focus, and he was fairly certain he was doing a good job at pretending to focus, nodding along in all the right places as Jack rambled on, but he was too busy thinking.
Too busy thinking until Jack cuffed him on the shoulder, that is, with a hand cold enough to make him yelp on contact.
“Ey, you’se been actin’ weird all day,” the other boy piped, earning a low, irritable little huff from Davey.
“I’m fine, Jack,” he intoned.
Another swat to the shoulder made him roll his eyes and shoot a glare in Jack’s direction.
“You’se not,” Jack insisted, “you’se been actin’ all funny ever since th’ sun went down. Scared ‘o gettin’ jumped?”
Why don’t you smell like anything?
Why am I worried about this?
What does it even matter?
Oh. That’s right. It doesn’t.
Davey made a noncommittal noise and shrugged as well as he was able. Yes, the sunset was making him antsy, but it wasn’t the darkness that was setting him off. After all, he could see just fine.
Apparently I can’t smell all that fine.
Turning his gaze to Jack with his eyes semi-narrowed, Davey offered a false smile. “Nah. I’ve got you as bait, haven’t I?”
Jack’s brow furrowed. “Why’s I th’ bait?” He asked, “you’se the one who can’t fight worth shit--”
“I’m faster.”
This time, Davey avoided the smack to his shoulder and gave a soft snort of a laugh. It wasn’t all that bad an end to a day that also, really wasn’t all that bad. The only real bummer was that he’d had to sell some paper about a freak series of attacks around Lower Manhattan, and it was really getting to some of the other boys. It was one of the few instances that Davey had really, really wished there hadn’t been a nice clear picture. An oozing, bitten wound on the side of someone’s neck really wasn’t something he’d wanted to see bright and early in the morning.
“Right, yeah,” Jack agreed, snapping him back into the present again, “’cos you’se faster and I tastes better, is that it?”
You probably don’t taste like anything.
Seeing as you don’t smell like anything.
Why was now the time he’d picked to notice Jack’s lack of scent?
Scrubbing a dirty hand across his face to mask a confused frown, Davey shrugged. “Wouldn’t know, Jack. Should I ask Katherine--”
Jack’s bag swung hard enough into Davey’s side to make the air leave his lungs in a startled, wheezing little gasp, though it quickly turned to a laugh when he caught sight of Jack’s almost offended expression.
“You know Kath an’ me ain’t--”
“Kath and I,” he corrected, automatically.
“Whatev’a. You knows we ain’t like that no more, yeah?”
He knew. He’d been the first to hear of the breakup, though, not from Jack. Instead, it had been from a pale-faced Katherine, who he didn’t see much of these days, just in passing glances. Whenever they met eyes, she was always quick to look away, though he didn’t know why.
“What,” Davey started, innocently eyeing him, “you don’t taste each other anymore?” He was already halfway ducking when he said it, and when Jack made to swing, Davey shot just far enough ahead of the other boy to cause his bag to swing into the nearest alley wall with an empty thump of fabric, just behind him.
“We nev’a did, ya ass!” Jack shouted after him, though there was no real malice in it. His voice had a laugh just beneath its surface, close enough to bubbling up through his words to make Davey’s lips twitch upward into a smile.
“How was I to know?” He shot back, turning to walk backward while grinning at Jack. “For all I know, you two are the ones going around biting people!”
He swore he saw Jack pale in that instant, though, it must’ve just been a trick of the light, the way his eyes had flickered with something close to fear before Davey blinked and it was all gone.
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, Dave,” Jack huffed, “watch yourself, or we’s gonna get ya next!”
With a playful shout, Jack leapt at him with his hands outstretched in false claws and his fangs--
His WHAT?
--his teeth, that was it-- bared in a snarl.
First my nose, now my eyes.
Swinging his hands up to stop Jack from crashing full into his front, Davey shook his head and gave the other boy a good shove in the chest. “Right, though I bet you’ll be doing the biting,” Davey said through a laugh.
“Ey, bett’a than that stupid-ass dog that the whole city’s been goin’ apeshit about. You’s gonna be lucky if ya’s bit by good ole reliable Jack Kelly!”
Davey swallowed. “Lucky?” He asked, trying to pull focus away from the way that Jack seemed almost eerily focused on him. “Why?”
“Oh, lot’sa reasons,” Jack explained. Striking a pose, the shorter boy shot Davey a look that could only be described as embarrassing. “Fer one, I’s handsome,” he began with a twitch of his brows.
Davey snorted. “Find a better reason.”
Jack brought a hand to his chest dramatically. “I’s crushed, David! You’se a real bastard, ya know that? I ain’t even given ya th’ best reason! That was jus’ a warm up!”
Turning on his heel, Davey shook his head, using it as an excuse to look skyward. No moon yet. None that he could see through the city smog, anyway, and it wasn’t supposed to be a full moon yet. Still... his skin was starting to itch, that animal inside him begging to be unleashed, and being in the alley with Jack was only making it plead with him in a louder, more convincing voice.
Davey shook it off. “Well, I don’t need to hear the rest--”
“I’s polite about it!”
He didn’t look up as Jack quickened his step to walk in time with him, bumping their shoulders together. “Really! I is! I’ll ask ya first an’ everythin’!”
A laugh escaped Davey at the almost offended tone snaking its way into Jack’s voice. “What, you just... come up and ask ‘hey, can I put my fangs in your neck?’” As he gave a laugh at the mental image, he heard Jack make a low, offended little noise beside him.
“Yeah-- well, not wit’ th’ fangs,” Jack corrected, “that’s a little too much, ain’t it?”
“Fangs?”
“Yeah. Feel like they’d make it ‘ard to talk.”
“Well...” Davey mused, stopping himself mid-step to look at Jack out of the corner of his eye. “Not like you’re talking all that well without them--”
“Ey!”
Again, Jack bared his teeth and lunged for Davey,and although Davey managed to catch his shoulders and stop Jack from slamming into him entirely, he felt his back connect with the alley wall.
Panting, sweat trickling down his forehead, Davey lolled his head back and gave a laugh. “What happened to asking first?” He prompted, though the joking edge to it had faltered, just for a moment, because there was something... different about Jack.
It was his eyes. Gleaming in the darkness in a way that Davey knew human eyes didn’t, and it was there in the way his lips twitched slightly and his jaw tensed, just enough to make him look like he was really considering it--
“I ain’t asked yet.” His hands didn’t move from Davey’s shoulders. It didn’t seem to matter that Davey was taller-- he’d slid far enough down the wall that they were practically at eye-level as Jack finally, finally shot him a grin. “Can I?”
He couldn’t explain his response. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to explain his response. It had been a joke at the time, though to Davey, it had seemed as though there had been an almost serious feeling hanging in the air above him. Locking eyes with Jack, Davey tipped his head back, exposing his neck completely. “Bite me, Kelly.” He breathed, though it quickly turned to a soft snicker.
It was the first time in a long time that Jack had ever gone silent in front of Davey. He wasn’t blushing, but in the darkness, it looked almost like he was trying to. His eyes were blown wide, trained, however, not on Davey but on his exposed throat. They looked almost hungry.
They’re not, Davey rationalized, because Jack isn’t actually going to bite anybody.
Adjusting how he was slumped against the wall for a split-second and looking into Jack’s eyes-- eyes that still weren’t focused on him-- Davey cocked his head. “Jack?”
That broke the spell. Jack’s hands fell from where they’d been on Davey’s shoulders, and when they were removed, it hit him just how hard Jack had been pressing against him. Hard enough that when Davey stumbled momentarily in an attempt to get back up to his full height, he felt a small twinge of discomfort across his shoulders.
Is it bruising?
Suddenly, it felt rather hard to breathe. With a hand that trembled and itched a tad, Davey loosened the collar of his shirt and watched without speaking as Jack stalked away from him.
He didn’t go far. He stopped a few feet ahead of Davey and brought his hands up to his face, and for a moment, Davey could’ve sworn that Jack was shaking.
Did... did I do something wrong?
Swallowing nervously, Davey inhaled and started after him, already trying to speak, but--
“How,” Jack began, calmy, “th’ FUCK did you know?”
The volume caught Davey off guard. His heart began to thrum heavily in his chest.
How did I...
An uncomfortable feeling settled across him as the figure of Jack heaved, still keeping his back turned to Davey in the darkness.
“H-How did I know what?” Davey stammered. It was all he could think to say. He had a feeling-- a squirming, writhing sort of feeling-- settling in his gut like a lead weight that told him he knew exactly what Jack was referring to.
But it couldn’t be right.
He stepped closer when Jack didn’t respond. “...Jackie?” He tried, the nickname earning him the noise of Jack taking a quivering, shaking breath.
“I’s tried so damn hard t’hide it,” Jack croaked, “I-- an’ you just comes into my life an’ you knows-- you-- you KNOWS! I ain’t told anyone-- I ain’t done nothin’ s’picious, I ain’t-- I goes out in th’ day like all the other boys, an’ I sells my papes an’ I don’t read too much into what’s on ‘em, I don’t-- I jokes about ‘em, fer fuck’s sake!”
Davey took another step closer to Jack, and hesitantly put his hand on the other newsie’s shoulder. “Jack. You-- slow down, what’re you so worked up about?” He asked, a desperate, pleading sort of lilt coming into his voice. “You-- you’re shaking like a leaf, you-- do you need to sit--”
And then Jack turned to face him. In the dim light of the alley, Davey could see something that wasn’t supposed to be there. Two somethings. A pair of sharp fangs curled out from behind Jack’s lips, and as Jack’s wide eyes met his own--
“I’m a vampire, Dave.”
The words came out in a rush, and once they were spoken, Davey’s ears started to ring, though not to a point where he couldn’t hear the noise of Jack choking on the air when he turned away.
“I-- I ain’t been th’ one bitin’ people, though, I’s not a-- I’s not some monster, and I don’t know-- I ain’t-- how--” Jack was starting to spiral. Davey could hear it in his voice. “--how did’ja just figure it out like that? That ain’t--”
He was cut off by Davey giving a sharp, disbelieving laugh. It was a small noise, really. More of a snort than anything, but by the time Jack turned around once more, fangs gleaming in the darkness, Davey had begun to shake with the force of his guffaws.
“Dave, this-- this ain’t a joke.” Jack sputtered, though when he opened his mouth to say more, Davey beat him to it.
“That’s why you don’t smell like anything,” he wheezed through a giggle, “and-- and that’s why you burn so easily in the sun, a-and--”
“Why I don’t smell?” Jack echoed. The look of confusion on his face was enough to send Davey over the edge.
He clutched at his stomach and stumbled back toward the alley’s brick wall, doubled over and cackling. “I-- I mean-- what’re the odds?” His voice was wobbling, though as he broke into another round of giggles, Jack made an exasperated noise.
“The odds of what? You’se really gonna lookit me an’ say vamps don’t exist? I’s got fangs, fer fuck’s sake, David!”
Davey shook his head. When he inhaled, it was shaky, and he threatened to break into a laugh with the air left in his lungs. “Jack,” he started, biting down hard on the inside of his cheek, “it’s not that you’re bad at hiding it, it’s because I’m a lycanthrope.”
Jack’s confusion only seemed to grow. His brow furrowed, and although his words were a little slurred around the fangs, it was more than a little understandable. “Dave, I don’t gives a shit about yer religion, I wants to know why th’ fuck the way I smell was any clue!”
Davey lost it.
Gasping for air against laughter that bubbled up from his throat, he shook his head and put out a hand on the alley wall for balance. It wasn’t even that funny. As he wheezed and giggled almost hysterically to himself, he looked up at Jack with a wide, crooked grin. “It’s not a religion, Jackie. I’m a werewolf.”
There was a beat of silence before Jack’s eyes widened.
Davey managed to stifle his laughter as the other boy slowly, slowly began to slot the pieces together in his mind. He could practically hear the wheels in Jack’s head turning, probably squealing from years of misuse as they clicked and whirred until--
“Well, that would’a been nice to know.”
The laughter doubled in volume, now that two boys were in on it. It was nothing to laugh at-- vampirisim and lycanthropy weren’t exactly laughing matters-- but they didn’t care, because for the first time in a very, very long time, they’d let their secrets spill. It felt great.
Almost as great as when the pair scaled the fire escape to Jack’s rooftop penthouse, with the vampire in question still a little red in the face from his laughing. “So you’se-- you’se been sniffin’ me?”
“No! Just-- you notice things like that when you hang around people a lot. It’s why I figured out that you hung around Medda’s so much. Whole place smelled like you.”
As Davey hauled his way up onto the roof with help from a cold, strong grip, Jack frowned.
“Ey, I thought you said I didn’t smell.”
“Your clothes do,” Davey explained, “they smell like Medda’s.”
The night air was clear and crisp, now. It always seemed nicer up on the roof with the city far, far below them and the sky stretched out like a map above. It was one of the few times Davey could actually hear himself think. Having sensitive ears-- sensitive even for a were-- was tricky when you lived in Manhattan, where the city never seemed to quiet down, but...
Davey sighed, thoughtfully. “Never would’ve guessed the vampire thing,” he admitted, earning a shrug from Jack.
“Never would’a pinned ya as a wolf, though I guess that explains the sheddin’...”
The taller boy blushed. “I,” he stated, firmly, “do not--”
Jack jutted out his chin with a snicker. “Prove it, then.”
“How?”
That stumped him. Davey watched with an almost morbid fascination as Jack chewed on his lip with fangs he’d never noticed before.
They’re probably retractable.
Even now, his analytical mind was kicking into overdrive, putting together pieces from what he’d observed and realizing, with an odd sort of astonishment, that it had been fairly obvious. After all, he’d never seen Jack eat anything, and he was a little pale for a Manhattan newsie...
What does he even eat?
The answer was easily deduced, sure-- blood-- but where did he get it?
He didn’t bother asking Jack about it. Questions could come later, once the pair of them had figured out where they stood with the whole thing. It wasn’t as though Davey knew everything there was to know about being a werewolf. Keeping the conversation light seemed to be in his best interest, and he was more than happy to oblige.
Sitting on the roof in a spot usually occupied by Crutchie, Davey crossed his arms against the cold and waited for Jack to rebut him.
He didn’t need to wait long.
“Change,” Jack finally prompted with enough force and genuine command behind his voice that it caught Davey off guard.
His eyes widened a tad. “Here?”
“Why not? Nobody’s gonna see, an’ ‘sides, I wanna know if you’se really all as big an’ scary as wolves is s’posed to be.” There was no fear in Jack’s voice as he sat on the ledge of the roof, back toward the city and eyes expectantly on Davey, who shifted his weight under Jack’s gaze.
“I... I don’t know if that’s a good idea...” He tried, though it was met with a scoff.
“You seen my fangs, so I’d say it’s a good ole even trade. One fer one, hey?” Jack wheedled, leaning forward and baring his teeth as if to prove it.
Davey swallowed. “It’s not exactly the same. If you could turn into a bat, it’d be the same.”
“That’sa loada shit, Dave,” Jack huffed, “I’s tried. Must be for them pureblood fuckers.” For a moment, Jack seemed to lose his train of thought, though he was quick to put his attention back on Davey. “But I wanna see! C’mon, only for a minute. It don’t hurt you, does it?”
Shrugging, Davey scuffed a foot against the roof. “A little. Just itches, mostly.”
“An’ ya don’t need a full moon?”
“That’s bullshit,” Davey admitted with a sigh.
“Then get itchy, Jacobs!” Jack exclaimed.
Davey laughed, though it was a little strained sounding.
The roof would hold... and he’s not gonna let me off the hook for this one, is he?
A glance at Jack’s expression confirmed it. There was a childish light in his eyes, something eager and excited, like Les every Christmas when he’d wake up extra early and practically drag Davey down the stairs and into the living room. It was startlingly similar.
“...promise you won’t tell?” He finally asked.
Jack’s eyes gleamed. “Ey, ‘course I wouldn’t. You’se... you’se not th’ wolf attackin’ people though, right? You’se... you’se still you when ya change?”
Davey nodded. “I-- I’m still me,” he confirmed, already shakily getting to his feet, “th-though I usually do this alone. Could you... erm... could you turn--”
He didn’t need to finish the request. With a mock salute, Jack turned to face the city lights, leaving his back to Davey.
Right.
He actually wants me to do this.
There was something almost like excitement rising in Davey’s chest as he carefully shed his vest and cap, tucking them neatly away, though he couldn’t tell why. It wasn’t like he’d never shifted before.
“Don’t look--” He started to say.
“Yeah, yeah,” Jack interrupted, “get itchy, whatev’a.”
A soft snort escaped Davey before he could stifle it.
Okay.
We’re doing this.
The animal under his skin twitched. It was disorienting, having it so close to the surface. He’d never forced a transformation before-- never had reason to-- but it couldn’t be all that hard, could it? He had to resist the urge to change most of the time, so... it would happen fast.
Right?
Okay.
He thought again, and with a nervous little breath, he let his eyes slide closed.
It all happened so much faster when he let it.
He barely had time to brace for the stinging sensation of fur prickling up across his body, and with a dull thump, he was brought to his knees under a new muscle weight his body wasn’t prepared for, and once he hit the ground--
He could feel his form changing-- claws pressing through where his fingers had been, his jaws elongating into a muzzle with a pain that was dull enough to go through silently-- and as his bones shifted and cracked into place, he struggled not to focus on the nauseating sensations of his internal organs shifting.
His breaths came quicker.
A canine tongue lolled past his sharp teeth.
His claws dug into the roof’s surface as he felt his vertebrae beginning to pop and click against each other in an elongated spine, and then with a searing, awful pain that made him give an animal little yelp--
A plumed tail thumped against the bricks.
Davey’s heart was beating a little too fast as he carefully, carefully stumbled a little ways away from Jack-- who was still standing with his back turned-- and tried to process how easily the shift had come. It hadn’t hurt like the last times-- not really-- it hadn’t--
“...Dave?”
His ears perked up at the familiar voice. His eyes-- wild and a little scared-- tracked to Jack’s shape.
Can I speak like this?
He’d never tried. He’d never had a reason to try. Inhaling, forcing himself to step closer with his claws skittering slightly on the roof, he looked down at Jack and gave a low rumble in the back of his throat. “...okay.” He breathed. It was raspy, sounding more like a bark than anything else, but it prompted Jack to spin around.
When his eyes met Jack’s, at first, he thought he saw fear there.
He couldn’t blame the other boy. He was huge. Huge and animal with teeth designed to bite and tear up prey before they could get a word in edgewise, and not to mention, his hulking shape was taking up a good amount of the rooftop. Thick fur covered him from head to toe, and although it had a bit of curl to it, it was murky looking, patchy around his shoulders and down his back.
His ears pinned back. His tail tucked between his legs.
“...Jackie?” He tried, inwardly cringing at the rough, grating tone escaping his lips.
Jack’s face lit up.
Before Davey could do so much as flinch, a pair of cold, careful hands were on the sides of his shaggy head. “Holy shit! An’ t’think all this time I thought you was a weakling,” Jack exclaimed, already grinning from ear to ear in a way that made his fangs pop out. “You’s fuckin’ huge! Jesus, is all wolves this big? Do you know?”
Already, he was creeping closer.
Davey slumped into a sitting position and tried to shrug. Moving slowly, as not to scare the other boy, Davey laid himself down in a mess of matted, brown fur and let his head rest atop his enormous, clumsy looking paws.
Jack looked like he was going to implode. Davey could practically hear the questions Jack wasn’t asking as the other boy looked him over, striding closer by the second. “I-- you’se-- wow, Dave, this-- this is somethin’,” Jack praised.
Davey’s tail wagged in response.
“And...” The vampire drawled with an almost smug smile. As he spoke, he let his hand press against Davey’s side and come downward in a gentle, petting motion. “You does shed.”
Davey didn’t remember much of the rest of the night. He remembered trying to speak and getting laughed at. He remembered the soft noises of the boys in the lodgehouse below them stirring in the night. He remembered the feeling of Jack’s cold hands tracing patterns against the fur on his side.
But what he remembered best was falling asleep, wrapped around the cold shape of Jack Kelly, and wondering if the other boy was warm.
