'Only a vampire can create another vampire.'
That was what Rocinante experienced before he read about it.
He chuckled at himself for remembering such a seemingly unimportant fact, when he should be thinking about how he should clean up the mess he had made in the kitchen.
"Cora-san! Are you listening!?"
"Ah! Yes, Law, I'm listening."
"No you're not." Trafalgar Law, a young man who had devoted his life to Rocinante. One of the mutated monsters living in the Dark Forest had attacked Law's village 16 years ago, and to survive, Law had hid amongst the mess and chaos left in the monsters' wake, and was unfortunately infected with the monster's poison, which showed signs from him bleeding purple.
Law was immediately exiled, and would have died if he did not wander into the woods alone, protected by the stench of the mutated blood corrupting his body, as he stumbled into Rocinante who was out hunting. The young vampire's blood had healing properties and did not hesitate as he forced the struggling little boy to drink some of it. Turns out that Law had drank enough blood to cancel out the poison, and remained human instead of turning into a vampire.
Being exiled from his village, Law had no choice but to go with Rocinante. It was more on Rocinante's part, who insisted that Law should come and live with him and his brother when the vampire had heard of Law's side of the story. He had experienced the wrath and spite of normal humans against the unknown, and would rather Law not go through it the second time. They would chase him out before he could have a chance to explain that he had healed.
Nobody believes the existence of vampires as anything but the spawns of hell, anyway.
"Geez, Cora-san. Do you need a break from this?"
"No, it's okay."
Then, there was a knock on the door.
Donquixote Doflamingo, one of the oldest living creatures in the Dark Forest. He was just returning from his hunt for human blood at one of the nearest villages, having satisfied his thirst for human blood for the week. He's taking a break from drinking from his lover, who also doubles as his brother, Donquixote Rocinante.
Incest? Doflamingo snickered at that. They might call it incest, but he calls it love.
Thinking back of the times when he had realized that he might have fell for his younger brother, he had thought he was going crazy, that something was wrong with him, and he stopped drinking human blood, only hunting for small animals when he's at his limit. Doflamingo fell ill and he even tried to leave Rocinante, but was found and forcibly dragged back to the mansion that they had called a home. The younger brother had tried to hunt for Doflamingo, but was turned down each time, with the excuse that he doesn't feel like having some.
Rocinante got sick of his brother trying to be tough for no reason out of the blue. Therefore he physically restrained Doflamingo to his bed, and pricked his neck with a small needle, tempting the older vampire with the smell of his blood. Rocinante figured that since he's a vampire himself, it might not smell as good as a regular human's, but this would have to do. He'd hate to kill an innocent human only to end up having Doffy refusing to drink their blood.
Doffy... Such an intimate nickname. Rocinante called out to Doffy with that nickname, voice hoarse and rough, wincing from the self-puncture, blood seeping out from his neck slowly as he did so. It was a nickname he had used since they were kids, but at that moment, coupled with Roci's unusually sweet-smelling blood, it was the strongest aphrodisiac Doffy has ever tasted.
The beast broke free, and Roci had a deja vu from when they were kids.
They were young when the young vampire attacked their family. Their parents had shielded them from the vicious attack, but even after feeding on the married couple, the young vampire wondered about the taste of a young child's blood. He grabbed Doffy and punctured his neck, drawing enough blood to taste, before throwing Doffy away in disgust. Roci remembered the young vampire's words, "Tastes like raw meat", before he sped off towards the shady embrace of the Dark Forest, for dawn is approaching.
Doffy's experiencing severe pain when he first changed, moments after the bite, and Roci had searched for help throughout the village, but it only caused their exile, because the outstretching tooth and the demonic look in Doffy's eyes suggested that it was paranormal. Leaving the town they grew up in, they took shelter in the Dark Forest, and the younger brother would hunt for the older as he rested during the day.
The older brother first tasted human blood was a few weeks later, when Roci was lurking in their hometown, trying to steal some decent food for his growling stomach. What he didn't expect was an attacker, who had a knife, that later became his cause of death. The memory of him stabbing that drunken assaulter in the throat was an image that Roci would not forget for a long way down the road. In the end, he managed to dispose of the dead body by bringing it back to his brother.
The crazed bloodlust that little Doffy had in his eyes when he teared at the dead man was similar to the moment when adult Doffy broke free from the restraints, and pounced at his own dear brother.
At that moment, Roci really thought he was going to die.
Doffy's fangs were larger than the puncture holes that Roci made, and it teared against his skin, oozing more blood from it. Doffy's self control came back when he tasted Roci's blood, and his outstretched claws were held back from tearing Roci apart, and instead were used to hold Roci's shivering head and neck in place.
He might be able to control his limbs, but his mouth kept sucking at the source of the sweetest blood he had ever tasted. Roci's initial relief from his brother finally feeding again turned to fear when he felt how quick his strength had been drained away. Roci tapped at Doffy's head, hoping to pull him back into reality, and was grateful that he succeeded.
Doffy pulled back, looking at his brother - his crush's - pale face, and only realizing what he had done.
"I'm so sorry, Roci. I didn't mean to-"
A hand came up to wipe at his bloody, messy lips.
"I'm glad... that you've finally drank some proper blood." Roci's smile makes Doffy's heart ache even more than he's already feeling. Roci's hands were turning messier with his own blood that were sucked out by Doffy, but he took satisfaction in seeing Doffy all cleaned up, without a trace of the beast from earlier.
"Stop talking." Doffy ordered, rolling his left sleeve down, revealing his wrist and the healthy, pulsing vein beneath it. "Drink."
Roci seemed to be hesitating, but Doffy wouldn't leave Roci out to dry. Especially not when he had drank Roci's blood and for some reason he felt better than the times he had drank from a healthy human being. Biting down on his wrist to puncture it, he extended his wrist out to Roci. The younger brother had set his fangs into the slightly oversized puncture holes, sucking messily onto the wound, dripping blood all over his mouth, that dribbled down his chin, and his neck.
Watching Roci feed on him was the fuel for Doffy to confess.
"Roci, I love you."
The sucking stopped. "I love you too, Doffy."
Doffy winced at that nickname. Roci must have misunderstood him. "No, not that kind of love. That kind."
Roci looked up from Doffy's wrist, the area around his mouth still a bloody mess.
"I know." Tears begin to fall from Roci's eyes as he said so. "I know, Doffy. That kind. It's wrong, isn't it? It's not right and it'll never work out, doesn't it?" Roci's voice broke in the end, choking on his own tears.
Doffy's heart shattered when he saw Roci cry, but the reciprocated feelings were strong enough to mend it back together. His hands trembled as he cupped Roci's cheeks, angling them up to look into Roci's eyes, thumb wiping away those warm, confused tears.
"It will, Roci. It will work out."
Ever since, they had gotten closer to each other in their little world of two. But Doffy's thirst for Roci's blood grew ever since that day too, which was a thing neither of them had expected. The older vampire was always insisting that Roci had the sweetest and tastiest blood he had ever tasted, and the younger one was always cursing for Doffy to die from diabetes or something similar in vampire terms, but eventually they reached an agreement, which was originally planned for Doffy to have Roci's blood once every two weeks. But it was terminated in the end because Doffy always gets what he wants, whenever he wants. He only learned to feed from Roci less often recently, giving Roci enough time to heal and recover from the blood loss.
Doffy's lips curved a small upward arc at the thought of multiple occasions where he fed while they were making love. The nasty thought lifted Doffy's mood slightly, as he began heading home with a faster pace.
That's when he caught the faint smell of blood in the air.
He thought it smelled familiar, and tried to think back to the numerous amount of creatures that he had hunted around the area. There's the pumpkin-head people, witches, mummies, and werewolves, but neither of these suits the smell that Doffy had smelled. Human? Most likely. But still a little bit off.
Feeling curious, Doffy followed the trail of the strange smell, and his steps gradually slowed down when he found himself paving the familiar path back to the mansion he and Roci had built together. The smell got even more distinct when he reached the front gates.
There's no way he'd forget that particular sweet scent.
Doffy rammed against the metal gates, but did not expect it to be unlocked. Stumbling ungraciously on his two feet, he caught the smell of an equal amount of human scent. Suppressing the panic growing inside him, Doffy cursed his memory for thinking back to an article where he read about an article about the annual vampire hunters' gathering that's taking place at a town not far from the Dark Forest.
He was not surprised that the front door was unlocked, too. But he was frozen in his spot when he saw that the living room of his house were in a mess. Furniture were scattered everywhere. That ugly drawing by Roci depicting Doffy himself in a supposedly handsome suit, it was found lying on the floor, glass frame shattered and scattered around the picture. The ancient couch were also stained with blood. The sweet stench never sickened Doffy so much until now.
He can still smell human blood. Did a fight happen here? Where is Roci? Oh god his Roci. Doffy blamed himself for following a feeding schedule. The vampire hunters might have set up a surveillance team and they knew, they fucking knew he would be away from the mansion at this time. Where's that little brat that Roci brought back home? He hoped he had at least served as Roci's human shield. His Roci can't be in trouble. Not now. Never.
They still had an eternity to spend together, right now's too early to die, Roci!
Doffy clawed at his head, fangs and claws extracting to their maximum length, even the sunglasses that he wore didn't shield him from all the red he's seeing. This triggered a flashback way back to when they were still young. Roci had nearly died on him. Roci had nearly died for him.
"Roci!"
The howl sounded demonic. Doffy would have been impressed by himself, it he weren't busy following the scent of the blood to locate Roci. But it's useless. The smell is everywhere.
Was it a prolonged struggle? Was Roci outnumbered? Did they came knocking with anti-vampire weaponry? Countless possibilities danced around in Doffy's head, and each one visualized Roci in a bad situation. Blood started seeping out from his claws and fangs, stretched to their utmost limit. His heart froze when he came into the kitchen and saw the mess.
On the floor was a cake.
The liquid oozing out from Doffy's eyes are no longer distinguishable between blood and tears.
Dashing upstairs, he realized that the door to their bedroom was wide open, with a blood trail dragging and leading inside it. He approached the room slowly, wishing it was all a nightmare by some fucked up creature that has yet to be discovered in the Forest.
What he saw was Roci, his dear Roci, covered in blood and lay sprawled on the bed. On their bed where they had shared dreams, nightmares, reassurance. The same bed that holds Roci's dead body. Doffy refused to go near, repeatedly trying to convince himself that it was all a really bad dream, but curiosity made him go near, slowly, one step at a time.
Roci's face looked so peaceful, the bloodied scar across his suit and chest were a strong contrast with it. Doffy didn't realize he was shaking, until he reached out and held Roci's face in his distorted palms.
"Roci... Roci... Roci..." Doffy called out his brother's name repeatedly, drops of red dripping onto his glasses, smudging his sights on Roci. Taking off and throwing away his glasses angrily, he held Roci closer to his chest, his whole body shaking with anger, with fear, with sadness, with desperation.
Doffy was reminded of the same heart-wrenching feeling, when he had realized the townspeople had caught Roci sneaking into town and had put bullets in him. Doffy pulled him deep into the Forest, praying to all the gods above to let Roci live, no matter what.
That was also when Doffy had forcibly turned Roci into a vampire to save his life.
Thinking back to how he had sliced his skin open and made Roci drink his blood, Doffy bit down on his wrist desperately, tilted Roci's lifeless head back, and started dripping blood into Roci's mouth.
"Please don't die, Roci... Please don't die..."
Doffy gave up when he realized that Roci isn't moving at all. Putting his bleeding hand down, he looked at Roci's bloodied lips, and the area around it. It's just like the moment when he had first told Roci he loved him. His cute younger brother had his blood around his lips too, messily dripping onto his chin and even his neck. Doffy didn't want to accept that this is how Roci had chose to leave him, just like how he had first accepted him in his heart.
"I will avenge you, Roci." Doffy gritted his teeth, fangs sinking into his own lips, drawing even more blood. "I swear, I will wipe out every single vampire hunter in this world. I will make them suffer like what they had put you through. I will-"
"Hey, idiot."
Doffy turned towards the voice behind him. Law was standing right there at their bedroom door, holding something on his palm.
"You're fucking pathetic."
Doffy's vision turned white the next second.
"Law! I thought we agreed to not throw the cake on Doffy!"
"Sorry, I had to. Besides yours is right here."
Feeling the body in his arms move again, Doffy hadn't had time to react to the sudden turn of events, and was greeted with a concerned Roci wiping the thick cream off his face.
"Are you okay?"
Roci. His Roci's voice.
Finally registering the fact that Roci isn't dead, Doffy immediately held Roci in an iron grip, not caring about the fact that his claws are sinking into Roci's back.
"You asshole! I thought you were dead!"
Wincing from the pain, Roci managed a small victorious grin, as he pets Doffy's back gently.
"There there."
"Don't 'there there' me." Doffy's voice turned cold and harsh, but deep down Roci knew Doffy was relieved.
"There there."
"Who came up with this stupid idea?" Doffy asked, looking sternly at everybody around the dinner table.
"Me." Law had admitted coolly. "Baby 5 helped, too."
Baby 5, a stray shapeshifter that Doffy had taken care of when he had found her when she was abandoned by her pack. She raised her hand happily. "I helped dirtying and messing up the place! IT was fun!"
"Basically I told her to go wild." Law smirked, who seemed to be basking in the joy of successfully playing a joke on Doffy.
"I'm sorry, Doffy, but I have my reasons." Roci said, joining them on the table right after bathing. "I just wanted you to... feel human, even just for a moment."
"Now why would you-"
"We've been vampires for so long, don't you think it's fun to experience what it feels like to be human? To feel emotions, sadness, anger, desperation-"
"We're vampires, Roci. Not zombies. We can still feel emotions, you know?"
"But you don't even remember your own birthday! That's something inhumane right there!"
"Wha- What does that have got to do with anything? I'm just not bothered enough to remember it. Yes, thank you for the cakes every year but really, only humans celebrate such a mundane thing as a 'birthday'."
"But it's the day when you're born! That itself is a cause for celebration!"
"I don't remember birthday celebrations include having to experience how it feels like to see your loved one die in front of your eyes. Besides, birthdays are meaningless to vampires, now that we're aging so slowly, don't you think?"
Not waiting for Roci to say anything more, Doffy sliced his cake into equal slices, poking on a strawberry to impale it onto his fork, before turning the fork towards Roci, who looked confused for a second, before getting up from his seat to move closer to Doffy.
"Hmm what's wrong did I put-"
Doffy shoved the strawberry into Roci's mouth, before pulling the startled Roci in for a kiss, mashing the strawberry between their lips.
It tastes sweet.
"Happy birthday to me."
-END
Epilogue:
"I don't care, Roci, I'm going to suck you dry tonight."
"No can do, I'm afraid. I've used a lot of my blood in decorating the house for the prank."
"... Wait do you actually mean-"
A/N:
Contains references of the mobile game One Piece Dance Battle, also partly inspired by the vocaloid song "When I Get Home My Wife Always Pretends To Be Dead"! Originally named 'Love Bite' but eh as the story progresses things sort of went out of hand. Still hope you enjoyed it!
Wrote for Doffy's bday on the 23rd of Oct!
Cover art by the lovely maviceu on tumblr!