Title: The Dark Side Of My Shadow
Author: AoiTsukikage
Rating: PG-13 for now, will increase
Characters/Pairing:Eventual Law/Sanji, other pairings mentioned
Chapter: 1/?
Word Count: 3434
Summary: Sanji hadn't planned on getting bitten that night. Law hadn't planned on taking a vampire home with him. Now there's no going back. AU, Vampire!Sanji, eventual Law/Sanji.
Spoilers: For recent chapters.
Chapter One
"You're not Turned?"
Law gives a rather unpleasant smirk to the air, feeling the cold body against him reel back in confusion although the fangs touched to his neck don't falter. He's not sure whether the blond is careless or newly Turned, but generally trying to bite another vampire doesn't end well. He supposes it might be instinct to being surprised, but the young man does seem rather clumsy for a vampire.
"I'm not. Fully human," Law assures him, not feeling any threat, and the other man shivers and leans against him, nuzzling at his neck in a way that's obviously not meant to be violent. He knows he looks like a vampire, with his dark-rimmed yellow eyes and his chilly demeanor, but it's something that's saved him in the past. As long as they didn't get close enough to feel his body heat or sense the blood flowing in his veins, usually they left him alone.
"You're so warm," the creature murmurs and Law tightens his grip on the sword he always carries, shifting it so the other man notices. "You're…are you a Hunter?"
"No," Law laughs sharply. "But my sword is inhabited by a demon who really, really hates vamps and it will destroy you if you cross me," he growls, feeling the other man pull away as if it's a great struggle to do so. Law takes a good look at him then. He's probably barely into his twenties, blond and skinny, and he could pass for human if he tried. "Were you Turned against your will?"
The man nods and Law feels a pang of sympathy. It's always a harsh jolt of reality when he hears of some poor soul getting attacked and instead of being killed, they have enough stamina to survive the bite and the blood loss but the…side-effect is that they have no say in becoming what they are. He sometimes wonders if it would be better for them to die rather than having to suffer through slowly losing all traces of humanity
"I don't know what to do," the man admits, crossing his arms. "I don't want to go home…the shitty old man will have a fit if I waltz in there like this, and I can't be a cook if I can't use garlic," he sighs and Law reaches out, pressing his hand against the cool skin of the other man's throat.
"Come with me," he decides then. It's not conventional, perhaps, but he doesn't see any harm in it. "You can stay with me for a while and…protect me from others of your kind that decide I'd make a good snack," he smirks and the blond looks up in surprise.
"Um. Okay. I'm Sanji," the man sticks out his hand formally and Law laughs to himself, taking it and feeling those icy fingers against his palm. His sword vibrates in his grasp and he sends a mental command for it to settle down, which it does after a moment or two. He hopes the demon living inside won't see the vampire as a threat, but it seems to understand that much, at least.
"Law. Now come on, before any more of your lot show up," he turns and walks away, hearing a flick behind him and turning to see the vampire smoking, of all things, but he looks more relaxed when he falls into step beside Law.
"Thanks," he mumbles and Law wonders just what he's gotten himself into.
000
"Here," Law shoves open the door to his place and waits for the vampire to enter, the creature skittishly looking around before he does so. "I've got a spare room you can stay in…if your kind sleep, that is," Law looks over his shoulder, Sanji sighing and stuffing his hands in his pockets.
"I dunno. I'm guessing I have to, right? Or…not, because I'm…" he shivers and Law would feel bad except he knows the disease is spreading through the young man's body. These weren't vampires like the stories made them out to be, after all. Yes, there were some similarities: the biting, the fangs, and standard weaknesses like sunlight and garlic all seemed to apply, but Turning wasn't an instant process. As the days went on, Sanji would become less and less human, eventually turning into a creature driven only by bloodlust and incapable of human reasoning.
Law's not going to let him stay around that long, but one night shouldn't make much of a difference. He knows Kikoku will protect him if the vamp decides to start looking for blood, after all.
"Fuck," Sanji sinks to his knees, staring at nothing and seemingly frozen in place, and Law thinks that it's…strange. Yes, most people probably wouldn't be too happy about what's essentially a death sentence, but from what he's heard the initial bite normally progresses the transformation a little farther.
This man's pale, yes, but Law's beginning to think that's just because he is, and his body temperature is certainly dangerously low for a human, but his eyes are still blue and not the reddish-tinge those infected start to attain, and apart from his unnatural coldness and his sharp teeth, he doesn't seem Turned at all.
"Come with me," Law's beginning to get a hunch as to what's happened here, although he dearly hopes he's wrong because if he's not the other man's in even more danger than he'd be if he was a full vampire. "Eat that," he pulls a bowl of leftover pasta from the fridge and Sanji tastes it experimentally, looking mildly repulsed.
"Well, the pasta's done rather beyond al dente and the sauce is…" he smacks his lips and takes another bite, nodding. "It's spiced well, but I think they went overboard on the…garlic…" he stops, then, and looks up at Law. "This has garlic in it."
"It does," Law affirms.
"How can I eat it?" Sanji narrows his eyes, half turning, and Law sees him physically reel and brace his hands on the table, body starting to shake. "Oh God…"
"What's wrong?" Law moves around the table himself, catching sight of them in a mirror hanging in his living room.
But wait. Vampires didn't…
And Sanji doesn't, exactly. It's not so much a reflection as it is a vague swirling shadow, colors streaking through it that match the shades of the clothing the blond is wearing. The shape of him is visible, distorted like it's being projected through water, or like a heat mirage on a sunny day, but true vampires wouldn't have shadows at all.
Which means, Law thinks with a sigh, he's right.
And Sanji's totally fucked.
"Law…" Sanji turns to him, something like pleading in his eyes. "What…what am I?"
"You're a half-breed," Law says simply, reaching to grip Sanji's chin so he can look into his eyes. "Either you were bitten by an inexperienced vampire who didn't know how to complete the transformation, or your stamina was strong enough to fight off the worst of the Turning. But that gives you two choices: you can wait around for the Hunters to catch you, or you can wait until the shadow-lord finds you and turns you completely."
The blink he gets at that means he has no idea what Law is talking about and the older man takes some sympathy on him. It's not his usual practice to feel sorry for people, especially ones that only have themselves to blame (because really, wandering around at night with no protection? The guy was asking for it), but he can tell that Sanji's not accustomed to being vulnerable either and he's sure if he was in the same situation he'd want answers above anything else.
"The Hunters are a special government task force who find half-breeds and eliminate them, and Moria…the shadow-lord…some people think he's a half-breed himself because he's not fully inhuman, but he's amassed an army of vampires and they're always looking for new recruits. I'm not sure what his eventual goal is, but it's a constant battle between the government and his soldiers with half-breeds like you caught in the middle," he rests a hand on Sanji's shoulder and can feel again how ice-cold he is.
"Why do they want to kill me?" Sanji asks, pressing himself unconsciously toward Law's body heat. "I'm not a threat…"
"No, but you're not human. The government tries very hard to limit the world's exposure to the undead, so to speak, and most citizens have no issues with them killing vampires because they see them as monsters. But as a half-breed, you're still human enough that most people would consider it murder, but unpredictable enough that the government sees you as a liability. So they hire out assassins to do the job for them and for the most part nobody is any the wiser. I mean, you'd never heard of half-breeds before tonight, so they must be doing something right," Law's not convinced it's a good way to run a society, but then, he supposes depending on how far a person is Turned they could be dangerous.
Sanji's obviously not, but he knows the Hunters won't care about that.
"The government's hardly innocent, though. They've been developing mutation experiments for years, and a lot of their main killers are hybrids," he narrows his eyes because while he knows some of the scientists are moral, there are others who will experiment on anything or anybody with no regard as to how it will affect them.
"Fuck. They really cover things up well, huh?" Sanji looks down at the tabletop, eventually slumping forward and starting to shake a little. " 'm sorry. I mean, you probably didn't want to spend your night babysitting…"
"I've just told you that your two options in life are to be killed or to lose your humanity. I would expect you to be a little overwhelmed," Law sits down, sword slung over his shoulder as a precaution. "But I promise you that you're safe here. I'm not in the business of hurting people who've done nothing wrong, and while I suppose the government considers me an ally, I really have no allegiance to them. I'm useful because of this," he strokes his fingers down the sheathe of the nodachi.
"So you…"
"I'm privy to a lot of information they may wish to keep from getting out, yes, so I would appreciate it if you don't repeat any of it," he says firmly and Sanji nods. "Good. You can stay here tonight, but tomorrow it's best if you return to your regular routine. The less attention you draw to yourself the more likely it will be nobody will suspect anything. As I said, I know of no other half-breeds, but if they keep themselves well-hidden there may be a reason for it," he regards the young man carefully before standing. "You can warm that up and finish it if you wish. Bedroom and bathroom are that way," he points down the nearby hall and heads to his own room, not bothering to see if the man needs anything else.
He's provided more than enough charity already. What happens to the man after this is none of his concern.
000
He's woken up to somebody pulling the sheets back and he reaches for Kikoku on instinct, preparing to fend off whomever it is. It takes his sleep-addled brain a moment or two to realize there's only one person it could be, but that hardly makes him feel any better. He's not entirely sure if half-breeds require blood for sustenance but he's damn sure not offering up any of his for consumption.
He soon realizes that Sanji is, in fact, not trying to bite him, but he's about as warm as a block of ice and he's shaking uncontrollably.
"I can get you another blanket," he says dryly, hearing the other man's teeth chatter before he's finally under the sheets and Law flinches away from the cold touch. "I'm not your personal heater."
"Shut up. I d-don't like it e-either," Sanji curls into him, breathing harshly, and Law endures it until his shivering has subsided a little. "It's not like I like cuddling with guys."
"That makes two of us," Law mutters, although truth be told he's not exactly averse to men in general. Cuddling, however, isn't something he has any experience with. Sanji lets his head rest on Law's shoulder, one arm thrown over his chest, and Law places his hand in the small of the other man's back to hold him steady. "Feeling better?"
"A little," Sanji admits, still wracked with tremors every few seconds. "Fuck, this is going to take a while to get used to."
"It seems like it would," Law admits, although truthfully he'd rather not have any more small talk. Still, the more Sanji's calmed down, the easier it will be to get him to go to sleep, Law reasons. "What happened to you tonight?"
"Oh. Um. I was an idiot," Sanji laughs bitterly, but he does seem focused not and his body is still. "I was heading to my car from the restaurant and I heard what sounded like a woman crying from a nearby alley. So I went in to see what was wrong or if I could help and…all I remember is red eyes and decaying skin and the smell of death and pain and when I woke up…" he shrugs. "I think I wandered around in a daze for a while until you showed up."
"Well, lucky me," Law remarks, hearing Sanji snort.
"Yeah, why couldn't you have been a pretty girl?" Sanji asks, only half-serious, and Law smirks up at the ceiling.
"It's your own choice that you attacked me instead of a woman," he replies and Sanji weakly shoves at his shoulder.
"Bastard. As if I'd ever hurt a lady like that," he growls and Law unconsciously strokes his back to placate him.
"Need I remind you that it's because of a woman you're in this predicament?" he feels compelled to point out and Sanji sighs but drops the subject. He falls quiet, then, and Law has the feeling he won't move willingly. It's not entirely uncomfortable, he supposes, sleeping with somebody, but it's hardly something he's enjoying, especially when his bed-partner is doing his best to leach the heat from the entire room.
Still, Sanji's compliant enough now, and quiet, so Law tries his best to get some rest of his own.
000
He wakes up to the smell of bacon frying, blinking into the semi-darkness from the closed blinds, and stumbles blearily out into the kitchen. Sanji's standing at the stove, shirtsleeves rolled up and moving in a way that tells Law he's completely comfortable in a kitchen.
"Hey, good morning!"
"Well, somebody's in a markedly better mood," Law grumps, going to sit at the table and looking up in surprise at the cup of coffee that's pushed in front of him.
"Thank you. For everything last night," Sanji leans back against the counter, crossing his arms. "And I guess I'm just…relieved that I can still do what I love and..." he points to the window and Law looks over, getting it immediately. The sun is shining brightly into the kitchen and Sanji doesn't seem to be feeling any pain from it, although Law notices that his shadow is reminiscent of the reflection in the mirror last night. It's not a solid mass but rather a swirling mist of greys and blacks, almost pitch black where Sanji's heart would be and spreading out to wispy cloud-grey at his feet and fingertips. Still…
"Sunlight doesn't affect you," he realizes, getting a grin from the blond. "Well, that's encouraging. So your only symptoms seem to be a distorted reflection and shadow…"
Sanji looks down then and grimaces, muttering something about, "that's gonna be hard to hide…"
"…and abnormally low body temperature. And fangs," he adds, leaning back and frowning. "I wonder if that's typical of all half-breeds or if it depends just how far the Turning went before it was interrupted…"
"Well, you said you don't know of any others, so it's not like we've got people to ask," Sanji turns back and flips some eggs over. "By the way, I hope bacon and eggs is good. You've got a very balanced pantry but I couldn't find bread to make toast, so…"
"I hate bread," Law says darkly and Sanji looks surprised for a moment before snickering to himself. "And I'm a doctor, so proper nutrition is something I look for."
"A doctor, huh?" Sanji looks intrigued. "For the government? Wait, these hybrid experiments…"
"Yes and no," Law decides that Sanji, at least, seems trustworthy, and he's not going to try and cause trouble knowing what fate is in store should he be discovered. "I have no part in the experiments themselves, those are left in the hands of a man named Vegapunk and a rather less…savory character named Caesar Clown. I simply examine their test subjects beforehand to make sure they're physically fit to undergo the experiments," he explains. "It's not a forced process; I would never lie and put somebody's life in danger and I always require a signed waver before I give the go-ahead," he explains.
"Wait, people volunteer?" Sanji looks shocked.
"Yes. Extra money, perhaps, or to get a better position within the government. The two things they're exploring the most right now are hybrids and mechanical technology," he continues and Sanji frowns.
"Mechanical…like cyborgs?" he questions and Law nods.
"Precisely. I'm quite sure Caesar's doing experiments behind the government's back but either they don't realize or don't care, and I have no concrete proof as of yet. Regardless, that's my job," he looks at Sanji carefully, trying to gauge how the other man feels about it, and he shrugs and sets the plate in front of Law.
"Well, I mean, if they agree to it I guess it's not immoral. Has anything ever gone…wrong?" he asks hesitantly and Law nods.
"Of course. Horribly so, sometimes, but I can't feel any guilt for that since I've done my job correctly," he takes a bite and is surprised at the flavor, because he hadn't known bacon and eggs could even have any flavor. "This is quite good. You said you were a chef?"
"Oh, yeah. You know the Baratie?" he asks and Law nods.
"That floating restaurant down in the bay?"
"Yeah. My old man…well, he's not really my old man, but the guy that took me in, he owns it and he's the head chef there. He's been training me my whole life, pretty much," Sanji lights up a cigarette and leans back, in his element and relaxed now that he seems assured Law does like the food. "I guess I need to make up an excuse for last night but as long as I get there by noon he shouldn't ride my ass too much," he rolls his eyes and Law half-smiles at him. "Hey, why don't you come by sometime and I'll make you dinner on the house? I'll put that pasta you had last night to shame," he promises and Law has no doubt he means it.
Honestly, Law doesn't really have any friends, and it's not as if a half-vamp would be his first choice for a confidant but there's something…compelling about Sanji that goes far beyond Law's desire to medically examine what changes are occurring in his body as a result of the semi-Turning he's experienced.
"I just might," he decides, aware that he's sealing his fate, and when Sanji asks for his number and he gives it without hesitating he realizes he might be more lonely than he's previously been willing to admit.
Sanji scarfs down his own food then, seemingly gleaning enough sustenance from it that a normal vampire wouldn't. Law has a last thought before he leads Sanji to the door, tapping the frame with his fingertips and mentioning, "There's a story at the lab where I work about a man, many years ago, who was among the first of the hybrid experiments. They said he was a half-breed and allowed Vegapunk to experiment on him in exchange for his life, but as to what happened after that, not even I know. He might still be out there."
Sanji looks thoughtful at that, holding out his hand a little awkwardly for Law to shake, and tells the doctor he'll have a place for him at the restaurant the next evening.
Law's almost surprised to realize that he plans to show up for it.
Notes:
1.I'm really nervous about this fic because it's a lot different from the previous Law/Sanji ones I've posted, but I'm trying not to keep it too stereotypical as far as the vampires are concerned and also trying to blend elements of canon into it in what I hope are ways that are creative and also make sense.
2.This was started by a random drabble generator I was doing on tumblr where an anon had requested Law/Sanji and the generator gave me 'vampire!AU', so that's what the very first section of this fic is, and the rest was added after I realized I could make a lot more of it.
3. The title comes from the line 'find my sun in the dark side of my shadow' from the AWOLNATION song "Not Your Fault." It's kind of got a double-meaning in that obviously part of this fic will deal with finding something positive even in what seems to be a bad situation, and also because Sanji's shadow is one of more…noticeable things about him that's changed.
4. Feedback is always appreciated, and especially so here because I'm genuinely curious if this is something people will be interested in reading.