A/N: Somehow this chapter ended up being a lot of talking, and not much else. It's starting to touch on things like world-building, which wasn't in original plan for this AU, lol. (I have so many headcanons for the background of this now, it's a little ridiculous and there's no way I can fit them all in.)

There definitely has to be at least a third chapter, because the whole point of this was to have some vampire smut and I haven't even managed that yet. Haha, whoops.;;

I also have ideas about Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal having roles in this AU. Okay, so it's less ideas about them having story-based roles and more ideas about how delicious it would be to have Cloud laid out on the bed, Zack fucking him, while the others hold him down and all feed from him at the same time. Cloud would be so turned on and so into it, it would be awesome. uwu

Dunno if that little scene will make an appearance in the story ever - it'd have to be several months later from the point we're at currently, and this wasn't even meant to be anything but a self-indulgent scribble I don't have shit like plot and chapters planned. But it's ~very~ nice to think about it anyway.


Cloud rolled over with a groan. His mouth was dry, body still feeling a little too heavy as he tried to shake off his deep sleep. He was in a bed, but it wasn't his own. Shit. Had he got drunk last night or something?

He buried his face into the pillows. The scent of them was familiar… Zack. They smelled like Zack. That was right. Cloud was in Zack's apartment, in Zack's bed. Zack who was his best friend and crush and also a vampire and—

Cloud gave a quiet moan as the recollection came flooding back. Zack had fed from him. And it had been amazing.

He bit his lip to try and hold back the stupid smile threatening to stretch across his face. Internally, he was squirming with absolute delight.

As pleased as he may have been, he was still feeling the consequences, at least a little. Some of the problems were easily rectified. Zack had left a glass of water for Cloud on the bedside table; Cloud propped himself up and drank greedily. It helped a lot with his dry mouth and headache.

He was starving as well, and the smell of something cooking wafting in from elsewhere in the apartment was more temptation than Cloud could bear.

He got out of bed slowly – there was a moment of dizziness as he stood, but it faded quickly. He wasn't too bad at all, really. As he was leaving the room, he caught sight of himself in one of Zack's mirrors.

Fuck. The sudden jolt of arousal hit him like a lightning bolt when he saw the deep purple mark left on his throat. Cloud stared at his reflection, fingers lifting to gingerly touch it.

The mark was mostly bruise – Zack hadn't just fed from him, he'd given him one hell of a hickey in the process. He could still see the indents where those fangs had pierced his flesh. They had healed over for most of the part, but the skin was shiny and pink and new where it had knitted back together. There was no trace of blood left on his skin, but it seemed a couple of drops had escaped far enough to stain the collar of his shirt.

Yeah, he looked like a vampire's victim, alright. Combine that with the decidedly rumpled clothes he'd slept in and the bedhead, and it make quite the picture of debauchery. It was just a shame he wasn't naked and covered in other kinds of marks all over his body too.

Cloud shook himself. This was ridiculous. He really needed to get a hold of his… his stupid crush, and his stupid vampire fetish or whatever the hell it was.

Fortunately, having been fed on already had sated his appetite at least somewhat. Thinking about it was still pleasantly arousing, but it wasn't driving him into the needy mess he'd been last night. He would be able to focus on the more important things first; talking to Zack – properly talking – and getting something to eat. He really was starving.

Cloud padded across to the kitchen, growing a little more apprehensive with each step. Now he thought about it, he really had been acting quite embarrassingly. He didn't even know if Zack reciprocated the interest in him, apart from just wanting him for his blood.

His fears were quickly alleviated.

"Cloud!" Zack greeted as he entered the kitchen, with a warmth that make Cloud's heart ache. After last night, after making Zack so mad, he was worried he would lose the man's affection.

Cloud kept walking until he was behind Zack and rested his cheek on the back of Zack's shoulder. "Good morning," he mumbled.

Zack turned away from whatever he was working on at the stove so he could be face to face with Cloud. One of his hands settled on Cloud's hip, and the other lifted Cloud's face to scrutinise him. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay."

"Uh huh. You sure? You look a little pale still."

"Just tired, I guess. But I don't mind. It was so good…"

Zack chuckled. "Yeah, like I didn't notice how into it you were. But c'mon, sit down for a bit. We should get you some decent aftercare."

Zack turned the burners on the stove down. He guided Cloud to one of the chairs at the small kitchen table, hands lingering more than strictly necessary. He gave Cloud's hip a gentle squeeze before moving away again. He only went as far as the fridge, fishing out a few things he'd prepared earlier and setting them before Cloud.

There was a bowl full of melon chunks, and a glass of something liquid yet decidedly green. Cloud scrunched his nose up at the latter. "The hell is that?" he asked.

"Celery and spinach juice."

"Why?"

Zack laughed at the expression on Cloud's face, but then he turned a little more sombre. He ran a hand through his hair. "I… took a bit more from you last night than I meant to. The juice should help replace some fluids, and it's got a lot of iron and vitamins and mineral salts you're gonna need. It's a trick regular feeders use, apparently, though I think it's meant to be for frequent incidents of minor blood loss in their case," Zack shrugged.

Cloud was not convinced, but he put aside the questionable juice to focus on another phrase that had suddenly caught his attention. "Feeders?"

Zack shifted his weight. "We can talk about that in a bit. Get started on that, I'm just about finished with the rest of breakfast."

Cloud was much more interested in the full fry-up that Zack was preparing, but he obligingly picked up a fork and started eating the melon. He was still wary about the juice, but a quick, reluctant sip established that it wasn't as bad as he had feared. Not nice, but just about tolerable.

Regular feeders… between the title and what Zack had said, it seemed pretty self-explanatory. Someone who regularly provided blood for a vampire (vampires?) to feed from. Cloud hadn't even realised that was a thing, but the more he thought about it, the greater the appeal grew. Would Zack feed from him regularly? Cloud loved the idea of it; he kept picturing his whole body covered in bites, some fading out from a few days ago and some fresh and deep. Used. He wanted Zack to use him like that.

His face was starting to heat up at the idea. Irritated at himself, Cloud took a swig of the juice and made a face. It was hard to get too turned on when his mouth tasted of earth, at least.

Zack soon plated up their proper breakfast – scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, baked beans, the works – and joined Cloud at the table. Cloud dug in.

Better hydrated and with a warm meal in his belly, Cloud was soon feeling a lot better. In a way, nothing had changed. Hanging out and eating together, that was something they'd been doing as friends for a very long time. Only now Cloud didn't care if Zack caught him staring too long, getting lost looking into those mako-bright eyes. He ran his gaze over Zack, every so often being floored once again by how damn attractive the man was. And when Zack smiled…

Cloud had noticed before, of course, but he'd never thought anything of it. Canine teeth were meant to be kinda pointy, right? Although the sharpness of Zack's had always caused heat to curl through Cloud's gut when he saw them. All that time, yet he'd never honestly expected Zack to be a vampire.

But now Cloud saw those teeth flash when Zack smiled, and he knew they were fangs.

He swallowed hard and had to look away. It was making Cloud's pulse race, and he was getting embarrassingly flustered already. They needed to talk first, before he lost his focus, but Cloud didn't even know where to start.

Fortunately, Zack was willing to start instead, He shot Cloud a handsome, lopsided grin. "Feeling better?"

"Mm. A lot."

"Good. Food and rest help most; they'll help you recover your energy." Zack had already finished his breakfast, eating like a human vacuum like always. Or, not quite human, as it turned out. He kept talking while Cloud finished up his own meal. "I figure if this is gonna be a thing for you – and don't give me that look like you're embarrassed now, you little minx, you know you fucking want it – you should know enough about how it works to take care of yourself."

"How it works?"

"Yeah. It's not just about taking blood from you. We – vampires, I mean – feed off life energy. Your body works the same way as the Planet; if there's a wound, life energy is redirected there to help it heal up. Right to where we can take it from you. And of course, the body just keeps sending more and more, for as long as we keep the wound open."

"Oh," Cloud said. He shivered a little. Fuck, he really shouldn't get off on it so much, but one of the (many) things that appealed to him was the idea of being so overwhelmed and overpowered that the vampire could just devour him. His blood, his energy, his essence. Zack's explanation made the whole idea more alluring, not less.

"But," Zack continued, "that's not a bad thing. Your life energy will replenish a lot faster than the body having to physically create more red blood cells. Any vampire with a lick of sense will maximise energy consumption while keeping the actual volume of blood consumed relatively low. Easier to keep feeding off the same person without harming them that way."

"Keep feeding off the same person… feeders?"

Zack huffed a laugh, giving Cloud a knowing look. "Yeah, I shoulda figured that's what you were interested in. There's not much more to it than that; just someone who willingly offers to feed a vampire, more often but in lesser amounts."

"Hn."

"What, why do you look disappointed?"

Cloud's face flushed – he hadn't meant it to be so obvious. "N-nothing! I just… kind of liked the way it felt when you took a lot. Light-headed, floaty…"

Helpless, at Zack's mercy, so easy to be taken advantage of. He didn't express those ones out loud though.

"Oh, you'll still get that. You feel like you've lost a lot more blood than you have, but it's actually energy you're losing the most of. Results in the same symptoms either way."

Cloud fell silent for a moment. Zack took the opportunity to collect up their plates and rinse them off. Cloud watched him work, finding himself once again in the frustrating situation of not having the nerve to simply say what was on his mind. Maybe if he asked indirectly…

"Do you have a feeder?"

Not stated but implied: 'gods, fuck, please let me do it, feed from me as much as you want'.

"No," Zack said, then paused. "Well, not as such."

"…not as such?"

"We'll have to discuss it later."

Cloud frowned. They'd already agreed they needed to talk, and now was the perfect opportunity. Why was Zack putting it off again?

"I'm supposed to be ready for duty in ten minutes."

Oh. Oh. Cloud was so used to seeing Zack just casually lounging around in his uniform that he hadn't thought anything of him wearing it in the morning too. But that meant… shit. Cloud had a job to get to as well, and he desperately needed to go back to his place first to shower and change. And hopefully find something to wear that would cover his throat; an old turtleneck maybe. All of that would take time.

Cloud glanced at the clock in alarm, but his panic lessened when he realised he still had an hour. Zack started earlier than him. Cloud supposed that was one benefit to the engineering department running nine to five hours.

He left the table and grabbed a tea towel, drying off the plates once Zack was done washing them.

"You can stay here for a while longer if you want, if you need a bit of space or time or anything," Zack offered. "You know how to lock the door behind you when you leave."

Cloud shook his head. "I need to get some clothes from mine before work, I should head out too."

With that mutual agreement, they parted ways to get their gear together before leaving. Cloud didn't have anything else with him aside from his shoes and wallet, but Zack needed to throw on his stomach guard, pauldrons and boots, as well as fetch his sword and materia.

"Zack—" Cloud tried. By the time he'd found his voice, they were already outside the apartment. Zack could walk Cloud at least as far as the elevators before they had to part ways.

"I'll be off by six, if you wanna come back round then."

"I will, but—I just need to know, before you go. You never said… the, uh, other aspect of what came up. Being more than friends. I don't even know if you like me or if you're just humouring me, or if I'd just be useful as a feeder or what."

It wasn't as though he would mind having a vampire just want to use him for his blood – but Zack wasn't just any vampire. Zack was Zack, and Cloud wanted to be with the man he'd been crushing on for so long as well.

There wasn't time to talk about it, and Zack seemed hesitant to address the issue. The elevator dinged open in front of them.

"Zack, please. If it's a no just fucking tell me."

Zack didn't answer. Instead, he took Cloud's face in his hands and leaned in, kissing Cloud firmly on the mouth.

Cloud moaned, knees going weak in an instant. Zack's kiss was hot and demanding, and Cloud hadn't been expecting it at all. Zack pressed Cloud back until he was up against the wall, like he knew how damn turned on Cloud got being pinned in that position. Not fair.

Cloud kissed back fervently, helpless to do anything but. Zack eased Cloud's lips apart, deepening the kiss. His hands tightened in Cloud's hair, holding him in place while his tongue ravaged Cloud's mouth.

Cloud could feel those fangs grazing at his bottom lip; Zack tugged gently at him with his teeth as he drew away, leaving Cloud panting and half-hard from just a kiss alone.

"O-oh. Okay," Cloud breathed.

"Come back to mine tonight, alright?" Zack's hands trailed down Cloud's sides, reaching his hips before reluctantly sliding off. He stepped into the elevator – he was going up, while Cloud needed to go down.

Cloud nodded. The elevator doors slid closed behind Zack, but even then Cloud stayed leaning against the wall for a moment longer to gather himself together. Goddamn.

The end of the workday couldn't possibly come fast enough.