A.N: No spoilers this time, for this is an AU. Vampire AU to be exact, starring Nikolo and Sasha… again. Maybe I should switch the main stars more often, but I just love the ship. Anyway, enjoy!
Iron
It was irrational beyond belief, Nikolo knew, yet he still couldn't help but stare at himself in the mirror, looking at the two small wounds on his shoulder. The bitemarks on his shoulder. And it wasn't just any bitemarks; he had been bit by a vampire; he was sure of it.
He knew exactly how crazy it sounded, but he'd been thinking about it so much and it was the only explanation that made sense. The wounds he had looked exactly like the bitemarks he'd see in vampire fiction. They weren't in the usual place but, aside from that, they matched. Also, he'd gotten them from the woman he encountered on his way home; there was no doubt about it. It had been dark and there had been no one else around. She'd been staggering and at first, Nikolo had thought she was just drunk, but as she got closer, he realized that something was off, that she wasn't okay. And when he got to touching distance of her, trying to ask what was wrong, she had literally lunged at him. Nikolo had had no chance to defend himself, shock rooting him to the spot, as he heard his clothes ripping and felt teeth sinking in to his shoulder. It was only then that he'd tried to fight her off, but she'd been too strong, and soon he'd felt his consciousness slipping. When he had returned to his senses, he was lying on the street, his shirt partly shredded and shoulder hurting.
Naturally, he hadn't told anyone. What could he even say? That a vampire attacked him? No one would believe him even if he showed the bitemarks.
"What's going to happen to me? Does being bitten by a vampire have side effects?" that's what he was worried about the most since he hadn't died from blood loss. Didn't people change in to vampires in some stories? "God, there's no way that's true, right?"
Nikolo shook his head, rebuttoning his shirt. Maybe everything would be fine; maybe nothing would happen and this would all end up being a weird, unreal feeling memory.
…Is what he thought until he turned around, seeing a young woman standing in front of his open window, staring at him.
"What the hell!?" Nikolo yelled. Why was there a woman he didn't know in his apartment? Wait, how did she get in? This was the fifth floor!
"Hang on" Nikolo thought "How did I miss her reflection in the mirror?"
Dread filling him, the man glanced behind him, only to whip around completely as he saw nothing. Nothing, just his own reflection. The woman wasn't reflected on the glass.
"What did the old stories say again?" he wondered as he slowly turned to face the woman again "They can't handle garlic, sunlight or crosses, they have… no… reflection…"
Oh, dear lord.
There was a freaking vampire in his bedroom!
Nikolo backed up against the mirror, his wide eyes now completely on the vampire. How did she find him? …This was the same one that bit him earlier, right? Why was she here? Did she come to silence him!?
"Umm… hi?" the vampire spoke. Yes, spoke. It seems this thing could speak… hang on, should he reply to that?
"Sorry if I scared you" it continued, holding its hands up "I just need to talk to you."
Talk to him? What would a vampire possibly want with him?
"This can't be real… I must be dreaming; I must've been doing that for a while already" Nikolo deducted. He saw the vampire frown, probably because of his lack of answer, but it was fine. It was just a dream, right?
And yet, despite thinking that, when the vampire took a step forward, Nikolo downright fainted out of fear.
XXXXX
"Oh no no no no, what did I do!?" the young vampire, Sasha, panicked as the human male passed out right in front of her "Is he dead!?"
She went over, bending down and shaking him, but he didn't react.
"Calm down; you've been taught about humans. They had this thing that you use to check if they're alive… what was it again… pulse? Yeah, that's the word… now where… neck?" Sasha tried the man's neck, trying to feel something. And she… did? Yes, she was pretty sure she did. He was still alive, that was good.
"Okay…" she breathed out unsurely "What now?"
Should she go get help? …No, Connie would know what to do even less than she would. Jean would yell at her, and Sasha sure as hell didn't want to face Mikasa's silent fury. Eren was out of question; he'd just kill the human if he found out that Sasha had messed up. Armin? No, he'd do the same… she was on her own in this.
"Well, the whole mess is my fault to begin with" Sasha thought with a sigh. Normally, she would've messed with the human's memories after her meal, but with this one, she had panicked after the bite as she'd realized something.
This human was badly anemic.
She wasn't supposed to attack anemic or otherwise sick humans in the first place; her father had taught it to be immoral. However, she'd been so hungry that she didn't pay proper attention to who she chose, and once she'd started her meal, it had taken her great effort to stop. He'd already fainted back then.
"Wiping his memory back then could've harmed him because of his condition… and now it's too late anyway…" she just hoped he hadn't told anyone he was attacked by a vampire; Sasha wouldn't be able to handle it if their kind would be smoked out of hiding because of her "I need to get him to agree to stay quiet."
XXXXX
Nikolo felt a little groggy as he sat up in his bed, wondering when he got there in the first place.
"Was I out drinking? No no, I never drink that much…" what had happened again? He'd been looking at his wounds and… and… "That better have been a dream!"
"Are you okay?"
Seems like it wasn't.
"Wah!" Nikolo backed up against his wall as far as he could when he spotted the brunette vampire kneeling at his bedside, looking worried. Oddly human too, save for her a bit too pale skin and the fangs peeking out.
"You don't need to be scared; I'm not dangerous" the vampire girl tells him "I just wanted to talk."
So, a vampire was telling him she was not dangerous? That there was no reason to be afraid?
"Got it, I'm going to die" Nikolo realized, still staring at the thing like a deer in headlights.
Realizing that the human wasn't believing her in the slightest, Sasha sighed. What was she supposed to do now? She was in horrible trouble if someone found out about all this, and the whole vampire race would be in major trouble if the fact that they existed became a widely accepted fact among humans. Her uncontrollable hunger had gotten her in to some trouble before too, sure, but never to this extent.
Nikolo just stared, wide-eyed, only blinking when the vampire sniffed. Wait, did it really? His ears must be tricking him, or maybe it was his eyes and he was actually the one sniffing- no, definitely the vampire. Why? What did it have to be afraid of?
"It looks… pretty humanlike right now" he realized as he watched the sniffling thing, the sniffling girl "Should I… do something?"
"Uh… are you alright?" he asked, immediately wondering if it was a mistake. Maybe he should've used this chance to run the hell out and get help while he still could.
Well, it was too late. The vampire's big, way too innocent looking eyes were already on him again.
"I'm fine… but I'll get in trouble if someone finds out I messed up" she answers.
"Messed up?" Nikolo repeated, momentarily forgetting that he should be wary "What happened?"
The vampire kept sniffling for a while before saying: "If someone finds out I attacked a human without wiping away it's memories afterwards, I'll get in serious trouble. And if the word about vampires spreads among humans, we'll all be in danger!"
Oh. Well, it seems she did have things to worry about… but wouldn't everything be okay if she just got rid of him?
"Maybe she hasn't realized that; she doesn't seem very bright" Nikolo realized. He chose not to pry in to the subject, just in case he was right. Instead, he asked: "So… you came here to ask me to keep quiet?"
"Yup!" the vampire girl confirmed, clapping her hands together in a prayer "Could you please, please do so?"
"…Sure" what else could he say? Not that he didn't mean it; after all, if he told someone they'd just think that he was crazy "But… if you're able to erase memories, why didn't you just do that in the first place instead of coming all the way here?"
"Oh yeah, that's another thing I wanted to tell you about" Sasha remembered "It can only be done after a bite, and the memories can be taken away up to two hours at max, so it's too late now. I didn't do it back then because it was too risky."
"Risky…?"
"Yeah!" the vampire says "There's way too little iron in your blood!"
"…Huh?" that wasn't something Nikolo expected to hear. First of all, he was pretty sure he took care of himself properly, so him being anemic was weird. Secondly, did a vampire of all things just consider it important enough of a thing to come and inform him about?
"You know, iron. I was taught that it's important for humans to have it in their bodies, but you clearly don't have enough. The taste of your blood was off and, now that I think about it, you smell kinda off too" the vampire rambled on, making Nikolo raise an eyebrow at the last part "Normally, I wouldn't have bitten you 'cause I would've smelled the problem, but I was so hungry that I wasn't paying proper attention. Sorry about that, but anyway, you really should go see a doctor!"
"…"
"…" the vampire started to fidget uncomfortably as Nikolo just stared, so eventually he spoke: "…That's all?"
"Yup" the chatty creature said, trying to fend of Nikolo's hard gaze with an awkward smile "That's about it."
"Alright, now how do I get rid of this thing?" Nikolo wondered, still too cautious to flat out ask the vampire to leave "Surely it isn't planning to stay around until sunrise?"
That would suck since sun had set only around two hours ago. Unfortunately, the vampire made no move to leave, still at his bedside.
"…Is there something you still need?"
"Eh? Well, no" the vampire said, fidgeting a little, and Nikolo was sure she blushed. That was weird "It's just, well, I've never actually talked to a human. Or seen one up close when I or someone else wasn't dining."
That made sense, Nikolo supposed. He was familiar with cats and dogs, but never really spent any time with other types of animals, the ones he used for food.
…
"Don't compare yourself to what you eat, idiot!" That'll only give you a headache" Nikolo thought, forcing the thoughts away. Wanting something else to think about, he asked: "Is it okay for you to be talking to me in the first place?"
The vampire averted her gaze suddenly, which told Nikolo all he needed to know.
"Not really" she admitted "But I shouldn't have come here in the first place, so if I get in trouble, it won't be much worse than it would've been anyway."
That made sense, in a way.
"Does the sun damage humans?" the vampire girl asked out of the blue, making Nikolo raise an eyebrow "What?"
"Does the sun damage humans? My friend says it can do so, but humans are active during daytime, so I don't really believe it" the vampire explained. Nikolo just blinked, not quite believing his ears. Why did she even…? "Ugh, whatever. If I answer her questions, she'll probably leave once her curiosity has dimmed."
"If we're exposed to it too much then yes, it does" Nikolo told her, and the vampire's eyes widened in surprise "Really!?"
"Yes, really" Nikolo said, unable to keep himself from chuckling "If we're exposed to sun too much, our skin will burn- ah, not literally, but it'll get red and sensitive to touch."
"Oh…" the vampire said in wonder "Has it happened to you?"
"Sure, many times" Nikolo admitted "It's not exactly pleasant."
"I can imagine; the sun's painful" she said, and Nikolo kept himself from pointing out that it was probably way more painful for her than him "I'm Sasha by the way."
"Huh?" Nikolo said once again. Did a vampire just introduce herself to him!?
"…Usually at this point, a vampire would answer with their own name" Sasha told, innocently tilting her head to the side "Do humans not do that?"
Unable to help himself, Nikolo blushed a bright shade of red.
"Your face got all red" Sasha innocently pointed out, leaning a little closer "Is that normal for humans? Does it hurt?"
"Ah, yeah… I mean, it's normal and no, it doesn't hurt" the man said, clearing his throat "I'm Nikolo."
"It's nice to meet you Nikolo!" Sasha beamed and, for some reason, Nikolo felt the damn blush returning "Say, can you tell me more about humans?"
"Like what, exactly?"
"Why do humans eat so many different things?"
Well, that was easy enough to answer, though Nikolo wasn't sure how much the vampire would understand or if he should keep it as short as possible.
"She'll interrupt me if I babble too much, won't she?" with that in mind, he started telling her about humans' needs for different vitamins and proteins, talked about the varying tastes and eventually even went to details about cooking. He was sure he was blabbing too much, but to his surprise the girl listened with rapt attention, occasionally asking a question or two. As time passed, Nikolo found himself completely relaxed, convenient that he wouldn't get himself killed that night. He even dared to ask the creature of the night a few questions of his own, which she answered with the best of her ability. As Nikolo knew nothing of vampires he couldn't be sure, but again he got the feeling that the girl wasn't very bright.
Before either of them realized it, they had talked in to early morning, the sunrise only an hour away.
"Whoah, it's getting late" Sasha was the first to realize as she looked out the window.
"Early, you mean" Nikolo corrected with a yawn "It's not safe for you to move around in sunlight, right? Maybe you should go home."
"Yeah, I probably should, least my boss locks me out of the house" Sasha shuddered "The shed would keep me alive, but the sunlight gets in there a bit too much."
Nikolo couldn't keep himself from feeling a tiny bit of sympathy towards her.
"Anyway, go see a doctor, okay?" right, Nikolo had forgotten about that. He nodded, and Sasha smiled as she went over to the window "Farewell, Nikolo."
"…Bye" was all Nikolo was able to say, surprised at how disappointed he felt by the idea that he'd never see the vampire girl again.
"Don't be stupid; forget about her" he thought "She'd only bring you trouble anyway."
XXXXX
Nikolo did go see the doctor, and it turned out he really was anemic. Nothing that some iron supplements couldn't fix, but still.
"She was right after all" Nikolo thought, his mind trailing off to the vampire girl. It had been a week since she broke in to his home, and he hadn't gotten her out of his mind ever since "C'mon, get a hold of yourself!"
Nikolo sighed as he unlocked his front door, ready to turn in for the night. His shift had been exhausting. Opening his bedroom door, he almost got a heart attack when he caught a familiar vampire going through his bookshelf.
"What the hell Sasha!?" he yelled, getting the girl's attention.
"You're back!" the girl cheered. Staring at her, Nikolo asked: "Just what are you doing here?"
Smiling sheepishly, Sasha said: "Well, I planned to not bother you anymore, but I just… I couldn't help it; I wanna hear more!" Nikolo swore she was making a puppy face right now. He hadn't known vampires could do that "Please?"
Nikolo stared. Farewell, was what she'd said. Back then it should've made him glad, but it didn't. Now she was back again and it should've annoyed the hell out of him, but… it didn't. He was glad she was here.
"Sure" so what if he hang around with her? Everyone had a weirdo or two as a friend; his weirdo just happened to be a vampire.
"Yay!"
They just had to make sure they didn't get caught.
A.N: In case you ever wondered what kind of stuff I write while I'm badly anemic… well, there's your answer. This kind of stuff.
Anyway, as some have probably noticed, I've been more or less updating this with a new one shot every Sunday. However, right now I'm out of one shots, so it's highly likely that there won't be one next week and that the updates will stop being regular for the time being. I might get some inspiration from the next chapter, but not promising anything. Still, I'll return with regular updates at some point and might publish a thing or two every now and then irregularly, maybe on other days than Sundays. Keep your eyes open!