Draluc and Mihai were relaxing in their shared room at the onsen, enjoying a dinner full of different seafood varieties. They had just finished their bath at the communal hot springs, and were wearing much lighter yukata. After walking around all evening in the heavy kimonos, Draluc was thankful for the break.
A small chime played on Mihai’s phone, and he picked up quickly. Reading the text, his face morphed from mild amusement to surprise. He then started laughing heartily as he texted back a reply.
[Draluc, I think I better get going soon.] Mihai said.
The vampire raised his eyebrow. [Why?]
[Well your boyfriend is coming, so I think I’d best make myself scarce.]
“Huh?!” Suddenly, Draluc felt panic rising in his chest, and felt like he would very much like to run away too. He stood up quickly, walking around the table they were sitting at.
He grabbed Mihai’s arm. “You’re just going to leave me here! Alone with that angry gorilla hunter who is definitely going to kill me?!”
“I thought that happened a lot, anyways?” Mihai replied. He stood up and started gathering things to pack up. Once he was finished, he began changing out of the yukata and into street clothes.
Draluc sighed as he turned around. “That’s not the point! Why did he suddenly change his mind anyway?”
[Hell if I know. I want to hear all about it tomorrow though! Don’t forget to call me.]
With a wink and a thumbs-up, Mihai left the room in a flash.
“Bastard…” Draluc muttered under his breath. He grabbed his cellphone, and then left the hotel room to head down to the lobby. If that idiot hunter was caught making a scene with the hotel staff, it would reflect severely on his public image. And Draluc didn’t know what his state of mind was, so it was just better for him to wait where he could see him, rather than cause problems for the poor receptionist.
Not more than twenty minutes had passed before he got a call from Ronaldo. Draluc answered, but it turned out to be unnecessary, as he spotted the bright red outfit of the man in question at the entrance to the lobby. He was panting heavily; clearly, he had run here as fast as possible. The vampire’s heart fluttered at the thought, his head full of clouds.
Draluc hung up the phone, and waved instead. Ronaldo spotted him after a few seconds of searching, and walked towards him robotically.
As soon as he got within five feet, the hunter began to speak, slightly out of breath. “I..I actually-”
“Not here.” Draluc said curtly, as he turned around. “Follow me.”
Quietly, the hunter followed behind, as Draluc tried to keep his undead heart from having another heart attack and sanding right there and then. If he was going to die an undignified death, it was at least going to be in the comfort of their room where they could actually relax without prying eyes.
He used his phone to unlock the door, and the two of them walked into the room together.
+++
Draluc motioned towards the window, where there were two reclining seats angled towards each other with a small low table in the middle.
Ronaldo nodded and walked over, sitting up ramrod straight. Draluc picked up a sake glass from the dinner table (he needed the drink) and then sat, reclined properly. He crossed his legs and then took a sip, eyeing the hunter with curiosity.
From the outside, Draluc looked perfectly nonchalant, maybe even a little annoyed at his plans being interrupted.
Ronaldo glanced around the room.
“Where’s your friend?” He asked.
Draluc took another sip. “He left as soon as he heard that you were coming, I don’t know who told him though.”
Ronaldo nodded again, lost and unable to conjure up the words he had rushed over here to say.
C’mon, you’re Ronaldo the Great! Talking about some stupid feelings is the least of your worries. You just have to say them!
After a long pause with Drac staring at him, he took a deep breath.
Voice wavering, Ronaldo began to speak. “I.. I just wanted to say…”
“I wanted to say that I’m sorry!” Ronaldo said, waterworks beginning. Huge, ghibli-raindrop tears poured out of the man, staining his face.
Stunned, Draluc sat up, leaning forward. “Wha-… why are you apologizing?”
The floodgates opened, both in Ronaldo’s tear ducts, and his heart.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m SO sorry that I never noticed, you were getting sicker and hungrier and I never even offered, even though we lived in the same apartment-
I’ve never even said thank you for everything, you must think I’m so ungrateful. You always did the majority of the chores even though I tried to help here and there. A-and It must have been annoying living with such a, such a useless asshole.
And I know it’s too late now, especially since you have Mihai now, but I wanted to tell you before you leave, that even though I never realized it before, that I love you. And I’m sorry that I’m an idiot and that it took so long for me to realize.” Ronaldo sobbed.
While Ronaldo was crying profusely, Draluc moved to sit on the coffee table in front of him.
“I know you might want to forget about me after everything I’ve done wrong, but I hope that I can still call you sometimes for recipes or to just chat maybe? I know that’s kind of weird to ask someone who’s moving out to live with their-”
Draluc cupped his hand over Ronaldo’s mouth, and gripped the hunter’s wrist as firmly as possible.
“Ronaldo-kun! Stop, stop talking!”
The hunter sat, speechless. Draluc moved his hands, cupping Ronaldo’s face now. He angled him so that they would be facing each other, eye to eye.
“What you just said, did you mean it?”
“About me calling you?” Ronaldo said earnestly.
Draluc gently wiped away his tears with his sleeve. “No, I meant the part before.”
“I…uh…yeah. I… love you. Maybe I’ve always loved you.”
A happy blush spread across Draluc’s face, as he started to smirk. “Idiot.”
The vampire leaned forward and kissed the tear tracks on the hunter’s face, and then he planted a light kiss on his lips.
“Wh…I..” Ronaldo.exe rebooted again.
“Me too, idiot.”
+++
After Ronaldo calmed down, and the hotel staff had come to clear away the dishes and utensils discreetly, they both laid in bed under the sheets. It was the early hours of the morning,
Ronaldo had taken off his hat, gloves, belt, and hunter’s overcoat. He was lying in Draluc’s embrace, arms encircling the other man’s thin waist easily. Meanwhile, Draluc had been gently cording through the hunter’s hair.
Ronaldo could hear the inhumanly slow heart beat in Draluc’s chest.
“Hey Drac?”
“Yeah?” Draluc responded sleepily.
“How come you never asked?” Ronaldo asked quietly. “Even if you didn’t like me, you could have asked as a friend right? To donate blood. Or drank someone else’s when you were that hungry”
Ronaldo could hear Draluc’s heart rate speed up a bit. He hugged him even tighter.
“Well…” Draluc paused. This was too embarrassing to talk about, but he figured he owed Ronaldo a response given their current situation.
“You have to promise me you won’t get mad.”
Ronaldo nodded.
Draluc shuffled down a bit, and leaned in close to Ronaldo’s ear.
“The amount of times I’ve thought of pushing you down and biting directly into your plump little neck has occurred to me more times than I can count.” Draluc whispered. He then bent down slightly and licked Ronaldo’s carotid before planting another kiss.
“Even if I had asked, I couldn’t keep it friendly. And I didn’t want anyone else’s, just yours.”
Ronaldo shivered. He had never imagined that before, but now he severely wanted it. He pulled Draluc into a searing kiss, sticking his tongue in to lick at his fangs gingerly. A small cut developed on Ronaldo’s tongue, and Draluc suckled greedily. The vampire dared not to waste a single small drop of his lover’s blood.
When Ronaldo pulled away, he leveled a heated look at the vampire. Even in the dark, Draluc could easily see how wide Ronaldo’s pupils had dilated.
“Then do it, bastard.” He quickly shucked off his turtleneck inside the sheets, throwing it somewhere else. “I’m all yours.”
End Notes:
(*ﾉ▽ﾉ) Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Next chapter will probably cause the rating to go up.