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Language:
English
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Published:
2022-11-21
Words:
1,144
Chapters:
1/1
Comments:
23
Kudos:
328
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22
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2,131

Teeth in Candlelight

Summary:

“Yeah, yeah, I get it — being a cuck’s what gets you off these days. I called myself Louis’ whore, but maybe I’m yours.”

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

“You’ve upset him. Again.”

“The truth upset him, I just made him face the facts. Facts you seem intent on denying him, Armand.” Daniel says the name with all the vitriol accumulated from a career dealing with unpleasant, egotistical assholes like the one standing before him. “I don’t know if your sick little pretend game sprouted from some eternal ennui or if you’re genuinely fucked in the head, but I signed up for the real story. Deal’s off. Kill me now or don’t, whatever happens, I’m done.”

“The years have been kind to you Daniel Molloy.” Blood red eyes rove over him from the doorway, assessing. He can do no more than scoff before the vampire continues, “I am glad to have saved your life, you are even more entertaining now than you were years ago.”

“I aim to please.” he says drily, packing up the last of his equipment. If there’s something to be said about today’s technology, it’s that it’s conveniently small. Daniel throws the bag over his shoulder.

“So, should I find my own way out of this concrete nightmare or …?”

The vampire is before him with such unnatural speed that he jerks in surprise, falling back onto his chair.

He hates the purposefulness of this, how Armand now towers over him despite the several inches Daniel would have over him, were they both standing. He’s trapped on this chair, unless he decides to topple backwards, but he’s reached that tender age when a light fall such as this would put him out of commission for at least a month. The vampire easily slides between his thighs, a hand grabbing his jaw to keep Daniel’s discomfited gaze towards him.

“I offer compliments and you insult my home. You were never polite, but even I take offense to such disrespect.” The hand relaxes its grip, moving to his cheek, thumb gliding over his bottom lip. “Do you remember how rude you were to my Louis that night, high on the cheapest street drugs you could find, and asking the most uninspired of questions ? Of course, he was too engrossed in his tale to notice, but I was there, watching you.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it — being a cuck’s what gets you off these days. I called myself Louis’ whore, but maybe I’m yours.” He means it as a retort, but the thrill of saying it runs up his spine.

Another hand grips his hair, tugging painfully as Armand gets even closer, the slightest twitch to his lip, a delighted snarl on an otherwise perfectly impassive face. “You have always been mine, Daniel.”

“I think you’ve played with your food too long,” he gulps, “it’s spoilt and diseased.”

“Perhaps I am merely taking the time to enjoy a rare vintage, as one should.”

Nice way to call a guy ‘old’, Daniel thinks to himself.

“I have lived for centuries, do not fool yourself with these petty notions.”

“Tell that to my doctor, I see him more than my kids these days.”

“Did you not chide Louis for his deflections, Daniel? I have been in your head since you passed the threshold, and you have not thought of them once in your entire stay. Would you like me to remind you what came to the forefront of your mind when you first saw ‘Rashid’ ?” Armand bends, those piercing, unkind eyes boring into him.

Daniel already knows. The image— images, if he’s honest with himself— have unwillingly crept into his mind every time Armand was in sight. He thought he’d been quick enough to dismiss them, listening to Louis construct his romance, for the sake of professionalism.

“Professionalism,” Armand mocks softly. Daniel would have called it a giggle had the vampire actually been a man in his twenties.

Daniel turns his head away, bitterly not thinking about smooth, dark skin under his hands, slender thighs around his waist—

“I would let you.” Armand whispers into his ear, before quickly biting his neck. Not to draw blood, purposefully teasing, but it shocks Daniel back into reality, his chair scraping as he backs away, until he hits the concrete wall hard enough that his spine cracks.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing ?” He raises a hand to his neck protectively, finding it slightly damp from the other’s mouth. The unsteadiness of the movement is not due to Parkinsons, and he’s ashamed to admit it’s not entirely from fear either, but he’s looking towards the exits before he realizes he’s doing it. He’s been prey since he walked into that bar, too tweaked to know it even as he ran away that night decades ago, but not anymore.

Armand laughs as he approaches, perfect teeth glinting in the candlelight.

“I thought you came for the truth Daniel, I am merely giving it.” He slows to a graceful stop in front of him, and drops the smile. “Does it upset you ?”

“Yeah,” he spits.

Armand hums in acknowledgment, a subtle self-satisfied smile in his eyes.

“Doesn’t fear ruin the meat ?” Daniel tries, plastering himself to the wall, away from fate. He has been staring death in the face for hours, days, and yet he’s still not ready for it.

“It’s… an acquired taste.” Armand rushes towards Daniel, teeth viciously piercing skin, right on the scar Louis had left. His jaw slots almost too easily in the curve of Daniel’s neck. He gasps at the pain, like lava pouring into his veins from this single point of contact, until Armand’s fangs retract, until—

‘Honey and pineapple’

Daniel paws at the vampire pressed onto him, a wild grab to get him away merging into a clutching grasp for more as Armand’s cool tongue laps at his neck. His previous attack had lasted only a second, not enough to experience the ecstasy described by Louis only a few days ago.

He had tried ecstasy, with a cocktail of other drugs to boot, but nothing had ever felt like this. It’s the focus of a heroin high, the joy of mindless sex, the confidence from alcohol mixed with the sultry ease of a 4 p.m. joint. Daniel can’t help but nose at the curls in front of him, chasing the pleasant smell as Armand nestles deeper into his neck.

Their bodies meld into one as Daniel’s limbs slacken. He’s aware enough to know it’s the blood loss, that the pleasant feeling must be endorphins, adrenaline even, his dying brain trying to mitigate the pain, to go gently into that good night. He never wants this to stop.

Armand is the only thing holding him upright when he pulls away, drenched in blood from chin to breast. The sight is dizzying, more so considering the realization that the little blood left in him has gone south. The vampire smiles again, pressing his thigh between Daniel’s.

“Worth the wait, was it not ?”

Notes:

:)

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